… as I tripped over this question sent into Curbed LA.
Have any advice or recommendations on how to get a real estate license? I would prefer to not spend a lot of time or money on this endeavor. Thanks for any input you may have
Oy vey.
Technorati Tags: real estate, Phoenix real estate
Popularity: 5% [?]
Well, except for this one observation … what seems to be lacking from the vast majority of real estate blogs is a true passion, an insight into the heart and soul of the blog’s author. “We can help with any purchase because we’re the greatest agents in history” doesn’t really say much about the writer.
For better or worse, I have a writer’s soul first and foremost. And it’s because of that basic fact that the emotions of the day usually work their way onto the screen in front of you. Usually it’s my mother who asks if I’m okay after a particularly cynical series of posts; yesterday it was one of my clients who jokingly (I think) said he’d hate to get on the wrong side of one of my blog posts.
I’m not going to lie. I’m a curmudgeon. I like things the way I like them, even if I can’t have them that way 99 percent of the time. When I go to a restaurant I usually order the same thing every time. Carrabba’s? Spedino di Mare. Arriba’s? Red chile burro or a fajita quesadilla.
Pullano’s is a small pizza-and-wing shop here in Glendale. There was a time when I could walk in the door and wouldn’t have to order. Becky and Lori would write up the ticket as soon as they saw me because they knew the order. Same thing happens right now when I go to Rock Bottom - out comes the second hefeweisen, out comes my iced tea. They know it. Other customers know it (and have pointed it out.) I’m a creature of habit.
All in all, I’m much like many of you. And I don’t mean “you” - the fellow real estate agents who read this blog regularly - but the “you” in the general public. When I see news about resetting ARMs and such, my first thought isn’t “what is this going to do to business?” It’s “how is this going to impact my family and my HELOC.”
Yes, I have a HELOC on my house. I have bills to pay, just like you. Granted, not all of you are down for a second ACL surgery on your beagle/slash/marketing vehicle, but feel free to substitute whatever you choose. I have to get my kids to soccer or to art class or to the mall, all bent around an admittedly flexible work schedule.
Any day now I’m going to post pictures of my wonderful winter lawn. Why? Because the thing grew! And it helps cancel out the three-year tiling project in my own bedroom closet.
I never went into real estate to be rich. Comfortable, I’d settle for. Able to provide for my family, that’s well enough.
Why do I get so mad at NAR for wasting my dues? Because that’s my money - money that can be spent on the next pair of soccer cleats, or auto insurance once the soon-to-be 16-year-old starts driving or the next trip to the Build-A-Bear Workshop.
There’s an overarching perception of real estate agents as money-grubbing whores who will do or say anything to secure the next commission check. But not all of us are that way. In fact, many, many of us are no different than you.
Check out the construction projects undertaken by Jay or Kelley. Pick almost any post from Kris Berg describing her glamorous existence (which she still makes sound, well, glamorous.) Or the reality that Ardell brings to the table.
I’d love to be able to mask the cynicism, the concern for the housing market, the worries over the economy … but to pretend I’m not feeling any of that would make me less than human. If these are the things that worry you, isn’t it reasonable to assume they would worry me as well?
For some of us, blogging isn’t as much a vehicle to attract business as a therapeutic vessel through which we can share our thoughts, our minds, our feelings. Not that I’m going to start the group hug anytime soon (though I guess “hugs” and other such things are an option over on Facebook.)
Maybe that’s why I don’t worry so much about the possibility of some folks running for the hills when they read the blog. The information about the real estate market - that is for you, my readers. The blog itself … well, that’s for me.
Technorati Tags: real estate blogging
Popularity: 11% [?]
Better question - why was I watching The Bachelor last night? (Answer: my wife essentially ordered me to and I complied, knowing agreement will pay off in some extra football viewing this weekend.)
Two of the would-be lifetime loves of The Bachelor had their occupation listed as “Realtor.” No full capitalization, no trademark. And NAR’s rules clearly state that we can’t say we are a REALTOR as a vocation. We would need to say we’re a real estate agent and a REALTOR, assuming we’re members of NAR.
So who gets the C&D letter for this one? The ladies? ABC? We can’t just let this happen …
***
That likely is more than enough beating of this dead horse. Again the question may arise, what does this have to do with the general public? And the answer is indirectly it affects the quality of what you receive from the real estate industry.
A strict Code of Ethics such as that all Realtors agree to uphold works well only if those who sign up truly are committed to that code. When agents are joining NAR not out of a desire to uphold any standards but rather to gain MLS access, the Code of Ethics is diminished. And the way you, the general public, are services by those in the industry is that much more haphazard.
There are great agents who are Realtors. There are terrible agents who are Realtors. No matter what the advertisement may say, there’s little difference between a Realtor and a non-Realtor except the latter doesn’t subscribe to the Code of Ethics and most likely does not have access to the MLS (owned by the associations in most areas.)
Then again, simply being a member of NAR doesn’t make one ethical. Perhaps a tad less unethical than others, assuming the person in question has read the code, but not ethical as a blanket statement. That’s still left to each individual person.
NAR is rather successful in its primary mission - lobbying on behalf of its members. It’s only when NAR ventures into the realm of economics and public relations that it looks incredibly foolish. Hunting down violations of the REALTOR trademark in an effort to protect the brand from becoming public domain is a waste of the members’ money.
***
In the interest of self-reflection, much of the anti-NAR bent you see here and on other real estate blogs is based in the personality of those who practice real estate. We’re generally not huge on authority, on being told what we can do and when we need to do it. Rules are great for maintaining an open playing field but if they’re too restrictive they’re anathema.
Being forced to pay to belong to an organization that doesn’t seem to have much clue what its membership wants looks wrong, feels wrong, is wrong. The argument for change is that changes can occur from working within the system. But I don’t think volunteering for a sub-committee for the Phoenix Association of Realtors is going to give me much sway over Lawrence Yun’s incoherent, naive spin.
As a member of the general public, you’re being goaded into believing a myth about the power of the magical Realtor R. But it is a myth. It’s not being a Realtor that makes me better or worse than any other agent out there. It’s the skills and experience I bring to the table. And that’s not conveyed by a protected trademark.
Technorati Tags: NAR, real estate marketing
Popularity: 6% [?]
Since today’s breakfast at the weekly sales meeting is birthday cake, I thought I would stay home and get the numbers out a little earlier.
Phoenix’s real estate absorption rate continues to climb and now sits at 16.58 months of inventory. There was a 300-home increase in net inventory for single-family detached homes, putting us back at the levels from two weeks back. And there were 2,450 closed sales over the preceding 30 days.
I’m somewhat surprised by the increase in inventory. Last week’s drop seemed to be the signal that the fall real estate season had begun and inventories would gradually drop over the last three months. What the spike tells me is many owners are leaving their homes on the market regardless.
The sheer volume of bank- and corporate-owned homes as well as the growing list of vacant properties may keep the levels higher than in the past; if there’s no one in a vacant house to care that the holidays are upon us, the home’s likely to sit on the market.
As always, click on a marker to see the details for any particular city or town. And also as always, all data is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.
Technorati Tags: Phoenix real estate, absorption rate
Popularity: 7% [?]
What does sole discretion mean? In terms of the Arizona Resale Residential Real Estate Purchase Contract, when discussing inspection/due diligence periods and the buyers’ right to cancel, it means a buyer can cancel a purchase contract for any reason they choose. They only need to have a reason.
Today I received a cancellation that dances on the edge of the definition. The buyers’ agent had selected the box for “Premesis Rejected - Buyer disapproves of the items listed below and elects to immediately cancel the Contract.” But there weren’t any items listed below. In fact, the only item mentioned under “Items disapproved:” was “Please see attached report (Inspection Report.)”
There were a handful of items in the inspection report (none of them a deal-breaker, in my humble opinion) … but which item was the cause for cancellation? What really had been disproved by the buyer? Technically, no reason was provided; the seller and I are left to our imaginations to determine which item was the one.
I say technically because this is the kind of item that, while it falls into a gray area, likely would turn into an exercise in futility should the seller claim no reason was given. True, no reason was provided on the form due to the agents’ laziness haste but several items were included in the inspection report and therefore implied as disapproved.
At least that’s how I’m reading it and, more importantly, how I’m all but certain the title company will read it. Perhaps if escrow had been at the title company I normally try to use the answer might have turned out differently, or the buyer would at least have had to sweat slightly because their agent incorrectly completed the form.
But at the end of the day, the buyer can cancel for any reason they deem fit during the 10-day (per the boilerplate, subject to adjustment) inspection period.
Considering my sellers were having some issues regarding their necessary purchase as the second half of the overall transaction, perhaps the cancellation is for the best. Only time will tell for certain.
Technorati Tags: Phoenix real estate, Arizona purchase contract
Popularity: 12% [?]
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