Springtime in the Colorado Rockies Yesterday was May 1st and we were forecast for a snow storm up and down I25.  That evening we got about 5" in the Wet Mountain Valley.  The overnight low was 19 degrees.  With a nice blanket of snow to cover and protect the young flowers they did just fine.  Today the temperature is in the mid 40's and this weekend we will see the 70's again. For about 2 hours it looked like a blizzard.  Today, back to springtime in the Colorado Rockies! 05/02/2013

Professional Courtesy   Richard Weisser wrote an interesting blog on April 29, 2013 titled "How  much time should we give the seller to answer our offer?" I live in an extreme buyer's market and if a property gets shown the showing agent qualifies for a 3 day cruise, Broadway tickets and a spa membership!  So, my opinion may not care much weight on this subject.  But, I speak from experience. If someone takes the time to show and write an offer for one of your listings isn't it professional courtesy to reply to their contract offer?  My experience was several years ago when the seller told the young, new agent they didn't want to reply.  The day after 'deadline' I called the other agent to ask about the offer only to hear they didn't want to reply to it. I accept a seller's position.  W... 05/01/2013

I Guarantee Listings to Sell I can guarantee listings to sell in my market.  No, our market is not hot, hot, hot…but we do have buyers.   Now is the time to list your property and with the current market conditions…buyers are ready to buy! Did I say I guarantee listings to sell?  GUARANTEED! How can I make this guarantee? In our market it is a common practice to overprice homes and land.  If you are a seller and you do overprice your property, I guarantee it will sell…someone else’s property! 04/27/2013

  The Jones Theater   Presents   The Custer County High School Spring Drama   “Annie”   5 Performances:   Friday, April 26th at 7:30pm   Saturday, April 27th at 7:30pm   Sunday, April 28th at 2:00pm   Thursday, May 2nd at 7:30pm   Friday, May 3rd at 7:30pm   Enjoy dinner before the play at one of our local restaurants.   Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts   www.WestcliffeCenter.org   04/24/2013

Quality of Life; What Does It Mean to You?   I traded the corporate world at age 50 for the Rocky Mountains, clean air and water, blue sky, breathtaking views, wildlife and a life! I would guess in our profession that ActiveRainer’s make up the top 10% of happy successful people in the real estate industry.  On the local level you can listen to past agents complain you can’t make a living selling real estate around here.  Our numbers have dropped from 69 agents in 2009 to 28 today.  You will never hear me complain about my work. Most days our office is open at 7:30am.  Most competitors open at 9:00am.  We work a lot of hours and I learned a long time ago not to try and keep up with my wife!  For time off, we have to pack up and leave town. Yes, we work hard…but we are not stuck in rush ... 04/23/2013

  Inspection Reports and What Responsibility Do You Have to Disclose   Assumption:  You are the Listing Agent and either a Seller’s Agent of if law allows a Transaction Broker.   Situation:  Home is under contract and the inspection report reflects (problems) to be addressed.   Disclaimer:  Let’s not assume it is or is not a material fact as that knowledge would automatically require disclosure.   Problem:  The Buyer/Selling Agent wants to disclose to the seller “repair” items that they want to negotiate terms with the seller.   Question:  Can a Seller’s Agent/Transaction Broker refuse to accept an Inspection Report?  Accepting it would not be in the best interest of the seller.   Shouldn’t a Seller’s Agent advise the selling agent to just present a request for a dollar figure thus avoi... 04/22/2013

  New Concept for Listing Real Estate   This concept is working well in our Buyer’s Market and I think it should work in a Seller’s Market but for different reasons.   Our area can have listings that have less than 3 or 4 showing a year!  That brings up the issue just how much work is the listing agent doing?  We have many great listing agents and I am not blaming them…we just don’t have the buyers!   In the State of Colorado there are 4 different working relationships with the public:   ·        Seller’s Agent   ·        Buyer’s Agent   ·        Transaction Broker   ·        Customer   The Colorado Real Estate Commission requires before a relationship is established with someone they understand those relationships and have been presented a state form describing that.   The default rela... 04/16/2013

  I Ask A Favor!   After the tragedy in Boston today and several social media ranting’s about whatever…   Take a look at yourself!   If you really are opposed to something, support the positive!   If you oppose abortion:  support adoption   If you oppose gay marriage:  support your marriage   If you oppose eating meat:  support vegetable and fruit farmers   If you oppose Obama:  support someone else (the Democrats survived Bush, the Republicans can survive Obama.)   If you oppose another religion:  support yours   If you oppose crime:  support crime watch   If you oppose banking, real estate, utility companies, taxes…whatever:  support change   If you really are opposed to something, support the positive!   The universal no symbol is one of the most negative things we see in our daily l... 04/15/2013

  What Do You Have Going For You?   In your real estate career what do you have going for you?   What are your positives and what do you need to work on to make it a positive?   ·        National name brand company   ·        If you’re new maybe a great training program or a mentor   ·        Staff or personal assistant   ·        Listings   ·        Electronics   ·        Personality   ·        The ability to listen   What do you have going for you?   04/14/2013

  Life Changes   Anytime someone is moving and changing their lifestyle it is a major change in their life.  Some people respond to the change faster and easier than others.  Some people know exactly what they want and expect.  Others have a dream and no concept of what is involved in that new lifestyle.   I remember always wanting to live in a log home in the country.  When I turned 50 years old I traded my old lifestyle for a new one.  I moved from the city to rural Colorado that is a small town of 500 people.  I did it!   But, did I know what I was doing?  I didn’t have a clue!  I had an image of living on 35 acres with a log home. What is a leach field?  What does it mean that your well pumps 5gpm?  How do you winterize a home…why?  Where do you take the garbage?   So, here’s where ... 04/12/2013

Our Team & Team Building We start in this profession with a dream of the ‘Big Time’. Ouch! Reality sets in…work!  We have to work? Ouch! OK, we have learned to build relationships if we want to survive and make money.  Many starting out think it is a matter of finding buyers and sellers.  Good start!  But, if you aren’t building a team you have a hard life in front of you. Our day to day life of meeting new clients, showing properties and getting a check requires a lot of expertise to be successful day in and day out. Other agents:  You better have a rock solid reputation overflowing with integrity, knowledge and expertise.  Then, you will have earned the respect of your fellow agents. Mortgage brokers and bank loan officers:  Working with lenders that want to work with you requires sen... 04/11/2013

  Happy Anniversary!   Today’s the day!  April 08, 2003 we bought the Courtyard Inn.  It was a closed down, run down motor-court in the shape of an L with a courtyard overgrown with weeds.   I started in real estate in 1999.  (That anniversary is this coming Saturday…another blog!)  I leased a couple of different offices but felt really, really strange selling real estate and not owning my own property!   There was a privately owned parkacross the street from my last office.  It was owned by a friend and I offered to buy it.  He had been negotiating for 9 months with the town to buy it.  We went to a town meeting and he said if they didn’t finalize the deal he was selling it to me.  The town bought it!   That was a Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I made an offer for this property.  ... 04/08/2013

  Desire!   What motivates a buyer or seller to move?  This one mindset could have more impact on a successful closing than anything else.   Is the seller moving for a happy and healthy reason?  Did they get a job promotion?  Are they moving back to their roots to spend time with the new grandkids?  If so, you have a seller that is more willing to negotiate as they have a new and positive direction in their life.   Or, is it a forced move resulting from a divorce, job loss or health issue?  Each of these have an unhealthy and destructive behavior associated with it.  They have been attacked once and not looking for another attack by anyone, especially a buyer wanting to negotiate a better price or terms.   What happens if the couple is split on their desires, one wants to move and the o... 04/07/2013

  Fires!   Today has been an interesting day in my real estate world.   When something catches fire during a contract it becomes a life of its own.   The story starts with clients that bought vacant land a couple of years ago from another agent.  They have come to town 3-4 times a year and stayed at our B & B.  We have always had polite conversations about real estate.  There last trip was to decide whether to build or buy.  They had already constructed a driveway, drilled a well and excavated a foundation.  Now was ‘do or die’ time.  Either select a builder or buy an existing.    They asked me to show them a few properties and I did.  They fell in love with one they never would have guessed a month ago that they would have any interest in purchasing it.   Negotiating a contract was not... 04/05/2013

  Furniture, Negotiating & Contracts   My community is a 2nd home/vacation home market.  That is probably 60% of our properties. People buy a place to enjoy and eventually life changes; job loss, divorce, health, death or a new dream (from the mountains to the ocean).    Many a successful person bought property here in their 50’s only to realize the ‘grandkids’ are 1,000 miles away and they want to be closer now that they are in their 60’s or 70’s.   As a negotiator I never give anything away for free.  Many an offer includes asking for the furniture.  (One currently under contract has the furniture included because we asked for it.)  If a seller says no, not included, we will say “OK” if….   Never give anything away for free…even if it is to your benefit.  I will do this for you if you... 04/03/2013

  Home Sales in Our Market   In our MLS we show 239 homes for sale plus 15 mobile/manufactured homes.   In the month of March we had 4 home sales! (28 agents/one sale was mine)   One sale ($50,000) was in the $50,000 - $100,000 price range. 8 are listed for sale.   One sale ($205,000) was in the $200,000 - $250,000 price range. 30 are listed for sale.   One sale ($345,000) was in the $300,000 - $350,000 price range. 13 are listed for sale.   One sale ($850,000) was in the $750,000 - $1,000,000 price range. 20 are listed for sale.       Now, Mr. Seller, please explain to me again the value of your home.   Your competition is tough!   January we had 7 home sales. February we had 6 home sales.   And now you know why I am an Exclusive Buyer’s Agent!   It really sounds like a fairy tale to r... 04/02/2013

Blog 31 and a Day of Celebration! Today is a day we celebrate many things ~ 2 of the many ~ make me very happy! My family; wife Mo, son Cory, daughter-in-law Sadie, mother-in-law Georgia, sister and brother-in-law Nona & JD, my brother Jim, my mother Mumsie, cousins, aunts...the list goes on. Mumsie and Georgia It would be a sad day if I was not able to share today with family.  And I guess AR is an extended family.  HAPPY EASTER TO ALL! Blog 31 is absolutely another reason to celebrate.  Good habits are hard to come by...for this guy!  I stand a better chance of improving my blogging than my golf game! Pray is if no work would help and work as if no prayer would help.     03/31/2013

Gangsters in the Hood   The local terrorist in our neighborhood hang out every morning and extort food from the citizens of our community.  We have been fortunate to negotiate with them an agreement they would be FIXED.  (We don't think they understood what that meant!) This is a pic of my offering given every morning around 6:30am. Gangsters in the Hood       03/30/2013

      The Simple Pleasures   Since today is Good Friday and I have already accomplished a full day’s work in real estate I thought it was time to blog something different.  Anytime a holiday comes around I think it is only natural to reflect on our past.  That can be the past few hours or past years.   Another option is to reflect on what we appreciate in our lives.  Since I have blogged some events in my past, today I will blog things I appreciate.  God, my wife, family, friends, good health, my profession...yep, but it's the little things I am going to share.   We have two dogs, Cody and Charly.  You can't help but smile when you look at them.  Feeling stressed, rub a tummy or scratch behind the ears.  The dogs, not yours!   We have plenty of stray cats (FIXED) and they do their best ... 03/29/2013

  What Separates Us from the Rest of the Pack?   We see other agents faced with problems that create more than they can handle.   I remember years ago an agent working for me had an offer on a home for $250,000.  The final negotiation came down to the "firewood".  The buyer wanted the firewood and the seller was negotiating everything on the property.  The seller said "no" the firewood was not included at that price.  WOW!  What were they going to do with the firewood?  Nothing, they just wanted to have the last say-so. Let's look at the facts.  A home for sale for $250,000 and the listing agent gets both sides at 6%.  Translate:  $15,000.00.  We have a bitter seller and a savvy buyer.  What does the agent do?  Calls the buyer to say the seller will not include the firewood at that pric... 03/26/2013