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Crazy time… crazy time…
It’s a crazy time I tell ya. It’s mid February, we should be knee-deep in snow with a blizzard on the way, real estate should be at a standstill and I should trying to emerge from my winter hibernation. Instead its mid February, it was nearly 50 degrees today, the real estate market is hot and I’m definitely not hibernating!
Hopefully you remember my post I Just Survived My 1st Night at my 2nd Job where I talked about taking a once a week, night job because it was almost winter, real estate was going to slow down, I’m nearly a hermit… you get the point. Well the interesting thing is I just gave up my night gig because I’m too busy! Yes middle of winter in Iowa and I’m too busy, I love it!
The market is hot, rates are at the lowest they’ve ever been, there are some great deals out there and buyers are starting to pick them up. For the time being its a great buyers market and a great sellers market, it’s the best of both worlds. Do I think it will last forever? No way. Right now we border on not having enough inventory (listings) so there’s some pent-up demand. Rates may stay low or they may rise, if they rise then buyers won’t be able to afford as much home. Rents are going up, way up – many renters will soon realize buying is the better way to go.
Needless to say its a crazy time but I’m excited. I’m excited to be really busy again, I’m excited to help clients with what may be the biggest financial decision of their lives, I’m excited to be a Realtor in such a crazy market and I’m excited to ramp up my business. Watch the next few days for some new promotions – I need your help to make my business bigger & better.
Home Price Changes by State
Stop what you’re doing…click on this
Stop what you’re doing…click on this link & forward to all of your friends… don’t miss this deal! http://ow.ly/8YQyo
Smarter! Bolder! Faster! Century 21 will
Smarter! Bolder! Faster! Century 21 will have a commercial in the 3rd quarter of the game! Let me know what you think… http://ow.ly/8SStU
Celebrity Room Showdown; Kitchens… htt
Celebrity Room Showdown; Kitchens… http://ow.ly/8RiDP
Over the top kitchens… http://ow.ly/8R
Over the top kitchens… http://ow.ly/8Rick
Me vs. the Market – Feb 2012
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What wouldn’t I do for a client…
What wouldn’t I do for a client? I wouldn’t break the law… I wouldn’t cross ethical lines… but I’d do a lot. A lot more than the stuff they teach you in pre-license class. Way more than I have printed on my buyer & seller marketing packets.
Let’s see… there was the time I drove to Sioux City at 6am to get paperwork that should have been overnighted the day before, the time I nearly went to Kansas for documents at 8pm at night (and had my sister who lived in Kansas City lined up to help take 3 hours of the driving off my trip), or the time I rocked & fed a baby while my clients did the home inspection with the inspector, or when I shimmied up a porch & crawled thru a window to get into a house that should have been unlocked, convinced my husband & sister to help me clean & empty a listing that a seller left a mess, I showed one buyer over 50 homes in less than 3 weeks, or when I picked up a seller’s dog & took him for a ride when another Realtor (who was scared to death of dogs) wanted to show one of my listings at the last-minute, I’ve left my husband at a restaurant because a buyer wanted to write an offer before they left town, oh & there’s the time I did a somersault to keep a 4-year-old from throwing a fit during a final walk thru, I once met with a buyer at 5am to write an offer, let’s not forget the many times I’ve learned way more than I need & had to see first hand the workings of a septic system, I’ve shoveled snow from walkways at another Realtor’s foreclosure listing, I’ve walked 3 miles of timber in high heels because the client “just had to see it,” I’ve cleaned out a garage (think paint cans, oil, garbage, wood scraps) that an unruly seller decided to leave at the last-minute, I’ve painted a porch that had peeling paint… I could go on and on.
It’s not just me either. Just the other day another Realtor in my office ended up taking the son of one of his clients to the son’s doctor appointment when they were running late, I know one agent in our office actually moved her clients into her own house for two weeks when their house wasn’t ready, another picked up her seller’s children at school so their house could be shown, countless stories of having to put on rubber gloves to clean out abandoned refrigerators… I think you’re starting to get the idea.
Now I’m not telling you these things so you can think up new ways to test my resolve. I’m not telling you these things to make you think I’m some great person. I’ve had plenty of “easy” transactions that went off without a hitch and I appreciate every one of them.
I am telling you these things so that the next time you hear someone say “Realtors make a lot of money for nothing,” or “I can do everything a Realtor can do” or even “using a real estate agent is a waste of money” then you can think of all those things above and just smile!
10 Real Estate Markets to Watch in 2012
10 Real Estate Markets to Watch in 2012 – Des Moines is #4 check it out… http://ow.ly/8OiwB
Is It Time to Buy a Home?
| Is It Time for Young Families to Buy a Home?
Posted: 01 Feb 2012 04:00 AM PST
Who are the people selling them on the American Dream? Their parents! It seems that parents of some adult children are strongly suggesting that their children take advantage of the low cost of homeownership available today. Some moms and dads are helping financially and are even co-signing for the mortgage. Middle age parents who have owned a home understand its true value. A home has always been a good long term financial investment. However, homeownership also has many other benefits. In Fannie Mae’s most recent National Housing Survey, they asked the question directly: Is this a major reason to buy a home? The study broke up the answers into financial and non-financial reasons. The top four reasons and six of the top ten reasons were NON-FINANCIAL. The top four are below:
Should this surprise us? Aren’t these the same reasons our parents bought their home? Aren’t these the same reasons we purchased our home? These are the same reasons parents have suggested their children buy a home. They want the same things for their grandchildren that they believed to be important for their children. And today, the cost of homeownership is at all time lows:
Bottom LineNow that the economy is beginning to show signs of stabilizing, people are getting back to the core values that families have always embraced. Homeownership is definitely high on that list. And today, from a financial standpoint, it may be the opportunity of a lifetime. |
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