This is the mission of Oregon Exclusive Buyers Realty...

When the listing agent called me back after receiving the offer I submitted for my buyer, he called it an "anomaly."

He must have felt he was being transported into a space-time continuum in an Alternate Universe...

"I've never seen anything like this before! You are totally giving the buyer the advantage."

I took it as a compliment.

I explained that I am an Exclusive Buyer Agent - that I do indeed represent my buyer and their position 100%. What sort of buyer agent would I be if I wrote up offers giving the seller the advantage? I am contracted in writing to my buyer. It the listing agent's job to represent the seller, mine to represent the buyer.

The sales agreement is the place to start, the buyer begins the process, the buyer brings the money to the table, the buyer makes a seller. Without the buyer, there are just people who own homes and real estate agents without paychecks. It is always about the buyer for me. I never forget without buyers, there is NO real estate market. The buyer begins the dialogue, the seller can respond in ways that meet their needs. We work though a process and ultimately arrive where both parties are in their comfort zones.

In my Universe the offers I write are NOT anomalies. They are always about the buyer and their needs and protecting their interests. My company is expert at that. Every clause of verbiage in our sale agreements has been taken down to the Real Estate Agency in Salem, Oregon and approved for use in meeting our buyers requirements.

The one area the listing agent had never seen and was particularly perplexed with was our use of a promissory note for earnest money, to be redeemed after buyer's satisfaction with the inspection and after buyer's satisfaction with agreed upon repairs, if any, have been completed. The whole agreement for the sale hinges on the condition and repair of the property because that makes sense for the buyer.

Why should any buyer give earnest money to a seller when the seller hasn't shown the buyer the underlying condition of the property by producing their own inspection? Most sellers don't have a current evaluation of their property. They expect the buyer to pay for an inspection.

Of course, the buyer will get their own inspection, and that is where they begin the process to show their earnestness toward the sellers. They pay out-of-pocket, right at the beginning, with no guarantee the property will pass muster. I've had buyers pay for the inspection on a beautifully dressed interior and find out every underlying system was lacking. They walk away with money out of their pocket. They certainly were earnest enough about the property to go that far. Why should they put any money in escrow if there is even a remote possibility of that happening and no agreement ever being made?

There IS NO sale agreement until after the inspection discovery period. There is nothing to be earnest about until the buyer knows the property is in good repair, and if not, will be brought into good repair. If a seller doesn't want to do this, then they need to list the property "as is" and price accordingly.

Yes, the way we represent buyers may be an anomaly to the Universe many listing agents and sellers inhabit. But as Exclusive Buyer Agency continues to expand, my company will continue to educate both buyers, sellers and listing agents, that there is a new way to approach things. We will continue to move boldly forward to a new place where buyers' interests and their position are honored and protected and doing so is no longer considered an anomaly.

My goal is to "Beam Up" all buyers to that place with every offer I write.

Trek on!

I was at the end of a very long day of showing rural properties to a family from out-of-state. This day came on the end of several very long days of showing property across several counties. (By the end of the week, I'd have over 800 miles on my car.) We went into the house and the 13-year-old daughter made it to the main bath before the rest of it. I heard her call out, "There's a mouse in the bath tub!" 

When I got there, I saw there were actually two mice in the bathtub... Well, one mouse and what was left of another mouse. One was dead and had been dead for quite some time, from the state of his remains. The other one was barely alive. It wasn't one of those snively, skinny nosed city mice, it was the cute little fluffy, big-eyed, round-eared field mice like you'd find in a children's picture book that could talk and perhaps do other amazing things. But this mouse was barely alive and quite silent. He was hungry, thirsty and there was no telling how long he'd been there. He was in bad shape.

I now went from showing a home as an Exclusive Buyer Agent, to wildlife conservator. I switched roles and did something I never do...set down my purse.

I went outside and found a bucket, and I found a kleenex box and gently pushed the mouse into the bucket. The whole family went outside to witness the cute little mouse, his release back into the wild and what would happen next. Someone ran to the car to get food - Chex mix. The mouse began to eat to the delight and relief of everyone. (He was awfully cute.)

This was at the end of a very long day of viewing homes. It was about 8 pm, we hadn't stopped for dinner and I hated to admit it, but I was feeling in about as good of shape as that little mouse. My clients told me they had seen all they needed. It wasn't the right house, so I locked it up, we had a brief pow wow about the next day's activities and we drove down the long dusty, gravel road back towards town, food and stronger cell phone signals.

Since I'd been away from home over 12 hours, I decided to call my husband and tell him I was on my way home....but I couldn't find my purse. I pulled the car over and realized what had happened. My clients were behind me, and I flagged them over to tell them my purse had become separated from my body when I went from "Exclusive Buyer Agent" to "Mouse Savior." I told them to go ahead and go, I'd figure something out, but could I please use their phone to call for help.

My wonderful clients said, "No, we will not leave you alone out here at dusk. We'll go back to the house. We'll find a way in." (I did call the listing agent but was unable to reach her.)

When we got there, we found a window that was cracked open. We decided we could hoist one of the girls through the window. The 13-year-old was a little hesistant, but the little sister cheered her big sister on, "You're just like a ninja! You can do it!"

My purse was retrieved, the house was buttoned up tighter than we found it, the mouse had revived on chex mix and was on his way. I was embarrased for setting my purse down, but was relieved about a fairly quick reversal of the situation. I'd just experienced a memorable adventure, learned a lesson and was the recipient of the kindess of my clients and their concern for me. The girls had a great "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" story and we'd eliminated yet another house from the list of possibilities.

The lesson that was brought home to me was to always make sure I have my purse, my key, my cell phone, and return to the role of Exclusive Buyer Agent, at the end when I"m locking up the home, no matter what new role I might discover and have to fall into  when I enter a home.

A cautionary tale with a happy ending for everyone...well, for at least one mouse.

My principal broker had an offer on a short sale and it took three months before it finally crashed and burned. He was able to find another home for his buyer, but this attempt took valuable time, created stress and ultimately didn't serve anyone.

I have heard that the process for short sales is supposed to improve and I had first hand evidence of that this week. I submitted an offer on a short sale and the listing agent, who is very experienced in short sales got the paperwork to the bank right away. He called the next day to check and see if any additional documents were needed and he was surprised beyond belief to find out that the bank (Bank of America) has already assigned a contact person and he said, "I have his name! I have his phone number! I have his email address!"

We are hoping that our good offer will be acceptable to the bank and that this short sale won't be a long time in coming. We are hopeful it will be 30 to 60 days. We are already light years ahead of the game from the last one I attempted a few months ago.

So don't give up on short sales. They may not be as long in coming as they have been in past months.

It was in my purse... then one day it wasn't. My GPS... GONE!!!

I wasn't sure when the "wasn't" part occurred. Just know that when I went to use it, it wasn't there.

I searched the car, the house, the car, the house and I could not find it. I offered my childen a $20 reward fro the darned thing and they couldn't find it, even with the monetary incentive.

I remembered it being in my purse on Friday and then it not being there on Tuesday. So somewhere in that timeframe, said GPS disappeared.

I didn't mention the missing $400 electronic necessity to my husband because I was sure I would be able to find it. I retraced my steps and called the grocery store and restaurant I'd visited on Friday, but to no avail. I could not believe this happened to me. I'm careful with my purse - I view it like a piece of my heart - if something happens to it - my life pretty much stops. So I have intense radar around my purse and I know I did not give anyone a chance to pilpher said device.

I got an email from my principal broker late Friday evening in which she wrote, "And you can use your GPS to find this address."  A sick feeling swept over me. I would not be using my GPS because I'd exhausted all the possibilities. When I get to that point, I turn it over to the Universe-The Higher Power-Angels, whataver it is that works for each of us, no matter what our specific beliefs are...

I decided to write my principal broker and ask for some heavenwards thoughts from her for my plight. As I wrote explaining that I could not explain how my GPS could just evaporate into nothing, I had the weirdest thing happen. A weird sensory experience began to occurr and I felt myself back at a house I was previewing last Saturday morning. The key box was on the hose spigot far away from the front door behind an unruly hedge. I felt myself transported back to the moment I went to return the key and the sensation of the hedge rubbing me out and feeling my purse tip at a bad angle as I bent over to replace the key...

In that instant I KNEW that is where the GPS made its escape from my purse. This epiphany occured just before the stroke of midnight... The house was only 1.5 miles from my place and I also KNEW I would not sleep with this new knowledge coursing through my angst-ridden mind. I grabbed my 15 year-old-daughter and she grabbed her best flashlight and off we went. I figured if someone thought we were prowling, I'd just give them a card!

We went over and looked extensively but did not find the GPS. Still I KNEW it had been there. I got home and emailed the listing agent, who I had just starting working with on another offer earlier in the week. I asked if any agents had reported finding one and went to bed, still not quite able to sleep. My husband had gone to bed and I took the opportunty of finding him only partially concious to tell him about the missing GPS. It was a great strategy.

Waking up this morning to an email from my friendly listing agent telling me that another agent had found and reported my missing GPS was a great way to start the day. (Along with a much awaited appraisal coming in at what it needed to...yes, a really great way to start the day.) The only caveat was the day after I dropped the GPS we had the most torential downpour in recent weather history. I don't think I've ever witnessed in raining like that in July in the 20 years I've lived in Salem, Oregon.The agent said when she found it, the water was pouring out of it.

Still, it was found and I eagerly went to retrieve it. I gave this wonderfully, honest and kind agent a reward, which she tried to decline, but graciously took when she found out it was a Starbucks gift card and I insisted she enjoy some coffees on me. I pushed the button and it sprang to life.

My faith is many things was restored through this experience and I know that I can call on the powers to be to help me find the things I need, including the ability to really appreciate the goodness in people and the connections we all share.

The long awaited article by Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Timiroas was finally published today on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Chickens In The Yard and the city of Salem are big news in the Urban Chicken movement thanks to the efforts of Barbara Polermo and other chicken supporters in our community.

Read the article and watch the video here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124761681413642361.html

I have written about the Urban Hen Movement before and have been part of trying to make it legal for those who would like to have a few backyard hens as pets and for more control over their food. Whether you support backyard hens or not, there is no denying that interest in the issue is sweeping the nation as people start to be more cognizant of food choices and the impact these choices have on our health and the health of the planet.  The book Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan outlines how our choices have far-reaching effects.

http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore.php

It was also interesting this morning that the Statesman Journal's "Life" section had an entire piece on eggs and how they are a healthy food, that was maligned through bad research and lack of knowledge on what causes high cholesterol in humans. (Trans fats appear to be the big culprit according to latest accounts.)

So it appears we have a lot to cluck about with this issue taking front and center with an internationally known publication. Eggstra, eggstra read all about it in the Wall Street Journal! (If you think my puns are bad, read the ones in the WSJ. :-)

This has lead to other communities contacting C.I.T.Y. to offer their support as we move forward in getting the ordinance changed in a way that will allow both sides of the issue to find a workable solution.

Workable solutions so that people have freedom to do what they would like to do in their yards and gardens in Salem, the way that citizens in other communities do, and safeguards so that neighbors who aren't crazy about the idea, or actually HATE chickens will not be impacted beyond their irritation that others are doing something they don't like.

Thank you to the city councilors and Mayor of Salem for considering this issue that is important to many people.

Real estate is a referral business. There is no doubt about that. But do you as a consumer know how it really works? Let me tell you a little story that happened to me this week.

I received a lead and contacted the prospective client and told him I had received his lead from a company in another state. Later when we talked, we hit it off and connected right away. We talked about what he needed and I told him how I could help him. As we talked he said, "I'm confused. I didn't contact you from another state. I contacted you directly from your website." Well, that confused me because I knew he didn't come from our website. He said that he clicked on his town and our company info came up and he contacted us directly.

This was a smart and educated man. He had been reading a book for first-time home buyers and he knew he needed an Exclusive Buyer Agent before he even began looking at properties. So he did a search for an Exclusive Buyer Agent in his Oregon town and proceeded.

He wanted to know more about the referral site he went to. Well, I have nothing to hide - I'm an Exclusive Buyer Agent - if I know something, my prospective clients, and clients know it too. (I'm about as transparent as they come.)I shared that when a lead comes in through this site, I have to pay a 20% referral fee.

This man was furious. He sent me the link to the page he "contacted us" from and I looked on the referral site and saw that what was presented to him looked like a direct connection to our company. I could understand why he was upset, I was upset too. (The company doing this was set up years ago before I began to work with my real estate company. I had never seen what they were doing.)

My prospective client was very upset that someone in another state had taken his name in a way that he felt was deceptive. He was angry that part of my commission would be given to someone in another state who did nothing more than harvest his name and not provide any real, personal service to him. He was upset that this money would leave our local economy and go somewhere else. He was angry and disappointed.

Real estate IS a referral business. The lead site is doing nothing legally wrong. (I do believe that the site should not imply to visitors they are contacting someone directly when they are not, but that is another issue.) The bottom line here is that consumers don't understand how referrals in real estate work and if they did, they would do things differently -at least this man would have because of his strong feeling about the matter.

Other clients who came from this same site were disappointed when they heard we would be paying a referral fee to this same site. One of them lived two miles away from our office and came through this well optimized site. It is my motivation to do an even better job with my marketing so clients can find me directly. Honestly, that is what all real estate agents and Exclusive Buyer Agents want - to be found directly and avoid referral fees. But in the end, we pay for and ask for referral fees when we receive or send business other agent's direction. Some real estate agents have figured this is an easy way to make money and only work the Internet trying to harvest names to send to other real estate agents or Exclusive Buyers Agents and never work directly with clients in any way.

If you want to keep local dollars in your local economy and you want to make sure the real estate agent, or in my case Exclusive Buyer Agent, doesn't have to pay a referral fee to someone out of state, to someone who really didn't do anything but have a great website for harvesting names, dig a little deeper and contact the REALTOR (R) directly by phone. If there is not direct phone number to the company, you can be sure that you are not contacting them directly. A referral site will always put a filter between you and the real estate agent or Exclusive Buyer Agent. An agent's website will also have a very different look to it. Here is what my custom website looks like: www.OregonExclusiveBuyersRealty.com

A directory site is a great place to start a search, but if you don't want your future real estate agent, or Exclusive Buyer Agent to pay a referral fee to someone you have never spoken to or have a connection with, don't give them your information. Not everyone cares about this to the level the man I spoke with did, but if you do - don't give your information to a directory site. Not every real estate agent or Exclusive Buyer Agent is listed in every directory site. Just search a little farther down the search pages to find a local connection. Come to Active Rain and find a local agent as well.

The man I spoke with was so upset about this situation he contacted the Oregon Real Estate Agency. He was a socially conscious individual and he was offended by becoming a commodity without his knowledge.

Referrals are a part of the real estate business. Giving and receiving referrals is an aspect of real estate that most consumers don't understand fully. That is why I'm sharing this information here for consumers.

You are invited to join the Consumer Education in the Real Estate World group on Active Rain.

As an Exclusive Buyer Agent, I was thrilled to see that the organization I belong to is pushing for a uniform agency disclosure form to be used nationwide. The below press release explains why this is a good idea.

NAEBA Calls on Congress to Establish a Federal Mandate for Real Estate Agency Disclosure

 AVONDALE, AZ  June 17, 2009 -- The National Association of Exclusive Buyers Agents (NAEBA) released a letter to Congress today urging members to include real estate agency disclosure language in legislation relating to mortgage lending reform, including the Anti-Predatory Lending Act and the ongoing discussion over the formation of a Financial Products Safety Commission.

 “Too many consumers have no idea that when they contact an agent listing a home, that agent must do everything possible to achieve the best outcome for the seller,” stated John Sullivan, President. “As a result, these consumers have no one involved from the beginning of the transaction who can advise them on negotiating techniques, price points or the acquisition of an appropriate loan.”

As Congress considers a range of measures to better inform consumers of their rights and responsibilities in the home buying process, NAEBA hopes to include clear, transparent and mandatory real estate agency disclosure language in legislative vehicles as they move forward. 

 “Clear, consistent and transparent real estate agency disclosure will help consumers better understand that there are many types of real estate agents, each of whom have responsibilities to different parties in a real estate transaction,” stated Sullivan, “Common sense suggests that when an agent is representing a seller or, in the case of dual agency both parties, neither the buyer’s nor seller’s interests are fully served.  Consumers need to have all the facts in hand in order to make informed decisions.”

 A recent NAEBA white paper titled “Consumer Protection and the Real Estate Industry,” makes clear the extent of the problem.  While the states have attempted to better inform consumers through state disclosure laws, inconsistencies in these laws, as well as lack of compliance and enforcement, have left most home buyers in the dark.  In fact, three studies by the National Association of Realtors since 2002 show that only about 30 to 35% of home buyers actually receive agency disclosure statements at their first meeting with a licensee, a level that is virtually unchanged since it was first revealed by the FTC in their 1983 study.

 NAEBA believes that, at a minimum, consumers should know what kind of agent they have and who specifically that agent is responsible to in the transaction.  The organization is supporting language that will bring transparency to the process by:

 “In keeping with ongoing efforts to provide consumers with the tools they need to avoid foreclosures, we urge Congress to establish a federal requirement for real estate agency disclosure in the home buying process.  Armed with the facts, the home buying public will be much better able to make informed and appropriate decisions – decisions that will impact their financial well-being for years,” stated Sullivan.  “We look forward to working with members of the U.S. House and Senate to help their constituents on this important issue.”

About NAEBA

The National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents (NAEBA) is an organization of real estate professionals who have dedicated their business lives to representing only buyers of real estate.  To avoid conflicts, NAEBA members do not list homes for sale and never represent sellers.  This restriction to one side of the real estate transaction ensures that the interest of home buyers is protected in every step of the real estate transaction, from house-hunting and negotiation, to inspection, financing and closing.

NAEBA is pioneering a nationwide effort to give today’s home-buying consumers the level of service they deserve and are increasingly demanding. NAEBA members firmly believe that home buyers have the same full and equal representation rights as sellers in any real estate transaction.  NAEBA is comprised of over 450 Exclusive Buyers Agents across the country and has been in existence since 1995.

 More Information

 1-800-786-1570, www.naeba.org

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I hope Congress listens. I feel it is an excellent idea for consumers on both ends of real estate transactions to fully understand how agency works and how to best protect their interests. I wish I'd clearly understood myself when I bought my first four homes. Part of the reason I went to real estate school, became a Realtor (R) and EBA is because I want to make sure home buyers are protected when they make the most important purchase of theirs lives.

For more information check out my website: www.OregonExclusiveBuyersRealty.com

Excellent strategies here we can all apply to our web marketing.