Spring Market

As soon as The Obama $8k credit was issued the market thawed. I have been running seven days a week showing houses like it was 1985!! Thank you I am thrilled to be working hard again and selling property. It is still a tough market. The prices are still down and the homes that sell are either a rock bottom price fixer upper or the best priced and in the best condition. This goes across the board. All neighborhoods and prices ranges. The buyers out there wants a deal. If you find yourself thinking about selling the sooner you realize that you are going to take a hit on your price and make it up on the other end the faster you will get your home sold. I have seen pristine homes priced what seemed to be fair just sit there. If you are listed for sale and you are not getting showings the market is telling you that you are priced too high. I recently got engaged. My Fiance is getting ready to list his house. We have redecorated every room in the house. Added new carpet and a new roof. 10k later we are ready to put it up. Some guys don't get this( I'm lucky Mr Right got it) so I always tell them if you were going to sell a car what would you do? The first thing they say is clean it and shine it up. Well that is what you have to do to sell a house too. Remember when your house is on the market you are showing it, living in it is what you do when you are not showing it!

Stimulus plan and the current real estate market

I am feeling optimistic for the first time in two years. Since Obama passed the stimulus plan I have been showing houses like the old days! I am working a 7 day work week happily. Whether you agree with this new president or this stimulus plan, I have to admit my phone is ringing. I feel like the market is picking up and that I may actually have a good year. This feels so much better than the downward spiral my business was experiencing. The good news is that all the pencil sharpening I have done will help expedite my recovery.

I don't know if the worst is over yet. I do know that I have seen some changes in the real estate industry since this downturn began. Gone are the days when an agent would run a contract to close it at midnight. Brokers opens that used to be packed with agents looking to see the latest listings, have become an outdated method of selling. Along with Thank Goodness! Open houses. Yes, you still can get a few buyers through and yes you can still sell a house through an open house. Open houses also have a bad side in that it invites complete strangers into your home to wander through, and depending how busy it is sometimes unattended. If the home is vacant it puts the agent in danger as we have just seen two attacks on Realtors in the recent news. The Internet has made it easier to view listings on line helping to eliminate a lot of homes that just would not do.

The biggest change is the way the agents are doing business. They have also lost that urgency. It used to be you would write a contract and get it presented usually in person. Now you fax it off or email it to the listing agent and wait to hear the outcome. With the invent of cellphones, email,text messaging,scanning the real estate agent can handle the contracts anywhere. In the past I have missed my sons second birthday party, Left a dinner party or a picnic, that I was giving, cancelled a date with friends all just to close a deal. Because when that buyer decided to write an offer it wasn't closed until delivery. Delivery meant that like superman I would drive through a snow storm to get an initial on a contract(which I have done).No wonder I've been divorced twice! Now we simply email it off and fax it forward. This is good news.

With all this technology we have also gotten some lazy Realtors out there. This past weekend I was denied 5 showings! With all the news about how hard it is to sell a house in this market you would think that you would at least be flexible about getting people in to see your home. I talked with several other agents and they have complained about the same thing. Some of these homes have been on the market for over 300 days. Maybe they are just tired of showing it. One was removing wallpaper so we rescheduled. There are still some many houses on the market that you don't always get a second chance. If I try to show it a second time and they can't accommodate me I just take it off the list. One agent I talked with said, oh well my buyers wrote on something this weekend(lucky her) so whoever denied a showing lost out.

There have been big changes over the last ten years. I think that this market has made me a stronger agent. The thought of a seller having to write a check at closing to get their home sold used to be unfathomable. After losing money myself and taking the hit I can only sympathize. It just is, what it is! I have watched people pay off their credit cards with the equity of their home and live large off the equity and expect to sell with no consequence. I find myself saying frequently I am no magician! Hopefully this stimulus will get buyers not only out there but buying. That will help get things moving such as the banker and the title company, the movers and the carpet industry. When people buy new homes thry spend more money in decorating, and landscaping ect. Hopefully this will employ more people which starts the cycle moving round and round instead of plunging further down. I am no economist. I do believe if people are buying homes, that means people are spending money on other things related to their home purchase.
I'd love to hear your comments! Sandymaline@gmail.com

Our Political system

Is everybody crazy out there? I am so appalled by the corporate and political greed. There is no shame in what we used to call white collar crime. Not only have these large corporations robbed their companies blind but it as if they are raising the bar on white collar crime. They even have the audacity to ask our government to bail them out!! Then we vote in a new president whose entire campaign was around stimulating the jobs of the middle class. The republicans stood on the podium and took pieces and parts of the bill and made jokes about it. For instance there was some money appropriated toward wetlands in California. Part of this project was to get a certain rodent that is good for that environment back to a healthy number. This senator (I don't remember which one) called it a 3 billion dollar bill for rodents! That is not what it was but if you are a senator and don't feel like reading the 1000 page bill all through the night you might have believed him. This is not fair or healthy politics. I would hope that they would sit down and go over line by line of this 1000 page bill together and work out what is best for all of us. Instead they stood on podiums and picked things apart so that the truth and the problems were too hard to see. I don't believe this is what our fore fathers had in mind. I believe when Barack Obama talked about partisanship he meant working together. This wasn't working together on either side. How can you work with someone when they are taking pieces and parts of a bill and making a mockery of it. Maybe it is time for the common man to start having the opportunity to hear all these bills that are to be passed by the government. It is the computer age! Why can't we put a copy of this bill in front of the senate out there for all to read. Why can't we update it as things are negotiated. Why can't we cast an Internet vote about how we feel about these things. We are the ones paying for it after all! Let me know what you think! Sandymaline@gmail.com

My experience with prejudice

There will be a positive impact against race and prejudice with the next President being the first black man to fill this role. My own experience with prejudice was in elementary school in the 60's. Back then your ethnic background your religious choice were what defined you. I am a mix of Polish,Dutch,and German. My mother was a rejected Catholic and my Dad a Methodist ( I thought). Turns out he was raised Lutheran but referred to himself as just spiritual. The reason I thought I was a Methodist is, my grandparents would take me to church once in a while. That church was a Methodist church at the corner of their street, so that is where I went. My family as it turns out were kind of ahead of everyone else in understanding that all the Christians were really in the same group or at least focused on the same goal! My mother was rejected from the Catholic church because she married a Lutheran. This had a huge impact on her and it carried over to the way she raised her three daughters. I was brought up to have a curiosity about all religions and view them as an outsider. My Catholic friends would take me to church. They would try to teach me their prayers. They always reminded me that "you know you are going to hell because you are not a Catholic". As a child that can really give you nightmares! Growing up in a primarily Irish/Italian Catholic neighborhood was to say the least a challenge on my self esteem. They were the majority while I was the minority. The most negative thing that I had going for me was that out of all three ethnic backgrounds somehow I was The Pollock in the neighborhood.I don't know how this happened because my name didn't end with "ski". Back then one of the first things people would ask you was what your ethnic background was, then what religion. I must of innocently answered the question to someone and it stuck. My mother was pure Polish. Whenever I would come home and tell her how the kids called me a Pollock she would say, be proud! We are good and strong people that have suffered great indignities. (sounds like the Jewish people,African Americans,Chinese ect.)Well everything changed for me in elementary school when the Italian Pope died and they elected to every ones surprise a Polish Pope. Even though I wasn't Catholic this meant so much to me. How can you pick on me for being Polish when the Pope is Polish I would say. I would say we are good people!I didn't even grow up with other Poles or speak the language and here I am speaking on their behalf. This Pope turned out to be a great leader. Thank God!! His leadership gave me self esteem and pride. My group had a place in this Society because we had one of us in a great leadership role. I wasn't less than the others or the dumb Pollack anymore. I was still going to hell but now I could do it with pride! I think about this and see Barack Obama as this same kind of leader for not only the black community, but all those that have felt less than because they aren't white. As time has gone on, my lack of religious affiliation isn't important anymore. I think Pope Paul did that too. He brought his brand of religion together with the other Christians. Most important, he also reached out to all the other religions beyond Christianity. He stood for people to be good to one another no matter what their views were.He stood for Humanity and civility. My school mates that picked on me didn't do this because they were exceptionally mean children . They did it because they didn't know any better. Raising the consciousness of how our actions have a negative impact no only on us but the people around us should be our priority. We stand for Freedom and Democracy, doesn't it begin here with simple humanitarianism! I have high hopes that Obama can do this too for our culture to make us one people as we should be. My experience is nothing of what the Black American has struggled through. They had to raise themselves from slavery over two hundred years of struggle. In 1863 when President Lincoln signed the Bill of Emancipation giving them freedom they rejoiced. Their rejoice came to an end as they were held down by lack of education,employment and the simple right to vote. I will never compare my simple ethnic and religious struggle to the plight of the Black American. This is a monumental moment for them. I do understand from my little experience with prejudice the pride that they are feeling. They have a great role model in Barack Obama along with many others like Colin Powell and Condolessa Rice. I hope this can be a new beginning in a more civilized America. With that said I will talk about being a women in a male society during to 60's and 70's another day. You can contact me at sandymaline@gmail.com

Political Excitement

I can't remember an election that held so much excitement, enthusiasm and interest. My 23 year old son called me from Nevada at eleven o'clock (my time) with such excitement to tell me the news about the new President. His enthusiasm is just an example of what this election has done for the American public. My son was a voter but really didn't feel that his vote counted. This election brought hope and tears of joy and relief. After placing my vote I found myself getting all choked up as I left the voting booth. This is the first time in my life that I watched every debate and stayed up to watch the final vote and the speeches from the candidates. John McCain showed his best side as a hero full of grace in his speech last night. It takes a strong and dignified man of character to stand in front of the public and gracefully take defeat. I hope that in the coming year that Obama will find a position for John Mc Cain to help in our struggle to over come the obstacles ahead.
I had such fears for our future if Mr. Mc Cain was to be elected. Even though he has fought congress and the senate for change I still felt he stood for the "Old Guard". We need to make greed a thing to be ashamed of. The current culture in the white house seems to celebrate greed and deceit. I was afraid for women's rights with the Rowe versus Wade act. I fear too much religion in politics. It is going to take a lot of work on behalf of all of us to keep this momentum moving forward. It is time to stand up against corruption in all facets of our lives. I remember when I was a little girl and John Kennedy was president. I loved him. I remember when the president made a television announcement we all watched with great anticipation of what he had to say. This was on a black and white television with really poor reception by the way. As a six year old child I would listen to his speeches and repeat different slogans like "It is not what our country can do for us but what we can do for our country". I feel the same excitement now! I have hope that we can rebuild and make this the great country that we all love. I also like to the idea of not being afraid to criticize something about our country. That we should be in a constructive state of mind. The past few years you were afraid to speak out against certain things. I was even afraid to speak out loud that I was voting for Obama because "Old Guard" was so guarded and made you feel like a communist, socialist, or a liberal. I have to say I just couldn't take it anymore! My business has been trampled by the economy, my lifestyle diminished but most important my hopes and dreams had been shattered. I have new hope that maybe I will get to retire someday. That I might even pay off my bills and mortgage. That health care isn't out of reach for me. That my retirement account could come back to what it once was! I sell real estate for a living and have for the past 24 years. Hopefully the market will start to rebuild it self starting with one step at a time. At least we are moving forward now!! you can contact me at sandymaline@gmail.com

My trip out West with my 18 year old: Cleveland Ohio real estate, Politics

My 18 year old graduated from high school this June. He decided to join his brother in Las Vegas while he is trying to figure out what he is going to do with his life. He bought himself a 1993 Cadillac De ville for $1800.00. It had 168,000 miles on it. We set out for Las Vegas from Cleveland Ohio. It was a very comfortable ride but expensive at every gas stop. We got as far as Evergreen Colorado before the radiator blew. Luckily I had one of those cool GPS gadgets that let me know where to closest repair shop and hotel were located.
We called AAA and within a half hour we were rescued from the mountain side highway where we broke down. The tow truck driver was wonderful and even dropped us off at the hotel after dropping our car at a service station that he recommended based on the mechanic. We had our car fixed at Big O Tire store in Evergreen, Colorado. I have to say they were wonderful. They fit us in and fixed the car in one day. We only had to stay over one night and were on our way the following day. Thank you Evergreen Colorado!

The reason I am writing this blog is on our way out west we stopped at a diner in Illinois. There was a young girl who was pregnant that was our waitress. She was having a conversation with another patron that seemed to be a regular. What was disturbing about their conversation was she had no idea that Hilary Clinton was not still running for office. The guy she was talking with told her that Hilary dropped out of the race and was now backing Barack Obama. She was very surprised! She said she was going to vote for Hilary anyway. What I found to be so disturbing is that no one had a clue of our basic political system. They were unaware that Hilary and Obama had a primary election and that Obama won! This is what is referred to as the dumbing down of America! I truly fear this coming election. If you watch Mc Cains advertisements they are focused on this group of somewhat illiterate people. Maybe we should have a test before you have the right to vote! Should everyone, even the illiterate really have this right. Don't you think that maybe this should be an earned right. something that you are not born with but have to pass a test of competence! Kind of like a drivers license but a voters license! By the way i am pro choice!

Uncle Sam's bailout of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac from the trenches;Cleveland Ohio realestate

As a small broker in Cleveland Ohio my impression "from the trenches" of this latest government bail out is definitely a different perspective. What I saw in the industry before the Fannie Mae Freddie Mac bail out of the bank owned properties were selling for pennies on the dollar. It was like the wild wild west in real estate. A great big give a way! This had a huge effect on the regular market. The inner city and the first ring of suburbs are the ones that have suffered the most. High end markets are not feeling this as badly as our middle class properties. High end markets have suffered some losses in value but it appears that it is still moving along unlike the lessor priced properties. Why would someone buy a home on the resale market if it wasn't hugely discounted like many of these bank owned properties. The answer is few were. You could buy a double for 80k or less and put a few thousand dollars into it and end up with a huge equity savings. I have seen some of these bank owned single family homes in very good condition. You will see that they were on the market before the people lost their home. Then when the bank takes it over they put the property up for half the price. I have seen banks turn down offers on these properties only to turn around and put them up for far less than they would of made. I personally have been involved in three of these recently. The new buzz word in real estate is short sale. I have been doing short sales for 24 years. Sometimes you work out a deal but most of the time you get caught up in a bureaucratic web of who's on first base who's on second. Half of the people presently employed in the loss mitigation departments have no real estate background. They don't understand the dynamics of the industry. They just do what they are told and carry a huge work load. Since the bail out any bank owned property that was listed has had a really hard time getting answers on offers. I have had an offer in on one for over a week. Before the bail out anything in escrow seemed to be tied up. Now that the bail out occurred the properties that are in escrow are all getting cleared off the books and the deals appear to be set to close. All the brokers that I know who work the REO market are complaining that the listings are all dying out. Their sources of business continually keeps changing. Maybe this is a good thing! Maybe the slow down in the marketing of these bank owned properties will give the regular market a chance to catch up. I do know that "from the trenches" this last week made the phones stop ringing. It is the end of September and we have a long winter a head of us in Cleveland. Making a living in this continually declining environment has never been more challenging.