Fredericksburg Texas

I’m “fixin’ ta be” politically incorrect.  If you are an agent in
Fredericksburg, Texas and a member of the Gillespie County Board of Realtors, you may want to stop here.  You have been warned!

What the hell is wrong with us?  As a group, presumably formed to further our collective business interests, we are giving away the store.  I could go on and name many, many ways in which (in the guise of serving the “public interest”) we are shooting ourselves in the foot, but instead, I’ll focus on two issues that I see as major contributors to our collective stupidity.  The first issue that sticks in my craw can loosely defined as “membership”, the second are the “other brokers”. (Disclosure, I am the chairman of the Membership Committee).

If you have read this blog in the past (or checked the archived articles) you will have seen previous reference to the ease at which a person can become a “Realtor” (e.g. “free entry”) and the fact that we (the local Board of Realtors) have to approve anyone who wants to join (short of felons, child molesters and folks with suspended licenses) and can pay the nominal fees.

Forgetting for a moment how allowing marginal agents membership “serves the public interest”, let’s focus on the effect this has on full-time, dedicated and experienced practitioners of “the art of the deal”.

By filtering out Board members categorized as appraisers, non-MLS, other, tax user, non-realtor and secondary members, we have a total of approximately 219 active agents and brokers serving the buying and selling public.

Now let’s look at the numbers as of 8/29/06.  Only 65% of the active members have sold anything this year (meaning 35% haven’t). Of the 65% that have sold something, 4.5% have sale of less than $100K, 14% have sales of between $100K-$500K, 11% have sales of between $500K-$1M, 12.7% have sales between $1M-$2M,  8.6% have sales between $2M-$3M, 6.4% have sales between $3M-$4M, 2.3% have sales between $4M-$5M, 2.7% have sales between $5M-$6M and 2.3% have sales of over $6M for the year.

There are two very important facts revealed by these figures: 1) fully 78% of the people in our Board do not earn a “living wage” via their endeavors in real estate, and 2) the award to the top grossing agent goes to… “Other Broker”. “Other Broker” has out sold the top agent by almost 19% so far this year.  That’s money out of your pocket and out of our community!

This brings me to my second beef, the number of sales that go to agents that are not members of our Board and (in most cases) don’t live in the Fredericksburg area.  How, I ask, can we be letting this happen?  How can a buyer or seller of real estate believe that someone who doesn’t live here or know the market adequately represents their interests?  It’s mind-boggling.

I can’t address the last question above.  It’s a mystery to me.  The forms we use, promulgated by the Texas Real Estate Commission, give us handy tools; however, to minimize the impact that “other brokers” can have on our business.  When we deal with “other brokers” we (local agents) inevitably bear the burden of the work due to the “other brokers” lack of familiarity with the market.  This being the case, why then should we share equally in the rewards?

Agents, you know what I’m talking about, the tools are there, USE THEM!  This is our last line of defense against the invasion of carpetbaggers, auslanders, friends and brother-in-laws that think Gillespie County and Fredericksburg, Texas real estate is “easy pickins”.  A new poll shows the low regard with which we are held to the public.  It’s self-inflicted crap like this that feeds that image!

It’s time we looked up from our desks and faced the fact that our house is in disarray.  I know many of you know exactly what I’m talking about.  You get it.  If you haven’t thought about these things, it’s time you did.  It does affect you and your pocketbook.  What are you going to do about it…?

I get it.

I get that buyers want a “steal”;

I get that seller’s want to maximize their value;

Most importantly, I get how to bridge these competing goals.

How you ask?

Well, it depends on who I represent.

There are very different approaches that agents should take if representing a buyer vs. those taken when representing a seller.

If you think I’m going to “give away the store” and freely dispense knowledge gained through years of experience, education and personal financial risk…you’re mistaken.

If you want insight in to how to get the best deal in a real estate transaction, call me and we’ll talk about it.

“Don’t take it personally”, “It just business” and the infamous
Texas saying “Bidness is Bidness” are comments frequently heard by agents dealing with Fredericksburg Texas real estate transactions.  Frequently condescending, always offensive, these phrases are most often uttered by parties that are “in the wrong” and are refusing to take responsibility.

Buyers and sellers of real estate, land, ranches, homes, etc. are always personally vested in the property.  It is often a persons most valuable and hard-won possession that is the subject of a purchase or sale and, as such, “it is personal” and “it’s not just business”.

An experienced agent can spot one of these cavalier buyers or sellers to whom the whole process is a game.  The problem is how to either deal with them or avoid them altogether.  The best way I have found to handle “them” (whether I represent “them” or the “others”) is to ensure that a large enough amount of earnest money is placed on deposit in the hope that the “money on the table” is something they will not readily walk away from.

Real estate agents are bound to treat both parties to the transaction fairly and honestly, how do you do this when you know (or suspect) someone is not being honest?  Disclosure, disclosure, disclosure!  Remember Experience Matters

I was showing some land and ranches in the
Fredericksburg Texas area to some folks from Houston this past weekend.  Driving from place to place gives you ample time to get to know each other and get a good sense of how “informed” people shopping for real estate really are.  They, in turn, have the opportunity to see if I know what the heck I’m talking about.  Usually, this works to everyone’s advantage and the relationship move forward to the point that the client ends up buying something.

As we were focused on “land” the subject of land as an investment (asset class) naturally came up.  I provided these folks with a copy of an article I mentioned in my last post Jumpin’ on the Land Wagon .  They then discussed an article in a recent Wall Street Journal that, basically, said the same thing.  On Sunday, I came across and article in Austin’s American Statesman that quoted both the “Land Wagon” story and the Journal story (title: “Undeveloped tracts draw land lover as housing slows down”).

The Statesman story talks about some of the basics to look for (or watch out for) when buying land.  Among the potential problems are: availability of electricity and water and the need for septic systems, legal access to the property and mineral rights.  I would add to the list gaining (or maintaining) agricultural exemptions to minimize taxes and water rights, a growing issue in more arid parts of the state.

 These can be very complicated issues and are ones that are best investigated, revealed and resolved with the help of an experienced agent.  Remember, Experience Matters