judyo's Blog: In The Trenches

I got an interesting call the other day.  It was from a woman who didn't sound too friendly asking me to take her off my mailing list.  So I asked her what her e-mail address was wondering why she didn't choose the opt-out feature vs. making a phone call.  She said it wasn't an e-mail.  Then she said in a somewhat exasperated voice, "I keep getting stuff from you in the mail."

I almost laughed.  In fact I think I did chuckle as I told her, in a nice way, that she was the first person to ever call me about sending snail mail.  She was either an expired or fsbo that I send a series of postcards and my newsletters to.  I didn't even have time to do it last year but have been successful in the past so decided to start it up again since it's been a slower…

I feel like I have already won as a behind-the-scenes participant of the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World contest.  I have networked with many different agents and have been introduced to some very popular blogs that I had seen before but never went back to - until this contest.

Add to that Nick's submissions and this is the most fun contest I've participated in with the REW community.  The best REW contest was the one I won!

And one more thing this contest has done for me is finally getting me to create a Squidoo Lens, something I heard about since it's inception and kept wanting to do, but just never did.  Until last night.

I Had No Idea What I Was Doing

Oh sure, I could figure it out as it's a simple interface.  But I wanted to do it right,…

I've had 3 offers on 3 different listings this past week (2 over the weekend). One listing has only been on the market for 3 weeks and has received a first offer. Of course, it was very low (almost $20,000 under asking price and the price is what could be considered below market already). Of course, what is "below market" today? The price of the property is $193,500.

Last year the sellers had a sale that fell through (I did not have the listing then). The appraisal was done prior to the transaction falling apart and it appraised for around $214,000. In fact, when it was first put on the market it was listed at $240,000. We can all say, well it was obviously listed too high to begin with, but they did get an offer at some point in the price…

I have written two staging stories you can read here and here.  As popular as Home Staging has become in today's real estate market, I can't believe the majority of sellers in my area that either haven't heard the term or just don't think it will make a difference in their property.

I have shown more vacant homes than ever in the past few years.  When I first started in the business in the '80's, there were few vacant homes to show.  And if they were, it was an estate sale or a job transfer.  Today, there are many "flipped" homes that sit vacant (you can usually spot these investment properties pretty quickly) and homes that sit vacant for many other reasons.  Even I ponder how average people can afford having a home sit vacant if it's not an estate sale…

This is the 2nd installment to my first Home Staging story.  I am not a professional home stager but in my 24 years in real estate and reading and watching shows on staging homes, I feel I can offer some free expertise on the subject.  Plus, I'm experienced on what buyers want and expect and how most buyers are visual and cannot see past what is in front of them.

Another story I remember is about a home for sale in Oak Lawn that was a unique floor plan that one builder incorporated into a particular subdivision in the area in the 1960's.  I have never seen this same home since.  It was a nice home that had a few full, wide steps up from the living room, giving it the appearance of it being a "sunken living room."  Not quite a 3-step ranch, not a raised…

I have been giving home staging advice before it was called "staging."  One of my fondest memories was the appointment I went on for a Burbank IL real estate listing.  It was a basic split level style home with 3 bedrooms, formal living room, kitchen and down a few steps was a family room. 

A family of 7 lived here and it was time to move on as they were very cramped.  I walked through the home and we went over things that I felt the house needed in order to sell at the price the sellers wanted to get.  There were some repairs that were needed but the first thing that I told them was that they had to clean up the family room.

This room must not have been used for its purpose in years.  It was stacked from wall to wall and top to bottom with furniture,…

Two of my last buyer clients came to me through my websites.  They did not start their search with me.  They searched because they were unhappy with the agent they started working with.

Over the years I have ended up working with buyers that left their original agents.  The biggest complaint is that their agent did not listen to them.  They only gave properties in a higher price range or without wanted amenities or in areas not requested by the buyer.

We all get the buyer that wants what they cannot afford.  I'm not talking about that kind of buyer.  I'm talking about buyers that I listened to and found them a property they were very happy with. 

One of my most recent closings was for buyers of LaGrange real estate.  Their complaint was a bit…

I use my digital camera a lot for real estate to take many photos of a home for sale to use in photo slideshows, virtual tours and still shots on my websites.  Like some of my portable tools, it doesn't always stay in my car but usually sits on a shelf on my desk until I need it.  Sometimes I wish I had it with me when I'm out and miss a good photo op (still not sure how to download photos from my cell phone and I'm also not sure of the quality).

Yesterday I had a closing for La Grange real estate.  This was a nice brick home that passed the inspection with flying colors. 

Since the closing was a bit later in the afternoon we decided to take our final walk-through right before the closing.  It's a good thing we did since they were still moving and…