Jim Smith's Blog

Recently one of our broker associates, Debbi Hysmith, while serving as a listing agent, encountered a buyer’s agent who was particularly abrasive. This agent accused the seller of be-ing dishonest and hiding material facts about the home, which Debbi knew to be false.  In that agent’s communication (which Debbi forwarded to the seller as required by law), this agent used language that was accusatory and unkind. 

The sellers were so offended by the agent’s communication that they were going to refuse all further requests and basically allow the contract to fall. But Debbi chose to remove emotion from the equation, put on a friendly face, and encouraged the sellers to look beyond the wording to respond to what was, in fact, a reasonable request.

In calming down the offended seller, Debbi explained that one never knows what experience a buyer may have had in the past and we should do our best to just stick to the facts of the request. The transaction was saved because Debbi was (as is her nature) friendly, helpful, respectful, and had good communication skills. In the end, both seller and buyer enjoyed a successful and happy closing — all because the listing agent was friendly.

This caused me to consider the importance of hiring a friendly agent like Debbi. While experience is valuable and should be considered when selecting a agent, it’s important to choose based on other factors, including personality. Remember, the person you use to buy or sell your home is representing you in the deal.  While having lots of experience is important, it’s not everything.

Here at Golden Real Estate, we have nine broker associates with varying degrees of experience. However, because we are a small — some might say “boutique” — brokerage, the more “seasoned” among us provide effective supervision and mentoring to the less experienced brokers at Golden Real Estate. Meanwhile I’ve noticed that some of our “least seasoned” agents, in fact, have enviable people skills. In that respect, I could probably learn from them!

So choose someone friendly, relatable and real (like Debbi) with whom you can have honest conversations. You’ll be spending a lot of time with your agent, communicating frequently via text, email, and phone.  Your agent will be representing you at open houses and over the phone talking to potential buyers and their agents.  If your agent is a poor communicator, the transaction will be less efficient and could cost you money (if not a closing) because the options are not effectively communicated to both sides.

There are three other important characteristics I suggest looking for when hiring an agent, whether to buy a home or sell your current home — or both. The first of these is authenticity. If you’re like me, you probably have a good BS meter, and you never want to work with someone who exaggerates, lies, or otherwise misrepresents who he or she is or their record of success.

I’m reminded of a quote from Earnest Holmes, who wrote, “It isn’t possible for a man to conceal himself.  In every act, word or gesture he stands revealed as he is, and not as he would have himself appear to be. From the Universe, nothing is or can be hidden.”

Another trait that I’d look for in an agent is a good sense of humor. Combined with a friendly attitude, a sense of humor can save a deal that otherwise might go south.  As we saw in Debbi’s story, how an agent presents an option is just as important as the option itself.

The third trait may be the most important.  You want your agent to be a good listener. Need I say more?  (Are you listening? ☺)

In that regard, find an agent you can trust, who asks questions.  Most Realtors have access to the technology to get your property seen and sold, but it takes a human being to understand and work for your best interests.  You need someone who listens and understands all of the complexities of your situation and is honest and transparent about bringing all options to the table.  Ultimately this is your transaction and you should call the shots. 

Licensing Law Has Something to Say About This…

Your agent is working for you, in your best interest. This is not just a good idea, it’s spelled out in licensing law. You and I may use the word “agent” loosely, but when speaking legally, the term takes on special meaning. Let me explain..

Real estate brokers and broker associates can work with consumers in three different ways.  One is to have no client relationship with the broker, in which case the buyer is a “customer,” not a client.  An example of that is when a listing agent encounters a buyer at an open house, and that buyer is not working with another agent. Some listing agents will first enter an agency relationship with that buyer and double-end the transaction as a “transaction broker,” giving up their agent relationship with the seller and becoming a neutral facilitator of the transaction. An “agent” works exclusively for the benefit of his client with “utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity.”

At Golden Real Estate, unless the listing agent has a pre-existing bona fide buyer agency relationship with the buyer, our brokers are required to treat the buyer as a customer and not enter into a client relationship. We don’t permit our agents to sacrifice their agency relationship with the seller for their own personal enrichment, but we also have incentives that they can offer to buyers who are willing to be a “customer” rather than a “client.”  These incentives take two forms.

First, our company policy is to offer a variable commission to our sellers.  That means that we discount our listing commission when we don’t have to share our commission with a buyer’s agent. Buyers can use that differential to their advantage. Second, since we have our own moving trucks, movers, moving boxes and packing materials, we can offer totally free moving (including gas for the truck) to a buyer who, by being a “customer,” allows our agent to earn a bigger commission. 

These two incentives usually suffice to make a buyer comfortable with being a customer, allowing us to retain the “agent” relationship with our seller.

`Tis the season when it’s popular to reflect on the year that is drawing to a close, so here’s a collection of my favorite columns from 2018. If any of them strike your fancy, you can find links for each of them online at www.JimSmithColumns.com.

Jan. 4, 2018 — Golden Real Estate: ‘Promoting and Modeling Environmental Responsibility’ This column describes how we completed the transition from mere energy efficiency to a “net zero energy” office. 

Jan. 25, 2018 — Life Transitions Are at the Heart of Most Clients’ Real Estate Needs. Divorce, marriage, relocation, medical crises and becoming “empty nesters” are a few examples.

Feb. 1, 2018 — Here Are Some Obstacles (Real or Imagined) Faced by First-Time Home Buyers.  Down payment, credit issues, student loan debt, and unwarranted risk aversion are some of the obstacles covered. 

Feb. 22, 2018 — Owned Your Home for a Long Time? Here Are Some Ideas on Limiting Capital Gains Liability. Although not a CPA myself, I offer some advice such as “Don’t put your heirs on the title of your house — let them inherit it.” 

Mar. 8, 2018 — How Can Sellers Prepare for the Buyer’s Inspection? Here’s Some Practical Advice. The information in this column can help to save you money when the buyer asks for repairs. 

Mar. 15, 2018 — Buyers and Sellers Ask: Why Did the Appraisal Come in at Exactly the Contract Price?  This is a common question, and I help answer it this week. 

Mar. 22, 2018 — Off-Market Real Estate Sales Hurt Sellers by Shutting Out Buyers Who Might Pay More.  When someone offers to buy your house, treat it as an opening bid. You don’t want to sell your home to less than it’s worth, do you? 

Mar. 29, 2018 — How Can Buyers Win a Bidding War?  Here’s What Our Agents Do. It’s easy for agents to ask buyers to submit their “highest and best,” but an auction approach often nets you more money for your home. 

April 5, 2018 — What If Sellers and Their Agents Don’t Disclose Known Defects in Their Listings?  The new version of the Sellers Property Disclosure is a disservice to both buyers and sellers. I explain why. 

April 26, 2018 — Just in Time: A Breakthrough in ‘Rent-to-Own’ for Those Who Can’t Buy Now.  Golden Real Estate has an investor who will buy a home that is being offered for sale, then rent it you.  And you receive an 5-year option to buy!

May 3, 2018 — As Warm Weather Arrives, What Are the Different Ways to Cool a Home?  Alternatives to conventional air conditioning includes whole house fans, evaporative coolers and heat pumps.  

May 24, 2018 — What Is Title Insurance, and Why Do Buyer and Sellers Need It, Anyway?  This is typically your second biggest expense when selling a home. I explain its purpose. 

June 14, 2018 — Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Sell Your House Without Putting It on the Market.  To get the highest price, you need to expose your home to the broadest range of buyers possible, something that happens only if it appears on the MLS. 

June 21, 2018 — I Love to Write About Real Estate, But This Week It’s Personal.  This well-received column was about Donald Trump.  I just couldn’t stay silent any longer, and I was flooded with thank-yous for writing it. 

July 26, 2018 — The Home Buying Process: How It Works in the Internet Age. The role of the real estate agent has changed now that most buyers do their own online searching before calling their agent. 

Aug. 16, 2018 — Should the MLS Include a Condition Rating for Each Listing? Here’s How It Might Work. In this column, I explain how this could be done and how it would better serve buyers.  

Aug. 30, 2018 — What You Need to Know About Agents Who Claim to Have a Buyer for Your Home. They could be lying to get you to list with them.  

Sept. 13, 2018 — Don’t Make the Same Mistakes Made by Others When Trying to Sell Their Homes  Perhaps you’ll recognize some of these common mistakes.

Nov. 8, 2018 — Senior Homeowners Are at Risk of Being Conned/Scammed Out of Their Homes. This is a must-read! Too many seniors are falling victim to scammers.

Whether or not you live in the foothills or adjacent to drought-parched open space, you were likely stunned, as I was, by the scene of an entire city being consumed by fire so quickly that people burned to death in their homes or in their cars trying to escape.  Perhaps you worry that what we witnessed in California could happen here.  Given our dry climate, our topography, and our strong winds, the question isn’t whether such an event could happen here but rather what we can do to mitigate the risks to life and property should we find our home in the path of a fast-moving wildfire.

If you’ve been in Colorado for awhile, you may remember the Waldo Canyon fire of June 2012.  That wildfire destroyed 346 homes in the Mountain Shadows subdivision of Colorado Springs and killed two people.  As shown in the picture below, that fire did not burn every home, however. The homes that burned were ignited by wind-blown embers.

That subdivision, like the city of Paradise, California, is in what’s known as the Wildland Urban Interface, but the kind of winds we experienced as recently as last weekend can cause embers from a single house fire to spread quickly to other homes in urban areas, too.  If embers start flying, you’ll want to make sure that your home is not ignited by them.

Traditionally, fire control has focused on fires that begin inside your home. For example, building codes have long required the use of self-closing solid doors and ⅝-inch fireboard between your garage and the living quarters and attic of your home, and new multi-family buildings are typically required to have fire-suppression (sprinkler) systems. In some jurisdictions, single-family homes also must have such systems, which can quickly flood the interior of your home with fire-dousing water, but I have yet to find a house with exterior and roof-mounted sprinkler heads.

The next time you have to replace your roof, consider what one of my clients in Golden did — install a stone-coated metal roof instead of yet another composition shingle roof. It will help to protect your home from fire, not just hail.  At right is a picture of a stone-coated metal roof.

In South Carolina, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety built a massive wind tunnel, originally to test different construction materials and designs under hurricane conditions. More recently it has been adapted to measure the effect of wind-blown embers (see image below) on various building materials. See website at www.DisasterSafety.org/wildfire/.

From that website and other research I’ve done, here are some thoughts about making homes more resilient in the face of wildfire.

Although fire-resistant roofing and siding materials should be used whenever possible, it’s not enough to consider just the material itself.  For example, a tile roof won’t burn but is not impervious to embers, which can be blown into the gaps between the tiles.

Intense heat can cause windows to shatter, so consider using tempered glass all around, not just where required by code. Better yet, consider installing electric rolling metal shutters, which descend to completely cover exterior windows and doorways. One vendor’s website is www.SomfySystems.com. Although marketed for other reasons, such as security and privacy, they could also protect windows from being blown out by an approaching wildfire. They can also be monitored and operated using a smartphone app.  I have seen such shutters installed on a few Colorado homes, including on the Golden home shown here, which we listed in 2009.  The metal shutters roll down from that box above each window.

Special attention should be paid to the underside of roof overhangs, balconies and decks, where flames can be trapped. Roof soffits in most homes have vents which combine with vents on the roof to circulate outside air through the attic.  Unfortunately, this design can also allow the introduction of wind-blown embers into the attic. One way to eliminate these vents is to do what Meritage Homes did in building Arvada’s Richards Farm subdivision. The insulation of those homes is closed-cell foam applied to the underside of the roofs, rather than the more typical blown-in cellulose or fiberglass batts resting on the floor of the attic, as is found in most homes – perhaps your own.  Meritage probably didn’t consider that making the homes more energy efficient in this way had the added benefit of making them more resistant to wildfire.  Below is a picture of this kind of insulation being installed in an attic. 

If your home has those attic vents, screens should be installed on them to minimize the intrusion of wind-blown embers, in the same way that chimneys have screens to prevent the escape of such embers. Other openings such as plumbing vents, dryer exhaust vents, etc., can be similarly made more fire-resistant.

Owners of foothills properties are well aware of the “defensible space” requirements of local jurisdictions which involve the removal of trees and clearing other combustibles from around a home.  For example, firewood should never be stored against the side of a home. Insurance companies often make such mitigation a condition for insuring a home.

It is not uncommon for homes to have “safe rooms” to which homeowners can flee in case of a home invasion. I have seen really good examples of safe rooms in a couple of homes. The existence of such a room can be concealed through, for example, a door built into a floor-to-ceiling book shelf. If such a room were constructed in a basement with cinderblock walls, a metal door, and a concrete-and-metal ceiling, it might double as a survival room in the event a wildfire like the one in Paradise, which made evacuation a risky alternative. Meanwhile, such a room would make a great wine cellar!

Although I haven’t researched it, I would guess that taking some of these precautions — especially metal roofing and the rolling metal shutters — might help to reduce your insurance premiums, as well as to possibly save your life and property in case of wildfire.

Because many of the measures described above require electricity, and electrical service can be interrupted during a fire, you might consider installing a power back-up system such as the Tesla Powerwall or a conventional gas generator. While you’re at it, installing solar panels would help not only to shield an otherwise combustible roof, but could also power your home if electrical service remains out after the fire has passed.

 

By JIM SMITH, Realtor ®

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, because it gives me an opportunity to dwell on all that I have to appreciate in my life — both professionally and personally.

First and foremost, I’m grateful for the nine broker associates who found themselves drawn to work at Golden Real Estate. They are pictured with me below outside our South Golden Road office. Let me introduce them, from left to right.

I have known Jim Swanson since we both worked at Coldwell Banker in 2002.  Jim, a lifelong resident of South Golden, followed me to RE/MAX Alliance where we both worked before I bought a former restaurant building on South Golden Road and created Golden Real Estate. I value his familiarity with and love of Golden. He’s also an excellent Realtor! You can reach him at 303-929-2727 or you can contact him by email at BrokerSwanson@aol.com. Thanks, Jim, for being with me as we grew our brokerage!

Chuck Brown, second from left, owned his own Metro Brokers office before giving it up to join Golden Real Estate several years ago, attracted by our commitment to sustainability. (He has a Tesla Model 3 on order.) He lives and sells in Paradise Hills on Lookout Mountain, but he’s also our Denver expert, having listed and sold many homes there over the years. You can reach Chuck at 303-885-7855 or you can email him at Chuck@GoldenRealEstate.com.

Norm Kowitz came to us from RE/MAX Alliance. He lives in North Golden and is currently enrolled in Leadership Golden to deepen his knowledge of this city that he and I call home. His service on the board of directors of the Christian Action Guild testifies to his commitment to serving others.  Deeply proud of his service as a U.S. Marine Infantryman, Norm also takes pride in the fine people his four children have become and, of course, in his five grandchildren. Also, he helps me by copyediting my columns. He’s a great Realtor, too! You can call Norm at 303-229-3891, or email  him at Norm@GoldenRealEstate.com.

Next to Norm is Carol Milan, who has lived in Golden for 30 years (since college) and has been a strong community volunteer over that entire time. A mother of three teenagers, she is married to Kevin Milan, the chief of South Metro Fire District. I’m impressed at her commitment to Golden and how many people she knows! Prior to becoming a Realtor, she was a Registered Nurse at Colorado Orthopedic Hospital, where she attended to my wife, Rita, during her knee replacement!  You can call or text Carol at 720-982-4941, or email Carol@GoldenRealEstate.com.

Standing between Carol and me is Kristi Brunel, who is also on the board of the Christian Action Guild and, like me, is a graduate of Leadership Golden. It was Kristi who recruited Norm and Carol to join Golden Real Estate. The Brunel family is well known for its long-time residency here and for its contribution of Golden’s civic life. I value Kristi for her knowledge of investment properties, because she and her husband Kenny have long owned and managed several rentals in Jefferson County. You can reach Kristi at 303-525-2520 or email her at Kristi@GoldenRealEstate.com.

On the other side of me is one of our newer agents, Debbi Hysmith, a real dynamo of a Realtor who lives in Westminster. She came to us from another small brokerage, attracted by our commitment to sustainability. (She drives a Chevy Volt, which she charges for free in our parking lot!)  She is also a home staging expert and even has her own inventory of furnishings that she uses to stage her listings. You can call or text Debbi anytime at 720-936-2443 or email her at Debbi@GoldenRealEstate.com.

Next to Debbi is David Dlugasch, a certified home stager. David had his own brokerage in Crested Butte, but relocated to Arvada 5 years ago and was drawn to join Golden Real Estate after reading my columns online. He specializes in Arvada real estate. He’s my deputy managing broker. You can reach him at 303-908-4835 or David@GoldenRealEstate.com. David recently took delivery of a Tesla Model 3, which he, too, charges in our parking lot.

Next to David is Carrie Lovingier, who has been with Golden Real Estate for a decade. Carrie lives in south Evergreen (behind Evergreen High School), so I look to her when it comes to listing or showing Evergreen listings. She is a great Realtor!  Reach her at 303-907-1278 or Carrie@GoldenRealEstate.com.

    Last but not least is Andrew Lesko, who lives in Golden (across the street from me).  Andrew specializes in townhomes, condos and duplex properties. If you are considering buying or selling these types of properties, a great place to start would be his websites GoldenTownhomes.com and DuplexAlerts.com. Andrew can always be reached at 720-710-1000, or you can email Andrew@GoldenRealEstate.com.

Next I’d like to salute and thank our many clients, most of whom came to us from reading this column, so I am really grateful for my readers!  Remember, I love to hear from you, so do call or write me!  And please know how grateful all of us are for all of you. 

I’m also thankful for my colleagues from other brokerages and especially those in leadership positions at the Denver Metro Association of Realtors (DMAR) and fellow members of the MLS’s Rules and Regulations Committee on which I’ve been privileged to serve for many years. I’m equally grateful for the staff who manage both DMAR and REcolorado (our Denver MLS). Ann Turner continues to provide excellent leadership at DMAR, and Kirby Slunaker has done the same for REcolorado.

Last but not least, I so love and appreciate my wife of 15 years, Rita Smith. She is my rock and is a great sounding board for everything I do and write. Thank you, Rita. I love you!  I also thank Rita’s son, Bob Guinn, a wine executive in California, for welcoming me into his family.  Rita and I cherish every opportunity to be with him, his wife Maria, and his amazing teenage daughters, Lauren and Melissa.

 

By JIM SMITH

Prompted by last week’s election results and the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, I’m taking a break once again from writing about real estate to write about politics. But my intention is to be more educational than partisan. Once again, as in my June 26th column, I am speaking only for myself and not for Golden Real Estate or its wonderful — and largely apolitical — broker associates.

As a professional journalist myself (trained at the Washington Post during the turbulent summer of 1968) and educated about the Soviet Union in boarding school as a student of the Russian language, I know something about what led up to the 2016 election that I don’t feel has been adequately conveyed by the media.

In addition to learning the Russian language from my prep school teacher, a Dutchman, I also learned about how the Soviets used information to control their own population, and how they used it to influence people of other nations. My education even included subscribing to the Soviet newspaper Izvestia, which probably put me on a CIA watch list back in the 1960s.  I also traveled to the Soviet Union in 1978 as a tourist and again in the 1980s three times as part of “citizen diplomacy” groups sponsored by the Center for Soviet-American Dialogue in Bellingham, Washington. After the fall of the Soviet Union, I made one additional visit to Russia, this time as a tourist, to Vladivostok, the Pacific naval port which is also the terminus of the famed Trans-Siberian Railroad.

From these and other experiences, I learned about the KGB, in which Vladimir Putin served with distinction, leading to his selection to succeed Boris Yeltsin as President of Russia. I’m speaking up now, because, unless you watched the excellent 2-part series “Putin’s Revenge” on the PBS program Frontline (Google it), you may not fully comprehend how the Russians impacted the 2016 election or recognize the activities they continue to engage in today.

I never worried that Russians colluded with the Trump campaign or tried to hack actual voting, because I knew that their tactic is to manipulate minds. It was the Russians who invented the terms “disinformation” and “kompromat” (compromising material).  I learned those terms in Russian class in the 1960s.

The widespread adoption of social media, such as Facebook, supercharged the Russians’ ability to influence “low information voters” — voters who aren’t well enough informed to detect fake stories intended to influence their beliefs and voting behavior.

The Frontline program showed how Russia’s Internet Research Agency has used social media to fire up both sides of any issue which has the potential of creating social and political division in America. They would seize on issues and events that were already dividing America, such as the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, and create social media posts both promoting and attacking what was happening.

Think about any event that happened in the past several years — such as the killings of blacks by white police officers, but also anything that would stir up the far right and/or liberals — and you can be sure that some of the social media postings appealing to each extreme were created by Russians working in the St. Petersburg, Russia, office of the Internet Research Agency.  Such postings then triggered other events — think mass casualty events — which in turn were exploited using additional postings. It’s a never-ending vicious circle. The Frontline program gave examples.

America is not the only target of Russia’s meddling with public perceptions and opinions. Russians are even more keen on breaking up the European Union and NATO.  Without a doubt, they did the same kind of meddling in European countries to stir up, for example, division over the influx of Syrian refugees.

The Brexit vote in England was probably influenced by a Russian disinformation campaign in that country.  And that makes sense, because what would Russia like more, given Putin’s commitment to making Russia great again, than to see the European Union weakened? Russia’s Internet Research Agency is probably at work stirring up nationalist feelings in every European country. Promotion of nationalism in America also serves Russia’s interest because it serves to weaken NATO and draw us out of other international agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The bottom line, as I see it so clearly, is that President Trump has served as a useful tool — without actual “collusion” — for the aggrandizement of the new Russia under Vladimir Putin. And everything that Trump does to further divide Americans against each other, whether promoted or not by the Internet Research Agency, serves to weaken the United States’ position in the world, which, almost by definition, strengthens Russia’s position in the world.

In one of my “citizen diplomat” trips to the Soviet Union, I was struck by the fact that attractive young women were inexplicably introduced into some of the social events for our largely male delegation. When I heard about the “dossier” with compromising videos of Donald Trump the businessman with prostitutes — for whom I’d wager he did not pay — I suspected immediately that it was true. This and other “kompromat” could serve to keep our President from doing anything adverse to the Russian government.

It doesn’t matter whether the campaign to weaken the First Amendment by creating mistrust of mainstream media with the “fake news” label is inspired or promoted by the Russians. Trump is doing a good enough job at that, and it does indeed weaken our society and ultimately our standing in the world, which must warm the hearts of our adversaries. The trade war with our allies and other countries — except Russia, it should be noted — can’t hurt in that respect, either.

Ultimately, I have great faith in America, and I am heartened that one house of Congress will soon be under Democratic control, providing a check on the Republican Senate and the Trump administration. A crucial role of Congress is to provide oversight of every department and agency and to hold the administration accountable — something that the Republican Congress has declined to do lest it impact their individual political futures. Impeachment of President Trump is not necessary, however deserved it might be on constitutional grounds. It is sufficient just to have one house of Congress holding the rest of our government accountable for its actions.

Changing topics, it is common knowledge that more than 80% of the tax breaks in the Trump tax bill went to the very rich, with some relief to the middle class thrown in to garner popular support. Overlooked, however, is the impact on the non-profit sector. I’m concerned that Americans will donate less money to worthy charities as we approach the holiday season because of the doubling of the standard deduction. That one provision takes away the tax advantage of supporting charitable causes for a large number of taxpayers, but it is not being discussed.

I’m not letting it affect my own giving, but I worry that it could affect others’ giving, and I’m looking forward to some entity doing a statistical analysis of the tax bill’s effect on charitable giving this year and next.

 

Perhaps I’m showing my age, but I just don’t understand why some people choose to communicate by Facebook Messenger instead of email. I get emails that so-and-so has sent me a message on Facebook, and I have to login to read it.

Wouldn’t it make more sense — and be more considerate — to send the message in an email?  Someone please explain this to me!

While on the topic of email, I find Windows’ default typeface (10-pt. Calibri) hard-to-read. I have changed that default to readable 12-pt. Georgia.

If you use Outlook, you can change your email defaults at File>Options>Mail>Stationery and Fonts.