Work Monday for Free & I'll Pay You for Working Tuesday and Wednesday How many people would work for someone who gave this as the payment terms? Apparently some real estate agents will work for these terms. How many times has someone asked if you would give them a discount for listing their house because you were going to get the commission from the next place that they would buy?  It happens all of the time. I have been working with someone who thinks like this.  I have shown and evaluated several homes for him, put him in touch with lenders and explained how various things work, written a few offers, and on and on. He finds a house through his cousin, a house which is not listed, so I tell him that because it is not listed we will have to determine who will pay me.  He has already neg... 01/03/2019

He says: "I'm a Wholesaler; I've got a Buyer for your listing". If he had said: "I'm a Real Estate Agent; I've got a buyer for your listing", then I would have said good, send me an offer. If he had said: "I'm a buyer; I'm interested in buying your listing", then  I would have asked if he had a real estate agent, or if he would like to see the property, or something along those lines. But, he said that he was a wholesaler to which I thought why do I need to know that, unless you want something out of the deal. For instance, if the property is priced at $50,000, would he purchase it for $50,000 and then resell it for $60,000, or more likely would he put it under contract for $50,000 and then assign the contract to the actual Buyer for a price of $60,000, or perhaps he would do one of the... 12/18/2018

Your Light is Flickering.  What Could It Be? Aluminum? A flickering light could be any one of a number of things.  The light bulb is burning out, the light fixture is worn out, the light switch or socket has a problem, or there is something wrong with the wiring. Let's stick with the idea of wiring being the problem and, in particular, with the wiring be aluminum. Many homes built around the 1960s and 1970s were constructed with aluminum wiring as a less expensive alternative to copper wiring.  Aluminum by itself is not a problem.  It only becomes a problem when it is connected in an inadequate way to a dissimilar metal. The concern with aluminum wiring presents itself not just when a switch, outlet, or fixture stops working adequately, but, more important, that it creates a fire hazard... 12/17/2018

Low Ball Offers: Counteroffer or Just Say It is Too Low? Assume that your home is on the market and that it is reasonably priced based on recent comparable sales. An interested buyer makes an offer, but it is far below your asking price.  In other words, it is a low ball offer. As an example, your house is reasonably priced at $250,000.  An offer comes in at $175,000.  You are willing to lower your price to as low as $225,000, which you have not stated to anyone, although you would prefer not have to do that. Obviously the potential buyer has an interest in your home, which is why they made an offer, so you do not want them to just go away. This buyer is so far from your asking price and even from the number that you are willing to take that you wonder what good it would do to make a co... 12/10/2018

Do Not Miss This House What will you see at this House? It's very simple. You will see the end of your home search.  This all brick rancher sits on a third of an acre with a fenced yard, covered patio, long multi-car driveway, garage, and beautiful landscaping. The interior has gleaming hardwood floors, freshly and tastefully painted rooms, a remodeled kitchen, and three spacious bedrooms.  The lower level is finished, has a second kitchen, bath, and the potential to be a separate living quarters. Live in comfort year round with warm and soothing gas heat and cool and refreshing central air. Call Ron Trzcinski of Century 21, The Real Estate Centre at 410-935-5844 for more information about this home located at 227 Marion Avenue, Nottingham, MD 21236.   12/07/2018

Hot Property in Nottingham, Maryland 227 Marion Avenue, Nottingham, Maryland 21236  All Brick Rancher with an attached garage, multi-car driveway, and covered front porch sits on a beautifully landscaped 1/3 acre lot with a fenced rear yard, covered patio, and 2 storage sheds.   The interior has been freshly and tastefully painted, the gleaming hardwood floors have been refinished, and the Remodeled Kitchen with Stainless Steel Appliances is just gorgeous.   The finished lower level with its bath and kitchen has the potential to be a completely separate living quarters, a man cave or lady's place, or just a safe haven for the kids to play.   For the summer months, the home has cool and refreshing central air, ceiling fans, and a thermostatically controlled attic exhaust fan and for the ... 11/01/2018

If We Can't Sell It, We'll Buy It. Who Represents The Seller? When a home owner lists a house with a real estate agent, they expect a couple of things. One, they expect that the real estate agent will sell the house. Two, they expect to be represented by the real estate agent. When a real estate agent presents the option: "If we can not sell it, then we will buy it", it immediately raises concerns about the first expectation.  Let's move past the concerns and the debate which could be had regarding this option and let's assume that this option is being exercised. In Maryland, as is true in many states, a real estate agent can represent one or the other, seller or buyer, but not both.  Dual agency would be when the broker represents the buyer and the seller, but this would require that t... 10/02/2018

ABC Realty Set to Reinvent the Warehouse and Distribution Industry ABC Realty is a generic name meant to stand for any of the several major real estate companies. Or more to the point of my post, ABC Realty should be understood to mean the collective current state of the real estate industry. Some of these real estate companies are major players and innovators in the real estate industry, both nationally in the United States and world wide. Quite naturally, when word got out that one of these major real estate companies was getting into the warehousing and distribution industry, it had people excited about the possibilities. Let's look at a couple of areas where ABC Realty has progressed. Contracts and their Distribution:At one time they were hand written and included a handshake.  Even... 09/28/2018

Coming Soon Advertising: Is It a Good Strategy? Yes or No? Some people want to list their house, but not yet.  Maybe they still need to clean it out, or maybe they are doing some last minute repairs, or whatever. They call a real estate agent to talk about listing the home in preparation for when they are ready to put it on the market. Of course, the real estate agent does not want to miss the opportunity to list the house, simply because the owners are not yet ready, so they make suggestions, one of which might be to advertise it as "Coming Soon". By using a coming soon advertising campaign, the agent can start to build hype and excitement about the house.  A data base of buyers could start to build up such that when the home is ready to be put on the market that it sells immediately. ... 09/23/2018

Nottingham, Maryland: Beautiful Brick Rancher Available  Beautiful brick rancher in Nottingham, Maryland sits on over a third of an acre.   Covered front porch, long multi-car driveway, garage with loft storage, fenced yard, covered rear patio, and two sheds.   Three main level bedrooms, full bath and a lower level bath.   Gleaming hardwood floors, freshly painted, and updated kitchen.   Cool and refreshing central air conditioning and warm and soothing gas heat.   Fully finished basement. Could be an in-law suite or a separate living quarters for someone, or just more living space.   Priced at a very reasonable $260,000.   Contact Ron Trzcinski at 410-935-5844 for more information.     09/04/2018

Maryland: Trend of 2+ Years Continues: Prices Up; Inventory Down The numbers for July 2017 compared to the numbers for July of 2018 show the same old story. The inventory of homes has decreased and the price of homes has increased. Maryland Home Inventory: July 2017: 24,150;  July 2018: 22,733. Maryland Average Sold Home Price:July 2017: $346,353; July 2018: $356,494Percentage Change: 2.9% Maryland Median Sold Home Price:July 2017: $301,345; July 2018: $313,254Percentage Change: 4.0% 08/16/2018

Commission on a Rental Listing If you work with rental listings, then what commission do you offer to other agents to bring prospective tenants to your listing? There was a time when agents who listed rental properties would charge their client, the owner, an amount equal to one month's full rent.  From that, most agents offered an amount equal to one half of one full month's rent as a commission. Today, I have seen some alternatives to this one half month offering. There are some agents who offer a very minimal amount like $200, which they don't even call a commission, but rather they call it a referral fee.  In this case, I suppose that they do not expect for the agent to represent the tenant, but instead to just hand them over to the listing agent for the referral fee.  For some agen... 08/14/2018

Communication There was a time when people would run marathon distances in order to relay messages.Over time more efficient methods of communication were developed such as smoke signals.Instead of people running, eventually the idea of running on horses came to be, with systems for delivering mail, like the pony express.You can imagine why something like the telephone caught on so quickly.  It took a lot less effort and was almost instantaneous.Of course the telephone required a massive infrastructure to be developed so it took time before this was available to everyone.As the telephone system expanded and evolved, it allowed for the internet.People could communicate by text, by voice, and by video.As time went on, the cost of communicating became much more affordable.Adults and childre... 08/11/2018

QWERTY became QWERTZ. That's right. I was texting a message on my not so smart smart phone, when suddenly I was stopped.Where is the z? I wanted to type my last name, but the z was not where the z was supposed to be. Instead, a genius at Google (and I know it was a genius, because Google only hires geniuses) put a y where the z was supposed to be and put the z was where the y was supposed to be. For over a hundred years, people have been typing on a QWERTY keyboard, but now someone thought that they had a better idea. Perhaps it was someone who never learned how to type. Well, at least, now people have an excuse for putting a y in my name, when it does not need to have a y. Ron TrZcinski 08/09/2018

Is a Loan Commitment with Conditions Oxymoronic? Commitment is an absolute term.  One is either committed or one is not committed. A loan commitment letter which states conditions such as:  subject to employment verification; subject to appraisal; subject to explanation of lapse in employment; subject to credit review; subject to receipt of bank statements; subject to receipt of tax returns; and so on.  amounts to not much more than a preapproval letter. It is true that usually once a loan commitment letter is generated that most deals go to completion, however there are enough deals that fall through because of a denial of financing after a loan commitment letter has been created such that it is a quite a stretch to actually call it a loan commitment. Many real estate contracts state a... 08/03/2018

The Seller Should Get a Copy of the Appraisal The buyer pays for the appraisal. The lender orders the appraisal. The appraiser performs the appraisal, at which time the listing agent might meet the appraiser.  The appraiser might let the listing agent know if there are any conditions which need to be addressed, but not always, and the appraiser might let the listing agent know if he anticipates a problem meeting the contract value, but not always. Eventually, the appraiser sends a copy to the lender, who should share it with the buyer, but does not always, until perhaps settlement. If there are property conditions which need to be corrected, then the buyer's agent lets the listing agent know about such conditions, but does not share the appraisal with the listing agent.  There is one ag... 08/03/2018

Nice Home in Nottingham, MD; Coming Soon; Get in Line Beautiful brick rancher in Nottingham, Maryland sits on over a third of an acre. Covered front porch, long multi-car driveway, garage with loft storage, fenced yard, covered rear patio, and two sheds. Three main level bedrooms, full bath and a lower level bath. Gleaming hardwood floors, freshly painted, and updated kitchen. Cool and refreshing central air conditioning and warm and soothing gas heat. Fully finished basement.  Could be an in-law suite or a separate living quarters for someone, or just more living space. Will be priced at a very reasonable $260,000. 227 Marion Avenue, Nottingham, MD 21236.   08/02/2018

My Inconsiderate Phone Made Me Loose a Lead My brokerage has a lead system that provides leads at no cost to me. A call came in for one of my rental listings. If I wish to accept the lead, then all I need to do is press 1 on my phone. The number pad is showing on the face of the phone and my finger is moving in to press the number 1. Suddenly, the number pad disappears.  Another call is coming in and it takes over the entire face of the phone. I try every trick that I can think of to get back to the number pad, but nothing works, so I answer the phone, which, as it so happens, was, also from the lead system. This lead is for a cheap rental listing from another agent and I decline the lead. I understand the benefits of a buyer, or in this case, a tenant being represented by their own age... 07/26/2018

Who is in Control? We were supposed to go to settlement on Monday, the 23rd of the month. The week prior to that the Buyer's Agent says that they may need an extension for 2 to 3 days, which possibly would put us at Thursday the 26th.  He states that because the bank just received the appraisal that it delayed the processing of the loan. For the most part this is not a problem, although the Seller states that if he knew that settlement would be delayed, then he would not have paid people to help him to move. The lender states that they have everything that they need from the Buyer and in fact that he has loan commitment. The title company has done its work, except for that portion which requires the loan package from the lender. Thursday comes and the bank has not yet provided a clear t... 07/26/2018

Innocent Boy Caught on Camera? There was a posting on nextdoor.com. The lady indicated that a package had been stolen from outside of her home. She has a camera surveillance system. She posts three photos of a teenage boy. The presumption is that this boy is the thief. In none of these photos is there any evidence of a package.  There is no package on the porch, the steps, the surrounding area, and not in the boy's possession. Someone took note that in one of the photos he was on a scooter and in another photo he left the scooter on the grass in a common area. Why was the boy there?  Here are some possibilities.  He was selling magazines to pay for his way through college.He was letting homeowners know that a general contractor for whom he works was doing work down the street, so if the... 07/10/2018