Your Busy Life blog

Once again, Virginia nails the top position in Forbes list of “Best States for Business“.

Maryland is #12, and DC…well, DC didn’t get tabulated, though it would certainly be in the lower quadrants.

While I don’t have much use for generic politicians, Virginia has had a number of pro-business people, including Mark Warner, who went to Richmond after some real work in the northern Virginia area.

Why does a Realtor® care to write about this?  There’s a strong causality between pro-business, income and home prices.  Pure and simple.  If I could wave my wand and solve the excess supply problem, we’d all be happier.

I met the owner of Diana’s Books today..

Think of how one recycles a book. Mostly, into the trash; if not, partial paper recycling. Diana’ Books takes it to a whole order of magnitiude up. Donations cheerfully accepted, Thursday 6-9 pm in Fairfax.

They are doing some great work, go see them.

If you are looking to recycle anything else, here are a few ideas to get you thinking, the Alexandria/Arlington Reuse Directory.

With the focus on gas consumption, consider this tool. This route planner can suggest the most efficient way to travel to multiple locations. The salesmen in my 5th grade math class would have loved this.

You must interview your Buyer’s Agent Buying a home is stressful enough w/o also having to stress about your Buyer’s Agent.

1. Recommendations, not of agents who work w/ sellers, but of agents who work with buyers. Same industry, different perspective.

2. Spend some time online, gather intelligence about how the Agents present themselves. Ensure the markets they are targeting aligned with you in terms of price, geography & demographics.

3. Review statistics and references. Doing so can be very informative.

• How much of the Agent’s Business is Buyers? Sellers?
• How many transactions in prior year?
• How many offers were accepted?
• How many for less than asking price?
• Does the agent show homes they are also selling?

Situation: a buyer (aka “the client”) asks her Buyer’s Agent to write an offer for less than asking price. The buyer is a friend on the West Coast who put this question to me.

Response: Buyer’s Agent delivers 3 comparison sales: 24, 12 & 4 months prior. Agent also argues that asking price has dropped $60k and is therefore valid since that’s the asking price.

Analysis:The Comps:

A buyer who made an offer prior to Jan 2008 was making an offer before the sub-prime fiasco and before the turbulence in the energy markets. Usually, comps that are more than 6 months old are suspect, that this is very true at the moment.

The Buyers Agent needs to remember why a Buyers Agent does comps.

With my client base here in the metro DC area, many with more graduate degrees than I, they get as much data as they want, and often do analysis to whatever degree they want to be comfortable in agreeing or challenging my analysis on the micro-market and the current trends.

Analysis: The Buyer Agent’s Role:

Explain and validate purchase offer price to the buyer. Buyer needs to understand if a low offer is low, which doesn’t mean it can’t be presented, but at least understand the strategy and why the Buyer’s Agent thinks it is low. The analysis is also useful in working with an appraiser who’s appraisal needs to be validated if it is less than buyer expected.

Explain and validate purchase offer price to the seller. Any buyer’s agent who doesn’t also provide several comps with the purchase offer to the seller should be able to justify the lack of such to their client, aka the buyer.

Conclusion:

The Buyers Agent works for the Buyer, and if neither party is happy with the working relationship, each party will likely be better served by terminating the contract. Let the Agent find a buyer they work well with, and let the Buyer find an Agent they work well with.

Recently, I’ve implemented an online process to help my clients better follow “the process”, and to help me follow them, and them follow me.  At times, I’ve found that communication with one partner isn’t always seamless with the other partner, that type of thing.  Also, with many things going on, and the additional stress of working to buy/sell a home, things slip through the cracks.

I’ve been working with Relay, though I’m finding I do need to remind people how to use the tool.  This post is my effort at better education to that end.

The Relay Tool is available with this link, or at YourBusyLife.com/faq.

There are videos to watch, albeit understand, those are sales tools to sell to Realtors®.

This first video is a comprehisive overview for agents & Realtors®.

And how do our clients work with this Relay tool?

A few options…  “Clients w/ Access 24/7”

Do note, I “suggest” more than “nag”, nontheless, another option for client function.

And lastly, Cowboys can use this tool as well.

As we get close to July 4th, this is appropriate. Somedays, I do think of things besides real estate.

I’m not so thrilled with some of the comic interpretations (eg, let’s not bash Pres. Bush on this one), but this is a funny way to get people to consider the implications.

What is more frustrating as a DC citizen is to see neighboring districts spend lots of money in order to have an election to fill a seat which would have otherwise remain opened for a few months. If the value of those citizen’s votes justify the money, then does not the value of a city with over a half million people who have never voted not also worthy of “action”.

So, for a funny rendition on DC’s Lack of Congressional Representation…

If you’ve got less time than you’d like, and would appreciate a traveling vet, consider this. Let me just assure you, if your pet has any loathing for a vet’s office, this is a great find.

I’ve found Nia (the Housecall Vet) to be compassionate, and through. Give her a call, and you’ll save stress and time, for you and your pets.

Many times, working with buyers, I’ll hear “so, what’s this neighborhood like”.  This will come from people moving in from outside the area, or, at least across the Potomac.  If the question comes to me in my market, I can provide some suggestions as to what others think and what I think; if the buyer has ended up 5 miles away from our original market, and hence, outside of my comfort zone, then I can’t be much help.

The Washington City Paper has it’s uses, though it will never replace my morning Washington Post time.  WCP’s target reader is also somewhat different.  Not better or worse, but different.

This weeks issue of Washington City Paper reviews each of the DC neighborhoods, in it’s usual, atypical way. I laughed at some of them.  The fact is, if you’re moving to a DC neighborhood different than your own, or from outside, this is a wonderfully irreverent look.

The website also is looking to generate reader responses, which can be as interesting  as the original story.

The DC Chamber of Commerce has just published their 2008 State of the Business Report.

It’s fairly predictable in that while there is a national economic slowdown (or use the R word if you wish), the local area is somewhat protected by Uncle Sam and a diverse economy. Notes of caution as unemployment is ticking up, albeit less than the national average. The urban center, DC itself, is higher.

And of course, no economic report can not discuss real estate. The cost of housing is higher relative to income than we’d like, which is not an attraction to business, nor to it’s employees.

The report will likely not have thunderbolts of new refreshing thought, but it does compile strengths and opportunities fairly well.