Location, Location, Location - The New York Times The New York Times Photo Credit David Pearson You think newspaper journalists don’t check their facts as assiduously as in the Old Days? You say we are unduly influenced by blogospherics, willing to put out whatever comes in? Let me disabuse you. “I’m working on a wedding announcement,” e-mails my Times colleague Rosalie Radomsky, “and have come across a groom, Albert Naggar, who said his grandfather, the late Lord Harold Samuel, a real estate tycoon in Britain, coined the expression: ‘There are three things that matter in property: location, location, location.’ I thought it would be a great piece of information to include in the announcement, but Bob Woletz, my editor, thinks there might be readers claiming someone else came up with the ubiquitous real estate saying.” She attached 1987 obituaries of Lord Samuel from Britain’s Sunday Times and Financial Times and a 2007 reference in The Daily Telegraph, all identifying him as the reputed coiner. This suggests a British origin.

Rosalie added, “Bob also said, in a kidding-around sort of way, ‘This would be a job for William Safire.’ ” Whaddaya mean “kidding around”? I take my phrasedick assignments seriously. First stops were the indexes of the best-known quotation books: Bartlett’s and Oxford. No soap. On to The Yale Book of Quotations, which often breaks fresh ground, to find an American source: The Van Nuys (Calif.) News said the three most important things about real estate were location, location, location in its issue of June 10, 1956. Continue reading the main story Fortuitously, my British-born wife’s eldest sister, who lives in London, is Coral Samuel. Her late husband, Basil Samuel, was Lord Samuel’s cousin and had also been active in real estate. I phoned my sister-in-law, a lifelong lover of language, who agreed to check with family and friends of the man to whom the memorable double-repetition was attributed.

After speaking with one of Lord Samuel’s close associates of long ago, Coral reported: “He’s 90 percent certain Harold used those words but cannot confirm his first use, so you would have to say it’s apocryphal.” (That word means “of questionable authenticity.”) Advertisement Continue reading the main story Since the first written citation in Yale’s compendium was in 1956, that means that Lord Samuel, who died in 1987 at age 75, would have had to coin the aphorism before age 44. That’s possible, and Coral’s cautionary conclusion, on top of three British newspaper accounts, did not rule it out. I was inclined to advise The Times’s Weddings and Celebrations pages to use the fuzzy cop-out — that the quotation was “attributed to” Lord Samuel — but I gave my assignment one final shot: a call to Fred Shapiro, editor of The Yale Book of Quotations. Hey, Fred, anything new on this triple-word “rule” since your 2006 publication? Without a beat, he replied: “I remember one.

Should be here on my computer.” Moments later: “Here it is, from a 1926 real estate classified ad in the Chicago Tribune: ‘Attention salesmen, sales managers: location, location, location, close to Rogers Park.’ ” Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy That usage appeared when Harold Samuel was 14 years old in London, too young to make deals. The context of the 1926 ad suggests it was already a familiar aphorism in Chicago; phrasal etymologists are not yet finished with this challenge, and the Lexicographic Irregulars are invited to weigh in. (The announcement of the wedding of Nicole Natoli to Albert Naggar appeared in The Times, pristine and unencumbered by any fuzzy attribution — or worse, misattribution — of the phrase to the bridegroom’s grandfather.) THE ESTABLISHMENT There is another way — besides “attributed to” — of getting around admitting flat-out that you don’t know who coined a famous phrase.

Take the “Establishment,” a British term modified by Americans as the “Eastern Establishment.” In my political dictionary, I erred in naming Henry Fairlie, a British essayist, as the coiner. The source can be found in his article in The Spectator in 1955, in which Fairlie wrote: “By the ‘Establishment,’ I do not mean only the centers of official power . . . but rather the whole matrix of official and social relations within which power is exercised.” The O.E.D. calls such a citation “the locus classicus for this modern sense though occasional earlier uses are recorded.” In its online updating, Oxford’s scrupulous lexicographers cite, among others, this 1945 line by Douglas Goldring in a history of the 1920s: “It was a head-on collision between two acknowledged leaders of the literary avant-garde and the powerful forces of what Ford Madox Ford used to call the Establishment.” That makes Ford, one of the “lost generation” novelists, the earliest of those to whom the word, in its cultural sense, is attributed by hearsay.

Reviewing “Bite the Hand That Feeds You,” a collection of Fairlie’s writings, Christopher Hitchens wrote in The Times Book Review a couple of weeks ago: “To him belongs the credit for putting that very useful term of generalization ‘the Establishment’ into popular circulation.” Hitchens carefully did not claim that the late, “raffish” Fairlie coined it, nor can we be sure that Ford did, either. (It is rooted in the much earlier “Church Establishment.”) Nor did Hitchens use the “attributed to” easy-out; instead, he accurately and safely chose the “popularized by” technique. Careful phrasedicks and their editors don’t jump to conclusions on coinage. Same with spelling: I recently rooted the word zombie in “an Angolan diety,” causing a shocked reader to ask slyly “a god on a weight-loss program?” I meant deity, of course, and hope all those up there did not take offense. E-mail comments and suggestions to safireonlanguage@nytimes.com . A version of this article appears in print on , on Page MM14 of the Sunday Magazine with the headline: Location, Location, Location.

Today's Paper | Subscribe Why Location Matters in Real Estate | Fox Business Why Location Matters in Real Estate Why Location Matters in Real Estate By Brendon DeSimone Print (REUTERS) Ask just about any real estate agent to list the three most important things a property should have, and you’ll likely hear: “location, location, location.” That phrase has been in use at least since 1926, according to The New York Times , and is just as relevant now as it was then. Continue Reading Below But why does location matter so much? For starters, you can’t move a home — at least not easily or inexpensively. When you buy a home in a good location, it’s usually a solid long-term investment. Real estate agents often advise their clients to buy the worst house — a property that could use some TLC — on the best block. Why? Because fixing up a home in a great neighborhood will give you the best return on your investment. Quite simply, it will be easier to sell later on. Conversely, you can buy a beautiful home that doesn’t need any work. But if the block is sketchy or just plain bad, you could have a hard time selling the property at a decent price.

So if “location, location, location” is so important, what makes a location good? Here are five characteristics to look for when buying a home. If you can get all five, chances are the home’s a great investment. 1. A safe neighborhood People want to live where there’s little or no crime. Naturally, they want to feel safe in their homes and will pay extra for it. A safe neighborhood means people will feel free to walk around, be outdoors and interact with their neighbors. Communities still exist today where people don’t lock their doors, and they know their neighbors are there for them in a pinch. Continue Reading Below ADVERTISEMENT 2. Good schools Being in a good school district is important, even if you don’t have school-age kids and never plan to have any. Fact is, young families always will be buying their first or second homes. They will do their home search based on location in general and good school districts in particular. The better the school district, the higher the values of the surrounding homes can be. Found a home you love but the school district is subpar? Be aware of that issue for resale down the road. Bottom line: When you buy a home, you should always think like a future seller.

3. Convenient access to popular places, shops and restaurants Everyone wants to be near the best commercial districts. The closer to the hubbub of a particular town or the best parts of a city, the better the location — and the more someone is willing to pay for a home. In beach communities, the closer to the beach, the more valuable the property. 4. Water access and views No matter which town or city, someone will always pay for a great view or to be on or near the water. Put a home right on a waterway or on a hill with panoramic views and you’ve got a great location. 5. Access to public transit and/or freeways In major cities, the farther you live from the bus, subway or other types of mass transit, the less valuable the home. A good location means being very close, and having easy access, to public transportation. Being near a train or bus can get you anywhere in a short amount of time. In some towns, where a commute by car is inevitable, easy access to the freeway makes for a good location. Adding 20 minutes to a commute just to get to the freeway never helps a location. What makes a bad location?

There are some common characteristics that make a location “bad,” no matter where you are. Ever see a home with a backyard that faces the freeway? Whether the home is in Denver, Dallas or Dubuque, such a location is likely always going to be considered undesirable. Is the home on a busy intersection or a four-lane road? Again, it’s probably considered a bad location, no matter which town it’s in or what the nearby neighborhood is like. Other factors that can make for a “bad” location: very close proximity to a fire station (good if your house is on fire, not so good if you’re trying to sleep); a hospital (frequent ambulance sirens); an airport (sounds of jet engines 18 hours per day) or a school (traffic from buses or parents dropping off children or kids yelling and playing). Some “good” and “bad” qualities simply vary by community. If you know your local community, you know which parts of town are less or more desirable. It’s always smart to rent in a new community before committing to a home purchase. Renting allows you time to become familiar with the location. All these things matter when you’re considering the location of a home for sale.

But never lose sight of what matters most to you about the location. If you’re crazy about baseball, for instance, you might love owning a condo near your city’s professional baseball team ballpark. Someone who doesn’t like baseball, on the other hand, would probably not want to live near all the commotion. Location, location, location really does matter — a lot. But as always, the most important thing is to buy the right home for you, at the right time. Read More from Zillow.com: How to Avoid Home Buyer’s Remorse Brendon DeSimone is a Realtor and one of the nation’s leading real estate experts. His practical advice is regularly sought out by print, online and television media outlets including FOX News, CNBC, Good Morning America and Forbes. Brendon is the co-author of “ Next Generation Real Estate: New Rules for Smarter Home Buying & Faster Selling ” (Wiley – 2014). An active investor himself, Brendon owns real estate around the U.S. and abroad and is licensed to sell in California and New York . You can find Brendon on Facebook or follow him on Twitter or Google Plus .

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of Zillow. Beginner’s Guide to Being a Real Estate Agent Beginner’s Guide to Being a Real Estate Agent By Seth Price About Agent Basics There are many different players in the residential real estate industry—property managers, publishers, builders, banks, and government agencies, to say nothing of buyers, sellers, and renters. Nevertheless, the real movers and shakers are the intermediaries, the people constantly moving between and communicating with these players: agents and brokers. Middlemen (in a good way) The real estate agent is the workhorse of the industry. He’s a salesman one moment, a buyer’s advocate the next; he’s an analyst, an auctioneer, a consultant, a negotiator, and a marketer; he occasionally performs the services of an appraiser, a clerk, and a loan officer; he accommodates his clients on nights and weekends, and often works well beyond forty hours a week. Basically, a real estate agent does a little of everything, and for that, he’s paid a modest commission (provided, of course, that he closes the deal).

It’s no wonder, then, that so many agents cycle in and out of the industry. It’s also no wonder that demand for their services remains high even in a slow market. Overwhelmed? Don’t be: this guide will tell you everything you need to know about the challenges and essentials of being real estate agent, as well as important tips to help you get off to a strong start. 1. Real estate is not a hobby: it’s a business. In recent years we’ve seen some new trends when it comes to the consumer’s relationship with the real estate industry. More than ever before, the average person has access to the kinds of statistics, market analyses, technology , and expert opinions that were previously reserved for people who actively made their living as a real estate agent or broker. Consider, for instance, the guide you’re reading. Before the Internet, much of this information would only exist in the mouths of working agents or in agent licensure textbooks. Consumers had little need for this information because they trusted their real estate professional to know it. Today, Realtors are blabbing all over the blogosphere, even making a buck by telling consumers how to do their jobs.

“How to Make Money in Real Estate: Five Easy Steps.” “Flipping Homes for Fun and Profit.” Consequently, some seem to think of becoming a real estate agent like taking up a hobby, something to occupy your down time and earn you quick cash at the same time. But most hobbies are cheap, and even the expensive ones are about the sheer enjoyment of the activity. With a hobby, you’re allowed to be careless because you don’t have anything to lose. Neglect your herb garden for a few days? No big deal. Don’t play your guitar for a month? It’ll still be there when your fingers get the itch. Real estate, on the other hand, is a business. It’s about money, and as the market has shown in the last few years, when you get careless in real estate, you stand to lose a lot of it. As an agent, you’re an independent contractor , which means it’s up to you to manage your own business. Any agent who picks up your slack isn’t handing it back to you. Finally, hobbies are personal, while real estate is professional.

Typically, only the people with whom you choose to share your hobbies know about them, which means they don’t have a huge impact on your public image. (Unless, of course, you’re still collecting Beanie Babies). But since your conduct as a real estate agent takes place in the professional world, it has much a longer paper trail. Pretty much anyone can find out about it. Fail to satisfy a client, and you’re telling her and everyone she knows that you’re unreliable—which can have serious ramifications for other areas of your life. None of this means you shouldn’t enjoy working as a Realtor. On the contrary, you’re not likely to be successful if you don’t. But the best agents are those who marry the pleasure they get from their work to an understanding that it’s, well, work. 2. Leads and listings, but not necessarily in that order. No matter what business you’re in, selling is hard. As a real estate agent, however, the challenge is even greater because repeat customers are few and far in between. Homes, after all, are not electronics or fashion items. They’re not designed to be replaced after a year, nor do they become obsolete. People buy homes with the intention of staying put.

In a perfect world, your clients won’t need you again for a long time. True, unforeseen circumstances require people to move, and according to the latest census, 69.3 percent of all movers stayed within the same county , which means more than two thirds of movers could be returning to the same Realtor. Nevertheless, altogether only 12.5 percent of the U.S. population changed residences in 2010. That’s a slight increase since 2008, but in general, this share has decreased by about half since the late 1940s. Furthermore, these statistics vary widely depending on where you live. About 14.7 percent of Westerners moved in 2010, but that does you no good if you work in the Northeast, where only 8.3 percent did the same. So how do you grow your business when demand for your services is limited? By working both sides of the real estate equation. In the old days, agents worked exclusively with sellers, listing their properties for sale and rent. Back then, your job was to get the word out about a seller’s property and attract buyers. The more listings you had, the better off you were.

Today, however, it’s also common to work with the buyer. In this scenario, success is all about leads, people who are interested in buying a home. Once you’ve found a lead, your job is to turn him from a prospect to a customer by helping him secure the home he’d like to rent or purchase. This usually means you’re a matchmaker, connecting buyers with listings your agency already has. You could also be an advocate, helping them browse someone else’s listings. In either case, the arrangement is basically the same: agents use their experience to ensure that buyers don’t get screwed. Instead of selling a property, you’re selling your expertise. So which is more important, leads or listings? That depends on your location. But regardless of the figures, it’s crucial to keep a close eye on both. In a difficult market and a changing industry, the best path to success for an agent is to be adaptable and willing to work with sellers and buyers. Concentrate solely on one, and you’ll find yourself struggling keep your business afloat. 3. Relationships are everything. Every agent is glued to his iPhone or laptop screen these days.

However, it’s important to remember on the other side of all those zeroes and ones are real people, and they’re the ones who keep your business going. Relationships are your bread and butter—and when we say that, we’re not talking the little dinner rolls you fill up on before your meal arrives. To understand how to maximize your relationships as a real estate agent, start by asking the basic questions: who do you know, and who knows you? The answers will go far in revealing the extent of your sphere of influence, the collection of people for whom you and your business have weight. The greater your sphere of influence, the more of a magnet you become for prospects—and the better your chances of turning them into customers. The cliché goes that real estate is all about location, location, location. This isn’t just about inventory: it’s about involvement. To maximize your business, you need to participate in your community . Join your local Realtor’s association. Coach a little league team. Attend town government meetings. Get exposure in the flesh, and make sure people know what you do. By showing you’re interested in the life of your community, you demonstrate that you have a personal stake in all the business you do as a real estate agent.

You should also treat everyone you meet with the same courtesy and attention, no matter who they are or what they can do for you—after all, you never know who may become a customer. Knowing and being known by as many people as possible is crucial, especially when there aren’t a lot of prospects to go around. But while quantity is good, quality is even better. Visibility is great, but if your only goal is to get everyone and anyone on the hook, knowing everybody in town will actually work against you. Your reputation in your community greatly influences your trade. People obviously want to work with agents they trust. The most sustainable business model is one in which your transactions with others are always mutually beneficial. Real estate, is about making money; but focus too much on your profit margins, and you’ll find you have fewer and fewer customers looking to hand theirs over. Finally, once you’ve established your relationships, it’s vital to keep them up, whether or not they’re making you money right now. Follow up with recent customers to see how they’re settling in. Distribute an email newsletter to all your clients. Send personalized notes and birthday cards. Use social media and maintain a presence online.

If you feel like you haven’t spoken to an old customer in a while, send them an email to ask how they’re doing. The gesture only takes a minute or two, and it can pay huge dividends in the long run. Each contact you make has a value, and each customer has a lifetime value. Lose contact with your prospects, leads and customers, and you’ll be squandering your greatest asset. 4. Develop a personality. It’s often said that as a salesman, you’re not just selling your product: you’re selling yourself. That’s why as a real estate agent, it’s important to develop a personality. We’re not saying you don’t have one: we’re just suggesting that you lean into it. Whether you’re a pet lover, a motorcycle enthusiast, a foodie or an online gamer, don’t hide your personality: embrace it. You’re in real estate—so, for God’s sake, be real. Your personality fosters relationships, which builds your reputation, which generates leads. You get the picture. Getting involved in the life of a community helps build your relationships , but it’s important that your involvement be consistent with who you are as a person.

Enthusiasm is difficult to fake, so if something you say or do doesn’t ring true to you, people will pick up on it. If you’re an avid carnivore, for instance, looking for leads at an ASPCA meeting probably isn’t a good idea—and in fact, it may cause both the people you meet and the people you already know to think of you as a hypocrite. Instead, you’re better off finding opportunities to broadcast yourself to people with whom you have common ground. As far as those opportunities go, some say it’s better to keep politics and religion out of business, and in many cases those people are right. But politics and religion build strong communities, and depending on where you are, getting involved can have huge benefits. At the same time, it’s important for you to decide what you’re comfortable wearing on your sleeve. Finally, we’re talking about work here, so it’s important to see personality in a professional context. In general, moderation and a sense of boundaries are keys to success. Come on too strong or get too personal in your dealings with clients, and you may end up alienating more people than you connect with.

Instead, let customers be the ones to open up to you, and they’ll often be happier for it—after all, many people enjoy talking about themselves more than anything else. 5. The best agents have endless hustle. The real estate industry has had a rough few years. Agents in many markets are still reeling from 2008′s housing fiasco. Meanwhile, agents increasingly have to contend with giant real estate publishers like Zillow and Trulia for visibility and leads. The fact of the matter is, things have changed, and as a new agent, you’ll have to accept that more than anyone. The days of plenty are over, and that means the only way to be a successful agent is to have hustle. Talk to any top producing agent about their work habits, and you’ll find he or she is an incredibly hard worker. Successful businesses don’t create themselves, and being a Realtor is no exception. There’s a direct correlation between how hard you work and how successful you will be. Still, having hustle doesn’t simply mean working twelve-hour days from Monday to Friday.

After all, working in real estate isn’t just about putting in a lot of time—it’s about putting in the right time and doing what’s necessary to close the deal. Because of this, hustle is also about being prepared to work at a moment’s notice. It’s about getting a phone call from a potential buyer at eight o’clock on a Friday night, when you’re sprawled out on the couch watching a movie, and not thinking twice about contacting your client to set up a meeting. Are we saying you should neglect your responsibility to your family or your spouse for the sake of work? Of course not. But if the benefits of working outweigh the benefits of whatever you happen to be doing when an opportunity presents itself, you need to be prepared to suck it up. If this all sounds incredibly difficult, here’s a bit of encouragement: most people, and in particular most agents, don’t work hard enough. If they did, they’d all be top producers. So don’t worry about competing with every agent on the planet. If you work hard enough, you’ll be in a class of your own. 6. Measure, analyze, and evaluate. We’ve discussed the importance of hustle in becoming a successful agent.

But no matter how hard you work, if you don’t measure your performance, you won’t know whether that labor is yielding results. This is not just a fact of real estate: it’s a fact of life. When I first started studying martial arts, I was interested in being as strong as possible. Like any seven-year-old, I figured strength equated to ability. As time passed, however, I began to observe moments where my movements were effortless and had nothing to do with strength. To a certain extent, we improve subconsciously. Through repetition, we learn how to perform a function more swiftly and more efficiently; through observation, we internalize better practices and adopt them, often without even realizing it. Through sheer muscle memory, I was able to make some strides as a martial artist. But it wasn’t until I took the time to perform the same move over and over in front of a mirror that I showed real improvement. The most significant gains come from consciously reflecting on the way we do things and actively questioning whether that’s what works best. The top quarterbacks spend hours watching film, examining their throw and looking for missed opportunities. The best teachers don’t wait for their annual evaluation to determine if they’re doing all they can for their students.

Instead, they ask themselves that question after every lesson. Similarly, as a real estate agent, you should constantly be examining and measuring your performance. You can do this in a number of ways. First and foremost, consider keeping a daily journal to record your impressions of that day’s work. Keep count of how many prospects you talked to and how those conversations went. At the end of the day, determine what you accomplished. Did you get enough done? If not, why might that be? No need to get incredibly detailed: just get into the habit of jotting down a few ideas. You’ll have time to organize them into something more coherent later. You can also learn a lot about your performance by taking a long view on your prospects. Track them from beginning to end and figure out what your pipeline looks like. Are some parts of your sales strategy working better than others? Do you tend to lose prospects at a particular stage? If so, you might need to change your approach. Finally, crunch the numbers to see the results your work is really getting you in black and white. Check your prospects against the numbers you have and the numbers you need. Getting a lot of leads, but not making a lot of sales?

You may be better off devoting more time to fewer clients. How many closings do you need to make a living? Compare your stats to that number and set goals accordingly. I’d like to say that after my brute strength revelation, I spent the next few years overhauling my martial arts technique. Alas, I still have the tendency to rely on my strength and size. This brings us to the last step in the self-evaluation process: implementation. If you’re not going to try to correct the mistakes and inefficiencies you’ve worked hard to uncover in your business practices, what’s the point of seeking them out? Start making a weekly list of skills you plan to work on or solutions you plan to try out. At the end of the week, evaluate your progress. Did you practice what you set out to practice? Did the corrections you made lead to more prospects, more sales, more success? If not, why do you think that is, and what else could you try next week? Make no mistake, self-evaluation is usually not fun, and it can add a lot of work to an already hectic schedule.

But if you’re really committed to being a successful real estate agent, you’ll find the time—and pretty soon, you’ll see the results. 7. Make peace with technology. Let us tell you what you already know: the Internet has transformed the entire real estate industry. Twenty years ago, potential real estate buyers were largely in the dark about their choices; all they had were a string of abbreviations and a grainy photograph of a property’s exterior. Real estate professionals, on the other hand, were wizards. They had a secret, mysterious knowledge of their trade, and clients could benefit from that knowledge for a price. Welcome to the twenty-first century. Today, there are no secrets. Buyers can view live video feeds of the area, read reviews of your agency , get perspectives on the neighborhood from current residents, access government stats on traffic and environmental hazards, check the seller’s asking price against trends for the surrounding area, take virtual tours of every room, even sign contracts digitally . Nevertheless, if clients now have increased access to information, agents also have increased access to potential clients. Social media and marketing technology are changing the way agents interact with their clients.

Ten years ago, Facebook didn’t exist; today, more than 80 percent of real estate professionals are using the service in their jobs. This has led not just to changes in communication, but more importantly, to changes in advertising and marketing . The Internet has come to dominate real estate marketing. That means there are increased opportunities to reach potential clients more quickly, more efficiently, and more cheaply. On the other hand, this also means there’s more pressure on agents to adopt the new tools. But agents who complain by responding that they “just don’t understand technology” are ignoring their business sense. Fads and trends become norms on the Internet for a reason: because they make life easier, they make life better, and they make people money. True, there’s a learning curve, particularly for agents who didn’t come of age with the Internet; but that’s no excuse for ignoring it. An effective real estate agent keeps current and continues to educate himself on the ways technology is being adopted and adapted to the industry. That means humbling yourself and asking people in the know, who are often younger. There are also more formal ways to educate yourself . Read books. Take classes. Go to conferences. Put in the time.

Finally, it’s important to remember that when it comes to technology, just because you have to understand it doesn’t mean you have to be an expert. You always have the option of recruiting someone else to handle your technology for you. Nevertheless, you’ll have to know enough to be sure that you’re not throwing your money away. Hiring someone to build your website will be a waste of time if what they produce is based on the demands of last year’s customers. This brings to mind a final point about technology: perhaps the biggest challenge of using it is the fact that it’s always changing. But that’s all the more reason to be active about adopting it. Don’t wait for some grand epiphany: search for knowledge. It’s part of your job. 8. Know your market. Though more real estate professionals are beginning to work internationally thanks to globalization and the ease of communication, most agents continue to work close to home. This brings us to an important and often-overlooked fact about the real estate industry—namely, that it isn’t a single industry at all, but rather a collection of local and regional markets.

Though in many ways we’re no longer limited by geography and boundaries, the real estate profession is still regulated at the state level, not the federal level. True, some of the differences in laws practices between states may seem arbitrary; others, however, exist for a good reason. But regardless of how you feel about this reality, you must accept it and plan accordingly. The dynamics of your market can have a profound effect on how you conduct your business, and with whom—and the lower to the ground you are, the more evident this becomes. To illustrate, let’s consider two very different urban rental markets: Boston and Los Angeles. In Boston, students make up a fourth of the population, and inhabit an even larger share of the city’s rentals. This means agents in Boston experiences two rushes: First from January to May, when the undergraduates start looking for a place to live, and then from May until mid-August, when graduate students and young professionals get their acceptances or job offers. The vast majority of leases run 12 months, from September to September. Off-peak leases and shorter arrangements, including month-to-month, are difficult to find and usually more expensive.

There are a few large management companies, but agents and agencies tend to dominate Boston’s real estate market; though most properties are advertised online, renters must almost always go through an agent to get to them. By contrast, Los Angeles’s rental market is characterized by flexibility. Though it has a similarly high population of students, they make up a smaller overall proportion of renters, leading to more variation in leases. Since Los Angeles is not a city governed by public transportation, most residents drive, which means that renters can be less picky about where they live in relation to where they work or learn. Whereas Boston occupies less than 90 square miles, Los Angeles counts 500 square miles within its borders. Consequently, though Los Angeles has over five times as many inhabitants, its population density is a third lower than Boston’s. That means there are fewer people competing for more properties, so it’s easier to find a decent place to live, which decreases demand for agents’ expertise. Consequently, agencies are less dominant in Los Angeles, with more property owners handling their own marketing and working directly with renters. Less competition also tends to mean fewer hoops for renters to jump through, which translates to more informal, less stringent contracts.

At the same time, as a huge hub for the entertainment industry, Los Angeles has an unusually large proportion of people looking for expensive, high-quality rentals. Unlike the typical rental market, competition in the high-end market is fierce, which means agents handle such listings almost exclusively. As these two examples show, your location as an agent has an enormous effect on how you do your job. The technologies and software that work for agents in New York and San Francisco may not be right for agents in Minneapolis or Detroit. It’s up to you to learn what aspects of your business you need to focus on and what solutions to employ in order to be responsive to your clients’ needs. 9. Learn from the best. In Part 6, we talked about learning and improving from reflecting on and measuring your own performance. One of your greatest assets as a real estate agent is self-reliance. But you should still look elsewhere for guidance and support, especially if you’re new to the game. Let’s get philosophical for a second here. We live in a subjective world. Everything you experience is colored by the unique flavor of your consciousness. This means that we all see the world differently, but it also means we all see ourselves differently.

That goes for your reflection in the mirror as well as your sense of your abilities. This has major implications for your work as a real estate agent. Confidence is an important quality in a salesman; but too much confidence can alienate your prospects—and if there’s a truth about confidence, it’s that the person who has too much doesn’t know it. The only way to solve this problem is to “average” your perspective as an agent with those of the agents around you—and the top performers are the ones who have done this work for themselves. Start by building and maintaining your relationships with your fellow agents and brokers, the people you see every day. You’ll not only strengthen the network of contacts you need to be an effective salesman—you’ll also have access to their hard-earned wisdom. Listen to horror stories as well as their success stories. Find time to ask questions. If an experienced agent doesn’t have time to help you during work hours, offer to buy him or her a beer afterwards. Worried about your rapport with prospects? Have someone whose opinion you trust listen to one of your sales calls. He or she may be able to point out a tic or mistake that you’re unable to see. Not getting the response you want from your advertising?

Get feedback from someone who has it figured out. Next, you should widen your focus. Step outside your office and find out which agents are the best and/or most visible in your community or region. Do your research. What are they doing that others aren’t? How do they market themselves? What tools do they use? Look at their numbers. How much business are they doing, and where are they doing it? You may say that because agents are independent contractors, they won’t be ready to divulge their sales secrets. True, it’s not in their best interest to tell you everything. But if there’s one thing people in real estate profession—in any profession, really—love, it’s being viewed as an expert. By consulting a peer, you’re telling him that he is worth consulting. You’re validating his years of hard work. Plus, the people you’ll be asking for help are already successful at what they do. That doesn’t mean they’ll give up their edge completely, but it does mean they can afford to help the little guy. In truth, the secret that most people are keeping is that they don’t really know what they’re doing. If they have real wisdom, they’ll have no problem sharing some of it with you.

10. Choose your broker wisely. As a realtor, you have both added freedom and added responsibility. Your business is your business, but it’s your business. Still, working for yourself doesn’t mean working alone. Unless you choose to earn an additional broker’s license and work completely independently, you’ll almost certainly be working under a broker at an agency. That being said, just because you can hang your license anywhere doesn’t mean you should. Before committing to a broker, you’ll want to make sure you have the right fit. Start by doing some research on the company’s earnings. Clearly, it’s important that your agency be profitable—but how successful are they in your niche? If you find you work primarily with buyers, an agency made up of seller’s agents probably won’t help you; if you’re most comfortable selling to middle-class families, an agency with primarily high-end listings may not be the right place. In choosing a broker, as in cultivating your personal relationships, visibility and reputation are also crucial. If you’re going to tie yourself to an agency, you want to make sure they’re going to help you get noticed and gain clients’ trust, particularly when you don’t have many contacts of your own.

The most profitable agency in your region may have a reputation for being full of shysters and snake-oil salesmen; a big, international franchise may sound like the ticket, but people your area may be more comfortable and more experienced in dealing with local, family-owned establishments. Furthermore, there’s a reason plenty of real estate brokers don’t opt into a major chain: they’re expensive. Franchises can charge local thousands of dollars as an initiation fee. They can also charge renewal fees and get additional income by marking up “business & promotional items.” Plus, most franchises take an additional percentage of every commission sellers pay. All of these costs will affect your bottom line as an agent. Additionally, depending on where you are, a big name may not amount to much at all. That is, RE/MAX may have offices in 82 countries, but if everyone in a twenty-mile radius knows “Big” Jim Sullivan at Sullivan Realty, you’d probably be better off with him. Finally, it’s important to get a sense of the nuts and bolts of working at an agency. The best way to do this is by talking to other agents. Try to meet with as many as you can from the agencies you’re considering.

Ask about commission splits, technology, administrative support, and advertising. Try to get a sense of the culture there. Is the lead broker an egomaniac with a temper? Is he interested in expanding the business, or apathetic? Is the dynamic among agents competitive or collaborative? How does this match up with your philosophy? Align yourself with the agency that is going to support your success. Conclusion Hopefully, the tips we’ve given you will help you get off to a strong start. But as any seasoned veteran will tell you, this is by no means an exhaustive account of the potential challenges you’ll face as a real estate agent. It may be a while before you start closing deals regularly, and you can be sure you’ll have your share of failures and awkward or embarrassing moments. But don’t get discouraged. Like many jobs that require a high degree of social interaction, real estate is best learned by doing, by interacting with as many leads, clients, agents, and brokers as possible. So get to work!

For Saving Energy, Like Real Estate, The Three Most Important Things Are Location, Location and Location : TreeHugger For Saving Energy, Like Real Estate, The Three Most Important Things Are Location, Location and Location Union Square, New York, Image Credit Lloyd Alter After lecturing on "deep green design", (I am adjunct Professor at Ryerson School of Interior Design ) Passivhaus and the fancy gizmo technologies of green building, one of my students said "but not everyone can afford this! How are normal working people going to live?" A couple of years ago, that would have been a difficult question to answer. But lately, the answer had become a lot clearer: We don't all have to drive LEAFS and Volts and live in Passivhauses . In fact, it might even be counterproductive. Now, more and more tools and studies are making it very clear that just like in real estate, when it comes to energy consumption and climate change, the three most important things to consider are location, location and location. Image Credit: UNEP. Click to enlarge. This is not a new idea to TreeHugger readers; we have been talking about it for years.

David Owen wrote about it in the New Yorker in 2004 and turned it into a book last year. But we mostly looked at large cities, the Hong Kong vs Houston equation shown on this chart from UNEP. In fact, while dense urban cities like New York and London do well, smaller towns and cities turn out to be rather efficient as well. The critical factor is, in my opinion, not necessarily just density; Australian cities and Toronto are not that dense, and yet they use way less energy per capita than Phoenix or Denver. The key indicator is what I will call Urbanity, a mix of transit-oriented development, walkability, and historicity. But is there any research to back this up? Transportation Energy Intensity Image Credit: Building Green. Click to enlarge. In 2007, Alex Wilson of BuildingGreen.com applied the term Transportation Energy Intensity to buildings. "Transportation energy intensity" is a metric that has long been used to measure such things as how efficiently freight is transported. We're proposing it here as a metric of building performance. The transportation energy intensity of a building is the amount of energy associated with getting people to and from that building, whether they are commuters, shoppers, vendors, or homeowners.

The transportation energy intensity of buildings has a lot to do with location. An urban office building that workers can reach by public transit or a hardware store in a dense town center will likely have a significantly lower transportation energy intensity than a suburban office park or a retail establishment in a suburban strip mall. Alex concluded that it takes about 30% more energy for people to get to buildings than the buildings actually use. If you take a so-called green building in the suburbs, the data are even more shocking. Even more significantly, if we make the same comparison using a new office building that is built according to modern energy codes (ASHRAE 90.1-2004), we find that the transportation energy use is nearly 2.4 times as great as the direct energy use of the building! It was an early glimpse of the fact that perhaps we are measuring the wrong things. Urban Archetypes Click image to enlarge In 2009, Natural Resources Canada released the results of the Urban Archetypes Project . It looked at thirty-one neighbourhoods in eight communities across Canada. Communities of different sizes and geographical regions were engaged so that a range of climates, energy sources, and energy efficiency issues could be represented.

Neighbourhoods were selected based on characteristics such as housing type, age of the development, and for being of interest to the municipality in comparing energy consumption. Data collected from each neighbourhood included land use and physical infrastructure data from the municipality and electricity, natural gas, and oil data from the utilities. Interviews with local residents were also conducted. click image to enlarge I found the results of this report staggering; in Ottawa, for example the Kirkwood area, full of leaky 50s and 60s walkups, blew everyone else away, using the least amount of energy per capita. But of what I think is greater significance, is the ratio of transportation energy, the red bars, to housing energy, the orange. The people living in the big historic houses in downtown areas are using very little gasoline. Admittedly Ottawa is not a typical city; it is the nation's capital and the government buildings are pretty well concentrated, and there are lots of alternatives among biking, walking, transit, even skating to work. But the results of the study were consistent across the country: people living in smaller units downtown used significantly less energy than those in the suburbs.

People living in big drafty historic 19th century houses used less energy overall than people in the suburbs. Abogo and the Center for Neighborhood Technology Abogo view of downtown chicago. Green is walkable and energy-efficient. Abogo is a google maps mashup, a Walkscore on steroids. It adds census and other data to calculate the average energy use for transportation. Abogo shows you how transportation impacts the affordability and sustainability of where you live. With Abogo, you can discover the costs of where you live now, or where you might want to live. Abogo measures the money an average household from your region living in your neighborhood would spend getting around, including car ownership, car use, and transit use. It also tells you what the CO2 generated by this car use would be. It uses data from the Center for Neighborhood Technology's Housing + Transportation Affordability Index and clearly shows how important transportation is, how where you live is more important than what you live in. It only works in the USA, so I used the address of my family when I was born in Chicago. It is pretty green and urban.

Abogo view of exurban community I first learned of Abogo from Kaid Benfield's devastating post last August, What does 'net zero' mean? Sprawl by another name? , where he made it perfectly clear that LEED or no LEED, this development outside of Chicago was not green development but exurban sprawl. Kaid writes: I ran Prairie Ridge's location through Abogo, too: average transportation costs per household are 24 percent higher than the regional average, and carbon emissions from transportation are nearly twice the regional average. How green does that sound? What might happen to the 'net zero' claim if the 1.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted every month by households in the Prairie Ridge location - and the energy consumption they represent - were factored into the equation? And what about the claimed energy cost savings, if you're shelling out $200 more each month for transportation than the average household in your metro region? More and more, the disconnect between green building and location is becoming obvious. I have, by this time, pretty much stopped showing so-called green suburban houses and second homes, wondering if they are relevant at all. Recommendations for my Student Some of my students.

Which takes us back to the question I was trying to answer, "How are normal working people going to live?" I suggest that she try to maximize Urbanity: Live in walkable, transit oriented communities, whether large cities or small towns. Get a bike. You don't have to go all Franke and get rid of your car, they are fun on weekends. But don't use it for everything. Live in multifamily, multi-unit buildings, or on top of the store on main street, where you share your walls with others. Look for old buildings and old neighborhoods, built to be loveable, durable, flexible and frugal. High ceilings and big windows and natural ventilation keep you cool, even if you pay a bit more to keep warm. Do the simple, cheap, low hanging fruit things that cost either nothing or very little. The Rocky Mountain Institute figured this out ten years ago; I wish they would update their fabulous bang-for-the-buck Cool Citizens Guide.

Real Estate on Duck Key in the Florida Keys $2,250,000 - 438 Harbour Drive - open water - 4BR/5BA $ - - - - 437 Harbour Drive - open water - 3BR/3BA $1,725,000 - 432 Harbor Drive - 4BR/3.5BA $1,495,000 - 404 Harbor Drive - 2 BR/2BA $1,399,000 - 423 Harbor Drive - 4BR/3BA Location Finder What are the three most important things to consider when in investing in real estate? Answer: Location, Location, Location Duck Key is the right location! To help you find your way around Duck Key you can use the Yahoo Map and street finder at the foot of this page. Real Estate and the Allure of Island Living For many people owning a home in the Florida Keys helps satisfy fantasies of how good life can be.

Buyers who purchase a home for full-time living or establish a vacation home which they will move to later upon retirement are drawn by a simple alluring premise - the warm weather, the recreation, the Caribbean scenery - life is better on an island in the tropical Florida Keys. Island Living The growing popularity of a recreational lifestyle has sparked a yearning for home ownership near the water, as evidenced by the fact that the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts have become a magnet for new home owners . There is nothing like island living, and when it comes to choosing island real estate Duck Key in the Florida Keys is the place to be. Less than 90 miles north of the Tropic of Cancer, Duck Key is in the same latitude as the northern Hawaiian Islands. Living on an island such as Duck Key offers less congestion, less crime and pollution, better weather and scenery and a better way of life. Duck Key also enjoy a number of protections from over development. Thanks to building permit limitations, the island's small size and unique features, zoning, and deed restrictions Duck Key will not become a community that begins to look and feel like every other place.

Real Estate on Duck Key The romantic lure of tropical Duck Key promises the essence of romance: the chance to live on an exquisite bit of earth encircled by the sea. Whether it be ownership of a second home or primary home for work or retirement, life is better on a tropical island with miles of ocean surrounding you. The responsibilities of work and life's worries are lessened by delicious decisions of tropical island life: whether to boat, kayak, fish or go for a swim, to bike or walk or skip exertion altogether and relax under the shade of palm trees and hibiscus, drinking margaritas. Life on Duck Key is filled with such simple pleasures and exquisite moments. Living and home ownership is especially good on Duck Key. Duck Key has warm Gulf stream waters and free flowing canals which are cleansed with the change of tides. Residents enjoy a perpetually balmy tropical climate, Caribbean breezes, the sound of rustling palm trees and night air filled with the scent of evening jasmine. Duck Key living not only meets recreational lifestyle expectations, but what helps assure buyers will love home ownership on Duck Key are the island's friendly people .

Residents not only enjoy great peace and comfort in their home by being surrounded by pleasant things, a tropical climate and nice neighbors but have the added protection provided by the Duck Key Security District . Real Estate - Homes for Sale on Residential islands Duck Key is divided into five small islands, four that are zoned residential and one that is zoned commercial. The four residential islands are Yacht Club Island, Center Island, Plantation Island, and Harbour Island. About 375 homes are located on the residential islands. Most of these homes are protected by deed restrictions. The commercially zoned island, Indies Island, has waterfront villa properties for sale which are part of Hawk's Cay Village. Also located on Indies Island are several small condominiums which have units for sale from time to time. Recent Property Sales also Provided Homes in the Florida Keys continue to increase in value because the Keys offers a climate which affords year round recreational pursuits and outdoor activity. There is also a limitation on available land on which to build as well as Rate of Growth Ordinances which limit building of new homes to less than 200 units a year. Supply and demand has increased prices.

Homes which have sold recently are also shown so that potential buyers may access the market value of properties currently on sale and to gauge the validity of the asking price in much the same way an appraiser does. Appraisers generally use comparable properties to establish the market value in reporting to mortgage lenders. To get a mortgage the buyer and the property must qualify with the lender. By comparing recent sales a lender can confirm that the purported value of a property is accurate. Prices in 2003 Realtors report that the average sales price for a home in the Middle Keys increased by about 31% over 2002 prices. In general prices for inland homes on Duck Key during 2003 averaged around $500,000. Prices for maintained canal front homes averaged around $850,000. Open water Homes averaged $1,770,000. Water front lots averaged around $650,000. And inland lots not on the water sold on average for around $64,000. Prices in 2005 Prices in 2004 and 2005 appreciated as much as 3 % a month.

Prices for inland lots on Center island are now averaging over $200,000 on Duck Key. In May of 2004 the asking price on a cleared two lot parcel (inland) with a Rogo permit was $300,000. Sale prices for inland homes on Duck Key during 2005 ranged from around $675,000 tp $925,000. Prices for maintained canal front homes ranges from $1,400,000 to $2,200,000. In late 2005, two homes were put up for sale on Yacht Club Island, one canal front, the other facing on Yacht Club Harbor and listed at $4,000,000 and $4,300,000 respectively. Sale prices on open water front homes are trending upward to $3,500,000. One oceanfront home with multiple lots was listed at $6,000,000.

Water front lots now on the market start at $1,200,000 and climb upward to $2,000,000 for estate lots facing on the ocean. Map of Duck Key and general location of Homes for Sale - Book mark this page, then view the available homes by clicking on the links in the Real Estate Navigation Index on the left. Write down the address of the home and use the Yahoo Map Location finder below. Realty Logo Design - Logos for Real Estate Agents & Brokers Submit Real Estate Logo Design Explained When it comes to real estate, it is of the utmost importance to have the best portfolio possible. It is also vital to be organized, friendly and trustworthy. Your real estate agent logo design should also represent these values. It is also important that your real estate logo displays the quality, dynamics and a description of the service you provide.

If you ask a real estate agent, “What are the three most important things for a property?” There’s a good chance you’d be met with the age-old saying, “location, location, location.” If, however, you were to ask that same agent, “What are the three most important things for a real estate logo?” the answer would probably be something like, “trustworthiness, friendliness, and organization.” While this response is not as catchy as the first, it provides insight into the type of image you want your design to convey. But how do you get your logo to tell the right story about your company? After all, it’s so small and simple, how can your design make you seem trustworthy and organized? According to Jacob Cass’s article, Vital Tips for Effective Logo Design, “A good logo is distinctive, appropriate, practical, graphic and simple in form.” Let’s break that down and explore what it means for real estate brands. Be Distinctive Paul Rand, one of the top designers in the world, said, “a logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign.

A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies.” This is why being distinctive is so important: it separates you from your competitors in the minds of your potential clients. Unfortunately, being distinctive is also the most challenging aspect of logo creation in a specific field because everyone will be using the same types of images. Real estate design ideas frequently revolve around a house, or some aspect of a house, such as a door or window. This can be good, for reasons we will discuss in a moment, but if your design needs to identify your company it can also be problematic. Be Appropriate On the other hand, being appropriate means your clients must recognize you as a realtor right away, which often means using a traditional graphic. This does not take precedence over being distinctive, rather, you need to balance these two competing forces to create a great logo. Ideally, you want to find a unique and distinctive twist on a traditional theme, that way you get the best of both worlds. Being appropriate is also the section where the answer to the question: how can logo inspire trust? is explored. At least part of the answer is color, fonts, and working within the established tradition of a field.

According to the Psychological Properties of Colors, blue inspires trust while red makes us feel powerful. This is why you see so many realtor logos include blue or red. As for fonts, according to Benedict Carey’s New York Times article: Come On! I Thought I Knew That!, font size doesn’t help people remember what they’ve read but font style does. Apparently, if the font is unfamiliar and difficult to read people remember it better. That does make some sense because if you went through all the trouble of deciphering what an unfamiliar and hard to read font actually said, you would probably remember it. On the other hand, you want people to read and understand it from a distance. So once again, you must find balance. Be Practical Another aspect to consider is long-term cost. In the last section we learned about the power of color and font. Reading this, you may have thought, “Great! all I have to do is create a red and blue logo with strange semi-illegible font and I’ll be set!

My clients will trust us, remember our name, and feel powerful, what could be better?” If something like this ran through your mind, take just one moment to pause and consider that the more colors you use in your design, the more it will cost in the long-term. Printing two colors is almost always more expensive than printing just one, and you’re going to print your logo many, many times. Another aspect of being practical is making sure your logo works at any size. Good logo designs are effective for both business cards and billboards. To this end, make sure you use vector format. Vector format means that it’s designed in lines instead of pixels, which allows the design to adapt to any size you need without becoming blurry or distorted. Be Graphic A picture is worth a thousand words, which is good because you don’t have a thousand words to make a favorable impression on your potential clients, you have about ten seconds. We’ve talked a lot about color in this article, and color is important, but ideally, it should work without color. In fact, many graphic designers start out in black and white so the color doesn’t distract them from the shapes in the image and then add color later. Let’s look at an example.

Think about the Nike Swoop. It doesn’t matter if there’s color, or a caption, or anything else. You see the swoop and you know we’re talking about Nike. That’s the kind of immediate recognition that a well-designed graphic can generate. Backed up by a few hundred million dollars in advertising of course helps. Be Simple You should also make sure that the graphic is simple. Again, think about the Nike Swoosh or McDonald’s Golden Arches, both are extremely simple and perfect examples of great design. Being simple will help your logo be adaptable. When you make it adaptable and practical it will be recognizable. Essentially, being simple ties all the principles of design together. Because logos are small and simple they seem like they should be easy to create. However, they actually involve an enormous amount of time and creative energy. Logos are a little like writing poetry because they must convey a lot of information in a short time. They must also stand the test of time, balance being distinctive with being appropriate, being practical with being graphic, and still convey the message you want it to convey to your clients simply. That’s why it’s so important to get professional help, because creating a logo that will last is worth it.

Question: What, according to cliche, are the 3 most important things in real estate?
Answer: Location, Location, Location