Stephanie Davis REALTOR® ABR, GRI, SFR

This was the feedback from an agent who showed one of my listings this week:

Stephanie, we ended up not looking at this home. Buyers don't want to be in a neighborhood with HOA where they have to pay the fee and are so restricted.

Surprising? Not really. Lately I'm hearing the same thing from the buyers I'm working with.

Whether they've had a firsthand negative experience with a neighborhood HOA (Home Owner's Association) or they've heard horror stories at work and from friends, HOAs are fast becoming the least desirable "feature" for today's home buyers. What once seemed like a good idea to prevent "eye sores" from cropping up in the neighborhood has become a pestering bureaucracy that keeps people from enjoying home ownership.

HOAs have a tendency to transform would-be neighbor-friends into tattle tellers. Rules are enforced by someone the organization designates to ride through the neighborhood looking for infractions (who wants that job?), or neighbors report each other for breaking the rules. Doesn't sound very friendly, does it?

Because of the way the system works, some home owners say there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to who gets fined. Houses full of tenants might get overlooked as the grass grows out of control and the garbage can sits for days on the side of the road, while owner-occupied properties receive letter after letter that demand they power wash their home, remove a parked car from the street, or change the color of their window coverings.

Maybe the HOAs target owner-occupants because they think they have a better chance of collecting the fines they send out? It's possible, but if an HOA fines a home owner for an infraction and the fine is not paid, the HOA can - and often does - place a lien on the property, which means the owner can't sell the property without paying the fine. The HOA knows they may not get their money today, but they'll get it eventually.

The original purpose of HOAs was to preserve property values; however if what I'm hearing continues the way it's going, I'm predicting they will start to have the opposite affect. Which do you prefer? HOA or no?

I'll be on vacation next week. Yes, you guessed it; I'm writing this post to avoid packing. For the last three days I've been making lists at my desk and in my mind, racking my brain and running every scenario I can fathom to be sure all my t's are crossed and i's are dotted for my clients while I'm gone. I'm exhausted. I'll probably never feel ready to let go, but I will.

Another agent will be covering my business for me while I'm gone. I'm lucky to have a peer I trust to share all my client names and contact information with and disappear for 8 days. He'll be able to contact me by text message only. My clients are thrilled. The last time I left town one of my listings went under contract.

I'm writing this to encourage you. You can do this too! Let me rephrase that: You NEED to do this too! I haven't left yet and I'm already feeling the benefits of getting away from my business. I'll come back on June 13 ready to hit the ground running. In fact, I've already scheduled two appointments! The burnout will be cured, my mind will be fresh, my clients will be BETTER SERVED, my business will GROW!!

Over the years I've placed more than a handful of tenants in rentals all over town. It's usually a thankless job that takes up way too much time for the amount of income it provides.

A couple weeks ago I helped a man apply for and rent a house listed by a company and agent I'd never heard of. I sent the application over with an e-mail, the application was approved, and the man moved in over the weekend.

The co-broke check was in my mailbox this morning when I arrived at the office. Enclosed with it was a thank you card from the listing agent. WOW! What a wonderful surprise and a great way to start my Tuesday!

Until now, I've always saved my thank you cards and personal notes for people I know well. But why? This small act of kindness from a perfect stranger has taught me to let go of that idea. What power! What a concept: Spread kindness without restriction!

What would happen if we all did that?

Last week a woman called me, desperate for help. We’ll call her Natalie. She had gotten my contact information from her sister, who had gotten it from a friend who is also a friend of mine. (Thank you!) Natalie was in town for one week and needed to find a place for her family to live.

Finding a place to live is very stressful, especially when you’re in a new town and you only have a week to do it. I believe our job as real estate agents is to ease the stress. We do this by providing solutions. When I get a call like this I’m ready to spring into action.

Apparently, there are a few agents who don’t share the same enthusiasm. Natalie was hopeful but skeptical as we talked. She told me another agent had said it wasn’t worth the gas money to drive to the part of town Natalie wanted to see.

Don’t you just hate it when a few bad apples spoil the good name you’re working to build for your industry? I’m shocked when real estate agents lose sight of the fact that we are here to HELP people. There’s always a chance we won’t get compensated for our time, but if we invest in our clients and focus on their needs with a servant’s heart, the money will come.

It’s been tough to make a living in this market. I’ve spun my wheels trying to help many families who couldn’t be helped. So what? It’s part of the job. My goal every day is to help someone move one step closer toward a dream, and I think there’s a good number of agents who share that same attitude.

If you’ve been burned by an agent in the past… please don’t write us all off. There are still some of us left who will welcome the opportunity to invest our gas money in your dream. Just ask Natalie; I’ll even pick you up.

This week my eyes were opened to a new trend starting with new home communities: The builders are having buyers pay deed stamps at closing.

The fee for deed stamps has always been part of a seller’s closing costs – the majority of a seller’s closing costs – and now builders are passing the fee on to the consumer. In South Carolina the fee is $1.85 for every $500 in the sales price, so on a $100,000 it’s $370; on a $500,000 house it’s $1850.

Having to pay deed stamps may not be enough to stop the show for you if you’re buying new construction, but it’s a fee you may not be expecting when you accept the builder’s offer to pay $3000 toward your closing costs. That $3000 gets eaten up pretty quickly, especially if you throw in a surprise $1000 fee for deed stamps.

Share this article with your Realtor® if you’re buying new construction so you can negotiate who’s paying the deed stamps right up front. It’s spelled out in the builder’s contract but it’s not highlighted or brought up when you’re signing, which means if you and your agent don’t read every word it could become a show stopper at closing… not good!

Call me at 843-870-0890 if you’re buying or selling anywhere in the world; through my network of agents in The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World I can help you move around the corner or around the globe.