I Feel Fine

Cute condo, huh. Bigger than it looks, actually. Great big great room, dining room, breakfast room, galley style kitchen and 2 bedrooms larger than those in most "regular" homes.

I am showing this one and another in the same complex in the same evening. Not very exciting you say? Well, considering this is my first showing in over 3 months, its pretty exciting to me.

To have a live lead is actually unusual in real estate. Sure you get calls, but not many actually pan out. Here are the usual calls:

1) Someone is calling out of curiosity because they have driven by a $300,000 house and just wondered how much it is (I think they are hoping for a big bargain. How many times have you picked up something in a department store hoping it has been mis-tagged!)

2) Someone is calling to buy a house when they have no idea if they can afford one. When you ask them to go to a bank to get pre-approved, they bolt.

3) The call where you are told, "I'll talk it over with my wife/husband."

4) The one where they set up an appointment to see a home/meet you at the office/meet you at a house then call/don't call back and cancel/don't show up.

You get the picture.

It is also easy to get discouraged when you realize that 20% of realtors sell 90% of the homes. But instead, it should make you work all the harder to get noticed.

So, my live lead occurred at the end of the day. (I only hope that by tomorrow evening I am not doing CPR.) My day started, however, with the realization that my 1 full listing is expiring in 1 full day. My sellers told me from the beginning that if their home didn't sell during the summer that they would take it off the market for the cold months. I wasn't looking forward to calling them to ask if they would consider relisting but, armed with facts and figures, I made the call.

"I'll talk to my husband and call you back." Hummm..... But surprise! They relisted! (Oh crap. Now I have to figure out how to sell it.)

Speaking of CPR, I have kept one of my contracts on life support since April. April! It is the classic fixer-upper and is tied up in probate. I spoke to the attorney this morning and the prognosis is iffy; it is a wait and see situation. In the mean time, my buyer has agreed to sign an extension to keep it alive lest a buzzard swoop in through the loop hole and pull the plug. (That sounded better in my head.)

At the end of the day, I have had 3 positive experiences; now it is up to me to be one of the 20% to sell 90% of the homes. (Oh crap.)