Author: Scott

Buying a home in today's market feels like navigating a minefield, doesn't it? With inventory fluctuations, interest rate changes, and fierce competition, even the most prepared buyers can stumble into costly mistakes. I've seen it happen countless times over my years in real estate – smart, well-intentioned people making decisions that end up costing them thousands or even their dream home.

The good news? Most of these mistakes are completely preventable once you know what to watch out for. Let's dive into the seven biggest pitfalls I see buyers making right now, and more importantly, how you can avoid them.

1. Starting Your Search Without Getting Pre-Approved

Here's the thing – I can't tell you how many times I've had excited buyers fall in love with a house, only to discover they can't actually afford it. Or worse, they miss out on their perfect home because sellers won't even consider offers without a pre-approval letter.

In today's competitive market, showing up without pre-approval is like bringing a water gun to a gunfight. Sellers want to know you're serious and financially capable before they'll even look at your offer.

The Fix: Get your pre-approval letter before you start browsing listings. This isn't just a formality – it's your golden ticket to being taken seriously. Your lender will review your income, debts, and credit score to determine exactly how much you can borrow. Plus, you'll know your real budget upfront, which saves everyone time and heartache.

2. Underestimating the True Cost of Homeownership

"I can afford the monthly payment" – I hear this all the time, usually from buyers who've only calculated their principal and interest. But here's what many people don't realize: your mortgage payment is just the beginning.

Property taxes, homeowners insurance, PMI (if you put down less than 20%), HOA fees, maintenance, utilities, and emergency repairs all add up fast. I've seen buyers who were comfortable with their mortgage payment suddenly struggling when reality hits.

The Fix: Before you fall in love with a house, calculate the complete cost of ownership. A good rule of thumb is to budget an additional 1-4% of your home's value annually for maintenance and unexpected repairs. Factor in property taxes (which vary dramatically by location), insurance, and any HOA fees. Your real estate agent – that's me! – can help you get accurate estimates for all these costs.

3. Skipping the Home Inspection

I get it – you're in a bidding war, the house looks perfect, and waiving the inspection seems like the magic bullet to make your offer stand out. But this is one of the most expensive shortcuts you can take.

That beautiful kitchen might be hiding decades-old electrical work. Those hardwood floors could be covering foundation issues. I've seen buyers discover problems after closing that cost tens of thousands to fix – problems that would have been caught in a $400 inspection.

The Fix: Never, and I mean never, skip the home inspection. Even in competitive markets, most sellers understand that serious buyers need this protection. If you're worried about losing out, consider shortening your inspection period instead of waiving it entirely. Attend the inspection yourself – it's like getting a crash course in your new home's systems and potential issues.

4. Not Shopping Around for Your Mortgage

Would you buy the first car you test drove? Of course not. Yet many buyers work with the first lender they talk to, often missing out on better rates and terms that could save them thousands over the life of their loan.

Different lenders offer different programs, rates, and fees. Some specialize in first-time buyers, others in jumbo loans. The lender your friend used might not be the best fit for your situation.

The Fix: Talk to at least three different lenders. Compare not just interest rates, but closing costs, fees, and service quality. Ask about different loan programs – you might qualify for VA, USDA, or state first-time buyer programs with better terms. Your mortgage is likely the largest financial commitment you'll make, so it's worth shopping around.

5. Letting Your Heart Rule Your Head

Buying a home is emotional – it should be! But when emotions completely take over, that's when we make costly mistakes. I've watched buyers stretch their budget for a house with the "perfect" kitchen, ignore red flags because they loved the backyard, or make impulsive decisions in bidding wars.

The Fix: Set your non-negotiables before you start looking. What's your absolute maximum budget? What features do you actually need versus want? Bring a trusted friend or family member to showings – sometimes an outside perspective can help you see things more clearly. And remember, you can always update paint colors and fixtures, but you can't easily change location, layout, or major structural elements.

6. Ignoring Location and Future Resale Value

You might think you'll live in this house forever, but life has a way of changing our plans. Job transfers, family changes, or just evolving preferences mean that most people move within 5-10 years.

Choosing a home based solely on current needs without considering location, neighborhood trends, and future resale value can leave you stuck with a hard-to-sell property later.

The Fix: Think like an investor, even for your primary residence. Research the neighborhood's trajectory – are property values rising or declining? How are the schools rated? What's the commute like to major employment centers? Visit at different times of day and week to get a feel for traffic, noise levels, and neighborhood dynamics. Consider whether the home would appeal to future buyers, not just you.

7. Forgetting About Homeowners Insurance

Here's a mistake that catches many buyers off guard: assuming insurance costs will be reasonable without actually checking. Insurance rates vary dramatically based on location, home age, construction type, and risk factors like flooding or wildfire exposure.

I've seen deals nearly fall apart when buyers discovered insurance would cost twice what they budgeted, especially in high-risk areas or for older homes.

The Fix: Get insurance quotes before you're under contract, or at least early in the process. Call several insurance companies with the property details and get real quotes, not estimates. Factor these costs into your monthly housing budget. If insurance is surprisingly high, use it as a negotiation point or consider whether the property fits your budget after all.

Moving Forward with Confidence

The home buying process doesn't have to be overwhelming when you know what pitfalls to avoid. These seven mistakes might seem daunting, but remember – knowledge is power, and now you're armed with the information you need to make smart decisions.

As your realtor, I'm here to help you navigate each of these challenges. From connecting you with trusted lenders for pre-approval to recommending experienced inspectors, I'll make sure you have the support team you need to avoid these common mistakes.

Ready to start your home buying journey the right way? Let's chat about your goals and create a strategy that sets you up for success. With the right preparation and guidance, we can find you the perfect home without the costly missteps that trip up so many other buyers.

The market might be challenging, but with smart planning and expert guidance, your dream home is absolutely within reach. Let's make it happen together!

If your home's been sitting on the market longer than expected, it might not be the price or location that's the problem. As someone who's helped countless families navigate the real estate market, I've noticed a clear shift in what today's buyers actually want, and more importantly, what they're actively avoiding.

The design trends that felt fresh and modern just a few years ago are now making buyers scroll past your listing. But here's the good news: once you know what's turning them off, you can make strategic updates that'll have potential buyers fighting over your keys.

Let me walk you through the five outdated features that are keeping your "For Sale" sign planted in your front yard.

1. The All-White Everything Kitchen

Remember when every home renovation show pushed stark white cabinets, white subway tile, and white quartz countertops? Those pristine, gallery-like kitchens that looked like they belonged in a magazine? Well, buyers have caught on to the reality behind those picture-perfect spaces.

Why buyers are over it: Maintaining an all-white kitchen is exhausting. Every fingerprint shows, every spill is a crisis, and forget about having kids or pets. Plus, these sterile spaces feel more like a laboratory than the heart of a home where families actually want to gather.

What buyers want instead: Warm, inviting kitchens with character. Think rich wood tones, deep navy or forest green cabinets, natural stone countertops with veining, and backsplashes that add texture and personality. They want a space that feels lived-in from day one, not a showroom they're afraid to touch.

The shift is toward kitchens that tell a story and reflect the family's personality, something that's impossible when everything is the same shade of stark white.

2. Open Shelving That's More Stress Than Style

Open kitchen shelving was supposed to make your beautiful dishware the star of the show. In reality? It's become the bane of every homeowner's existence, and buyers can spot the problems from a mile away.

Why it's not working: Let's be honest, most of us don't have Instagram-worthy dishes that look good 24/7. Open shelving collects dust faster than you can say "deep clean," and maintaining that perfect, curated look is a full-time job. Buyers see open shelving and immediately think "more work for me."

What buyers prefer: Closed cabinetry that hides the everyday mess of real life. They want functional storage where they can toss their mismatched plates and random kitchen gadgets without judgment. Clean lines, yes. Constant styling pressure, no thanks.

If you've got open shelving, consider adding doors or replacing those floating shelves with closed upper cabinets. Your future buyers (and your sanity) will thank you.

3. The Wide-Open Floor Plan That's Too Open

Here's something that might surprise you: the open concept floor plan that dominated home design for the last decade is losing its appeal, especially after more families experienced working from home.

The reality check: When everyone's home all day, you realize that zero privacy isn't actually a luxury. Parents trying to work while kids do virtual school discovered that open floor plans mean everyone hears everything. The cooking smells from dinner reach the living room furniture, and good luck having a phone conversation without the whole house listening in.

What buyers want now: Flexible spaces with some definition. They're looking for homes with designated areas that can serve multiple purposes: a quiet nook for a home office, a separate dining area that doesn't share airspace with the TV, or partial walls that create zones without completely closing things off.

The key is creating spaces that feel connected but not completely exposed. Think open concept with purpose, not just open for the sake of being open.

4. Gray, Gray, and More Gray

If your home looks like it was painted entirely in fifty shades of gray, you might be sending buyers running for warmer pastures. The gray-on-gray-on-gray trend that dominated the 2010s has officially worn out its welcome.

Why the gray trend is fading: These monochromatic color schemes feel cold and sterile. After spending more time at home than ever, people want spaces that feel warm and welcoming, not like they're living in a concrete bunker. Gray might be "safe," but it's also boring buyers to tears.

The warmer alternative: Today's buyers are gravitating toward warmer, richer color palettes. Think creamy beiges, warm taupes, soft sage greens, and even bold accent colors that add personality. These colors make a home feel inviting and lived-in rather than like a sterile hotel room.

If your walls are currently serving up a gray monotony, consider warming things up with paint colors that have more depth and character.

5. Farmhouse Style That's Feeling Too Played Out

Shiplap walls, barn doors, "Live, Laugh, Love" signs, and mason jar light fixtures might have felt fresh when Chip and Joanna Gaines first introduced them to mainstream America, but that trend has officially jumped the shark.

Why farmhouse is feeling forced: The problem with following a very specific design trend is that it dates your home to a particular era. When every surface is covered in shiplap and every door is a barn door, it starts to feel like a theme park rather than a timeless home.

What feels fresh now: Clean, transitional design that doesn't scream any particular trend. Buyers want homes that feel current but won't look dated in five years. This means cleaner lines, mixed materials, and design choices that feel intentional rather than trend-driven.

If your home is heavy on the farmhouse aesthetic, consider removing some of the more obvious trend pieces and replacing them with more classic, transitional elements.

What This Means for Your Home Sale

Here's what I tell all my clients: you don't need to renovate your entire house to make it more appealing to buyers. But you do need to understand that design trends move fast, and what felt cutting-edge five years ago might be working against you now.

The good news? Most of these issues can be addressed without breaking the bank:

• Paint is your friend: Swapping out that gray paint for warmer tones is one of the most cost-effective updates you can make
• Simple swaps: Replace open shelving with closed cabinets, switch out trendy light fixtures for more timeless options
• Strategic staging: Sometimes it's just about styling your space to feel less themed and more livable

The goal isn't to follow every new trend: it's to create a space that feels current, warm, and allows potential buyers to envision themselves living there comfortably.

Ready to Make Your Home Irresistible to Buyers?

If you're looking at your home right now and seeing some of these outdated features, don't panic. Every challenge is an opportunity, and I've helped plenty of sellers navigate these exact situations. Sometimes it's about making strategic updates, and sometimes it's about pricing and marketing your home to the right buyers who can see past the trends to the bones of a great house.

Let's chat about your specific situation and create a plan that gets your home sold. Whether that means suggesting cost-effective updates or finding the perfect buyer who loves what you've got, we can make this process much easier than trying to figure it out on your own.

Ready to get that "For Sale" sign out of your yard for good? Let's connect and talk about turning your house into the home that buyers can't wait to call their own.

So, you spent your staycation watching Million Dollar Listing on Bravo and now want to be a realtor, huh? That’s cool. Before you quit your gig over at Lulu Lemon, though, I should probably tell you a couple of things first.

Look, it’s a good gig. I’m not going to burn the house from the inside and tell you it’s a shitty life. But if you think you’re going to hop in and start slinging houses all over the place, you’ll be begging for your retail spot back within a year.

When I first started my real estate career, I was working part time because working a full time full commission job when you have no money is akin to wrestling with a great white in a straitjacket. For the first few years, I was working under a person within a Keller Williams agency. If I was lucky enough to convince a friend to use an inexperienced realtor for their needs, I got to pay some of my commission to my team leader, some to the local Keller Williams agency, some to the Keller Williams franchise, a bit to the IRS, then some to marketing and knowledge. After my first sale, I was so excited to get paid for it and it was $2400. This sounds like a good little chunk of money to get. I know. But it was the only sale I got that year. I made $2400 in the first year. It was an $8000 commission and by the time everyone took a bit, I was able to enjoy $1800 after taxes (which, admittedly, single and dumb Scott probably spent on DVDs).

Your first few years are kind of brutal. Nobody hires you to work them because you’re not experienced but you can’t gain experience if you don’t get hired. A real chicken/egg situation. When I first started, I knocked on a bunch of doors, I did some cold calling, and I faked sincerity while messaging old friends to see what they were up to (hoping they’d talk about real estate somewhere in the conversation). I hated all of it. I mean, I HATED it. All of it feels sales’y and I’m not a good salesperson like that. I’m good at what I do but not like that. It was a necessary evil and I have no regrets. Three years of shit created 10 years of chill.

You’re not going to make much out of the gate. It’s going to take a lot of time and money to get going. You’ll throw your resources at a bunch of different things. Lead gen companies are going to call you all day and night and they’re all going to seem enticing. They’re not. Zillow leads are probably the best but that company sucks because they’re trying to put you out of business. Funny like that.

I didn’t start taking off until I realized that real estate wasn’t a job but a business. You have to take those chances and throw money at stuff and hope. You have to be willing to lose money. One in ten things are going to work but that one thing will make your money back. At the beginning, though, you’re not flush with cash so any investment seems so hard to dive into.

A friend once told me that an entrepreneur does things you won’t do so they can live a life you can’t. Take the first couple of years to do the things that you don’t want to do. Sit in the office and hope that a customer stops in. Knock on doors. Email expired listings. Go to lunch with an old friend that you secretly don’t like. It’s all important. It’s all painful and it’s all important. Grind and grind and grind and five years later, your assistant is doing searches for you and setting up your clients and you’re getting texts from old friends asking for your help and sending you questions as a trusted source. You’re being referred by former clients and your days of prospecting are essentially over.

You’ll never hear an established realtor tell you their job sucks. Also, have you ever heard someone say “I was killing it selling houses but it wasn’t really for me”? If you have, that person was lying. Nobody leaves a job making a couple hundred thousand a year and making their own schedule (more or less) to go back to making daquiris and pushing appetizers at the TGI Fridays or to embrace the demands of a 9 to 5. It just won’t happen because being a realtor is kinda the sweetest gig on earth. That’s why you can throw a rock blindfolded in any direction and you’ll likely hit one. Fortunately for me, most of them are unwilling to do what you won’t do and so they aren’t going to live the life you can’t live.

When I was growing up, my parents brought a couple of dogs through the house. There was Patches, who, at the sight of daylight, would dart for the door and play a sweet little game of “catch the super fucking fast dog” for about 90 minutes. And there was Shasta, a blip on our radar but was around long enough to get very, very stoned at one party I threw while my parents were in Las Vegas.

That, really, was the extent of my pet ownership. I didn’t bathe, feed, or nurture them. I was psyched that they were around but didn’t have the wherewithal to understand why someone should be pissed that one of them ate a hole into the carpet or gnawed at the staircase (both Patches).

In 2007, I met Marcy. She was dating a fella and I was dating her roommate. Her boyfriend had bought her this hand sized pug for her birthday. Over at their place, I began to play with Sloan, pitch black and full of vigor. So, I would toss her across the floor and she would come scurrying back to me, ready for her next adventure. She was just about the sweetest thing I had ever seen.

It was 13 years between interactions between me and Marcy. Life was chaotic, she married the guy and I got married, as well. I never stopped thinking about Marcy, but I never stopped thinking about Sloan, either. In 2020, Marcy and I began speaking again and I couldn’t help but wonder how Sloan was doing. Marcy would tell me that she was the same as always, chasing extra kibble and fighting for space on her lap.

Marcy and I had both gotten divorced and began dating. 18 months later, we bought a house. Sloan was officially my dog. She was my responsibility to take out every two hours, to feed, to bathe (kinda, when absolutely necessary), to ensure that the kids weren’t sitting on her. This was a responsibility that I took very seriously. This was the first dog that I considered mine. And she was exceptional.

Sloan barked maybe, MAYBE, once every 18 months. She would bark then go back to laying down, almost unrealizing of the fact that she had just done so. She was never upset at anyone and kept to herself. In her teens, if my legs were up on the couch, she would go between them and scratch at them, signifying that I needed to spread them so she could lay there. It’s the equivalent of a bar patron laying their empty pint glass on its side to signify a need for another, but I didn’t care. I very much loved it.

Three years ago, Sloan, at the tender age of 14, took a traipse into our wooded back yard. Two days into our desperate search, I organize a final recovery mission, certain of the outcome. Lo and behold, my new best friend, Stephanie, came out with Sloan, just hanging out by the creek for two days, maybe getting some sun, maybe just escaping the domestication. I don’t know.

When your dog is 15 year old, you don’t really take them to the vet. There is a 0% chance that the vet is going to give you good news. In fact, they’re very likely to let you know that you have to pay $7000 for your little fur baby to leave the office. Well, we had our hesitations, but Sloan needed some meds to deal with some excitement stuff she was working through, so our hands were tied, and so we went. While there, the doctor told us that Sloan had this growing mass next to her heart and that she had limited time left. We got the pills to help her with the excitement and counted the days.

Immediately, thinking we had a few months, we vowed to give Sloan everything that she wanted. Want to piss and shit in our lovely home? Your call. Care to nab food out of guests hands? Treat Yoself. All is forgiven. Then a year went by. Then two…

And she was still here. Was she happy? I really don’t know. But she kept showing up and was happy to lay in our laps. As she was into her 16th and 17th year, you could tell that she wasn’t super psyched about going through the day. She had really great moments, but on the whole, she just seemed…tired. Her tail didn’t perk up as often and she preferred her bed over the couch. If I picked her up and put her next to me, she would do it, but I got the sense it was much more for me than her.

Sloan began having seizures after eating and she was having little “accidents” in her bed, which was something new for her. We had to make the difficult decision that we knew was coming but were terrified to make. We were just hoping that she passed away in her sleep. But Sloan would never do that. She was an absolute warrior. And so we had to ask ourselves the difficult question: are we selfishly keeping her alive for us? The answer was yes. If Sloan had a voice, I think she would have politely asked us to put her down.

We went to the vet to do the procedure. We were absolutely messy. This was our girl that we were deciding to end. Are we sure it’s right? There’s no turning back. Maybe she’s just having a tough month. Ultimately, we put Sloan down. We were sitting in the room with her and the vet. They gave her anesthesia then euthanized her. The vet was assuring us that it would just be a few seconds. Then a few minutes passed and our girl was just having a good snooze. After 5 minutes or so, the vet decided that Sloan wasn’t going down without a battle, so they had to give her a second dose. Our 11 pound pug needed two doses of the death juice to take her down. That’s my lady.

Marcy and I wept harder than we had in years. She peeled me off the ground outside of the office to get me in the car so we couple bawl privately. It was the saddest I had felt in many, many years.

There is no replacement for a dog like Sloan. She’s 1 of 1. This gal was so tough, so loving, so independent, so selfless. We’re going to miss her for a very long time. The house feels quieter and less colorful without her around. I hope, wherever she is, she’s understanding and proud of what she created and gave to this family. Our lives are forever changed because of her.

Rest easy, boney. You were the straw in this family.

I get asked a lot what realtors do when they’re not looking at houses. Well, I thought it would be fun to take a trip through a weird day for me. Is it atypical? Yes. But it’s not crazy abnormal. Just kinda. And I own a restaurant. Without further ado…

7:47 AM- Awaken by a smack on the forehead by my 7 year old son who feels as if I may have been overdoing it in the sleep department.

9:00 After getting breakfasts in front of them (chocolate chip muffins), putting together the dudes’ backpacks, water bottles, and Pokemon folders and ensuring they had socks on, getting them safely into their mom’s Outback. Cross that off.

9:08 Shower, clean up, leave for showing, forget wallet, turn back around, grab wallet, concern about being late, hit the road.

10:00 First showing of the day. Small chance they’ll buy it. It’s in the middle of nowhere and has a nice roof and solid kitchen.

10:30 Hop back in the car. Talk to clients on cell and let them tell me how this isn’t the house for them. Middle of nowhere so service cuts out twice.

11:10 Second showing of the day. From the moment I scheduled it, there was no chance they would buy it, but I like the agent and it will be nice for the buyers to see what that price point will buy them in that area, so we take a courtesy look. I thank the listing agent. He looks me in the eye and we both know this isn’t going to end well.

11:38 I scurry over to The Riverworks for a bartending shift. I’m late but I own the place and that’s just how it goes. Marcy and I work on Sunday afternoons together and she’s holding down the fort just fine.

12:00-3:58 Bartending. Good times. It allows me to turn my brain off and always kinda feels like we’re just hosting a party, which is always fun. Good crew, good customers. In this window of time, I’m being told that my clients want to put an offer in that has a deadline of 6 PM. Also, I had an open house that was covered by another agent so I’m keeping one eye on the phone for questions and one eye on Table 15.

4:00 Fantasy baseball draft starts. We were going to do it in the restaurant but everyone is busy with life and we get late cancellations. It’s a blessing because I don’t have the bandwidth to communicate. I didn’t have time to get home so it’s a draft at the restaurant. I still have to figure out a time for to throw together the offer in the next two hours, so this will be a concurrent effort. While pondering who I’ll select for a catcher, I have to do paperwork for a purchase that will ultimately be the biggest one of another human’s life. I choose to lean my attention towards the offer. As the draft is happening, a friend of mine is sitting at the table with me and telling me which new player is being bid on. I’m interested but incapable of action.

5:54 The draft completes. I feel relieved. My catcher is decent but my outfield is atrocious. Looks like I’ll be hitting the waiver wire. Alas…

6:04 I get the offer in, late by a mere 4 minutes. It’s incomplete but it will have to do for now. It’s not going to be the final draft anyway so as long as they get the idea of the major points, we’ll clean it up tomorrow.

6:12 Marcy and I get a drink in and decide that we won’t be cooking dinner tonight.

7:08 We go to La Festa for a couple of delicious slices of sausage, pepper, and onion pizza and a big Moat Mountain Blueberry beer. I need my brain to cool off for a minute. Marcy tells me she’ll see me on Tuesday. I don’t know what that means. She tells me it means that I ignore everything around me when I’m in real estate mode.

8:15 Finally got home. I get to put another offer together. Marcy has a soak in our new tub. I very much don’t want to do this tonight but I said I would and that’s how it goes.

9:01 Offer done, clients have signed, paperwork submitted to listing agent.

9:09 Watching White Lotus, trying to minimize the things on my mind, preparing for tomorrow, having an oversized Ketel One and soda.

This was my day. It was overwhelming, fun, chaotic, energizing, and exhausting. Technically, I made $150 for my efforts (all courtesy of my bartending shift) and I have a disappointing fantasy baseball team. I’ll take it every day.

So, you and your wife/husband/buddy/life partner have been taking for a few months about selling the house and the time has finally come. You call your agent to tell them that you’re ready to list it and would like it on the market in a week. Unfortunately, there’s likely no way it will be ready to go in that time frame.

When I get hired to list a home, there’s a general misconception that I just throw a couple of photos up on the good ole interwebs and 45 days later, I get to cash in. It’s a little more involved than that. If you hire a good agent, there’s a lot that goes into this process. For instance, all of my listings come with a house cleaning and professional photos. These need to be scheduled but they can’t happen until my client goes through the house and removes (or hides) all personal artifacts and aggressively simplifies the whole place. Depending on which of my packages that a client chooses, I may also have a pre-inspection for general safety and a pre-inspection for electrical, as these help the seller with any requests the seller might get from buyers during the inspection process. And sometimes stuff needs to be fixed or painted or, depending on the time of the year, there may have to be some landscaping that needs to be done. All houses can be improved upon to earn the seller more money on the sale and it’s a good agent’s job to point those things out and to map a plan for how to get them done.

If you’re considering selling your home, contact your agent at the beginning of the thought process rather than when you’re ready to go. I promise you that, no matter how meticulous you are, there’s work to do.

Because I’m a Realtor (see previous post for the significance of that designation, please), I just assume that everyone, in all avenues of life, has heard about all of the real estate rule changes and shifts. Well, if you’re not well versed on the August 2024 settlement between the people of Missouri and the National Association of Realtors, grab a little Pop Secret and your favorite box wine and let The Rambler fill you in.

For as long as anyone can remember (unless their memory extends beyond the early 1990s), listing agents negotiated a commission percentage with their sellers for services provided to sell their home. As part of the listing agreement, the listing agent disclosed how much of the commission percentage would be allocated to the buyers agent. In some instances, a listing agent would write stipulations in the provisions for instances when the buyer was unrepresented. Either way, the details were clearly laid out and the seller(s) signed off on it.

The problem, of course, is that they kinda had to. Because the offered buyer agency commission is openly displayed on the Multiple Listing Service for all realtors to see, any seller unwilling to offer a buyer agent a commission for helping their clients to buy the home would immediately have their home dismissed from consideration, with good reason. After all, this ain’t UNICEF. So, if sellers decided it was crazy to essentially pay for the agent of the buyer, their property would become a pariah, unworthy of a look. So what was a seller to do?

And so it went for 30+ years. The sellers would willingly pay the commission of both sides, the fee would essentially be cooked into the sales price, the buyers would be cool with paying for that fee over the course of 30 years, and we all continued to go to work. Then…

In 2019, a group of people in Missouri decided enough was enough. They said that the idea that sellers were paying all the commissions violated antitrust and sued the flatfooted National Association of Realtors to the tune of $1.8 BILLION dollars, with a B. That money would go to all those poor folks throughout this nation that had the misfortune of paying buyer agency commissions for all those years, the argument being that the sellers had no other recourse but to fork over the dough for everyone involved in the transaction. With that lawsuit, we were off to the races.

For the next 5 years, attorneys from both sides battled and battled and…had some phone calls and…some lunches ensued and…battled and battled and…probably had some negotiation conversations and…well, they had a lot of billable hours. At the end of it all, the NAR and the kind people of Missouri settled on $418 million to aid in America’s ongoing suffering. The grand majority of that money went to the attorneys for both sides. The remaining $30k (give or take) was divvied up between the 9 million (give or take) people who sold a home in the past 30 years.

For three months after the settlement, brokerages everywhere scrambled around trying to understand how to comply with this new reality. What forms should we use? What are the right words to say to buyers? You want an agency agreement when?? And the problem was that the states didn’t really know, either. Each state was different and they were all figuring it out on the fly. My agency had many, MANY meetings to discuss how they wanted each scenario to play out, including how they wanted our language in the buyer and seller agreement provisions to read, mostly because New Hampshire didn’t do a stellar job of being thorough. Nobody wanted to be wrong and nobody knew what was right.

I had some fears. I feared that a large number of buyers would go at it alone without the assistance of a buyer’s agent. This fear wasn’t drenched in greed, but compassion. I thought that buyers would feel it would be the only way they could buy properties they really desired. I feared, if they were to do that, it would lead to many, many lawsuits. Against sellers because of an unsatisfactory living situation and against listing agents for not offering their opinions to the buyers, something those agents aren’t able to give due to their fiduciary responsibilities to the sellers. I thought of all the things that can go wrong. Look, I’m not under some weird disillusion that real estate agents are modern day messiahs, but I can say that we’re here for the good, looking out for everyone’s best interests.These are huge purchases for people and we want them to be protected. This felt wrong.

Eventually, things settled down. We’re now nearly 6 months into this transition and what I’m finding is this: sellers are offering commissions to the buyers agents because if they don’t, their property would be at a disadvantage. Sound familiar? Sellers certainly aren’t required to offer these things and all would be right with them if they didn’t, but buyers interested in their property would either have to go without an agent or would have to come up with the commissions themselves, a herculean task for some that are struggling to come up with down payments and closing costs in the first place. So, a buyer might love a particular property but may feel as if that property falls out of their reality due to their needs, either representative or monetary. Thus, sellers are willingly offering proceeds towards buyer agency commissions or closing costs, not out of seeming necessity, but in an effort to make their properties more desirable. As it was before, it’s baked into the purchase price and everyone seems OK with it. Sellers seem to be at peace because it feels like their decision.

So who won and who lost? Well, attorneys cashed, so that’s cool. The NAR is probably feeling a little bit of a sting, but they get my $800 a year so they’re doing just fine. I would imagine the whistleblowers in the Ozarks are a little bummed that their big stand turned into a turkey sandwich for all of the tortured, voiceless victims they were standing up for (even though nobody asked them to in the first place). Agents lost a little because of the mild chaos. Seemingly, buyers and sellers are exactly the same.

When this started in 2019, it felt like it was a solution to a non problem. Fast forward 5 years, it still feels that way. Sellers get peace of mind, involved lawyers get their Wagyu on Saturday nights, and the beat goes on. Much ado…

Are you aware that there’s a difference between a Realtor and a real estate agent? It’s true and it’s…huge.

A realtor and a real estate agent both have the same fiduciary responsibilities and have to go through the same continuing education courses. They both have the same ramifications for their actions should they disobey their fiduciary responsibilities. But the major difference is this. Are you sitting down?

Realtors have to take a 2.5 hour Code of Ethics class every two years and have to pay an annual fee to the National Association of Realtors. Mind…BLOWN!

I’m a Realtor and this is why I look down on those lowly real estate agents. I’ve earned it. I wrote a check!!

I’ve asked around and it appears that my suspicion was confirmed: people get jobs to make money. I’m no exception. I became a realtor with the hope of making supportive income. I liked the idea of “the harder you work, the more you make”. Maybe the lack of this condition is what made me such a hard to handle employee. I felt as if I would grind with any job I was in but I was too impatient to wait for the recognition.

What I’ve found throughout this career has surprised me. With real estate, you create your own recognition, which isn’t just dollars. In fact, if money wasn’t a factor, I can honestly say this is still what I would do (but only because I’m 5’7″ and wouldn’t get picked up by even the New Orleans Pelicans). I really do love the feeling of a first time homebuyer getting the keys and seeing their look of genuine wonder over what they’re supposed to do next. I thoroughly enjoy getting a card or a text or email after the transaction to thank me for helping them through. One client even bought me a cake! I bought my Christmas tree from my client whose land included a tree farm. While I was there, I felt like the mayor because all of their friends there were referred to me by them. A few years ago, I was texted a family Thanksgiving photo that consisted of an entire family that I helped to get into their homes.

This is the good stuff and keeps me in it. It keeps me hungry. It keeps my eye on what’s important. I tell clients that the worst case scenario is that I see them at a Hannaford and I have to hide behind the asparagus because I knew that they didn’t get the right house in the right place at the right price. So, sometimes I have to tell my buyer that I’m not going to allow them to buy a house that they’re really interested in because, once that energy fades, they’re not going to be happy with it or me.

We’re all in everything for the money. Not much is for the love of the game anymore. But, by very good fortune, I have a job that gives me everything. It gives me gratitude, client appreciation, time flexibility, and a decent wage. Best of all, though, I’ve made some great friends along the way. Friendships that are lasting long past the transaction. That’s kinda awesome.

Prior to 2014, I had 2139 different jobs (give or take a few). I graduated from Whittemore School of Business and Economics at UNH and worked as a public accountant for a few years during and after college. When I realized that I had just invested 5 collegiate years in something that I didn’t want to do, I went into scramble mode. I sold mortgages, financed cars, sold paper solutions, did some private accounting, built decks, bartended a lot, tried public accounting again (which made me so sad that I went home for lunch, cried, smoked a cigarette, and went back to work every day), and did some restaurant management. I did a lot of stuff. Remember how I talked about mental breakdowns leading people to becoming a realtor? Yeah.

My first son was born in 2015 and I needed to figure things out real quick, so when I realized that real estate could pay me enough to be a career in 2016, it was a HUGE sigh of relief. You don’t need a ton of sales to make a decent living as a realtor, and by year 3, people began calling me as opposed to me pretending that I was everyone’s best friend.

When you get to the point that people are calling you and you don’t have to prospect all the time, being a realtor might be the best job in the world. You put out some fires, you help people, you keep an eye on paperwork, and you get handsomely compensated. It’s work for sure, but it’s not grueling like some would have you believe. I worked for two years in outdoor construction in New Hampshire. Seriously, negotiating an addendum is not all that grinding. Yes, we have to deal with kooky clients sometimes, but isn’t that kind of the game? We’re all a little nuts about some things. I have a weird thing about eating Cheez-Its by a factor of four. It’s real.

So, life is all kinds of bueno when the going is good in Realtorville, but when it’s not? Oh boy.