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Sheila Reeves

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Home to Sell and Home to Buy

08-31-08
Sheila Reeves

A couple who have been clients of mine for years, called me late last week to see a home in a sub they like. After seeing the home, we may write a contract (cc) and put their home on the market ASAP. It is workable for them and we will see if it is still there when we get theirs sold. They have completely updated their home so it should be a reasonably quick sale, given where it is and the schools with which that address is affiliated. If the sellers are open to accepting a cc, we will write one. If not, we will just get their home sold so they can buy that one or another.

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The House My Buyers Wanted

08-31-08
Sheila Reeves

An earlier blog about The Nicest Email has a new twist. The home my buyers wanted the most (which was under contingency contract) did close this past Friday. Such a shame we missed that one but they could not buy it without theirs being under contract in NY. We offered a contingency earlier and it was refused by the bank that owned it. I found out the buyers paid $289,900 for it and it was listed at $389,900 - a $40,000 savings. That is unusual but the property did close, so we must move on. The contingency contract on that home lasted so long I asked the agent if it were contingent upon the sale of another home. She said no, it was the home inspection but with it being a new house, it makes you wonder how that could have lasted 5-7 weeks if it were only on inspections. It must have been the agents' buyers. J Oh well, not much you can do about that either as long as the bank went along with it.

The positive side is we can find them another one and may already have that one lined up. They are expecting the contract to be complete by Tuesday or Wednesday. Apparently, in NY, each side has an attorney and the buyer's attorney was out of town until Tuesday.

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Lucky Lucy Realtor Strikes Again

08-31-08
Sheila Reeves

It was a very rainy day in her market that day, yet she felt she really needed to prospect and decided door knocking would be good to do as you would inevitably be invited inside out of the rain. Ghastly, but she needed to get her listing inventory up and felt this might be the best way.

She chose a nice neighborhood, maybe 12-15 years old where older brick two story and ranch homes all nestled in a subdivision that is well kept and had nice trees and shrubs/landscaping. The residents took great pride in their homes and lots and it was nice to see. Homes in this neighborhood fell into the price range where homes were selling the fastest. The only problem was not many homes become available in those neighborhoods as the residents are more likely to be local and in a stable, long-term job. Generally, demand for homes in these areas was usually good as people liked the trees and well kept homes/lawns, so she felt it might be worthwhile.

The first door she chose proved no one was home. She went on to the second under her jumbo umbrella to stay as dry as possible. There was someone home at that house and she was invited in out of the rain to have a cup of tea, for which she was grateful. Her chat with Mrs. Homeowner, although pleasant, became apparent they would not be selling anytime in the future. She planted the seed and left her card, after asking if the homeowner knew of anyone else in the neighborhood that might be planning on selling. As luck would have it, she did and gave the names, street address and phone number to Lucky Lucy Realtor.

She left that home very excited and decided to knock on a few more doors before she called on the homeowner referral. Her 3rdhouse had music practically rattling the windows; probably a teen home that day, so no amount of knocking or ringing the door bell would get their attention. She went on to house number 4. As luck would have it, she found another homeowner at home and was also invited in for coffee, which she accepted. Through this conversation, she learned of a co-worker of the home-owner's husband who was planning on selling and looking for a larger home. She did get the name, but only had the office number but that was OK. She could call and chat with her for a few minutes there. She could also find the address from the tax records. It appeared she would have a good day after all. Two leads in 45-60 minutes was great.

She then decided to go ahead and visit the homeowner referral in the neighborhood that was planning on selling, so she went back to her car to drive to another street. The house looked nice enough on the outside and she rang the doorbell on house number 5. The homeowner was at home and also invited her in. After some discussion of how she came to know they were going to sell, they began discussing the home value, improvements, time line for moving, etc. It was apparent before she left she had built rapport with the homeowner and scheduled a time to come back when the spouse was home.

She continued her door knocking for a few more hours and covered about 12 homes total. From those 12, she had or would have 3 appointments to discuss listing and perhaps a referral on two and working with the seller on their buyer side as well.

What a day; she had three new solid leads, one of which would be a new listing very soon. She almost walked down the street doing the "in-air heel kick" that is sometimes seen on TV. That made her decision to begin prospecting door to door again, maybe at least 2-3 days a week.

Now, if only it were that easy . . . and sometimes it is. We will never know unless we do it!

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The Presidential Race is getting interesting

08-29-08
Sheila Reeves

I promise not to get political here, but you have to admit, the DNC ended on a high note last night and the RNC to begin Sunday hit a high note today by McCain's nomination of a woman for VP. Very good move strategically for that campaign. Her comments about the millions of cracks Hillary's campaign left in the glass ceiling made a good point also. Complaints about her not having enough experience are not really valid as neither does Obama.

Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, it is finally getting interesting. Thankfully, only 2 1/2 more months until the election. Good luck to both sides as the sprint to the end may hold more surprises. We may all want to party when it is over, just because it is over and we will not have to hear it again for at least 2 1/2 years. This year, it was way longer than is normal.

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Best email of the week!

08-26-08
Sheila Reeves

This is the email most of us want to receive from out of town buyers. I sure hope this offer on their home works out this time. They have been through a few others prior to this one. Many of our out of town buyers are waiting for a home to sell where they are moving from. This couple has been a pleasure to work with and are really excited about moving here.

Hi Sheila,

Hope all's well with you and your family. We want to alert you that we may have a possible buyer of our home. We are awaiting more advice in regards to the above. In the meantime, please note that we are waiting for the necessary legal documentation in order to proceed.

Please be advised that we have in mind two homes of interest in Greenville, SC. Do you have an idea if the following homes MLS#------ -- -------- ----- Greenville, SC have sold or in contract? The other home as listed on your website: MLS ------ -- ------- --- Greenville, SC location, remains available? (They are)

Would you notify us of the required paperwork, etc., we would need in order to purchase a home and be able to move in directly in SC, after closing on the New York home. (Done)

We still remain interested in purchasing.

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