Social Marketing

How do we develop relationships today? Since Bowling Alone began the discussion, we appear to have become even more isolated from each other in person. Yet, we also appear to be more connected than ever.

I go to a conference in Orlando while sitting on my couch, throwing questions up on the screen to the moderator, while comments fly from others doing the same thing around the country. Then I click over to my tweetdeck to get 140 character live blogging synopsis of the presentations.

While watching the Packer game, I check on my FaceBook page and learn an old classmate of mine just got engaged. When I write on their wall another old friend pops up asking for friend status. I look away from the game for a minute and miss a really ugly injury to a Vikings player. The commentators say it is so bad they won't show the video. I turn again to my tweetdeck and send out a request for an answer. Within a minute comes a response from a guy in Fond du Lac that I have chatted with a couple of times with an answer.

Are any of these relationships? If not, why not?

I write blog posts in several places. People comment, sometimes LOUDLY, and I feel I know every one of them. Even if I haven't broken bread or had a beer with them, I still have a connection. I would like some time to meet everyone I chat with on line, but for now, knowing I am talking with folks and sharing stories, to me is a relationship.

Pictures and more pictures

In case you are curious about 1249 Merritt, here are some pictures for you.

My first listing

I have my first listing, okay it is my house, but I think it counts (my broker said yes). As it is my first listing, I have been experimenting with many ways to market it. I have no preconceptions of what is good or bad when it comes to home marketing so I will try pretty much anything.

Of course I went with the few musts: Realtor.com, Balloonhomes.com, my site and the MLS. To not do these would be malpractice. But what after that?

The first Sunday after I listed it, we held an open house. To drive folks to the listing I mailed out 160 invitations to the neighbors, friends and folks I thought would be great advocates. I also put an open house ad in The Oshkosh Northwestern's Sunday homes addition. During the two hour open house 33 separate "buyers" attended. This does not include identifiable neighbors and friends. I think this was a pretty good attendance.

The next week I expanded my reach and added a Facebook page for the house. I also scheduled another open house for that Sunday, but no invitations. On the Facebook page I sent out invitations to all my Oshkosh friends alerting to the open house event. Another ad ran in the Northwestern. A dear friend and colleague of mine, Kris Villars, hosted the open house this time. She reported 15 additional buyers came through, including one who saw the house on Facebook.

I also purchased a domain for the house and gave it its own website: http://www.1249MerrittAve.com. I added more pictures to Realtor.com and twittered about the house. I sent out fliers to other real estate agents who had buyers looking for houses like mine. I got slapped for doing that. Apparently an agent in Oshkosh took offense and requested the MLS board make me stop mailing new listing fliers. Don't understand that one.

So, how is it going? There is a lot of interest, phone calls, emails, showings, but no offers, yet. I am open to all ideas for further marketing options. I am going to post to Craigslist and will continue to mail out fliers to targeted parties.

When your first listing is your own house, you can learn a lot and try anything, your client won't mind.

Near East on Council Agenda Tonight

It may come down to tonight! Will the promises made to the residents of the Near East Neighborhoods be kept or will the council again let down another neighborhood, another home owner, another family?
Two years ago the Common Council told the residents of this wonderful inner core community that if they invested in their properties, took care of each other and worked with city officials to help stabilize this neighborhood, the city in turn would crack down on crime, vacant landlords and others who degrade the area with neglect and disrespect. Now the council is threatening to take away these protections and turn it into a political football, subject to the whims of each council member, none of which actually live in the neighborhood.
At the last meeting it was obvious who was leaning on the council and bending their ear. It was not the home owners who have poured their life savings into their homes and properties, no it was landlords. One council member even parroted the landlord association talking points when explaining support for all the poor people who can't afford to live in a well kept up and safe neighborhood. I would like an explanation of how a "poor" person who puts $50,000 of their extremely hard earned money into buying a home is less worthy than the owners of a $500,000 home.
If you care about this issue, if you care about our neighborhoods, if you care about your own neighborhood, if you are tired of absentee folks having more say about your neighborhood than you do, then PLEASE attend this meeting and say so.
It also never hurts to call each council member ahead of the meeting. It is amazing how the last person/group to whisper in their ear gets their vote.

September Oshkosh Housing Report - A Little Late

The average sold price for a home in the city of Oshkosh in September was $140,613. It sold for 94.8% of its listed price and spent 179 days on the market. This was an increase of 47 days on the market from 132 days in August. In 2007 a house sold in Oshkosh for an average price of $144,551, sold for 93.9 of its list price and spent 165 days on the market.

The total number of residential sales in the city for September was 88, a drop of 12 houses sold from September of 2007. A monthly change from 117 homes sold in August.

Homes selling under $100,000 made up 34% of the homes sold in September, with homes selling between $100,000 and $200,000 making up 50%. Homes selling over $200,000 made up 16% of all residential sold.

Of the 114 homes sold in September 42% had 3 bedrooms and 48% had 2 bathrooms.

Into October, the city of Oshkosh had 1125 homes currently for sale. That number is down from the 1197 homes in inventory at the beginning of September and an inventory of 1227 homes listed at the beginning of October 2007.

Analysis:

Year over end Oshkosh is holding its own. Our home prices are only down .9% on average from September 2007, $140,613 vs. $144,551. Days on market increased by 14 but the home sold for a higher percentage listing price.

Our inventory of homes for sale continues to drop significantly. The 102 fewer homes on the market from last year is making the options for home buyers smaller. A home seller might see this drop as a great opportunity to take advantage of less competition.

Still, the tight credit market is a primary concern for both sellers and buyers. There are great mortgage programs available for all price ranges. Down payments still run the gamut as well. First time buyers can qualify for a 3.5% down programs, but you need pretty good credit to get a low interest rate.

F.I.C.O. scores of 750 are now the norm for the best rates. This DOES NOT mean you can't get a loan, it just may cost a little more. When things get better, and frankly they have to sometime, you can refinance into a lower rate.

Life goes on and changes continue. If you need to buy a house because you need more space or less space is now better, don't try to game the housing market. If now is your time, go for it.

Long Silence

The last few weeks have been just about the longest of my life.

Many know we have been working to put our house on the market. November 15th the Bishop in Green Bay will make a decision as to whether we can buy St. John's on South Park. We put in an offer the middle of August and have been waiting for an answer ever since. As the magic moment gets closer, it seemed a good time to actually try to sell our house.

The last month we have been making great progress at getting all those little things finished, the ones you told yourself you would get to a few years ago. The progress was slow, but most everything was getting done on schedule. Roofers arrived and began their very messy work, trim painting was finally finished and porch floor refinished.

Then two weeks ago, while at a company meeting in Milwaukee, my mom called to tell me her doctor had just diagnosed her with ovarian cancer. Shock. She had been feeling pretty lousy since March with different medical direction from heart to lung. However her abdomen and stomach were grossly distended.

That day the invitations to our first open house went out. Two hours before the diagnosis. There was no way we could cancel. Open House day was set for Sunday, Oct. 19th.

On the 17th, Thursday my mom was put in the hospital after two very bad days. No medical professional seemed to have an answer as to what was going on. In the afternoon her primary physician sounded worse than grim. There was talk of her not leaving the hospital. The next 72 hours are a sleep deprivation blur.

I know we finished several projects. I know we cleaned the house top to bottom. I know I showed five houses Friday afternoon and I know I spent time at the hospital. Sleep was limited to a few hours a night.

Sunday morning began at 5 a.m. with last minute cleaning, sanding, painting and general readying for the open. I also had a consult with the three physicians over seeing mom's care. By 10:30 a.m. they had decided a eureka moment, she would live and get out of the hospital in a few days. The cancer, not so much of a bother, just a little out patient surgery in a couple weeks.

At noon we opened our doors to all. Two hours later 33 different buyers had come and gone. Whew. It wasn't a disaster.

For all you home sellers out there, I have great empathy. It is hard and scary work.

Mom did return home on Tuesday. She is not well, but we are getting there.

So blogging with more regularity will return and I will start with a market update.

My Open House Sunday 10/19 12-2

Blog posting and pretty much everything else in my life has been on hold as I prepare for the listing of my own home this week. If you have ever sold a home you know what I am going through. All those little things you promised yourself you would get to eventually, now have a deadline.
The sign is now in the front yard and the listing paperwork is heading to my office. At some point today I will have an multiple listing service (mls) number so every one will know it is For Sale.



This Sunday will be the big reveal. Everyone is invited to stop by and see the final product. We will be open this sunday, 10/19, from 12 to 2. Stick your head in and say hello. Our address is 1249 Merritt Ave., right across from the tennis courts in Menominee Park.

The Day of Dragons

A perfect day for dragons.
These are a few photos I took this afternoon. More will be posted tomorrow.









































Who won? I have no idea.

Oshkosh Housing Market for August 2008

The average sold price for a home in the city of Oshkosh in August was $133,098. It sold for 95.8% of its listed price and spent 135 days on the market. This was a reduction of 25 days on the market from 160 days in July. The total number of residential sales in the city for August was 114 a drop of 56 houses sold from August of 2007.

Homes selling under $100,000 made up 33.08% of the homes sold in August, with homes selling between $100,000 and $200,000 making up 47..05%. Homes selling over $200,000 made up 18.01% of all residential sold.

Of the 114 homes sold in August 60% had 3 bedrooms and 55% had 1 bathroom.

Looking ahead into September, the city of Oshkosh had 1176 homes currently for sale. That number is down from the 1237 homes in inventory at the beginning of August and an inventory decrease of 72 homes listed in September of 2007.

Analysis:

The great news in this report is the large drop in the number of days homes are sitting on the market before selling. We carved off 25 days while holding on to 95.8% of list price. Our inventory is still down which might account for the drop in days on market, the fewer properties available the lower the days on market, maybe.

Each month we are seeing fewer homes being listed and a drop of 72 listings over last year is large. Perhaps many home owners are just holding on for the market to turn around and prices to increase again. The concern over this plan is just how fast or even if the market will rebound. We are lucky in Oshkosh to have not seen a real boom and are not now suffering from a bust, but we do seem to have been stricken with concern.

Our real concern should be credit constriction. The real worry on main street is loan denial. Many average credit buyers are not getting a loan than just a month ago would have been no problem. Until the credit squeeze is over the odds of a rise in inventory and sales are dim.

Why I left politics and became a Real Estate Agent

Seven years ago today I left politics, a career that started when I was 18 years old in the summer of 1981 as the volunteer director for Jack Watson, a candidate for the Governor of Georgia.

For more than 20 years I served many candidates in many positions, from the state house to the White House. The one commonality among all the candidates I chose to support was their long term vision and plans. None of them was looking for the immediate gratification answers. They looked ahead ten, twenty, fifty years to grapple with how to best lay the ground work for where we as a nation needed to be then.

How would the 21st century economy be different, what would be required of our military, our intelligence, what would be the new vital industries, how would we be effecting our environment, our water, air, food supply, how could we become energy independent, what would the challenges be in the year 2000, what would be the threats?

Just by asking the questions, the candidates I worked for looked beyond the politics of that moment and the easy platitudes that accompanied the perpetual campaign. I was proud to be a "flack, an op" or the other pejoratives that now accompany my old profession. I am still proud of the candidates I worked for and their battles in office and out to persuade other elected officials to plan long term.

On September 11, 2001 a knot formed in my stomach and remains there today. I know the candidates I worked hard for and believed in could, did and would make a difference if they were in office. I know the candidates I did not work for could, did and would make a difference now they are in office. However, the saddest part to me and why I knew I could no longer participate in my chosen career is that I also know that candidates I didn't work for, but did support also could, did and would make a difference. I was angry and so disappointed in the careless way they had thrown away twenty years of opportunity that would have PREVENTED what happened that day.

In the following seven years I continue to be angry and disappointed at what has followed. I am glad of my decision to leave the profession but I still look back.

In the subsequent years I joined the the corporate side of politics working on NIMBY issues which drove my interest in returning to my home and my looking inward to my own life and community. As I became more involved in my neighborhood I noticed a troubling trend of denigration towards Oshkosh's downtown communities. Our homes, schools and businesses were/are treated as less than.

This was a natural progression to my becoming a Realtor, a promoter of our downtown, our neighborhoods and our beautiful older homes.

There is still a knot in my stomach and it has a name, Osama Bin Laden. I still ask where is he and why has he not be caught? There is no excuse.