You might think I’m referring to houses when I title this article They Come in All Shapes and Sizes.  Of course, houses do come in all shapes and sizes, and I have always loved looking at homes.  You never know what you’ll find until you get inside.  Sequim certainly has an incredible variety of architectural plans.  Some retirees arrive in Sequim with a home design already in hand after years of planning.  Others hire a local architect, and still others hire a builder who has home designs they can choose from and customize.

But in this article when I write, “They Come in All Shapes and Sizes,” I’m thinking about unusual homeowners who have listed their homes and who are often present when I show their homes to my buyer clients.  Recently I showed a home to a couple from out-of-state. The owners required an appointment and they preferred to be present during the showing.  I didn’t mind at all, and neither did my clients.  It turned out to be pretty entertaining.

The owner invited us in the side door and through a messy laundry and utility room into an odd shaped room with weird things in it.  From there we entered the kitchen.  The man gave us the grand tour.  They had remodeled the home in many places, and I felt like we were walking through a labyrinthian maze.  But here’s what really struck me and my clients as funny.  During the tour, the woman told us, “When we first saw this home, it was a disaster.  It was dirty and full of spider webs and spiders, but we just fell in love with it.”

It just so happens I hate spiders.  So do my clients.  We later laughed in disbelief when we reflected on what she had said.  Our rhetorical question was, “How could anyone immediately fall in love with a house that was full of spiders?”  I guess she had no idea what a turn off that was for my clients.

I showed a builder’s spec home a while back, and it was listed as vacant.  I had a lockbox key, so when I arrived with my clients, I opened the lockbox and started to open the door.  I had looked inside the home earlier, and I knew there was no furniture in it.  It was just built and put on the market.  As I swung the door open with my clients close behind me, I suddenly stood facing a young woman wrapped in nothing but a towel.  Surprise!  Surprise!  Apparently, she was the builder’s niece and temporarily sleeping in one of the bedrooms.

This week I’m showing more houses.  Can’t wait.  You never know what will happen.  By the way, I do ring the door bells incessantly now, even for vacant listings.

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• Text a Sequim Real Estate Agent

This Sequim Realtor is showing houses from Port Angeles to Sequim to Port Townsend to Port Ludlow.  That doesn’t mean I’m writing up offers every day, but it does mean that buyers are looking at homes and are ready, able, and willing to buy now . . .  if they can find the ideal home and property.

Here’s an interesting development for Sequim Realtors and Realtors around the country now that gas prices have skyrocketed.  It’s a lot more expensive to drive clients around to view homes than it used to be.  I could not resist taking this photo of this gas hog when I was filling my own gas tank with liquid money. 

Sequim Realtor Parked

Sequim Realtor Hangs Out at Gas Stations

Of course, sitting behind the wheel of this 7-gallon-per-mile rig was a petite blond woman.  How does that happen?  I see little blonds driving these monster trucks all the time.  Amazing.  How do they even get in and out of these trucks?  I noticed she was parked about 40 feet from the gas pumps at the Sequim Safeway gas station, and she was texting on her cell phone.  I’m speculating, but perhaps she was texting with her bank about getting a short term loan to fill up her truck’s gas tank.  Or maybe she was texting her boyfriend, asking him to bring cash or gold bullion to fill the tank again.  As I drove past her, I paused to chat through the window (as I cocked my head to look upward), and I asked her if she needed directions to the next gas station.  I told her I had a map with all the local gas stations highlighted.  She gave me a funny look.  Either she didn’t comprehend my dry wit, or she didn’t think it was funny.  As I pulled away, I did see in my rear view mirror the big “For Sale” on the back window.  (Yea, if she paid me to take it, I might agree.)

Sequim Realtor a Chauffeur

Driving clients around to view homes for a Sequim Realtor now requires a line of credit from a bank or a Chevron gas card.  Look, you have to find some humor in these challenging times, or you’ll go crazy.  I suppose there is more than one Sequim Realtor wishing he or she didn’t drive a Humvee or Ford Expedition.  I drive a 4-door Crown Vic, and not only is it comfortable for my clients, I don’t have to have a line of credit to keep the gas tank full.  But this Sequim Realtor does consider it a pleasure to drive clients around to view homes even if a gallon of gas is the equivalent of a hamburger and fries.

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• Real Estate Agents Leaving Business in Large Numbers
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• What is the difference between a listing agent and a buyer’s agent?

Real estate agents are leaving the business, and while that’s not front page news anymore considering the last five years, it is relevant to both buyers and sellers.  In 2008 Sequim had 258 real estate agents, and now (April of 2012) we have only 107 real estate agents.  Let’s do the math.  That means we only have 41% of the agents we had, which is nearly a 60% loss of agents.  Here’s a coincidence for you.  While I was finishing typing that last sentence I got a call from a homeowner whose home I showed a month ago.  He called to tell me that his listing agent left just the brokerage.  Amazing.  He also told me that his listing has been terminated, and he wants to relist his home with another company at a $50,000 price reduction.  He’s not my client, so I did not feel comfortable telling him over the phone that his home was overpriced by $100,000, not $50,000.  I did share that with his listing agent when I showed the home, but either his listing agent did not communicate that to him, or he simply did not believe it.  This is a perfect example of why a homeowner’s home has not sold and why his own agent is starving.  She can’t earn a commission trying to sell an overpriced home in a recession.  No wonder so many real estate agents are leaving the business!

Real Estate Agents Closing Doors

These real estate agents did close their doors.  This was one of the largest real estate offices in Clallam County, and the owners were evicted from the building.  They didn’t have enough business, and their traditional bricks-and-mortar business model could not survive this recession.  That’s certainly unfortunate for them.  For consumers, buyers and sellers, there is a bigger picture of change occurring.  It is slowly transforming into something much more consumer friendly, efficient, and much more oriented to addressing the best interests of the consumer in an honest way.  Consider how incredibly easy it is for you as a buyer to search all the homes in the MLS online 24/7 from the comfort of your own home without talking to any high pressure salesmen, or how easy it is to do your due diligence online to find a competent and professional and trustworthy buyer’s agent.  You can now do tremendous research online at absolutely no cost about a home, it’s history, the previous prices paid for the home, the tax assessment, and much more.  All of this substantially reduces the need to consumers of a large bricks-and-mortar building full of sales people.

Real Estate Agents Go Virtual

If you consider this real estate blog alone has over 1,100 articles about Sequim real estate, an MLS search buyers can use 24/7, and dozens of powerful online tools for them to research and do their due diligence on Sequim homes before they ever arrive in Sequim, and that they can do all of these things without being forced to register, you can see why I could say just based on this that I have the largest virtual real estate office in the county and maybe the state.  During the calendar year of 2011 over 315,000 prospective buyers used this real estate blog to search for and find their retirement home in Sequim.  My articles were read over 1.6 million times.  In light of how buyers love to use the Internet and free powerful tools to help them, it’s not hard to understand why so many of the big offices are closing their doors.  Not only is their overhead ridiculously high, but their business model and sales approach no longer caters to buyers’ real needs.

Real Estate Agents Not So Physical

I do have a physical office, but clients don’t care about a physical office any more.  Why should they?  Sellers want me to come to their homes, and buyers are interested in driving around and looking at homes, not sitting in an office.  In fact, my clients seem to prefer meeting at Starbucks and enjoying a cup of coffee as we prepare to look at homes on their filtered list.  This is why I’ve spent so much time and money building so many powerful tools on the Internet for buyers.  Not all real estate agents get it, but buyers get it and they love it.

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How easy is it to reach a Sequim Realtor?  That depends on who you’re trying to reach.  Let me share a common frustration of so many consumers.  Annoying phone answering systems.  This morning I called a mortgage officer at one of our large local banks.  Of course I called the main branch.  That’s where the fun began.

First I get a recording that tells me who I called.  That’s interesting, because I knew who I called.  Second, I get a Spanish version of what I just listed to.  That’s interesting, too, because everyone in Sequim uses English as their main language.  Last time I looked, we are not on the Mexican border.  Third, I was forced to listen to a lengthy recording about the bank hours, their physical location, and then a very long bullet list of services that I could be directed to (if I had the patience and time to listen to all the recordings).  By the time I listened to the whole recording, I could have had a long conversation with a real person and actually have gotten my question answered.  Instead I had to listen and then finally talk to a real person.  I mentioned my annoyance with the obnoxious telephone answering system to the nice person I did get to talk to, and while she was polite, I could tell she was not going to promote my concern to management, which would never reach their executives at the corporate level somewhere on the west coast, or maybe they are on the east coast.

Sequim Realtor Office

I called a large bricks-and-mortar real estate office recently, but no one answered the phone.  The recording said they opened at 10:00.   That was not for another hour and a half.   I dropped by that office later in the afternoon, and there were many empty cubicles and one nice person at the front reception desk.  That afternoon I called one of the agents at the office and got a recording, and after listening to the full directory, I was able to leave him a message on his extension.  I decided to try to reach him on his cell phone, but his cell phone had a message that told me, “The mail box you have reached is full.  Goodbye.”  I really found this ironic, because you would think the bricks-and-mortar offices would actually have hours and have people in the office, or at least they would have phones that are answered.  I joke about some offices using a 20-year old business model, but some are not even using it.

Sequim Realtor Using Technology?

Times have really changed, but many large corporations and even many medium and small businesses have not gotten the memo.  Technology, super efficient phone systems, including smart cell phones, and something called the Internet have given businesses entirely new and powerful tools to respond to consumers.  Unfortunately, many bureaucratic businesses are still not using these tools.  I’ve written elsewhere that real estate clients (buyers and sellers) hire one person today, not a large corporation, not a large franchise, and not a name.  They hire one professional, and all they want is good service, loyalty, experience, honesty, and professionalism.   Corporate structures and annoying phone systems are not responsive to consumers, and consumers are moving on.

One Sequim Realtor Has One (1) Phone Number

This Sequim Realtor has one (1) phone number on everything, and that phone number is my cell phone, and I answer that phone myself.  I answer my own emails, sometimes within minutes.  I use technology and the Internet to respond to clients, and why not?  It’s fast and efficient.  Want to reach a Sequim Realtor?  It’s easy.  Call me.  The only reason I may not answer is because I’m talking with another client or showing a house.  I answer every time I can, because I know my clients like to talk to a real person, and they like to talk to a Sequim Realtor sooner rather than later.  Clients are often surprised when they don’t get a recording at 7:30 on a Saturday evening.  Try it.  Call this Sequim Realtor right now at 360-775-5424.

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Now you can Text your Sequim real estate agent to ask for more information about a listing, to ask about real estate issues, and to communicate while your transaction is pending.  Texting has become a favorite method of communicating, and it is convenient and fast.

Sequim Real Estate Agent Resources

If you’re at your computer with Internet access or on your laptop at Starbucks with wireless, you’ll find many powerful free Internet resources for buyers on the numerous websites and blogs of Sequim and Port Angeles Real Estate, and you’ll find many of those resources available right here on this blog.  If you’re on your smart phone (iPhone) or your iPod or iPad you’ll find a mobile app in the iTunes store for searching the Sequim MLS.  These resources include a powerful Sequim MLS map search feature, foreclosure search, a Sequim real estate market report of listed and sold properties with lots of data, a weekly real estate newsletter that is delivered to your email, a real estate law site, a real estate blog with over 1,000 articles specifically written about Sequim real estate, buying and selling, negotiating the best price, foreclosures, lots of videos produced specifically for buyers of Sequim real estate, and a lot more.

This Sequim real estate agent gives all his clients a book about Sequim real estate, Buying and Selling Real Estate in the Rain Shadow, written by Chuck Marunde, local real estate attorney and Sequim real estate agent.  This is also available as an eBook download in the Apple iTunes Bookstore.  There is a free eBook for sellers to download to help them understand the selling process and what works.

All of these resources have allowed Chuck Marunde to become the number one Sequim buyer’s agent in 2011.  Why?  Because buyers appreciate free online resources that don’t require them to register their confidential information.  They appreciate the many resources that give them information they can’t find anywhere else, and buyers appreciate the professionalism and experience of someone who has been in real estate for 37 years and who is completely dedicated to the best interests of his clients.

Sequim Real Estate Agent Service

Offering a texting service for clients is simply another way that this Sequim real estate agent continues to demonstrate with action that his clients come first.  “I serve my clients with every ounce of energy that I have, and I bring technology to the table to serve my clients in the same way.”

Sequim Real Estate Agent Text Number 360-775-5424

Chuck Marunde is a Sequim real estate agent, hopefully your buyer’s agent, and can be texted anytime at 360-775-5424.  Put that number in your cell phone contacts list and text Chuck anytime you have a question or want to know the status of a transaction.  This Sequim real estate agent never stops working for you.

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• What is the difference between a listing agent and a buyer’s agent?

A Realtor will often refer to himself as a listing agent or a buyer’s agent.  A listing agent is often called a seller’s agent, and a buyer’s agent is often called an exclusive buyer’s agent.  There are distinctions to be made between all of them, but the purpose of this article is to challenge your thinking on what a listing agent does when he or she lists your home for sale and how that compares to a buyer’s agent.  This article might have been titled, “Listing Agent v. Buyer’s Agent.”  I’m going to make an argument you probably never heard before.  My argument is that today a homeowner who wants to sell their home should be listing their property with a Buyer’s Agent who is actually making a direct connection with buyers and not with a Listing Agent who simply lists property and puts it in the MLS.  Follow my argument, because the role of Realtors has morphed into something quite different than the traditional listing agent of the past couple of decades.

The Traditional Listing Agent

A traditional listing agent of the past two decades would list lots of properties.  That was the name of the game.  Agents around the country were taught to “list list list.”  The top producing Realtors for decades have been listing agents.  They didn’t care which Realtor sold their listings, because they got paid half the commission every time one of the listings sold.  All they had to do was list it and put it in the MLS.  Some Realtor would sell their listings, and they would then claim that they had, “sold another house.”  Actually, it was the Buyer’s Agent who sold the home or some other agent who connected with the buyer directly.  (more…)

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• They Come in All Shapes and Sizes
• Sequim Realtor Showing Houses From Gas Station to Gas Station
• Real Estate Agents Leaving Business in Large Numbers
• The Easiest Sequim Realtor to Reach
• Text a Sequim Real Estate Agent