Jana Lee's Millbrae Real Estate Blog

Image by Teckie Kev via Flickr

Running the red light is a very painful and expensive experience.  I know because I have just received that picture of myself running the red light along with the traffic citation.  So not only do I now have to deal with the anxiety of getting the actual ticket in 3-4 weeks, arrange for traffic court and/or arrange for traffic school, go in front of the judge if I should desire to try to knock down the fine, but I am stuck with the heavy penalty of paying it off along with the traffic school fee to keep the “ding” off my driving record.

This is very similar to what some clients go through because they feel they know more than their agent.  As a realtor, I have the experience that should be trusted by the client as to what the procedures are for different types of real estate sales.  I advise my clients as best I can in order to get that investment property he/she wants.I give them advice on what is needed to be done,  do things  in the order necessary to expedite the experience. I also prepare them for what may or may not happen.  In doing so, as the agent and client, we need to work together and obey the rules set down by the real estate market, lenders, and other buyers and sellers.

Trust your agent and take their advice if you really want to succeed in this market.

My clients are feeling beaten up in this market and I can’t blame them.  I am feeling run down too.  It’s tough out there.  There are few available houses in Millbrae, Burlingame and the surrounding areas on our peninsula worth buying and those that are available are having “bid wars”.  But the silver lining hopefully is that soon, hopefully, there will be more inventory.  We all have to know the game and play it well.  Gone are the days of underbidding.  Buyers have to know that with short sales, the wait is long.  With regular sales, the sale goes fast.  Buyers have to know what they are up against and proceed accordingly.  Get pre-approved, decide on what you want, willing to settle for and  trust your agent.  Be prepared to jump when the agent says “jump”.  You don’t have to say  “how high”.  Just be ready to do what needs to be done to get the house – have your documentation ready, pre-approvals, inspectors picked out, monies lined up, etc.  Mostly, hang in there and keep going forward.  Don’t stop and perseverance will prevail.