It's not what you know that matters ... It's what you should have known.
I've been a coaching client of Tom Ferry for a while now and he's always emphasizes the importance of knowing what's going on in the area most of your transactions take place. This may or may not mean your geographical farm but after reading Cynthia's post about an agent not being aware that a train was going to start transiting where he/she just sold home is a pretty big deal. As Cynthia points out it probably made the news paper and I know some of us don't even get the paper but you could probably get the local news via RSS feeds from your local paper's website. I feel for this buyer who now has to listen to a freight train roar past their new home. Could this mean court action? Read on...
It's not what you know that matters ... It's what you should have known.
These were the words from my teacher, an attorney, when I was taking a required course for my Broker's license: Real Estate Law.
The disclosure process, he said, is where an agent usually gets themselves into trouble. Make sure you disclose not only what you know, but what you should have known. I have never forgotten his words and have tried to make sure I'm on top of "what I should have known".
I was in Starbucks last week when I overheard a customer say... "OMG! I was washing dishes and a *TRAIN* rolled past my house! It was SO LOUD! I'm SO upset, I was told those tracks were no longer in use!"
Of course I had to ask ... "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. Who told you that trains would never roll on those tracks again?" The answer she gave me was not one I wanted to hear. "My real estate agent". Oops.
After more than a decade of silence, freight trains are again running through Sonoma County. $61MM was poured into upgrading 63 miles of rails and railroad crossings. The local newspaper reported on the progress for several years. Yet somehow, all of this news and activity seems to have escaped the notice of a few.
Should every real estate agent in Sonoma County have known that train service would resume last month? I think so. Maybe all of them didn't know, but I think it qualifies as something they "should have known".
That is why I make it a point to read the newspaper every morning. I watch the news on TV. I learn about school closures, proposed casinos, the expansion of Walmart, road construction, elections and yes, train service. Those are all things I feel I "should have known".
Trains ... I LOVE them. It's time to go flatten some pennies.
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Copyright © 2010 - 2011 All Rights Reserved
Cynthia Larsen
Broker/Owner - Safe Haven Realty
Sonoma County, California, USA
(707) 332-2560
Would you like to receive a Real Estate Market Report for any City in Sonoma County? Just e-mail or call me and I can make it happen.
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