Realtors have a tough time with the bank, too
Oprah Winfrey shared a few ideas with me the other day, and I’d
like to pass them on to you.
The first is to listen to your heart and your gut more, and to
your head less. We’ve spent the last 100 or so years putting our
emphasis on machinery and technology. We have gained huge inroads
in that area but we’ve paid the price with our unhealthy
environment and with our lack of compassion for one another.
Realtors have a tough time with the bank, too
Oprah Winfrey shared a few ideas with me the other day, and I’d like to pass them on to you.
The first is to listen to your heart and your gut more, and to your head less. We’ve spent the last 100 or so years putting our emphasis on machinery and technology. We have gained huge inroads in that area but we’ve paid the price with our unhealthy environment and with our lack of compassion for one another.
The second is that while life always has its bumps and unexpected twists we should embrace our failures as well as our successes, learning from each of them. If you don’t learn the lesson, it will reappear in your life at a later time in a different form.
And finally, she told me that she knows this for sure: In order to move forward we have to give back. True happiness comes when you live in a paradigm of service to others. Oprah quoted a poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks for her own children: Live not for the battles won; Live not for the end of the song: Live in the “along.”
What? Oh, yeah. Well, Oprah wasn’t just sharing these ideas with me. She also had the graduating class of Stanford University and all their guests listening. But I still know she was speaking to me despite the fact the graduates got copies of two books (Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future” and Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose”) and I didn’t.
And speaking of graduation, congratulations to every student who earned a diploma – be it from kindergarten or eighth grade or high school or beyond – and the family and friends who supported them financially and emotionally.
I suppose this would be a good time to segue into parents relocating to smaller homes when the fledglings leave the nest, or recent college graduates buying a first home. But no. I don’t feel like writing that and Oprah Winfrey says to listen to your heart.
My heart actually feels rather sad today. First of all, the death of Herman Wrede leaves a dark spot on my heart. He drove me absolutely nuts with his terrible puns but he always made me laugh. He was one of my first editors and I will never forget him. And secondly, my friend and client Jean Shearer died. I met her through a women’s organization, PEO. I admired her intelligence and charm. The world is a little less bright for the loss of her light.
On to a different topic. Gov Hutchinson spoke to the San Benito County Association of Realtor meeting last week. He is a very funny man, and it’s always a treat to spend time with him. He is the attorney in charge of the California Association of Realtors (CAR) legal hotline. This is a service CAR provides to its membership at no additional charge.
He said despite the declining number of transactions being done the number of calls has remained constant (especially that daily call from David Baumgartner who says no one else will talk to him). The No. 1 complaint the hotline receives is from agents dealing with (you guessed it!) banks with properties to sell. These properties are called REOs in bank parlance, which stands for Real Estate Owned. (Pithy little phrase, isn’t it?)
Apparently I’m not the only one who finds the REO and short sale process to be cumbersome and frustrating. Banks do not return calls or move quickly, and we Realtors are not accustomed to this. Most of the homes for sale in San Benito County fall into this category of transaction. We Realtors find we’re working about three times harder for a lot less money, due to both the declining price structure of our county’s housing stock and the fact that banks decide how much they will pay agents somewhere along the transaction process.
Do I sound like I’m whining? I’m not. This time is a blip on the radar screen of life. This, too, shall pass. The silver lining is that it has allowed the general public to realize it would not be a good idea for the banking industry to become part of the home buying and selling process. The banks have been trying to make that move for quite awhile now.
At the same meeting we had the CAR convention reports from the Realtors who selflessly gave of their time to get us timely information. We Realtors are extremely grateful to Renee Kunz, Rick Pennington, Steve Becerra and Roy Navarro. They help us stay au courant in real estate trends, laws and best practices. Thank you, thank you. A big “Whoa, doggies!” from all of us.
If you would like to find out what your Realtor learned at the meeting, give him or her a call today! And be kind to your Realtor.
