I Reserve the Right to be Wrong Sometimes...

May 5, 2008

Lynnsy Logue The Real Estate Lady and Condo CanDo in Charlotte NC

I reserve the right to be wrong sometimes….
For as long as I have lived in Charlotte, for the decades I have been a full-time real estate broker, for the hundreds and hundreds of closings I have been party to…guess what, I have made my share of mistakes. And as the years grew on, I thought I had seen most of everything as a real estate broker.This sub-prime situation is mercurial, complex and ever-changing. I study more about foreclosures and short sales, buying and selling, credit scores, marketing, market value, statistics, the national market, the Charlotte market, where we are, where we’ve been and what might lie ahead.I am outspoken about builders and developers…everything from the quality of building products, the missing craftsmanship in the final product, the rigid guidelines for preferred lenders and the unbending posture in negotiations. I read and visit neighborhoods where the foreclosure rate is high…and read about the opportunity for investors.It would be easy to make a wrong call in all this. But I did.
My first time home buyers did everything I asked…pre-approval…apartment lease termination penalty…worked with their budget after every group of houses we saw. And a couple of the houses were so appealing, I asked for pre-approval letters specific to the home’s address. I was looking in what I deemed “safe” places. I was staying away from new construction. And they found a house, a resale they liked in a new subdivision in Cabarrus County. Again, I played Angel’s Advocate: what about the drive, the cost of gas, what about the schools? Well, we looked at the resale and it was a beauty. The builder was still in the neighborhood and I thought we might see about spec houses and how the pricing compared. Sometimes, this can be a great situation for a buyer given all the pieces fit.
This particular builder gave some thought to his neighborhood. There are sidewalks, a small pool, a Home Owners Association with Rules and Regulations, and larger home sites. And they also made it easy for a broker to show all three of their spec homes by placing a key in our famously secure Supra Lock. The sales representative was easily accessible and was a veritable Johnny on the Spot. He listened carefully to my concerns about price, about closing costs and about terminating the apartment lease to accommodate an earlier closing. All this on the phone while my buyers were thinking and working with their budget. Many phone calls later and just two actual days, I made the appointment for the buyers to meet the sales representative and present their offer…and their request that their mortgage be handled by the broker who had been helping them from loan approval to supplying us with loan approval letters and closing costs on the three “almost” houses.
In every instance, there was friendly discussion, questions, interesting points to be made and finally, in less than two hours, acceptance that was a win-win-win for everyone…including my buyers original mortgage broker. I learned a lot yesterday.
My buyers listened so carefully to each of the steps of the process, I got it myself, how important my role as a broker is. I followed their search around the different areas and learned even more about single family homes, new construction and resales... The current day “know”…trending, marketing and activity.
What did I learn…that all new construction is not gloom and doom. That some home builders seem to take pride in the homes they build and the neighborhoods they create. And this particular case, they honored the buyers’ spread sheet on budget concerns, and valued the buyer’s relationship with their mortgage person. The buyers were listened to and an agreement was reached to everyone’s satisfaction.

Living and learning, that’ me,

Lynnsy Logue The Real Estate Lady and Condo CanDo in Charlotte NC