John Montgomery

Freedom is a wonderful thing, often taken for granted. Freedom to succeed, make a better life, travel to any state or town and live in any city of our choosing. Freedom is also a two edged sword, we are free to fail, make a mess of our life, live in a city we don't like. Often we blame everything around us when things don't go as planned; so easy to forget we were the ones making the decisions to start with. Freedom to choose is the one that causes me the most angst. Take the simple task of purchasing a new pair of shoes. Seems easy? Wrong! After deciding what type of shoe I need, say tennis shoes for example. I just want to walk in the store and leave with new shoes I plan to wear for an hour a day while exercising. Well let's see, first what brand? What style? What color? Do I need a special purpose shoe or a cross trainer? Then OMG what price, holy crap have you seen what some shoes cost? I'm only going to wear them for an hour a day, or when I wash the car on weekends! I miss the days when the only real choice was high or low tops. In the end I pay 20 bucks for a pair from Costco. My friends and family tease me, but I don't care! It's my free choice and I will live with it.

Recently I've observed a trend among buyers that is difficult for me to understand. I assume they are getting advice from some internet or TV guru. I'm going to take a few minutes to explain how a buyer's agent is compensated and what they are getting paid for.

I had a client ask me almost immediately after the introductions were made if I would rebate my commission back to them at closing. Really? You want me to work for free? (And no I'm not making this up!) Or I'm finding buyers not wanting to use a buyers agent at all. Somehow they think they are saving money, after all the only thing a agent does is let you in the front door right? I mean hey anyone can search online for property, contact the listing agent and buy from the friendly listing agent who answers the phone! Well lets look at some of these issues.

My value is not so much in finding and showing homes, no doubt a large time consuming part of the job, but in my representation of your interests. My job is to protect you through the whole process. Were is the property located, is there a home owners association and what are the restrictions? You buy your home on your own only to find out you can't park your boat or RV on your property, how happy are you now?

Also price negotiations; Is the listing price above or below market value? You asked the listing agent to knock the price down because you have no buyers agent, only to learn much too late that the house was over priced to begin with and you still paid too much. Did you remember to negotiate a Home owners warranty, option period? Did you have the home inspected first? How well did you do negotiating the repairs? Did you lose the home of your dreams because you negotiated for too many repairs or low-balled the price?

Keep in mind the listing agent works for the seller, no matter how friendly they are, they work for the SELLER!

Remember as a buyer my services to you are free, why would you NOT use a buyers agent? My commission is paid by the listing broker and represents a very good value to you.

Visit my website www.CedarParkFamilyHomes.com

Yesterday I had an open house; on the way there I stopped at the store to get a bag of ice. After paying for the ice and retrieving it I discovered I had purchased a large bag and not the small bag I needed. Hmmm what to do with the large amount of left over ice, my tiny cooler was full. I noticed a lady grabbing a bag of ice to take to her car. Excuse me Ms. I have extra ice if you would like to have it. She looked at me apologetically and said "that's ok sir I really need this ice". Oh ok but you can have this ice also if you want. She paused and said "Sir my AC went out and our family really needs this ice, so no-thank you". At this point I just smiled and said well I'm sorry, this ice is extra, just thought you might be able to use it. She smiled, thanked me and left. I drove home and put the extra ice in the freezer. Some times my ability to miscommunicate astounds even me.

The other day I was watering the flowers and the biggest hornet I've ever seen flew out of the bushes and took of. It was the size of a humming bird and buzzed as loud as a distant lawn mower. Scared the crap out of me, insects have always given me the willies but get real, one large enough to carry off small children nearly gave me a heart attack! In the following days I encountered a few more, so on-line I went. After reading similar accounts and looking at photos I believe they are the "Cicada Killer Wasp" ranging in length from 1.5" to 3" or more and as fat as your thumb! The pictures I found online are of small ones and do not do justice to what I saw in my yard. I guess they are not aggressive to humans, but dang it I'm taking no chances!