Realtor’s are People, Too!
Recently, my colleague, Rommel, wrote an excellent blog on ethics in our business. There is another side to the story, however, and that is the ethics of the clients.
While answering phones in the office this weekend, I received a call from a man who wanted to see one of our listings in San Francisco. I agreed to meet him at the listing at 11:00 a.m. the next day.
That night, I was involved in a relatively minor car crash and when I awoke the next morning I felt exhausted and unwell….still a little in shock from the accident, I guess. Even though I didn’t feel well, I planned to do my job and attend our scheduled showing, as well as doing my open house later that day. Read more
Brisbane – Missing the Boat…
Many home buyers and Realtors are missing the boat when it comes to a nearby town that offers great weather, lots of amenities and darned good real estate prices. I’m talking about the little community of Brisbane. It is located 10 minutes (or less, if you drive like me!) from the airport and is only 10 minutes to downtown San Francisco. Yet, hardly anyone even knows of it’s existence.
Brisbane is a hidden gem here on the Peninsula. It is located on the side of San Bruno Mountain between San Francisco and South San Francisco. There are only 3,597 residents, which makes it one of the smallest communities in the area. It is very unlike your typical suburb in that it has a hodgepodge of all types of architecture, from shacks to mansions, with very few ranch style homes. Many of the homes have great views of the Bay and downtown San Francisco.
The people of the community are almost as diverse as the architecture. Living in the town are world renowned film makers, rocket scientists, artists and musicians…all living happily amongst all of us regular folks. Brisbane is known as the “City of the Stars” because for over 65 years the residents have put up stars on their homes during the holiday season and even have a “Festival of Stars” each year. Read more
12 Hidden Costs of Homeownership
Hi everybody! I know, it’s been awhile..but here’s an awesome article I found earlier this year that would benefit first-time home buyers especially!
-via Luke Mullins, USNews.com (April 8, 2010)
As the selling season gets underway, many Americans will be looking to take advantage of the lower real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates, and federal tax credit by purchasing a home. But remember: Not all of the costs associated with homeownership are reflected in the listed price. Indeed, many buyers — particularly first-time buyers — may be surprised by the amount of cash they’ll need to set aside for housing-related expenses that they hadn’t previously considered. These often-overlooked expenses can include everything from title insurance to lawn mowing. To give would-be home buyers a better sense of the budget they’ll need to buy and maintain a home, U.S. News spoke with a handful of real estate experts and compiled a list of 12 hidden costs of homeownership:
1. Home inspection. Since a home purchase is likely to be the largest financial investment of your life, it’s a good idea to have it professionally inspected beforehand. A home inspector can point out areas of the property that may need repairs. Buyers can use this information as leverage during home-price negotiations or simply to determine whether or not the property is worth purchasing. “It’s not required, but certainly I recommend it to buyers,” says Judy Moore of Re/Max Landmark Realtors in Lexington, Mass. “It is actually very helpful in that [buyers] learn about the property and how to maintain it and it also alerts them to any potential issues that may be coming up in the near future or need to be taken care of.” The cost of a home inspection, which can run several hundred dollars or more, is typically incurred by the buyers before they go to closing, Moore says. Read more
To Rebate or Not to Rebate? That is the question…
Over the last month, I have had 3 different situations with buyers where they have said they will only use me if I give them a ”rebate” at the end of the transaction. Most common, has been the request to credit them a percentage of my commission.
I realize that a lot of this is happening because so many of our clients (even the very loyal ones,) are spending a great deal of time on the websites of our cut rate competitors, but I need to find a solution.
I try to counter their requests with the very valid logic that you get what you pay for in this world, and that my many years of experience, negotiating skills and industry knowledge are well worth paying full price, but this is less and less successful. Nor, do they care that I need to share my commission with the company. Read more
Doing the Right Thing…
As most of our readers know, our Prudential office has kiosks at Serramonte and Tanforan Malls. Many of us agents do regular shifts at the kiosk each month in the hope that we will meet buyers and sellers.
Recently I was covering the night shift, which goes from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. It was very quiet that night, but at one point, a very young man stopped by the booth and said he was thinking about selling a house he owns in South San Francisco. I would, normally, be very excited by this (leaping up and down with glee, actually!) Unfortunately, the more we talked, the more I realized that he shouldn’t sell this house.
It seems that he inherited it from his Grandmother and owns it free and clear. He’s still going to college and living in the house. And, while he isn’t thinking about it now, someday he’ll probably have a family and want a house. If he sells it now, the money will be gone and he will be back to struggling like everyone else to afford a home. Read more
Your words say “Yes” but your actions…not so much!
In any sales position, a person’s living depends a great deal on their ability to figure out who is ready, willing and able to buy and who isn’t. In addition to understanding real estate, a Realtor® has to be able to analyze how serious a potential client is and then determine the amount of energy appropriate for that client. We’ve all had buyers who insist buying is something they really want, when every other signal the buyer is sending screams “Not in this life time!”. If you feel as a buyer you are not getting the attention you deserve, it could be the realtor, or it could be time for a little self reflection. Read more
Environmental Issues When Buying A Home
I recently had to renew my real estate license for another 4 years and, as part of that process, had to take 45 hours of continuing education. I’ve been selling real estate for 16 years and, after all of that time, you start to think you know it all. Clearly, I was wrong, because I learned a lot from taking these courses.
The course that covers environmental issues in homes was of particular interest. I thought that some of the things I learned might be of help to my readers, so my next few articles will cover some of the environmental issues people need to be aware of. Today, I’ll talk a little about asbestos. Read more
Homes Are Moving Quickly!
I recently started working with some first time home buyers. We made an appointment to view four homes in Daly City and South San Francisco. They have not had much experience viewing homes and wanted to get their feet wet to see what was offered in the current market.
As always, I do my best to preview the homes I show, as to gain as much knowledge as possible about the homes we are going to view.
What we were surprised to find out is that, out of the four homes we planned on viewing, 3 of them were marked pending or were going to be marked pending soon. All of the homes were vacant and have been on the market less than a month. Read more
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