Trish: One More Time

Here's what bugs me about shop talk with folks like Trish--especially ones who take Zillow's word as the utmost expert on real estate. To Trish, real estate is just about pretty homes. It isn't about the financial aspect or the legalities of what goes on. In Arizona, I am granted a license to practice one area of Arizona law. For that license, I get to drive around and open a lot of doors while my clients shop. I don't mind. I am at a point in my real estate career where I get to pick and choose who I drive around and whose doors I get to open. There is a lot of freedom in that.

Trish has no concept and understanding of the ins and out of what real estate really is. It is a contract. The idea that saying "on or before" is not the same as saying "on" and would never matter to her unless someone forgot the words "or before" and it changed her entire sale. The DIY shows don't cover what happens if a buyer quits his job a week into escrow. It doesn't talk about the legalities of disclosing if a murder ever happened on the property. The fix and flips never mention if a contract request states that the seller is to "service" the air conditioner, but doesn't specifically say what they are to service. So if the seller doesn't replace the condenser coils which are shot, has the seller fulfilled their part of the contract? The answer, by the way, is maybe.

Trish may think all she has to do is push a button on Zillow and she will have the answers about every modern and upgraded house around. But I guarantee, most of what I do has nothing to do with looking at pretty homes and figuring out where the Christmas tree goes. It isn't discussing if the red kitchen should be painted a more neutral color before listing.

What I do is help my clients decide if they are getting the best bang for their buck. I am helping negotiate with a (generally) emotional other party who has feelings and issues related to their home. I am providing resources and talking to others so that the sellers and buyers can get on with their lives as smoothly as possible, and not have to stress.  Hopefully I am helping them get a place to live under favorable (to them) circumstances. And I am helping them spend their one-third of a million in the best way possible.

The TV shows and Zillow don't do that.