"A long time ago, when the earth was green,
There were more kinds of animals than you've ever seen.
They'd run around free while the earth was being born.
And the loveliest of them all was the unicorn.
There were green alligators and long-necked geese.
Some humpy-backed camels and some chimpanzees.
Some cats and rats and elephants, as sure as you're born.
And the loveliest of them all was the unicorn."
Those are lyrics from a song called The Unicorn, by the Irish Rovers, and written by Shel Silverstein It was played in my home often when I was growing up. My Dad grew up in Ireland and moved to the US when he was 19. My mom is 1st generation Irish American and my parents actually met in Ireland. So Irish music was played pretty frequently in our home. You can check out the You Tube Video for the song here:
As a side note I was blown away to find out that this is the same Shel Silverstein that wrote the books Where The Sidewalk Ends and The Giving Tree, those being favorites of my son when he was little. He especially loved The Giving Tree. I didn't even realize that those books had been around when I was kid.
Sorry, back to my blog-I met with a gentleman about a year ago that reminded of that song, and of the elusive unicorn. He was from out of the area, (he may have been misled by the buyer’s agent he used) and assumed he was going to get way more than the rental market would allow for a home that he purchased for he and his wife to retire in twenty years or so. When we met, at the house, I showed him all the comps and discussed the market. He told me he wanted $2,400 a month minimum. I was a bit taken back by that, since the comps were indicating a rental price of about $1400. I spoke with him about it, and pointed out that what he was hoping for a number that was about $1,000 above the market, (including an active rental listing next door for $1,000 less) he said he was not willing to rent it to someone who would not be willing to pay the extra money.
He explained that the type of tenant he wanted was one that would be willing to pay that extra amount. I tried to understand why anyone would be willing to pay that much more for a nearly identical property. He said it would show that they were a “better” type of tenant. Hmm, I have never encountered such a tenant. Is there such a tenant? Someone that wants to pay more than fair market value for something, just because they can? If there was a tenant like that, I have never encountered them. That’s what made me start to think of that elusive of unicorn that I have heard about. You see the Unicorn is differently, because I have never even heard a story where someone has claimed to have seen the unicorn. Not like the Och NE's Monster, or Bigfoot, those guys have been seen and even photographed. The unicorn to my knowledge has never been spotted or photographed.
I personally don’t take highly overpriced listings. I will go a little higher than the market suggests, if there are special or unique things about the property, and sometimes I get it. Sometimes I don’t. I ask the owner’s to keep an open mind and with feedback from me on how many showings, and comments from potential applicants, adjust the price accordingly. If they are not willing to do that, there is no point in working with them. I am not going to make any money on an overpriced listing and I am going to end up with an unhappy client.
I made a note to myself to keep an eye on the property t see if it was listed and/or rented. it was listed by a Realtor, for the $2400. It did not rent and was withdrawn at the original listing price of $2400 a year later.
Comments(1)