Michael Hickman

From the ages of 7 to 18, I worked in our family plumbing & electrical supplies store. During that time, I saw lots of DIY (Do It Yourselfers) come in needing help with some issue. With leaky faucets, especially these days, a full replacement just isn't necessary. Usually, the problem is one of the following or a combination: O-ring(s), seat, spring(s) or a stem. Find the model of your faucet, at the very least get the manufacturer. Turn the water off and remove the innards of the faucet. You might want to consult Google or Youtube for a video on taking it apart. You'd be surprised how many are available. Then, take the innards to your local hardware or plumbing store and ask someone for help. Since you already have it apart, I would replace as much inside as possible. Trying to assemble / disassemble & test to see what's the problem just isn't worth the time, and you may be causing more damage tan necessary. If there's a complete repair kit, buy that and install it. One little tip, a little white grease never hurts around O-rings. Ask the store employee first, though. Yes, you may have a little grease coming out of the faucet when you first use it, but it can do wonders to make things work smoothly and seal things up. Happy Home Ownership!

I do a fair amount of training in our offices regarding personality profiles, sales psychology, etc. A while back, I had a buyer who loved my listing, made an offer and had the inspection done. She got cold feet and wanted to terminate her offer. At first, the impulse is to fight and save the deal. Instead, I had my client do the opposite.

I called them and let them know the whole situation, why the buyer wanted to walk, etc. I also explained to them that I was going to allow this buyer to quickly get what she wants, give her a week to calm down and then see if I could save it.

Sure enough, we got her the T&R paperwork within hours, which relieved the pressure of her cold feet. I didn't communicate with anyone for about a week. On Monday morning, I called the buyer and asked her if she had seen anything better than my listing over the weekend. She said no. I let her know that she wasn't the only one looking for a home of this quality in this location and that it wouldn't last much longer. I empathized with the home buying process she was going through and all the emotions that entails. After a calm conversation, I asked her if she would like to consider re-engaging. I told her the sellers understood her situation, etc. and there would be no bad blood.

In the end, we got the deal done and everyone was happy, which is the whole point of real estate - creating Win-Win-Win situations.

I had a funny idea today in the office, and with a little help from my friends, put together this video. I hope you like it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20g5NnHLohM

I've been watching something the last 60 days that I've personally decided may be a trend here in Cumming, Forsyth County, Georgia.

I've noted several examples of this phenomenon, but I'll use one property as an example. I listed this two-story, late 90's build home with a finished terrace level last September for $365,000. The home is very well maintained, has a great back yard with both a sun deck and a screened porch. The owner told me that they wanted to go ahead and get on the market, but really wasn't going to be motivated to sell until Spring 2011. After a few showings, we reduced the price to $350,000 sometime in late 2010. All through the listing period, the property received at least one showing a week, with a little lull during the Holidays.

The only negative about this property is that it has a steep driveway up to the garage entrances, which I pointed out during the listing appointment and was confirmed from showing feedbacks. After looking at our local market trends (prices still moving slowly downward), recent sales (very few) and the competition, I counseled my client to go ahead and drop the price to $340,000. That goes against my personal philosophy of pricing homes at specific price points, such as at $350,000.

(As an aside, buyers search from $325k - $350k or $350k to $400k. A price at $340k would cause us to miss buyers starting their search at $350k. That's why I try to price property at search points.)

So, I dropped the price on Sunday morning. Since that time, I've had one showing each on Monday - Wednesday and two showings today (Thursday). I'm fairly convinced, but with fingers crossed and a rabbits foot in my pockeet, that we will get this property under contract shortly.

So, what's the trend I mentioned at the beginning? Buyers seem to be reticent to physically view a property until the price hits what they believe to be either fair or a sllight deal. Otherwise, they are just flat skipping equity-seller properties and sticking with foreclosures and short sales (which represent about 50% of the sales in Forsyth County). Is anyone else seeing this same kind of trend?

I have had 2 instances lately where agents have logged into a lockbox and been unable to make them open. Immediately after both instances, I opened each lockbox on the first try.

Being a former engineer, I think I can be of help here. These lockboxes are mechanical devices. In both instances, I simply pushed up on the key holder, then entered the code on my eKey, and the box was released.

Sometimes, I suppose it's possible for atmospheric pressures to change enough to make these things have a vacuum inside that "holds" up the key box. It's easy to break that pressure with a little jiggling, fiddling or whatever technical term you prefer.

What isn't acceptable is berating the listing agent about needing new lockboxes... I'm sorry some folks are mechanically challenged. Learn to overcome your faults and learn to fiddle.