Archive for the 'The Realtor’s Life' Category
An (Unscheduled) Garden Tour in Davidsonville
June 5th, 2008 Categories: The Realtor's Life
Sometimes, Previewing a Property Yields the Unexpected - Like a Private Tour of a Neighbor’s Stunning Garden
Getting lost is underrated. Hardly anybody gets lost anymore, thanks to Mapquest and GPS devices. But we managed to do so today, searching for a piece a property we were scheduled to preview. Our wrong turn landed us in a neighbor’s driveway, where we got talking to the owner who kindly offered us on a tour of her property.
The owner and her husband, she told us, have owned the property for nearly three decades and it looked as if they’d spent much of that time in the gardens. They were simply gorgeous - lush beds, stone pathways, a serene park-like feel. It was landscape as art. Have a peek.
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Sometimes, Being in Real Estate in Annapolis is a Real Drain. A Clogged Drain
May 14th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers, The Realtor's Life
When It Rains in Annapolis, It Pours. And When It Pours, The Moss Haedrich Team of Keller Williams Puts on our Slickers
The rains came to Annapolis this week, biblical rains. Like oil and water, any experienced Realtor will tell you that biblical rains and pending settlements don’t mix well. The combination puts us on high alert.
Which is how I find myself standing barefoot in 4″ of water on a client’s patio, coaxing a sluggish drain. It is 6:00AM and the client - soaking up the sun at her new Arizona condo - is blissfully unaware of my unscheduled visit, long since gone from here in both body and spirit.
They say that a lot of people think agents just drive around in fancy cars and collect big settlement checks. I wish those people could see me now, standing here in drenched jeans, my cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee tasting more and more diluted with every passing minute.
Doing What’s Required? Or Doing What Needs to be Done?
We - The Moss Haedrich Team - look great on paper. We have a sheet that describes our Platinum Listing Services in detail, several more that list the 186 transactional items we will take care of for you. But nowhere on any of it will you see ”Stand barefoot on patio in rain and clean clogged drain.” Read the rest of this entry »
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Is Your Real Estate Agent Trustworthy?
April 23rd, 2008 Categories: Buyers, Sellers, The Realtor's Life
In a 2006 Poll Published by Harris Interactive, Real Estate Agents Really Took It On the Chin. Maybe We Can All Learn a Little Something From the Results.
The poll’s intent was to measure the trustworthiness of various professions; real estate agents came in near the bottom, right up there with lawyers, auto mechanics and stockbrokers.
Unfair? To those of us in the industry who put our hearts, heads and soul into this business, and work diligently for our clients - sure, it seems unfair.
But unexpected? Not really. The fact of the matter is, not all agents are created equal. Some set the professional bar extremely low and when they trip over it they make the whole industry look bad.
Marc Davison, a blogger at www.1000wattblog.com had some interesting thoughts on the subject and those things that set trusted and untrustworthy agents apart.
“Are agents untrustworthy? Some are, some aren’t. But most paint themselves with the brush of mistrust by adhering to modes of marketing, branding and verbiage that fail to set them apart and distinguish one from the other.
Untrustworthy agents hear what their clients say. Trustworthy agents listen.
Untrustworthy agents make deals happen. Trusted agents help people buy and sell homes.
Untrustworthy agents work hard and make a case for it. Trusted agents work smart. They perform magic and do it quietly, with grace.
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Annapolis Area Homebuyers: Is Your Real Estate Agent Helping You Find the Shiny Pennies?
April 17th, 2008 Categories: Buyers, The Realtor's Life
We Try Not to Toot Our Own Horn Too Much - Nobody Likes a Braggart. But We Love It When Our Clients Do It For Us, When They Notice and Say Thanks for The Things We Do. Here’s One Such Story.
When we work with an Annapolis area homebuyer, the first step of the process is a meeting at our office that we call the “buyer consultation.”
It’s our opportunity to introduce ourselves, talk about how we work, and to listen. Listening is a big part of this business. My dad used to say that God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth so we’d listen twice as much as we talk, and that’s a good thing for a Realtor to remember.
One of the things we ask our buyers is to describe, in detail, their dream home - number of bedrooms, bathrooms and all the other obvious stuff. But also the stuff of their dreams. White picket fence? Window seats? Arched doorways? If it means something to you, we want to know. Makes it easier to find you the perfect home.
If a buyer is urgent - and needs to find a home in short order - there’s a good chance they won’t have enough time to preview all the possibilities themselves. Or, the
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The Realtor’s Life: Me and My Man Purse
March 11th, 2008 Categories: The Realtor's Life
Well, that’s it. This Realtor business has finally driven me over the edge.
It wasn’t the state of the market or another Annapolis area agent that finished me off, or even the long hours. It’s the sheer amount of stuff I have to lug around to conduct business. So I’m shopping for my first man purse.
I have no other choice: the stuff has simply gotten out of control.
There’s my cell phone, wallet, compact digital camera, and business card holder. I have magnetic swipe keys for my office and lockboxes, and a jumble of real keys for the many doors in a Realtor’s life.
There’s my small calendar and my reading glasses, so I can see it, and a little notepad so I can remind myself what I’m supposed to be doing. And a couple of pens. It’s gotten to the point where, if I carry it all on my person, I look like I’ve been shot with a semi-automatic bean bag gun. I need a man purse.
My Realtor-wife/partner, Bev, totally gets it: she’s got purses she puts into handbags that go into still bigger carrying bags and off she goes. So we spend Friday night, date night, shopping for a man purse at the Annapolis mall, where they’re outnumbered by woman purses 10,000 to 1. Read the rest of this entry »
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