Maybe it’s too late to put in my two cents on this whole bailout for Wall Street mess, but I’m a bit relieved it didn’t pass this morning. Before you start booing me, wait a minute to hear or rather read me out. The whole notion that we need to help these greedy lunatics by buying their crappy mortgage backed securities with $700,000,000,000 of our own money is misleading. I don’t think a single bank would have failed if they weren’t trying to rip people off to begin with.

Why are they demanding that we fix this problem from the top down instead of the bottom up? It doesn’t take a genius to see that if people weren’t foreclosing, there’d be fewer bad mortgages. The banks got greedy and offered exploitative loans to people fully aware of the risk. The banks didn’t care in an up market- they assumed they could reclaim the assets and sell them again on the open market at a profit. It wasn’t until the market became flooded with distressed properties that it became a problem for them.

SIMPLE SOLUTION: have courts intervene and renegotiate mortgage terms. Can’t pay your newly adjusted mortgage amount? A judge helps moderate new terms for the mortgage based on today’s interest rate with a 30 year fixed and the homeowner agrees to pay that lower amount instead of foreclosing on the property. Remove all penalties for the conversion on behalf of the borrower. The banks would still have mortgagors paying money to them, the homeowners would retain their homes and equity and the real estate market would be unencumbered by all of these distressed properties driving down home values for the rest of us. Best part is it doesn’t take $700 BILLION to do this.

Banks lose a lot of time and money trying to market foreclosed properties- it is not in their best interest to foreclose. It might have been five years ago, but obviously it’s bad for everyone today.

Don’t get me started on the fact Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac only RECENTLY stopped allowing brokers to hire in-house appraisers who were all too willing to justify loan amounts. We don’t need new legislation or regulation- we need to simply ENFORCE what we already have.

The site title was changed before the fact to read “Artist + Broker”, however I have not taken the broker’s licensing exam yet. Scheduled for 10/25, I’m waiting for my birthday (10/22) so I don’t have to renew my license in one year and one month. September would count as “year one” of two years if I took the exam right now. Wish me luck…don’t know when I’m going to study. I started at Redfin on Monday and I’m still learning how they do things

It's been a little while since my last post, because I have been busy outlining my business for 2008 as well as preparing my home for a new arrival in February. The Winter months are usually pretty slow regarding area real estate sales, but the end of 2007 was full of surprises for me. First, I had more simultaneous listings than ever before. I don't know whether to contribute this to the changing market or the gradual expansion of my pool of potential referrals or SOI (sphere of influence). Unfortunately, selling these listings has been more difficult than months past. Buyers are taking more time to decide before purchasing- they are also worried about lending and are not as motivated as they were previously. Some clients understand, others blame the agents.

Secondly comes my efforts to find a new place in the real estate world altogether. I have decided 2008 will be a year where I break free from "conventional wisdom" in the business and follow my gut instincts fully. I have done all of the tried-and-true methods of building a real estate business and have got to say almost none of these things work as well as they probably did for the dinosaurs spewing the advice. The market and marketing have changed; good technology in a brokerage is hard to find and the general public is numb to the generally lame methods a hungry agent will use to attract more business. I have never cold-called, for instance, and the current environment does not indicate I should start doing this. I rarely mail market, because I have *never* had a transaction come to fruition from this method...no matter how great or weird or "purple cow" my methodology in creating said mailing piece. Basically, any and all of the business I get is from the people I know and not the people I am *trying* to know. With this in mind, I am simplifying my practice to only handle these referrals and produce more of this kind of business. I LOVE referrals!
Third, I am no one's fool. I recently got myself out of a situation where I supported leads from my company through Yahoo! Real Estate. The idea is that in exchange for these great leads (you know, people just entering in information so they can see a listing...not exactly what I would call leads), I would give a referral fee and a huge split just for the opportunity. Essentially, I worked as an unpaid employee with the expectation I would follow-up with people that didn't exist or didn't want to hear from me. Occasionally the system worked as designed, but not as often as they would like to believe. You might not realize this, but most agents aren't as successful as you might think. Many have to pay ridiculous fees, inequitable splits and a host of expenses just to call themselves agents. I haven't been in the business that long (just over two years), but I can't tell you how many agents have come and gone from my office alone since I have been there. Brokerages seem more interested in making money from their struggling agents while giving breaks in fees and services to their top producers. This practice creates an environment where the folks actually paying to keep the doors open in a brokerage are the least successful and the brokerages NEED unsuccessful agents to make it work. The good thing about the recent cool-down in the market is that these brokerages are going to have to try harder to obtain and retain good talent. Any office that has a split instead of a flat desk fee should look at their model with a microscope- we are on to you! Why give a brokerage a split when the total sum of that split on an average sale is more than what you would pay for an entire year of desk fees at a smaller brokerage?
Basically, I am trying to find a happy medium between the flexibility of the life I have come to enjoy as an agent and a relative consistency of pay. I am staying in sales but presently looking for other options in the field to further expand my knowledge. Active Rain real estate network is a place I have recently interviewed for example. I'm looking to the Zillows of the world despite the animosity many old-school agents harbor towards such ventures. Not to toot my own horn, but I possess a set of skills beyond those of the typical agent and so it only makes sense that I try to immerse myself in an environment where I can utilize each and every one of those abilities. If you are in the business and know of such opportunities- get in touch! ;)

Seriously...this is cheap. My friends who are renting- you need to consider this! Your mortgage payment could be lower than what you pay in rent.

This super affordable unit is in South Seattle/Skyway, close to I-5 and on a quiet block. The upstairs bedroom in this top-floor unit is generous and open to the lower interior space. New washer and dryer. Newly replaced windows and sliding door to deck. Wood fireplace on main floor, bath on second floor attached to master. A few minor upgrades could make this unit truly something special. Great potential as home, rental or investment.

Mid-century modern rambler with daylight basement and Sound/Olympic views. Glass-paneled, ironwood deck and two wood burning fireplaces inside the home. French doors and a large corner window warmly illuminate the interior living spaces. Efficient kitchen design with stainless work surfaces and metal cabinets. Basement garage and utility room with built-in storage. An unfinished attic space with stairwell offers many possibilities. Large lot and location may appeal to developers/investors.

This stylishly remodeled rambler is move-in ready! Updated electrical, new furnace, new windows, freshly painted inside and out with new gutters and roof. All new stainless kitchen appliances with granite countertops and subway tile backsplash. Tile and hardwood floors throughout. Large, fully fenced and landscaped yard with patio. Conveniently located blocks from 509- a must see!

This listing of mine is in need of an offer. The banks want to see ANY offer...don't be shy.

There are many avenues for homeowners to consider when it's time to sell. With so many discount outfits promising to save money for the homeowner, it's probably a good idea to outline just what a full-service agent like myself will do:

order preliminary title
contact escrow
take photos
enter listing info on MLS
provide a key lock-box
have a sign delivered
create and stock fliers
create and send broker's open mailers/emails
create and send open house mailers
Online Seller Advantage via Yahoo
provide a legal description and disclosures for potential buyers
provide a virtual tour
provide neighborhood demographics and maps
stage the home with furniture if needed
handle all calls and inquiries
if vacant, keep it clean and the yard mowed
schedule showings
market the property online
review offers with the seller
check buyer financing
insure all docs are complete and on time to escrow

When you entrust a discount brokerage to sell your home, they are merely listing it. You'll get a sign, a MLS number and a finite stack of fliers. All of the other things that go with selling the home and assuring a smooth close to the transaction are often left to the selling agent (representing the buyer and not you) who will likely work harder on your transaction than the agent or brokerage you initially hired. I know, because I have been that eager selling agent before. Of course I am speaking of one-off transactions. If a seller also needed to buy and was willing to work with me on both, I would be flexible regarding my commission. I believe in repeat business and loyal fans and I do my best to inspire it.

Local Designer and DJ extraordinaire Bob Hansen did a photo shoot for Megan and me a few weeks ago. I'm a photographer as well, but taking your own photos is highly overrated and a pain. I'm not sure we got the shot we needed (I blame my choice of location mostly), but we are considering using this photo as a business card background image...



We look so engaged in our tasks it's frightening. :)

There are many resources available for homeowners wishing to know the value of their property investment. However, be aware of the fact many online tools for valuing your home may be based purely upon average price per square foot of sold properties when calculating your value. As of late, I have been spending a great deal of time valuing properties for lenders and investors requesting BPOs or Broker Price Opinions. Lenders pay agents to perform these reports in order to save money on appraisal costs in managing their portfolios. They also use them in valuing properties in danger of foreclosure. Here are some tips for folks wishing to fine tune a value estimate from an online source.

First of all, know your comparables or "comps." Comparable properties are those that share similar attributes to your property; similar amount of living area, similar year built, similar style and within a reasonable distance to your property. I use a range of +/-15% in finding comps and try to stay within a half mile radius of the subject property. Generally speaking, three active listings and three sold properties are enough to compute a value for the subject property. When selecting comps, one should bracket the comps so that within the active listings there is at least one property that is superior and one property that is inferior to the subject property. The same is true for the sold properties. Consumers may have trouble finding this information, but it is available from several public sources.

You will need to make adjustments to the comps based on whether or not they are superior or inferior. Inferior comps receive POSITIVE adjustments to bring them in line with the subject and superior comps receive NEGATIVE adjustments. For example, let's say we have a 4 bedroom home with 2100 square feet as the subject and a 5 bedroom home with 2300 square feet as an active listing comparable. One would subtract the value of the additional bedroom and difference in square footage to see what the value would be compared to that of the subject property. Adjustments are made to the comps- not the subject property! One could also calculate a "contributory value" by dividing the difference in square footage by the difference in price to produce a price per square foot that can be used in making adjustments.

The hardest part of valuing your own property is removing your emotion from the process. How you *feel* about your property could cloud your opinion of its true value. It is imperative that you look for any and all needed repairs, deferred maintenance or functional obsolescence. These items will create a gap between your "as-is" and "as-repaired" valuations. The as-repaired value is for a like property in perfect condition. Since it is rare that a home is in perfect condition, you will have to rank your property accordingly within your comps in order to come up with an accurate value.

These are just a few of the things I consider while determining a value for a property. I've attempted to demystify the process a bit for the DIY types, but it isn't easy nor is it an exact science. Following these guidelines however will insure that the value you produce is realistic and reflects current local trends.