Sometimes answering the phone is a predictable sport. When home values drop 50% and the economy is shedding jobs like I wish I could burn calories writing posts (lots and fast), it seems that every call I get is so... predictable. Hello, can you just answer one simple question for me? Do I have to be late on my payments in order to get help from my bank? I have been asked this question no less than about 200 times in the last 2 years. And usually after someone asks me the question, it is … [Read more...]
Thinking About Short Selling Your House? What No One Will Tell You.
I'm really not any different than you are. Even though I play a mortgage commentator on Twitter, it doesn't mean that I am infected with mortgage rabies not a real person. I like to think that if there ever was a focus group for everyday-Americans, I might even get an invite. I am just normal. And so I am going to let many of you other normal people in on a little secret -- because according to my escrow agent, you might be dealing with the same problem I have been dealing … [Read more...]
Silly Counter Offers Redux
Oy, can't believe I just used a Latin word in the title”¦ But that's really neither here nor there. In an article posted Sunday I discussed “silly counter offers”. The esteemed John Wake left this comment: "It also sounds like you have a great client”¦ and the seller and/or listing agent will be a PITA the whole way." For those not familiar with the term “PITA”, it's “net lingo” for “Pain In The Ass”. And as is the norm, John was spot-on in his assessment (on both … [Read more...]
My Favorite Thing About Opening My Own Brokerage
“Why would anyone open a new real estate brokerage in this market?” That's a question I've heard several times since opening Thompson's Realty. There are a plethora of reasons”¦. (that was just for you Kris) Not paying a commission split to my former broker, not paying Century 21 a “franchise fee”, not worrying about my broker telling me what I can and can't post on this blog. All are valid reasons for opening a brokerage in any market. But the primary reason we struck out on our own was so … [Read more...]
Real Life Real Estate: Truth Stranger Than Fiction
You may (or may not) have read here before that real estate agents who don't answer their phones are a pet peeve of mine. I just don't understand it. If you don't want to answer a phone, you probably shouldn't try to make a living selling real estate. The phone rings. A lot. It needs to be answered. There are countless examples out there of agents not answering the phone. It's a fact that agents (and their clients) have lost out on a sale due to a phone not being answered. But what's … [Read more...]
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...