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Because Orange Isn't In My Color Wheel

By
Real Estate Agent with Cherimie Crane & Associates

It has been one of those days. I have two choices: 1. Tell everyone what I really think (and subsequently be shot, incarcerated and/or committed) 2. Make a joke out of the whole thing (and subsequently feel some sort of relief, justification and/or free group therapy).

 

I don't look good in orange jumpsuits, I don't like being shot, and could never survive in a rubber room; therefore my sense of humor is all I have left.

 

 

To all my fellow Realtors, Sellers, and the ever coveted Buyer, may you smile amidst the battles.

 

1. Short Sale- A transaction in which the Realtor puts an endless amount of work, effort, sweat, blood, and many wasted days that is anything BUT a "Short" sale. The seller wants to sell; the buyer wants to buy. The bank can't remember where they put the paperwork.

 

2. Foreclosure- This is where some Realtors are allowed to channel their creative side. No appliances, carpet is less than "clean", the AC/Heating unit may very well be running down the road in the middle of the night, the guy who determines the price is in another state, another time zone, and often can be argued..another planet.

 

Photographs require a bit of imagination. MLS description?!?! Shakespeare himself would be challenged, and then the search for who really has the keys (if there is still a door).

 

3. Under-contract- Hmm. Once upon a time this had a positive connotation. Now under-contract simply means, somebody wants to buy something but nobody knows how much it is really worth; not even the appraiser. So now under-contract can also be described as overwhelmed, over priced (according to whomever doesn't matter) with all parties involved, simply OVER IT!

 

4. Negotiations- Basically whatever you can't do and can't give, prepare to do and give immediately, not once but twice.

 

5. Closing- If you are able to make it to this event, everyone is so mad, frustrated, worn out, and simply unsocial it has a striking resemblance to your first cousin's wedding. Security may be required, first aid kit advised.

 

Yet we continue. We continue to be the whipping post for a population so beat down. We continue to smile and encourage when there is no smile or encouragement left. We continue the long winding road towards a Short Sale, the aftershock of Foreclosure, and the anti-climatic close.

 

Then we go home to realize someone drank the last bit of wine. @%#$!!!!!!

 

How can I joke about the brutal reality? It is quite simple. If I don't joke about my career, I will cry. If I cry, somebody is getting punched; which takes me back to my original point. I don't look good in orange jumpsuits.

 

 

 

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Whether you are buying or selling Real Estate in Beaufort South Carolina, We know Beaufort. Our little coastal town has something for everyone.

 

843-812-2090

 

Comments (34)

Lisa Glowacki
Lisa Glowacki - Rhode Island & Massachusetts - Tiverton, RI
Real Estate Broker - RI & MA

Cherimie - So glad I came across your post.  Funny, so true, and nice to know it isn't my wild imagination that this is really happening.  

Nov 17, 2012 12:49 AM
Kevin J. May
Florida Supreme Realty - Hobe Sound, FL
Serving the Treasure & Paradise Coasts of Florida

Don't know much about it but a stop at the Monkey Bar might cure a few of these problems.  Too funny Cherimie!

Nov 17, 2012 01:11 AM
Ann Samuelson
Suntree Inc. - Astoria, OR

Really enjoyed and appreciate this post....:) 

Nov 17, 2012 01:46 AM
Winter S
Whitehall, PA

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAA!!!

I love your sense of humor! Me in a jumpsuit would defy description -- and not in a good way, so I'm with ya!

Wine GirlSometimes my commute must include a drive-by of the Vino store, just to prevent coming home to find we're out. It beats the knock-down, drag out fume-fest that ensues if I get home to an empty bottle. Always better to be safe than sorry (keeping in mind that orange jumpsuit)!

Enjoyed your post!

Winter!

Nov 17, 2012 02:05 AM
Reuben Fine
Fill-In-The-Blanks PDF Flyer Templates www.TurnKeyFlyers.com - Rossmoor, CA

great post!

Nov 17, 2012 02:24 AM
Nathan Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. - Davenport, FL
Your Central Florida Real Estate Expert

Hahaha. I love this post. I'm now going to go check out some of your other posts becuase I have the sneaking suspicion that you are my kinda people. If you don't laugh at it it will eat you alive. Great job with this one!!!

Nov 17, 2012 02:25 AM
Steven Cook
No Longer Processing Mortgages. - Tacoma, WA

Cherimie -- and you didn't even touch the issue of financing on some of these, when the clients credit scores change negatively, or they just can't wait any longer to buy that new car, or the appliances -- and then all bets are off.  

Nov 17, 2012 02:37 AM
Evelyn Kennedy
Alain Pinel Realtors - Alameda, CA
Alameda, Real Estate, Alameda, CA

Cheriminie:

Very funny and sad at the same time.  Things are getting better where I live, I hope they improve where you are soon. 

Nov 17, 2012 02:49 AM
Kathy Stoltman
Balboa Real Estate - Ventura, CA
Ventura County Real Estate Consultant 805-746-1793

Cherimie,  Am feeling your pain.  Humor must keep us going because for the life of me, there are days and events in this business lately that render me a babbling idiot to make sense of it all!

Nov 17, 2012 03:10 AM
Cherimie Crane
Cherimie Crane & Associates - Beaufort, SC

Thank you all so much for commenting and for being able to laugh at me and at our crazy careers. I know we will all be better for the challenges we face, the obstacles we overcome and the wine we consume. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks again for all of the fun comments!

Nov 17, 2012 03:11 AM
Melinda (Mel) Peterson
Grants Pass, OR - Bend, OR
The Savvy Broker - ABR, CRS

LOL and feeling your pain... Cherimie!  Orange ya glad you decided to opt for a little therapy instead of a one-two punch? ;)))  BTW... I have a feeling you'd look fabulous in any color... just sayin'!

Nov 17, 2012 03:17 AM
Amada Slade
Island Realty of the Lowcountry - Beaufort, SC

Cherimie,  what a great post, you have written your frustrations in a jestful way that we have to smile and commiserate with you.  Orange is not my color either but at least the red (in wine) counteracts it and balances the nightmares we battle with.  

Nov 17, 2012 03:44 AM
Monique Keith
Ahwatukee, AZ
Ahwatukeenulls Favorite Realtor, Buyers Agent with

Thanks for the laugh! Great post! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Nov 17, 2012 04:23 AM
Joetta Fort
The DiGiorgio Group - Arvada, CO
Independent Broker, Homes Denver to Boulder

Too true to be funny, and yet still funny.  So glad you didn't make it 'members' only' because everyone knows we feel the pain too!

Nov 17, 2012 05:14 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign
Cherimie- hysterically funny! I'm with you, I do not look good on orange, so please so nothing that would result in my wearing orange.
Nov 17, 2012 05:19 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

You summarized quite well, Cherimie!  I rely heavily on humor to get me through tough times too!  And I don't look good in orange either.  I can do peach alright though!

Nov 17, 2012 09:11 AM
Catherine C Capasso
Catherine Cornelia Real Estate - Eastchester, NY
Cottage or Castle, What's Your Dream!

I had to smile through this because I can relate to all of it. Isn't it wonderful that we have this platform known as ActiveRain where we communicate to an audience that "gets it!" 

Nov 17, 2012 09:22 AM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

LOL  - very true and not so funny.. but we must find some humor so we can sustain a postive attitude and maintain good mental health.

5. Closing- If you are able to make it to this event, everyone is so mad, frustrated, worn out, and simply unsocial it has a striking resemblance to your first cousin's wedding. Security may be required, first aid kit advised.

Nov 17, 2012 10:38 AM
Digital Digital
Alachua, FL
full service

Hi Cherimie,

You surely know how to tell bad news in a good way.

With all the bitter news you wrote about, it was so elegantly explained in a funny way, I can’t help but smile.

Keep up the good work and keep a spare bottle at home at all time J

Nov 17, 2012 12:13 PM
Karen Anne Stone
New Home Hunters of Fort Worth and Tarrant County - Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Real Estate

Valerie, I don't know about that.  Sometimes that which doesn't kill you "right away"... still kills you, only it does it more slowly. 

Nov 17, 2012 04:39 PM