Month: March 2022

The neighborhood that influenced 12 year old me

by John Rice

When I was a kid, I had a paper route. It was everyday after school and Sunday mornings. Other than about 3 houses in my blue collar neighborhood, my route was in a neighboring upscale neighborhood called Inverness.

It was during this time that I started noticing differences between neighborhoods, lots, houses, and everything that makes me The LEXpert today.

I got bullied a lot as a kid. I didn’t really like many of the kids in my own neighborhood. This was back in the days before the internet and cell phones so kids went outside. Even people with cable TV only had like 12 channels, 10 really since one was the weather and another just scrolled what was on the other channels. I remember always dreading delivering papers to the 3-4 houses in my neighborhood. Once I got those done and Inverness was in sight, I always felt relieved and would take a deep breath.

Inverness was a very peaceful and calm neighborhood. It had maybe 50 houses in it? All the lots were very large. There were no street lights or side walks. Most of the houses were built in the late 60s and 1970s. It is very much like Greenbrier in Lexington but it did not have a golf course. I loved this neighborhood and always wanted to live here. I eventually ended up living in a 1980s house in Greenbrier, which I now see was the fruition of this desire.

The people that lived in Inverness were mostly middle aged since you often have to work many years to be able to afford such nice houses. They were all very polite to me. I got to know several of them. Many knew I was into houses and neighborhoods and would let me see inside their homes. It wasn’t until last week that I realized the impact this neighborhood had on my whole life. I was early for a showing that wasn’t too far from this area so I thought I would drive around for old times sake.

I started to remember the people, their homes and my thoughts as I would pedal my bicycle through my route, with my bag full of newspapers getting lighter with each one I delivered.

There was one woman who wanted me to leave the paper in a small tin garbage pail by her back door. Once or twice a week, I would open the pail and there would be a bag with a few cookies in it. Another resident had a new 280ZX that I drooled over. I saw my first Audi 5000 with the then new flush windows. There was one contemporary house owned by some big-wig in his political party that I absolutely loved. I became fairly close to one older couple who wanted to move to Florida. I told them all about the community where my Grandparents lived and arranged for my Grandparents to meet them and give them a tour of the area……probably the first realtor like thing I’d ever do.

I would privately critique each house in the neighborhood. My clients will probably laugh when they hear that I would say much of the same things they have heard me say like:

“That’s going to be a difficult driveway to get out of in the winter.”

The columns on the front porch are too far apart and don’t really match the style of the house.”

“This house looks like it was designed on a napkin by somebody who just won the lottery while meeting with their builder at Waffle House.”

“This house is right by the only entrance and exit to this neighborhood and that means EVERYBODY driving in and out of here has to pass your house each time.”

I don’t recall when or why I quit doing this paper route, probably when we moved to Lexington. It sure was a special and influential part of my life.

Telling people what they need to hear

by John Rice

Back when I was so overweight, I dreaded going to the doctor. They would always tell me all the ways being overweight would affect my health. It’s not like I didn’t know that. I just didn’t want to accept it.

A lot of buyers are in the same situation today. The reality of what it takes to get a home seems overwhelming. It is easier to just hope somehow it will all work out and you’ll get a house somehow if you submit enough offers.

Reality checks are never fun. One day I accepted everything the doctors had always told me. Once I did that, I knew what I needed to do if I didn’t want to have health issues as I aged.

I sold a house over the weekend to a new client who had lost several houses previously with their last realtor. I didn’t really do anything special. I did my usual good job in trying to make our offer the most appealing to the seller. The hero of this story is the buyer. I was just like the doctors telling me the reality I didn’t want to here. He took in all the information and chose to do something about it.

Like all houses these days, it got several offers the first day on the market. It is normal to go over the list price these days so we did an escalation clause up to a certain amount. The buyer was a little anxious about going that high. I explained that odds are we would not need to go that high, but that he would have hated to have lost the house by just a little bit. He agreed.

Once the offer was sent and I told the Seller’s Realtor a few things, I got a question about not having an appraisal gap waiver. I knew this meant that our offer was one being seriously considered. If we were not the best or one of the best offers they had, why would he ask about it?

I told my buyer this good news. He didn’t really want to risk having to put out more cash should the house not appraise for the sale price. I told him that this is getting more and more common with every house I’ve sold. If we didn’t do it this time, odds are we would be in the same situation on the next house when prices and interest rates might be higher. He agreed.

A few hours later I got a text that he got the house!!!!!

The hero here is my client. All I did was tell him the reality of what would most likely happen just like all those doctors did for me. My client accepted the reality of today’s market. He realized he wasn’t going to magically escape some of these uncomfortable things and end up winning a house in multiple offers. Once he saw that, he knew what he had to do just as I saw what I had to do.

My Dad always said “Living in reality is never fun, but what other choice do you have?” to which I will now add “Plus living in reality with a house is better than not doing so and waiting for the next new listing to hit the market and do it all over again and again.”

My response to this always disappoints people

by John Rice

As a realtor, you wouldn’t be surprised that people are always asking me the best way to add value to their homes.

What might surprise you is my response.

There are no improvements or upgrades that get you more than a 100% return. All give pennies on the dollar. I know, you are thinking “Then how do people who flip houses make money?” They make money from buying the house below market value. You already own your house so spending money to sell it and getting back less than you spent is just wasting time. Usually you want to do the least you can do, and the best thing is to address the worst aspects of your home before selling it. If you have worn out carpet, replace it. If you have a rusting light fixture in a bathroom, replace it…..but what is the best bang for the buck in getting top dollar for your house when you are selling it?

The absolute best bang for your buck has always been and will always be a fresh coat of paint.

Fresh paint makes any room automatically feel better and cleaner. Fresh paint can be done in whatever the trendy color is at the moment, which gives your home an updated vibe. Fresh paint can be used to unify all the rooms in your house. Buyers will walk around every room in your home within their 30 minute viewing. Having the same color in all the rooms is soothing and calming. Buyers love that. In a vacant house, all you see in most rooms are 4 walls, a ceiling, a light fixture and the floor. Having 80% of all there is to see be new makes a huge impact.

So there you go! If you are getting ready to sell your home and want to know the wisest way to spend your money in preparation, hit the paint isle at the hardware store.