The Truth is Out There…

Here’s one for you: I’m just going to give you the information from science and you can think it over and make up your own mind.

What a crock. The atomic number for Nitrogen is 7. You don’t get to think about that and choose your own number. If you step outside that third story window, you’re gonna FALL. DOWN. You don’t get to make up your own mind about it! Gravity works. Period. There are many truths out there that you just have to believe, otherwise there is no foundation upon which to stand or build. But we live in a ridiculous period of “everybody gets to make up his or her own reality”. I used to say, “Kill me now.” Today, nobody thinks that’s a joke and people are so MAD. But what a ridiculous idea that every single person gets to decide whether or not the atomic number of Nitrogen is 7.

I used to work in science, every day, all day. There were certain chemical reactions or material facts that I used, depended upon, from which my analysis stemmed. Truth. Science is the pursuit of truth. Now when I reached my conclusions, ultimately there would be a dollar amount associated with it, either for my company or for the company who bought the optical fiber we manufactured, or for a vendor who maybe supplied bad raw material. I didn’t have to be involved in the money or politics, thank GOD; but, the answer was the answer and corrective measures went from there. Nobody had to mull it over and see how they wanted the answer to feel, or how THEY thought it should be, and there were no politicians NEAR my lab. Again, thank God. Okay, let’s be honest. Remember that word? There were probably ‘politicians’ around in white coats, wanting to scratch and claw to the next level on the hierarchical ladder, but they were usually on the other side of the lab door.

Were my analytical results sometimes unpopular? You bet your ass they were, but they were the results. And if I didn’t know the answer by virtue of analysis, I SAID THAT. Wouldn’t it be nice of some of the talking heads out here today would look us in the eye and say, “Sorry folks, we just don’t know what the side effects will be, but in 5 years we will know and we will pay you if your leg falls off.” Hey, it wouldn’t be fun, but it would be the truth, right?

I know, you’re wondering what a leg is worth. hahaha. Don’t worry, these folks have enough to pay you. It’s part of the plan.

I think the problem is that politics and money are the most important goals now, replacing Truth. Now, we don’t know who supplies raw materials, or even the finished product many times. We don’t know the credentials of the person who gives you that pill to take. I used to say, “Somebody had to graduate at the bottom of the class.” And that was when I assumed there was an ACTUAL college degree somewhere. Today, we don’t know for sure, and we don’t know how much that person actually LEARNED if there WAS a degree, because these days, it doesn’t really matter. Everybody gets one! Don’t believe me? Watch how much BAD GRAMMAR is on your NEWS broadcast today. Ask a random person to read a paragraph. It’ll make your head explode. What is the plural of phenomenon? How do you pronounce corroboration? Do you know someone who says, “I seen it?” I rest my case.

We are erasing truth from our existence. How is that happening? Well, if there are over 7 billion people on the planet and each one gets to design ‘reality’, we’re talking about complete, annihilatory chaos. How do you like that word? I had to look it up, but I DID look it up because I trust the dictionary. Apparently this computer does not because it underlines the word in red. See how this works? hahaha. AND YET there is no alternative spelling. Too funny. My computer must FEEL like that word does not exist but it shrugged off the correct spelling. But again, I digress.

We live in a time where, if I do not agree with your perspective, you get to beat me up, or set out to ruin my reputation, get me fired, kill me. And it gets right back to truth. What happened to TRUTH? And why is YOUR opinion any better than mine? Oh, this is why we used to talk or even debate. Debate is not a bad thing, people. Usually at the end of a debate, everybody is still ALIVE and there are no burning buildings. By the way a debate is not one person badgering and bludgeoning another person into thinking exactly as they think. Debate usually leads to other things to consider on the path to truth, which is often entirely or in part different from any of the prior opinions. THIS is how we grow, how we progress. No dead bodies, no burning buildings.

Truth is based on the word ‘trust’. If you look at those words long enough they will start to look strange. Trust: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; dependence on something future or contingent : HOPE (From Merriam-Webster dictionary). Oh great, now we get HOPE into the compost heap. That’s waning as well and now we know why.

Because of the incessant blitzkrieg of internet information (not usually true), we have NO idea what to believe or whom to believe anymore. Most of what is posted is opinion…including this blog, by the way…and everybody has one. Each and every person has an opinion about everything. So it is your job, if you care, to …wait for it… seek the truth. Oh hell, that sounds like work. Yep. It is. And if your only source is the internet? You have no credibility. When I got my chemistry degree, my professor said, “You don’t have to know all of the answers, you just have to know where or how to find them.” So, I never memorized the periodic table of elements. hahaha. But I did know where to find it.

Listen, there are people, entities out there who have figured out how gullible we are, how easily we fall for lies, how to manipulate us into badgering and bludgeoning others into THEIR way of thinking, which is this: I want your money, all of it, and I want to control your life. It feels like an effort to destroy our country but if you’ve ever LEFT this country, you’d want to come back, trust me. Oops, trust. But most of the people who want to annihilate the country don’t know what it’s like in other countries that are rubble and dust. Something to think about.

Here’s another something to think about: Are the ones badgering you invested financially in the thing they are trying to force you to buy, adopt, fund, drink, swallow? These days, the politicians have huge amounts of stock in the companies they are trying to force you to TRUST. Think. How is this talking head going to benefit financially by controlling my mind? GREAT question.

Look around you and maybe ask yourself why you’re so angry all of the time and ask yourself if you really like that persona. Scientists are saying that such behavior can make you more susceptible to disease by the way. There’s a lot of TRUTH that says rioting, screaming, burning things, fighting, being angry all the time…can make you more susceptible to cancer. Read the book by Dr. Gabor Mate. It’s eye opening. Just saying. And think about this: If there are those who want to CONTROL society, whom do you believe will be the first ones in cages? Oh yeah, the rabble-rousers who can’t be controlled. hahaha. Better think about that. I’m actually laughing. We are such a mess. Can’t even call us a society. I am actually laughing because I still have hope. It hasn’t been killed off yet. That’s my science brain at work. I know the truth is out there. How to get 7 billion people to be open to other ideas? That’s the kicker.

The bottom line is that there is an effort to erase truth, by people who want to confuse you, take your money, or want to take your power away from you, or okay, all of the above. Sometimes a very small group with really loud voices can force you to adopt THEIR truth, which could be destructive and dangerous. It is important, in other words, to understand the implications of trust, truth and hope. These things matter to stability, safety, survival. How am I going to tie this in with real estate, you might ask? Watch this:

Look your lender in the eye, don’t ‘go online’. You could be talking to a big hairy scammer in somebody’s basement who is not telling you the truth, who wants your info so they can take your money. Look your real estate agent in the eye. Ask questions, seek the answers you need, see if she knows the answers, see if she ever says, “I’m not sure but I can find out.” Now that’s an honest person, a TRUTHFUL one. You’ll know whether or not you can TRUST that person. Have a conversation, an AUDIBLE conversation, because you can tell a lot about a person by listening to their voice. And you can draw a plethora of wrong conclusions from text messages. Look, I love texting and emailing and DMs and IMs and l-m-n-o-p’s, but how can I tell if I want to work with you? By talking with you and by looking you right in the eye. Until I see you and hear your voice, I don’t know if you’re a 10 year old kid having a bit of fun at my expense, in somebody’s basement. hahaha. Why are scammers always assumed to be in somebody’s basement?

Stay with me, still linking this to real estate. Watch this:

I can help you find a great home where you can feel safe and secure while you find the truth.

Is that good, or what? Call me.

I am Brenda Briggs, broker/realtor, Coldwell Banker Advantage, 919-210-6113.

Should I Wait for the Market to Settle Down?

It’s a great question right now. Listen, I’m an experienced agent and this market scares ME sometimes. The speed is unfathomable and the effect is like that of being on a tricycle on one wheel speeding downhill. There’s no time to think. When my clients ask me whether it is a good idea to wait, I’m torn. Part of me thinks waiting would make sense, because rushing toward anything but ice cream doesn’t thrill me. But then reality sets in and I think rushing isn’t so bad. Here’s why.

First, as we have already seen…are already SEEING, because the trend forming now…interest rates are going up. In this competitive bid market, every dollar counts when you are trying to win the day, and every uptick in interest rate lowers your home search price. Every drop in home price means you have MANY more competitors. Homes below 400K are getting hard to find, at least the ones without ‘issues’, in many cases. And if YOUR price point dropped, so did that of your competitors, so the race will be more fierce.

For my clients, I advise them to make the financial adjustments that will allow them to stay in the hunt, to take advantage of low interest rates. I’m not a financial person, not an accountant, not (thank goodness) a wall street employee, but I think we are heading for an economic correction like we have never seen in our lifetime.

I don’t think we’re heading for a “real estate crash”. Not even close. Demand is too high and supply is too low for that situation to occur. No, I think inflation is going to bite us big, I just don’t know when. Common sense tells me we’re heading that way, and filling my car with gas confirms my assumption. I’m not an accountant either, but I do know you can’t buy a dollar’s worth of anything with a dollar that is now worth 40 cents.

Then we have rising prices for everything from food to gas, and we have supply shortage of everything from PET FOOD to cars. When this shoe drops, it’s gonna hurt. So waiting is actually a bad idea.

Most of my clients are not moving for the fun of it; they are moving because of a need to position themselves for the future, whether it be for the next leg of the journey or for settling into the end of their journey. So the need is there; that’s not going to change. So what I am saying is this:

Go ahead. Don’t wait.

And I know I beat this one into the ground, but hire an experienced real estate agent. This is a brand new market/economic condition which CAN be navigated effectively, but your agent must know what all of the moving parts ARE and how they bump into one another and change things. Your agent MUST know how to protect you in this unprecedented, fluctuating, expensive market.

Speaking of pet food shortage: Mess with my pets and we’re going to have problems. But it seems that’s also happening.

Call me and let’s talk about it.

I’m Brenda Briggs, Broker/Realtor 919-210-6113

Coldwell Banker Advantage, Wake Forest NC

Real Estate in Uncertain Financial Times

There’s always something to make us go “hmmmm”. These days, watching the news makes me hide in my closet. This is going up, this is going down, debt ceiling is being raised beyond sight, no it’s not, yes it is. OMG America is running out of food, building supplies, clothes are getting so thin you can see through them because fabric is so expensive (that’s funny, isn’t it?). Stock market is going up, it’s going down, buy, sell. Interest rates are going up….are they? Yesterday this house was active, now it’s pending. Why did the price go up? Are they really stabilizing?? I thought I saw some go DOWN in price. I can’t keep up.

So let’s just assume we are going into uncharted territory yet AGAIN, and put on our thinking caps. Why?Because there’s not a doggone thing we can do about the financial ‘climate’, but we can absolutely navigate it. Listen, I have stocks, and I’m not selling. I’m buying, in fact. But I do look at analysts’ reports as a guide. These reports are educated guesses, right? But there are a couple I trust and they are my true north on the rare occasions my charts don’t guide me exclusively. Yep, I’m a chart person. Don’t really need to know what the stock is; I just look at the chart and go from there. It works, too.

But REAL ESTATE, I sigh. Okay there are some charts you can use, a lot of them in fact. But listen, these days you also HAVE TO HAVE A STRATEGY, a strong one. It becomes more and more complicated as the weeks go by, and you MUST have an agent who understands ALL of the moving parts and how they fit together or bump against each other; and your agent HAS TO KNOW how to maximize your financial asset goals in light of these influences. In other words, better grab some experience, folks; this is serious business. And you’d better put on the big person (can’t say girl anymore) panties and learn how to handle some risk. That’s just plain fact. If you don’t have the stomach for it, then wait it out. But waiting it out? The real estate train is going to leave you in dust and diesel fumes, ladies and gentlemen. You get the point.

So your agent should ask you: “What is your financial strategy?” Now listen, we are not accountants, but if your goal is to buy a cheap house and flip it, that’s WAY different than finding the most house you can buy so you can stay there until you die. There was probably a better way to say that, but you get the idea. Still, and regardless, your agent SHOULD KNOW what you really aim for financially, with respect to this real estate transaction. And by the way, a good agent can give you some good recommendations for lenders BASED on these goals. It’s a good hand-off between strategists and guess what? You need that. It’s called experience and depth of bench in the career. Ya gotta have connections.

The thing about uncertainty financially is that we are, I believe, at a critical point in real estate (oh yes, AGAIN). If you are trying to buy and can’t find your price point house, then I strongly recommend adjusting your ‘requirements’ or your ‘dreams’. Why? Because there isn’t time for a stroll through the homes for sale. Remember the dust and diesel fumes? I think we may soon see some inflationary effects, and that will effect your interest rate, your price point, whether or not you have a screened porch AND a patio and fire pit…you get the idea. Don’t ever forget that real estate, now more than ever, is in flux. Don’t nail down ANYTHING. Keep your options and your mind open. Every day is the time to review your strategy to make sure it still make sense. Your agent should be driving that effort, by the way. And if this makes you feel better about ‘flux’, almost ALL buyers end up with a house that was NOTHING like what they first tell us to search for. NOTHING. The best clients actually realize and laugh about that once they find their home.

I have always worked 24/7, and that’s really a good thing for you. I wake up at 3 am, thinking about your house. Really, I do. And IF you have been straight with me about your strategy and your financial goals, then I had BETTER be thinking about your transaction 24/7. It’s that complicated. If we viewed real estate transactions BEFORE as a train running on the rails, rumbling along, now, it’s a bullet train and the cars are bumping together as they fly down the tracks. People are using your due diligence money as THEIR due diligence on the home they want to buy while you buy THEIRS. So if one falls through…I can’t bear to think about it. The housing shortage rages on; therefore, so does desperation among would-be buyers. This doesn’t have to spell disaster; it just means your agent has more and more COMPLICATED work to do. Remember when I wrote about creative problem solving? Well it’s not just a good idea anymore. It is MANDATORY.

And ‘thinking outside the box’ is not the same thing as creative problem solving, folks. Creative problem solving involves integration of your STRATEGY into the process, and you must have one. If you talk to an agent who never says ‘strategy’, RUN. Or, take 10 grand out of your bank and throw it in the fire. Same result either way. Agents have to UNDERSTAND the world of transactions well enough to navigate you through the rapids, because that’s how it feels. And it feels like that because that’s how it IS.

I describe it as being like riding a tricycle up on one wheel. Now, it’s like riding a tricycle up on one wheel REALLY FAST. But the moment all three wheels are on the ground at once? It feels great.

So, in this uncertain economy, choose a wise and nimble agent who understands how to move quickly when things change and will TALK you through the initial pathway (it’ll change many times), be sure that agent knows what she’s talking about, and for goodness sake do these four things: 1) Choose your agent with care and intellect (not emotion); 2) Have a deep conversation about strategy and get that understanding well into your heart and mind; and 3) Put on those big person panties I talked about because you must expect some stress and be able to handle it; and 4) Do NOT ask your agent to reduce her fee for you, because you have NO IDEA of the value you are getting. None.

Thinking of Selling?

Let me share a secret with you about cabinet doors. Are you excited yet? You should be. I found this company when I was frustrated with my kitchen cabinets and lamenting about the cost of getting new cabinets installed. Well you gotta love Google. I found https://www.cabinetdoorworld.com. Instead of the WHOLE cabinet replacement, I replaced the doors, for WAAAAY less than you would think. I got solid wood, painted the color I wanted (a perfect match). And I got soft close hinges that upgraded what I had before…AND…they fit perfectly, right into the slots for the other hinges. WOW what a difference.

Now this company does a big variety of door styles and colors/stains, so I am willing to bet you can find what you need. SO…if you want to spiff up your kitchen for low bucks to garner high bucks on your sale? Go online and check out Cabinet Door World. In fact, I have two new doors for my bathroom vanity right now, waiting for me to install them. WITH soft close hinges. The cost was minimal and the return on investment will be great.

Check them out.

What About Your Loan Payoff?

Let’s talk about your closing attorney. The job of that organization is to search the title to a property to make sure you get a clean title, and to handle funds transfers at settlement. They can do other things, but buyers, you are hiring an escrow agent. That’s their main job. Nobody and I mean nobody should have access to your social security number, your banking account numbers, your investment account numbers, how much you have in savings and checking, how much you have in your WALLET, except your lender and your attorney. And don’t tell THEM how much you have in your wallet. That’s not even THEIR business. Let’s talk about that a minute.

I probably talk about wire fraud ten times or more during a real estate event, because it is a very real threat and I want my clients to understand that. I NEVER have possession of a paper, a text or an email, that has my clients’ social security number or any account numbers. Why? Because that means I have information in my office or on my phone or in the ‘cloud’ that could be snooped or stolen or hacked, yes even if locked, that I do not not not want and do not want getting out. I tell my clients to go TO the attorney’s office to give them their information, and if they can’t do it in person, call the attorney directly.

What about the account number for loan payoff? Well, the attorney will handle that. That’s part of settling funds. They will find out who holds the mortgage and off they go. If they need something, go there and give it to them. Or call them. If they call you and you don’t recognize the voice, excuse yourself from the call and then call them back. That way, you know you’re talking to the right person. Even they have to be extremely careful because hackers do, and will, hijack the information and the money. Attorneys work in conjunction with title companies to be sure that everything adds up, and that wiring numbers and amounts are the same and that your money is not stolen. Together, these two agencies make sure your money goes to the lender, or wherever it is supposed to go, and not to some hacker across the globe.

All along the way, the people who are ENTITLED to your personal information in order to get you to closing, have secure systems with extra security, to thwart hackers. But hackers never and I mean NEVER give up. So, just don’t email your information. Don’t text it either. Think like a hacker: If you want to know what the attorney knows, whose email would YOU hack? And if hackers think your real estate agent gets that info, whose email would they also go after? RIGHT. So just be careful.

And by the way, appreciate the behind the scenes efforts that the closing attorneys’ staff and title companies’ staff put forth to protect your interests. These are hardworking people and the title folks never even see your face.

Have a great day today. Give me a call or email if you want to talk real estate.

Brenda Briggs

Coldwell Banker Advantage, Wake Forest NC

919-210-6113

What, you mean TALK??

Hello everyone. Here I am writing a blog entry to talk to you, rather than using my voice. Isn’t that ironic? Here’s another thing: That picture of me? Old picture. I can’t figure out how to change it.

I wish I could speak with you face to face (notice I said WITH you and not TO you), but unfortunately I haven’t met you yet. Hopefully I will.

It occurred to me this morning while I was exercising (no eye rolling; I really was exercising), the heightened importance of communication in this particular market. Remember I told you that we are in an historical market. Never been experienced, hopefully won’t be again. It is a feeding frenzy out here in the real estate world, and the balance of power has been eliminated. Not tipped; eliminated. Sellers have ALL of the leverage; buyers have none. Yes, homes are selling in the first 24 hours of listing and yes people are paying through the nose for that house, but the market is not fair right now and I’ll tell you why I believe that statement to be so. This will lead me back to the subject of the title. You know I like to wander.

First and foremost for me, is that first time buyers, first time move-up buyers, and downsizers are effectively shut out of the market altogether, unless they have a big fat savings account. These days, who has that? Right. Not many. You’re right there with me. You know about me, that first time buyers are my ‘first love’ in real estate. Most of my first time buyers are incredibly excited to have saved enough to pay their closing costs; they cannot throw thousands and thousands on the table in order for their offer to even be CONSIDERED. I’m seeing thousands of sad faces in my mind right now, thinking about how this market has closed the door on them. I don’t like that. At ALL.

First time buyers, you say? That’s right. Not the most money, but a great blessing to serve them. And by they way not ALL first time buyers have limited funds. Some these days are doing quite well for themselves. And I do work in all price points, but the first timers have the biggest part of my heart.

Second: Houses are selling WAY above appraised value, and having lived through the 2008 crash, I know that years from now…YEARS.. I’ll be presenting listing information to some people who are upside down in their home because they paid such a dear price for it. The market is overheated…due to supply and demand, which is legitimate…and this kind of heat can’t sustain. This scares me because I lived through this once before. But…this is also the market, working.

Third, I get to see the worst of our current social conditions, in that greed has dissolved in the solution of society to such an extent that humanity and greed are indistinguishable. In most cases, it has become a ‘how much can I get?’ rather than ‘how can I be a good steward in society?’ In other words, when the power landed exclusively in the sellers’ hands, many sellers stopped caring whether they sold to someone who would appreciate the flower beds, or who would appreciate the proximity to cultural events, or love the house, for example. It’s all about the money, ladies and gentlemen. And that money is in the form of elevated offer price and HUGE due diligence checks…just to have your offer in the running! No guarantees it will be ‘the one’. And that brings us back to ordinary working folks (like me) who can just sit down, read a book and KEEP SAVING.

Let me just qualify that last paragraph a little bit by saying that back in 2010, around the crash time, buyers had all of the leverage; sellers had none. Sellers had to BEG buyers to choose their home. And if a buyer DID make an offer, they were BRUTAL in their requirements of the seller: Below list price offer, low or no due diligence and earnest money, paint the whole house, put on a new roof, put in new appliances, put in new landscaping. And sellers did it, just so they could sell. Some sellers paid thousands just to get their home sold. What does this all mean? It means absolute power corrupts absolutely. Not my idea. It came from this quote by Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” But you get the idea. You give someone a huge imbalance of power and you are at their mercy. Period. Oh how I wish it were not so. But humans are humans. And so now, buyers are at sellers’ mercy, so to speak.

So…all of this said, it is IMPERATIVE that buyers and sellers, sit down and TALK with your real estate agent. It is so very important that you understand the environment into which you are about to step! Don’t think you can just read something on Zillow or Realtor.com, for example, and have the slightest clue how to navigate these waters! Listen, those are great websites. I use them all the time. But they can’t make you a licensed professional real estate agent. You know, if you go on a beginner white water rafting adventure, as a BEGINNER, you are likely to experience a 20 foot drop. As a BEGINNER. Keep that image in mind when you start as a beginner buyer or seller (everyone is a beginner in this historical market, by the way)! Why? Because the drop is 60 feet in real estate. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of real estate. The news is not always something you want to hear, or something that is going to make you feel good. Truth actually does hurt sometimes. But it is easier to navigate if it comes from a real estate agent that can tell you how to paddle AROUND that 60 foot drop.

Remember the days when you could offer below list price and wait for the seller to come back with a counter? That’s NOT how it works now. Sellers don’t usually counter. They just drop your offer in the ‘no’ pile and pick up one from the stack of other buyers who are operating in THIS market and offering their best right out of the gate. It’s NOT like the old days, folks. I cannot stress that enough, nor say it enough times. You, Mr and Mrs Buyer, are competing with people who have not even SEEN the house, but are throwing big money at it.

Some would say the answer is to just wait. Well sometimes waiting isn’t an option. Sometimes people HAVE to move. Rent? Have you see rental prices lately?? What this means is that your agent should be able to walk you through…all the way through…the things you will encounter. And you have to listen to your professional, licensed real estate agent. That’s so you can make good decisions having had time to CONTEMPLATE the implications! I don’t like to surprise my clients. I like for them to know what they’re doing, what they will do next week, and what may be coming around the corner. Why? Because that lessens their stress, and you know, if you’ve read any of my blog entries, that a key element of my business is to help my clients have as stress-free a transaction as possible. It’s my job to mitigate stress for you; that’s how I see it. Oh, it’ll never be stress FREE, but stress can be lessened.

Let me just admit that I LOVE electronic signatures, texting, emails…all the things that make info go faster (I used to work in the industry that made this stuff possible). But there are times when a face to face information exchange/Q&A session are crucial. This is one of those times. Sit down with your real estate agent and MAKE SURE he/she understands the market and its conditions. Make sure you’re dealing with a leader. And please, don’t do this and then drop back a decade at offer time and make a low offer, expecting a counter. That will lose the house for you. Every time.

Now…supply and demand. Where are all the houses?? That’s the issue. For every home on the market there are potentially hundreds of buyers. I’m going to estimate the by the time you factor in 1) who can actually get there to see it; 2) who can compete for it; 3) for whom is the timing right; 4) will they be able to do the repairs; 5) is the floor plan right; etc…you’ll end up with at least 10, maybe as many as 20, offers. Sellers are limiting showing time on the market because the showing schedule literally fills up, 8 am until 7 pm, right away. Sellers have to stay away pretty much except nighttime. No seller wants to do that for the long term, and they don’t have too. They’ll get offers in the first 24 hours, some sight-unseen. Yep, that’s the newest little competition. So now, showing options are getting limited and offers are coming without the buyers even laying eyes on the house. This is the market working. This is the environment into which you step in order to sell or buy. You must understand that. This is NOT the old way of doing things, folks.

Make sure your agent can guide you appropriately. That’s paramount. Your agent will share the market conditions with you, tell you where there are lower priced homes, if there are any. Those are usually in the ‘banished from the kingdom’ areas, or they are the ones that say “fixer upper” but really mean ‘dump’. Your agent can tell you how many days homes stay on the market in the area you like, talk about how to make a clean, strong, competitive offer. After you have gotten the lay of the land from your agent, please listen. It’s brutal out there and you actually do need guidance and advice. The internet is a great tool, but the internet doesn’t know my market, and it doesn’t know yours. So find a good…really good…agent.

I’m your girl, by the way. Call me.

Brenda Briggs

Realtor, Broker

Premier Advantage Realty

919-210-6113

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

Pending sales dropped for the second straight month, according to data. One more drop and we can officially call it a trend. But does this surprise ANYBODY? It shouldn’t. I currently have seven buyers…SEVEN…and cannot find anything for any of them, though prices range from $150,000 to $685,000. Data published during the first quarter indicated that our existing home inventory declined by 60% over last year. I think it was higher than that.

I complained loudly last year about investors buying up inventory that would otherwise be there for first time buyers, a trend that effectively pushed that group of buyers firmly out of the market. In a few cases, first time buyers were able to go up in price, but generally not; in other words, the market was squeezed from the bottom by investors. I thought that was incredibly unfair to young people trying to buy a home, because that’s an exciting feeling, taking that step to home ownership, and this group of buyers happens to be one of my favorite.

So, investors pushed people UP in price to where first time buyers were in the $220,000 price point to START, thereby wiping out most young buyers from the market. Because investors gobbled up lower price points, stress was put on the next price plateau until that group of homes was eliminated from the market. That happened very quickly, in part because existing homes sold fast, and people SELLING in that price point often couldn’t move up in price due to lack of inventory. So they stayed, and are staying, put.

All along, us real estate agents were able to funnel clients to new construction to circumvent the dearth of resale homes available. You know the result of that. Builders are now completely overwhelmed with buyers desperate to find housing. Waiting lists are being used and LOT PREMIUMS (once a rare thing) are now the order of the day, and now huge. Lot cost has become an add-on. And buildable lots are being put out for BIDS. So now in new construction, you start out overpricing yourself in the market, just to get a lot to build on. And then you have to be able to afford the house that goes on it. Example: A 2×10 board that used to cost 8 bucks is now 32 bucks. Want to guess how that effects new construction?

There has been a desperate charge by agents to find creative ways to get clients even under contract, and the result has been increasing and increasing due diligence amounts being offered to entice sellers to accept offers. This is a dangerous practice for people without tens of thousands of dollars to risk OR buyers who can just afford to do repairs no matter what. In other words, you had better not expect to walk away if you put up a huge due diligence because that money is at RISK. Period. There are other ways to find homes to buy, and I’m doing all of them. But it’s time consuming and the return on effort is low. It’s there, but low.

I hate to say that I wish interest rates would go up, but as bad as that sounds, it will probably have to happen to stop this insanity. I believe we are about to see the market flooded with short sales and foreclosures because of the Covid effect, which brings back memories of 2008. It’s a scary time out here for those of us who are the boots on the ground, so to speak.

SO…if you are planning to buy OR SELL actually, don’t expect things to happen quickly. Be careful how you handle due diligence. Get someone to help you think it through carefully and KNOW YOUR RISK, on both sides of the table, before you take that leap. My fervent wish is that sellers will stop looking at due diligence as a cash-grab, and help this crazy market un-inflame. We don’t have a ‘hot’ market right now; we have an INSANE market, and an insane market is unpredictable and dangerous. I’ve never seen ANYTHING like it, and I don’t like it AT ALL. I can’t predict the future, but I can tell you that it’s not going to be good in real estate. Not without some ‘rule changes’.

So let’s be careful out there. And, first time buyers? Are you there? I am patient and I will work with you as long as it takes. And as of now, it could be years. But you have to know that under 200 thousand, the homes are statistically nonexistent. That means, one pops up on a rare occasion, but it’s largely uninhabitable.

So while you pour over the internet looking for a house you like and can afford, KEEP SAVING YOUR MONEY. And as for due diligence, just know you’ll have to put about 2% of list price right on the table, up front, to even have a shot at getting a house, but you will get it back at closing. Just don’t walk away.

And call me.

I’m at Coldwell Banker Advantage at Wake Forest NC. Ask for me. Let’s talk.

Driving the ‘Highest and Best’ Term into the Ground

You know…it bothers me when I hear real estate agents or builders talking about ‘highest and best’ in terms of money they want you to pay. That term is NOT meant to indicate your best offer, your strongest offer, the best you can EVER do, or please pay more than you can afford offer. What they SHOULD SAY is, “You have 24 hours to amend/improve your offer.” Amend, improve, change the terms, WHATEVER. But NOT ‘highest and best’. That’s a red flag of ignorance of what you learned (or rather did NOT learn) in your real estate classes.

Here’s what that term ACTUALLY means:

The definition of highest and best use is as follows:The reasonable, probable and legal use of vacant land or an improved property, which is physically possible, appropriately supported, financially feasible, and that results in the highest value.

So, if you own a parcel of land, or a building or house, and once it was in the middle of nowhere, and THEN the town expands and envelops that parcel, THEN that parcel’s ‘highest and best’ use might not be residential anymore. It might now be best used for commercial. That could mean more money for you and it might mean that once homey dwelling gets bulldozed to make room for a big old gas station, IF that results in a legal use of the property, a more profitable use, supported by the surrounding land use, you get the idea.

THAT’S what highest and best means, and if your agent uses that term in ANY OTHER WAY, fire them.

Flipping…

Well, these days you hardly get the ‘flip’ in before the house is grabbed in mid-air. ‘Toss’ is probably a better word. How about “Toss This House”. My goodness, there’s a mad rush for ‘existing’ homes all over the US, with each available home having many, many interested buyers. Multiple offers is the norm. I hate it.

Yep, I’m a real estate agent, but I also appreciate a fair, balanced market. This market supremely favors the wealthier buyers, and my first time buyers are literally shoved aside or intimidated out of even trying. My heart goes out to the excited buyers who have saved and worked on credit score, diligently trying to get out of the rental lifestyle into homeownership. I see, time after time, their optimism turning into disappointment, as their ability to offer above lists price and bring the difference to closing, kicks them out of the running. OR, they are reduced to shopping through the inventory of homes where you can see the ground through the floor, or where outdoor carpet has been flung onto the floor inside. It is ridiculous.

Here’s why this bothers me…in PART…why this bothers me. One day, and you know I am right, people who pay 10, 15, 20 thousand over list price are going to get stuck with that house when the market falls. Think about this: If you offer more than the appraised value right out of the gate and THEN the market falls (or crashes), then you need to sell? Oh boy. You will have to bring that extra you paid out BACK to the table again as the seller, and possibly more, just to be able to sell a home you now have to list BELOW market value. I’ve seen this happen; I lived through a market crash with people who HAD to sell for jobs or family reasons, cashing in tens of thousands of 401K dollars, just to get rid of their home. I understand this is a free market and all of that, and I am a capitalist. But I have also “lived in the future” to a great extent. I tend to view my life as today + ten years out. I’ve been pretty doggone accurate too. And I’ve found that things tend to work out somehow. But the number of home being sold above appraised value deeply concerns me. I’m going to be the one going to listing appointments and giving bad news time after time. I’ve done it; I don’t like it.

Anyway, I started out talking about my young buyers or firsts time buyers and how hard it is to see them getting cut from the running. I hate it and I don’t think it’s fair. So. House tossers. How about this? How about you try buying some smaller homes, putting fewer bells and whistles in them, and giving the entry level buyers a doggone chance?? Spend less on the downstroke…buy TWO! Make them cute and comfortable, safe and warm, and sell them at a price the entry level buyers can afford. And sell them to a owner, not an investor, and give them a chance. YOU had one; why not pay back the opportunity? I say you can spend less up front and still make a profit. In other words, my little first time buyers can live without granite and top of the line appliances. They know they can upgrade that stuff later.

Anybody? Anybody? It is not all about the money, is what I am saying. Man can’t live by bread alone. That’s not me; that came from somewhere else.

HELLO? IS ANYBODY THERE??

You know what I’m getting a lot of lately from listing agents? Nothing!

I’m a real estate agent, and some questions actually require a conversation. Let me give you an example. If you list an older doublewide, it has to have the right kind of foundation in order to qualify for an FHA loan. AND there are other requirements. Lots of them. How long has the current owner owned it? Was it a flip property? If it is, what will the profit be at the current list price? Do you have the HUD paperwork that came with the home? You know, stuff like that. Stuff that can keep MY buyer client from getting loan approval AND losing their due diligence because of your negligence. Yeah, lots of agents don’t know about this stuff. I’ve been through the wringer with agents who list a home as qualifying for FHA when it would NEVER qualify. BTW that instigates a PHONE CALL.

Nine times out of ten…NINE…nobody answers the phone. Everybody wants a text. Look, most of the time I get text messages first too, and I like that as well, but SOMETIMES, a buyer agent needs to have a CONVERSATION with you. Know how you can tell when those times come? THE PHONE RINGS. SOMETIMES it will take me longer to type the text message than a conversation takes, and you’ll have to call me anyway because you won’t understand what I’m asking for. And that’s if you even return my call. That’s ANOTHER story.

ANSWER YOUR FREAKING PHONE.

Oh that’s not cool, you say? Well listen up. There are a lot of wealthy older folks out there who not only don’t WANT to text, they don’t want to work with YOU if you don’t answer the PHONE. You’re not being cool and contemporary; you are losing business! And younger people get really upset if they don’t get instant answers. Here’s how it works: Ring ring! You say, “Hello?” It’s EASY. Give it a try.

I can hold a grudge. You don’t take my calls, wait until you call me and let’s see how that goes. I’M KIDDING. I answer my phone, I read my texts, I check voice mail, you know, I use the entire phone.

I’m not really angry; in fact I’m laughing. For now.

brendabriggsrealtor

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