CityBurb.com’s Boise, Eagle and Meridian Homes and Real Estate Blog

Green, environmentally friendly, eco-conscious , biodegradable, natural, carbon offsetting, organic, hybrid, sustainable and recycled. We’ve been hearing a lot of these terms lately, but how do you distinguish the good green from the bad?

Well, in real estate it’s easy. Just look for a Certified EcoBroker. Actually, it’s even easier than that…just call me.

LOCAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL CERTIFIED TO ADDRESS AND ENCOURAGE THE BENEFITS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND GREEN FEATURES IN HOMES

Boise, Idaho – August 7, 2008 — Alfie La Peter, of CityBurb.com Real Estate in Boise has earned the EcoBroker Certified® designation, having successfully completed a unique and informative training program on the energy and environmental issues that affect real estate transactions. Alfie joins the movement of professionals pushing the real estate market toward energy-efficient, sustainable, and healthier design/features in homes and buildings. The “performance home” movement is getting a boost thanks to this type of high quality real estate professional earning the EcoBroker designation. EcoBrokers®, like Alfie, throughout the country are forging this market and creating competitive advantages for their customers. With national surveys indicating that 80% of consumers consider themselves “green-minded,” real estate professionals with the EcoBroker designation are in a better position to serve the real estate consumer. “I’m always looking for the best ways to offer my clients the best value. My EcoBroker training helps me ensure customer satisfaction, my number one priority,” Alfie explains. “From windows to moisture control to energy savings, I now have more resources at my disposal to help my buyers and sellers make better real estate decisions. The EcoBroker designation doesn’t make me an energy and environmental expert, but it allows me to better understand the issues and to convey this understanding to my buyers and sellers.”

EcoBroker International’s education and designation program is designed exclusively for real estate professionals who care about the environment and want to help their clients benefit from the energy-efficiency, “green,” and healthier features of homes and buildings. EcoBroker provides a complete curriculum of energy and environmental training to licensed real estate agents. Real estate professionals must complete the extensive EcoBroker curriculum and training and fulfill additional program requirements to become Certified EcoBrokers®. “Alfie La Peter is an example of the quality real estate professional the EcoBroker designation continues to attract,” explains EcoBroker International’s CEO, Dr. John Beldock. “These real estate professionals are not only distinguishing themselves in a competitive market place, but they are really giving back to the community in very constructive and meaningful ways. Boise needs more contributors like Alfie. The planet and our grandchildren need them too,” Dr. Beldock said.

From his Boise office, Alfie explains, “With EcoBroker® training, I have broadened the range of real estate opportunities I offer my clients. Whether the transaction involves environmental assessment and mitigation (mold, radon, etc.) or the opportunity to reduce utility bills, I’m in a position to help. The real estate industry is changing, and to best serve my clients I need to understand the newest designs, technologies, and environmental issues. My EcoBroker designation helps me stay ahead of the game.”

Alfie earned his EcoBroker Certified® designation in August and is wasting no time in putting the tools and additional expertise to work. Alfie has already found that being a Certified EcoBroker® creates added value and customer satisfaction that sets him apart from other agents. For example, at a recent listing presentation, Alfie was able to show the prospective sellers how he can highlight the benefits of their 2×6 framing construction, energy efficient glazing as well as the tankless hot water heater. His innovative energy and environmental perspective gave him an edge in winning the listing. Alfie says he’s looking forward to continuing to positively impacting the quality, durability, comfort, safety, and cost-effectiveness of homes and commercial buildings.

For additional information please contact: Alfie La Peter
Phone: 208-424-0313
Cell: 208-631-3545
<Real Estate Professional/Certified EcoBroker® Bio>

EcoBroker International provides a unique energy and environmental curriculum to licensed real estate professionals, leading to the EcoBroker Designation. EcoBroker’s mission is to broaden and improve the base of training and continuing education for real estate professionals and in doing so, encourage improvements to the quality of buildings, while reducing their impact on natural resources and the environment. EcoBroker is a Building® America and Built Green® Colorado Education Partner; the most successful green-building program in the United States. EcoBroker provides state-approved continuing education courses to licensed real estate professionals in states throughout the U.S. EcoBroker can be reached by phone at 1-800-706-4321, online at www.ecobroker.com, and by email at customerservice@ecobroker.com.

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Industry, Real Estate, Treasure Valley by Alfie
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The general public (not you, the educated readers of this blog) have always struggled to understand how the real estate industry works. I still get calls from buyers that want to know how much we charge (buyer’s agents are paid by the seller) and sellers that wonder if they have to pay up front for marketing services (they don’t). With the way the media tells stories about the industry, it is no wonder that this confusion exists.

A recent story about the merger between two large real estate companies here is Boise continues to spread misleading information:

“[Home sellers] know right then that we’re not just going to expose them to the Treasure Valley. We’re going to expose them to a thousand agents in the whole state of Idaho. We’re going to expose them into Washington and we’re going to expose them to 100,000 agents across the U.S. We’re going to expose them to 47 countries so the exposure for the customer selling their house is tremendous”

Sounds magical right? The above quote is from the owner of one of the merging companies explaining the so-called advantages of a larger real estate company. What I believe to be misleading is as follows: The advantages of a larger real estate company are that they have more resources for advertising and marketing in order to gain new clients, not to sell their listings. All of their agents are still independent contractors that work for themselves under the umbrella of a responsible broker. This means that the agent you hire to sell your home is the only person who will be trying to sell your home. That agent’s 1000 co-workers don’t necessarily care about your home. They may listen to your agent’s spiel during an office meeting and they may even tour your home with the entire office, but they aren’t working to sell your home. That is, unless they have a buyer that is interested in your home. But guess what? If any licensed real estate agent has a buyer interested in your home, they are going to find it in the same place: the MLS, even if they missed the “office tour.”

Real estate is a co-operative industry. I can sell your home to any buyer, no matter what company they are working with. Those 1000 agents in a big office are just as likely to sell one of my listings as their own office’s listings. A bigger office is not better; a better agent is better.

The moral of the story, in the word’s of Public Enemy: Don’t believe the hype (warning: links to a video that starts automatically).

Photo Credit: Franco Folini via Flickr

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Industry, Real Estate, Treasure Valley by Alfie
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The Idaho Business Review reported that the national foreclosure rate was down 3% last month. Good news, right? Not really. The national foreclosure rate is still up 53% over last year. Of course, that is the national foreclosure rate, not the local rate.

The Idaho foreclosure rate is down almost 20% from this time last year. Still, like the national rate, that probably doesn’t mean much to you. Let’s get down to some numbers. In Boise (as of 7/14/08), there are 697 properties that are in some stage of foreclosure (pre-foreclosure, auction, bank owned). In Meridian, 466 properties and Eagle has 208.

I imagine you might have a couple of questions about this information: what does this information mean and where did I get these numbers?

The numbers don’t mean much. If you’re selling your home this information may help you understand the market a little better and allow you to see what you are up against. If you’re buying a home, make sure you look into any foreclosure or bank owned properties that match your criteria. They are a lot more work to purchase and require a lot of patience (think DMV on a Monday morning times ten), but they can yield a great result. Besides, the increased work load is my job, and I’m happy to do it. I subscribe to both local and national foreclosure property lists, so if you are interested in these types of properties, let me know.

Photo Credit: escapo via Flickr

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Foreclosure, Industry, Real Estate, Treasure Valley by Alfie
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I absolutely love the radio show “This American Life.” Normally, I wouldn’t be sharing this type of information, but last week’s show had some great information about the “credit crisis.” The show does a great job of explaining this country’s financial situation and how we got to where we are.

So, if you’ve wondered how this all happened and want a better understanding of the financial markets, listen to the show; it’s available as a free podcast.

Listen to the show here.

Photo Credit: noahwesley via Flickr

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Foreclosure, Industry, Real Estate by Alfie
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The Idaho Statesman had an article about open houses today that I wanted to talk about. The article gives mixed reviews about the value of open houses in trying to sell your home. On one side, they talk to agents that say that open houses are all but worthless in trying to sell the home. On the other side, they have an agent that swears by them, saying that he sells a lot of homes that way. What the Statesman doesn’t point out is the difference between an open house in an existing home versus a brand new home in a new subdivision.

In an existing home, visitors to an open house tend to be either “nosy neighbors” or home buyers that are in the initial stages of looking for a home. Very few, if any, ready, willing and able buyers walk into an open house and purchase the home. The main reason for this is that when buyers are ready to buy, they have already done their research and found a real estate agent to help them with their search. If the home is on the MLS, the agent will have already seen it and it will either match the buyers’ criteria or not. If it matches, the buyers will see the home regardless of there being an open house or not. If it doesn’t, they won’t see it and if they happen to walk into the open house, they’ll recognize that it isn’t what they want (not enough bathrooms, not updated, whatever). (All of this assumes they are working with a competent agent.)

Now, in a new home subdivision, an open house can actually sell the home. Information about new homes and amenities are not always found on the MLS, and many new home buyers are looking for a community or neighborhood they like rather than a specific home. For these reasons, many new homes are sold through open houses.

So should you hold open houses? Unless you are a builder in a new community, you’re probably wasting your time. Instead, why not hold a house warming (cooling?) party and invite all of your friends over making sure to send them home with a flyer in case they know any buyers? Your odds of finding a ready, willing and able buyer are probably just as good.

Photo Credit: gisarah via Flickr

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Industry by Alfie
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When we first started designing CityBurb.com we asked ourselves: “if we weren’t involved in the real estate industry, how would we want to go about buying and selling our home?” With that in mind we created a company that would specifically target the X and Y Generations (of which we are a part) and their specific needs.

Over at the Zillow Blog, Drew Meyers wrote a great article regarding the “Internet Empowered Consumer.” What Drew describes is almost exactly what we have tried to provide for our clients. We have built our site around the idea of giving consumers as much information as they want without requiring them to first be “sold” on our service. We also understand that these consumers don’t react well to the “hard sell” and would prefer to be given time and information in order to make their own decision.

We have also served many people outside of the X and Y Generations and they have received our company well. So, is this change in the consumer mindset generational or is it a sign of things to come across all generations?

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Industry by Alfie
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Our MLS here in Boise and the Treasure Valley has finally allowed agents and brokerages to include 10 photos with every property listing (yes, we immediately updated our listings). Previously, we were only allowed to post 5 photos on our MLS listings (and even then, many agents didn’t take advantage). Everywhere else we advertise online (Craigslist, Edgeio, Google Base, Vast, Oodle, Trulia, Propsmart, Localism) we are able to provide buyers with almost unlimited photos. So why are we just now, in May of 2007, able to list 10, and only 10, photos on our local MLS?

I am concerned that this lack of speed in adapting to the internet buyer is going to be the end of local MLSs.

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Industry by Alfie
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I am not a big fan of blogs that simply link to other blogs without any added content, but in this case I can only say one thing:

Wow!

Okay, I can’t hold my tongue (well, fingers in this case). The industry wonders why consumers don’t want to pay 6% and then this happens. Step away from the fact that Redfin charges less than the standard for a minute. Why would anyone want to limit new technologies that help both agents and consumers?

Maybe Redfin can divert some of their venture capital towards building a better MLS. Please?

Tags: Blogging, Boise Real Estate, Industry by Alfie
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After a controversial (well, only among old-school real estate agents) piece on CBS’s 60 Minutes Sunday night, we have been asked how we compare to the Seattle start-up online real estate brokerage, Redfin.com. At first glance, both CityBurb.com and Redfin.com look very similar, but upon further investigation there are some important differences.

Both brokerages were designed around the current public perception of the real estate industry. This perception is that the average real estate agent is overpaid and does very little work.

• Similar to many of the for-sale-by-owner and MLS-entry-only services, Redfin is embracing this perception and adding technology (really good technology) in order to be competitive. Their goal is to be a full-online real estate company similar to what online ticketing services like Exepdia and Travelocity have done in the travel industry.
• CityBurb takes a slightly different angle, because we believe that consumers value some agents and some of the services they offer, but not at the current 6% price structure. Although we believe that the real estate industry will only be a “high-touch” industry in certain markets (i.e. high-end second homes and big city condo projects), it will remain a “light-touch” industry where there will still be a need for some personal assistance, but much of the transaction can be automated. We don’t think someone could buy or sell a home purely online, without ever having met with an agent in person.

Both brokerages charge substantially less for listing a home for sale. The real estate industry charges an average of over 5% to sell a home, whereas Redfin and CityBurb charge around $3000.

• Redfin gives sellers MLS entry, lock boxes, yard signs and access to property fliers. They also advertise listings on different online classifieds. They do a CMA (comparative market analysis) for sellers; however, they never view the actual home. For everything else, Redfin gives you the resources to take care of your needs on your own.
• CityBurb provides all the same services that an old school agent would provide, including MLS entry, lock boxes, yard signs, virtual tours (soon to be video tours), professional photography of the home, showings to any interested buyers and distribution to other agencies’ websites. However, our major difference is that we provide our sellers with automated hyper-local updates about their market including all of the active and pending data for their neighborhoods. In a similar way, we give our sellers automated access to showing feedback. Both of these features allow our sellers to make informed decisions regarding the sale of their homes.

Both brokerages give money back to their buyers. Redfin gives their buyers 2/3 of their commission whereas CityBurb gives back 1/3 or approximately 1% of the price of the home.

• Redfin has a great search feature that allows buyers to find homes online. Once the buyer has found a few homes they like (five to six), a Redfin agent will open up those homes for the buyer to tour. If the buyer wants to write an offer, Redfin helps them. If the buyer wants to keep looking, Redfin charges them a fee for more showings.
• CityBurb encourages buyers to find a few homes online, drive by the homes to ensure the neighborhood is what they were expecting, then call a CityBurb agent to open up the homes they want to see (up to 5-8 homes). If a buyer wants to see inside of more than the initial 5-8 homes, they will no longer qualify for the 1% rebate. However, a CityBurb agent will continue to work with them to find their dream home free of charge.

Both brokerages are upsetting the traditional real estate brokerage business model. Redfin and CityBurb have publicly voiced opinions about classic real estate services and the need for change.

• Redfin doesn’t claim to be a discount brokerage like the limited service companies that simply “help” or “assist” you in selling your home. Redfin is taking a completely different approach, by raising a lot of money to create an advanced site designed to do much of the old school agents’ work. They don’t compare their services to the old school agents or the discount brokerages.
• CityBurb is trying to fill the niche parked between the traditional brokerage model and the for-sale-by-owner model. We also want to change the way real estate services are provided, but we don’t want to make other old school agents change their ways in order to deal with us. Our goal is to make sure our clients have a better experience and save money, while making sure other agents (either buyers’ or sellers’) can’t tell the difference between working with our agents and any other brokerage. This is why we require our sellers to offer 3% to buyers’ agents and why we open up houses for all of our buyers so that sellers’ agents don’t have to.

Overall, the grand design to change the real estate industry for good (forever and for better) are amongst the plans Redfin and CityBurb have in common. The differences are slight and few but they are enough that both could survive in the same market (not that we want to compete - CityBurb will only be expanding to areas that Redfin is not). Until the time when we cross markets, both Redfin and CityBurb will continue to educate and serve the consumer, not the industry.

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Industry, Startup by Alfie
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In our office, there are two full-time real estate agents. Before we started CityBurb.com, we both worked in a large office with a few hundred agents. In that office, we were taught to tell our listing prospects about the size of the office and the number of agents that were employed there. Although we did not explicitly say it, this fact was meant to give the seller the idea that our company would have more people working on selling their home than the next, smaller company. This is yet another real estate myth.

If you hire a large company to sell your home, you are not hiring every agent in that company; you are hiring the lone agent sitting at your kitchen table. The majority of real estate agents are independent contractors, meaning that most work for themselves under the structure of a brokerage. Although the contract you sign is with the broker, the only person working on your listing is the agent representing that brokerage. Even then, you are only hiring that agent to market your home, not to sell it - 99% of the time an outside agent will bring a buyer. However, I’ll save that myth for another post.

Until then, hire an agent that gives you honest and effective marketing efforts. Hire us.

Tags: Boise Real Estate, Industry by Alfie
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