Christopher Bonta,Realtor/ Integrity and Honesty

Dear Mr. Seller,

This past weekend I had the pleasure of showing your property off to my Clients. Your home showed beautifully, all the lights were on when we arrived, nice music was playing as we walked around and admired all that has been done to the property, in short your staging of the home was exquisite. My Clients viewed approximately 8 properties this past weekend and your home is one of the properties they have narrowed down to their short list.

There is only one problem that we need to overcome and that is, where is your Agent? I tried to contact your Agent right after the showing, since my Clients were interested in the property and we needed additional information. I was expecting to find a Listing Package at your home, since there was no information provided on line, but when we arrived there was no package to be found. I told my Clients that this would not be a problem, since I could probably get the Listing Agent to fax or e-mail me a package. My Clients listened to me leave a message as we drove to our next appointment and expected that I would probably have a package at my office by the time I returned there. I informed them that we needed to give the Agent time, since like me they might be out on appointments and would have to get to sending me the paper work later (even the next day).

Well Mr. Seller, it's been over 48hrs since I showed your property and even though I have left a voice mail and sent another e-mail I still have not heard from your Agent. My Clients have become quite frustrated at this point and I have had to remind them that the Owner is probably clueless about our situation. I have told them that if I have not heard from the Listing Agent by the end of the afternoon, I will contact the General Manager/Owner next and ask them for help.

I wrote this open letter to a Seller, since this situation has happened to me once again this past weekend. If you are an Agent who has a listing you need to remember, especially in this market, that your prompt attention to e-mails, voice mails etc.. is very important. It is one of the main responsibilities you have as a Listing Agent. How many deals has your Seller lost, because you did not get back to another Agent either at all or really late? I view situations like this as throwing money out the window and if that's what you want to do, then other Agents like me will be more than happy to pick up your Expired Listing.

In a post earlier this week I discussed some questions I think everyone should ask a Realtor when they are deciding whether to hire them or not. In this post I will finish with a few more questions, that I think all Consumers should ask when talking with a Realtor.

How do you market yourself and your properties?This is an important questions since is will reveal a lot about the Realtors dedication to their Client as well as how much they keep up with technology, it also will say volumes about the organization they are associated with. How does the office/franchise they are working with market homes? Where do they market properties and what is their market strategy? How does the Agent themselves market property? Do they place it out on the Internet, do they conduct open houses and how do they handle pictures or virtual tours?

What is their negotiating strategy? If you are retaining the services of a Realtor to buy or sell a property, then how they handle negotiations is probably one of the most crucial questions to ask. Is the Realtor a push over, do you feel they will negotiate strongly or weakly for you? Will they give you the advise you need to make the decisions you need to make or do they wait for you to tell them what to do? Telling a Client what they need to hear whether they like the information or not is important and effects negotiations tremendously.

There are other things you may want to ask a Realtor, but the questions I posed in the past two posts address some of the more important questions to ask. Remember that no question is wrong question to ask and how a Realtor handles your question tells you a lot about them. There is also no right or wrong answer, most of the time the right answer is the one that works for you. Don't assume that a Realtor thinks like you do, or that we are all the same, because we are not.

In my over 10 years of real estate I have built long lasting relationships with my former Clients and I would love to have you join their ranks. I have been very active in both my local Town as well as my local Board of Realtors (sitting on various committees), so when you need to hire a Realtor give me a call or e-mail me at cbonta@masiello.comso that I can discuss your specific needs.

As my generation age's( The Baby Boomers) we have not only had to deal with our own issues like retirement, putting our kids through college and even raising our younger children etc., we have also had to start dealing with the issue of our elderly parents. Unlike past generations, our parents are living a longer life and not all of them are living a high quality of life. We see ads in newspapers, magazines and on television about older people living life like they were in their 20's or 30's, doing all sorts of fun things. The fact is though that for many Baby Boomers, our parents are getting older, they have begun to need our assistance and we are increasingly becoming the Caregiver/Parent to our Parent(s).

There are many "active" Communities for our parents to move to, but these facilities are by and large very expensive and many of the elderly cannot afford them. They are not ready for a nursing home, yet they cannot remain living alone due to physical or mental deficiencies. The solution, in many instances, is for the parent to move into one of their children's homes. I know this first hand because my Mother (76 yrs old) moved in with me 4 years ago and has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's since then. If you are an adult with one or both of your parents living with you, there is a great place you should consider for your parent. Here On Earth Adult Day Services provides a place for Elderly Adults to go and be cared for in a quite, safe and fun environment. Established a few years ago By Stacy Thrall (in her home), Here On Earth is a wonderful place for your parent to go to during the day. I can speak personally about how great this place is, because my Mother was one of the founding members of Here On Earth and has loved going to Stacy's from the first day she went. The services provided by Here On Earth are 1st class, I cannot say enough about how fantastic a place this has been for my Mother.

If you are a person caring for one or both of your parents and you are not ready to place them in a nursing home, because they do not need to be in one, please check out Here On Earth. The comfort I and my family have knowing that my Mother is at Here On Earth every day, is a blessing. You can get additional information regarding Here On Earth by checking out their web site at www.hereonearth.info .

In my years in Real Estate I've come across this question a lot from both Buyers and Sellers, and it is a very important question when determining who you hire. Most people I believe feel that it is when a Seller is going to place their house on the market that questions should be asked, but that is not true when you are a Buyer it is just as important to question every Realtor. Here are some points I believe should be always asked when determining who you want to represent you:

How long have you been in the business of Real Estate? This is a very important question since it will lead you into other questions, depending on how long they have been a Realtor. If the person is new to real estate then you will want to way what office they are at very heavily. Is the office well known in your area with a good reputation, who is their managing Broker and is this person going to be available to you should you have questions or concerns. Why did they get into real estate, was it for the money, flexible schedule, working with people? If the Realtor is experienced (say 5 years or more) what additional classes above and beyond the ones required to maintain their license do they take, this is important because it shows how dedicated to real estate they are and their desire to keep up with the most recent trends and changes to the Code of Ethics, State Law and trends in the market. Are they active in their Community or their Local Board, this shows that they are willing to be someone who gives back and that they take a sincere interest in their Community as well as their Board.

Do they have past Clients who can give you a reference? It's nice to always see references on the bottom of an Internet page or on a Realtors resume, but can you talk to these people? Getting the names and phone numbers for past Clients (weather they bought or sold) will give you knowledge on how former Clients were treated.

If you are Selling a home, how much have houses they listed sold for? In today's tough market this is a very important question to ask. It should be understood that given today's economy not every Realtor is going to have 5-10 clients whose homes they have recently sold, what is important is that you want to be able to see previous homes that the Realtor listed. Whether the property was sold 1 month ago or 1 year ago, what you are looking for is information on how long the property was on the market, how much was it listed for, and what did it actually sell for? These questions can tell you a great deal about the Realtor, because it can inform you as to whether or not the Realtor had any control over the listing. A house that is over priced, on the market to long and sells for far below the original list price was probably put on the market for higher than it should ever have been. In today's market almost every home is going to take time to sell and depending on your market, it can take between 4-6 months to sell. Also most houses are going to see price drops during their time on the market, because home values have continued to go down, but if the homes that the Realtor you are interviewing are taking longer than 6 months to sell and are taking $40 to,$70 thousand dollars off their original list price then you want to question whether or not they were even priced correctly in the first place.

These are just three questions that you should ask, I'll continue this post in a few days with more questions you should ask and some more answers. In my over 10 years of real estate I have built long lasting relationships with my former Clients and I would love to have you join their ranks. I have been very active in both my local Town as well as my local Board of Realtors (sitting on various committees), so when you need to hire a Realtor give me a call or e-mail me at cbonta@masiello.com so that I can discuss your specific needs.

Thinking of buying your first home? Good news, now may be a great time to make your move! Congress has just passed and the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and if you have been waiting to purchase a property now is the time to act.

If you plan to live in the home as your primary residence and have not owned a property during the past three years, you may qualify for the tax credit. The government is trying to jump start the economy, as we all know, and as part of their attempt they have agreed to give a tax credit of up to $8,000 to home buyers. Here are some bullets about the plan:

The tax credit does not need to be repaid unless the home is sold within the first 3 years after purchase.

This plan is available on single family detached homes, town homes and condominiums and newly constructed as well as pre-existing homes.

The plan is for eligable purchases on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

Credit amount is up to $8,000.00.

Available to first time home buyers.

Take advantage of this great opportunity by speaking with your tax adviser first and then contacting me for assistance. I have over 10 years of Real Estate Experience and have the knowledge and expertise to assist you with your home purchase. The home purchasing process can be intimidating,frustrating and the paperwork confusing. I will help you from the very start and work with you throughout the whole process, so don't put one of your most important financial decisions in just anybodies hands, contact me at cbonta@masiello.comfor an appointment. I also work closely with Wells Fargo/Great East Mortgage and their mortgage representative Michael Pillsbury, you can also contact Mike regarding your mortgage needs by e-mailing him at michael.c.pillsbury@greateastmortgage.com .