Christmas musings

I hate what I sometimes do to myself during the Holidays. If I’m not careful, ‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly becomes ‘Tis the season to be stressed, overwhelmed, snappish and broke.

I find myself snarling at Christmas Carols, saying inappropriate things to the Santas and planning middle of the night forays on Wal-Mart. (In case you ever wondered, Santa seldom has a coherent answer to “Hey, Santa! What are you wearing under the suit?”)

This is not a good thing. No matter who or what you believe is the reason for the season, growling at songs and then harassing the Santa is not congruent with the Holiday Spirit.

Just about every religion has a place for a celebration around this time of year. Whether we’re celebrating Winter Solstice or Jesus’ birthday or Hanukah or Kwanza or any of the thousands of other reasons for a smile and a party, let’s remember why we’re doing it. I celebrate because I like to be reminded that I’m part of something way bigger and way more important than my own little corner of the world.

Whatever your preferred deity or symbol, I’m sure that we can all agree on a philosophy of “Peace on Earth, Good will towards all.” I hope that we can all agree that the pain of one human diminishes everyone. We can agree that nothing is more important than family, no matter if it’s the family that you were born into or the family that you’ve gathered around yourself through the years, or the family of humanity.

Maybe this year I can better triage my time and energy. Maybe instead of spending half an hour getting the ribbon on a present just exactly right I could take a coat and a sandwich to one of the people who sleep under the bridge.
Maybe instead of getting up in arms over something that really doesn’t make any difference I’ll remember to get excited about real stuff, about life and death problems. Maybe instead of showing up to yell about somebody’s decorating scheme I need to be showing up to help serve dinner at the Mission.
Maybe instead of trying to get every Barbie Doll known to man for my granddaughter I need to remember the little kid who doesn’t have any toys at all.

I’m just saying - maybe we need to check our priorities.

My friends, Happy Holidays. Remember to count your blessings, and remember to be a blessing. (You are, you know. You are a blessing to this world. Don’t forget it!) In the midst of all of the Holiday hustle, remember to stop and smell the fruitcake.

Aaron

I sometimes train the new agents. My plan for training is to tell people what works for me, explore what might work for them, introduce them to resources that can help and then throw them to the winds. I’m not real big on structured instruction agendas.

I helped a woman that we will call Rosie. My haphazard training and Rosie’s fastidious brain did not mesh.

The first problem was that she needed to know exactly what to do, exactly when to do it, and precisely how to go about it. If I said, “Rosie. Every day write a letter to a FSBO or an expired listing,” she wanted to know what time she should write it, (“3:31 PM, Rosie.” “Okay!”) should it be handwritten or typed, if handwritten then what color of ink should she use, on letterhead or not, which sort of stamp would be best……………….
Then she would finally write it and I would red-line it and she would re-do it and then bring it to me and then to the Broker and then back to me and then back to the Broker and the silly letter never did make it to the mailbox.

We made each other crazy because I don’t think like Rosie. (I confess that in my secret brain, and in my most private thoughts, I called her Rainman.)

The second problem was that I had competition for that meticulous mind of hers. One time I got exasperated and snapped “Quit thinking about it and just go bring me a freakin’ letter!” Rosie stumped away and then circled back with a marvel of a farming letter. It was awesome! Amazingly, she also had 3 other letters, all of them dealing with different real estate situations. These were wonderful letters. I coveted these letters.

Rosie did not write them. I knew that she didn’t write them because they started out:
Dear [Recipient Name]: My name is [REALTOR® Name], and I am associated with [Company Name].

“Rosie! Where did you get this? It’s perfect!”
“Aaron gave it to me.”
“Wow! Well, get it in the mail! Wait – fill in the blanks first.” She did, and good things started happening for her.

So one day I asked Rosie to do something and I told her how I thought that she should do it and she pops off with “But Aaron says that I should do THAT in my 5th week of training. Aaron says that I should do THIS in my 3rd week.” Pretty soon it’s “Aaron says this……..” and “Aaron says that……...” and tiny puffs of smoke are coming out of my ears.

My gripe is that Aaron’s suggestions are excellent, and certainly better thought-out than mine. This Aaron guy is starting to irritate me. He seems to have unlimited resources, unlimited time, and unlimited patience for Rosie. Aaron is making me look bad.

One day “Aaron said” something brilliant and I noticed that my left eye was twitching. “Rosie. I would like to meet this Aaron guy. Could you go call him right now and see if he would come to an office meeting and share his wisdom with all of us?”

“Oh, I don’t know Aaron.”

“Then how did you get all of this information from him? Where did this letter and all of this good advice come from? Why is Aaron giving you things? What have you done, Rosie?”

“Aaron is in my computer. He has all of this stuff, and he likes to help me. Some of it is free and some of it costs. I only get the free things.” Rosie showed me where Aaron is in her computer.

Turns out that Aaron is aaronline.com.

Rosie had gone to the Arizona Association of REALTORS® website and from there accessed NAR’s “Right Tools, Right Now” and found free letter templates and downloaded them.
http://www.realtor.org/archives/website200505021?presentationtemplate=rmo-design/pt_articlepage_migratedcontent_print&presentationtemplateid=06ad608049e7ba93ab3dab87f8d337ee

She had been watching training webinars at http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/RightTools/OnlineTraining?OpenDocument

she was starting a free REALTOR® blog at http://blogsignup.realtor.com/learnmore.aspx

she was learning about short sales at http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/RightTools/ShortSales?OpenDocument

she was figuring out Facebook and Twitter at http://www.realtor.org/rmotechnology/Articles/2009/0909_socialnetworking_virtualrealities

and pretty soon Rosie was doing the right things without any input from me at all.

Rosie started doing really well, which relieved me immensely. She became a self-starter, or at least an Aaron-inspired starter. She established a farm area and got some very well priced listings, which sold.
Once Rosie developed some confidence, she was able to stop clenching quite so hard and she started specializing in short sales. Once she understood the process, we found that short sale listings suited her linear brain.

While I taught Rosie a few things, she showed me something, too. She didn’t introduce me to Aaron, but she did make me decide to get to know him a whole lot better.

Aaron is a good guy to know. Go to www.aaronline.com and see.

I got installed as President of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® last Thursday. They made me write a speech, and then I didn't give it because everybody who went before me said everything that I had planned.
But it's a good speech! So here it is.
*****************************************************

We were talking about this installation around our dinner table a few weeks ago. My 4 year old grandson was tearing through the kitchen just as Mike said that I would get sworn in. JackJack screeched to a halt and said “Grandma! No swearing!”

I was conflicted about this installation. Kim and Jamie were asking me questions and wanting my participation and I was resisting. I had a problem, but I hadn’t figured out exactly why I had a problem.

This is a huge honor. I will do my best to do a good job. You all know that and we didn’t need to get you all together to hear me say it.

We were in an education meeting a couple of months ago and I blurted out, “I’m cancelling the installation!”

Kim got big eyes and then pointed out that this is important. We need to recognize the award winners, the Board of Directors and I need to be sworn in, we’ve got a new MLS Chair to introduce, and a lot of the members really like to have a party. She asked me why I was being stubborn. “Carol Anne, this is your moment! We’re trying to make this special for you!”

And there was my problem. This Association is not about me. SVVAR is about you. I am one of 713 REALTOR® and affiliate members. I had a hard time about asking our members to come watch “my installation” when we are here to serve you.
We decided to do a free breakfast, and Jamie and our affiliate members agreed to cook.

Then Kim tells me that I have to make a speech. “But it’s breakfast. No speeches at breakfast.” She pointed her finger at me like she was JackJack.

OK. Speech.

For about the first 10 years that I was licensed I went about my business, listing and selling real estate. I never thought about the Association, except to pay my dues so that I could have MLS. “They” ran SVVAR and “They” were doing a fine job and it never occurred to me that “They” could use some help.

I did figure out pretty quick that being a REALTOR® means a lot. Then I noticed that as a member of AAR and NAR and SVVAR we get some really awesome perks. I get convenient and outstanding education, I get access to Professional Standards instead of going to court, the webinars and podcasts and articles are wonderful, and we are a force to be reckoned with in politics. Everywhere you look is a reason to be a member of SVVAR, besides MLS. Then they put me on the Board and the world opened up. Y’all should try it.

When we go to the National conventions, I realize that Arizona is the elite as far as state associations go, and SVVAR is regarded as one of the best Arizona associations. People look at my name tag and say, “Ooh – Sedona.” I say, “Yeah, can’t get enough of those Red Rocks.” They say, “No. Youse guy’s Association. We use youse guys as our model.” They’re 5 or 10 years behind us. We belong to the elite, and we have Holly and Ron and Kim and Beth to thank for that.

So how do we stay there? We stay there by not being stagnant. We stay there by inviting and entertaining new ideas.

My wish list is that more members would get more involved. It used to be that if you raised your hand to volunteer around here you were committing yourself to years of servitude on a committee. Not anymore – Beth changed that with the Quick Response Teams – the QRTs. Now it‘s safe to raise your hand. That’s what I’m asking for from you. Raise your hand. Talk to me. Talk to your Board members. If you’ve got an idea, share it. If you’ve got a gripe, share it. We want to and we need to hear from you.

Every time I write my Bits n Pieces I get feedback. I love your comments! It’s human to think something positive (“Ooh! I like that!” and then go on.) but to say the negatives (Ooh! She made a mistake! And grab the phone.) Occasionally I’ll get disgruntled when I feel picked on, but that’s OK – I can take it.

I have an old friend who is one of our REALTORS®. Robert never hesitates to criticize at me, and I never hesitate to swear at him. I treasure Robert’s input because we need to know what you guys are thinking and he never hesitates to tell me.

That was my wish list. Now I want to take a moment to thank all of the volunteers here. A lot of people don’t know that what we do, we do for free. I especially want to thank Beth Adams and Jacque Weems, and we certainly need to point out Holly Mabery and Ron Volkman and all of the other past Presidents that have served you on your Board. By the time you get to be a past President you have donated literally thousands of hours to our Association. That’s a huge contribution, and it is appreciated. Thank Tahona Epperson and Tod Christenson, our President-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer.

Will anyone who has served on the board or on a committee, either for SVVAR or AAR or NAR please stand up? Next year I hope to be able to recognize a gigantic group of new volunteers.

I also need a moment to thank Kim and Mary and Linda and Diane, our staff. Everything that happens is due to their efforts. Without these 4 women the whole shebang would just fall apart. We take it for granted that when we pick up the phone or shoot out an email to SVVAR our question or problem gets taken care of. We have the best staff in the state, if not in the nation. I know this because whenever we go to a conference the other associations try to steal them from us. I shudder to think of trying to operate without them. Let’s also thank Lisa and Jack Frost, who have forgiven me for some rash words that I spoke once and came to play for us.

There you are – the speech. Done. Please get involved, please talk to us, and please remember to say “Thanks!” when one of your staff helps you. Especially, be proud that you are a member of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® because we truly are the best of the best.

Thanksgiving musings

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving is the anniversary of the day that my youngest son came home. Jess went to live in a Buddhist monastery in China when he was 15. I was not enamored with this idea, but he determinedly sabotaged every alternative that I came up with and I finally capitulated and sent him. It was the best thing that ever happened to him. When he left he was a self-centered child. When he came back he was barefoot because he was ashamed to be wearing shoes whose price would have fed a family for a year over there.

China was awful. There are lots of stories, but the one that I think the most about is this: When Jess would go to town, people would sometimes run up and throw their girl babies at him. When he caught the babies and his hands were full with them, other children would swarm over him, taking everything that was in his pockets. This happened repeatedly because he is not capable of not catching the babies. He finally let one of those kids take his shoes.

I was thinking about this when I bumped into an acquaintance and wished him a wonderful Thanksgiving. He replied, “Bah on your Thanksgiving! I have nothing to be thankful for.”

I wanted to smack him.

I replied, “Well, you’re standing upright. The sun is shining. You have clean clothes on your back and shoes on your feet, you’re obviously well fed, and you don’t have to throw your children at people as your means of making a living.”
We talked for a while and it turned out that he had tons of things to be thankful for – he decided on the spot to go his daughter’s house for the Holiday and visit his grandchildren. He loves his daughter and her kids, and he was looking forward to spending some time with them.

This man was so focused on all of the circumstances in his life that had not gone as planned that he had forgotten to see his blessings.

This is what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s an entire day devoted to noticing and appreciating the good things in life. Wow! What a great concept!

When my boys were small, every night I asked them to tell me 10 things that had happened that day that were good. Even after the most horrible day we could still always come up with 10 good things.
One of MY good things every night is that they still count THEIR good things at the end of each day, and they’re teaching my grandchildren to do the same thing. I think that this habit is one of the 3 the greatest gifts that I’ve given them, along with music and reading.

So they were all here Saturday night for dinner, and I asked the grandchildren what they had that day for good things. Allow me to share.

Binko, 8 years old: Waking up to the smell of bacon and waffles cooking – Led Zeppelin – smelling their puppy Guinness’ breath – TV - the bubble bath that they all 3 just took – my homemade tamales – football – hiding with his brother and cousin to eat the candy bars that I sneaked them - seeing his family.

Turtle, 5 years old, almost: playing Girl Games on the computer – chocolate – her new sparkly hair ties – pondering (Yes, she actually said “pondering.”) what kind of birthday cake I should make her – the pink bead that she found in the driveway – butterflies – shiny hair – getting her weekly toe nail painting - flowers.

JackJack – 4 years old: Cheese - SpongeBob SquarePants - Being a ninja – Cheese, again (the boy does like his cheese) - Farts - Wed Zeppwin – Fishes - Candy bar, (whispered, with big eyes and a giggle.) New shoes – this party – that big bird that we watched.

Now you’ve met 3 of my blessings. At the end of the day when I list my blessings and then when I list 10 good things that happened I forget about the economy and the market and all of the other plagues of our lives. I’m reminded that money and stuff are just that – stuff. Stuff is replaceable, but our blessings are not.

Try it now – it’s fun. Tell yourself right now your best blessings, and then think of 10 things that happened in the last 24 hours that were good things. If you don’t come out of this exercise in a better mood than when you started it then you’re not really trying.

Happy Thanksgiving from me and my family to you and your family. May we remember to make every day be a Thanksgiving! Blessings upon all of us, everyone.

Letter to Chairwoman Krisin Mayes, Arizona Corporation Commission

3 October, 2009

Chairwoman Kristin Mayes
Arizona Corporation Commission
1200 West Washington, 2nd Floor
Phoenix, Arizona
85007

Dear Chairwoman (Chairperson? I don’t know,) Mayes;


I’m writing to urge you to please vote to re-instate the electricity providers’ “free 1000 feet” policy.

As you know, APS and other electricity providers always and forever have not charged to run lines to a new residence, up to 1000 feet. In 2007 they did away with this “free 1000 feet.”

This became an issue just as we were seeing vacant land’s flat line starting to blip. A Buyer’s reaction is to lower their offering price by the amount that the provider (pessimistically) might charge them. The Seller either rejects their offer and again, nothing sells and no money moves into the community, or he takes it and we now have an abysmal comp and property values fall some more.

The developers are shaking their heads and turning towards higher density parcels, the contractors and their subs get another month in the soup lines, the small towns that depend on them and their flow of money continue to fold.

The first problem is that the amounts that the electricity providers charge are completely arbitrary, following no discernible rhyme nor reason.
Neither the developers nor contractors nor property owners can predict and budget for this expense – it has to be a surprise, apparently. Nobody can know what the charge will be until they pull a building permit.

As an example, I have 5 large parcels of land listed in Cornville. Each one of these parcels could be legally and prettily subdivided into smaller parcels, developed, and nice custom homes built on them. It’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen because my Sellers can’t reduce the price any further and the 1000 feet charge just tipped the balance from a doable project into an idea that failed to pencil out. It can’t possibly pencil because nobody can know what the APS charge will be, and developers are not gamblers anymore.

Let me try, please, to show you the consequences of this sale going belly up.
The Seller couldn’t sell the property and so he has no money to spend in the community – the money didn’t move. Neither I, the lenders who would have funded the deal, the other agent, the title company, not the excavators nor the surveyor made any money – the money didn’t move. The architect, the contractor, the roofer, drywallers, landscapers, plumbers, electricians, painters – all of the trades involved in the building of 43 homes, none of them got a break from this horrible economy because the money didn’t move. They have no money so they won’t be going out to eat or buying new shoes or making their house payment this month.
I re-read this last paragraph and think how dramatic it sounds, but it’s true – every word. APS’ policy of charging some arbitrary but God-awful amount of money for their 1000 feet of lines killed this deal. It affected all of these people and our little community horribly.
My prospective developer buyer bought a property in the Phoenix area instead – 1000 feet of electric lines is not an issue on the property that he bought there. Again, Maricopa grins while the rural areas cry.

Rural areas are being economically pummeled by this policy change. We realize that the providers are counting on the fact that this doesn’t much affect the Great State of Maricopa, so maybe they can just continue and maybe nobody who can do something about it will understand or notice. “1000 free feet no more” does impact your outlying areas greatly, but we’re neither as visible nor as vocal.

Kristin, please. See us. Hear us. Let us also be visible. Help us, please.

Thanking you in advance for your time and attention,


Carol Anne Warren, REALTOR ®
Associate Broker, Arizona Adobe Group Realty
GRI, ABR, e-Pro, AHWD, CNE
direct to me: 928-300-9031
carolanne@adobegr.com
If you shovel the manure diligently, sooner or later you are sure to find a pony. ~Anacoana~

September 7, 2009

President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama:
Great speech to the kids yesterday!

I'm sure that letters from citizens can't go directly to you - you're only one man, and certainly you get more letters and email than 100 Presidents could read in one day. I hope that this one gets through the screening process.

My husband and I are both real estate brokers in Cottonwood, Arizona.

I don't for one second think that I know more about economics than all of the high-powered advisers in their shiny ivory towers that work for the United States government. I do, however, know what's going on in Cottonwood. I know why our economy is so horrible, and it’s one very simple finger that I have to point.President Obama, I'm proud of you for trying to get a coherent health care plan in place. I agree that it's desperately needed. However, I think that you're putting the cart before the horse. It's great to have a good health care plan, but I'm not going to worry much about my cholesterol when I'm homeless. Long-term health problems like cancer or thyroid imbalance or a heart murmur don't much concern me if I live in the culvert under the highway.
We need to deal with the homeless, and we need to deal with the certainty of millions of newly homeless before we get to health insurance. Excuse me, but that's where your attention needs to be – first things first and all. Besides, if the money isn’t moving there will be no income to pay taxes on and health insurance will be impossible to fund. (Don’t worry - I’ll tell you about the newly homeless in a minute, when we talk about nonexistent loan modifications and foreclosures.) Or, maybe we could split the focus? Let’s do half health insurance and half Carol Anne’s problem. As long as they’re all up in arms anyway, what do we have to lose?

Where does the economic buck stop? Why is our economy still gasping? Why are people losing their houses in droves? That answer is ridiculously easy for me to answer.

The Banks.

There are 3 ways that the Banks are totally FUBAR'd, and these 3 things are why so many more Americans are going to be sharing that culvert with me.

Let me tell you what I see every single day. Mr. President, I’m going to speak to you the same way that I would talk to my sons, or to a friend – you don’t seem like the type of person that requires beating around the bush. (My husband found a pun in that “beating around the bush” statement, but it was unintended.)
Here’s what’s going on:

THE BANKS ARE REFUSING TO LEND MONEY. I've lost count of the times that a wonderfully qualified buyer has written an offer and tried to get a loan and was turned down by a bank underwriter. Consistently, the underwriter's job is obviously to stall as long as possible and then at the last minute come up some stupid piddly-assed reason why they won't make a good loan.
Our most recent turn-down was because the underwriter decided that the buyer would get "payment shock." This was a great buyer: good credit score, good job, good income, and he desperately wanted to move his wife and son and mentally disabled daughter into that cute home with the nice picket fence. It's not going to happen.
The underwriter denied the loan because this buyer had never made a house payment before and so would go into shock and he would bail when he wrote that first mortgage check. I shit you not - he can’t buy a house now because he's never bought a house before.
I will be happy to show you this file and tons more just like it.

Please, Mr. President, consider for a moment what would have happened if this sale had closed (as it should have) and this buyer had gotten that house. Our buyer would have immediately gone down to Home Depot and spent a couple of thousand dollars on paint and tile and whatever. He would have made his payments on time, plus interest. The Bank would have had that interest money to lend to someone else. The loan originator would have gotten paid and would have been able to pay her bills. I would have gotten paid and then would have been able to pay my bills. I would also have bought a pair of shoes, which I always do when a deal closes, and we probably would have gone out to dinner. Money should have moved, but instead it didn't.
Please ask “Why?”

You're doing a great job with incentives like the up to $8,000 tax credit. However, incentives don't mean a thing if, when we get a buyer off of the fence and they try to buy a house the Banks won't lend, not even to good solid buyers. The government programs to help people to buy all look good on paper, but we're sure not seeing any difference down here in the trenches. The money isn’t moving. Please ask “Why?”

SHORT SALES. A short sale is when a buyer has to sell a home that they can no longer make the payments on. The problem is that they owe more on the property than it will sell for in this market. So, to sell it, we need the Bank to agree to allow the sale - otherwise we can't do it. Mr. President, understand that if the Bank doesn't agree to the short sale then they will eventually foreclose on the property. These are their choices: short sale or foreclose.

The latest numbers are that once it's all said and done it costs a Bank an average of $50,000 to foreclose on a property.

So when I come to a Bank and say, "Hey, Bank. Here's Mr. Seller, who owes you $135,000. I can sell his house for $100,000. If you work with us there’s a shortfall of $35,000. However, if you don't work with us and you foreclose you'll eat $50,000 right off of the top of a house that you also can only sell for $100,000 because you’ve inherited that $35,000 shortfall – it didn’t go away.
In the meantime the house will sit vacant and will deteriorate and then will only sell for $90,000. You, Bank, get to pay commission and closing costs and upkeep and taxes and HOA fees, probably totaling around $10,000.
Do the math. Work with us, lose $35,000. Refuse to work with us, lose the same $35,000 plus the $50,000 plus the estimated $10,000 for vacancy and deterioration plus the $10,000 for commissions and closing costs. The total estimated loss there is $105,000. This is a no-brainer, Bank.”
At this point the Bank should be kissing my toes for offering them the absolute best of 2 bad choices and they should do anything in their power to facilitate this short sale. That’s just good business.
But NO – the Bank drags their feet and jerks everybody around and finally does foreclose, sometimes on the same day that our completed short sale was supposed to close.
Short sales are a nightmare because of the Banks, even though it is absolutely in the Banks' best interest to make a short sale happen. Right now, 4 out of 5 short sales do not close successfully. That figure should be reversed - 4 out of 5 short sales should close. They don't because the Banks refuse to co-operate, which is bad business. What’s up with that? Surely across the board all Banks cannot possibly be that incompetent, can they? Can they really?
President Obama, please ask “WTF?”

LOAN MODIFICATIONS. In my world, anybody and everybody that depends on the housing market is in serious financial trouble. REALTORS®, contractors, plumbers, mortgage brokers, electricians, roofers, excavators, title companies and officers, well drillers, fence guys, lumber companies and their employees, the list goes on and on into infinity. You know the list. Add to this list the elderly that expected social security and their IRAs and 401K’s to keep them secure in their old age – they’re losing their homes, too.
It's not even remarkable anymore that someone has lost a home or has filed bankruptcy - we even talk about who’s the cheapest bankruptcy attorney and which is better for selling your stuff, eBay or Craig's List? I'm telling you about good, responsible, hard-working people whose source of income has dried up, just like when a spigot gets turned off.
All of these people used to spend money and keep the economy moving. We now have no money to spend, and so the businesses that depended on us are folding, too. Nobody is traveling and so the tourists aren’t coming, either.
Restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry stores, car dealerships and their employees, life and health insurance companies, art galleries………… I can stop here – you know the myriad types of businesses. They’re all either in a world of hurt or belly up because the money isn’t moving.
This results in severe loss of sales tax for the cities and counties, and now they don’t have the resources to deal with the onslaught of the newly homeless.

People call their REALTOR® for advice and we tell them to talk to their mortgage companies and say, "Hey, Bank. I can see what’s coming. Sometime in the near future I won’t be able to make my payment. It’s going to happen - talk to me, please. What can we do?" The Bank says, "We won't have a thing to do with you until you're in foreclosure."
Well, OK, if you insist. Like there was a choice, right?
They miss the required 3 payments so that they can go into foreclosure as instructed, and then the Bank says, "Look – you’ve missed 3 payments and so now we won't talk to you some more – you’re a bad risk. We're just going to take your house. Get out."
In the meantime, since these people are more than 30 and then 60 and then 90 days late on their mortgage, some sort of alarm gets tripped and the Banks who hold their credit cards raise their interest rate from 6% to 29%. The Banks also lower their limit to the point that now they’re "over limit" even though they weren't when they used the money and that trips more alarms and that's a big help now, isn't it? (I swear on my mother's grave that I'm not making this up – even George Orwell couldn’t make this up. The Banks can and they do do this, thousands of times every day.)
Remember about short sales, above, that it costs around $50,000 for a Bank to repossess a property? OK, what's the best option here? Work with the homeowners and give the economy a chance, or kick them out? Apparently it's "Kick 'em out!" because that's what's happening.
Mr. President, I know that your administration has instituted a ton of programs to induce the Banks to modify their client’s loans. What are the numbers? Out of the tens of thousands of foreclosures that have been filed and/or completed, how many were modified? I guarantee you that the number of homeowners who have been “worked with” by the Banks is horrifyingly miniscule.
Mr. President, please ask “How many?”

The Banks will tell you that “They’re trying!” No, Mr. President, they’re not trying. They’re stalling, they’re jacking people around, they’re asking for increasingly ludicrous documentation, they’re pretending that they don’t want to put Americans out on the street and then they’re doing it, over and over and over again. It just doesn’t make sense – it’s lunacy.
Mr. President, Please ask “Why?”

OK, so I’m full of what’s wrong, but what’s the solution? I don’t know. That’s your job, Mr. President, and I’m praying for you.
I write this letter with the hope that maybe it just hasn’t been made clear to you what’s happening to your citizens down here on the streets of America, or why and how it’s happening. I write this letter with the hope that whoever reads it will get it to you and to the people who can help you to figure out how to change this nightmare. I write with the hope that you won’t pussy-foot. I write with the hope that you’ll ask “Why?” and then go smack somebody around.
Best wishes,



Carol Anne Warren, REALTOR®
Associate Broker, Arizona Adobe Group Realty
918 North Main Street, #A
Cottonwood, Arizona, 86326
928.300.9031
carolanne@adobegr.net
www.cottonwoodrealestate.net

Q: “I KEEP HEARING ABOUT THIS UP TO $8,000 TAX CREDIT IF I BUY A HOUSE. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?”

CAROL ANNE: If you have not been on the title on a home for more than 3 years, if you make less than $75,000 for a single person or $150,000 as a couple, if you buy in the United States and close escrow before December 1, 2009, you’re probably eligible for the $8,000 credit.


Q: “DOES IT WORK FOR CONDOS OR MANUFACTURED HOMES OR CO-OPS OR TOWNHOUSES?”

CAROL ANNE: Yes, and sometimes even houseboats. Talk to your accountant or check it out at ww.irs.gov.



Q: “BUT I WON’T OWE $8,000 WHEN I FILE MY TAXES – I’M PROBABLY GETTING A REFUND. IS THIS $8,000 ANY GOOD TO ME?”

CAROL ANNE: Yes, it is. This is the cool part! If you don’t owe so much, then the IRS will cut you a check for the balance. For instance, if you owe no taxes, the IRS will send you the full $8,000 when you file plus whatever refund you’ve got coming. Them, say, if you owe $2,000 on your 2009 taxes, then you won’t pay the $2,000 and you’ll get a check for $6,000. Pretty sweet, isn’t it? Make sure that your tax guy knows to claim it for you.


Q: “SO IF I QUALIFY, I CAN BUY A $20,000 LOT WITH A "P.O.S." SHACK ON IT AND GET A TAX CREDIT OF $8,000?”

CAROL ANNE: That’s a good plan, but no. First of all, you have to claim this property as your principal residence, so you have to live there at least 51% of the time. Second, the tax credit is $8,000 OR 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less. If you bought this shack for 20 grand then your tax credit would be $2,000.


Q: “CAN I USE THIS $8,000 AS PART OF MY DOWN PAYMENT?”

CAROL ANNE: Probably not. We’ve heard of a few lenders that tried and one or two said that they succeeded, but we’re not hearing anybody saying that they can use the credit it towards the down payment anymore. If you find somebody, let us know, please.


Q: “DO I HAVE TO FILL OUT PAPERWORK AND GET APPROVED FOR THIS, TOO?“

CAROL ANNE: Nope. Assuming that you fit all of the parameters, just close escrow before December 1, 2009 and remember to tell your accountant to claim it on the new IRS form 5405.


Q: “DO I EVER HAVE TO PAY IT BACK?”

CAROL ANNE: Only in one situation: they call it the anti-flipping rule. If you sell the house before you’ve owned it for three years then the $8,000 must be paid back.

Q: MY WIFE AND I WILL BE CLAIMING INCOME OF $150,000 AND 1 DOLLAR. DOES THIS MEAN THAT WE’RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE TAX CREDIT?

CAROL ANNE: No, you’re OK. If people go over the allowed limits there’s a nifty formula so that you can get at least a portion of the $8,000. It’s only when a single person makes over $95,000 or a couple makes over $170,000 that they’re totally out of luck. Talk to your accountant or the IRS.

Q: SO WHAT DO I DO NOW?
CAROL ANNE: CALL ME! 928.300.9031. December 1st is just around the corner!

Yesterday was Mike's and my 6th anniversary. He wanted breakfast at the Jerome Grille, and then said that we would do whatever I wanted.

I remembered him saying a long time ago that he knew where there were some Indian ruins - they're protected but you're allowed to walk to them. This is what I want to do!

Mike (being the perpetual voice of reason) pointed out that Arizona is having record heat for this time in August, the humidity is up, we've just eaten a heavy breakfast and this plan of mine is not a good one.

But I am stubborn and I've got an idea in my head and I insist.

So about noon we get to the hill that we need to hike up. When I say "up" I mean UP with capital letters. It's about 2 miles of rocky bad trail, the grade is at least 30% and it's 105 degrees and there is no shade.

Did I mention that I am stubborn and I've got an idea in my head and I stamp my little feet and insist? Mike shakes his head and shoulders his bag and we head up.

Neither one of us is having much fun, but I'm seeing random pieces of pottery and every time I look up it seems as though the summit where the ruins are is Right There. We forge ahead, sweating a lot and cussing occasionally, Mike asking once again if I don't think it's time to turn back because this is stupid - we can come back some other day. Since this story continues you know what my answer was - if I'd been smart and agreed to turn back it would end right here.

Now, I was born and raised in Arizona and I know full well the dangers of this place. However, I seem to have been made with a deficient sense of self-preservation. I have no fear of snakes or scorpions or spiders (centipedes totally creep me out and I got treed by a herd of javelina once) and for God's sake I could see our house from where we were. What's the worst that can happen?

We trudge some more and finally get to the top - there's the ruins. It's hot. It's damn hot. There are no trees up here, just one sad little juniper and a few crucifixion thorns.

I'm not sweating anymore, which is a very bad sign. I have a headache, my hands are shaking and I'm confused. I go to the edge of the cliff to see how close the creek is and wobble. Mike sees this and realizes that I'm in trouble and steers me over to a miniscule patch of shade under a crucifixion thorn and makes me sit.

I'd been giving Mike a hard time about this bag that he's carrying. He's been grunting and cussing at it since the first step, and I'd suggested leaving it at the side of the trail repeatedly. Now, bless the man, he pulls from this bag a bottle of ice water and makes me drink it - all of it. Then he pulls out another bottle of ice water and dumps it over my head. Then he pulls out another bottle of ice water and makes me drink that one, too. Then he pulls out a beer and he drinks that.

I'm scared. Mike is really scared - we still have to get down and he's not sure how to accomplish that, what with me needing shade and being stumbly. Mike mentions calling the rescue chopper, but I'm coherent enough to be horrified at that idea, at the embarrassment and expense. (Mostly the embarrassment. When I see people who have to be rescued, I always call them Boneheads and ask "Well, what did they think was going to happen, going for a little stroll at high noon on the hottest day yet in August? Nimrods.")

Mike thought about calling our friend Brain and having him come get us in his WallCrawlerJeep. To do that Brain would have to knock down the locked gate and drive up the protected trail and risk a $10,000 fine. Brain would do it in a minute if Mike called, but this did not seem like a viable option to me.

In the end we didn't have to do anything. The shade and water worked and after about an hour I got up and walked down to the trail head and we went home. I took a long nap and was just fine.

My point in writing all this is to remind us all that even though it's almost Fall, even though you're close to home, even though you're competent and comfortable in this country, it can be lethal. Human beings are not constructed to stroll around in this sort of heat. Thank goodness Mike was smarter than me and came prepared. Thank God I didn't take it into my head to go up there alone, which was a possibility.

Happy Anniversary, and be safe up there.

My son just posted this on FaceBook:

"Thunder rolling through the valley. The children are laughing. Good tunes are a playing and a Beautiful wife is within reach. Life is good."

What can top seeing every parent's fondest wish for their kid come true?

I get a kick out of everybody reading the foreclosure notices in the paper, and some even paying for lists of these notices. The they go, "Ooooh! So-and-so is in foreclosure! Oooooh!"

It doesn't seem to occur to them that if So-and-so wants to modify their loan with their bank, then they have to let their property go into foreclosure. There's no "Oooooh!" about it.

Isn't this a sorry state of affairs, the thought process (or lack of thought process) of the banks? "You're upside-down? Your income has been drastically reduced? Then you have to go into serious default and totally screw up your credit just to get into a position where we'll talk to you about us getting real about the situation!"

Sigh.

Rain in Arizona - it's like Christmas! It's been drizzly for the past 2 days, which never stops me because rain is the best. Water from the sky!
Today I go to my garden and plant salsa and nurture my soul. There's something about slogging around in the mud and breaking fingernails that's necessary to Band-Aid whatever mental health I have.

The only disturbing thing about gardening is the quandary of what to do when I find a tomato worm? I try to remember to be gentle and loving but I hate them with a passion AND THEY'RE KILLING MY SALSA! I wish I had chickens because then I could throw the stupid worm at the chickens and then they'd kill it and my karma would be clean. I settle for snipping off what I think is their head quickly and cleanly and sending them off to a new and better incarnation - I'm sure that they appreciate it. Who wants to be a tomato worm, right?

So today I'll go to the nursery with the intention of buying 6 Roma tomato plants and 4 jalapenos, and will come out with a Jeep full of house plants and yard flowers and some weird bright idea for the garden (Last year it was tomatillos. If you ever have a chance to grow tomatillos, one plant will be more than sufficient. Trust me on this one. I was never real sure what to do with the damn things since I don't like to eat them, but the plants sure are pretty. Neither the Mission nor the Food Bank wanted them either, so I started lurking in the Safeway parking lot watching for somebody that didn't lock their car doors so that I could fill their back seat up with tomatillos. It was a crime wave that was reported exhaustively in the newspapers.)

There are my plans for my day, and it sounds wonderful! Best wishes for yours!

I just spent a week in Washington, DC for the National Association of REALTORS conference. Wow! DC is not one of the places that I would choose to go if it had been left up to me. DC is not even one of the top 100 places that I would have ever chosen. Now, it probably is in the top, oh, say 50. The history sent shivers up my neck. I marveled at monuments and artifacts that I've been looking at pictures of all of my life.
I saw one of the copies of the Magna Charta from 1260. I saw all of the de rigeur monuments, the ACTUAL be still my heart! Declaration of Independence, the Articles of the Constitution, a real dinosaur skeleton, an abandoned graveyard, miles and miles of DC sidewalks - I was a shameless tourist and I loved it!
I had to discipline myself to remember that I wasn't there to be a tourist. I had to fit sightseeing into late nights and one day of hookey when they hadn't scheduled me for anything except a guided tour of NAR - I felt fine about bailing on the NAR building.
I was there for the REALTOR Conference and the Summit. The Conference was great (REALTORS are an odd bunch, but extremely competent, especially at this level.) The Summit was incredible. NAR brought together the biggest of the wigs to duke it out over the economy. The concept is that Congress and the Obama Administration could watch and learn what's going on out in the real world.
That's what happened. Alan Greenspan gave a speech which I enjoyed quite a bit. (I didn't expect that - to enjoy Greenspan.) Then 2 round table discussions with big-timey bankers, economists, journalists, all kinds of economic gurus, all who pretty much ended up sniping at the bankers. Well, who deserves it more? Jane Bryant Quinn moderated and she was the best sniper of all.
The upshot is that Greenspan believes that the economy took an "upswing" in November, and he expects it to continue indefinitely. He explained why but I don't do econospeak and my eyes glazed over.
It was incredible, listening to all of these great minds finally admitting what we've known all along - the economy is in trouble, the housing market is a disaster, and "trickle down" didn't work so let's try some "trickle up."
That's my new license plate to replace my current "Turets." "Triklup."

The Sound of Music

I just love this! Check it out: www.silverbearcafe.com/private/04.09/antwerp.html

No, damn it. The weather is not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about appreciation.

I got a compliment this morning. It felt so good to hear something nice about me that I almost teared up. Now, I know that people think good things about me. I know that I do a really good job. I know that I'm usually a nice person and that I try to make other people feel good. I also know that it's a cold day in hell anymore when people say so.

I am a very verbal person. I need to hear it. Some people need flowers and diamonds or others need a hug to feel appreciated, I need to hear kind words.

The problem with us humans neglecting to show our regard for our friends and family is that if we don't show appreciation then the people who we love assume that it isn't there. That's sad.

So then we get to deal with someone who has this toxic, resentful miasma hanging over their head. We don't know why they're this way - they don't tell us why because appreciation that's been strong-armed means nothing. We thinks that it must be because they're unhappy with us. Then we think, "But why should they be mad at me? Don't I work hard? Don't I do my best? What in the blue blazes more do they want?"

And then the spiral begins and sometimes it ends ugly.

I think that we should all make ourselves a promise. At least once a day we'll say something nice to the people that we care about. Not a big production - just a simple, "Hey - I love it when you smile like that!" or, "Wow. What a good job you did - I can see how hard you worked!" or just, "Yay! You're home!" or "You look great in that color!"

Let's try it. Let me know how it goes, please.

And thanks for reading. I appreciate your time and attention.

Well, thank the powers that be! I just went to a social marketing class taught by Paula Monthofer of the Flagstaff Association. She said that we should just "Be yourselves! Don't concentrate on real estate!"

Thank God. I was boring even myself.

So now the big question is "Well. What do I want to talk about?"

I want to talk about the wonderful weather in central Arizona today. I go outside and am reminded of why it is that I live here in Cottonwood. (Cottonwood is about 15 minutes from the Red Rocks of Sedona and 5 minutes from the wonderful old historic mining town of Jerome. We're right smack dab in the middle of the state.)

I tried to leave Cottonwood once. I was born & raised in Prescott, Arizona, and moved over Mingus Mountain to Cottonwood when I was 17.
Years later, my husband at the time had people in Arkansas and, in an effort to finally make him happy I consented to sell everything that I owned and we moved to Mountain View, Arkansas. This was a colossal mistake on my part.

I'm not writing today to trash Arkansas. The simple fact is that Cottonwood is my home and Mountain View wasn't. Yes, I could tell you hair-raisers, but not today.

Part of the problem was the weather there. Colder than hell in the winter, hot and unrelentingly muggy in the summer, and please don't get me started on the ticks and chiggers and cottonmouths and copperheads, some of them in human form.

The beauty of having lived someplace else is that now I have a frame of reference. I know how special it is here. Our climate is great, (Yes, it does get hot, but not TOO hot. Our summers are like Back East's winters - we go from climate controlled houses to climate controlled cars to climate controlled offices for a couple of months. It cools off during the night, so windows are open. Ahhhhhh!)

What else? Our crime rate is low, people are mostly friendly, and our views will knock your socks off!

If you're interested, shoot me an email and I'll send you some pictures.
carolanne@adobegr.com.

I have something of what I call a voodoo frame of mind. I believe that what we concentrate on is what we get. If we tell ourselves a thousand times a day how horrible the world is, how awful people treat each other, even that there are SOOOOO many bad drivers out there then this is all that we will see. What we believe becomes so, at least in our little slice of the world.

So what does this have to do with real estate? Well, look around you. The real estate market reflects our economy, or vice versa - I've never been sure which comes first. People ask me "What the heck happened?"

I think that it all started with the media, which is perpetuating a self-defeating cycle. (All I know is what I see - I don't know which economic guru to listen to so I've stopped paying attention to any of them - they're all contradicting each other anyway.)

So here's my story. The media caused the real estate feeding frenzy of 2005. News stories about the scarcity of real estate and the wonderful investment of real estate sold newspapers and got hits and so they reported it more and sold more ads and so they amped it up and pretty soon people were buying every piece of property that they could get their hands on whether they could afford it or not. The lenders were throwing the money at these buyers because hey - if the borrower defaults we'll just take it back and re-sell it at a profit. Of course we can - watch the Today Show.

This couldn't continue indefinitely and so of course, it all fell apart and the frenzy slowed down and then quickly came to a screaming halt.

So now the media concentrates on what they're portraying as the poor stupid fools who bought during the frenzy. They tell horror stories of markets freezing and "flippers" stuck with houses they can't pay for and variable rate borrowers who can't make their payments and the public says, "Whoa! I'd better walk away from my house now!" Or, "Gee, I'd better not buy anything until I know what's going on!" And so they do and the economy gets worse because no money is moving.

So, tell me. How do we get the media to tell the true story? How do we make it sexy that it's a wonderful time to buy a house? How do we get them to reverse some of this damage?

I'm fully aware that my approach to what is undoubtedly an intricate economic process is going to make some people crazy. That's OK - your truth is not necessarily my truth, and I'm always open to seeing more pieces to a puzzle.

Since I'm on this Diversity kick, check out http://www.playingforchange.com/pop2.html
It blew me away! Click on "play video."

I'm getting a Diversity class together for April 24th. The point is to teach REALTORS(R) how to work with people from another culture without offending or making either side uncomfortable.



This is harder than you might think at first. Speaking in generalities and using very broad strokes:



Did you know that a culturally aware person might know better than to show an Asian person a white house?



A "GREEN" House in the US means that the home impacts our earth in positive ways, built by and for ecologically aware humans. But, if you pull up in front of a house with a green roof with a Chinese couple, the man might decide that you think his wife is cheating on him.


Some Native Americans would react very badly to a home with gray or black trim, while I think that black trim on a white house is just beautiful.

To some Middle Easterners a blue house is very auspicious, while to my Cherokee friend blue is the color of defeat and trouble.

In China, yellow is a wonderful color that signifies growth and prosperity, while in Egypt yellow is the color of mourning.

So there - I just gave you a 5 minute slice of the 6 hour course. Some people say, "Why, that's ridiculous! Those people need to understand how we do it here in America! Why do WE have to learn how THEY think? It oughta be the other way around!" These are the people that absolutely need to be in a Diversity course, don't you think? If you said something like this, get your butt to Sedona on the 24th.

We have sign outside of our office that says, "Free foreclosure list!" It works like a charm.

I notice that people come in and say, "I would like a free foreclosure-and-short-sale-list, please." We start talking and I realize that 90% of the general public does not know the difference between these two animals - they just want a bargain and think that foreclosure-and-short-sales are the way to get one.

A little foreclosure and short sale 101, OK?

A foreclosure is easy to understand. Somebody bought a house and got a mortgage to do so and then couldn't make their payments so the bank took the house back and is now selling it. We call these REO properties.

Short sales are a different breed. A short sale means that the seller needs to sell the house, but it's worth less than the pay-off on the mortgage. Now we need to find a buyer, get an offer, and then convince the bank to accept less then was agreed upon when the seller bought the house. Short sales get complicated - the banks are not equipped or inclined to give us an answer in any reasonable amount of time. The seller has to "qualify" for the short sale almost like when they bought the house. The bank wants them to prove that they can't make up the difference between the sales price and the mortgage balance.

Since a seller walks away from a short sale with, uh, nothing, and the buyer has to be incredibly patient waiting for the bank to make up their minds, tempers can run high.

Since a seller makes no money on a short sale, why do they bother? Why not just walk away? 2 reasons: most people are honorable and want to live up to their obligations as best they can. Also, a short sale affects a seller's credit for 2 to 3 years, while a foreclosure will ding it for 5 to 7 years.

What's in it for the buyer? Foreclosures and short sales are quite often priced below the "normal" competition.

What are the drawbacks? A buyer is getting involved with a house where the last owner was probably pretty mad when they left. Usually, there aren't any appliances or window coverings or light fixtures, they're often dirty, and the landscaping is suffering or dead because nobody cares. Sometimes the last owner deliberately trashed the place, kicking holes in the walls and taking a drill to the plumbing and a hammer to the tiles. (Shame on them! It isn't the poor house's fault.)

The other drawback on an REO is that the bank has no idea of the condition of the property. The buyer gets no disclosures, no warranties, and no promises - they're on their own as far as figuring out what kind of shape this house is in. (I would never sell one of these properties without a thorough ASHI certified inspector going over it first. Never!)

So if you think that you might be interested in picking up one of
these "bargains," please call a REALTOR(R) who is experienced in dealing with them. Remember, these properties are tricksy and difficult and require a competent professional.

If you're a homeowner that's afraid that you might be in one of these situations, again, call a REALTOR(R) who knows what they're doing. There are a lot of scams out there and a lot of unscrupulous bottom-feeders that want to take advantage of people's fear and desperation. Don't deal with a "loan modification facilitator" if they want money up front. Reputable loan modifiers will wait until the job is done to collect a fee. They're one of the few professions that I can think of that get paid like REALTORS(R).

There's been a lot of conversation in REALTOR(R) circles about how to explain to the general public how we work.

"Uh....how about we tell people?"

So I’m going about my business last week and my phone rang. A very nice man said, “Carol Anne, my name is Joe Public and I would very much like to see your listing at 12345 Main Street.” I said, “Joe, I would very much like to show it to you.” We made an appointment and met at the house and spent, oh, 2 or 3 hours looking at the house, asking and answering questions, qualifying, looking at the house some more – a typical wonderful showing.
Joe was ready to buy it – this is not my first rodeo and I know when somebody gets engaged to a house. I asked Joe if he wanted to go write the contract right then, or did he want to sleep on it? Joe answered that he would go call his agent, who would get back to me tomorrow.

“Your agent? You have an agent, Joe?” “Yes, I have an agent. He told me to go find houses that I want to see, make appointments, go look, and it would all be fine as long as I make sure to tell the list agents that I’m working with him.”

Wrong.

I take a deep breath and remind myself that I like Joe and this isn’t his fault. He’s trying to do the right thing as explained to him by his agent. I also remind myself that my job is to sell the property without ripping poor Joe’s face off. I kindly ask Joe who is his agent? He tells me the name of someone licensed to sell real etate, but not a member of the National Association of REALTORS(R), not a person who is subject to our Code of Ethics.

We’ll call Joe’s agent Dick.

So I sleep on it and have about 40 conversations in my mind and then give Dick a call. Here’s how it went:

“Hi, Dick. I showed a listing yesterday to Joe Public, who told me that you told him to go look at properties with the list agents, and if he finds one that he wants to write on he should say that he works with you. Is that correct? Dick, are you making even the slightest effort to protect Joe's interests, or are you just throwing him to the wolves? Are you actually telling to go out and have another agent show him properties and then have you write the offer? Are you actually thinking that Joe saying, “I work with Dick” will avoid a procuring cause issue? Are you planning to write an offer on a home that you haven’t even bothered to go see with him? Are you thinking that you’re representing Joe even the slightest little bit when you’re sending him out alone? Do you think it’s right that the other agents are doing all of the work and you’re expecting to collect a commission?”

Isn’t it 5:00 somewhere?

How about a little real estate 101? When an owner hires me to list and sell his property, we agree on what he will pay me to do so. My commission is usually a percentage of the total sales price of the property. When I put that property into our MLS, I promise to pay the agent who brings a buyer half of my commission.


What is procuring cause? It means that the agent who caused a buyer to decide to buy that particular property is the one who earned the commission. There are caveats, but that's basically it. We don't dictate who a buyer can work with or have represent them, but there have to be guidelines as to who gets paid.

So what's wrong with what happened?

First of all, Joe wasn't being being properly represented. Dick should have been there to listen to the answers to the questions and see the house and lend his expertise and experience - Joe should not have been out there all alone.

Second, Joe could get stuck in the middle of 2 agents arguing about who sold him the house. That's not fair when all that Dick had to do was show up.

That's the problem here. Dick didn't bring Joe and Dick didn't help Joe but Dick wants me to pay him even though he didn't earn it.

So what would I have had Joe do? Make an appointment with Dick to go out looking. If Dick doesn't want to go then Joe needs to go find himself a REALTOR(R).

I'm being technologically special lately. My wonderful hoo-hah phone (that I now realize has replaced my brain) crashed. AAAaaargh! Calm down, Carol Anne - just sync it and everything will be back. Nope. Nothing there. (Did you know that the license plate on my Jeep says "TURETS?" I earned it, mostly with episodes and epithets like yesterday's.) So now I've lost my schedule and hundreds of phone numbers that apparently I haven't stored anyplace else. Why would I put them anyplace else? I have a wonderful phone with a computer back-up. Wrong.

Then I borrowed Mike's Blazer to go to a Grievance Committee meeting in Phoenix. On the way home the "check engine" light came on. I pulled over and figured out to lift the hood and checked the engine. Yep - there's an engine, right there. Got back in and started it up and the "check engine" light is still lit up. "But I did! I checked the engine!" Momentary and muttered TURETS this time.
So Mike takes his Blazer to Brain The Car Doctor. Brain hooks it up to his voodoo instruments and they tell him that it misfired while going 93 MPH with the throttle at 80% and Mike comes home and shakes his finger at me and explains (again) the photo radar and that they'll mail me a felony speeding ticket. Yes, Dear.

Then Nick The Computer Doctor replaced the old Windows OS on my office computer with a Linux system. I'm sure that it's absolutely wonderful, but it's different - instead of clicking on the little spinning world now I click on the bird and my brain is not seeming to want to develop this new habit.

So I'm thrashing around feeling betrayed and snitched on and challenged and then finally realize that if these are the worst things that happen this week then I'm doing pretty darn well. I remember to count my blessings, and to pray for the billions of people out there that would trade problems with me in a New York heartbeat.

I know that this post is not so much about the business of real estate as it is about being grateful that I do have a phone and a car and a computer to cuss at. If you wanted real estate, give me a holler and I'll talk about it for as long as you want, but right now I'm just feeling happy to have a roof over my head and a family to share my life with and the technology to share these thoughts with you. Thank you for listening.

I just realized the coolest thing! I write a column for our REALTOR Association, and I have to be very careful what I say - after all, it is being published under the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS umbrella. In my last missive for them, I myself replaced "chicken****" with "chickencaca" and then they replaced that with "cowardly," as I guess they should have.

But guess what? In this forum I can say "chickencaca," and I'll bet that sooner or later I do.



So let's talk about what it means to be a REALTOR, a member of the National Association of REALTORs. A plain licensee can be just that - a person who is licensed to sell real estate - as opposed to, well, me. A licensee doesn't have a Code of Ethics. As a REALTOR, I do have that big book and years of training, and my clients have the protection that comes with working with a REALTOR. (As I said in the last post, I'm not yelling when I put REALTOR in all caps. Those are the rules.)



So what does all of this mean to a member of the public?

Let's pretend that you're working with a REALTOR and something happens that raises the hairs up on the back of your neck. What to do?
First, call that REALTOR's broker and explain what happened.
Second, go to www.realtor.org and get a copy of the Code.
Third, read it.
Fourth, talk to the REALTOR that you had a problem with.
If all is not resolved at that point,
Fourth, contact the Association of REALTORs in your state and ask for an ombudsman. (An ombudsman is a neutral third party, a REALTOR trained to informally try to resolve difficulties before they become full-blown complaints. Don't be cynical and think, "Yeah, right. A REALTOR helping me against another REALTOR? Ain't gonna happen!" It will happen. We hate hate hate it when a bad apple is out there destroying all of our hard work.)
If it's still not fixed, file a grievance with your state's Association of REALTORs.

As a member of the public who chooses to work with a REALTOR, you have rights, and the Code of Ethics and the REALTORs vigorously protect your rights.

Holler if you have any questions. Thanks!

REALTOR ETHICS.

I notice that a lot of the general public is unaware that REALTORs (I'm not yelling at you when I capitalize REALTOR - the National Association says that I must always put our name in caps.) have a stringent Code Of Ethics.
I've been extensively trained in our Code, so I feel comfortable talking about it to you. It's not secret, like the Masons. You can find your own copy, suitable for framing, at www.realtor.org.
Basically, the Code outlines the REALTOR's obligations to the public and to other REALTORs. We are required to always work in the best interests of our client. Within legal guidelines, we're required to tell you anything that we know about the property that might have a bearing on your decision to buy, or how much you pay. Our clients have to give us permission to work with both the seller and the buyer in the same deal. We have to be honest with everyone involved. We ae required to account for every penny.
That's just a taste - the REALTOR Code of Ethics goes on for days. I know - I've been on Arizona Association of REALTORs' Professional Standards or Greivance committees for almost 20 years, and I'm one of the comparatively few certified ethics instructors.
Do REALTORs sometimes make mistakes? Yes. Are there ever bad apples who just don't care about ethics? Yes, but they die on the vine pretty quickly. If a member of the public feels badly treated by a REALTOR, do they have any recourse? Absolutely - that's what we're here for.
Is this a subject that you want to hear more about? I live and breathe the Code of Ethics, but I realize that everybody might not share my enthusiasm. What do you think?

Where have all the Buyers gone?

I remember growing up in the '60s, listening to The Kingston Trio singing, "Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls picked them, every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ev-er learn?
Now I wander around my world singing, "Where have all the Buyers gone? The media scared them, every one. When will they ever learn? When will they ev-er learn?"
This real estate market is amazing. Here in Arizona's Sedona Verde Valley area, we have hundreds and hundreds of homes for sale, most of them at incredible prices. Interest rates are at a 40-year low, sellers are ridiculously negotiable, and yet very few buyers are coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of the situation. Amazing!
Why? I understand that the media has done a hatchet job - bad news sells better than good news. But why did people believe the bilge that got spewed? Why are they still believing it? Why have we allowed the short-sighted politics that caused this in the first place?
I know that 2 years down the road everybody is going to be kicking themselves for not grabbing a house now when the deals are so favorable to the buyers.
If you are somebody that thinks that they might want buy a house someday, please let me know what I'm missing. I promise that I won't jump on you wanting to strong-arm you into buying - I don't roll like that, anyway. I'm just confused and need enlightenment.