…through an agent's tummy! At least that's what it seems like sometimes.

The weekly sales meeting is a lively event that I look forward to at our brokerage.
Each week we get quick synopsis of what's happening in the local Real Estate market. And near the end, it's pop-up time where anyone can announce their listing and see how many nods of approval it generates.

The best is saved for last though. This is where agents announce Broker Open Houses, or "Broker's Open" for short.

Now, a Broker's open differs from a normal Open House in quite a few ways. Not the least of which is it's effectiveness in selling the home. Although it generates leads for an agent, and makes the homeowner feel happy, regular open houses rarely sell a home. But a Broker's Open is particularly valuable in getting agents to place a home at the top of their list for their prospective buyers.

The truth is, once the agent has physically seen a nicely staged house he or she is more apt to match the home with one of their clients. It really works well for homes that have unique features that wouldn't normally show up on simple listing data.

The trick though is getting a large number of agents to make it a stop on their weekly tour of homes. This is also where the fun starts. Agents get flyers, emails, postcards and every incentive imaginable to come to these things. Home Depot cards, Starbucks cards, Gas cards are all touted as giveaways to lure an agent to a broker's open.

But by far the greatest attraction is FOOD. Lots of food. Gourmet food. Catered food, Seafood, Bar-B-Q food, breakfast, lunch, dinner you name it, it's offered. I've even heard of Filet Mignon and Lobster skewers being served at some of the high-end showings. Some agents even schedule their week around what's on the menu.

Sounds funny, but like I said, it works. So as the real estate market continues to cool it might be a good time to heat up the grill and ask your agent about their culinary skills.

Submitted by Steve Hurley

www.Tacondo.com

Seattle radio station KUOW 94.9 hosted a program last week about real estate agents. One of the guests on the internet broadcast called, The Conversation, was Lennox Scott, of John L Scott fortune and fame.

One of the things Mr. Scott talked about was the supply of homes for sale in our area compared to the rest of the nation.

In the world of real estate supply & demand, having a gazillion homes available is not a pretty picture for sellers. When you go to sell your home, a smaller "inventory" of houses is more desirable because it generally means your house will sell faster and perhaps for a better price.

Everybody likes it when houses sell fast. Although most of them won't admit it, even buyers like a swift market because it adds to the "thrill of the hunt". And if you manage to snag a bargain from the jaws of a competing buyer, then heck, it's almost as fun as winning that auction on ebay!

Anyway, the JL man tossed out some of those home inventory numbers. He said the National average is currently 7.3 months. Normally that number floats around 5 to 6 months. By this you can see there are more houses on the market than normal and it's gonna take a little longer to sell 'em (assuming the pool of buyers stays the same).

But I wondered, is what's happening on a national scale also happening in our neck of the woods? I pawed around in that MLS report again and found this:

The numbers for Pierce County, with a 3.6 month supply of homes on the market, are MUCH lower than the national average, (although they are higher than they were last year at this time). That tells me that our local housing market, despite a little slowing, is still putting out some heat and remains strong. So there's your good news for today.

Submitted by Steve Hurley

www.Tacondo.com (shhhhhh… it's still a secret)