NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN REAL ESTATE

‘In craftiness we take the cake’ in the real estate world

Around 411 B.C., the playwright Aristophanes penned the words, “In craftiness we take the cake.” Apparently, in ancient Greece, whoever stayed awake throughout the entire all-night party, was a awarded a cake. Frankly, a cake would hardly be worth sacrificing sleep over, even if it were a decent party, but that’s just me. Either way, this week’s episode of Hijinks and Shenanigans in the real estate world, is brought to you by, cake … as in, this one literally, in craftiness (i.e. absurdity), takes the cake.

As most of the working and productive local real estate world has already been apprised of this event, I felt it my duty to let you, the general public, have a peek at a profession in which no one day is ever the same as another. It happened last week. It wasn’t even a full moon, so I can’t explain the timing. It was, however, a pleasant temperature for the month of November. A respected local Realtor receives a phone call from a friend informing him that someone has handcuffed themselves to the lockbox of a home he has listed in the form of a public protest at the asking price of the home. This ridiculous rebel rouser was posting Facebook Live videos during the protest.

He postulated that he had been camped out there since Sunday with his sleeping bag and a stash of protein bars for subsistence (and clearly, his cell phone, since he was posting live videos). He had handcuffed himself to the lock box to prevent any Realtors from showing the listing. He said he was going to be there until the price was lowered to, what he felt, was a reasonable price. He then continues his discourse by expounding on the list price, “This new list price is offensive. … One of the bathrooms wasn’t updated, and if the new flooring is laminate ... I’m done.” Which apparently, he was, since he had disappeared by the time the list agent showed up at the property.

I guess he wasn’t sincere when he had suggested on his live video that if they were going to call the police, “so be it,” and then posed the question, “who’s with me?” Well, nobody is with you dude. You are on your own here. Not only are you trespassing, you have left a record of yourself trespassing. You have made incorrect and moronic assumptions about what has been spent on improvements for the home, and you have insinuated that anyone who has recently paid fair market value for a home is an idiot. For the record my “friend,” they are not the idiots.

When a seller receives an offer for the asking price, it should be assumed that any decent buyer’s agent has pulled comparisons on the property first before writing the offer. If the value can be proven, through like kind comparisons, then the list price actually is not “ offensive.” A home is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, as well as what it can appraise for. A lender is not going to lend more money than a house is worth. This protects the buyer as well as the entire real estate market, from inflated home prices. Appraisers are neutral third parties. The lender doesn’t get to hand pick an appraiser, nor does the buyer or seller. That went away after the crash in 2007. It doesn’t happen anymore.

I think, however, that we probably should cut this dude some slack. How would he know about market values? After all, who couldn’t use a good protest once in a while, right? Wrong. As it turns out, this guy is a licensed agent. As such, he has violated all sorts of rules and protocol. I would review the list of violations, but we don’t have that much time. Suffice it to say, the list is long. This dude is in a lot of trouble.

Now I’ve done my fair share of protesting. When I was in college, I would protest whatever there was to protest. I’m pro-protest. Give me a good Boston Tea Party, and I’m there. Everyone should have the experience at least once. As a citizen of this country, we have that right. However, there is an order to the way this is done, and this was not it. If you’re going to starve and sleep outside for a week, you should be attempting to change history, not the list price of a home.

Jen Kirchhoefer is an associate broker and Realtor with Ascent Real Estate. She can be reached at 801-6452134 or jenkirchh@gmail. com