Busy Weekend

Bandit Signs and a Thief
I decided on Friday that I would get up early - VERY early - on Saturday to put up some more signs. So, on Saturday morning, I get up at 5:00am, grab a Mountain Dew, and start on my adventure. I first had to nail the signs to stakes. After doing about 10 of them, I headed out. At this point it was about 5:20am. Of the three signs I put out the weekend before, only one was still up. I managed to put 9 of the 10 new one up (one stake actually broke in half as I was pounding it in the ground), and decided to go to House #1 to water the trees and plants. While at House #1, I checked up on what, if anything, my RE agent had done. Sure enough, she updated the yard sign and the flyers, so that was inspiring. I left House #1 a short time later and returned back home. At this point it was about 8:00am.

About 2:00pm that same day, I had to run a couple of errands, so I decided to check out if one of the signs I put up was still there. It wasn't. This was the same location as a sign I put up the previous weekend and it had disappeared later in the afternoon as well. ARGH! Twice in two weeks, so I doubt I put anymore there again even though it's a nice spot. Coincidentally, I went by the place again on late Sunday and noticed two other bandit signs - one for moving and another for something else - in almost the same spot as I had my sign. This morning while driving into work, they were both gone as well. So I'm guessing someone in that immediate area has made it a point to keep the area clean of "roadside spam".

Any Leads?
Later Saturday afternoon, I noticed that I had gotten two phone calls. I suspect these people called when I was outside with my wife and daughter in my daughter's little pool. Neither person left a message, though, so I figured they weren't motivated enough (probably retailers, curiosity seekers, or other investors). On Sunday, I got another call from one of the same people as on Saturday. This time I was able to answer it. I kept saying "Hello?" but they wouldn't answer me. I could hear a TV in the background with a sports show on, so I knew they were still on the line. After a few moments of not getting an answer, I hung up.

BTW, everytime I go out now, I put the magnetic car signs my wife gave me for my birthday on my car. Sunday was actually the first day I did this as I haven't had time to wash my car until then. I had to go to a local store to pick up a few things that day. When I parked, I got out of the car and proceeded to enter the store, when a lady was yelling "Sir!" to get my attention. Turns out she was an employee of the store, and was looking for a place to rent. You better believe my adrenaline was racing after hearing those words. Unfortunately, the more she talked, the more I realized House #1 wasn't for her. She was looking for a farmhouse in the country - a place she can put a garden and chicken coop and other "farm" stuff on. I told her I didn't know of anything off hand, but I asked her for her name and information in case I find anything. I also gave her my name and number, and asked her if she knew of anyone that needed to sell their house to give me a call and I would pay her a $250 referrel fee if I close. Her eyes lit up when I said that and she asked "Are you serious?", to which I said "I certainly am." I just wish I had a business card to give her. Instead I just wrote my info on a piece of paper.

Non-returned Emails
I know I've ranted on here upteen times before about the lack of professionalism I've experienced in this industry. And the unprofessionalism just continues.

Last Wednesday, I decided to email a CPA my mortgage broker referred me to. Supposedly, he is a RE investor himself, and understands where we "come from." I thought this would be a great addition to my team. Well, here it is the following Monday, and I still haven't heard back from him. Granted, I could be jumping the gun as he could be out on vacation or whatnot, so I'll give him a while longer before passing judgement.

A second recent incident involves a RE agent, however. You'd think that these people would be overjoyed to answer emails from people who are interested in a property they have listed. I found a commerical property early last week online, I emailed the listing agent some questions regarding the financials of the property (nothing too personal). Again, it's Monday morning and I've gotten nothing from him. In this case, if the agent is out on vacation, he should have either allowed an assistant to read his email or have the email forwarded (or, thirdly, change the contact email address in the online ad). How inconceivable. Now he coould have lost a potential buyer.

Coincidentally, this same hting happened to me and my wife a few years back when we were looking for some land to build a house. We found a nice parcel of land, and my wife called the listing agent to get some info. The agent didn't have the info handy, but said she'd call us back. A couple weeks went by and nothing. My wife called the agent back and the agent said she had "forgotten". Huh?!?! My wife was so steamed about this, she went around the agent and talked to the seller herself to tell her what had happened. The seller was outraged to say the least. Within a couple of hours, the listing agent called my wife back and was very rude to her. My wife told her she had no other choice but to let the seller know what type of incompetent agent she was using, and told the agent that if she wasn't careful, she would be reported to the Texas Association of Realtors and the Texas Real Estate Commission for her rude behavior. The agent became a puppy after that and the whole matter was dropped. We decided afterward not to pursue the property.