Sheila's Blog

I was very blessed to have had my mother in my life until January 2001.  She was a very strong lady and one who never met a stranger.  She raised six children under much more difficult circumstances than I had raising my two sons and and I've often wondered how she did it.  We were a real challenge for her, I'm sure, however, the rules were different then.  We never dreamed of "crossing my mom" as we knew it would not be allowed.  The only time she and I ever had words I was a teenager, and I went into one room and cried and she did the same in another.  Our little tiff was short-lived as we got along really well.  Things were a lot more black and white and the rules were the rules.  We had chores to do but lots of free time for play as well.

We had so much fun growing up that children now never get to experience.  We made our own fun; we didn't wait for someone to provide it for us.  We were creative and innovative, if not a little bit daring with some of the things we did that were down right dangerous.  We climbed on rafters in the large barns where tobacco was cured and slid down the huge poles that had not yet been put in place as rafters in the barn.  We scoured a neighbors dark forest near a small stream, hunting for arrow heads from when native Indians camped there.  We could almost see their campfires and tee-pees and found much evidence that this was true.  Besides, even if it wasn't, it sure was a lot of fun re-creating that Indian Village.  We swung on grape-vine swings, literally taking or life into our hands doing that.  We climbed one tree to get to the first branch of the bigger tree (where my sisters had to hold onto me to make sure I did not fall out of the tree.  My brother would go out in the pasture, wave his arms at the horses and get then to chase him.  He would then scamper up the two trees like a monkey to get away from them.  However, we all reached adulthood without having a broken bone or a trip to the hospital, other than the time my older brother tried to push the lawn mower from a stuck place with his foot. . . . hurts to remember it as I saw his foot go under the mower.  He was bruised and short one toe-nail with another toe cut, but was very fortunate it was no worse.

There was a horse in a neighbor's pasture named "Ole Nell".  I doubt she was old, she was a Rome Red but that was the name that stuck.  When we went into that pasture to pick blackberries, she would chase us out.  When we walked to school, she would pace along the fence whickering & neighing to us and absolutely scaring me to death.  We all were deathly afraid of her when all she may have wanted was someone to play with her.  None of us ever got up enough nerve to do that. 

Another time, I remember a hurried trip to the "storm cellar" when a storm was so severe we thought it would blow out house away.  We picked fresh blackberries and strawberries, peaches and apples, grew our own garden and ate far better then than people do now.  Our foods did not have preservatives and we also had fresh eggs, chicken, pork and beef.  No antibiotics, no steroids or human growth hormones, just really good fresh foods.  My mother's biscuts were legend and none of us could ever duplicate them.  I've often thought that was why my parents had a long and healthy life; they ate pure uncontaminated foods.

My Mom lived to almost 83 and my Dad died 6 months after turning 90. When Mom died, we all felt Dad might not last long as they had been together about 65 years.  Sure it was hard for him, but as we checked on him often, cooked his meals in advance and doing other things for him, he began to feel he needed to be there for us after Mom died and I do believe that kept him going longer than he might have otherwise.

Remember your mother and father this year and if you still have them, go visit them and do something meaningful with them.  Your fond memories of doing so may make you want to write about those times also.

For several years after I first began my career in Real Estate, I kept hearing that the state of SC provided buyers with a 13 year home warranty on structural issues.  Thinking this was just too good to be true and not ever having seen a copy of such a warranty, I did some research.

A phone call to our South Carolina Association of Realtors Attorney revealed it is not true, but that is it a "statute of Repose" or a right to sue.  It has since been reduced to 8 years.  My reason for writing about this on AR is to inform the public that there is NOT A BUILDER WARRANTY PROVIDED BY THE STATE OF SC.  There is no such animal.  It simply allows buyers the right to sue the builder for serious structural issues on a new home they have purchased, assuming the builder is still in business.

I actually showed a home that had this written on the MLS Listing this past week with the following terminology on it.  "The builder provides a one year home warranty (true) and the State 8 year home warranty picks up after that"(false).  I called the agent and told her that I had researched it and asked her to also call them if she doubted what I was saying.  Apparently, the builder she was representing had told her there was an 8 year State home warranty.  She has since removed the terminology from the listing sheet.  My buyers made an offer and have a contract to purchase the home.  However, I informed them immediately that this statement on the MLS sheet was not true.  Her intentions were not bad, she appears to be a good agent who was misinformed and who believed her builder who told her that.   Trust is good, but verification is our duty.

Our local Association periodically sends out this message also, but it would appear that not every agent hears that.  Urban Legends abound on the internet, but have no place in Real Estate.  Let's all take time to search out any issue that we do not have solid proof of.  Anything we tell our buyer or seller clients should be true.

Normally, after I eat breakfast and go into my office to work, the TV goes off and stays off all day.  Today was an exception as I wanted to watch the Inaugration of our New President.  He had some good things to say and presents himself extremely well.  I liked what he had to say to the world in particular, and to the American people.

Tonight, I have been reviewing some of my posts on Active Rain, deleting some I did not like and smiling a lot at some of the comments on many of my posts.   You guys are a hoot and lots of fun to blog with.  I realized how much I had enjoyed posting/commenting on AR and that I need to do this consistently in the future.  You've heard that Stella got her grove back . . . well Sheila has her blog back! :) (Susie, the MeMe is coming soon).

It sounds lame, but I have been so busy, even in the slower season, as I sold my house and was not ready for that to happen so fast.  I almost feel guilty telling everyone how easy it was, that it happened in a week to the only couple who looked at it, and for full asking price with me paying closing costs before it was even on the market.   I had a conversation with a Realtor friend who sold one near me (same builder, similar size home) and when I heard how much she got for that one, I said it might be the right time to sell mine.  Little did I think it would happen that quickly.  I moved 12/15 and closed 12/17 so it was a little hectic through the holidays.  Follow this link (copy and paste) to see how cute my little 3 bedroom 2 bath cottage home was.  I miss the hardwood floors more than anything!  This makes me want to start building homes like this, staging and selling them.   http://greenville.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=8cd55d86-dfb0-4e36-a249-393cac9a4cf9&Report=Yes

A Realtor in our office had taken the buyer to the other home and had another young couple looking to buy in that general area.  The agent told her I might want to sell mine, she called me and the rest is history.  I took a week to get it show ready, staged it a little more than is everyday and it did look really good, even if it was my house.  It is hard to believe I know, but my appreciation from when I had it built in 1995 to sale date was 101% or an average  7.7% per year!!  It is in a subdivision near downtown where many people want to be, and is one of the few places that is still affordable in that area.  Supply there is very slim right now as most people still believe it is not a good time to sell.  So, any "demand" in the old supply/demand analogy would be appreciative of the limited supply.

I moved 13 years of stuff, even after giving away lots of outside stuff to my son and his family (nearly new gas grill, a really nice bakers rack, leaf blower, outside lawn care stuff, etc) and did not know how much more I would have to get rid of to fit into my temporary apartment.  I've given about 14 boxes of stuff to Goodwill, a car load of clothes (including the Eggplant-colored purple sweater/skirt I had not worn in about 5 years).  Well guess what, after looking for it tonight I realized it went in the carload to Goodwill.  Oh, well, it may have been one size too small now anyway.  That always happens .  . . I have something I don't wear for years, give it away, then try to find it to wear again. :)  I also had 17 small file boxes of really old real estate and tax records shredded.  I'm thinking about a town home instead of a house, but am not sure yet which way I will go.

Bottom line, I've missed all you people and look forward to posting and commenting again this year.  I don't know about you guys, but I plan on finding a Great Year out there somewhere this year.

Today, I was following up on leads from my web site and another from Craig's List.  I called a woman who had completed the form to search on my site and there was a problem with the phone number.  I then emailed her and asked her to call me or give me another phone number; not really expecting a response after the message on the number said it was temporarily disconnected.  She responded with her home number and we talked just just prior to this post.

This young woman will not be an immediate prospect, but will be in 2010!  She is studying  Internet Design, and working toward a degree in Business.  She had logged onto my web site to look at beautiful homes.  When we talked she told me she had been searching for such a dream home in order to print a copy and place it beside her computer to motivate her to keep working hard to achieve her goals.  She can search on my site any time and print out as many pictures as it takes to motivate her.  

She will reach her goals I'm sure and then plans on coming to Greenville to work and live; I'm betting she will do exactly that. It was so refreshing to hear a young adult sound so positive and determined.  I will keep in touch with her to see how she is progressing from time to time and not necessarily because she will buy a home in 2010.  It will be a pleasure to know she is continuing her studies and staying with her plans to reach her goals and working to keep her motivation high.   Greenville, to her, is the "place to be in South Carolina" as she lives in a small town and cannot wait to go to where there are more opportunities.  It someday be my pleasure to help this young woman in her job search and to find a home.

 Last Friday, I had lunch with a Realtor Friend at a reasonably new Bistro on Fairview Road in Simpsonville.   I was in for an unexpected treat.  I'm not normally a huge fan of grits but after seeing this dish on a nearby table, I decided to give the Shrimp & Grits with tomatoes a try.  The presentation was really good on every dish I saw them deliver to the adjoining tables. 

The dish arrived at our table (with some wonderful bread and butter) and proved to taste as good as it looked.  There was a sauce around the grits/shrimp & tomatoes that made you know why the entire dish was so good.  It was a great meal and I was definitely a cleaned plate-er on this meal.  We decided right then to treat some of our clients to this Bistro in the future

  When it was time for dessert, the waiter suggested a Banana Crème Brulee which lived up to his description of a dessert that was flying out the door.  It tasted like an upscale banana pudding without the cookie/wafers but instead, a browned sugar sprinkled on top.

The owner said they were a Regional Southern Bistro and Kim and I agreed this tasted like a dish you might be served in a fine restaurant in Charleston, SC.   But, they are right here in Simpsonville, SC and I urge you to go by for lunch or dinner if you live anywhere nearby.   Should you ever visit, it would be a treat to eat here also.

Photos do not do the food justice . . . next time, I will have my camera ready to take photos.

From my Mortgage Lender . . . . good news . ..

Just as a barometer, rates did indeed open up with a substantial improvement. We are currently sitting at approximately 5.50% at the par rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage. About a .375 to 0.50% improvement over our close on Friday. If you have any fence sitters, this might be the catalyst needed to move them to buy.

Don't know about you, but I'm going to email my SEO in the event anyone wants to refinance now.  Any news like this is good news for all of us.

A  Mortgage Broker I work with just send me an email and he expects the interest rates to come down, possibly as much as 1% after today's announcement that the head of Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae were being replaced with leaders from the business sector.

In his words . . .but we should see rates reverse and start to come down with the now direct guarantee of the government.

 Up until now, the government has only quasi guaranteed the mortgages held by FNMA and Freddie Mac. This has made investors nervous in our current market. Interest rates have continued to remain stubbornly high, despite the fact that from a historical trend standpoint, we should be almost a full 1.0% lower on interest rates.

This could be a huge opportunity for your past clients to refinance, as well as make homes more affordable for current buyers (i.e. lower interest rates will allow for more affordable monthly payments). I'll keep you posted on how the markets react, but now may be a great time for a mail piece to your past database to inform them about the lower rates (if and when they come).  

This should be good news for the housing market and we will wait and see how this plays out. Call with any questions!

 This does sound like really good news but of course, maybe tomorrow or the next couple of days will tell.  Let's hope he is right.

How many times over the years of doing Real Estate have we wished we had a more balanced life while maintaining the needed level of real estate production?   I know, I do have a life, but a lot of it does revolve around Real Estate to the point that it is out of balance sometimes.  People who have a normal work week (whatever that is now) may not fully understand what I am saying. Then again, they may as people in our conuntry works longer hours than people in any other country in the world.  Many people I know who are not in Real Esate work as many hours as I do.  While I love what I do, I would like to be able to do it without it taking up all of my life.   I don't think there is anything wrong with that, as most people in all professions would like to do that also.

I used to say I would need two or three lifetimes to do all that I wanted to do.  We all know that is not going to happen and yet, here I am giving the majority of my time to my business.  Perhaps that is the way it is with most entrepreneurial businesses, and/or small businesses.  It is a difficult balance to do well in your work and take time off to do the things you enjoy.  That may be the advantage of having a team and I may work more toward that within the last quarter of this year.  I have a closing coordinator who takes a lot of the load off from contract to closing on either listings or with buyers sides.  Feedback from my clients on this issue as been, "she was wonderful, on top of everything".  But, they did miss talking with me as much as they had been.  I will have to be sure I call them weekly (or more) when in contract with either the seller or buyer sides.  As many times as I have told them to call me should you need to talk about anything, sometimes they don't want to bother me.  I am going to need to initiate that more when under contract to make sure they are ok with everything that is happening, as I have worked with them very closely in some cases, for months.

My clients have heard me say many times that one of the hardest parts of my job was working with them so closely, becomming friends and after closing we did not get to talk as much.  The were busy getting settled and maybe in new jobs as well, and I was busy working with new people.  I have been keeping more closely in touch with them after closing as it is just good business practices.   really like most of the people I've worked with too, and could visit with several times a week if I had time. 

After some tweaking on my system and set up for followup, a buyer's agent would be needed.  I am soooooo picky, it is difficult for me to turn clients over to a buyer's agent unless I know she/he can do as good a job as I do with my buyers.  Most fairly experienced buyers agents want to go out on their own after they learn  (you teach them) what they are doing.  The only way to avoid that will be with the DISC testing, and I will certainly do that when ready to take on another agent into my business.  This test helps you to know what place on the DISC they fit into.  You can then determine if you have a personality type that will be happy doing what you need them to do.

Balance and Systems . ..   that is what it is all about.

Now that Gustav is calming down significantly and New Orleans was not a direct hit, the Republicans need to get the Show going.  While I respect the downplaying of events while this threat was eminent, it does appear the worst may be over.  According to the National Weather Channel, it is now a category 1 and heavy rains and possibilities of tornados still exists. 

It is great that the entire area was not hit as hard as it could have been had hurricane Gustav sustained the earlier projected momentum.  If the levies hold after the worst of the rain is over, they will be all clear on this storn.  They may be waiting to see if that happens.

 Next up is one headed for the East Coast.  We'll see what happens with that one later in the week.

Just down I-85 south in Anderson, SC there was a balloon fest this weekend.  In a race yesterday, a balloonist/pilot plummeted an estimated 4,000 feet to earth and fortunately, landed in a tree.  He was seriously injured but not fatally which could have been the case had he hit the ground instead of the tree.   The tree cushioned his fall a lot; at least better than the ground where his injuries could have been far worse.  That could also have caused his tanks to explode so he is really one lucky man to have landed in that tree.  The news people said he was from Michigan and so was the couple I rode in a race with several many years ago.  They were husband/wife and each had a balloon they raced.  Regardless of who it was, that is not a good thing.

Two firemen from the Fire Department were watching the race and were on their way as soon as they saw the balloon falling.  Apparently it deflated; the cause is being investigated.  One of the firefighters described it falling like a "rock with shoestrings" 

This and other incidents of other serious balloon accident/incidents makes me almost certain I will not do that again.  As I have gotten a little older, pain is something I try to avoid now, not seek possibilities for that to happen.  Hope he has a speedy recovery and gets home to Michigan soon.