I saw this question posted over on the Trulia Q & A forum by a client.  It was interesting to see what other agents had to say about this issue.  Some said it was okay to call them anytime, and that if they were awake, they would answer, even if it wasn't urgent.  

What?  Really?  

Others said that if it was after 10:00 pm they wouldn't respond unless it was an emergency.  The only real estate emergency I can think of is if we are in the middle of negotiations and are approaching a deadline.  Then again, I try not to let 10:00 pm become a deadline for anything.  

Last year I remember a conversation I had with another agent in my office.  He told me that his phone rang at 11:30 pm one night.  He was awake and wasn't doing anything, so he answered it.  

He said that the buyer was thrilled that somebody finally answered one of her calls.  She said that she had been calling agents for a few hours and couldn't get anybody to answer.  She then made some remark about how most agents are lazy and she was glad to find one that was HUNGRY and READY TO WORK!  Yeah.  Okay.

I was curious to see how this transaction would go, so I followed up with the agent throughout the process.  He said it was a nightmare.  This buyer called and texted day and night.  She was impatient, unrealistic, incredibly demanding, and was the worst client he ever had.  (Um..  you didn't see that coming??)  This agent worked his tail off and the deal never closed.  The buyer blamed and fired him and went on to call on other agents.  Probably at 11:30 at night again.  

Don't get me wrong.  Amanda and I work our butts off and will do whatever it takes for our clients, but we lay out expectations up front.  If it's 11:30 pm and you think of a question for us, email us.  We will get back with you first thing that next day.  

If we are in the middle of negotiations and it runs late into the night, so be it.  We will work through the night if that is what is called for.  But...  if it's 11:30 pm and you are calling multiple agents to see who will jump through hoops to  earn the honor of being your agent...  keep on calling.  

In my opinion, it's a simple matter of respect.  It goes both ways.

Agents:  How late do you take calls?  

Clients:  Do you expect your agent to be available 24/7?  What are your thoughts on this?  

What do you think is the first step to selling your home in Fort Wayne?  Go ahead and think about it.  I'll wait.  

Did you say Find a good Realtor® in the Fort Wayne area that has had recent success selling their listings?  That's towards the top of the list, but not #1.  (I was so tempted to insert a shameless plug there!!)

Getting your home in tip top shape and market ready?  That's up there too, but not quite #1.  

Still can't figure it out?  

In my opinion, the first step to selling your Fort Wayne home is to make sure you can afford and qualify for a loan on your NEXT home.  

In the fall of 2011 I wrote an offer with my buyers on a beautiful home  in South West Fort Wayne that they were very excited about.  After a few counters we got it under contract.  They were SO pumped!!!  

Three days later I got a call from the listing agent.  It wasn't the greatest conversation.  

Listing Agent:  Hi Jared.  I have some bad news.  My seller was going to buy another home but we just found out that um...  he can't qualify for a loan.  We are going to need to back out of the deal.  I'm really sorry.  

Me:  I'm sorry Mr. Listing Agent, but we are under contract and are going to move forward with the purchase.  Your sellers are going to need to make other arrangements.  I do feel bad for them, but this is something that should have been handled before you listed the home.  

After a little back and forth, the seller realized that even though he was not able to buy another home, he was obligated to go through with the sale.  

During the inspection there were some major issues that came up, so we all agreed on a mutual release and we terminated the contract.  I found my buyers a different home a few days later and they are happily living there now.  

Thankfully everybody ended up okay in this deal.  I imagine the seller would have probably ended up in a rental if the deal hadn't fallen through.  I'm sure he wouldn't  have been very happy about it either.  

There you have it.  Step 1 is making sure you can afford and qualify for your next Fort Wayne home purchase.  All it takes is a quick phone call to a lender.  Thanks for stopping by and as always, if you have any questions our contact information is below.  

17.  List it for 200% of it's true value. 

16.  List it as a four bedroom instead of a three.  When the buyers get there...  SURPRISE!  Only three!

15.  Paint the entire inside bright yellow with a Sponge Bob theme throughout.  

14.  Get three giant angry dogs and leave them loose during showings. 

13.  Require one full week's notice for showings.  

12.  Draw three outlines of bodies with police tape across them on the living room carpet.  

11.  Stay home for the showings and sing show tunes to the buyers and their agent the entire time they are there.  Remember to sing loudly and out of tune.

10.  Boil a few dozen eggs right before the showing so the entire house smells like farts.

9.  Have a bunch of friends over before the showing.  Have each of them hide in a closet and scream each time a buyer opens the closet door.  

8.  Put the wrong keys in the lock box.

7.  Stay home for the showing and follow the buyers around and tell them all the reasons you hate living there. 

6.  Do #7 again, but make sure you just ate something really garlicky and talk very close to them.  

5.  Leave a note on the table that says to be careful in bedroom four, but don't leave a reason why.  

4.  If it's during the summer, lay out during the showing wearing only a purple speedo and a swim cap.  Oh, make sure that you have your Def Leppard CD cranked up too.  

3.  Put up an old spooky picture on the fridge.  On a post-it note below it write:  RIP Aunt Mildred.  You will be missed when we finally move.  We hope you enjoy haunting the new owners for the next 150 years.  

2.  Leave a note for the buyers asking them to "please excuse the mess" in the attic.  Go on to explain just how hard it is to remove all of the black mold, but you're almost there.  

1.  Stay for the showing, put on your helmet made out of tin foil, and sit on the couch and stare at the TV the entire time without moving or blinking.  (The blinking part is very important!)

Okay, that's all I can think of today.  Hope you laughed.  Time to get back to work!

That sounds so harsh doesn't it?  I (Jared) said that in the nicest way possible, I promise.  

The first six months of my career I would show homes to anybody that wanted to see them.  I thought that was my job since I am a Realtor®.  Plus it made the sellers happy to have showings right?  

Wrong.  

Well, the sellers were happy to have showings, but once they found out the buyer wasn't pre-approved and ready to buy, they weren't happy.  At all.  Boy did I hear about it too.  

Imagine being the seller in that situation.  They get excited to have a showing, do all the little details to make the house spotless so it shows well, and then they find out the buyer isn't even close to being ready to buy.  

Not cool. 

I have heard some Realtors® say that they will show one or two homes before making their buyer get pre-approved.  

Not this guy.  Selling real estate is a serious and full time business to me, not a hobby that I do just for fun on the weekends.  I value my time.  Once a buyer gets the pre-approval, they will get my full attention and as much of my time and efforts as they need.  

If you are considering buying a home in the Fort Wayne area and you would like us to help you with this, please don't be offended when we require you to get a pre-approval first.  We hope that after reading this you have a better understanding of why we do.  

I (Jared) can remember this day like it was yesterday.  I was working with a local Fort Wayne real estate investor looking for fixer uppers that he could flip.  We would schedule two or three afternoons a week and go see 8-10 of them and throw out a few offers.  

Most of the investment homes we were looking for were in the $20,000 - $50,000 price range, and most of them were foreclosures.  I could probably write a book about some of the crap we saw out there.  

Anyway, back to THE HOUSE.  It was a very hot and humid day a few summers ago.  If I recall right it was in the high 90s and disgustingly humid.  The house was a little two bedroom on a basement.  In the description it said that it "Needed work" and that the basement was a "Little wet".  Yeah...  

STOP READING THIS NOW IF YOU ARE EATING LUNCH.  

As we approached the house we smelled something.  The closer we got the stronger the smell became.  When we opened the front door a wave of crap smell hit us.  I almost lost my lunch right there.  

I told the investor that we needed to walk away NOW.  He smiled as he walked to his car to get his gas masks.  I rolled my eyes.  

The main floor of the home was structurally sound.  The carpets (duh) needed replaced, the floors needed sealed, and the walls needed a few hundred coats of primer and paint to cover the smell.  

I looked over at the investor and said (in my best Darth Vader voice because I had a gas mask on) "You'll never get the smell out.  They are going to bulldoze this house."  He wanted to keep going.  

We started walking to the basement and we discovered what the smell was.  There was SERIOUSLY an inch of cat feces that 100% covered the entire basement floor.  The investor took one step and almost fell into the crap.  

I started gagging again and walked away from the house.  The neighbors came over and told us that the previous owner had become addicted to crack and went nuts.  She had over 50 cats that she kept in the basement.  I'm not sure what happened to her, but I hope she's okay.  I know that basement wasn't.  The house eventually sold for under $10,000.  I'm not sure what happened to those poor cats. 

We have a team member that still works with investors, but Amanda and I don't anymore.  The time commitment is the biggest issue for us.  The crap issue is a pretty big one too.  :)  If you are reading this and are a local Fort Wayne real estate investor, give our team a call and our investor specialist will help you.  Just remember to bring the gas masks.  

I wrote a blog called Some Things To Consider When Buying A Home In Fort Wayne, so I thought I would write one for the sellers.  You can find the other blog here.

Price:  This is a tough one.  If you want your home to sell in today's real estate market, it needs to be priced right.  

I wish I could sell your $150,000 home for $200,000 just as bad as you do...  but it ain't happenin.  This isn't 2005 anymore.  

A lot of sellers we have met think their home is worth more than it is.  It's not fun delivering bad news, but in these cases, it's part of our job.  

Condition of home.  Is your home in need of repairs?  Does the sink leak?  Water heater busted?  Is there peeling paint all over the back side of the home?  Broken windows?

Unless you are selling "as is" and pricing it right, these things do need to be addressed and fixed if at all possible.  Most buyers in the Fort Wayne area are using FHA loans, and all of these items will come up on the inspection and appraisal.  

Home Warranty and Survey.  In today's market, a lot of buyers are asking for the seller to provide a home warranty and survey.  We have had a few of our sellers offer this up front, and we found that it not only makes the deal more appealing to buyers, but it has helped with the negotiations.  

Smell.  I love animals.  LOVE.  I don't love the smell of animals...  and most buyers don't either.  Make sure your home doesn't stink.  I remember showing a home last year that my buyers were going crazy over...  until we walked in the front door.  It wreaked of pet odor.  We didn't last 15 seconds.  

Colors and decor.  If at all possible, paint the interior with neutral warm colors that appeal to the masses.  De-clutter.  Make the buyers feel like it could be their home.  Oh, and that shiny gold wall paper from the 1970's...  yeah.  Take that down.  :)  

These are just a few items I am going to touch on today.  There are about 6,000 other things to consider, but I want to save a few for the next blog and I didn't want this one to be too long and boring.  If you are reading this and have any questions at all, our contact info is below.  Thanks for stopping by.  

When I started selling real estate I did a lot of open houses for new construction homes.  I hated them.  Every week I would stop by the grocery store and pick up cookies and candy.  I would stop by the office and print out fliers, brochures, sign in sheets, etc.

Then it was time to bring on the tire kickers and the neighbors!  

Every week is was the same.  I would get 2-5 couples come in, they would all be hesitant to sign in, and most of them wanted nothing to do with me.  Most (if not all of them) don't have any loyalty to a Realtor.  I'm not going to spend my time trying to chase them down.  

*  If you are a Realtor reading this and you are great at open houses...  cool.  I'm not one of you.  I hate them.  Now on to my list.

17.  Eat brocolli.

16.  Go to the dentist.  

15.  Discuss politics.  

14.  Eat braunschweiger.

13.  Shovel snow.

12.  Pick up poo in our backyard.  (We have two dogs)

11.  Dishes.  

10.  Attend any musical.  

9.  Wear a tie.

8.  Grow a giant moustache.

7.  Wax my back. 

6.  Watch a movie with Nicholas Cage in it.

5.  Run a marathon.

4.  Paint my living room. 

3.  Pay $3.50 a gallon for gas.  

2.  Watch paint dry.  

1.  Punch myself in the face.

Okay.  I had to really think there to get 17 things.  Not quite sure why I picked 17.  Anyway...  the bottom line is this.  I hate open houses.  I haven't done them in over two years.  If one of my sellers really want one, that's fine.  I'll have one of the agents in my office sit in there for me.  So...  those are my thoughts about open houses.  :)  

My dream started with me waking up in the morning.  I went to the bathroom mirror and the bags under my eyes were gone.  All of my gray hair had turned back to dark brown.  I knew it was going to be a good day.  

I went downstairs and guess what?  The dogs had let themselves out.  They even remembered to wipe each other's paws when they came back in.  They did give themselves a little more to eat than normal, but I let that one slide because...  well...  because they fed themselves.  

I opened up my email and had three new leads.  I spoke with all three of them and none of them were working with a Realtor®, and all of them understood the importance of being pre-approved before we looked at any homes.  They all agreed to talk with a lender before we proceed.  

Then my phone rang.  It was a seller asking us to come out and talk with them about listing and selling their home.  (Remember, this is a dream, so within seconds Amanda and I were there...)  The seller agreed to list their home for a fair market value and agreed that open houses were a total time and money waster.  We listed the home.   A few days later (remember, this is still a dream), we got a full price offer.  We closed 29 days later and they took us out for ice cream.  

My phone rings again.  This time it's a lender/title company rep/inspector/home warranty rep.  She just wanted to call and tell me that she will quit stopping by my office with candy, she will stop telling me I am the greatest Realtor® on earth, and she will stop kissing my butt in return for my business.  She says that she will just do her job, do what she says she is going to do, and make my clients happy.  

THEN I get a call from a bunch of  appraisers in the area.  Yeah.  All at once.  It's my dream.  They all say (in unison) "We will stop causing you and all of the other Realtors® and clients problems.  We will be realistic and stop cutting appraisals."  Disclaimer:  It is my personal belief that not all appraisers are bad.  Most of them aren't.  Some of the appraisers I dealt with last year were 100% terrible.  I'm not throwing all of them under the bus, just a few.  Plus...  this is still my dream.  

I come home from the office to find that my dogs not only let themselves out again, but they cleaned the house while we were gone.  They also cooked dinner.  Tuna steaks and asparagus on the grill.  MY FAVE!

There were a few things I left out, but overall...  it was a good day.  (I just quoted Ice Cube there.)

I was having a very interesting conversation yesterday with an agent that has been selling real estate for a lot longer than I have.

She was telling me about the good ole days.  You know, the days when:

You would list a house in the morning and have a SOLD sign on it by that afternoon after multiple offers. 

Anybody with a pulse could get a mortgage.

Appraisals weren't an issue. 

The phones in the office were always ringing off the hook with more and more buyers.  

Sellers could pay for the buyer's down payment!

As she was telling me all of these amazing stories, I tilted my head to the right and started daydreaming about how great that would be.  No appraisal issues?  Homes selling like hotcakes?  Just sitting on my butt and getting a ton of calls??  

HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE???  

(Except for the buyers buying what they can't afford.  That's never cool.)

Then I had a realization.  I'm glad Amanda and I started selling real estate in Fort Wayne when the market SUCKED.  We started with RE/MAX Home Connection back in January of 2009.  A lot of local agents were starting to get out of the business because of how tough things were.  Many called us crazy for starting when the market was in the toilet.  They were right.  We were crazy.  Still are.

If we started when it was easy we would probably be out of the business too.  Instead we made up our minds that we were going to succeed in a down market, no matter what.

Don't get me wrong, we don't sell eleventy billion dollars a year.  You aren't going to see a picture of us in the Realtor® magazine anytime soon...  but we have succeeded in a down market.  For that we are thankful.  

That's my thought for the day.  Thanks for stopping by!

This is part three of our series about why we love selling real estate in Fort Wayne.  Part one can be found HERE, and part two can be found HERE.

Kim.  She is a Facebook friend of mine (Jared).  I had no idea she was in the market to buy a home until she sent me a message.  She said that she saw this home online and wanted to see it ASAP.  

We walked through the home pretty quickly and ended the tour in the kitchen.  She looked at me and said "I want it."  I told her that I thought that we should look at a few others just to see what's out there, and again she said (A little more stern this time) "I WANT this one."  

Kim got that one.  Thinking of that story always brings a smile to my face.  

Jarrod and Heidi.  I have been friends with them for a few years.  We ended up listing their home in Kendallville and helping them buy a new one in the Leo.  

During the sale of their home we ran into a major issue with the appraisal.  The appraiser used two comparables that were 9 and 18 miles away from the property.  Yeah.  That's a whole different story for a whole different blog.  :)

We all overcame some major obstacles on this deal.  I don't envy them for all the stress they had to endure, but they stepped up like champions and did their part.  I am thankful to call them friends.  

Justin.  Now this guy was a lot of fun to work with.  He would always go out and drive by the homes before we viewed them.  I think he told me that he ended up driving by 50 homes one weeeknd.  

He was very laid back and wasn't in a hurry to buy at all.  Plus he drove a 71 Cadillac Eldorato convertible.  Pretty cool car!!

There were a couple of homes that I thought he was going to buy, but they weren't quite the one.  After a lot of searching we finally found the perfect home for him and his family.  Congrats!  

Kevin and Amy.  These two were a blast to work with as well.  When we first started they had NO IDEA what they were looking for.  If I remember right, Amy leaned more towards newer homes, and Kevin wanted something older and more unique.  

We went out five or six times, looked at a lot of homes, but still couldn't find the right one.  

The I got the call.  A seller called me and asked if we could come out and list their home.  I started doing my homework and thought that Kevin and Amy would LOVE this home.  I was right.  We had it under contract within hours.  I can't wait to go over and use their pool this summer.  :)  

Kevin and Shawn.  These two were a HOOT to work with and they knew exactly what they wanted.  I showed them two homes that were very similar and just blocks from each other.  

I was certain they were going to pick home #1.  I was so certain that I bet my wife $10.  I lost.  They threw me a curve ball and picked home #2.  

Shawn just told me yesterday that they went in and did a complete overhaul on their cute little bungalow.  I need to swing by this week and check it out!  

There you have it.  Just a few more reasons why we love selling real estate in the Fort Wayne area!