I don't want to be hokey or anything, but there are some times when I have a quiet moment and my brain starts to relax and think about all the amazing experiences that being in real estate has afforded me. I have almost 11 years of anecdotes about really bad or stinky or scary houses and I have tons of tales about uninformed buyers or crazy sellers or interesting agents. But the little moments where you really see inside of someones actions and see humankind peeking through are the moments that really resonate with me.

Several years ago I decided to take the classes to upgrade to a Broker's License. After a particularly inspiring class I jotted down a few phrases in my notebook and I just ran across these notes that sort of summed it up for me.

Every day is different and I love that about my job.

People have a tendency to act in ways that exceed my expectations whether in their ability to do good hearted things or things that further their self interest at a cost to others.

I find that nothing really surprises me. I am ready for anything to be behind the door or in the basement or to come out of someone's mouth.

I was also a bartender for many years so I guess I tend to have jobs that lend themselves to observing human nature, but I would love to hear what you have to say.

What has real estate taught you about human nature? About life? 

This morning was full of lightning and thunder. It made me want to show some houses. I don't know if it's just me, but I love showing homes in the rain.

When I take clients out in the rain, we can see if the roof is working properly. Not just the roof, but the gutters and downspouts as well. We can see where the water pools in the yard and makes muddy puddles. And we can see where the water flows and if that is where we would want it to flow.

Sometimes you get really wet showing homes in the rain. Your hair gets wet and your shoes get soaked. Your car gets wet and muddy. But the amount a buyer can learn in that tour is worth the clean-up.

So get your umbrella out and let's go show some houses.

Recent changes to our local Regional Sales Contract have taken the property condition warranty from buyers and have lowered the standard for the transfer of all resale properties to those of foreclosures and other "as-is" properties. Although this change was made to remove the conflict that occurs when negotiating home inspection repairs, this anti-consumer change is designed to shrink the gap between traditional home sales and foreclosure sales, a market that some agents fear will hit the market in the coming years.

As an exclusive buyer agent, I find this change appalling.

1. The DC real estate market is one of the strongest in the country. Changing what is included in every property devalues all homes in the DC real estate market. If you had a choice of purchasing a home where the seller guarantees that all plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems as well as all appliances are working or a home that is sold “as-is” which would you choose? Which would you pay more to own?

2. If more and more DC area home buyers purchase “as-is”properties because it is the new norm, we should be seeing more foreclosures. Buyers will be walking into homes that need repairs and therefore, immediate additional costs to the buyer.

3. Under the new sales contract, listings will not have to reflect the fact that the home is "as-is", but the offer that agents write will make all homes "as-is" This will make researching comparable sales more difficult for consumers. You might say that agents will navigate the buyers through this properly, but most agents who work with buyers are also working for the sellers. It may not be the same person, but it can be their partner, their co-worker, their team leader. How will a broker who represents both parties evaluate the price of a property? Will they let them know that all home sold before 1/1/2012 included a seller warranty that that all systems and appliances were in working order and that those afterwards do not? Evaluating the comparable pricing of homes is a very important part of the pricing process. Will consumers doing their research online be aware of this huge change?

4. Lenders do not allow cash credits for repairs. They make buyers and sellers pretend that it is a seller closing cost credit so they don't have to re-appraise the property as less valuable than it would be if everything was working. But that is what it is - less valuable. This will affect all buyers purchasing a home with a mortgage, especially those with loans with limits on the amount of allowable closing cost credit. This means all buyers using FHA loans and most loans where the buyer puts less than 20% down. It will limit the amount the purchaser can receive from the seller and cap the amount the buyer can receive for repairs that the seller has traditionally been responsible for making.

5. So who wants this change? Home buyers certainly wouldn’t vote to have this change. Home sellers who maintain their homes do not want to sell their homes “as-is” so they sell at the same level as the foreclosures. Exclusive Buyer Agents don’t want to see this change. Maybe banks, who have trouble selling their “as-is” foreclosure properties like this idea. Do listing agents? Who decided to lower the standard at which all homes would be conveyed to match that of foreclosure homes?

This horrible change to the Regional Sales Contract is something that buyers will really need to pay attention to at all stages in the home buying process. My advice - ask your agent about this change and use an exclusive buyer agent who is legally looking out for your interest.

Dana Hollish Hill

Vice President, Buyer’s Edge Company, Inc.

Representing People, Not Properties

cell 202.271.5301   web Hollish.com

Montgomery County is conveniently located next to Washington DC, the nation's capital and seat of government. Unlike other areas of the of the country that are experiencing high unemployment, this area seems to have stayed employed during this recession. Many attribute this to the largest largest employer - the government. Whatever the reason, Montgomery County has seen a growth in population. 

Stephen Israel, President and Broker of Buyer’s Edge Company, Inc. announced the launch of a new website – WWW.BUYDCCONDOS.COM - developed as a tool for people looking to purchase a condo in DC. The website includes descriptions and videos of DC’s neighborhoods and expert evaluations of the condos within those neighborhoods. Each condo page includes the information that buyers want– Condo Fees, Parking Availability, Pet Policies, Laundry, Walkability and Amenities. A blog for each building offers an opportunity for current owners and those knowledgeable about individual buildings to make comments, giving the condo buyer a look into what people really think about different properties.

“We are in the unique position to provide open and honest expert condo evaluations because we are never in the position of representing a seller of these properties,” said Dana Hollish Hill, Vice President, Buyer’s Edge. “And by allowing visitors to the site to add their feedback about the condo buildings in a blog format, we see this site as an open forum on DC condos.”

BuyDcCondos.com for the Lowdown on Downtown

The National Association of Realtors put out a pretty detailed brochure highlighting the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Altrnatives Program (HAFA). It can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/yanu885. It is a summary of the 43 page plan that the Obama Administration put out in November.

My question is - will it change the short sale process for the better? What do you think?

I have been digging around trying to find an answer for one of my clients who is not a first-time home buyer, but a second-time home buyer. He is wondering if he is eligible for the tax credit in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 There is a lot of very vague language about eligibility for this category for buyer. Some criteria mention vacating the first property while others mention selling it.

In this particular case, my client is transferring jobs from one part of the country to another. He is buying a property here, but keeping and renting his other property. He truly is changing his primary residence, but he doesn't want to sell his first property now because he may return there one day.

Is he eligible for the $6500 tax credit if he meets all of the other criteria? Or does he have to sell his other home to be eligible?

One of my co-workers was trying to find out what terms other people are using when referring to McMansions and I thought this might be the perfect place to conduct a quick survey to see what kind of list we could generate.  It might be interesting to see if different parts of the country have different terms,

I'll start and I hope you will add to my list.

McMansion, Hummer House, Monster House,..

I received this info in an email and thought I would share it with my fellow agents. Driving clients to see homes has become very expensive. Maybe this will help.

Gas by Zip Code
 
This is pretty nifty.  Just enter your zip code in the site below, and it tells you which gas stations have the cheapest prices (and the highest) on gas in your zip code area. It's updated every evening!   Just click on the link.  You will see a map of your area and then scroll down and you will get a listing of gas prices in your area with addresses and brands starting with the cheapest and going up.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx
Be a good neighbor and pass this along.

You may have already seen this, but if not it is worth a read. It may even be a great piece to forward to your buyer clients. He really spells out what we would all like our clients to know.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/beware-home-sellers-freebies/story.aspx?guid=%7B14D0CD77-0F21-47F3-B1B9-EC1F82CBD8A3%7D

Hope you find it useful!

Dana Hill