Flood Insurance Affordability Act Passses

Steven Palazzo, R-Miss urging the Senate to vote yes

 The Flood Insurance Affordability Act passed in the Senate by an overwhelming 72-22 margin. NAR had been pushing strongly for this. It is good to see that sometimes when things are this unfair, both sides of the aisle see that, and make sure that tax dollars are going towards something that makes sense. (It is not too often you can say that!) In fact it was republican Rep. Michael Grimm (of "I'll break you in half" fame.) who sponsored the bill. Although most of the nays did come from the right wing side of the aisle.

This bill effectively repealed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 which came along and among other things, changed flood zone maps throughout the country. They also changed the rules for second homes and "repetitive loss" homes, did away with the "grandfathering" of some zones and lessened the potential government subsidies for flood victims. The result was much higher premiums and in some cases homes that insurance companies would not touch, making them un-lendable.

On paper the Biggert-Waters bill made some sense. There was too much convolution, and this was supposed to make things simpler. But in true government form, it didn't. And in some cases it literally forced people out of their homes.

NAR got involved once there came reports that deals were falling through because banks were refusing to lend on homes that could no longer get insurance. There was the typically finger pointing, but FIAA has made it through the Senate. Now all it needs is Obama's stamp, and hopefully it will ease things for folks in the flood zones.

In other National Association of Realtor News, we finally have a new general counsel. Katie Raynolds Johnson was chosen to replace Laurie Janik who retired last year after many years of service.
“I am excited and honored to be offered this opportunity,” said Johnson in a written statement. “I am looking forward to my new leadership role as part of NAR’s stellar legal team, continuing our work on behalf of the association and its Realtor members.”
Johnson was chosen as NAR’s senior vice president and general counsel as part of a comprehensive national search. She was chosen after narrowing down over fifty high level applicants.


What is the pay? Well that is a bit of a secret, but it is safe to say that our dues are bein put to good use.

Business is Business

I'm not sure if this blog post is much more than a justification of my actions, or to assuage my guilt, but I think it may also educate possible home buyers and sellers, and maybe just be a good read.

I just finished a deal with an agent who was a fellow agent in the first real estate office I joined. We have since done a few deals over the years, and have remained in contact. She was at my wedding. She is a good, solid agent, and is one of the good ones that is easy to do deals with.

I was the listing agent, and she was the buyer's agent. It was a somewhat unique set of circumstances that I secured this listing. It was a distressed property that we were attempting to short sale. I had attempted to sell this property earlier at a higher price point in which the seller would break even a few years back to no avail. So once they fell behind on payments we decided to attempt a short sale.
Short sales are not only a pain in the neck, they are also very time consuming. I contacted his bank, secured all the necessary documents, waited the obligatory weeks, called loss mitigation, waited on hold, waded through red tape and many customer service reps with varying degrees of customer service training and effort.  (Did you know an independent college study ranked customer service of large companies  across the business spectrum--from banks to insurance companies to online retailers. In all these companies customer satisfaction was 300% greater on Mon. than on Fri. The study also showed that if you use the person's name three times in the conversation you are much more likely to have a positive outcome.) However once again I have veered off topic.

At any rate just when I was thinking I was making progress, I heard the bank sold the bad dept to an investment firm. We were at square one. Luckily this was a much smaller company, and they had paid whatever cents on the dollar, so they were much more willing to short sale the property and worked well with me throughout the process. However it was a lot of work, so when I listed the property I did not do an even commission split like a normally do. I kept a point on the listing (my) side.

I have been at closings tables before and been the recipient of the smaller--buyers agent commission split, so I get it. It does leave a bad taste in your mouth and a feeling of being ill used. After all I did bring the buyer. Isn't that half the work? There are a few companies (and agents) who are notorious for this, and around the realtor water cooler it is considered a bit gauche and in bad taste.

 But in my defense, the commission offered was right in line with the "going rate" so it was not a discount on that end.  And I feel I did do quite a bit more work. The property was a good house at a good price, and I knew it would sell fairly quickly. Dangling good inventory out there for buyer's agents is a good thing right?

I explained all this to the buyer's agent, and I think she gets it. I am just left with a vague guilty feeling, and a need to have it somehow justified. Thanks for the Catholic upbringing Mom.

But like my title says--business is business.

There were 9 single family homes reported sold in the Sullivan County MLS. Click Here for Listings.

31170 finally sold. That was a favorite of mine and had been on the market awhile. It went for 143K which is a good price for that house. It is a cool brick farmhouse on seven acres. The listing says it sold FHA which is a bit surprising, because that house needed some work. (Talk about agents working hard. They must have worked very hard to push that through FHA) Congrats to whoever bought it. I am little bummed that I was not able to sell it.

 

Trains

Once again my blog post is later than I would have liked, but the fact of the matter is, I have had a very busy week. I got offers on both of my lakefront listings this week, after a summer selling season of little action. Both weekend days were full of appointments, as well as some showings during the week. It is like people realized it is Aug. and they better get in gear.


Both of my showings this weekend were Manhattanites, mid thirties, looking for a second home. What was different about both couples is they were not necessarily looking for privacy. They were looking for convenience. It was a little surprising, because I have gotten used to seclusion being sort of the mantra for the urban searchers. For many they want to be tucked away among the trees, out of sight from Fri. until Sunday.

Well it seems as I encounter more of these thirty-something shoppers, their priorities are different. First of all many do not own cars. Now if you are to buy in Sullivan County, you have to own a car. (Or rent one every weekend.) So I have had a few buyers who are looking for a house and car at the same time. However the issue is, many want to entertain in their upstate home, and most of their friends don’t have cars. So rather than having a house out in the woods, where house guests will be essentially trapped for the duration, dependant on the hosts to go anywhere, they are looking for closer, even in-town homes, where a guest can get up earlier than everyone else if they choose, and stroll into town for a bagel and coffee.

Also both buyers I took out this weekend are considering the Ulster/Greene county areas. There are a lot of reasons why they like Sullivan County better (besides price--we are on average 25% cheaper) one made the comment that our area has a “country feeling” that those more populous areas have lost. However what those areas do have is a train. This is a huge draw for thirty-something buyers. Guests can hop a train to Rhinbeck, or Kingston, and be picked up at the train station. Even a day trip visit is possible with a 90 minute scenic Hudson Valley train ride.

I think this is another example of how our county is lagging behind. Yes we are dependant on tourism, and we have made strides in making our county more attractive to visitors. However there is a train route in place, and twice a day a locomotive carrying what looks like garbage and roofing supplies, chugs through Callicoon. I know there had been big plans a few years back (Train article) to bring the trains back through. However like so many others, they fizzled with little fanfare.

I have done very little research on the history of the train line that ran up the Delaware in the last century. I do know it was the lifeblood, and many of the towns around us would never have existed if it weren't for the train. Callicoon was originally Callicoon Depot, and the entire town sprung up around the station. This link gives a little more info on the history of the train lines.

What would it take to bring a passenger train to Sullivan County? I don’t think it will happen without some sort of government subsidy. Conrail, the owner of the railway that snakes its way up the Delaware from Port Jervis to Hancock, makes its revenue from freight. Commuter or passenger revenue can not compete. A private venture like the one proposed by Mr. Wilson I believe is just to grand of an undertaking for the private sector. No, we need a local elected official to go on a mission. Someone with a little influence who can persuade those that frown on gas drilling and gambling, that perhaps a Sullivan County renaissance is as simple as a once a day commuter train from NYC.

There were eight listings reported sold in the Sullivan County MLS. Click Here for Sold listings

My house of the week is one of the in-town houses that I showedd this weekend. It is pretty big four bedroom completely redone farmhouse on Mill Street, right by the brook in Jeffersonville. It has two cool barns on the property, and it is set underneath a bunch of giant pine trees. The grounds are private despite being in-town, and you hear the constant sound of the brook anytime you are outside. The interior has been done with great attention to detail. It really needs to be seen to be appreciated. The pictures do not do it justice.Recently they have dropped th price to 249K, which I think is a great price. Jeffersonville House

His "Real" Job

I bring up that I am a real estate broker to as many people as I can during random conversations. Well I was waiting on line at the grocery store, and struck up a conversation with the guy in front of me. When it came around to what I did for a living, he said, "Oh do you know so and so?" I said I had heard of him, perhaps seen his listing(s). He says, yeah he sells real estate too, well his real job is...



His "real" job? The median price of a home in Sullivan County right now is down quite a bit, I believe it is around $150,000. The average real estate commission is six percent. So an average commission is nine thousand dollars. Attorneys who sue people for a living would have to settle a forty thousand dollar law suit to collect that same amount of money. A dentist would have to do extensive work, implants or intricate bridgework, to charge that. Even though we have insurance, I saw the hospital bill, my wife's doctor's fee was around that for her cesarean. We could go on and on.

And yet, with real estate, people are ok with a part time, minimally educated agent who knows little about the market, and less about how to make a deal work. It continues to boggle my mind. How many times have you heard, "Oh cousin Jack has his license, so we listed the house with him."

I do think that obtaining a real estate license is too easy, so it is partially the state's fault, but sellers need to be smarter, and do a little legwork. Cousin Jack will cost you a lot of money.

I guess this post is turning into another complain-fest, but the reason I bring it up, is anytime I have to deal with these weekend warrior agents, it drives me crazy, because it makes my job so much harder. One of my shortcomings is that I do not suffer fools gladly. I know..attract more flies with honey and all that crap, but I have a real hard time being patient and hand holding. These are the agents who over show a house, who must be present for all showings, who call incessantly for feedback, who get indignant if your buyer does not see the "gem" of a house they same way they do.

A buyer may not know for sure he is going to buy a house right away, but on a house he doesn't like, he knows right away. There is no reason to be polite, and follow the listing agent around and oohh and aahh over closet space etc., and to take that personal if I cut a showing short? Well sorry.

I've had it happen to me, and the very next person who looked at the house bought it. I didn't design the house. Doesn't hurt my feelings.

I guess I can just make this a word to the wise. Hire a professional full-time agent with experience. Anytime I do a referral, I call the office, and ask for the top producing agent. That way you are getting the best.