Real Estate Blog - Why are there still pennies?

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Why are there still pennies?

When I was a child, I was glad to have a penny to put in my piggy bank. When I was a teenager, I was glad for a nickle or a dime. After all Minimum wage was $1.75 an hour and I was making $2.50 in 11th grade managing an appartment complexes pool and health club, yes at 16, and I was good at it!

I worked at this complex from the time that I received my WSI, Water Safety Instructor's license, until the end of my Sophomore year. I had one employee during the winter while I was in college. He went to a local college and I was an hour away.

I was actually in shock when they offered me $2.50 instead of $1.75 an hour in those days. On top of being 16 and being in charge of ordering supplies, chlorine for the pools, maintenance call's, I thought this was pretty cool. My friends came to visit. Some of them that were lifeguards, weight-lifters, ping-pong nuts (yes I was good at that at one time), it was a fabulous experience for me.

Not to rub it in but gasoline was about 35 cents!. In the summer, I rode my bike, sometimes I walked, sometimes I drove.

I still have my red pennie piggy bank, the same pennies are still there.

Gasoline is $3.22 per gallon, milk is over $5.00, houses are...well in this market, where they should have been a few years ago. In the frenzie, people bought homes. Many mistakes were made, b/c they hoped they could sell the ones they had quickly, and buy a bigger home.

STOP!!! MANY PEOPLE were mislead by agents, "screwed" by lenders (no offense), and are now in trouble.

THE POINT HERE IS: I find them a buyer, close to what they are asking and they don't take it! They are close to foreclosure, short sale! and say,"I'm just going to let the bank take it F___it", EXCUSE ME?

You have the chance to get out of this, not ruin your credit and you are fussing over a few pennies?

You've got to be kidding me, no they're not.

Let's go back a year or so ago, Offer $325,000.00, no I want $350,000.00. year and a half later, we're down to $245,000...had offer at $245,500. cannot do it, it's "AS IS", Oh come on, all they want is a working bathroom, it's all there except for a faucet. Put one in and sell this mess! I mean get out of trouble, don't go to foreclosure. "Nope, not spending one more penny on that house, the pool can turn green, I don't care"

Well,

They will care when they foreclose, they will live on pennies and they won't be living in their current $500K home.

It's a choice, for some dummies, sell it or loose it and everything else. Why won't they listen to us??? We're educated, driven, and trying to save them from,,,.....LIVING ON PENNIES....

http://www.KarenMonsour.com

954-464-4194

Posted by Karen Monsour,REALTOR® Broward,Palm Beach,Miami/Dade! 954-464-4194 anytime! on 12/02/2007 11:02 PM

Comments (28)

foreclosures, short sales, advice, stupidity, karen monsour, living on pennies

Originally posted at: Karen@ www.KarenMonsour.com: Why are there still pennies?

28 Comments on Why are there still pennies?

DEC

2007

Pennies add up! Pennies are worth something...I know it's a lot of trouble but save your pennies in a few years you will have enough to go out to eat on! My son brought all his quarters, dimes and nickles with him when he came to visit last week...he had a gallon tea jug full of them...we took them to the bank (they loved us!) and he had $560! Nothing to sneeze at. People today waste too much money! That's why the economy is in the shape it's in...I know that's not the point you were trying to drive across but ....

I read somewhere that a penny is actually worth a nickel or more in copper value and due to production costs. Penny candy, parking meters, putting on a record player to keep warped song from skipping..in an electrical socked to burn down houses because you should have used a fuse...to put on railroad tracks to flatten...Heck, pennies were a big part of the country when you could buy something with them!

Karen - I know how you earn your pennies - you never sleep! Great blog - and all too common story. I actually had someone tell me it didn't matter because it would be off their credit in 7 years! Oh well.

Karen, I really think the only reason pennies still exist is because the states want their sales taxes.

As far as the self-destructive clients? They're in denial...

Mary,

I have jar's of change, it's fun doing that...but that's not really the point. It's about the customer being dumb, avoiding foreclosure, saving your credit. Don't dicker if you can sell your house, save a foreclosure..and keep your new home.

Thanks though, it's always good hearing from you! :-)

Andrew,

Pennies haven't been made from solid copper for a lllooonnnggg time. The only thing that makes me happy is when I see a penny on the ground with the head's up. I think, "See a penny, pick it up, and all that day you'll have good luck." Otherwise, I do as other's and leave them on the dish at the check out counter.

I am who I am, go figure :-)

I think someone somewhere said a penny saved is a penny earned. Of course when he quoted that, real estate was a lot less than it is today.

I don't know where some sellers are coming from. I have had a couple of buyers - ready-willing and able, but the sellers won't get realistic on the price. - I just don't understand.

First thing I do when I get a new car is throw a penny into it. I never know where my luck penny is - under what seat - but I always do it and I can't even remember why I started it!

Back to the main point of your post. As I keep saying, the market will decide everything. Greedy lenders will go bust. Stupid sellers will lose it all. Capitalism will win. No Government intervention please - America will sort this out if it's allowed to do so.

Recently I walked past an old bank building that hasn't been used in 35 years. I remember my first visit to that bank with my dad. He took me there to make a deposit from my piggy bank, I got to watch the pennies go through a counter machine. At 6 years old I was in awe. And I had 1000 pennies! We then opened my first savings account.

By the way how is your Dad?

DEC

2007

Ah, the days of .35/gallon gasoline. :)

Great post. I've dealt with a few sellers with this mentality and I can't figure out whether it's pride or stupidity. I'm leaning toward stupidity. I dealt with a client this summer that lost her house to foreclosure because she wouldn't move a paltry $5,000 off her $390,000 asking price. Now she's in a one bedroom $650/month apartment and moaning that the bank wouldn't give her more time to sell.

lol, I just do not have a good answer. Ithas to cost more than a penny to make a penny.. bad business in my book!

These type of folks are the same ones that will make "lowball" offers on other's property and be just as stubborn. I like working with people that are realistic and flexible.

Joseph,

Good point!

Joan,

The sellers here are still negotiating somewhat. I executed a contract today that went for 12% less than the asking price.

Simon,

That's a good idea. There is always change on the floor in my car.

Trey,

Thanks for asking. He is starting radiation and chemo this week.

I only had $5.00 when I opened my first savings account... :-) but then again that was pretty much back in the day.

Jesse & Kathy,

Must be a combination of both! I cannot believe the way people think sometimes. Amazing. Don't they realize what foreclosure is? That's better than bankruptcy.

Charles,

True, so very true.

Gayle,

I know what you mean. I mean if they would put a faucet on the sink in the nicest bathroom, make sure the pool is not green, then that's a different story. They're at the I don't care what happens stage. However, they don't realize the ramifications. The live in a $600,000.00 home right now...

Karen, perhaps we still have pennies so we have something to make a wish with! Homeowners may say, "...I wish this foreclosure would just go away..." They bury their heads and wish for the best - amazing, yes, but it's happening!

What a colorful post!!

With some people you have to be in their face and tell them what is happening. When your in a desperate situation like that, people don't want to face problems so they stick their head in the sand and give up. I've had short sale situations go in both directions, and all you can do is try and do whats best for them. Emotions are hard to control and are unpredictable, and they run very high in these situations. Sometimes the best thing to do is wish them luck and go on our ways.

A few years ago my son asked for some money for something or another. Instead of just handing over the money, I told him that if he rolled the change in a large jar with my chage in it, he could have half.

When I cam home for work that evening, he handed me $120. I asked him what that was for. He then informed me that was my half.

Had I know there was that much money in the jar. I would not have offered him half.

In a jar, there may be more money than you thought when you just keep throwing in the change.

When I cam home for work that evening, he handed me $120. I asked him what that was for. He then informed me that was my half.

Had I know there was that much money in the jar. I would not have offered him half.

In a jar, there may be more money than you thought when you just keep throwing in the change.

When I cam home for work that evening, he handed me $120. I asked him what that was for. He then informed me that was my half.

Had I know there was that much money in the jar. I would not have offered him half.

In a jar, there may be more money than you thought when you just keep throwing in the change.

Karen, don't people just amaze you. I have had people get there back up and not accept an offer over what seems to me to be pennies. It is almost like they are trying to prove something; not sure what they are proving as it doesn't make sense.

My friend just had some clients do something totally similar and they did end up letting it go in to foreclosurer rather than taking a perfectly good offer.

DEC

2007

Karen, it's kind of like the game show "Deal or No Deal" -- people get a great offer from the banker but refuse it because they think they'll still get the $1 million case. Meanwhile, the banker's offer keeps going down as they eliminate all the valuable suitcases, usually including the $1 million case. By that time the offer is down to, well, mere pennies compared to what they could have had. Thanks for the post.

Brian Wilson, Zolve.com

Marchel, Yes they do...some people don't have common sense, that why they need us to sort things out for them.

I like to think of it this way, I am doing this job because I love it, and there is someone out there that cannot figure it out on their own, but with my knowledge, I can figure out how to explain it to them so that they can understand...so much satisfaction...when you are able to decifer it out for them! :-)

Brian, you are right! Ihave watch that show...that is greed...and a TV show! Great point, thanks!

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