A home buyer found me on google and wanted to pick my brain about a short sale she was purchasing. She already had an accepted offer with her sister representing her as her buyer agent and wanted the opinion of a 3rd party with knowledge of the subject, and she found my blog.

Evidently, the listing agent told her that since her relative was representing her in the purchase of the short sale, that she was not entitled to the commission.

This is 24 karat nonsense. The agent did the right thing in disclosing the relationship. She has no ownership interest in the property, so how could she not qualify for the commission? Moreover, what sort of moral degenerate or dumb bell would utter such malarkey? To another agent’s client, no less?

I set the lady straight, but I am disturbed that there is a rogue agent out there with such a deficit of ethics. If you are buying a short sale and are represented by a relative, there is nothing that disqualifies your agent from getting paid like any other agent.  

I may be in New York, but I know the exact Philadelphia neighborhood where the guy in this article in today’s NY Times lives. He’s in Frankford, off Roosevelt Boulevard, and about 10 blocks east of St Martin of Tours Catholic School. The City of Philadelphia has instituted a program that, while not perfect, is making a difference for people facing foreclosure. Basically, the city is forcing lenders to sit down with the borrowers, who are represented by volunteer lawyers, and work out any deal possible short of foreclosure. It isn’t always successful, but according to the piece it also results in a more dignified exit in the cases where the people can’t stay. 

I always considered myself a free market capitalist who abhorred government meddling in commerce. That is true in most cases. However, capitalism and free enterprise are not a suicide pact. This isn’t a day at the office, this is triage on a national scale. We can’t allow people like Chris Hall (and the millions like him) to go down the drain out of loyalty to a philosophy. We have to do something collectively, and as much as I dislike many of the Administrations policies, I have to admit that the climate of aid for struggling homeowners would not exist otherwise. Philadelphia is an overwhelmingly democratic town, so this initiative isn’t surprising to me. I give the democrats (and republicans who support it) credit.

I’d rather aid Chris Hall and other honest, hard working regular people than watch the big banks take my tax money and then thumb their nose at me. Call me crazy.

I only wish I saw more of this. I know nothing of this on a local level in New York, and that is a shame. So I tip my cap to Philadelphia, my former home of almost 10 years. New York may have the better baseball team (sorry. I had to get that in), but in helping homeowners, Philly is the true champion.

Did you hear? It was actually signed into law by President Bush but hasn’t been publicized much. However, I’m sure you’ve had buyers invoke their rights recently. A few highlights of the law:

• Buyers are allowed to refer to any kitchen or bathroom renovated prior to 2003 as “outdated.”
• In accordance with findings of the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Surgeon General, granite counter tops are the only acceptable surface for food preparation. Corian is acceptable only with a variance.
• Also, no kitchen appliance can be anything other than stainless steel.  
• The only acceptable storage for clothing is a walk in closet. 
• No US citizen can relieve them self in a bathroom that does not have ceramic tile and a column sink. 
• No home is habitable without a “Master Suite.” “Master” must comprise of a master bath with jet bath, walk in closet, vaulted ceiling, and be updated on or after January 2, 2003. 
• Any basement with a hint of humidity, a dehumidifier, or both, shall be referred to as a “Wet flooded disaster.” A basement that is actually musty shall be hereby referred to as a “pond.” 
• Any driveway with a slope of more than 8 degrees shall be referred to as an insurmountable winter deathtrap, but only after the ceremonial words “what the hell are we going to do when it snows?” are uttered.
• No driveway or walkway will be deemed completed unless it has pavers, cobblestone, or some other exquisitely expensive element.
• A house built prior to 1995 and not extensively updated to the above standards will be referred to as a “fixer upper.” 
• A home that is not in compliance is only allowed if the sellers are above the age of 70 (or dead. Or both.), but only if they bought the house prior to 1980 and they agree to utilize the “warning odor” of mothballs. 
• When a home that is termed to be “in compliance” with the above criteria, and the seller has not accepted the $50,000 off-price offer from the buyer in favor of a full priced bid, the buyers are allowed to piss and moan for a month that they thought this was a buyer’s market, the sellers are unfair and that their agent is an out of touch, lazy, misinformed gnu.

By and large I am pretty convinced that most Active Rainers are a sensitive, compassionate crowd. I have read posts from REO brokers lamenting that they have to evict people around the holidays. I have read posts wringing their hands over ethical dilemmas because they wanted to do the right thing without a word spoken about “commission.” Even some of the posters and commenters who sort of annoy me usually place a premium on ethics. 

So imagine my surprise when I see that there is a relatively new member who has created his own niche: making fun of foreclosures. A 70’s kitchen or bath? Hilarious. Jury rigged plumbing because they probably had no money? A riot. He even started a group devoted to posts on the subject of goofing on REOs where they see “funny” things. Yeah. Funny. 

Maybe I’m a stick in the mud but I don’t see the humor in other people’s misfortune. And anyone who knows me knows I am a supreme wise guy. I bust on lame decor plenty, but laughing about the appearance of an REO, especially if the offence is they didn’t update, strikes me as about as tasteful as laughing at a cleft palate. 

I have posted before on the tragedy of REO homes improved to the hilt where the owner sadly ran out of money. There is nothing funny about improving the home and not being able to enjoy your efforts. There is even less humor in a home where someone obviously lived a long time and wasn’t able to improve it to this agent’s lofty standards, only to eventually lose it anyway, perhaps due to illness, the economy or worse. Their children crawled on those floors just like yours or mine. They had Thanksgiving dinner in that home the same as you or I.

Oh, and here’s the kicker- most of the posts aren’t even Members Only, so the public can stumble upon some licensees laughing it up at foreclosure victims’ expense. HA HA. Way to elevate the industry, pal. What a PR nightmare.  

So I have to ask, what is so funny about rummaging through the most personal part of a person’s life, their home, after they’ve been thrown out? I guess we can’t all be cool. 

Oh, I’ve just been told by the poster to “lighten up.” Lighten up. That is often the calling card of a deficit of empathy. 

There are two very good reasons to take extreme care in mixing clients and your Facebook friends. You may not want to grant certain people access, and you may see certain things you wish you hadn’t. 

First, the access thing. Recently, I posted about a client that I had to let go. I didn’t post it on my outside blog, so it didn’t hit my Facebook page. I never would have fired them if he was as motivated as she was, but he is in la la land, and after 2 years enough was enough. Still, I did my best to let her down easy. I had no choice.

A day or two ago, I wrote a post entitled 2 Ways to Kill the Sale of Your Home. Like most of my posts, it went to my outside blog and my Facebook page. I was greeted this morning to the following, since deleted:

This was pure sour grapes. I bear no ill will, but my Facebook page isn’t the forum for working out your frustration that your husband can’t commit to a home purchase. 

What I see on other people’s Facebook pages tells me a great deal also. For instance, if I am chasing you down for documents for your mortgage or short sale and you explain that you’ve been out of commission due to illness, it is bad for you to then post all your “Mafia Wars” conquests from the day prior, complete with full conversations with fellow Mafia War people. If you can reach level 17,495,736,363 in online games you can get me bank statements. 

Another instance was when I was interviewing a young lady who was considering getting her real estate license. She added me as a friend and I was then privy to hundreds of photos of her partying with her friends. I love the sight of attractive young women in cocktail dresses (and less) holding drinks. But would I want that as my agent? 

Facebook is a fantastic tool for networking and building our businesses. I have already gotten a deal from it. However, it is like atomic energy. It can do great good and it can also do great damage. So, like atomic energy, proceed with caution. 

It was a bizarre phone call this afternoon. The lady on the phone swore that her home had just come off the market with another broker, but I couldn’t find it on the MLS. I changed statuses, spellings of the address (1st? First?), and anything else I could think of. Nothing. The home is in Yonkers, so I asked if it could be on a corner and have another address. Nope, middle of the block. 

I asked who the broker was, and she didn’t know. Her brother and co-owner was handling that. Then, she finally gave me the clue I needed. The broker was in Queens. After a quick check, I had my answer.

The broker listed her Yonkers home on the Long Island MLS. Yonkers is not in the Long Island area. It belongs on the Westchester-Putnam MLS. 

No wonder there were no calls. No wonder there were no showings. The house was, for all intents and purposes, not listed, at least not on the local market. It might as well have been on the California MLS.

So, if you are selling your home, I guess you need to add to track record, references and other advisable queries, if the agent will actually put the property on the correct MLS. Not that you want the local brokers and buyers to be aware of it. I mean, if you did that, it might actually sell.

Oh, and here’s another little detail. The house doesn’t expire on the Long Island MLS until August, 2010!

Next! 

I can’t speak for every agent, but if I were your broker and I advised you to lower your price it is because you need to reduce your price. Most of my clients see the light; I’ve given them the market data as well as our showing and feedback logs. Some sellers don’t get it, and they are the ones who eventually go stale. What is sad is that a stale listing sells for less than it would have if the seller took my advice because the public sees the days on market and assumes there is something wrong with the place. I get 2 main answers from sellers who won’t reduce. One is a rationalization, another is a lame alternative. Both ideas will kill the sale.

1. “People can make an offer.” This is an irrational thought costumed as a rationality. If you’ve been for sale for 90 days and had two showings, this is absurd. People don’t make offers on a home they won’t bother to see. If you’ve been for sale for 6 months and had 50 showings, what makes you think the 51st will be different? Buyers will not make an offer (or, in some cases, even see) a property that strikes them as overpriced. Moreover, the only people that will make an offer on an overpriced home are the type who would offer less than a fair-minded person who can’t reconcile price and property.
2. “I’ll pay a bonus to the selling agent” or “I’ll help with closing costs.” This is offered instead of simply reducing the price. Look, if you are going to throw more money into the deal, take it off the price where everyone can see it! This is an invisible benefit. People that need help with closing costs will ask for it even if it isn’t offered. Worse, you still have a price point problem.

Defining success is almost like talking politics or religion. Everyone has their own view. 

I gave it some thought last night, and here is what success means for me:

You know what you are made of, you like what you see in the mirror, and you like what you do every day.

Simple. Self knowledge, self esteem, and enjoying your endeavors. You don’t need a mansion, you don’t need an ambassadorship, and you aren’t trading drudgery for material gain. It is a fairly simplistic definition, but I think it is profound. Given how people in this industry strive, work and deal with adversity as part of our daily routine, I think it puts things into perspective.

Do you want to get a bidding war going on your home, even in this slow market? Do you want to get multiple buyers, all competing against each other over your home, driving the price to tens of thousands above asking price? It can be done, you know. Is that what you want?

Are you sure? Fine. Here’s what you do.

Drop your price 20-30%. You’ll get a bidding war. An appraiser in this New York Times article on bidding wars has it right. In a market where most properties are still overpriced, correctly priced homes will attract the buyers. “Correctly priced,” according to the article, means 20-30% less than last year. The article focuses on Manhattan apartments, but the same rings true for homes for sale in Westchester County and the surrounding areas.

In a market where there is still inventory which is overpriced, it isn’t insane. If your home is worth 420 and you are still floating around at 499k hoping for a miracle, dropping the price to 400 might get all those lurkers out there who are watching properties online, waiting for a price drop, to get off their rear ends and make an offer. You just have to get your mind around the fact that your house is worth 420,000.

Banks do this all the time. REO foreclosures are priced at or below  market value and they sell quickly. They have one thing going for them: the assett manager has no emotional connection to the house, unlike most sellers who still occupy their home. Divorce yourself from the emotions and look at the numbers. Even if you don’t use the “bidding war” strategy, a price drop will help in almost all cases of a stale listing.

“Luck is when Opportunity meets Preparedness”

-Branch Rickey

After one of my more difficult meetings with a seller today, I had an appointment at a Yonkers condominium that had expired previously with another broker. Not long into out interview, the lady’s cell phone rang and she informed me that she was not actually the owner.

Strike one.

The real owner was her brother, who was on the phone just then. He asked to speak with me, and I was happy to speak with him. It is always better to speak with the principal, you know? Initially, he wondered who I was and what I was doing over there.

Strike two.

I can’t say that I blame him. If I were in his shoes I’d want to know who is trying to list my home with my sister who doesn’t own it. I told him that very same thing. I asked, now that I’d seen the unit, if he and I could get together to speak about how I could help. He had more questions for me, and I guess I said the right things. He said he’d be over in 10 minutes. “Prepare the paperwork, we need to sell this thing.”

Boom. It is high, it is far, it is gone.

10 minutes later, he was over, we hit it off as well in person as we did on the phone, and the condo was listed at a $25,000 price reduction. Pretty lucky, given other possible outcomes. But things like this don’t happen unless you are out there and prepared for curve balls. He got that I wanted to do business, he meant business too, and we clicked. Just like that. Sometimes you get lucky.

Stay tuned.

* Branch Rickey was the GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers who signed Jackie Robinson and broke baseball’s color barrier. Also the inventor of the minor league farm system, he is considered one of the most innovative baseball executives ever. Moreover, he changed the world.

First, a little Kipling. This is one of my favorite poems:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream-and not make dreams your master,
If you can think-and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings-nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And-which is more-you’ll be a Man, my son!

 -Rudyard Kipling

Now, Max:

Let me tell you what tough is.

Tough is being a single mother and putting your son through Yale.

Tough is being an animal lover with multiple dogs, cats and a horse and having to lose 2 cats in 2 days.

Tough is being put in between a battle axe listing agent and demanding, New York City clients and getting the $400,000  battle axe listing to accept $350,000 in those 2 same days.

Tiffany represented a builder when I met her and I recruited her for a year before she joined the firm. She’s a good team player, very protective of her clients, and firmly commmited to doing the right thing in business. She’s also Max’s godmother, having found him on German Sheperd rescue for me when she knew I was looking for a dog.

This has been a tough year for most of us, and she has had to endure a very rough week. One of those cats was 17. I’ve lost pets before. It sucks. A 17 year family member is truly family. You mourn. You are tempted to stay in bed.

Tough people, however, do what they have to do, and Tiffany gave a virtuoso real estate performance with difficult parties to please on both sides in the midst of grief and adversity. As Yankee fans would say, she hit one into the monuments.

I’m not surprised.

This is the kind of person I am proud to have on the team. We don’t shuffle rolodexes around here. We make things happen in spite of circumstances, and Tiffany embodies that. If you are in Dutchess County, NY and you need a good agent, you need to add her to your short list.

New York real estate closings take forever compared to other areas. There are too many attorneys and too much red tape, but you can’t control the weather. What you can control is how you approach your purchase and expedite the transaction. Is a 30 day closing possible? Yes, but you have to have all your oars in the water:

• Have all your mortgage documentation complete. Everything. If your loan processor says they want all bank statement pages, front and back, including advertisements, give it to them. This is perhaps the most imprtant thing you can do.
• Be reachable. If I need an answer, answer your email or call me back at lunch so we don’t lose a day.
• Reach out to your attorney! Hint: If the attorney can’t come to the phone, handle it with the paralegal. That’s their job. The biggest legal hangup is title. Have it ordered fast. Some lawyers wait for the comitment to come in, which sets us back 2-3 weeks. Chew gum and breath.
• Reach out to your Loan officer. Ask questions. Was the appraisal submitted? Were there issues to handle? Make sure they have all they asked for. Ask what the next step is what what has to happen to get there.
• Settle disputes fast. You can either live with the drapes or you get your own. Talk it over and make a choice. Don’t hold up a half million dollar deal for 3 days while you agonize over a few hundred dolalrs in window treatments.
• Get your homeowner insurance! You’d be surprised how many Friday closings become “next Wednesday” closings because you don’t have the binder.

If you have your act together and we work as a team, we can get you into underwriting and have mortgage commitment in hand within a few weeks.  When you show the seller the money, the onus is now on them to move forward and close. Assuming they are as on point as you are, a fast closing can be achieved.

The following is, in part, an email I just wrote to a former prospective buyer. For reasons unknown to me he started working with another agent a while ago, and I heard over the grapevine that he was a “no show” at a contract signing recently, which is not the first time he’s gotten cold feet. 

I don’t think he’s a bad guy. I think he’s worried sick over making the wrong decision, and there is no one in his life telling him what he needs to hear. So, given my insomnia and the fact that I have no financial interest in what he does, I hope my words resonate with him. 

_________________________________________

It happened again. I won’t elaborate on where, although it is tempting to ask what is in the water there, but, yet again, I open my email and have to handle it. Again. And it is my fault because I have a newer agent whom I did not prepare.

For the umpteenth time in my career, a buyer who contacted us on touring a home, has played footsie with us getting an appointment confirmed, and seemed refreshingly eager to see the place, has dropped the bomb we ought to have avoided.

There it was in my inbox at 6:26 AM:

Hi, we’re going to view the property with our RE agent <name>  at 7pm today. Are we going to meet you there?

Here’s the kicker. It isn’t our listing. The buyer inquired via an IDX site, so the only way to earn a living with them was to represent them on the buying side. So, yet again, I am reminded to teach my buyer agents to ask the following question at first contact:

“Are you working with an agent?”

Had we asked, we would have saved time, money, and a headache. Forewarned is forearmed!  

Here in New York just about every buyer north of New York City working with brokerage uses a buyer agent. It just makes sense; the seller has an advocate in the listing agent looking out for them, so buyers should have the same advantage in the largest transaction of their life. Moreover, it almost never costs the buyer anything out of pocket beyond their purchase. A good buyer agent can help with many things, but there are some things we can’t do.

Let’s start with what a good agent can do. 

• Due diligence on the property background, sales history, and condition. I’m the guy that advises you to test that oil tank, septic system, and presence of radon. I check with the municipality to ensure that the taxes are correct, the square footage is accurate, and everything represented by the listing agent is true. 
• Market activity- Is the house overpriced? Underpriced? Competitive for the area? Listed previously with another broker? I can tell you what houses like it are selling for, and in many cases I know the other sales in the area very well. I may have personally made some of those sales!
• Negotiate– I can sniff out a divorce. I know what questions to ask. I probe for weaknesses. I know exactly how to handle the listing agent, certainly far better than an unlicensed, first-timer. I have seen listing agents hang buyers out to dry in cases where the buyer thought themselves wise to deal directly with the lister. 
• Advise– I can tell you if the time is right to raise your offer, stay put, how to handle a counter offer, and tons of other things you may not have even thought of. I do it all the time. 
• Refer you to competent lawyers, mortgage sources, inspectors, and other specialists you need to make sure you have proper representation and assistance. Need an estimate on a new deck? I’ll get you 2 contractors. Need to know if a roof is going to need a replacement? I’ll get you 2 honest roofers who’ll tell you the truth, not shake you down for a job. 
• Serendipity– I have verified estimated fuel and utility costs, listened for train noise of a nearby line, timed a commute, and hundreds of other things you may not be able to do yourself. 
• Is there more? I could probably write for hours. But you get the point. 

• Predict the future. I have NO IDEA what a seller will take. Don’t ask me to ask their agent. They are ethically bound to represent the asking price, period. I have NO IDEA what the house will sell for in 5 years. There is no way to tell. I have NO IDEA when the roof or furnace will go.   
• Steal a house. Well, in most cases. Yes, it is a buyer’s market. No, that doesn’t mean that you can insult the seller and presume they are desperate and will take anything. Have we gotten some fantastic deals done well below asking price? I have. But once that lowball offer is rejected or countered at full price, you need to understand that the odds of a steal are remote. 
• Hypnotize the seller and their agent into taking your 80c on the dollar offer. This is especially the case with highly desirable properties with recent price reductions and plenty of interested people looking. People are all about the money. If you are in a competitive bidding situation, they take best and highest.  
• Manipulate reality. This is somewhat like hypnosis. If you are making a low offer with a low downpayment and a pre approval from some Internet lender, you are not giving me the sufficient tools to make you look good in the eyes of the seller or their agent. 
• Beat the other side into submission. Being adversarial doesn’t work. Sellers aren’t bad people for wanting to maximize what they net for their property, so getting insulted when they counter offer or don’t accept all of your terms the first go around doesn’t make them unreasonable. It makes them people with their own wants and needs which should be respected and considered. Advocacy is not pillaging. 

A few other observations to keep in mind, especially in this environment where the buyer has the upper hand:

• Not every seller is desperate.
• A win/win outcome, or even the appearance of one, is superior to a win/lose outcome. I have seen sellers who felt like they were held over a barrel by a smug buyer replace large appliances with cheaper ones and do other things the buyer didn’t like but couldn’t fight because of ill feelings over how they were treated. 
• Never underestimate the importance of psychology and perception. If you are going to offer $395,000 on an opening bid consider 400k instead. 
• Nobody likes a bully. Sellers bullied buyers back in the hot market. It wasn’t wise. It isn’t wise to demand that a 75 year old vacate their home of 40 years in 30 days instead of 60 just because it works for you. Think win/win again. 
• Don’t overplay your hand. A 10-year old kitchen with corian counters and black appliances instead of chrome isn’t outdated or 3rd world.  
• If you adore a fantastically priced, spectacularly appointed property you probably aren’t alone. Don’t be shocked if such a home has competitive bidding. 

Here’s the bottom line: if it sounds like I am defending sellers I am not. I am trying to portray that there are people on the other side just like you. Empathy makes you a better negotiator, and better negotiators get better deals. 

I sent a buyer client a Dear John letter this evening, and it was sent with a heavy heart. I have been working with this couple on and off for 2 years now and after this afternoon I realized it was time to tell them I cannot help them. To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, a real estate brokers stock and trade is their time and advice. Your agent’s time is valuable. We cannot be a tour guide; we’ll go bankrupt.

I have enormous patience for people considering a 6 figure purchase. It isn’t done lightly, nor should it be rushed. But 2 years is enough. It isn’t even the length of time, at that, because this past summer I decided to let another buyer go after a month. In both cases, the problem was the same:

You cannot buy a $650,000 house for $400,000.

Real estate markets are highly localized. Westchester County is not Miami, Las Vegas or Pheonix. We aren’t down 50%. Is there play with most sellers? Yes. But you can’t offer a competitively priced house 80 cents on the dollar and justify it with the fact that it hasn’t sold in 90 days. The Mrs. is not the issue; he is. If it were just her they would have bought in late 07 or early 08. She came out hobbled with a cold and was in the car as we spoke in the driveway. I explained to him that this was the best we’ve found, and that he either had to raise his price or make some concessions.

His reply was disconnected; I don’t care about the friend of a friend who bought Shangri La for the back taxes. I’m an agent, and I should have found a steal for my family, right? Wrong, I bought the house my wife wanted. That’s what you do. Those words didn’t resonate with him. It was at that point that I realized this was hopeless. I had to say goodbye to them. If you want to be a wheeler dealer, I suggest baseball cards or ebay. I sell homes.

Not every house is 2009 updated and on a level, square lot at the end of a cul de sac for the same price as one with a 1980 kitchen, a cliff in the back, and a double yellow out front. If it is, it will sell in a day. You either have to raise your price point or lower your expectations if you’ve seen 100 homes and nothing is good enough. In some cases, you’ll also have to find a new agent.

I wish these people the best. I hope this will be a wake up call for them. I have a business to run, and no business survives on window shoppers.

****Caution: Bragging Father Alert*******

One of the neat things about parenthood is seeing your son or daughter do well at something, especially if it is unexpected. This morning our oldest son had to put in a shift, in the rain, at the local grocery for a cub scout fundraiser. They had a table set up outside the Stop & Shop in Ossining, where they were selling popcorn to benefit Pack 49. Luke was part of the first shift, from 11-12am, and the first 10 minutes was punctuated by 2 other scouts sort of mumbling to passersby with limited success. 

Now, you have to sort of appreciate the setting; it is raining, people are in a hurry to get to their cars, and nobody really wants to part with more money after leaving the store, especially for popcorn at double what they just passed in aisle 7. Moreover, Luke was a little slow to get started this morning, a bit shy with strangers, and very sensitive. I sort of hoped he’d blend into the background to avoid rejection, frankly. 

However, I can’t not sell. I knew the kids could do a better job with their pitch, so I stationed Luke right by the exit and had him get the line down cold:

“Would you like to buy some popcorn to support our pack?”

Then, yes, no or maybe, say “Thank you!” cheerfully. 

The first 2 or 3 people walked on by, but after about 5 minutes of practice, Luke was a natural. Every person who left the store got a faceful (and earful) of the little guy’s well-articulated pitch, followed by that adorable tooth-deficient grin. Even many of the people who didn’t want to buy anything would look right at him and say “wow, aren’t you cute!” or something like it. The little bugger stole the show. 

As every parent will attest, our children do the cutest things right before or after we turn on the camera. However, I was able to capture on my cell phone, Luke turning around a “NO” with his cheerful attitude. As you can see, he is standing right at his little station, and the lady compliments him on his politeness and sweetness, and then heads over to the table to make a purchase. The quality is a bit Zapruder-like, and another scout puts his hand up in front of the camera to be a wise guy, but you can still make it all out. 

Whats the moral of the story? Attitude is everything. It could have been a rainy, boring hour but Luke’s decision to give his all made my day. I am very proud of him. He might end up being a better salesman than his old man. 

I have a listing that is a “mystery.” Nice house, aggressive price, well exposed location, and no deal. We’ve had two offers, but neither went together. One factoid: I get more lawn sign calls on this property than any other. What to do? 

Hold an open house? Are you crazy? I HATE open houses.

An open house on a weekday afternoon? Are you nuts?

Well, I guess I’m nuts. Given the close proximity to a local school which dismisses at 3pm and the nice weather, mortgage broker Trevor Curran (who came up with the idea) and I held 180 Weyman Avenue, New Rochelle, open from 2:30-4pm yesterday. No print ads, just web-driven stuff.

The tally? 4 visitors, one of whom has already scheduled to meet with the mortgage broker for a formal pre approval. Every one of them told me they had been watching the house and waiting for an open. Every one of them complimented the house, as it is very nice

Go figure. So we’ll do it again next week.

 180 Weyman Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10805. $449,900, 3 BR, 1.5 Baths

OPEN HOUSE Thursday, October 29, 2:30pm-4pm

I just listed the sweetest property in White Plains tonight. I was very jazzed to enter it on the MLS when I was reminded that I cannot. The Westchester-Putnam MLS has been down all day.

At first we scrambled to the ledger to make sure we didn’t miss paying a bill. We didn’t miss it. There is a big upgrade going on, and all we can do is wait for them to work out the glitch. I have never seen a technical problem like this, ever. They are quite rare, and very brief at that. So, with our biggest tool down for the day, all we can do is occupy ourselves elsewhere. This is a great excuse to get to sleep early. 

6:14 am update: Still down. The MLS is going on 24 hours offline. Unheard of. 

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