The Residential Market

Just for grins, I looked up single family homes in the Phoenix metro area under $400,000. How many? 1,473. Of those, 280 were in Phoenix (1.63 million), 100 were in Mesa (population 499,742) and 140 were in Maricopa (population 48,629).  

Diminished Returns

Lilly called me again. She has found the most fabulous real estate agent! This guy has not practiced in 10 years, but he is a "broker" in the Tucson area. Therefore, she won't need my help (I wasn't offering). However, she had a few questions: 

1. Do I know a professional photographer that she (not the agent) can call to get pictures taken? 

2. Do I have a sign post he can borrow? Yes, I have one. No he can't. 

3. Can he borrow one of my lockboxes? Um...

I am already horrified for this poor guy. Clients who micromanage and tell us how to do our job are tough to work with in general. But she is doing all the legwork for him. It is up to him to activate his license, learn all there is to know about the Tucson real estate market and Arizona contract, join a real estate firm, pay his MLS dues, and get all the equipment necessary to run his business. 

More to the point: He should be horrified his client has already proven she doesn't trust him to do his job right. 

Currently, I'm taking a break from Lilly. I already have enough on my plate without this. I hope her agent works out and she gets the very best price for her house. I really do. But I won't be used.  

Diminishing Returns

My Pal Lilly, lives in Tucson. She has a horse-property ranch somewhere out of town. She wants to sell it. I set her up with an agent down there and it was a disaster. However, she still wants to sell it. So, she asked me if I would list it. 

No. Not even on a bet. 

Ok, first of all, I don't work in Tucson. I know nothing of the Tucson market. I have sold a few horse properties in my day (even one this year), but that doesn't make me an expert on Tucson horse property. I know what I don't know: and that's how to properly comp, market and sell Lilly's house. 

Of course, Lilly countered these concerns with she'd be willing to put in writing, that she understands all of the above and still wants me to sell the place. She'd take the risk. She'd tell me what to list the house for (which happens to be $150,000 more than the other agents she hired and DO know the Tucson market had listed it for). 

So, no problem.  

Well, actually there are more problems. I would have to pay the Tucson Realtor association dues and become a member there so I could use their MLS. Then there is the 111 mile (each way) commute to take care of the administrative issues that go with selling a house. I mean, I would have to show up once in a while. So, the cost to sell this place already comes with a price tag.

"You will recover this cost when your commission comes in," Lilly countered. 

Ok, here's the real reason. Lilly worked for a real estate brokerage in 1995 and is sure she knows what there's to know about real estate. She's partially right on a lot of her assessments. However, nobody advertises in magazines any more (she was shocked and was in disbelief when I told her this). I am not willing to advertise this place internationally (a frustration she had with another agent who also refused). Lilly wants to see my "marketing plan," and approve it ahead of time. All of this and more is based on her 1995 real estate expectations. 

Laws have changed. Contracts aren't the same. Buyer tastes, concerns and expectations are different. 

Lilly wants a lot of handholding and already declared she plans on micromanaging me or the next agent who comes her way. And dare I say, she'd expect the Friends and Family commission discount to boot.  

None of this I shared with Lilly. I just told her the cost to sell the place has diminishing returns. In this case, the diminishing returns would be my friendship with Lilly. She's better off finding someone who isn't me. 

New Boss is Back from Vacation

 

New Boss came back from his vacation stint to find out he had one employee walk off the job, another in the hospital with a serious condition, a third on a trip to India (he didn't know??!) and two others who threatened to walk off the job today as well. 

A Thanks

 

In the mailbox last week I found this card. It came from Doug and Carla, who both wrote some very sweet and personal words to me. Not gonna lie, it was nice to be appreciated. 

My Knight

Buckaroo with the greatest of his superheroes. 

Buckaroo turned 19 today. I can't believe that six-foot kid is the same one who carried a stuffed zebra and monkey around with him everywhere until he was 12. He still loves action heroes and all things strong and powerful.  

As a child, Buck is the one who tested my resolve and challenged me to be better than I thought I could be. He still does that now with me. But this time it isn't me having to jump in because he thinks shooting the full lawnmower gas can with the BB gun sounds, "cool." 

Buckaroo makes everyone laugh with his quick wit and he is by-far the best storyteller in our family.  This guy has a great moral compass. He has a strong sense of purpose and picks those who are in his life wisely. He knows what he wants to do. I love that about him.  

I can't wait to see what the future holds for him and his sister. But today, I will reminisce about that little boy who carried around (EVERYWHERE) a stuffed zebra and monkey and still loves his heroes. 

Grievance Committee Case of the Month

Here's the deal. If you are going to write a contract on the buyer's behalf, how about not putting in the counter-offer YOU are now the listing agent--not the guy whose sign is in the yard and works for a different brokerage--when you don't have any monkeys in that circus? 

If the seller didn't originally sign a listing agreement with YOU, it might be construed as stealing a client. And you know what? The Grievance Committee might have a strong emotional reaction to such nonsense.  

Sour Grapes

So it turns out that Mrs. Seller is very unhappy at her former agent because she couldn't sell the Seller's home. I looked up the property, it is over-priced by more than a million dollars. Why the agent took the listing in the first place and agreed to this ridiculous price, I will never understand. 

Anyway, Mrs. Seller had all sorts of things to say to the Grievance Committee about this agent and how that agent violated Code of Ethics Article this and that. But what it boiled down to is that this is a 1970s house somewhere in North Phoenix worth only about $500,000. Perhaps what really needed to happen to sell this house was to drop the "1" in front of the number. But what do I know? 

The Grievance Committee Dismissed the case. 

Perspective

Oh, Property Management cases are the best when it comes to Grievance Committee cases. This one in particular is fantastic. According to the tenant, it is the property manager's fault the owner wants the tenant to move out. 

According to the tenant, if the property management company just let the tenant stay another year and just raised the rent, the owner could make "$5,000 more a year!" Yea... but the owner could also sell the house, not have any tenant headaches (its a thing, I swear!) and probably double their investment. None of which is the property management company's fault. 

One Gone

Marty had a Big-Manager meeting today where the Big Manager told Marty's team that one of Marty's co-workers is MIA and if they hear from this person, please let Big Manager know, ok? This was not news to Marty's team, though nobody thought to correct Big Manager. You see, that particular co-worker walked off the job last week while New Boss was on vacation. New Boss is still on vacation and hasn't found this out just yet.