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From Short Sale to Sold in less than 4 months

Front yard 2

I met my client on October 22 when I listed his home in Temecula; he was referred to me by a mutual friend. He was in the unique position of needing to do a short sale. He loved his home and would liked to have kept it, but because his job had taken him so far from home, he couldn’t afford to pay rent and a mortgage. Knowing little about the process of selling a home, and hearing horror stories of month’s and month’s of waiting for banks to decide home owners fate’s, he was annixous to say the least. I painted him a picture that was bleak at best. Knowing that a short sale was going to take time, I suggested that he start by trying a Loan Modification. After all he wasn’t being forced out by a Interest Rate Hike.

When Craig called his mortgage company requesting a modification package, to his surprise, the bank representative was very nice. He was asked a series of questions, given a link to the companies website, and asked to email the paperwork back as soon as he could. Not the bleak picture I had painted, not at all.

Once the bank went through his packet of paperwork; everything from Bank Statements to  his hardship letter, and Tax Returns, the bank told him he was a  candidate for Short Sale only he wasn’t behind on his payments. This was the hardest part for him…he didn’t want to lose his good credit standing, and it was going against everything he’s been taught, but he had to quit making his payments in order for his lien-holder to take notice. Almost 3Mons to the day he first called his Mortgage Holder, he was given the approval from the bank to short pay his home.

This is not your typical Short Sale… This was job related. But in my past experience, 8Mons to a year is the typical time frame from Start to Finish. I’ve even heard from other Agents of Banks selling the property out from under a home owner that was given approval. My long winded point, is this,….persistence pays off. It pays to be persistent. Who cares if your bugging the bank employees, keep calling. Do everything your agent tells you to do and be persistent. These banks do not want the Inventory on their books. The Short Sale is the new REO Sale.

This is a great time to buy, or sell, a home. There are more incentives now than ever before for buyers and more opportunity for sellers to do a short pays.

“If your sitting on the Fence, don’t wait to long, you’ll find yourself with Splinters.”

Call me…I’m Realtor Ricki, I can help.

Related Posts: Foreclosure Avoidance, foreclosure options, foreclosure prevention

Swine Flu

If you receive an email from the Department of Health and Human Services telling you not to eat canned pork because of swine flu…………

Ignore it.

It’s just Spam

Piggies

Just a little humor to make you feel better, but Seriously, if your feeling under the weather, take all necessary precautions and If in doubt, go to the Doctor. Make sure to get Plenty of Rest & drink lot’s of fluids. Wishing you the best of health.

Laughter is the best medicine, but it won’t do much to sell your home, If I can be of assistance, give me a “squeal”.

Related Posts: Entertainment, Health, Just for Fun, San Diego, World News

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

A friend of mine sent me this story, and it hit a nerve, a good nerve. I wanted to share it with you and ask are you a Duck or an Eagle?  Enjoy!

No one can make you serve customers well. That’s because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: ‘I’m Wally, your driver.
While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’

Taken aback, Harvey read the card.

It said: Wally’s Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’

My friend said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’

Wally smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.’

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, ‘I’ll take a Diet Coke.’

Handing him his drink, Wally said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.’

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.

Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts..

‘Tell me, Wally,’ my amazed friend asked the driver, ‘have you always served customers like this?’

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. ‘No, not always: In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard on the radio one day that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

That hit me right between the eyes,’ said Wally. ‘That was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers.. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’

‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ Harvey said.

‘It sure has,’ Wally replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.’

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab.
I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar…Have a nice day, unless you already made other plans.”

Related Posts: San Diego

Happy Friday Ya’ll….

JUST WALKING THE DOG

A woman was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes. Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind. The man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight.

He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, ‘Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?’ The blind lady replied, ‘No thanks, but maybe Buddy would like to stretch his legs.’

Picture this:

All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered.

They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

Have a great day and remember…

Pilot

…THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR.

Related Posts: San Diego

Happy Friday Ya’ll….

Woman fainting A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to
coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived
Date: October 16, 2005

I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow.

Looking forward to seeing you then!!!! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!

Related Posts: Just for Fun

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