Welcome to my Soap Box

When people are in deep legal trouble do they price shop attorneys or want the best of the best to represent them? Moreover, do you want someone who wins more cases than loses them? Of course you do. If a loved one has cancer are you going to send them to a cancer specialist or a dermatologist? Or maybe go with the doctor just out of medical school to give him a chance to "get his feet wet". If you won the lottery would you hand your money over to the kid who just got his MBA or the experienced financial planner with a proven track record?

These are pretty rhetorical questions and may seem ridiculous in comparison to selling homes but it's not. Selling and buying a home involves what is most people's largest financial asset and comes along with plenty of legally binding contracts. So why would a buyer or seller not want to work with the most highly qualified agent? Some might say, "If you are a licensed Realtor shouldn't you all be qualified to represent your clients equally?" Are all attorneys and doctors equally qualified just because they made it through medical or law school? No. This same logic applies to almost all professional fields including real estate. But yet I keep running into people who use a "friend" or an "aunt" to help them with their home purchase while all the time telling me I am much more professional and successful. My friend and colleague Lydia Player says it quite nicely,

"The only problem is, most folks hire someone they know or someone who is recommended to them - regardless of ability."

I couldn't have said it any better myself. Is there a solution? I don't know. When emotion gets mixed up with what should be a business decision, I've learned that all bets are off.

I Receive Some Constructive Criticism

Alternate title, I Just Got Served? DREB reader and fellow Realtor, Lydia Player, gives me some feedback on my post critiquing Steve Brown's scare tactic real estate articles.

Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. Unless your name is Candy.

I agree. If anyone can go ink barrel for ink barrel with Steve it would be Candy. But it's just that 1. He never tells the whole story and chooses to arbitrarily use stats that suit his doom and gloom needs, and; 2. I've never been afraid of a little friendly banter. Especially when I'm right. But I'll play nice. Promise.

Bitter About Real Estate

My friend Lydia Player over at North Dallas Homes Blog sent me a link yesterday to a blog post on Real Estate Radio USA saying the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is virtually expecting 2008 not to bring any relief to the real estate woes of California, Florida, Vegas and all of the other hard hit cities across the country. (But not Dallas!) The blog authors are also real estate investors with a take no prisoners attitude that want to get the best deals possible. You get the idea from this excerpt.

If your client does not NEED to sell, take the house off the market. It will NEVER sell because the Seller does not and will not understand that his property value is about to s#&t the bed. If he is just seeing what he can get he is wasting the agent’s time and the prospective buyer’s time. Cancel the listing and tell him to batten down the hatches. He should be safe, we’re looking for roadkill!

This blog post caught the attention of NAR's attorneys but it doesn't look like these guys are backing down. I get it. They want to make sellers hurt when they buy their properties 30% below market value. But what is their issue with Realtors?

Using professional and real estate in the same sentence, as I just did, is an oxymoron. A true professional would be able to provide sincere credible advice on their product and most real estate agents simply can not.

They sound like scorned and bitter ex-husbands. Now I won't argue that some of it isn't warranted. There are many real estate agents that do not conduct their business professionally but I don't want to go there right now. (Another blog post maybe?) But there are quite a few Realtors in my market area that should take issue with the statement above. Feel free to leave comments on their website...and on mine.

Price Reductions: Naughty or Nice?

Good article in DMN today. My good friend and fellow Realtor, Lydia Player, gets it right in the article with this quote, "You don't need to wait around for six months to decide if your price is right," said Dallas agent Lydia Player. "If we don't get an offer in the first few weeks, we need a price reduction."

People that stick with the same price for 6 months are asking for trouble and an even lower sales price. Do you really think a buyer that knows your home has been on the market for over 200 days is willing to pay you what you're asking? Think about that. So if your house has been on the market for 3 weeks and 15 agents have shown the property but no offers, guess what? The market is telling you your house is overpriced. Yes, we know you added a pool and a Viking range and faux finished the dining room but again, the market is telling you your home is not priced correctly for the current market. And 3 things affect value. Price, Condition and Location. If your home is in a good location and in good condition then that leaves...the price.

And don't blame your agent for asking to reduce the price. They are doing their job by communicating what the market is saying about your home. That is the sign of a good agent to have the cojones to call you up and say, "We missed the mark on price and now we need to make an adjustment." I could end this by using Dr. Phil's "It's time to get real" mantra. So I won't. But you should!