Trust me, I'm a professional

Today is one of those days that just makes me feel giddy.  No humidity, mild temperatures and sunny. Michigan State football won their season opener yesterday.  It feels like fall is officially here.  Although in Michigan we have a saying... Don't like the weather, wait a few hours!  It's inevita...

For about 20 minutes this post was about being a martyr...Due to the changes in the world the past few years, martyr may be a poor choice of words.  It used to be that a common definition of a martyr was someone who punished or deprived oneself.  I use the word "martyr" loosely.  And I apologize ...

In the local Birmingham/Bloomfield market, there has been a surplus of listings on the market.  When I was scheduling appointments yesterday to show homes today.  I was pleasantly surprised that there were several homes that had just gone under contract.  This news is so encouraging to me that I ...

With soft market conditions in the Birmingham/Bloomfield area, buyers are few and far between.  Of course, I have more listings than I can count.Recently I've signed up two new purchasers.  It just so happened that both of these buyers wanted to go out today to look at homes.  I showed 9 homes in...

When you sell a house do you give your clients a thank you / closing gift?  If so, what do you give?  I, more times than not, will give my customers a token of my appreciation.  The "token" will vary from client to client.  Most customers will get a gift certificate to Home Depot or something of ...

Due to the fact, homes are being torn down in Birmingham, inspections contingencies are not always about inspecting the home.  Sometimes this time is used to verify lot lines, set backs, all sorts of things.  Because of this, I got used to calling the inspection period a "due diligence" period.  ...

When I first started in the real estate business, I was extremely eager to make my presence known within the Realtor community. I was always very cognizant to introduce myself to any agent that called me for feedback.  I ALWAYS gave feedback (& still do).  I religiously went on broker tour... int...

To say that I'm addicted to AR is somewhat of an understatement.  Make no mistake; I've been very busy selling homes this past week.  BUT the minute that I have "downtime" I rush to my computer like a crazed teenage girl at an N'Sync concert.  Wednesday is staff meeting and tour at our office.  S...

Six weeks ago I sold a home that is scheduled to close next Tuesday.  I represent the buyer in this transaction.  They're moving to the Birmingham area from Northern Canada.  Because they are international buyers, we made sure to allow ample time for a mortgage to get underwritten.  Needless to s...

This question has been eluding me for a few years now!  On the first hand, there is the simple cost of it all.  Do I really want to spend the additional money?  Then I think about the workload... It seems that I only need an assistant when I'm really busy or stressed.  And let's face it, I don't ...