I know for a fact that I have married one of the greatest guys on the planet. Some days are more mundane than others but my favorites are the days when Steve comes out with those zingers that reinforces why I married him.
I was philosophizing about our mishap with folks offering us way less on our homes than they are worth- I am not just talking about what WE think they are worth but even less than what the market is dictating right now, but I digress. Mentioning to him that perhaps we take these things too personally he said "you know what? That doesn't bother me. If we DIDN'T take it personally, that would be a sign we didn't care anymore and I love what I do."
Picture, if you will, yourself as an artist. You create a masterpiece. You put money and time into a work of art and then, not only does someone come along, see your art, and urinate on it but they offer you less than what you paid for it.
I don’t know where realtors are getting their clients or where their clients are getting their pathetic information but it has GOT TO STOP! Maybe that insidious agent on the Today show, Barbara Corcoran. This is one of the best times to buy a home in nearly 100 years and still there are folks who are stupid enough to offer someone, in a relatively healthy part of the country, 20% less than the going rate of a home. It’s one thing if the home is not priced right. It’s another thing if it is and the buyers think they’ll take a chance.
There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to the market right now and buyers who think there is are either so egotistical they need to get over themselves or have the wrong agent.
What classes are these realtors taking? What jerk is teaching them that it’s OK to allow their clients to offer this outrageously small amount combined with thinking they are irrefutably right? OR what realtor is taking a class to make the listing agent feel like a jerk for not accepting the offer? That latter tact is getting pretty old.
Granted, as Realtors, we are required to carry out any legal action our clients want us to. We can try to talk them out of GOUGING the seller or buyer but ultimately, if our clients are determined to be a jerk, we have to represent them. However, I get the feeling that someone is feeding them this information.
Logic #1 making the seller mad (if the seller is a human being versus a bank) is not the best idea. You want to humanize the buyer and if you ask for too much on the front end, the seller won’t be very amiable to help you out on the backend (e.g. repairs).
Logic #2 putting a builder out of business AFFECTS THE BUYER. How? You may not give a damn if the builder goes out of business but his livelihood affects you if you move into the neighborhood he’s trying to build in. Especially in this economy, the likelihood of someone wanting to buy the land is slim. And, even if they do, it will be a cheaper, crappier, builder. I know of a perfect example down the street from us. Try me.
Logic #3 if you gouge the value of the home you are buying, you are decreasing the property value of the neighborhood you live in and ultimately, doing yourself a disservice.
Logic #4 Have I mentioned this is one of the best times to buy in a century? Don’t make me quote you statistics on how North Carolina is fairing far greater than places like PENNSYLVANIA, for example, and that prices here are about as low as they are going to go barring something catastrophic like a terrorist attack. Go ahead and try to gouge someone but don’t be a cry baby when the seller doesn’t want to play your pathetic game. If you want someone to “work” with you, you’d better be willing to “work” as well.
Should the seller take it personally, no. But nor should the buyer be a jerk when the seller won’t/can’t play his game. It’s called a seller net sheet, people, not all sellers are sitting on a gold mine, waiting to make a killing on your offer.
I was Googling some ideas for creative incentives during this crazy time in real estate and I stumbled upon an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, written just this past February, that made me very angry.
The article was actually about "stimulus" money incentives that were or were not distributed to the real estate sector. An economy "expert" was interviewed and here is the segment that bothered me:
Chris Thornberg, economist with Los Angeles research firm Beacon Economics, said the stimulus package is necessary to help revive the economy, but that the home building industry doesn't require or deserve any special consideration.
"The housing industry broke first, but it was only a symptom of the underlying problem in the U.S. economy ... a 12-year spending binge based on overinflated values of our homes," he said.
I am not an economist myself but I am SHOCKED that an "economist" would not acknowledge the concept of supply and demand. If supply is low and demand is high, it's not the builders who set the price, it's not the car dealers who set the price, it's not the flat-screen TV makers who set the price. The market sets the price.
Let's say Mr. Thornberg sells candy bars. Let's pretend it costs him 5 cents to make and wrap the candy bar but that there has developed a sudden demand for candy bars because Barney Frank says that folks who haven't been able to afford $2 candy bars in the past deserve to be candy bar eaters.
Let's also say that in places like Atlanta, people can't get enough of the candy bars and that folks who previously could afford the $2 candy bars are now demanding $5 candy bars because they are in a bidding war with other folks and the price has skyrocketed. Is that Mr. Thornberg's fault? Should Mr. Thornberg start making candy bars faster and faster and more sloppily and at the original $2 price just because some sociallist thinks that's the right thing to do?
I say that if the public is willing to pay, there is nothing wrong with making a profit. It is not the builders', entrepreurs', or widget-makers' fault that the public was willing to pay more for real estate in 2005 and that the bubble burst.
Shame on you, Mr. Thornberg, for implying that builders had some kind of control of the current recession that they don't deserve help. My husband is an honest, hard-working, builder and has been in business for more than 20 years and it is mentality like yours that make people think that he was price gouging the public.
If you only knew. My husband can name you at least a half dozen "customers" who have taken advantage of the kindness of him and his dad over the years. Don't tell me they don't deserve help.
Edited to read: This is a great quote from Atlas Shrugged-
"Do I wish to sell my product for less than my customers are willing to pay me? I do not. Do I wish to sell it at a loss or give it away? I do not. If this is evil, do what you please about me, according to whatever standards you hold. These are mine. I am earning my own living, as every honest man must. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact that I am able to do it and do it well. I refuse to accept as guilt the fact that I am able to do it better than most people - the fact that my work is of greater value than the work of my neighbors and that more men are willing to pay me. I refuse to apologize for my ability - I refuse to apologize for my success - I refuse to apologize for my money."
In the interest of survival, I am entering sweepstakes and stumbled upon this one. Enter to win!
"Throughout the month of May, I will be hosting a giveaway to reward my regular readers and those who are active on my site. Similar to the February giveaway, the winner of this giveaway will a gift certificate to your favorite green store. This time it will be $50 either in the form of a gift certificate or as cash, to spend the money at a local green store."
It always strikes me funny that folks are so tentative when they talk to real estate agents. Perhaps many people think that if they reveal what they can or cannot afford, they'll be embarrassed. On the other hand, I wonder what's the worst that can happen?
I imagine a real estate agent brainwashing someone into buying a house and then, six months later, someone realizes they hadn't intended on buying the house they are in at all!
In reality, what happens is we get your name, maybe follow up. If you can't afford the house you were inquiring about or you're just not interested... TELL THE LADY! It's OK. You're not going to hurt our feelings. We're not going to put you on a spam list where you get junk mail for the rest of your life.
I think one of the hardest things to deal with regarding the increase in email, blackberries and Facebook is that people aren't as personalized anymore. We have now been trained to use and discard more than ever. Few people have the personal skills to handle being direct and honest anymore. We feel we have to dodge, evade, and hit-and-run.
Yet more proof that the economy is doing just fine. Don't even think about considering a depression when folks have enough time on their hands to consider suing someone over a logo that doesn't even remotely look like another logo! My favorite part is when the guy tries to describe why the "h" looks like an "m."
This makes my blood boil! First of all, part of the reason someone would sue someone else over something like this is that someone would risk confusing the second logo for the first one. Has anyone ever heard of Rehava? I guess because the logos LOOK NOTHING LIKE EACH OTHER are so silmilar that is what the LAWYERS fear is "Rehava" getting so popular and some dim wit actually believing they were going to Remax when they were entering the Rehava office.
Coldwell gets folks all the time calling us about Prudential agents. I guess because our signs are both blue and white. If things were headed for a depression like the gloom-and-doomers want you to think, things like this wouldn't be happeing. That lawyer would be building a fallout shelter right now and hoarding food.
