A couple months ago I spent the weekend being lazy and discovered Netflix on my Ipad. I spent the majority of the weekend watching a bunch of documentaries such as Food Matters, King of Korn, Super Size Me, Food Inc and a few others.

By the end of the weekend I was ready to start a revolution in my house. Cleaned out pantries, pulled out the juicer, hit Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Farmers Market. The rest of the people in my house however, were not on the same page and started a reverse revolt against “mom going crazy” as they tried to politely say.

My boys decided that they still wanted to eat human food so asked if they could do Mixed Martial Arts to stay healthy and I gladly obliged. By the way, they love it!

Well it so happened that right next door to the MMA Gym was a Cross Fit Gym. I have never done Cross Fit before but decided since I was there anyway with the boys I might as well try it.
I have to tell you… it is one of the toughest things I have done. It is an intense workout but something different every day and keeps my “squirrel” brain engaged.

So as I am feeling all confident and stuff and bragging to my girlfriend about how I am sticking with Cross Fit she says… “we should run a 5k”. Now I will tell you I have avoided running like the plague and used every excuse in the book but my friend was relentless. She said lets just sign up it’s a month away. Sign up we did. I was secretly hoping she would forget about it by the time it came around… no such luck.

So on Sunday October 30th we piled into the car and headed to Folsom for the Great Pumpkin run. We all laughed and giggled as they handed us numbers and tags to keep track of our time… all official like. I kept thinking… they know we aren’t pro’s at this right?

Well I am proud to say that WE ALL FINISHED! My time was 48 minutes 50 seconds. Certainly not a world record but I FINISHED. I try not to think about the 1st Place winner who was a 12 year old girl. Or the 2nd place winner which was a 13 year old girl…. Or the 3rd place winner which was a 64 year old man!

Hey its progress…. We are signed up for another one… lets see if I can beat my best!
What have you accomplished that you are most proud of? I would love to hear about it.

Warmly,

Marguerite
P.S. If you need help with any of your real estate goals, give me a call
P.S.S Friend me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/margueritecrespillo

Great interview with one of Sacramento Areas TOP PRODUCERS, BRENT GOVE. Get some great insight of what it takes to make it in Real Estate and some INSIDER nuggets of GOLD from a Seasoned PRO. We should be charging for this stuff…

Last night I jumped into a time machine… I had to go through a few memory disks and merge them and back them up (trying to avoid a catastrophy). I started going through all the pictures that I have, some as far back as 1999, when (I think) I got my first digital camera with the floppy disk…lol!

It was fun to go back and look at the styles, fashions and my hair… I think I have changed it about 10 times since then.

But what was most touching was to watch some of the videos of my boys on their first day of school. They were so excited to start school, now I can barely drag them out of bed.

I spent a couple hours going through the pictures and videos. I laughed and cried and reminisced. I just can’t believe that time flies so quickly. I know that my mom and grandmother told me it would but you just don’t believe your parents.

Part of me felt guilty for the things I had missed or the times when I was in such a hurry that I didn’t think it was important to slow down. Another part of me felt extraordinarily grateful that I have a career that gives me the flexibility to be able to be there for the most important things with my family. So to my many clients… THANK YOU!
But more than anything, running through all those pictures and videos and memories reminded me to treasure every moment now and really enjoy my children. They are 15 and 16 now and I realize that in just a few short years they will go off to college and mom will be a side note.

The great thing is that we now have two granddaughters and another one on the way…. I think I will stick to today instead of jumping in that time machine. Where would you go in your time machine? Comment below I would love to hear about it….

 
Tony is a brand new agent, he just recently passed his test and has decided to join Sellstate Realty First and take advantage of the mentorship program. He will be working directly with Cera Hinkey to learn all aspects of marketing yourself to build your database of clients and the process of representing a seller and/or buyer in the sale or purchase of their home.

 In his spare time Tony spends as much time possible with his 5 year old sonLeith. He also enjoys snowboarding, swimming and hiking.

 A special thanks to Cera Hinkey for referring Tony to Sellstate Realty First. Cera you will now earn your AAD funds on all closings for Tony. Congratulations Cera.

 You can Welcome Tony yourself by contacting him

at tonyprealestate@gmail.com or

calling him at 916-223-7500

Rich has been in real estate since 1992. He has worked with investment buyers, first time buyers, has worked with sellers to sell their current home and move up to something bigger and has helped negotiate short sales. Rich says “The satisfaction of helping people realize a life long dream of home ownership is what drives him”.

Rich and his wife Kyleen along with their 2 daughters have been in Lincoln for more than 20+ years. He enjoys spending his free time with his family.

You can Welcome Rich yourself by contacting him

at richsilvashomes@gmail.com or

calling him at 916-916-600-3026

I don’t know if you heard but last week, in Lincoln, we had a propane tanker catch on fire. It created an emergency situation and the entire town of Lincolnwas evacuated. Now luckily, I live on the outskirts of town so we were not forced to evacuate but it was very scary for all concerned.

Two of our employees were evacuated and, thank goodness, had family they could stay with. Of course we were very supportive at the office. Everyone jumped right in to get them what they needed. Julie even said she felt “powerful” in the clothes she borrowed from me …didn’t know my jeans made that kind of statement…. haha…

The next morning, I went to visit each shelter in Lincoln to see how we could help with food, clothes, space for animals, whatever was needed. I became very emotional as I looked at all the people stranded there with really nothing but the clothes on their back.

I thought about how we really take things for granted. No matter how much “stuff” you have when you literally have minutes or even seconds to leave your home, none of it matters. The only thing that matters is that the people you care about are safe.

Over the last couple of years, so many people have been stressed about losing their homes and the declining values and current economy. But at the end of the day, it’s just wood, cement and “stuff” and doesn’t really matter as much as we attach to it.

Now I will be the first to say I am very emotionally attached to my home. My children have grown up there. However, after watching what was luckily a short term emergency and a major catastrophy averted, it helped me put things into perspective. It helped me remember that way more important than our house is the people that LIVE in it and to stay focused on them.

I am grateful for each and every person that I have been blessed to know during my career in real estate and am reminded how important just having that roof over our heads and shelter for our families is to everyone and how honored I am to help in anyway possible….

My family and I went to the Casino Buffet the other day, cheesy I know except I have TWO teenage boys so we really get our monies worth!

So we sit down to the table, my boys immediately head for the food while I wait for drinks.  The waitress comes up with a huge smile and brings our drinks. I didn’t think much of it and went and got my food. I came back to the table and literally as I sat down the first SNEAK ATTACK HAPPENED she snuck a steak knife next to my plate and said, I noticed you got prime rib so I thought you would need this.

Now I know this seems insignificant, but I said to myself WOW… I didn’t even have to ask, then sit and wait while my prime rib got cold.

A few minutes later, before our glasses were even empty the NEXT SNEAK ATTACK HAPPENED she slid in refills.

Now after this extraordinary service I had to ask her, “How long have you worked here?”

Her response, “Six Days!” SIX DAYS I said.

“Where did  you work before?”, I asked.

“Here as a hostess” she said.

I was so impressed that someone with such little experience could give such great service that I even asked to speak to her manager so I could brag about her.

What does this have to do with REAL ESTATE you ask?

EVERYTHING! Look the real estate process is stressful for everyone involved and the service frequently is MEDIOCRE at best.

So what can you do to stand out? No Experience required! Just a few things to make someone feel important.

So comment below and tell me about your best Sneak Attack that really WOWED someone

By the way, the best SNEAK ATTACKS are a secret….. they are unexpected WOW’s.

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Over the last week I have probably had 20+ calls from Agents about one of my bank owned listings.

The Questions/Statements are always the same:

1. What will the bank take for that house?

2. Does the Bank know the condition of that home?

3. Were any permits pulled?

4. Can you tell me the history of that home?

5. Is the bank crazy there is NO WAY they will get that kind of money for that house?

6. The bank just wants to get rid of right so they will take any offer?

7. I have a cash buyer! Will they give us a 50% discount?

8. Does the bank realize we are in a declining market?

Let me start by saying… BANKS DID NOT BECOME BANKS BECAUSE THEY ARE STUPID!!!!!

Here is what I would say if I could be honest but… of course I will be working with these agents so I don’t want to piss them off but…

1. Oh the bank doesnt want to make any money… How about if we just give it to your clients for say… Half? Would that be good? You just tell us what you want to pay and they will approve it… Ok. Serious now! Look just like when you represent a “Normal Seller” my obligation as the bank’s agent is to get the highest and best offer possible. It is against my fiduciary duty to disclose anything less than what the home is currently listed for. The bank wants what the home is on the market for! What they are willing to take? I don’t know I am not the seller. My job is to put offers in front of the Seller and let the SELLER decide. If you are so smart then justify your price! Pull comparables, prepare your own Broker Price Opinion and submit it with your offer! Show the bank why they should take your $100,000 offer ona $200,000 house when everything around it has sold for $225,000.

2, 3 AND 4! These homes are taken back by the bank in a foreclosure sale. They don’t ususally have cooperatave seller’s who hand them all the household manuals, give them a bottle of champagne and say “Congratulations You have a New home! Many times they are evicting occupants who damage the home on the way out. The bank does receive countless pictures as well as detailed Appraisals and Broker Price Opinions to help them determine a price and if repairs are warranted. They have no history on the home. The prior owner is not required to disclose to the bank any history on the home and because of this banks are exempt from Disclosures therefore are not required to disclose anything that happened or happens to the property. They have NEVER lived in the home.. They KNOW NOTHING! On the other hand, agents will say well didnt YOU research the home? This I will save for another Blog Post as this one fry’s me too!~

5. Last I checked the banks were not crazy as they hold all the gold! However, let me tell you how the banks determine price for their assets. First they assign it to an agent like me who goes out inspects the property, reviews any damage or repairs required, takes pictures of everything and submits a Final Broker Price Opinion and Property Inspection Report along with my photos to the bank. They then order this same report for 2-3 other agents as well as a full blown appraisal from an appraiser. Once they receive all this data, they review it and determine a price based on the opinions of the local “Experts”. Now I am sure you all know by now that even the best laid plans don’t always work, especially in a declining market. And many times by the time the bank gets all the information it needs it could be 30, 60, 90 days and this could mean a lot in a declining market. Then they request monthly updates from the agent and most the time ACTUALLY listen to what we say and adjust the price accordingly. So to answer your question… No the banks are not Crazy they actually make better informed decisions than most conventional sellers as they get the opinions of several agents and listen to their monthly updates!

6. If they banks just wanted to get “Rid” of their assets they would not be in the banking business for very long. They do own these homes free and clear but keep in mind they have taken considerable losses on these homes. Remember when you “borrowed” $500,000 on that home and now it is selling for $300,000? Hmmm… where did that $200,000+ go…? Of course they are not in the real estate business but they are hoping to minimize their losses as much as possible just like any other seller would do.

7. Cash does not mean anything to the bank as they only look at the bottom line. Anything they get is cash, whether that cash comes from another bank, your account or your Aunt Susie. When they put it in their account it all spends the same.

8. As mentioned in response to question 5. The banks have many statistics at their fingertips and work very closely with the agents that handle their assets among others. They know very well the condition of the market as they feel it more than most.

So.. that is my rant for the day! Please agents if you are going to sell Bank Owned Homes do some research of your own. Advise your clients that they are considering purchasing a Bank Owned Home that will be sold AS-IS and THEY the buyer should check everything out and make sure THEY feel totally comforatable buying the home, just like you would tell any buyer… RIGHT!