Amy Salisbury West Virginia Realtor/Jefferson/Berkeley

Via Facebook and the Realtor Action Center, I just read this article by Kenneth R. Harney in The Washington Post regarding Fannie Mae and appraisals. Fannie Mae, beginning in September, must contact an appraiser where there is a discrepancy between the value they give a property and that of the electronic, non-onsite valuation process.

Wow! That's a welcome change from what HVCC has been allowing! Lenders can talk to the appraisers? Awesome! Feet-on-the-ground appraisers can use their experience and better judgement to uphold a sales price? What a novel idea!

For the most part, I think we've been pretty fortunate in this area. I haven't heard of too many appraisals coming in several tens of thousands of dollars under sales price. But we certainly do have neighborhoods that have been devastated by distressed sales. And those same neighborhoods will also have regular, non-distressed sellers who need to sell their homes. These folks are the ones we don't always think about when dealing with foreclosures and short sales.

Will an experienced, LOCAL appraiser be able to make adjustments for comps that are distressed sales? Let's hope so. Is this one step back up the ladder to a more stable housing market? I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I had lunch today with a good friend and sometime real estate investor. Its been awhile since we've gotten together, just the two of us, to catch up on life, work, family, etc.

She's always checking out local Jefferson County, West Virginia listings through my website and asked how busy we've been.

Well, I told her, the first part of the year was great! Lots of first time buyers worked with us so they could benefit from the tax credit. However when that little gem went away, it seems lots of buyers went away too!

And having just read Lenn Harley's excellent post MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES - THIS WEEK - JUST WHEN I THOUGHT IT COULDN'T GET ANY BETTER, IT GOT BETTER!! I told her I really didn't understand this phenomenon.

Lenn makes a great point that with interest rates this good, MOST buyers, first time or otherwise, are going to gain a whole lot more over the life of a loan than that little tax credit would have given them ONE TIME ONLY!

So, while you may not get a check from Uncle Sam, you're going to be much better off in the long run.

Come on buyers! Rates are historically low, there are lots of homes to choose from and we're ready to help you find one! As we say out here in the country,

"Make hay while the sun shines!"

In the last several weeks, this Sheryl Crow tune has been bopping along in my brain.

Change is good, so they say. But it isn't easy to accept and often isn't welcome. There have been some pretty significant changes in our office lately and the one I'm talking about now is the change to our logo.

Here is our old logo:

When we were getting ready to open our new company, we worked long and hard on this little beauty. Name choice, colors, the "swirls" --all of it, it was a labor of love. It didn't look like anything else out there. And we plastered that baby everywhere: our signs, the front door, above the door, all our mailings, heck we even printed logo labels and put them on candy bars at open houses!

Flash forward about 4 years.

Its time to get some new marketing materials printed--handout postcards, a couple of banners for a local trade show we were participating in. As if by ESP, Inna Hardison emails me a flyer for discounted printing services from her company, Ha Media Group. "Perfect timing!" I tell her. I send her my logo, a basic idea of what we're looking for and she and Jon are on it.

Over the next day or so, we talked and emailed frequently. I know our logo has probably too many colors and that if they need to "clean it up," that's fine. She and Jon sent me an email with our logo proofs and I couldn't wait to see them!

WOW!

And then:

Frankly, this was more than simple "cleaning up." I couldn't deny that these logos are beautiful, sleek and professional. But they are very different from our original. From each of our agents to friends, husband, gosh, even people walking in front of our office, EVERYONE agreed that these new logos must be used!

Change is good, change is good-- I kept repeating to myself. Sort of became my mantra for a few days, which then turned into the Sheryl Crow song. I love that song, but it became a little annoying, like songs stuck in your head often do...

So of course, I finally realized, we must use these new logos. It was time for a change. Our company is growing and evolving. This logo is a more grown-up version of the original.

My love letter to the Hardisons and Ha Media Group will be another post, but I can't stress how much I appreciate their expertise and guidance through this process. They are THE BEST!

When you read my title, you may have been under the impression that I list and sell real estate on the weekends and in the evenings: AFTER I finish my "Real" job. You know, the one where I make a steady paycheck, receive benefits and get paid vacations.

Wrong.

I list and sell real estate every day, at least 9-5, and usually on the weekends and in the evenings too.

This post has been prompted by a phone call I received Sunday morning. An agent called to question me about one of the listings in my office. She had a buyer who desperately wanted to see the house, but must sell his current home before purchasing another. "I have a REAL JOB," she claimed. "I don't have time to chauffeur people around who can't actually buy a house at this time!"

Apart from her attitude, which was disagreeable to say the least, the part that truly irked me was that she was implying that my chosen profession of Realtor is somehow NOT a real job???

Not only do I come to my office every weekday, but I also show property in the evenings, attend home inspections on the weekends, write offers, list homes, answer client questions, take pictures, prepare advertising materials, install signs and lockboxes, etc. whenever necessary!

I work hard at this "job," and its more than annoying to have others who ought to know better disparage me and my job. Very frankly, if that's how you feel about the profession, you clearly shouldn't be a part of it.

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of capable and thorough "part-time" Realtors out there, I know, I've worked with some of them. Everyone needs to do what is necessary to provide for themselves and their families.

Unfortunately though, I see things like limited information in the mls, a couple photos of a new listing instead of the potential 30 that could be included. Then there's the vanishing addendums, missing signatures on the contract, or inspections that don't get ordered on time because "I'm sorry, I'm at my real job...I just don't have time to handle the details of this real estate transaction."

So who ends up taking care of everything?

Me, the one without a real job.