HITTING OUT OF THE PARK

This week a Realtor called me to schedule a showing for one of our properties. When I told her that it had just gone under agreement, she said “Oh, no! Another one?” She told me that it is her practice to schedule several properties 48hrs in advance, and she had made appointments to show 10 homes. Within that two day period, however, 6 of those homes were no longer available. They had all gone under agreement with other buyers.
Last week another Realtor called to tell me that he was still stunned by a series of failed offers he had submitted on behalf of his buyer/client. The Realtor wrote up a full price offer for a home that was fairly priced and “just what the buyer wanted”. The seller’s Realtor, however, received two other offers and the seller chose the best of the three. The buyer’s Realtor and he found another well priced property, submitted a full price offer, and lost the property to an offer that was “over the list price”. The buyer’s Realtor could hardly explain these two failed full price offers on properties that were not in any stage of short sale or foreclosure whereby one may see multiple offers close to, at or over full price.
The buyer had been “looking around” for over one year with this Realtor, but had just become serious about purchasing a property. The Realtor and buyer found a third property that would work “just fine” for the buyer. This time the Realtor and the buyer submitted an offer that was “over the asking price.”
When the call came from the seller’s Realtor that the seller had chosen a better offer, the buyer’s Realtor said he sat and just stared at the phone. ARE WE NOT IN A BUYER’S MARKET? Just when the Realtor thought he’d never see his client again, the third property agreement fell through. This time the Realtor and his client were carried by the real estate gods over the finish line.
Many of the higher end homes that have been on the market for well over one year are also experiencing a level of activity that heralds changes in the real estate industry. This week a Realtor with a multimillion dollar property was responding to three different buyers who have been “watching” the property for over a year. As of this writing, the parties are in negotiations and nearing agreement.
Something is happening all around us. Those who choose to look backwards and continue to broadcast gloom and doom will publish “sky is falling” articles that should be used to line birdcages.
Just this morning, I turned on the TV and instead of hearing about murders, fires, explosions, political infighting, gang wars, and steroid injected athletes, I sat transfixed to a story about a college girls’ softball game. With two on base, a rather diminutive and not so distinguished player hit the ball over the fence. As she rounded first base and her teammates were heading home, her ACL tore and she fell in agony to the ground. Several of her team members approached the umpire and asked if they could carry her around the bases. The umpire gave his ruling that the moment her own team touched her, she would be out. On hearing the ruling, the opposing team members asked the umpire “What if we carry her around the bases?” The umpire said that the rules would permit that. Gently, two members of the opposing team lifted the injured girl. They carried her to each base and by reaching home plate, they had lost the game and would not be advancing to the series.
When the injured player said “Thank you”, they answered “You hit it out of the park. You deserve it.”
While we can not always control the circumstances with which we are presented, we can choose how we perceive them and operate within them.
Sellers and Realtors have been working very hard to understand the market changes and adapt to them. The buyers are responding accordingly. There is a growing sense of wellness returning to many markets within the North Shore area. Every time a transaction comes together as a result of fairness and good will, the parties will have “hit it out of the park” and everyone will have won.