The Real Estate Cupboard ADM#47 Archives by Steve Hubbard, Certified Buyer’s Representative

My Friend Harry

When I talk with my friend, Harry, we talk about milkin’ cows. We talk about rodeos – bronc ridin’, bull ridin’ calf ropin’ and bull dogin’. Harry is a world champion bull dogger. We talk about hauling stock to rodeos and settin’ up rodeos and takin’ ‘em down. We talk about over- the- road tractors and semis – trucks like Kenworths (KWs) and Peterbilts (Petes) – and trailers for haulin’ hay and for haulin’ horses from North Dakota to New York and bulls and pigs from Tennessee to Texas. We talk about haulin’ the mail. We talk about transmissions and wheel bearings. We talk about bar fights and DOT scales, over weight and speeding tickets. We talk about the cost of fuel. We talk about weather – truck drivin’ through blizzards and two-foot high snow drifts. One night we talked about his 57-hour straight through round trip to South Dakota and back haulin’ horses. We talk about and listen to Carl Perkins, Johnnie Cash and Hank Williams (Jr and Sr). We talk about feed and hay, horse-shit, politics and Vietnam. And we laugh a lot, too. Harry says “you just got to”. I agree.

Harry is the toughest, hardest workin, plainest talkin’, most resourceful son of a bitch (his words) I have ever known. He can load and unload 300 bales of hay (some bales weigh as much as 50 lbs and more) in the morning and build a fence in the afternoon. He might mow the lawns at the farm after that just for fun. When referring to a question of the status of something, Harry might say “either it is or it ain’t. That’s all there is to it”. Or when talking about getting something done he might say “take a deep seat and a far away look and just keep rollin’ on. He can build a barn that looks great and works great out of a pile of scrap wood. Harry turned 64 the other day. We had a party. And you know it was a party.

One might wonder what this has to do with Real Estate – the buying and selling of homes. It has this to do with it. When I say that Harry and I talk, what I really mean is that for the most part Harry talks and I ask questions and listen to the answers. This is because I know very little at best and usually just about nothing at all about most of the things we talk about. He knows a lot – just about everything there is to know. I fully understand and appreciate this.

And so it is the Realtors’ job to ask questions of our buyer and seller clients and listen to and remember what they say. This is because until we learn otherwise, we need to consider the people with whom we talk – those we intend to attempt to serve – as experts on the subject of themselves. And it is the job of our buyer and seller clients to make sure that their Realtor is listening to what they have to say and remembering it.

It is also the buyers’ and sellers’ job to listen to their Realtor when he or she talks. This is because though the buyer and seller may be the expert on the subject of themselves, their Realtor is (or should be) expert on such things as market conditions, Real Estate inventory, comparable sales, negotiating strategy, home inspection issues, financing options and so on. Not listening to the Realtor you have chosen to represent you is just plain dumb.

Always talk straight with your Realtor and expect the same in return. If your Realtor is not listening to you and remembering what you said, then get another one. If you are not listening to your Realtor, then get real. It is a wonder to me how so few people are aware of these simple Real Estate rules.

My Friend Harry

Steve Hubbard Real Estate Services