Real Estate Investing

I’ve been a Realtor for almost six years.  I started in the happy days of real estate - when all you did was sit back and wait for clients to fall into your lap (I still think this is a fictional depiction of those boom days).  Today’s market is a lot tougher, of course.  But in good times and in bad times, two pieces of advice have stayed with me and are true in almost any situation.

1. Don’t get mad at your money.   This is a lot easier to say than do.  What does it mean?  If you’re working with a buyer or seller who is just … well let’s say “unpleasant” … don’t get mad at them.  Stick to the duties you owe them as your client.  Be honest, be fair.  Be informed.  Their behavior is something they have to live with, but once you close the house for them, you’re done.  You can then walk away, but wait and get your paycheck first.  In the future you may not want to include them on your mailing list.  And why wouldn’t I want them on my mailing list?  Because birds of a feather flock together and if THEY were that rude, then it’s likely that any referrals they may give me would also be equally vile so no thanks.
2. Never let your client be the one to say “NO” to an offer.  Always always always counter if you can. It may feel like a phenomenal waste of time at points, but you don’t want the ball dropped in your court.  Jennifer Fivelsdal of Keller Williams in New York agrees,

Your counter offer will give the potential buyer a clear indication as to whether you are willing to budge on the price. or not.  At this stage your counter offer might be accepted or you might have to do this back and forth a few times.  The key is this, don’t get offended and you might find that you can arrive at an agreement.

Of course we know that sometimes it’s in the best interest of the client to let property go.  For example, once when I placed my business card on a counter and accidentally nudged another card already there, about a thousand baby cockroaches ran out from under it.  Let it go.   When you find something like that, just don’t even make the offer in the first place!  In fact I told my friend/client at that point that if she wanted to make an offer on that horrible place, she’d have to find another agent because I wouldn’t be writing a contract on it.

So hold on to your money and try to hold on to an offer.  Always good advice.

Ed McMahon - the nation’s most famous sidekick - passed away last night and today’s entry is written as a tribute to a man with great talent.  When I got old enough, I’d stay up late with my Dad watching The Tonight Show which was sometimes followed by the old B-rated movies on another channel. You know… The Blob, The Birds, The Frogs.  Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon, and the movies were so much a part of my growing up years.

Many people are paying tribute to Mr. McMahon, but he’s also known for something else entirely real estate related. He put a face on people who are facing foreclosure during these difficult economic times.  He had medical issues like so many others have had.  These problems kept him from working like so many others have experienced.

I felt great sympathy for the man who had experiencehis housing difficulties in the glare of the public spotlight. I hope you rest in peace, Mr. McMahon.  You’ll be missed.

About a year ago I said the recovery was already starting.   Business was improving.  I had closings again.  I was wrong.  I said in March or April of this year that it felt like things were picking up again.  Business was improving.  Well I don’t want to say I was wrong yet - no jinxing myself here - but to date this year has been even slower than last year.  But as an eternal optimist, I’m holding on to the dream that we are turning the corner in the housing market.

It’s not just me being optimistic, though. In a detailed article on MSNBC.com written for Business Week magazine, the year 2012 is being looked at as the year that things return to normal in the housing market.  There is hope again for a “boring” housing market - one in which there are just as many buyers as sellers and home prices aren’t plunging and home loans area affordably available.

By 2012 we may finally get back to blissful boredom. With any luck, three years should be long enough for the U.S. economy to recover and for the nation’s housing inventory to shrink to more normal levels. At that point, housing will return to its old ways, with prices governed not by national mood swings and global credit crises but by local issues ranging from zoning to immigration to job growth. Prices? While they’re likely to keep falling a while longer under the weight of foreclosures, the market is definitely closer to the bottom than the top.

This whole foreclosure mess is just craziness.  I continue to hear about people who haven’t made their mortgage payments for six to eight months and haven’t received even the first warning from their lender.  Others get two months behind and the foreclosure process begins immediately.  I guess each lender truly is different.

Meanwhile, there is help for people who have lost their homes to foreclosure … the latest is coming from church groups according to Maranda Marquit over at the Loan Shak.  She links to US REO Properties which says,

The Valley Presbyterian Church on McDonald Drive in Paradise Valley has seen a sudden jump in the number of people asking for help. There are families where both husband and wife have lost their jobs or retired personnel subsidizing the income of their grown up children. Woody Garvin described the need as staggering. He said, “We’re not doing this alone. All churches are doing this right now. Congregations everywhere are quietly stepping up to the plate and helping people.”

I am relieved there is help for people.  I’m thinking my bedroom that will be empty this August when my oldest daughter goes off to college, it may just end up going to one of my foreclosed friends.  Scary times.