San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

Good hard working realtors have been doing that for years. Its not desparate, its called getting back to basics.

Hmmm, yeah, I can't wait to open the front door and be confronted with a pair of realtors....they will walk away crying...

yep. These are real realtors...not the fake ones that drove X5's for the last 3-4 years. They work for your money.

I also noticed new realtor around torrey hills doing expensive full color flyers, dvd's, keeping the flyer box filled, AND reduced the house price by 100k. I thought, damn this guy knows what he’s doing. The only thing missing was him striping to his underwear and vacuuming the carpet before the open house...and chanting I will sell this home, I will sell this home. (from American Beauty).

Sellers are getting desperate

Comment by BobR

2007-09-21 14:35:00

This is off-topic but I MUST share it with everyone. There’s a web board on the Big Island of Hawaii, and this is a new thread:

Aloha to all,

If I could just ask a favor of all of my Kona Web friends.

We have a contract on a home in Kona that is going to fall thru if our mainland home doesn't sell soon. Since I believe in the power of prayer, I am asking all of you to say a prayer for me, that my mainland home sells really soon. I have reduced the price by $60,000 and spent $50,000 in a total remodel so it's like new. Sales are just really slow.

If you could just say a quick prayer, to God or Buddah or Pele or to whom ever you pray to. I truly believe in the power of all of your prayers to help me get my house sold so I can move to the BI. It has been 12 years of saving for me and now it’s sooo close. Mahalo to you all!

Response 1:

Good luck- I will be thinking positive thoughts. Having been through something like that, and paying mortgage on a house (waiting for it to sell in a slow market) while paying high rent for almost 18 months (the rent was actually a few hundred more then the mortgage), I know the stress it can put you under. Our income certainly was not enough to cover us — in fact, it qualified us for public assistance *without* the double mortgage/rent. That was over 4 years ago, and we are still in the hole BIG time.

Response 2:

Aloha Carol:

My prayers are to Godwith you . We too have a mainland home that we had up for sale in 2006. Escrow fell out at the last minute and for a year we have been paying two mortgages, utilities, gardener etc hoping that it would sell. When our financial hole got deeper, I traveled back to California and hired a property manager and our house is now rented..praise be to heaven’s intervention. I interviewed several managers before hiring this one and they seem to be worth their salt. We had remodeled as well and were hesitant to put our lovely and well loved home on the rental block. But there are many people mainland side who are now renting their homes that could not sell during this slump. Something to consider as it helps pay the mortgage. When this slump subsides, and it will as history has shown, values will climb back up and selling can be reconsidered. Or perhaps maybe we were meant to keep the home. Who knows what lies in the future.

Anyway, Good luck to you and we pray divine intervention in your case.

"Hmmm, yeah, I can't wait to open the front door and be confronted with a pair of realtors....they will walk away crying..."

Tell me where you live, I'll send a couple of them over...

It's realtors getting back to fundamentals, door knocking is what they call it. Good for them, it's been rare for them to use that method to market, glad to see that it's starting to come back.

This sounds a lot like what happened to the IT industry after that bubble burst. Lazy techs demanding outrageous salaries were forced to adjust or find new careers. I've always wondered how many of them ended up in flavor-of-the-month RE-related fields.

LOL, Can you imagine having to park your leased Hummer or SL 55 AMG at the corner and walking door to door begging for business? OH The humanity!

I have no problems with door knocker realtors, it's old fasioned but it's good for them to meet real people and learn more about the neighborhood. Even if they don't get any business it gives them a little more insight to the intangibles before selling someone a home there. This R/E shakeout is needed in that industry, two thirds of them that jumped in during the last five years know less about it than I do. Plus about half of my buddies wives have become realtors and I need them to all get out of the business before I need the services of a realtor so I don't lose any friends over the fact that I'm not going to use any of them. The last time I made up an excuse and said it was in the divorce papers that my ex wife got to pick the listing agent, then based on the appearance of that friend's wife (big boobs, younger, thin, whichever applied) claimed that my ex hates his wife because of that feature because women are like that. They bought it last time but if any of these bubble head trophy wives stay in the industry I'm going to have to come up with something else or fake a new divorce and photo shop some vegas wedding pictures, maybe I'll claim it was forclosed on and the bank picked the agent. Maybe Amway will make a comeback and they will forget all about real estate. If not I'm going to end up golfing alone.

Isn't huge competition in the realtor business affecting the commissions agents are getting? Is it still 6%?

Door knocking is beyond antiquated. You're libel to get shot at or attacked by dogs doing that around these parts. The only strangers that ever knock on my door are black teenagers trying to sell me $20 candy bars.

Going out and meeting people. Sounds to me like Sales 101.

Some people in this world simply understand that when your in a bar someone has to ask for the first dance.

Sounds to me like this is why during the boom years Real Estate Professionals get to earn their commission because during the tough times they have the joy of dealing with a**holes like JWM.

I have to defend JWM. It's rude for people to come unannounced so it's appropriate to tell them to take a hike.

I live in a gated community now; but before, when a stranger would ring the door bell, I would tell them that I'm not interested and please don't come back, then close the door.

The Realtor might be trying but I don't have time to listen to unwanted sales pitches.

Rude is stating I am not interested and have people badger you.

To me rudeness is getting hit up by every friend you have who moves into sales thinking that becaue you are my buddy I should do busuniess with you.

Rude could be every commercial you see on TV. Rude could be every advertisement you see in the peper.

There are definitely rude people but having someone introduce themself does not threaten me or annoy me more than a commercial on TV provided the person is professional.

just tell them "no, but I hear Carls' Jr. is hiring";)

Oooh, we think we’re so clever making little quips about door knocking realtors and how there akin to black teenagers (why black? Is it a racial thing now?) selling $20 candy bars.

We see the differences in them versus ‘us’, and how they must be desperate or beneath us one or two notches because of their methods of marketing. But I would go out on a limb to say you’re the same people that would peek out their door and bashfully say ‘ uh, no, not now’…then run to your computer and quickly log onto Piggington to tell the virtual world how you bested a realtor.

Get over yourselves. You have more in common with that realtor than you could imagine. Do you teach your kids that they’re better than all the other kids in the class or, that we’re all connected as people? That’s right, this is a blog, we can type whatever we want and no one would be the wiser, like I said, makes us feel clever don’t it, because in the real world no one would give two shits about what we say, right?

Realtors who knock on your door are clearly out to get to know both neighborhoods and people. It's called prospecting. Do you really want someone representing you who just waits around for the phone to ring, or someone who actively makes an effort to meet new people and prospects every day?

I'd rather have a Realtor who knocks on doors and looks under rocks for someone to buy my house, than have someone who spends all day at the salon having her nails done. Wouldn't you?

Well PB, it really depends now doesn't it? If they are polite about it, then no reason to be rude obviously. However, if they start spouting NAR propaganda then all bets are off. I would be just as abrasive as I am here.

At its core, sales is a contact sport. Some people can make all the contacts they need to close their fair share of sales by hanging out in bars or by being the golf junky, or by being the little league parent or by going to church. As personally distressing to me as it is, I'm now seeing agents prospecting out in the lineup when I surf.

Working a farm area by knocking on doors is just another angle of approach - there are some individuals who cannot be contacted any other way.

I've had mortgage brokers come-a-knockin too! Sorry, PB...we seem to have touched a nerve...get over it!

JWM, of course, and you should be with anyone that parrots NAR. Believe it or not, there are those of us that don’t agree with NAR’s methods. And anyone that comes a knocking with that shite deserves a verbal blast.

No nerve, just setting the record straight as to why they’re doing what they do.

"At its core, sales is a contact sport". For asecond their bugs and especially in the context of this thread, I took your meaning of RE sales as a "contact sport" literally! Seriously though, I can tell you JWM, anyone who has the nerve to go door to door will not get their feelings hurt by you. If you get agressive they will blow you off as a lunatic.

I absolutely agree with Raybyrnes that sales people should not bother their friends. Business will come from contacts but not through annoying insistence that it does. Besides my friends are just as crazy as anyone else when it comes to RE deals and are not the kind of clients I would automatically want.Some separation is often a good thing.

I hate it when agents pretend to be "True" friends with people. I once was doing a transaction and the realtor on the other side snickered and said . "This is easy these old geezers are lonely and think I am like their son or something."

What I don't care for with regards to the candy bar sales kids is that they say..."would you buy this candy bar to help me stay off drugs or so that I won't come back and rob you" Whoever runs those groups of kids should be ashamed of the aggressive pan handling that is actually transpiring.

I think people who are willing to work hard are to be respected. There is no reason if one has enough business to stay busy to work the streets to add more that he cant handle. Now that business is slower they have the time to work the streets and get new business. There are probably those that are just working the streets because they are desperate because they dont know where their next mortgage payment is coming from. They can be aggressive and annoying but it is just because they are scared and disgusted that the gravy train is gone. They never wanted to work hard in the first place and dont deserve any respect. Either way why be mean to either type of person. Doesnt it just bring you down to a lowly level.

I listed the house I am living in now with the Realtor who knocked on my door. He seemed to be a great guy with not much experience but somebody had to give him a chance. I forgot to tell him I rent.

desmond....that is too funny!!

It would be funny to take it to another level...use zabasearch to find the addresses of the prominent local realtors, create a flyer that shows distressed properties and foreclosures within a half-mile to 1-mile radius of where they live, and then go knocking on their doors, introducing yourself as someone who can help them if they or anyone they know are in financial trouble...imagine the shock and horror on their faces!

That's funny Desmond did you get him to take you out to a couple of nice meals? A ball game?

I got my license in 1998. I never have been the pushy type. I can imagine all the people saying.. "if that damn Rustico knew what the hell he was doing we would have bought a lot of Real Estate! We would be Rich now! Stupid Realtors!I bet he bought it all for himself!

At that time my more experienced Broker was sending out letters targeted at working class people that said... "If you buy now you will be relatively wealthy in a few years." For your information JWM he stopped doing that several years ago. I don't think he goes door to door but I think he would be pretty honest if he did.He would definitely tell you you were a lunatic if you got wierd. The way I see it sellers are on a level playing field with buyers and deserve the best help they can get.(not that I want a bunch of unrealistic sellers). Perhaps those door to door types are offering that? You just don't know.

Don't knock the usefulness of them running into JWM, it could lead to a major life adjustment. It's reminds me of how I got out of the RE game myself.

Back in 1990 I was an agent for Century 21 in Allentown PA. I was working a Saturday morning (August 2nd to be exact). I was cold-calling people in a neighborhood I knew pretty well. The homeowner answered the phone, I gave my best friendly greeting, then had to pull the phone away from my ear to blunt the resultant tirade that I had to endure for calling this guy on a Saturday morning. I hung up the phone and thought: gee, there's got to be more to life than this. Maybe I should go to college.

Someone like JWM put me on the path to become a physician, so go ahead JWM, let 'em have it!

I guess being a DR. and a Realtor have one similiarty...you have to have the stomach for people shitting and puking all over you. I am glad you found your calling.

When I got my license I went to a Century 21 office. I think then and there I understood what a "talking head" was. The managing brokers eyes were unlike anything I had ever seen. He could have just had neon "sold" signs for
occular implants and he would have looked no more deficient of a soul.

The way I see it, 75 and sunny every day. I can sit in an office and get fat doing nothing and pretending I am going to make a sale or I can get out of the office and go for a leisurely walk with a stack of business cards and a smile on my face.

Here is what is funny to me. If everyone thinks that the market is going to implode would that mean that all of those people who had never even thought of selling their house should at least have a conversation with someone about their home value.

@Raybyrnes wrote:

"Here is what is funny to me. If everyone thinks that the market is going to implode would that mean that all of those people who had never even thought of selling their house should at least have a conversation with someone about their home value."

I recently spent several hours talking real estate with the buyers agent I used to buy my current house. He told me that 90% of his work right now is REO's and short sales.

I also regularly see a realtor that I met when I was house hunting in this area. Turns out he and I frequent the same watering hole. We talk about the market alot.

I just find it strange that for the last 8 years, you never saw anyone pounding the pavement (this is the first realtor who EVER come to my door trying to drum up business)-just sitting back and collecting the 6% commission for doing nothing much more than listing your property on the MLS and handling the paperwork.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that there's alot of hard working realtors out there but the recent boom brought alot of riff raff into the industry because it was essentially 'easy cash'. For the most part, houses sold themselves as seller's agents sat back and watched multiple offerers competing against each other.

I guess it's good to see some people out wearing out shoe leather but it speaks to how the market has turned around significantly.

The realtor who's going door to door and passing out his calendar each month is the one who's doing most of the selling here in Serra Mesa. If I had a house to sell I'd hire him in a heartbeat.