Palm Beach Perspective

Last week, I spent several days in Palm Beach, the guest of a couple who are dear friends of long standing. They invite me to visit every winter, and it’s always one of the highlights of my entire year – not to mention a lovely break from the Nashville winter. 
 
They are excellent hosts. We eat well, drink well, have interesting conversations, and laugh a lot. What’s not to love?
 
And then there’s Palm Beach itself. Near-perfect weather in February, the beach on one side and Lake Worth on the other, breathtaking beauty everywhere you look. Wonderful!
 
But also a little disorienting.
 
Being on Palm Beach is a bit like visiting another planet. Everything looks both familiar and strange at the same time. The amount of wealth concentrated on this small island is hard for most of us to imagine – and it makes everything seem a little “more.”
 
Which brings me to real estate and perspective. Palm Beach is a great place from which to observe Nashville. 

Here in Nashville, our white-hot market is unlike anything we’ve seen heretofore. This causes a lot of emotions among buyers. Many fear they will never be able to buy a house. Others are angry at the rising prices, feeling it’s all unfair. Others are afraid if they buy high, the bubble will pop and they will lose a bundle.

The Palm Beach real estate market is almost exactly like Nashville’s – assuming you add a zero to the end of every price. A $500,000 tear-down in Nashville is a $5 million tear-down in Palm Beach. A $2 million spec house in Nashville is a $20 million spec house in Palm Beach.

And Palm Beachers’ reaction to this situation is about the same as Nashvillians’ is to ours. Tongues are clucked, eyes are rolled, and things keep right on going … upward.

To me this says a couple of things –

Scale and substance are not the same thing. Everything in Palm Beach is bigger brighter, glossier, and more expensive. But, the market dynamics are exactly the same as here. No matter where you are, you buy a ticket and you play the game. For better or worse, you roll with it. More expensive isn’t better – or worse – it’s just different.

Money does not buy happiness! My hosts are two of the happiest people I’ve ever met. They have a very nice house – four bedrooms, three baths, pool, gorgeous kitchen – that is totally dwarfed by some of their neighbors. (One of those $20 million spec houses was built across the street and sold before it was finished.) Do they care? Heck no! They love the life they have. And I suspect they’d be happy in a two-room shack if they had each other.

Which brings me back to a truth I tell all my buyers. Sometimes sellers, too. This is about a place to live. Your house is where you do your life. It involves money and investing, yes – but it’s about life. If your life is okay, your house will be okay – or at least endurable – too.

My job as a realtor is to help my clients get where they want to be, when they want to be there, on the best possible terms. But looking at the market from a Palm Beach perspective might make the whole process seem less daunting.

Covid Lessons

So, this happened …
 
Two weeks ago, I began having mild cold symptoms – runny nose, a few sneezes, a few coughs. No big deal, but because I was planning to be with clients the next day for a walk-through and closing, I decided to get a Covid test, just to say I had done it – such a good citizen! – and to prove I didn’t have Covid. How could I have Covid? I’d been vaxed and boosted and I’d been taking precautions since the beginning of the pandemic.
 
As it turns out, I did have Covid!
 
Fortunately, it was an extremely mild case – like having a cold, but not as bad – undoubtedly because of the vaccine and the booster. I’m glad it was mild, and I’m grateful for the vaccine and to the scientists and medical people who are working so hard to keep us safe. 
 
I’m writing this on my third day loose from quarantine, and thinking about real estate – what else? Any parallels here? Aren’t there always?

Be Prepared
I had a mild case because I’d done what I could to protect myself. For sellers and buyers, the same applies. Get your ducks in a row first, and the process will always go better. Prep the house for sale before listing. Get approved for a mortgage before shopping. And work with a good realtor. Something unexpected is likely to occur (see below) but well-prepared buyers and sellers shoot the rapids with less damage.

Expect the Unexpected
Something always happens! In my case, I got Covid. In the case of a real estate deal, the possibilities are literally endless. Buyers and sellers who are well prepared to begin with usually have less severe roadblocks. But attitude is always important as well. I was “prepared” or so I thought, and was floored by my positive Covid test result. It took me a day or two to get my mind adjusted to the reality and move along. When the unexpected hits, a positive attitude always makes things better. Or at least, less painful.

Get Expert Counsel
I believe in science. I trust the experts. I took precautions to protect myself and others from this terrible disease, and when it happened to me, the fallout was mild. Whether buying or selling, working with a good realtor will protect you from the worst of the unexpected and lead you to the best outcome. Every time!

What I want for Christmas

As usual, last month’s email message was about gratitude – because that’s traditional in November and it’s also my birthday month and my real estate license anniversary month.
 
Moving on. It’s time to ask for a few things. Traditional in December, like saying thanks in November.
 
Despite the challenges that we all have been facing, 2021 was perhaps the best year of my entire life. I continued healthy amid the pandemic. I doubled my sales volume from the 2020 level – which had been a record year for me. I learned a lot in the process, and made wonderful new friends among my clients. And I blew past 70 into my eighth decade with no noticeable ill effects. Who could ask for more?
 
Well, try me. I’ve got a list.

In 2022, I’d like:
 
Less hate, more love!
Seriously! We, as a nation and as individuals, need to simmer down! The current level of angry rhetoric and divisiveness in this country is unbelievable. People abusing waiters and flight attendants. Politicians demonizing and name-calling each other and anyone else they disagree with. Book banning and burning. It’s at a level I’ve never seen before. We must work to embrace our common humanity and work together despite disagreements. Or we will lose everything. The effort begins with you. And me. So, I ask you to give it a try. I’m with you on this.
 
A little more sanity in the real estate market
I’ll go ahead and say it: can we have a bit more balance in the market this year? The current situation is wearing pretty thin on buyers, not to mention their realtors, and a more balanced market wouldn’t exactly kill sellers. We’re just going to have to ask the universe for help on this one, and I doubt we’ll get much. But it never hurts to ask. So, I’m asking.
 
Continued low interest rates
I know it tends to whip up buying frenzy – see above – but don’t the poor buyers deserve some sort of a break? Again, it’s up to the universe, but I might as well ask.
 
More real estate deals
I love, love, love my job! More work, but much more reward, than anything I’ve ever done. I love almost everything about it – the houses, my clients, my fellow realtors  – even the paperwork. I love it all and I’m good at it, so bring it! I’m ready to roll!

Gratitude Always

Well, here we are – November, 2021. And that means several things in my world.
 
First, we are fully into autumn – my favorite season of the year. I’m always ready for the change in seasons, but I love autumn especially because I am usually worn out with the heat and long days of summer. The season brings brisk weather, earlier sundowns, beautiful fall colors, and the promise of traditional festivities ahead.
 
Second, my birthday is November 26. And this is birthday Number 70! I am still amazed – gobsmacked, even – by this fact.
 
Third, this is Thanksgiving month. And these days I have a lot to be thankful for.

Let’s run down the list, shall we …

Job I get to have fun (almost) every day, by actually helping people get what they want and need, while earning a good living – which leads to …

Clients What a swell bunch of people I’ve worked with over the past seven years! So happy to get to know them, get their deals done, and become friends in the process. And they bring me gifts. Just for doing my job. Amazing!

Friends and Family As always, I am surrounded by a truly deluxe squad of supporters who feed me, make me drinks, make me laugh, and hold me up when I’m tottering. They love me and I love them!

City Wonderful to be living and working in this dynamic, building, buzzing city! Too many traffic snarls? Yes. Too many pedal taverns? Absolutely. Too many tear-downs and tall/skinnies? Perhaps. But Holy Cow! What a fabulous ride we are on! Bring more! I love it!

Seven decades and still not done It is still difficult to get my head wrapped around the fact that I am actually this old. Where did all the time go? And how did it happen so fast? But it is what it is, so I celebrate the gift of life itself. It’s good to have 70 years under my belt, but especially sweet for all the reasons above. And I’m on the upswing. Not done yet! Stay tuned!

Seller Beware!

Residential real estate certainly has its share of terrors, frights, and things that go bump in the night. And since Halloween is just around the corner, this seems like a good time to talk about it.

Since everyone knows the current market overwhelmingly favors sellers, it goes without saying that things can get scary for buyers. I wrote about it in October two years ago.

What might come as a surprise – especially in a market with most sellers sorting through stacks of over-asking offers – is that there are scary factors sellers need to watch out for as well.

To name a few …

Sight-Unseen Offers
Such offers are shockingly commonplace these days. I’ve had them on recent listings and competed against them recently with buyers. BUT if they come with an inspection contingency, watch out! With an inspection contingency, buyers can get a house under contract and then decide at their leisure whether they actually want it. If you want to accept such an offer, use a counter offer to kill the inspection contingency or make the earnest money non-refundable.

Corporate Buyers
Unlike those above, corporate buyers are generally not interested in living in the house. But like those above, they will get a house under contract and then decide what to do with it. Often they will shop the contract to another buyer for a quick profit. Nothing wrong with this if sellers get the price they want, but if the deal goes sideways, they will have to start all over. These offers often have a bunch of indecipherable language in Special Stipulations. Your realtor can help you decipher this and avoid getting burned.

Appraisal Gaps
In the past six months, I’ve written eight successful offers for buyers (not to mention a number that didn’t get the deal). All but two were over-asking price and either waived appraisal entirely or offered to cover a certain amount of any gap between appraised value and contract price. That’s what it takes these days. But sellers should beware of this kind of offer unless the buyer offers proof of funds to cover the gap. Sellers are used to asking for proof of funds with an all-cash offer but they need to ask for proof to cover an appraisal gap as well. If the funds aren’t there, and the house doesn’t appraise, you could have a train wreck on your hands.

Greed
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: overpriced houses do NOT sell! Don’t get greedy. Price it right and you’ll be successful.

Selling a house can be lots of fun these days, but don’t let it go to your head. As always, let your realtor be your guide.