I came upon this broker-bashing article posted by Yahoo this morning via a feed from SmartMoney.com, which is the web-based magazine from our ‘Friends' at SmartMoney.
SmartMoney...Granny is so ticked off this time; from this day forward I will refer to them as ‘StupidTabloid' due to the vast amount of misleading and erroneous comments they were unwise enough to publish.
You can read the entire ‘Article'(If you can call it that?) at the following link.
Granny is slightly upset about this...you could say that my normal pleasant personality has fully slipped off a slippery slope and fallen into the deep end...again!
You know, in my years of real estate practice, I have met some mighty fine folks who work in the real estate industry. In fact, I'd have to say that the majority of other agents that I have had interactions with have been decent, hardworking and ethical individuals.
And then...well...every now and then you run into a stinker like this fellow I'm about to introduce you to.
Let's refer to him as "Agent Scoundrel!"
By the way, I came upon this particular person who works as an agent in my community, not because I had a transaction with him, but I did just complete a transaction with another agent who was on the receiving end of all of this nastiness from Agent Scoundrel who, I think you'll agree...certainly lives up to his name!
Agent Scoundrel's a seasoned agent who is also known by a few folks as a Prima Donna, his way or the highway kind of fellow...need I say more?
I recently closed and escrow on a home where I represented the buyer. The seller's agent was a lovely woman that we will refer to as "Agent Amiable." I had never had a previous transaction with Agent Amiable, she was a delightful and considerate person to work with.
Agent Amiable's sellers were also in the middle of purchasing a home with a close concurrent, Agent Amiable represented them in the purchase of their new home in addition to the sale of thier current home.
Agent Scoundrel represented the sellers of the property that Agent Amiable's sellers were purchasing, thus Agent Amiable's sellers were also Agent Amiable's buyers...oye...Who's on first?
My transaction was a perfect breeze, complication free. In fact, I would say that during this process, the sellers and the buyers became very friendly, you can't imagine a more flawless and happily pleasant escrow process.
However, without being told exactly what was happening, (It wasn't really our business anyway) we were quite aware that the sellers other transaction (Where they were the buyers of their new home) was anything but pleasant! Several times during my own transaction, I offered to assist Agent Amiable with what seemed like a draining and complicated transaction on the other end. (Once a mentor, always a mentor...or meddler?) However, she never wanted to talk about any of the particulars. Only telling me that since Agent Scoundrel was a big producer in her office, she'd not make any waves as to his nasty behavior.
Unfortunately, as in many inner office agent-conflicts, management often sides with the top producer, rather than the one who is actually right...we all know where the buck stops!
I might add that Agent Scoundrel and Agent Amiable happen to have their licenses at the same brokerage know as "Big Blue!" I hang mine with "Big Red White and Blue" the one with the balloon logo...thankfully!
Still...other than a few comments made by Agent Amiable's clients, none of us knew any specific particulars with regards to the other transaction until after our escrow was closed, my buyers allowed the sellers to lease back the property one week as they intended on doing some painting and remodeling at their new home. As I said before, my transaction was without conflicts, all parties became friendly and helpful to one another...the way it's supposed to be!
The properties were scheduled to close concurrent, my escrow closed and then the big bang...the other escrow didn't close. Well...it was only delayed by a day or so...that's when we finally heard what had been going on.
Evidently, Agent Scoundrel had secured his own buyer for his listing, meaning that he would have doubled ended the deal (Expensive Property, twice the commission...half the ethics?) Agent Scoundrel was NOT a happy camper because his clients had just accepted the offer from Agent Amiable's buyers. Some may say that this sort of set the tone for things to come!
Of course, nobody knew that Agent Scoundrel had a buyer in his back pocket, perhaps he should have told his sellers not to accept any offer until his own buyer could put together their offer. Still...it left Agent Scoundrel with a bad taste in his mouth.
Poor Agent Scoundrel...don't you just hurt for the guy?
Unfortunately, Agent Scoundrel (Or his sellers...who really knows?) did something pretty darn awful when they signed the acceptance on the contract from Agent Amiable's buyer.
There is a big lesson for everyone to learn from this...and the main reason that I check and double check when an offer has been signed and returned.
As most folks know, a buyer writes an offer to purchase. If the seller does not like something in the offer, they don't change the original offer; they institute a counter offer with any changes. You cant change an offer once it has been signed by a seller, and certainly NOT unless it is brought to the attention of all parties involved and initialed by all parties. What happened is that Agent Scoundrel made a small change to the offer and then told his sellers to sign the offer and returned the offer to Agent Amiable...with no mention to the change that he or his sellers had made to the original contract. Of course, Agent Amiable had a copy of the original contract that had been signed by the buyers; clearly that copy does NOT have the other verbiage that was written in by the sellers or the seller's agent...Agent Scoundrel!
Unfortunately, Agent Amiable verified that each page had been signed and then sent the paperwork to escrow to open the escrow process. Even thought you can't change the original offer, please everyone double check your contracts to be certain that no Agent Scoundrel in your own area does this to you. I know you don't expect it, but there are horrible people in the world and some of them (Highly unlikely...I hope!) but some of them may work in your community...worse yet...even in your own office. So please, check and double-check when an offer has been accepted that it has not been changed in any manner!
Agent Amiable didn't realize that Agent Scoundrel, a very experienced agent from her OWN OFFICE had deliberately made changes to the original contract that she had submitted to him earlier...and then deliberately not told her about his changes.
This property is a small acreage about 1.5 hours outside of Los Angeles with a spacious luxury home. However, being rural (Rural for California) the property had a septic tank, rather than a city sewer connection. There is a box that Agent Amiable checked that stated that the seller would perform a customary septic inspection. Even though any changes to the buyers signed offer should have come on a separate page (A counter) what happened is that Agent Scoundrel just wrote in that area that repairs would be limited to $500. Then he had his sellers sign the contract, (But no initials by any changes in the contract) never mentioned to the buyers agent that he had changed the buyers offer in any manner other than his clients had dated and signed all the pages.
Okay...it's true that Agent Amiable should have caught this devious act, I think that it's something so contractually unethical for anyone to change a contract unilaterally and then not mention it to the other agent, pretty much amounts to an intentional deception AT THE VERY LEAST and certainly not in the spirit of cooperation. This is not something that most folks would anticipate from another agent who supposedly is experienced and claims to be ethical. And certainly, not from someone in your own office!
During the course of this entire escrow process, Agent Scoundrel never bothered bringing the subject of the contractual change up to Agent Amiable. And I will be the first one to agree that Agent Amiable bears a certain amount of responsibility for NOT catching this act of contractual terrorism! Still...Agent Scoundrel...at the very least should be taken out behind the barn and beaten!
One day before closing escrow is when, after repeated requests from Agent Amiable to Agent Scoundrel to provide the Septic Inspection Report, that is when it was discovered that the Inspection hadn't even been ordered! An inspection was quickly ordered by the sellers, to come back with a surprising $18,000 in suggested replacement of septic system!
The buyers, who had sold their home to my buyers and closed escrow already AND were leasing back for a week, had fully packed, signed loan docs and then signed off on all contingencies...never aware that Agent Scoundrel had put that $500 repair cap on the Septic Inspection. Almost like he knew something was wrong...or like his clients told him that something was wrong and tried to hide it. Even if that's not true, it's pretty suspect at this point!
Again...I know that Agent Amiable missed the mark on catching this devious deed by Agent Scoundrel...and in a court of law, they will probably find Agent Amiable partly responsible for not catching this contractual change.
My question is this...what should be done with Agent Scoundrel?
More importantly...if you shoot a rotten agent...do you really lose your library card privileges...permanently?
You know what really ticks this old bird off?(Of course you don't, so that's why I'm asking you!)
I get ticked off when the media just blurts out some figure that is erroneous or has nothing to do with the cost of tea in China!
Remember when they interview that fellow from Redfin? I mean, the interview was filled with a bunch of nothingness which just left anyone with a brain- scratching their heads from disbelief, and the only question you can think of is "What the heck was the purpose of that gibberish being televised?"
Much of the news media is totally irrelevant, they're a bit like the SEAGULLS that fly in from the ocean somewhere, only to drop a load of (You know what) and then head back out to sea as if there was no actual purpose for the flight at all...other than to diddle on my patio furniture!
That's sort of what the media does with so many news items...they drop headlines loaded with crap on the public...then before you know it, they're gone and its on to a commercial or the weather...disappearing back out to sea...just like the seagulls!
Recently a client called me to confirm new and alarming information regarding what she has just heard on some national television morning show. Property down 60 percent!Wow, where the heck were they talking about...Siberia?
What the irresponsiblenews reporter didn't bother to explain was the difference between number of sales reported verses the sales prices, nor exactly where these prices were down.The difference...HUGE!
But the media doesn't bother with explaining that difference! I often wonder what the heck happened o responsible journalism. Instead of the children's computer game "Where's Waldo" how about Where's Walter? (As in Cronkite) we need some responsible news reporting!
In my community, sales prices are down about 30 percent in some areas of town. Yet, in other areas of town, prices are down only about 5 percent, still in some areas the prices are up 5 percent. How confusing is that for people to understand. However, sales volume(NOT PRICES!) are down about 35 percent in our area. That being said, sales volume in some of our neighborhoods are record high this month, including a few sales taking place only hours after the property is listed, and garnering multiple offers and prices over asking price...go figure? Where's that news reporter with those particular figures? Those flipping seagulls lurking in dark corners where you least expect them to be...don't even ask about the dad-burn Pelicans and the mess they leave!
You can imagine my client being alarmed by the news reporter announcing that property sales were down 60 percent...when she thought she knew the truth about our local marketplace.
So many folks watch the national news programs, and rarely do any reporters distinguish the difference in these not-so-subtle aspects of the real estate market. Firstly being that all real estate is not the same. Homes in Missouri are not ever going to be equal to homes in California, as typical homes in California are never going to be equal to the penthouse at Trump Towers in New York City...there are way too many variables. Having Donald for a neighbor being only one of them! (He can't get enough of Granny's blog by the way!) Another link for any 12 year old Realtors out there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_trump
I think that the national news folks need to make clear what they are talking about when they make their seagull type proclamations on air. Especially since real estate is still all about the condition of a specific property, as well as all real estate being about location, and all locations NOT being equal.
They also need to differentiate what they mean by sales being down (Or up!) because as we all know, sales volume has to do with the number of properties that have closed escrow, and sales prices has to to with the PRICE paid for a property.
That is when the buyers and sellers of the world get confused...they need to be educated as to the differences...and that they should only listen to more localized news reports when it comes to their real estate comparables, breaking it down by county, city, neighborhood and finally comprables withing their own tract of homes and their identical model of home.
Anyway...THATs the type of irresponsible reporting that this old gal gets ticked off about, all those...blanket comments made by mainstream media...blankets that don't cover the whole country and blankets that don't exactly reach both sides of the bed.
I think there is a BIG surprise awaiting folks when it comes to rising property values...and it s right around the corner!
Property values and appreciation are going to escalate again...just like they used to!
Really...I'm not kidding, I'm serious as a heart attack.
If you are a real estate speculator looking for a quick red hot investment...this might be a bit disappointing.
But...if you are a home buyer, from planet earth, this is good news that brings a bit of stability back into the world of home ownership...stability AND sound, reliable property appreciation!
Remember what it was like when you could buy a home, and then it was valued at $50,000 (Or more) than you paid for it six months earlier?
Those were the days...right?
I have good news for the real estate industry. We'll never see that type of artificial property appreciation again...because it truly was artificial.
So...why would I say that very soon property values will rise again like they used to?
Because THAT is exactly what we are going to see in the tomorrows that follow these current, yet extremely volatile, real estate market conditions.
Real estate appreciation will begin to appreciate the way it did a few decades ago, back in the 1960's and 1970's, when life was more realistic and when folks bought a home to live in, not a home strictly as an investment tool. I often wonder exactly when it was when our homes morphed into investments tools, rather than simply being a home.
Back in the 1960's, you could buy an average home for about $18,000. You might live in it for ten years, paint and carpet it, plant a few trees and add some wallpaper in the bathroom for an added decorator touch...and then, by the time the 1970's rolled around and your family had outgrown your original home, you might be VERY LUCKY to sell it for $20,000! An appreciation of a whopping $2,000 after all those years of mortgage payments, taxes and improvements. That was approximately a 1% per year property value increase over a ten year period of time...it seemed like a LOT of money back then...in fact, it very nearly felt morally wrong to sell your home for more than you'd paid for it ten years earlier.
AND...you couldn't wait to get that $2,000 check cashed...all the while wondering what sort of dummy would pay $20,000 for a house that you paid just $18,000 for just a decade earlier. You couldn't get old fashioned sayings to quit running through your mind over and over...stuff like..."Boy, there's a sucker born every minute" along with this feeling like you'd just taken advantage of someone, so in between moments of counting all those dollar bills (TWO THOUSAND OF THEM!) you also felt a little bit like you'd done something wrong by selling your home for more than you'd paid for it a decade earlier.
Of course, you moved to a new $26,000 home (Very upscale, almost twice the size) and the seller of your new home probably felt the same way about getting the $26,000 out of you! From zero to sixty you discover you have gone from suckOR to suckER...in they eyes of the sellers of your new home...AND they can't wait to get your check cashed because they think YOU are the real dummy since they'd only paid $24,000 for the house a couple years earlier!
Fast forward ten more years and those young folks that bought your first home for a ridiculously expensive $20,000 (Suckers!) - they just sold the house and moved on...but they sold it for $139,000, and again, that same house sells twenty-five years after that for a whopping $649,000!(You can't help but wonder who THAT sucker must have been?)
Then, last year while visiting friends in the old neighborhood, you drive by the old house to see if it's still the prettiest on the street, it's been added on to and remodeled over the years, but it had this fantastic view of the surrounding community and a pool and the most lovely manicured lawns, you want to drive by it because you feel sort of nostalgic about the "Old" place you'd paid $18,000 for that cozy home back when what now seems to be a million years ago. As you ascend up the hill towards the house, you see a real estate sign in front of the house and your heart begins to race as you pull up to the front of the house to grab a flier from the "Take One" little plastic box. You marvel at the photographs of the remodeled and expanded kitchen (It used to be so small!) and then at the bottom of the page, you see the sad words. BANK OWNED FORECLOSURE!
You can't help but wonder if YOU are the cause of the whole messy thing...all because you'd sold that house for two thousand more than you paid for it.Could it all be my fault?
Friends tell me that the old place finally sold in foreclosure at $404,000...they're still talking about what a good deal the most recent buyers got on purchasing that foreclosed property...the one with the fabulous view, pool AND the newly remodeled and expanded kitchen that didn't even exist back in the 1960's.
We were talking about this the other evening and I'm sure you are all thinking the same thing as I was..."I wonder if I could have held out and got $21,000 for the old place?" Oh...isn't that exactly what you were thinking?
And yet...I digress!
The truth is that we are headed back into the days of property values increasing they way that they used to increase. Slowly and cautiously. We'll never again see the recipe that created this current real estate mess...and that's a good thing. The days of 20-30 percent home appreciation are over, at least in my lifetime...and in your lifetime too! Once the real estate economy has recovered to a point of stability, we'll again see the appropriate property value increases of 1-3 percent per year. That's what is realistic in the real world...it was a GOOD thing back in the 1960's and 1970's, nobody was complaining...including those who made the whopping $2,000 after owning a home for ten years...it was a windfall I tell you!
Property values WILL rise again...JUST like they used to!
Carol...still...wondering...what if I had held out for $21,000?
This is sort of important...it will help you look and sound MUCH better when out among the public...and perhaps when you are around your coworkers...maybe even your broker!
Today...the old lady (Me) wants to help you with a tiny issue that the majority of Realtors miss...and it makes you look and sound sort of...well...stupid!
I'm sure you don't want that!
They say that image is everything, and let me tell you, no matter how smartly you are dressed or how impeccably groomed, irregardless of how much you paid for that designer handbag or brief case...if you SAY SOMETHING STUPID...suddenly you'll be considered...less than bright.
Sadly, this mistake is made by most real estate agents when they speak.
You don't have to feel bad, much of the public makes the same mistake!
Still...a good number of folks do know how to pronounce a word...and this is where Realtors, as a group, slip down that slippery slope of sounding less than brilliant.
Imagine physicians referring to themselves as a PhysiciaR...or PhysiciaM.
We'd all laugh at them becaue they'd sound sort of stupid...right? Not to mention that if a Physican doesen't know how to pronounce their own occupation, it does less than promote a feeling of confidence...instead it leaves you scratching your head in bewilderment...and praying that they won't end up as your surgeon!
Well...it's time to spread the word with my brother and sister REALTORS that the proper pronunciation of the word REALTOR is just as it is spelled...now sound it out loud to yourself...
R E A L T O R
try that again....REAL...just pronounce that part of the word...real...real as in authentic...or the REAL deal!
Easy...right?
Here's the part that becomes a bit sketchy though.
Say Real (Say it out loud) and then add the remaining letters to that...TOR!
REAL+TOR
There is NO letter "I" in the word REALTOR, and yet many, many of you pronounce the word REALTOR as it if was spelled REALITOR! There is no "I" in the word...and no, there is no secret, hidden "I" it's never been pronounced or spelled with an "I" in the word...if you say REALiTOR, you are sounding a bit odd to anyone who knows how to spell or read. Unless, by some change you happen to be from Texias, Oklahomia, or perhaps Coloradi...heck folks, even people from up in Canidia know how to pronounce REALTOR!
Real sounds just like it is spelled, REAL and the TOR happens to rhyme with the words MORE or even DOOR...Real Tor.
No "I" anywhere in the word ...I promise.
Now wouldn't it be nice if you could properly pronounce your own occupation appropriately?
It's hard to thinkwhy anyone would want to buy or sell real estate through someone who can't even pronounce their own professional designation and membership!
It's just a thought, but it might even help the way the public perceives us when they take notice that suddenly, REALTORS know how to pronounce the word REALTOR!
Trust me...you'll sound a lot smarter too!
I want you to be your best, experience the greatest success...and to sound fairly bright along the way!
PS: by the way, no letter "I" in Realty either, just in case you work at a real estate office that contains that particular word...REAL-TY. The ability to pronounce the word should be an prerequisite to joining the National Association of Realtors...unless you are actually joining the National Association of REALiTORS which I have never heard of!
I'm a pretty optimistic person; in fact, you could say that I am quite optimistic and positive to the tune that it bothers a lot of naysayers. I, on the other hand, say to heck with naysayers anyway!
Locally I have seen quite a change in our real estate economy with homes selling in multiple offers again, and I am not talking about foreclosed or short sale properties, I am referring to median priced homes that had been taking 5-6 months to sell...just this week I was involved with one that had multiple offers within four hours of being listed, including some over asking price! Good solid properties priced right are flying into escrow here in some Southern California communities. That is a fairly reliable sign that our local marketplace is recovering and on the mend. A positive indicator indeed!
I stopped watching the news programs that preached doom and gloom and began spreading positive reinforcement that we will recover and be back on our feet again, we are Americans, and getting up on our feet is what we do...we've a history of pulling our nation up by the bootstraps...we can do it again.
I think about how horrible the GREAT DEPRESSION was, with the stock market crash, all the homeless and unemployed folks back then, only to be followed by the great dust-bowl drought when so many folks left their farms and migrated to populated areas where they begged for jobs, stood in lines that were miles long...just for a bite to eat, while leaving everything they had behind, lost farms, lost personal property and even some lost family members...but the one thing they didn't lose was HOPE for a better day.
It must have been horrible for those folks to find themselves broke, jobless, homeless, and virtually foreigners in their own land. But they did what Americans have always done, they pulled themselves up by the bootstraps (Bootstraps sometimes being the ONLY thing they had left) and they started over again.
I remember reading stories of bread lines and soup kitchens all over the nation, feeding the impoverished, as well as stories of neighbors looking out for each other, caring for one another. If anything, I hope that we all learn to be more compassionate and considerate to those who, unlike many during the great depression, find themselves in a similar predicament today.
It may sound like rhetoric, but we really are only as strong as our weakest link, and the time has arrived that we extend a hand to our hurting neighbor, and perhaps learn a lesson or two from those who came before us and survived hard times, those who experienced hard times and not only survived, but eventually thrived as they recovered and stood proudly on their own two feet, bootstraps pulled tightly!
That's what makes us responsible citizens and it is the authentic American way.
I know who we are, I have hope...and a little evidence...that we will rise again, and perhaps, with a lesson or two learned about how to prioritize and differentiate true priorities and being able to distinguish between wants and needs (BIG PROBLEM) while possessing a new and enthusiastic desire to get back to some of the basics that made this the country so highly desirable to the millions of souls who have immigrated to America during the past 200+ years.
We're Americans, we can...and we will recuperate and be even stronger; it's a part of who we are!
Click on the link below to view the CNN Money Magazine's Optimistic Economic Poll.
I've been hearing rumors and quiet stirrings about this for the past few weeks now, and it turns out to be true!
In fact, when a neighbor doesn't pay his mortgage payment or home owners dues, it very likely will keep you from getting a loan on your own home, and this goes for new purchases AND refinancing a property that you already own!
As outrageous as this sounds, as it turns out...it's sadly true!
To learn more, just click on the link below to read the full story as written in the Los Angeles Times.
There is a buyers stimulus package available to first time buyers AND former homeowners who have not owned a home within the past 36 months here in California. Up to $8,000.00 tax credit originating from the Federal Government and an additional $10,000.00 from the State of California, if you are buying a house or condo in the State of California, a total of $18,000.00!
I would imagine that other states are offering their own version of a buyers stimulus package.
You can read all about the qualification guidelines at the link below:
Would love to have feedback on what other States are offering buyers, It probably varies much between regions and states that have been hit hardest with the foreclosure mess.
I so enjoy it when any hard working Realtor achieves success. But when it happens to a woman, a single mom at that, well...it warms my heart.
I so agree with Barbara that when you get over the fear of making mistakes, when you stop being afraid to try new things...because...its then, that the doors to success open up...it was that way with me.
Even when I did experience failures, I could still recall what my previous successes tasted like and how it felt, I had it stored in my memory bank and that let me know that it was possible...again. So I never quit trying...even when things were extremely bad in the real estate market.
Yes...things have been pretty gosh darn difficult in the world of real estate before this current chaos was dumped into our laps, historically the real estate market morphed and was good again, then bad, then good again, and then not so good, again! It is that type of repetitive and historical adjustments that take place in the real estate market that triggered someone to coin the phrase...Real Estate Market...and not unlike the STOCKMARKET that continually fluctuates...thus goes the world in real estate market.
How many people do you think could, or would buy a home in a climate when the average home loan was at 16-18 percent for a 30 year fixed rate? (Some were in the 20 percent range!) Back then, we were all wishing, hoping and of dreaming of the good old days when mortgages were low...as in only...9%.
Back then it was crazy days...mixed with some extremely sleepless nights!
I was always reinventing myself and the way I managed my personal real estate practice...until the Internet came along and someone told me to get a website. I sort of thought THATwas a wacky idea, back then...now...not so much!
Fast forward a few decades and let me tell you, those historically high interest rates don't matter so much today, in fact, today, interest rates have been lingering around record low levels. The low interest rates alone were a shot in the arm in the real estate market, pumping blood back into an industry that nearly stopped breathing altogether compared to the way things had been when the interest rates went through the roof as high as cats backs!
Yes there are obstacles to buying and selling real estate in today's climate, but I have to tell you that properties are selling, and they are not just the foreclosures littering the marketplace that sell...real homes and every day folks continue to enter into and complete transactions.
When you think that THIS current market is bad, remember that not unlike a bowling ball sized kidney stone, with help, this too shall pass!
Now...if someone else can achieve that, so too can you, it just takes effort and consistency and perhaps thinking outside the proverbial box a bit.
Years ago, I read somewhere that 10 percent of the agents are responsible for 90 percent of real estate transactions, and that the remaining 90 percent of Realtors had to scratch their way into their share of the 10 percent of business that remained. Not a pretty fact, but still...today...that fact remains, 10 percent of the active agents are responsible for 90 percent of the real estate sales.
I knew exactly which group I WANTED to be included in, but I was also sadly aware of the group that I currently held membership in...and yikes...that was the other group.
Enjoy the video link below, showing exactly what is possible to accomplish, and take advantage of the slower market to spend a few moments reinventing yourself, your systems and your ideas about what you can really accomplish in this industry...even in the current marketplace, you just need to look at the positive angles, they do exist.
Click on the link below to watch the video interview.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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