Omaha Real Estate & Omaha Homes for Sale - The Trumm Team

The sale of a property I was representing in the Park West subdivision of Omaha at 2805 N 120 Ave closed and Helen represented the buyer.

It takes more than comprehensive marketing and outstanding service to sell a home. It also requires a competent agent on the other side of the sale. Helen did a great job. She was a pleasure to work with and I hope we can do business again.

As the Real Estate Market Drops so do the Number of Omaha Real Estate Agents

According to the Nebraska Real Estate Commission newsletter Commission Comment the number of Nebraska real estate licenses has decreased over the last year. Here are the numbers:

This is really no surprise. It seems that in the good years when it is a seller's market, everyone and their dog gets into real estate, thinking they can make some easy money and most of them do it part-time. In the down years however these fair weather real estate agents (and their dogs) realize that they do not have the skill or knowledge to make a living. As a result they quit.

This is a trend that is also seen nationwide. The National Association of Realtors^® show in their annual NAR Membership Statistics report the following drop in membership over the last two years.

For an explanation of the difference between a real estate licensee and a Realtor^®, check out the following two articles:

In Omaha what is the difference between a Realtor^® and a real estate licensee?

In Omaha what is the difference TO THE SELLER between a Realtor^® and a real estate licensee?

The sale of my listing at 17714 J St in the Wood Creek subdivision of Omaha closed and the buyer was represented by Nancy Heim-Berg.

If it were not for good agents like Nancy, then I wouldn't be able to sell over 50 homes a year.

Nancy made this a smooth transaction and I hope we can do business again in the future.

Omaha Real Estate Horror Story: The Scheming Renovator

I recently had a client who did a nice job renovating an older house or at least did a nice job on the surface. An offer was accepted and a home inspection was done which turned up a number of issues that needed repairs. This is when things took a turn for the unusual.

The seller made the repairs ... or at least claimed to. I asked him to send me a copy of the repair receipts and he got defensive. He said that the contract doesn't say that he has to provide receipts. I responded with, "That's true but it's the only way we can prove that many of these items were done." He still did not want to provide any receipts.

About two weeks prior to closing the buyer's agent walked through the house just to see if the repairs were done; the house was vacant so this wasn't any inconvenience to the seller. What she found was that the plumbing pipe in the basement rafters that was leaking had not been fixed. Instead there was now insulation tucked around the pipe and the insulation was damp. Also the furnace that needed to be cleaned and serviced was still filthy.

When I informed my client of these issues, I was expecting him to say that these items were overlooked. Instead he got upset and told me that this agent had no right entering the house, that they were allowed only one final walk-through prior to closing to check the repairs, and that he wanted me to tell her to stay out of the house until that walk-through. I let him know that I could do so but that it would make her and the buyers suspicious.

Upon doing their final walk-through of the house, the buyers found that the plumbing leak and a few other items still were not corrected. I called the seller to let him know and he told me that the buyers could take it or leave it. I reluctantly delivered the message to their agent and they decided to walk away from the purchase. The next day the seller said that he would make the repairs, which he had already agreed to, if I would reduce my commission to pay for them. My response, "That's not going to happen." If anything I should have told him that I should raise my commission for having to deal with him. So the deal was off.

Two days later my seller let me know that he would make the repairs, again the repairs that he had already agreed to, if the buyers still wanted the house. By now the buyers had no confidence that the seller would actually make these repairs rather than just cover them up again so they bought another house.

Other frightening tales from the dark side of Omaha real estate:

Omaha Real Estate Horror Story: The Vanishing Listing Agent

Omaha Real Estate Horror Story: The Backstabbing Buyer's Agent

Real Estate Horror Story: Dead Silence

Below is a summary of the existing residential real estate home sales in Omaha for August 2009.