Realtor Magazine June July 2020

M A G A Z I N E J U N E / J U LY 2 0 2 0

INSIDE

JEANNE RADSICK

2020 C.A.R. President Speaks of a Changed Working Environment

KEVIN MCCARTHY Congressman Praises Local Helpers

C.A.R./ S NAR SEND ® REALTORS BACK TO e WORK. Se page 12

JUDY MILLER

REALTOR® helps those in need by organizing Senior Donations

R E A L T O R S

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P O S I T I V E L Y

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CONTENTS

2020 OFFICERS

Bakersfield REALTOR® Magazine

President Ronda Newport Watson Realty, ERA

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President-Elect Scott Knoeb Frontier Real Estate Services, Inc. Vice President Anna Albiar Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT Secretary/Treasurer Wayland Louie RE/MAX Golden Empire

JENIFER PITCHER, GAD Pitcher reveals the effects of the pandemic on the primary election

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NONPROFIT HOUSING STALLED Assemblyman Rudy Salas reveals how CEQA is being used as a tool to stall nonprofit housing during pandemic.

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Immediate Past President Athena Collup Miramar International, Mill Rock Chief Executive Officer Kim Huckaby

2020 Directors Nik Boone Ascend Real Estate

Michele Cooper Karpe Real Estate Center Martha Johnson Watson Realty ERA Bill Mell Bill Mell & Associates

PANDEMIC CHANGES LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR OUR DISTRICT Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove remains committed to addressing the housing and hopelessness crisis.

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LOCAL BUSINESSES STRUGGLING DURING PANDEMIC California must halt new regulations, taxes and fees to revitalize economy

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JOE NEWTON, OMBUDSMAN, REVIEWS LIQUIDATED DAMAGES IN RPA In the event of a buyer breach, how do you enforce liquidated damages in your Residential Property Agreement?

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Kym Plivelich Marcom Real Estate Glenn Porter RE/MAX Golden Empire Brian Tuttle Coldwell Banker Preferred, RLT Michelle Valverde Wyrick & Associates Real Estate

ON THE COVER

Housing Affordability in the forefront of Government Officials

GOOD NEIGHBOR AWARDS Announcing the first local Good Neighbor Awards program recognizing REALTORS® who make extraordinary commitments to improving the quality of life in our community.

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BE A PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATOR While working remotely in virtual meetings become a top negotiator when you can’t speak to someone in person.

Executive Editor - Kim Huckaby CEO Managing Editor - Carol Duran Contributing Articles Editor - Tiffany Waldowski Statistics - Jamey Lyster Graphic Designer - Carol Duran Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® 2300 Bahamas Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93309 P. 661-635-2300 F. 661-635-2317 www.bakersfieldrealtor.com facebook.com/bakersfieldrealtors twitter.com/bakorealtors BAKERSFIELD REALTOR

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MAGAZINE

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LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

RONDA NEWPORT 2020 PRESIDENT

Is a more DIGITIZED EXPERIENCE going to be

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the new normal?

remember the day so well, it was March 19th, and Walt and I were eating dinner. The Governor was on TV, and he was talking about a mandatory “Stay at Home” order, and we would only be able to go out of our homes for essential business. What was that? Stay at home, really?!? Can he do that?

That was the day everything changed for us, including how we do business because Real Estate was deemed non-essential. In a matter of days, the lives of all our members changed in ways we never imagined would ever be possible.

This was not on our radar, we had not prepared.

REALTORS® not essential? …Real Estate not essential? That’s crazy, right?!?

It wasn’t long before C.A.R. mobilized to confront our challenge and working status. We went from non-essential to essential just a couple weeks later. Thanks to NAR/C.A.R. fighting for us. The world of Real Estate moved quickly to

adapt and go from business as usual to operating under strict social distancing guidelines and extensive measures to keep the consumer safe. We are no longer business as usual by any means. Our entire way of doing business changed and continues to change each day.

Never before was the advocacy of C.A.R. and NAR more essential to the everyday REALTOR®. The leadership of our Local, State and National Associations was crucial to be able to serve the consumer and continue to work.

To say that changes were made daily was an understatement. The ways in how we interact with one another and our clients are different now, but most likely will evolve into a preferred mode of communicating going forward.

Social distancing has and will continue to change the way we interact with the consumer and each other. The longer this pandemic persists, the more likely we are to see lasting

changes in the way we conduct business, as well as just being humans in our daily life. We must be cognizant of our actions and reactions to maintain the trust and loyalty of our clients. A more digitized experience from here on will be the new normal and keep us moving forward.

As your President, this experience has humbled me. I have been in awe of the speed and diligence by which our Association, C.A.R. and NAR rose to the occasion and continues to do so.

That commitment is why we are still in business, and our industry is still alive and strong. I am also very proud of the Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® members that never faltered in this crazy time. You acted quickly to make the required changes in your businesses and never complained. You were responsive to the constant changes, and those in leadership could rely on you always doing the right thing.

We are grateful. I AM GRATEFUL!

The longer this pandemic persists, the more likely we are to see lasting changes in the way we conduct business” 4

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

LETTER FROM THE CEO

If you will join me in this mission, we will soften the blows of this catastrophe together and emerge stronger than ever.

KIM HUCKABY CEO

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here is no way to sugar coat it; in addition to the devastating human loss, illness, and the disruption to millions of lives around the world, the economic injury is already substantial and sweeping across the board from COVID-19. My number one hope is that our members and their families are healthy and are continuing to make positive strides to get through the challenging and apprehensive situation we currently find ourselves in.

I have no doubt that this has been a difficult time for our membership. I assure you that we are here to support you and your profession as we tackle the tough challenges that lie ahead.

I have had the opportunity to speak with so many of you in recent months to address and listen to your frustrations, concerns, worries, and to work through intricate and complex issues with you, one by one. I am grateful for the new relationships formed as a result of those conversations, as well as the support and compassion that I have witnessed from our members. This has been a humbling time. I find myself compelled to express an enormous amount of gratitude to our members for their encouragement and patience as our Association has continued to find new and innovative ways of communicating and meeting our members’ needs.

The Association and our staff remain 110%

committed to serving our members and providing member benefits. As you all know, there are a plethora of laws and regulations that we are all becoming familiar with, and some seem to change daily. As an Association, we are ensuring that our members have the resources, education, and legal guidance they need to continue conducting business and reduce their operational liability.

Thank you to C.A.R. and NAR for making sure our members’ voices were heard by carrying our fight to make sure our members could get back to work. The labor of organized real estate on behalf of our members was the only reason REALTORS® were permitted reclassification as an essential service. Once again, lawmakers were moved to recognize the extraordinary value of REALTORS® and the ESSENTIAL role that you play in keeping communities together. There is no replacement or alternative for what you do.

Thank you to the Brokers and Sales Managers that joined me on multiple Zoom meetings in the early weeks of the Executive “Stay at Home” Order by working together to find solutions amidst the chaos.

Thank you for entrusting me as CEO of this great Association and President Ronda Newport and the Association Leadership to lead our organization through this crisis and, more importantly, OUT of this crisis. Thank

you to Ronda Newport and the Association Leadership for taking hundreds of calls and rolling up their sleeves to take decisive and courageous action, based on less than perfect and changing information, knowing that expediency was and remains critical. Each day, we continue to triage and assess our membership’s position while stabilizing the organization to deal with the crisis at hand.

We also continue to find new opportunities amongst seemingly impossible restraints.

If we do our very best to be genuinely empathetic and walk compassionately in the shoes of others - including our members, employees, clients, and colleagues, and their broader circumstances, while simultaneously taking a firm and rational approach to moving forward - WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS. Our members must continue to own their narrative while being transparent about existing realities, and portraying a captivating and compelling picture of the future that inspires and motivates others to endure. It is my hope that we can use this crisis as an opportunity to make significant and needed changes that create even more value and positive collective impact, rather than only rebounding back to the status quo. If you will join me in this mission, we will soften the blows of this catastrophe together and emerge stronger than ever.

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A DANGEROUS PIECE OF LEGISLATION IN THE PIPELINE

AB828 contribution by

SCOTT KNOEB FRONTIER REAL ESTATE SERVICES, INC.

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e are clearly in unprecedented times. As REALTORS®, we have found ways to adapt to the times and have significantly changed the way we do essential business. We are very sympathetic to the millions (including our families) who have found themselves out of work. And millions of small business owners have found their dreams and their livelihood diminish in a matter of weeks.

It is evident that the shelter-in-place orders will severely impact our economy, perhaps more so than any other event in history. Our elected leaders at all levels of government have worked feverishly to pass emergency legislation to help those impacted

by COVID-19.

Our business organizations, including our local, state, and national REALTOR® Associations, are fighting diligently to ensure legislation being discussed is balanced.

However, due to the emergency, we have seen government entities completely overstep what many would believe constitutes the role of government. For example, the Judicial Council of California has halted all eviction

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lawsuits (or “unlawful detainers”) statewide, on top of the Governor’s Executive Order that places a moratorium on evictions until May 31. (For more on this, see the Community Voices article by Scott Knoeb).

On top of these existing state protections, an extremely dangerous piece of legislation is in the pipeline. AB 828 (Ting) creates a court-ordered reduction of rent by 25% for 12 months for tenants who claim they cannot pay due to the COVID-19 crisis.

There is no way for property owners to recoup this court-ordered lost rental amount, even though they are still legally obligated to continue paying their mortgage, taxes, and insurance and maintain and repair the property. Many argue that this proposed bill is unconstitutional. AB 828 FORCES courts to interfere with existing contracts in violation of both the California and US Constitutions. Not even a pandemic should undermine the Constitution.

AB 1905 (Chiu) would dramatically limit mortgage interest deductibility on primary residences and abolish the mortgage interest deduction for second homes to create a Housing and Homeless Response Fund.

Both CAR and the Bakersfield Association

of REALTORS opposed this bill. While we strongly support creating viable solutions to the state’s homeless problem, the association vehemently opposes targeting tax increases on homeowners as many of them are already struggling financially during this difficult time. Our Association works closely with our local homeless collaborative to find solutions to the homeless epidemic in our area. We have a vested interest in ending this crisis; as REALTORS® it is our goal to build stronger communities. But we believe the solution to this problem should not be on the backs of homeowners. AB 1905 was scheduled for a vote on May 20, and at the last minute, the author chose not to pursue the bill further and pulled it from the committee agenda. That was the only opportunity the bill could be voted on, so it is effectively “dead.”

As REALTORS®, it is our mission to build better communities. One way of doing this is to leave business decisions to individuals to resolve amongst themselves, NOT for a state government as large and as diverse as California, to pass sweeping legislation that financially harms one sect of its citizenry disproportionately.

An illustration of the strength of the American spirit is when we see

communities help one another

contribution by

KEVIN MCCARTHY

A

CONGRESSMAN, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER

s our country remains in the midst of a pandemic unlike one we’ve seen in modern times, Congress is working to ensure the safety and prosperity of Americans across the country.

Congress has passed an unprecedented nearly $3 trillion in legislation, the largest relief package in history, which includes funding to help small businesses stay afloat, provides additional assistance to the health care system, and gives a little extra help to American families most drastically impacted by coronavirus. After listening to many REALTORS® and entrepreneurs in our community, many of whom are either self-employed or independent contractors, the CARES Act also created the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and expanded SBA relief to include independent contractors and sole proprietors, along with small businesses with less than 500 employees.

However, a more compelling illustration of the strength of our American spirit can be witnessed throughout our communities as our neighbors rise up to help one another.

Look for the helper. You will always find people who are helping.

Congressman Kevin McCarthy During these times, I am reminded of what Fred Rogers famously suggested: “Look for

the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

These helpers are heroes, and can be seen throughout our own neighborhoods here in Bakersfield. Take for instance the nursing students at Bakersfield College who are completing their last credits by working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

Or the teachers, faculty, and staff who have driven around town to lift the spirits of their students and help give them a sense of normalcy during these unique times. Or the florists who have donated flowers to seniorliving facilities to brighten the days of many residents.

It’s true -- times may be tough at the moment, but I have no doubt that together, we will come out of this stronger than before. Congress is working to ensure that this happens, but I know our job has just begun. It’s time for the House to get back to work for the American people and do what we were elected to do: pass legislation, craft laws, and carry the concerns of our constituents to Washington, D.C. I know that these are uncertain times, and that many of you are anxious about the coronavirus pandemic, but I want to assure you that our country will overcome anything.

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Implications of a

changed environent

visit China, that did not keep me free from

contribution by

JEANNE RADSICK

the potential of infection. We have learned

2020 C.A.R. PRESIDENT, CENTURY 21-JORDAN LINK & CO.

about touching, cleaning, and learning in an

O

ne of the greatest pleasures that I have had this year has been to go out and meet and greet the many members of this Association who have unfailingly welcomed me into their meetings and events. Getting out and about allows our many members who do not necessarily have the benefit of being a director, to get to see the people behind the curtain, so to speak. But, unlike the Wizard of Oz, I do not profess to being all-powerful or allknowing. Ok, maybe just a little… What I do know, however, is that we are all being changed by our environment. This includes where and how we live, what affects us in our daily lives, and the changes that seem to be coming more rapidly. Changes such as the winters becoming drier, and the summers becoming hotter and with less snowfall.

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entirely new way.

But more than the virus, let’s consider that our environment does and will continue to change in other ways. California has always prided itself on being first in the nation to be “green”, but there is a cost. The cost of lost jobs as the government wants to eliminate drilling for oil, and there is less agricultural production as we restrict water flows. There is a higher cost to import the replacements These factors cause us to think about our water resources and how to conserve them.

Just think about how little we knew last January with the first reports of a virus in China, and then as we watched it spread around the world with breathtaking speed, it showed us all how interconnected we are in reality. It really showed us how much we rely upon one another. Just because I did not

for those things we currently produce.

Unlike the The Wizard of Oz, I do not have the answers, and I can guarantee that we will disagree on some things. But what I want you to do is learn, be informed, participate in the conversation, and collectively let our voices be heard.

Stay safe, be well, and go do some business.

RE A LT O R S ® A R E “A M B ASSADOR S” TO THE ASSOCIATION

contribution by

The Pandemic and its effect on the Election

JENNIFER PITCHER GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS CONSULTANT

Congratulations — we have made it passed Super Tuesday. So, how has the Primary Election affected you? It can all be a bit confusing, but my job is to try to make sense of it all in 500 words or less. Trying to make sense of politics is quite the oxymoron.

Then you throw in a global pandemic that essentially shut down the country. This inevitably had a major effect on the election.

Let’s first discuss the results from the March primary. There was only one Proposition on the State ballot (there will be many more in November, possibly including one sponsored by the California Association of REALTORS). This is where it gets even more confusing. We saw another Prop 13 on our March ballot. This has nothing to do with the well-known Prop 13 passed by voters in 1978 that maintains property taxes based on the year the property was purchased. Every 10 years, the number of ballot Propositions start over. The famous Prop 13 allows for predictability and stability for property owners by keeping the same tax rate on properties and only reassessing the value (and thus the property tax) after a real estate transaction. Industrial and business properties do not change owners very often, so there have been efforts to do what is known as a “split roll tax.” This means that

the Prop 13 protections would be removed from industrial properties, but kept on residential properties. The fear expressed by many business organizations is that if they remove protections from businesses, what is to stop them from removing it from residential? The 2020 Proposition 13 (although, purposefully given that number to confuse voters) actually had nothing to do with the 1978 Prop 13. THIS proposition is a $17 billion bond (about $35 billion total paid) for school infrastructure. The unique thing about this school bond that is different from most state school bonds is that it includes pre-K, community colleges, and universities. Most school bonds are K-12.

The California Association of REALTORS took a neutral position on this ballot measure. Prop 13 failed in March.

Locally, we had 2 more marijuana measures—Measure D & E. It wouldn’t be an election without a marijuana ordinance, it seems. Measure D was put forward by local marijuana advocates; Measure E was put on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors. Both measures would basically undo an ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors that banned the sale of medicinal and recreational marijuana after the State legalized marijuana.

The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS did not take a position on either (nor did we discuss it) since neither are related to our industry. Measure D and Measure E both failed.

There were 3 seats up for election on the Board of Supervisors (out of 5). District 1 Supervisor Mick Gleason decided NOT to run for re-election, as he is ready to retire from his second career as a Supervisor. There were 3 candidates in the race for his seat: Philip Peters, Daures Stephens, and David Fluhart. Philip Peters was the District Representative for Supervisor Gleason; he is a former Trustee on the Kern High School District. Peters also comes from a family active in local politics, and our local oil industry. Daures Stephens is a retired Marine and lives in the Kern River Valley.

David Fluhart is a local marijuana advocate.

The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® supported Peters. With 52.24% of the vote,

Continued on page 20 BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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CEQA used as a tool during pandemic to

contribution by

RUDY SALAS

stall nonprofit housing

ASSEMBLYMAN DISTRICT 32

While the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has temporarily shut down major parts of our economy, the need for more affordable housing in California has not gone away. As we continue our progress and move towards slowly reopening the state in a safe and responsible manner, it is important to utilize this opportunity to reduce red tape, address burdensome regulations, streamline CEQA reform, and build more housing to ensure that working families can afford to live in California.

With unemployment numbers rising, we need to look at ways of funding “shovel ready” projects throughout the state and encourage development of more housing to make sure our local economies are able to put people back to work. Part of this solution is addressing the inherent issues in certain regulations like the California

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BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

Rudy Salas Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) which continues to be used as a tool to stop affordable housing development.

With so many people out of work and the

high housing demands of the state, we cannot afford to allow a wealthy minority to continue using CEQA as a weapon to stall projects from nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity and others who are trying to provide affordable housing for real working families in the state.

California has set high goals to meet the increasing need for housing in the state.

Due to the pandemic, production in many areas has stalled, but it has not gone away.

If we are going to make a full recovery, both socially and economically, we need to utilize this opportunity to address regulations and barriers to housing. REALTORS® are essential to the fabric of our community by helping families fulfill the American dream of owning a home. I look forward to working with our REALTORS® to continue the discussion on how to remove barriers so that every family in California can one day achieve the dream of owning a home.

An Unprecedented Legislative Environment

contribution by

what does this look like?

SHANNON GROVE SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER

Just as our county and state recently have had to shift efforts and priorities, legislative priorities for our district have changed as well. I have continued to fight for local control, flexibility, and more support for job creators and businesses. Focusing on local control must continue to be a priority as we proceed through the legislative session.

While some legislative proposals have stalled due to the crisis, there are many which are critical which I continue to support, including housing and homelessness, stimulating our economy, and supporting employers.

I remain committed to addressing the housing and homelessness crises. Our builders should not have to pay sometimes $100,000 and wait years before they can put a shovel in the ground on housing projects.

Burdensome state laws that add costly red tape, such as CEQA, should be streamlined immediately. Before we can help vulnerable Californians get off the streets for good, we have to help them with the root-causes of their situation, which is why I have

Shannon Grove

Senate Republican Leader

continued to push for the state to include mental health and substance abuse programs in our homeless plan.

I also remain committed to legislative efforts that stimulate our economy and support businesses. It is more important than ever that we help job creators employ Californians. I have reintroduced several measures to support the state’s freelance

economy and worker freedom. Any economic recovery plan must also ensure that it meets the short and long-term needs of California’s diverse industries while protecting job creators from new burdens and costly mandates. I am honored to have been appointed to California’s Economic Recovery Task Force and will continue to work on behalf of the unique needs and job creators of our district.

Unfortunately, California heard after-thefact about backdoor deals by the Governor at the onset of this crisis, costing onebillion in taxpayer dollars. It is imperative the response and recovery to this crisis be transparent, which is why I have worked with the Senate Pro Tem in the creation of a COVID-19 oversight committee and budget subcommittee. An important part of the Legislature right now is transparency, and we must continue to ensure standards set in place to hold the state accountable are upheld.

As we continue to navigate these unprecedented times, my office and I remain available to assist you, your business, and organization with any challenges you may run into.

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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Your contributions to RPAC are critical to help fight for our industry!

COVID ADVOCACY WINS

The coronavirus sent shockwaves and unprecedented government actions throughout the world. United States elected officials at every level of government were forced to make unimaginable decisions that put either people’s lives, or people’s livelihoods at risk. Emergency legislation and executive actions were implemented in a matter of days. And the REALTOR® voice was heard at every level.

Because of advocacy efforts by the National Association of REALTORS®: n Independent contractors and sole proprietors were included in the federal economic relief packages n Expanded types of small businesses who are eligible for federal relief funds, including forgivable loans through the Small Business Administration and the Paycheck Protection Program n Property owners were given some relief for rental properties after eviction moratoriums began passing in states Because of advocacy efforts by the California Association of REALTORS®: n Pandemic Unemployment implementation has been extended to self-employed independent contractors n REALTORS® were quickly deemed “essential” to be able to conduct business during shelter-in-place

n Quickly provided adaptable meetings and open lines of communication amongst members n Legal forms provided to protect you and your clients n Provide best practices for showings, limiting the liability of the REALTOR® and the seller n Provide relief hotlines to help with individual circumstances

“shelter-in-place” orders that further restrict transactions n REALTORS® have been appointed to a County Task Force who has been mandated to establish guidance for the local economy to re-open after the Shelter-In-Place order is amended n Over 100 cities and counties implemented more stringent ordinances, but Bakersfield and

Bill to Attack Mortgage Interest Deduction Dies C.A.R. would like to thank everyone who Tweeted and called their legislators about AB 1905, a bill opposed by C.A.R. that would have dramatically limited mortgage interest deductibility on primary residences and would have abolished the mortgage interest deduction for second homes to create a Housing and Homeless Response Fund.

Kern County have not adopted any local ordinance, thus using basic guidelines set by the state and federal governments “Your contributions to RPAC are critical to help fight for your industry.

Click here to become a REALTOR® PAC contributor.”

Because of advocacy efforts by the Bakersfield Association of REALTORS®: n Kept a more stringent local eviction moratorium from being adopted n There are no additional local

12 Your contribution to RPAC makes a difference! From Local, to State to Natio BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

A big thank you to all those who have already contributed!

Recognizing Our

2020 PAC CONTRIBUTORS NAR GOLDEN R

NAR STERLING R

HALL OF FAME $

25,000

Lifetime Investor PRESIDENT CIRCLE

Jeanne Radsick

CONTRIBUTORS

of $148 True Cost of Doing Business Abbot, Frank Ablin, Robin Ablin, Todd Acosta, Guillermo Advani, Sanjeev Albiar, Anna Albitre, Tammie Allison, Kelly Anderson, Mark Anthes, Sheri Apsit-Incardone Barbara Araujo, Deanna Arellano, Jose Luis Arias, Adrian Ayon, Tony Barnett, Bradley Barnhard, Kristi Barrientos, Mark Barrison, Levon Bear, Clinton Belter, Gary Beltran, Lidia Bender, Terri Benitez, Walter Bernal, Saul Bertrand, Michelle Blanton, Janice Blanza, Susan Boone, Nik Brar, Dhanwant Brehm-Clark, Jennifer Brinsfield, Shanti Brock, Joel Brooks, Juanita Bussman, Jeff Camacho, Cristabelle Camp, Judy Canady, Rhonda Carruesco, Gary Carruesco, Tanya Chalhoub, Habib Bobby Chamness, John Chay-Som, Hannah

Clemmer, Mark Clemmer, Melinda Collins, Terri Meyer Collup, Athena Cooper, Michele Davis, Paris Dees, Faby Dominguez, Adrienne Duarte, Louis Durazo, Felice Fauke, Aaron Flores, Mary Freedman, Michael Aaro Garcia, Cesar Garcia, Pascual Garcia-Ruiz, Edward Garone, John Gay, David Ghuman, Jessie Gill, Ranjit Gonzalez Aceves, Jesus Gonzalez Velazquez, Ezequiel Goyeneche , Raymond Haenelt, Joanie Hanson, Scott Harandi, Suzanne Hartje, Richard Helm, Carol Hernandez-Abbas, Iliana Hickman, Jeri Holland, Greg Houchin, John Huber,Mara Hudson, Jessica Hudson, Kelly Jimenez, Elizabeth Johnson, Martha Johnson, Seth Johnson, Victoria Jones, Patricia Kafkadjian, Hagob Kaur, Inderjit Khalil, Ezzat Knoeb, David Knoeb, Scott Koons, Maureen

C.A.R. SILVER BEAR

Chartered

David Knoeb Sheri Anthes

Kornbau, Garry Kotsiomitis, Kathy Laborde, Jean E.C. Lahn, Yan Lamb, Linda Lawson, Kyle Litten, Ryan Lopez, Phyllis Louie, Wayland Mackessy, John Magana, Jenny Magana, Roger Mahan, Libbie Malkin, Robert Malouf, Gail Maran, Monalisa Marchand, Tammi Marley-Soto, Megan Marmolejo, Vanessa McClurg, Pam McEwen, James Mell, William Miller, Judy Molina, Julie Morales, Raul Murphy, Shelley Neiss, Jason Newport, Ronda Newport, Walt Nielsen, Dave Nunn, Savannah Oliver, Kevin Olson, Theresa Ortiz, Carlos Ortiz, Mary Patel, Arun Perez, Flavio Peters, Coleen Peters, Joseph Porter, Glenn Price, Tina Radsick, Jeanne Ramirez, Rodolfo Roberson, Brandon Gene Roberson, Debra Romine, Brian

Salinas, Wyatt Sanchez, Angie Sanders, David Segrest, Sandy Seijas Gamarra, Cesar Shanyfelt, Dan Short, Amy Simon, Frank Singh, Lakhdeep Soper, Michael Sousa, Holly Sparks, Darrell Sprague, Derek St. Clair, Frank Teixeira, Alvin Tomlinson, Carl Trone, Sherri Tuttle, Brian Urner, Susan Valdez, Maria Valverde, Michelle Vazquez, Victor Walsh, Ron Watkins, Sarah Wattenbarger, Ellen Wells, Dan Wilkerson, Sammy Williams, Carrie Williams, Madison Williams, Tenia Wilson, Michelle Woods, Jennifer Yim, Justin Zaninovich, Carrie

CONTRIBUTORS

Less Than The True Cost of Doing Business Abdelwahab, Maher Alsup, Julia Anderson, Carolyn Arucan, Lucrecia Ashcraft, Becky Belezzuoli, Robbyn Blazer, Aaron Brar, Amritpal

Kim Huckaby Athena Collup Gail Malouf Theresa Olson

Brar, Surinder Capilla, Belinda Carrasco, Stephanie Castellanos Guerra Veronica Castro, Domingo Cervantes, Priscilla Champieux, Jeanene Chavez, Guadalupe Chester, Jessica Cisneros, Christopher Colon, Gina Ciufo, Sharon Cofield, Christine Covington-Kaiser, Becky Davis, Kenneth Della, Kamal Desme, Greg Dorman, Tiffany Ellington, Meghan Elston, Jeanette Fisher, Janice Flores, Maria Ford, Susan Diane Ford, Thomas Franco, Haydee Fuentes-Mata Jessica Galindo, Judith Gallagher, Stephen Gamez, Lynette Garcia, Ricardo Garza, Traci Gill, Perminder Glentzer, John Gonzalez, Antonio Gonzales, Brian Gonzalez, Salvador Gregory, Maria Guerrero Alexandra Gutierrez Perez, Erik Handel, Christine Hernandez , Angela Hernandez, Anna Hochhalter, Crimson Ister, Umit Jackson, Kari Jiang, Aaron

Joseph, Chase Kendrick, Kerry Kennedy, Geraldine Kovach, Brandi Lei, Troy Lopez, Asucena Lucich, Alexander Macias, Joshua Madera, Rosa Magat, Josephine Mathew, Dinny McCaffrey, Georgia McCormick, Matthew McTaggart, Debra Menchaca, Lizzeth Mendez, Henry Miguez Lazcano, Fernando Miguez-Tello, Marlene Munson, Dana Neumann, Travis Oroz, Samantha Ortiz, Jonathon Pandura, Maria Plivelich, Kymberly Porter, JP Qassim, Issam Quintana, Jaime Rivas, Arnulfo Rodriguez, Eufemia Rodriguez, Raul Ryder, Judy Sandoval, Maria Sidhu, Harpreet Soto, Jesus Steiner, Terrye Stiles, Jennifer Taber, Christina Thompson, Bobbi Tipton, Tracey Webb, Sumer Whaley, Lori Wright, Maria Zamora, Eduardo Zannelli, Gustavo Zeidler, Jenny

TO MAKE A VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION GO TO: https://tinyurl.com/y9yjsfqu

13 onal, your voice was heard. Invest in your future, make a contribution now!

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C H A R I TA B L E

F O U N D AT I O N

Strong communities don’t just happen.

We build them.

Your Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation provides many ways to support our

community through: n Grants recommended by members and local non-profits for property-related assistance n Community Improvement Projects involving our members n Housing Education for the consumer and community-oriented organizations around affordable housing

There are many ways to amplify our impact as a REALTOR® community.

Help us build a stronger Bakersfield.

Your association’s Foundation supports causes you care about through partnerships that lead to a safe, healthy, vibrant Bakersfield.

Discover more about how to amplify your impact at www.barcf.com

Your association’s Foundation supports causes you care about through partnerships that lead to a safe, healthy, vibrant Bakersfield

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Discover more about how to amplify your impact at www.barcf.com

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California must halt new regulations, taxes and fees to revitalize economy and

give local businesses ability to succeed contribution by

VINCE FONG

ASSEMBLYMAN DISTRICT 34

As California prepares for the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Newsom administration must also be focused and prepared on how to best support our state’s communities and businesses moving forward.

To revitalize our economy, we must provide our small business owners and entrepreneurs stability so they can reopen, grow, and hire.

There is no question that during a time of economic struggle, we must look for ways to remove burdens on businesses trying to survive.

One of the major cost drivers of doing business in California is the cost of complying with the state’s regulatory jungle. The easiest and most commonsense way to help bolster our local businesses and communities is to temporarily pause the rulemaking process for new regulations that are unrelated to COVID-19.

For example, California’s regulations significantly reduce the water supplies available for our farmers in the Central Valley, who are working around the clock to ensure that community grocery store shelves are stocked with food while we are sheltering in place. Due to the lack of water, farmers are forced to fallow many acres of prime agricultural land that could otherwise help grow needed produce.

New state regulations also threaten to

Vince Fong further deteriorate the condition of California’s economy. The California Air Resource Board is still considering a new regulation that would impose additional regulations on every vessel that comes into a California port. It makes no sense to burden our freight and transportation system that moves goods and products to our stores across the state when they are struggling. According to state staff, the cost of this regulation is estimated to be $2.16 billion over ten years. The state must postpone the development and implementation of this and other harmful regulations while our state weathers COVID-19’s economic fallout.

Furthermore, the very thought of increasing

taxes or fees would be a disastrous decision.

There is no sense to provide state assistance and relief to families and businesses around the state, only to force them to pay it back through new taxes. We must do everything that we can to lessen the costs Californians face because of this pandemic.

In order for California to help, and not hinder, the work being done by local governments, businesses, and families, it is imperative that the state implement an immediate moratorium on agency rulemakings not related to imminent health and safety concerns related to COVID-19 and halt any attempt to impose any new taxes or fees that would hurt California communities and businesses.

By implementing a moratorium on the development and implementation of new rules, taxes, and fees, the state would take a critical and meaningful step in allowing our economy to recover from the economic impact stemming from the response to COVID-19.

In this difficult time, the state should support Californians as much as possible, and give them the best environment for them to succeed. Pausing non-critical regulations and stopping the imposition of new taxes or fees are commonsense and necessary actions that will ensure that California businesses, entrepreneurs, and innovators can reopen, rehire, and thrive.

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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How to Enforce Liquidated Damages and

Deposit Disputes JOE NEWTON 2020 OMBUDSMAN REPORT JANUARY - APRIL 2020

55 calls were grievance/ethic complaints against agents which were resolved n

3 grievance/ethics packages mailed out to complaining party n

1 arbitration package mailed to complaining parties regarding a case that could not be resolved n

82 calls requesting information on real estate procedures n

n

56 calls requesting information on deposits

1 call of a complaint against a non-association member which was referred to another agency n

16

n

21 cases referred to Association mediation

n

14 Tehachapi calls

n

3 Kern River Lake Isabella calls

n

236 Year-to-date total

BAKERSFIELD REALTORÂŽ MAGAZINE

contribution by

at the time of sale. Remember that convincing a judge will be the challenge parties will face.

T

7. ARE THERE GUIDELINES FOR LIMITING HOW MUCH MONEY A SELLER CAN SAFELY COLLECT FROM A BUYER AS LIQUIDATED DAMAGES? To be valid, the amount should reflect a reasonable amount that reflects a reasonable estimate of the actual loss a seller would suffer in the event of a buyer’s breach. A seller should not use the clause to “punish” buyers unfairly, or to make a large profit over and above their actual financial injury. Further, the 3% rule applies when the property will be owner occupied as law requires and as specified in the RPA.

JOE NEWTON OMBUDSMAN

he C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA) contains a liquidated damage clause that most parties accept. In the event of a buyer breach, how does one actually enforce that contractual provision?

Three items are worth noting. First, it burdens primarily one party, the buyer. No preset damages are provided where the seller breaches the contract. However, a seller breach could lead to a specific performance suit.

Secondly, it applies to residential property of one to four units where the buyer intends to occupy and is limited to 3% of the purchase price. Thirdly, payment and release from escrow will require parties to agree that there has been a breach, otherwise a judicial or arbitration award will have to be made.

1. WHAT IS A LIQUIDATED DAMAGE PROVISION? In Paragraph 21 (B) of the RPA, this is an agreement that establishes in advance that if the buyer breaches an agreement, the buyer may owe a maximum or specific amount of money usually limited to the EMD. 2. WHAT IS THE ADVANTAGE TO EITHER BUYER OR SELLER? To the buyer it means a maximum loss if it is determined that a breach occurs. To the seller, it establishes a liability the buyer may owe to the seller if a breach occurs. It further makes it easier to resolve a dispute as to economic damages when a breach occurs.

3. SHOULD A REALTOR® ADVISE PARTIES TO AGREE OR NOT AGREE TO ACCEPT A LIQUIDATED DAMAGE PROVISION? No. To accept a liquidated clause may depend on certain economic or legal factors. Specific client questions about the clause should be addressed by an attorney if needed.

4. HOW MUCH IS THE LIQUIDATED DAMAGE AMOUNT? The RPA states it is the amount actually paid into escrow. If the buyer is occupying the dwelling up to four units, it will be limited to a maximum of 3% of the selling price.

5. MAY THE SELLER CLAIM MORE THAN THE LIQUIDATED DAMAGE AMOUNT? The seller will unlikely be able to claim more than the amount actually paid into escrow by the buyer.

6. CAN A BUYER LEGALLY CHALLENGE A LIQUIDATED DAMAGE PROVISION? A buyer may challenge that the amount is unreasonable (Civil Code 1675(c) if the buyer is to occupy the property. Factors may include the seller selling at a gain and/or other circumstances existing

8. DOES A LIQUIDATED CLAUSE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLE THE SELLER TO THE BUYER’S DEPOSIT IF A TRANSACTION DOES NOT CLOSE? No, because the clause only determines the maximum amount collectible if it is determined that the buyer breached the agreement. A buyer may fail to close a transaction for a variety of acceptable reasons. (NOTE: The RPA contains a series of contingencies that must be satisfied and removed.)

9. CAN THE PARTIES AGREE IN ADVANCE THAT THE BUYER WILL PAY A NON-REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT IN THE EVENT OF A BREACH? Generally, no. A contract is not to impose penalties or forfeitures, including a non-refundable deposit for breach absent gross negligence, willful or fraudulent breach. (Calif Civil Code Section 3275). Also refer to the RPA Paragraph 21 (a).

10. MAY A SELLER ASK FOR A DEPOSIT TO BE RELEASED BEFORE CLOSE AS A CONDITION OF AGREEING TO AN EXTENSION OF THE CONTRACT? Yes, the sellers may offer to extend in return for release of the buyer’s deposit. It is recommended that the buyer remove all remaining contingencies.

Remember that releasing the buyer’s deposit to the seller is not the same as allowing the seller to keep the deposit in all circumstances.

11. BEFORE A SELLER CAN CLAIM THE DEPOSIT, WHAT MUST THEY DO? The seller would need to (a) Establish that the buyer did in fact breach the contract; (b) Give the buyer a NBP; (c) Establish that the buyer failed to perform and that the seller had performed as agreed; (d) Properly cancel the contract. The actual release of funds will require mutual signed release instructions by both the buyer and the seller, or a judicial determination or arbitration award.

The information above is not intended as offering legal advice. For more specific information on the topic, refer to the California Association of REALTORS® Legal Questions and Answers on this and other related topics.

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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edited

Community comes together during trying times under the Pandemic to

Donate goods for Stay-at-Home Seniors contribution by

JUDY MILLER

T

COLDWELL BANKER PREFERRED, REALTORS

he Bakersfield Association of REALTORS®, Christian Real Estate Fellowship, KC Department of Aging, and Christmas for Seniors have partnered with CityServe to help meet the need of low-income, needy seniors during this time of the “stay-in-place” COVID-19 virus.

These are low income seniors who typically do not have family to go get food for them; they normally would be taking the GET bus or personal car to purchase groceries; however, they are now “at risk” as well as fearful of going out. Additionally, a lot of them are disabled and it is hard for them to get around. They cannot wait in the lines, and if they do, by the time they get there the shelves are bare.

CityServe has dedicated their location at 1431 L St. specifically for this project with a

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BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

Judy Miller dedicated volunteer to oversee the collection, bagging, and distribution of the food and toiletry items.

This is a Community endeavor with a lot of people, not just REALTORS®, donating

food as well as volunteering to deliver to the seniors in need. Drop-off of donations is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9am to noon. Once packages are ready for delivery, the volunteer is contacted to deliver to the senior.

We do not know how long this service will be needed, as some seniors are already calling a second time for needed items. Almost all are asking for toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning and disinfectant supplies, as well as food and water.

All donations are appreciated, as well as monetary donations. Checks can be made out to Christmas for Seniors and mailed to the attention of Judy Miller at 5907 Gold Ranch Way, 93306. Any senior in need can call Judy Miller at 661-809-5260 or Sandy Morris at 661-703-8893. THANK YOU to all who have donated or volunteered to deliver.

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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Continued from page 9 Phillip Peters won the seat.

District 4 was a critical seat. Due to a lawsuit and subsequent re-districting, District 4 was changed considerably since David Couch first ran in 2012. Couch won an open seat in 2012, and won re-election in 2016. Because of a lawsuit, he had to run again in 2018 in a brand-new district.

He won considerably, and the Bakersfield Association of REALTORS worked hard to mobilize our members to help ensure Couch won. There was a challenger on the March ballot: Emilio Huerta. Huerta is the son of civil rights leader and local political activist Dolores Huerta. The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS again endorsed Couch and made a considerable effort to keep him as our Supervisor. We worked with our coalition members to run a strategic campaign. This turned out to be a very

expensive campaign, with large fundraising efforts by both candidates and significant amounts spent in independent expenditures.

Since there were only two candidates in this race, the outcome of the March primary is the final say in who will represent District 4: and with a vote of 52.88%, Couch was elected.

District 5 was also an important race for the REALTORS. Incumbent, Supervisor Leticia Perez, faced heavy criticism from a controversy over her vote on medical marijuana and her husband’s financial ties to the industry. Perez opted to settle her court case, and was still able to run for re-election.

More importantly for us, Perez voted against one of our biggest issues in 2017: PACE. This played a major role in the decision of who to support in District 5, as Perez faced four other opponents: Ben Valdez, David Abassi, Ronnie Cruz, and Ricard Herrera.

The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS strongly supported Ben Valdez, a local REALTOR. In the end, Perez was re-elected to represent District 5 with 58.43% of the vote.

What does all this mean for November?

We may see a CAR sponsored measure (more to come on that). And there will be some shake-up on the Bakersfield City Council.

Ward 2 Councilman Andrae Gonzales is up for re-election. Ward 5 Councilman Bruce Freeman is up for re-election, as well as Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan.

All of whom have been great supporters of REALTOR issues. Ward 1 Councilman Willie Rivera announced he will leave the Council at the end of the year, putting that seat on the ballot in November. There are potential candidates who have expressed interest in running, but we will not know for sure until August. Stay tuned.

Election results, housing updates and so much more...

VIRTURAL ANNUAL

MEMBERSHIP MEETING Wednesday,

June 24, 10am

Register in advance for this virtual zoom meeting: https://tinyurl.com/ybvd3gd9 20

BAKERSFIELD REALTORÂŽ MAGAZINE

Disrupting the Business; not the relationship

STEVE MURRAY REAL TRENDS, PRESIDENT

In many businesses, disruption has caused a significant change in the relationship between suppliers of services, products, and consumers. This was foretold in the late 1990s book Blown to Bits, where Philip Evans, then the Director of the Media Labs at MIT, predicted that the internet would ultimately rearrange all relationships between producers and consumers. They would be blown to bits.

Evans opined that no part of the world would escape—business, governments, education systems, media companies, etc. Among other factors, he said that the trade-offs between richness and reach would ultimately disappear. In residential brokerage, the analogy would be the reach of newspaper classified versus the richness of one-on-one personal meetings would melt away. An agent or brokerage would be able to reach a broad audience with rich content more quickly and at a lower cost than anything that came before. The real disruption happened to those who controlled the old means of reaching potential consumers, such as newspapers, homes, books, etc. Look how that has turned out.

CONSUMER DISRUPTORS In many businesses, the disruption is about new entrants taking advantage of the internet to disrupt the relationship between the

producers of services and the consumer. The retail world has seen this happen, along with financial services and other areas. We refer to them as consumer disruptors.

BUSINESS DISRUPTORS In other businesses, the disruption has taken place, not between the producer and consumer, but rather the means of delivery of products and services. In residential brokerage, this is where most of the disruption, thus far, has taken place. We refer to these as business disruptors.

REAL Trends consumer research (and several others) have documented that housing consumers prefer to employ an agent in buying and selling their homes at higher levels than ever before. Further, research has shown that how housing consumers find and select an agent is much the same today as it was pre-internet. Even that great disruptor, Zillow, has moved in a new direction where they depend on agents for the delivery of most of the services that they provide. They use agents to list and sell homes in their iBuyer and referral programs.

Firms like Compass. eXp and others are not disrupting the relationship that agents have with their buyers and sellers. They are disrupting the means of service delivery, not getting between agents and the customers.

Redfin is still delivering service through its agents, albeit at lower prices than the traditional brokerage industry.

iBuyers are a different story. They are disrupting the normal relationship between agents and housing consumers by buying direct from consumers. This presents a new form of disintermediation but, other than the scale of their operations, they are not a new form of service. In the past, many traditional brokerage firms had programs offering to buy homes from sellers when they couldn’t sell them.

The other disruptive force, of course, is the capital available to these new companies.

Zillow, Redfin, Compass, and iBuyers like OpenDoor and OfferPad have raised billions of dollars to build out their businesses. This level of available capital has not been seen before. While firms like Realogy, Berkshire Hathaway, RE/MAX and Keller Williams have access to high levels of capital, they have not yet deployed it in a focused way to become either business system disruptors or consumer disruptors.

At some point, this may change. The incumbents are using their capital to develop large-scale technology platforms, deep databases, and smart systems. These will also fall along the lines of being more business disrupting than consumer disruptors—at least for now.

It’s important to distinguish between these two types of disruptive organizations.

Doing so gives leaders the ability to develop strategies to compete more effectively.

This article reprinted with the permission of Real Trends Inc. Copyright 2020.

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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How do You Inspire Your Agents LARRY KENDALL

to Keep them Engaged?

AUTHOR OF NINJA SELLING

Use these tips to keep your agents active and selling.

“These are the times that try men’s souls.

The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country.” — Thomas Paine, December 19, 1776 In December 1776, George Washington and his army were facing perhaps the pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War. His troops were cold, hungry, and wanted to go home for Christmas. Washington knew if he lost his army, he would lose the battle and the war. He asked Thomas Paine to write him a speech to rally his troops. The famous Winter Soldier speech inspired his troops to stay, fight, win the battle, and the war.

As leaders today, we face the coronavirus war—a battle for both our health and wealth. How do we inspire our troops to fight this battle as Winter Soldiers instead of victims? Here is a battle plan to survive during the war and to thrive afterward.

1. Character. You should appeal to an agent’s character as a player, a Winter Soldier, not a victim. Remind them that it’s not what happens but how they respond that determines the quality of their life.

2. Clarity. Leaders clarify the future. Clarity is the antidote to fear. “If you can manage

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BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

my fear of the future, I will follow you,” says Marcus Buckingham in his book The One Thing You Need to Know. Lay out your plan to survive in the short run and thrive in the longer term. Give your people hope for the future. Point out that we are in one of the three basics of life: food, clothing, and shelter. When one of these basics is disrupted, as it is now, the demand doesn’t go away.

It merely creates pent-up demand. There will be a bigger demand later. Winter Soldiers won’t lose income. Their income will be postponed.

3. Can Do! Focus your people on what they can do versus what they can’t. Action is the antidote to fear. Don’t let them be a hermit in hibernation. There is still a market in most parts of the country. People still need our services. We will have to do it differently (in many cases, virtually) than in the past, but we can do it. It’s a great time to reach out and take care of friends and clients.

4. Connect. Connect your office and your people electronically. Encourage your associates to connect with their clients and friends daily. Set call goals, personal note goals, and real estate review goals. Now, you have an excellent opportunity to build relationships and a foundation for future business. Redefine social distancing as physical distancing. Now is a time for social connection.

5. Certainty. Create pockets of certainty.

Schedule electronic sales meetings, training sessions, and social events. Create protocols for buyers, sellers, showings, contracts, and closings in the new environment.

6. Culture. Let them know they are part of a tribe. They are not alone. Just because we are remotely working doesn’t mean we are working alone. In a strong culture, members of the tribe will reach out to help each other.

“Nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to the right tribe,” observes James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits.

7. Create. Look at this time as an opportunity to encourage your people to sharpen their saws, to work on their business, to learn, and install new systems that will take them and their business to a better place. Now is a wake-up call for many people on their health and their wealth. Help them set some health and wealth goals, so they are better prepared for the next war. Use this time as an opportunity to start installing those systems and habits now. Build a Winter Soldier office/company.

Winter Soldiers can navigate the tough times and help their clients in all kinds of markets. They are not Summer Soldiers or Sunshine Patriots, eager when the market is easy and absent when times are tougher.

They are prepared to weather any real estate season.

This article reprinted with the permission of Real Trends Inc. Copyright 2020

2020 Good Neighbor Awards

C H A R I TA B L E

F O U N D A T I O N

The Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® and Bakersfield Association of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation are proud to announce the first local Good Neighbor Awards program recognizing REALTORS® who make extraordinary commitments to improving the quality of life in our community through volunteer work. Winners are announced at the annual Inaugural celebration, featured in our Magazine and receive contributions for the charity of choice.

Only REALTORS® are eligible for this award. To nominate a REALTOR® making outstanding contributions to our community please download the application www.bakersfieldrealtor.org/resources BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

23

How to be a

Persuasive Communicator while working remotely

VIRTUAL MEETINGS. Be a top negotiator even when you can’t speak to someone in person.

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BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

JULIET HUCK

A

AUTHOR OF “THE EQUATION OF PERSUASION”

s social distancing becomes the new normal throughout the US and the world, professionals across industries

are making drastic and immediate changes to their work and presentation styles. With the quick shift to working from home, business leaders, lawyers and sales and marketing teams are navigating new terrain—figuring out how to effectively communicate in a way that will achieve a desired outcome while working remotely.

There’s nothing quite like the energy and connection that a face-to-face interaction can create, but we have to try to work with what we’ve got. With that being said, just because we’re in a period of social distancing doesn’t mean that work and persuasion come to a halt.

Remote work was a rising trend before the COVID-19 pandemic, with regular workat-home growing 173 percent since 2005.

With so many additional businesses moving to a work-at-home structure, it’s safe to assume that broader long-term adoption will become even more prevalent over the coming years. It’s a good idea for professionals to start learning now how to connect remotely to stay ahead of the curve. Here are a few tools and tactics that will help you become a successful and persuasive communicator via a remote connection.

STICK TO THE BASICS Even through a remote connection, the basics of persuasion apply. It’s vital that you do your homework and learn about the decision maker. Just because you aren’t meeting face-to-face doesn’t mean that you can skip the groundwork you would regularly complete. What are your target’s demographics? Do they have any special

their goals, even if you can’t see them in

presentations. It might take a few rounds to

person. Establishing a strong sense of

get comfortable, but at this point in your

understanding will help you build trust

career there’s no time to fumble. “Practice

and allow you to position yourself as an

makes perfect!”

advisor. This trust will be critical for remote persuasion.

Would you do a face-to-face meeting and

LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY

not follow up? Absolutely not! You would

Although working from home can create

always follow up with your decision maker

another level of separation from your

and you need to continue that with a remote

target, technology has progressed leaps and

connection. Think about ways you can

bounds when it comes to inter-personal

stand out in the crowd. How about an old

communication. Tools such as Zoom, and

school, handwritten thank you note sent to

Skype for Business allow your audience

their home? During a time when personal

to see your face. You should leverage your entire technology suite to help you persuade remotely.

Visuals must lead your decision maker to your desired conclusion. Create polished presentations to either show via conference call or email ahead of your meeting. When

connection is minimized, it might be an opportunity to brighten your customer’s day and build trust. Just make sure you send to the correct address. If they’re also working from home, a note to the office will get lost in the shuffle.

you might not regularly do this when

PERSUADE FROM A DISTANCE

meeting face-to-face, you may consider

While many professionals are used to

incorporating a video presentation as well.

persuading through face-to-face interactions,

Video can be a terrific way to establish an

the current climate calls for a new tactic.

emotional connection with your decision

Just because you can’t meet in person with

maker, providing for a unique story

your decision makers doesn’t mean that you

telling opportunity complete with visual

can’t still do your job. Learning to effectively

and musical cues. Nearly 90 percent of

persuade via remote connection is possible,

professionals indicated that a strong narrative

and by following the basic principles of

was critical in maintaining their attention.

persuasion, leveraging your technology suite,

Engagement with your story is more

setting time to practice and developing ways

important than ever, as you’ll be competing

to be memorable, you still have a strong

with additional distractions including family

chance at leading your decision maker to the

and pets.

desired outcome. While remote persuasion

PRACTICE AND DEVELOP A STYLE Personal energy exchange is very difficult via a computer screen. You must determine who you are as a presenter in this new medium.

How can you be more dynamic through remote connection? Before jumping on a conference call, practice on your computer

interests? You’ll need to establish an even

by recording yourself and playing it back to

stronger bond to persuade via remote means,

see how you present on camera. Think this

so flex your research talents and learn about

is taking it too far? Consider the first time

your target.

you had to leave a professional voicemail

You should also continue to find their

BE MEMORABLE

and were put on the spot to communicate

needs and pain points. Learning this

your needs in a brief message. It took time

information will help you demonstrate to

to sharpen those skills and you’re probably

your decision maker that you understand

a pro now! The same is true for online

may take a bit more effort and preparation, you can get the results you seek if you take the time and keep these guidelines in mind.

About Juliet Huck: Author of “The Equation of Persuasion” and founder of the Academy of Persuasion e-learning series, Huck has blazed a trail in the uncharted territory of Persuasive Communications for 25 years. She has been retained by some of the nation’s most prestigious organizations, corporations and law firms and has assisted in moving billion-dollar projects forward, securing billions of dollars in decisions through her proven process.

This article reprinted with the permission of Real Trends Inc. Copyright 2020.

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

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5 Dysfunctions of a Virtual Team

TRACEY C. VELT

Most leaders are familiar with Lencioni’s book, but how does it apply to virtual meetings?

How do you keep a team engaged and running when your meetings are all online?

In a recent webinar, The Table Group Founder, Organizational Expert and Author Patrick Lencioni addressed that subject by applying his five dysfunctions of a team to a virtual team. “We’re going to emerge from this better than we were before as organizations or worse off than we were before. We’re going to either come out of this healthier or unhealthier.” It comes down to the behavior of the leader of the organization.

Here are his suggestions for creating a cohesive leadership team in a virtual world: BE VULNERABLE “In a virtual setting, we’re all sitting in our homes, and building trust will have a slightly different look,” says Lencioni. “Zoom calls are not meeting tools. Zoom calls are discussion and conversation and social interaction. The key to making this work right now is taking the time to do it well.

Ignore efficiency for the sake of effectiveness.

And, ignore professionalism for the sake of personalism,” says Lencioni.

Avoid just getting down to business in

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your Zoom call. Instead, says Jeff Gibson, a consultant at The Table Group, “Amp up the vulnerability because driving trust is vulnerability.” Gibson says to spend time talking about family and how everyone is doing right now. Rather than a happy hour or a quick check-in, find the happy medium between professional and personal.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE “If you’re not taking care of the people who work for you, all of that external communication is not important. It’s not going to yield the results you need,” says Lencioni. “A big Zoom call with 1,000 employees is fine, but if you’re doing that and not sitting down for a few hours with each person on your team, and doing that regularly, it doesn’t make sense.”

GET TO KNOW YOUR PEOPLE BETTER This pandemic has slowed us all down. “The more you know about the people you work with, the more empathic you’re going to be, and the less likely you are to assign intentions to them that aren’t there,” says Gibson.

ENCOURAGE CONFLICT “The fear of conflict destroys teams, and that’s true now as much as ever. It’s a crisis in our business and the world. People are pretty upset, but we need to make good decisions. And the only way to do that is first by trusting each other so that we will have

good conflict. If people are holding back and they’re not debating with one another, and they’re not arguing a little bit, then they’re not going to make good decisions,” says Lencioni.

And, this means healthy conflict during virtual meetings too.

“As a leader, if you imagine nine faces on the screen, you have to be so intentional about watching those faces and looking for people that might be disagreeing, because you have to disagree and commit. We talk about that all the time concerning the team, but as a leader, you have to actively mine for conflict, because again, it’s just not going to happen naturally the same way as when you might be in a room,” says Gibson.

KEEP THEM ENGAGED Gibson says you should not let people mute or shut off the video. This is a time for increased personalism—not increased professionalism. And part of that personalism is us just being with one another. We know distractions (kids, dogs, etc.) are going to happen, but your ability to understand somebody’s leaning into a conversation is vital,” he says.

To listen to the entire webinar, https:// www.tablegroup.com/hub/post/35-the-fivedysfunctions-of-a-virtual-team/.

This article reprinted with the permission of Real Trends Inc. Copyright 2020.

The Evolution of Teams

STEVE MURRAY

I

REAL TRENDS PRESIDENT

n our work ranking the top individual agents and teams over the past 15 years, we’ve seen an evolution of teams from what they once were to an infinite variety of such arrangements. These changes have compelled us to change the way we rank teams in our annual reports. We think it is only the beginning.

Twenty-five years ago, most teams were composed of 2 to 5 agents who banded together to share the load of their businesses to allow for more time away from the business and to share some administrative and marketing costs. To some extent, the teams at that time also wanted to gain a higher commission split with their brokerage firm.

The second form of team emerged as agents became more effective at building their databases, which enhanced their ability to generate leads. Once a great agent was generating more business than they could personally handle, they would add buyer’s agents and administrative personnel to grow

their reach to align with higher levels of lead generation. While some agents got very good at the internet and digital marketing, others got better at managing their databases as a means of building a growing sphere of influence (SOI) business.

These teams built lead generation and capture systems and were responsible for 90 to 100% of the business done by the agents who worked on the team.

In the past few years, we have seen a new generation of teams emerge. n Some form their brokerage firms n Some are adding mortgage, title, escrow and even a few offer iBuying capabilities n Some are adding agents who do their own business alongside servicing the clients and customers generated by the team n Others are opening multiple locations in their home metropolitan areas and around their region or the country These third-generation teams are a cross between a traditional team and a traditional brokerage. There are also traditional brokerage firms where the owner has their team. The

lines between what constitutes a team and a brokerage are less clear than ever before.

One last change that we’ve noted concerns the rise of co-listing arrangements between both who we have classified as individual agents and teams. Within a team, that falls under the team’s business. With individual agents, there is no clear line between their own business and that which they share with other agents. In our surveys, we’re encountering more individual agents who are using the ability to co-list to grow their business, enter new markets, share costs, combine expertise, and other business reasons. The challenge going forward is that these individual agents are becoming teams where co-listing becomes the standard way to operate.

The variety of agent practices will continue to evolve based on an agent’s strategies and goals. Indeed, the vast preponderance of real estate agents remains an individual in nature.

But, just as brokerage firms have evolved in new and unexpected ways, so too will agents.

This article reprinted with the permission of Real Trends Inc. Copyright 2020.

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

27

THE A TEAM

We have a special group of individuals who form a group of loyal, hard-working Affiliate Members called the A Team, who serve the Association in a variety of ways.

SUZI BEATY, CHAIR Fidelity National Home Warranty 661.477.3906 suzi.beaty@fnf.com

DAN ARDIS, VICE-CHAIR San Joaquin Valley Mortgage 661.342.9381 danardis@sjvalleymortgage.com

DEANA WITWER Built Right Home Inspection 661.377.7777 deana@BuiltRightHI.com

HANNAH COOPER San Joaquin Valley Mortgage 661.303.7101 hcooper@sjvalleymortgage.com

MIKE GEORGE Agape Mortgage 661.324.2427 mikegeorge@agapemtgco.com www.agapemtgco.com

SHARI GEORGE Agape Mortgage 661.324.2427 sharigeorge@agapemtgco.com www.agapemtgco.com

MARY GUNSOLUS Cali Building & Home Inspection 661.829.5810 calibuildinghomeinspections@gmail.com

LISA HOOK-ESTES RightStart Mortgage 661.301.5472 Lisa4aloan@gmail.com

MISTY JEFFRIES Placer Title 661-345-2240 mjeffries@placertitle.com

CHEREYL NUNN Loan Depot 661.270.8601 cnunn@loandepot.com

JANETTE RAMSEY Janette Ramsey Insurance 661.328.9250 janette@jramseyinsurance.com

KAMRI ROBERSON Ticor Title 661-246-5947 Kamri.roberson@ticortitle.com

Thank you for supporting our REALTORS® SARAH TUCKER Home Warranty of America 661.337.0362 sarah.simmons@hwahomewarranty.com

PAUL STEELE First American Title 661-302-7117 psteele@firstam.com

BARBARA WELLS San Joaquin Valley Mortgage 661.703.2227 bwells@sjvalleymortgage.com

VOTER REGISTRATION REGISTER TO VOTE, it has never

realtorsvote.org so you can use it

participation and influence in the

been easier. Just go to

to obtain an absentee ballot should

political process, the Bakersfield

www.realtorsvote.org and

Association of REALTORS has

register. It’s that simple.

To increase REALTOR®

®

launched a voter registration drive

If you ARE

you wish to vote early if your state allows it.

The Bakersfield

REGISTERED to vote,

Association of REALTORS®

congratulations! We

is proud to join with the

REALTORS are registered to vote,

would appreciate

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

we can do better. According to our

your help in keeping

information, we could not confirm

our files up to date by going

that you are registered to vote.

to www.realtorparty.com/vote and

of registered voters and voter

While you may be registered, we

confirming your registration. Often

participation across the country.

would like you to consider taking

we have only a business address

one of the following actions:

on file, which explains why we could

please feel free to contact

not match you to the state voter file.

Jenifer Pitcher at jenifer@

Also, consider bookmarking www.

bakersfieldrealtor.org

among our members.

While nearly 83 percent of all ®

If you know that you ARE NOT REGISTERED, and would like to

REALTORS® on this important civic effort to increase the number

Should you have any questions,

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Jenifer Pitcher at jenifer@bakersfieldrealtor.org

30

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

How brokerage firms changed after each recession

View of the Longer Term contribution by

STEVE MURRAY

E

REAL TRENDS PRESIDENT

ach time the brokerage business went through a recession, some significant changes occurred in the structure of brokerage firms.

Here are some examples: After the 1980-82 recession, brokerage

firms began to increase the size of their offices in terms of the number of agents; stopped offering programs to buy homes from sellers when it wouldn’t sell (yes, leading brokerage firms in the late 1970s and early 1980s were iBuyers). The trend towards franchising in our industry experienced a significate growth.

After the 1988-1991 housing recession, brokerage firms started the process of cross-marketing mortgage, title insurance, escrow, and other services in earnest. The move towards national brands became more pronounced. 1989-1995 were some of the most significant growth years for Coldwell Banker, Prudential, and RE/MAX. After the 2006-2010 recession, brokerage firms finally stopped using classified advertising. One has to remember that even as late as 2006-2007, classified advertising in newspapers was still the largest line item in many firm’s advertising budgets. It took the recession to kill that idea for most brokerage firms once and for all.

WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN TO INCUMBENT BROKERAGE FIRMS NOW? Fewer, smaller offices would seem to be at the top of the list. Occupancy costs range from 22% to 32% of Gross Margin for many incumbent brokerage firms. That is only behind employment costs as the most expensive segment of overhead. With Gross

Margins coming down from 22% to 14% over the past six years (the national average among all brokerage firms), this was already becoming evident. Now that brokerage firms and their agents are doing most of their work from home offices, it would seem that some brokerage firms will use the next one

others) and increased productivity and retention factors. As brokerage firms rethink their approach to technology, they will also take advantage of the information that systems can provide to deliver more useful insights for their firms.

seems to be showing a direct correlation

THE IMPACT ON “TECHNOLOGY” BROKERAGE FIRMS Zillow, Redfin, eXp, and Compass (and their investors) will get to discover that they are in the residential brokerage business and are thus affected like everyone else.

We think the above firms will make the adjustments necessary to survive—different than they may have guessed, but each should survive and become stronger and more focused than before this downturn started.

This also goes for firms like Open Door and OfferPad. While the iBuyer activity seems to have stopped or cooled off measurably, for the time being, these programs will be reinstated once a new floor of housing sales has been determined and what, if any damage, has been done to housing values.

For firms like Zillow and Realtor.com, the decline in housing sales will affect how much agents and brokerage firms spend on online advertising. For firms like Redfin and Compass, the decline in sales will negatively affect their revenues and profit and loss statements. In the case of Zillow and Redfin, the loss of growth from iBuyer activity will have a very significant impact on their growth factors.

It’s funny that, at exactly the time that iBuyer activity would seem to be a real winning strategy (no need for showings, etc.), many of the leaders in the segment pulled back.

between the full use of these platforms (and

This article reprinted with the permission of Real Trends Inc. Copyright 2020.

to two years to reduce the size and number of offices.

Short term, there is a movement to the rural and ex-suburban markets—will it continue? REAL Trends has spoken to the leaders of two major rural, farm and ranch property brokerages who report that their website traffic has grown in the past month, and they see measurable increases in purchases of rural property. Tied with the reported flow of families from major metro areas to suburban and rural markets, this seems to indicate that, at least for the short term, families are seeking shelter outside of major metropolitan areas. Is there an opportunity for metro brokerage firms to expand their offerings into the countryside to follow this shift?

Brokerage firms and their agents will, at last, start building their business practices around the available technology platforms rather than trying to make technology fit their existing business practices.

We (and others) have observed for years that incumbent brokerage firms and many agents sought technology to support their existing business processes and practices.

The recession in the housing market, no matter how long or deep, is likely to drive the brokerage community to rethink that approach. Evidence that we’ve seen from Adwerx and a few leading CRM providers

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

31

400 200

state of the

0

ACTIVE

CONTINGENT

HOUSING MARKET 1,600

1,600

1,400

1,400 2020

1,200

PENDING

2019 Compared to 2020

by MLS Area

2020

1,200

2019

2019

1,000

S OLD

1,000

800

800

600

600

400

400

200

200

0

ACTIVE

CONTINGENT

PENDING

0

S OLD

ACTIVE

CONTINGENT

PENDING

S OLD

APRIL 2016 MARCH 2020 March All Areas Active

March Contingent Pending Active 1,600 Sold Contingent

March Active Contingent Pending

1,400 Total Volume Closed Pending

2020 1,125 2020 200 1,164 1,125 612 200

% Year over Year Change

2019 1,449 2019 214

2018

-22.4% % Year over Year Active % Year over Year 2017 Change

1,633

1,589

273

243

1,027 1,449 667 214

1,020

1,081

-6.5% Change 13.3% -22.4% -8.2% -6.5%

2.8% 12.3% -5.6%

$169,953,542 $172,931,808 -1.7% 1,164 1,027 13.3% 692 714 2020 -3.1% Median Sales Price * $256,950 $245,000 4.9% Sold 612 667 $165,430,455 -8.2% Total Volume Closed $167,830,329 1.5% Sold

1,200

Average DOMClosed * Median Sales 37* 43 2019 4.5% Total Volume $169,953,542 $172,931,808 -1.7% Price $230,000 $220,000-14.0%

Median Sales Price * Average DOM$256,950 * 1,000

$245,000 42

37

Average DOM *

800

43

50

4.9%

-16.0%

-14.0%

March

Bakersfield Only

Bakersfield Only 400

Sold

March Sold Total Volume Closed

200

March

2020

Total Volume Closed

Pending Active

April

2020

2019

% Year over Year Change

1,260 2018 2020 149

1,471 2017 2019 204

% Year over Year -14.3% % Year over Year Change Change -27.0%

991 1,260

1,093 1,471

-9.3% -14.3%

740 204

-26.2% -27.0%

1,676

Active

Contingent

546 149

Sold Contingent

Pending

Total Volume Closed Pending Sold

292

1,109

Average DOMClosed *Sales Price $150,768,846 31$232,250$192,437,622 35 Total Volume Median * $230,500 $265,500 41

Median Sales Price Average DOM* *

2019

2018

Change

$142,106,492

$144,563,396

-1.7% 5.4%

-15.2%

April Sold

31

$247,500 45 35

2020

April

Sold April

Total Volume Closed

2018

Total Volume Closed

Average DOMClosed * Total Volume Average DOM *

2019

2017

443 619 2020 536 2019525 $124,458,347 $163,050,822 $135,442,400

Median Sales Price * $273,000 Sold 443 Median Sales Price * $240,000

93302, 93303, 93304, 93305, 93306, 93307, 93308, 93309, 93310, 93311, 93312, 93313, 93314.

Average DOM * 35 40 -12.5% Average DOM * * Single Family Only * Single Family Only

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

1,118

$150,768,846 991 639 $192,437,622 1,093 629

$131,509,650

$252,250 619 $236,750

28 29 $124,458,347 $163,050,822 38 41

ACTIVE*Family Homes CONTINGENT PENDING S OLD *Median FiguresSales from Single Only. Statistics$250,000 were run on May 27, 2020 Bakersfield usesMedian the following Codes: Price $265,000 6.0% Sales Zip Price * 93301, $273,000

32

279

4.0% 4.7%

-0.8%

-21.7% -9.3% 1.6%

7.3% -26.2% 0.9% -11.4% -21.7% 0.8% 7.3% -8.9% -11.4%

Bakersfield

$250,000 6.0% 556 -9.4% $235,000 $223,000 Average DOM * 35 40 -12.5% 0 Total Volume Closed $141,374,180 $146,387,613 -3.4% Average DOM * 39 46

* Single Family Only

1,611

Median Sales Price * $265,500 $247,500 Sold 546 740 Total Volume Closed $156,710,525 $155,290,973

% Year over Year % Year over Year 2017 Change

504 556 -9.4% % Year over Year-7.6% 5702019 617 2020 $141,374,180 $146,387,613 -3.4% Change

Median Sales Price * $265,000 Sold 504 Median Sales Price *

April Contingent

Average DOM *

Bakersfield Only Bakersfield 600

APRIL 2020 April All Areas

28

% Year over Year % Year over Year Change Change

-28.4% % Year over 2.1%Year -23.7% Change 3.0%

8.2% -28.4% 1.4%

-3.4% -23.7% -7.3%

$252,250

8.2%

29

-3.4%

2020 YEAR-TO-DATE STATS Area

Dollar Value

# Sold

Average Sold Price*

% of List Price*

DOM*

2020

2019

2020

2019

2020

2019

2020

2019

2020

2019

10

65

105

$12,959,099

$21,281,954

$211,046

$206,930

31

39

97.65

97.88

21

40

59

$4,939,450

$7,161,475

$130,284

$123,000

35

47

96.63

97.27

22

76

78

$15,733,899

$16,773,065

$221,974

$215,039

35

29

98.48

99.10

23

10

9

$4,288,000

$3,575,900

$428,800

$397,322

29

37

90.46

95.36

31

76

103

$14,641,370

$16,572,037

$192,650

$161,108

29

30

98.98

97.63

32

173

208

$38,548,949

$39,548,274

$229,612

$206,208

29

41

99.10

98.32

33

61

103

$15,190,238

$24,040,916

$263,977

$257,295

33

48

99.83

98.83

34

24

32

$7,388,615

$10,456,900

$331,125

$333,868

44

58

98.04

97.62

41

42

58

$7,147,090

$8,994,074

$173,380

$157,260

31

32

97.22

97.99

42

61

51

$13,916,430

$10,070,650

$226,738

$198,597

47

43

98.92

99.06

43

1

5

$255,000

$1,286,950

$255,000

$257,390

0

35

104.08

93.96

51

182

209

$32,877,586

$34,845,291

$193,268

$178,263

30

32

98.71

98.61

52

505

485

$130,444,933

$113,163,178

$267,054

$246,698

29

34

99.52

99.02

53

204

288

$69,135,843

$98,104,553

$344,345

$346,562

34

37

98.68

98.29

54

13

9

$5,164,032

$4,192,675

$361,078

$473,416

97

49

99.13

99.38

61

73

84

$22,603,482

$25,252,122

$309,637

$298,776

34

37

98.36

99.57

62

335

394

$113,403,021

$122,263,877

$339,470

$311,700

29

36

98.82

98.82

63

141

175

$60,010,813

$70,223,099

$433,302

$407,082

36

39

98.76

98.49

64

5

5

$2,470,000

$1,941,000

$494,000

$388,200

24

53

97.09

98.92

65

8

10

$2,492,262

$3,308,000

$311,533

$335,844

34

34

98.36

99.99

80

80

89

$28,642,289

$28,166,244

$371,059

$323,321

69

71

97.67

97.61

81

6

8

$1,294,499

$1,647,000

$225,900

$205,875

215

225

100.00

96.25

82

20

9

$2,763,849

$1,588,500

$141,518

$195,000

106

173

92.84

94.89

83

22

9

$7,492,300

$2,157,450

$340,559

$239,717

69

63

98.38

103.26

84

3

3

$1,915,000

$1,799,000

$638,333

$675,000

14

169

98.86

96.84

85

6

6

$1,465,000

$2,210,400

$290,333

$419,680

56

132

95.31

94.99

91

16

24

$2,921,400

$3,849,500

$182,588

$160,396

41

47

93.80

96.53

92

1

1

$650,000

$645,000

$650,000

$645,000

185

186

92.99

97.88

93

0

2

$0

$419,500

$0

$209,750

0

20

0.00

98.96

94

10

7

$2,944,350

$1,429,500

$301,738

$232,900

41

39

94.76

101.13

95

86

81

$19,810,765

$18,601,770

$230,358

$228,891

41

46

97.90

98.00

96

66

91

$9,008,040

$10,537,015

$139,742

$116,768

39

44

97.32

97.05

98

61

71

$13,260,300

$14,583,650

$217,382

$206,195

35

41

98.39

96.26

99

73

82

$24,939,499

$24,755,292

$351,680

$305,423

41

61

97.44

96.74

* Figures from Single Family Homes Only. Statistics were run on May 27, 2020

QUARTERLY COMPARISONS 1st Qtr 2020 New Listings

2,431

1st Qtr 2019

506

646

Pending

1,900

2,049

Sold

1,662

1,640

$451,074,580

$409,970,487

$255,000

$240,000

Contingent

Total Volume Closed Median Sales Price * Average DOM * Average Sale Price/SqFt *

2nd Qtr 2020

2nd Qtr 2019

3rd Qtr 2020

2,860

40

45

$152.37

$142.56 BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

33

Relationships vs. Transactions

What Game are You in?

LARRY KENDALL

AUTHOR OF NINJA SELLING & CHAIRMAN EMERITUS OF THE GROUP INC.

Are you playing an infinite game or a finite game? Shifting your mindset between the two.

If there are at least two players, a game exists. There are two kinds of games: finite games and infinite games. Simon Sinek’s latest book, The Infinite Game, brilliantly describes these two games as well as the choices and consequences for leaders and sales associates. Reading The Infinite Game is highly recommended.

Finite Games Finite games are played by known players.

They have fixed rules. There is an agreedupon objective that, when reached, ends the game. Football is an example of a finite game, and so is a real estate transaction.

Infinite Games Infinite games, in contrast, are played by known and unknown players. There are no exact or agreed-upon rules. How each player chooses to play is entirely up to them.

Business is an example of an infinite game.

Because there’s no finish line, there’s no such thing as winning an infinite game. The primary objective of an infinite game is to keep playing—perpetuating the game.

It’s the infinite game that lives on, and it’s the players whose time runs out. Company founders and owners engage in succession planning to perpetuate the game. They want their companies to last, to play the infinite game. Simon Sinek’s book provides a roadmap.

34

BAKERSFIELD REALTOR® MAGAZINE

For sales associates, most in our industry (94% according to the Consumer Trends Report), are focused on the finite game of the real estate transaction. There are known players—buyer, seller, real estate professionals, lender, inspector, title officer, etc. There’s a start of the game when the property goes under contract. The game ends when the transaction closes. Sales associates then move on to the next transaction (the next finite game). Their career becomes a series of finite games.

Shifting Business to a New Gear What these sales associates often fail to realize is that these finite games (transactions) occur within the context of an infinite game called relationships. When they shift their mindset and begin to focus on the infinite game of perpetuating their relationships, their business shifts to a new gear.

Relationships last longer than the transaction. New players join the game, such as family members, friends, and referrals. The most successful sales associates understand this and are playing the infinite (relationship) game. According to the Consumer Trends Report, only about 6% of sales associates are playing the infinite game by staying in touch with their clients every month after the close of the transaction.

Simon Sinek notes that players in an infinite game are driven by a Just Cause—a mission greater than the transaction or even the relationship. Our company, The Group, Inc. Real Estate, has identified our just cause

and mission as follows: “We exist to help our people and our clients go from the life they have to the life they dream about.”

For our associates, this means helping them with their health, finances, and personal development as well as real estate sales. For our clients, it means helping them identify and achieve their dreams—not just sell them a house. We’ve found that, by playing the infinite game, we excel at the finite games as well. One of the keys to winning finite games is to play the infinite game.

Here’s an example of two sales associates who are competing for a listing. Notice the difference in their goals, depending on the game. With whom would you want to list? n Sales associate playing the finite game and driven by winning: My goal is to get the listing. n Sales associate playing the infinite game and driven by a just cause: My goal is to help these people get to the next chapter of their life on time.

Why does your company or office exist?

Is it merely to make money? To be No. 1 in market share? To have a record quarter?

These are essential goals in the finite game.

But what would happen if you also played the bigger game, the infinite game? What is your just cause that aligns your associates and attracts your customers? Play the infinite game, and the finite games tend to take care of themselves.

This article reprinted with the permission of Real Trends Inc. Copyright 2020.

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Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Bakersfield, CA Permit #70

FROM CHAOS COMES HEROES! No words seem adequate to express our admiration and gratitude for the brave men and 36 BAKERSFIELD REALTOR MAGAZINE ÂŽ

women who run towards danger to save others selflessly.

Also, thank you to the hidden heroes from the grocery clerks, distribution centers, food suppliers, farmers, farm laborers,

and all those on the front lines providing essential services. We thank you for your commitment and sacrifice for our well being, our security and the security of our families!