Tag Archives: real estate agent

Interest Rake Hike

Well, we’ve been on the roller coaster of opinion about a rate hike for some time.  Latest news is that there won’t be one…but there might be one by year end.  I wonder how much it cost to have all of that discussion in the ether…but I could have done it free, right here.  MIGHT be one?  Please.  Seriously, I could have said that.  I DID say that, in fact.

Janet Yellen had some apparent brain “pauses” in her speech and was, according to CNN, seen by doctors when she finished.  It takes a lot out of you to predict the future politically correctly, I guess.  I’m not having any brain cramps, spending no money, and I can tell you exactly what will happen.  Here goes.  Note that I don’t have any wolves at my door that I know of.

OK.  Cracking my knuckles.  Here goes:  As soon as the “FED” decides they can successfully take more money into their coffers, they will.  There.  Not dehydrated, not feeling dizzy.  I’m good.  But make no mistake about it, the powers that be know that if they MENTION rate hike the economy…our THRIVING economy…goes running for the hills.  We have NOT recovered from the fall, we are not back to the pinnacle.  We’re not ready.  And I’m guessing that many of us have decided that its a good idea for us to keep more of our hard earned money, rather than sending it out in interest.  Call me crazy but I think that’s ALWAYS been a good idea, although believe me, I’ve paid my share of interest.

I have heard a hundred people say they don’t do credit cards anymore.  Why?  Interest.  People are buying so many homes there’s a housing shortage.  Why?  Interest.  It’s LOW.  How stupid do you have to be to think that the very thing people AVOID would be a good idea to INCREASE…for the economy?

Watch these people.  Watch how many times they threaten to raise rates and then back down because the ‘economy’ runs for the hills.  They’re testing the waters on a regular basis.  When the economy really IS strong and people have confidence it will stay that way?  Then it will be time to raise rates.  In the meantime, if you’re thinking of buying or selling, do it now before they pull that trigger.  Great time to list while there is a housing shortage…and to buy while rates are…I can’t believe it’s been low so long…low.

Do something joyful today.

On Being a Good Advisor…

Any good real estate agent is also a trusted advisor…or should be. Our advice is based on years of experience and heaven knows HOW many hours of classes and training and updates.  I know:  You can get a BOAT LOAD of information from the internet.  But listen up: That’s not good enough.  Here’s why.

A good real estate agent will know things about rules, the law, building code, builders, different areas and what that means to commute times and shopping, how homes are built and what to look for to find hidden issues, things you won’t find online.  We’ll know how to negotiate: when to hold and when to fold.  And I can’t say for sure, but I’m willing to bet my accuracy is better than most of the automated valuation systems when it comes to pricing a home to sell.  Your agent will have had boots on the ground where the internet has not trodden, and your agent will know things about buying or selling that the internet cannot convey.  So it doesn’t matter what kind of phone you have, which internet provider you use, what iteration of I-pad you have.  Your agent will win the competition.  Or at least this one will.

In other words, it would behoove (cool word) you to avail yourself of your agent’s expertise and realize that there’s one real estate agent in the car…and it ain’t you.  Yeah, I said ain’t.  I like that word.  It has personality.  And I’m a bit arrogant that way. I think I have a good enough grasp of the English language to tweak it when I want to.

But I digress. Bring along your smart phone because if you ride with me, you navigate.  I don’t want you to be bored.  Bring along your notes, your ideas, your opinions, because they matter.   But remember to ask a lot and don’t act like the realtor. 

I want my clients to be smarter than me in case we break down and I need someone to figure out the computer system operating my car…or to feel brave about finding a nearby repair shop.  I want my clients to be able to discuss the Hadron Collider with me or the latest news about time travel.  But I do not want them to try to be me.  First of all, they can’t handle it, and second…and seriously here…I’m the real estate agent with the license and training…and I’m very good at my job.  Let me do it and you?  Relax and enjoy the tour.  I promise to take good care of you.

 

Stubborn and real estate don’t mix.

The One Hundred Thousand Dollar Stubborn Streak
(or, Blood is Shooting Out of My Eyes)

There is a …maybe a million dollar home which just sold for about ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS less than its value, primarily because of one outstanding attribute of the sellers: Stubbornness. I have to talk about this, people. I just have to. These sellers deserve to be applauded, even lauded for their supreme grasp of the phenomenon of stubbornness, because they took it to soaring heights and even paid six figures for the sake of holding on to it. They are my champions so far. Nobody else beats this streak.

Somebody will though. Somebody will. You can’t make this stuff up.

Don’t get me wrong. They’re lovely folks. But they take resistance to good solid advice, presented in the interest of getting them top dollar, to new heights. Or should I say depths. I should say depths. There it is. I am not the listing agent by the way. If I WAS I couldn’t write because you can’t write with an exploded head.

I’ve run across this tendency many times in my career. Usually the ones who own it best are the ones who think they are the Realtors, the ones with professional real estate training and professional real estate experience, even though they’ve never actually BEEN a Realtor. They think this because 1) they have big egos; 2) they think they are smarter than everybody else…everybody; 3) they hold Realtors in low esteem; 4) they don’t do well with separating emotion from business; and 5) they have bought or sold a home before. Okay and 6) they want to hold on to their ‘decorating’ theme…and I use that term loosely at times…even at the cost of oh say ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!

I can hear all of the realtors saying, “AMEN!”. No, wait. Some are looking around and saying, “Are you kidding me? One hundred THOUSAND?” That’s right. I’m not kidding. Do I look like I’m kidding with smoke coming out of my ears over here??

You need to think about this. Just because you’ve been IN a courtroom, does that make you an attorney? Because you’ve had surgery, are you now a surgeon? If you’ve had surgery twice are you now CHIEF of surgery? I think some people think they ARE! If you look at beautiful art, are you then an artist? NO! So why would you think that just because you’ve bought or sold a home, or bought AND sold one, you are now a Realtor?? It makes about as much sense as the art analogy or any of the others. People, you are not the real estate agents; you are the CLIENTS. I should make a sign.

Gone are the days when realtors are the ones who can’t do anything else and that’s why they’re realtors. That was gone a LONG time ago. Realtors today are educated, strong, talented and up to the minute with stats on YOUR market. We have to be because everybody sues EVERYBODY these days…yes even CLIENTS (that would be YOU), whom we protect. We have a responsibility to you that we take very seriously. 


We protect you, we encourage you and we do our level BEST to make sure you get the MOST for your home that the market will bear. The way we DO that is by making sure you know how to be COMPETITIVE. We tell you what will make your home stand out and get that buyer to make an offer on your home, and we advise you about how you can make that offer SING, not hack like a life-long smoker about to keel over. You can listen to us, OR, you can disregard us and lose ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Here’s a good one. Even after receiving feedback after feedback about grandma’s quilt or the blue wall or the CLUTTER do you think ANYTHING gets changed? NOOOOO! You can’t make this stuff up! You really can’t! The market speaks and some clients pat their ears and say, “la la la la I can’t hear you”. Now I’m crying.

Can you tell I’m upset? I’M UPSET.

And these sellers are mad at the REALTORS!!!! We are the ones who warned you about being competitive, about LISTENING to the feedback and actually DOING something about it. We are the ones who tried to get you top dollar!! My head is about to explode. I can hear it expanding. I really can. It’s creaking.

There was no earthly reason for this house selling this low except for pure, unadulterated, boiled down, precipitated, strained, dried, sifted, freeze-dried, died in the wool STUBBORNESS. Now blood is coming out of my ears too. THIS WAS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY, LOSING THIS KIND OF INVESTMENT DOLLARS!

Let me alert you. I have two college degrees, one in chemistry, a subject which makes most people cringe. And I graduated at the top of my class. The other degree is in business, where I studied marketing, economics, sales…I’m good at what I do and I’m qualified to have an ego just as big as anybody else. That’s why, if I visit you to talk about selling your home, you should listen to me. And you should listen to other realtors who have been down this road a thousand times and who tell you exactly what you need to do to be competitive in this market. We don’t make this stuff up, people. It’s based on data. Set aside the stubborn streak and think about what you might do with ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. Is it worth paying that much to keep your grandmother’s quilt on the bed or that neon blue wall in the den? NO! IT’S NOT! For crying out loud, redecorate or paint! You’re LEAVING, remember? Is there still LOGIC in the world? I think there is, but why not in REAL ESTATE?? If you have a 14×14 foot room and enough junk in it to fill an 18×18 foot room, MOVE SOME STUFF OUT! Or, think about what you could do with ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS that you are about to flush down the gold plated TOILET.

You’re selling space, wide open space. Not your ‘décor’, not your grandma’s quilt, not that carving of an amoeba eating a shark. NOT that flower arrangement you made when you were on the crack pipe. SPACE is all you are selling. And not neon blue space. If you have to kick chairs and pillows out of the way to get INTO a neon blue room, LIGHTEN UP THE CLUTTER or kill me now. This is not rocket science, people. I’ve done rocket science; this ain’t it.
So there was this couple who sold their home for ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND less than market value, but they showed US didn’t they? I don’t think so. I think they shot themselves in the foot. Twice. Per foot.