Ralph Harbison

Every year at this time (as well as at Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc), your friendly neighborhood, Green Designated REALTOR gets calls from buyers or other agents who want to see a home on the holiday weekend. Well, see, that might be an issue...

See, people enjoy their time off. And, when holidays have a religious significance, like Easter, that amplifies the desire that people have to be able to enjoy their day with family, friends, or just alone.

"WAIT," they say,"don't they want to SELL THEIR HOME IN HOOVER, BIRMINGHAM, VESTVIA, or TRUSSVILLE?"

"Sure," I reply, "and I want to sell homes in Hoover, Birmingham, Vestavia, and Trussville. In fact, I LOVE listing homes in Hoover, Vestavia, Birmingham, and Trussville and helping people buy homes in Hoover, Birmingham, Vestaiva, and Trussville. That is why my website lets you search for homes for sale in Hoover, Birmingham, Vestavia, and Trussville, as well as Leeds, Moody, Pinson, Gardendale, Homewood, Mountain Brook, and much more."

"But, more than that, the home-owners also have lives that matter to them. Some of them have reasons the home cannot be shown that are personal and valid. Some don't, but it does not matter. It is their home and they reserve the right to show it or not. Please understand that the home will be there Monday, too."

Most of the time, this is not an issue. Sometimes it is. All that I ask is that we all respect someone else's time and desires as much as we expect them to respect our own

When I was young, even before I knew what a real estate agent for the Birmingham-Hoover Metro Area was, we were taught about these things called seasons. Now, they told us that there were four of these seasons in a year: winter, spring, summer, and fall. As a child, I understood that winter was cold and had Christmas, Spring was rainy and had easter, Summer was hot and there was no school, and fall was cool and featured football, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. There were three months in each season.

Even as a kid, I understood that winter in Alabama wasn't really cold. Summer in Alabama was beyond hot. Fall and Spring were more transitions and not really their own. It can be 40 one day and 90 the next in Spring and Fall. But, there were two things that were true: three months per season and NO SCHOOL IN SUMMER!

Now, school around here starts in August. And even at the END of August! Oh, no, we start the second week of August. So now, Summer only has two months. WHAT?!?!?! How can the school tell nature that it is wrong? What is going on here. Wait, I know. School must end at the beginning of May. There are still three months. Just a different three months.

WRONG! School STILL ends in June. Now, Summer is officially two months. If your child is involved in any sort of activity, the vacation window is even shorter. From a real estate perspective, the selling season that used to be summer is now a lot shorter, too. Instead of having 12 or so weeks, we have 9. Again, add into that the limited vacation window for buyers and sellers, and it is even more hectic.

Please, if you have any control over this, for the love of all that is good and innocent in the world, give Summer back its third month!

Since I am not afraid of my geek nature, I have no issue quoting Han Solo on this one. Sometimes, real estate agents HAVE to work. Yes, we should be working smart. Yes, we can do all kinds of things to help business from our desks or homes. But, no matter how hard we try, even the Birmingham real estate agent with the most thorough marketing system in the area HAVE to physically meet people and show houses (or list them). There is no way around it. In my case, that means having to work when my son is with me.

My son is nine. He has been my assistant since he was five, and his job duties have increased each year. First, he carried my cards and left them in the kitchen when I showed houses. Next, he added holding the tape measure to his list of duties. Lately, we added going to the reception desk at the office to get mail or faxes. All of these duties are added to "just sit and play on the ds or draw" and "try to point out how right daddy is when he mentions something," and, what seems to be his favorite, "try to show the house myself." The latter one is, naturally, discouraged, but he is trying to help as best he can.

Sure, he is less costly than a full time aide. He is also less help, but that is not the point. This is something that we do together. Plus, most clients enjoy it, even when he tries to show the house himself. For the record, most homes have at least one place where the sunlight will help you catch the most pokemon possible on your ds and he really doesn't understand why some homes are built like they are.

Well, this week, we decided to add an e-mail address for him. Another agent suggested business cards. So, we picked those out, too. Crazy part about that: I like the cards he chose so I am getting some too. Team marketing and all. All he is going to need now is a cell phone and no sense of fear of rejection and he can be an agent, too. I know he already works at least two weekends a month.

Here we are on a Saturday morning of a holiday weekend, and what a day it is. No, this is not one of those classic "showing houses all day and night and will write at least 500 offers off of it" kind of posts. This is one about something we all love: the weather.

We have had some nice little storms in Moody last night and this morning, so it made me think that I should mention some pointers for everyone in internet land. As I am in Alabama, rain and heat are the issue.

If you are selling your home, please be sure your house is always weather ready. Gutters should be cleaned out and drains should not be blocked. Any mud on the sidewalk leading to the house or in the drive should be kept clear. The reason you HAVE a sidewalk to the house or a drive way is to keep mud out. Be sure you have a mat at the door that is attractive but usable. I love the decorative mats, but they are not much use at keeping wet shoes out. After the storm, be sure any damage is fixed and the yard cleaned again.

As it gets hotter (and it will), please pay attention to your a.c. Have it serviced and keep it running right. Also, and just as important, at least an hour prior to showings, make sure it is on a comfortable temperature. Most people find 74 to 76 to be right. If you like it closer to 80, it will hurt the showing. Trust me. When I show a house on a hot day, it is almost as bad to walk into a hot house as it is to walk into a messy one. If you like to hang meat in your living room, that cold temp will hurt you as well.

If you are buying a home, keep in mind that looking at homes in the rain is not always a good idea. It makes it hard to look at the roof and inspect the outside. While you may see run-off issues and other water related things, you will miss other very important ones. Also, keep in mind that just because a house is too warm doesn't mean that the air is broken. It is very likely that the home owner has the temperature set higher than you like.

Just some free advice about late spring, summer, and fall weather in Alabama from your Birmingham Real Estate Expert.

Every now and then, even real estate agents have to take a break and not work. Sometimes, we take vacations. More often, we just take the night off. A couple of weeks ago, I did that with my wife. Together, we went to a Tim McGraw concert. Now, this was my first country music concert, but I'll get to that later.

Sorry for the poor picture. It is from my phone. That is what this blog is about. I asked my wife if I could borrow the camera. The answer should have been expected.

"Why?"

"I need a to take some pictures."

"Why?"

"To post on line."

"Nope. There is no reason for you to put this on facebook or any of that."

"No, I want to blog about it."

"There is no way you are getting the camera. This concert has nothing to do with houses for sale in Birmingham, Trussville, Hoover, Vestavia, or any place else. There is no reason for you to put anything on your real estate blogs about it."

That is when it hit me. I really wasn't "not working." I was just "not" doing "typical" real estate work. My brain was still thinking about business in some form.

Oak Mountain Amphitheater is a wonderful venue. The concert was awesome. Even to a rock and roll guy, it was worth it. I just need a new night off.

And next time, I won't be thinking about you...