Out of Control Ego

Saturday I met an agent with an ego that demanded attention no matter what the cost.

We had an appointment for her buyers to meet at a listing of mine. The Buyers showed up on time and I introduced myself and made innocuous conversation while we waited on her. After a phone call with no answer I proceeded to show them the home.

After 20 minutes she showed up and blew in like the world was on fire. She did not introduce herself or apologize for her late arrival but her client commented on her tardiness and she explained she was very busy having sold 23 homes last week.

I chose to move on from such an obvious bid for attention if not an out right lie and mentioned to the Buyers that my Sellers had left them a few bottles of wine in the wine room. Their agent quickly started to review the wine and said, "Well I have 100 bottles of wine at all times."

I saw no reason to engage such an insecure ego and decided to use it as a reminder to myself to not take myself too seriously and most of all to be honest and simply apologize if I am late. Whatever happened to honestly and just plain being nice? I was actually embarrassed for her.

I'm Your Realtor not your Maid!

Things I have been asked to do by clients:

Which laundry – plus cleaning lint trap “If I am in the area." RIGHT

Mail bills – oops we forgot the postage

Wash windows – "Can you bring your own supplies?"

Let out the dog

Feed the dog

Walk the dog

Meet the cable guy

You get the picture – you name it.

It’s OK until the dog runs away and I end up tracking it well into the night and literally climb fences and hike through ditches and golf courses to return it to my Client.

I had one recently that when I arrived to check up on the dog it was in misery from eating some object in the house. She was so ill I could not leave her and had no idea what to do. She went outside and ate grass like a sheep and I eventually carried her inside.

I started to close the house up thinking that was all I could really do. Her owners were out of town and I figured she would throw up and be fine. Well she did throw up – A LOT! Before I left…so I get to add to the list of things I have done for clients…

Clean up dog vomit!

The things we do for Clients and to think they often want to know what we do for that commission?

As always contact me with questions under my full profile to the left. If you need your dog taken care of I guess I am qualified for that too!

It's a comb not a wand!

I am spinning off of a friend of mine’s comment about people arriving at the hair solon with a picture of how they want their hair. In many cases there is no possible way make the person’s hair look like the picture. Thus the phrase, “It’s a comb not a wand!” came into being!

Often I have clients that tell me they want something that does not exist. For example, “We want the perfect desert pool home in a gated community, with very low HOA fees, great mountain views late model construction with little or no work needed and our budget is $200,000.” Right…

To this I want to say, “It’s a lock box key not a wand!” I mean come on folks you have to be realistic. Everybody wants that perfect, cheap deal but the truth is certain combinations do not exist. Your friend from the office may have told you they got this great deal for nothing but have you seen it? I would put money on the fact that it is not what you have pictured in your head.

I once had clients that wanted a nice 3-bedroom condo on a golf course that did not need much work and one that their very conservative mother would approve of. Oh yeah one more thing – it had to be very child friendly! OK, for the most part conservative golf course homes are NOT child friendly. The owners and managers of these types of properties are grumpy seniors that want peace and quiet along with their drinks and golf. After all they bought this place to get AWAY from the grand kids!

This situation did eventually work out. I found them what they wanted in a development that Mother approved of by the way the residents were dressed and the lunch at the clubhouse. As far as the child friendly part – they were on their own – if I had that power I could rule the world! Be fair to your agent and if they cannot find you that perfect place it may just not exist. It’s a lock box key not a wand!

As always contact me via the links under my profile on the left if I can help with any questions. No pressure or expectations just friendly help.

Get off the Fence!

Here I sit with four buyers "waiting for the right time" and two great listings that are over 40% reduced from when they last sold. You hear it all the time, "We want to buy when it hits the bottom!"

Do you know the only way to tell if it is "the bottom" is when prices start to go back up! Then you missed it anyway.

Here is an article from CNN Magazine Sept. 2009 that rates Palm Springs as the #2 BEST place to retire based on price and bang for your buck. Come on people - wake up!

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/moneymag/0909/gallery.bpretire_top25.moneymag/2.html

Understanding the Terms of Foreclosure

This is a departure from my normal blog post - a very helpful explanation of Foreclosure Terms. Hope it is helpfull!

If you are either in the process of buying or selling a foreclosure property, understanding the basic terms will help you ask appropriate questions of your REALTOR, the escrow officer, the lender or other parties involved in the transaction. This can expedite the timeframe of the process for everyone involved.
Below are the most common terms used in connection with the foreclosure process:
A Deed of Trust: A Deed of Trust is the security for your loan. It is the document that is recorded in the public records.A deed of trust contains three parties:
The Trustor, which is the borrower
The Trustee, which is an entity that holds “bare or legal” title
The Beneficiary, which is the lender
The deed of trust is an instrument that identifies the following:
Original loan amount
Legal description of the property being used as security for the mortgage
The parties
Inception and maturity date of the loan
Provisions of the mortgage and requirements
Late fees
Legal procedures
Acceleration and alienation clauses
Riders, if any, regarding such clauses as prepayment penalties or terms of an adjustable rate mortgage
Notice of Default:Lenders file in the public records where the property is located a public notice called the Notice of Default. It states that the borrower is in default, behind in the mortgage payments, and if the payments are not paid up, the lender will seize the home. In California, lenders typically do not file a Notice of Default until the borrower is at least 60 days behind in making payments. Lenders must then wait 90 days. During that 90-day period, the borrower has the right to make up the back payments and reinstate the loan. After 90 days, the lender is required to publish a notice in the newspaper for 20 days and then may sell the property to the highest acceptable bidder on the courthouse steps. If no acceptable bid is received, the trustee then conveys the property to the lender.
Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure :A potential option taken by a mortgagor (a borrower) to avoid foreclosure under which the mortgagor deeds the collateral property (the home) back to the mortgagee (the lender) in exchange for the release of all obligations under the mortgage.
Foreclosure: Legal proceeding by which a borrower’s rights to a mortgaged property may be extinguished if the borrower fails to live up to the obligations agreed to in the loan contract. The lender may then declare the entire debt due and owing and may seek to satisfy it by foreclosing. Foreclosure is commonly by a court-decreed sale of the property to the highest bidder, who is often the lender.
As we all know, foreclosures continue to be in the news and continue to dominate the market. This means that REALTORS, struggling homeowners, and potential buyers need to have information about the process and terms of foreclosure in order to make important decisions about the sale or purchase of a property.

Not so Short Sale

In today’s market most Real Estate Agents have either willingly or unwillingly become more up-to-speed on short sale transactions. With every lending institution being different each transaction is a challenge.

The common misconception by non-agents is that short sales are quick. Just the opposite – they are long and drawn out and can blow up in your face at any time. However; do not be discouraged. If you are in a position to consider a short sale i.e. you are too far backwards in your home to realistically and practically see yourself continuing with the payments, think about a short sale. Even if you can manage the payments does it make sense? Will you ever get out of the hole you are in?

I recently closed a short sale that I may have been discouraged from attempting had I known then what I know now. Nearly everything about this transaction said it would not qualify for a short sale. Fortunately I took that class AFTER it closed!

I am not saying don’t continue to educate yourself – that is always a good thing. Just do not throw in the towel without a fight – you just never know.

The point; persistence pays off – particularly when you are not told it can not!

As always feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you have by clicking on the “View My Complete Profile” button under “About Me” then Email me under the Contact Info. No worries I will help you if I can and nothing more.

I'm Ready for my Close-up!

I often think about what the best form of marketing is for a realtor. Print Ads are becoming passé with so much available online. However with so many online options it is hard to know just what is best. Obviously blogging is one I am using but a few years ago I ended up with an interesting client that turned into quite a lot of business including referrals from a tried and true but often forgotten media.

I received a call one day from a mysterious woman that said she would like me to sell her property. She would not give me her name just the address of the property and we arranged to meet there. (Of course I made sure it was broad daylight and had a co-agent watching from another car just in case it was trouble.) I did my homework on the address and discovered who the owner was and could only assume that from the voice on the phone it was this individual meeting me.

I arrived early; she pulled up driving herself in a black Lexus with heavily tinted windows. When she got out of the car she was quite elderly and had on large dark glasses and a scarf. I introduced myself and we headed into the property. She kept her dark glasses and scarf on the entire time we were there. I had a price opinion ready based on the condition of the property prior to my arrival and when we walked out she asked me for that.

By this time I was pretty sure whom I was meeting with and when we were ready to part I called her by name. She spun around and said, “How do you know who I am?” I told her I looked up the property, as the call was so mysterious I was concerned about security. She took off her glasses and looked me straight in the eye and said, “No one is to know who I am.” I agreed and told her all of my clients enjoy the same confidentiality.

Fast forward through two transactions and we had become well acquainted. I was listing a third property for her and asked how she had ever come to call me in the first place. She said she was taking her morning walk; saw one of my signs with my picture on the flier. She thought I had very good trusting eyes. Coming from this individual I thought how ironic!

The point:
Do not overlook your “face” value. Have a CURRENT picture of yourself. The entire public jokes about how, when they meet the realtor, they do not recognize them from the picture that appears to have been taken 20+ years earlier! Take a look at the heading of the post and, if you are of the age to remember this, you may have an idea of the famous Hollywood person whose daughter I was representing. She is gone now so if you do figure it out, I did not breach my confidentiality pledge!

As always feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you have by clicking on the “View Complete Profile” button under “About Me” then Email me under the Contact Info. No worries, no pressure I will help you if I can, nothing more.

Do Not Cut off your Nose to Spite Your Face!

I had a client some time back who, like all Sellers, saw his home as the best in the neighborhood, and wanted TOP dollar for it. Since I was the Agent of note in the development he wanted me to handle it and get him his price. They were building a new home in the mountains with a completion date of about 60 days out. I took the listing with the qualification of a price reduction built in if we had no offers in 30 days.

Three weeks into the contract we had an offer that was very near what I had expected. These were 1031 exchange Buyers and they had to make a decision in the next two days to qualify.

I knew the agent representing the Buyers and she told me up front that my listing was their first choice and that they had another $10,000 and that was it. If not they would move on to choice #2. My Sellers felt they would be “giving the house away” and when I told them the market was turning and they should take it “I just wanted a fast sale.” Keep in mind they approached me to list there property based on my reputation.

They turned down the offer. In another week we lowered the price. No more offers. They started to find fault with me then they wanted to drop the listing. They hired the agent that brought the original offer – fired her. They hired another well-known agent in the community and priced it even higher! It did not sell. They hired yet another agent and ended up firing him because they came home to find him charging his cell phone with their electricity after an open house. (Yes, you read it right.)

Today they are in bankruptcy and very bitter. The beautiful home is a scar on the face of the neighborhood not to mention on the owners credit report and future buying power.

Point: Listen to your agent, you hired them for a reason, and they know the market far better than you do. The biggest reason a house does not sell is because it is over-priced. Do not let your pride and or stubbornness become a scar on the face of your reputation, finances or for your neighborhood. No one wins with this approach!


For more information 1031 exchange or any question you may have contact me by clicking on the information on the right. I WILL NOT harass you for business. I hate that and so does everyone else.

No Gag Reflex

My first blog even though I have been doing the same thing for years calling it my “Real Estate Byte”. I work in the Coachella Valley of California most widely known as Palm Springs. Not all of my blogs will be related to the market. Some, like this one, will be about experiences I have had while working in this field humorous or otherwise. I promise they will be real and hopefully have a point.


After meeting my client for the first time we spent the afternoon looking at potential properties. The normal conversations took place me trying to qualify him and him trying to work me for a deal.

I enjoyed this guy and around 4 PM we were both hungry and I suggested we stop at a local Mexican restaurant and discuss the property we had looked at. We ordered a quesadilla and two margaritas. About ten minutes into our chat he suddenly stopped talking and his eyes got big. He grasp his throat and it was clear he was choking. I started to slap him on the back and decided the Heimlich was what needed to happen. The restaurant staff had started to gather and I was thinking the worst. Well the worst did not happen – instead he threw up in his plate.

Believe it or not we are still working on finding him that property but neither of us has suggested getting a bite to eat again.

The point – keep your first aid skills up-to-date. I am not too sure E and O insurance would cover death by Quesadilla and it is the worst way I can think of to loose a client!