Realestate agents are now advertising houses with wood stoves

[Rhone]

The past week saw advertisements from ReMax. Each house description had about 2-3 lines, of which Low Heating bill, includes wood stove! was the line in bold on some houses, and the only line in bold. They're a selling point.

 

[Corey]

A trend I suspect we will probably be seeing more of. It was pretty interesting to see the shift in car manufacturers and dealers. Seems like everything went from "power" and "sporty" to "fuel efficient" and "good mileage" pretty quick. Prices seemed to adjust pretty quick, too...a couple of years ago (when gas was "only" about 1.25/gallon) I gave my wife the choice of a "sporty" car or an "economy" car for her commute...she chose economy, so we picked up a lightly used Honda Insight that the dealer was practically giving away. Now 2 years and 75,000 miles later the car is still selling for what we paid for it. Don't know how long it will be before the backlash of conservation sends energy prices tumbling again...or if ever?

Corey

 

[Mike Wilson]

Interesting article in the Wall St Journal a few weeks ago about hybrid cars. Rather than being a big seller to the environmentally conscious crowd, the largest market segment is high performance enthusiasts! Yep, as you probably know, acceleration on a hybrid is considerably better thanon a regular car. So, believe it or not, most of the buyers of these cars aren't buying to save a gallon, they are buying them for speed. Who knew!

-- MW

 

[Mo Heat]

Regular gas is now below $2 a gallon in St. Louis. I'm surprised.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Get outta here Mo!

I'm paying $2.39 and was (until now) relatively happy about it.

 

[Corey]

Mo speaks the truth. In the Topeka, KS area it has dropped to $1.94 if you know where to hit the cheap stations. Lawrence area runs about .05 - .10 more (just like everything else in Lawrence) I can almost afford to fire up the chainsaw again!

 

[begreen]

Interesting article in the Wall St Journal a few weeks ago about hybrid cars. Rather than being a big seller to the environmentally conscious crowd, the largest market segment is high performance enthusiasts! Yep, as you probably know, acceleration on a hybrid is considerably better thanon a regular car. So, believe it or not, most of the buyers of these cars aren't buying to save a gallon, they are buying them for speed. Who knew!

-- MW

Bad trend. Some of these drivers are buying hybrids just so they qualify for HOV lane access.

PS: gas locally just came down to $2.84. That should make you all feel much better.

 

[Roospike]

Mo speaks the truth. In the Topeka, KS area it has dropped to $1.94 if you know where to hit the cheap stations. Lawrence area runs about .05 - .10 more (just like everything else in Lawrence) I can almost afford to fire up the chainsaw again!

I just moved from Topeka KS 3 years ago ....... lived there 9 yeres and 4 in K city Kansas. We are now in lower Nebraska and gas prices are still at $2.11 but are always 7 cents highter or so than Topeka.

 

[Mo Heat]

Wow, a lot to comment on here...

First, I think people have trouble finding Nebraska, it has so few landmarks. Thus more fuel burned getting lost, thus higher prices for stuff there. At least there are some trees in Kansas to help with dead-reckoning navigation. (joke)

Second, dentists now recommend that children eat all their candy on Nov. 1st to reduce tooth decay. But I suspect pediatricians might warn of childhood diabetes, obesity, hypoglycemia, or the more temporary condition I refer to as 'sugar shock'.

GM fuel efficient cars get 24 miles per gallon? That may be one of the reasons they are going bankrupt. And remember, if they claim EPA 24 mpg, you can bet (generally, according to Edmonds ) they are getting between 20 and 22mpg. That's staggering. I have a luxury car that gets an AVERAGE of 27 mpg over months of driving. It gets over 31 mpg on the hwy.

I hear you Frank. I'd love to see a bond-fire of Realtors. But think of the stink it would create! I can't understand why someone doesn't find a better model for selling real estate and put those folks out on the street. My last Realtor indirectly cost me nearly 10 grand for a roof replacement my first year in this house, and was paid handsomely for it. He showed me one house where we were greeted by an incredibly vicious chow dog snarling, barking, and growling as though we'd just invaded his space (oh, wait a minute, we had . He was in the kitchen restrained only by a baby gate that his head was above even on all fours. I pulled a pocket knife and told my wife to step back outside, we wouldn't be viewing this one, and besides, it was as dark as a movie theatre in there. The Realtor's response? "Oh, that dog's not going to hurt anyone" (I'm sure he was a dog expert, too), and "all houses are dark until you turn on the lights". Uh, huh.

I've got a motorcycle built back in 19 ot 78. Used to get 36 - 55 mpg with evil leaded gasoline. Now lucky to get 33 with lowered compression.

 

[Eric Johnson]

You'd think for what they're being paid, the real estate vultures would take a few minutes to familiarize themselves with the features of the homes they're trying to sell. Basic things like the number of amps coming into the box, the type of heating system, water heater, etc. "I can see it's a lovely mud room; but are those electric or hot water baseboards?" "I'll get back to you on that." All for 5-7% of the gross????

Hey Mo, speaking of dogs. I work with a lady who used to have a dog that would go over to the neighbor's woodpile every day and bring back a piece. Now that's man's best friend, unless it happens to be my woodpile being robbed. Another friend has a dog that runs ahead of you when you're crosscountry skiing in fresh snow and breaks the trail for you. Combine those two features in one animal, and you've got the perfect North Country Pet.

 

[Mo Heat]

Let me just add that there are probably some ‘good’ Realtors out there, I’ve just never met them. I felt I ‘had to have one’ buying a house in St. Louis when I was living on the San Francisco penninsula. “He took care of everything for me.” Ultimately, I made the decision, same as if I’d chosen a drunken surgeon to do a heart valve repair. I guess I shoulda known. In fact, I should know everything.

Realtors have an incredibly important fiduciary responsibility to their clients. I doubt one in a thousand takes it serious enough to place as a higher priority than 'the close' or their '$MM Producer' rating.

BTW: I think the Realtor dude or babe his or her self only nets a measly 3%, the 'firm' takes the rest IIRC.

Another BTW: the biggest ball buster professor I encountered in business school taugh Real Estate. That dude had serious issues. I didn't want to become Donald Trump, I just wanted an easy elective.

Hey Eric, where can I get one of those dogs?

 

[Eric Johnson]

Mo,

Them firewood dogs is bred special up in the Adirondacks. Cost more money than the Real Estate commission on your house.

Three percent of the median home price in most parts of the country is still around 5 grand. Probably close to double that in NJ where Craig lives. And, I ask again, for what?

I'm not disputing that you need a real estate vulture to sell a home, Dylan. To some extent they provide a valuable service. But I smell antitrust problems with the fact that they all seem to stick to that outrageous commission and nobody wants to budge. You think that's a coincidence?

 

[Eric Johnson]

I'm really not in a position to debate the issue. I'm sure you're right about exposure. But I always got the impression that the realtors that I dealt with when selling houses were more interested in getting a quick sale than in getting me top dollar. They start off with a highball price estimate to get you on the hook, and then start putting the pressure on you to come down. Conversely, when you're trying to buy a place, they sidle up, put their arm around you and say things like, "I think we can get them to come down." You know the next time they see the seller it's, "This guy's hot to trot; I bet if we throw him a bone he'll go for it." Big scam if you ask me. Of course, I'm cynical.

Once we were trying to close on a house and there was a delay. I got a call from "my" agent, who happened to be down in Florida relaxing, wondering what was up. "Don't worry, I said, you'll get your commission eventually." "Oh," he says, acting all offended, "I'm not worried about my commission; I'm just calling to help you through this difficult and frustrating time." We closed the following week and I half expected to get a phone call or a card or flowers or some other word of congratulations from my "friend" the real estate agent. He cashed the check and I never heard another word from him.

My, we've gotten a bit off-topic in this thread.

 

[Mo Heat]

Here in St. Louis the Realtors Assn. or some 'jerkwad' group managed to get a law passed that allows a single agent to represent both the buyer and the seller. I wonder how well clients' interests are represented in that situation? Isn't that a conflict of interest?! Doubles the agent's commission, though, and isn't that what's really important?

 

[BrotherBart]

I hear ya Frank. At the closing get together for every house I have ever bought I make the same little speach at the begining. "I understand that everybody in this room is here to help me out and tell me what I can, cannot and have to do. I just want to remind you that I am the only one in this room writing checks today."

Works real well.