Gary Woltal's Blog

I have always thought the expression "birds of a feather flock together" matched up with what I saw in the real estate world. It coincided with certain demographics and income of clients searching for a certain type of housing product. It also came together with zoning areas for certain sizes or style of housing. First time home buyers would not be looking at million dollar homes. Gated and guarded communities were not next to trailer parks.

But what I found interesting from a point of sociology was that the trailer park people and the millionaire people just don't mix based on their behaviors. They obviously "think differently."

People that go hunting for deer on the weekend are different than those hanging out on the golf course and drinking margaritas in their golf carts. Political activists and tree huggers are different in their views than those that support the big oil companies. This is probably obvious to everyone but I just wondered why it had to be so. Wouldn't it be a more lively life you could create if you could mix it up every now and then and create the "strange bedfellows" scenarios? Indeed that does happen sometimes when we have to compromise, but we revert back to those of our kind, our flock as soon as possible.

An exception to this is what you may have read from books like The Millionaire Next Door. Here, some folks live in modest priced homes and their "wealth" is all kept below the surface and they are not flaunting it with expensive homes, furnishings, country club memberships and multiple cars. It 's a much more common sense approach and reminds us it's not what you earn and spend but what you keep that's more important.

In the end, the way the world works is half acre lots were not meant to mix with cookie cutter houses with postage stamp lots. Apartments were not to be intermingled with single family homes. Four car garages were not meant to be side by side with one car carports. We are a homogeneous not a heterogeneous society. I do wonder why sometimes because we are all just human. Maybe we need the peacefulness of gathering among our own kind. It is the way nature organizes itself too so maybe we are on the right track.

But in terms of transformation from one category to another, to move from a trailer to a mansion, you have to think differently and adapt to new behaviors. The key is knowing what is right for you and who you are and want to be, and in the end what makes you happy.

I ponder the greater meaning sometimes about why people are out riding around with REALTORS on Saturday or Sunday afternoons looking at houses? Aren't there more important things to do in life like washing the dog, going shopping, taking in a movie, dining out at a restaurant? The quiz for today is if you had to answer WHY people are looking for that next place to live what ONE word or phrase would be your answer?

Looking at the picture in this post it was intuitively obvious to me. Aside from being forced to buy a new place due to divorce, financial hardship, upsizing/downsizing, time constrained search due to a job location, I have my answer. Some might say "a better life", "fulfilling a dream", "needing a change", "getting away from family", "getting closer to family", etc.

To me, it's all about "LIFESTYLE." In other words how do you want to live? Cold climate, sunny beaches, rural or urban.

What do you think? Why do buyers buy what they eventually buy?

The advent of the Internet around 1994 with graphical browsers literally changed the world. As web sites proliferated across the globe a user at their home literally brought the world to themselves at their fingertips. So much of all types of information to your desktop can be overwhelming at times.

In the real estate world, sites like realtor.com, homes.com, zillow.com and the thousands if not millions of real estate agent, national real estate company, mortgage company, stager, and inspector sites sprang up. Amidst all this plethora of information the front line real estate agent who is knowledgeable about "putting all this together" to serve a client, can be invaluable in service to the home buyer and seller.

In addition to knowing even more public web sites to learn about real estate like tax record sites, legal sites, Association of Realtor sites, etc. the REALTOR has the "insider" information on trends and detailed property descriptions and histories found in the MLS. They also have access to HUD home and foreclosure inventories.

So as a client, just when you think you "know it all" because of the world wide web, make yourself even "more powerful" by buddying up with a top REALTOR who has the specialized knowledge in a field that continues to explode with more and more information each day. That way you will have not only the knowledge you have already gathered prior to a home search or looking for your home's current market value, but also an "expert" on your side.

One architectural aspect of many backyards in America is the fence. I've lived in houses with and without fences and sometimes I wonder if we are just not staking out our turf more than anything else. The sheer variety of fences also amazes me from wooden ones that weather over time and then the pickets fall out, to shadow box fences, to wrought iron fences to some plastic like fences I've seen in Florida.

Which begs the question from the old cliche, "do fences make good neighbors?" The meaning of course behind this is they have their yard, you have your yard. You have your life they have their life. Very high "privacy" fences shield your fancy pool and your wild parties from your neighbor but now with smaller lots and two story houses next door, I think people are looking in your yard and being "nosy" neighbors anyway.

So if we went back to the old days with "no" fences would we have better neighbors who looked after each other more? Or do fences really make for good neighbors? What do you think from where you've lived or the neighborhood you live in today?

I don't know about you but the Title Company business was always a mystery to me. Here you went into what sometimes were smaller type of offices with very fancy conference rooms with shiny veneer conference tables with plushy chairs to sit down and sign a mountain of paperwork. If it was a good title company they gave you a fancy pen and you might have even got to keep the pen when you were done. Lots of friendly people came in and out of the room to wish you well and one "Title Officer" would help you sift through the papers. If you've done multiple closings over the last ten years, the amount of papers has grown substantially. Whatever happened to the paperless world?

But whatever humorus view I have of these companies or these people or do you really have to go to college to get this job, Title Companies are the Referees of the real estate world. They are VERY important!

They are the middleman between the buyer and the seller and the money and property being exchanged. Think of them as the one "neutral" party that holds funds in escrow. They only allow the transfer of funds when all the legalities are met, the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted.

I've found them to be highly knowledgeable in law with real estate attorneys on staff, and also on top of the latest contracts and knowing what pieces of paperwork must be signed from all parties involved. They are very detail oriented.

In the end this referee can make the call and say whether the paperwork moves forward to a satisfactory closing on this day or NOT!

From the perspective of REALTORS, lenders, buyers and sellers, I'm glad we have Title Companies, to be the final check on this large financial transaction we are consumating and being patient in explaining to all parties what they are signing. These "referees" in the real estate world deserve more of our appreciation for the work they do.

Mooseheads and moving houses don't necessarily mix. What it really has to do with is preparing a house in today's market or any market for that matter for sale. A Realtor can assist a homeowner in understanding that the property they are offering up to the market needs to be neutral to the best extent possible and not favor one's hobbies, religion, political views, or family heritage to an extreme extent.

We are all human of course and justly deserve to decorate our houses any way we please with this one caveat: while we live there. As we prepare to move on to the next phase in our life if a Realtor or a Consulting Stager says to take down all the taxidermy items (a big phrase for Mooseheads), or de-clutter too many family photos or shrines you've built, please make this simple, and follow their advice. Wild colors of paint or exotic wall paper will probably have to be addressed as well.

At this stage in selling your home it is a "property" compared to others in the market and it needs to come across highly favorable. Or guess what? It will sit and languish on the market. Beyond price, condition, and location, with this aspect of marketing a Realtor and Stager need to be honest with homesellers. The Moosehead may be nice, and the best one you Mr. Hunter ever garnered. But to many in the general public it may just not help move your house into the sold column.

When talking with people in older neighborhoods some like the characteristics of their area. They like being closer to shopping or the highways or an airport. But sometimes they lament the cracked roads, the roof that needs repair, the foundation problems, etc.

So while they like the idea of more mature trees and the feeling of an "established" neighborhood they also yearn for some of the nice amenities newer neighborhoods provide. This might be community swimming pools, more up to date floorplans and house layouts like two and three car garages, outdoor kitchens, more insulation etc.

I point out that all that is old is at some point new again. I don't know if whole subdivisions get plowed over eventually but in time I'm sure they do. All housing goes through a cycle of development, stability, decline, and then believe it or not, RESURGENCE! The land the property sits on will be there long after you and I are gone. I've seen especially in retail entire Motels and stores demolished for new offerings. The cycle may be faster in Commercial than Residential construction. But in Residential, McMansions have replaced older single story homes. And don't discount wonderful exterior and interior remodeling as forms of resurgence as well.

No one knows the timeline for moving from decline to rebirth but change is inevitable if you live long enough and you will definitely see the cycle of life occur not only structurally but also demographically. Some empty nester neighborhoods turn into thriving areas with kids in a generation or shorter. The cycle continues! Have you seen examples of this in your backyard?

In working around real estate co-workers, individual and team, and in meeting all different individuals throughout my day, it dawned on me how much we interact with each other and how much we truly can be of help to one another. You have a question, someone has an answer. Someone needs assistance, you lend a helping hand. Someone is weak in an area of your strength, you pick them up.

Which brings me to the conclusion that "we are all in this thing together." In other words we are family. Even though the people around you may not be your blood relatives we are all part of the human experience. I'll keep that thought brief for you but rather let you see it in action with the video I've provided.

It is of a young man with autism who was selected to sing the national anthem at a game at Fenway Park. He stops halfway through with the giggles. Listen to what happens as a result.

Then you'll understand what I am talking about.

National Anthem Fenway Park

In the blog creation department I tell others I have to be a bit creative at times to keep the material flowing. Believe it or not, for me at least things just pop out of my head. I try as best as I can to keep them real estate related since that is the field I am talking about. But some of my own philosophies on thoughts on life intrude into my blog writings like, "Let no day pass or start without a SMILE," otherwise in my opinion what is the point of life??

My point is take time to laugh. Is it that hard? No! Do you have time to laugh? Absolutely. I would say MAKE time to enjoy life. I am a profuse reader and a fellow blogger passed this fun cartoon on to me. Check it out, it's from the year 1948, a bygonne era, but still a cute cartoon. Take a little time, sit back and relax, and as I ALWAYS say, don't take everything so seriously. Enjoy!

House Hunting Mice

I hope you have a GREAT day! I'm trying to be a part of it for you!!

It seems I get so many diverse opinions when I ask other Realtors as well as homeowners about the effectiveness of Open Houses.

Many homeowners swear they need them to sell their house. Some Realtors say they can be effective. Others never do them. Many factors probably come in to play with open houses. Like print media, those that are attracted to an open house most likely will buy sometime, but probably buy another house. But, they could buy the house they are visiting that day. You just never know. Then the neighbors come over to see the inside of the house out of curiosity. Even FSBOs do their own open houses.

I wonder if statistics have been done about good open houses? Like those in high traffic areas vs. low traffic areas, lower priced vs. higher priced houses, those with balloons outside vs. no marketing? There are probably an endless list of things that can make an open house work. How about a good economy vs. a bad one? Do open houses work better in smaller towns than mid and large cities? If you have pros and cons stories of open houses to share let us all know. The final answer probably comes down to "it depends." It's another arrow in your quiver to work if that is the best use of your time, money, and energy to get more exposure to a property.