The Real Estate Blog by Cari McGee

I’m writing this post a little early this week as I need my evening free for Mad Men, season 2, episode 2. If you don’t currently watch the show, scurry to your DVR and set up a schedule for taping, because it’s worth it. It’s a great program which spotlights American at a certain time (early 1960’s), but the personalities and the problems are timeless.

Well, this isn’t good news - people have been breaking in to homes for sale in Kennewick.

When I was buying some french fries today I reflected how I really don’t eat too many of them. They’re not a food weakness for me (but cake or cupcakes or cookies or candy are a different story - I am powerless in their grip!). However, we’ve got a big fry (get it? as opposed to small fry??) company in town, and the Food Network came to visit it this week. Neat, huh?

And this comes to us from LA - no more Sunday Real Estate Section. Bummer! I liked reading it when I was an L.A. local, and more recently, whenever I went back to visit my mom. Our local paper prints a real estate section, but recently it stopped included “helpful” articles about selling your home and nationwide trends. Probably because all real estate is local, and what helps people in Sheboygan, WI won’t necessarily help people in Pasco.

And that’s all for now. Go record Mad Men, I’m serious!

It never fails, you know.  A house sits on the market for MONTHS, occasional showings, positive feedback in regards to price and condition, marketing plan in place, and nothing happens.  No offers, no frantic calls to make sure the house is still available.  It’s like a stone dropped in a lake - ripples fan out but no true waves are made.

Then, without rhyme or reason, suddenly EVERYONE wants the same house.  The listing agent fields calls, “Yes, it’s still available, but I am expecting an offer at 10 this morning…” and “No, I wouldn’t advise waiting until after your client’s parents can see it this weekend, because it will be gone by then…” or, “I am calling to let you know we have entered into multiple offer situation.  We will look at all clients’ highest and best offers tonight at 8…”

And the naturally skeptical among us can’t help but think, “Really?  Suddenly everyone wants this house when it sat on the market for three months with nary a nibble?”  And when I first got into real estate, I thought the same way.

But now I’ve seen it happen too many times, and have actually been the listing agent orchestrating the crazy situations of multiple offers a few times.

I am not a high-pressure person. I think people need to buy the house they want and I hate calling and saying, “There MAY BE another offer coming in, so if you want it, you need to offer on it now.”  Or, “I know the seller countered this morning and you’d love to take your time thinking about it, but -

I have to let you know that IF another offer comes in, and IF the seller likes that offer better, he or she can withdraw their counter offer to you

and suddenly, all the time in the world isn’t available anymore.

The frustrating part of the business is that I could be perceived as high-pressure when all I am doing is making sure the client knows what could happen, according to the laws and customs of real estate.

So, just so you know, if you get a call like that from me, or most agents, then know we’re not making it up.  It can and does happen, and the people who stay skeptical lose out on the house they want.  And I hate to see that happen even more than I hate being perceived as high-pressure.

I spent the first year of my real estate career taking calls about foreclosed-upon properties. I worked at an agency which handled most of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac re-sales (Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are government-sponsored entities which loan a ton of money for the purchase of housing). I spent a great deal of time showing smelly, filthy, dilapidated houses to buyers who saw the great price offered and thought they’d have the perfect situation - a home of their own for a great price.

BUT, it oh-so-rarely worked out that way. Oftentimes the houses were the definition of squalor. Fannie and Freddie sometimes clean up or install new floor coverings, but often it’s not worth the extra investment. So they do nothing.

In the paper last week I read this article about local foreclosure tours. My favorite, favorite line is this -

Foreclosed homes often don’t have nicely mown lawns and may need new carpet, for example

MAY need new carpet? Um, try definitely. And the yards are often so far gone there is no “recovery” possible. You need to start again from scratch.

But this is what I find most interesting - when the local housing market is strong, as ours is, you don’t HAVE a ton of foreclosures on the market. Our market has steadily appreciated between 2% and 5% a year, over the last several years. We have not had a tremendous increase in foreclosures recently. Even the lender who sponsors the tour states as much -

“I really see that our market is holding very, very strong over some pretty weak markets across the country,” she said.

It cracks me up that there are agents and lenders in the Tri-Cities CHARGING MONEY to show less-than- desirable homes in a strong market. It makes no sense to me. If you want to see foreclosed homes I’ll show them to you for free. If you want advice on buying one, I’ll give it to you for free. If you have a house and want to save it before it’s featured on a foreclosure safari, call me and I’ll tell you who to call, for free.

Ooooh - I never even thought of this!  The granite on your counter could be loaded with radon, which is an odorless gas, loaded with radioactivity.  I think you know by now that I am NOT an alarmist, and I despise conspiracy theories, but this is a new way to look at what is rapidly becoming and old stand-by in many higher-end homes.

And you know what?  That’s really all I have tonight.  I’m sorry, loyal readers!

Rumor has it (I feel like Perez Hilton) that the ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition might be coming to the Tri-Cities. Wow!

This is by no means set in stone, but how cool will it be if it’s true? And why shouldn’t they come?

After all - we have a local ABC affiliate, KVEW - TV.

We have great weather, so they won’t get rained or snowed on while rebuilding the house.

We have a Sears, where they like to get all of the stuff for the house.

We have fantastic local builders and construction crews who can help out.

And, unfortunately, we have families in need.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled and my ears open and report back on the scoop.