Anna May & Greg Jones, REALTORS

Does anyone know what a “Burn Rate” is? We refer to the Burn Rate in discussions with our short sale seller clients as being the amount of money a home is costing every month to keep. Most of the time this includes the mortgage (principal & interest), taxes, insurance, in some cases HOA dues and also maintenance costs on the property.

The Burn Rate is something we are sensitive to always take into consideration for our seller clients. It is utterly important to price a home properly when first starting out marketing a property. Some say, “Start low to get people interested!” The drawback with this is that even if a buyer wants to pay the incredibly unbelievable low price, the seller’s short sale LENDER may not go for it.

We believe that if a home is marketed for a reasonable price at first, the sellers’s short sale lender can be shown that at least an effort was made to get a higher dollar amount for the property. If it still doesn’t sell after a period of time, it is wise to have price reduction discussions on an on-going basis with our clients.

However, when we work with buyers who wish to purchase short sales, we are also very careful to make sure that our buyers are counseled on making a reasonable offer based on the local market. Just because a property is priced at $199,000 doesn’t mean it’s only worth $199,000! The seller’s short sale lender may laugh when they receive the contract and do their own due diligence on what homes in an area are actually worth based on recent market activity.

So, the long and short of it is this:

“Price it Right” if you’re a seller, and: “Be Reasonable” if you’re a buyer!

Let’s face it. It makes sense that REALTORS (capitalized due to being a trade name) have intense political capital by knowing the voters through their real estate business and neighborhood involvement. REALTORS know their neighborhoods. They know the people who live in those neighborhoods. REALTORS make their rounds and find numerous ways to reach homeowners and residents. THEY KNOW THE VOTERS.

Now, I’m not saying that every REALTOR should go out and run for office. In fact, being in office in a huge time-sucker –  I know this from personal experience. It takes incredible discipline to balance the demands of public service with the demands of running one’s own business. Frankly, when I was in office up until last year, I hadn’t yet mastered the “Art of Discipline” and wound up spending most of my time and energy on my public service duties — not at the expense of my real estate clients, but at the expense of my own business growth.

Fast-forward to now. I have a fabulous “accountability partner” in my husband who is also my business partner. We take turns bossing each other around when it comes to balancing our work/community/personal lives.

Here, I will extend you an invitation. On Wednesday November 16th, we will hear the Gov’t Affairs Liaison David Stark of the Bay East Association of REALTORS give us an overview about “The Surge in the REALTOR Movement”. CLICK HERE to register for the luncheon at the Newark Hilton.

Even if you don’t run for office, please remember that you have incredible power to effect change in your own neighborhood and community. Short of running for office, you can apply to be on a local Board or Commission or get heavily (or lightly!) involved in a candidate’s efforts to win an election.

You need not be a REALTOR to get involved politically. We hope to see you at the November 16th luncheon!

Anna May, President-Elect 2011, Women’s Council of REALTORS Tri-Cities Chapter (www.WCRTC.org)

Greg Jones, President-Elect 2012, Women’s Council of REALTORS Tri-Cities Chapter (www.WCRTC.org)

Tuesday, November 8,  7-8:30 pm.  No, not palm readings, but reading by Chabot College faculty.  Chabot College Little Theatre.  25555 Hesperian Blvd.

Get out, enjoy and explore our community!

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You know the saying “A little water never hurt anything”.  Guess what, that isn’t true.  Water, even a little bit, can be a real enemy to your home.  One thing I’ve learned in this business is that home inspectors really zero in on water damage and areas where water damage might be.  Lesson?  Maintain your home against water issues!  Especially this time of year, take a walk around your home to ensure your gutters are flowing, that water isn’t standing around your foundation, that your roof is in good shape, etc.  Inside, is your toilet loose?  Any dripping faucets, leaky drains, etc.?  Take a few minutes to save yourself lots of headaches down the road. 

Some of you know that I used to work in the public sector.  We in the public sector LOVED policies and procedures.  The longer I worked in the public sector, the less I liked policies and procedures. Over time, I learned we couldn’t possibly think of everything employees would do to get in trouble, so why try to create rules against every possible circumstance?  We spent so much time telling people what they shouldn’t do instead of encouraging them to do the right things. Policy manuals be damned.

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Well, here I am, now the owner of a small business, and I have created our first office policy manual.  As I was working on it, it struck me that such an instrument is needed as a foundation, a road map, a rule book, so we all can function in a reasoned way.  Soooo, my commitment here, being true to my continued resistance to creating constrictions on creativity, innovation and general enjoyment (sounds rather Libertarian of me, yes?) is that the manual will not grow beyond its present state.  If we add something, something else will come out….maybe the public sector could learn from this approach.

This house needs some work, Baby!

The back deck needs to be rebuilt and there is some termite damage.

Anyone up for a fixer? Make an offer…

Once again, the two of us will be working together, this time as the incoming 2012 President (Anna May) and President Elect (me) for the Women’s Council of REALTORS Tri-Cities Chapter.  The good thing about this is that we can provide some real continuity to our Chapter’s leadership for the next couple of years.  One of our goals in serving this organization is to expand Hayward’s presence in the Women’s Council of REALTORS Tri-Cities Chapter, which now includes FOUR cities:  Hayward, Fremont, Union City and Newark.  Another priority for us is to grow membership and expose other real estate professionals to what we find to be one of the most rewarding professional affiliations we have.  

When I accepted the nomination, one condition was that a dear friend of ours find FIVE new members by the end of September…she actually recruited six!  Thanks, dear Passion Fruit!  The other condition  was that the President would ensure I was properly educated and trained on my new responsbilities…she is already working on that part of it very enthusiastically!  Watch out, WCR!

It depends. Is the HOUSE haunted or is the OCCUPANT haunted?

THREE FIRST-HAND STORIES

Story One: “My ghost has been a peaceful apparition showing herself on several occasions over the past 40+ years.  She has followed me from the deep south to the Pacific Northwest to the eastern seaboard to Europe and back to the bay area. She was last seen in approximately the spring of 2001. My former wife and step-daughter also claimed to have seen her, or at least her dress. She wore a white flowing gown. We couldn’t see her face and she’s never been a scary presence to me, just unusual…”

Story Two: “Both Ray* and I felt his presence. He touched Ray on his shoulder one night while I was in bed, next to him, sound asleep. It was on the opposite side of the bed, so it couldn’t have been me! The dogs would run up and down the hallway, barking at nothing at times. One night, Ray sat down with the ghost and told him that this is now our house, and we would take care of it. After that, the dogs would run down the hallway, and not bark, but sit at attention, wag their tails, etc. I didn’t feel his presence much after that.”

STORY THREE: “When we were looking for our first house, we were brought to a little 2 bed/1 bath in San Leandro. It was a couple blocks from the railroad tracks, so I didn’t think it would be good, but the agent insisted that we at least look at the house. It had bars in the front windows, which was something I did NOT want. The agent insisted that they were the “right kind” of bars — the ones you can release from the inside. So we went inside the house. Immediately, upon crossing the threshold, I felt like a little woman was yelling in my face. It wasn’t in English–possibly in Portuguese? I didn’t understand the words, but she DID NOT want us in HER house! She was in my face, no matter which way I turned! I said to my husband, “Do you –” and he said, “I’ve broken out in hives! She doesn’t want us here!” The agent had gone ahead into the house and was calling from the kitchen. But I didn’t want to go any further! She was too angry! The agent walked us through the house, and we dutifully went past each room, then got the H#%# out of there!”

To disclose or not to disclose? Our legal counsel says, “Your question has been the topic of many discussions in our department. Some of our attorneys do not believe in ghosts and do not think disclosure is generally needed. However, even the skeptics agree that if a house is known by people in the neighborhood as the “haunted house”, that stigmatization should be disclosed. I am one of those atorneys who think that ghosts may exist, so I tend to recommend disclosure. Our general advice is, “when in doubt, disclose”. I don’t know of any specific cases on this topic, and I doubt if there’s a definitive way to determine whether a property is haunted.”

*Name has been changed to protect the parties involved.

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