Politically Incorrect Realtor Blog

or are you just jerking your agent around?

There is a lot of emotion invovled with selling your home.   It all needs to be jettisoned.  Easier said than done, I know.  Trust me, nobody who buys your home is going to care about all the fancy dinners you cooked in your kitchen.  In fact, the new owners are tree-hugging vegetarians and the first thing they’re going to do is rip out all the granite counters and bead-board cabinetry and replace it with some eco-friendly stuff that isn’t infected with the juices from the countless critters you’ve fed your family.

And there’s nothing you can do about it.

So get over it.  Really, get over it.

Assuming you have a decent agent you need to listen to him/her.   When your agent tells you the price is too high, the price is too high.   He/She isn’t trying to screw you over.  He/She is trying to sell your house…because you asked for help.  Let’s be real…the agent’s commission is based on the price and he/she knows that if the price is too high that the commission will be $0 plus expenses.

When your agent asks you to provide some information (ie; from an HOA, about recent repairs, etc.) provide that information and provide it…today.  Not tomorrow.  Not when you get around to it.  TODAY!  Most agents don’t ask for specific information because they’re nosey.  They’re trying to sell your house…because you asked for help.  Whatever he/she is asking for has most likely been requested by someone else and it’s necessary.  Deals have been lost because a seller didn’t provide requested information timely.

Knickers don’t convey.  There’s no need to show off yours.  When your agent suggests that you not leave your underpants hanging out of the dresser drawer he/she isn’t making a comment about what a poor housekeeper you are.  He/She is trying to sell your house…because you asked for help.

I’ve heard of an agent who, after she lists a home, has been known to pester the neighbors regarding the upkeep of their yard.  I have not achieved that level of effrontery.  Yet.

It’s good to have goals.

I can recall a conversation I had earlier this year with two other agents in my office.  It was about blogging and how agents can best leverage the internet to grow their business.   All three of were just weeks into a budding relationship with a new brokerage and we found ourselves in unfamiliar territory.  The brokerage we left would feed us leads.  Most of them were crap but there were enough good ones to keep agents hanging on.

So, as I mentioned already, part of the conversation was about blogging.  All three of thought it would be an effective way to gain exposure and maybe cultivate some leads.  Two of us decided to give it a whirl.  One of us knew the other two would be monumental flops.

His argument was that, while blogging is effective, if it’s not done regularly (and well) then nothing will come from it.

He had a good point.  If a blogger isn’t blogging everyday then he/she either has nothing to say or isn’t confident about the things they do have to say.  Either way nobody is going to hang around to find out.

It’s been months since I’ve posted.  But that’s going to change.  I have things to say.  Most of them aren’t going to make me many friends.   But they need to be said.

And I’m just the guy to say them.

I do hereby declare that the recession is over. 

There!  Now you have one more opinion from an ‘expert’ about the economy.  It should carry about as much influence on your day to day activities as all the others you’ve heard.  

For the record, the stock market is not the economy.   And it shouldn’t be used as a barometer to measure the health of our economy.

An economy is defined as the wealth and resources of a country or region, esp. in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services.  Wall Street does not produce anything.  All the money in the stock market (and the shenanigans of those people on Wall St.) is the wealth and resources of the privileged few combined with some disposable income of others who are trying to make a quick buck. 

The largest chunk of the sub-prime/foreclosure/bursting real estate bubble mess is right now somewhat confined to fewer than 40 counties nationwide.   Yes, that’s true.  Fewer than 40 counties.  The media would never report that because then they’d have to find something else newsworthy about which to report.   

Granted, for those counties it is probably going to get worse before it gets better.  But if you’re not in one of those counties and you’re thinking about buying then GO!  Make the most of this market.  Heck, if you are in one of those counties you shouldn’t be afraid of taking advantage of lower prices and freakishly low interest rates. 

Besides, the recession is over, remember?

And we’re just living in it. 

The other day I read an interesting interpretation of housing price statistics.  Unfortunately I cannot remember who the interepreter was or what his/her background is.  But I do remember that it was an interesting take on the current market.  

What this person did was examine housing prices since the 1940s (the depression era) through 2008.   What this person found was that, nationally, housing prices increased an average of 4% each year until 2001 (the beginning of the housing bubble).  What this person also found was that if you factor in the declines in housing values the last few years 2009 housing prices are where they would have been if, assuming a continued 4% annual increase, the housing bubble never happened. 

I’m not a big fan of statistics because they can easily be manipulated and 72% of all statistcis are made up on the fly.  However, I liked that analysis and thought I’d share it.  If for no other reason than it serves as a nice lead-in. 

USA Today had an interesting graphic in it.  The printed version showed, in a typically colorfully pleasing manner, the volume of foreclosures nationwide.   The redder the area of the map the higher the volume of REO properties.  The online version has a cool little slider gizmo that displays how the foreclosure volume changed from 2006 thru the end of 2008. 

For sellers in California, Florida or the DC metro area 2008 pretty much was an ugly year.  For buyers with decent credit and a little cash for down payments it was good times nationwide.   Although, if you have extra cash and decent credit then anytime is good times.

The outlook for 2009, at least for the DC Metro area, isn’t looking much better in regards to the volume of foreclosure properties.   It’s been rumored that a majority of the homes Countrywide has in it’s foreclosure pipeline have yet to be put on the market.   

Earlier this month I had a client out and over the course of 2 days we looked at about a dozen different properties.  All but one was a foreclosed property.  The one that wasn’t will be if they don’t have any luck getting their short sale approved.  I have another investor client and that’s all he wants to see.  Luckily for him that is all that is on the market.   

So that’s the world we live in here in the DC metro area.  It is something that we’re going to have to get used to.    

Late last year the Gallup organization conducted their annual Honesty and Ethics Poll in which respondents were asked a series of questions designed to measure how the general public feels about particular professional groups.   For the reporting purposes of this poll the different professions were lumped into three categories; Top-Rated, Neutrally-Rated, and Least-well Rated. 

Real Esate Agents ended up at the bottom of the Neutrally-Rated group.  Just a few measley percentage points above congressmen, labor union leaders and telemarketers. 

Now I’ve had the pleasure of working with some truly exceptional agents.  Unfortunately, I’ve worked with agents who make the results of that survey no real surprise to me.  It is both maddening and sad.  It wouldn’t take much to improve that image, either. 

For instance, consider the remarks listing agents enter into the MLS to describe a property.  Not the remarks viewable by other agents.  I’m talking about the remarks that are viewable to the public in materials provided to buyers and/or on the internet.  Here are a four examples I found in my MLS: [these are all unedited and provided in their entirety exactly as they appeared]

• Please call the owner for all showning appointments. There is a pet on the primses. All contracts are subject to third party approval.
• Nice affordable and spacious end unit semi detached home. Call CSS to show 866-891-7469
• Show and Sell!! , QUiet street just off Sherman circle. New Price!!
• NICE CONDITION HOUSE

Apparently some agents forget that they have a duty to safeguard and promote the interests of their client.  In this case the sellers.  I don’t see how any of those descriptions does either. 

Let’s disect them. 

• “primses.”  I don’t know what that is but I hope that pet doesn’t get injured being on it.
• “Affordable.”  This doesn’t really interest me.  Can I see your unaffordable listings, please?  And does CSS really want John Q. Public calling to arrange a showing?
• “New Price!!” Uh-huh, your old price sucked, didn’t it?
• Complete sentences please. 

If you’re a homeowner (or an asset manager) and you have a property listed with an agent and the description of your property resembles (or is) one of those above then immediately fire your agent.   If they have a sign in your front yard go set it on fire, too.  Teach him/her a lesson.  There are way too many Realtors out there to go through this process with a crappy, lazy, selfish one. 

If you’re an agent and your property descriptions resemble (or is) one of those shown above then shame on you.  Get up off your butt and do your job properly.      

 I spent many minutes contemplating how to manage this blog.  One friend who is in the tech industry highly recommended that I get going on this thing.  It appears they are great marketing tools.  He qualified his recommendation by letting me know that I would probably need to “tone it down.”  

I laughed.

After reading other real estate blogs and came to one inescapable conclusion.  Realtor blogs are BORING.  And most blogs seem, at least to me, to be written to entice people into cars in the hopes of writing a contract.   Holy jeebus, how often can we as agents expect people to read about how many percentage points prices have declined?  Or how interest rates are historically low.  Does anyone really care that the active listings for a particular brokerage saw a 2.4% increase in showings last month?   And why wasn’t it mentioned that the increase in showings was due to a drop in prices? 

It is monotonous.  It is obvious.  It’s regurgitation of what’s on CNN, MSNBC and Faux News.  It makes me want to scratch out my eyeballs.

Which brings me to this blog and what the heck to do with it.  What makes anything I have to say relevant?  What makes anything I have to say any different than what a hundred thousand other agents have already blog’d about?   I think it’s going to be in the delivery.  In fact, I know it will be in the delivery.  I don’t blow smoke.  I don’t beat around the bush. 

So whatever or however you came to land on this blog I hope you enjoy yourself and I hope you come back, leave a comment or two.  Next time…bring a friend!