Charlotte Property Management Weekly: “Sully Love”: Customers Will Like You More if You Fly Them into the Hudson River?

“I messed up. I placed a tenant into an owner’s home and they wound up tearing it up and not paying rent. There is no way they will ever hire me again…” (Charlotte Property Manager)

“It was crazy, you see. I took off and then two hours later, I landed in Charlotte. I guess technically you could say that I did my job. But the guy who crashed into the river, no, he’s the hero. It’s weird, right?” (Bitter Captain Roger Baines, played by Jason Sudeikis- Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday- 10/2/09)

Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger came to fame as the pilot who flew the 1/15/09 US Airways Flight 1549 from New York to Charlotte. Most people remember the story; it became national news for weeks because the plane went down in the Hudson River minutes after takeoff. You would figure that if you were on that flight, you’d be really upset! You paid money to be in Charlotte in roughly two hours, but instead, you were heavily delayed, drenched, your luggage was ruined, and your life flashed before your eyes. All meetings you had that day had to be cancelled. Your plans were shot. Your life was endangered. You could have been thinking about who you could sue. You would certainly never fly US Air again!

You’d appreciate Captain Baines “good pilot” joke later in the SNL skit:

Q: What did the good pilot do when he saw the flock of geese?
A: He avoided them and continued on to Charlotte where he landed seven minutes early

However, Sully became a national hero. What??? Though he saved the lives of his passengers, he still did land in a river which has to be viewed as a failure. Was he a seasoned public relations professional who spun the story well afterwards? Hardly. Sully comes across as a soft-spoken guy. His “speech” to the passengers before the crash was a brief and hardly eloquent, “Brace for impact.” Inexplicably, it didn’t matter. The passengers loved him. They were thankful and effusive in praise. No one said they wouldn’t fly with him again; in fact, most would rather have him captain their flights in the future. Many Americans said the same thing. How could this have been?

The simplest answer is that most people know that things go wrong. It’s inevitable. Sully could do little after he hit the flock of geese that caused the engines to fail. As Charles Swindoll said, “Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.” Sully calmly put the plane down and salvaged what he could out of a tough situation. His passengers knew he was in control and would work to ensure their safety.

In property management, picking tenants who will always pay and treat a rental home with respect is an inexact science. You try to mitigate risk by performing credit and criminal background checks, verifying income and employment, and calling past landlords. You collect security deposits and drive by houses to see if they look okay. At the end of the day, however, you don’t live with them and can’t force people to fulfill their obligations. It’s tough.

But when bad things happen (and they will at some point), it can be a positive as well. It creates an opportunity to show your clients that you care, it allows you to learn more about them personally, and lets you demonstrate that you have a plan to correct things. Most of our clients receive their monthly rent (directly deposited into their account) and we rarely get an opportunity to talk to them outside of our initial meeting. But when issues arise, we get to build a bond with them while working to get their properties back on track.

Paradoxically, the clients whose homes we have had an issue with tend to be life-long customers, while those who receive their rent smoothly every month are the ones I worry about losing. Relationships require give-and-take and often form out of adversity; without this, you can become a faceless entity that has no emotional connection.

Out of a disaster, Sully built a bond in one day with his passengers that few, if any, pilots will ever have with theirs, even their frequent flyers. Think about it. Who was the pilot of your last flight? Of your last ten?

So don’t cringe when something goes wrong. It will give you an opportunity to get some of that lasting “Sully Love.”

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty, “Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company” (www.BDFRealty.com and www.RentToSell.com). You can follow his Twitter thoughts on the Charlotte real estate market by clicking on http://twitter.com/bdfrealty. He is the author of the FREE E-Manual entitled “How to Rent-To-Sell Your Own Home” (http://www.renttosell.com/RTS-Book.html) which details how to get the most potential buyers to your home in this challenging real estate market.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Obama’s Entrepreneur-less Recovery Plan

“Too big to fail.” (President Obama)

“…(Then US Treasury Secretary Alexander) Hamilton regarded the national debt as ‘a national blessing,’ for it permitted the clustering of resources into the hands of a small group of enterprising men who would invest and not just spend it.” (Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis)

It’s no news that President Obama has faced a huge challenge to revive the US economy, precipitated by the banking crisis of the past two years. He’s had to answer a lot of tough questions that have affected millions of Americans. What courses of action will save and create the most jobs? Should he have bailed out failing companies like Citigroup, Chrysler, AIG, and others? What about residents who were losing their homes? Do they get modified loans or do they go into foreclosure? Some companies were “too big to fail,” while some “Main Street” residents had the required qualifications to get bailed out too. It all really boiled down to one question: how should government capital best be allocated to serve the common good now and in the future?

US Treasure Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, had a similar dilemma in 1790 after the Revolutionary War. The US government was broke and its debt was at a startling $71M. It couldn’t meet its obligations without borrowing (sound familiar?); it couldn’t even compensate its own troops with cash. The soldiers were issued war bonds as payment for military service, and there was little hope the government would be able to pay those back. Speculators began to buy the war bonds at five to ten cents on the dollar hoping for a (very profitable) miracle. Meanwhile the government was worried about utilizing its meager finances to stay solvent.

The popular plan was to just default on the war bonds. The US government didn’t have the money anyway! Then the issue of fairness came up. “Why would we fund the bonds when the money is not going to go to the soldiers that it was intended for?” Essentially, the heated discussion that ensued was one that still stirs debate today; should the government endorse any plans that just make “the rich get richer,” while doing nothing directly for the common citizen?

However, Hamilton felt paying the war bonds was a great opportunity! The fact that the speculators were getting the money was a great allocation of capital. They were the entrepreneurs of this start-up nation, the risk-takers. They would be the ones starting businesses, hiring people, and building the economy from the ground-up. With their intellects and hearts, Hamilton felt America could achieve greatness. Funding the speculators was the best investment this country could make.

Obama’s capital allocation plan has been about saving huge corporations and struggling homeowners. The entrepreneurs and small business owners in the middle have been frozen out. Could the projected “jobless recovery” be a product of this? The SBA’s oft-cited statistic is that American small business creates 90% of the country’s jobs. Is an “entrepreneur-less recovery” even possible?

When I talk to my friends that are small business owners here in Charlotte, we are hamstrung. The government programs for small business are a joke; many banks don’t participate in SBA loans, or if they do, force us to qualify at heightened requirements that we can’t reach. Meanwhile, banks of all sizes (TARP and non-TARP recipients alike), are still cutting our credit lines. I’m not saying we are all going out of business (because that’s not true), but I am saying that our impact on this economic recovery will be minimal at best. We are being forced to hunker down, and have been doing so for the past two years.

And, yes, Hamilton got funding for the war bonds to pass Congress and our nation went from near-bankruptcy to a world power through the past two hundred years. If Obama wants the US to stay there, he’ll have to find a way to involve us entrepreneurs as well.

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty, “Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company” (http://www.bdfrealty.com/ and http://www.renttosell.com/). You can follow his Twitter thoughts on the Charlotte real estate market by clicking on http://twitter.com/bdfrealty. He is the author of the FREE E-Manual entitled “How to Rent-To-Sell Your Own Home” (http://www.renttosell.com/RTS-Book.html) which details how to get the most potential buyers to your home in this challenging real estate market.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Coke vs. Pepsi vs. Your Real Estate Firm- What’s the Difference?

“I can’t believe that millionaire CEO who just moved to town is looking for houses with Jimmy “The Home Seeking” Missile. Doesn’t he realize Jimmy knows more about weaponry than he does real estate?” (Baffled Charlotte Real Estate Agent)

Coke and Pepsi have been warring over market share in the soda business for a long time. Coke had a gigantic lead until Pepsi started making inroads in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Today, Coke’s market share is around 43%, while Pepsi’s is 31% in a highly competitive $100B+ industry. This competitiveness has helped make brand allegiance personal; badmouth someone’s favorite soda and “they be fightin’ words”, as we say in the South.

However, industry experts will tell you that Coke and Pepsi are close to identical products. “What???” One of my UNC professors posed this fact to our MBA class and the responses were unanimous. “That’s ridiculous!” “Coke is awful, absolutely atrocious.” “I would definitely know the difference and spit the Pepsi out!” So the professor proceeded to pour Pepsi into three glasses and Coke into three glasses. The most indignant students “who loved their brand of soda more than life itself” were given the chance to conduct a blind taste test to prove their mettle.

The taste test unfolded and the results were tallied. Afterwards, several things came to mind:
1. Phrases like “Talking the talk, but not walking the walk” and “Singing it, but not bringing it”
2. NBA players that “guarantee” a win
3. The “unsinkable” Titanic

The best student was right only 50% of the time (naming 3 out of the 6 cups correctly), and the other students’ results were downhill from there. For such sheer, stated loyalty to a product, they couldn’t tell the difference between the one they drink several times a day and its biggest competitor!

If the products aren’t really different, how does Coke sway consumers to buy their brand and not Pepsi’s? They market differentiation (even when there isn’t any!). They have Paula Abdul sing about it, make their bottles in cool shapes, and sponsor the Olympics. They run tons of commercials that make you feel like “buying the world a Coke”. Pepsi does the same types of things with their brand. They both do a tremendous job of getting their name out there and associating it with things you like. And you, in turn, buy their product exclusively (even if it costs more)!

So, what separates your real estate firm from the others? “We’re just better! And consumers should know that!” Unfortunately, data suggests that it’s more about the sizzle, and less about the steak. Or, simply stated, exactly like the “Cola Wars”. If you don’t believe that, look at the National Association of Realtors’ statistics. 70%+ of consumers use the first firm they contact and most of them do this over the internet (they don’t even meet a Realtor in person first!). In layman’s terms, if your internet presence is seen by the consumer and it resonates with them, you’re hired.

Why are consumers hiring Jimmy (and not your firm) even though you’re better? Why don’t they do the research, find out you’re superior, and staunchly hold out for your services?

It’s because Jimmy’s marketing made it easier for the CEO’s assistant to find him and his content (which included his military background- hence the nickname) made him seem like a better fit. The old mantra, “perception is more important than reality”, holds true. It’s not necessarily about being better or different, it’s about having people believe that you are.

As you sip on your can of Pepsi, you can ponder the unfairness of it all.

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty, “Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company” (www.BDFRealty.com and www.RentToSell.com). You can follow his Twitter thoughts on the Charlotte real estate market by clicking on http://twitter.com/bdfrealty. He is the author of the FREE E-Manual entitled “How to Rent-To-Sell Your Own Home” (http://www.renttosell.com/RTS-Book.html) which details how to get the most potential buyers to your home in this challenging real estate market.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: How Rudy Giuliani Gained Market Share during 9/11

"I just spoke to that guy last week; he was going to look at houses with me. Now he won’t take my calls and has reportedly been cavorting with a member of another realty firm. Scandalous!” (Unhappy Charlotte Realtor who just lost a client)

When the September 11th tragedy happened, everyone was shocked. I was living in New York City at the time and was up in Stamford (CT) that morning on a sales appointment. It was surreal. The news started with one plane hitting the World Trade Center which everyone thought was an accident; then the second plane hit. Pandemonium ensued.

My office was three blocks from the Trade Center and I had several friends that worked in it. As I tried to figure out what was going on, my cell phone stopped working as the area’s cellular phone networks were overloaded. New York City was then closed off and I couldn’t get back to my apartment and had to stay in Stamford that night. Meanwhile, new information coming from the media was sporadic and inaccurate; death estimates were coming over the news as high as 20,000. People were panicked and were looking for someone to make sense of it all.

When I was in class this summer, the professor asked the class who we thought was the best example of leadership in our lifetime; the person I chose was Rudy Giuliani after 9/11. The funny thing is, he wasn’t the natural choice to be the leader. Yes, he was the Mayor of New York City at the time, but there were other players more qualified to lead during the crisis. George W. Bush was the President and this was a national disaster; it was rightfully his position to lead. New York Governor George Pataki was another viable candidate. This was affecting everyone in his state; he could have easily stepped up and been the guy. So why will Rudy go down in history as the face of 9/11?

I believe it came down to 2 things:

1. Rudy gathered the information that mattered
2. Rudy dispensed the information consistently and calmly

The public was starving for timely information. Rumors were rampant, ground zero was closed off to non-emergency personnel (as well as the rest of lower Manhattan), and people were scared. Rudy put a calm face on, exuded confidence, and gave news reports personally. There was no need to go elsewhere to try to gather data; it came regularly every hour, was candid, and spoke to what people wanted to know most. He became the person that the public (his customers) looked up to and followed.

So why did your client go to work with someone at a competing firm? Why weren’t you the person that they felt could help them best? Did you have the information the client needed? Did you deliver it when you said it would? Did you put them at ease? Did they know they didn’t need to go anywhere else to get what they were looking for?

Former Governor Pataki and “Dubya” could have had the September 11th leadership mantle. They didn’t do anything wrong to lose it per se, but Rudy did more things right to gain it. Rudy didn’t badmouth Bush and Pataki; there wasn’t anything “scandalous” going on. The customers followed who they felt would best fill their needs. Don’t you?

Even presidents are susceptible to losing customers; why would you be different?

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty, “Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company” (www.BDFRealty.com and www.RentToSell.com). You can follow his Twitter thoughts on the Charlotte real estate market by clicking on http://twitter.com/bdfrealty. He is the author of the FREE E-Manual entitled “How to Rent-To-Sell Your Own Home” (http://www.renttosell.com/RTS-Book.html) which details how to get the most potential buyers to your home in this challenging real estate market.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Controlling the Public’s Thoughts About You The Michael Bloomberg Way

“I am the best Realtor in town! Why can’t anyone figure it out?” (frustrated Charlotte Realtor)

Michael Bloomberg, the current Mayor of New York City, came to fame as the founder of Bloomberg, LP. His company builds and maintains data terminals for members of the financial community who need access to real-time financial data. He built this from nothing to a $10B+ company in around 20 years. He is obviously an astute and extremely successful businessman who knows a thing or two about serving up data, both to his customers and to the press. Let me explain.

Bloomberg knew that favorable media coverage was extremely important to the growth of his business. So, he had to figure out a way to make sure that all (or at least most) of the news stories about Bloomberg, LP were positive. Short of threatening reporters, it was tough to see how he could coerce them into writing what he wanted (aka good stuff). It seemed like a crapshoot; any reporter could write anything they wanted and it could be influenced by nothing to do with his company. For example, the reporter could have had a breakfast that didn’t sit well or his ex-wife could have had the maiden name of “Bloomberg” which would result in a negative article. How could he increase his odds for positive coverage?

Well, he hired a staff whose sole job was to work with the media. Doesn’t every company do this? Yes, but he took it a step farther. When reporters called, his staff asked them what they were writing about, who they wanted to talk to, and what angle they were looking to take. When the reporters showed up at Bloomberg LP’s headquarters, a packet of information was waiting on them regarding the subject they were looking to cover (all pro-Bloomberg LP, of course!).

In this information packet, and what set Bloomberg apart, was an article (already written!) on the topic they were planning to write about. His staff would say something to the effect of, “We know that reporters are busy and have a tough job with all these deadlines and such. So, we thought we’d make it easier for you. Feel free to use as much of the provided article as you like; there is no need to reference our work. It’s yours to do with as you please- use the article in its entirety, if you’d like! We won’t tell anyone.” And as the story goes, most of the reporters used parts of the article in their stories and, sure enough, some of the reporters published the full article verbatim.

“Ummm… I’m not a billionaire and can’t afford to hire a staff of writers. Great article, though!” Thanks, but the point of the story is two-fold:

1. You can largely control the information about you in the public domain. Just write positive things about yourself and have the search engines index it!
2. You can make it easy for people to find positive information about you; simply provide it to every customer you meet! This can be on your business card, e-mail signature, or company brochures.

When people Google your name or your real estate company’s name, what comes up? What does your Linked-In profile look like? What are you “tweeting” out regularly? How are customers figuring out how “good” you really are?

Don’t make people do the work of drawing a conclusion about what type of agent you are. Give them the conclusion you want them to have about you (in an easy format). It worked well for billionaire and Mayor, Mike Bloomberg! Will you let it work well for you?

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty, “Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company” (www.BDFRealty.com and www.RentToSell.com). You can follow his Twitter thoughts on the Charlotte real estate market by clicking on http://twitter.com/bdfrealty. He is the author of the FREE E-Manual entitled “How to Rent-To-Sell Your Own Home” (http://www.renttosell.com/RTS-Book.html) which details how to get the most potential buyers to your home in this challenging real estate market.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Sarah Palin- A Huge Rent-To-Own and Seller Financing Fan?

“I need to do something to sell my empty house NOW.” (Unhappy Charlotte Landlord)

Moderator: “Who do you think was at fault? I start with you, Gov. Palin. Was it the greedy lenders? Was it the risky home-buyers who shouldn't have been buying a home in the first place?”

Sarah Palin: “Darn right it was the predator lenders, who tried to talk Americans into thinking that it was smart to buy a $300,000 house if we could only afford a $100,000 house. There was deception there, and there was greed and there is corruption on Wall Street. And we need to stop that.” (VP Debate vs. Joe Biden 10/2/08)

When watching the Vice-President debate in October 2008, one thing was crystal clear- Sarah Palin doesn’t care for banks very much. It appears that she would rather trade two small fur skins for a gallon of milk than go to a bank’s ATM and buy the milk outright. After all, Wall Street is corrupt (some, yes), they rip you off (true…), and the mortgage crisis was all the bankers’ fault (not true). She certainly wouldn’t advise you (and her 800K+ Facebook “friends”) to go to a bank and get a mortgage. You’ll be duped! It would be the equivalent of subjecting yourself to a financial “death panel”. Not good!

When you’re trying to get elected, blaming corporations instead of voters who put you in office is a much better strategy. But as for the aftermath of the mortgage crisis we faced, WWSD? What would she want us to do differently now that she isn’t running for office? Maybe she would tell us to take some of the blame? And be part of the solution?

I’m convinced that former Governor Palin would naturally be a fan of rent-to-own (lease options) and seller financing. These methods allow people (who can’t get a mortgage) to rent homes until they have built up their credit and a down payment so they can own; this promotes personal responsibility and puts the power in the hands of the people, rather than the banks. And I’m sure she believes in the resiliency and will of the American people to overcome and right their own ship. The question is, do you?

As your home sits on the market for sale month after month, would you be willing to “rent-to-sell” it? “But a lot of the prospective rent-to-own tenants have poor credit…” “Some of them have been in foreclosure and bankruptcy before.” “I met one and his nails weren’t cleaned properly.” All valid points. But they are humans. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. For example, do you know anyone that has lost a job and might have started being late on their bills? Do they deserve a second chance? And, yes, sometimes bad people do bad things. But if this wasn’t true, Michael Knight would have been on the unemployment line and Kit would have spent most of his time parked uselessly in a garage. But I digress…

As Ms. Palin exhorted in the debate, “One thing that Americans do at this time, also, though, is let's commit ourselves just every day American people, Joe Six Pack, hockey moms across the nation, I think we need to band together and say never again. Never will we be exploited and taken advantage of again by those who are managing our money and loaning us these dollars.” Maybe we can pick up the slack for Wall Street?

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty, “Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company” (www.BDFRealty.com and www.RentToSell.com). You can follow his Twitter thoughts on the Charlotte real estate market by clicking on http://twitter.com/bdfrealty. He is the author of the FREE E-Manual entitled “How to Rent-To-Sell Your Own Home” (http://www.renttosell.com/RTS-Book.html) which details how to get the most potential buyers to your home in this challenging real estate market.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: What is “Rent-To-Sell”? A Primer by “Ugly Kid”

“You think ‘Rent-To-Sell’ is the best way to sell in this economy? Why is it better than just listing my home for sale?” (Skeptical Charlotte Home Seller)

“My son will have a date to that darn prom if it is the last thing I do…” (Rueful rallying cry from the father of “Ugly Kid”)

A father had a problem. Rather it was his son’s problem, but he couldn’t stomach the thought that his offspring was so unappealing to the opposite sex. So now the problem was his. The high school junior prom was only three short weeks away and his son was still unable to secure a date. “Pathetic,” the father thought as he trolled his retired black book to see if any of his prior flings had a daughter his son’s age. How could this be happening?

It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort. Not only had his son asked out every girl in his class, but he had followed it up with invitations to every girl in his grade, then every girl in his high school, and every girl in his nascent Facebook account. No go. The real world and cyberspace were proving equally as cruel. Apparently, when one has earned the moniker of “Ugly Kid”, the deck is stacked against you. However, the father was undeterred and began his campaign to get his son a prom date.

It started with accessing message boards from high schools around the country and posting ads. “Attention High School Girls: Great Guy Needs Prom Date, Awesome Personality, No Pictures Available (hard drive crashed), Will Pay Airfare, Room, & Board to NC.” He alerted radio station disc jockeys to his son’s dilemma. He submitted thousands of entries into the “Win a Date with Britney Spears” contest. He put profiles on Match.com and HighSchoolGirlzHere.com. And then, he waited…

Something happened. His e-mail began to fill up and his phone started to ring off the hook. Nationally, high school girls were requesting more information (and pictures) concerning his posts. Disc jockeys were putting him on their shows and having intrigued girls call in. Activity was booming and the excitement was palpable. And then one week before prom, his son got a call from a Carolina girl from Charlotte who said the sweet words he had been yearning to hear, “Yes, I will go to the prom with you.” And Dad’s work paid off; “Ugly Kid” was going to the dance.

This is the essence of “Rent-To-Sell”. The traditional buyers who go get a loan and purchase your home outright are scarce! You need to remember the oldest selling axiom out there (“Sales is a numbers game”) and have it work for you. Instead of just listing your home like you did in the past, you need to open your home up to the greatest number of potential buyers out there; this includes rent-to-own tenants (building their credit), tenant-buyers (renters with good credit who don’t want to buy right now- usually just moved to the area), and investors looking to buy a home with a paying tenant already in place. The American dream of homeownership isn’t dead; it is just is going to be played out differently until the credit markets firm up. Change your game plan accordingly!

Your home and “Ugly Kid” are in the same boat. Enlarge your target buyer audience and that call will come!

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty, “Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company” (www.BDFRealty.com and www.RentToSell.com). You can follow his Twitter thoughts on the Charlotte real estate market by clicking on http://twitter.com/bdfrealty. He is the author of the FREE E-Manual entitled “How to Rent-To-Sell Your Own Home” (http://www.renttosell.com/RTS-Book.html) which details how to get the most potential buyers to your home in this challenging real estate market.