No, I'm not talking about the beautiful little blue boxes that come with treasures from Tiffany & Co.. Though who doesn't love those? Today I'm talking about the REALTOR® specific lockbox (iBox) that only REALTORS® (or vendors with a code from the REALTOR®) can use. In AZ (and many other states), these lockboxes are purchased and monitored through Supra Systems. Why do you as a seller care what kind of lockbox is on your house? The other day I walked up to a front door that looked … [Read more...]
Sometimes You Need To Shut Up And Listen
Every now and then you run into a situation that makes you just scratch your head. This week I had such an occasion. I picked up a client at his hotel, and we headed off to look at a few houses including one in a new build development. My client is telling me how he spent his life in sales and how he does not like salespeople at all, especially Realtors. Mr. Client was talking about how he gets annoyed when salespeople go around pointing out the obvious like they are adding value. For … [Read more...]
Can you guarantee that my earnest money will be returned?
Recently a client of one of our agents wanted me, as our agency's Designated Broker, to compose a “Letter of Assurance” guaranteeing their earnest money would be returned to them if they employed a certain tactic. (See Earnest Money ”“ What, why, how much? for an explanation of what earnest money is.) The short answer is no, I can not make any assurances of what may happen to your earnest money. "Say what?" the client is probably thinking. They hand over a check, sometimes for a significant … [Read more...]
Real Estate 101: Do I Have to Use the Listing Agent?
Here's a question that I see consistently popping up on real estate forums, my email inbox and in conversations on the telephone: I really like this house, do I have to use the agent that listed it to”¦ [insert one or more of these here: show me the home, represent me as my agent, write the offer]. The short answer is no, you do not have to use the listing agent for anything. The long answer is you don't want to use the listing agent. Here is why”¦ Showing Homes Any licensed real estate … [Read more...]
Phoenix home buyers, are you being realistic?
Much has been written across real estate blogs and mainstream media outlets about unrealistic home sellers. It seems much less common though to talk about unrealistic home buyers. Naturally everyone wants to get the most home they can for the least amount of money. Which is, of course, in opposition to the home seller, who wants the most money for their home. This inherent conflict is one of the things that makes real estate sales”¦ challenging at times. It has been my experience of late that … [Read more...]
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...