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It's been 10 years since Jill came to work for me, overseeing countless projects that amounted to untold hours of toil and dedication. During that time, she's coordinated teams of vendors, remodeled kitchens and bathrooms, overhauled gardens and yards, became far too familiar with Home Depot, and most importantly, employed creative solutions at a moment's notice. No matter what I've asked of her, she's risen to the task. In short, she's proven to be invaluable. So when Sarah and I joined forces at COMPASS six years ago, Jill accompanied me as part of the package deal. For better or worse, we travel as a pair. (Just ask my husband.)
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“The biggest mistake I ever made was giving up my low tax base,” the woman said, as she walked through the Open House on Sunday. “I already used my transfer when I sold my Berkeley home last year, and moved to Jack London Square, but I miss having a house, and this one would be perfect.”
“Well, I said, I’m not a CPA (nor does my license qualify me to give tax advice), but I'm fairly certain you can now carry your tax base with you more than once.” My new neighbor has a team of men working from sunrise to sunset on his front garden across the street and it's transforming his property into a wonderland. What was once an overgrown "fixer" on a massive scale is steadily turning into one of the nicest homes on the block. Bought last year by a talented young contractor and his lovely wife, it was originally conceived as a "flip" project, but I'm delighted to report that they decided to keep the home for their growing family (they just had baby number three). Suffice it to say that I couldn't be more pleased to welcome them to the neighborhood. Any improvements they make to their property only serve to increase the value of mine!
To say the garden was overgrown is an understatement to be sure . . . I'm doing something I rarely do where The Perspective is concerned, but earlier this week I had a few enlightening conversations that I thought were worth passing along. . . . so instead of starting from scratch, I've repurposed my email (with permission, of course) for your consideration.
The first topic comes from a colleague I admire tremendously. Alison Teeman, of Yovino Young, who is my "go-to person" for appraisals. Whether for purposes of a sale, a refinance, construction, or a reassessment of a property value upon death or divorce, Alison knows her business like nobody else. So when she brought up the concept of "super-adequacy" (a term I'd never heard before), I asked for more clarity. "You need to CONTROL the Buyers," the caller emphatically stated, while simultaneously chewing me out.
"Uhh, pardon me?" Aside from the fact that Sarah and I represented the Sellers - not the Buyers - OR that it would be a gross violation of our licenses to bypass the Buyers' Agent to speak directly with her clients, OR that these instructions came from a previously unknown third party, OR that our side was responsible for the delay, OR that "control" is a nebulous construct at best, the time for setting reasonable expectations ("reasonable" being the operative word) is during negotiations, or better yet, BEFORE the relevant parties enter into contract. This is typically accomplished through instructions posted in either the MLS or the Disclosure Package (or both), OR with detailed counter-offers, OR through good old-fashioned one-on-one phone conversations. (Remember those?) |
AuthorJulie Gardner, has been writing The Perspective for 19 years and has published more than 850 humorous but always informative, essays on life and real estate. 
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