Payday

When I worked in the private sector and worked for someone else, there was one thing that I was assured of--every two weeks, on the 1st and the 15th, I would have a paycheck deposited into my bank account. Now that I work for myself as a Realtor, the checks aren't deposited into my account as often. People often think that if you're a Realtor, you make tons of money because the market's so hot. What people don't realize though is that you don't get paid until someone gets a new set of keys to put on their keyring. That's called a closing, or a settlement. I have one of those today!!! I'm so excited. Not because I'll get a check, but because the months of showing houses and offering advice and counsel has paid off and someone is about to get a new home.
That's what I love about this more than anything, helping someone realize a dream or a goal. I remember when I bought my first house. I had the best agent. She took care of everything. Back then the contracts weren't as long and sellers didn't get multiple offers. The house I wanted to buy had two contracts fall through. Mine was the third and everything went smoothly. I didn't know all the work involved, I just showed up to sign papers whenever I needed, my agent took care of everything. I closed on my new house on Dec. 20, 1990. I was thrilled.
As I practice my business, I try to make everyone feel taken care of. I don't think people realize how much work is involved. I think they assume that it's a piece of cake and not a lot of work at all. That's probably why so many people are getting real estate licenses too. Well let me tell you, it's a lot of work and it's not a piece of cake. Oftentimes, you spend months working with someone to find the perfect house. Once they find the house, you have to write the contract. A contract is a legal document that binds parties to whatever the terms of the contract are. Any mistake can cost your client thousands of dollars, expose you to lawsuits, and cause all kinds of problems for your broker. No matter how many times I do a contract, I always worry that I've missed something. That's why I try not to write a contract really late at night or when I'm in a hurry. Once the offer is accepted, the real work begins. Home inspections and appraisals have to be done and you cross your fingers that it turns out OK. Title searches have to be done. The bank has to approve the loan (even though your client has a pre-approval letter from the bank). No loan is truly approved until it goes to underwriting which can take weeks, sometimes up until the day before closing. I had a client once who didn't get underwriter approval until the day of closing and even then it was conditional. Needless to say, we didn't close that day and he ended up having to go to another bank and waiting a month to close. Fortunately the seller was patient and didn't try to take his earnest money deposit. Anyway, so many people are involved in the transaction and often things go wrong. My job is to make sure nothing goes wrong and to fix it if it does. I solve problems. There weren't many problems with today's closing. Of course I don't celebrate until every document has been signed and my client has the keys or has given away the keys (I work w/ buyers and sellers). Problems do come up at the last minute but I'm looking forward to being able to say "congratulations on your new home."

I'm disappointed that our mayor, Anthony Williams isn't going to run for a third term. I'd vote for him again as I'm sure a lot of people would. I think he has done so much to turn this city around and he should be applauded for all his efforts. He has gotten so much criticism though from people who say he hasn't done enough for the poor, that he has paid more attention to developing downtown and upper income areas of the city. What those critics fail to mention is that in developing downtown and upper income areas of the city, Mayor Williams has helped the poor because he has improved the city's tax base, thus giving the city more money to fund programs for the poor. It's easier to play the poor against the better off. I hope the next mayor understands how important it is to end the "us versus them" game. We're all in this together. What helps me, helps you and if mayoral candidates continuo to play the us versus them game, the city will go back to the days when no one wanted to be here and everyone couldn't get out of the city fast enough. I remember those days because it wasn't too long along. The city was broke and under a financial control board, our mayor Marion Barry has a mess and housing prices ere in the toilet. Crime was high, debt was high and everything was out of control. Mayor Williams wasn't a politician, he was a bean counter and he brought this city to the glory that is fitting the most powerful city in the universe. We shouldn't settle for less than that from anyone who claims to love the city and all its citizens. As the campaign heats up in the coming months, I'll give you my take on the candidates and invite you to voice your opinion. We truly are all in this together. Enjoy the rest of your day and remember you can rest when you die.