A new year – A new job

Made you look, didn’t I?

No, I am not changing careers (again). I am still working in real estate and expect to continue. What I mean is my job is changing. Let me explain.

When I bought my first house in 1980 I used a real estate agent to help me. We met in her office and went over ‘the book’ to see if there was anything that fit our budget, our desired location and our ‘must have’ list. We would meet again periodically to see the ‘hot sheets’ that came out weekly to see if anything new came on the market. This was the only way to find a house for sale other than getting in the car and driving around for hours on Sunday to see if we could find an ‘open house’.

That is the way it was done for about 100 years (maybe without the car). I entered the real estate business in 2003 and the tools changed but we were still looking at the book via the internet and the data available was pretty limited. That is no longer true.

Now you can use lots of websites to find the houses on the market, find out what the sold for and even see pictures from the inside, birds eye view and Google Earth. Here is a link to my mobile app if you want to check it out and at home you can come to www.Search.RealtyCaffeine.com for the most up to date database.

Selling a house has gone online too. Now we can get sample contracts, create marketing info and present the house to the world. No one really advertises via newspapers or those little home buyer books at the grocery store anymore. It’s an online world. There are discount brokers who will get you on line for a limited fee and will provide some services.

So, what do you need me for? Am I going to go the way of the travel agent? (you do know the travel agent is still around, right 🙂 ) Their service is different but they are still here.

Same for me.

Think about WebMD. It didn’t do away with doctors, did it? We now have at our finger tips a complete medical database of everything we know about diseases, illnesses and pictures of all kinds of things I really don’t want to see.

We get a cough and go look up our symptoms on WebMD. Hacking cough, wet cough, from the throat or the chest, productive or not? Maybe I have the bird flu. I did go to the zoo last week and that monkey coughed at me. I might have bird flu from wherever that monkey flew in from.  We have lots of information but we still will call the doctor to find out what it all means.

Think of me like a doctor. I am here to help figure out the details and give advice and teach. It’s the best part of my work. I love looking at the market,  houses, and details. It makes me happy to see a first time home buyer get their keys and know they made a great decision. I am glad when an investor buys one more rental property and sees the cash flow he expected or the seller successfully downsizes into that RV and gets to travel the country without having to worry about freezing pipes or cutting the grass.

I can help someone out of a tough spot who has to sell a house that is about to go to foreclosure or needs to do a short sale. We’re still doing some of that. It’s not a happy event but it is one I can help with when the need is there. Those folks have lots of questions and more information than they can possibly use but I’m here to help.

I am not the keeper of the information anymore. I am here to help you make sense of what you see, to help negotiate the best price (buying or selling) and to do all the things behind the scenes (loan qualifiying, inspections, contingencies, disclosures, and a bunch of other things).

I work by referral and that means I don’t have to spend all my time trying to find the next deal. My past clients, friends and family send me people to help and that means I have more time to give that help when you need me. I am in the best office in Gwinnett, work with the best team and have lots of experience when you need it.

If you have questions or know someone who could use my help, please call me. I am planning to be here for a long time and I love what I get to do everyday.

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