Title
I hadn't received a call back from the title company rep, so I called her back to see what was being done. She said she's been calling the county clerk's office and claimed the person there told her the system has been down since mid-November. I find that hard to believe, but I couldn't get any straight answers out of the clerk's office myself. I called the lady at the title comapny back yesterday and the receptionist said she was out until the new year. Great. I did a little more snooping, and think this may all be okay anyway. We'll see come January.
CPA
I met with my CPA yesterday, but didn't bring any paperwork with me. I've just been too overloaded these past few weeks to go through all my paperwork. She said based on the info I gave her, she guesses that it would be best to pay the property taxes in 2007 vs. 2006 for ALL of my properties as I could be taking a big capital gains hit in 2007 if I sell both of my investment properties. She said I can get her all my paperwork to her next Wed and she would have a better idea. Since next Friday is the last day for me to pay my property taxes for 2006, I didn;t really give her a lot of time. :-(
RE Agent
I stopped by House #2 for the first time since I met with my agent about listing it. Her sign in the front yard just says "For Sale" - no "For Lease/Rent" anywhere visible. I picked up a flyer from her box and was even more disappointed as it was 75% advertisement for her business and 25% marketing for the house. Even the 25% wasn't very exciting. It was basically a picture of the front elevation with a few blurbs underneath. No price, no "For Lease/Rent" headings, nothing about me offering owner financing, nothing about me offering it as a lease/purchase. Needless to say, I was VERY disappointed. Later, I did a search on the local public home search web site (http://austinhomesearch.com), and the property was listed - however, the description still doesn;t have "owner financing available" in it. Worse yet, it is STILL not listed in the "For Lease" section. The entry in Realtor.com isn't any better, either. I guess it's time for a phone call and.or email. This is just one more reason why I want to get my own license. As the old saying goes, "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." Geesh!
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4 comments:
That's why it's a good idea to have all these issues discussed BEFORE you sign on with an agent.
Why didn't you have them give you a detailed marketing plan and require them to clear all ads w/you before placing them?
Flyers, Info sheets, Open Houses, etc. all are geared for agent self promotion; NOT selling the house. Buyer's agents bringing you a qualified buyer is the key; not printing flyers, posters, and such. Didn't you learn that with your own attempts at marketing?
Curious......
That's why it's a good idea to have all these issues discussed BEFORE you sign on with an agent.
Uhm, they were.
Why didn't you have them give you a detailed marketing plan and require them to clear all ads w/you before placing them?
While I didn't get anything in writing, I had a sit-down with the agent and asked her specifically what she was going to do to market the property, which she explained. At the time, we were only looking to sell it. Later, we decided to have it for rent as well.
Flyers, Info sheets, Open Houses, etc. all are geared for agent self promotion; NOT selling the house.
To a degree, yes.
Buyer's agents bringing you a qualified buyer is the key; not printing flyers, posters, and such.
For the most part, yes. But many, MANY properties are bought by people surfing Realtor.com and such online web sites first. If they don't see anything there, they may not even do the next step.
Didn't you learn that with your own attempts at marketing?
Hmmmm. I got several interested parties in the first few days I marketed the properties myself, which is more than I've gotten with the agent. The only marketing tool that I didn't have available to me, but is to her, was the MLS. Makes you wonder if maybe I should have used a flat-fee listing service.
Hey, Steve, when you get your license, find a broker that will give you access to the MLS yourself. Most Realtors have to wait for the one person in the office with access to the MLS to make all the additions and changes.
Hi Trisha - Definately! I believe my agent's broker gives everyone access. I am meeting with another broker in mid-January, who is an avid investor herself. I'll be sure to mention this to her - thanks!
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