Christian Infantolino RSPS

With the real estate market having so much variation with what is selling and what is not selling, my question is just because you are licensed in the state does that mean that you should try to sell property in a market you are unfamiliar with? I currently work in second home/investment market that is located in a ski town and about 1 hour from Denver. My market is extremely different than the Denver market and yet we have agents from Denver trying to sell property up here without even doing there research. Just recently I had an out of town agent set up a showing on one of my listings and then leave me and my sellers negative feedback because they were unable to locate the property. Please note that if they were even the slightest bit familiar with the area they would have found the listing. This is only one example, and I do not want to say that out of town agents should not be allowed to show property, what I am trying to get at is that if you truly want to provide a service to your client you should be familiar with the area you are showing property. Just because I have a license in Colorado and can write a contract throughout the state does not mean that I should be selling my friend a house in the city! I do not know that market and would not be able to provide a service to that client. Agents stop being gready and provide a service to the people we are helping. You can still get paid via a refferal and then you would actually be helping your client.

Thanks for reading.

With the real estate market having so much variation with what is selling and what is not selling, my question is just because you are licensed in the state does that mean that you should try to sell property in a market you are unfamiliar with? I currently work in second home/investment market that is located in a ski town and about 1 hour from Denver. My market is extremely different than the Denver market and yet we have agents from Denver trying to sell property up here without even doing there research. Just recently I had an out of town agent set up a showing on one of my listings and then leave me and my sellers negative feedback because they were unable to locate the property. Please note that if they were even the slightest bit familiar with the area they would have found the listing. This is only one example, and I do not want to say that out of town agents should not be allowed to show property, what I am trying to get at is that if you truly want to provide a service to your client you should be familiar with the area you are showing property. Just because I have a license in Colorado and can write a contract throughout the state does not mean that I should be selling my friend a house in the city! I do not know that market and would not be able to provide a service to that client. Agents stop being gready and provide a service to the people we are helping. You can still get paid via a refferal and then you would actually be helping your client.

Thanks for reading.

Just because I work a ton does not mean I do not like to play. It is mountain bike season, but just the beging. Most trials in the Winter Park area are still wet and unridable, but there are a few out there. Stay at lower elevations such as Tabernash or Granby and most is dry and rideable. I spun around the phases and only ran into one wet spot at the bottom of the trail. I think that I will use this blog to update the trails that I have ridden and there condition. Do not hesitate to contact me for any information about Grand County.

Thanks and have a Great Ride!

I watched last nights program with an open mind, and thought that 60 minutes was going to not sway the discussion one way or the other; however after watching the program I was not pleased. For starters, if you were a lay person and not a professional your first comment would be "Why should I use a Realtor, when I can get the same services for much less?" My comment is that you are not getting the same services. What 60 minutes did not show is how little these companies do for you, and when something goes wrong how fast these companies are to blame or stay away from their "clients". I am currently working on a deal where the sellers have used one of these brokers and I have the buyers. Now this worked out in my favor because I had to do all the negotiating directly with the seller who had no knowledge of our market, Not my fault, I am a Buyers Agent.

Now for the Agency discussion! I noticed last night how every time this "Redfin" guy spoke he talked about being an Agent for the client. I find it hard to believe that any low fee broker can provide the services of a true agent. Here in Colorado we have different Agency Law, meaning that there are three ways that we can work with a client, AGENT/Transaction Broker/Customer. The general public does get confused as to the differences, but as a professional one should know these. If you are working as an Agent in Colorado you are held to a higher level of responsibility and you have many more duties to your client than if you are a Transaction Broker. The major difference between the two is best described as the difference between a "Coach, Agent" or a "Referee, Transaction Broker". I do not feel that these low fee brokers are doing there clients the service that is expected.

The last point of contention comes with the quoted commision. Last nights program constantly repeated that us Realtors ask for 6% of the commision. Well let me say that it is Illeagal to have a standardized commision. Comissions are negotiated and can change constantly. It may be a company policy or a personal business decision to take 6% all the time, but this is not set in stone, like it was talked about last night.

Realtors provide a service that these low fee brokers can not! If anyone wants to know more about what we can provide that these companies can not please feel free to contact me and discuss. I will be more than happy to discuss my personal involvment with these types of companies and how they do not do a service for there clients and then we have to clean up the mess.

So everything you read in the papers or hear on the news is about how real estate prices are dropping and that the "BUBBLE" is going to pop. This is what the media is presenting to the public, in turn this is what my clients are coming armed with, with regards to information. I read a great deal of general information on real estate so that I know what my clients are reading, but it is not relavant to my market. How do you convince an investor or second home buyer that your market is not the same as "DENVER"? One of the main differences is that people who buy in my market buy with discretionary money. They do not have to buy property, and when they do buy they buy for different reasons then people who buy in primary residence markets. People buy for investment, enjoyment, tax shelters, and many other reasons, but let me say again they DO NOT HAVE to buy. The other differences are financing. Many buyers in my market buy in cash or with heavy down payments, minimum of 75%LTV; where as in the primary market there are a great deal of arms, 100% financing, and sub prime loans. Now I am not a lender or mortgage broker, but it is my belief that the adjustment that we are feeling in the primary market is attributed to the sub prime market and 100% financing. Let it be known that this is only about 10% of the market and that in my opinion 10% is considered an adjustment rather then a "POP". So know I am faced with clients who have the money, credit, etc.., they are ready to buy, but they do not want to listen to me with regards to the market information. They feel that if the "Denver" market is a buyers market, then the resort market which I am in must be the same.

Thanks for listning!