Priestcraft.

\Priest"craft`\, n. ...an ill sense, fraud or imposition in religious concerns; ...to gain wealth and power by working upon the religious motives or credulity of others. (courtesy of Dictionary.com).

Personal experience: Before I got my license I met an agent regarding an REO property up on Capitol Hill. We met at her office and were talking about the property. Now, this property was listed with her broker. So the broker is handling the listing and the agent that works for the broker is handling my offer to buy the property right? She goes over the REPC with me and everything was pretty normal, but it was wierd when she was going over the section that included some of the "as-is" stuff that includes the furnace. She read it like 2X and specifically mentioned "so if the furnace didn't work, for example, it wouldn't be covered". So... I ask her "Do you have any knowledge that the furnace isn't working?" What does she do? She's like... let me go check and see if we know anything about that.

She comes back later and tells me "Well, my broker, she has this board that has all of the listings up on it, and it says something about the furnace being bad or something."

Ok. You need to read between the lines. This agent works very closely with the broker. She knew about this property before showing it to me. She didn't say anything about the furnace being bad until I asked. Now, if you're a seller and you're going to sell a house, if you know the furnace is bad, don't you have an obligation to inform the buyer? Even if you're selling it as-is, you can't conceal material defects in the house. She KNEW about the furnace problem before we started the REPC, and she thought she'd be protecting either herself or her conscience by being so adamant about that section of the REPC, and then she got nervous when I asked her point blank. Anyways, she realized at that point that this wasn't a good thing.

So I want to paint you a picture: I'm leaving her office, and she feels the deal hasn't gone very good. So, her keys were on some counter with some documents she was gathering for me to take, and there is an LDS keyring vial on the keyring right? So she looks at them, and then looks at me and smiles and asks "Are you LDS?". "Yeah, I am." She picks up her keyring and shows me the keyring vial and says "I just keep this around in case it's needed and the priesthood holders need oil."

Ok - so this is plausible - but seriously, it was just strange. I can count on one finger the # of women I've ever seen carrying around a keyring vial - before OR since. Sure, maybe she does carry it around for the reasons she said. But maybe she carries it around because she feels it's a symbol she can show potential clients that says "I'm one of you." Maybe it was very innocent on her part, but to me it was in extremely poor taste and was my first taste of priestcraft in real estate.

My second experience, I'm meeting a real estate investor who found me online. I've really done a lot of preparation for this meeting, and I've got lots of material to go over with her. Speaking with her on the phone, I was able to learn what her goals were, and, like a lot of people nowadays, she wanted to "flip" houses (after her manner of understanding "flipping"). There are many successful people that do this in the area, not all of which are technically "flipping" the properties, but many do purchase and sell through agents within 60 days. So I showed her about 15 properties that had sold within 45 days of our meeting where the seller had purchased at a substantially lower price within 60 days of the sell. For each property, I was able to show what the investor purchased the home for, what it was sold for, the history of the property, and what was done to the property in the meantime.

We met, and we discussed at greater length what her goals were, what I'd be able to help her with, and why I'd be able to help her. One of my biggest strengths was in the preparation I'd put into helping her see that what she's trying to do, it's being done all over the valley. I was also able to speak to her as a fellow investor, having purchased a foreclosed property just a couple years previous which had since been valued at double the purchase price (although I've chosen to rent this particular property and don't wish to sell). I also had Paul Cramer, with me, and the value that he brings to investors is irreplaceable. With investors in this valley tending to compete for houses in the <$170 range, it's not easy to find deals on the Wasatch Front MLS for sale for less than 25% below market. That's why many people that want to find margin go direct to the seller using the Ugly Yellow Signs, or ads in the paper, or their rei groups, etc. So if you take a modest 25%, less any purchase costs incurred by the buyer, less the refurb costs, less the 6% to sell the house, you can see that you're not making as much money as you thought - especially when you're taxed on short term capital gains. Paul educates investors on how to sell their homes quickly, generally within one week. This benefits the investor by A) shortening the time to sell, and B) reducing sales commission by selling himself.
My benefit would be to help find the investor deals and make my money on the buy, then the investor would sell using the One Week Home Sale techniques.

My potential investor client was impressed with the presentation, and said "I really like what you've shown me, and I believe that you will do me a great job. I'm very thorough, however, and I have scheduled an appointment with one other Realtor I met online in the same way I met with you. I'd like to keep my appointment, but I'm sure we'll be working together."

It felt great that the preparation had helped her understand the possibilities that are out there, and also the realities of the numbers - that it did involve time, it did involve work, and it did involve money out of pocket. She walked away better educated, not having heard a dog and pony show, but a real taste of how I'd help identify good potentials for purchase.

So I get an email.

"I met with XXXXX XXXXXXXX, we met for a time and I think I'm going to use him. He seems to be more spiritually in tune with what my goals are. He had actually "googled" my name and brought with him an article that was about me in the BYU alumni magazine. I'm sorry, maybe we can end up doing business together in the future."

I never responded, because what am I going to say? Here my wife and I were praying together every night that my real estate career would succeed, but I don't seem spiritually in tune with her goals? Do I have to try to tie real estate in with some mission stories? Should I have told her about how my wife and I had just gotten back from the Palmyra Pageant on the then third anniversary of our marriage there in the Palmyra temple?

This other agent didn't prepare the information I did, instead, he astutely brought an article about her travelling from Russia to study at BYU. This article would have given him the opportunity to talk about A) His attendance at BYU B) His mission to Russia or someplace else or C) Ask about how the church is in Russia, etc. etc.

Touche' my friend, Touche'. But I'm learning quickly... My last listing described the house as such:

"The land from one end to the other measures 24 cubits by 20 cubits. The roof is of fine worksmanship and is tight like unto a dish. The pantry has room for a year's food storage. I know who Mohonri Moriancumr is, buy this house."

What's Your Motivation?

You can tell a lot about a business or person by the way they attempt to motivate you. For one thing, you can easily see what they think motivates you, and in a large part, what kind of person they think you are. Do they think you're motivated by greed? Power lust? Recognition? Duty? To provide for your family? What?

When it comes to real estate, there is a lot of money moving involved. For most of us, buying a home (or two or three) will be the biggest purchase we ever make. All of this money tends to attract folks of all types, most of them honest and as interested as you are in real estate. The money involved also attracts some less-than-honest persons, some of which prey on less-than-informed home buyers or investors. One of their key tools is to use your motivations against you. It's fairly easy to tell you what you want to hear, get you very excited, and commit you to something that isn't in your best interests.

So personal experience: I'm looking at a property in Ephraim that's been on the market for 143 days. I'd seen it at the same low price for quite a while, but I wasn't really looking for anything down in Sanpete county. So, one Sunday, we're wondering what to do with our afternoon as a family, and my wife and I decide to go check it out. When I call the next day to talk to the broker/agent, don't ya just know it, she claimed to have 3 offers on the house so I'd better get it my "highest/best offer" ASAP. Yeah. After 143 days on the market and 60+ at the same price, she happened to have 3 offers on it. -Most Realtors will tell you that yes, this happens all the time. And it does. And you'll find it's the case on almost any property you put an offer on. That being the case, know up front that when it comes time to buy the property, you're going to be told to do it right now, highest and best, do it do it do it. Be prepared for that. You will hear in your own mind "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" and "I have to take big risks to win big" etc.

Just make sure that you are making the offer you want to make, without the "takeaway" risk. Most of us can be made to purchase by creating a perception that we're about to lose out on something.

It's said that you make your money on the property when you buy. If that's true, isn't it true that nothing could be more important than "the right offer on the right house"? Don't let a seller, agent, investor friend, other offers, or act of god or congress get you hurried where you no longer feel good about your offer.