Garth Jones

It has happened again. Buyers can be told, but for some reason they do not get it. Until we have an endorsed contract, we do not have a deal. Words mean nothing. We had an agreement, the counter was presented, all the buyer had to do was initial the changes. But by keeping the contract, and not returning it, she allowed the seller to have another contract submitted, and accepted, underneath her. "But the contract says I have 48 hours to respond to a counter", she screamed.

No. What the Florida contract says is that the contract counter offer will expire on its own after 48 hours. If you do not accept the counter, the home is still for sale. If you want it, buy it. Talking about it does not make it yours.

Yes, it is a buyers market. Unfortunately for this buyer, someone else is buying "her" home.

Our dinner conversation this evening was reminiscing on what Halloween was to us as kids, and what we used to do to scare ourselves. My group used to seek out abandoned homes, or barns, in the surrounding MD countryside, and we would explore, attics and basements included. This would get the blood going in this thirteen year old, as empty basements are scary, even in the middle of the afternoon!

Afterwards, I started thinking about the same feeling, which I still get when previewing empty homes for prospects. There is still the surge of adrenalin, as each room holds the unknown, until you see that it is just another empty bedroom with carpet that is a little scary! But at least twice this year, I have truly left homes with the hairs up on the back of my neck. One because I just got a very bad feeling, and another because of the strength of the unidentified odor.

I guess it is just another thing that I will not miss about this market we are in-ALL of the empty homes. Let's hope next Halloween is a little less scary!

As my partner Heather Jenkins grows her business, Rent In FishHawk .com, the single greatest source of new business is personal referals. These come mostly from clients that have used other property managers, and had some sort of trouble with the previous property manager, and hired Heather to take over the property. The beauty of these clients as referals is that they know first hand some of the pitfalls owners can face if they choose the wrong property management company.

Rent In FishHawk .com is high service, with intense attention to the details that will allow an owner to maximize the profit, minimize the headaches, and have happy, satisfied tenants.

One of the ways Rent In FishHawk .com pulls this off, is by regularly scheduled visits to the home. Better to know there is a landscaping issue by seeing it yourself, than by getting the nasty letter from the HOA! Rent In FishHawk .com, will, on a scheduled basis, make visits to the home, with internal and external inspections, clearly documented in photos, so that you can rest easy that your investment is being maintained at a high level.

Is your current property manager making scheduled visits to the home?

Are you getting reports on the interior and exterior condition of the home?

Does your property manager live and work on the other side of the city? Is the traffic in the picture going to influence the number of times during the lease that the home is visited by the person that is most responsible for it's well being?

Rent In FishHawk .com does not take listings that are outside of the area in which she lives and works. This allows her to continually monitor the status of the home, educate tenants when needed, and protects the investment her owners have made. She often does unscheduled drive bys, just to satisfy her desire to know that she is doing the best that she can for her owners.

If you are an owner of a rental property in Lithia, Valrico, or Brandon Florida, and are not happy with your current property manager, Rent In FishHawk .com can help! If you would like to discuss your property with Rent In FishHawk .com, or maybe you would like to speak with one of her owners, (Raving Fans!) give Heather a call at 813-506-7476.

This post is a bit of a rant, but it should also help some prospective buyers understand the lack of time control that exists in so many transactions currently.

I tend to work with buyers, and here in West Florida, buyers like low prices, and this can mean federally owned foreclosures. They can be a great value, and come in all conditions, from move in ready to, umm, let's just say not move in ready.

Whether it is a HUD home, or Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac, these homes are not sold directly by the Federal gov't, rather they are handled by contractor companies, who then work with area brokerages to complete the marketing and sale of the properties. As the Fed tries hard to get rid of the inventory of homes, they are very diligent about working on the processes in order to expedite, and standardize, the steps from foreclosure to the sale. Kudos to them, buying one of these homes has become very predictable, the disclosures are clear and comprehensive, and I can usually coach a buyer from day one on what to expect.

Part of the coaching has become, with Fannie and Freddie, that when we get verbal acceptance, the clock starts ticking. We do our inspections, and have to satisfy ourselves within the contingency period. But, I also coach them, that until we get the addendums, and return the addendums, we will not have an endorsed copy of the contract, with which to seek out our financing. In effect, without the signed contract, we have no deal. Lately, this has really become more and more of an issue, as when we get verbal acceptance, there is the fear of hiring an inspector, paying for the inspection, only to find out that another offer came in after ours, was accepted as well, and the seller is going with the other contract! (It happens-I know first hand!)

So, I am always clear, until we get addendums, we can not rely on the seller to perform. Only now it seems to take FOREVER to get these addendums. I got a verbal acceptance on the 5th of August, and only today did I get the addendums. I have already lost 7 of the 10 days for inspection contingency...

Which brings me to the subject of this post. How much time was lost as the addendums, created by the contractor, e mailed to the brokerage, in this case the broker manager of the brokerage, forwarded to the listing agent, and then forwarded to me? Having dealt with this brokerage before, I know firsthand that the broker gets all e mails, then forwards to the agents. As e mails sit in inboxes, or people are in meetings, everything SLOWS down. And agents whose phones can not read and forward mails with attachments have really got to reconsider. Once accepted, the addendums should be in the buyers hands in 24 hours or less. Anything more is hard to understand in todays world.

If you agree, let me know, if you disagree, I am interested in this as well. Thanks for reading!

Granted, in this market of short sales and foreclosures, As Is contracts have become the norm, and asking a seller to make repairs prior to the transaction seems like just memories. Even most "normal" sales are asking for As Is contracts, as any equity that may be left is too little to risk a buyer asking for a new roof.

I get that, it is hard for sellers. Buyers have the advantage in getting great pricing on the home. What I don't understand is agents that work with buyers, and work with them on writing AS IS offers to purchase on homes. Then, when the kitchen faucet needs a new cartridge, or an outlet is wired backwards, they act as if the world is going to end unless the sellers "fix it to their satisfaction". The offer was written AS IS. The seller will make no repairs. Then the buyers agent swears the buyers can not move forward without a new faucet!

Agents, be responsible. If the sellers are asking for an AS IS contract, coach your buyers. If they need assurances, find a sale that is not AS IS. The sellers are requesting AS IS contracts for a reason, respect this or move on.

Save the fun and games, and emotional fits, for the underwriter!!