lexington ky

Time for the Santa Suit, Shorts & Sandals

by John Rice

I forget how many years it’s been since I accidentally started this tradition.

I had been doing Christmas cards for a few years. I really enjoyed them. I remember going to stores and trying to find funny ones.

Being known as the realtor that wore shorts and sandals year round had sort of become my trademark. I thought it would be fun to dress up as Santa since I was a pretty round shaped guy back then. Of course I had to have the shorts and sandals.

That first year it was just a picture of me dressed as such with a studio background. Everybody LOVED it.

I remember renting the costume from a place off of Southland Drive. When I picked it up, the store was very messy inside and smelled like a cat box. I was so happy to get out of there. My friend Shaun took the picture at his studio. I did not expect the costume to also smell like a cat box. Once we took the picture and I returned the costume, I rushed home to take a shower. I also smelled like a cat box.

Since the first year was such a success, I thought we would expand the concept a little. My friend Shaun and I went out in the country looking for just the right spot. The concept was me as Santa again, but this time I would be sitting on the back of the blue Mazda Miata I had back then. It had antlers and a nose on it just like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

While we had the car parked and Shaun was getting his gear ready, an older man in a truck stopped to ask if we needed help. He though the car was broken down. He seems totally unfazed that I was wearing a Santa Suit, shorts and sandals and that my car looked like a reindeer. We said we were fine, thanked him, and he drove off.

After that one, my son Stuart started taking the pictures. Most were car themed after everybody loved the Miata one. Once we ran out of cool cars in the garage, we did one with my Dad’s motorcycle sidecar. My other son and dog were elves in that one.

My son Stuart was majoring in Digital Media at the time. He was really becoming a great photographer and learning a lot of skills in school. He had the idea to photoshop me into backgrounds. That’s the way we have done it ever since. Probably his most famous card was one where I was trapped in a snow globe. Ever since then, I have just told him to do whatever he wanted.

We always say we are going to start working on these sooner so we don’t have the pressure to get them done in time to hit the mailboxes. However we always wait until around the beginning of December. I usually put on the outfit, pose how he tells me to pose, then wait for the finished product.

Each year, we find it is getting harder and harder to come up with something better than the previous year. I think the one this year with the picture of Big Blue in downtown Lexington may be the peak. All I know is that I’ve only got 11 months to come up with something at least equally as good…….wait a minute, I mean my son only has 11 months to do that.

I hope everybody enjoys their Holiday!

I can’t think of a good title but it’s still worth reading

by John Rice

It’s been a good week.

As most of you know, I only work with people who find me in one of 3 ways: I have to know you. You have to have been referred to me by somebody I know. You have to have told me you found this blog. I don’t advertise. I don’t offer my services to anybody else.

That means that my “Job” feels more like I am just getting to see cool people and helping them make good choices.

This past week, I have been working with a buyer and a seller that I know well.

I am listing a really amazing ranch in Versailles for a couple I have known for over 20 years. I think it will sell fast, even this time of the year which is historically slow. It has a great floor plan, great location, a large and flat backyard, a sunroom and great outdoor space.

This couple has recommended me to several people over the years. I will miss them. They knew me before I became The LEXpert. Back then I was just a goofy guy who wore sandals and always had on my favorite yellow shirt.

The buyers I am working with is one of those situations where I have worked with multiple generations of the same family. This one is especially unique because I have worked with the family of both the husband and the wife before they married…..so they are the overlapping part of a Venn Diagram. I have know the husband since he was a little kid. We once went on a vacation with his family back in the same yellow shirt guy days I mentioned above.

The best thing about working with people who find me in one of those three ways is that I already have their trust. That sure makes it much less stressful for my clients.

What makes a good time to buy? It’s not what you think

by John Rice

In my nearly 20 years of being in this business, I have rarely seen anybody think it was a great time to buy a home.

Most of our perception of when was a great time to buy is retrospective.

2008-2010 was a fantastic time to be a buyer. Rates were really low, inventory was up, prices were down. But know what? Every buyer was scared to death to buy back then. Why, because like any time though history, there were reasons that made it scary. There will ALWAYS be reasons that make any moment in the future seem like a scary time to buy: Wars, recessions, politics, interest rates, employment stats, the price of gas. There will never ever be a time when all of those variables align to make you fell like it is the perfect time to buy a home.

Now I’m not just saying this because I’m a realtor. To most realtors, it is always a good time to buy. Interest rates going down? BUY and save money. Interest rates going up? BUY before they go higher. Inventory is up? BUY while you have options. Low inventory? BUY just to get in the market.

Know what I say? Buy when the time is right for you. It doesn’t matter what the market is like. It doesn’t matter what the interest rates are. Buying will always get you ahead because you will be buiding equity with every payment. You are investing in your furture though real estate, all while having a place to live that you can control. How will you know when you’re ready:

  1. When you can afford the payment and to maintain a home.
  2. When you know you will likely be able to stay in the home for at least the next 4-5 years.
  3. When your life is settled enough that the house you can afford will meet your needs for the next 5 years.

If you are at the point when all 3 of those conditions are met, it’s time to start shopping. Like I have been saying for nearly two decades: Buy a house on a decent lot, with a good floor plan, in one of the best neighborhoods in your price range. These three things will make your house desirable in any market when it is your turn to be the seller.

Buying a home will always be risky. Just be smart about it and minimize those risks though planning and good decisions.

Short term pain-Long term gain

by John Rice

I was showing one of my rental houses to a prospective tenant yesterday. This young lady said she was torn between buying and renting.

Know what I told her…..while she was standing in my house which was for rent?

I told her to buy a house if she could. I said that I think right now it seems scary and might not be any fun to have such a high interest rate, but in 5 years, she will surely look back and be glad she had bought something.

Why? Because history shows us that rates won’t stay high forever. It also shows us that prices won’t stay where they are right now forever. The odds are very strong that you will one day be able to refinance and the odds are even stronger that prices will at minimum rise slowly over time.

Also because when you are paying rent, you are paying down somebody else’s mortgage and are getting absolutely nothing in return other that getting to live somewhere for the next month. When you buy a house, at least part of your payment goes to building equity in an appreciating asset. Then, too, there is the fact that the principal and interest portion of your mortgage payment will NEVER go up, unlike your rent.

About the only time I advise people to rent is when they know they will not be in a house for more than 3-4 years. If you know you will need to move again in that short of a time, you may come out ahead by buying but the difference is so slim that it may not be worth the risk.

So pretty much, I told here that buying right now is a short term pain, but a long term gain. For her own sake, I hope she can buy a house.

You won’t believe what happened with their Zestimate

by John Rice

I put on a new listing last week. Like what happens a lot of the time, Zillow’s zestimate was way off of what a thoroughly detailed, comprehensive, professional opinion of the market value was. Usually once Zillow gets the listing from the local MLS, their Zestimate suddenly changes to something more in line with the list price.

Not with this house however.

My seller reached out to Zillow after unsuccessfully trying to claim their home on the site. Zillow was nice enough to send them an email that basically said Zillow has never been in the house, knows nothing about the house or its condition, but somehow is still happy to publish a value. More of a Guestimate than a Zestimate in this realtor’s opinion.

Knowing artificial intelligence is running Zillow, I told my seller that I would play around with the marketing remarks and see if somehow certain keywords might change anything. It was a long shot but it was all we had.

I put words like “Recently” in front of the word “Remodeled” when describing their primary suite bathroom. I removed the word “Original” when describing some of the cool character of the house. I removed the word “Traditional” in a sentence describing the homes in the entire neighborhood. I tried to used words like New, updated and fresh every place I could make it work without looking stupid.

And guess what?

The next morning the Zestimate was up nearly $90,000 and right in line with the list price.

I outsmarted Artifical Intelligence. What’s next for me? I am going to try to outsmart my dog, who seems to have trained me to do what she wants, when she wants.