We Can Work it Out

Yesterday, I went on an excursion to look at a piece of crap with a repeat client of mine. And yes, it was a piece of crap. I knew it, he knew it, everybody knew it. But my guy buys lots of pieces of crap, presumably so that someday he will have a whole heaping, steaming pile of crap. Okay, he actually fixes them up and rents them.

My car was being used by my significant other to engage in Christmas shopping. (I had to let him use it or I wouldn't get a Christmas present.) So in order for me to show this property, I had to let my client be the chauffeur. This has happened before, with another client, when my foot was broken. I am not ashamed to admit this, although I should be.

Anyway, my "limo" was a construction van full of 5 gallon buckets, tools, drop clothes and many unidentifiable filthy objects, aka ufo's. My client had to open the heavy sliding door for me, then I, quite ungracefully, hoisted my office clothes clad body unceremoniously into the debris strewn interior. We proceeded to our destination, me in the back, way in the back, of this disastrously decorated vehicle as my client peered confidently through the grease smudged windshield.

Upon arrival, I again hoisted myself up and attempted to gingerly step from the van while visions of another broken ankle danced in my head. As we approached the front door, I realized with horror that I had failed to bring the lock box code with me. Of course, I first blamed my client for misplacing it swearing that I had handed him my papers.

So I called the office, hoping that someone could locate the missing papers amongst the other piles of papers on my desk. No luck. So then I attempted to call the listing agent whose cell phone number, luckily, was on the For Sale sign. No luck. Then I called the listing agent's office but was greeted by an answering machine. By now, I was looking quite the fool. Okay, I was looking quite the fool long before that. So I then called the listing agent's team leader because, luckily, he had an easy cell number to remember. I actually reached a human being this time but no, he did not know the lock box combination but promised to make a couple phone calls to find out for me. By the time I got off the phone with him I had a text message from the listing agent with the combo. Yeah! But then I had to call the team leader and tell him that I indeed had the code, was in the house and sorry to have troubled you. Sigh. Red faced and with egg on it too.

Long story short, my guy put an offer in on the piece of crap which was totally overpriced considering the ceiling was caving in, there was little or no foundation on one side of the house, and the bathroom looked like someone had been hosing it down on a regular basis, but not in an effort to sanitize it. Overpriced because the bank who owned the property had the audacity to put a price tag on it at all.

So I am now waiting to hear if the bank will take our offer. I sure hope so. I can't imagine anyone else being brave enough to tackle this "house". I hope for my client's sake and for mine and my broker's sake who, as I informed him this morning, stand to each earn $250.

Not a bad return for all my hard and competent work.

A Taste of Honey

Another year is drawing to a close. Things are winding down here at Bennett Realty. Everyone, clients and agents both, is readying themselves for the BIG DAY. Of course, some people are celebrating 8 big days. However you spend your holidays, it should be our priority and is our obligation to help those who are not as fortunate as ourselves.

Maybe your year wasn't as fulfilling as you had hoped. Maybe the stocking hung on your mantle is not as full as you had hoped. Maybe you had health issues, or maybe this has just been a sucky year. I always hate the old saw, "When things go bad, remember there is someone out there who has it worse." This is supposed to make you feel better? For one thing, when YOU feel bad, you really don't give a rat's patoot how anyone else is feeling. And for another thing, the idea that there are people who are poorer, sicker, more unhappy is nothing to feel thankful for.

The unfortunate thing about donating to food pantries, clothing drives, or the Salvation Army is the fact that we need these institutions at all. So many people don't make a living wage or work two jobs or have an absent spouse when there are children to feed. These are not the exceptions; the numbers are rising.

For example, in the Wilmington News Journal, a local columnist Bill Horne, a professor of economics at Southern State Community College recently submitted an editorial entitled "Everything going up but wages". In this article he sites the November issue of Farm World. In essence, for the last 22 years, the cost of a Thanksgiving turkey dinner has either increased at the rate of inflation or actually dropped in cost from one year to the next. This year, however, the cost of that same turkey dinner went up 11%. Also, our energy costs have climbed from 26% of our income to 47% of a workers income. Mr. Horne also speaks of the American worker's share of total income (as opposed to management, independently wealthy, business owners, etc, I assume). The first year that a 'total share of income' stat was taken was in 1929 as we were going into the Great Depression. In 2006, the American worker received the smallest share of the nation's wealth since the Depression. Depressing, huh.

So, I hope that you can see what is wrong with the big picture. We make less, our expenses are more. In this nation of wealth, the majority of Americans are missing their portion of the turkey dinner. But at the same time, they are helping those who are missing even more of the turkey dinner. Should we help others? Absolutely! Should we have to help others? Absolutely not!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, Good Festivus, Happy New Year to all!

Run For Your Life

Well, it sure has been nice working here at Bennett Realty. I do wonder, as I have mentioned previously, why I am able to keep this job that I love. My latest endeavor is to humiliate most of the realtors in my office. I purchased a new super duper camera recently. I took it to work to play with and started taking pictures of everyone. Well, with a 10x optical zoom and 8 megapixels, you can get up close and personal with your subject without physically getting in their face. Of course, people were getting a wee bit irritated because I was clicking away at them, although without a flash. It is amazing how you can actually capture the essence of someone after they start getting a bit p.o'd.

After I had harrassed my fellow realtors sufficiently, I down loaded my photos to the computer and tweaked and cropped them to my satisfaction. As a sidebar, I highly recommend the Fuji FinePix camera. Please, please, please don't let anyone talk you into a Kodak Easyshare. There is nothing "easy" about "sharing" photos when it comes to that camera or the software that comes with it. (I have lost count how many times I've been asked to help people "get those pictures off" their camera.) For one thing, you have to download your photos using the software that comes with the camera. You don't even need special software to download photos from any camera. Just plug in the USB cable and a window pops up and either a "wizard" opens or a dialog box that will walk you through it. However, the Fuji FinePix has very nice software that doesn't supercede the computer's own system. It is user friendly and has great editing capabilities. It's not Photoshop but it is the closest thing to having a dark room in your basement that I have found. Especially when used in conjuction with my new SLR style S800. With the manual as well as automatic settings, I can do anything for real estate or for personal use.

Which brings me back to harassing my fellow beings. After I assembled all of my loverly black and white photos, I ordered a calendar online using said photos and put silly captions underneath. I will then give it as a present to the broker and his wife, my supervisor.

So, it's been nice talking to you............

The End

Finally, my last installment on the road to Renovation Lending.

Here are the various programs offered for Renovation Lending:

FHA 203(k)
FHA 203(k) Streamline
FNMA (Fannie Mae) Homestyle
FNMA Community Homestyle
Construction to Perm/One time Close Renovation Loan

In an effort to cut short the suffering my readers have endured over the 203(k), I will give only sight overviews of a couple of the 203(k) mortgage programs.

The first one, a first time homebuyer may have accidently come across it and not fully understood the purpose of it. (Unfortunately, there are lenders out there who do not speak in "people".) The HUD FHA 203(k) (almost sounds like a 1940's phone number) covers the mortgage plus there has to be a minimum of $5,000 in repairs. These repairs are required to eliminate health and safety issues such as roofing, energy conservation, site improvement and handicap accessibility. These are not decorating dollars.

The 203(k) Streamline allows up to $35,000 for repairs and upgrades. It is "Streamline" because it is "streamlined". No consultant needed, no structural repairs, no financing of mortgage payments which all results in lower fees. This mortgage would perhaps serve the non novice when it comes to home repairs and remodeling.

In all of these mortgages, self-help, or sweat-equity, may be discouraged but not entirely ruled out. If you can do the work and can demonstrate in some way that you indeed can do the work, then you might be able to stretch your dollars a bit further.

Well, I think I have totally exhausted this topic. Well, I guess not totally. There is obviously a lot more to know about this topic which is why I say, don't take my word for it. Do some legwork, call a bunch of lenders and get as much info as possible. If someone tells you there is no such thing as getting money based on what the home will be worth in the future, just smile knowingly and head for the door.

Countrywide Home Loans offers this type of mortgage, but I am sure they are not the only ones. Please do not let Countrywide's checkered past sway you too much. This is not preditory lending. But if a lender tries to pressure you into borrowing more money than you know you can afford, just smile knowingly and head for the door.

Now, go out there and RENOVATE!

Th--th--- th---That's all folks!

Baby You're a Rich Man

Holidays are looming large and even though not much is going on at the office, I have plenty going on at home. My mind is not on real estate but it really should be. Just because things are slow doesn't mean they have to come to a full stop. But that is the way I find that the psyche works. Have you ever noticed that you get better service at a restaurant when it is busy than when it is slow? That is because the less someone has to do the more they do nothing. I think it is a little thing called inertia. So you walk into an empty restaurant and stand there staring at the walls waiting for someone to notice you so you can be seated in the vast emptiness. The same goes in real estate. Even if someone walked in the door wanting to see a house, I would rise grumbling from my seat and half-heartedly talk to them, ultimately probably talking them out of the whole thing. My mind would wander, thinking, "This person can't really be serious about buying a house this time of year. It's cold and snowy and besides I don't feel like slogging away in the slush in the dark evening just to show this looky-loo a cold dark dump." So I've just talked myself out of a sale. Quite counterproductive, you see.

So I sit here, wondering why I'm not making any money. Go figure.

I did have a closing last week, surprise, surprise. Sometimes we do well in the biz despite our best efforts to do otherwise. In fact, this is the first year I will be getting a sales award! Our Board of Realtors Christmas party is this weekend and I will proudly and graciously accept my award and give my thanks to the little people. Okay, maybe not that last part. But I am thankful that, despite the downturn in the market, I have done well this year. It pays just to show up.