Real Estate Snippets

Site Feeds (RSS)

If you've skidded by my site at 60 mph (see my billboard post) and just HAPPEN to stay long enough to read; and just HAPPEN to like what you read, you can add me to your RSS Feed.  Yup, you heard me.  RSS Feed.

If you don't know what RSS feed is, don't despair.  Feeling dumb is part of the initiation for the tech challenged.  Just one year ago I had never heard of blogs, had never tried to design my own website, and barely knew what E-Bay was, much less what an RSS feed was.  This last year has made "feeling dumb" about technology a way of life for me!  For the tech impaired, RSS stands for "Real Simple Syndication" and allows the RSS subscriber (that's me or you!) to be notified when a new post is submitted on a blog, website, news service, etc.,  of their choice.  As far as the "real simple" part of it, the creator of this torture device must have meant "real simple" AFTER you figure it out!  Struggling through installation of a free RSS reader with no step by step instructions is sheer madness.  Sleuthing out the addresses for sites that participate in RSS is definitely not "real simple".  BUT, once you get the sites set up on an RSS reader, they pop up on the side of your screen when a new post is added.  What a deal.  Some mastermind must have created this system to separate the "haves" and the "have nots"!  I'm determined to be a "have"!

Just a little footnote to the tech savvy who know what an RSS feed is . . . the orange chicklet for the RSS feed is at the bottom of the left side bar.  For the not so tech savvy, chicklet is a term for a small little picture (like the one in this post that's orange in this case).  If you have a "reader" you can click on the little picture and get this blog via RSS feed.

Pullitzer Prize or Billboard

Maureen McCabe is a researcher.  She's also a REALTOR in Columbus, Ohio.  If you want to be challenged or you have a challenge to solve, ask Maureen.  Her latest discovery is an article about blogging.  The author purports that web surfers seldom stay on a site for more than a few seconds, just long enough to scan the content, find a link of interest and move on.  He likens blogging to writing a billboard.  We bloggers are writing to win a Pulitzer prize when in reality our readers are whizzing by at 60 mph.  If our post isn't short and sweet OR catchy, the web surfer's gone!

Are you still here?  Imagine that. . .

The Market Is Righting Itself

Mary in Vegas writes about the current real estate market in her area.  Like the Twin Cities, her area is experiencing a slow down.  Minnesota REALTORS who have been in the business long enough realize this slow down is not a bubble bursting, but the market finally coming to its senses! 

The real estate industry is known to cycle with highs and lows.  Minnesota has been protected from the extreme ups and downs that are reflected on the coasts.  Our market had been relatively stable until the "feeding frenzy" of the last 7 years.  For the first time, Minnesotans experienced what the coasts have experienced frequently:  very few houses on the market during a time when lots of buyers wanted to capture the low mortgage interest rates.  Buyers frantically fought over houses paying prices well over list.  Rental vacancies skyrocketed.  Now that the inventory has dramatically increased and there are fewer buyers in the market, it feels like the market has skidded to a halt when in actuality, it's become more of a normal season!Mary in Vegas quotes Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research: "It's softer than it was, the way it should be, because we all knew it was going to slow down sooner or later. We got away from talking about cycles and started talking about bubbles. The cycle is on the downward slope of the peak, but we're going to be OK."

I like the thought that it's going to be OK.  However, that's little consolation for the individual seller whose house is only one in the 4.5 months of inventory that is currently on the market!  That means it would take 4.5 months for every house currently listed to sell IF no more listings came on the market.  The pressure is on for sellers to make their houses showplaces and for agents to market like crazy!

Discount Brokerages

Discount brokerages (real estate companies with reduced fees or that allow the seller to do it yourself) are not for everyone.  I had a client decide to sell his property himself in order to save the commission expense.  He kept me abreast of the progress as he wanted me to represent him on the purchase of his new home.  We had discussed ahead of time the pros and cons of using me to list his house versus doing it without an agent.  Thirty days into his "listing" time he had had tons of showings but no offers.  He was pretty fed up with the agency he had signed with because they weren't giving him any feedback from the agents who showed his house.  They weren't communicating with him at all.  Finally in frustration, he called and asked me to come and do my listing presentation.  Since I had represented him in the purchase of his home, I came equipped with a comparable market analysis.  He had overpriced the home by 10% over other sales in the area and that was why he was not getting offers.  His fiance, he and I talked.  He was amazed at how hard it was to sell a home.  He had thought he could just put it on the MLS, run an ad, and put pretty brochures in the brochure box.  He hadn't even considered that he had to find out what houses sold for in the area.  He questioned why the "do it yourself" company hadn't helped him with the pricing.  My answer was a tactful version of "You get what you pay for".  He "wasted $1,000, just threw it away" in his words, because he didn't know what a REALTOR knows.  He and I have a good relationship, so we had a sad laugh over this.  I listed the house at the CMA price, called all the people who had been through and in 7 days had 2 offers.  Why?  Because I had the info, experience, market knowledge, and training that he did not.  Will he do it again?  Not on his own!  Next time he's going to save his $1000 and call me first! 

Animal Units

Have you ever heard the term animal units?  It was news to me as well when researching hobby farms for a client.  I spent several hours calling each city hall around the metro to find which areas my client could have a couple horses.  Obviously Minneapolis and St. Paul proper were quickly eliminated along with the first couple tiers of suburbs.  But, as I got further out I was told by one zoning expert that the number of horses was determined by how many animal units were allowed per acre.  "Animal units?", I asked.   I'm a city girl with deep roots in Iowa farmland and had never heard of such a thing!  This particular community determined that a pig was one animal unit.  Inquiring minds needed to know what the basis was for the pig.  It's based on the "output" of the animal.  Huh?  Output equals waste!  As my kids would say, "TMI" (too much info for those without kids to translate!).  I've long since forgotten how many animal units a horse was worth, but the concept should be put in a stand up comedy routine!  Real estate is never simple OR boring! 

Life of a REALTOR

I was reading another REALTOR's blog today and thought I'd share it.  Lynne Mercer from Palo Alto, California, describes a typical week for a REALTOR.  I'm not going to re-invent the wheel as she put it very well.  During our peak seasons that is how we work.  During the slow seasons (Minnesota has a slow season because of the weather.  No one wants to move when it's cold and snowy!) we work on generating more business for the peak season.  So, maybe in the winter, we get some sleep.  Otherwise, it's catch as catch can.  If you want to see what a REALTOR's life is like, check out Lynne's blog.

Panhandlers

People of less fortunate means have never scared me.  As a child, my parents would often feed men who rode the boxcars and came asking for bread at our home.  They would always get a free meal, either in our back yard or at the local restaurant where my dad had established a "tab" for such purposes.  Charity and I are not strangers, but suburbanites are not often approached for a handout and having been in suburbia for the last 30 years, I'd almost forgotten how to handle the panhandle!  My husband, ever the expert, has been approached for gas money several times and when he comes from our backyard with a 5 gallon can, the person always disappears. Our daughter was approached in the grocery store parking lot by a man with a sign: "Deaf.  Need help."  She signed back to him asking what kind of help he needed.  He looked confused, then shocked, and hoofed it away.

Today took the cake.  A showing brought me to one of the corners  frequently populated by panhandlers. Usually the carefully lettered cardboard signs say, "Hungry. Need Food. God Bless" or something similar.  Being the cold hearted person that I am, I always drive by with my windows up and my doors locked.  (I've seen the TV documentaries that show how much a panhandler makes a day and wonder if I'm in the wrong profession.  Not to mention that many times they have newer coats than mine or fancy tennis shoes that cost upwards of $150!)  Today I nearly fell out of my car in shock.  The carefully worded sign said, "Don't Lie.  Want Beer!"  I almost pulled over and emptied my purse to reward his honesty!

President's Day

Today was President's Day.  When I was a kid we got two days off:  one for Lincoln and one for Washington.  We spent days preceding our vacation making presidential silouettes and learning about "Honest Abe", the cherry tree, and the "father of our country".  I doubt teens today even know what all that's about.  It was a simpler time when our presidents were men to be revered.  The nation hadn't yet discovered the dirty laundry and we had an innocence about us that shattered with JFK's assassination and with Nixon's Watergate.  Legacies . . . what legacies.  Lost innocence is never regained.

T-Mobile Doesn't Support Me, I Don't Support Them

I'm usually pretty passive in my political stance, but every so often I get riled up and take action.  Today is one of those days.  T-Mobile released a commercial recently that really slams real estate agents AND uses the registered trademark name REALTOR without permission  (As if the National Association of REALTORS woud give permission for such a nasty portrayal of their profession!).  If you haven't seen the commercial, you can read about it here.    The term REALTOR is a registered trademark and can only be used by permission or by members (See my blog entry for the difference between REALTOR and real estate agent), but with commercials like T-Mobile's, the terms are interchanged AND the actor does not portray the licensee as a professional.  T-Mobile's response to misuse of the registered trademark REALTOR, is interesting.  I really wonder if they realize there were 2.6 million licensees in the U.S. in 2005!  That is a considerable market share to lose because they chose to portray agents as dishonest and not caring about their clients AND because they didn't do their research to find out that REALTOR is a registered trademark that cannot be used  without permission.  If T-Mobile considered that many of those real estate agents also have large calling plans (mine is 2000+ minutes), that could be a significant loss in business if agents change providers.  I know I was considering T-Mobile but they eliminated my need to research them as an option.  I'm certainly not going to support a company that doesn't respect my profession!

Staying in the Real Estate Business

There is a high drop out rate for real estate agents in their first year (70% or more) and if your agent has made it past the second year in real estate, they are probably going to stay.  The first two years are grueling and quite often "newbies" think this business is a quick and easy way to "make a buck".  Afterall, anyone can sell a house, right??????!!!!!!!!!!! 

These newcomers to the business don't realize how hard it is to learn the ropes AFTER they've finished school; how much work it takes to complete ONE transaction; and how hard it is to market a home or find buyer clients.  Afterall, if you "build it, they will come"!  Ha, ha!  The HGTV shows make REALTORS look like tour guides, or worse yet, like real dorks who are unnecessary to a transaction!  I'm not sure I would choose any one of the agents portrayed on TV.  All they seem to be good for is opening the doors!   The same programs make selling a house look like a piece of cake.  They don't show the hours the agent spends behind the scenes building strategy for how to market a home for sale, nor do they show how many times the mediocre house is rejected by potential buyers.  They don't show the agent and buyer clients discussing what price to pay, nor do they show what happens when the offer is rejected.  They also don't talk about the hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars spent by the agent on marketing a house.  None of this income is reimbursed, and IF the listing doesn't sell, the agent has lost his/her own funds in that marketing.  At $50-$100 per ad, $35 minimum per month for virtual tours, $35-$100 per sign, $25 to install the sign, $39 for postage to mail only 100 postcards (plus the cost of the cards), a computer, a digital camera, a tape measure, a CAR (!!!), etc., the material loss for an agent whose listing does not sell is substantial (Remember again real estate is local and so are these prices.).  It's no wonder that green agents quit before they sell even one house.  If they weren't forewarned about how hard REALTORS work, or didn't believe the warnings, it'd be easy to get discouraged before the first commission is earned.

If your agent has made it past 5 years, you have a SEASONED and tenacious professional on your side.  Chances are they are realistic and will do whatever it takes to get the job done!