Kouri Richins and Why She Will Never Go Away

These days everybody has to do the disclaimers. So here goes: I am not a psychiatrist, not a psychologist, not a comedian, not a brain surgeon, not an astronaut, not a pipe welder blah blah blah. What I AM is a person with a high IQ who studies human beings, the train wreck of all time. Yes, even worse than Great White Sharks. I know the human heart is wretched. I have the Bible to back me up on that. Jeremiah said “human nature is flawed, deceitful, and prone to rationalizing self-interest or destructive behavior“. He didn’t say it exactly like that. I don’t think they even said “rationalizing” in his day, so of course, it is a TRANSLATION. He also said “the human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. [1, 2]”

I have been curious in the way one looks at a train wreck, about humanity. If you haven’t noticed, we are changing and not in a good way…of COURSE. I’m going to talk about that in this opinion piece, and you can agree or disagree. I don’t care. I’ve lived long enough to be able to say that right out loud. One more disclaimer: I have a mirror. I am not perfect; in fact, just the opposite. But I am normal. I’m actually what they call ‘stoic’. And I am an introvert. So all the time, people think I don’t have feelings, only because I don’t wail and hop around when I get upset. I flip into quiet problem solving. Sometimes they feel sorry for me because I spend so much time alone. I LIKE BEING ALONE. I like me, I’m comfortable being me, I don’t want to chatter and chatter and chatter, I like to do projects, like to cook. Stuff like that. That’s how I roll. Most people are clumpers. They need to be around other people, in the thick of chaos, and wow, that’s not me. I digress, as usual.

So, Kouri. Kouri is the personification of a personality type that is becoming prevalent in America. When I was younger, I noticed it in nearly everyone in the Middle East, but hardly ever here. Over THERE, they were so unable to control their emotions, that every time something good happened, grown ass men jumped up and down and fired weapons into the air. Of course the men did it; women were under blankets. Then when something BAD happened, grown ass men jumped up and down and fired guns into the air. THEY HOPPED! IN UNISON!! Absolutely NO control of the big emotions. I remember saying, “Man, I hope that brain wiring never comes to America.” And then came the internet. Now I’m sure there were other hopping men, but back THEN we only saw the middle eastern ones. So there’s that. In any case, I believe that particular brain wiring is not contagious, it’s genetics. Except for the low IQ mules on the cart path, who do nothing but follow, all the way to the cliff.

Humans are followers, generally. Innovators and leaders are definitely the minority in the best of times. Being a leader requires the ability to think logically, to plan, a desire to plan, to want to do and be better. All of that. You can’t be lazy if you are a leader. THAT’S the main reason most people are not leaders: the lazy factor.

Back to Kouri: The Kouri types go into the hopper labeled like this: Psychopath, malignant narcissist, evil. It gets separated out from there. Any person who is 1) devoid of feelings for other human beings; 2) monstrously ambitious; 3) willing to step on drowning people to get to the top; 4) unable to accept that they are responsible for their own behavior; 5) diabolically able to act out long term plans to destroy others; 6) completely comfortable with deception and theft; 7) exceptional charmers and manipulators; 8) always disobedient; 9) fiscally and logistically (relationship) irresponsible; 10) they enjoy hurting people, EVEN if their target doesn’t know they were harmed by the perpetrator, belongs in the hopper. This happened to me. I have experienced this type.

One morning, this ‘person who shall remain unnamed’, ONCE AGAIN blamed me for something only he could have done. Frustrated, I said, “If I had that kind of power, you’d be singing soprano.” He didn’t get it, but I, on the other hand, thought I was HILARIOUS. Ultimately, he tried to destroy my life, and nearly succeeded. Why? Because I saw behind his mask and I stopped being his bank. They are BAD people. Once you are in their crosshairs, you are in true danger. It takes a lot to wrench that focus from you onto something else. Their preference is to not stop until you are destroyed. You get in the crosshairs by 1) seeing behind their mask; and 2) no longer being their best toolbox tool. Once they can no longer use you, you are in danger. And once they know YOU know, you are in danger. I made plans to leave, which I ultimately did (in the nick of time I believe), but it took a while. By the time I got out, everything I worked for my entire life was gone. Imagine.

Tree huggers aways want to say that oh they can be rehabilitated, oh they can get ‘counseling’ and be fine. Well, no. No they cannot. When they sit down with a ‘counselor’, their charm and manipulation kicks in. It’s a challenge to them. Then the lies start. God help you if they decide to blame you. They will make up ALL kinds of crap to destroy your reputation, make their counselor think YOU were the bad guy, you MADE him do it. I know. I’ve been through this. There IS no fixing them. They need to be removed from society. Prison is the only place for Kouri.

You may know that Kouri was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. You may have heard Kouri say that she’s never going to stop, that she WILL go home, that she is NOT going away. What did I just tell you? She just told all thinking people exactly whom she is. THEY. NEVER. STOP. This is why I am fairly sure that yes, her sons were in danger of the same fate as their father, who died at Kouri’s hands by poison. Watch for her to harass her dead husband’s family for decades. Watch for it.

By the way, poison is one of the cruelest ways to die, and think about that. Eric knew what was behind her mask, and was locking away his wealth from her, planning a divorce. Those two things guaranteed his demise if he did not leave. And he stayed for his sons. It took too long for him to prepare his escape, and Kouri killed him. But he saved his sons’ lives, in my opinion. What a tragic situation, with one psychopath in the center: Kouri Richins.

Politicans Grinning While Being Hit With Rotten Tomatoes

Oh my gosh, I’m watching Karen Bass at a ‘rally’ of about 30 people, half of which are media. She walked over in the midst of boos and shouts calling her a failure, and her rictus grin only got wider. She grinned and grinned, not able to start her speech due to the heckling from the crowd. She grinned, she found someone over on her right to shake her hand, she linked her hands in front of her precious and grinned and grinned. That particular body language is called ‘protecting the precious’ by one body language expert, by the way. It’s a tell.

The main heckler was AMAZING, a truth teller. He actually ran her away from her own ten person rally. Karen failed miserably in a ‘debate’, and quit. She ran from this ‘rally’. This is her modus operandi now. If it gets bad, run. Problem is, it gets bad before she even gets started. Everywhere she goes, she is just verbally attacked. In my opinion, she was always unqualified to be a mayor, but after the big fire with no water to fight it, she kept going with failure after failure. Money is a strong incentive. Now rather than helping the homeless, she wants dentures for meth heads. HUGE eye roll.

But through this all, you see her grinning so hard that her neck muscles are getting buff. You KNOW she wants to throw down on her dissenters, but she grins and grins and grins. Wouldn’t you love it if just one time, one of the lying, cheating politicians would FLY off the stage and wail on the detractors? Wouldn’t you just pay to see that? Hahaha.

I’m in the middle of writing another blog post and had to stop to do this one. All I can do is laugh in abject fear at today’s politicians. And this site is calling this post ‘fantasy’. ANOTHER EYE ROLL. It’s on TELEVISION.

Oh, Cottage Garden!

A cottage garden is not for everyone, and definitely not for the faint of heart. When you hear true cottage gardeners speak about our gardens (who am I kidding, we gush) it is not unusual for us to say that every time we dig a hole to put in a new plant, we dig up a bulb. That, dear reader, is true. And when we dig up that bulb, most of the time we have no idea what it is until next blooming season when there’s a missing favorite. But. That gives us an excuse to go to the nursery!

My sister’s flower garden is organized by color. She buys flowers for the peach bed, the red bed, the purple bed, etc etc. And she knows all of the names, whereas I say, “You know, the purple spikey thing.” If a particular flower doesn’t match, she doesn’t buy it. I’m heartbroken for the little rejected plants. I want them all. And I do know plant names; I just can’t remember them all because I don’t want to. That’s okay because I love them and I …don’t tell…talk to them. And don’t tell her, but I feel her garden is a bit stifled…unlike my cacophony. Hahaha.

She calls my garden a clown garden. Hahaha. I love it. By the way, REAL gardeners stay out there among the plants and weeds and insects as long as we can, and if we are not digging, we are often in our garden gloves, holding our garden tools, just standing, looking at our garden. We can’t help ourselves, and if you look closely, you’ll see us smiling.

I complain because I don’t have a big yard, and right now, I have nearly all plantable space…planted. But I go out with the squinty eyes, plotting how to make less grass, more flower beds. My yard is fenced, and that’s good, because it’s a bit like the person who lives here has no self control. MAYBE she doesn’t. A while back after watching hours of gardening YouTube videos, I decided to raise up the beauty. Go vertical! I bought an arbor, some trellises and plant stands of varying heights. So now, envision:

There are 4 anchor bushes, a Loropetalum (now 8 feet tall, pruned as a tree), a Japanese style conifer which only gets 5 feet tall (can’t recall the name), one Jazz Hands Chinese Fringe Flower, one Florida Sunshine (smells like licorice if you stroke the leaves). Those are the anchors. And then two climbing roses (one pink, one coral), an arbor hosting Chinese Honeysuckle. This honeysuckle has to be minded, because it can get a bit enthusiastic. Those are the main vertical show-offs. I am the boss of my garden and I expect my plants to stay where they are, not try to jump the fence. Sis thinks I’m ruthless. I think I’m a boss. And my honeysuckle behaves. Once, the English Ivey did not. Enough said about that. Point is, I guess you can say I made the most of the space I have.

I have hydrangeas (two pink, one red, one white), one columnar gardenia, two peonies (one pink, one red), one Fatsia Japonica in a pot, one rose (peach), five hellebores, two heucheras, four gerbera daisies, pink calla lilies, Phaseon Canna in a pot, one Lamium (love that plant), two sedum plants (you can NOT harm those plants), many geraniums that I winter over each year, a collection of ferns in pots that live on the porch over winter, Daisy Mae daisies, Asiatic lilies, pink Deutzia, several pink cone flowers (I’ve decided I like them the best) a host of irises (some specialty), many geraniums of course, marigolds and marigolds, vinca of pink and red, purple petunia, one Mandivilla, miniature and regular Hosta plants, white and red Amaryllis, tall Phlox, and over a hundred bulbs and annuals.

My plant stands are various heights, so I have potted plants tucked in here and there at various heights for visual interest, and one chair pushed in among the ferns on my patio, so I can sit down while I drink in coffee and the beauty of my oasis. I’ve come to the point of not needing to buy many annuals, other than to put splashes of color while I wait for the ‘usuals’ to bloom. My tiny yard is my joyful place, an oasis of nature. I like for my garden to look like nature celebrating, even though it’s under my tight guidance.

I started gardening as a teen, mostly vegetables, but I’ve always had flower beds and in one home, people would stop by the roadside and ask how in the world I got grass to grow in THAT soil. The secret was trucking in good soil and water, water, water. Flower gardening has always been my happy place. In fact now, I have a sign post with a street sign, ordered from Amazon of course, that says, “Happy Pl.”

I’m watching a gardener on TV as I type this, and he said, “I just put these in wherever I can find a spot.” That made me love him, and inspired me to write this message to you. Ah, Cottage Gardeners.

I have a shirt that says, “Professional Pot Mover” because if my potted plants aren’t happy, I hear their complaints and move them to a better spot. Over the years I have learned what works where during what season. It happens organically. If you want to destress, I’ll tell you, gardening is the way. And you can’t make a bad one. You just can’t.

I Hate This Trend

You’re not selling this house. You’re not! You’ve just made your living room look like it’s the size of a postage stamp.

Guys, please, I beg you, THINK. When you want to sell your home, you must think about the buyer. You have to get into the mindset of ‘the masses’. Most people do not want a giant sectional sofa taking up all of the real estate! It short circuits the buyer’s mental process of buying. And here’s a little known fact for you: Most people cannot ‘envision’ the space without your stuff in it. They see the sectional sofa as hogging the space and blocking the aesthetic. And they are correct, by the way and more importantly, that huge trendy sectional has just hijacked their imagination.

And it’s not a judgement of your decorating taste. If you like it, do it. You do you. I’d actually love to plop down on that sofa in the picture. Would I buy that house? No. The room’s too small (I’m chuckling). BUT when you want to sell that space, you have got to back your taste into the space behind marketing. I’ve studied marketing; I can even recommend colors. But I don’t do that. I love it when my buyers get to see a lovely space that looks like a HOME. Yes, even with pictures. The days of ‘minimalism’ are fading fast, but maximalism is already blasé. The happy medium and the quicker sale aesthetic, is somewhere in between. Speaking of colors in marketing…if your living room is vibrant orange with purple trim, I’m gonna recommend a change.

Now, do I think you have to sterilize your space? NO! The home should still look like a home. But you have to remember, you are selling space. Big, wide open space. Even people who want more delineated spaces want those individual spaces to look big. And when they stop walking and start to place their OWN furniture in their mind, that’s a GREAT thing. But they never get there if their senses are overwhelmed by MASSIVE furniture crammed into a small space. So here’s what I advise my sellers.

You are moving. This will soon not be your home. Start thinking like a buyer, and ‘rearrange’. Take a deep breath and let go of the emotion (I know that’s hard). Think about your sales price now. Maybe get a small storage unit and put some items in there. TRUST ME. I cannot tell you how many times my buyers turn around and leave when they think the spaces are too small. And there’s this: So many people put the back of a sofa right across the room where the fireplace is the focal point.

The fireplace wall is the ‘money wall’ for your home. DON’T BLOCK IT. Switch the furniture placement to open that view while you are marketing your home. People say, “Wow!” when they see the sweeping vista (okay that’s a bit hyperbolic) from the kitchen island to the fireplace. If you have the floor plan where there’s a dining table between the kitchen island and the living room, don’t put tall decor on the table. Make the VIEW un-interrupted all the way to the ‘money wall’, because they WILL stand behind that island to view the den or living room with the fireplace. They will. It’s okay to put decor on the table (I would), but don’t let it grab the attention of the buyer who is trying to decide if this space will work. Think: SQUIRREL! So…what about that buyer’s decision process:

Buyers enter your home and their creative brain takes over. They immediately start thinking how they would live in that space, and they think about how they would put THEIR stuff in it. The home should have a comfortable temperature, it should SMELL good (don’t put the fragrance things in the outlets; it makes buyers think you’re hiding something). Open the blinds and push back the dark curtains (better yet take them out). Let the sunshine in. Sunshine is a wonderful psychological marketing tool and it’s FREE. Don’t have gigantic decor on spindly tables (danger) and take the pet snake terrarium to a friend’s house (don’t laugh; I’ve had that happen). Think like the masses.

Now about that sectional: Here’s my editorial. Sectionals are a smart marketing tool for furniture makers. They get to make a sectional cheaper than regular sofas and make you think they’re worth more money. So they create the “everybody’s doing it!” idea and of course people fall for it and they pay more money. In marketing, that’s called affiliation. And it has worked. And it’s the bane of my existence unless I’m showing a huge home to my buyers because chances are, the dreaded sectional will be in the living room.

ZILLOW SUES COMPASS AND MIDWEST REAL ESTATE DATA (MRED)

You know by now that I have opinions. Well these are mine, and you’ve heard me talk about this before. Well yesterday’s news made me very happy. Just know that these are MY OPINIONS, put forth to hopefully get you interested in digging into this situation, because it could cost you thousands you didn’t even know you were losing. Buckle up.

Remember that post I did, talking about the looming juggernaut that could harm our market significantly? The harm I anticipated was just me, analyzing the situation like I always do. I was sick in the pit of my stomach, thinking about what this was going to do to our market here. Apparently I wasn’t the ONLY one feeling sick. Hence the lawsuit filed yesterday by Zillow. I know, many of you have dollar signs in the crosshairs as I speak; but this is not how I view the market.

I view the market as a population of folks who need to either sell or buy real estate, and most of the time, it is their largest investment. I am always honored to be chosen to help, regardless of the price point. I am a data person, and I actually serve my clients, free of greed. THEREFORE, I love to help them make the best transaction they can. This means I want the real estate market to be open, accessible to all, and positioned to allow good competition. From this comes this saying: The house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. But the idea is that there are a LOT of somebodies out there, not just a group inside a fence that not everyone can access. I want YOU to have whole access. Because competition helps you!

  1. I drive a small crossover SUV that is 13 years old, in the shop way too often. I do NOT drive a 100K automobile that I expect YOU to pay for. I live in a small townhouse that’s 23 years old. In other words, I’m not ever asking you to support ‘my lifestyle’. Yes, real estate is how I make a living (pay my bills), but that’s life, NOT lifestyle. If I come to do a listing appointment, look out the window. Look at my little car. You’ll know I’m not greedy. Don’t fall for the “I’m worth it” mantra. I’m worth it too; but I also make my own way, not riding on your back. Don’t mistake that for me being mediocre. I’m not. I’m a Senior specialist, a strategic pricing specialist, a negotiating specialist, I worked for a builder so I know what to look for to find red flags, and I was a scientist in my other life, so I’m very detail oriented. I’m also a compassionate servant, so I take care of my clients. That’s very different from greed, very. So yeah, NOT mediocre. And today, I can work with my clients in the way that helps them best. That’s your first data point.
  2. Our market is healthy, though slower for ‘resales’ because builders are throwing money at buyers to get them to buy their product. Tens of THOUSANDS. And they have their own mortgage company and title company…money they get back when you choose them. I get it! It’s hard to turn down that kind of incentive money when it definitely reduces the downstroke pain, and you get a new house. I get it. But it makes it harder for people trying to sell their existing home. Just know that existing home sellers have always competed with builders, so that’s nothing new; it’s just that builders have more money than God now and they can tilt the entire market towards themselves. Still, in a fair market there are thousands of people who prefer an older home! You should be able to see ALL of them, not just the ones the juggernaut wants you to see.
  3. In a hot market, buyers often bring ABOVE list price in order to win the home. I’ve been through the insane market times when the only way that made sense was if you planned to own that home for a very long time. That still applies. You always want equity growth to be a steep upward curve if you are going to offer above list price. I can explain all of that to you. In my market, at this minute, you should plan to offer at or above list; that’s just how it is right now, this minute, in this market. How do I know that? Well for NOW I have access to all of the data…until the juggernaut shuts it down.
  4. If you want to buy OR sell, the open, unfettered market is your friend. It’s honest, it’s visible, it gives you all of the data you need to make a good choice. Sellers pretty much know they can often garner multiple offers in a free market, and buyers can search thousands and THOUSANDS of available homes to find the one that works for them and that they feel good about trying to buy. No roadblocks, no boundaries, nothing hidden. That’s about to change if this lawsuit fails. And the one who gets hurt is you, consumer. The 800 pound gorilla is going to laugh all the way to the bank.
  5. If you are directed to call a ‘LISTING AGENT’ when you search for a home, know that you are TALKNG TO THE AGENT WHO WORKS FOR THE SELLLLLER, not you. That means everything you tell her or him, that person is obligated to blab it to the seller. CALL A BUYER AGENT for goodness sake. That’s me, a lot of the time. A buyer agent works for YOU, unless you decide to allow for dual agency, which I NEVER advise. Firm, yes; agent NO.

Now back to the ‘juggernaut’ currently under a class action lawsuit. This paradigm is designed to block out a huge block of potential buyers, if you are selling, OR a huge block of listings, if you are a buyer. In other words, my latest data calculation and info I have researched, shows that if you don’t follow the juggernaut rules, you miss out on maybe 30% (right now) of the available homes or buyers out there, whether listing or buying. As the juggernaut moves forward, the percentage of ‘freely available’ homes you can see online will shrink. If you are not with the juggernaut, your home doesn’t show up on the AVMs…that’s the search places you go to, to find homes, or to compare prices of other ones on the market. It’s a takeover in the name of greed…in my old car old house opinion. In NC we have a thriving real estate market, with unfettered boundaries (for the most part) for you to go online and look and search to your heart’s content and to feel pretty sure you’re getting reasonably good data. Nearly all of my buyers pick the homes they want to see online, all by themselves. And by the time we go to view it and evaluate it, they have a pretty good idea of the whole picture. If this juggernaut takes root, those days are over. Anyone not joining in what I perceive to be harmful to buyers and sellers, will eventually be out. Out means you get what they say you get. Remember when you used to be able to pick your colors when you bought a new home? Now what happens? You get what the builder says you get. That’s how it works folks. It becomes less and less about you and more and more about what is easier and more PROFITABLE for the juggernaut. Here’s what was posted about the lawsuit, you can look it up and see how you view things:

“Zillow today took a big step in standing up for a free and honest housing market. MRED and Compass conspired to cut off Zillow’s access to Chicago-area listing date, not because we violated any legitimate rule, but because we’re committed to giving every buyer in the market the widest possible audience, and every agent in the market a fair shot at competing. When we didn’t back down on our commitment, they announced a national alliance designed to extend the pressure everywhere.”

And it continues on. This article came from LinkedIn.

Imagine you want to buy a car and the dealer says, here’s the price. And you wonder…because today’s buyers are pretty doggone smart…how do you come up with that price. And the dealer says, “I’m not gonna tell ya.” And you think, “I’m gonna check out other dealerships”, and you get there, and there’s that SAME GUY. You need data, not someone telling you that you get what I SAY you get. Like that. You need everything you can get to help you make good choices and you DESERVE it. That’s what we have right now. But not for long.

Please pay attention to what’s going on with this lawsuit filed by ZILLOW. We all know Zillow. I use Zillow nearly every day and I love it. But going forward, it’ll be a cobbled tool. You need to know that and hope Zillow wins. If a Compass agent comes to a listing appointment talking about exclusive (that word) listings, know that your listing will be inside a fence that MANY buyers will not be able to see. That cuts down free market competition, and that could mean tens of thousands of dollars lost to you. And the real estate transaction is supposed to be about YOU.

I will not be joining the juggernaut. I despise greed for greed’s sake, I don’t like hostile takeovers, and I don’t like the message that if I’m not one of them YET, I will be. Not MIGHT BE, but WILL BE. Oh boy that doesn’t work with me. That’s not how I roll. I could not live with myself if I couldn’t serve my clients to the very best of my ability. It is an honor to help someone choose a home, or sell one so they can continue on their journey. People matter to me; I LOVE helping them along their journey. It’s NOT about the money for me, and I hope Zillow wins.

The Juggernaut is Looming

There’s new age of real estate coming, which I think is an attempt at a monopoly. How it plays out remains to be seen. What if your choice becomes more and more limited? I wouldn’t like it.

When a real estate company offers you an ‘exclusive listing’, the first thing you should think about is THE MARKET. Say that with the technical echo. If tight boundaries are put around your home for sale, then you could be missing out on the boost you get from the open market competition! If a company only wants your opportunity to go to their ‘group’, you’re missing out. In the areas where homes are hot commodities with a lot of pent-up buyer energy, seller, you want multiple offers to roll in. That’s how you make the greatest dollar amount for your home. If your home is listed with an ‘exclusive’ boundary, you’re likely going to miss out on that market boost.

By the way, your list price can very well be overshot by a motivated buyer. You can garner well ABOVE your list price in a competitive situation! Many people in my market are offering above list price and bringing the extra in cash to closing, just to get your house.

The market: Listen, this just means your home is worth whatever someone is willing to pay. When you get a market analysis…listen up…that is HISTORY. It is not today. The market analysis is just a starting point and it has many facets: Time of year, location, age of home, which subdivision, which PART of the subdivision, how many rentals surround you? Rentals. Your value just went DOWN if your community is full of rentals. The investors won’t tell you that, but it is absolutely true. Many rentals = transient community. You will never know whom your neighbors are. That’s important. One more thing: the MARKET changes by.the.minute.

Take the time to sit down with an experienced agent who knows. Bring your questions, have coffee and engage. You don’t have to sign anything, you don’t PAY anything. Yes I said sit down with an agent. You are about to fork over a LOT of money. This transaction should NOT be done with your head bent down over a phone. Talk. Ask. Learn. You can find out if the agent is there to get your money, or is there to serve you. You ought to be able to tell the difference and if you can’t, good luck. If you hire an agent who only wants your money, you get what you deserve. A good agent should have YOUR best interest in mind. By the way, you should actually listen to her and not try to take the reins. Good agents tell you the truth that will benefit YOU. Many people lose out on several homes before they learn to listen to the agent. Good ones know. We just do.

Let’s talk. I’m Brenda with Premier Advantage Realty. 919-210-6113. Let’s talk. Coffee’s on me.

What Do I Do in these Uncertain Times?

Not what you want to hear, I’m sure, but…it is your decision.

The good news is: you have an advisor called a real estate agent. Here’s why this matters. Real estate agents have to know their market and even sometimes markets they don’t operate in. Why? Because real estate is complicated and multi-faceted, particularly if you’re trying to bridge two different markets. If you are moving to our market, we need to know the market you’re coming from if you have a home to sell. If you have a home to sell, you are going to be held to expectations by the seller from whom you wish to buy. So your agent needs to know how long your existing home in that other market might sit on the market. This way, we know how much time you will probably need, so you do not BREACH your offer to purchase on the home you wish to buy. That’s a mouthful.

By the way, if you do this on your own, your attorney isn’t going to know how much time you need.

I’ve said this many times and if you follow me, you know it. Our unique knowledge can save you thousands of dollars…if you listen. We don’t want you to create such a tight timeline that you cannot possibly make it, particularly if you have thousands of due diligence dollars at stake. Remember you put due diligence dollars into the transaction up front, and if you do not close, you lose that money! I don’t know about you, but I don’t like losing money.

Let me give you a scenario of people who refused to listen to their agent. The had a home to sell and made an offer on another home, an older one. It had a septic system, which included an old, old septic tank. Their agent urged them (and urged and urged) to ask the sellers to repair any damage to the tank. They didn’t listen. NOW, they have a bad situation with a damaged tank that must be REPLACED, not repaired. And did you know that if you REPLACE a system, it must meet current code? Yep. And that means permits, new tank, new installation, new drain field and one in reserve. What happens if your land isn’t large enough to support what the new code requires? Well, there are solutions, but the dollar amount could be 5 figures. Not kidding about that.

By the way, if you try to do this on your own using an attorney, the attorney isn’t going to ask you how old the septic system is.

What about this scenario: First time buyers make an offer on a home they’ve looked for, for months. Terms are negotiated and agreed upon and then the sellers want to stay for a couple of days after closing but don’t want to sign a form allowing them to do this, holding them accountable to a timeline and any damage they cause, and pay rent to the new little buyers. THEIR agent pressures the buyers to let them just hang out for free. What would you do?

The first thing is, it is not the new buyer’s responsibility to plan the sellers’ move. It is also not their job to help the sellers move out at their leisure, at no cost to the ones leaving. Poor planning on the part of the sellers does not mean the buyers have to put their financial wellbeing at risk. If you allow this and the sellers burn down the house, it’s on YOU, the new owners. And listen very carefully. Your insurance company PROBABLY won’t cover you because you don’t have a rental policy. See the problem? Don’t do it! Listen to your agent and call the insurance company. By the way, if the sellers scuff up the paint and gouge the walls while they move furniture out, they can leave it and you, new owner, have zero recourse.

One last thing: interest rates are most likely never going back to 3%. If you wait, rates will go up and so will house prices in hot markets. Just make the move. Refinance later if you don’t like the rate, but don’t let the house go up 30 grand in price while you wring your hands. It’s not wise to wait in MY market. And investors are circling like sharks in bloody water. They’re going to offer cash, so PLEASE listen to your agent about how to navigate these waters. I know. You have the internet. But we do. this. every. day. We have deep knowledge, not something we just read online.

Please call me directly at 919-210-6113. I’ve said this a lot too: It doesn’t cost ANYTHING to have a conversation, and experience DOES MATTER. I’d love to help you with your real estate needs. Or cats. I can help you with cats, too.

I hope your day is spectacular!

Regards,

Brenda Briggs, Realtor, Broker

Why Do I Need a Survey?

Why do I need that? I can find the property lines myself.

I hear this a lot, especially if my clients are buying in a subdivision where property lines are fairly obvious.

Well what’s obvious isn’t what you need to worry about. It is the hidden things. Like drainage and sewer easements, wetlands, flood zones, utility or right-of-way easements. These things will dictate, in part, how you can use the land you’re buying, where you can put the detached shop, where you can put a fence, whether your property is a designated ingress for legal access for another party to their property or one they plan to do work on.

Sometimes the underground drainage/sewer easements contain large concrete structures you could walk in. They are there for an important reason and you may never know they’re there unless they are on your property and there’s a problem. And if they fail, you might need to dismantle that shop, move the fence, give up on the landscaping…at your expense, by the way.

A survey will also show you if someone else has encroached on your land…often with a fence, or is using your property for their needs. And…if a legal issue does arise, you having a survey in hand will go a long way towards protecting your interest.

I always cringe at the cost of a survey; however, it is far more important than even the cost indicates. By the way, if you DO have one, it is extremely kind to share that with your listing agent so it can be shared with your future buyers. They will still need to do their own survey, but having the one YOU did in hand, will show them the big green light to purchase your listing.

Get the survey. I promise, it’s worth it for far more than property line location, although it does that too.

Best Regards,

Brenda Briggs, Premier Advantage Realty: 919-210-6113

How Much More will Buyers Pay to get ‘New’?

I like data. I know, some eyes are rolling back, showing blank shark eyes. Sorry not sorry. This matters if you’re going to sell your house. So focus.

It is IMPERATIVE that listing agents know what’s happening in new construction in the area. Make sure they know! How can you make sure? ASK. Why should they know, you ask…

Well, because buyer will OFTEN pay up to 7.5% ABOVE list price, if there’s a brand spanking new house in the area. Do the math. Multiply your asking price by .075 and then add that to your price. If there’s new construction right there, right around that number, or anywhere between THAT price and yours? They’re gonna buy the new house. Why, you might ask? Well because it’s NEW.

This is not rocket science. There are people out here who watch the data and who do the math. But if you don’t know you don’t know. Now you know. If you want to sell your house, you have to get your list price where it needs to be.

I’m never the most popular person at the party, you may have guessed. In part because I like data. Also…I’m not at the party LOL!!! Confessions of a nerd.

But, your agent works for you. Make sure you ask your questions, and also…when your agent tells you that if you don’t get an offer within the typical time on the market, you PROBABLY need to…I know you hate this…LOWER THE PRICE. Except for investors. They are going to SERIOUSLY lowball you because they want you to help them make a profit. Don’t do it.

Buy the way. If an agent does the plug and chug online market analysis, they are giving you a history lesson. YES A HISTORY LESSON. The market is alive. A.Live. There are at least 16 items to consider in a thorough market analysis, not the least of which is the season. School, holiday, wedding…you get the idea. Just find an agent who has time to devote to your specific situation. Because, are you ready for this?

Pricing ‘strategy’ is specifically related to YOUR immediate goals. How about that? It’s not just up to your agent. You are the boss!

Call me and let’s talk numbers. I’m Brenda with Premier Advantage Realty. 919-210-6113.

The Death of Excellence, or

The age of the copycat

Do you remember, like, when I wrote (griped) about, like, every few words being, like, “like”? That brain worm still lives, and the worst thing is that it lives in pubic presenters, who spread that disease just by yapping. Some are, like, journalists? You know, like, they invade my brain as soon as they start, like, talking?

Questions? Yep, that’s another one. It began with a generation of scared talkers, who were so insecure that they had to ask permission to speak. I think, like, if they do that? they should, like, stop talking? Because they advertise, like, their weak mind. I mean, to strong, confident listeners anyway, this is a huge tell. To a predator, you become prey.

IF you are going to, like, present yourself as an expert?

Then act like one.

Oh wait. There’s another one. Super. SUPER SUPER SUPER, Everyone is super excited, super happy to be here, super happy that YOU’RE here, super sad, super fat, super full, super cut, super thin. Kill….me… now. Again, as are many issues I bring up, this one is ‘complicated’. First, foremost, we have every day, every hour, constant reminders of how we are herd animals. MOST people are. They just follow. They are insecure, they are lazy, they lack ability to forge a trail, they lack self confidence to even make a definitive statement: Is it, like, super okay for me to, like, talk? I’m going to say 80% of people are like this. I always apply the 80-20 rule, which I have changed to 80-10-10. This means 80% of people follow the herd, 10% of people actually think; 10% of people don’t know/don’t care. Check it out; it applies to almost every scenario.

Complication two: Most parents don’t parent anymore because they are afraid to discipline. Discipline is necessary. Ask a Marine. Imagine undisciplined Marines on the battlefield. 10% of them would have zero ammunition, 80% would have ammunition but not know how to use it, so it would be 10% who would shoulder the burden, if the others didn’t accidentally shoot them. Which they probably would.

So if you have a child who was never disciplined and then they go out into the ‘world’, they will not know how to perform. Hence the questions. Hence the wide-eyed copying of others. Hence the inability to take responsibility. Responsibility frightens many of them. Hence the ease of manipulating them. They don’t know how to walk alone, as it were.

So that makes them SUPER uncomfortable, and often SUPER unqualified, even though they expect to be praised. Yep, that’s the new brain worm: super. Attorneys, ‘journalists’, doctors, interviewers, interviewEES. Super has drilled into the weak brains among us. It never ends.

So what? Well, everybody wants to be a star, have millions of ‘likes’ (not that kind), everybody wants to be the oracle. Let me clue you in. The SECOND you spout “like like like” or “super super super” posed as a question, I know a WHOLE lot about your brain. And so do all of the others you encounter. Right now, when my favorite YouTube creators say like like like and super super super, I’m just very disappointed IN them and FOR them.

Think about it, and kill the brain worm before it infects your brain.