Wait

The day has started out right. Even though it is a little dreary outside and rain is forecasted, it is bright and sunny in my own little mind.

I got an email from my people who put in an offer on a nice home then split for their vacation. I have been reticent to call or email them just for the heck of it so I have been waiting for an opening. Even knowing that they want to bring their family through the home (always a scary proposition) when they return, you still never know if they will forget all about the house; out of sight out of mind.

But I got an email from them this morning. Yeah! They still want to see the house again this weekend. This gave me the opportunity I was looking for. I emailed them back that the showing is set up and that I should have an estimate soon for the siding on the home. This situation with the siding has me antsy because having a maintenance free home is high on their priority list. If the estimate that I have procurred for my people comes in too high, we might be in trouble.

This experience has been a "hurry up and wait" situation. The potential buyers wanted to put in a bid quickly to, in essence, save their place in line. Now the sellers are in limbo waiting to see how everything plays out. I think my people will come around to trusting me when I am able to give them a figure on the siding.

So many factors, so much time, so little known. I think I've talked myself into being in a bad mood after all.

Rats.

You Know My Name (Look up the Number)

Okay, you asked for it. Well, not really, but here it is anyway. My first "real" ukulele.

My actual first uke was purchased from ebay for a mere pitance. It lasted about as long as you would expect. Not very.

I came by this one by a happy accident. It is a 1950's Harmony in quite nice condition. I had been sick for about 3 years and was financially embarrassed when my ebay uke fell apart. I had no money to replace it. I was a frequent visitor of http://fleamarketmusic.com/ and had posted a few times. I asked if anyone knew of a way to fix my uke because I was unable to buy a new one. About a week later, a big box came in the mail. I had no idea what it could be. After pulling out a bunch of newspaper, I extracted the above vintage ukulele. I burst into tears. (For those musicians out there, you know how it feels to love an instrument and the joy it brings you to play.) Down in the bottom of the box was a note from the gift giver-a stranger from the Flea Market Music bulletin board. He swore me to secrecy and said that he did it just because he could. I have never forgotten that kindness and will always cherish my 1950's Harmony.

The old Harmony is retired now. But she has about 6 other ukuleles to keep her company.

I became a realtor(r) shortly after I was back up and healthy again. Hence the moniker "Ukulele Realtor". I always have a ukulele close by, even in my office just in case someone asks me to play. (No one ever has:>)

Whenever I do an open house, I take along my "go to" uke-a pink Flea. She's light weight and fun to play and keeps me company when no one shows up to visit my open house. Maybe I am scaring the customers away......

Always remember the kindness of strangers and pass it forward whenever possible.

Photograph

Sometimes, in my travels throughout the county, doing my own real estate stuff or that of my supervisor, I have the priviledge of coming upon the unexpected picturesque scene. And, being a bit of an amateur photographer as well as a ukulele player (I am so gifted), I pause to take a nap, I mean a SNAP!

This stark tree was at the corner of a strange property that consisted of a single wide mobile home that had been added on to, various tumbledown outbuildings and was smack dab in the middle of nowhere except for a highend subdivision right beside it. Huh? I thought someone would gobble it up for building sites but no. It was purchased as a home.

I haven't been by there for 2 years. The market was hot then and has long since cooled off. If that property had been purchased by a developer, boy, would he have been in for a rude awakening. Sometimes things do happen for a reason.

There Is a Place

A little known factoid about presenting an offer on a property on the behalf of your client is that it can suck.

Case in point. While on phone time last week I got a call from a couple wanting to see one of Bennett Realty's listings. I showed them the home on Saturday and they put in an offer on it on Tuesday, the day before they were to leave on vacation. We opted to get the offer put in as soon as possible just in case someone else should come along and want to make an offer. However, I was not overly concerned because the home had been on the market since May and there had not been much interest.

Guess what. Now someone else wants to show it.

Call me superstitious but I have always held to the notion that as soon as you want something, someone else is going to want the same thing.

The price of the property is not the big bug-a-boo. The problem lies in the contingencies and the fact that now my people are out of town. They want estimates for new siding so they can decide if the home can be made maintenance free at a price they are willing to budget for. I am responsible for setting up the appointments for the contractors to give estimates, no problem. But as we all know, these things do not happen overnight.

If this new showing should result in another offer, then we would be in a multiple offer situation. At that point, both parties would have the chance to give their best offer but cannot know the offer of the other party. I called and explained this to my clients and, as previously alluded to, they really do not know me and really have no reason to believe me.

And that is just the feeling I got when I got the response, "But how do we know there really is another offer." What do I say? "Trust me"? Yeah, right.

Stay tuned.

I Me Mine

I am always looking for ways to "get noticed" on the web. In order to build a client base, one has to be able to be found.

I am not a "big name" in Wilmington. My ancestory has not been established in Clinton County for generations, which is a big plus in a little place. So it is a hard scrabble existence to get your name out there so when people are contemplating the big jump to buying or selling a home they think of me.

In this age of growing technology, the common wisdom in the real estate publications is to use the web use the web use the web. It is common knowledge that most people start with the internet before doing anything, big or little. Researching their next car purchase, researching their next toilet paper purchase, or actually making said purchase.

Real estate especially. Who hasn't heard of Realtor. com. Most people, wherever they may currently reside, start with Realtor.com. Unfortunate really, since it is not the most user friendly website. In a startling turn of events a few years ago, the Cincinnati MLS chose to remove their public search site and only retain the private website for the use by realtors. This put a great burden on the small brokerages because who ever heard of Bennett Realty unless you live in the area? So most people don't start by looking for individual websites. They go to Realtor.com.

The flip side of that coin is that the Division of Real Estate in Ohio made it legal for any brokerage to post any other brokerages listings on their website. That is why, when you click on the Cincinnati or Dayton MLS link at the bottom of this page you will be directed to a search engine that takes you to all listings, be they Bennett Realty, ReMax or Sibcy Cline. Hopefully, at that point, you will call Bennett Realty when you find a home that appeals to you.

Or maybe not.

Competition is fierce these days. So in an effort to get myself noticed, I have used the moniker of "Ukulele Realtor" to help set myself off from the rest of the pack. "Ukulele Realtor" because I play the ukulele. (And no, ukuleles are not the first cousins of the kazoo. And no, I do not play Hawaiian music. I play rock, country, folk, old standards. And yes, I do play "Tiptoe Through the Tulips.)

So, Google me using Ukulele Realtor and voila! There I am.

Cool!

Rain

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. It never rains but it pours.

If those old cliches are true then I should be running pretty smooth by now and getting drenched in the process. Being the complaining realtor that I am, it's too hot it's too cold it's too wet it's too dry I haven't shown any houses I've shown too many houses, I will now complain that I have to show houses on Saturday. Not just to one couple but to two.

Wah.

I'm showing 5 homes to an aforementioned couple from out of town that I have shown homes to before. The other couple is a call-in. They were unable to contact the listing realtor after they drove by the home (the agent never returned their call-cardinal sin number one) so they called the office. Since I was on phone duty, I got the call, the showing and maybe the sale.

It tears my Saturday all to hell, but that is what happens if you're lucky. The agent with too much time on their hands isn't showing homes or listing properties.

I have many hobbies, which is why I complain about working on weekends. And since I also work full time in the office, one can become very protective of one's "time off." But as the weather continues to change and the temperatures continue to drop and the rain turnes to snow I will not only have more time on my hands but I will also have more things to complain about.

Yeah!

Big friggin' praying mantis from my backyard