The real estate market has been pretty quiet for the last couple of months, hence the temping, however I am keeping my hand in by doing open houses and I have another one this Sunday. So yesterday I went out to hang out my shingle on the for sale sign. Its not my listing so I had an appointment to preview the property. It was so cold that my fingers froze, I did have my gloves on, but fiddling with the plastic ties was quite a challenge.
Anyway after five minutes of that, I could not work the lockbox to get the key. It was this type of lockbox in picture 1 (which I hate because they are so temperamental, even on a good day). So after all that I couldn't get the key out so get inside.
I much prefer the button type box in picture 2. No having to remember 2 turns left 1 right etc.etc. Just press in the code. Anyway after that little episode I am wondering if I am a fairweather agent. Sunday it is only supposed to be -7 C so hopefully my fingers will work and I will be successful in gainng access, otherwise it could be a little awkward. The other fun part of Sunday will be clambering around in the snow putting out the open house signs to direct traffic. After all that, fingers crossed that I meet some lovely people who would be delighted to have me show them some houses and I can stop feeling like a secret real estate agent.
13 comments:
Well SITH.
The Man and I looked at houses in New Orleans. We want to move there. However - we never got inside ones that were for sale. The Man has this problem with talking on the phone and he wanted me to make all the arrangements. I dug my heels in and needless to say we missed seeing some houses we were really interested in.
I'm sure interested in a couple there. Moving into the States however - and being able to work there - two different problems isn't it? Especially for Canadians. Or people without a degree.
At least they don't have snow to trudge through but 12,000 listings in the Big Easy alone - holy toledo! People are just fed up with all the hurricanes and all the problems.
I don't even have a clue what kind of problems would be entailed in buying a house there.
Ah well. I have to go back to school or get The Man to if we'r going to do this. It's a dream. One that we believe we really should pursue.
I think it's much like your dream of living in France. You wanted it - you went for it.
England seems to come to a standstill when the thermometer reaches minus two (which it has a few times this winter, where I live.) You are having much more severe weather.
Frostbite must be a possibility. Hope you manage to sell some houses.
Things here are very bad and unless you have the cash in hand to buy up a cheap property, there are difficulties with mortgages and prices are plummeting.
Most people are worried about the *credit crunch* and the effect it is having on our lives.
Hi SITH, what's a 'shingle'?
I have some friends moving here from the UK and they managed to sell their house over there by dropping the price.
I didn't realise that it could be difficult moving from Canada to the USA. It was easy to move to France from the UK, the only problem has been the exchange rate between the € and £, it affects alot of my clients as they are getting pensions from the UK. It doesn't directly affect us as all our money is in France.
WOW aims that sounds really exciting, I know what you mean though about working down there, it is something we worry about moving to France. Surely your business would be able to continue down there though, you just have to enterprising. I hope you go for it, I want to hear all about it if you do, good luck.
Maggie - the credit crunch is having an impact here too for sure, people just unsure of what is going to happen next, obviously the frigid weather doesn't help and it is traditionally a quiet time of year.
Debra - a shingle is just an extra sign attached to the For Sale sign, saying "Pool", "View" or in this case "Open House Sun 2-4pm". We have done the move from Canada to the States in the past, but it is difficult at the moment, see my post about GWE experience with the visa! with the economic situation as it is, but again house prices are a bargain.
Great comments everyone, thanks, see who knew such a mundane post would initiate so much chat LOL
I can appreciate your problem with the lock in the top picture. It sounds like breaking into a safe.
An open house seems like it might be enjoyable, as well as hopefully bringing some business your way. I can only hope that the sun decides to shine for you, to brighten up the weather a bit. Hope it all goes OK.
Open house is becoming all the rage here in the UK. I like the idea of that. Good luck selling those homes, I bet you do a good job.
Our worst story was driving a long time and finding that the client was in another province, there was no one who knew the combination and we were cooling our jets trying to figure out what the place was like. I feel for you! My agent was so embarrassed.
We ended up NOT buying a house, as my parents both passed away. It was an adventure.
Hi SITH, I found your post about 'commenting' really interesting. I dont know how you 'get' people to be interested. I have commented on several blogs where the bloggers have quite a following and they are either too rude or my blog is not to their taste (personally I think they are rude) and they dont have the decency to at least say thankyou for taking the time to leave a message. The bloggers I have in mind are the type who are either promoting their book or have a website, well all I can say is I wouldnt in a million years buy anything from their websites if they are that ignorant. I can tell you there are a few who have lost sales!! Other than that I suppose you do have to do a little leg work to find blogs that interest YOU then you will genuinely leave/want to comment. There are several blogs I like for different reasons and they arent all singing and all dancing. I think you can tell if someone is a genuinely nice person rather than being 'up themselves' like the ones I mentioned X
Mean Mom/MOB - open houses can be fun if you get a lot of traffic through but at the moment they are very quiet and be a long two hours, always take my book or knitting!! But it is a great way to meet people you are looking to buy/sell.
Jennifer - that sounds like a tough day for all concerned, I can relate to all parties as I have done by fair share of personal house hunting, Sorry to hear about your parents, I will pop over to your blog for a visit.
Kitten - thanks for your comments, yes it is a strange dynamic but I must say I have found some great blogs, even those of people who are looking to sell or publish so I try not to let that put me off. Thanks for dropping by as always.
Hi softinthehead,
The lock thing sounds like a nightmare! If that were me and I was trying to do that in front of potential buyers I would be all fingers and thumbs and probably make myself look like an idiot! haha
But seriously your job sounds like a very interesting one! It must be great showing people around the houses, not to mention the great satisfaction you must get when you sell a house!!
All the very best of luck and I hope the recession doesn't hit you too hard!
Hugs,
Donnie X
sith, you would have to come around the back to our shed to hang your shingle, because we put the 'For Sale' sign in there some weeks ago. It had become such an embarrassment. x
Wow... I am sure glad So California weather is not that cold. What a great site and blog.
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