Lee Durner ... Let's Chat!

Will they or won't they extend the $8k tax credit?

Lee Durner (Coldwell Banker) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:34:47 -0500

I'm sure agents are wondering (I know I am) if the government is going to extend the $8k tax credit. The whispers are saying they have to but whoever thought we would end up where we are? And it is said that all things are relative. Most first time home buyers have a limit to their purchase price. As inventory is selling off and sellers are "not giving away" their houses we are being left with mostly knock downs, foreclosures or the dreaded short sale. Bless the buyers who can remain unemotional. It's hard enough to stay encouraging during the negotiations of a straight sale. Tack on a few weeks (if lucky) and you have tears and stomach aches galore!

NAR lobbing to have everyone purchasing a primary residence receiving a tax credit will help current home owners start the journey of climbing up the housing ladder again. (That's if people can keep a blind eye to the unemployment rate :( )

Time goes by.

Lee Durner (Coldwell Banker) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:51:49 -0500

And before you know it it's over a year since you posted your first and only posting.

I was at a Coldwell Banker event today and active rain got high praises. So I'm back and ready to learn lots from all of you. Time for me to learn the ropes! Any suggestions would be welcomed.

What are the odds? Sometimes you can't win for winning!

Lee Durner (Coldwell Banker) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:15:10 -0500

Hi everyone.

I'm new to this group and new to active rain. So thanks for letting me join and share.

I know business is business but sometimes things just don't feel right. I've talked to other agents in my office and no one has had this experience. Let's just call it my luck.

I got a call while I was on floor time from a woman who has since become my client. She was calling in on a specific house and wanted to take a look at it. This home is a casualty of the times. It has been on the market for 3/4 of a year and hasn't taken any offers. We went to see it and she fell instantly in love! She asked for a second showing so her husband could see it. So we went back a couple of day later and her husband felt the same. Like so many other people right now she has a house to sell so we put in an offer with a hubbard clause and our offer was accepted! Yippee! That same day we listed her house for sale.

This client has been an agent's dream. Everything I have asked her to do she has done without hesitation including a $20K price reduction after only 15 days on the market. She wants this new house so badly she is willing do whatever it takes.

Now 3 weeks after getting this first call I'm on floor time again and I get a call asking about a specific property and it dawns on me that the address sounds really familiar. It happens to be on the same property that my client has been working so hard to purchase. I'm having this conversation with this gentleman and the whole time I'm feeling so guilty. I explain to him that there is a hubbard offer on the property and asked him if he has anything he needs to sell in order to purchase this house and he says that it would be a cash deal. I actually felt my heart start to sink. I knew that if it wasn't me it was going to be someone else that would sell him this property and knock my client out of the running so I agreed to show him the property and suggested that I call him 2 hours before the appointment to confirm our meeting.

The day of the showing came and I called just as I said I would and I got his voice mail. I left him a message to confirm our appointment. An hour later I still hadn't heard from him so I called and left one more message. I never heard back from him. I did call him the next day and got his voice mail again. Obviously he truly wasn't interested in the house but that truly sent me on an emotional roller coaster and it was really hard to separate business from emotions.

In all my transactions I do my best to keep MY emotions out of it because it's difficult enough having to deal with the emotions of my clients. And I feel that not letting my feelings interfere is extremely important in the job I do. Whether I have a cranky seller or buyer agent; or a not so great building inspector; or an attorney that I can never reach I feel it is my job to remain the voice of reason and to not stir my client into a world wind of emotions, I have learned quickly that having your clients feed off of your concerns or fears of what might go wrong is a sure way to watch a transaction go down the tubes.

So my original client and I are doing everything we can to get her house sold so she may move on to her dream home. And I hope I never end up in that situation again.

Here's to a great start!

Lee Durner (Coldwell Banker) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 09:23:45 -0500

Hi everyone.

Here's to my first posting!

Just wondering if anyone is feeling the same right now. I keep watching all the things that are happening in the media and I know that they are very real. But in the past five months I have been able to put together 6 transactions (3 are still pending and 3 have closed) and this reality doesn't seem to fit with what I see on TV. Is anyone else expriencing the same thing or is Milford, CT a blessed place to be?