Selling real estate

I'm a realtor so I get the pleasure of helping people buy and sell homes.  Its a lot more work than most people think.  In addition to what they see on HGTV's House Hunters where the realtor shows them 3 houses and they buy one, we often show people a lot more than 3, and some don't buy.  And for those that do buy, as their agent I must also coordinate their inspections, help them resolve inspection issues, provide the appraiser with comparable properties, facilitate the transfer of the utilities, and ensure the attorney handling the closing has all the necessary documentation for the contract and addenda.

Occasionally I'll get a call from someone from another state that's not familiar with our market here.  The joke around the office is that they always want 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and to be walking distance to the beach for no more than $200K.  Those people make me want to say this:

Appreciation

Last evening I went to a realtor appreciation party sponsored by one of our local home builders.  Every year they invite realtors to a nice party with free food, booze, and prize drawings. Builders count on realtors to bring their buyers to their new communities, and to show their appreciation this builder has an appreciation party every year.

This year's party was held in a penthouse party room in an oceanfront hotel.  As you can imagine, the views of the beach and ocean were incredible from that height.  I tried to take a selfie in front of the view but there was too much light so the view was washed out.

Several of my realtor friends were there so I took some selfies with them.

The builder's sales reps were also there so it was fun to chat with them as well as my realtor friends.  The food was really good and who doesn't like free food and booze?

Topless

Amongst all the cold and rainy weather we've had recently, there was a warm and sunny day which happened to correspond with my day off.  You know what that means...

Yep, I went topless!

What a treat to have such terrific weather on my day off so I could actually enjoy it.

Outside the box

Today is my last real estate settlement of 2018.  It will be a happy day as my young clients get the keys to their brand new home; a home they didn't have to rebuild from the inside out like their last home.  I anticipate lots of smiles and excitement at the settlement table.

These clients were "walk-ins".  That means they just showed up at the office without an appointment and asked to speak to an agent, who happened to be me that day.  That almost never happens.  With the plethora of real estate information (and misinformation) on the internet, most people begin their real estate search online and have a good idea what they can expect to get and pay.  But I sat down with these clients and talked about what they wanted, where they wanted to be, and discussed details of their situation.

But in my 8 years of being a full-time agent, this has only happened to me 3 times.  That's right; 3 times in 8 years.  Obviously you can't build a business on 3 walk-ins in 8 years.  Fortunately my real estate team has done a lot to get leads by having a robust online presence, using our own team website and having profiles on public real estate websites.  We also advertise in local publications too.

But this year I was also struck by how much more business happens outside the office, which is making me think outside the box on how I can capture more of it.

As an example, I sold a home to a couple in 2012.  The wife referred a colleague to me in 2014 and that couple also bought a home from.  That couple referred a colleague to me this year and that couple bought a home from me too.  This reminded me how important word-of-mouth referrals are.  I need to think of some new ways to encourage my past clients to refer their friends and neighbors to me.  After all, I've already proven my value and trustworthiness to them so they can vouch for me when they refer others.

Another example:  2 independent clients to whom I've sold homes struck up conversations with strangers at happy hours (that's common around here).  Both clients referred those strangers to me and both have since purchased homes.  This reminded me that 'not all business happens in the board room', sometimes it happens at happy hour.  I need to consider the potential of capturing new business at happy hours.  

When the market is good and business is easy to get we can get a bit lazy with prospecting.  But as the market slows down and interest rates go up I don't want my business/income to go down too.  I need to think outside the box for ways to capture business.

I tried going to a couple of local business networking mixers but didn't find them to be helpful.  It was mostly people like me who were trying to expand their reach to new customers.  And although those people had the potential to refer their clients to me, these events were heavy with realtors so I never saw any benefit from them.  I think they're more effective in larger metropolitan areas.

Do any of you guys have any ideas to share?

What happened on Sunday

So yesterday was the end of daylight savings time so we turned our clocks back an hour.  Of course my body woke up at the normal time so I struggled to go back to sleep a few more times before finally getting up to go to the bathroom.

Later we met up with Steven & Thad for breakfast at the Crystal. 

Although I was scheduled off, I had agreed to meet a new client and show her 3 homes close to where we live.  Spouse picked up some items at the store while I was showing the homes.

Then we met Steven & Thad at the movie theater to see Bohemian Rhapsody.  I've long said that the song Bohemian Rhapsody is a piece of musical genius, somehow weaving together music from several different genres and several different keys, and instead of sounding like a hot mess, it works.  Perfectly.  This film is about the band Queen, not just about this song.

I'd heard good things from several of my friends on Facebook who'd seen it on Fri or Sat so I figured it would be good.

It was fantastic!  Rami Malek did an amazing job portraying Freddie Mercury.  The mannerisms, the body language, the dancing on stage, it was all there.  I expect him to be nominated for an Academy Award for this performance.  I heard that Malek sang/recorded all the music for the film and then both his and Feddie's were mixed together to make the soundtrack.  Very clever.  The pacing was very good too, never getting hung up for too long on any particular scene.  I was shocked the film was over 2 hours long.

Do yourself a favor and see Bohemian Rhapsody!

Weekend update

On Sat I was due to work, and although I had no appointments for the day, I was expected in the office to help with phone coverage.  Fortunately it was slow and we had more than enough people to handle the office so I ducked out for about 1.5 hours so Spouse & I could go to the gay car club's annual car show.  The weather was perfect for it. 

Many of the vehicles we'd seen before at past car shows, but I did note 3 beautiful additions to share:

This is a gorgeous 1955 (I think) Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon, in sea foam green with an ivory roof.  Such a beautiful car!

This is a mid-to-late 50s DeSoto Firedome convertible.  Love the powder pink and ivory color combo!  Its difficult to read in this photo but the license plate reads BEBUTCH.

This is a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville.  Notice how the up-sweeping rear fins are similar to those on my 1959 Cadillac.  Same goes for the wrap around windshield.

That evening we met Steven & Thad, Bob, and Joe P for dinner at 1776 Steakhouse, a high-end steak restaurant, to celebrate Steven's birthday and Steven & Thad's anniversary.  I had the same thing I've had several other times, the filet mignon trio. I absolutely love it! After dinner we had celebratory cake.

Then I went to the Blue Moon to perform in the Legends shows.  I was Neil Diamond and sang "Cracklin' Rosie", "I Am I Said", "Sweet Caroline", and "Brother Love's Travelin' Salvation Show". Our part-time neighbors Mark & Norman were there for the show, and Steven & Thad and Spouse showed up just before the finale song.  After I changed into my civilian clothes we walked over to Cooter Brown's where a big group of guys from the Bear Weekend had congregated.  We had a drink, chatted with friends and met some new friends.  The weather was dreamy outside so it was a great night to be "out on the town".

Sun was the complete opposite of Sat.  The weather was rainy/stormy and Spouse didn't feel like going to breakfast, which we do nearly every Sun.  So we stayed home, had coffee and left over cake, and watched several episodes of "Shameless".  We literally didn't do a single constructive thing all day.  Then about 5:30 we met Steven & Thad at a diner for an easy/cheap dinner, then back home for more "Shameless".

Weekend recap

On Sat I worked (as usual) but didn't have any showings scheduled so I volunteered to drive the company bus for a couple hours, providing shuttle transportation to/from a local arts festival.  People were very nice and appreciative of the free shuttle service and it gave me a little something different to do since I had no appointments.

That evening we had a simple/easy dinner out with Steven & Thad, then came home and relaxed a little before heading into town to perform in the Legends show as Boy George.  I love doing that Legend because the songs are so good and his presence is unmistakable. The place was really full and the crowd was really 'into' the show!  Immediately afterward we go out into the audience for 'meet and greet' time, and I got several requests for photos and had several conversations with folks who complimented me on my performance.  My buddies Jason & Kevin were there too so I spent a little time chatting with them as well. It was a really fun night!

When I got home about 11:45 Spouse was watching 'Justice League' so I grabbed a big glass of water and watched it with him.  I can never come home from a show and go right to bed; I need some time to settle down.  

Since we went to bed so late we didn't get up until 9:30 Sun morning.  We picked up wraps and chips and headed to the beach, arriving just before noon.  Believe it or not this was our 1st beach day this season!  May was very rainy and cool, and then in June it seemed like every Sun it was overcast, so this was our 1st opportunity to go.  It was glorious!!  The oppressive humidity we've had for the last 2 weeks broke and there was a lovely breeze blowing.  

The.  Perfect.  Beach.  Day.

I didn't get the laundry done or the dogs bathed as I'd planned, but it was worth it to take advantage of such a pretty day.  That evening we had dinner with Steven & Thad and then stopped at the grocery store on the way home.

A pretty decent weekend.

Nervous tick

Last Sat I was showing homes to new clients and we looked at a home that was bank-owned.  "Bank-owned" is a nice way of saying it was a foreclosure.  Since no one has lived there in a while the yard has not been maintained.  Banks will occasionally pay someone to mow if they get a letter from the HOA saying the grass is too high, but in this case the home was not within an HOA so the grass had not been cut in a while.

While still showing homes I noticed a tick on calf so I removed it with a tissue.  Of course the rest of the day I was nervous and kept checking my legs and arms every time I thought I felt something.  A few hours later when I got home and was changing my clothes I found another tick on my upper thigh!  I removed that one too, then stripped and made Spouse check me for any additional ticks.  Fortunately he didn't find any others.

Then on Mon I was showing homes to 2 nurses so I asked them if there was any kind of after-care I should do after finding 2 ticks on me.  They suggested seeing my doctor for a Lymes disease test, so I got an appointment for Tues afternoon.  My doctor said the Lymes test is not conclusive, and that a negative test result wouldn't mean I didn't have Lymes.  He said people have tested negative but then developed Lymes weeks/months later.  Instead of the test, he suggested I just go ahead and take the special antibiotic they would prescribe if I had Lymes disease.  This kind of made sense to me, to treat as if I had it just to be on the safe side.

So now I'm taking the antibiotic twice a day for 21 days, just to be sure I don't develop Lymes disease or any other tick-borne illness.

Weekend recap

On Sat I worked (as usual) but also drove the company bus to shuttle folks to the Sea Glass festival, which is rather unusual.  Our bus holds 14 passengers and when asked we try to give back to the community by providing transportation to local festivals from the off-site parking areas.  Folks were very appreciative and it was kind of fun.

That night I performed as Neil Diamond in the Legends show.  My friend Chris from DC was there, as were some clients to whom I sold a condo a while back.  It was a fun show and the audience seemed to really enjoy it.

Sun morning Steven, Spouse & I met up with my friend Chris for breakfast.  Spouse & I putzed around the afternoon, and then Chris invited us to join him and some of his friends for happy hour followed by dinner.  Spouse didn't want to go so I went without him.  We had a lot of fun!

Chris and I went to the same high school and had many common friends, although I don't believe we were actually friends while in school.  I met him 20 years later, randomly at a bar, and in conversation discovered our common history.  Since then he's become a good friend with whom I always have a good time.

Not much of a weekend

So Sat I worked, as I normally do.  I had a home inspection in the morning, and a couple showings in the afternoon.  Sat I night I performed as Boy George in the Legends show at the Blue Moon.

I'm typically off on Sundays but I agreed to meet some new clients on my day off for a couple of home showings.  Just before we met up it began pouring down rain, and it was very windy too, like a monsoon!  It was miserable weather for showing homes and we all got wet, but at least they wrote an offer on 1 of the homes so it made it worthwhile.

After the showings I met up with Spouse and Steven & Thad for lunch at a new place called Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. Its a chain, but we found the food to be quite good, and the place is HUGE!  There's a big bar, lots of indoor seating, and a sizable patio dining area.  By the time we finished up it was after 3:00 and I felt like the day was over.  It was still raining so Spouse & I just watched some TV.

So, not much of a weekend.

Patrick's visit

My long-time friend Patrick arrived Wed evening, and he and Spouse were talking out on the back porch when I got home from work.  We chatted on the porch for a little while, then I changed out of my work clothes and the 3 of us met up with Steven & Thad for dinner at Jimmy's.  Patrick had met them on previous visits so we all had a nice time catching up over dinner.

Yesterday (Thurs, my regular day off) we had coffee on the porch and Patrick got some special lovin' from Marvin & Walter.

I suggested lunch and a walk on the boardwalk which Patrick quickly agreed.  On our way to the restaurant my phone rang 4 times.  While I'd hoped to disconnect from work the entire day to spend uninterrupted time with Patrick, unfortunately I kept getting calls and emails from clients to whom I'd shown homes earlier in the week.  Patrick was very nice about it and understood, but I was annoyed.  After handling what I needed to over lunch, we went to the boardwalk.  As if someone had flipped a switch, the sun went behind the clouds, the temperature dropped, and the wind picked up.  It was so chilly we actually had to cut our walk short.  As we were driving away from the beach, again as if someone had flipped a switch, the clouds broke, the sun came back out, and the temperature warmed back up!

We returned to the house and talked some more, and then I went into the office to meet with my clients and write a contract.  This can often be done via telephone and technology, but these clients are kind of 'old school' and wanted to talk and sign the contract in person.  2 1/2 hours later I returned home to Patrick and Spouse, and since I had a taste for pizza we decided to order delivery. After dinner we just hung out together, with 1 eye on the TV and 1 eye on Facebook, relaxing.

This morning Patrick & I had breakfast at a local diner together, and then he headed home and I headed to another real estate appointment, even though I had planned to be off that day so Patrick could stay as long as he wanted.  While our visit wasn't 'uninterrupted' as I'd hoped, it was still nice to visit with my old friend.

Business

If you're a realtor and you want to boost your business, plan a vacation.

It never fails.  Whenever I'm planning to be away for a while, my clients come crawling out of the woodwork.  Its like I've put out some invisible sonar signal that says "Call Mark now".  

This week is no exception.  The fact that this coming weekend is a 3-day weekend (Presidents Day) may be a factor.

2 clients with whom I've been working want to come this weekend to look at homes.  I've had to get assistance from colleagues so these clients can tour the homes they've been reviewing online, and hopefully 1 or both of them will want to buy.

Today I got a call from a new client who wants to look at a specific property on Sun.  I've had to get a 3rd colleague to help this person.  But since I've never met or really worked with this person, I decided to simply 'give' this potential buyer to my colleague.

And its not like I won't be working at all while I'm gone.  My personal and work emails come on my iPhone and I'll have to check them and respond to time-sensitive things a couple times each day to keep things moving.

So the next time my business is a little slow, I'm going to plan a quick trip and then just wait for the phone to start ringing.

Magic

I happened to be off work yesterday and after running multiple errands I was on my way to the grocery store at 3:00 when I got this text from Spouse:

"Can  you make magic cookie bars for my office cookie exchange tomorrow?  I need 4 dozen."

I've never made magic cookie bars before, but we've both eaten them many times at our friend Kerry & Hugh's house, so I Googled the recipe.  It was easier than I thought it would be so I purchased the 5 ingredients while in the grocery store.

That evening after dinner I made them and they turned out beautifully!  

I doubled the recipe in order to make them on this large, non-stick baking sheet.  I wasn't able to taste them because the doubled recipe made 48 bars and he needed exactly 48 bars for the exchange.  Fortunately someone was allergic to coconut so Spouse brought their bars back home and we got to eat them.  Delicious!

What's a magic cookie bar, you ask?  Here's the recipe.  Here's a tip: while still warm, run a knife around the pan's edge to loosen from the sides.  But wait until thoroughly cooled before cutting into bars.  If not, the soft chocolate will gunk up your knife and make your bars look messy.

I challenge you to find a simpler recipe than this.  And if you don't like coconut you can swap it out for something else (see recipe).

The magic cookie bars were a big hit with the folks in his office, and I think I'll make them for Christmas since they're so doggone easy to make and will travel well.  If you make them, let me know your experience.

Crazy week

Not really me  ;-)

This is a crazy week!

On Mon I had 2 walk-thrus followed by 2 settlements.  I had another walk-thru and settlement scheduled for Tues but it had to be delayed to today, due to an issue with the seller.

I'm normally off on Thurs but I'm working this Thurs because I have a home inspection in the morning and a showing in the afternoon.  

Spouse & I are leaving Thurs evening and will stay overnight at his sister's house in VA.  Then Fri morning we're picking up my aunt Mary and driving to Fayetteville NC for my niece's wedding.  More on that next week.

So this is definitely an unusual week.

What I do

Work

Work has been so busy!

This isn't entirely surprising since its spring and I live/work in a beach resort area.  There's always an influx of buyers looking to own their own place at the beach.  But not only do we sell beach homes, we also sell homes to people relocating from neighboring states who want lower property taxes and a high quality of life.  

Sorry if my blog posts end up being mostly photos and quick references.

Back to work

Today I went back to work!  After 1 week on vacation and 5 weeks at home (and in the hospital), its been 6 weeks since I've been to work.

I brought a special bag with flushable moist wipes and absorbent pads which I hid in the shelving unit that houses the toilet paper and paper towels.  Since the wound is still draining, I have to wear an absorbent pad in my underwear.  I like to change it after using the bathroom which is why I brought some to the office, along with the moist wipes.  Ugh... so much work just to use the bathroom!

The day went pretty good.  Since the nurse told me not to sit for more than 2 hours at a time, I alternated between sitting on my memory foam pillow at my desk and standing with my laptop perched on a high counter in the office.  

Everyone in the office was very nice and welcomed me back genuinely.  I spent most of the day catching up on the status of my transactions which my colleagues had helped me with, and 'taking back' the remaining tasks.  I got tired around 3:30 so I decided to go home at 4:00 instead of staying until 5:00.  

Not bad for my 1st day back!

Wintery weekend

In the wee hours of the morning on Sat it began snowing.  It was very cold (in the teens) and it was very windy.  I got up for work at 7:30 to find several inches of accumulation, the wind howling, and the snow still coming down strong.  I checked my email on my phone to find that my company's offices were closed due to inclement weather.

So I went back to bed.

We got up a while later and I tried to take Marvin & Walter outside for their morning pee and poop.  They don't like wind even when its warm outside, so you can imagine their reaction to the wind, the extreme cold, and the blowing snow.  I was able to get them to pee but then they ran back to the front door.

Spouse & I had planned to undecorate the Christmas tree on Sun (my regular day off) but since we were snowed in with not much to do, we did it on Sat.  We even got the tree taken apart and everything stored back in its place in the garage.  This process always makes me a little melancholy but at least we had the fireplace going to make us cozy and the 'blizzard' blowing outside to give us something beautiful to look at.  The snow finally stopped sometime after dark.

After breakfast on Sun I donned my rarely worn snow boots (which were purchased for $11.95 and resemble Napoleon Dynamite's boots), hat, and gloves and began clearing the snow off the cars and shoveling the walkways.  The snow was light and easy to move, but there was ice underneath it on the street.

Later that night we ventured out to meet Steven & Thad at a local diner for dinner.

The crazy thing is that the forecast is for 70 degrees on Thurs!!!

Final party

I mentioned last week that I was going to my company's Christmas party and the Blue Moon's employee/entertainers party on the same night.  Both parties were very nice.  I tried not to eat or drink too much at the 1st party so it wouldn't be obvious at the 2nd party that I'd already eaten/drank.  

Here's me in front of the tree at the 2nd party of the evening, at the Blue Moon:

I'm feeling a little fat in this photo, but at least everyone liked my shirt!  Seriously, I got a bunch of compliments at both parties on my shirt.  At this party we had a Chinese gift swap where you can 'steal' a gift already opened or open a wrapped one.  I opened a bottle of Hornitos tequila and was very happy no one 'stole' it!

Then this week my team had our team Christmas dinner and Secret Santa gift exchange in the party room of a local restaurant.  We post a list in advance with everyone's names so people can write gift suggestions for their Secret Santa.  Only, the person I was to buy for wrote that they wanted to be surprised, so I gave her a gift basket with bath/body products in it.  I received a nice variety pack of thank you notes (on my list) and this wonderful Chihuahua wall calendar:

Although my boys do not do this, I love that the dog in the cover photo is winking! 

This was the last of the Christmas parties for me, although we'll have a birthday party for Spouse's mom on her birthday, on Dec 24.  Tomorrow night we're leaving to spend the holidays with our family (staying at Spouse's sister's house) and will also meet up with several dear friends while we're in town.

Parties

Tonight I'm going to 2 Christmas parties.

The 1st one is my company Christmas party, where they reserve the entire restaurant just for us, with great food and an open bar.  Spouse usually goes with me, but I'm not sure he's going tonight since he's been having trouble with his back/hips and the standing may be too much.

The 2nd one is the Blue Moon employees and entertainers party.  The owners will close the restaurant and bar to the public so the restaurant and bar employees, owners, and the entertainers like me can all enjoy a buffet dinner, open bar, and a Chinese gift exchange where you can pick a wrapped gift or 'steal' a gift already unwrapped by someone else.  

Of course I'll have to drink in moderation since I probably won't have Spouse to drive me home.  But that's fine; I don't like hang-overs.  

It will be a fun and festive night!