How to find the best Realtor: Questions to use when interviewing a real estate agent.

OK, so at the end of each post, I share a "Taste of Wisdom";  a savory little morsel that I hope leaves my readers satiated and entertained. This time, however, I have put my Taste of Wisdom in the front.  You'll understand why soon enough.

A Taste of Wisdom:

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing that a tomato doesn't belong in a fruit salad."

~Miles Kington

Nobody wants to learn after they bought a house that their real estate agent was just another sales person looking for a commission.  When interviewing a Realtor, it's wise to have a list of questions to help you make your decision.  That said, I really do have to laugh a bit.  I was just ‘interviewed’ by a prospective client who, with great intentions, decided to grill me with a canned set of questions he pulled from About.com. I know for sure he’ll be laughing when he sees this blog. If I didn't know that for sure, I’d have the courtesy to camouflage this tongue-in-cheek posting.    

What can you take away from this post?  Remember that the answers you receive from different agents are circumstantial and are based on their unique situations.

Now this post would end up thousands of words long if I posted it in one fell swoop, so I think it’d be best to take it on a bite or two at a time!  I'll post more on this topic over the next few days.

 Sit back and enjoy!

Q1. How Long Have You Been in the Business?

A1. Virtually irrelevant.

In a seller’s market like today, a new agent might not yet be equipped to handle on the spot negotiation, nor will he or she have the reputation that gives listing agents and their sellers the security they are looking for to go into contract.  That said, this new agent's mentor/coach might! 

In a buyer’s market, anyone with a pulse could close a deal.  Effectively and ethically?  Of course not, but they’d be closing.

As a newby, I had the good fortune to be mentored by Macky Hensel who has decades of experience within the real estate industry; with builders, title, lenders, and in resale.  She had the care and the sense to stand very closely behind me several years ago to ensure that as a rookie a) my clients were optimally represented, and b) that I learned the lesson of the moment!  Really, the question ought not be “How long have you been in the business?”  It ought to be, “Could you please explain what makes you an effective buyer’s agent or seller’s agent?”

Q2. What is Your Average List-Price-to-Sales-Price Ratio?

A2. Huh? 

This one killed me!  First of all, if an agent knew that number…the client sure wouldn’t know what it meant. The fact that this was “interview question” number 2 of 10 on this popular site's list is…well…I'll bite my tongue. This ratio, by definition, is a function of the list price.  The listed price doesn't even guarantee that the sellers…nor the lender…nor the investment group behind the lender will accept an offer at this price!  This might sound ridiculous, but one could argue that a properties list price might as well be completely erroneous.  I can say however, with absolute certainty, that a given property will sell for exactly what the market will support, under that market condition and that seller’s unique circumstance.  They all do.

Example: I recently saw a property in the Shadow Lakes area of Brentwood. It was listed at $228,000 and closed nearly $100,000 over.  Obviously $228,000 wasn’t market value!  Why would a listing agent do that?  I’m speculating that the seller needed an immediate offer to keep a property out of auction. Then they received several offers, took the best one and closed.  AND...I could be wrong.

There are many, many strategies that agents use when choosing a listing price.  Personally, I tend to list Short Sales above comps.  "But it's a short sale!"  Yep!  If we get an offer above what comparable properties sold for, great!  If we don’t, we can lower the asking price and we've proven to the bank that we are ethical, and that our original asking price was too high.  That’s just me.  I’m not "right"…and “they” aren’t wrong. 

NEXT...if this actually mattered, wouldn't DOM or Days on Market matter too?   "What is the average number of days that your listings remain active?" After all, shouldn't agents sell homes as quickly as they can?  This sounds like a good question, right? But remember...we don't put tomatoes in a fruit salad!  Average number of days on the market is certainly knowledge, but by itself it's simply statistical data.

Lets look at homes that have been on the market for 100+ days!  In today's real estate market, virtually all of Contra Costa County has an Average Days on Market of +/- 21 days. Many properties go into contract on day 1, and some even have accepted offers on day 0. So if a property sits on the market for 139 days or 268 days, it must be overpriced…right?  UNLESS…the seller is in a position to wait for just the right buyer and he or she will only sell if a particular purchase price is reached.  In that case, Days on Market doesn’t matter; finding the right buyer does! The idea that somehow, some ridiculous ratio that agents ought to “ strive to achieve” flies in the face of ethics and economics.

More authentic points of view to come!

Until next time, and thank you in advance for remembering me when the topic of real estate arises.

Andy Blasquez ~ The last Realtor you'll ever need to look for.
DRE# 01826135

www.andyblasquez.com

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Click here to reach Macky Hensel.

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Should I short sale my house?

The sad truth is that for tens of thousands of homeowners, their mortgages...and now their homes have become a living nightmare.  Sleepless nights with feelings of  fear, anger, confusion, and often an unconscious feeling of betrayal. I get it!  I really do.  

How do I know those feelings so well?  

Because I was there too!   

There's still time to sell before the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 expires; December 31, 2012!

My tears of joy became tears of pain in three short years. We took possession of our dream home two days before Christmas, 2005.  We paid $628,000 for a beautiful new home. Although our good faith estimate and actual payment were not even close to similar, we told that we could refinance to a better rate after a few months, "but at least we got our house!"  

By springtime we were over $70,000 upside down and we truly never, ever felt 'at home'.  The writing was on the wall from our first moments in the house. The property continued to decline in value as we watched lawns dry up and people drive away from home they purchased only a year or so earlier.  It's such a sad feeling.  We, with the help of an outstanding Realtor (Macky Hensel) successfully closed our house as a short sale just a couple of years later.  The property sold for $345k, with like models selling for as little as $240k since that time.

So where did that leave us at tax time?  First off, let me clearly express that I am not, nor do I intend to be (nor want to be for that matter) a tax consultant.  I'm a Realtor.  I know real property matters. When the debt relief act passed in 2007, the "Income" or "capital gains" (resulting from the difference between the original amount borrowed and the amount repaid) was excluded from our taxable income.  In our circumstance it was that simple, and as the act was intended to do, we were forgiven for the taxes that prior to the debt relief act we'd have been responsible for.

H.R. 3648 (110th): Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007

110th Congress, 2007–2009

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude discharges of indebtedness on principal residences from gross income, and for other purposes.

Introduced:

Sep 25, 2007

Sponsor:

Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY15]

Status:

Signed by the President

Click here to read hr3648

Where did that leave us just a short time afterward? Remarkably...out of debt; completely. I can't put into words the lightness, the breath, the peace that we felt when we closed.  It wasn't even the debt relief.  It was that we got our lives back.  We got ourselves back. The entire experience was incredibly scary, but so worth it.  If it were not for Macky Hensel we'd have done what so many continue to do...completely bury our heads in the sand and await whatever consequence was coming. We'd have continued to sabotage our future and our family by living in an environment that was truly toxic. Don't wait.  Just don't.

So if I have a single, clear message...it is this.  ACT NOW!  If you are in this position, please drop me a line.  I have an excellent track record in closing short sales.  If you're not sure, drop me a line!  I'll complete a CMA or Comprehensive Market Analysis for you.  This will give you an accurate picture of where you are with regard to today's value (which is changing as I post this) and the balance owed. Just don't wonder any longer.

H.R. 3648, S.B. 931, and S.B. 458 typically apply to the following circumstance:

• First mortgages and any junior mortgage (2nd, 3rd, etc.)
• Primary residences as well as secondary and rental properties.  
• Properties with mortgages up to $2,000,000.  

"But my house already has a trustee sale date (auction date)." Typically, that's not a problem either.  I'm prepared to provide your lender or lenders with a completed short-sale packet in as little as 24 hours. The key is to act now!  Yes, that sounds like an infomercial.  It's not.  We don't have an additional set of steak knives for you if you act now.  What we do have is...just enough time to close most short sales before the Debt Relief Act expires on December 31st, 2012.  With typical close times ranging between 60 and 120 days (time from listing to close varies depending upon a number of circumstances) that means people who stand to benefit from the Debt Relief Act can't "wonder" any longer.  Be wise. Get informed.  Call me, e-mail me, comment, text message...heck send smoke signals, call another agent (but make SURE they're an expert at short sales).  Whatever you do...get informed!

I'll leave you with this "Taste of Wisdom" from an unknown source:

" Life is simple. People complicate it" 

Until next time.

Andy Blasquez ~ The last Realtor you'll ever need to look for.
DRE# 01826135

Click here to e-mail me.

Click here to reach Macky Hensel.


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My introduction. My goal. The pulse of Real Estate in Brentwood, CA and beyond.

Best of days to whomever this post reaches.

This is my first blog of which I really believe is the first in a long line of Real Estate related posts.  

I've been a Realtor for 6 years and can sincerely say that I have enjoyed it and continue to do so.  I grew up in Alamo and Walnut Creek, so I know those areas like the back of my hand.  For the past 10 years, I've been in Brentwood and Oakley, thus gaining a wealth of experience in and around those cities as well.  

I may be a rookie blogger but I'm certainly not a 'rookie' Realtor.  All agents have been 'rookies' at some point.  Some just happen to still be making rookie mistakes, causing their clients a great deal of emotional and financial pain.  My goal is to help you avoid that. Let me be quite clear about the purposes of this blog:

• To inform.
• To be a trustworthy resource.
• To expand my real estate business.

  One of the main goals of this blog is to secure, not only more clients, but better clients.  Another goal is to give my readers a crystal clear understanding of who I am.  I want you to see me not only as an excellent Realtor; a set of skills and experiences that repeatedly prove to be effective in the Real Estate arena, but also to see my character and the values I live by.  I really believe that by sewing these seeds, I'll reap the lifestyle that I see myself and my family living.  One of joy.

These posts will typically focus on the following items, but if there is a Real Estate related question that you'd like me to address on this blog, I'd be honored to provide that support.

Topics will include:

• Market trends from both the home buyers side as well as the listing side.
• Dynamics of buying and selling real property.
• The Short Sale Process.
• Unique experiences I've successfully (and a few not so successfully) worked through.
• Builders sales motivations and selling strategies.
• The art and science of effectively selling real property.
• Shining a light on common very costly mistakes home buyers make.
• Contrasting conditions and trends between differentiated markets.
• and much more.

My goal is to post at least twice each week, but as often as several times per week; perhaps even more than once per day.

This blog will periodically contain videos; some nicely produced, and some much more candid and improvised in content and in production. It will often contain images, if the pictures truly support the topic. And, for fun...I will periodically post what I call "A Taste of Wisdom."  In my years as a middle school and college teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing little phrases, thoughts, points of view, or bits of wisdom passed down, to my students.  I still find that these ideas continue to open my eyes and keep me on track so I thought I'd share them with you.

For today, other than my introduction, I'll leave you with this "Taste of Wisdom" from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Happiness is perfume. You can't pour it on somebody else without getting a few drops on yourself."

Until next time.

Andy Blasquez ~ The last Realtor you'll ever need to look for.

Ps. If you enjoy Social Medial, please "like", tweet, etc. these blogs at will. I appreciate your support, and thank you in advance for remembering me when the topic of Real Estate arises.