Carolyn's Blog

What in the heck are these people thinking?

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:44:47 -0500

I took my buyer clients to view a thirty acre property with remodeled house. I knew the property as I had been the buyers agent for the seller a little over a year ago. No loyalty there but not surprised as when he purchased the property he contacted me (from Florida) on a listing I had and made arrangements to come see it. It was not suitable but I showed him listings for other properties in the area and he wanted to see this property. When I went to pick up the key from the listing office the realtor there had also been in contact with him by email and was just waiting for him to come to town. Guess I lucked out and meet with him first.

Anyway, the property we visited yesterday was very overgrown with weeds and trash strewn around. Oh my! What was the house going to look like. No surprise it was a total disaster. Seems the guys dad moved in with him and he is what is called a "hoarder". Collects everything. And, they have a Rottweiler and let the dog stay in the house and evidently he is nowhere near house broken. We couldn't get out of that house fast enough. That certainly killed the deal. Do they actually think someone would be interested in buying a home in this condition?

The property is really very nice with georgeous views but the buyers just could not get past the condition of the house. Another strange thing was that when we arrived at the property there was no "for sale" sign and had I not been there before there was no way that the buyers would have know which property it was.

Also, as we turned into the driveway that was a new huge barn on the property. Very huge, probably 48' x 60', fancy barn with six horse stalls, tack rooms and tons of other space. The listing said NOTHING about this barn. That would seem to me to be a huge selling factor since there seem to be quite a few people looking for acreage for horses lately. It amazes me that the listing agent doesn't recognize one of the major selling points of this property. I can't figure out why they aren't showcasing the barn or even mentioning it. Who knows!

Its a small world

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:40:36 -0600

Yesterday I attended Church as usual. Small Methodist Church in our community of 1,100 souls. There are five churches in our town and the percentage of people who do attend church is not high so you can imagine what our membership would be. We have around 40 active attendees. Visitors are not common so when we have someone new there we all make an effort to say hello and visit with them. The couple yesterday were an elderly man and wife who were making their first visit to our church. They live in Moberly, Mo which is about 70 miles from New Franklin. They were there to observe our minister who had applied for a scholarship to attend the seminary. Our minister was talking with them and the older gentleman introduced himself and his wife. The pastor knew someone would be coming so was not surprised.

Being a small community church we don't often have new people join our church but we were so fortunate to have a lady who moved to the area visit our church and eventually join. She has been there a couple of years and we are very blessed to have her. She moved to New Franklin from somewhere in Texas by way of Columbia. A friend of theirs knew of someone in our area who was selling some land and they were looking for property to buy to build a new home in the country. The property was perfect and they made the purchase, built their new home and moved in.

She was sitting directly in front of the visiting couple and after he and the minister finished their conversation she turned around and introduced herself. She could hardly talk to him because of her emotions. Seems her father and this gentleman were best friends years ago and she remembered him and his name. Neither he or her father had ever been to New Franklin and indeed lived quite a distance from our town. The last time she had seen him she was a young child. They talked briefly before the service started and then met after church for a longer visit. She had pictures of her mother whom he knew well. It was a joyous reunion.

It certainly is a very small world.

Working through all the ups and downs of home buying.

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:45:33 -0600

I have a wonderful single buyer client whom I've worked with for over a year. She is a middle aged single mom and her biggest desire was for a home of her own. She has rented for years and has had to put up with rude landlords, drug dealing neighboring rentors, filth and fear. She had been without electricity and water because her landlord "forgot" to pay the utility bills.

So, she came to me over a year ago to see if there was any way she could buy a home. I gave her the name of some local lenders and we perused over the current listings. I advised her that her first step was to see if and what she was qualified to purchase.

She made the appointment with the lender of her choice and began the process. She was told she was pre-qualified for x amount of dollars and she could start looking in that range. So we proceeded. The paperwork was almost completed and then the lender she had been working with quit her job and moved to another company. She was assigned to work with another lender at the same company but was totally ignored. After waiting a couple of weeks for him to get back with her she decided to seek out the person she had been working with previously and so had to change companies.

So she had to resubmit all the paperwork....copies...faxes....copies, etc. She was given an initial price range so we began looking around mid Missouri. Looked at several properties in our community and surrounding communities and found one she really liked. Made and offer and it was rejected. In the mean time the paperwork at the new bank was almost done and then the lender was laid off. Back to square one. She went to another company and applied, filled out some initial paperwork and then was pretty much ignored again.

Poor lady was by this time getting very, very frustrated. I gave her the name of yet another lender and the process started again. copies, copies, copies, faxes...etc. Got the pre-approval and started looking again. Found a home that she liked better than the first one but it needed some cleaning up as it was a foreclosure. That's ok. Made an offer and it took forever to get an answer back...ended up resubmitting the offer as the first one expired. Finally got an acceptance. Did all the inspections, had to have the home dewinterized in order to get it inspected, hired plumber didn't show up. Time is running out. Found another plumber and got the water on and inspected.

Now the lender had all the information on the home completed, detailed listing information, description, etc. She had funded the loan under a USDA loan. Home was to close on Friday and the lender called...can't do it. Home does not qualify because it is an earth contact home. My poor buyer was beside herself and in tears as was I and the lender. We had all worked so hard. What do we do???? The home could qualify for an FHA loan but she did not have the 3% down payment. Meetings were held and the lady's boyfriend said he would gift her the money. Forms were completed on Sunday evening so we could close on Monday. Lender called me in tears. We had to prove that there was some sort of connection between the buyer and the person giving her the money and she didn't think there was one since the couple did not live together. Lo and behold the guy had been paying her cell phone bill and that qualified. The paperwork was completed and we closed on Monday.

The buyer cried through the whole closing and afterwards. That to me is what is is all about. I was so happy to have been able to help her through all the ups and downs of buying a home. Luckily we ended up with a lender who was able and willing to go above and beyond to be able to help get the loan approved and funded.

What a Surprise!

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:30:08 -0600

Came into work and was asked by broker and fellow realtor to go with them to view a home for a possible listing. We took off in the car with me not knowing which direction we would be traveling. Several miles east of town we found the home and did the walk through. Time to head back to town. Since we were out in the area we decided to backtrack down another road to see if we could see the farm where Anheuser Busch had built a new breeding farm for the Clydesdale Horses. Started seeing a double row of white fencing and knew we were on the right track. As we got closer we could see this huge, gorgeous red barn surrounded by horse paddocks and parked beside were two trailers with the Anheuser logo on the side. We had heard that the farm was off limits to the public so didn't anticipate being able to get any closer. Did see some of the breeding stock in the distance in several areas. Got to the gated entrance and low and behold the gate was open...do we go in and risk being told to leave or just turn around and go home. Saw a pickup down the lane with a couple taking pictures so...what the heck. All they can do it tell us to leave. So, off we go toward the barn. The pickup we saw left the farm and as we meandered down the lane another pickup came to greet us. We jokingly asked the driver if we were going to be arrested. He laughed and said that we had arrived at the farm on Media Day and were welcome to drive around and look and then probably better leave. We were right beside a paddock with 10-12 foals who were all taller than we were. Got out our cell phones and took pictures and then drove up to the barn, turned around and drove out. What a great surprise to be able to get up close. Certainly not what we expected when we started out that day.

Can you ever get past the "Good Ol Boys" in a small Community

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:39:32 -0500

I am a fairly new agent with just under two years under by belt. I just had another new agent call me to tell me about a listing that was just two houses away from his personal residence. It is a very nice house in the price range of one of my clients. As we were talking he told me about his frustration with the person who had listed the house. He knows the seller and visits with them often. It's not like they are not aware that he is a real estate agent as the seller recently asked him how the real estate was going. He was very upset and couldn't figure out why the seller when with another realtor who has been in the business for many years. This realtor still operates in the "old" ways and doesn't hardly take pictures at all nor does he belong to both the local MLS systems as we do.

Now I know that you have to be very carefully ethically about not saying anything negative about another realtor but why can't he just ask the seller what made her choose the other realtor over him. It is getting very frustrating for both of us as we know we can give more marketing options. We are part of a very well known branded company and are just at wits end as to how to pick up clients that we know will be better served. I realize that there is lots to be said for experience and I certainly don't begrudge this very successful realtor who has had years in the business but when people from your sphere choose them over you it is very frustrating. We have both had listings in our communtiy and been successful so it is not a matter of not being able to follow through.

Guess we just have to "pay our dues" and keep at it. I have been told since I started being a realtor that you will get your feelings hurt by people you least expected not to choose you but it still hurts. You just want to ask them why! Course you can't do that. You just have to buck up and keep at it.

I know, whine, whine, whine. It will get better, just gotta hang in there.

Beautiful Weekend in Central Missouri

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:09:57 -0500

The Third weekend in September is always the Annual Santa Fe Trail Days celebration in New Franklin, MO. This year was the 30+ Annual event. No one knows for sure any more just what year it actually is. The event is held on Friday Night and all day Saturday. The Friday night event this year had a classic car cruise-in, a little Mr. & Miss Santa Fe Trail Days contest, a pedal tractor pull and a street dance. The local Eagles Lodge had a bar-b-que and a beer garden. The weather was gorgeous and the street were packed.

Saturday morning began with the ever popular baby contest which draws parents and babies from all the surrounding communties to take part. The streets were lined with vendors of all kinds. There were crafts booths, food booths, face painting, homemade pies, kids games and historical demonstrations of old-time crafts. A bounce house, a blow-up jousting pit, pony rides and the ever present dunk tank filled the closed off downtown area. A quilt show was held in a local church and there were Army Hummers along side an old time cannon display.

The afternoon began with a large parade at one o'clock. The parade has continued to grow every year and can boast of being the largest parade around. From the local police, fire dept, classic vehicles, floats, color guard, dance groups, unusual vehicle, horses and the ever present policital candidates the parade lasted well over an hour. Folks come from far and wide to take in the small town spectacle with great enjoyment. Kids go home with pockets stuffed with candy thrown from every conceivable type of conveyance.

After the parade there were various entertainment acts such as a clogging group, cake auction and skits by the High School Drama Club. One favorite was a hot dog eating contest which had a large group of entries and a large crowd of supporters. This was followed by a lyp-sync contest and a talent contest. The evening was rounded out with a teen, tween, adolescent street dance on the west end of the square with a DJ and an adult dance with a country band in and near the beer garden on the east end of the street. The day went very well and everyone had a great time.

Join us next year, the third weekend in September when it all happens again!

Missing Realtor

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:40:16 -0500

Oh where, oh where can he be! He's holding an offer with a kickout date of yesterday (9/9/08) at 5:00 pm and not a word. Wouldn't be so bad but this is twice that he's missed the date. I submitted the first offer and he finally called two days after the due date. Since the counter (verbal) was not acceptable I redid another offer and resubmitted it on Saturday (9/7). Not a peep out of him yet. I have called his office and he wasn't there, called his home and no answer and called his cell and no answer. Left messages so I will see just how long it takes him to get back with me. I have never worked with this particular agent before but his reputation preceeds him so I shouldn't be surprised. But, my client is very anxious to find out if she has the house and I can't speed this up any. Very frustrating!

As a novice agent I have been told over and over that communication is the key in this business and I believe that is so correct. We must respect our clients and other agents to return phone calls as quickly as possible.

I'm still waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK. Jumping Right in Here

Carolyn Heilman, GRI, SRS (Boonslick Realty Co) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:48:29 -0500

I've been putting off starting this blog long enough. It surely is not as hard as it seems. I will begin by telling you about me. I am 59 and just got my Real Estate license in February of 2007. I also work full time at a major University and have for over 30 years. Bored with my life and looking for a change a close friend who is a realtor had been after me for a few years to join her in real estate. So, I decided that getting closer to retirement I would take the plunge and do it. It certainly wasn't easy but I "gotter done". I am so glad I did it when I did because by husband of fourty years who was very supportive of me doing this, passed away suddenly on Christmas Eve of 2007. If he had passed away prior to my getting my license I don't think I would have had the courage to go ahead with it. I have been relatively successful in this uncertain market actually had three closing in one week in June and currently have four listings. I am loving Active Rain and am learning lots from all of you "experienced" realtors. I look forward to retiring from the University in two more years and devoting all my time to this wonderful career!