I erased my blog post I originally had planned to post after I received a call Sunday night from a couple who are clients of mine. I received a call from my clients that recently moved into their condominium that they bought a few years back. This couple happened across my website about 3 years ago and called me about buying a condominium. They were moving from a large home (3,000+sq.ft.) in Texas and wanted a home that offered a bay view, it had to include San Francisco views because that's where their son's family lives and it had to have a certain square footage because they were drastically downsizing and somehow figured out just how many square feet they needed. Leave it to me, I found just the home on Alameda's Shoreline Drive with a view of just what they wanted. They were ready to buy sight unseen based on the photos I emailed them. I was able to convince them that they really should have a look themselves rather than just trusting my photos. So I apprehensively submitted the offer sight unseen which was accepted without a counter offer and I met them the following weekend to show them the home they had just gotten the accepted offer on along with a full tour of the island of Alameda, complete with lunch. They were thrilled with the home and at the prospect of moving to the island of Alameda upon retirement and they closed escrow. They rented the condominium to friend of their daughter in law until their retirement date, about a year and a half. They called me about 4 months prior to moving and asked if I might assist them in having their kitchen completely remodeled prior to their arrival. With that, my construction background kicked in and I happily put them in touch with a well known local contractor who wrapped things up just days before their arrival. The level of trust they put in me was flattering but I just couldn't be the one to select the color and type of cabinetry, counters and appliances although I could have based on their budget I didn't want to take that chance. It would have been different if they were selling.
In the end the call on Sunday was a first in my career. My wife Nancy and I were invited to a blessing of their new home preceded by a dinner with the rest of their family. With that invite, I feel blessed.
And the weekend just keeps getting better, my gosh. I just got an email from the San Francisco Jazz Musician of the year's (just one of many awards) wife inviting us to a birthday party for her husband and rising star Terrence Brewer. If you like jazz you've got to listen to the Terrence's group. He will be performing September 20th at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
At our last Wednesday morning office meeting last week we had a Real Estate attorney from a 1031 exchange company come in and deliver some interesting news around short sales and foreclosure properties. We were told that now if a seller approaches us and asks if they should do a short sale we can no longer give them the simple yes or no answer. It appears that the attorneys now have construed that as practicing law without a license, degree or whatever. With the lenders in the short sales now delivering promissory notes for the monies relieved during the escrow process we realtors are now showing up in court because we gave our clients legal advice. What's next?
So what's on Broker's tour on Tuesday? See below.
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Ciao for now, Chuck
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