I just did some work on some rental properties and my home, and I hired a few contractors to do the work.

I’ve experienced horrendous customer service. What do you consider good customer service? In our business customer service is what we have to sell! Usually, we’re not the buyer or the seller. When we work with buyers and sellers it’s our service that is the product. It’s always been my mantra, and I’m sure that you have heard this “Under promise and Overdeliver”! Don’t make promises that you can’t keep. Don’t take the job if you can’t do the job. Keep the customer in the loop. Keep appointments, don’t wait for the customer to call you to find where you are. If you can’t make an appointment call to arrange a different time. I am a firm believer in a written marketing plan. Schedule everything that you are to do and meet those deadlines. Keep the customer informed. Remember, time is money; yours and the customers! Have empathy with what the customer is going through. I’ve seen too much selfishness in all aspects of life lately. It’s not always about you! Start thinking about the customer and how everything you do has an effect on them.

You have a responsibility to do the best that you can without regard for yourself once you committed to something. Take commitment seriously. The more you start thinking of your customer, the more customers you’ll have!

I’m sure hat you can think of many other ways to provide good customer service. Time precludes me from mentioning all, so write your suggestions in the comments.

If you would like more information, contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices.

Ok, stop me if you’ve heard this one...

A day before closing, a man and a woman go into a bar to conduct a walk through. The man says to the women, “Where are the washer and the dryer?” The woman says “I don’t know, they must have gotten clean away!” Alright, bad joke, but worse situation. This just recently happened. The tenants took the washer and the dryer. The listing associate knows nothing about it.

After a few hours and a few phone calls, the tenants brought the washer and the dryer back, broken! The latch to the front loader washer must have been broken when moving them. What to do, what to do?? Well, in this case the buyer accepted it, but what if they didn’t? Do we escrow funds for the repair? Do we ask for a credit? What will the mortgage company say? Do we hold up the closing? Please don’t be thinking that the sales associates should just pay for it! I always say, “If it’s my fault, I’ll pay for it, but if it’s not my fault, then it’s between the buyer and the seller.” Now, have I paid for things in the past? Yes, I will admit that I have, but this should be the last resort and for not a lot of money! Most of the time, these things can be negotiated between the buyer and he seller. Here’s where your negotiation skills come in handy! And a little common sense also comes in handy!

If you would like more information, contact me. 

I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices. 

In my classes I teach that as soon as we get our license, we are operating as Sole Proprietors with our Independent Contractors contract under our Broker.

Many have realized that this might not be the best entity to work under. Many sales associates have incorporated themselves. Now you know I am not an attorney, so this information should be checked with your attorney. I will caution you that not many attorneys know the specific law regarding licensees. Here’s the bottom line. You must incorporate in your name as is appears on your real estate license. Either as a PA (which is an S Corporation) or an LLC, or a PLLC. You cannot use a fictitious name and expect your broker to pay you a commission.

You can have your attorney do it or you can go on SunBiz.org and do it yourself. Once you have incorporated with the Department of State, you must change your name on your license with a form sent to the DBPR. Now your Broker can pay your corporation and you may be protected from personal liability under the vail of the corporation. The next thing is to get a checking account and a charge card in the name of the corporation. Your brokers check goes into the account and you pay yourself and expenses from that account. Your accountant will love you come around tax time!

If you would like more information contact me. Remember, you can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices.

How important is getting a listing at the right price, the right terms, and the right time for marketing?

Well, it’s very important, in fact, it’s a critical mix necessary to have a listing sell. Do we want to get listings or do we want to get listings that sell! So, an overpriced listing is the kiss of death in real estate. Properties will get stale, shop warn, and will only sell for less than it would have, if you would have listed it right the first time. Don’t use AVMs to get the price. Do an old-fashioned CMA and then check it against the AVM. Make sure that you are getting the right commission for the task. You work hard and you are worth the commission.

Learn how to present your services to customers in order to show your value and justify the commission. In your market area, what is the average time on the market? If the average time is six months, then get the listing to cover that time! Why would you take a listing for a shorter time than the average? Are you hoping to relist it when it expires? This is a weak approach and sometimes backfires. Be strong; don’t buckle under pressure! Learn to explain why you need the time on the market in order to complete your marketing plan in order to sell the property. Remember: The right price, right terms, and right time on the market!

If you would like more information contact me.

I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices.

Communication is a critical skill necessary for sales associates in order to succeed.

We can’t listen to respond; we must listen to understand. The elements of a good communicator include, empathy, patience, flexibility, and reward. Empathy is understanding and sharing the emotions that the customer is experiencing. We must be patient and be able to work at the customer’s pace. Remember that it’s not about you, it’s all about the customer. Take the time necessary for the customer to be able to process all the information that you have presented. In order for us to succeed we must be flexible in all aspects of our job. A good communicator will be able to discover information that is necessary to help the customer. “Go with the flow”! Based on the information learned, we must be flexible enough and land on our feet and continue.

Finally, reward yourself for a job well done! Making a sale or getting a listing is an objective to your income goal. Reward each successful objective in order to give you the incentive to achieve your goal! Remember, communication is a two way street. Your goal should be to discover and understand your customer’s feelings in order to satisfy their need!

You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices. See you next time!

Starting a real estate career is very exciting, and also very scary!

If you are veteran licensee, can you remember how you felt going from a steady paycheck to a commission environment? So, what’s the first step? You should be prospecting for a listing. One of the best ways to meet buyers is to market your own listing. You can also host an open house with one of the listings in your company. Get permission from the broker and the listing associate. Remember, the sooner you make a sale the sooner you’ll get paid! Don’t forget your sphere of influence. These are your friends, relatives, acquaintances, and anyone else that you can think of that will help you in your real estate business. Always end your conversations with people by asking their help with our business. “Who do you know that might be interested in buying or selling real estate?”

Wear an identification badge all the time. Car magnets on your car. Use your picture on everything that you hold out to the public. Come on, you have to let everyone know that you are in real estate! Refer to my other videos regarding the elevator speech that you need about the market and your own resume. Once you have made a sale or have gotten a listing, build on that success in order to grow! Together with your other marketing, soon you’ll be on your way to success!

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices. See you next time!

Have you ever found yourself in a procuring cause dilemma?

That’s right, who shook the money tree. The NAR Arbitration Guidelines defines procuring cause as ‘the uninterrupted series of events which results in the successful transaction.” Sometimes this is not so easy to decipher.

We can’t rely on the fact that we showed the property, or that we wrote the contract to be considered the procuring cause. Typically, these conflicts are solved by a procuring panel at the local Realtor Association.

So, what can we do to try to prevent any disputes regarding procuring cause? Ask buyers if they have spoken with another Realtor about properties. Don’t ask if they are working with another Realtor. Customers don’t consider showing properties as work! I also suggest contracting with buyers to represent them in the transaction. The NAR Accredited Buyers Representation (ABR) designation will help you with your presentation. Also, stay in constant contact with your customer. Don’t break the chain of communication. Don’t rely on customers telling other sales associates at model homes and open houses that you represent them. Always accompany your customers to model homes and open houses. I think that if you use these precautions you have a good chance of not being involved in a messy procuring cause conflict.

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.Make good choices.

See you next time!

Wow! Where did the time go?

You know I started the day with my to do list, and now that the day has ended, only half of the items are completed. Did you ever have days like that? I’m sure that you have.

Let me share with you some ideas so this doesn’t happen to you.

First, identify what I call time wasters. Doing other people’s work. Long coffee breaks. Personal chores on work time. You get it.

Second, try to find out what or who prevented you from completing your tasks. Avoid extended conversations that are not work oriented.

Third, review your day, and see where you went off your schedule. You might create a time log to see what you are doing at any given time. Fourth, try to resolve the issue by not falling prey to the time wasters that you have identified. It is critical that you use your time wisely. You need to concentrate on prospecting. Contacting your sphere of influence. Staying in touch with past and present customers. You need to spend your time on income-generating activities and not on time wasters. Make a time plan and stick to it! It’s in your best interest to spend your time wisely, and don’t allow others to spend your time!

Most of you know that I train new sales associates in the art of selling.

Sales is a great profession. Your ability increases by preparing for each presentation as best as you can. But are you ready? Are we ever fully prepared for anything? You can always do better. You will never perfect your presentation. Will you be nervous before you knock on the door to your appointment? If you say that you are not nervous, then you have stopped growing.

I am not saying that you are going to fall over with anxiety, but there will always be butterflies until you get your presentation started and you find your groove! It’s that feeling that helps us stay grounded and makes us always want to do better. If you ask professional musicians or actors if they are nervous before a performance, they’ll say “of course”. When they hear the feedback from the audience, theie full confidence returns and they end up fine. But do they stop rehearsing? Do they stop trying to get better? No! If you’re new, get a good presentation prepared and get out there and do it! Don’t wait until it’s perfect.

The real training is when you put all your training and preparation into doing it! It takes persistence, patience, practice, learning new skills, being proactive, and creating change, not adapting to it. Knowledge, plus perfect practice and preparation, plus implementation equals success!

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices. See you next time!

This year, 2021, marks the 30-year anniversary for the Giumenta School of Real Estate!

I’ve been in the real estate business for 35 years! Time does really fly when you’re having fun. I’ve seen good time and not so good times on this roller coaster ride. There is one thing that I can point to that has helped me get through all these years; mentors! I have been very lucky to have good mentors, colleagues and friends in the real estate business.

My affiliation with my local, state, and national Realtor associations have afforded me the opportunity to meet some great real estate minds. We all need mentors to help us through the tough times. I have become a mentor to many sales associates, brokers, managers and instructors.

I hope that you have someone in your career that you call your mentor. A good mentor can mean the difference between success and failure! Coaching is different from mentoring. You may need a coach to keep you accountable to your goals. Mentors will help you navigate through the business of real estate and keep you from falling into pitfalls. Mentors will also help you keep that balance between business and your personal life.

Search in your circle and see if there is someone that you respect and has the willingness to share their knowledge, wisdom and experience. It will surely help you to become more rounded and appreciative of your real estate career!

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Here’s another great source of Listings; Expired Listings.

These are listings that had time on the market, but did not sell at the listed price. Now we probably know why it didn’t sell. Keeping in mind that Price and Marketing is what sells houses, it was probably overpriced. But how do we contact and approach an owner of an expired listing? Well, the answer is empathy. Don’t call, don’t send a letter, knock on the door! First thing in the morning, run the list of expireds from the MLS. Then pick the ones that you want to list and print the listing sheet. Knock on the door and ask the owner if they are still interested in selling their home. If the answer is yes, then ask to show them your proven marketing plan as to how you can sell their home. Then ask for an appointment. If the answer is no, ask if their plan has changed.

The goal is not to sell the home. The goal is to move away to bigger and better things. Selling the home is an objective to the goal. So, has their plan changed? If not, you would like to show them how you will help them attain their goal. Now when speaking always talk a little slower and lower. This will help demonstrate empathy. We know the price was high, but don’t bash the REALTOR, do your diligence with a good CMA and explain that the price is market driven and that the price in your CMA is what you would list for. Don’t ever take and expired listing and relist it for the same price!

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices. See you next time!

I would like to talk to you about a great source of listings.

I am talking about For Sale By Owners (FSBOs). I know a lot of you are going to say that it is a waste of time and effort to even try. That’s because they didn’t do it right! That’s why it’s worth it.

Wouldn’t you like to be able to prospect a market that doesn’t have a lot of competition? Now here is a principle of real estate that has helped me in sales. Be in front of buyers and sellers when they are ready to do business! It sounds like common sense, but how do you know when they are ready to do business? Well, you don’t! That’s why you have to be in front of buyers and seller all the time.

Now that FSBO is not ready to do business with you, because he wants to save the commission. That’s a half truth. He doesn’t think that you are WORTH the commission. So, in order to get a FSBO to list with you, you must spoon feed your worth to them. Help them sell the house for free! It’s a slow and drawn-out process that takes patience and understanding. Meet with them every third day and provide a service that you provide to your customers. Give them an Open House sign-in sheet, CMA, Title Insurance phone number, Loan Originator phone number, advertising info, professional sign info from a sign maker. Get it? According NAR most FSBOs list their property and don’t you want to be the Sales Associate there when they are ready to list?

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices. See you next time!

You know a tried-and-true form of prospecting for listings is geographic farming.

This is called farming because you have to cultivate the sale. It means you have to be patient and work your farm area with constant contact in order to reap the benefits! Contact by phone, text, mail, e-mail, and in person at least once a month.

I admit that geographic farming probably takes more time than before. Years ago, we knew our neighbors well. Today, we only know our neighbors enough to say hello. A farm area should be one with a good turnover rate in order for it to be worth the effort. Choose 200-400 homes at first and grow the farm gradually. Be the expert in real estate in your farm. Know the people, their kids, their pets, birthday, anniversaries... you get the idea. Drive through your farm in your car, and make sure that you have car magnets on the car that have your company name, your name and your picture on it. Stop if you see anyone in your farm and strike up a conversation. Before long, if anyone in your farm is thinking about real estate, they will think of you!

Always ask this question after any contact, “Who do you know that is interested in buying and selling real estate?” Soon you will get the people in your farm to recognize you as the expert and the referrals will start coming in.

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices. See you next time!

Most licensees work as an independent contractor under a broker.

Some work under an owner developer. In each, case we are running our own business and as such are subjected to the guidelines regarding independent contractors under the IRS. Independent contractors must work for multiple employers. We can’t, but we fall into an exception under the law. There are three things that we must do to qualify under the exception.

First, we must have a real estate license, second, our compensation must be based on production, and third, we must have an independent contractor agreement with our employing broker or owner. Oh, and by the way, the broker cannot pay for any of your expenses! Since this is our own business, here are some things that will help you. Think about incorporating yourself. In Florida, you must incorporate as your name in order for your broker to pay you. For instance, “John Doe, PA”. PA is an “S” corporation, but there are other forms that you may use. This will protect you from some liability and help a little on taxes. Next get a checking account and credit card under that name. Now, all your income and all your real estate expense go in and come out of this account. This will make your end of year accounting for taxes very easy! Speaking of taxes, don’t forget that you will have to pay your taxes quarterly as an independent contractor. Contact your attorney and tax person to help you set it up and all will run smoothly.

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices. See you next time!

As a real estate instructor, I get many calls from sales associates asking which education they are supposed to take to renew their license.

They are not sure if they have enough credits, or where to find that information. In Florida, the DBPR has an account for each licensee, where you can find out what total credits are required, what credits you have, and how many credits you still need to complete your requirement. You can access this online at the DBPR website.

I had a student call me and say that they needed the continuing education course to renew her license. She wanted to do it online. I directed her to my website for online courses, and told her to select the link for the class. She tried to renew her license and the DBPR said that she was still deficient. She called me and accused me of not reporting the class. I gave her the file number to provide the DBPR proof that it was recorded. She called me back and said that they still say that she is deficient and could I speak to them. I called and found that she was deficient because she needed the 45 Hr. Post license education, not the continuing education! Pre-license is before you’re licensed, Post License is after you’re licensed, and before your first renewal, and Continuing Education is before every other renewal.

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices. See you next time!

Early in my career, I was presented with a very awkward situation.

My customer stated that they would not ever live on a street that had a certain race living on it! Have you ever had a brush with a fair housing situation that made you uncomfortable? Did you know what to respond, without getting in trouble with HUD? Did you ever feel that you are being tested by a HUD investigator, based on the questions the customer was asking?

I don’t think that we deliberately want discriminate, but we do have to be very careful with how we respond the questions and situations. For instance, if a customer asks to be shown properties where there are lots of kids, it might feel comfortable telling a customer that a particular neighborhood is great for raising children. Did we just promote a neighborhood based on familiar status? Did we just violate the Fair Housing Act? When presented with these situations it’s always best to discuss the Fair Housing Act with the customer and put them on notice that you cannot violate the law. So, when faced with an awkward question try this response, “I can’t answer that question, nor can any other licensee. It would place you in violation of Fair Housing Laws as well as placing me in violation of Fair Housing Laws.”

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices.

See you next time!

Just about every house sold will have a whole house inspection.

Realtors will offer a list of licensed inspectors and the buyers can choose one. The REALTOR should never accompany the Inspector for fear of being brought into a dispute of the inspection. Let them do their job. Now, if the contract is the standard Residential Purchase and Sale agreement, the seller is obligated to repair certain items. The buyer must send notice to the seller of which repairs are requested. The entire report should not be given to the seller. The seller then will send back a notice of which repairs they will be willing to repair. The contract has specified certain items that the seller is obligated to repair. This is fair because the parameters are clearly stated in the contract for both buyer and seller to read prior to signing the agreement.

If the contract is an “AS IS” agreement the buyer has the choice to buy the house or not. They do not have the option of asking for repairs in the AS IS Contract. It should not be used as a negotiation tool to get any repairs done. There are no parameters for repairs, so no agreement on repairs were made prior to signing the agreement. Using this contract to request repairs is not negotiating in good faith. If repairs are wanted, then the standard contract should have been used.

If you would like more information contact me. Like, share and subscribe below for all my videos.

I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices. See you next time!

Today I am going to talk about something very unpleasant that occasionally happens in our business; Escrow Disputes.

Escrow Disputes happen when a sale falls apart and the buyer and the seller each want the deposit. This is one reason most Brokers don’t have an escrow account. Depending on who is holding the deposit, will determine how the escrow will be disbursed. No matter who is holding the deposit, the broker cannot release the deposit. If the broker is holding the deposit, the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) needs to be notified within 15 days of the dispute.

Then the broker has 30 days from the time of the dispute to tell the FREC how it will be cleared. Brokers have a choice. Mediation, Arbitration, Litigation, or Escrow Disbursement Order. These options are typically free or inexpensive. Now, if the Title Company or an Attorney is holding the funds, they are not subject to FREC rules. Typically, they resolve their issue through litigation. The prevailing party gets the escrow and the non-prevailing party pays for the litigation. Again, no matter who is holding the escrow, the broker’s hands are tied and cannot disburse the funds. This may make either or both the buyer, and the seller upset. Thankfully this is a rare occurrence and most sales end in successful completion and all are happy in the end!

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice. Make good choices.

See you next time!

There are two guidelines for advertising.

The first is license law, and the second is the Code of Ethics. I will cover Realtor advertising requirements in another blog. The law requires, for all licensees, that we advertise in such a manner that the general public knows that they’re dealing with a licensee. This means we need to put the name of the company in the ad. A new rule was added in 2019 which required team advertising not to use specific names that might indicate that the team was its own real estate entity. It also required that the company name be as large or larger than the team name. If we use promotional items or material, the name of the company must be there! Even if the sales associate pays for the promotional items! Sales associates must also put their full name on all advertising. For example, car magnets are very popular, but a full name is required, not just the first name!

Now websites are hard to right state laws about because, after all, they are world wide advertisements. We need to put the company name on or about any point of contact information on the site. So, if there is a “submit” button, address, or fax number, the name of the company must be there.

Now if you see some discrepancies in any real estate advertising, contact the licensee and help them out!

If you would like more information contact me.

I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Have you ever gotten a call from a seller after a showing?

Were they happy with the way the sales associate left the home? Did the REALTOR make sure that the property was secured before leaving? Well, we expect that all Realtors are going to treat others the way they would like to be treated. Sometimes they disappoint.

I would like to bring your attention the Pathways to Professionalism. You can find it at Nar.Realtor. https://www.nar.realtor/code-of-ethics-and-arbitration-manual/pathways-to-professionalism

The Pathways to Professionalism are courtesies that we all should strive to perform. Much like the Preamble of the Code of Ethics, they are aspirations. They cover Respect for the Public, Property, and Peers. They’re great guidelines for REALTORS to follow in order to ensure Professionalism. Every President of a REALTOR organization has, as their goals for their term, to increase Professionalism. Isn’t time that we all put in extra efforts towards increasing our Professionalism? A great start is to read the Pathways and treat others with respect.

If you would like more information contact me. I’m Ric Giumenta. You can have a good day or a bad day. It’s your choice.

Make good choices.