Tulsa Real Estate Market Update June 2013

We have found over the years that the best way to handle an interesting market is to understand it and educate ourselves on the trends and nuances of any changes it might be going through. Before I became an expert, I used to just cross my fingers. That was not a very good strategy.

So, we are seeing pending sales on the rise in our area. This is a good sign. More buyers are back in the market and the move up buyer is back as well. Inventory has come down but is trending up slightly because of the busy summer season. We are trending toward a more balanced market but it is still a buyers’ market with some great values out there. Economists are estimating around 1-3% appreciation this year in our values. This is a very moderate appreciation rate. Our average price of properties that are selling have gone up nicely though. This is just because bigger homes are now selling. Mortgage rate analysts are predicting around 4% by the end of the year which makes now the perfect time to buy. Last but not least, rents are increasing in our area after a decline in the toughest part of our real estate downturn.

Productivity

A lot of people ask me how to make their days more productive. We all have the same 24 hours in everyday, and how we use it is critical to our success. One of the best things I have learned about productivity is that if we are working in our areas of talent, we can be much more productive.

I try to spend 80% or more of my day in things I excel in. The benefit of this is that you generally really enjoy those activities as well. So, find out what your strengths are. There are too many personality assessments out there to count but most will pinpoint the type of work you will be most effective in. They will tell you whether you will be good with detail work or strategic planning or face to face with clients selling your services. They are wonderful resources to get you started in the right direction.

Another way to increase productivity is to be very intentional about your daily accomplishments. Each morning, spend time doing planning and in solitude. During this time you want to evaluate your day, your business, and your successes.

One of the most effective strategies I have in being productive is that I get up before everyone else does. I usually wake up between 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning. I have found it gives me a head start on the day and my brain is very creative at that time of day. I am able to learn more and find better solutions for my life. My daily ritual is to get up and make coffee and then head to the home gym to exercise for an hour. During that time I listen to audio books on my iPhone at 3 times the normal speed. This way I can listen to two to three books a week and continually improve my knowledge base. I have found that education will solve any challenge you might be having in your life. It doesn’t matter if it is business related, marriage related or even challenges you might be having with your children. I also do my daily planning and solitude during that time and answer the questions that keep me focused on the highest priorities for the day.

Questions I recommend are as follows:

How did I fill my cup yesterday?

Right now I feel? Why?

What is the one thing I want to do today? What is my intention?

What could I do today to change the course of my business?

What task is so urgent that it would damage my business if it were not accomplished today?

Which processes in my business could be improved?

How can I improve these processes?

What friction points exist today?

Are the friction points different than yesterday?

Lately I have learned…

5 things I am grateful for today…

I am joyfully anticipating…

Last but not least, structure your day in blocks of time, so that you are always focused and intentional in your activities vs. multi tasking and putting out fires. If you can block time to make calls or to do your appointments, you will accomplish so much more in your day. Hope this helps and don’t hesitate to call or email if you any questions.

Paul Wheeler

Tulsa Real Estate

Accent Realtor’s Vision

Our company vision is to educate our clients and communicate in such a way that they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families. Along with staying well educated about the market, we use a system that we call OCR. OCR is an acronym of Options, Consequences and Recommendations. Making major decisions is very difficult for most people. Once money and emotions get added in the mix making a decision can be very overwhelming. OCR breaks decision making down into manageable parts.

The following are the steps we take for OCR:
1. Discuss all available options with our clients based on circumstance and their specific needs
2. Look at all consequences of each option or choices. (Generally there are no more than 3 options)
3. Give our recommendations based on our years of experience and the needs of our clients
4. Have client make the decision they feel most comfortable with and feel would be best for them and their families.
5. Support our client in their decision
If we have done our job correctly providing OCR we have found 99% of the time our clients make great decisions because they get education they need to focus on their needs. It is what we call a WIN-WIN.

Thank you,
Paul Wheeler

Paul Wheeler’s Vision Story

A Greater Purpose

As the owner of Accent Realtors, I would like to share a story about the creation of Accent Realtors.

My quest began when I was a young man, just 17.  I was frustrated and left home between my junior and senior years of high school looking for guidance, direction, mentors, and my life’s calling and passion.  I met many people, worked different jobs, and traveled to many places.  I learned many things but three things stood out to me.

The first thing I learned was that I wanted to be happy.  I found that the happiest people I encountered were people making a difference in the lives of others.  They were giving back and helping out.  They were focused on more than just their basic needs.   I wanted to be like that.   In my travels I had met a great deal of people in need of a helping hand.  Many of them were young people needing guidance and directions.   I decided that if I was very productive, invested my money well and saved 50% of everything I ever made in the first half of my life, I could start a charitable foundation.  Then I could spend my later years championing the education and guidance of young families and children to allow them to live the best lives possible.  I dreamed of donating millions of dollars to these causes.  I now had a vision.

The second thing I learned was that I needed to be educated and be an expert in whatever I did.  Experts were able to effect the most change.  Knowledge and the use of great knowledge will still change the world.  So I went to college, paying my own way.  I became a lifelong learner and still read 100 books per year.  My areas of focus were and still are being a better business owner, better husband, better father, and now I’m educating myself on charitable foundations.  I now had a plan.

The third thing I learned was that in order to accomplish these goals, I had to be a business owner.   Being a business owner allowed me the leverage to create something bigger than I could on my own.  If I and my team of experts served enough people exceptionally well, we would have the funds to create my vision of a charitable foundation.  I now had a passion.

I arrived in Tulsa, OK with $200 to my name and started on my life’s work.  I had 3 jobs within a week and had enrolled in college.  Luckily, I only needed four hours of sleep a night.  While still in college, majoring in business, I bought a few properties as a way to start creating wealth for the foundation.  I found that the buying process and later the selling process was less than desirable and had many flaws.  A light bulb came on and I thought “Aha, there must be a better way”.  One year later, Accent Realtors was born and became a vehicle for achieving our dream of the charitable foundation.  From there, I created the best, most productive experience possible for our clients with a team of talented, passionate people and a vision of a greater purpose. Our clients hire us because we are experts in real estate.  They also know that by doing business with us they are helping reach the vision to better our community and affect the lives of local families, children, and charities. Our clients get the best real estate team in town and get to be heroes for our community and those in need.

Thanks for letting me share.

Paul Wheeler

Why a Team?

The following video explains why Accent uses a Team approach to selling real estate. As a collaboration of expertise, the Accent Team has been the number one Team in Tulsa since 2004.

The Ins and Outs of Obama’s New Mortgage Refi Plan

On October 25, 2011 President Obama announced a plan to ease eligibility rules for home owners who want to refinance and take advantage of ultra-low mortgage rates to lower their mortgage payments. The administration hopes that by broadening its requirements for the Home Affordable Program that about 1 million home owners will now be able to qualify.

August Real Estate Statistics

Month’s Supply of Inventory (MSI) Decreases

The total housing inventory at the end of August 2011 decreased 10.8% to 7,661 existing homes available for sale. Over the last 12 months this area has had an average of 761 closed sales per month. This represents an unsold inventory index of 10.07 MSI for this period.

Average Sale Prices Going Up

According to the preliminary trends, this market area has experienced some upward momentum with the increase of Average Price this month. Prices went up 2.22% in August 2011 to $156,523 versus the previous year at $153,124.

Average Days on Market Lengthens – The average number of 62.31 days that homes spent on the market before selling increased by 6.02 days or 10.70% in August 2011 compared to last year’s same month at 56.28 DOM.

Sales Success for August 2011 is Positive

Overall, with Average Prices going up and Days on Market increasing, the Listed versus Closed Ratio finished strong this month.

There were 1,793 New Listings in August 2011, down 6.42% from last year at 1,916. Furthermore, there were 948 Closed Listings this month versus last year at 744, a 27.42% increase.

Closed versus Listed trends yielded a 52.9% ratio, up from last year’s August 2011 at 38.8% a 36.16% upswing. This will certainly create pressure on a decreasing Month’s Supply of Inventory (MSI) in the following months to come.

*Statistics provided by the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors