By Monika McGillicuddy

Where has the time gone?  I have to ask myself that, as this year I enter my 23rd year in real estate!  Sounds scary doesn't it?

I must be feeling  nostalgic...don't really know why but I am.  I can't help but think of all of those that have come and gone as the Lure of easy money is a mighty pull...and for them the reality really does bite.

I've been a real estate professional for nearly 23 years now.  I've been through many ups and downs...good markets and bad ones....been there... done that and got the T- shirt!

So I can safely say that over the years I've seen many agents come and go...the lure of "easy" money and then the reality of having to really work hard to earn that easy money sets in and poof their gone!

Years ago at a former company...I trained an agent who after sitting through 2 weeks of our company's new agent training program thought he knew it all. I thought to myself...I'll give him a month. His first customer did him in...he showed her four houses and refused to show her more...he thought she should just buy one of the four he showed her and she should be grateful that he had taken the time to show her those four.
  What did she expect that he would cart her butt around until she found something??? He lasted 3 weeks.

Another agent didn't understand why he had to be available to show homes during the customers schedule...he wasn't wasting his weekends with Looky Lou's. 

One guy told me point blank that he couldn't stand real estate agents...he had all sorts of degrees and certainly knew how to sell real estate...he didn't want to waste his time participating in training.  After all he had sold many of his own homes without the help of an agent...what was it that I could teach him that he didn't already know...I wonder what he is doing today? Not selling real estate thats for sure!

Then there was the nurse who left a highly stressful career to do something "easy"...she needed to  remove all the stress from her life and real estate sounded like fun! 

The guy that takes the cake was in his late 50's, he sat through training...a good student, watching everything I did. This was the days of the floppy disks...Bill Clinton was president...remember those days? Anyway after training was complete, he came up to me and gave me a floppy disk labeled "Monica" and told me I left it at his house. I had never been to his house and reminded him of that and that my name was not spelled Monica with a c but Monika with a k. It didn't matter he insisted it was mine and left it on my desk.

Much later I decided to play it and see what in the world it was. I was pretty grossed out as it was full of pornography... an X rated spoof of Monica and Bill Clinton.  It really grossed me out and made me wonder what he was thinking about all those times he sat in class watching me. Yuck!
                                                                                                                                                                                     
The list is endless...and it always bothered me to see someone spend $1,000 plus just in start up money just so they can do real estate and last less than a month.   They were clueless about the reality of being a real estate agent.

What does it take to be a good real estate agent? What would you look for if you were to hire an agent to represent you? Can you describe you ideal agent?

Often I've wondered what special attribute do you have to have...to love this business.

I've never been lucky enough to get rich in this business.
I've missed more family time than I care to remember.  My kids had to learn to accept that mom might jump in the middle of dinner or laugh when they cut into their birthday cake in front of all their friends to find somehow the table spoon got baked into the cake...mom must have had a real estate call in the middle of mixing the cake and forgot about the spoon. 

Just what is that makes us a good agent?

I may not financially be rich but I am rich in many ways...I've helped shape the future for many people...helped them be able to create memories and achieve the American dream of home ownership. I'm a damn good agent...I know my stuff, I'm ethical even when no ones looking and I love what I do.  Is that enough?  I think so.

What makes you a good agent?   What sets you apart ?                                                                                                                                       

Serving Southern NH
Jay and Monika McGillicuddy
Prudential Verani Realty
Hampstead NH

603-548-7728

 Important Changes to New Hampshire Dual Agency Rules

(a) A licensee shall provide a written agency relationship disclosure to the consumer at the time of first business meeting.
(b) A licensee showing a property listed with another agency shall disclose their agency or non-agency relationship verbally or in writing to the other party’s agent prior to showing the property and in the writing at time of the offer.
(c) Licensees shall use the agency/non-agency disclosure form adopted by the commission (as of this writing they are still developing the form that we all will have to use)
(f) A licensee intending to act in the capacity of a dual agent shall:

(1) At the time of first meeting with a consumer to discuss a specific property, provide a written agency relationship disclosure pursuant to Rea 701 .01(a);
(2) On the listing contract and buyer agency/tenant representation contract, give the client the option to accept or deny a dual agency statement of consent to showings, pursuant to Rea 404.04;
(3) have the informed consent to dual agency agreement  signed and reviewed  by the buyer/tenant and seller/landlord at the time which in the dual agency occurs but no later than the preparation of a written offer for sale or lease pursuant to Rea 404.04

Changes to Rea 404.4 Brokerage Contracts as of May 1 2007 will now require that listing agreement and buyer agency agreements have consent for dual agency showings within the agreement by separate dated signatures.

Caution...You must be sure to gain Informed written consent at time of listing for potential Dual Agency showings and then be sure to get the actual consent form signed prior to drafting an offer for sale or lease of real estate.

Best Practice...Make sure you have (1.) signed consent for showings on the listing agreement and then (2.) Contact your seller client and inform them that a dual agency showing is taking place and try to get written consent...if unable to get written consent...make sure you get it before you present or draft an offer and make sure your buyer client understands what dual agency really means.

These changes are more in line with how we actually do business in NH but if not handled correctly the agent has more rope to hang themselves with in my opinion.

Need a refresher on what dual agency in New Hampshire is check out my blog post called Dual Agency Life in the Fast Lane

The New Hampshire Association of REALTORS will be adding new forms to our True Forms (forms on line) once we get final approval from the Board of Directors that will reflect these changes.

A listing of the forms pending approval are;

We need your help!!!!

This is very important Information for all New Hampshire Property owners...and an UNFAIR burden on the backs of all property owners.

This Bill has been defeated before with the help of all New Hampshire REALTORS® and now it is being revisited again with House Bill 868. 

Please help us defeat it again!

If passed this will impact you and your pocket when you sell your home, we already have the highest real estate property transfer tax in the nation!!!

Please take action and help us fight this new tax Again!!!!   Pay close attention to talking point # 4...double taxation.

Thank you for your support and attention to this very important issue...we really need your help on this one!

Please call your Representatives- find them by clicking here. 

The following reprinted with permission from the NH Association of REALTORS®...

Please contact your local State Representatives regarding House Bill 868, relative to a surcharge on recording documents with the register of deeds to fund the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP).

HB 868 proposes a new tax on recording documents in New Hampshire.  The revenue generated by the tax is to be dedicated to LCHIP.

The New Hampshire Association of REALTORS® supports LCHIP, and to that end endorses the $12 million LCHIP line item in Gov. Lynch's proposed budget.  However, a new tax related to real estate is unreasonable.

The bipartisan majority of the House Municipal and County Government Committee voted 9-8 in favor of killing the bill, and the House will be voting on the legislation very soon.  Please take a moment and call your local Representatives to express your opposition to the new tax.

For your Representatives' contact information, click here.

Talking Points:

• New Hampshire has the highest uniform state real estate transfer tax in the country.  New taxes will create higher burdens for individuals attempting to purchase new property and could reduce housing opportunities across income spectrums.

• LCHIP is already funded in the proposed budget.  Why should LCHIP, a non-state agency, receive a dedicated funding source with no oversight, while other human service programs must justify their needs through the budget process?

• Almost all county registrars of deeds oppose the new tax.  Many testified that the bill creates administrative burdens for the counties and were unclear whether the $40 tax applies to every page recorded in a deed, mortgage or recording of plats.

• Is this double taxation?  The Department of Revenue did not take a position on the bill but did provide a list of serious concerns, including the issues of whether the counties should be collecting a tax for a non-state agency and whether the proposal was, in fact, double taxation.
  

Jay and Monika McGillicuddy

Prudential Verani Realty

Hampstead NH