Angela Penkin

Back on March 30th I wrote a post about my son and his girlfriend and their search to purchase their first home. http://activerain.com/blogsview/1010928/walking-a-mile-in-someone-else-s-shoes-

After all an $8000 tax credit would cover improvements and repairs they might want to make and she had diligently set up a "saving for our house" account as soon as they started working last June, a mere 30 days after graduation. So, they had their own money for closing costs and downpayment. And with FHA rates around 5%, how can you NOT buy a home. Thank you President Obama for the housing stimulus package! Yeah - they were on their way!

Well, the house they offered on had some issues that were more than they were prepared for and so they withdrew from that contract after the home inspection. Not to fear, they were on the right track and knew they would find the right house. They kept in touch with their agent and she sent them new listings, they opened their area of search and price range - they really want to buy and not sign a new lease agreement.

But lo and behold, we have to cancel defense contracts and who needs those new helicopters anyway. So to save money, defense budget costs are being cut - great. See the story here, http://news10now.com/content/all_news/369971/stop-work-order-issued-to-lockheed-martin/Default.aspx But wait, Oh-Oh they both work for Lockheed Martin. Whoops! No more helicopters, oh no, now Lockheed Martin has to cut costs. So, here ya go http://news10now.com/default.aspx?ArID=138246.

So thanks for the $8000, but, what are they supposed to do without a job to get a mortgage with? So now, they can't even take the chance of signing a new lease. Of course this is one small example of why this housing stimulus isn't working as well as it could or should. If we as REALTORS cannot support even our own children and encourage them to buy, how can we, in good conscious, encourage our clients? Anyone else having first hand experience?

How do you budget your time? Are you a to do list groupie or a fly by the seat of your pants?

Do you set certain times of the day for specific tasks? I really wish I could get myself on some kind of schedule and stick to it. Right now I have 2 things I do each week that I have scheduled specific times for and have been able to stick to them. One is a mastermind group - and one is a weekly webinar. And I feel really good each time I finish with these once a week one hour commitments. I have other monthly commitments I meet too, but I'm looking for a really good daily schedule.

Does anyone have a really good daily schedule that you would be willing to share? One that fits your home tasks in as well. Like laundry, dinner, paying bills and cleaning. And do you have any set time during the week that you absolutely do not work - at least do not meet clients? I do not meet anyone before one on a Sunday, and usually don't answer my phone before then either (on Sunday). I also like to keep Mondays open and would rather work on Fridays.

Kind of hand in hand with a schedule is the issue of sleep. Of which most of us probably do not get enough of. Do you run well on 5 hours or do you need a full 8. Since it is 1 am here in NY, you'll probably guess I'm a night owl, but what works best for you? Early to bed early to rise? If you were a night owl and have now converted to being a morning person, what tricks did you use to switch over and do you like it better?

Have a question for agents working with buyers. When you show a home, do you prefer the agent to be in attendance, the seller of the home or no one (lockbox access). Listing agents, what do you typically do? Open the house, have your seller on the premises to either show it or make themselves scarce or have it on lockbox?

As a buyer agent, I really do not care for the listing agent to 'show' the house. And I have been a buyer agent specialist for 2 different agents in the past and worked with a lot of buyers. I have found that most times if the seller was home and stayed in the home and showed the property, my buyer clients were not comfortable and would often go through the house quickly. And many times the seller or agent will say the wrong thing when pointing out a really great feature. You may not know what the buyer is looking for, so pointing out all of the great oak trim to a buyer that was beginng to feel all warm and fuzzy just reminded them that they're going to have to paint all of it.

Let's face it, they either like it or they don't. Is anything you say going to make them buy the house? I know a lot of agents feel it is a great service they provide the seller to be at all showings, but can it be a negative too? Most of my listings are on lockbox and I make sure that all of the important structural and mechanical features of the home are listed on the property brochure. Which reminds me, do you list room sizes on your brochure? Is that part of your MLS information? It is not in Rochester, but I have noticed the Binghamton NY MLS has room dimensions.

Here I am day 3 and already stuck! So here goes. Since sitting at the computer for 10 minutes turns into 2 hours, how do you set limits for time spent on blogging and social media contributions?

Do you follow everyone that follows you on twitter? I was, except for a couple of people that I didn't think seemed appropriate after taking a peek at some of their updates. But then the other day, I actually un-followed someone! They were sending so many tweets that the first 2 pages were almost all of them, and I was looking for something else. I realize there are other ways to get to the updates of people you are interested in, but I just found that so annoying. And what about all of the fake celebrity tweeters? How do you tell the real from the fake? Does anyone know who gossipgirl90 is? Someone named Mandy Moore - I tried to google her, but really didn't get a satisfactory answer, I don't think it is THE Mandy Moore and if it is, why would she follow me?

The other thing about twitter that I obviously must not understand, is when some people are having a chat, you see the little bits and pieces but I feel like I am eavesdropping on a conversation I am not included in. So I ask, how is that supposed to be fun or interesting if you don't have a clue what they're discussing?

So, are you social in the morning, afternoon, evening or late night (that's me) and how much time do you allow yourself.

Funny how I always find something to talk about but sitting down to write something worthwhile that others would be interested in reading is a whole 'nother story.

How about this email subject I received today: looking for East Irondequoit under $90,000. And there have been others for Webster, Fairport and Brighton. We actually have a shortage of inventory. Agents wanting to know about new listings coming up because they have seen everything in the market and they didn't like any of it. But that also says to me that the buyer expectation of what they can buy for the money they choose to spend is skewed. I'm showing 3 homes tomorrow and 1 of them has 3 other showings. Price, under $115,000. This still buys a nice house. Raised ranch, almost 2000 SF with a 2 car attached garage on a 79x175 lot. But the total school, town & county taxes on that will run around $4700 a year.

It's the taxes that are killing us in Rochester (Monroe County). If someone was to purchase my 1.2 acre $849,900 Lake Ontario listing, the taxes would potentially be $31,702 a year. This of course keeps our prices down.

I would love to know how we stack up against taxes in other parts of the country. Well, I did it! 2 days in a row. Now if I could just diet along with blogging that would really be something.