What a wonderful feeling I have right now! I just placed a Sold Sign on our listing in Oakland Park. Two doors down I`ve had this FSBO watching us for the past 5 weeks. She`s stopped me before asking all sorts of questions with regards to selling her home, i gave her a few pointers.

My belief is that FSBO`s  need to see a Realtor`s professionalism in order to see the light, in this case it seems to have worked!

I received a call yesterday after the FSBO saw that we Sold this home. She was in awe! Her comments to me were very straight forward "I want to hire you and get the same results as you did for my neighbor, can you sell my house in less than 5 weeks!" I explain that although "I wish i could promise you that I can sell your home within the time frame you want, it does take the right buyer!"

With that she tells me that she believes i can do a better than average job of selling her home and to make sure that I list her home fast! As i`m writing this blog, I have a wide grin smile on my face "Yes, Life is good!!" 

I`ve been awaiting this day. I knew it couldn`t last. The Spammers are advancing and their dressed as Mortgage Brokers who wish to prey on Realtors...

This is from Zack Miller: my name is Zack Miller. I have an interesting proposition for you. I help clients that sell their property, but have to carry back financing. This means a note is formed and the seller has to wait twenty to thirty years to see the return. So we cash out preexisting notes so the seller doesn't have to carry the paper anymore. He/she gets paid today and doesn't have the burden of carrying the note for twenty or thirty years. In turn, this make your client very happy. Please contact me with any note holders looking to cash out at zakumilero@yahoo.com. My name again is Zack Miller. Hope to hear from you soon. 

Zack, don`t you have any self respect for yourself? It must have taken you hours to send email to everyone on A/R. Worse, don`t you understand that Realtors don`t respect spam like this from someone BEGGING for Business, Zack?!!! It`s sad to watch this person, worse, I won`t comment on his torrid email.... Sorry, it had to be said! 

This is one for the books. My buyer and I sat through a 6 hour closing yesterday. It seems that the Seller was ready,willing and able to close, but somehow they thought that they could remain in the house until next Wednesday!

No kidding, they claim their Realtor who was Red Faced never told them they had to move! Needless to say, the buyers with Moving Van in tow weren`t thrilled and refused to sign until the Sellers placed $3,500 in escrow for any damages to the home.

The Sellers thought that they should receive their money "In Full" without being penalized. They wanted the Buyers to sign off on the HUD-1,but continued calling it "Their Home".we had to remind them throughout this arduous process that once the HUD-1 is sign, "Their Home" becomes "My Buyer`s House".

It took 6 hours to finally get this mess straighten out. The Buyer`s are now in a motel courtesy of the Seller, who was Kicking,Biting and Scratching along the way, and fully determined not to cover the Motel stay! Several times, we almost walked out of the closing threatening to sue!

The sellers wanted to take a Brand new Maytag Washer, which I had to keep telling them they couldn`t because it`s part of the executed contract and was clearly stated on the MLS!

Throughout the process the Buyers were thrilled that we stood our ground against the Sellers, who I`m positive were acting! They knew what they had to do weeks in advanced, their Realtor explained everything to them! It felt like I went 5 rounds with Godzilla because the Husband was an overall certified nut case!

We finally signed everything by 7:00pm, what should have been an easy close, was impossible.

Last year I worked with this young man and his family assisting them on a rental. They had a hard time finding  something in their rental range which was $1200. They needed a 3bedroom house.We finally located a townhome with 3bedrooms and they were ecstatic!

In July, I received a phone call from this person figuring they needed a new rental, the lease was up! To my surprise, he explained that he wanted to look at purchasing a new home. Talk about a loyal client, they wanted to use only me! I suggested that he use our mortgage broker who promptly told him how much of a home they could afford and I proceeded to make appointments.

We located a Gem in this home in Hollywood! A 3bedroom, 2ba with a huge backyard for $362K the school district  and neighborhood is everything they wanted. I don`t know how others keep in contact with their past clients but, I send them pens,magnets or note pads quarterly! My husband always questions me as to what am doing. He always wonders if people will remember you! Well, we`re closing on Friday and after wards I`ll make sure to tell my husband that a pen prompted this client to call me!

My day started off with a bang! My clients arrives 45 Min's late for an appointment. I have no way of rescheduling many of these showings because in Boca Raton the agents mainly think that they must accompany an you to a listing. Talk about painful!

The Buyer is great though, they`re relocating from Philadelphia and they need a home NOW! The first 3 houses do nothing for her and her husband. 4 and 5 are possible,the 6th is not home to show it and the Agent is at the Beach!

House number 7 is looking good to me as my clients are convinced already they like 4better than 5

We knock on the door, the sellers children greet us and allow us to enter. Everything appears normal until Shanto the German Sheppard appears from out of nowhere barking running towards yours truly!

Shanto is about 120 pounds of muscle! He`s now poised to pounce on me. I start YELLING "HELP,HELP ME.... NO,NO,OH GOD NO". My buyers run out of the door, can`t blame them. Shanto is pissed at something...

The kids attempt to grab this mongrel, but no luck, the Owner comes in and get this tells me "You`re scaring the DAMN DOG". I`m doing what I Yell?!!!

Needless to say, I almost drop dead on the floor, somehow I compose myself long enough to tell the owner "We`ll pass on showing this home". The buyers refuse to re-enter, am a nervous wreck. The Seller tells me " It`s your fault that my dog almost attacked you". You were supposed to be here almost an hour ago"...

I was shopping at Publix last night after work. You know the typical items, milk, bread and ring dings for the kids. My boss calls me to tell me about one of our new communities in Orlando.  I start walking down the aisles, not paying attention. I`m yakking away.

When i`m finished, I once again focus on shopping. A women walks over to me and tells me that her daughter will be attending UCF which is in Orlando, she wants to know the proximity of these condo`s we`re discussing. I start telling her that they`re very close to UCF and we`re going to be involved in selling these in the next 10 days or so... She seems excited! Asks me for my business card and tells me that she`s heading to Orlando for labor Day to look at condo`s.

Guess what!?! I`ll be meeting her up there and give her the grand tour of all condo`s near UCF... I`m thinking about going back to Publix tomorrow, with my cell phone in tow! ")    

I just received a call from our buyer, she`s all in a panic. Seems she just read that the "Housing market has Crashed!" She wants to know if I heard the news?! I replied, "If the Housing market has crashed, it`s news to me!" It`s hard to comprehend how the media portrays the housing market, worse, it`s harder for people to gather all of this info and decipher what's really happening! People still need to buy houses, many are either scaling Up or Down! Young Couples still get married, and many have babies.

We`re in a market that's no less or no more than the average market was 8 years ago, before the Housing Boom became like the Internet! Irrational Excuberance except Alan Greenspan isn`t here to comment, he`s long gone and the world still turns, as my daughter likes to say!

There will always be a buyer and a seller somewhere in the real world. If only the media would just print that! Back to my Buyer, after I rationalized with her, we both agreed she needs to move out for personal reasons, unbeknown to the media, this person really does have to move! It`s pitiful that the news media loves to lump everyone in the same boat and than give us data supporting whatever it is they`re supporting!

For three days i`m watching this Jon Bennet media circus being broadcasted live with this wackos Karr, the new poster boy of Hannibal the Cannibal, I wonder why anyone would give this person his 15 minutes of fame, yet Nancy Grace, Rita Crosby and Larry king glorify this madman! Again, until the media finally proclaims "THE BUBBLE IS FINISHED" many people will still be in a panic. Hopefully, we`ll see a change in a few months

We`re having a hard time getting the lender to close next week. With Labor Day approachingl the Lender has told me he would need an extension on closing for another 5 days. Not unreasonable, quite common, certain conditions haven`t been cleared. We call the sellers agent explain the situation giving the Seller advanced notice of what`s transpiring.

The agent who is a tad nervous, tells us, she`ll get right back to us! Two hours later the Sellers agent gives us a list of demand. Here they are as follows.

1- $1000 for the additional 5 days.

2- Seller to keep escrow deposit of $3500 if transaction doesn`t close in 5 days and deal is null and void!

3- Credit of $250 for repairs reneged.

4- Home Warranty taken off the table.

5- Seller to take pool equipment.

I start laughing out loud! I`m crying how insane these demands are all for an additional 5 days, that the Lender personally assured the Sellers agent this transaction is done!

Anway, we call the Buyer, the buyer starts to laugh, he tells me "Give him $500 for his troubles"..

We convey this message to the Sellers agent who states "OH, The Seller will me mad!" he wants to KILL the DEAL! I start asking the sellers agent. "Lets see, you`ll re- list the property on the MLS, it`s been on the market for 130 days as it is, so maybe it stays on the market an additional 120 days.

Where does that place the seller? She tells me, "The seller is very stubborn".. OK, I tell her "Do you job, take control and lets see this close, otherwise, I`m going to be selling my buyer a home, we`ll close in a few weeks and you`re property will still be NOWHERE!"

Amazing, how some sellers believe that Buyers in a market like this to cave into the demands of a lunatics who roam the world! Now the Sellers agent starts to stutter "BUT,BUT, BUT, this is MY HUSBANDS BEST FRIEND, I PROMISED HIM, I~LL GET THE BUYER TO AGREE!"  Again, now sobbing with laughter, I ask "HOW you going do dat?" The BUYER is ready to run..

We made an offer to purchase a beautiful 2bed,2ba Condo in Coral Springs Florida. The listing was for $199,000. The condition of the condo was fair, it needed carpet and a good paint job. The buyer told me to offer " $171,500" based on the closed sales in the area. We called the Sellers Agent, told him the buyer had great credit, 10% down and closing in 3 weeks if the seller required it! The agent did not respond, so I asked "Is anyone still on the line?" 

He coughed and proceeded to SCREAM at me! "GET THE HECK OUTTA HERE" he moaned, the listing is for $199,000. Again, I mentioned that comps in the area reflect a sales price closer to $170-$175K, not a penny higher, that the Seller is not realistic isn`t our fault I explained. He again started to SCREAM "MY SELLER WON!T LOOK AT YOUR OFFER! GET LOST", click, goodbye, no have a wonderful day nothing! The buyer who was next time looked pale! She was in a state of shock, and asked me "Are all agents like that?" I told her, we don`t need to deal with him, I`ll call his broker instead.

The Broker as it turns out was not aware of the Agents behavioral patterns boarding on SON OF SAM, he too was a tad perturbed over the incident and told me, he`d handle the offer and make sure he rather than the SON OF SAM would deal directly with the seller. Today, I received a call back from the Broker, guess what! The Seller took our offer in a heart beat, was very grateful to have us close so quickly and offered to clean the carpeting for us! Anyway, SON OF SAM was told to stop acting like a little child and his broker wsan`t thrilled with this boorish behavior. I`m happy I kept my wits and realized that this agent was in Therapy!   

As I sat in an Open House we held during the weekend, I couldn`t help think how much Boca Raton has changed in the last seven years! Once upon a time Yamato Rd. was all farm land and fresh fruit stands were plentiful! The beaches in Boca were empty this time of the year, the down town Boca area had no real night life to speak of. T

he town rolled up after 6pm and on weekends earlier. Today, the Bo ca I live in is crowded with young urban types, retirees, students, you name it we have it! There is a good vibration happening as it appears this town is maturing into a big wonderful city that am proud to call my home! Has it effected Home Prices in the area?Homes have seen such a tremendous increase that I personally keep wondering where all these people come from and better yet, how can they afford to reside here?! Each year I keep saying "Prices won`t go any Higher" only to see increases!

The area that I bought in many families have left. It`s amazing how price effects the area. More amazing is that this small town has become such a Metropolitan City! I`m proud to say that I enjoy being part of this massive change