A client of mine who bought from me about 11 months ago, had a relative that was a real estate expert! OK, you know what I'm talking about, the favorite cousin that because they watch CNN every night thinks they know more about real estate than you do? Well, to top it off, this person lived in another state and was calling me a bold faced liar in front of her cousin.
Well, guess who got the last laugh! Not to rub it in or anything, but the home that she was telling her cousin that was such a good deal is now under 5 feet of water. You see, this so called real estate expert, wanted her cousin to buy a property in a manufactured home park because of the tremendous savings. Well, I did the math, and after paying the fees to the park each month, after 3 years, she would have been going backwards.
I also advised her of the black mold problem in this certain park and she told me I was a liar again! As a real estate expert, she had never heard of black mold and was telling me I was making it up to try to sell her cousin on another property that would make me more money. I also advised her that the parks in this area have been shutting down one by one and that the owners of these homes were then given one year to move them and usually lost them because of the value going down so much and the cost to move them was just too great. Once again, I was called a liar! Well the last of the manufactured home parks in Beaverton, Oregon has now been shut down as I told her they would be. What did the average home seller get for their homes? 10% of what they paid for them and because they are considered a car (DMV title) in Oregon, these people are still stuck with the difference between what they owed and what they sold for.
Last but not least, I was told by this real estate expert from another state that our market was going down and not up as I was telling her cousin. She watched the news and watched the homes and she knew I was lying to them, just to sell them this more expensive home. Homes in my area were being foreclosed on and that our market was going down. I'm happy to say that their home just appraised for $24,000 more than they bought it for just 11 months ago, not bad for a market that is going down. I just got off the phone with them and they told me they are so glad they listened to me instead of their cousin, and that they are not talking to her anymore because of this.
So, who is your real estate expert? A cousin that has bought one home in her life, or your real estate agent that does this for a living? If you have hired an agent to help you find a home and you are still listening to your cousin for real estate advice, then maybe it is time to find another agent that you trust more. But, unless you're related to Donald Trump, I'm not going to put too much faith in what they have to say about real estate from 2000 miles away.
Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Today was just like any other day in the Clark household, that is until the monster was awoke. How did this happen you ask?
Oh, you think I'm joking, but every year its the same thing, just as I'm about to spend money on Christmas gifts for everyone, it never fails. Something, or in the case of this year, everything breaks down.
Recently I've come across a post to another forum that was asking about another agent, but not to post to the board, but to call. This seemed a little strange to me and I wanted to find out more so I sat back and watched.
