Break Out the Tums

Hopefully the Costco sells these.

Marty has a second interview set up. It is a company that he says is a "good fit." The salary is reasonable. It doesn't help the build up of stomach acid as we go through this process again, but here we are. Maybe I will get distracted by something exciting like a real estate client.

The location is unknown, as I haven't spent too much time researching this place. My rule in these circumstances is to allow myself to look up one major fact a day. In this case, I know the city's population is 56,000 and the overall metro population is around 700,000. That sounds down right spacious.

I have gone on to one of the for rent web sites and sorta looked at housing. Marty joined me and I made him promise not to get a home without a pantry. With a dog, cat and bankruptcy, it will probably be slim pickings. However, homes tend to be on the market there for about 45 days, so perhaps there will be a landlord who is moderately motivated and find us downright charming.

This place also a Trader Joe's (Marty has a bit of a bromance going with the guy) and a Costco nearby. So, civilization. However, there's no reasonable baseball team to speak of in the area. And let's not forget this place is still in the swamp. But swamps, MLB and shopping are not as pressing. First he has to get through the second interview.

My stomach cannot take a heck of a lot more of this.

Touring

My cute little condo is going on tour this morning. To prepare, I whisked over at some early hour, shoved a bunch of bottles of water in the fridge, fluffed up the bathroom towels, sprayed some air freshner, and made sure there was toilet paper in the bathrooms. I also turned down the air, swept the porch and turned on the interior lights.

The way the tour works is some enterprising vendor, such as a mortgage company or title office, gets a bunch of agents who are somewhat desperate to have their home shown and all of us agents as well as any strays caravan around, property to property, oohing and ahhing over each home. This is not a tour for the general public, only for those of us in the industry.

As we do so, we are to give feedback about the listings. How is the curb appeal? Price? Does the seller need to declutter? All of the feedback is then compiled and the agent takes it back to their sellers. It is a handy marketing tool that allows for some pretty nice exposure for our sellers.

There are times agents specifically ask for feedback. Such ask, "If you think the home would show better if the six cat boxes are clean, please say so," which we do. Then the feedback is coming from a neutral third party and not the selling agent who has been bitching and moaning about the cat boxes for weeks.

Generally, the vendors have brought in lunch or in some cases, a party bus so we don't have to drive ourselves. In return, we listen to a five minute spiel about why their home inspection company/lending products/escrow office totally rocks and we should use them.

Often there is some sort of vote of "best home on tour" where the listing agent gets to proudly take a sign rider (often for only 30 days or so) to hang at their listing as a way to entice buyers. ("Stop the car, Elmo! This home was best on tour! Did you see that??? We must buy it right now!" "That's nice Mildred. What does best on tour mean anyway?" "I don't know Elmo, but it sounds important.") Sometimes being best on tour is kind of a double edge sword, because the seller wants to know if their home is so great how come it hasn't sold just yet?? That's always fun. Some of my homes have won best on tour before.

This past week I invited my realtor pal, John to tag along. He is going through a sales dry spell, and is trying to drum up business. Sometimes it helps to meet other agents and get some fresh perspectives from folks who have also gone through dry spells. It doesn't hurt to also meet other agents who might be able to let you hold their home open too. And if nothing else, just see what inventory is out there for sale. Unfortunately John was busy, but he was very grateful for the invite.

Right now there is a challenge with few listings on the market so I did not know for sure whether or not this tour was going to happen until last night. I suppose it is a happy problem, or it would be if it were my home that fell out of the tour because it was under contract. But my cute little condo is still looking for a new owner. Maybe one of these agents will bring me a buyer.

Adventures in August

August is a busy month around these parts. Buckaroo started fire fighter school today. I love the fact he has a servant's heart and this is what he really wants to do. I don't love the fact my sweet little Buckaroo wants to put himself in danger.

Buckaroo also starts Mesa Community College in a few weeks. He is only taking two classes, and one is golf, but it is still a transition for him. And, like his mom, transitions aren't easy.

Additionally, Polly is starting Mesa Community College in a few weeks. However, she isn't going to the small satellite campus she's been at for years. She is going to the big, scary campus for four classes. Like her dad, she doesn't like changes, and this took a bit of coaxing for her to try something new.

Polly also has a birthday coming up. So do four other family members. August is our big birthday month. One of Polly's birthday gifts was a trip up north this past weekend to go hiking. Unfortunately, it was 100 degrees in Sedona. Then there was a spectacular monsoon and we saw and felt lightening strike inches from us. To be fair, we were sitting under the awning at the Sonic in Cottonwood, waiting out the storm when the lightening struck.

I have a trip planned to visit Bonus Dad later this month. We have talked about a few things to do. I don't care if all we do is sit around reading books and talking. However, I suspect he likes to be more active and all host-like when I come. It turns out Bonus Dad's son and two of the grand babies (who are 8 and 6) may still be visiting too, so that will be extra fun as well.

Then there's real estate. My little condo in Tempe took a price reduction today. That isn't a surprise, as we had agreed to lower the price after a certain amount of time. The condo is going on tour in a few days and hopefully I will get some feedback. At this point, I think it is a matter of just finding a buyer. Also, I am asking my realtor pal, John if he wants to hold it open this weekend.

I have another listing coming up too. It won't be on the market until September. But I will be able to start advertising it shortly.

There are other possible changes going on too. Some people make big transitions around the new year. Not me. I don't like transition and it takes me until around August to get everything in place. August is exhausting me. And it is only the 5th.

Flood of Frustration

It turns out the plumbing issue at the cute little condo only intensified. My seller, wanting to make sure there wouldn't be any more leaks, turned the water valve under the sink. It broke in her hand. Horrified, she turned the next one. It broke. And then the next one. And well, you guessed it.

And then my sweet seller waited until she got me on the phone before she completely lost her temper.

There are times all one can do is listen and commiserate, because logic wasn't going to get us anywhere. She wasn't interested in logic, she was interested in vengeance and justice.

The next day, Abe, my painter and handyman friend (and also a designated broker) sent his crew over to take care of the issue. Abe called me and agreed, this was probably a horrible coincidence. After all the plumbing is almost 40 years old. There is corrosion from past issues. So, basically, the timing was bad. But, on the bright side, it is now fixed.

"Do you think you could explain to her that the former buyers did not sabotage this place?" I asked Abe.

"I already did." Abe replied, then optimistically added, "It might take a couple of days to sink in."

I am pretty sure there is no possibility the sellers will ever be convinced this issue wasn't caused by bad timing. The only action that might make this better for them is probably a purchase contract. I had a lot of showings over the weekend, so who knows! Maybe that is all that will be needed to make flood of frustration go away.

Discount Brokerages

The bane of any active realtor's existence right now is "discount" brokerages who promise the public a lower commission for the exact same services I offer. The general public tends not to be sophisticated buyers and sellers, given they don't buy and sell regularly. Therefore, the buyers and sellers aren't necessarily calculating what this really means. However, the discount brokerages make their services sound sexy. 

For example, there is a company out there who has a color in its name. They are charging a 1% to 1.5% commission to the seller (with the phrase "buyer's commission not included" in small print). They are also charging a flat dollar amount starting at $6,500 along with the percentage. So think of it this way, the seller's commission has two parts and then there is the buyer's commission.

Therefore the total commission is $6,500 plus 1 to 1.5% of the sales price PLUS the buyer's commission. If a home costs $240,000 that would generally be around $16,000.

If one were to use a traditional method of just a straight commission, well you can do the math, but I guarantee it is lower.* By the way, in the Phoenix metro market, most homes do not cost $240,000.

The same holds true with buyers. In this model, these buyers are to pay a flat fee (often up front before any home is found) and a percentage commission to their agent. If the sellers aren't offering this buyer commission, then the buyers are on the hook to pay their agents. Imagine if a buyer doesn't have it but signed a contract to pay it no matter what? Don't be shocked, it is happening. Or, imagine this.

And then, if all goes well, this discount brokerage is offering a rebate back to buyers (subject to lender approval) when the home closes of somewhere in the half a percent range. Where does this money come from? The seller's proceeds actually, but on paper it looks like a virtuous brokerage that cares about its clients.

It is all convoluted, but the buyers and sellers don't know any better. They aren't sitting around doing the math. They are seeing "discount!" This model is becoming popular with the fly by night companies coming into town, touting "experienced agents." Whatever. These "experienced agents"  are the same agents who worked for 21st Century, Executive Realty or Max/Re three months earlier and jumped ship for better leads.

I am not the only one frustrated by this smoke and mirrors game. I talk to other agents often who know the public is being duped. We don't have the capital to fight this. Nor do I have the time. Besides, it sounds great on the Internet. And we all know whatever is on the Internet, must be true.


*Note, I am not allowed, by law, to discuss actual commission percentages as we don't have a "typical" commission in my industry. That is the line that keeps me out of trouble with the powers that be. But for the example above, think around 6 percent.

The Great Flood

So, my cute little condo is back on the market after the buyer backed out because it wasn't what you might find on the HGTV. It is clean, with new carpet, paint, fixtures and a few other nicities. The price also reflects the fact there isn't a butler's pantry and wine cellar, so I think we already had that covered.

Anyway, I got a call today from an agent. She was there at the condo and there was a minor flood. It turns out the supply line at the toilet was leaking and water had seeped through the bathroom and into the hallway on to the new carpet. Fortunately, we live in the desert, so it isn't like this won't dry in a day.

Marty and I met the sellers at the home, who raised holy hell. The former buyer did this! No, probably not. This was the reason they backed out! Maybe. If it wasn't, they would have used it as a reason, that's for sure. My sellers were ready to sue! This would not be tolerated!

I hated to break the news to my folks, the cost of new supply line is about $14 and the carpet cleaner might be $30, so if they wanted to go in front of a judge and ask for $44, they were welcome to, but it might be hard to prove this wasn't an unfortunate coincidence.

The really good news is the agent showing the home has a buyer who might be interested. I was able to call off the other two showings until I know the carpet is dry (tomorrow) and have them reschedule. Hopefully it will have a new buyer soon, right after we get the toilet's supply line fixed.

A Simple Request

May I make a request for all of you buyers out there? Please, stop asking for Buckingham Palace when your budget is a Pomona Bungalow.

The cute little condo fell out of escrow. I am not surprised. The buyer's agent gave a lot of silly reasons why, but it boils down to this: the buyer wanted an updated, granite counter, indoor pool, built-in sauna, six bedroom, eight bath mansion inside this 1,000 square foot condo.

It is ok to want. It is not ok to expect a seller to remodel a home just to suit your needs. You can do that once, and only once, you move in. And in order to move in, you must first buy the place. Then you can install an atrium in the foyer. Well, you can as long as the home owner's assocaition is ok with it.