New Marketing Initiative

BanCorp Realty’s management believes that the real estate industry is begging… pleading! for a new adapted, intelligent, quantum step away from its present antiquated marketing model, consisting of high-tech leads passed on to uniformed sales agents representing impassionate, visionless corporate entities. We also believe that actions speak louder than words and we refuse to conform to the exceedingly decreasing expectations that homeowners now have in their real estate companies. One example of these decreasing expectations is simply that of the common practice of taking a listing and then simply putting it on the MLS and then sitting back and waiting for another Realtor to bring a buyer to the table so the person can collect their 3% commission while in hibernation.

If a company is able to exploit the existing buyers-market through cultivating a previously untapped market for a person’s home, they will create more opportunities for the client leading to better offers. One way this can be accomplished is by actively participating in social media sites where the company is able to exploit the self replicating or the on-line equivalent of old school word-of-mouth advertising, found mainly today in the form of old-fashioned Realtor-specific real estate caravans: This method, dating back over fifty-years normally brings in curious and potentially competing agents, not potential buyers.

The on-going messages or posts, which focus on real estate professionals locally and home buyers across the country are designed to be intriguing, compelling and entertaining; appealing to large yet highly refined target markets who will want to share with others in their network. What translates an ordinary message into a viral, or disruptive one? The customer or reader has now become a new sales or information channel for selling your home! Traditional word-of-mouth marketing multiplied exponentially.

To learn more about working with a truly exceptional Southern California Real Estate Broker visit www.bancorprealty.com or email us at sales@bancorprealty.com or call us directly at 939-632-7006.

We Serve Our Client Best By Being Humble

Humble Defined: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking less of yourself.

Humility relates to minimizing the selfish ambitions and vain conceit which is so prevalent in the real estate industry today. “Look at me, I am one the top-ten selling agents in Orange County.” If we think like this it is all about my success, my needs, and we are no longer functions as a company – long removed from a team – but rather a group of self-serving narcissist driven by the “I am always right” syndrome. If a company is not humble they are paying attention to themselves and not their clients and they will not succeed.

Character is developed in the small issues and then is shown in the big issues. At the grocery store do we always push the cart back where it belongs, or pick up that piece of trash lying on the ground right in front of us as walk across the office? Nine-times out of ten a relationship with a client or a key vendor will crumble when stubborn pride enters the equation or “It is my ball and I am going home.”

Humility is not about being wimps in the real estate marketplace. It’s about doing the exact opposite of what our competition expects, taking the focus off of ourselves and focusing it our clients and team-members. This is what a purpose driven career looks like: this is what a purpose driven company looks like. To work with an exceptional real estate firm contact us at: sales@bancorprealty.com or call us at 949-632-7006.

Great Listener’s Are Few And Far Between

God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason: so we could listen twice as much as we talk, or to look at it another way, to talk half as much as we listen. In real estate if you are talking you can’t determine what a families goals are, what they want to accomplish or what their dreams if you are always popping off. If as a Realtor all we want to do is boast about how we can do this-and-that or how we have accomplished this amazing stuff in the past, how does that benefit a person? Is a real estate company going to walk into your home and tell you how crummy they are or how their past results have sucked?

Being able to give expert advice, be a true advocate to a family only comes from astute listening – asking questions, and then asking more questions. In real estate it is very difficult for a Realtor to listen because they always want to tell you how good they are and what they can do for you. How can they know what they can do for you if they don’t even know what you are trying to accomplish? Every Realtor claims to know each localized neighborhood, but will any of them know your local neighborhood better than you? I bet you know more about that house that sold four doors down the street than the prospective Realtor will ever know. With that being said, if the Realtor has too much pride to ask you about this homes that sold, or learn from you all of the details of this sale, are they really looking out for your best interests?

Next time you interview a Realtor if they are not talking much, if they are good it likely means they are showing a genuine interest in your property and they want to gather as much information as possible prior to making any form of professional proposals or recommendations. You can reach a imaginative and innovative BanCorp Realtor at: sales@bancorprealty.com or 949-632-7006.

Mortgage Prequalification – More Than A Good Idea

If you are in the process of selling your home and you know you are going to buy another one, or are currently renting and are presently looking for a home to purchase or a about to start, of you are not yet pre-approved for your home loan: stop what you are doing and take the necessary steps to resolve this necessary hurdle. Why do I use the word hurdle? Because over 30% of escrows disintegrate because of financing, and this occurs for one simple reason: lack of planning and preparation on the part of the buyer.

One of the biggest problems that the buyer runs into is over estimating the capabilities of the lender and also their own strength in borrowing. Every lender boasts of great rates and will certainly tell you “sure we’ll get your deal done”, but when you get them all of the documentation you learn that nothing really is approved after all. Over estimating the borrower’s strength means that whenever I ask a person if they have been pre-approved for their loan yet the response I get 90% of the time is “not yet, but we are not worried about it we have perfect credit.” I have been in mortgage banking for over 20 year and have sent out too many decline letters to know that “everything isn’t just fine” until the deal is closed.

At BanCorp Real Estate Group we take the mortgage pre-approval process so seriously that we won’t show properties to a prospective buyer unless they are pre-approved for a mortgage or are in the process of securing a pre-approval (they have taken the initiative in this important process). Time is money. What good is it for anybody to be out showing properties to a family that does not qualify for a mortgage in the 1^st place? It takes maybe 15 minutes to gather the required documentation that the lender needs to pre-approve you with. If you are working with a good lender, they should be able to give you a decision on your approval within 48 hours.

Take the guess work out of the purchase of your next home and get pre-approved up-front. It will take away a lot of anxiety and will also give you more leverage when making the offer.  

Your Advocate – Not Your Cheerleader

Do people want to hear flattery or the truth?

BanCorp Realty believes in full disclosure and firmly believes that even though a person might not like it at first they will certainly appreciate it a short-time later: hearing the cold hard facts of the real estate transaction at hand. “My neighbor three doors down just sold their home for $780,000 and I want you to list my home for the exact same price.” Now we have done our homework in advance on this comparable sale and determined that his home had a custom pool, highly upgraded kitchen and professional front yard landscaping (all of which our prospective client didn’t possess). So, does BanCorp bend to the hopeful client’s wishes and list the home at $780,000 to secure the listing? No we wouldn’t. We would scale it back, adjusting it based on a fair Broker Price Opinion or BPO – if we lose the listing, we lose the listing. With that being said, BanCorp Realty acted with integrity.

Another example where we see a prospective client benefiting from sound advice occurs when we represent a family as a buyer’s agent. Normally we will offer or provide financing through our division UBC Direct Lending, but there are times when a client has already secured outside financing (we won’t show properties if the buyer has not yet been pre-approved for a mortgage – company policy). If we believe that a family is stretching themselves financially, even if the lender says that they are good for the mortgage, we will say so. Just because the lender say you are pre-approved for an $825,000 mortgage doesn’t mean you have to take out an $825,000 loan. Here is a quick example. We know that you are paying for your oldest kid to go to college (something that the lender likely would not know), and you are forking out $2,000 each month for junior’s tuition. We might even just advise you to hold off on buying anything until he finishes college, or simply scaling back the purchase to something more financially reasonable.

This is Truth in Real Estate and Real Estate in Action.

Below are the final 7 guarantees that BanCorp posts in our Commitment to Service Excellence. This is final blog posting in a 3 part series outlining our 21 point service guarantees (commitments) we extend to all existing and prospective clients.

• Feelings aren't necessarily real and feelings aren't fact. We can be sincere, we can also be sincerely wrong. We will never allow our own personal feelings to cause us to act or react in any business dealing.

• We can't secure our clientele excellent results by playing it safe and sitting on the sidelines using the "On you mark, get set, get set, get set..." mindset, afraid to pull the trigger. We will take calculated, disciplined risks when it is in our client's best interest.

• It is amazing how fast other real estate companies will give up and throw in the towel at the first sign of danger or dilemma. The doubting and unreliable will always give up at the first sign of trouble. We will always, keep on, keeping on... Seeing each negotiation through to a timely, successful conclusion. Execution combined with resilience in a real estate transaction is a winning combination.

• Regardless of the home you live in, if you would like us to describe your home as a "palatial anything" we probably won't be a good fit for you. We have only seen one home in our lives that was palatial and that was in England and there was a real royal family that lived there.

• We will highly advise our client's, when it is in our professional opinion, to not fall into the trap of buying a home that is truly stretching their resources. We just don't feel comfortable representing a client that we believe is setting themselves up potentially for a fall down the road, regardless if their lender is willing to make the loan. If we feel a client is stretching or over encumbering themselves - we will say so.

• This company was never built or designed to be average. It was never intended to operate under the 'status quo' of the real estate industry. The 'normal' of the real estate industry does not apply to this firm and we settle for nothing less than excellent from any of our team members.

• We realize that there must be a balance between our company's pursuit of possibilities and the fulfillment of our corporate responsibility in each action we take each word that we speak and we believe that actions speak louder than words, standing against people who simply go through the motions out of pretense or for show. 

BanCorp Real Estate Group: A Purpose Driven Company

Serving others is better than serving ourselves.

In our second blog posting of our three part series of a discussion highlighting BanCorp’s Commitments to Service Excellence I want to zero in on one of our most important bullet points, which makes all of our exclusive right to sell contract unilateral: or in other words they can be cancelled by either party at any time. We are unaware of any other major real estate broker that offers this feature to their clientele, so why does BanCorp?

To us the answer is plain and simple: if our client changes their mind about selling their home for ANY reason we are not going to attempt to enforce the remaining term of our exclusive right to sell agreement. Maybe our service level did not meet their expectations and they want to use another broker, or possibly the market has softened and demand for the home has diminished, or maybe just simply the owner just go cold feet and decided that right now was not the right time. Whatever the reason, if a client elects to rescind a contract with BanCorp Realty, we will not be pushy or manipulative in an attempt to move the seller to continue on with the sale of the property.

Below are seven more guarantees of our twenty-one point Commitment to Service Excellence:

• We believe in the Principle of Innovation, we are not afraid to try different approaches to putting a transaction together when it is our client's best interest, stepping outside the box is not uncommon for us and if we are operating in our 'comfort zone' we feel we are simply too comfortable.

• We will employ and retain only the most excellent talent in the industry, requiring that internal and external standards of conduct be met, constantly and consistently exceeding the expectations of our clientele.

• A simple 'yes' or 'no' is all we need to say. We will never swear or use vulgar language. Our "Yes" means "Yes" and or "No" means "No". We can always be taken for our word. We are a company built on integrity, which is a balance between what we say and what we do, or a matter of consistency. We strive to be; caring, considerate and consistent at all times.

• Gossiping in any form is not good and has the potential to ruin a transaction, and we employ a strict a no-gossip policy throughout our company. We also won't compare ourselves to other companies, we are who we are, and we aren't going to bend our standards to conform to the expectations of others. We don't believe in self-pride, but rather in serving our clients with care, decency, respect and the proper dose of humility. Attempting to manipulate a transaction through words is simply malice and is worse than gossip.

• We are only as strong as our weakest link, and we have our weakest link covered.

• We will be generous in the communities we serve; with our clients, with our vendors and with our employees and will never allow self-interest to sway a business decision or real estate transaction one way or another.

• We can't please everybody and we aren't even going to try. We are not going to try and do something that even God can't do. Half the people are praying for sunshine, the other half are praying for rain. If God can't please everybody, we certainly can't.

People Before Profits

BanCorp Realty is committed to service excellence – at every level of the organization.

In BanCorp’s pursuit of easier and faster™ and far more effective Orange County real estate we have published on our website our 21-point commitment to service, or what we refer to as our CSE. We also call these our service guarantees to all the clients we serve. When you view BanCorp’s website you will see that we are a purpose-driven company which means that the “why we do it” is much more important to our management and team-members than the “how” or “what” we do.

By following a logical sequence of steps in each real estate transaction we are able to effectively manage the process: consistently earning our clientele higher rate of return on the investment, regardless of whether they are buying or selling a property. By putting our client’s needs and wishes ahead our own selfish pursuits were able to accomplish these results routinely and match our customer’s expectations. Over the next 3 blogs we are going to share with our readers our Commitment To Service Excellence (in no particular order):

• When we come across a challenge or a 'bump in the road' we will go right through it instead of trying to navigate around it, pretend it didn't exist or hope it disappears. Experience has taught us it is much better to deal with circumstances and uncertainty "head-on" rather than put them off for later date, they always have the potential to jeopardize the transaction.
• We believe in the Golden Rule – the "Real" Golden Rule. We will at all times treat others as we wish to be treated, common courtesy, care and respect.
• If at any a time a client feels that they are being under served under represented, or if they simply change their minds about the real estate transaction, they can rescind their contract with us at any point up until offer/acceptance. All of our contracts are open ended.
• We have committed, and will continue to invest the necessary resources to insure we maintain the most sophisticated, comprehensive leading-edge real estate databases. Because we have access to them, our clients have access to them, maximizing our client's ability to buy or sell their homes - easier and faster™.
• We will very rarely make a decision on the spot, and we will never encourage our clientele to do so either. There are very few decisions in life that require an 'on the spot' decision, and a real estate transaction certainly isn't one of them.
• We are strong negotiators but will never do so in a manner offensive to anyone. We aren't out to make enemies, but we aren't out to win any popularity contests either. With ethic and integrity we will secure our sellers the highest possible market-value for their home and for our buyers, the best possible purchase price.
• We will never allow fear or intimidation to enter our decision making process, as it always leads to poor decision making and poor choices.

Audacity in real estate

You won’t win if you use a boring Realtor - BanCorp leads from the front

A real estate can’t grow with affecting change, and it won’t change if it is content with where it stands presently with its clients, stakeholders and vendors. A real estate firm that decides that it wants to “play it safe” likely is not growing and is stagnant and most likely is not looking out for the best interests of their clientele – regardless of whether they are representing them as a buyer’s or listing agent.

Why do I say this? If your real estate broker is not willing to a take a risk, even a small one, they are leaving money on the table in the short-term and that translates into larger long-term net loses relative to a person’s opportunity cost. If you live in a tract home and there have been 7 model matches of your exact home that have sold in the last 6 months for $650,000, is there any harm in listing the home for $680,000 (a rhetorical question)? I bet your neighbors would be happy! Let’s flip the tables and say you were a buyer of this newly listed home at $680,000 and you love it – what are you going to do? Offer $660,000? See where this is going? I could give you other examples, but I believe I have made my point.

Conclusion: If you leave $10,000 or $20,000 on the table when you are buying a home that could translate out to $20,000 or $40,000 in the near future. If you are selling a home and don’t plan on buying another, and you were to invest that money into let’s say the stock market, the same scenario could likely play out. If you are working with a status-quo boring Realtor, consider moving onto one with a little audacity.

Greg Steinaker in the President and CEO of BanCorp Realty.

Foresight Is Better Than Hindsight And Insight Is Better Than Both

Proactive is always better than reactive - we will pull you instead of push you

In a previous blog posting we talked about how if you were not working with an experienced real estate professional when buying or selling a home you would likely be saying to yourself repeatedly throughout the transaction, “It Is Always Something.” This occurs when the Realtor (as well as the brokerage employing the Realtor) is unable to anticipate in advance all of the sequence of steps in the process that must take place for a successful close of escrow.

It is said that foresight is better than hindsight, and we don’t disagree with that statement at all. However BanCorp Realty believes that Insight is the best type of sight of them all. We believe that when we come across a hurdle or a problem or any difficulty that might delay or cause a deal to fall out of escrow it is better to straight though it, deal with it head on, rather than try and navigate around it or pretend it didn’t exist.

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” Helen Keller

This type of thinking is one of major contributing factors to why BanCorp Realty is one of the fastest growing real estate firms in Southern California. Contact BanCorp at: sales@bancorprealty.com or 949-632-7006

It Is Always Something.

Everything Is Broken – But BanCorp can make the real estate process smoother, easier and faster™

If you haven’t noticed nearly everything in this world is broken: our economy is broken, our ecosystem is broken, our health system is broken – heck my kitchen sink is broken. With that being said your next real estate transaction doesn’t need to be broken or you don’t need to keep mumbling to yourself (out load or to yourself) “it is always something”. The ‘it is always something’ can be eliminated if you work with a proactive real estate professional that is able to anticipate and react to all of the moving parts that occur in a real estate transaction.

What are some of the moving parts in a real estate transaction or items that can cause hiccups, delays in escrow or worst deals falling out of escrow? Financing falling apart, clouds on title (liens that were unknown or undisclosed), delay’s in fixing repairs uncovered in a home inspection, even a seller not moving out of home when they were contractually obligated to. There are others… If you are working with an experienced Realtor (with a company that supports them throughout the entire process) they will working closely with the mortgage banker, title company, escrow company, inspection company, moving company and all other parties to the transaction to insure the deal closes as agreed.

BanCorp Realty is one of the fastest growing real estate brokerages in Southern California and we have been serving this dynamic market since 1995. You can trust an innovative and imaginative BanCorp Realtor with all of your real estate needs. You can contact BanCorp at: sales@bancorprealty.com or call us directly at 949-632-7006

BanCorp Is Leading From The Front

When you get kicked in the rear, you know you’re out in front.

One of the prices of being a leader in real estate in criticism. When spectators watch a race, where do they focus their attention? On the front runners! Few people in real estate play close attention to companies who are out of contention – not making or affecting any type of positive change to a rather boring Orange County marketplace.

Racers (old fashioned Realtors) who are viewed as being out of the running are usually ignored or dismissed. But when you’re out front and ahead of the crowd, everything you do attracts attention. “Hey, where did this group from BanCorp come from? They do things differently over there…” When you refuse to accept the status quo of an old school real estate model practiced by 95% or real estate firms today – people take notice.

Wel.com to the future of real estate. 

Defining Moments Show Us Who We Really Are

Most days in our lives come and go; they are much like all the others and don’t stand out. But there are a few days that are unlike all the others. They do stand out because they give us an opportunity to stand up, be set apart from the rest of the real estate community and seize that moment – or to remain sitting with the rest of the crowd and let it pass, conforming to status quo and expectations of a rather boring Orange County real estate agency market.

By leading from the front, BanCorp Real Estate Group has made the decision to not focus on past accomplishments but rather on future defining moments. We can focus on milestones accomplished in the past or races to win down the road: we would rather keep our focus on the prize which is to be won at a later date. By following a logical sequence of steps to effectively manage the transaction we generate the results our clients are seeking - easier and faster™ - and far more effectively than they nationally based agencies.

BanCorp Realty - Named Top 5 Orange County Realtor - opens new satellite branch in Lake Forest, CA

BanCorp Realty stands for Easier and Faster™ Orange County Real Estate

BanCorp Realty, listed as one of the Top 5 Realtors in Orange County, CA by the Irvine Holding Company in a press release dated January 19, 2014 (http://www.prlog.org/12270100) is pleased to announce the expansion of its newest branch opening in Lake Forest, CA. BanCorp Realty’s main headquarters is located on Business Center Drive in Irvine and is one of Southern California’s faster growing Real Estate Companies.

C.E.O. of BanCorp Realty, Greg Steinaker was quoted “we are so pleased to open this new centralized branch in Lake Forest, CA: this further expands our presence into South Orange County… as we continue to promote easier and faster real estate transactions in a hyper-sensitive, very demanding marketplace, we hope to make a statement by furthering our ground force into; Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Coto De Caza and Ladera Ranch.”

BanCorp Real Estate Group, which was founded in 1995, currently operates in 16 Orange County Cities and 57 communities within these cities. To learn more about why BanCorp is making the impossible possible in Southern California contact marketing at: 949-207-9999.

We Are A Team - BanCorp REG -

One is too small a number to ever achieve anything great. BanCorp Realty will never accomplish any of the lofty goals that it has set for the organization, or anything of any real value, by having a group of individuals working alone striving to win by themselves. If our management team felt that we could fulfill the vision that it had for this firm by having a team of Realtors working alone instead of a team then they would be aiming way too low.

BanCorp does not have employees: we have teammates. People don’t work for BanCorp, they work with BanCorp – a huge philosophical difference from mainstream real estate. We are a team. We reach goals together. We need each other. If we didn’t then one of us is in the wrong place.

Good Advice Is Hard To Come By - BanCorp REG - Excellence In Real Estate

We Will Take You To The Top

There are a lot of people in real estate who are willing to give advice on things they have never experienced or have little or no knowledge of in the real world. They are like a bad travel agents: they sell you an expensive ticket then say, “I hope you enjoy the trip.” Then you never see them again, content with the commission they have pocketed.

In contrast, good Realtors are like tour guides. They know the territory (the localized communities and neighborhoods of Orange County) because they have made the trip before, and they do whatever they can to make the trip enjoyable and successful for all of the parties to the transaction.

A real estate professional’s credibility begins with personal success. It ends with helping people achieve their own personal goals. BanCorp realty knows that if we are willing to show the way, people will want to follow us, because they will realize that we know what we are talking about – that we take real estate very seriously. The higher that we are able to reach, the greater the profit to our clients.