Steps from Metro, Minutes from Downtown

Solitude minutes from the maddening rush

The State of The Union

There are issues of wars being fought on foreign soil, there are issues of a growing illegal immigrant population, there are issues of mankind's impact on his environment. Nothing paints a clearer picture of who we are than the ongoing plight of our fellow countryman still suffering the effects and after effects of Hurricaine Katrina. Until we as a nation, collectively extend a helping hand to those in need, we will continue to exist as self indulged nuclear families living a life stimulated by ongoing sound bites about celebrity dramas and "would-a, could-a, should-a" remarks from candidates running for office.

Please consider your personal ability to help. The links below offer opportunities to assist those still suffering.

Family to Family.Org

Emergency Communities.Org

One Day Trip...Lots of Answers

I finally reached my limit yesterday. I have been spending weekends attending to the needs of buyers and assisting my growing group of clients attempting to sell their home. I may sound impossible, but I think it is likely, we can not see the forest for the trees.

Let's face it, the market is still sluggish. (note: sluggish is fancy real estate technical term for the fact that activity is maybe 80% of where we "thought" it would be)

I read the headlines. I watch the nightly news. I read trade publications. I have become proficient in an entirely new vocabulary. "The market has changed."" The market has died.""The bubble has burst.""The sky is falling." O.K., maybe not the last one.

It has been heralded that we are in a "buyer's market". Really? Call me crazy, but my assumption would be that a "buyer's market" would have ready, willing and able BUYERS.

If those buyers were out there, wouldn't they be buying?

I had to see for myself. I pulled up 15 listings in a price range comparable to what I would list my home for and went out to view homes like a buyer. I made the necessary calls. I went through all the steps that I normally follow for my clients.

Our first stop was Normandy Farm for brunch. It is the easiest $26 to spend on a Sunday morning. The food is wonderful, the service top notch and the experience makes you want to make it at least a monthly event.

Everyone looking for a home should hit the market on a full stomach feeling like a special person. Normandy Farm will take care of that part of the mission.

Then we began. The first house was being held open by the listing agent. Out of the 15 we visited, 6 were being held open. I am sure that the first agent had a lot to share, but we could not hear her over the traffic that roared by outside. It seemed to me that she should keep that front door closed. The flier pointed out the wonderful location. I asked why the price was the same for over 4 months and the agent just shrugged her shoulders and told me...."two years ago there would have been a line out the front door, contract in hand to buy this house." As we were leaving, I mentioned "This is 2007 and we aren't in Kansas anymore."

I won't bore you with a blow by blow description of the day. It did take 6 hours to visit all 15 homes. It was very tiring. When showing homes to clients, you keep a practiced eye on the structure of the home, how it is presented, etc. Your main focus is on your client. (I may have mentioned this - I have a home. When working, my client is buying the home. The advice and counsel are mine. The decision is theirs.)

Anyway, since the final decision rests with the owner of the home, I have something to say. You all need to rethink pricing. If you are sitting there month after month and your house is still on the market, IT IS PRICED TOO HIGH! I really don't care what the neighbor sold their home for last year. It really doesn't matter what you paid for your home. Your indebtedness has not relation to the market value of your home.

The media is running out of ways to explain the market. The "correction","bubble bursting", "change in mortgage guidelines", "impact of gasoline cost","buyer on the sidelines", "paralysis by analysis" and every other thought is sugar coating the bottom line.

There is only one word that neatly describes the reason for the current market. There is only one label that covers the main reason houses are sitting unsold. It has nothing to do with the mortgage industry. It has nothing to do with the willingness of buyers to make offers. It is not meant to blame anyone. It just describes in total, the underlying issue.

GREED

That's right, plain old fashioned GREED. We have the proverbial stand-off at the highest level. And the level is so high, no one is bothering to challange the sellers. Buyers see the house on-line, see the price of the house and do not bother to even drive over and walk through the door. They don't ask their agent to make an appointment. They just sit at home an wait. They are not even going to initiate a search until sellers realize that the gains of two years ago are gone.

You are not going to sell your home for more than the neighbor sold theirs. It is not going to happen. If you truly want to sell your home, price it like you want to sell it.

Of course, our trip yesterday took us from the Bethesda area to Derwood. The first house and the last house and every house in between was priced higher than it should have been priced. We don't have to rush back, we know they will be there next week and next month. The agent may change - sellers often like to use the agent as a scape goat when the house won't sell for the price they want. I imagine it is very difficult to accept that your home is not worth what you believe it to be worth. If you have the chance, try to remember the little voice in your head that whispers "what are they thinking?".

I know it will not sell headlines or keep folks riveted to the nightly news, but, the headline should be -

HOUSES LINGER LONGER WHILE OWNERS LANGUISH IN GREED ! ! !

I do feel much better. I was beginning to worry that there was a horrible reason that the housing market is sluggish. At least we can be comforted. GREED has been around a long time. We know how it will end.

The greedy owners will sit back and wait. They will fire their agent. They will contemplate for-sale-by-owner. They will continue to believe that their situation is different. They are not asking too much. Then time will become a factor and the price will come crashing down. They will sell for less than they could have received in the beginning. Prices will come down. The market will pick up and we shall have survived yet another cycle in our economy.

My wife and I will now just sit and wait. We learned two valuable lessons. One, the couple homes we did like will not be sold at the price they are asking. When they come down, the owners will be weakened by the experience and we will be able to negotiate strongly for every term we want. Two, when we put our home on the market, it will sell within a month. Homes priced correctly move quickly.

GREED is such an ugly word. Maybe that is why the market seems so....well, ugly.

The last day of April

So, I have been busy. I have been very busy and I am very grateful for the opportunity to practice my trade. Representing buyers and sellers is far more enjoyable than sitting around the office wondering what happened.

It is not a mystery! Spring has sprung and the pent up demand from last year's hiatus has erupted. Buyers have stepped up and out and they are looking again. The sub-prime fiasco has not impacted everyone. First time buyers are finding out that there is a way. I suppose that I will end all suspense and share the secret

Bank of America

That's right, just when everyone was beginning to believe that the home of their dreams was beyond their means - Bank of America has risen to the occassion.

I have no ties to the bank. I do not own stock in the bank. I don't think I have any relatives working for the bank. I just happen to believe that the Bank of America has the best loan program for first time buyers.

Are you concerned that the financing offered you is an 80% first trust and a 15% second with 5% down? Are you concerned that the financing offered you is an 80% first trust with a 20% second and no money down? You should be if that is what is on the table.

Call Bank of America and ask about the program that will finance 97% of the purchase (up to $450,000) with NO PMI. Find out what you can afford. There is a drawback. You actually have to have enough cash to put 3% down. Closing cost can cost you up to another 3%, but they can often be negotiated with the seller.

Before I leave, I just have to say....you need representation. If you have any doubt about whether or not you should talk to me, let me clear it up. You want me on your side of the table when negotiating begins.

My clients become home owners.

Isn't that what you want to do?

Sub-prime torpedoed

Dateline. Washington, D.C.

The ticker feed from all wire services is reporting the financial tsunami of defaults on sub-prime loans. Bernake is reported to have "said that uncertainties over the economic outlook had increased, most notably the future trend in oil prices and a possible knock-on effect from the sub-prime lending crisis into the broader US housing and credit markets. Thus far, the Fed chairman declared, the difficulties faced by sub-prime lenders - which deal with customers who are shunned by mainstream lenders - were being contained. He argued that the shakeout caused by defaults on mortgages by overstretched and less creditworthy borrowers was a necessary correction after the lending excesses of the past few years."

So we are to understand that investors pulling out of the market is a necessary correction after lending excesses.

Paul, just a word here....that dog won't hunt.

The same regulatory agencies that looked the other way while no-doc provisions were being abused will have to come to the table with some way out of this mess. The same regulatory agencies that allowed predatory lending to continue will have to come to the table with some way out of this mess.

It is rather ironic. Not to many years ago, the government was all about protecting minorities and the disenfranchised. Lenders across the county were complicit in "red lining". The folks in the board rooms determined it was not profitable to lend money to what they considered customers of greater risk. Of course, credit worthiness was not always the only yardstick and the purse strings became much tighter when the customer was of color.

Times have changed. Now lenders couldn't wait to pour money into loans for risky borrowers. It became the front end of high stakes bait and switch game with investors and bonds. The house of cards was built rather shabbily and it has begun to tumble down.

In the end, the same people will be hurt. Years ago, credit was denied and the opportunities that went along with credit were denied at the same time. All the legislation and affirmative action will never change what occurred.

Now, the reverse has occurred and credit has been granted that can not be repaid. Terms have been granted that were not understood and can not be met. All the new legislation and continued affirmative action will not change that it has happened again.

We won't see much of it here in this market. We will just see the effects of it. We will read of the fore closures in other parts of the country. Politics will keep it's hold on our headlines. The nightly news will do human interest stories. We just won't feel the pain.

I know that I am a big believer in people taking responsibility for their actions. There are many that would point to the people that borrowed the money to buy homes that they could not afford and say that it is their own fault. They put themselves in that position.

I will merely say that I believe every lender is a public servant with an inherent responsibility to be good stewards of funds that they are entrusted with and an obligation to be reasonable counselors in financial matters they are asked to supervise. I believe that every real estate agent is a public servant with an inherent responsibility to represent one side of a transaction in a fashion that is totally loyal and focused on the best interests of their client.

We can legislate ad infinitum. We can create associations with by laws and code of ethics. We can place hands on bibles and swear to the living God.

It won't change anything.

There are enough laws on the books. Enforce them!

I am sure that it is a violation of someones civil rights if you are placed in a position of trust and put them into a bad loan that ends up bankrupting them. I am sure it is a violation of someones civil rights if you put them in your car and show them homes that are out of the range of what they can reasonably afford and convince them that owning more house is a good idea. Cajoling people to extend themselves and then introducing them to a friendly sub-prime lender would seem to me to be a pretty egregious violation of their civil rights.

The laws weren't written for that you say? Oh, I just sort of take that word "civil" in a literal fashion. It is not civil to feast at the expense of an other's famine.

I will not be surprised to see the Federal Government intervene and come up with some sort of bail out plan for those that find themselves on the verge of foreclosure. I will also not be surprised to see the culprits slip out the gentle back door of corporate protection and never be held accountable for their actions. There may be the show case public hearings to justify the bail out. If so, there will be a great deal of pontification and holier-than-thou grandstanding.

As it unfolds, please remember, this is not happening in a far off land. This is your country. This is not a quirk in a system. It is just another step taken by people in positions of trust to destroy that trust. The same legislators that decry the behavior of the guilty were in power when the actions took place.

And when the dust settles, we will have returned to a place where folks save up money for a down payment before buying a home. If they save a little bit, the FHA has a program. Many professionals will learn that the advice to protect their reputation was really an admonishment to act professionally.

The sub-prime torpedo will finally have hit the correct mark and imploded. I think Dorothy was right when she sang "tomorrow, tomorrow, the sun will shine tomorrow".

Hell, go mow the lawn!

I am a member of a loosely knit group of Realtors across the country. We have our own website where we share ideas, complaints and commisseration with one another. No, we don't have a secret decoder ring or one of those fancy hand shakes, but we do take the time to support one another.

Recently, an issue came up and a Realtor asked for advice on how to handle the situation. All the names have been changed and faces re-arranged but the facts are basically accurate. Jim was approached by another agents client. The person told Jim that she hated her current agent and wanted Jim to represent her. Jim would like to accomodate her, but he is also bound by our code of ethics.

Jim shared his story on our forum. My good friend Stephano replied that he would be well within his rights to suggest that he would be glad to speak with the woman after her agreement with her current agent ended. Others shared that since she had contacted Jim, he had every right to explain to the woman how she may extricate herself from her agreement. A few even suggested that Jim just sign an agreement because no broker will ever risk bad publicity by going after an agent. (This is probably true, most brokers like to play nice and overlook issues that may be perceived in a negative fashion).

I shared the following vignette. It probably says more about lessons learned in life but I thought I would post it on my blog. I do want to keep my growing readership happy.

James,

Back in the day, I was a junior in high school and madly in love with Kathy K****. Now Kathy was drop dead gorgeous and sadly enough for me, going steady with Bruce B***.

One weekend, we were at one of those parties and Bruce passed out on the couch. Kathy grabbed me and pulled me into another room. She planted the most wonderful kiss on me and said she couldn't wait to dump Bruce. She claimed undying love for me.

Well, Kathy was way more advanced in the ways of the world than I at the time. Soon, I was cutting class and sneaking into the room above the gym for afternoon tryst with sweet Kathy. That went on forever. It must have been at least two weeks. Kathy dumped Bruce and began sporting the $1.00 silver ring I purchased at the Ben Franklin around her neck.

We were going to be lovers for life.

JMAC had become Bruce.

Sad to say, Barry S**** soon became JMAC. It was a few short weeks later that my ring was returned and I was left with the devasting heartbreak.

I could not believe that it could happen to me. Heartbroken, I sat in my personal hiding place, a storage room under the basement steps in my home, listening to Gene Pitney croon "Only Love Can Break a Heart". I figured that I could just die there and everything would be ok.

My father opened the door and asked "Dummy, (he always chose the most tender of nicknames) what are you doing under the stairs? Turn that damn radio off and get the hell out of there."

"But Dad, I have had my heartbroken"

"Really, well the grass needs mowing. Get out there and get it done or your rear-end will be broken too."

"But"

The look in his eye and the smell of alchol on his breath just washed ole Kathy and my heartbreak out of my mind.

It was first experience with a term that became quite significant during the Viet Nam incursion.

DON'T MEAN NOTHING

It also gave me the first lesson that if someone is willing to cheat on someone else to be with you, they will probably cheat on you to be with someone else. That sentence says more about self image than anything else.

I think that you deserve clients that will be loyal to you. I am sure there are exceptions, I just don't care to deal with them. I try not to agree with Steve too often, but in this case, I almost do.

I wouldn't want the client. I would be concerned that she/he would be crying the blues to another agent the first time I handled an issue in a fashion that was not satisfactory.

Hell, go mow the lawn.

jmac

Who are these people ???

I have this listing in the American Finmark. It's a one bedroom condo on the second floor just waiting for a young professional that wants to own his or her first piece of the rock. I had already warned the owners that the condo market was a bit soft and they would have to price it attractively to generate interest. They thought about it, looked over all the information that I gave them and decided on a figure.

I crossed my fingers and scheduled an open house.

Who are these people?

I had folks, young and old, with and with out agents coming through the door from when we started at 1pm until we shut it down at 5pm. At one point, I turned to my wife and asked her to pinch me. I asked, "Is this 2005 or 2007?"

Once again, the real estate market in our area has turned on a dime. Shifts that were once slow now occur in moment. Buyers are showing up in the office seeking help. The phone is beginning to ring on a regular basis. It seems that the realization that now is a great time to buy has finally sunk in.

I don't share this to startle anyone and I certainly don't want to give the impression that I am so busy that I just can't help anyone else. I always have time.

I suppose that my joy is best explained in this fashion. I love the Christmas season and I love shopping. The excitement in the air is palpable. The crowds, that some of you dread, represent a whole lot of happy people to me. Every long line is a sign that lots of people are going to have a happy Christmas morning.

The increased buyer activity is an indication that soon, lots of folks will be enjoying a new home and in many cases it will be their first home of their own. I can't represent all the sellers and all the buyers, but I sure can enjoy an active market. Some of those that I do have the chance to work with will become part of the new generation of home owners. The opportunity to play a small part in the ongoing community transitions around me is a wonderful reward for the effort I make.

Who are these people?

They are your new neighbors, your new friends, and in some cases - my new clients! It is a great time to be a Realtor.

Did I happen to mention...

It seems as if many people have responded to my call to get back into the real estate market. I have been blessed with several clients in the past few months. I truly appreciate the requests for buyers and sellers guides. The information is free and part of the service I offer to any interested person.

There is so much in the local and national news about real estate, I thought I should take a break and comment on all of it

The stock market is in a free fall after reports of sub-prime lenders going belly up. This is an interesting situation. I don't know where to begin with a comment. Did those that invested in the "blood sucking", "immoral" leeches on the bottom of the mortgage industry really think that their investments were sound? Did those that propped up the sub-prime thieves think that the cash cow would be offering milk forever? If those holding stock in companies that have been bilking the weakest and most vulnerable among us find that they are going to lose a lot of their money, so what!

Let's take time to call a spade a spade. A sub-prime lender has a customer base of people that either can not document their income, have credit problems and can not qualify for the most lenient FHA loan, or use english as a second language and do not know any better. Our housing market is not built on the shoulders nor the integrity of sub-prime lenders. It will be a cold day in hell when I start to feel sorry for people that were getting rich off of the surplus profits sub-prime lenders provided them. The only difference between those that mug the weakest in our society and the sub-prime lenders is the sub-prime lenders are not armed with a weapon. Sub-prime lenders are armed with a more devasting tool. They use the promise of a better tomorrow, the promise of owning a home and hidden in the small print is a price no one can pay. My advice is invest in those that invest in your community and let sub-prime lenders and those that support them rot.

Our economy is strong. Our housing market is strong. The trickle down effect of the sub-prime collapse will smooth out. The agents that have referred people to them will be easily identified. They will be selling snake oil on the street corner. It is a pity that we have outlawed "tarring and feathering". Any one that has abused a position of trust in order to achieve personal gain has no right to hold the position any longer and does not deserve a second chance. Real estate agents that "have been in bed" with sub-prime lenders are the pedophiles of our profession. They can not be cured and should be banished.

On a brighter note, my friend Glen finally has a home of his own. It is a long story that I related here moments ago. My little finger hit the tab button and erased the entire post. I only had the energy and time to re-type the rant against sub-prime lenders. Maybe another day....

Baby Boomer's Babies Backlash

There. I think that sums up the past few years of the real estate market in the Maryland suburbs outside the District of Columbia.

Yes, I am pointing that collective finger at my peers. The children of post World War II were labeled the baby boomers. Their history is still being written. They witnessed more change and turmoil than any other generation. They grew up in homes that were parented by adults that in many cases had lived through the great depression. They watched "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father knows best". They rebelled against the status quo and gave the world Woodstock and political upheaval with anti-war demonstrations during the Viet Nam era. They became parents.

It is the parenting that led to the current group of young adults. Baby boomers reacted to the upbringing they endured. They went to great lengths to make sure that their children never had to suffer the indignity of hand me downs and non-name brand clothing. They made sure that their children had a safe automobile when they reached driving age. They made sure allowances were available.

Something got lost in the love that was shared.

The sense of understanding the value of the nicer things in life somehow morphed into a very strange sense of entitlement. The perception of earning and working for long term goals was replaced by the sense that "I want it now!" is justified.

Apparently, when the need to earn money is replaced by parental grants, the understanding of the value of money is lost. Price tags no longer have a relationship to hours worked to earn the cost of the item. Price tags have just become another number.

Our market saw incredible increases in home prices. Income did not go up at the same rate. There was a perceived reduction in inventory. The reduction in inventory did not create such a shortage that prices would increase as dramatically as they did. There were a few factors that fueled the fire.

Traditional mortagages were cast aside in favor of newer non-traditional loans. The children of the baby boomers were presented with new options for financing their home. They would not be saddled with the old 20% down and finance 80% over 20 years. The new home buyer could now pick and chose from a plethora of programs. 100% financing became vogue and interest only loans came into favor. These changes increased the buying power of those entering the market.

What occured is history. The scenarios played out across the area were something like this. A young couple starts looking for a home. They meet a Realtor that advises them that they need to be pre-qualified in order to begin searching for a home. (This is normal. You have to know what you can afford to set your home search criteria.) The young couple calls a Mortgage Broker and finds out that they can qualify for a $600,000 loan. They don't stop and realize that they will have to make timely payments on that $600,000 loan. After all, if they could not afford it, the lender would never have qualified them for that amount. (This happens a lot. After all the lender doesn't have to make the payments for them.)

Pre-qualification letter in hand, the young couple begins searching for a new home. They find many that meet their criteria. They decide on one and ask their Realtor to prepare an offer. Unbeknownst to them, a few other couples have been searching and they also selected that home. The seller receives multiple offers and the bidding war begins. The home may have been listed for $450,000. Other similar homes have sold for $450,000. The home is actually worth $450,000 at the beginning of the bidding process. Our featured couple decides that they will pay up to $460,000 for the home. The home sells to another couple for $465,000. Our featured couple is crest fallen. The couple that bid $465,000 has an accepted offer (Now faced with hopes that the home will appraise.).

Our couple strikes out again. They find another home and go through the same process. They lose again. They ask the Realtor "What can we do?" The Realtor explains that patience will win out and that they will find a home.

Unfortunately, the young couple decides that they will get the next home come hell or high water. They look and find another home to place an offer on. They instruct their Realtor to use an escalation clause that will go to the max that they are qualified to spend. (The Realtor explains the escalation clause. The Realtor probably does not explain that the escalation clause is not worth the paper it is written on.)

The place an offer on a $450,000 home and win with an offer that is $600,000. They somehow believe that the home is now worth $150,000 more because they were willing to pay that.

Today that couple is sitting in a home that could sell for maybe $500,000. They owe $600,000 on the property because they have been paying interest only. They got the house.

How did this happen?

Baby boomers tried to make sure that their children were never lacking anything. It seems that this focus was on material things. Somehow the baby boomers forgot to instill a sense of value in things. Somehow these children never learned that the monetary value of desire is like quicksilver or fool's gold. There are practical rules regarding the value of real estate. Our prices are in the process of adjusting. The fancy non-traditional loans are resetting every year. As interest rates increase, the monthly cost of "I have to have that home" is increasing.

Now is the time for new buyers to learn from the mistakes of the past. Advice for them is quite similar to very old adages. Buy today what you can afford today. Plan for tomorrow based on fact and not emotion. Seek credit and financial counseling so that you truly understand the value of the dollars you earn and purchase accordingly.

Oh, and before you buy your sixteen year old child a brand new car, think about the message you are sending and the lesson you are teaching.

Seasons Greetings

This is a painting I did after returning from New Orleans. My lovely wife crafted the words. Our wish is that each and everyone of you enjoy the season!

Pogo said it all..............

"We have seen the enemy and it is us."

Not too long ago, the media was proclaiming that home sales were sizzling. Folks read the paper and joined the buying frenzy. Last fall, the media proclaimed that we were on the verge of popping the real estate bubble and sales activity came to a screeching halt. Now the media is letting us know that interest rates have not been lower in the past year.

Sound bite driven decisions rarely make sense. We have become our own worst enemy. I know that your cousin Ralph told you that you should wait out the price drops before you buy. I know that your aunt Alice said that prices still have room to fall and God forbid you pay too much for your home.

I do this stuff for a living. I don't sit in a cubicle writing articles attempting to sensationalize every wind that blows in the economic market. I don't have to make this glamorous. I live in the real world, where people have been buying and selling homes every day, every week, every month of the year. People have bought and sold when the interest rates were around 20%. People bought and sold when they actually had to have money for a down payment. If we only go back 25 years, there are some interesting facts about real estate in the DC market area that don't grab headlines.

Let me share.

The surge in prices over the last few years was the result of reduced inventory and historically low interest rates coupled with the introduction of interest only loans.
Real estate has always been the king of increasing personal net worth through the use of OPM (that's other peoples money). You don't even need a down payment with some of the programs available.

For example purposes, let us assume that you will put 10% down. If you purchase a $400,000 home, you will only need to put down $40,000. Over the last 25 years in the DC area, homes have appreciated 6.9%. The $400,000 homes value would increase to $564,240 over a period of 5 years. I am not a wizard but that is about a 22% return on the investment.

Can prices remain level or go down? Sure, that could happen. Prices in the past have gone down briefly, but the fact remains that over the last 25 years, they have averaged the 6.9% annual increase I have stated. No glamour, just facts based on verifiable information.

It gets better.

Rates can not remain low. They will have to go up, based on all sorts of fancy formulas that include stuff like M-1, the bond market and the cost of the war. We are at the bottom of this interest cycle. If you take advantage of these rates, you will be pleasantly surprised at the impact that decision will have on you. Prior to this cycle, the lowest they had been in forever was 8.31% back in April of 1997.

Back to the $400,000 house with 10% down.

A $360,000 loan at 6.25% = $2,216 monthly vs. 8.31% = $2,720. That is a savings of $504 per month and $181,440 over life of loan.

If you are in a 30% tax bracket that is a $7,000 tax deduction in year one and a $33,600 tax deduction over five years.

And now there is inventory. Of course, the level of inventory could change quickly. I don't really care how the scribe choose to share the information. I think you have the right to understand, there has never been a better time to buy.

Of course, you could just listen to the media or relatives. This is fair warning. If you fail to act now, you will see Pogo in the mirror with you and the words floating through the air will be............We have seen the enemy and it is us.

The wonderful world of forums

We Realtors are a group like any other. We have our boards where we share information with one another. We also pontificate about the world at large. Sometimes this sharing turns ugly. Toes are stepped on, posts are volleyed back and forth and often someone removes themself from the fray, vowing to never visit that particular forum again.

We Realtors are a group like any other. After some recent acrimony between members of two boards, I thought, there must be others such as this. There are probably folks across this broad interweb that are dipping their toes into the water and reaching out to communicate with other like minded folks.

If you happen to frequent any message boards or forums, I would like you to consider the following.

Everyone has to live within the confines of their own shoes. There are many people that happen to cross our paths on a regular basis and we judge them for the fraction of time they spend in our awareness. It is unfortunate, that often, we base our decisions on the "tip of the iceberg".

There are agents that have very close friends suffering from incurable diseases. As with anyone else, the stress of watching someone you care for deeply die a slow and painful death occasionally causes folks to act out. It is very hard to maintain control of all aspects of your life when you are losing one of the reasons you live that life.

There are agents that have great professional success and go through personal changes that challenge their ability to present a fair and balanced image to others all of the time. Regardless of market, there are agents that are moving through the maturation process that everyone struggles with when they go through the transition from 20 something to early thirties.

I don't know if there is a medical term to describe a condition in which a person falters and flounders when attempting to share on a forum. I have heard of a stroke in which speech and the ability to write is temporarily lost. I do believe there are many that sit before a keyboard and know what they are trying to say and it just doesn't come out that way.

There are many possible reasons that the online personna of agents is nowhere near the person behind the keyboard. Often a phone call and a ten minute conversation will ferret out the truth.

It is only my opinion, but the last thing I believe anyone should do is take it to heart that those on any forum are as good, bad or indifferent as they may appear.

These are just people. Some have internet experience, some don't. Some have the ability to express themselves fluently and some don't. There is value in what is shared by anyone.

I am not without blame. I too have judged and castigated and irritated. I have fallen short of my own standards. I will continue to attempt to become the person I can be. Hopefully I will avoid the piling on that occurs when others stumble in their journey.

Science has explained "buyers market"

I have been just as busy as most Realtors the past few months. New buyers are beginning to show up and appear ready to put there proverbial toe into the water. Rates have held at around 6% and that is about as good as they have been for the last year or so.

These new to the market folks are stunned to see the wide array of homes available to them. It is the housing version of sensory overload. Apparently, the total volumn of homes has reached a point that clients are once again asking for advice regarding the "best home for the money" on the market. This allows me to actually do my job.

Of course, I shouldn't have to mention that as I sift through the multiple listing service, for sale by owner.com, and craigs list for properties that will meet my clients needs and stay within the range of their comfort level regarding price, I am still puzzled by how many homes are still priced above current market levels.

I understand that the market did an incredible 180 degree turn around over the last 9 months. If Katrina were a pregnant woman, we have delivered a brand new, shock to the system, it can't be possible price adjustment to the housing market. Sellers that have not adjusted to the market are not really sellers - they are extra logs in the river of buying and selling houses. They are trying to be part of the market but they are the bottleneck to a smooth market.

And apparently, it is beyond their understanding.

Scientists have done research in the field of neuroeconomics. Neuroeconomics is the study of the psychology of finance. A recent article in the Washington Post shared the following.

Psychology of Money Drives Housing Market
Studies of the psychology of finance indicate that emotions play a huge role in decisions people make about money.

"There's a whole emotional processing system that goes on in the brain that's largely beyond our control," says Kevin McCabe, a professor of economics, law, and neuroscience at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. "The general view is that our emotions control us, and not vice versa."

The study of neuroeconomics has illuminated a few key concepts: Many people will pass up sure profits for illusory ones. Some will turn down profits if they believe someone else is unfairly profiting more. Some will even refuse to sell if they believe they may come to regret it, because fear of future regret can be as powerful a motivator as money in the pocket today.

While little of this has been applied scientifically to real estate, it is easy to make the leap.

For instance, much research has been done on the concept of "loss aversion," which shows that people tend to deny reality when something they own, such as a house, declines in value. Sellers maintain the asking price even at a level that makes no sense, economists say. Similarly, home sellers become attached to the prices their neighbors received at the top of the market rather than current prices, and they become reluctant to sell unless they get that higher price.

"There seems to be a psychological resistance to taking losses on the sale of a house," says David Laibson, who teaches psychology and economics at Harvard University. "People think they'll make money on it....That logic worked for a long time, and now anyone who bet on that logic is being burned."

Source: The Washington Post, Kirstin Downey (11/04/2006)

My thanks to the many participants that allowed science to identify things that we Realtors have always known. I have to say that I read the report, jumped up and yelled outloud "AFFIRMATION BABY." My wife came in the room to see what the ruckus was about. I showed her the article. I told her that there was a reason that the house in King Farm wouldn't sell for a million. I stammered see, this is why the kids took the buyout and the relo company is stuck trying to sell their townhome in Germantown. It wasn't my fault.

She just gave me that "look" and reminded me it was trash day tomorrow and I had better move the garbage cans out front before it gets too late.

The last I saw of the Post article, it was on the top of my newspapers in the recycle bin. Sometimes you can know reasons for actions, sometimes you can even have scientific reasons for actions............but.......my understanding can only be shared with those wanting to sell.

They have to choose - become another log in the jam or take the smooth route to selling your home and doing what the smart folks are doing. What's that you ask?
Why it's the subject of the next post - buy up in a down market!

Safe neighborhoods

As a Realtor, I have the chance to meet many people seeking a new home. I am fortunate in that they come to me from many sources. Some are referred by clients, some walk in the door of the office, some have read this blog and others come from various lead generation programs that I use.

The size and price of the home they are seeking varies. The ethnicity of the clients vary. The age of the clients spans the spectrum. One thing remains constant. It doesn't vary. Everyone includes the feeling, and I will paraphrase here, I want a safe neighborhood.

As a Realtor, I am bound by a code of ethics. I am old enough to remember a country much more divided than today. As a young man I witnessed the changes in our laws that were brought about by the various legislation created following the work of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Those changes began almost thirty years ago.

Our code of ethics dictates that we show homes in the price range and style that our clients request. These guidelines are proper and necessary to ensure our country continues in the direction of equality.

If the issue of schools comes up, we are directed to advise clients that they can check with the local school board for any information. If the issue of crime comes up, we are directed to advise clients that they can check with the local police station for that information. If the issue of zoning or changes in the master plan come up, we are directed to advise our clients that they can check the local planning office for that information. Each of these agencies has the facts and a consumer should have the facts when making a decision about where they choose to live.

Many clients respond to the reply "you have to go to ......(fill in the appropriate agency) and check on that" with a quizzical look that reads "what am I paying you for?????". To those that share that look, I am doing my job and making sure that you make one of the biggest financial decisions of your life based on the facts.

I mentioned Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. I don't know what else they could have accomplished. No one does. They were both taken from us and our possible future was stolen by men with guns. The Civil Rights bills were passed by Lyndon Johnson with the emotional support of a congress on the heels of the assasination of John Kennedy. In my lifetime, I have lived through the loss of our best and our brightest to guns and violence. They are only the tip of the iceberg.

I have heard both sides of the debate regarding gun control. I am so tired of the propoganda that supports the thought that James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights so that sociopaths, crazy people, angry people and racists could open fire and slaughter innocent men, women and children with handguns, assault rifles, uzi's, mak-10's, etc is one of the most despicable theories ever crammed down the throat of it's potential victims.

The statement that if citizens can no longer own guns then only criminals will have guns is emotionally charged rhetoric. The same paraphrasing can be put on any law. Is this any different, if citizens can no longer kill one another then only criminals will kill. Laws are written to dictate behavior and identify those that do not comply and in the end laws are used to prosecute those that do not conform.

Safe neighborhoods are everywhere and they are nowhere. If the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby is allowed to buy and secure votes on a national level, the change must come locally. It must begin with you.

A change in gun laws will not guarantee all neighborhoods will be safe. Such a law will just remove one of the tools we currently use against one another.


I can still remember a time when children played in neighborhoods and the worst thing a child might face in school was the reprimand following "my dog ate my homework."

A Heartfelt Tribute to Shadow

I am like most men I know. I like to think that I am my wife's best friend. This weekend, I sadly accepted the title by default.

Fourteen years ago, my wife brought a new puppy home. This new bundle of joy was a mix between a golden retriever and an australian shephard. This was long before I entered the scene. She sat up nights with a scared puppy and came home from work every day at lunch to check on her. This love and attention was returned many fold over the next fourteen years.

Shadow was a constant companion. My wife shared the ups and downs of jobs that came and went, a marriage that did not work, a few "how about me" gents that came by and me. Shadow was always there. Looking back with soulful eyes and offering a well timed nuzzle when sorrow turned to tears.

Shadow accepted life for what it was. She loved to play fetch in the spring, sleep in the shade through the summer, chase squirrels in the fall and prance and roll in the winter's snow.

Shadow loved to chew sticks. I have no doubt she could have chewed her way through trees from here to California and back again. She was smart, she never chewed shoes or tables or other things.

A new playmate and I arrived on the scene at about the same time. The new playmate was a chow mix named Yuengling, I was the "man". We became fast friends and I understood her relationship with my wife.

I can not share all the joy she brought to us over the last few years. She was our constant companion on road trips and one day journeys. She loved to walk and ride. Like Robin, she had a passion for food, loved cats and dogs and almost every person she met. There were only two things that bothered her, fire crackers and thunder. Either of the two could send her seeking the comfort and safety of the bathtub.

Last week, she came up lame. We took her to the vet. The initial thought was that she had sprained her leg. The phone call four hours later contained much sadder news. She had cancer in the bone in her leg and the leg had broken. The cancer had spread and she had a few days left.

We brought her home and hoped that everyone was wrong and she would rise above the dire predictions. It did not happen. She got worse. We contacted a wonderful vet named Dr. Weiss, who agreed to come to our home Sunday and put her to rest.

Sunday morning came too quickly and her final hours were spent sitting with us in the back yard. It was overcast and gloomy. The Doctor came and gently put her out of her misery. She laid in our lap and as her last breath escaped her lungs, the sun peeked through clouds.

I will always be grateful that she set such a wonderful example of unconditional love. It is something we all need to stop and remember.

Now I have the official title of "my wife's best friend" and I only hope that I will be as good a friend as Shadow has been all these years.

The summer is ending and the Fall Market is here!

Isn't it time that I put an end to the rumour that I have lost my laptop? I can only say that the market conditions here have changed. The increased number of homes for sale has impacted all aspects of our market. I have been busier with activities for my clients. I have more listings and my buyers are taking a little longer to find the perfect home.

More listings increases the amount of time that a Realtor have to spend servicing listings. Yes Virginia, not only is there a Santa Claus, today, more than ever, it takes more than a sign in the yard and fresh cookies during an open house to get the house sold.

The pool of buyers remains constant, but the increase in inventory has ended for now the need to write an offer on the hood of a car in an effort to beat the competing offers. If the house a potential buyer likes goes under contract, there are many more available quite similar to that one.

There are so many available that buyers are doing two things.
• Buyers are looking for houses on their own.
• Buyers are hesitant to act.

I suppose with interest rates up and prices still holding, some folks feel that maybe they can negotiate a better deal on their own and save "commission". I hope that they realize that if they allow the agent selling the house to handle "both sides of the deal" - they have no representation.

The agent selling a home in Maryland CAN NOT represent anyone but the individual selling the house. They may talk fast and gloss over that fact and point out that they can cut their commission to save the buyer money, but the fact is - they are working for the seller and they CAN NOT offer any advice or counsel regarding price or anything else about the home that is not public knowledge.

It would seem that the the hesitancy to act is related to the amount of homes on the market. If we buy this one, we may have missed a better home. Maybe we should look at a few more? The fallicy in that logic is plain to see for a Realtor and is lost in the haze of so many homes seen by the buyer. If you have found a house that you feel can be home, buy it. If you wait, it will be gone. It is far worse to spend the next 10 years in your second choice bemoaning the fact that you could have had your first had you written an offer.

The Fall Market is beginning and we are seeing an increase in activity. Sales in Montgomery County are down 26% but prices have risen around 5%. Those that have waited all Spring and Summer for prices to crash need to reconsider that plan and act before Fall turns into Winter and the home they have been watching is occupied by a new family.

I have to share, my wife and I had our eyes on a home we wanted to purchase. We watched and waited. We watched and waited some more. The other morning, to my horror, the house went under contract. It did not sell for less. The seller got their asking price and I am faced with a long winter of "Honey, why didn't you make an offer? Now some stranger is living in MY house!"

I should have listened to my own advice.

If you wait on the sidelines, you never get in the game

Well friends, we seem to have reached an impasse. It is amazing how one event can trigger a series of events that eventually change to course of a nation. This is a real estate blog, so I will focus on the chain of events that turned the market 180 degrees over the course of just about one year.

It was August 29th, 2005 and most Americans were glued to t.v. sets watching images of a large storm covering what seemed to be the entire gulf of Mexico. The storm was headed for the area between Louisiana and Mississippi. At one point, it was a class 5 hurricane. As it approached land it began to diminish in strength. Officials relaxed and felt that maybe it would not be so bad. Then the storm surge hit and destroyed an area that ran from Florida to Louisiana including areas in Mississippi and Alabama.

We watched in horror as levee's were breached and the crescent city of New Orleans began to disappear under water. Several days of non-ending coverage of the plight of those left behind began to erode our faith in elected officials.

Shortly, another storm was in the gulf and officials began to react to avoid the problems that had just encountered. Oil refineries were shut down. Cities and highways were in chaos. The first storm problems led to the second storm problems.

The problems that began last year, continue to impact the real estate market today.

What happened? The cost of living began to creep up in areas that could not be controlled by government actions. Energy costs shot up. The cost of gas began to move towards and past $3.00 a gallon. Providers of electricity and natural gas and oil all raised their prices. As soon as deregulation hit utilities (in the hope of increasing competition and therefore lowering prices) there was little competition and rates across the country were raised anywhere from 30% to 70%.

The feds began an unprecedented series of rate increases in the prime rate. The cost of money moved beyond the reach of many first time home buyers. This was coupled with the fact that many new home owners had financed all or part of their purchase with loans that were adjustable and tied to the prime rate. Some home owners that viewed the perceived equity increase in their home as a financial boon, took out equity lines that were tied to the prime rate. The rates began to rise and the payments began to rise as well.

Little rebuilding has been accomplished in the Gulf States. We have yet to feel the impact on the demand for building supplies. That will come. We have yet to see the employment picture change dramatically in the Gulf area. That will change.

All of this has happened. Now many of you that thought it was time to buy, have returned to the sidelines to wait out the economy.

The result of that decision is that you are missing the best time to buy a home!

All of these factors have stifled sales. Homes are on the market longer and sellers are now realizing that they will have to make concessions in price and other areas in order to sell their home. Today, you can buy more home for the money than was possible over the last few years. Prices for sold properties have leveled off. When listed, they may seem like they cost more than last year but that is just the hopes of those putting a home on the market. Bidding wars, that occurred over the last few years are all but non-existent today. A good Realtor can guide you through the process and negotiate a better deal for you.

Understand, the cost of living is not going to come down. Major oil companies do not expect gasoline prices to ever return to the levels of last fall. Utility companies are not going to reduce their prices significantly. Even start up competitors will have use the cost of fossil fuels in their price structure. Fuel costs impact every other item we buy.

The only factor that changes over time is the interest rate. Waiting on the rate is never a good game to play. If it goes up, prices go down and that is our current situation. If the rates start to fall, the demand for homes will increase and the prices will begin to rise again. This cycle has been repeated over and over throughout the history of home buying.

Now is the time to purchase. You can buy more home for the money and you will own the property when rates decline in the future. At some point, you will take advantage of a lower rate through refinancing and you will then own the home at a lower cost. Should rates increase a bit, you will be in your home and the rate increase should not impact you.

I encourage anyone that has gone to the sidelines to rethink there position. If you wait on the sidelines, you never get in the game.

The greatest gift............

I was recently asked what is the nicest gift a client has given you. I thought about that one for a moment or two. My reply follows.

This easily could be titled "Why I am a Realtor."

Very early in my career, I was giving business cards to anyone that slowed down long enough to take one. Sales people at registers, waiters, waitresses, gas station attendants were all on the receiving end. One evening, I was standing outside a dressing room while my wife tried on a dress. The sales lady was standing there and I turned to her and asked "Are you or is anyone you know looking to buy or sell a home? If so, here is my card." She told me that they were living in a 2 bedroom rental unit with their 5 children. They had fled Afghanistan with the clothes on their back and they were trying to make it in this country. Her husband had a job as an engineer with the local government water and sewer agency. She invited me to come to her home at 10 the following Sunday morning. Being eager and wanting to make a good impression I figured that showing up at 830 would dazzle them. They answered the door in pajamas. Rather than be upset, they welcomed me heartily. They made tea and cakes and we sat down and discussed how they could purchase a home.

They had not been pre-approved and I thought that my lender would be delighted to chat with them. I called the lender at about 9 or so. She was not as happy to hear from me as they were when I placed the call. I handed the phone to the husband and waited. After a few minutes, she told him that she would call back. We shared tea and cakes and waited.

She called back. I smiled while the voice in my ear said "John, what are you crazy. They have no credit. They have no credit score. They have nothing." I cheerfully replied, "Well then, what can we do to fix that situation?" She outlined a plan for them. I left and decided that maybe it was too early for them to be looking and went about my business.

Eight months later I received a call, "Mr. John, I now have credit. Will you help me find a home in this country for my family?" He was approved. We went out that Saturday in the most frantic time of our recent sellers market. We looked at two well priced townhomes. He chose one. I wrote the offer for list price and included a home inspection. Those offers were dying before the ink was dry at that time.

It was accepted.

We went to closing. His wife turned to me and handed my a piece of candy before the settlement began. She explained in her country this was done for good luck. Throughout the settlement, they turned to me and asked "Is this o.k., before signing the "boiler plate" documents. When the last paper was signed and the sellers handed them the keys, they stood and smiled at one another. They then turned to me and took me in their arms with tears in their eyes. The husband softly said "When I came to this country, I promised my wife and children, one day we would have a home of our own. Today, because of you Mr. John, I have fulfilled that promise."

Perception is reality. I cried and had the understanding of what it is that we do. That understanding and thanks for me just doing my job is the greatest gift I have ever received from a client. Others since then have probably been as grateful, but I will always remember that day.

Father's Day

So, I was already to share my views on the local housing market. I read an article written by Ron Sitrin, an associate of mine at Long and Foster that appeared in the July issue of Montgomery County Insight. It is worth the read.

Then somebody said........"What are your plans for Sunday? It is Father's Day."

I will be holding and open house. Both of my children are grown. My son and his new wife have just opened their second restaurant in Fort Lauderdale and my daughter is great with my first grandchild. Father's day no longer includes bad neckties, hand written cards or things purchased by someone else for me. Those days are long gone. They remain fond memories.

Father's Day is now the one day that I can take a moment to be thankful that I have had the opportunity to be a dad. Every experience from the first burp to walking my daughter down the aisle are memories I cherish. I thought I would not bore you with all the details, but I will share some of them.

Rocking my daughter (colic stricken) throughout her first few months, bouncing her on my knee while I sang the Notre Dame fight song. Crawling through sleep deprived periods at work only to come alive upon arriving home to her gurgling smile.

Watching my 2 year old man-son mimic my professions in our front yard. Tapping my foot impatiently through each day so I could get home and play.

Sitting in the backyard on a cool Autumn night, waiting for meteor showers to rain down upon us. Believing every cry of "I saw one dad, I saw one!".

Spending time observing my little gymnast spin and twirl through routines and swearing afterward that I had turned my head during the performance as promised.

Loosing the feeling in all my toes while my answer to Wayne Gretzky went through his paces at various local outdoor rinks at 6 in the morning in the dead of winter.

Loading an entire team of flag football players in a step van after games and stopping at the closest 7-11 for slurpees and delighting in the fact that no one cared who won or lost the game.

Enjoying a late night hot fudge sundae with my daughter after picking her up from a party she attended. (Years later, I discovered that she had tried beer for the first time and was feeling more than queasy while I told her to "eat up". She is still convinced I knew she had been drinking.) Ah, the beauty of being a dad and being oblivious to the world around you. Hell, I loved hot fudge sundaes.

Then came the dreaded teen years, the divorce and becoming the man that destroyed everything. I won't share the guilt here, but I will share that I don't believe anyone under 40 understands the impact that all of their behavior has on their children. I was the same dad. I had just turned their world upside down.

We got through that period. Both children discovered that life does have ups and downs but overall it is really ok. These little people were becoming young adults and all of the sudden they could share things they liked with me. We enjoyed music and road trips and pizza.

Music is the web that catches one mid-day and takes them back to a place or time. Music is a thing we shared and more than a few artists bring a tear to my eye today. We had such good times. It was great being the dad.

Then, like little birds, they had wings and were gone much quicker than I expected. One to California and the other to Florida. I was alone. They were starting the grownup phase of their lives and I had the occasional phone call (only if I placed it).

One day, I did receive the call - "Dad, I want to come home. Will you come get me?" I flew to Los Angeles met my daughter, loaded up her car and began the 53 hour journey home. Another wonderful memory. I was dad to the rescue.

Then last year, I sat in the front row and cried when my boy married his bride. We shared a brief embrace that I will hold forever. Later in the year, I walked my daughter down the aisle. We shared the father daughter dance and shared an embrace I will hold forever.

Happy Fathers Day? Thank you for the opportunity. I am the luckiest guy I know.