Cory Brewer
By Cory Brewer
An agent in my office recently had a deal where the clients on the other side of the transaction carelessly posted information online and it ended up costing them, BIG TIME.
When selling a house, it’s very important that the seller provide full disclosure about its condition.
When purchasing a house, it’s very important that the buyer provide full disclosure about their ability to qualify for financing.
Posting more personal or emotional details online for the world to see, however, is a different story.
My agent was representing the seller and received an offer from Mr. & Mrs. Buyer. My agent then caught wind of the fact that Mr. & Mrs. Buyer were posting the step-by-step details of the deal on their online social networking account, which severely compromised their negotiating position. Among other things, they gushed about how often they drove by the house, how badly they pined for it, and how worried they were that they weren’t going to get it, or that another buyer would swoop in. The biggest mistake they made, however, was posting the actual amount they were willing to pay (which was A LOT MORE than the amount they originally offered).
OOPS! My agent’s sellers counteroffered for said amount, and were able to benefit from Mr. & Mrs. Buyers’ carelessness.
This is just one of the many ways that people can get into trouble by misusing social media. Think twice before you hit the “post” button!
Cory Brewer is a REALTOR® in the Seattle area and branch managing broker at RE/MAX Preference on Mercer Island. Connect with Cory at www.CoryBrewer.com.
Subhi J. Gharbieh
By Subhi J. Gharbieh
Many times agents are quick to use the “client” title for someone they are working with or representing in a real estate transaction. There are so many people out there nowadays trying to scam others, and it happens every day in our industry. My friendly advice to real estate professionals: Get to know the person you are representing before you call them your client.
Example:
A practitioner sends me an email one Friday, letting me know that her client from Waco, Texas is interested in viewing a $3.5 million listing I have in Plano, a suburb outside of Dallas. She said that this client owns a sports merchandising company and that he was only in town for the weekend. She wanted to bring him in that next morning, on Saturday. As any luxury home owner would, my client requested that I make sure that any potential buyers were qualified to purchase a home within this price range. So I simply asked the agent for a pre-approval letter, or some document to show that this buyer was well qualified. I would hate for my client to have to leave their home for a few hours on a Saturday morning for someone who has no real interest in purchasing their home.
The agent soon called me back and said that her “client” does not wish to share any of his information, and that if we wanted to “sell” the house, we would let him view it. A thought came to mind when she said that: “What if this is a high profile celebrity, professional athlete, CEO or such, I cannot let this buyer slip away. ” So I quickly asked her for her clients name, and she hesitantly gave it to me. For confidentiality purposes- we’re going to call him ” Mr. Joe Blow.”
Not knowing where to start, I simply Google searched “Joe Blow Waco Texas.” Continue reading »
Chris Nichols
By Chris Nichols
At his inaugural, NAR President Ron Phipps, issued a challenge to the members. He said, “We shouldn’t merely be the voice of real estate; we should be its architects and engineers.” I remember hearing those words and thinking about the responsibilities that architects and engineers have in the building process. Both refer regularly to a set of blueprints to accomplish the task of building.
As REALTORS® we have a set of blueprints that we need to refer to regularly. That set of blueprints would be the local real estate statistics for the market in which we practice.
Our clients are being bombarded by a barrage of negative statistics. Time Magazine’s September 2010 issue chose to attack the value of homeownership. The headline read, “RETHINKING HOMEOWNERSHIP: Why owning a home may no longer make economic sense.” This was the cover story they decided to focus on instead of the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
In response to this attack, NAR has quickly and effectively launched a public awareness campaign to combat the misinformation being spread by the media. It’s called the Home Ownership Matters campaign and you are at the core of its success. Please visit Realtor.org and download the flyer and learn about the facts of home ownership and how you too can spread the word. Home Ownership Matters to People… to Communities… to America! Continue reading »
Rob Reuter
By Rob Reuter, YPN Manager
Happy New Year and congratulations on an outstanding 2010! YPN has taken great strides in the last year growing to 8,700 registered members in 134 networks across 43 states! We had 500 attend the YPN Fire & Ice Reception in New Orleans during the 2010 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, and more than 80 YPN chairs and liaisons attend a YPN Leadership Retreat last August in Chicago. After a successful year of networking, educating, fundraising, and charitable events, we look to continue the momentum into 2011.
One of the changes we have made moving forward is a revised YPN Startup Kit. While most of the revisions are minor, the most prominent clarification is that we are no longer referring to the term “chapter” within YPN. NAR’s legal team has determined that the term is inaccurate since local and state YPN networks aren’t chapters of the national organization. The suggested terminology can be found in the startup kit, but, in short, the appropriate title would be, for example, the Chicago Association of REALTORS® Young Professionals Network. The clarification should not impact how your networks are currently structured.
Here are several other announcements for 2011:
- The YPN Advisory Subcommittee has two major goals for 2011: Continue reading »
Recent Comments