Bill the Broker Blog

It’s days like today that make you realize we’re truely “centrally located.”

30 minute car ride and we were at Cocoa Beach at Jetty Park, the closest you can get to NASA without being on base. This sunset launch was truely spectacular. The payload of this fully loaded Delta II is THEMIS, a satellite with 5 probes which will determine the origins of the Northern Lights.

For future reference, you can always find NASA’s launch schedule here.

I’m just starting to contribute to a Real Estate investing forum called BiggerPockets.com

In one of the posts I’m commenting on, a reader writes:

“What, exactly is part of the JOB description of the real estate agent, beyond showing property, selling it, and getting the check? …. I’m not happy with him right now. What is the agent’s job beyond opening properties to show a potential buyer? ” You can view the entire post here.

I’ve covered this a bit before in a previous post. This post was a bit more specific so I thought it would be of value to post most of my reply. You can view the entire reply here.

Ofgift,

You ask, what’s a Realtors Job. It’s to make 100% certain you’re comfortable in the transaction. All your questions and concerns should be addressed to the maximum ability they’re addressable. Your Realtor should inform, educate and ensure the integrity of the transaction. In most all cases, an agent should put your needs above their own.

One of the keys to selecting a good Realtor is to put ‘em through the ringer. Think of anything and everything you could to ask them, then ask the questions before any work is done. If that’s not possible, then do it at the first possible opportunity. If you don’t like their answers or they don’t seem well informed, politely bow out. There’s plenty of fish in this sea of ours. If you need some question inspiration, Googling “questions to ask a Realtor” gave me a pretty nice list of resources.

Your Realtor should be generally knowledgeable in the area where you’re looking to rent or buy. They should be able to answer way better than half your questions. The few that are leftover should get handled quickly and thoroughly at the soonest possibility.

It’s true, there are sub-par Realtors out there, but rest assured there are plenty well informed, intelligent, hard working professionals out there. Chances are they’re not hard to find either. Just find some signs around town and start calling agents. Make 5-10 calls and someone is sure to stand out.

Best of luck!

Bill Ferrante

It’s been a long couple of weeks!

Our trip begins around the first of the month.  My Niece, Isabella, is celebrating her first birthday.  Being the great uncle that I am, I planned a trip up for the festivities.  This quickly becomes only half my trip as I plan time to spend in “The District” as the locals call it and also visiting my friend Lidnsey.  You may have seen her on Wonkette at some point…but I digress.

The birthday party was grand.  She’s the most beautiful, good spirited, happy baby I’ve ever met and I love her to bits.  My stay in DC was fantastic as well.  I saw many monuments, museums, a private viewing at the National Gallery of Art of M.C. Escher’s work, a jaunt to the West Wing of the White House and many other things I’m sure I was too cold to remember.

Too cold you say?  Well, we spent many days at 0 + wind.  For this Florida boy, that was more than difficult.  But here I am, alive.  But Bill, you haven’t posted in more like 2 weeks.  There’s one unaccounted for!  Oh, dear shrewd reader, I’ve been a little under the weather.  Apparently that kind of weather, coupled with a plane ride can really wreak some havoc on the ‘ol immune system.  Mine was no exception.

But here we are, 2 weeks later.  Not to worry, Jordan’s gettin his jump shot back.  (Did he just compare himself to MJ??)

The Federal Open Market Committee, know to many by its more common name, The Fed, held rates steady at it’s meeting this Wednesday.

Citing “tentative signs of stabilization” in the housing market. Orlando, being the super-market that it is, seems to feel market conditions in many areas faster and harder than many other markets. The report also cites “somewhat firmer economic growth.”

Stabilization and consumer confidence are what we’ve been seeing more and more of in the market over the last several months.

For additional information, check out the analysis at Bankrate.com.