OK, so I’m a Realtor and the end of the year is fast approaching  when the next yearly membership dues must be paid. Because of a slow real estate year, I’ve been hesitant about going forward as a full time Realtor again. It has to do with the risk/reward  and the return on investment (ROI) issues.

I have enjoyed my career in the field, but have come to believe that the downturn will be lasting far longer than the usual market cycles.

How much time is it worth putting in to working with people trying to buy or sell homes when most of the transactions from last year fell apart because of circumstances beyond my control? My frustration at working hours and hours without payment of any kind has frankly, burned me out.

Many buyers are looking for pennies on the dollar deals that really don’t exist  much in my market.  Since our average home price is about $270,000, buyers tend to be rather surprised at that and I’ve received questions about where is the “secret” list with all the great deals? Read the rest of this entry

Red House

Well, today was a banner day. We signed the loan papers for my client who is buying a manufactured home on it’s own land. This means that it’s another type of slow transaction. According to my broker lender,  there are only two remaining lenders in the United States that will even do these types of loans anymore. She went to one whom she thought would be able to do the best job and provide the best interest rate and turn-around time for my client.

I first met with my client in late August and we began our home search in earnest. After looking at many homes, putting in offers on several, we finally found “the one” that was the best value of all of them.  I was careful to explain to him that even though he purchased homes in the past, the current market was VERY different and I liked to call it “The Land of Hoops” totally set up by the players who control the purse strings in the lending and appraisal departments.

In our case the land of hoops involved the usual credit check, tax statements for the past two years and address history. Hoops also included a letter explaining why this individual had a PO Box, three revisions to the appraisal by an appraiser THEY chose, but who seemed unable to complete the paperwork as requested,  agonizing over whether the home had been moved previously (except from the manufacturer – it had not), sending and resending copies of drivers licenses and other picture ID because they couldn’t read them,  and a last minute revision to add $800 to the closing monies because “that’s just how the lender does things.” Read the rest of this entry