When Real Estate Bloggers go Wild

angryI was recently challenged about a blog article I wrote. I was told that the references to the “bozo agent” along with the accompanying visual graphic of Bozo the Clown was over the line and damaging to the real estate industry and the reputation of all Realtors. It was suggested that unflattering stories about the real estate industry erode confidence in Realtors, as evidenced by the first reader comment under the article that stated, “This is why we always represent ourselves. We have had bad luck with agents and find them to have the biggest ego’s.”

Given that the content of the article was a factual retelling of actual events that I experienced as a listing agent dealing with a buyer’s agent, and that the agent was indisputably incompetent, I didn’t at first understand what the problem was with the article. In other words, it really happened exactly as I told it. I thought there was a lesson to be shared by telling the story. I thought readers would appreciate having a glimpse into the real life happenings of a deal gone bad. Coloring it up a bit with a nice photo of Bozo and some harsh, opinionated commentary about the agent seemed appropriate to me. Nobody will ever know who that agent is, but you’ll know there are agents like him out there. And you should know that. You deserve to know that. Why should I keep it a secret?

Nevertheless, I edited the post, removed the photo of bozo, and toned down the writing a bit, though the message of the article remains unchanged. I did this out of respect for the wishes of the person who shared their concerns with me. I always appreciate when others respect my concerns, so I try to do the same. It’s only a blog article after all.

This is the second complaint I’ve received in 2+ years of writing 300+ blog articles. It’s the second time I’ve respected the wishes of someone with concerns. The other instance was an article about an MLS photo that was so crappy (the photo that is) I just had to share it. It was a photo of a house with an SUV parked smack in the front yard (in the grass) and a trash can sitting in front of the garage door. I wondered why the agent couldn’t have had the SUV moved and pulled the trashcan out of the way before taking the photo. Someone saw the blog article, recognized the house, sent a link to the Seller who in turn informed his agent, who in turn demanded that I remove the photo, which I did.

Again, in that instance, I didn’t understand why the agent was upset. It was in fact the actual photo he took and placed in the MLS. Every agent and buyer who saw the listing would see the same photo.

Where should real estate bloggers draw the line in writing about our everyday experiences, observations and viewpoints about the real estate industry and the people in it? Some of the best material pokes fun at the stupid things agents do. It’s hard to ignore all that material. But is this unprofessional? Is it mean? Is it arrogant? Is this sort of brutal honestly damaging to the real estate industry and demeaning to other Realtors? I don’t think so.

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So you want to take the leap and become a Realtor

Taking a LeapWhen I was a small boy, 9 years old, my family was traveling on summer vacation and we stopped at a campground that had a huge pool with a high dive. It was 1972. There were a ton of older kids lined up to jump and dive off the high dive into the pool. I had never made such a leap but wanted to try, so I put on my swim trunks and got in line.

After reaching the top of the board, and walking to the end, it looked much higher than it had from the ground. I became scared and didn’t want to do it anymore. I turned to head back down the ladder, but the other kids were lined all the way up the ladder, waiting. The next kid in line, a fat red-cheeked bully-looking type, stood at the top staring me down. He said, matter of fact, “you can’t go back, you have to jump”.

I was paralyzed and frightened. The other kids became impatient and started heckling me. “Hurry up”. “Go!” “Come on, chicken”. I almost started crying. I wanted my Mom. There was no way to get down unless they all backed down the ladder and let me off, which wasn’t going to happen. I had to do what I climbed up there to do. I walked back to the end, and jumped.

The fall down seemed long. I was off balance, arms flailing, legs peddling. I hit the water on my side and felt a painful sting as the water spanked my skin hard. Ouch! Under water seemed other-worldly as I tumbled, disoriented. I realized I was ok, kicked a couple of times, resurfaced, and let out a war-whoop of triumph waving my fist at the other kids, who were now cheering and laughing at my ungraceful plunge. I scurried out of the water, my side burning with pain, and got back in line, hungry to do it again.

I had made the leap. I had survived. And I never felt so ALIVE and full of confidence.

I wasn’t old enough to interpret what that plunge represented at the time, but I now know it was one of many instances in life where we are all called to face our fear, step through, and take a leap. I was learning how to approach life with fear in front of me. I was learning that I can do scary things and come out ok, even if it wasn’t perfect. I was learning to feel absolute terror about doing something, then doing it anyway.

Can you take the plunge into real estate?
For many who make the decision to go into real estate sales, they climb the ladder, but never climb back down nor take the plunge. Instead, they remain in the safe place of doing neither. There is not a crowd of people yelling at them to hurry up and do it, the bills are still being paid by the job, so they remain in limbo, having neither failed nor succeeded at becoming who they want to become.

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Diary of a Busted Austin Real Estate Deal

Well meaning Agent blows deal for Buyer

Recently a buyer on one of our listings terminated the contract, and then threatened to sue us and the Seller after the property was placed back on the market and a new offer was accepted. As is often the case with deals that go sideways, the buyer’s misfortune can be directly attributed to her real estate agent and her lack of understand about the sales process – particularly the importance of observing contract dates and deadlines.

Let’s take a look at the string of bizarre events in this deal and see how the agent’s lack of attention to important aspects of the deal cost his buyer a house that we later learned she desperately wanted.

Agent failed to ensure timely delivery of the Option Fee.
His excuse was that the “traffic was too bad at 3PM on a Friday” for him to drive the funds to our office. Instead, he chose to leave the Option Fee and Earnest money at the front desk of his office to be picked up by a courier, even after being told by the Title Company that a courier would not be able to pick up and deliver the funds that day, thus it would be Tuesday before it happened (due to a Monday Holiday).

The agent then chose to leave town the next day, Saturday, without personally delivering the Option Fee to our office, which would have ensured timely delivery and compliance with the Termination Option provisions of the sales contract. The agent knew or should have known from the outset that his actions regarding delivery of the Option Fee would result in his buyer not having an Option Period. This was the first red flag for me, and a head scratcher. How could an agent not make delivery of the Option Fee and Earnest Money top priority?

The Option Fee was received by the Seller on the 5th day of the contract, three days late. I discussed with the Seller the fact that the Buyer actually had no Option Period due to the fact that delivery of the Option Fee did not happen as required. I discussed the pros and cons of accepting or rejecting (mailing it back) the Option Fee.

The Seller decided to treat the delivery of the Option Fee as if it had been timely, thus providing the buyer with the benefit of having an Option Period to which she was not entitled. The buyer, as far as we know, did not know that this “near miss” occurred.

The agent chose to place his personal convenience and holiday travel plans above protecting the interests of his buyer. It was only the Seller’s good nature and pragmatic approach to working the deal that prevented this from becoming an issue of contention.

Agent failed to deliver Buyer’s loan pre-approval letter as promised
Buyer’s Agent promised upon delivery of the offer to provide buyer’s loan approval letter “within a few minutes”. Though not a critical element of the written contract, the loan letter was requested, delivery was promised, and the buyer’s agent failed to follow through and provide the letter as promised. Normally, when an agent tells us they have a letter in hand and it will be sent in a few minutes, it happens. This time it didn’t.

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Quantitative vs. Qualitative Data Analysis and Real Estate

Austin Sales StatsNever has so much real estate data been so available to so many people. Most large US Metro areas have most Realtor listings online for public search (Austin has AustinHomeSearch.com). States that have mandatory disclosure on sales prices (Texas is not one of them) offer consumers a lot of sales data to peruse via aggregators such as Zillow and Trulia. Real Estate bloggers like me post all sorts of stats and information about real estate markets. People like stats, myself included.

What I’ve noticed though is that a lot of people look too much at stats and numbers and not enough at other factors when making a real estate purchase or sales decision. Case in point is the large number of investors who I DIDN’T work with over the past several years because I wouldn’t sell them a home in Hutto, Kyle, Manor, or other outskirt starter home areas. Some were truly shocked at this, but I’d simply tell them it was a bad idea and they’d need to find a different Realtor if they wanted to buy in those areas.

I personally knew these areas were not good investment areas, even though the “numbers” suggested otherwise from a strictly “cash flow” basis. In other words, to an investor who plugs everything into a spreadsheet to decide which house to invest in, it’s hard to pass up the home with better “numbers” in favor of a home in a better location.

It’s better, I argued (and still do), to stay closer in to established Austin areas with good commute times, better schools and convenient amenities, even though the “numbers” might not look so good.

A recent article by Angelou Economics makes the point about over-reliance on data better than I can. Though the article is not about real estate, it does do a great job of illustrating the ways in which over-reliance on quantitative data to the exclusion of qualitative data can produce bad information, and thus bad decisions.

Here is a clip from the article.

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