Comments for The San Diego Home Blog http://sandiegohomeblog.com A San Diego Real Estate Web Log Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:40:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 Comment on Good and bad. by Debra Sinick http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/19/good-and-bad/#comment-159835 Debra Sinick Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:33:33 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=807#comment-159835 Hi Kris, Good for you for taking some time off. You deserve it! However, I missed your posts. I am continually amazed by your insightful, funny, and interesting thoughts. Your ability to relate other life experiences to real estate is wonderful. Good luck coping with a half empty nest. Hi Kris,

Good for you for taking some time off. You deserve it!

However, I missed your posts. I am continually amazed by your insightful, funny, and interesting thoughts. Your ability to relate other life experiences to real estate is wonderful.

Good luck coping with a half empty nest.

]]> Comment on Good and bad. by Chad http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/19/good-and-bad/#comment-159834 Chad Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:10:00 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=807#comment-159834 Kris, Very interesting blog. You have a unique perspective on things, especially in real estate. I'm trying become more familiar with the San Diego real estate market, and is how I came across your blog. My company is relatively new to San Diego, and we specialize in online real estate marketing through photography and floor plans. Check us out: http://www.floorplaninc.com/2363 I look forward to more posts. Kris,

Very interesting blog. You have a unique perspective on things, especially in real estate. I’m trying become more familiar with the San Diego real estate market, and is how I came across your blog. My company is relatively new to San Diego, and we specialize in online real estate marketing through photography and floor plans. Check us out: http://www.floorplaninc.com/2363

I look forward to more posts.

]]> Comment on Good and bad. by Vicki Lloyd http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/19/good-and-bad/#comment-159833 Vicki Lloyd Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:31:04 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=807#comment-159833 PS - that "less laundry" is only on a day-to-day basis. You will be surprised how long they can go and how much they can haul home when they come back for a weekend! PS - that “less laundry” is only on a day-to-day basis. You will be surprised how long they can go and how much they can haul home when they come back for a weekend!

]]> Comment on Good and bad. by Vicki Lloyd http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/19/good-and-bad/#comment-159832 Vicki Lloyd Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:28:37 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=807#comment-159832 Kris - Congratulations on launching your first little bird out of the nest and safely delivered to a college dorm. I remember doing that with my first daughter 10 years ago - it's exciting and sad at the same time. (I cried all the way home.) Welcome back from your blogging sabatical - we missed you! Kris -

Congratulations on launching your first little bird out of the nest and safely delivered to a college dorm. I remember doing that with my first daughter 10 years ago - it’s exciting and sad at the same time. (I cried all the way home.)

Welcome back from your blogging sabatical - we missed you!

]]> Comment on No light at the end of our short tunnel. by Kris Berg http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/11/no-light-at-the-end-of-our-short-tunnel/#comment-159831 Kris Berg Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:08:05 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=805#comment-159831 Thomas - One of our required input fields is "subject to bank approval" (yes/no), and we have to put a note in the confidential remarks along the lines of "approved commissions to be split equally between listing and selling agent." You bring up a good point - Strictly speaking, this is conditional, but in practice, we simply don't know what the commission is going to be until the lender approves the contract. I see your point, but this is how it is working in practice. I doubt that the "no conditional offer of compensation rule" envisioned the reality of our market today. Thomas - One of our required input fields is “subject to bank approval” (yes/no), and we have to put a note in the confidential remarks along the lines of “approved commissions to be split equally between listing and selling agent.” You bring up a good point - Strictly speaking, this is conditional, but in practice, we simply don’t know what the commission is going to be until the lender approves the contract. I see your point, but this is how it is working in practice. I doubt that the “no conditional offer of compensation rule” envisioned the reality of our market today.

]]> Comment on I may not have “people,” but I have my stats back! by SD Real Estate looker http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/01/i-may-not-have-people-but-i-have-my-stats-back/#comment-159829 SD Real Estate looker Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:12:12 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=792#comment-159829 Good luck with the tech stuff, lord knows it aint me thing. Good luck with the tech stuff, lord knows it aint me thing.

]]> Comment on “You Hate Me, Don’t You?” by Jenea http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2007/05/16/you-hate-me-dont-you/#comment-159821 Jenea Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:26:27 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2007/05/16/you-hate-me-dont-you/#comment-159821 This thread is more than a year old, but I wanted to add my voice anyway. A few months back my husband and I bought our first home, using Redfin as our buyer's agent. We deposited our refund check without guilt, as we did a hell of a lot of our own legwork, work that would normally have been done by a full-service agent. In other words, the sellers got their money's worth. All that being said, I would agree with the rest of the posters here. You would have been well within your rights to tell that guy where to stuff it. "You hate me, don't you" indeed! My husband and I never imposed upon a seller's agent to open a home for us. We went to open houses and took advantage of Redfin's field agents instead. If we had found ourselves requiring a seller's agent to help us out by opening a home, we would have been more than willing to compensate said agent. Times they are a changin', and the real estate market is long overdue for a shakeup. Just because some Redfin buyers are jerks doesn't mean we should throw out the baby with the bathwater. This thread is more than a year old, but I wanted to add my voice anyway. A few months back my husband and I bought our first home, using Redfin as our buyer’s agent. We deposited our refund check without guilt, as we did a hell of a lot of our own legwork, work that would normally have been done by a full-service agent. In other words, the sellers got their money’s worth.

All that being said, I would agree with the rest of the posters here. You would have been well within your rights to tell that guy where to stuff it. “You hate me, don’t you” indeed!

My husband and I never imposed upon a seller’s agent to open a home for us. We went to open houses and took advantage of Redfin’s field agents instead. If we had found ourselves requiring a seller’s agent to help us out by opening a home, we would have been more than willing to compensate said agent.

Times they are a changin’, and the real estate market is long overdue for a shakeup. Just because some Redfin buyers are jerks doesn’t mean we should throw out the baby with the bathwater.

]]> Comment on No light at the end of our short tunnel. by Thomas Johnson http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/11/no-light-at-the-end-of-our-short-tunnel/#comment-159806 Thomas Johnson Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:16:05 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=805#comment-159806 We have yet to see a short sale transaction of our own that didn’t involve an arbitrary, eleventh hour pay cut to the agents. On your short sale listings, how do you avoid the unconditional offer of compensation to co-op agents? In our MLS all offers of co-op compensation are unconditional, so if the bank cuts the commission, the listing broker is still on the hook for what was offered. It puts us in the position of having to pay to play with the banks. Does Sandicor have conditional co-op based on what the bank pays? We have yet to see a short sale transaction of our own that didn’t involve an arbitrary, eleventh hour pay cut to the agents.

On your short sale listings, how do you avoid the unconditional offer of compensation to co-op agents? In our MLS all offers of co-op compensation are unconditional, so if the bank cuts the commission, the listing broker is still on the hook for what was offered. It puts us in the position of having to pay to play with the banks. Does Sandicor have conditional co-op based on what the bank pays?

]]> Comment on No light at the end of our short tunnel. by Kris Berg http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/11/no-light-at-the-end-of-our-short-tunnel/#comment-159782 Kris Berg Wed, 13 Aug 2008 17:41:02 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=805#comment-159782 Very well said, Phil, and spot on for the San Diego market as well. Very well said, Phil, and spot on for the San Diego market as well.

]]> Comment on No light at the end of our short tunnel. by Phil Hoover http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/08/11/no-light-at-the-end-of-our-short-tunnel/#comment-159780 Phil Hoover Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:18:44 +0000 http://sandiegohomeblog.com/?p=805#comment-159780 Hi Susan - I'm in the Boise market, so my comments may not be valid where you are. REO properties in our market are not necessarily the great deals everyone thinks they are. Just because someone lost their home doesn't mean it's a great deal. In our market, the first thing the lender does after foreclosing is shut off all utilities, which results in the loss of $10-20k of landscaping in our 100-degree summers. Plus, few foreclosed homes are left in top condition by sellers who want to "get even" with the evil lender who loaned them too much money on loose underwriting terms. In my experience, it's better to find a home that meets your needs, is in good condition, and owned by a motivated seller who has enough equity to negotiate a fair deal. Alternatively, you can often negotiate a good deal on a new spec home that has been sitting for awhile. Hi Susan -
I’m in the Boise market, so my comments may not be valid where you are.
REO properties in our market are not necessarily the great deals everyone thinks they are.
Just because someone lost their home doesn’t mean it’s a great deal.
In our market, the first thing the lender does after foreclosing is shut off all utilities, which results in the loss of $10-20k of landscaping in our 100-degree summers.
Plus, few foreclosed homes are left in top condition by sellers who want to “get even” with the evil lender who loaned them too much money on loose underwriting terms.
In my experience, it’s better to find a home that meets your needs, is in good condition, and owned by a motivated seller who has enough equity to negotiate a fair deal.
Alternatively, you can often negotiate a good deal on a new spec home that has been sitting for awhile.

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