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Don’t take your bad day out on your clients

payback

Yesterday, while at our condo conversion project, another agent stopped by with a client. However, she had forgotten her lock box key, not a big deal we have all done it at least once. But, I could tell she was having a bad day and she was even snappy toward her client.

Her client asked her, "How much are the HOA dues here?" This was as I was walking away and said very quietly, so I knew it wasn't directed at me. But, then I heard this "Hell, I don't know, I forgot the MLS printout sheet too! TODD!"

I turned around headed back and asked "Yes, how can I help you?" Then her client and myself started to feel like if she was going to have a bad day, so were we. I so wanted to say to her client, "Do you want to leave and we can go look at one of the other units alone, I promise not to treat you like crap, even if I am having a bad day."

It was amazing to me that this client was putting up with it and just not driving off!I could tell she was amazed that someone working for a commission check could treat her this way. But, I wasn't allowed to say a word.

So out of frustration and all of this in less than a minute, I said, "You know, I'm going to leave you and your client her to look around and if you have any further questions, just give me a call and gave the agent my card"

nice matters

So as agents, please leave your attitude at home if you are having a bad day! The world doesn't need to also have a bad day just because you are. Just smile and try to change it into a good day!

                                                         

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

 

9 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 29 2007 06:00PM

New TV Show idea – Flip this agent?

FLIP THIS AGENT

This morning I was laying there thinking should I get out of bed or lay here and watch flip this house?Then I said to my wife, "You know what I would like to see? A show where they take an agent that is still wearing polyester suits, and has their picture from 1979 on their card. Then, take this agent, update them and their business, and have them switch companies. Then see how they do on the open market as an updated real estate agent"

Could they now sell for more, like a home after a flip? Also, if anyone knows who I could pitch this idea to, I have the first candidate for the show! It is an agent that doesn't have an e-mail account or cell phone. They still have a thermal fax machine, and until last year, was still using dial up internet in the office to access the RMLS! Yes, he was still using his picture from 1982, I didn't even recognize him when I saw his card.

So, if the networks are listening... Help me FLIP THIS AGENT!

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

43 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 29 2007 09:31AM

Todd, how do you come up with so many blog ideas?

Well everyone, I'm giving away my secret to how I get some many blog ideas! The secret is open your eyes, look around, listen, and write down or record everything.                        

You see when ever I am talking to someone who has a question...Guess what? That is a blog post! If one person wants the answer, then others do also. I see something funny to me...Guess what? That is a blog post! I'm angry about something...Guess what? That is a blog post! I have a question...Guess what? Wrong! I search for other posts about that!

But, you get my point. There are great blog ideas all around us, you just need to recognize them as such. Life is full of things we can blog about, but you need to learn how to harness them and put them into words for the world to see.

You are an expert at something and people ask you questions everyday. If you can answer them in words, then transfer those words to your blog and start posting! I'm not really anyone special to come up with new blogs everyday, I have just learned to observe the world in a slightly different way, and you can too.

 

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

Update: Two days after I wrote this blog, another post was written and they were doing a show about blog ideas and I thought it could be such good information, that I'm putting a link on my page to that post The Answer To "How Do I Get a Great Blog?????" !!!!!!

17 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 28 2007 04:30PM

Wow! What large nuts you have

                                                       

Recently, I was told that it was a buyers market and I had to somewhat disagree, and when I saw a copy of
another agents repair addendum, I was floored! A listing agent was telling me this and when I disagreed that it
was a complete buyers market, then she told me to read this.

It was a repair addendum for a listing she had! For the record, they told the buyer where to stick it, because they
knew this was the kind of buyer that was going to sue the after the sale no matter what they said yes too. This
house had been on the market 3 days when this offer came in! $5,000 under asking price, but they wanted to
sell quickly so they took the offer. But, wait until you see what they ask for next!

The buyer then had an inspection and on there repair addendum these are just a few of the items on the 3
pages! There were cracks in the driveway and the buyer wanted the seller to rip up the driveway and replace it
with blacktop. Then two light bulbs were burnt out, so they wanted those replaced as well as two 4 packs of light
bulbs should any other burn out prior to close. OH IT GETS BETTER! Since there was really nice landscaping that
they didn't know how to take care of, they were requesting the seller to pay for landscaping for one year or come
over every month for six months to help them keep it up. Then, to top it off, they wanted the seller to pay for all
their closing costs, prepaids and the additional 1% they agreed to pay their agent in a buyer's agency
agreement! This agent was already getting 3% from the listing agent and they wanted her to get another 1%
because the buyer agreed to pay her 4% in a buyer's agency agreement!

When the listing agent called the buyers agent about this repair addendum, she said "You do know this is a
buyer's market, right?" WOW! I guess I was wrong it is a buyers market! Even the squirrel was jealous of these
buyer,s nuts! Also if you are thinking this was a million dollar property, you would be wrong! It was on a
$210,000 1974 ranch!

Wife's update to my blog:

Q: How do you stop squirrels playing football in the  
   garden?  

A: Hide the ball, it drives them nuts!  

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

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15 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 28 2007 11:40AM

Home with a water feature – Not always a good thing

I recently bought an investment condo and lucky for me this property came with a water feature that I didn't even pay for! The only problem is I don't want this water feature and I would never want one to come with another house again.

You see, just before we moved in, the condos got new roofs, gutters and siding. All great things unless the gutter company felt since the gutters were to long that cutting the gutters by an inch would have been to much effort and decided to put a hole in the wall instead.

Well a couple days ago we had some people by to clean the roofs of leaves and branches to make the condo project look its best for the sale. Well wouldn't you know it my floor and wall started to get wet and are starting
to show water stains!

water stains

You see, we hadn't had a problem over the summer because we haven't had any great big down pours, but as soon as the pressure washer put a large amount of water in a very short period of time, it was too much. It wasn't going down the spout fast enough and over shot it right in to my kids' room.

This isn't something that was caught in the inspection, and even when the inspector came out after I told him what had happened, he was amazed. It wasn't something you could see unless you were looking under the siding at the end of the gutter.

So the gutter company came out and has fixed the gutter and they are also sending someone out next week to evaluate the water damage done to my kids' room. I smell new hardwoods for my remodel!

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

13 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 28 2007 12:23AM

Relocating to Oregon can be a wonderful move

As more and more parts of the country are seeing a fall in real estate prices, the prices here in Oregon seem to be staying steady and even going up in some areas. But, what if you are moving from out of state and don't know what to look for?

I would suggest, before you look for a home, look for a great company to work for! There are a lot of great companies here in Oregon that are always hiring and most do so online.

Nike, Intel and all area hospitals and schools all hire online and are looking for great qualified people.

What I can do for you once you have a job lined up is we get you to Oregon. I help set up a place for you to stay and store your stuff. Even if you have pets, they can stay with you until we find you the perfect home.

I can even set up a storage unit, so you can store your furniture and other belongings. I can usually find a place that will let you store for $1 for the first month with no minimum length of stay.

We then find you a home that is vacant and will possibly let you move in prior to close. This way we can empty your storage unit and have you stop paying rent to an extended stay hotel.

Call me and we can discuss other ways I can help you in your move to Oregon and I may even know of a job opening or two in your line of work.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

2 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 27 2007 03:01PM

The Lease Option Home Question in Beaverton, Oregon

The number one question I get from my buyers of lease option properties is how do I get paid? I get usually between $50-$100 from your monthly rent and the remaining when you exercise the option to purchase the property.

I tell them this is why, despite me telling them they can get a house with no credit check, I still want a copy of their credit report. What I do during the terms of the lease, is I help them work on their credit issues at no cost to them! I tell them that it is in my best interest to help them, because if they don't buy the house, I don't get paid!

The also pleases my sellers because they know at the first sign of trouble I'm going to be there, my check is on the line!

I also tell them that during any portion of the lease that they stop paying, I have an agreement with the seller, that the seller will stop paying me also. So you see, my helping you the buyer guarantees that I'm going to get paid. Unlike these companies that say they will fix your credit, but they want $5,000 up front, once they get your check, what incentive do they have to continue helping you? - NONE, they have already been paid.

So, for more information on buying or selling on a lease option call or e-mail me anytime.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

17 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 26 2007 03:27PM

With ARM's adjusting it could be a great time if you are an investor

You hear it in the news everyday that $100,000 Adjustable Rate Mortgages will adjust in the next couple months. But what does that mean to you if you are an investor? It means good times are here!  You see, as buyers, ARM's adjust their payments may get out of reach for them and if they don't have enough equity to sell the home they are either going to have to give it back to the bank or sell it for a loss. (MAYBE)

Here is what I propose to them and it makes it a win-win for my investors and the seller. On a $300,000 home the commission's can be as high as $21,000 and if they bought the home for $285,000 they are not going to be able to sell it to get enough to pay closing costs and commissions. What I have them do is sell it to one of my investors for what they bought it for and then the investor does a lease option on the property to another buyer. I get paid out of the lease option and the investor agrees to split the net profit he gets from the sale of the property when the option is exercised with the original seller.

The investor has only closing costs out of pocket, and saves $15,000 on the purchase of a home, and the seller is out from under a mortgage he couldn't afford without having to pay a commission. I know I'm going to get a lot of feedback on telling these people to sell their home without paying a commission, but the commission is getting paid, but just at a later time.

The original home owner is now saving $6,000, because he didn't have to come out of pocket for commissions, and in two years when the option is exercised on the lease option, he could get a check for $15,000 from the profit split with the investor.

Difficult times can make for excellent opportunities with out of the box thinking to investing. Using other people's money is a great way to do that. For more information on out of the box solutions to investing and getting a money producing investment property, feel free to call or email me anytime.

 

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

 

4 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 23 2007 12:21AM

A fun night can be had by all – Hockey Night in Portland

One of the things I love about Portland is that we have so many things to do. We don't have the big league sports, like Seattle, with football or a major league baseball team, but we do have minor league sports such as Beaver Baseball and Winter Hawk's hockey.  

Tonight's blog is about the home opener of the Winter Hawks, that unfortunately they lost, but still, we all had fun and with a long season still ahead of the Winter Hawks, you may want to check out one of their games.

                Winter Hawks Hockey     Winter Hawks Hockey

You can go to the Winter Hawks schedule page and order tickets for any home game and you and your family won't be disappointed.

What is so much fun about the minor league sports of Portland is that these kids are putting it all on the line, unlike a lot of professional big leaguers. They have to play their hearts out if they every want to make it to the big show! You can tell how passionate these kids are and how they still are willing to sign autographs for kids is even more wonderful.

So for a wonderful night in Portland with your family, I suggest you go the Winter Hawks home schedule page and plan a wonderful evening with your family.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

3 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 22 2007 02:01AM

How do you increase the value of your home?

photo courtesy of svilen001Do you need a certain amount of money out of your home, but it just isn't worth that yet? I have a solution for you that can be done in any market. It doesn't matter if it is a sellers or a buyers market! I can get you much more than the appraised value for your home, and it really doesn't take any extra work on your part, like doing a complete remodel would.

The way to do this, is for you the owner, to either offer a lease-option or owner-financing. This can increase the amount of money you get for your home anywhere between $5,000 and $1,000,000.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in as a home owner, please feel free to contact me anytime.

 

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8738
Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
http://www.ifoundyournewhome.com/

Creative Financing

 

 

3 comments • Todd Clark (Broker) (503)524-9494 (Beaverton, Oregon Real Estate Expert) • September 21 2007 01:09PM