CALLING MY OWN SHOTS! Plus a Few Others that the AR Gods Missed this Week – 010112

Well, this week there were so many really great posts here in the rain by some of my fave bloggers as well as some newbie bloggers that I’ve recently come across.  However though, for the first time since I’ve been doing this series (summer 2010), I didn’t actually call any of the shots this week.

 

But there were some other really great posts that I suggested but the AR Gods must have missed them this week when they were bestowing those little gold stars.  Check them out and see for yourself.

 

First there was a Give Yourself A Gift For 2012: Get Your Stuff 'Under Control' by Marie Graham.  I loved this post because Marie, who is a stager, advises us on the importance of getting control of all of our "stuff".  While making a New Year's resolution to be more organized is always a good idea, staying organized all year long is the real challenge. 

One of the more common complaints I hear about so many of the properties on the market here is how diry and cluttered the place was and how the prospective buyers couldn't wait to get out of the property.  While I'm not going to address "dirty" homes (that's a whole other post), addressing cluttered homes with organization systems become absolutely vital in being able to market and eventurally sell a property.

While a really great stager (like Marie) can address so a lot of presentation issues, for serious "clutter" issues, a professional organizer may be an absolute must.  Yeah, I know, you think you don't need a pro telling you how to organize your stuff but I think Marie says it all when she asks, "so how's that working for you"?  :)

Then there was a double shot by Wallace Gibson with her posts, I'm SORRY, I am NOT your Beck and Call Girl! I have my PRIORITIES! and Check Out Your Landlord - it was BOUND to Happen.  Wallace really hit it out of the park with these two posts and I'm just really surprised that the AR Gods didn't agree with me on these shots.

I loved Wallace's beck and call girl post because it's a phrase I have used so many times throughout my mortgage career.  I think we can all agree that there are those folks who think our sole purpose is to be at their beck and call regardless of all of our other duties and responsibilites.  While Wallace may see this issue more with her tenant prospects, unfortunately, I see this attitude so much more from Realtors than anyone else I work with.

I don't care who you are (it really doesn't matter who), this attitude and behavior is nothing more than a form of disrespect and it needs to be nipped in the bud from the get go.  People like this are so incredibly arrogant and obnoxious that all they care about is themselves and their own needs and you are simply there to serve them at their convenience. 

Our time, energy and resources are finite and they need to be organized and prioritized.  Don't allow these jerks to derail you from your duties and responsibilities.  I've said this before and I'll say it over and over again but if you don't respect yourself and your business, then no one else will either.

As for Wallace's next post, this was so good that I think I'm going to reblog it for my consumers here in my market.  With our rental market being as hot as it is right now, prospective tenants checking out their landlord becomes an absolute must.

As an MLO who works mostly with buyers here in Los Angeles & Ventura counties, I hear so many horror stories from my borrowers about how the properties they were renting got foreclosed on even though they were paying their rent every month, on time.  Furthermore, they had no idea the property had been foreclosed on until some REO agent showed up and told them they were listing the property.  SERIOUSLY!!! 

I used to wonder how does something like this happen and why there wasn't some service that tenants could use to check out the landlord before ever signing a rental agreement.  Well, now there is and it is now absolutely vital that prospective tenants start taking advantage of this incredible service.  Check it out and spread the message too!

Next was "Steering" buyers away from short sales by Gina Chirico.  While the title caught my attention because of the legal definition of "steering", I was glad to see that Gina wasn't using the legal definition of "steering", I do think she should have used a different word though.

While I do understand what Gina was getting at, I am going to politely disagree with the premise of her post that we shouldn't be "discouraging" (that's the word she should have used) buyers from pursuing short sales.  SERIOUSLY???

Quite frankly, educating and informing our buyer clients about the pros and cons of short sales is not only duty and responsibility - it's our job!  This is what our buyers are hiring us for - our knowledge and experience!  This includes our knowledge and experience with short sales, even if it's not positive.  Heck, especially if it's not positive.

Remember folks, our job is to educate and inform and advise our clients and it's their responsibility to decide what kind of property they wish to buy.  If they decide to not pursue short sales (after we have educated and informed them on the pros and cons of short sales), that's their choice!

Lastly, there was Why A REALTOR's "Years On The Job" Means So Little To Somebody Who Needs To Sell A Home by Joe Manausa.  I liked this post because it illustrated the production differences between newbie Tallahassee agents and seasoned Tallahassee Realtors.

I have to say that some of the data didn't really surprise me, especially the production data between newbie agents and seasoned Realtors with a gazillion years of experience, which, by the way, is typically the same.  While I agree that there are definite advantages to hiring a "seasoned" Realtor because of their years of experience, working with a newbie Realtor may actually be a better option for your own personal real estate needs.

As a homeowner for more than 25yrs now, the best Realtor I have ever worked with on the sale and purchase of real estate was a newbie with only a few transactions under his belt when I first started working with him.  The reason we hired him was because he wasn't a mega listing agent that would go MIA as soon as we signed the listing agreement. 

Furthermore, during every transaction we had with him, we were never delegated to some flunkie peon assistant after the listing agreement was signed or some buying agent after the buyer brokers agreement was signed.  He always took care of us personally, which was something that was very important to us and why we didn't go with some mega agent with a gazillion years of experience. 

Don't ever forget that all really great Realtors started out as newbies and most likely were those newbies who stood out and above and succeeded in spite of all the seasoned Realtors in the market.  Just because someone has a lot of "years of experience" doesn't necessarily make them a better Realtor than someone with very little "years of experience".

 

As always, I love "calling the shots”.  I’m pretty picky and selective about whom I suggest. I intentionally highlight my fave bloggers and then I look for new bloggers or bloggers that aren’t on the feature board every other day.

Anyone can suggest all the popular bloggers but finding the hidden treasures and gems is so much better. I hope you check them out and enjoy them as much as I did.

 

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Donne Knudsen
Mortgage Loan Originator - C2 Financial Corp.
NMLS# 249822   /   DRE# 01364050
805.2069123

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Serving low-medium income individuals and families as well as first time buyers with their mortgage needs including down payment assistance

Los Angeles County  --  Ventura County

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