Whatever It Takes

I'm trying to help my client close on a home before the end of the year.  That means fitting in a home inspection Christmas week, soon after our record December blizzard.  The homeowners are out of town, so the 20" of snow on the driveway wasn't shoveled.

I didn't even attempt to get my Lexus in the driveway. It still got stuck just turning around on the somewhat-plowed street.  The inspector had to rock my car out of that one - and that was even before the clients and the rest of the gang (see below) showed up.

Because the homeowners were gone, the listing agent had to unarm the security system. Unfortunately they gave her the wrong code, so after 5 minutes of the alarm blaring, they finally remembered the right numbers.  She just stayed with us (not customary, but she's great) to be there for appraiser who also showed, and the radon inspector.  The school system of the buyers closed because of the storm, so they showed up with the 3 kids and a mother-in-law in tow.  We had a house full!

After a five-hours long inspection we are finally ready to leave.  The listing agent is the last to pull out and immediately gets stuck in the snow.  Inspector had already left.  Thank goodness my client has a big SUV and had a tow line.  (He's a very competent guy in so many ways.)  Success!

Just another example of doing whatever it takes to meet deadlines and help clients buy and sell homes!  Happy Holidays to all my wonderful clients who've made this such a great year.  Wishing you joy and peace in 2010!

Get Lucky - or Get Smart

After being buried in 18 inches of snow, and spending waaaay to much time watching FIOS On Demand TV, I had one of those nights where I stayed awake thinking of random things.  Last night I was wondering how many people there are per Realtor in Virginia.  There are so many times when I tell people I'm a Realtor and they reply, "So am I".  But they say that when their sitting across from me as a customer service rep at a bank, or helping me in a store.  They may have their license, but it clearly isn't their every-week, this-is-how-I-pay-more-mortgage profession.

I searched statistics on the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the Census Bureau, and Wikipedia.  I took the number of Real Estate Sales Agents and Broker, divided by the population of Virginia, and found there are 635 people for every Realtor.  16.3% of every person over 16 in Virginia moved in 2006.  68.9% of Americans were homeowners in 2005, and the average household size in 2000 was 2.59 people.  That gave me an estimate of the count of Virginia households who are homeowners who moved.  Divide that by the count of Real Estate Agents and Brokers and there are 28 Virginia households moving each year for every Realtor.  That sounds about right.

As intimidating as it is for me to think about competing to find my theoretical 28 households that are moving each year, it should be way more intimidating for the householder that is moving that doesn't know the business reputation of a Realtor.  To simply choose someone because they are your sister-in-law, cousin, or the lady that teaches Sunday school at your church is really scary.

What should you look for in a Realtor?  It's best to find someone with local knowledge of the area where you need to sell or want to buy. Experience is super important.  It isn't how long they've been in the business but rather how many transactions they are handling a year.  If someone does this as a hobby it's impossible for them to keep up with all the movement that happens every single month in the market place, changes within the standardized contracts, and the lending and legal developments.

Character counts.  There are so many opportunities for someone to cut corners and fudge about what is said and done, and this can, at the least, lead to messing things up so that you don't get the house you want to buy or sell the house you need to sell. At the worst it can lead to expensive mistakes and even legal consequences.

Negotiation skills matter.  Negotiating is not being a brow-beater, and pressing the other side until they feel abused.  It only starts with getting to an agreement for the sales price.  Negotiations continue through the many contingencies most contracts have that must be navigated on your way to the settlement table.

And that leads me to temperament.  It's great to work with someone that has a sparkling personality, but what happens to that personality when the stress sets in?  And it will.  It's invaluable to work with someone who keeps a level-head when those about them are losing theirs.  Someone who can sympathize with your emotions, but stays the steady course to come up with common-sense solutions to get you to your goal of buying or selling a home.

I love our slogan:  Smart Connections Between Heart and Home.  You might get lucky, but your odds are better if you start out smart.  Choose wisely.

Love or Business

One time I loved a house too much - and it almost got in the way of a sale.  

The home was a center hall colonial in north Reston.  The minute I walked in the door it had "great vibes" - a traditional home with transitional style.  It was beautifully decorated in a consistent color theme from room to room - taupe and eggplant - without being over bearing like a model home.  It was immaculately clean and perfectly maintained.  I was thrilled to represent such a beautiful home.  And I loved the personalities of the clients.  I knew instantly we would become friends, and we are. 

The challenge we faced is that it was January, the market was declining and there were very few sales happening at all.  The sellers were realistic so we set an aggressive price.

Here's the hiccup.  Whenever I met with my clients, it was in their home.  They would greet me warmly at the door, and I'd walk through the lovely rooms, to the sun-filled breakfast area and look over their large wooded backyard.  And then I'd say "I love this house."   They would reply with their own affirmatives, "We do, too.  It's a hard decision to leave, but we know its the right thing to do."   Then we'd proceed to talk about showings, open houses, competition and the declining market.

When they received an offer it was, of course, much lower than we hoped to get.  They were having trouble coming to terms with accepting a negotiated price and moving on.  After a couple of visits, I realized I was part of the problem.  It was my "I love this house" each time I was there that was reminding them how much they loved the house.  And it was reinforcing a perception of value that the current market was not going to support.

I often meet clients in their home, but I needed to get this couple out of the house and in front of a computer so that they could see the facts: a spreadsheet I had put together of comps data and a study of other listings so they could understand where they stood.  When we removed the emotion that was there when we were in the home, they were quickly able to see the writing on the wall and come to a mutually agreeable selling price for the home.

My friends are now living happily in a new home in Potomac Green, an over-55 community with facilities like a high-end resort. They have decorated their new home with the same good taste as their colonial.  They now have a low-maintenance home and a lifestyle they'll enjoy for years to come.

My now friends have thanked me repeatedly for getting their home sold before the market continued to deteriorate.  They feel fortunate compared to the subsequent sales prices of some of their former neighbors' homes.

I learned a valuable lesson.  When it is time let go of emotional attachments and perceptions, get out of the home and into the office.  Business decisions are best made in business settings.