Today I spent a lot of time finishing up loose ends due to my procrastination in preparing for my kids going back to school tomorrow. I was buying clothes, socks, shoes and a ton of school supplies. Why can’t my kids use some of the old stuff from last year?
Anyway, after waiting for just over an hour this morning at the doctor’s office so my daughter can get a physical and be cleared for the upcoming soccer season, I headed out to do the last minute shopping and then attend their school orientations. What a mad house of adults scurrying around like ants from classroom to classroom. Pretty hilarious. I think the adults were more stressed out than the kids.
As the event ended and I headed back to the parking lot, I counted ELEVEN cars that had either sold signs in the back window area over the seats, a Realtor license plate cover, or some lettering signage on the side of the windows or rear windows indicating they were Realtors. Then I counted six other cars: mortgage brokers. Then I counted me,in escrow. I wonder how many other people are in the business that didn’t advertise on their cars.
Then I started thinking. Maybe websites like Trulia.com or Zillow.com should not only post houses and sale history, but they should post all the Real Estate agents and allied real estate professionals on a map too. It would be amazing to see how many dots would show up. Just in my own neck of the woods, we have six immediate neighbors homes for sale, one is a Realtor, one is in construction, my next door neighbor (not for sale)is a builder who was impacted negatively due to the recently ended labor strike for Cement Drivers. We have another active builder just up the street and another homeowner nearby within a 5 minute walk who is a loan officer. Wow.
I guess the economic engine in housing is really quite real. A lot of people are directly impacted by housing. One of the title reps we work with on a regular basis and who stops by our office asked my wife how business was last week. We had a decent August, but it was the reps tone that was a little startling. She said title orders for her dropped off like a rock. This is a rep who has a lot more clients than we do. A lot more.
If any of you are refinancing or thinking of purchasing or selling, please keep us in mind for your escrow needs. We are highly mobile and assist clients all over the Puget Sound area.
S-Crow