Elizabeth Newlin - Arizona Real Estate Agent

So this morning as I was getting dressed to go sit an open house, I said to Jason, “Do you think if I button my shirt like this it looks like I’m not pregnant?”

To which he said, “I guess maybe it kinda looks like you might just be fat…”

Because that’s what you want to hear, oh you know, EVER, if you’re female.

This conversation stemmed from my current paranoia, which is that people will stop wanting to hire me as their Realtor because I’m turning into a big fat pregnant lady. I’m afraid they will worry about my impending delivery and what will happen to their house, or their house-searching when I’m incapacitated and decide it’s not worth the risk and go with someone else.

It’s a reasonable fear, although I can assure you, I’ve got it all worked out. I have another agent in my office who I work with on a regular basis and know her style and general knowledge-base. She has agreed to take over my business temporarily for me while I’m birthing. And to make the transition just that more seamless, her name is also Elizabeth. In fact, you can just pretend she’s me.

My other stress in real estate right now is the current vibe between sellers and buyers. I have several sets clients who I’ve been showing houses to for a few months (some even more than that). In the last couple of months, I’ve probably written on average, a contract every week that has either been rejected or countered so unreasonably that we couldn’t make it work. I’m starting to get the idea that there’s some general bad blood between sellers and buyers. The market is beginning to stale and attract flies, I think, and it’s frustrating to sellers, who are taking it out on buyers. I did a listing presentation two weeks ago and the couple told me about how they bought the house they are getting ready to sell. It was a sweet story where the previous owner was selling without an agent (FSBO, for those in the know) and they went over, knocked on the door and sat down at his kitchen table and told him how much they could afford to pay and he told them what he needed out of it. They ironed out a deal that suited all parties, shook hands purchased the home. I’m sorry to say that I haven’t seen any of this good will evidenced in any deal I’ve done, or even attempted to do, lately. I think sellers have really become insulted and jaded by low-ball offers and people trying to steal their houses out from under them. The poor buyers are so beat up by inflated home prices or selling their own home first that they’re just not willing to put up with anything from the sellers. It’s a frustrating time to buy and sell houses in Phoenix and an especially frustrating time to be a Realtor.

Oh, and just in case you hadn’t heard the word: the latest flavor is… Blueberry, again! But hey, so far we’ve been really good at blueberry, so I’m sure it will be yummy and perfect once again.

I know, I know, no one is reading this because I’ve alienated all of my readers (including my husband and father) by not posting for months. I apologize, of course. It’s been a busy few months. I found out in January that I’m pregnant with number three! And by Saturday morning I will be able to tell you what flavor of baby is next on the menu (we have that exciting gender ultrasound Friday late afternoon). So basically, I hate the first trimester of pregnancy. I’m sick and miserable (though I was definitely less sick this time… some are taking that as a sign of other possible differences in this pregnancy… like I don’t know, the gender, maybe? Or maybe this one has three arms… who knows?) and tired, and miserable and stressed, and miserable. But I’ve passed all of that, and just recovered from a nasty stomach virus and have moved on to the cheerful, energetic, eat all the time part of pregnancy. So beware of expanding waistlines.

Anyway, I just wanted to stop by real quick and post a link to this article I saw a couple of weeks ago and thought was relevant. I posted when Zillow.com first came out about my tests of it and how I don’t believe that it is in any way a reliable way to get information on the value of your home. Apparently the State Board of Appraisal is in agreement.

However, apparently the House of Representatives is not. This is the latest from them. Which is fine. The National Association of Realtors has long held that as long as we don’t charge for value estimates, we can give them. And it would make sense that the rule applies to Zillow.com as well. But we all know that if you ask 10 Realtors what the value of the home is, they’re not all going to have the same answer. For your own protect, I suggest you think of Zillow.com as the two year old Realtor who’s really just picking his estimate by pointing a chubby little finger at a list of numbers he doesn’t understand. It’s about that accurate.