Beam Reach

leased

The big good news of the day was that the rental property got leased out.  Of course more paperwork and physical work needs to be done, but I could check off one thing on my 10 big projects list - "decide whether to lease or sell the property."  Great!  Now I only got 9 big projects to go.  加油！

I talked with my boss again about the strategy and positioning of my transfer.  She is a straight talker and I like her.  I don't, however, like the options I have.  Let me attend to other things on the list and come back to this later.

good news of the day

The positive side of having so much to do is that every day you make some major progress on something.  Each day, there is always something that makes me very happy.  For example, I forgot to mention that I was more than thrilled yesterday after I completed a very detailed analysis on one of my rental properties that I would be cash flow positive after getting a new renter and refinance the loan.  I totally expected the worst, especially after I found out that the mortgage on that property was an ARM and would be 175 basis points higher by next month. 

Today's good news came entirely unexpected.  I only have a limited number of friends here in Dallas.  What are the odds for one of my best friends here in Dallas to independently come to a decision to move to my new city?  I have not told her about my move yet.  Not because I like secrecy.  I'm hosting this party next week and I just don't want it turn into a farewell party or have the topic of moving become the topic of the night.  I will tell everybody after the party, but not before or during.  Anyway, my outlook of the new city just got better knowing I might even have a friend there!

It was so bad that it was fantastic

I guess I would elaborate on what I meant in my last post by "did it the wrong way".  In a short discussion I had with a sales person, she did three things wrong:

• She did not understand her client's psychological needs.  Instead, she has imposed her own opinion (which in truth was a good one) upon her client.  In other words, she might have recommended something that was truly beneficial for her client, but the client did not appreciate it because she did not address the client's psychological resistance to the idea.
• She might have inadvertently made the client feel stupid by the tone and the words she used.  The client may not be sophisticated, but making the client feel bad is not the right way of doing business.
• When she tries to make her point, she exaggerates.  Even if she has the right concept, the exaggeration damages her credibility.  All she has to do to correct the situation is to add some qualifying words like: usually, commonly, most likely, or hardly, seldom, or whatever the appropriate qualifying words necessary.  By not having these qualifying words, the statements she made were factually wrong (though conceptually alright).  The exaggeration back fired.

Anyhow, I'm not picking on her at all.  I appreciate the fact that I can now notice these mistakes and I hope I don't make them myself.  I'm sure I make gazillions of mistakes on the daily basis.  I wish someone could point them out for me.  But then again, if someone did point them out for me, I might get defensive. 

I wish I have a personal English teach.  Although I understand the language quite well, I feel I don't have the skills necessary to communicate with it.  I mean, to really master it so the language always reflects the intent.  For example, if I am genuinely interested and care about someone, my interaction with the person should reflect that.  I should not appear self-interested or abrupt.  (Not that anyone has told me that I appear to be that way, but I have some suspicions on how people might perceive me.)  The more I observe people, and the more I notice how good or how bad people are with their communication, the more I realize the gap between my skills today and where I want to be. 

So I actually like to deal with bad sales people, because they provide me with fantastic learning experience.  Oh, please don't tell them, because I don't necessary what to pay them for these lessons, you know.  ;-)

Got to be there

She rang my bell and I let her in.  She was dressed impeccably and elegantly perfumed.  She told me that she is now the #1 agent of the region. 

I knew why she was here.  She wanted to find out why I had given my business to someone else.  Indeed, I sought her out first.  She was only #2 of the region then.  Her pricing was actually better.  So why didn't I pick her?

Well, for all the sales and sales-to-be out there, the lesson here is "follow up".  I asked her to send me the detail arrangement via email.  I never got it.  The other agent called to see whether he could be of any assistance and got the business.  When she failed to send the email, I felt that I was not important to her and her business. 

No matter how successful you are, you got to be there for your clients, and when in doubt, always call.

Zillow

I'm addicted to Zillow.com; You can find the current estimated value of any home on Zillow.  It has some formula that calculates the home value base on historical data, neighborhood sales, property tax data, etc.  The map with all the houses in the neighborhood priced is just the coolest thing.

Ok, I know it's all public information.  But prior to Zillow, I have to go through at least 3 sites, plus a spreadsheet, to figure out the home valuation.  With Zillow, it's only one click away.  It is so clever.  I just love it.  LOVE IT!

First tenant

Well, not exactly the first, but since the last tenant was our friend, it does not really count.  I read all the books about being in the landlord business, and I really shied away from it because all the potential trouble and bad people that you might encounter.  But I really like my new tenant.  I have not met her in person, only spoke with her over the phone, but I like her.  I will see how this works out, because if this turns out to be a good experience for me, I think I'd enjoy being a landlord.  :-)

2 cents

It is important in life to establish a trusted team around you.  From the day to day convenience, like your hairdresser, aesthetician, handy man, cleaning person, to more important support network, like your doctor, accountant, mortgage broker, realtor and lawyer.  It is difficult to obtain this team.  I lived in California for 7 years and I only found less than half of the people on the list.  For example, I don't have a hairdresser or a lawyer.  Not that I need one today, but won't it be nice to know who to go to when I need something?

Anyway, I do have a fantastic realtor though.  You know how normal realtors would send you post cards bragging about how much they sold?  My realtor sent over lots of 2 cents stamps.  Everyone needs the 2 cents stamps with the postage increase.  That mail saved me a trip to the post office.  That's how professional does it!

Buyer agent or seller agent

I have been looking at Dallas real estate market these days.  It is entirely a buyer's market.  For people who came from California, everything seems to be incredible - like brand new homes priced at $80-$100 per square feet, or the statistics of 6 months average for a house to sell.  But I heard a new one today.  In other markets, every agent wants to be a seller's agent, because the 3%+ commission is more or less guaranteed.  The buyer's agent might have to show a lot of houses and may or may not get the commission because the buyer may decide not to buy for a while or buy a new development, or simply decide to get better price without an agent.  Here in Dallas, however, agents really take pride to be the buyer's agent.  I guess it makes sense: it is a buyer's market, so more people want to be buyer's agent.  Yet, this still feels so incredibly strange.  I imagine people who moved from Texas to California would be in for a bigger shock. 

"extremely overvalued"

According to USA Today, single-family home prices are "extremely overvalued" in 53 cities.  Who tops the chart?  My favorite city - Santa Barbara.  I guess I'm not buying a place in my favorite city anytime soon.

Here is the story, and the chart.

Asset requirement

I learned something new today.  Quote from this article on a blog:

"... The average apartment there sells for $4 million and you need assets of $15 million to get in..."

So, not only you need to have $4 million to buy the apartment, you also need at least $11 million more to be considered worthy? 

(day 53)