If you’re looking for a home to rent, be careful.

The rental market is full of homes owned by investors who never intended to be landlords.

Many of those owners live out-of-state and rushed in to buy homes on speculation during our formerly hot market, then failed to sell and get rich before things cooled down.

Now, they're absentee landlords with little or no property management experience.

Some of them can’t afford to pay 8-10% of each month’s rent for professional property management, so they try to manage their rental properties from a distance.

That can lead to poor maintenance, lax tenant screening, and other problems.

And, many of those owners are still trying to sell their properties while renting them.

If you rent a home that’s for sale, you’ll have to deal with the intrusion of Realtors ^® showing the home and you’ll have to move if the owner finds a buyer.

The worst case can occur when a rental home goes into foreclosure.

In some instances, the renter will not know the property is in foreclosure until they are evicted after the property has been foreclosed.

There are reputable investors and landlords out there.

It's best to rent from them.

Why do some buyers think it’s a good idea to work with more than one buyer agent?

I can understand the logic behind “shopping” buyer agents to find a competent, responsive, experienced agent.

But, playing several agents against each other is a sure way to turn off any experienced agent.

All buyer agents have the same listing inventory to show and every home listed in MLS is available with a mouse click.

Do those buyers think one agent is going to find a property another one won’t find?

I recently caught one of those disloyal buyers in the act while I was helping him get his financing pre-approved.

To my amazement, my lender called and told me they had been asked by another agent to pre-approve my buyer.

When I called to ask the buyer what was going on, he didn’t return my call.

Now he gets to work with the other agent.

My advice?

Pick one competent, responsive buyer agent you like and trust and stick with them.

Confide in them, tell them your wants, needs, likes, and dislikes.

Then, let them do their job for you.

If you really want their best efforts and loyalty, ask them if you can sign a Buyer Representation Agreement.

You’re wasting your time and you won’t get good service from any experienced agent if they know you’re playing the field.

Loyalty matters, especially to those of us who only get paid at closing.

It’s time to open up those foundation vents, folks!

You did close them last Fall, right?

It’s critically-important to allow air flow through your foundation vents to avoid a buildup of moisture, which can lead to serious problems (spelled m-o-l-d) in your crawlspace.

Available Homes
# Available: 4,879
# Vacant: 2,487
Vacant Percent: 51%
Average Asking Price: $355,556
Median Asking Price: $269,900

Pending Sales
# Pending:  758
Average Asking Price: $280,830
Median Asking Price: $216,900

Closed Sales – April 2007
# Closed:  715
Average Sales Price: $268,147
Median Sales Price: $230,000

Closed Sales – April 2008
# Closed: 472
% Change:  -34%

Average Sales Price: $252,207
% Change: -5.9%

Median Sales Price: $210,000
% Change:  -8.7%

Am I the only one who giggles when yet another “expert” predicts the precise moment when the housing market will recover?

Depending upon the expert du jour, we can select from the following:

• Tomorrow
• Next week
• Next month
• Fall 2008
• Spring 2009
• Fall 2009
• Sometime in 2010
• Sometime in 2011
• Sometime in 2012

I had a thought the other day (didn’t even hurt!).

What if there is no recovery?

What if this is it?

What if . . .

• Demand remains lower that expected?
• Supply eventually equals demand?
• Prices stabilize at affordable levels?
• The speculators/flippers lick their wounds and move on to the next big thing?
• Credit tightens further and buyers have to have a substantial down payment, stellar credit, and be able to afford the home they’re buying?
• Homes appreciate at 2-3% annually like they did five years ago?
• People once again buy a home to live in instead of using it as their personal ATM?

What if this IS the future?

My best guess?

If you’re waiting for “Back To 2005”, it’s going to be a long wait!

Sometimes I dream of offering ala carte fees for each service I provide.

And, when I dream, I wonder what it would be like to get paid for:

• Each home I show to a buyer (with fond memories of the buyer I showed 200 homes ).
• Each listing proposal I present to a seller who thinks I’m “negative”.
• Each home I preview for a buyer.
• Each home inspection I arrange and attend.
• Each negotiation over price, terms, closing date, possession, personal property included/excluded, and home inspection repairs that I successfully conclude.
• Each document I prepare.
• Each document I review.
• Each question I answer.
• Each phone call I return.
• Each e-mail I reply to (with fond memories of the buyer who exchanged 565 e-mails with me, then bought one of the homes I recommended from another agent).
• Each home I photograph.
• Each virtual tour I prepare.
• Each flyer I prepare/print.
• Each closing I attend.
• Each time I tell the truth, even it’s to my detriment.

Most of all, I dream of getting paid for my services when I provide them instead of only getting paid if and when a transaction closes.

If I could get paid for each service I provide, when I provide it, I wouldn’t have to charge a percentage-based commission and listen to people complain about how my fee.

But, for now, I must stick with the existing system, regardless of how flawed it may be.

I must settle for getting paid only for results.

Which is, perhaps, as it should be.

Listing agents are taught, from day #1, to get the listing ~ no matter what.

Why?

Because the broker wants more signs up to create the appearance of a larger-than-life market presence, and because listings provide listing agents with “inventory” and a chance of making a sale.

Listing agents hope to get a call from someone who drove by, pulled a flyer (if they had flyers in the box ), and liked the curb appeal of the home.

Plus, listing agents have a chance of getting paid if another agent in MLS sells their listing.

But, all of those opportunities turn into challenges when a listing agent overreaches and takes a listing just for the sake of trying to win the monthly office listing contest.

One current popular strategy is for agents to list as many homes as possible while hoping they will get lucky and some of them will sell.

I know agents who are currently carrying 25-50 listings, hoping that "something" will work! 

Wow, what a concept ~ having to “get lucky” in order to get paid?

My strategy is precisely the opposite ~ I won’t take a listing unless I’m sure I can sell it.

Which is why I routinely decline most of the listings I am offered.

And, why I manage to sell nearly all of the listings I take, including this one yesterday.

Real estate is difficult enough without taking large numbers of listings that are overpriced, filthy, difficult to show, and owned by sellers who don’t care if they sell.

That said, I am never too busy to consider your listing if you have a salable property, are seriously-motivated to sell, and would like to benefit from my  experience.

I have survived and thrived through many down markets during my 36 years in real estate.

Our current market is a walk-in-the-park compared to 1982, 1991, 2001 and other "fun times".

I’m always interested in taking a salable listing, regardless of market conditions.

Thinking of selling?

Able to handle some straight talk?

Give me a call at (208)938-5533 Direct and let's figure out a time to sit down and talk about your situation, okay?

It’s amusing to watch sellers continually changing listing agents in our current market.

They list with ABC Realty at a 2005 price, then re-list with XYZ Realty 90 days later at the same price and blame their *&%$#@*^%$ listing agent because their home didn’t sell.

I’m even seeing some of those sellers increase their price when they list with their 2^nd or 3^rd listing agent!

Tragically, those sellers continue to make their mortgage payments month after month, taking their loss on the monthly installment plan, instead of facing reality.

In this market, the longer their home is on the market, the less they are likely to get.

Sellers need to figure out that listing agents can’t force buyers to look at their listings.

It’s usually not about the listing agent; it’s all about price and condition.

Granted, there are some flaky listing agents in this market, and if they can’t figure out how to return a phone call or keep flyers in the flyer box, they deserve to be replaced.

But, that often isn’t the case.

The twin culprits are usually price and condition, not the listing agent.

Buyers are still buying in this market, but they’re only buying the best homes at the best prices.

If you are a seller, you have less than a 1 in 10 chance of selling in any given month, so you’d better do everything right if you want to sell.

The buyers are the ones who are calling the shots.

That’s why it’s called a “buyer’s market.