buy a home

Accepting the Unexpected…

Terri Pontzious 4 Comments

Last week was one of those weeks that are just busy. One day was particularly challenging, in a good way. You know the kind of day: one phone call, email and text after another. Taking care of a few “challenges”, talking to potential clients. Before I knew it, it was almost 1:00 pm and I was starving.

I walked over to a great deli near the office and found it unusually crowded. But the wait gave me a chance to take a deep breath and start to relax. Just as I finished giving my order, I heard a woman’s voice behind saying, “May I buy your lunch?”.  I wondered who she was talking to and looked around. But there was no one there but the two of us. I was surprised, shocked actually, and asked “Me?”. She smiled and shook her head and said, “Yes, you.”

I am not proud to say that my first instinct was not to be gracious and say thank you. It was, “Why is she asking me? What is this about?” But, I took a deep breath, looked into her eyes and said “That would be so nice, thank you.”

We had a lovely conversation for the next 10 minutes while waiting for our lunches. I found out that she is a very spiritual person, she loves to read. She has two children and three grandchildren and she is very proud of them. She is studying Kriya Massage and contemplating that as a second career when she retires. She loves healthy, good food.

Our lunches arrived, we smiled and said goodbye. Maybe our paths will cross again. I hope so.

This encounter made my day. I left the deli with a different outlook than when I entered, I was smiling, had a lighter step, two-women-friends-talking-298x232and felt “good”.

It made me wonder how many other opportunities we miss in this life when we are so focused on ourselves that we don’t see the good around us; when we aren’t open to letting the unexpected into our lives and hearts. It is something to think about!

They Are So Cute!

Terri Pontzious 2 Comments

Shoes 1I love shoes, always have. I am embarrassed to say how many shoes I have owned over the years. I mean, you need high heels, mid-heels and flats in all the basic colors. Sandals, Espadrilles, tennis shoes, shoes for those dressy occasions. Shoes for working in the garden and boots to ride horses. And then there are those shoes that you just have to have because they are so cute!

I have reluctantly donated many shoes over the years, and worn out even more. I am a real estate agent, so I am hard on shoes. When showing property, I sometimes walk two to three miles in an afternoon. I walk in dirt, over rocks and wet grass to find lockboxes when other agents don’t put them in convenient places and when taking photos. I am constantly scuffing and dinging my shoes on my office chair.

Yesterday, my eyes were drawn to a pair of cute little high heels on the shelf. I hadn’t worn those shoes in a while, at least over a year. I couldn’t remember why, and they were so cute and went perfectly with my outfit. Why not? They were my shoe choice of the day!

I spent the morning in my office and met clients at a home inspection in the afternoon. You might think a home inspection is boring and that the Realtors spend most of our time sitting around. But I usually take the opportunity to do my Agent’s Visual Inspection if I am representing the buyer. Of course, my clients and I follow the home inspector around while he explains what he has found. Because I love gardening, I usually spend time walking around the yard planning what I would do to it if I were the new owner. When the inspection is over, my clients usually like to walk around the home again, measuring rooms, space for refrigerator and washer/dryer, visualizing where they will put their furniture. It is such fun to see their excitement and anticipation, so I tag along!

On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store and walked every aisle. Then went by the dry cleaners to pick up laundry. And stopped at a client’s home to drop some paperwork off. And, my feet were killing me!

I have to admit, I am just not 30 years old anymore and what my feet could take then and what they can take now just aren’t the same! I hate that. But it is my reality!

Reluctantly, these cute shoes are going in the donation box today. I hope someone will enjoy them as much as I have. THEY ARE SO CUTE!

Is Your Agent Keeping Your Home From Selling?

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istock-question-marks

I recently spent a few days with clients being transferred to San Diego. They had never been to San Diego so we toured several areas and homes that seemed to fit their needs. My clients were here for a very short period of time, just a few days, and had limited time available to view homes each day.

I never expected to experience such difficulty in showing homes. Only two of the homes I showed had a seller’s phone number available for scheduling appointments. The others required an appointment made through the listing agent or their assistants. I have no problem with calling the listing agent for an appointment. What I do mind is the lack of cooperation we experienced for about half of the appointments.

When I show six to eight homes in a day, during a specific time period (usually two to four hours), I provide the seller, or their agent, an hour window of time when we expect to be there. I always call if we are running early or late, but that window usually works out. Being told that I need to “narrow it to a 15-minute time period” so the listing agent can meet us is an impossibility. Being told that “1 pm doesn’t work, can you be there at 5 pm” doesn’t either.  So, there were several homes we were not able to view, and my clients are well-qualified and motivated.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a listing agent also. I know what it is like to have agents who have made appointments to view a home and then they do not show up; I have received those phone calls from irate clients. I have had clients who had a situation that prevented the use of a lock box – an elderly client, an illness, when children are at home alone after school, a newborn, and other extenuating circumstances. But, the number of instances I encountered this past week makes me wonder if the industry is creating an illusion for sellers. That we, as the listing agent, need to be present at all showings; that we are somehow “protecting” them.

The new lock boxes actually track who has been in a home, the date and time. By making a home difficult to show it significantly reduces the number of buyers who can see your home. One of the buyers who can’t view your home may be the perfect buyer, but you will never know it. And, while we are experiencing a “Seller’s Market” in most areas of San Diego County, there were plenty of homes to view this last week, even though we were unable to view many.

Is this trend actually preventing buyers from being able to view the homes? We all know that we want as many buyers as possible through a home.  It will bring the best price and best buyer. Making a home difficult to show is like opening a new store in town and then have it open only an hour a day, and not at a time when most customers will be able to visit.

I recently sold a home in an area in which I was showing homes this past week. We had multiple offers within a week and sold the property for the full list price, much to the amazement of the “area expert”.  The home was priced well, but I wonder if the fact that it was on lock box and I had a very cooperative seller who let the home be shown at the convenience of the buyers and their agents made the difference?

Should we do a better job of educating our sellers about the importance of having their homes shown? Are we playing into our own egos when placing ourselves at every showing appointment?

And, don’t get me started on only being able to communicate with a listing agent via texting….

Autumn IS A Productive Time Of Year!

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Pumpkins

We harvested the remaining pumpkins from our garden this week. We had a record-breaking crop of pumpkins this year. Actually, it is the only year I can remember when we had more than one very small pumpkin on the vine. I don’t know what we did differently this year, I know we did not have big expectations. But, our garden was certainly bountiful this summer!

When you have a garden, you plant the seeds, watch them germinate, pull weeds, water, fertilize, chase critters away. You help the plants through hard times…too much heat, too much cold, not enough water, too much water. Some don’t make it, some surprise you.

Instead of letting the garden become dormant, we are preparing for a winter garden and then the spring garden. Even though the garden looks bare right now, there is a lot going on. Planning, sketching, mulching, reading about new plants. It is definitely a busy time for a gardener, just different.

In my real estate business, I am also preparing for 2014…preparing my business plan and goals. Looking at what works, what do I want to change. It is an exciting time for me as I look at all the possibilities ahead and the families I can help in 2014.

Someone asked me the other day if I am taking off the rest of the year! Ha! Some people DO think that the real estate business comes to a grinding halt during the last two to three months of the year. Nothing could be further from the truth. I almost always have a very busy fourth quarter. It is a great time to sell a home. The buyers who are looking are usually serious buyers, the looky-loos have other things to do. And, if you are a buyer, the sellers who have their homes on the market this time of the year are almost always serious sellers. Negotiations are usually easier this time of year – people are happy. Homes look great this time of year. They are decorated, the smell like pumpkin pie and turkeys in the oven. And, you won’t have to ask “I wonder where they put the Christmas tree”, you will be able to see for yourself!

So, if you are contemplating buying a home in San Diego, or selling a home in San Diego, looking for investment properties, or are looking for a vacation home, don’t let the holiday season stand in your way. This is a GREAT time of year to take that step!

Pumpkins & me