Capital Homes

Staying Safe!

There is an Editor's Note in the latest issue of Realtor Magazine that I thought was a little odd. It was all about Realtor Safety Week, September 9th through the 15th. It discusses all the lurking bad guys out there who want to rob, rape or maim or murder us and recites all of those platitudes about how agents cannot be too careful out there.

That is all true. We should use common sense about personal safety - for both ourselves and our clients.

But she forgot something. No mention in this little Editor's Note about Realtors' driving!

Realtors are among the worst drivers on the road - and most of us spend a lot of time behind the wheel. And we are distracted for a lot of that time. Here are just a few of the things I've been known to do while behind the wheel:

* Eat a sandwich while tooling down I-95 to a listing appointment
* Yap on my cell phone
* Exceed the speed limit
* Gawk at FSBO signs and try to get the number written on a scrap of paper that I have to find somewhere on the floor of the car
* Play with my navigation system, which is an improvement over the old days when I tried to keep one eye on the road and another on my map book
* Read a new email that comes in on my Blackberry
* Drive along the highway with tears running down my face when my clients lost a bidding war
* Get behind the wheel when I might have benefited from a designated driver

And if I were to die in an auto accident caused by my carelessness, it would be more than a little embarassing, being an ex-Nader's Raider and all.

Now, I may be the only agent on earth with bad driving habits. But I sort of doubt it. So during Realtor Safety Week, I suggest the real estate community keep in mind that our chances of being hurt in an automobile accident are probably a lot higher than those of being mugged or murdered by a prospect - unless we do something that really pisses them off.

Changing Directions

One of my favorite cousins and clients is a handsome young Secret Service agent. An important part of his defensive driving training was learning to do a 180 degree turn in every imaginable vehicle, from a Hummer to a stretch limousine. And I've been thinking that this is a good skill for real estate professionals to acquire.

Back in the 1980's when I got into real estate, it was a strong buyers' market. And yet my manager was stressing ways to get lots of listings. And during that first year, I pretty much ignored her advice, and stressed finding lots of buyers - a strategy that made my rookie year amazing.

This was both good and bad. I honed my buyers market skills, and while I had listings (four were big ones), it was the buyer end of the business that I really loved and focused on. And while the listings all sold, I made a lot more money selling other houses to the buyers I met from marketing these properties.

Then, the market shifted. In the late 80's we began to see multiple offers, and working with buyers got to be a challenge. And all of those agents who spent the buyers' market farming and establishing themselves as listing agents made out like bandits. Until, that is, things changed again.

My second strong buyers' market began as buyer brokerage took off in this area. Once again, I was in Realtor Heaven, at least for a few years. Then during the period between 1998 at 2005, the listing agents were in the driver's seat.

So, now the market is slowing down. I'm starting to have fun again. But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that I want to do some serious farming of one neighborhood and one condo building where I've done a lot of work. The agents who had been farming there are all scurrying around hunting up buyers!

Like my handsome cousin, Adam, I think I need to be able to swing a Hummer to a 180 degree turn.

Puppy Envy!

Last November, an adorable fluff ball joined my household.
My expectation was that he would be one of those adorably cute little creatures who could ride around in the car with me, come into the office, and sit in on my business card photo session.  OK, so exploiting your pet is a little hokey - or is it?

I am unlikely to find out first hand - at least not any time soon. 

Willie is a wonderful friend, but as a real estate partner, he has issues.

• He humps everything.
• He gets carsick.
• He chews cables and electrical cords.
• He eats pillow stuffing and Italian leather (probably that's what makes him car sick).
• He is really, really hyper active - the only way to get a clear photo was to have my sister hold onto him.

Basically, he channels the Labrador Retriever in my favorite doggy book, Marly & Me.

Behind Every Foreclosure

It’s sad to hear about anyone losing a home to foreclosure.  And right now, there is a lot of the “Who’s to blame” talk in the media.  While I think the homeowner takes the greater part of the responsibility and suffers the most serious consequences, they do have a lot of help getting them into the situation.  Behind every new homeowner, there is a cast of real estate agents, lenders, appraisers and settlement attorneys.  And, except for the appraisers, most of these buyers’ helpers don’t get paid unless the transaction is settled.

One thing I haven’t heard is criticism of the real estate agents who represented them as buyers in their transactions – not that I think agents are really responsible for their clients’ bill paying habits.  And even though short sales and foreclosures are rare in the market I deal with, this crisis had helped me to rethink my role in counseling clients, especially first time buyers.

The Miracle of St. Anthony and the Black Cherry Pearl Lexus

I started today feeling bad.  It was the car.  The police had me convinced that it was somewhere between my house and a chop shop.  A colleague cited a report in the Washington Post about a ring of baddies after navigation systems.  And I started to think about the things in the car – Supra lockboxes, my electronic measuring gadget, some favorite garments that didn’t quite make it to the dry cleaners. 

Then, something happened.  My lucky pen, which is usually in the car, was on the sofa.  Other more important tools of the trade, my St. Anthony statues, usually live in the glove compartment, and for some reason, I brought the bag in the house last week.

OK.  About St. Anthony.  He is the patron saint of lost items.  For generations, people in my family have prayed to him to find everything from lost car keys to husbands for unmarried daughters to buyers for unsold listings.  And I always have a stash handy for new listings.

So, I opened the bag, pulled out one of the statues, and said a little prayer I learned as a small child:

Dear St. Anthony, please come around, my car is lost and can’t be found.  Amen .

Then, I put the statue in my front window of my house, facing the street.

This was about 9:15.  At 9:30, I went outside to move the Hundai rental to a spot across the street (didn't want the neighbors to think it was mine).  At 10:00, one of the contractors working on my bathroom went out to his truck and came back saying, “That looks like your car down toward 16th Street.”

And Oh-My-St. Anthony!  There is was!   So I called the police and my insurance company with the good news.  Within an hour or so, two police officers showed up, followed by a crime scene guy.  They dusted for prints and checked for damage – which was minor.

When they finished, I took it to the really nice car wash for a spa day to get rid of all the crime scene dust.

So, thank you St. Anthony!  Now find a house for the buyers I'm working with this weekend!

Now, there is a lesson to be learned from all of this. 

LO-JACK!

I have a chip implanted in my hyper-active Labradoodle puppy, but not in my beautiful real estate car!  That is going to change.

Stop! Thief!

This morning, I got up, took a shower, got dressed, searched for my keys and walked out the front door to take off for Evers & Company's weekly business meeting.

But, wait!

Where's the car?  Didn't I park it right out in front of the house?

It wasn't there.  I looked up and down the street.  No Black Cherry Pearl Lexus sedan!

Yikes!

So, I became one of the District of Columbia's victims of car theft - on a scale of 1 to 10 of bad things that could happen, this might have been about a 3.  Nobody got hurt.  It's just a car.

And now, I'm feeling guilty!

Just last week, a buyer commented on how nice my car was.  I responded by saying it was a gas guzzler that exponentially increased my carbon footprint.  I was actually thinking about selling it and getting a Prius.

I'm sorry, car! 

You were wonderful!  You made me feel like a serious real estate agent - a rich lady!

The District police are actually great at recovering stolen cars.  It's been less than 24-hours. 

Keep your fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, I'm driving a Hundai!  How embarrassing!

      

 

Recharging Batteries

This is Friday, and if it were my typical vacation, I’d be packing my bags to go home after one week away from Life on the Streets of Washington, DC real estate.  But this is not my typical vacation.  For the first time since getting licensed back in 1983, I am taking two full weeks off. 

So, here’s the thing!

It’s taken me this first week to let go of my business, which I left in very good hands.  I no longer feel the need to carry my Blackberry to the beach (OK – it doesn’t work there anyway) or to run into town more than once a day to check messages. 

So, yesterday, I caught my first fish!  I’m taking some great photos – both of the town of Chatham and the natural beauty of this part of the world.  Today, we’re going to mosey up to Provincetown.

And I’m just connected enough to home to know I’m not missing out on anything. 

Willie, the hyper-active Labradoodle puppy is having a wonderful time with my sister and her dog whisperer boyfriend, and he’s doing his doggy obedience summer boot camp. 

My front-burner clients are on vacations of their own, and the calls I did get about future business are happy to wait until I get home.

My contractors are working, and indoor plumbing is about to return to the second floor of my house.

And the call to do a TV interview about my book was for a date in September!

So!  Yippy!  Another week of real R & R!