About Me

The LEXpert’s Thanksgiving post

by John Rice

Thanksgiving time again.  One of my favorite holidays.  I like all holidays really, but the thing I like most about Thanksgiving is that everybody can participate and it is a pretty laid back holiday unless you’re doing the cooking.

I woke up today thinking what I was thankful about.  Lots of things popped into my head, but one thought really stuck out to me.

I’ve always wanted to be in real estate.  I almost got into it back in about 1999 but I wasn’t able to make the jump.  You need some reserve income to jump into real estate.  It can take a while to get off the ground.

I was again thinking about real estate in 2003.  The mother of an old high school friend was a realtor and she was doing really well.  I was a little hesitant to pull the trigger, but then Francis said she would pay for half of my real estate school.  That was over $500.  That was a huge amount to me back then.

What Francis did not realize (or maybe she did?) was that she had effectively removed the last justifiable reason I had to not get my real estate license.   Since I was left without an excuse, we went to the real estate school.  I plopped down my half.  She plopped down her half.  The rest as they say, is history.

I’ve always been appreciative of her for doing this, but until this morning I thought it was about the money.  I now do not think it was about the money.  I think she saw my potential and it was about getting me there.

I have had an incredible time the past 10.5 years since I got my license.  I get to talk about houses and neighborhoods all day.  I don’t have to tuck in my shirt.  I get to be out all over town.  I get to wear sandals everywhere.  I get to meet a lot of people.  And I get to wear sandals everywhere.

A lot of people have helped to get me where I am today.  My parents.  My wife.  Everybody who has ever bought or sold a house through me.  All of you are very important to me and I am thankful for all of you…..especially Francis, who was at the right place at the right time and did the right thing.

To Francis and anybody reading this….have a happy Thanksgiving!

Chinoe Road-Most Beautiful Street in Town

by John Rice

Chinoe

Having done most of my growing up in Ashland and Frankfort, I always thought of Lexington as “The Big City.”

We would come to Lexington to visit my aunt and uncle in the 70’s.  Then in the early 80’s we would come here to see movies at the Kentucky Theatre, eat at Alfalfa’s or Max & Erma’s, shop at Dawahare’s or J&H Army Navy Store.  Lexington has just always felt like a special place to me.  I always had my eyes wide open checking out the sites, planning on where I would want to live if I ever had a chance to move here.

That happened in 1985.  My dad was out of law school and got a job here.  We ended up in Kenwick LONG before Kenwick was a cool place to be.  I was a sophomore at Henry Clay.  I only had one friend here, a kid named Daniel whose parents were friends with my parents.  I was 15.  Too young to drive but eager to explore Lexington.  I decided to ride my bike over to Daniel’s apartment on Lakeshore Drive.  We rode all over the Ashland Park and Chevy Chase area.

I remember being totally in awe of how pretty Chinoe Road was.  I don’t think I had ever been on it before.  It was a warm and sunny September day.  Late afternoon.  It didn’t feel hot since we were under the  cover of all the big trees.

To this day, nearly 30 years later, I still think that first section of Chinoe Road between Richmond Road and Fontaine is one of the prettiest streets in all of Lexington.   All of the houses look as good as the one in the picture above.  If I were a artist, I would paint a picture of that street with all the big beautiful houses, big trees and lush landscaping…..but as I discovered in a water coloring class I had my senior year, I am not.

Sometimes, if I am not too busy trying to get where I am going, I’ll drive down that road and I feel like I am 15 years old again and seeing it for the very first time.

Winchester Ky-One of my favorite little towns

by John Rice

Before 1995, Winchester was just the town east of Lexington where my favorite soft drink was made; Ale-8.  That was the year my parents moved to rural Clark County.  Then my wife and I moved to downtown Winchester in 1998 and stayed until 2002.

When my kids were babies, I would end up driving all over the far side of Winchester while they were asleep.  Muddy Creek, Logan Lick, Old Ruckerville, Pilot View. Those were my favorite roads.  If you’re ever on Logan Lick, look for an old car from the 50’s stuck between two trees at the bottom of a hill.  I’d love to know the story on that eventful day if anybody knows!

While I was out there, all I had to do was look at the land and the houses.  I had no idea back then that it would someday come in handy when I was a Realtor.

Seems like I am doing more and more in Clark County – Winchester Ky.  A lot of it is rural too.  I like working there.  The people are nice and there are a lot of pretty neighborhoods and rural areas.  I may end up back there one day.  I’ve moved twice since coming back to Lexington.  Each time has me closer and closer to Winchester.  I’m practically on the edge of Lexington right now, so one more move should have me somewhere between the two towns.

My favorite funny memory of living in Winchester was when I decided to test how nice the people were.  I had noticed that everybody there assumes it is your turn at a 4 way stop, which was not the case in Lexington.  One day I decided to see how long somebody would wait at a 4 way stop for me to go.  I’m across the intersection from this guy.  He waves for me to go.  I do nothing.  He waits.  He waves again, signaling it is my turn to go.  This time I wave back at him to go.  Then he waves at me to go.  I wait.  He doesn’t go.  He waves at me to go.  I wave back.  He does nothing.  I get bored with all of this any finally just go!

Same house, nearly 10 years later

by John Rice

It’s the spring of 2005.  I just got my license.  I was a newbie.  All I had was a desire to be the best realtor I could be.

Now it’s wintertime in 2015.  Nearly ten years later.  I’ve sold 266 houses.  Started in the pre-bust market.  Grew my business through the declining market.  Been in the top 5% of all agents for production since 2009.  Made it to the top 1.5% for 2014.

Want to know what both of these years have in common?  620 Hidden Point Drive.

This house was the 2nd listing of my career.  The sellers called me about a month ago saying it was time to sell.  I had not had any contact with them since we closed on 12/28/2005…..which happens to have been my 14th wedding anniversary.  They had forgot my last name, but they did not forget me.  They actually had to work a little to find me.  I am glad they did.

Here is my 2005 description:

“More than meets the eye! This convientently located home has 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, plenty of room for your stuff in all the storage areas. Outside you have a storage shed & 7’behind the garage door, inside there is a second level, go up a hidden stairwell (in a closet) to discover this bonus space. It’s heated & cooled & does have windows. Use it for storage or make it a cozy get away.  Enjoy the shady, fenced backyard from the covered patio. See this unique home today!”

 

Here is 2015:

“If you’ve been saying you don’t want a cookie cutter house, then you’ve got to see this one. Big rooms. Open concept. Three season room on the back. Fenced yard. Want your mind blown? Look for the hidden ladder to check out the loft. You’ve got a ton of storage and a bonus space unlike ANYTHING you have ever seen. This house brings to mind 3 things: IKEA in the sense of efficient use of space. A Swiss Army Knife in the sense of versatility. The T.A.R.D.I.S because it seems bigger on the inside than the outside (That’s Doctor Who’s time traveling ship that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside……google it.)”

LOL, it sure was fun to compare my old work to my new work on the same house.  It brings back a lot of memories of the past decade.  I haven’t eaten a hot meal nor had a day off since then, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

 

 

 

Tom Petty School of Negotiating

by John Rice

Well I won’t back down, no I won’t back down
You could stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won’t back down

I’ve been wanting to use that Tom Petty line in my blog for a long time. Feels great.

That is kind of how I feel when I am negotiating repair lists or contracts for my people. See, I’ve got two things I do that always seem to work for me…..well, for my cleints.

ONE: I don’t give up a lot of information about my people or their situation. If negotiating was a game of poker, talking to the other agent about your client is like showing your hand. About the only time I say anything personal about my clients is when there are multiple offers and I want the seller to view my client as more than just the 5 page offer sitting in front of them. Even then, I don’t say anything about their motivation, just what they liked about the house and some other flattering stuff to make the seller want them to get their house.

I recently had a deal where the listing agent was trying to get my client up in price. He asked if we could remove the seller paid closing costs? Like I am going to say yes??? I simply told him that yes, she needed them to make the deal work. Truth be told, we would have come up a couple thousand bucks if needed, but my very conclusive statement with no further discussion make it seem like we had given our best offer. I also didn’t tell the listing agent that it was the ONLY property my client liked. You would be surprised how many buyer’s agents will say something like that, or tell you their client has to find a house this week, or the buyer’s lease is up. Always amazing.

TWO: I don’t budge when I write a repair list. The better agents in town know that the best way to move somebody where they want them is to do it in little steps. I know because that is what I do with them! I recently submitted a repair list for a buyer of mine. The listing agent called and wanted to know if we could knock a couple of things off the list that the seller didn’t want to do. Frankly, I don’t care what the seller feels like doing. I am only out for my client. My buyer can buy any house on the market, the seller only has one to sell, and it has a hole in the roof. So, I told her that there was no need to even discuss the items the seller didn’t feel like doing until we addressed the rest of the list, because there might not even be a deal left to talk about. If I had given her any room, she would have kept coming back again and again. A good firm NO usually ends this, but it is hard for a lot of people to say no. (I’ve worked with this agent a lot and I cannot say anything bad about her. She is just doing her job. She is good enough that she keeps The LEXpert on his toes…..and I enjoy the challenge!)

I totally enjoy trying to get the most for my people. I don’t do it by being mean or pushy. It is a game of chess to me and I want to win for my clients.