What can we learn from my parrot?

June 26th, 2009
What we can learn from my Parrot.

Spike is my Africa Grey Parrot. Last night I asked her if she wanted raisins
and she said "Cracker". I gave her the raisins anyway, she threw them away
and said "Cracker". So I held up a cracker and asked Spike: "How many
crackers do I have?" and she answered "one". So I gave her the cracker and
she ate it.

This morning she said "Raisins". So I gave her the box of raisins and she
ate the raisins and chewed up the box.

What can be learn from Spike about the real estate market? The buyers are
telling us what they want-we just have to listen. The problem is in the time
it takes to deliver the product, the buyer's wants, i.e. the market, can
shift.

I'm preparing property tax appeals for entire subdivisions. And, in addition
to the tax reductions, my clients are learning from my reports where their
developments need to be positioned and what type of homes they need to
build. For example, I'm working on property tax appeals on two different
townhome developments in the same city. One is doing quite well and is even
moving dirt for another phase this summer. The other is barely selling
anything at all. The difference? Really listening and paying attention to
what customers want TODAY as opposed to what you have been successfully
selling the last 20 years.

If you're offering raisins and the buyer wants crackers they're going to buy
a home from another builder/developer who is selling crackers.