Traffic Jams - Another good reason to live in Anne Arundel County

Traffic Jams – Another good reason to live in Anne Arundel County!

I read something online today about America’s 12 Worst Traffic Traps. As I watched the slideshow, a familiar “traffic trap” appeared before my eyes: The I-495 and I-270 Interchange in Montgomery County, Maryland. This is one of the worst commuting spots in the nation, according to the AAA, costing 19 million hours of delay a year for commuters in our local area. I believe it... I've been there!

Anne Arundel County residents rarely travel this stretch of “the Beltway”, I-495. We tend to travel into D.C. directly, via Rt. 50… and to Northern Virginia by going through the District rather than around the Beltway. Remember, there is more to estimating your commute than checking Mapquest or other online map to determine the distance, because traffic delays often make distance an irrelevant factor.

In fact, it is not unusual for Northern Virginia residents to have more time-consuming commutes than their Anne Arundel County co-workers, in spite of their proximity to work. Not only that, but the sun rises in the east and sets in the west – meaning the sun will always be at the back of a commuter from Anne Arundel County, while in the eyes of a commuter from Northern Virginia. If you don’t think this matters, listen to a traffic report on the radio during the winter, when the sun is low.

There are many other good reasons to choose Anne Arundel County when you relocate to the D.C. area. These are just a few of them, in no particular order:

• Low real estate property taxes
• Excellent public schools
• Excellent local hospitals as well as proximity to nationally renowned hospitals in both Washington and Baltimore
• No personal property tax (which they do have in Virginia)
• Convenient to BWI, arguably the most traveler-friendly airport in the region
• Miles of shoreline along the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for recreation (and living
• Lower home prices
• Convenient to Baltimore, as well as D.C.
• Public transportation via Metro and/or MARC
• The BRAC effect on property values

If you’re relocating to the D.C. area, let me show you Anne Arundel County. I think you’ll like it!

For comments or additional information:

• Area Information
• Margaret Woda.com
• mwoda@remax.net

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Margaret Woda

Do you have a "secret sauce" ?

All good cooks have their favorite recipes, and these recipes often begin or end with a secret sauce. That "secret sauce" is the difference between good and delicious, between delicious and delectable, between... well, you get the point!

After 33 years in real estate, I finally found the right ingredients to make MY secret sauce:

• A fabulous website (if I do say so myself). Many thanks to Tom Glynn at AgentImage for all your help and encouragement during several weeks of photo selection, content writing, etc. You were amazing! EVERYONE compliments my website, and I know it contributes to my success.
• Consistent follow-up, using an Action Plan I created in Top Producer. The effectiveness of my follow-up is due in large part to lessons learned from Michael Russer, who taught me to always ask myself (from the perspective of a consumer) "What's in it for me?" Each and every follow-up email provides the recipient with a helpful real estate tip and a related link. I've been surprised and pleased at how effective this has been.
• Negotiating skills developed through years of training and experience. I know, you can't buy that - but it is one of the ingredients, so I have to mention it.
• Online advertising such as iHousespotlight.com, ContactAgents.com, Crofton.com, MarylandInfo.com, MilitaryAvenue.com and others. I don't believe it matters exactly where you place your online ads - only that you DO place online ads that direct consumers to your website. It's a fact that many hits to my website come from another online ad, so the website would be less effective without them.
• Blogging - It's been said that someone has to know you, like you, and trust you before they will do business with you. A perfect stranger can develop the "know, like, trust" relationship with you through reading your blog. This is where ActiveRain and Blogger come in. If you write informed and interesting blogs, people will get to know you, like you and trust you so they will hire you.

Yes, these are the ingredients of my "secret sauce"... but there is no recipe, per se - no fixed formula for putting them together. As I look back at my recent business successes, not one of these ingredients was missing from a single case. Even the referral from a former agent I worked with 30 years ago was brought to fruition through a combination of my website, follow-up, negotiating, online ads, and blogs.

Now that I've told you about the secret ingredients in my secret sauce... what's in yours? What factors consistently work together to make YOUR business a success?

Advice to new real estate agents

WELCOME TO THE DANCE!

I encourage all new agents to bring your enthusiasm and new ideas to the world of real estate, while you learn some of the basic steps. As we all know too well, real estate licensing classes don't really provide the day to day "how to's" that mean the difference between success and failure in this business. So here are a few practical suggestions from an old pro:



1. Preview, preview, preview. Any day that you don't have a live warm-bodied client to work with, preview properties on the market. This will help you develop a comfort level with what's available at what price. It also helps you find your way around your marketplace, as you go from one listing to another (good idea to try out that new GPS system before you have clients in the car). And knowing the inventory will give you something to talk about in social and business situations. Previewing is to real estate success, what crawling is to walking.

2. Practice using a lockbox. You laugh. Well, let's pretend you were the lucky agent on duty in your office when a homebuyer came in and wanted to look at homes. He didn't know you were new, and he was very impressed with your professionalism. You made appointments to show him homes, and off you went. "This is going great!", you thought to yourself. But you couldn't figure out how to open the lockbox when you got to the first listing... Why don't real estate managers teach new agents how to work their lockboxes?!?!?!

3. Practice your presentations. Now that you have graduated from licensing school, you are expected to share your wisdom with consumers... to come across as knowledgeable about real estate, while being enthusiastic and natural. Believe me, there is nothing "natural" about it - that takes practice!

Assuming you already have a listing presentation (purchased, corporate, or one that you created yourself), sit down at your dining table and turn the pages (or power point presentation on your laptop) in the direction of an imaginary home seller across the table, and go through your presentation OUT LOUD. You must be able to look at it upside down, and know what your script is for that page. Same thing with contracts: Turn a contract towards an imaginary buyer on the other side of the table, and summarize each and every paragraph OUT LOUD without peeking. My children did grow up to be normal healthy adults, in spite of sitting through many practice presentations over the years before I took them to the pool.

4. Reach out and touch someone. Many someones. Personally speak to at least 5 people a day about real estate - it can be purely conversational, such as "I saw the most beautiful home today..." - but it has to be about real estate! When you run out of friends and family, go to the grocery store and talk to the person in front of you and behind you... and the clerk. Go to the gym and talk to the person on the treadmill next to you. 15 seconds and a business card. It works. Do it every day for a week, and you will probably get an appointment with a live warm-bodied buyer or seller - especially if you've been previewing and have some houses to talk about.

5. Read, read, read. Your clients and prospects are reading the newspaper (or news online), and they are watching/listening to news reports in the broadcast media. They are very interested in learning about interest rates, market trends, and local political decisions that may impact their home value. If you want to carry on an intelligent conversation which convinces others that you know more than they do about real estate (you're not just another real estate licensee), you have to read, listen to and talk about anything you can find that has to do with real estate.




One of the things I love about being a REALTOR is the community of agents, lenders, and other professionals that I interact with every day. Not to mention the clients who have become friends, and the friends who have become clients. It doesn't matter what age, ethnicity, or years of experience - we can all enjoy the real estate dance. Hopefully some of this advice from an old pro will help make it more fun for you a lot sooner than learning from the school of hard knocks.

Hey, old pros, if you're still reading this, please share YOUR advice to new agents in the comments.

http://www.margaretwoda.com/

mwoda@remax.net

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Margaret Woda