The takeaways are as follows:1) I have exceptional clients – calm, understanding and desirous to sell their house.2) Out of approximately 40 showings – only one less than satisfactory experience – 98% of Realtors were professional and understanding…. Yesterday at 12:30, name withheld to protect the guilty (actually one of the three realtors we interviewed) called and asked to show the house between 1:30 and 3:30. That is twice as much of a window as anyone has asked for so far, so I asked her to just give me a 5 minute heads up call so I could gather the kids and clear out…. She says they don’t mind if we’re there, but I tell her I’m not comfortable with them coming over while we’re there (7 kids!)…. She then gets all sleazy car salesman on me and says that they’ve already seen a house that they LOVE and they’re only in town for a week…. They turned out to be Mormon and one of my friends is as well, so she was chatting them up (she actually gave them her email address) and telling them the church is close to this house…. It was initially such a bigger windown than anyone has asked for, and it was especially annoying because TWO other agents called late yesterday afternoon asking for showings (including your mom, actually), and as soon as I even just hestitated that we had company they were both like, “Oh absolutely no problem, you have a life, we’ll work something out and reschedule.” I’m not even sure why I’m telling you – I guess just so that in your professional experience you can say, “that really stinks” or “that’s what happens sometimes.”
Browsing Category Public Perception
The future of Realtor.com, etc.
Inman has a simple question:If Zillow competes with Realtor.com, will (and how will) some of the folks at NAR … position the Seattle company as bad for the industry?That is an interesting question. With such a vast number of innovative tools, which ones will survive and thrive?
Aim high and eminent domain.
You’d think they’d have something better to attend to.Real Estate Board; educational requirements for licensure. Provides that as a condition of licensure as a real estate salesperson or broker, an applicant must have at a minimum a high school diploma or its equivalent. The bill also provides that it does not apply to any person holding a valid license as a real estate salesperson or broker issued by the Real Estate Board before July 1, 2006.Thanks, M. Kirkland Cox.Clarifying eminent domain.
End of year Realtor stats
More detailed market statistics will be coming soon; I just wish our MLS had a more robust statistical engine, like those used on my favorite NoVa. blog.Definition of a “side” – when an agent represents either the Purchaser or the Seller in a real estate transaction.873 Realtors in the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors had at least one “side” in 2005…. Two of the 10 are indicators of operators outside of the MLS (agents from other associations). Exception: one agent had five sides, but averaged $11 million per transaction. Nice.Between the two of us, Betty and me, we were a part of 57 sides! Believe it or not, this profession requires a tremendous amount of work, dedication and time. I still love what I do; how many people can say that?My reason for writing about this is to encourage the general public to do their due diligence when choosing to work with someone, in this or any other profession. Volume is one indicator of success, trust and integrity are two of the others in my mind.In order to take our business to the next level, we are going to hire an assistant this year.
A shift to Buyer’s Agents
I wish I could reprint this entire article (subscription required), but don’t want to run afoul of any applicable copyright laws.The housing market is changing faster than Kate Moss’ career after the cocaine photo leak…. We expect to see agents lining up for their copy of a new book on how to be nice to buyers, since they’ve spent the last 10 years treating them like cattle in a gold mine…. I hope that as the market shifts, the public and home buyers and sellers will turn to the true professionals and remember those who treated them as “cattle.”From another Inman article citing the top 10 signs of a changing market – 9…. If the market slows, real estate agents will be negotiating fewer deals, and for those who were barely making it in a hot market, a slow market means it’s time to look for a new profession.Good.
Get a new hobby!
In a report that is indicative of the what happens when barriers to entry are low -A 46.1 percent increase in the number of Realtors in Massachusetts since 2001 means there is now one Realtor for every 1.6 houses sold in the state so far this year. That number is on track to fall far short of the 2.9 houses sold for every one Realtor four years ago.This sort of number hurts everybody – including me and my business! Now I just need to find the numbers for the Virginia Association of Realtors.
Due diligence.
I have been waiting for this article to be posted at The HooK since I read it on Thursday…. Lessons learned:1) Always have a home inspection, regardless of the “advise” you receive.2) Always have your own representation. Dual representation presents too many potential for a) conflict of interest b) questions regarding “your” Realtor’s loyalty.3) All press is certainly not good press.Personally and professionally, I feel bad for all involved. This is a great opening paragraph.Talk about a rude surprise: When sewage backed up in the crawl space of their house last April, Caley Clark and Steve Oberhauser called a local company to pump the septic tank.