I doubt it. Many responsible HOA’s are already doing them from time to time and no one is going to run out and have one done ON June 12th. So I doubt that date will be meaningful to you in any way.

Generally speaking you can use RCG like a “panel” where you ask the person on the panel that you want to address the question to on ANY post written BY that person. That works out fairly well, for me anyway. Most “authors” get an email when a question is raised on one of their posts (I don’t for some reason at the moment). So if you ask me a question on Reba’s post or Rhonda a question on my post, that won’t be as effective as asking it on a post written by the person you are addressing. That only applies if the question is off topic or not addressing a comment on the post itself made by other people.

Hope that is illuminating and not confusing. I especially like comments from the general public, though of course welcome all comments.

Kary, if your buyer misses out on a house he loves due to negotiations, are they ok with that? It’s awfully tough to really find the house you love, less than 5% are good enough to love. I tell my buyers out of every 100 homes, 3 are great, 3 are reasonably great and the rest are for other people … .

Before I move along, I’d like to revisit the earlier report on the new law requiring homeowner associations to perform reserve studies and include them with the resale certs.

My question: If we are interested in making an offer on a condo, is there any practical advantage to us to waiting until after the June 12 effective date of this law?

First, you either have to find a large number of properties acceptable, or at least be willing to overlook things that others won’t (deferred maintenance, wallpaper, dated kitchens, etc.). When my wife and I were looking for properties last year, we only found less than 5% of the houses we went into acceptable, and we were willing to overlook those things.

Second, when you do find the house you want to make an offer on, you have to be able to not fall in love with the house during the negotiating process. People here often say agents drive up the price of houses, but in my experience we often have a hard time holding buyer clients back!

Come on Leanne…who told you how TO advertise yourself? I even called you on the phone to give you instructions of how to hyperlink yourself, and told you to use your full name in blue vs. black.

Just saying, Sniglet’s impression that we write FOR other agents is not correct. That doesn’t mean we don’t like you coming by and commenting. It clearly adds to the info when you do.

You are the ONLY person I called ever, who commented on RCG, to assist you in regard to advertising yourself here. Don’t you remember?

I actually prefer dealing with my personal referrals. I am not doing this to create new business, but to establish that the guidance of a good real estate agent is better for the consumer than going it alone. Some buyers and sellers will want to go it alone, or with the guidance of a good attorney. I believe there is room for every model, but that it isn’t as simple as it seems to transact a real estate purchase & a successful closing.

There is far too much negativity in the current media style today, and this postive forum does much to combat the innacurate messages of gloom. Far too many forums such as this have the wrong agents participating. By wrong, I mean lacking experience and knowlege. This one most certainly isn’t lacking either of those!

I have met some professionals here as well that I would not have met otherwise, and one day when our paths cross on a transaction file, as I’m sure they will, it will be nice to ‘know’ who I’m working with.

I think it’s all good. This can be an excellent resource for the public. And isn’t that good for the industry we all enjoy serving in?

Rather than stating my full name for the ‘publicity’, I’ll just be Leanne, real estate agent. How’s that?

Can you describe the fear and loathing comment further? I can’t imagine a listing agent fearing and loathing a potential buyer for their listing, which is why I thought you meant it the other way around.

This is not a “forum by and for Realtors”. It’s a group blog owned by a guy who is not a Realtor. We’re primarily writing for people like you, and not Realtors. As blogs are a day to day, moment to moment conversation, that changes from post to post. It’s just that Realtors seem to more willing to comment, so the conversation goes that way. at times.

Also when agents comment on our posts, it is a semi-advertisement for them to do that, in addition to adding value to the conversation.

But the benefit is supposed to be to the consumer and not the Realtor, generally speaking. At least in my opinon. So thanks for noting that it is so.

I’m one to believe if you do not love the place, do not buy it. Even a home with flaws can be loved, and if you’re not there, it’s not the one.

If it is the one, understand that it is rare. If you love just about everything you see, set your bar higher. But, when you find that elusive, rare property, don’t hesitate to buy it. By the time you find it, you should be well educated towards basic pricing, and if you find you have to pay something more to actually get it, ask yourself this — how many months did it take you to find this one, and how many months do you think it will take you to find the ‘next’ one. What is that timeframe worth to you, in terms of ‘over & done with’. Most people have a price for that. That is partially how you decide what price you offer.