Quick Moment of Gratitude - 06/27/09 07:21 PM
I just want to take a minute to say how very fortunate I am. I'm enjoying the late afternoon on my deck at my vacation home in our local mountains. We sit far up on a hill and from my location I can see over the green trees of the surrounding neighborhood as well as the desert off to the distance the opposite direction. Shortly the colors will become stunningly clear and strong and eventually golden in the dusk.
I have had a wonderful week here....have to go down tomorrow. :( But we will be back to watch the fireworks from … (6 comments)

What is going on? You would like us to rewrite our offer at a lower price? - 06/27/09 11:58 AM
Sounds crazy to me...but more and more this is what I'm hearing from listing agents of short sales. I wrote an offer yesterday on a short sale. The lender is handled by OCWEN and the listing agent is assuming a very long wait. I did my research and wrote an offer about 3% above the discounted asking price. We want this home!
I got the happy phone call that we were accepted and would open escrow on Monday. Yeah! Then I heard the strangest thing....."we appreciate your offering a realistic price, but could you rewrite your offer a little under asking … (7 comments)

Can't Stand Being This Close To 85,000 Points - 06/26/09 09:00 PM
I'm sorry....less than a hundred points from 85,000! Not a big number, but I'm annal and this makes me nuts! I've been hanging at my vacation home in Lake Arrowhead all week, barely blogged, and in high need of an extra couple of points. So....shameless attempt to push me over the edge.
Not to worry....I'll be back...shamelessly asking for congratulations for my 100,000 points...but we might be a few boat rides away :)!
… (9 comments)

Michael Jackson....just my two cents worth! - 06/26/09 07:52 PM
We are into the 2nd day of wall-to-wall coverage of the death of Michael Jackson. So...as a California Native, I am going to weigh in. What a tragic life he had!!!! Did he have fortune and fame? Of course...did he ever find love? No! That sounds superficial....he didn't have love. But I think it's a story that repeats itself over and over again unnoticed in those who are not famous.
We all see them......the old man whose children are so busy that he takes his walks alone, the cat-lady....yep she has 8 cats that she calls her babies, the friend of … (15 comments)

Now More Than Ever......You Need to Trust Your Agent - 06/25/09 01:24 PM
I'm going to start and end this blog post with this thought.....if you don't trust your Realtor, find a new one! Ok, that being said, let's go on.
This is an odd market. I can't remember a time when the news and information was so available, and conflicting. Buyers are hearing that it's a "buyer's market" and then being outbid on every offer. Sellers are hearing that there are "multiple offers on everything" and then sitting for weeks or months without a single offer. What is going on?
The truth is that EVERYTHING IS GOING ON.....ALL AT ONCE!
Home prices are … (2 comments)

Heading To My Boat.....A Quiet Day With Family - 06/23/09 03:49 PM
We have to do it....just take the time to enjoy what we work so hard for. In this case....family and my boat! My son is getting married this August, this is my last summer with him as my "child." He went out of state for college and moved out last year for his first year of law school...but has moved home for this summer to relax and save money (the only "jobs" out there are internships).
I'm loving it!
This week we have his future inlaws here at our cabin. It's been great! The boat is in the lake and the … (3 comments)

Dear Iranian People.....We Are With You! - 06/21/09 05:55 PM
Dear Iranian Citizen,
As you struggle to have your voices heard......we are with you!
As you fight the tyranny of your leaders.....we are with you!
As you work to find a future of your choosing.....we are with you!
As you pray for the safety of your loved ones....we are with you!
As you refuse to give up and give in.....we are with you!
As you push towards your own sense of national identity....we are with you!
We don't want to define this future for you, although we have opinions and hopes, but we understand the desire to have control over your … (5 comments)

I Only Have One Client Who HATES Me....and he's so wrong :) - 06/19/09 09:03 PM
Here is the story....as Realtors, we are the face of the deal. This buyer HATES me. It makes me sad! He loves his home and I'm the only reason he has it.....but due to the trauma, I'm the villain.
The long and short is an REO agent who did NOTHING during the transaction!
My buyer used a lender of mine who was able to piece together and FHA loan with a CALHFA silent second, which means no out of pocket money at all from him. We were moving along on our end perfectly for a 30-day close when the trauma began.
On … (15 comments)

Things I'm Never Too Busy To Do - 06/19/09 08:28 PM
As a Realtor.....we have very busy days! There are days we can't get to everything! We try......but we can't. But some things I'm never too busy to do. They include:
* Update my sellers on the status of their listings
* Return the call of agents who are going to show my listings
* Check in with my escrow officers on status and their needs
* Work with my Transaction Coordinator to ensure our files are progressing
* Brainstorm ideas to solve Short Sale issues
* Meet the Appraiser
* Meet the home inspector
* Answer EVERY email I get
* … (13 comments)

Preparing Buyers for the Short Sale Wait - 06/18/09 11:02 AM
Short Sales are so frustrating for everyone, but none so much as for the buyers.
When a home buyer writes an offer on the home, they often spend a sleepless night wondering, hoping, praying...."Will we get this home"? Normally the wait time is about 1-2 days and then they can relax and start planning for the move. Not with Short Sales......the "wondering, hoping, praying" can take months. How can we as agents make this any easier for our buyers?
I'm not sure I know!
The first thing is to know exactly where we stand with the listing agent and the Short … (4 comments)

Oh Good.....You Only Have 28 Offers For This Short Sale...So We Have a Chance? - 06/17/09 10:56 PM
Ack.....this is getting crazy. I showed a home to a couple this evening that was a Short Sale. They really liked it and it was showing active. Sooooooo, I called the agent. She said that "yes" she was still taking offers. It wasn't until a little later in the conversation that she mentioned that she had 28 offers.
What are you talking about!!!!! 28?
Oh, well, we will hurry and pre-qualify with your cousin and be sure and get our offer in right away. I will get my clients to jump through the hoops tonight and then get all the proof of … (10 comments)

I Completely Wasted My Day!!! - 06/17/09 06:09 PM
We are all so busy......so taking a day "off" for any reason is hard to do. But today I scheduled a day to handle things I've been postponing for weeks. It was going to be productive! It was NOT!
What I needed to get done today:
1) Meet the dishwasher repair person, who was going to be here exactly between 12-4pm.
2) Set up a new email on my phone
3) Complete 2 Short Sale Packages with my sellers to send off to the bank
4) Create 3 property flyers for new listings.
What did I accomplish on my list? NOTHING!!!!!!
… (2 comments)

Speechless Sunday.....Lakers!!!! - 06/14/09 09:08 PM

… (6 comments)

First Day as a Realtor? How Does The Client Trust You? - 06/14/09 11:31 AM
You have passed the tests, received your business cards, washed your car....now what? As you stare at your very organized desk, complete with title rep pads of paper and home inspector pens, you wonder how you are really going to do this. It's not especially helpful that everyone around you is rushing to and fro with what seems like a never-ending number of transactions.
Breathe!!!!!
You are in need of leads and expertise! One is easier than the other....which? Leads are easier! Active Rain, Trulia and Zillow are full of blog posts about how to find leads (some of those posts … (10 comments)

Some Realtors Bring Value.....make your case - 06/14/09 10:16 AM
What is our value? Ever wonder why so many people want to cut into our commission? Part of it might be because we are easy targets, sales people with complete control over those dollars....but isn't it also because we haven't built the value in our services?
I heard a young Realtor say the other day that she was going to get 1% commission for a sale she was working on. First, it was a seller-with-equity (plenty) who was offering the sales office 2%. Right there I'd have told the listing agent and the seller that I wanted 2.5%. Perhaps the listing agent … (8 comments)

Quick Success Stories From This Week....Let's Get Some Control Here!!!! - 06/12/09 11:53 AM
I am tired of the banks having all the control and telling us and our clients what the deal is! I have always pushed back, but oddly enough this week, it's working. I hate having to call a buyer or seller and tell them that the only option is money out of their pocket. I also hate to find that MY pay has been slashed with 2 days left to go in the escrow and I have no option. So....I'm pushing back! And this week....some success.
1) Short sale had the closing delayed by 4 days after the approval letter, lender … (6 comments)

Thinking of Selling Your House as a Short Sale? How do you find the right agent - 06/11/09 11:03 AM
Anyone thinking of selling their home as a Short Sale is already facing a stressful time, adding the normal emotions of escrow and these sellers need special care. What we usually find, however, is the opposite. Often these sellers spend months without knowing what's going on and dreading the threatening notices in the mailbox. These fragile home owners are listed and then get on the short sale roller coaster.
Finding the right listing agent for a Short Sale is critical to avoid the emotional and financial hazards of a Short Sale. Unfortunately there are no specific rules yet on how to … (1 comments)

What Happened to the 30-Day Escrow? We Need to Treat Our Buyers Better! - 06/09/09 09:45 AM
It just can't be done! At least not in the current environment! I remember a few years ago having a buyer use a direct lender and closed in 3 1/2 weeks....start to finish. Now? There are pitfalls everywhere, not where we expect them either...here are my most recent ones:
1) Approved short sale with a qualified buyer. As we worked to get final loan approval, escrow decided NOT to order HOA docs until we removed loan contingency (they didn't want to incur costs). Escrow made this decision on their own. So we are now 8 days past the close date and … (8 comments)

Speechless Sunday.......Oh Yeah! What Else Can I Say? - 06/07/09 01:13 PM

… (4 comments)

You Must Accept What You Cannot Change - 06/06/09 02:17 PM
I love this! I have never heard this particular "play-on-words." This is exactly what we all are trying to do with our blog posts...offer solutions to the problems we face in our business.
JL's fantastic blog post makes the claim that we need to "change what we cannot accept." There are many things I cannot accept either. I'm sure you can add to the collection as well.
Great post....share it!
Karen
Via JL Boney, III Columbia, SC Real Estate (Russell and Jeffcoat):
 This is a phrase I have heard repeatedly throughout my life and at various points of my existence I used … (4 comments)

The Pitfalls of This Lending Market...We Need a Better Plan For Our Buyers - 06/06/09 02:02 PM
I am primarily a buyer's agent! I love my sellers, but buyers are so much more fun!!! But this market is providing more than it's fair share of problems for my buyers. I feel strongly we need to have a game plan in place at the very beginning of the process.
In the old days, we had buyers get "pre-qualified" before they went shopping for a house. This really consisted of a credit check and conversation on the phone with a lender. When stated income/stated asset loans were available to household pets.....this was fine. Now? Not so much! I think we … (4 comments)

Big Night.....Go Lakers - 06/04/09 10:53 AM

Big night for me!!! Lakers are on the verge of another title. I know my friends from the rest of the country will forgive me.....I live in Southern California....This is all we have.
I grew up in Southern California and can't stand baseball. So the Lakers is all I have. We can't seem to get/keep a football team of any kind. Rams? Raiders? Please!!! I have to root for the 49ers, and that's been pretty sad.
The LA Kings had a chance when we had Gretsky, but we couldn't pull off anything of real importance. Soccer? is this really a … (6 comments)

Equity Sellers.....Still a Buyer's Market on Those - 06/04/09 09:50 AM
We've seen lots of blog posts regarding the activity of our market. Every phone call made to short sale listings is met with "we have many offers." For the past few months, it seems all the listings are either short sales or bank owned properties and they all have had multiple offers. With so few sellers with equity listings....have we all assumed they were getting the same degree of activity? I'm not sure that they are!
I took a couple out to look for homes on Sunday and for the first time in years, most of the listings were sellers with equity. Of … (2 comments)

My New Hat!!! Do You Have One Too? - 06/02/09 07:33 PM

Do you have this hat? I seem to be wearing it all the time these days! Would you like to hear my last week?
Wells Fargo is the lender for my buyers.....all of a sudden, they funded a loan without anyone's permission on a short sale. They were 20 days past the deadline, which we told them. They took 2 1/2 months to get to the point of funding. Then they funded when we didn't have an extension for the short sale approval. Escrow suddenly called us to say they funded...putting my buyers in great financial risk.
Here we are … (18 comments)

 
A Southern California Coastal agent's perspective on real estate and other things that interest me!

Author Bio: Karen Fiddler has been a Realtor for...



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