Brian R Kelly

Tag: Realtors

  • Smart Chattanooga Home Buyers Purchase Boundary Surveys

    Smart Chattanooga home buyers purchase boundary surveys. Surveys are great tools. They are great representations of “real property”. What is a real property or boundary survey? It is a legal document…here is a definition from LegalMatch.com. I am not a surveyor. So I am not qualified to speak to the merits of different types. I do know that some lenders require a “mortgage” survey or I have heard it called a “windshield” survey. That type of survey does not require corner markers. It’s primary function is to protect the lender and insure that an improvement actually does exist on the land that is being conveyed.

    The buyers that I have the most professional respect for always purchase a boundary survey that requires markers. The most savvy have the title insurance exception for surveys removed. A couple of stories to help explain:

    Early in my sales career, I sold an older home on Signal Mountain to a developer/builder. The home was for his personal use and not development. It was a turn of the century model and perhaps just over an acre of land. The home had traded about 5 or 6 times. He made a condition of the purchase and inspection a full boundary survey with markers. This was somewhat new to me and I asked him why. He said there are so many easements, variances, closed roadbeds, etc. that he ALAWYS purchased a boundary survey prior to closing. This was not a lender requirement. When the survey was done it showed the driveway of the neighboring property actually ran over the lot line 20 to 30 feet. The driveway was not asphalt or concrete but pea gravel. It turned out the previous owner allowed access across the property so they could save a tree. The agreement was never made in writing. When we went to closing, the survey was presented with language to the affect of “This survey is for the Benefit of Acme Title Underwriter, Acme2 Title Company, Acme 3 Lender and Dave Developer.” This way the title insurance policy will cover you in case of a boundary dispute. **(Important Note: Always ask the closer or closing attorney what are the “Exceptions” on your Title Insurance policy).

    Another example of wise survey use was in a new subdivision. A concrete driveway was shown on a boundary survey drawing to encroach 3 feet onto the adjacent lot. The loan could not be made on the property until this was corrected. The correction was made through a boundary line agreement by both owners and the “line” was moved instead of the concrete driveway. The outcome would have been different if the adjacent owner wanted more big money for the 3 feet. The not so “minor” issue in this case was no sale would happen until problem resolved.

    TVA or Tennessee Valley Authority has many power lines running through the Chattanooga Valley. The high voltage lines have restrictive easements deep into property lines. You may not be able to get a permit to build a deck or the addition to your home because of these power easements. Surveys should also show buried easements such as gas and sewer lines. It would be a sad day if your man cave garage would have to come down because you find out it sits on a utility easement that needs repair.

    Country farm land, city slicker lot. (fences, pools, buildings, utilities, closed road beds, easements) Smart Chattanooga home buyers purchase boundary surveys.

  • Realtors Fake It Till You Make It Because Buyers Are Liars and Sellers Are Too

    Realtors fake it till you make it because buyers are liars and sellers are too. Why do real estate agents embrace these quotes? Why are they perpetuated years in the industry? At the foundation of the words is blame shifting. Something happened because I am not willing to take personal responsibility for the outcome. My encouragement to you and myself is to be bigger than that.

    Keep asking the question “What can I do to make a difference?”

    How do you take responsibility when many individuals depend on each other? Keep asking the questions “What can I do ?” What could I have done differently?” “Can I go to someone for help or training?”

    It may be the loan officer’s fault that the loan fell through. What could I have done differently in the process to insure that it will not happen again?

    Real estate agents owe a responsibility and duty of care to their clients. It may have been another person’s fault the showing information did not get to the seller. But ultimately the “buck has to stop somewhere”. Let it be with you.

    Shifting blame may seem to make you look better for a moment, but in the end you are destroying a bit of your own soul when you play the victim to circumstance.

    Please understand that this is a difficult post to write because I am seeing me in the mirror as I write this. This is a wake up call to myself and all fellow Realtor professionals.

    Let’s make our industry better by raising our level of performance. We can do this by asking ourselves “what can I do to …” because
    the weak and the blaming are the ones that encourage Realtors fake it till you make it because buyers are liars and sellers are too.

  • Real Estate Brokerage Model Will Change To Accommodate Trust and Service

    Real Estate Brokerage Model Will Change To Accommodate Trust and Service
    Real Estate Brokerage Must Deliver Service and Trust
    Real estate brokerage model will change to accommodate trust and service. Serving home buyers and sellers with trustworthy service will be a generous business for years to come. How Realtors and brokerage firms get paid will most likely change. Change is being driven by the human need for honest communication and is being facilitated by technology. Here are four observations to make the point.

    One: Ebay and AirBnB. Models that are built on trust. They work because of stamps or stars of trust conveyed by stories of other people.

    Two: Google took inventory of all real property and Zillow Make Me Move is a system that is begging for trust. Ebay and AirBnB proved their models. I hear grown Realtors calling Zillow and Trulia the porn sites of real estate. What? Give me a break – what that tells me is that they are gaining traction and weak agents are becoming fearful. Do not even come back with poor data integrity, etc. (Granted…buyers miss some deals because Zillow updates run slower than MLS) The services still provide value.

    Three: Real estate brokerages can charge much less money if everything they did was compensated. 40-50% of all listings, energy , advertising is wasted on properties where the seller does not have sufficient motivation or ability to sell for the market demand. Sellers would sell “if” they get their price (to buy the next place or simply pay off the lender) Home shoppers not buyers: real estate agents may spend lots of time and gas showing houses to someone that does not “have to” buy a home. There is room for creative agreements with sellers and buyers and their brokerage firms if motivation and non-payment risks are reduced.

    Four: Social Media will push Brokerages to adapt “systems” because buyers and sellers will “connect” more frequently. (Pushing on the door of reducing the costs of finding the “Willing” party) Which will demand a service of transaction liability coordinator. Some title companies may niche and grow what some will see as a growing FSBO (For Sale By Owners) market. On the brokerage side, I can see a DIY brick and mortar model where the seller and buyer pay for a menu of services complementing Zillow. (Similar to local Ebay stores that handle the sale of an item for you for a fee). Agency law, fiduciary responsibility, and liability insurance will need to cover the scope of services rendered.

    [** Learning moment for agent compensation: The local Chattanooga MLS reports that there has been 5,144 homes sold year to date with total volume of $872,600,261. Multiply that number by 5% or 6% and you get roughly $34-$53 Million dollars of commissions. Divide that by 1,500 real estate agents and they average $35,000 each. Multiply $35,000 by 70% split that is nearly $25,000 a piece gross before gas, taxes, advertising , healthcare, etc. Agents are paid 1099 not W-2. You can see the model is pretty efficient, especially when a high percentage of activity is NEVER compensated. Imagine your boss walking in on payroll day and saying let’s roll the dice to see if you are worthy of being paid today!]

    The bottom line is that technology is changing how we serve people in real estate. I used my smart phone to check the level of a door jam, shine a light into a crawl space, check a HUD for closing, and text a message to another customer (All during one home showing). My buyers are calling me with information from Zillow, and Trulia on their phones. They are demanding a response. Please understand, that I am NOT predicting that smart phones will replace real estate agents. Nor, I am predicting a sharp reduction in the “cost” of sale of your home. Ebay does not seem to be making large dents in retail malls, and AirBnb has not toppled Marriott.

    Home buyers and sellers will pay for great service and trust. People will demand it. They may actually pay more than a “typical” commission to sort out all the “noise”. Tech is changing real estate; therefore, the real estate brokerage model will change to accommodate trust and service.

  • Smart Phones Are Changing What Real Estate Agents Do

    Smart Phones Are Changing What Real Estate Agents Do
    Smart Phones Changing Real Estate Business
    Smart phones are changing what real estate agents do. What do real estate agents do? I hear and read about the comparisons of how technology will change real estate like it did with travel industry. I cannot see the future, but I do know that what I do as a Realtor in 2013 is different than what I did in 1995. Last decade, real estate agents, doctors and other “important” people had pagers. Remember those? Large belt buckled black with text and you could send messages to each other at lightning speed. Prior to pagers it was cell phones. Before cell phones it was car radio phones. I remember my parents installing a thermal paper printer with electronic message capability. We could print out the days “hot sheet” with the device.

    Does that mean that real estate is an early adopter of technology? Yes. Does it change what agents do? Yes… to a degree. Let me tell you a story.

    Early in my real estate career, my Dad taught me the phrase “See the people”. People are the real estate business. Real property and technology are merely along for the ride.

    The relationships we have with others and the trust we build is the real estate business… period. My observation about people in 2013 is that we “trust” our smart phone more than humans. After I finish this blog post I will go to my bedroom and place my iPhone on my bed stand. (Where is your phone now?) Sometimes I check to make sure that Dee is charging hers overnight. Why? Because I want to connect with my wife during the day tomorrow. I check the weather, the ball game score, use my flash light to see in crawl spaces, bubble level on crooked floors, … on and on it goes. Regardless of all the apps we use. I have a relationship with this tool and it is a constant companion. If I want to talk with my daughter most of the time I am connecting through her device. When she asks me about going on a walk or traveling, I ask her to take her phone. Life360 will at the minimum give me the device location.

    We have a relationship with our technology and it can tell stories with sound, and video that far surpasses the ability of fax and pager. The literal “gatekeeper” to a person is this device. Real estate agents will learn how to connect with customers through this personal technology, because the real estate brokerage business is All about relationships. The relationship with our smartphone forces us to change how we relate to others.

    Smart Phones Are Changing What Real Estate Agents Do.