She can sell in good times and bad - Charlotte Observer

Among Allen Tate's 1,400 agents, Honeycutt and her team regularly rank in the top five for the number of homes sold. If you have dozens on the stairway walls, pull them down, patch and repaint. Increasingly, agents recommend sellers hire home inspectors before putting homes on the market. Honeycutt says that's a good idea if there's anything - a crack, a stain - that's likely to catch the eye of prospective buyers. Get problems fixed or prepare to provide informed answers. In this economy, when Charlotte-area sales have fallen to less than half their peak levels, that seems amazing. Even more amazing, she says with a laugh, is that she works with her mother. At the peak of the Real Estate boom the regional Realtor association boasted nearly 9,600 members. How'd she do it and what does she see for the market. She still follows the classic real estate business model, she said: Get involved in the community, and build your customer base one client at a time. She added some skills - she never thought she'd become a certified distressed property expert, or be utilizing videos. Among Allen Tate's 1,400 agents, Honeycutt and her team regularly rank in the top five for the number of homes sold. The heart of the market Diane Honeycutt sort of backed into the business. When Betty decided to take a real estate class and become a licensed agent, she talked Diane into coming along. And Diane joined her mom in the business a few years later. They work with a team, although it's down to eight members from 12. While some agents focus on high-end homes and cultivate wealthy clients, Honeycutt says her team sells mostly in the heart of the market. The average price for all homes sold through the regional MLS in July was $213,354. One staffer handles closings, another handles all the paperwork that comes with listings, and another serves as office manager. Call it "prospecting," call it "farming," that means contacting someone who might need real estate services, or who might know someone who needs those services. Most business - 60 to 70 percent, Honeycutt estimates - comes from referrals and from past clients. John Byers, a past president of the regional Realtors and past officer in the state association, said the model is still sound - and Honeycutt's success demonstrates that. Making calls to past clients and potential customers is difficult, he said, especially in this market. Betty Honeycutt puts it this way: "When business is bad, you need to be doing more calling. Last year, sales were up 30 percent over 2009; this year so far hasn't been quite as good as last year. Both of those she attributes to the tax credit, now discontinued. And she's seeing things she could never have imagined in her first 20 years in the business. She's watching young families empty their bank accounts, or even borrow money from relatives, to sell their homes. When sellers don't have enough equity they have to bring cash to the closing. When she explains, she said, some still replay, "Yeah, but I need. Appraisals are a problem, but she doesn't blame appraisers. But because there are so few sales, there's too little information. But she thinks appraisal issues will ease as the market stabilizes. An estimated 90 percent of home sales and purchases begin online, according to one survey. Just this week, Honeycutt spent two days in class to learn to make the most of social media. The big lessons, she said, are about how to turn digital contact into face-to-face relationships. If we have hit bottom, that would be a bright spot for us. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all, but do keep it civil. Please refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, name-calling or attacking others for their views. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all. The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day, but we ask that you keep the discourse civil. And don't try to camouflage profanity with asterisks, abbreviations or other symbols or foreign phrases. No racial, gender or sexual-orientation name-calling. Do not libel or defame anyone or violate their privacy. Comments that bear no relation to the story may be deleted. Do not report comments as abusive simply because you disagree with them. We do not monitor each and every posting, but we reserve the right to block or delete comments that violate these rules. You can help: Notify us of violations by hitting the "Report Abuse" link. Users who continue posting comments that violate these guidelines may, at our discretion, be blocked from submitting future comments as well. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Realtors