There Will be No Hugging

It turns out Mrs. Hufflepuff is shopping for a new brokerage. Jane, her transaction coordinator, my friend of 46 years and now former resident of Arizona is part of this package. When I talked to Jane the other day, I said I would be happy to have Mrs. Hufflepuff work for me. But, there was a few non-negotiables Mrs. H. would need to know.

I don't have a free-standing or storefront sales office, conference room or any type of building. Nor will I be getting one. Any "sales meetings" would be at a coffee shop, and I'm not buying the coffee. There will be no squishy charities set up in the name of my brokerage. Politics, gossip and drama will never be tolerated. We will not hug. And don't ask me, under any circumstances, to join the Woman's Council of Realtors. In fact, as long as Mrs. Hufflepuff stayed out of my way, stayed out of legal trouble and paid me my cut, I would have no problem with this arrangement.

So, come on over.

This won't be happening. Mrs. Hufflepuff does not respect the way I do business. I don't want to be the center of attention or the largest brokerage in town. Nor, do I have the patience to handle her constant and super personal Facebook posts sales the way she does sales. And I darn well won't let her take selfies in my cluttered office. But because Jane would be coming along and I would get a transaction coordinator out of the whole thing, I might be willing to overlook a few of Mrs. H's idiosyncrasies for a week or two.

Note: a Transaction Coordinator is a real estate licensee who handles the contract and paperwork for an agent or brokerage. Though Jane is living in another state, she still holds an Arizona license and therefore can be a Transaction Coordinator for whatever brokerage she is affiliated with. In this day and age, what she does can be handled virtually, so she doesn't have to be here. 

This Happened

The selling agent on the house I have in escrow told me something that turned into a game changer. Tomorrow, she was going on vacation--Maui, to be exact--and really wanted to get our inspection period over as soon as possible.

Well now, I am certainly happy to accommodate. How about in lieu of a few hundred dollars in repairs, we just reduce the purchase price several thousand dollars?

My clients are happy. They are getting a better price on the home and the paltry repairs will be done by a handyman. The sellers are happy. They don't have to figure out what gizmos and widgets will run them to make the same repairs. The selling agent is happy, she will be by the beach this time tomorrow. I am happy. I have something to write about. All is good. 

The World's Worst Salesperson

So I have a new Realtor friend. Scott lives and works out of state in Nowheresville, but grew up in Phoenix. He moved 30+ years ago. I sent him a referral. He sent me a referral. And, most important, Scott is absolute joy to speak with every time we get a chance to talk.

Last weekend, Scott called me out of the blue. Did I want another referral? If it is anything like the last one he sent me, I certainly do! But alas, it isn't.

Scott works with an investment group that wants to buy property in Maricopa County, rent it, hold it and eventually sell it. They have been working with Scott for a while and it is time for them to make their big leap into the Arizona market. Then he said, "What do you think?"

And here is why I'm the world's worst salesperson: any fool buying for investing in Maricopa County at this time is up against multiple offers. Investors like wholesale pricing, that is, they don't want to pay full price or top dollar. Good luck finding that right now. And even if an investor is willing to pay $375,000 for a single family home in a reasonable neighborhood, they aren't getting 1 percent ($3,750 a month) of the value in rent--which is considered the "standard" baseline in most real estate investing circles. And yes, rentals are in short supply, but so are single family dwellings. And with interest rates low, people can buy cheaper than they can rent.

Scott was undeterred. "Well, what about new builds?" he asked. There are lotteries right now. Every lot has a premium--even ones that back up to busy roads. Plus, builders got a bad reputation for selling to investors in 2004-2005 and aren't excited about being "that guy" and doing it again.

I then told Scott what we did in 2004. We bought in other areas of the country where prices were lower, rents were made up of the 1.5% of the sales price and there was a shortage of rental homes. We made bank for years (until we missed the major signs on the wall and hung on too long. But, that's another story, for another blog).

Seriously, as much as I would love to help out Scott's folks, I'm not the agent for this. But, I did make a recommendation. What about multi-family? This is the fastest growing market right now in Maricopa County. I can sell apartments but I am not going to. I referred him to my commercial agent friend, Bill who is a better fit, and obviously a better salesperson.

Old School

So, last week I showed my clients homes. I arrived 20 minutes early, watched an agent and her clients leave. Then I watched another agent and his clients go into the house. When my clients arrived, we chatted for a few minutes outside. Mrs. Client was thrilled the place was still available. I broke the news to her: there were three offers on the table. All were full price. I'd spoken to the selling agent hours earlier. She was waiting to hear if my clients wanted throw in an offer before she submitted everything to the seller.

Anyway, our appointment was for precisely 6 p.m. And at exactly that time, I knocked on the door, introduced myself to the buyer's agent who was in the house with his clients and told them it was our turn and kicked them out.  As he and his buyers were leaving the house, I started talking to my folks about general termite issues, implying how bad termites could be if they were left untreated. I didn't say the house in question had termites (it doesn't) but let that conversation land where it might for anyone who might be accidentally listening.

As my clients walked through the front door, they turned to each other and their eyes met. "It's the one!" they gushed. Of course it is. There are already three other offers on the place. Plus, I took a peek outside, the buyers I just kicked out were standing there in the driveway talking to their agent.

Stealthfully, I walked into the garage and quietly eavesdropped on the other buyers' conversation with their agent. They loved the house too. And they wanted to write an offer. Did their agent think the seller would go for a less than full price offer with the seller paying the buyer's closing costs? The agent said something along the lines of, "It doesn't hurt to ask!" and a few other platitudes, which told me: 1) he hadn't talked to the listing agent and 2) he hadn't been selling in 2004.

At that point, I went to work. I took the keys out of the front door and locked my clients in the house. Nobody would be interrupting our showing. I also called the selling agent. "We are putting in an offer. What do your sellers really want?" I asked. I mean, I know they wanted the price for the house, but come on. Everyone who wants to win a property in this market knows that.

"You sound like you are 'old school," was the agent's response. "Old School" is a special code these days between agents. It is referred to someone who was selling homes in 2004 when the market first went crazy--just like it is now. I am hearing that term more and more from seasoned agents.

As they looked around, I wrote the offer in the kitchen, and then scanned it with my phone and sent it to the selling agent. Before I finished locking up, the agent had texted me, "received"

It turns out, my clients won the contract. We beat out three other offers. Our offer was better because I asked what the sellers really wanted. Quite simply, they didn't want to pay another mortgage payment. That was easy. My buyers were willing to make part of their Earnest Money non-refundable by the first of March so the sellers could use it for their mortgage. We also didn't quibble about the title company. Nor did we give some weirdly impossible closing date. There were no contingencies and the contract was super clean.

That's how a buyer's contract was written 2004 if the buyer truly wanted the house. And that's what needs to happen now as well. As agents we work in our clients' best interests. Sometimes that means we fight for the best price. Sometimes it means we fight to get them the house. Sometimes old school is the best school.

Things That Make One Say, "Hmmmm"

There are currently--get this--8,000-ish single family homes under $700,000 for sale in the Phoenix metro area, which has a rough population of 5 million people. The Phoenix metro area goes as far north as Black Canyon City, as far south as Casa Grande and spans from Gila Bend/Buckeye to Superior.

By the way, a "balanced" real estate market in the Phoenix metro area is closer to 30,000, though I have heard that number be as high as 43,000. Either way, it is a madhouse out there.

My Mobile Office

I was on the road 7-ish hours on Wednesday. With nothing better to do than burn through my CDs and listen to election news, I fielded phone calls. Here is a sample of what I got.

1. My clients who have a house in escrow called. They hadn't heard from me in 24 hours. Was their home still in escrow? Yes. Yes it is. Did they need to do anything right then and there? No. No they didn't.

2. The loan officer involved with the above clients' home. He is from out of state and it was almost a deal breaker with the seller to use this guy. Plus, I am not getting the warm fuzzies from him. But, I didn't pick the loan officer. I just hope he can close the loan like I promised the selling agent he could.

3.  Jane. It was 20 degrees in her new city that morning. There was snow on the mountains and she found four coffee shops within 5 minutes from where she lives. She still works for Mrs. Hufflepuff (now remotely) and Mrs. H. was driving her nuts that day.

4. Various calls to Mrs. Meadows and the notary letting them know my ETA. Various calls from Mrs. M. and the notary announcing their ETA. The notary was coming from Stafford. Mrs. M. was coming from somewhere near Cochise Stronghold on the Dragoon Mountains. We were meeting in Benson.

5. My new Mexico Clients who aren't buying for a few months. They wanted me to know nothing has changed. They still aren't buying for a few months. Fortunately for me, they are really nice folks and talking to them makes me smile.

6. A colleague who thinks I am perfect for a job that I haven't applied for. The person hiring is a mutual acquaintance and wants to talk to me anyway.

7. One of Dee's felons. His mother is moving here and wants help finding a home.

8. My Broker Pal, Sally. She has a weird transaction and what did I think? What I really think is she specializes in weird home sales. But in this case, I told her how to file a grievance claim.

9. Beth, my boss from the school I teach at and I chatted. Beth will be out of town for a few days before our upcoming class. She wanted to make sure I was ok and ready to teach. I am. But, could I add the multiple counter-offer forms to my portion of the instruction? We covered how our presentation was going to go and other related topics. This particular conversation started around Benson AZ and ended by Piccacho Peak.

10. A very enthusiastic friend of one of my soon-to-be clients. This friend found THE home for my clients and would I please stop what I was doing right then and there and take care of this? The home in question isn't on the market. According to Friend, the seller (whose first language isn't English) thinks he is selling his home for about $100,000 less than market value. I highly doubted it, but there was no point in saying so. The seller also has a real estate agent. In addition, this enthusiastic Friend had already contacted my soon-to-be clients and wanted them to leave work RIGHT NOW and come see this house that is not on the market (and their agent--me--was on Interstate 10). Fortunately, my clients weren't biting that quickly. Plus, I happened to know my soon-to-be clients aren't buying just yet. However, friend isn't aware of this particular fact. I loved her enthusiasm and her willingness to be helpful. But I think her jumping in was just confusing the seller, his agent and my soon-to-be clients. I managed to calm down the Friend by the time I hit Gilbert. I managed to get the seller's agent and my soon-to-be clients on the same track by Wednesday night.

My Absolute Honor

Quick backstory: I went to visit 80 year old Mrs. Meadows last month. She was refinancing her hacienda in Cochise County. She used a loan officer recommend by her nephew. The loan officer basically took the credit application and then sent her a bunch of papers to electronically sign. He didn't explain anything to her. He didn't follow up. He didn't provide any modicum of customer service, support or goodwill for his client. As much as I would love to have found a better loan officer, to do so might have caused a few bigger issues because I am not related to her and I have a real estate license. Plus, it was a pretty good loan and the fees (verified by my loan officer) were reasonable. The only recommendation I made was to use my escrow officer because Mrs. Meadow's home is in a trust, and I knew my escrow officer would make sure it stayed in her trust after refinancing.

Anyway, I just happened to be with her when all this went down last month.

Now then, please fast forward to Tuesday morning. I got a phone call from my escrow officer. Mrs. Meadow's refinance documents were ready for her to sign. And by the way, because they are time sensitive, they had to be signed on Wednesday. And, was I going to take them down to her in Southeast Arizona?

The short answer was "sure, why not?" However, I am not a notary. Though I could meet her with the actual documents, I couldn't notarize them. Not a problem, my escrow officer would find a notary. I changed a few events around on my schedule and voila! My day was open for the 3.5 hour drive, each way.

I was so paranoid about these loan documents that I left them in my car Tuesday night, lest I forgot them on my kitchen counter. I went out Tuesday night and took the other car, because I wanted nothing to happen to the car or the documents. Even on the drive down, I glanced at the car seat once or twice, just verifying I had everything with me. This entire experience was so far out of my wheelhouse.

Sometimes favors are favors. Favors that come with a real estate license are called liabilities.This was even more true after Mrs. Meadows signed. You see, she actually paid off her first mortgage and was only taking out a marginal loan amount. That meant she provided escrow with a cashier's check with a very sizable sum that I was now responsible for. I did a quick calculation in my head, there was no way I could sell my cars, children and pets and come up with enough to cover this check if it went missing on my watch. At lunch (I also took her to quick lunch for her birthday) that envelope sat between us. When I got up to use the restroom, Mrs. M., guarded her money. Even in a super-duper small town, I wasn't taking any chances. I didn't stop for gas, iced tea or calls of nature until I was back at the escrow office. I had left my home just shy of 6:30 that morning and I was back in Gilbert by 2:45 p.m.

Though Mrs. Meadows thanked me about 16 times for giving her a peace of mind, truly me being involved made her signing more high maintenance. Otherwise, the loan documents would have been e-mailed to the notary and she would have just met Mrs. Meadows, had her sign and e-mailed everything back. The money Mrs. M. was issuing to the escrow company could have been wired with a bit of finagling from a few third parties. However, she asked me to be there. This woman is a true delight. I would have made this drive if it were twice as long. It was my honor to serve her.

Business is Picking Up

As an introvert, I find the process of showing homes extraordinarily soul-sucking. I mean, it is part of the job. In fact, it is the most intrinsic part according to most folks who are buying a home. But it isn't, really. The phone calls, negotiations, contracts, and all the other behind the scenes is truly what the job is about. And please note, I am not complaining. I signed up for this. If all goes well, my kids will be able to satisfy their nasty grocery addiction.

However, I spent a good six months this past weekend showing homes. I had the fun kids who came in from out of town, we spent all day Sunday together. And I had the other fun kids on Saturday who live here. We were scheduled to see one home Saturday. Instead, we saw five. Today is Monday and the Saturday kids are back and don't want to be homeless. So, there is work to be done! Both sets of clients are great, but that is a lot of time to spend with mere acquaintances and have to be "on" my game.

Marty asked me when I was getting a day off. I think I have scheduled one for--and I am not making this up--March 6th. Hopefully my soul will last that long.

My Wednesday

Wednesday morning, I pulled into a super-scary neighborhood to see five thugs standing next door to the house I was to show. They all sported super-frowny tough-guy looks and two of them had baseball bats. And even better! They were staring at me. Dee and her pals were nowhere to be found, so I skedaddled and called Marty, to give him my address. "These guys look rough," I said, hoping I was downplaying my concern.

I drove around for another 5 minutes, hoping Dee and Co. would show up and the thugs would leave. By the time Dee and I met up the dudes were gone--which was fine by me. Dee's felons were gracious as always. There's a new one, who isn't used to talking with "outside" people just yet and was a bit shy. When we all left this home and caravaned  to the next one, he accidentally mistook my car for Dee's and jumped in. Mortified, he jumped back out and then spent a really embarrassingly long and unnecessary amount of time apologizing for an innocent mistake.

Anyway, at the second house, Jane called. I thought she had taken off that morning, but nope. She hadn't. And could I please drop everything I was doing and come over to help her? An hour later I was on her doorstep, where I chatted up her movers and negotiated peace treaties between her and Mr. Jane over whether or not to take the ancient (and ugly) rug she hated and the ancient vacuum Mr. Jane just loved. There were other loving chats between these two as well, you know, the way couples who have been married 30 years talk on moving day, when stress is forefront and love is not.

I also helped her empty a closet she had missed, vacuumed a room (with the ancient vacuum) and promised her everything she decided to leave behind--except the rug--I would personally take to Goodwill. I also gave her dogs treats, to help calm them down, because they were a bit tired of all the action. Then I took her to Starbucks and ran interference for her and her 80 year old father who stopped over for the third time that day just to say "hi."

Jane and Mr. Jane managed to get on the road around 3:30 (with her dad keeping her there longer, poor guy). Mr. and Mrs. Jane made it to the first stop in their journey Friday night, which was to Vegas to see their daughter, who is in medical school. Jane reported to me on Thursday that all was good with her and Mr. Jane. This was their 20th move, and most of their moves Mr. Jane has been deployed, so he didn't "understand" how things were done, which I think translates to, "why he didn't understand there was no way that rug was getting into that Uhaul."

Dee and the Felons

So this week, I got three buyers. I honestly don't remember the last time I have had three buyers at one time. Most of my clients in the past few years have been sellers, which after doing both, I prefer. But now my sellers have moved on, or more to the point, aren't moving on, so buyers it is! It is a cycle and most agents with any amount of service time can expect this. This is my fourth go-round of primarily buyers, which makes sense, given I have been doing this since before the Housing Boom. 

Anyway, Dee and her Merry Band of Felons are back. They are looking at homes in the only zip code in Maricopa County where homes are on the market for more than an hour. That same zip code also has a lot of drive-by shootings and other various and sundry crimes. But, that's not for me to decide, is it?

Dee is simply wonderful. I wish all my clients were cut from the same cloth. She is cheerful and gracious. She is pleasant and respectful of my time. Dee's Band of Felons are a hoot and often keep me laughing. One time we were looking at a place with small windows, Seth said, "Last time I saw windows like that, my view was barbed wire and armed guards."

Her felons have also always been respectful and kind. The last home I sold, Seth asked me not to walk by myself to my car--which was parked in the driveway. He said, "This is not a safe neighborhood. I don't like who is walking around." I didn't either, but if anyone googled Seth's name, they would have questioned my judgement too.

I am actually excited to be working with Dee again. She and her pals have made real estate fun for me for the past few years.

Paying It Forward

About a month ago, a client of mine from another state asked me to help find them an agent. Actually, what they asked is if I was able to sell their home in another state. And even if I did a crash course real estate program there, paid all of the money to their local department and managed to get a brokerage up and running by the time they put their home on the market, I still would be their worst choice. I know nothing about the area they live.

Anyway, I went to my usual places to find a reasonable agent for them--my real estate Facebook groups. And believe it or not, there is not a lot of demand for agents in Nowheresville. I got one response--it was from Mrs. Hufflepuff who just put down "Alex Miller" as a completely unhelpful reply. Now if she had given a phone number, brokerage or e-mail address for Ms. Miller (or Mr. Miller), it might have been a different story and I wouldn't have any more to write.

Still agentless, I turned to the Web. After going through the Internet and reading gobs of client reviews, I was back where I started. The lovely reviews were the same kinds of compliments my clients say to me--or would say to me if I bothered with a Web presence. Any bad review I blamed on a bad client. The super-raving ones I attributed to the agent's mother. I also looked at those folks who have the same types of designations I have. Honestly, it was just a bunch of names and none screamed, "I will take great care of your clients!" But then again, I personally know folks with these same professional designations who have not sold more than four homes in their entire career. So, that was a bust too.

Finally, I called the branch manager of what seemed to be the biggest mortgage company in town. After talking to him for a few, I explained what I was after: a go-getter who didn't have a big ego and wasn't allergic to the truth or work. The Branch Manager gave me a few names. I called them all. One person didn't bother to answer her phone, but texted me back immediately with, "Who's this?"

In the end, the agent I went with met my criteria. As a bonus, he grew up in Phoenix, not far from where I grew up. We waxed nostalgically for a bit over how much the city has changed. We talked about what we did in our professional lives prior to real estate. And the best part of all this, my clients liked him!

I would like to tell you the story ends there with a super-happy ending. But nope. The saga continues and it is even happier than before. This same agent called me last Friday. He has a client for me! His client is coming in town this next weekend and we are going house hunting.

Jane

Last Saturday I helped Jane and Mr. Jane pack up their worldly belongings. They are moving to somewhere with four seasons today. I am sad for me and happy for them. Jane assures me I have a bedroom waiting whenever I want to run away from home.

Out of the Mouth of Bucks

Quick back story: recently I have kind of been into The Highway Men music. That is, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson. The album that caught my attention of late has a lot of tribute songs to Hank Williams Senior.

Anyway, I was sitting at the kitchen table and Googled Hank Williams. I say to Marty as Buckaroo walks into the room, "Hank Williams was born in Alabama."

Without missing a beat, Buckaroo replies, "Oh how embarrassing for him."

The Even Month Grievance Committee

New year, new Grievance Committee! Last year, we had the odd and even month grievance committees.Also last year, we merged with two associations: one is 50+ miles from here and the other is 240+ miles from here. The powers that be had some brilliant notion to give the East side Grievances to the even month committee and have the West side committee handle the grievances on the odd months. If you have a grievance in Southern Arizona, I don't know when you meet. Anyway, our normal committee, which handled about four cases a month now handles 13 every two months. And let me tell you, our cases this past week did not disappoint.

The reason our date and location are secret, is because those who file tend to be emotional. I know this because I have read every single word written on every case this past week. We don't need them showing up on our doorstep and pleading their case to us--who can't do a thing about it. And from what I understand, those who file all seem to have a unusual and frustrating habit of calling the local association six times a day to ask on the status of their case. So, if someone happened to file mid-December and the Grievance Committee didn't meet until this past week, the folks at the Association fielded a lot of unhappy calls. And according to those same folks, they did call. Often.

We had three property management cases. The one I got to peer review was from a fellow who felt that he was misled. "Feeling misled" is enough evidence to send the case up to the Grand Inquisitor Squad who will decide if this is a violation of the code of ethics. Though I will never know the outcome of the case, my money is on the property management company who can't rent the same home to more than one set of folks. My guess is the complainants just lost out to someone who was a better fit for the owner.

We also reviewed a case where the upset soul was making up new code of ethics breaches: but I assure you, there is no Article that states the agent can't be a jerk by telling them to please stop repeatedly contacting them. This same dude also alleged that the agent "made" him buy the home in question next door to a bigot who is walking on his roof (he has the footprints to "prove it!") in the middle of the night and saying unkind things because the complainant is from some nation far, far away.

Then there was the smoker-seller who feels she got a raw deal because her house smelled like cigarettes and the buyers asked her to mitigate the smell, which she did. But she didn't think the house smelled like smoke and shouldn't have had to do this.

Lest you think I am mocking, I am not. We all took our roles seriously and looked through the code of ethics for each case, determining if what was alleged was an ethical violation. We all dressed up--I even pulled out the hot rollers. We were all professional. Nobody mocked the cases--even the case we looked at where--and I am not making this up--the owner felt she was mistreated because the property management company fixed her leaking roof.

I love the Grievance Committee. I love finding a role of significance after so many years selling houses. I love keeping the bar high in real estate. This, by far, has been one of my favorite contributions to my industry.

Adventures in Teaching

A few interesting things happened Friday.

First, I took a real estate instructor class on how to use Power Point. A lot has changed since my Power Point heyday in 1996. Now, Power Point can do all sorts of nifty tricks. The class made my head hurt, but with a little time and patience, perhaps I too can have a dazzling presentation. Perhaps. 

Second, Beth sat next to me in the class and presented me with my very first pay check for the one class I have taught for her. It is apparent I won't make as much teaching as I do selling, but the trade off is (presumably) keeping my sanity. So, there's that. 

Third, the head of my local realtor Association was in this class and said something along the lines of,  "I did not know you are an instructor!?" After all, she sees me all the time (like at last week's Grievance Committee meeting and the Professional Development meeting two weeks ago) and it has never come up. An hour later--while she and I were sitting in class--her assistant had e-mailed me an application to teach at the Association with a note saying she is looking forward to my audition. This is what I wanted, but I am not sure after ONLY TEACHING ONE CLASS I am ready for a full, in depth interview/audition. But, perhaps in a few months I will feel better about it. In the meantime, the offer is on the table. 

Fourth, the reason I was in this class in the first place was because Marie. Marie runs the most highly reputable real estate school around. I want to teach at Marie's school. Kaye, Beth and all the cool kids teach for her. Marie is known for being very discerning and selective. I first met Marie last spring through Kaye. I called her a few weeks later and inquired about teaching. Marie politely and immediately shut me down and didn't give me much hope. 

Anyway, Marie and I have crossed paths a few times, generally with me as the student and her as the instructor. Jane and I sat in her two day class last November and, looking back, I am sure we made quite a pair in the front row. I then ran across Marie at another instructor class last December. 

In January, Marie--who still runs the most highly reputable real estate school around--sent an e-mail to her instructors and me, mentioning there was a class she thought all of us might be interested in. Both Kaye and Beth noticed I was the only one on Marie's distribution who doesn't teach for her. But, she had the presence of mind to include me anyway. I am working really hard not to read much into that.

Really. 

As much as I would love to take this as an invitation to approach Marie again about teaching for her, I am no more ready for her than I am for my local Association. But I will be hopefully after a few more classes under my belt. And then I will also have an awesome Power Point presentation to go with my instruction. 

This One Was Dismissed

I read all two gazillion pages of the grievance files for our meeting this week. TWO GAZILLION,  PEOPLE!!!!

One case--thank God!--I don't have to peer review was from a tenant who felt that her Property Management company had acted "inappropriately" by evicting her.

The Tenant also accused the Property Management broker of several other heinous crimes because the Broker was having her evicted for, "no reason." Oh, and the Tenant also filed a complaint with the Department of Real Estate. And, for grins she also filed a complaint with the AZ BAR Association against the lawyer who handled the eviction.

Never mind the repeated letters to the Tenant from the Property Management company saying rent was late and there was a sizable balance stacking up against the Tenant. Never mind the multiple e-mails from the Property Management company offering solutions to work with the Tenant so that she could stay in the house when she was continually behind on rent. Never mind the letters and pictures from the Property Management's handyman to the broker saying the tenant was willfully destroying the house on a regular basis. And please! Never mind the order of protection from one of the Property Management's agents against the Tenant because the Tenant physically threatened the Property Management's agent. Nope, that never happened--at least according to the Tenant--but there was a paper trail two gazillion miles long proving the Tenant was lying.

I read this complaint and my head ached.

February's Grievance Committee

Currently, there are bits o' brain scattered around my office. You see, apparently every single disgruntled client in the last months of 2019 filed an ethics complaint. And the fun part is that they are all being heard this week by the Grievance Committee. It is not an exaggeration to say that if I were to print out every February grievance file given to me I could cover the floor of a major arena and still have enough to paper to spread thoroughly around three football fields.

Part of my job is to peer review (thankfully) one case. Somehow word got out that I know a thing or two about property management and I suspect for that reason, I was given a disgruntled potential renter. Yay me. I have skimmed a few of the cases and so far (hence the bits of brain), all I really know is that I am grateful I didn't get the 83 page grievance to peer review.

Tomorrow I have blocked my entire morning to read through the 13 cases so I can come to the meeting with some sort of cogent and logical thought. Hopefully a few hours is all I am going to need.

Back to Work

My self-imposed time off came to a screeching halt yesterday. But that was to be expected, after all, it was February 1. One month-ish should hopefully be enough time to unwind and get back into the swing of things. There might be those who scoff at idle time, but Folks, burn-out is real.

In my relaxation, I managed to acquire two cedar chests to someday refinish. Also, I am making an ottoman out of a sewing machine bench. I read five books (plus half of another book that was too dreadful to finish). There was some parenting and too many kid-doctor appointments. And then there was a fun road trip to the Dragoon Mountains you can read about in my prior blog. So, my time off time was well spent.

January wasn't all fun and games. I taught my first class! I did send out some comps to past clients--maybe about one-eighth of the ones I normally do. I managed to make it to my Phoenix Metro Real Estate data class (spoiler: there is a huge inventory shortage, it is driving up the price of homes). I attended my first professional development committee meeting. I had one buyer meeting that turned into a renter. I had another buyer meeting that was cancelled because my client doesn't have a down payment. She will also be a renter. And I wrote a lease for a client, who (thankfully) had her own tenant. And oh yes, I finally turned in my paperwork to Beth, allowing me to teach at her school. That's kind of a perfunctory chore, as I have already taught at her school and I am scheduled to teach again.

And yes, that was while taking a month off.

I still have a boatload of work to tackle. This week I have another buyer meeting scheduled with well-qualified folks who have a down payment and a high FICO. I have a meeting with my marketing rep, Sarah. There are more comps to take care of for clients. A grievance committee meeting, with about 500 pages to read through is also on my list. I have a newsletter to write. Plus I have two rental clients now (see above paragraph) and a buyer on my plate. And oh yes, I am teaching at the end of the month.