Westport, Connecticut Moves

Yesterday, I joined with 700 or so REALTORS®, as we descended on Hartford
for the annual REALTORS® at the Capitol day.

The morning began with an orientation session, to familarize us with the details of the proposed bills, being addressed.  The hottest issue, on the agenda, was the increased municipal portion of the conveyance tax.  Under current law, the 2003 emergency increase in the tax is finally set to "sunset" on June 30, 2008.  The increased tax, was originally enacted for one year, but has been extended three times.  The proposed bill would make the increase permanent.

Following the orientation session, we moved to break-out sessions, to meet with Legislators from our local areas.  It was here that we had the opportunity to vocalize our opposition to this increased burden on Connecticut homesellers.  One disturbing characterization of our opposition, was hearing it referred to as "the REALTORS® bill.  One Representative reiterated a finding, reported to the larger assembly, that the increased tax had not had an impact on home sales and therefore was not hurting the Real Estate agent's income.

That brought a sharp retort, explaining that we, as REALTORS® did not come to Hartford to fight for ourselves.  Our pupose was to look out for the best interests of our clients, the Connecticut homebuyers and sellers.  It was further explained that, especially in the current market, when many people have little or no equity in their homes and may already be selling at a loss, hitting them with a double tax is an unfair burden.

We were told that we were "preaching to the choir" and that they were on our side. However, the municipalities had gotten used to the extra revenue and they also had a strong lobby, pushing to make the increase permanent.  Realistically, it was stated, there was little chance that the bill would be defeated.

They were correct, to some extent.  Today, the Legislature's Finance Committe voted 29-to-21 to overturn the scheduled "sunset" of the increased tax.  But, it turns out, we did have an impact. Our presence, plus thousands of signatures on antitax petitions, which we delivered, brought about a small victory.  In place of the bill to make the increased tax permanent, a substitute bill will be brought to the full House and Senate, which extends the increase for another two years.

We will continue to urge the legislature to vote against the bill and allow the tax to "sunset." 

30% Off! Two for One Sale!  No Money Down!  - Who doesn't  love a Bargain?

So why is it that so many buyers pass up the biggest bargain in Real Estate - working with a Buyer's Agent?

While conducting an Open House, at one of my listings, I had the opportunity to meet some potential buyers, in my market.  The conversations covered the normal grounds...Please sign the guest registry, Are you working with a REALTOR®?, Have you been looking long?  Have you been to other Open Houses? Did you see any homes that you liked?  Is this your price range?  How soon do you want to purchase?  Do you have a home to sell?

Once it was determined that my listing was not the right home for them, and confirmed that they were not signed with another agent, I would offer to search for other properities that were appropriate for their needs and show them any, in which they were interested.

Some buyers are happy to have someone search the market, for them, determine the homes that meet the parameters they set, do the resesarch on how long the homes have been for sale, when they last sold, for how much, arrange appointments to see them, etc.

The conversations that amaze me, however, go something like this.  

- I realize this house doesn't work for you.  I'd be happy to show you some other homes that better fit your needs.

- Thanks for offering, but we like to find the houses ourselves.

- Where do you find them?

- Oh, we drive around and if we see an Open House sign and the house looks nice, we stop.

- Not all listings have Open Houses.

- Yeah, but we look online, too, and if we want to see a house, we call the listing agent

- You do realize that the listing agent's responsibility is to look out for the best interests of their client, the owner. 

- That's okay, we know how this works.  We can take care of ourselves and we can get a better deal because there's one less agent collecting a commission.

- The number of agents doesn't change the size of the commission.  The owner has a contract with the listing broker and they've already agreed on a commission amount.  If you have an agent represent you as a buyer, he or she will receive his or her fee, as part of that commission.  It's a great opportunity to have a REALTOR®  working exclusively for you and someone else pays the bill.

- Well, maybe..but we'll pass.  We'd rather do it ourselves.

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This weekend, Mother Nature, with a big assist from the power company's freelance crew , managed to place me incommunicado. 

It started Saturday afternoon, with heavy rain and wind.  Connecticut was not suffering anywhere near the devastation that was hitting other parts of the country, but in this neck of the woods, combine strong winds with our beautiful tree-lined streets and you can bet on power outages.  Our power was out for a few hours, Saturday afternoon, but our trusty generator took care of that.

Sunday, however, was a different story.  We woke up to find the top half of a large tree, resting on the power line to our property.  We immediately called the power company to remove it, fully expecting them to say it would be a long wait until they could get to it.  We were pleasantly surprised to see a crew show up a few hours later.  They made quick work of the tree and were gone before we knew it.  Also gone was our cable line and phone line.

Two more phone calls, one to the phone company and the other to Cable.  Okay, cable would be back, later that night (actually turned out to be a day and a night.)  But, phone, not back 'til late Tues. night. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!

How could I survive?  No e-mail, no faxes, no phone calls (my cell doesn't work very well, in my house), no printing, no copies, no T.V.  NO ACTIVE RAIN!!!   

Okay, I admit, it wasn't THAT BAD.  Some forced down time may not be such a bad thing.  We still had power and the T.V. hook up to the VCR and DVD was fully functional.  We settled down to an evening of old movies...everything from "The Sum of All Fears" to "Cheaper By the Dozen."

The phone's still out, but at least, I'm back online.  It's amazing how dependent we've become on our technological inventions.

If you asked most people for a quick description of what REALTORS® do, they would probably say, show homes and put in offers, for buyers  and list homes, and present offers, for sellers.  Of course, we know there's a lot more to managing real estate transactions.                        
                                                                              

As REALTORS®, our responsibilities to our buyers include:        

Searching for appropriate properties, that fit their needs - "We don't want a large house, but in addition to the bedrooms, we want space for a home gym and we each need a separate office.  A media room would be nice, too"

Arranging appointments to see those homes - We don't want to kill our weekend, so do you think the homeowners would mind if we saw the house at 9A.M.?

Researching the history of the listing - "We didn't realize that this is the 3rd listing number for that house, in the past 2 years.  We thought it was a new listing."

Negotiating the offer - "We know our offer is low, but we'd also like a $10,000 credit towards painting, because their colors don't match our furniture."

In addition, the REALTORS® manage all the details of the transaction, from filing the correct paperwork, to making sure deadlines are met for inspections and mortgage contingencies and generally making sure all the steps proceed smoothly. 

For our sellers, our responsibilities include preparing Comparative Market Analyses (CMA's), to help determine the correct listing price, providing advice for staging the home, creating marketing materials and marketing plans to publicize the listings, arranging for the public and real estate community to see the listings, presenting and negotiating offers and also making sure paper work, deadlines, and contingencies are met.  

BUT...this isn't about what REALTORS® do, to guarantee smooth RE transactions.  It's about the value the real estate professional brings to their client base, when they aren't working on a specific deal. REALTORS® are continuously learning.  At a minimum, they are required to take a specified number of continuing education credits, to maintain their licenses.  Those classes are supplemented with Broker training sessions, designation courses and involvement in forums, such as AR.  Many make a concerted effort to stay on top of changing building codes, regulations and legislation that impact real estate, within their particular communities.

To that end, in a few weeks, REALTORS® from across the state of Connecticut,, are preparing to meet in Hartford, at the 24th REALTORS® at the Capitol event.  Attendees will be briefed on upcoming bills, coming before the legislature, that impact the state's real estate markets.  They will also have an opportunity to meet with their community's State Senators and Representatives, and express their opinions and ask questions.

This year's agenda is especially critical.  In 2003, to ease a budget deficit, CT put in place a temporary increase to the municipal conveyance tax.  The increase doubled the tax, in most towns and tripled it, in 18 others.  The tax was meant to expire, at the end of the year.  As with anyone who has gotten used to having more money to spend, the municipalities didn't want to lose the additional revenue and in 2004 the "Sunset Tax" was extended for another year.  Since then two more extensions have been enacted, the latest due to end, this June.  If the tax is not allowed to "Sunset", this year, it will become permanent.

In a year, when many homeowners are being forced to sell their homes, the added burden of a larger conveyance tax seems especially burdensome.  It will be  REALTORS®, fighting for these home sellers.