The year in real estate - part two

For those of you who can't get enough of year-end lists, here's part two of mine.  This will be more personal and have lots of love, plus a little dirt-dishing (you know you love it).

1.  More wonderful clients than ever.  This year, my relationships with many of my clients seemed to cross over from biz to friendship more often.  Sang and Anh, Jorge and Amy, Kara and Tom, I miss talking with you every day and am grateful that we've gotten to know each other.  Larry A, Frank H, Starr and Alex, Ryanne and Erich, David and Daniela, Mike and Hiroko, Ron S., Ryan and Misty, Sue and Mark, thanks for helping me love my job.

2.  More crazy people than ever, too.  What was it about real estate this year that made more people wacky? Are folks just nervous from the long recession? Either way, as I've said here before, either we need more drugs, or less, out here in real estate.

3.  More differences in Realtor skill sets and ethics.  Okay, there have always been differences, but this year the gap between good Realtor and bad Realtor seemed to grow.  Some of the lenders I met were no day at the beach, either. And on the subject, here's the dirt:

4.  I did a transaction with the most malicious Realtor in Studio City, Burbank, Sherman Oaks, Valley Village, Toluca Lake...maybe even the world. This Realtor was certainly the most awful person I've ever worked with.  No names or identifying details are mentioned here as I am sincerely afraid of retribution.  But this person was insulting to my clients and me, cancelled the appraisal twice which tipped us out of time frames, put the property back on the market during escrow for no reason, and tried to stop the closing at the last minute...for no reason.  I am suspicious about her relationship with her clients as well, but at this point it's a big 'ol WHATEVER.  My clients got the house they wanted, so at the end of the day, I suppose this person's maliciousness doesn't matter.

5.  I've been amazed and delighted by my brokerage, John Aaroe Group.  They continue to educate us and come up with new tools for us.  The management and staff are simply top-notch.

I hope all of your real estate plans go well in 2013. Onward!

Whew! 2821 Buena Vista closed, and not a moment too soon

Buyers Amy and Jorge closed escrow on 2821 Buena Vista in Burbank yesterday.  It was a wild ride, and I'll have more details later.  But congrats to my wonderful buyers for hanging in like champs, and being very zen when things went crazy, and getting a nice home in this wacky market.

Getting the rug yanked out...

Here's another names-and-details-changed-to-protect-bla-bla story. My buyer clients made an offer last week on a home that had been on the market for a few months. It was listed at $699k and hadn't had any takers. We came in with a very intelligent offer in line with the comparables. It went back and forth in counters for a few days. My buyers came up a little, the sellers came down a very little bit, etc.

Then, yesterday, another buyer got all aggressive with an offer, swooped in, and snatched it out from underneath my buyers. Not for much more, apparently, but for enough more to make a difference.

We're bummed, and I'm gnashing my teeth. And I face the undesirable prospect of encouraging all of my buyers to be way more aggressive with their offers than they are comfortable with.

And the biggest lesson here is for me: just because a house hasn't sold yet doesn't mean the interest in it won't suddenly spike in a crazy white-hot market. Like the one we have now.