Recently, a representative for a bank was trying to get me to refer business to her. She and I corresponded back and forth and finally, I said, "I think banks are dumb." (I was referring to a specific incident where a bank could not qualify a client for a loan, but a mortgage broker got creative (in a good way) and advised the clients just what to do (sell a car to raise more cash for the down payment). We got a CalHFA loan and the clients are happily in their home. In that case, the bank did their automatic underwriting and rejected the client. There was absolutely no counseling the client as to how they might improve their qualification picture. So I made the comment to the bank rep trying to win my business that I think "banks are dumb."
But that is not the first time I have thought that. I actually have a phobia I have identified as "fear of banks," which is related totally to bank incompetence.
I first remember thinking banks are dumb several years ago when I was at a bank for what I thought of was regular business (I think I was opening a trust account for my grandson). I walked up to one of the desks on the side, explained what I wanted to do, and the "dumb" process began. The bank representative got up and walked from one end of the bank to the other. Slowly. Very slowly. I had witnessed this slow walking every time I had been in the bank and thought how utterly ridiculous it was. At this particular time (some ten or more years ago), there was not a computer to be seen in the bank. Being that the bank was smack in the heart of Silicon Valley, I couldn't help but think how absurd this omission was. The bank was all about standing, waiting, and the personnel walking from one end of the bank to the other whenever any business was to be conducted. The total systems incompetence infuriated me. I couldn't help but wonder about about consultant advice they must have just ignored.
I can really get myself whipped into a lather when I start thinkng about the archaic systems and the sheer arrogance of most banks to remain such dinosaurs . . . not to mention the fact that THEY ARE IN BUSINESS BECAUSE WE GIVE THEM OUR MONEY TO MANAGE! Every time I have to go into a bank to set up an account and am met with incompentence or a clueless attitude I know they have forgotten how they got into their super powerful positions.
Someone asked me last week what a good alternative to a bank is and I said "mattress," half jokingly. I seriously think corporate bank business needs to be reformed and needs to modernize and get a real clue that the ONLY reason they are in business is because WE GIVE THEM OUR MONEY TO USE!
Check out this amazing listing. Resident Owned Park, 55+. Newer model unit (2008). Low HOA fees ($110), Resort-like Facilities . . . Pool, Hot Tub, Workout Room/Library/Billiards, Putting Green, More! Close to everything. Walk to Capitola Village, THE BEACH, the mall . . . Excellent location. Capitola Lifestyle!
Edward Porter was "Soquel's first merchandiser." Ned Porter's store reportedly sold "groceries, drygoods, and hardware with hard liquor a sideline." The source of this quote (noted below) says the store was located where "Angell's store is today," but since the book was written in 1941, I am not sure where that might be. If you know, please email me or call me.
(Source for all of the above: Rowland, Leon. 1941. Santa Cruz County. Local Author Collection, Santa Cruz Public Library.)
One day I noticed that Soquel Ave., between Branciforte & Morrissey Blvd. seemed somehow brighter, more vibrant - it was like it happened overnight, although I am sure that is not the case. After doing a little research, I found that this stretch comes under the Santa Cruz Redevelopment AgencyStorefront Improvement plans to update neighborhood aesthetics. About the same time I noticed these improvements, I also read somewhere that the issue of redevelopment is a controversial one - gentrification concerns . . .
Aesthetically, I personally appreciate the new look of the neighborhood and believe that whatever brings people together in community will have positive benefit. The area is like a second downtown, with a variety of businesses, cafes & restaurants.
I have been thinking about places that are well loved (Capitola, Carmel & San Francisco, come to mind) and although very different from each other, these aesthetically pleasing locales seem to have several traits in common: Interesting architecture, a seemingly innate reverence for the importance of "community" & how that plays out in architecture - and a design aesthetic that translates to qualities of "charm" and "character".
In the 1960's when strip malls seem to have been invented, ugly was the design default. I don't know how the architects who "designed" those monstrosities can sleep at night - their horrible "creations" actually negatively impacted the people who had to live in and among the bland, blocky, uninteresting buildings - masses & blobs of concrete, blacktop, flattop, gray, drab, dreary, hopeless-looking structures . . . In contrast, many places that are considered desirable have kept architectural integrity in the forefront and seem to have been designed with community in mind, with actual thought given to how buildings fit into the larger scheme of people's lives. Buildings reflect an area's values. We design them, and they design us, in return - they impact the way we live & ultimately, who we are and how we function in the particular community. I believe architecture & design *should* be taught in school, but then the schools would have to be aesthetically pleasing - that's a whole other rant . . .
Just by coincidence, awhile back I met Richard Beal, the author of Highway 17 (1991 The Pacific Group, Aptos, CA). When I got back to my office, I pulled the book off the shelf and began thumbing through it. What a gold mine of local history! I saw that the year I graduated high school (no hints) there were 36 fatalities on "17!" (I don't think my parents knew that, otherwise, why would they allow a crazy teenager to regularly drive over the hill?). According to Beal, Harvey West was responsible for installing "gory billboards" up on 17 - complete with red day-glo images of skeletons & coffins, as a way to discourage unsafe drivers. It seems to have worked!
I get nostalgic every time I read about the towns of Alma and Lexington being flooded to create Lexington Reservoir. I seriously wish history had unfolded differently. I miss those towns I never knew! It's also interesting to look at the old maps & pictures of the Santa Cruz Mountains & the various routes from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz & imagine how it once was from the days of Mountain Charlie to eccentric Riker's Holy City. . .
No, I am not going to brag in the usual way about how wonderfully different I am, but I am going to differentiate myself from the status quo huckster mentality.
When I was a marketing rep for corporations, I had a particular problem: I had to believe in what I was selling. I figured out a way to do that and as long as I could sincerely do that, I could make my marketing calls, recruit business relationships, and sell the services of the companies I represented. Some companies were easier than others to represent. But I always had to believe in the culture, as much as was possible, and the services which I was promoting.
There came a point when I could no longer justify a company's services relative to the dollar amount customers were paying for those services. At that point, I had to cut ties and move on to something I could believe in.
Real estate seemed like the next logical career, as it combined my marketing experience with my love of architecture and design and I was spoiled being a marketing rep and liked the variety of never having two days that were the same.
But I didn't realize real estate sales was so traditional in its theory. I hadn't seen Glengarry Glen Ross yet. One of the first companies I worked for insisted that agents knock on doors, literally grab people at an open house and lead them into the home by the elbow (I could never do that), and spout canned scripts for every ocassion. There was a rookie in the "bull pen" (the bowels of the office where the rookies had to go until they proved themselves by doing six deals within a certain time frame), and I will never forget this one guy. He would dial a number and then read off a script in the most stilted way possible. When he was not on the phone, he was playing sales tapes . . . without the benefit of an ear plug. I had to break it to him that that was not going to fly in such a small space with agents crammed in every nook and cranny.
I know many agents who are incredibly successsful spouting scripts, advertising in the dinosaur newspaper that they are the best thing since sliced bread, etc. The corny and cheesy sales methods do work - but they work on corny and cheesy clients, whom I would just as soon avoid.
I prefer to work with "real" people as opposed to those who are easily impressed by fancy cars, slick sales tactics or other tacky sales methods. My dream client is someone who is genuine themselves and who appreciates quality and creativity. I have been very lucky to have had some very cool clients and hope to attract many more. I love not knowing who you are going to know next year! I love the mystery and unpredictable-ness of it all.
To me, real estate is not just about making money. It is about doing something I happen to have a natural liking and affinity for and meeting and assisting people I like.
Last Tuesday, another Realtor friend and I went to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf for dinner at Stagnaro's. It was really wonderful and even more wonderful because many restaurants on the wharf have specials for locals on Tuesdays. (Some dinner selections for $9.99). Neither one of us had the specials but it was really fun to eat on the wharf and we did get complimentary parking, which was a fantastic bonus. It's really nice that the wharf honors locals.
After dinner I insisted on stopping at Marini'sfor some candy. I can't help it. It's too good to pass up. It was a very nice summer night at the beach. I wanted to go on the roller coaster, but my dinner partner was a party pooper and had to rush home, so I will have to wait to get my roller coaster fix.
My middle daughter ran the Wharf to Wharf Race for the second time, a 5.8 mile run, which goes from the Municipal Wharf in Santa Cruz to Capitola. After the race, she and her friend walked to my house, not too far from Capitola Beach, where I snapped this picture.
She looks pretty pleased with herself! I am proud of her. I was safely & snugly in my house, thinking about all of the people running on the awesome coast, while I lounged about, fiddling around with my blog.
The first Wharf to Wharf Race was in 1973, just a few years before Amber was born! Not 300 people raced in that first race, compared to today's 15,000 official racers.
The race benefits local school and sports organizations and sells out early!
Ok, that was a long-winded title. But I didn't mean to irritate you. No, really!!! (Poor attempt at passive aggressive humor.) I have an advanced degree in psychology, but it hasn't helped me one iota in dealing with passive-aggressive people I run across in real estate, particularly agents. In fact, I first learned of passive aggressive behavior in a relationship. It was the most insidious, difficult behavior to cope with, because the passive-aggressor never admits that they are doing any "crazy-making" behaviors (part of the syndrome).
The lycrics to the Temptations "Smiling Faces" comes to mind:
". . . Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend. Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within . . ."
Per the Mayo Clinic: "Passive-Aggressive behavior is a pattern of expressing your negative feelings in an indirect and often obstructive way - instead of openly addressing them."
Previous to my career in real estate, I did marketing for corporations. I am sure there were passive-aggressive personalities lurking amongst the folks I interacted with, but the corporate culture must have inspired them not to act out too blatantly because I don't remember having the kinds of problems I have run into in my real estate career.
My complaint is that some agents are just plain unprofessional. I first suspected I might have a problem when the agent I was in escrow with suddenly refused to return my calls or emails and left me wondering how to accomplish the goal of closing a transaction, single-handedly.
The interaction with this agent sent me to the Realtor's Code of Ethics. Yep, we have agreed to abide by the Golden Rule in our business dealings, and we are supposed to hold ourselves to the standard of "Fair and Honest Dealing." And no, this agent apparently missed that lecture at the Board or was sick the day we had to sign the acknowledgment that we agreed to abide by those tenents.
In case you think I am an insufferable stickler for "the rules," I do try to live my life in accordance with certain standards and when I fail, I try to own up to it and make any necessary corrections or amends. I am far, far from perfect, but this is not about me, it is about other agents who give good agents a bad name. Agents who think nothing of wasting my time, my client's time, the client's mortgage broker's time, the client's lender's time, or my broker or their broker's time, not to mention their own clients. That's a minimum of ten people's time that is wasted in phone calls, emails, loss of sleep, worrying, trying to figure out, trying to guess what is going on, surmising this, surmising that. All because an unprofessional business person, agent in this case, won't return phone calls or emails. And there is nothing that can be done about it.
Passive-Aggressive behavior is said to be the result of pent up childhood rage. The child often learned that it was not safe to express their anger, so they learned to let it leak out sideways, mostly unconsciously, but often consciously. Their unprocessed rage is like a poison that attaches to any irritation. People who aggravate or irritate them in any small way, are treated to a full dose of obstructive antics such as dragging their feet, not returning phone calls, employing sarcasm, and a full array of anti-social behaviors. And they won't own up to any of it. They will smile at you and hate you to the core.
I recently called this agent who won't return my calls or emails and caught them off guard (called from an unidentified phone). They actually answered. As SOON as I identified myself they said, "Can I call you right back?" I asked them if they wanted us to cancel and they said, "If you want, Debbie." I said my clients wanted answers and they said, "Can I call you back? and I said "Yes," gritting through my teeth and hung up. Of course they never called me back. How much easier it would have been to say, "We are having a problem with 'x'" or "we will be delayed a few days,"or something like that, but instead, we have no explanation and no clue what is going on. And this has been going on for six weeks so far and shows no sign of resolving, My buyers are just incredulous.
It makes you wonder about a person's values, and how they manage to be successful in this career, having such a poor work ethic. It makes you wonder what you could have done to have affected a different outcome . I can honestly say I can't think of anything short of not working with this agent. I had no idea this was going to transpire. I can tell you that if I ever have buyers who want to bid on one of this agent's properties, I will refer them to work with them directly. I wouldn't want to wish working with them on any agent I value in terms of a referral. Unfortunately, if that happens, they will benefit, monetarily, but it is worth it to me not to be in the position of making my life completely miserable for months, for no good reason. I do feel so sorry for their clients.
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.
4160 Jade St., #56, Capitola, CA 95010
The lycrics to the Temptations "
Passive-Aggressive behavior is said to be the result of pent up childhood rage. The child often learned that it was not safe to express their anger, so they learned to let it leak out sideways, mostly unconsciously, but often consciously. Their unprocessed rage is like a poison that attaches to any irritation. People who aggravate or irritate them in any small way, are treated to a full dose of obstructive antics such as dragging their feet, not returning phone calls, employing sarcasm, and a full array of anti-social behaviors. And they won't own up to any of it. They will smile at you and hate you to the core.
;)
;)
