duncbdunc left this comment a couple of posts back:
“By the way, there is something that I’ve wanted to mention to you for a while and since this is an old thread that nobody’s looking at anymore, perhaps this is a good time to pipe in.”
“Many of my friends, colleagues and aquaintances love your blog but we hesitate to hire you because our presumption is that you are too busy.”
“I wonder if it would be helpful for your business to devote a post to discuss your current level of capacity as I assume that there may be many silent readers/followers that would love to hire you but assume you are too busy to service their needs.”
“I wonder sometimes if you are like the lonely hot chick that nobody ever talks to because they assume that everyone else is.”
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The blog is a side project of mine, intending to be an introduction to Jim the Realtor, and what I do:
Drive around looking at houses all day.
Sometimes I’m talking to sellers about representing their best interests, but because they are exceedingly unrealistic, I don’t take many listings these days. Instead, I devote most of my time to helping buyers.
Our first meeting is usually at a house for sale. A new client will see a house on-line that looks interesting, and contact me for my thoughts on it. I’ll suggest that we take a look at it together.
Upon arrival you’ll note that the gray ghost is a little banged up, and I am too, but just another regular guy (5′ 10″, 175 lbs.). We’ll start our tour of the house and I’ll be doing a lot of the talking.
I’m an evaluator, demonstrating how to size up the benefits and burdens of each house so you can make better-educated decisions.
It sounds simple, and looks easy. But my job is to go beyond the basics, and touch on the things not so obvious, enabling you to fine-tune and expand your evaluating skill.
If you’re picky like most of my clients, you’ll get used to looking at houses you don’t buy. Buyers sometimes feel guilty for wanting to look at listings that appear somewhat marginal in the MLS, but hey, let’s investigate every possibility. This is where Richard comes in – he assists with showings, so we can meet people all day long throughout the North County Coastal region.
I encourage buyers to make plenty of offers – it helps people get used to the process, and hopefully have a few chances to read and understand the contracts. I take full responsibility for writing a powerful offer on your behalf, and always back it up with compelling reasons to convince the listing agent and sellers to sign it.
But we are just the warm-up act.
Once you find a house and open escrow, you’ll see why we’re successful – my wife Donna takes over. She ensures that your “in-escrow” experience is smooth and steady, the way it should be.
I’d love to have the opportunity to sell a house to every one of you. The next listing you see that looks interesting, call or email me, and let’s go take a look – I have time!
I am very grateful to be busy, and appreciate those who have become clients as a result of the blog. The package offered here is a result of us paying attention, and trying to provide exactly what the market demands. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.
Hi Jim,
I have a couple of questions.
1) One thing that draws people to your blog is your brutal honesty. I am assuming that carries over in your client relationships? Do you and Richard make it a point to highlight the negatives as you often do in your videos? Many people are not looking for a pep talk aimed at making them pull the trigger on the biggest financial decision of their life, but instead would like the reality check provided from an experienced realtor. Based on anecdotal evidence, I think many buyers’ agents are there to sell you a house and not there to make sure you make good decisions.
2) What is the protocol for when your office is representing buyers looking in a similar area and price point? I am guessing that it must happen occasionally. Is this something a buyer should be concerned about whether being represented by you or someone else? Seems like an awkward situation when you know two of your buyers are possibly interested in the same house, you know what each is offering on that house, when each can view that house, etc.
I have never posted on a blog before but felt compelled to regarding this post. My wife and I had the same hesitation about contacting JTR but went ahead and emailed him about a month ago. He is the real deal. We are looking in the low end in Coastal North County and Jim has met us at every listing we wanted to see within 24 hours. He is an amazing asset to have on your side.
While we have not entered escrow yet, I am confident JTR and the team will guide us through this stressful transaction.
Appreciate this blog, your insight and analysis Jim.
Having seen a house recently with Jim, and realizing that I need to wait a bit longer for what I’m looking for, I can tell you that he is brutally honest in person. There was no sales pitch, nor pep talk. I felt like I was watching one of his videos only the narrator was walking alongside me.
Good question! I felt the same way at first but decided to contact Jim and see if he could help us find a house. Been following the blog oh…2 years now? longer? can’t remember. Anyway, we are looking to buy and he’s been a huge help to us. We still haven’t found the “one” but we will keep looking and we are so glad Jim is helping us!
I was moving from Kansas City and Jim was a great asset in looking into real estate. Jim actually performs as the BUYER’s broker. He did not SELL me a home. He showed me real estate and informed me how he honestly felt about the house, neighborhood, schools, etc. I ended up renting in Carlsbad. When the time is right for my family to buy, Jim will be the first one called. I highly recommend him. I guess I need to change my name – Todd-N-Cbad
I felt like I was watching one of his videos only the narrator was walking alongside me.
How many times did you have to pick yourself up from ROFLYAO? 🙂
What zips do you normally cover Jim? I think some people are concerned about making a realtor drive 45 minutes each way each showing if they’re looking in say Mira Mesa as their epicenter. That’s more time than spent looking at houses, and if you look at 10 places that’s going to be more time than spent doing paperwork. Is that okay?
Let me start by saying I like the blog and have followed it for years.
I may be the exception that proves the rule. My wife and I had no idea what to do when it comes to buying a house so I contacted Jim last year and was directed to his associate Gary Thompson. We met Gary and his sister. After the meeting I was told they would set things up so that we receive MLS listings based on our search criteria. I never received any email or MLS listings after that. Since things started getting worse in the housing market my wife and I decided to wait. We will finally be buying this winter since there are many houses in our price range now but we will use a different Realtor. Someone who can take the 2 minutes it takes to set up so we recieve Sandicor MLS listings being mailed to us.
Thought about adding headhunting to your repertoire? If you can get me a job in SD, I’ll use you to buy the house.
Great, now I need to have a very uncomfortable conversation with my realtor. Going to view homes is like visiting Circuit City, but worse. It’s one giant sales pitch but way,way,way cheesier. To make it worse they add no value at all so you’re just left with the transparent emotional appeals.
Worthless and annoying is a bad combination.
There, I feel better now.
Hi Jim,
Can you represent folks in the San Gabriel Valley, say, Pasadena, San Gabriel, and/or Altadena? For folks who are looking for a home to buy and raise kids?
I figure since offers can be made online, and appraisels are down over the internet in all areas.
Yes?
The Fahn’s
Ameya – “After the meeting I was told they would set things up so that we receive MLS listings based on our search criteria”
Hmmm! Did it go to your spam box? Did you follow up with Gary to ask “what’s up?”
All I’d do is simply call Jim and ask him if he’s busy. I definitely won’t miss an opportunity to be shown a house by a realtor who I have confidence won’t try to con me into an undeserving sale, although he’d probably be surprised by what I would personally consider as acceptable living conditions. “You want to buy THAT?!?” 🙂
Bought my first house through Jim in ’96. Bought an income property through him in ’98. Turned my folks on to him and they bought through him, and I’ve steered friends his way who’ve also bought and sold with Jim.
That should tell you whether or not I and many, many other satisfied customers think Jim is the guy for NC Coastal real estate.
Well Let me say this,
As a extremely experianced Real Estate agent in Vegas(and NJ before) it is often very difficult for buyers(and sellers) sometimes to pick a agent.
-Some like the person who holds your hand and let you know its going to be alright.
-some like the agent who reaffirms your desires and yeses you to death
-some like the person who is going to take you out to lunch in between seeing houses and invite you over for the xmas party ,etc…
-Some like the friend or relative because they feel confortable with that person
But my friends- that is not what you want.
Someone who is Brutally honest and extremely knowledgable is a rarity in the real estate buisness. That person may not be the most extroverted in the world and like to go to happy hours after showing you 10 houses- but that is what you want.
Jim is this rare agent. Trust me on that.
He will benefit you greatly.
don’t worry about it, hire Jim because he is the best you can get. he is like those little energizer bunnies, he just keeps going and going and going…….buy with confidence, you will not be disappointed!!!!
I have no doubt that Jim is exactly what I am looking for in a realtor. The question is does he have the capacity to handle the high demand for his services. I thought Jim did a good job addressing this issue in today’s post.
I think it would be terrible if Jim missed out on new business because people assumed he was working at full capacity. That’s what I did, and I regret hiring a realtor without checking with him first. Once you get shown a house or two, you feel obliged to keep them (realtor).
RE: Ameya’s note above…I noted your comment about one of Jim’s realtor-partners, Gary Thompson. Gary worked with me last summer through fall (at Jim’s recommendation) to buy a house in North County. I was flying in from NYC at irregular intervals and doing a lot of online viewing with Gary’s feedback on any property I wanted to discuss. He was superb all the way through — constant follow-up, great communications, a straight shooter, and it was all by far the best experience I’ve had in buying any of the several houses I’ve owned. I’d check your ‘spam’ filter or just pick up the phone! He knows what he is doing.
I’ll take the questions in order:
Joe,
1. I think I’m more critical in person, if I did that here you’d think I was a crochety old guy.
2. Dual representation. It hasn’t happened yet during the bubbleinfo era, but if it did we have protocol in place. MLS records show me in 51 sales where I represented buyer and seller, and there was one case where I represented the seller and two buyers.
I keep it simple, all I do is give the best advice I can to the person sitting in front of me without divulging anything sensitive in nature from another party.
sdbri,
My regular beat is Vista to PB. The I-15 corridor is an infrequent marketplace but worked enough to always have something going there. There’s the REO brewing in RP, and we’ll be closing a buyer-side sale in Scripps Ranch next week.
But generally I will refer people to local agents beyond my normal market area, which every agent should do. (Yet Sandicor has hooked us up with every other MLS in the state – what do they think I’m going to do, go sell forest land in Humboldt County?) Don’t get me started…
The need for a local expert is relative to how hot the market is – if it’s hot the buyers and agents need to be very active in pursuing every possible lead. Agreed though, 45 minutes is about my limit on travel time.
The paperwork all being done electronically is a HUGE time-saver, and it’s really helped cut down on the Grand Slams.
ameya,
We’ll all human, Gary included. I probably blew more leads than he did this year, especially the month or two after the Nightline gig.
Gary is a great salesman, the kind of guy that would carry you on his back for miles if that’s what was needed.
He called me immediately upon reading your comment to apologize, and said if he missed the opportunity to help you, he is sorry.
I want you to know that I’ve made changes to address this situation. Richard has been on-board for the last six months as a salaried licensed assistant for this very reason – it’s tough work.
I run a grueling, intense program here, and the demands are exceedingly high. I compensate by working a lot of hours, mostly out of my home. I don’t expect that from Gary – he’s 65 years old and an independent contractor. He’s done well for himself and family, deserves to work a lighter schedule, and have time to go fishing!
Gary works very well with select clients in Carlsbad and Oceanside. I guarantee that he’d be a great realtor to work with (he told me to put him ‘out to pasture’ when the time comes, and he’s got a long way to go before that happens).
I’d like to blame the MLS auto-notification system more than anything, it is terrible and hard to navigate.
Sharon, on working out of the area.
I have toyed with the idea, but don’t like it. If it was as simple as just writing an offer or two, it would be OK, but I think the pursuit takes more than that.
Plus local agents are always snooty to the out-of-town agents, figuring that it’s a relative looking for free money. I tried it with Susie a few months back, and that was my experience. Generally-speaking, listing agents aren’t really looking to work hard, they are looking for easy money and to do business with someone who’ll roll over and take whatever the listing agent demands.
The best word that comes to mind to describe the typical listing agent is ‘boorish’, defined as “originally referring to behavior characteristic of an unlettered rustic or peasant, now implies a coarse and blatant lack of sensitivity to the feelings or values of others”.
They don’t care, and hence, you should get good qualified local help who can leverage their relationship and reputation to create a warmer reception. If that doesn’t work, or you can’t find anyone, then call me.
I wish I had a list of good agents in different areas, but I don’t.
CB Mark might be the most loyal friend and client of all time. The last time we did business was over 10 years ago, but he keeps sending people my way. Thank you Mark!
If you needed a good reason to do business with JtR, it’s to come to the client parties to meet Mark’s Dad. Pops just celebrated his 85th birthday, and he’s still the funniest guy on the planet – non-stop jokes!
JtR “the lonely hot chick” TM
🙂
Good post JTR.
Thanks for the kind words Jim. I have a long memory for a job well done.
And gosh, I hate to correct a minor math issue here, but it was actually Dad’s 90th birthday we just celebrated.
And, to put all this economic and real estate talk in perspective, I’ll quote him: “Any day spent above ground is a good day!”
He doesn’t look a day over 85.
No, I’m not going to take the “picky buyer” comment personally! 😉
When did I first fall in love with JtR? Well, I’m a Doonesburry comic strip addict from way back. So when I saw that LA Times article state he was Hunter S. Thompson (very alternative) of real estate I knew Jim was a different kind of realtor.
And then NY called! And there was JtR being interviewed on ABC’s Nightline. I remember the exact moment when I knew Jim wasn’t just different, he was like no other Realtor I’ve ever met. He was just talking to the interviewer. I think they were sitting on the bottom steps of a staircase in a home. But that doesn’t matter. All I remember is his words: “All buyers and sellers want is the truth.” Priceless, Jim, priceless!
Ah, I said, a man of character and integrity. Now that’s my kind of Realtor! Keep speaking the truth, Jim, you have a lot of fans out here in Real Estate land…
Jim,
You should shorten the description of this post and make it a sticky on your blog so it always appears first. Nobody minds the sales pitch as long as it’s genuine.
I sold my first home with Jim. No regrets whatsoever. He’s the real deal, and is much, much better than any other real estate professional I’ve ever worked with.
He was honest about the flaws in my property, and when I didn’t want to fix my crappy purple tile counter tops, he managed to sell the place anyway.
I contacted Jim because he was warning people about the bubble while David Lereah and the NAR shills were saying there’s never a better time to buy. Jim and Richard are stand-up guys and they always answer the phone unlike some realtors.
“Jim and Richard are stand-up guys and they always answer the phone unlike some realtors.”
Exactly, Greekfire! That small fact says a lot to any wanna-be buyer or seller. Jim actually answers the phone! That can be a miracle in today’s real estate land where clueless agents–who don’t understand the importance of customer service–may abound.
The last time I called Klinge Realty, Jim DID answer the phone. I remember I stumbled with the first words out of my mouth ‘cuz hearing his voice was such a shock to me…
Lurkers on bubbleinfo, I’ll make it very easy for you:
(1) If you’re a wanna-be home buyer, here’s all you need to know in real estate lingo: “JtR For the Win!”
(2) Conversely, if you need to sell your home, here’s what you need to know: “Show Me the Money!” There’s no doubt, JtR will do his absolute best for you.
*Chuckle* Jim, my $500 check for this overly-enthusiastic endorsement is IN the mail, right?
If you can’t get Jim to help you, maybe these two can be of service… Pure Realtor Comedy Genius:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAGq1u5R9mw
Jim, Let’s be real and admit that Donna does the hard work and is mighty good at that!
I admit it – the woman behind the man!