I often lack words to describe to my clients exactly how mind-bogglingly fast the world of mortgage lending is changing lately. Home buyers not only need good credit, a steady income, and piles of documentation to back all that up.. . . . .   you need to be aware that loan guidelines change near-daily.

Yep. Nearly daily loan investors make changes to their rules about what they’ll lend on, what they won’t, who qualifies for a mortgage and who doesn’t, and how to properly fill out 9 inches of forms in triplicate to get the loan money.

I subscribe to a daily email that discusses changes in lending standards throughout the industry. It’s usually 2 pages long. Two pages of changes in loan guidelines per day!

Don’t assume you’re going to have zero trouble getting approved for a mortgage. If you have excellent credit you’ll probably get approved, but you’ll have to produce more paperwork than you can imagine.

Get approved. Then start shopping. Trust me. You don’t want to spend weeks looking online at this:

only to be told you’re approved for a mortgage to buy this:

Want to get pre-approved? Our favorite lenders, in no particular order:

• Kevin Reiser, AmeriFirst Loans, 480-289-7635
• Andrew Schmidt, WJ Bradley Mortgage, (602) 999-1912

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

In yesterday’s post I promised 1 sure-fire way to avoid the stress of getting embroiled in dealing with a so-called bidding war. It’s bonus day here at The Phoenix Agents; here’s 2 ideas.

Option One - Make your best offer right out of the gate

Are you willing to pay $176,500 for that home that could be your Dream Home? Offer it. Don’t pussyfoot around offering $158,900 and hoping the seller comes back with a counteroffer. Just make your highest and best offer right out of the gate.**

I can hear the reply now: “But I don’t pay too much!”

Easy solution here folks. First, decide what is “too much” and what is “too little” for you and for this particular house. Mentally walk backwards from “too much” in increments of $1000 or so until you get to a number that you’d be satisfied with if you were the new owner of the home. Offer that.

There are a couple of scenarios that could play out here.

1) You bid low and don’t get the house – very likely

2) You bid your best and don’t get the house – could happen and would be disappointing, but at least you’ll know you gave it your best shot. Someone else – who was willing to pay what you believe is too much – got the house. Move on.

3) You bid your best and get the house – congratulations!

4) You bid low and get the house – in a true multiple offer situation, this is about as likely as winning the lottery.

Option Two - Stop Shopping

There is one sure-fire way to avoid the stress of multiple offer situations. Take your ball and go home. Don’t buy a house now. Keep renting and come back to play the game when the stakes suit your temperament.

Again, I can hear the reply already: “But I want to buy a house!”

You’ve got a choice to make.

Determine that you’re going to get over your fear of bidding wars by employing one of the strategies I’ve outlined here and yesterday. Or stop shopping for houses. Or at least stop shopping for houses that have bidding wars.

Hopefully this is helpful information. Still worried? Call or email me or Chris and we’ll talk you through it.

Heather Barr

**In metro Phoenix, in 2010, in prices under about $400,000 or so, bagain priced bank owned homes (a.k.a. forclosures or REOs) dominate the market. Remember Economics 101? Low price = high demand. If you’re shopping in this segment, expect bidding wars and bid accordingly. Not shopping in this segment? You might have a little more leverage in a multiple offer situation.

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

Don’t know whether this is a memory from real life or a movie**, but go with me on this. Imagine a scene with a politician at a podium taking questions  from reporters. Let’s call one of the reporters James and pretend he’s a notorious philanderer, because it makes my story better.

Reporter James lobs a stinger: “Senator, what about these rumors that you’ve been having an affair? Will you level with the American people about your private life?” Being a movie, everyone pretends this is unexpected, and there’s an audible gasp from the audience.

The politician pauses, then returns fire, “Gosh Jimmy. I will if you will.”

Bam! Tension diffused, politician gets off the hook. (this is fiction, after all)

What in Hades does this have to do with bidding wars?

It’s all about balls. And not even the kind you’re thinking about right now. Sellers who say “we have multiple offers” expect buyers to have the knee-jerk reaction of “Oh! I better offer more money.” Here’s a tip:

Just because somebody throws a ball at you, does not mean you have to catch it.

You’ll be given several hours or overnight to make your decision. Let the ball the seller just tossed at you drop. Take your time to decide whether you want to pick it up. Or not.

Does paying more make sense? For you? For the market? Sometimes paying a teensy bit more than you planned, for a home you’ll live in for 10-20 years isn’t such a horrible idea. What do the comparable sales tell you and your Realtor? Remember that tinkering with the terms of the offer can make it more attractive without spending additional money. Consider letting your offer stand as written – in other words, do nothing.

Whatever you do, remember you have the power to pick up the ball, let it lie there, or walk away.

Still not convinced that you can live through the stress of a bidding war? Check back tomorrow for a sure-fire, can’t lose, stress-free way to deal with bidding wars.

.

**the political scenario above might even have been Hillary Clinton fielding questions about her wayward husband. I just can’t recall for sure. But if it was Hillary, then the story really is about balls, and Hillary’s got a brass pair.

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

The global Great Recession.  European Countries facing default.  The United States running unimaginable deficits.  Many states facing potential default, including Arizona.  Cities and Municipalities struggling with their own deficits.  Everyone, everywhere, knows we are in deep $^!t, yet precious little is being done.  When is somebody going to stand up & do the right thing, political backlash and re-election be damned?

Enter Chris Christie, the new governor of New Jersey.

Christie spoke recently to a group of approximately 200 mayors at the New Jersey League of Municipalities.  He spoke candidly.  He spoke the truth.  He spoke with the common sense we all know about but rarely ever hear.  He made sense.  And he sounded awesome!

Here is a link to see his 24 minute speech on public television.

http://njn.net/television/webcast/ontherecord.html 

Here is a partial transcript of the speech.

In the time we got here, of the approximately $29 billion budget there was only $14 billion left. Of the $14 billion, $8 billion could not be touched because of contracts with public worker unions, because of bond covenants, because of commitments we made accepting stimulus money. So we had to find a way to save $2.3 billion in a $6 billion pool of money.

When I went into the treasurer’s off in the first two weeks of my term, there was no happy meetings. They presented me with 378 possible freezes and lapses to be able to balance the budget. I accepted 375 of them.

There is a great deal of discussion about me doing that by executive action. Every day that went by was a day where money was going out the door such that the $6 billion pool was getting less and less. So something needed to be done.

People did not send me here to talk, the people sent me here to do. So we took the executive action we did to stop the bleeding.

As we move forward, and we evaluate what we need to do three weeks from now in our fiscal year 2011 budget address, you all need to understand the context from which we operate.

Our citizens are already the most overtaxed in America. US mayors hear it all the time. You know that the public appetite for ever increasing taxes has reached an end.

So when we freeze $475 million in school aid, I am hearing the reverberations from school boards saying now you are just going to force us to raise taxes.

Well there is a 4% cap in place as you all know, yet school boards continue to give out raises which exceed that cap, just on salary. Not to mention the fact that most of them get no contribution towards the spiraling increase in health care benefits.

Now, we are going to reduce spending at the state level. And we are going to continue to reduce it because we have no choice but to do so. Our obligation to you is twofold. One, is to let you know that. So I’m’ letting you know that.

Second to work with the legislature to give you the tools helping you to reduce spending at the municipal level. Now the pension and benefit reform package that was passed unanimously in the senate this week begins to give you some of those tools.

But it is only a beginning.

Do we need to change some of the rules of arbitration to level the playing field to allow municipalities and school boards to have a more level sense of collective bargaining?

I think the evidence of ever increasing raises being given to public sector workers as a result of the arbitration system tells us that we do. [Applause From Mayors]

But you have to stand up and give the support to the legislators in this building to get them to do that. I can guarantee you this, that more pension and benefit reforms which I will consider arbitration reform to be one of them, are things that when they come to my desk, they will be signed. [Applause From Mayors]

Because we can no longer continue on a path where we say we are going to reduce spending at the state level but we are not going to give you any tools to do that at the municipal level and the school board level.

By the same token I am tired of hearing school superintendents and school board members complain that there are no other options than raising property taxes. There are other options.

You know, Marlboro, after a two year negotiation, they give a five year contract giving 4.5% annual salary increases to the teachers, with no contribution, zero contribution to health care benefits.

But I am sure there are people in Marlboro who have lost their jobs, who have had their homes foreclosed on, and who cannot keep a roof over their family’s head there is something wrong.

You know, at some point there has to be parity. There has to be parity between what is happening in the real world, and what is happening in the public sector world. The money does not grow on trees outside this building or outside your municipal building. It comes from the hard working people of our communities who are suffering and are hurting right now.

I heard someone in the legislature say two days ago that they wanted no fare hike in New Jersey Transit, no cuts in service, and no cuts in subsidy. And I was thinking to myself, man I should have made this guy treasurer. [Laughter] Because if you can pull that one off, you’re obviously magic.

This is the type of awful political rhetoric that people sent me to this city to stop.

I would love to be able to do that, but I can’t. I would love to tell you that municipal aid will stay level, but it’s not. And it’s not because we don’t have the money. So you need to prepare. You need to prepare for what’s coming down the line because we have no choice but to do these things.

And so we need to get honest with each other. In this instance, the political class,for which unfortunately all of us are a member of, the political class is lagging behind the public on this. The public is ready to hear that tough choices have to be made. They’re not going to like it. Don’t confuse the two. But they are ready to hear the truth.

In fact, they find it refreshing to hear the truth.

They are tired of hearing, don’t worry I can spare you from the pain, because they have been hearing that for a decade, as we have borrowed and spent and taxed our way into oblivion.

We have done every quick fix in the book that you can do. And now we are left, literally holding the bag.

Leadership should be about making tough decisions. I’m not hear to tell you that anything you are going to have to do as mayors, council people will be easy. But I firmly believe after spending the last year traveling around the state of New Jersey, talking to regular citizens, that this is what they are expecting us to do.

They are also expecting us to ferret out waste and abuse. But they also know that old song that waste and abuse is going to balance the budget is an old and tired one, and it’s not going to.

Now we are going to have a fight about COAH. And I have engaged in that fight and I have engaged in it directly. Not only will I be fighting COAH, I will be fighting the courts too. [Applause From Mayors]

That’s OK.

We need to understand we are all in this together. And you know, all of you know in your heart, what I am saying is true. You all know that these raises that are being given to public employees of all stripes, we cannot afford. You all know the state cannot continue to spend money it does not have. And you all know that the appetite for tax increases among our constituents has come to an end.

And so the path to reform and success is clear. We know what it is. We just have to have the courage to go there. What we are doing is showing people that government can work again for them, not for us. Government has worked for the political class for much too long.

There’s no time left. We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax. So we merely have room left now, to do this. We are all reaching the edge of a cliff. And it reminds me a bit of that part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where the had a seminal decision to make. So what did they do? They held hands and they jumped off the cliff.

We have to hold hands at every level of government, state county, municipal, school board. We have to hold hands and jump off the cliff.

I firmly believe we will land and we will be fine. It does not mean it will not be a scary ride on the way down. And it does not mean there won’t be moments of fear and moments of apprehension.

But for certain, the troops of the decades of overspending and overborrowing and overtaxing have gained on us. So the ruination of New Jersey’s economy, and of the quality of life we want all our citizens to have, is certain if we do not take this course.

It’s time for us to hold hands and jump off the cliff. It’s time for us to do the difficult things that need to be done and to stop playing the petty politics of yesterday, of lying to the people telling them they do not have to pay for it because someone else will.

We are going to make the leap because that’s what people elected me to do. We are going to make the leap because it is the responsible thing to do. We are going to make the leap and we are going to do it together because that is what leadership demands for us. That is what the responsibility of the offices we hold requires of us.

Forget about the next election. Forget about the next editorial in the newspaper, and forget about the next angry letter or phone call you are going to get from someone who wants something for nothing.

One thing is certain. The alternative will lead to certain defeat. And so it is time for us to show courage, and resolve. And we can do it because we are from New Jersey. And I have never, in all my travels around the country, met a group of tougher people than we all have the opportunity to lead.

Thanks to Mike “Mish” Shedlock for sharing this with us.

I don’t normally talk politics on this blog, but I’ll tell you what – the sooner we get our collective financial houses in order, the sooner we have a true, full economic recovery.  And this is an awesome step in the right direction, and hopefully a model for other leaders to follow.

Your wouldn’t mind seeing an honest, action-oriented guy like Christie running for president Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Chris Butterworth is a Realtor. He's also a husband, father, writer, amateur photographer, and self-proclaimed tech junkie. And he's an all-around good guy!

This is a pile-on to Chris’ recent post explaining the new Good Faith Estimate form . . . .  I just received an email from a Loan Officer (“LO”) friend reviewing some rule clarifications issued by HUD after a February 18, 2010 meeting with a bunch of FHA mortgage investors.

LO Question: “When are consumers entitled to receive a Good Faith Estimate (GFE)?”

HUD Answer: If a consumer has an executed purchase contract, a GFE is required. Until that point, LOs can issue “worksheets” which are “useful for generic rate quotes.”

HUD guidelines for “worksheets” - -

• Worksheets should not look like GFEs,
• A worksheet should never should be used “in lieu of” a GFE,
• Consumers do not have to show an “intent to move forward” with a mortgage in order to obtain a GFE.

I’m assuming the Loan Status Report (LSR) in use in metro Phoenix which must be submitted along with any purchase offer falls under HUD’s “worksheet” rules.

What’s It Mean for Home Buyers?

Loan Officers can still give you a rate quote that’s not binding. However, once you have an executed purchase contract on a specific home, Loan Officers must issue you a GFE and per HUD’s new GFE rules, those numbers can’t change very much.

Buyer, if you got an LSR/worksheet that said 5.00 interest rate and $1,200 in closing costs. . . but when you got your signed purchase contract on your Dream Home you got a GFE that showed closing costs of $5,300 on a 5.375% rate. . .  you can cancel your purchase without penalty.

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

Farrelli’s Cinema Supper Club is just about the most fun you can have in a movie theater. Located in Scottsdale, they’re an intimate movie theater which shows a movie while they serve you dinner. It’s a real sit-down dinner, with waiters in long aprons and real cloth napkins, and high-quality food. It’s just so charming that I love it. Highly recommended!

Here’s their schedule for today:

(click to enlarge)

Farrelli’s is having an Oscar watching party on March 7. The event features a Red Carpet Walk, prizes and a four-course Specialty Awards menu. Head on over to Farrelli’s website for details. This website changes regularly to include the current dinner & a movie special. Don’t miss the 20% off coupon at the very bottom of the site!

Farrelli’s is open 7 days a week from 10am to Midnight. They encourage you to arrive 1/2 hour before the film showing time, so you can get a seat. Seats fill up quickly, so reservations are encouraged.  Contact information, location information is below (click to enlarge).

Disclaimer: Blog authors have not received anything from Farrelli’s in exchange for writing this post. Please contact Farrelli’s directly to verify hours of operation, films being shown, pricing, etc., since blog authors relied on Farrelli’s website for all information contained herein.

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

An illustration of just how ridiculous lender requirements have become, direct from an email written by a loan officer and sent to loan specialist Rob Chrisman:

“Rob - The following is an actual underwriting condition from a large wholesale lender which is known for having the best wholesale pricing for conforming loans. (As background, the borrower is a staff attorney for the Federal Reserve Bank of NY.) ‘Please provide a signed letter from CPA stating if [client's first name] has 25% or more ownership in Federal Reserve Bank. If ‘yes’ he should be run as self employed.’”

For readers not fluent in lender-speak –

• An attorney who works for the Federal Reserve applied for a home loan
• The loan underwriter (the bean counter who gives the final blessing on the mortgage) asked the home buyer to prove he doesn’t own 25% of the Federal Reserve, his employer

Prove you don’t own the Federal Reserve Bank? Ownership of the Fed is a complicated thing**. But no one person owns 25% of it, for sure.  And in any case, asking someone to prove they don’t own something is  sort of moronic.

If you’re home shopping, I really can’t stress enough how vitally important it is that you get a loan approval long before you even think of looking at houses in person. The rules have changed. Drastically. And in too many cases, the new rules are being deployed by people who don’t think very hard before asking silly questions.

Get the silly out of the way early, so you can focus on falling in love with a new house, and not waste your time trying to prove you don’t personally own 25% of the nation’s central bank.

March 5, 2010 - this post has been edited after author did a bunch of research into the ownership of the Federal Reserve. I was mistaken: the Federal Reserve is not owned by Congress, although it was created through an Act of Congress in 1913. The Federal Reserve System is a part-private, part-government collection of Member Banks, with oversight provided by the Federal Government through the Fed’s Board of Governors.

If you’ve been inclined to believe any of the crap being peddled by books or websites that claim the Fed is a for-profit conspiracy controlled by a few ultra-rich, mostly European banking families like the Warburgs, Rothschilds, Lazards, the Kuhn Loebs and Moses Seif, read this short summary of the Federal Reserve Banking System prepared by the Congressional Research Service for the Library of Congress.

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

(this article is reprint)

I was watching one of those HGTV shows not too long ago. Flip That House, or Sell This House or one of those. The show featured a novice investor who bought and rehabbed a 1970’s tract home. She managed an amazing transformation of the entire house. She opened up the kitchen and installed brand new cabinets and slab granite counters. She re-did both bathrooms were redone with beautiful materials.

The rookie investor did a great job on the remodel and added some real value to the home. BUT she went 2 weeks over schedule, about $20,000 over budget.

Just before the home was staged for the first showings, the show’s producers sent in 3 real world Realtors to give price opinions. They were: $519,000 ; $511,000 and $499,000. I’m assuming the rookie Fix and Flipper got that information. In a camera confession, the investor says she’s stretched to her financial limits and needs to get her money back pronto.

She lists the house for sale at $539,000. (this leads me to assume the investor agreed with Realtor #1’s estimate of $519,000, but tacked on her $20k over-run)

Big mistake. Sellers, believe me when I tell you that there is a long list of things that do NOT impact how much you can ask for your home for sale. Here’s a short list:

1. How much you paid for the home
2. How much your remodeling or improvements cost
3. How much you “need” to get out of the sale
4. How much your next house is going to cost
5. How much your neighbor sold for 2-1/2 years ago

Things that impact your listing price:

1. How much buyers are willing to pay for it
2. How long you want to be ‘for sale’

Period. It’s really that simple. Welcome to the Age of the Internet, where buyers have access to almost every piece of information available, about every home for sale or sold in the past few years. Buyers have a very good idea of your home’s market value and they’re not going to pay more than market value. In fact, these days most buyers expect to buy homes for less than market value.

If buyers don’t see your home as a good value at the listing price, they’ll pass you by. If your home seems like a good value at the listing price, you’ll get offers.

Of course figuring out what the buyers are willing to pay for your home is the tricky bit. It’s an art, not a science. If it were a science, they’d have computer programs that picked listing prices. We Realtors would all be out of a job because the computers would be 100% correct, 100% of the time, on 100% of the homes for sale. Houses would sell in a few days and nobody would negotiate over price because the computer generated price would be right every time.

That’s fantasy land. Picking the right list price is an art. It involves lots of data analysis, a history of in-depth knowledge of the neighborhood, and a little bit of gut checking. But it should never involve calculating what the seller “needs” to recoup on their investment. The buyers don’t care about your needs; they care about theirs.

PS-The investor on the TV show sold after about 3 weeks on the market. She took $511,000. (remember this article is a reprint. the original show air-date was Fall 2008 and at least in metro Phoenix, the market has gotten worse for most sellers since then.)

Heather Barr is a Realtor. She's a chow hound, a gym rat, and the only political junkie in the USA who can actually keep her political views to herself. Instead, she focuses on educating her clients about the often-confusing world of residential real estate.

The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) last fall, with 2 of the more noticeable changes going into effect on January 1st, 2010.

The changes were made in an effort to better inform and protect the consumer (borrower).  I like what they tried to do; I’m not sure the end result is exactly what they were shooting for.

Good Faith Estimate

This form, issued by mortgage brokers and bankers at the time of application, has now been standardized, which should make it easier for consumers to compare various lenders’ charges side by side.

In addition, the GFE was divided into 3 sections:

Lender Charges – these are fees charged by the lender directly, and now must be EXACTLY THE SAME at the closing table as what was originally disclosed to the buyer.  This assumes the lenders should know their own fee schedule.  It also eliminates the old “bait and switch” tactics that some less-reputable lenders use.  This is good for consumers – no question.

3rd Party Charges – these are fees that are charged by people or companies whom the lender works with but whom the lender doesn’t control, such as appraisers and title companies.  These charges are now required to be within 10% of what was originally disclosed to the consumer.  I like this, as lenders should be in a position to know what the charges will be, although they don’t have final control.  Another win for the consumer!

Prepaid Charges – these are not charges by outside parties as much as expenses the homeowner will incur as he/she owns a home.  Examples include homeowners insurance, property taxes, and mortgage interest.  These fees will vary according to what day the loan closes, and as such are allowed to vary from the initial disclosure.

Overall the new GFE is a home run for consumers.  The HUD-1 Settlement Statement (closing statement) is another story…

HUD-1 Settlement Statement (closing statement)

Good News is the HUD-1 now incorporates the new-standardized GFE, and is broken out into the same 3 sections.  It shows very clearly what the initial disclosure was and what the actual charge is.  Chalk up one more win for the consumers.

Bad News is the HUD-1 no longer breaks out each individual charge as its own line item.  Many charges are grouped together at a summary level, such as “Settlement, Escrow, or Closing Fee.”  The problem with this is it’s now impossible to see exactly which fees are being charges to the buyer and which to the seller.

Here is an example.  I have a transaction where the buyer and seller are supposed to split the escrow fee, which is common in Arizona.  The HUD-1 shows:

Line 1101, Title services and lender’s title insurance to Buyer: $1,298

Line 1102, Settlement, Escrow, or Closing Fee to Seller:  $562.

Where exactly is the Escrow Fee the two parties are supposed to split?  A little further digging, and a separate closing statement prepared by the title company, revealed the following:

• Buyer’s $1,209 on Line 1101 is made up of:  $427 Escrow Fee, $100 e-doc fee, $671 Title insurance charge, $100 PUD Endorsement fee.
• Seller’s $562 on Line 1102 is made up of:  $427 Escrow Fee, $100 tracking fee, $35 express mail fee.

Turns out both parties did actually share the Escrow Fee - $427 each.  But you wouldn’t ever find it on the new form HUD released.

I hope the title companies are prepared to send over both closing forms on every transactions, because the new HUD form raises as many questions as it answers!

Good for the consumer, but far from being a home run…

Your giving his 2 cents Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Chris Butterworth is a Realtor. He's also a husband, father, writer, amateur photographer, and self-proclaimed tech junkie. And he's an all-around good guy!

The Rich get Richer

In our Viewpoint e-newsletter we break down today’s real estate market & statistics, economic environment, and current headlines in an attempt to better understand where we are and where we’re headed.

Yesterday we sent out another issue, “the Rich get Richer”, which looks at how various parts of Phoenix have fared over the last few years, and what you can do to maximize the investment portion of your homeownership experience.

Read the full article.

Visit our newsletter archives.

Sign up today, and receive our e-newsletters as soon as they’re released!

Please give it a read; we think you’ll find it valuable.

Your sharing his viewpoint Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Chris Butterworth is a Realtor. He's also a husband, father, writer, amateur photographer, and self-proclaimed tech junkie. And he's an all-around good guy!

Opening Ceremonies are tonight at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and I’m looking forward to it.  I love the Olympics, and I love getting totally into sports I haven’t seen, read, or heard about in the last 4 years!

Have you seen the logo for this year’s Olympics?

Did you know we have one of those here in Phoenix, standing in front of the Heard Museum on Central Ave a couple blocks south of Thomas Rd?

And from the plaque at the Inuksuk’s base:

William Noah, b. 1943

Inuit from Baker Lake, Nunavut

Inuksuk, 2000

Laminate sandstone

An Inuksuk is a marker that is built in the Arctic by the Inuit people.  The Inuit were the first people to inhabit portions of Alaska, Arctic Canada, and Greenland.  The Inuksuk has a roughly human shape.  The term Inuksuk means “to act in the capacity of a human” and is an extension of “Inuk,” meaning “a human being.”  In a part of the Arctic that has few, if any, distinguishing features, an Inuksuk can be an important orienting place marker for a hunter or traveler.  William Noah constructed this marker at the Heard Museum with the blessing of a representative of the O’odham, the native inhabitants of the land on which this Inuksuk sits.

Heard Museum Purchase with funds provided by Dr. and Mrs. E. Daniel Albrecht

Your sharing a little trivia Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Chris Butterworth is a Realtor. He's also a husband, father, writer, amateur photographer, and self-proclaimed tech junkie. And he's an all-around good guy!

Haven’t we crossed the line in the whole “any publicity is good publicity” thing?

Seems like every email I receive (from a salesperson), every radio ad I hear, and every website I read all claim to be “the best”, loudly and repeatedly.  I’m tired of it – more than that, I’m sick of it.  If you’re that good, let other people sing your praises for you, and I’m sure the song will sound better.

Remember Jerry Rice?  Receiver for the 49ers, arguably the best receiver of all time, and possibly the best football player of all time.  (and more recently champion on Dancing With the Stars.)  No contract holdouts, no public criticisms of his coach or quarterback, no media distractions, no demands for respect – all he did was out-work, out-catch, and out-score everybody else in the league.

Then there’s Steve Nash – 2-time league MVP and the starting point guard in this weekend’s NBA All Star game.  You’ll never hear Nash say how great he is, and he’s never been a distraction to any team he’s ever played on.  He simply out-works and out-plays everybody else in the gym, and everyone knows it – inside & outside of the league.

Want one more?  How ‘bout my broker Jay Thompson?  Everyone in the industry knows Jay as a razor-sharp, ultra-successful pioneer in the real estate web 2.0 world.  Yet you’ll never hear Jay say anything more self-promoting than “I tried a few different things and have been fortunate enough to get lucky now and then.”  Yeah, right!  No one’s buying it, but everyone respects him more because of it.

Heather & I have been approached several times by “website professionals” and told our site isn’t “optimized” and doesn’t do enough to keep visitors here.  Oh well.  Our former clients seem to appreciate what we do, and the vast majority of our business comes from repeat & referrals.

Don’t look for changes anytime soon – we’ll keep our attention squarely on our clients, and let our clients sing our praises.  Besides, have I already mentioned how much I can’t stand people who shout about how great they are?  I wouldn’t want to hate myself in the morning…

Your head down & plugging forward Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Chris Butterworth is a Realtor. He's also a husband, father, writer, amateur photographer, and self-proclaimed tech junkie. And he's an all-around good guy!