Getting Too Cute

I was reminded this week that experience alone is not a good measure of the quality of service one can expect to receive from a real estate agent. I closed a deal last week with a freshly licensed agent on what may have been her very first deal. I didn't ask not wanting to embarrass her. At any rate, recently out of real estate school, she handled everything from first showing to closing like a seasoned pro. She was responsive to every obstacle that presented itself and never fumbled once through the several week transaction. Her client was well-served and probably didn't realize how well they were being represented.

This week I am trying to put together a deal with an older agent with several decades of experience under his belt. Like far too many experienced agents, he is embarrassingly out of date on his contract knowledge and has asked for several crazy changes to the contract that are dangerous for his client and that will likely sabotage the deal. He has taken two days to respond to every question or counter-offer and I'm currently on day three waiting for a response to our last counter. I doubt that his elderly client is aware of how he's mishandling the listing. She only knows that he's got enough experience to be good at what he does. Not. Those of us with years of experience run the risk of becoming too cute for our clients' good. Prime example is the very common demand for escrow deposits to be held at the title company. That's a no-no that any new agent knows the reason for. Not so with many experienced agents who should know better.

Buyers and sellers, don't let your agent's preoccupation with the minutiae of the deal torpedo the deal itself. Question their recommendations if they don't sound right to you. The difference of a few days on a contractual time period may not be material and in most cases is not worth losing a deal over. I'm looking at you Mr. 15-day-VA-loan-approval guy. Likewise, demanding a delay of title commitment by a few days is of little benefit to a seller and actually damaging if it contributes to a buyer withdrawing. Eyes on the ball, guys. No score, no check.

I took the picture above of a shoreline in Mosquito Lagoon this week on a fishing trip with Travis Tanner. My Bahamian buddy and I fish with Travis every year and this trip was like every previous year, plenty of fish and a great experience. We caught all the redfish we cared to pull on and had a great day on the water. I highly recommend Capt. Travis if someone wants the fishing trip of a lifetime in these pristine waters in the shadow of the launch pads. He can be found at mosquito-lagoon-fishing.com A trip would be a great present for a loved one.

"I get up in the morning looking for an adventure." __George Foreman

Ripping Cocoa

I sat down at the Abaco Inn last week for an afternoon hydration and a guy on a nearby stool nodded and said, "I used to surf Cocoa all the time." Huh? I guess he saw the confusion on my face and pointed at my Cocoa Beach Surf Company baseball cap. Cheers. If you surfed in Cocoa it was on a boat wake. I remembered the agent from Orlando coming to our office who called saying he had been all over Brevard Avenue but could not find our office. The Orlando TV stations and newspapers are notorious for making this same mistake.

Remember the Oscar Meyer bologna kid? My city has a first name. It's C O C O A. My city has a last name. It's B E A C H. If, like either of these people, one omits my city's last name, the margin of error is about 10 miles and in the case of the bar patron, the Indian River rather than the Atlantic Ocean. The Orlando agent was scouring Brevard Avenue in Cocoa Village not Cocoa Beach, three bridges and 20 minutes drive time away.

Small things can undo large things. It's not uncommon for a contract to specify issues to be completed prior to closing. Examples: "front door to be replaced", "all contents to be removed and unit cleaned", "broken window to be replaced", "hurricane shutters to be serviced and operational", "refrigerator to be installed". The buyer's final walk-through prior to closing confirms to their satisfaction that the agreed upon items have been completed. No fridge and closing doesn't happen until it's delivered or an agreeable price concession is made. If the buyer needs an item to be done in advance of final walkthrough, the timeline needs to be specified in the contract. I saw  an otherwise solid contract fail a couple of weeks ago because the buyer demanded an appliance installed a month before closing rather than by closing. A simple missing clause on a contract torpedoed the deal.

I called a listing agent yesterday to discuss her overpriced oceanfront condo listing. It's not unusual in these calls for a listing agent to tell me that she realizes the asking price is high but the seller insisted on the asking price and it might take some time for him to realize that the market isn't going to deliver his expectation. Other times, like yesterday, the listing agent can't or won't admit to the pricing error. In this case the unit is overpriced by at least $80,000 yet the listing agent, for some reason, is hanging her hat on a number that can't be supported by any comps. Go figure. Unsaleable listings still draw page views on Zillow so she may be able to steer inquiries to someone else's properly priced offering. In that context, any listing at any price is worth having.

Nothing much has changed with our low inventory other than properly priced listings are selling and being replaced by more optimistically priced ones. Condo and townhome inventory is still below 200 existing units in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral yet we still manage to close 12 to 15 every week. School started this week and there are drastically fewer vacationers in town. I think it's safe to say real estate activity will follow that lead and cruise from now through Christmas at a more relaxed pace. Snook season opens in a couple of weeks and the mullet run will follow shortly. Sharpen your hooks and patch the cast net if it needs it.

From an outstanding recent Vice interview with Liam Gallagher. The one below is from a series of questions about various Oasis lyrics:

Interviewer: What about "I ain't good lookin' but I'm someone's child…" [from "D'You Know What I Mean"]? 
Liam: Well, I don't know about that. You can tell he (Noel) wrote that one, can't ya? Even when I sing it I'm going, "Not too sure about that one…"

Second Half Off to a Roaring Start

My driveway and my only means of transportation for the last few weeks.

When I was a kid, school didn't begin until after Labor Day. This year, Cocoa Beach schools start on August 10. It really makes the summer shorter and it has an effect on our real estate market. Those new residents wanting their children to attend school in Cocoa Beach this year should have closed on their Cocoa Beach home by now in order to be a resident by August 8 registration. That probably contributed to the record 18 closed single family homes in the month of July in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. On a side note; students will have their photos taken at registration so make sure they are wearing a shirt or blouse that complies with the dress code. All details HERE.

In addition to the 18 homes, there were 62 condos and townhomes closed in our two cities in July. That's an impressive number considering that there are only 197 existing condos and townhouses for sale at the moment. Current inventory of single family homes stands at 64.

Lobster season opened this week here in the Bahamas and the results were good, at least for those who had done their pre-scouting and knew where to go. We were on the water before daybreak and had our limit in short order. Same story the next couple of days. By my count, I've spent about a hundred hours submerged since arrival fueled by a diet of mainly conch, fish and lobster. The combo feels healthy. Back on the job in Cocoa Beach shortly.

"My best vacation is somewhere I can hide, somewhere warm and not a lot of people around." __Derek Jeter

"I agree." __LW