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Introduction
Ramon Mares, Perris, Calif.
Kristy Payne, Edmond, Okla.
Louisa Enz, Madison, Wis.
Product Resources
Read Advice Sent to the Newbies
February 2003 Print Magazine Article
Read Kristy's
Past Columns:
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002 | |  Kristy Payne
Churchill Brown
Edmond, Okla.
kristyp@realtors.org
Read the print magazine's article on the newbies from the February 2003 issue of REALTOR® Magazine.
January 2003
I won the award for top listing associate at my company last month! I had $2.2 million in listings. The next highest salesperson had $841,650 in listings, so I pretty much blew everyone else away. It’s very exciting. Churchill Brown is a big company with a lot of heavy hitters, and I beat all of them. I feel like I’m a Queen for a Day.
Of course, the biggest piece of that total--$1.5 million–is the 20 acres of mainly vacant land I mentioned in December. And the response so far to that has not been terrific, even with all the marketing I’ve been doing.
I also got my final numbers for the year. I did $2.37 million versus $1 million last year. My goal was $3 million, so I’m a little disappointed. In retrospect, I was a little too optimistic about how long it takes to learn the ropes and get established in this business. I’m going to keep $3 million as my goal for 2003.
To be honest, even with the listings, the market is pretty quiet. I keep asking people at the office if the end of the year is always this slow. Most say it is. There doesn’t seem to be anything to do about it.
Actually, I guess I don’t mind a slower pace for a little while. I know spring is going to slam me. We’ll have all that new construction from Melanie’s uncle ready to go, and I’ll be back to working 10-hour days. In the meantime, it’s nice to have a breather. I come into the office for a couple of hours, get all my paperwork done, and then have the rest of the day to do what I want. The calm before the storm.
I did do two open houses recently--one for a $284,000 listing and one for a $99,900 listing. Same old, same old. Actually, what I’m finding is that open houses are more productive at the lower end than at the middle or upper end. At the lower end, you get a lot of renters and first-time buyers, most of whom need a salesperson. At the middle and upper end, however, it’s “Looky Lous”–people who just want to see the house.
I also got a much-needed early Christmas present from my husband--a Kodak digital camera! Actually, we agreed that it would be our main family gift this year. We bought it right after Thanksgiving for $150. It’s awesome. It has an editing program that allows you to crop and size your photos and also turn them into black and white, sepia, or cartoon prints. I’ve still got to get the hang of it, but I know it will make putting photos on my Web site a lot easier. I’m not sure how I’ve gotten along without one up until now.
Feel free to e-mail our real estate beginners with advice for their dilemmas or just to express your support.
E-mail Kristy Payne at kristyp@realtors.org
E-mail Louisa Enz at louisae@realtors.org
E-mail Ramon Pares atramonm@realtors.org
Read advice sent to the newbies
(Editor’s note: We plan on sharing selected letters to our newbies with online readers. If you e-mail any of the newbies, please provide your contact information and let us know if you do not want your letter to appear.) | | |
