Yesterday I was determined to get my open house balloons prepared and ready and the process would be a bit more organized. Yeah Right! I tell you I don't know if there really is a way to take control of the balloons before they take control of you. In the past I have always managed to pop at least one and today was no exception. One Sunday I managed to pop every single one of them except the last one which got away from me by the time I was about to start open house. These balloons are driving me INSANE!!!
The first few times I did open house I would blow up the balloons, put them in the car and tie them to the sign at the determined areas; Stop, get out the car, tie a balloon or two (if I had enough left) to the sign, stick it in the ground and get in the car and go the next corner. Between ...pop...pop, and up... up... and away, not to mention balloons floating around in the car almost causing me to wreck; I thought I had an idea that would to "refine" my “balloonistry” down to a science. NOT....
Yesterday, I decided to do it a bit differently. I had observed one of the other seasoned agents do this and it seemed to work nicely for him. Shawn is always well organized and a great mentor ..his was A novel idea. I felt like I was finally getting it together. I brought the signs inside the office; blew up six balloons for my three signs, tied the signs to the balloons, very neatly, no pops, no worries. It was going so great! Then with just a momentay lapse of brainage, I put my signs together to bring them to my car and I bet you can guess what happened next. As soon as I walked outside, the wind, (which by the way before I entered the building that day the weather way void of anything that resembled wind), began to twist and turn the balloons into a knotted mess; all three signs were stuck together. Well, I figured ok I will calmly correct this at my first stop. NOT. It was a nightmare. I felt like an idiot trying to untangle these six balloons and as soon asI thought I was close, another balloon began to intertwine... I was probably a sight to see. The wind was blowing, the balloons were flying, and I am trying to act smooth. Calm as a cucumber but I was fuming on the inside. I didn't want to show the steam coming out of my ears and mouth of course because it would not have looked or sounded good for my Image or the image of my great company; As if I hadn't already tripped that up. However after three pops, I finally managed to untangle the balloons, and make it to my open house on time. WHEW...
Oh, by the way, only two people showed up…guess when...Yep; within the last 30 minutes of the open house.... A day in the life of a Realtor®
What a day. I am going to conquer this balloon thing sooner or later. Anyone want to tell me how long that will take?
August 20 is always a difficult day for me. 6 years ago I got a call early one morning to be told that my sister Stephanie, nephew - Austin who was 10 and Niece - Taylor who was 8 all three died from smoke inhalation from a cigarette smoldering in a couch. I can tell you that whoever said that time will heal you was so wrong about that. It seems like it was just yesterday that it happened. Time has done nothing for me. The pain seems to have been lingering around the whole time and not a day goes by that I don't think about their tragic end. Not a day goes by I don't think about my sister saying, "hey brotha" or Taylor and Austin saying "hey uncle Terry". Today would be my sisters birthday. She would be 38 years old today. She was always proud of her brother; of everything I did.
On that day I truly feel like two angels were brought down in the form of her children to take her away from the pain in her life. It was becoming too hard for her to bear anymore. She would be happy to know I am writing about her in my Active Rain blog today. I know it is not about real estate, but it is about life and what makes us who we are. They are a part of me, and always will be.
She always felt I got more attention than her. But Stephanie this one is for you. I love you so much.
Happy Birthday, Stephanie!
I could have missed the pain, but I'd of had to miss The Dance
I started real estate back in August 2009. I decided to do it full time to give it my all. I am fighting tooth and nail to make it work for me. It hasn't been easy. I have made a lot of mistakes along the way. But I truly feel that I am the best agent for my clients for the very reasons Jason Sardi describes in his post titled, Are You Cutting a Promo or Wanting People to do Business With You? Jason quotes, "When you are dealing with someone hungry, smart, and poor ... you can damn sure bet that (they) want it just as much as you." There have actually been some days this year when I literally WAS hungry, so I worked even harder for my clients. Luckily, I have had some friends and clients who have recognized this and have help to pull me through some dark times. Most of my clients have appreciated my hard work very much but the ignorant ones couldn't see the my selflessness if it were written on my bald head. I knew that by making them happy, satisfied clients that at the end of he day, I would then and only then have shelter over my head and food to eat for a little while longer. I am still fighting to find success because I don't give up that easy on anything I set my mind to. It is not easy starting off in a business in which everyone and their uncle is a agent; regardless whether or not they are good at it. It's not easy starting off in the heart of a downturn economy. But it has made me even stronger and has forced me to work even harder to achieve those goals I want to achieve. I have learned more because I have wanted more. I truly find inspiration in reading Active Rain blog posts. Thanks Sardi
When it looks bad, like you?re not gonna make it, that?s when you gotta get mean. I mean just plain mad dog mean. Cause if you lose your head and give up, then you neither win nor live. That?s just the way it is.
Josey Wales, The Outlaw Joesy Wales
Core Logic, a leading provider of consumer research and real estate information recently published a study on The Cost of Short Sales. Core Logic studied over 250,000 short sales over the past two years and report their findings in order to determine the trends, risks and opportunites that a short sale has on the mortgage industry and participants in the industry.
They found that shortsales have triples since 2008, and more than half are in California, Florida, Texas and Arizonia. 
The Study further goes on to say that lenders are currently incurring losses at a rate of $310 million per year. Find out more about The Cost of Short Sales There you can download the full PDF after filling in your informaiton.
4 Major Roadblocks to Closing
There are four common roadblocks that a buyer can encounter when moving through the home buying process. If your Realtor® is aware of them it could help you avoid or go around them before they happen.
Financing - 
Before you even start searching for your dream home, you should get pre-qualified. Especially in today tighter mortgage loan requirements many more people are finding it much harder to get funded. They are having to go back to the credit repair table before they can even begin the loan process. Even with FHA loans the requirements are getting more restrictive. If your agent helps to get you pre-qualified it will save you time and stress from the beginning. Then once you are ready you will possibly be even better equipped to negotiate a better interest rate. There are several reasons in which people are not able to get financing. Usually due to poor credit, not enough money to put down or close with, not making enough money, or high debt to income ratio. You generally should have a credit score of at least 620 and your monthly mortgage payment should not be more than 28% of you monthly income.
Title - 
Title insurance helps to assure the buyer that the seller can actually sell the home and that you will eventually be free and clear to own the home once the note is paid off; and that no one else will try to come along later and claim that money was owed against the home prior to your closing. Therefore if a cloud on the title comes back it could either cause the deal to be postponed or worse yet to fall apart altogether. You agent can help by asking questions but unfortunately until you actually have the home under contract you can be totally assured of a clear title until the title company sends you a commitment. You agent should look this over and if there are any questions on schedule C of the commitment they should be addressed. Recently a client made it through the first phase of betting financing. We thought it would be smooth sailing from there on since we were getting a great deal on a nice new home worth about $40,000 more than asking. Then I got a call from the title company telling me that evidently the seller’s lawyer never recorded the deed into the new sellers name and that it was still in the previous seller’s name. Because of this we couldn't find a bank to finance the loan for 90 days. Since banks have come down hard on doing "flip" homes in response the scamming practices of the past. Even though the circumstances did not exactly classify this home as a flip home; on paper it looks like a flip. We now have to wait until October 2010 to close this deal.
Inspections - 
Inspections are probably one of the most common roadblocks and often one of the most unexpected of them all; especially among first time home buyers. This is because inspectors have a way of making everything in the inspections sound equally bad. Instead of placing a hierarchy on the issues at hand they give the impression that EVERYTHING is gloom and doom. This is to cover them in case of a potential lawsuit. So if you go into the inspections with the understanding that this is the case; and a good agent can help prepare you for what things will probably come up, it will make the inspection process a lot smoother. Inspectors inspect the foundation, structure, roof, attic structure, electrical system, plumbing system, heating and air conditioning system, and more. Code requirements change all the time. Inspectors impose the new codes requirements upon older homes just as they do on newer homes. So obviously an older home is going to have a laundry list of issues; some a greater concern than others. Often times it really depends upon the house and your own judgment as to whether or not you can or cannot live with these things or if you want the owner to fix them or offer a concession to get them fixed. If the parties cannot come to an agreement then the deal may fall apart. A knowledgeable agent may be able to put things into perspective and help find negotiable terms to keep the deal moving. I had a situation in which my buyers’ inspection report came back with foundation problems. We got a quote on the foundation and it was going to be about $5000. The seller offered to contribute $5000 at closing but refused to do the deal himself. My buyer decided that she was not going to do the work herself because foundation work could potentially cause other lateral damage such as walls to crack or doors to jam and she didn't want to be left behind fixing other possible issues. The two parties faced a grid lock and the deal fell through.
Appraisal - 
Banks require a home appraisal in order to determine whether or not they are investing in a home that is worth the price you have agreed to purchase it for. If the appraisal comes back and it is lower than the agreed upon price you have the option of paying the difference, asking the seller to come down that amount, splitting the cost between the buyer and seller or simply walking away. Another problem that may arise from an appraisal is a difference in the size of the home or the lot. If this happens you must decide whether or not this difference is enough to walk away from the deal. If the home doesn't appraise that may be enough reason to change your mind. I experienced a situation in which there was a difference of about 200 square ft. The seller told me that he had added on to the house and never reported the add-on which would lead one to believe that the addition was not accounted for. So we added 200 sq ft to the total square feet of the house. When the appraisal came back the buyer walked away from the deal; even though the home appraised about $500 above the asking price. A hard lesson learned but a very good lesson learned for sure.
Conclusion
So as you can see there are some major roadblocks in the home buying process. Many of which can be avioded with a Realtor who can help you avoid the pitfalls. By no means have I covered every possible roadblock scenario out there. These are just the four major ones and there are other variations and situations that can occur. Since no real estate transaction is alike it is impossible to avoid every one of them but with a Realtor who is proactive instead of reactive will greatly improve your odds. You have a much better chance of finding solutions that bring you to your ultimate goal of home ownership. Realtors who have fallen flat on their face, gotten up and dusted themselves off early into into their career often times better equipped to avoid the common pitfalls. Good Luck with your next home buying or home selling experience.
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Terry Kraemer is a Realtor® in Houston, TX specializing in the Houston Inner loop, West U, Neartown, Midtown, Downtown, Montrose, Galleria, Kirby, River Oaks, and Oak Forest.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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