When Jan Somers' book is a hindrance

[geoffw]

I went to lok at a place yesterday, as a possible new PPOR.

It was quite nice. Good space, good design, views, pool, spa.

Childrens' bedrooms were a little small though, and the price was too high.

I was wondering about how well a negotiation could go- I thought that perhaps I could lowball...

until I noticed Jan's books in the bookshelf, and realised that the vendor was probably fairly property savvy

(Just joking... but I certainly will remove any property investment books if I do choose to sell in the future).

 

[thefirstbruce]

Where was the property? Sounds like one I looked at before Chrissy, IP books and all... ;/

 

[ani]

"Good space, good design, views, pool, spa. "



What is the pool for Geoff?? Ice skating

 

[geoffw]

Originally posted by ani
[BWhat is the pool for Geoff?? Ice skating [/B]

It was 38C in Canberra the day we looked- Sydney was 31.

It's not a good time to look at houses when kids are also looking- they have different priorities when it's hot

 

[Bill.L]

Hi all,

Geoff, if seeing investment books stops people making lowball offers, but they still make offers, then maybe you should spread some around when thinking of selling!

bye

 

[Jakk]

Originally posted by geoffw

until I noticed Jan's books in the bookshelf, and realised that the vendor was probably fairly property savvy

(Just joking... but I certainly will remove any property investment books if I do choose to sell in the future).

G'Day Geoff,

On a positive note, I would say that a "property savvy" vendor would be a lot easier to deal with than a delusioned (is that a word?) non "property savvy" vendor.

The least I would expect from one with the acquired savvyness is a realistic expectation of the marketplace not some figure plucked from great heights as a test to the possibilty of creating a new record high sale price in that particular street.
Also one would expect a degree of professionalism in their dealings and above all, decisiveness.
What I hate is these airy fairy vendors that just cant or wont make a decision....and quickly.

Geoff, go ahead and put the offer in, it aint you that gets yelled at and abused cause it's ridiculously low, it's the agent.........but aint that what they're paid for anyway.

Regards

 

[Jaffasoft]

As a property investor ain't you supposed to make your own decission, and if it looks right, you base buying the house on your own knowledge and due dilligence?

This seems odd to me. But actauly it got me thinking. If someone is not a property investor and just a common person selling there house ain't they too supposed to be getting savvy advice from the real estate agent.

I've got a lot of those property books and shares books , making money books on the shelve too but i'm not a real property investor. Mainly someone showing a bit of interest in it at this stage.

I've got a rose bush, doesn't mean i'm Bourkes Backyard.

It makes me wander, i think you should consider if you want to buy it and the reasons why you want to buy it rather then who is selling it. Maybee if he's a smart property investor he will leave a bit of money in it for other people. Then he will attract other property investors and not only non property investors (meaning normal people).


Just my thoughts.
Bye.

 

[geoffw]

Thanks people, but I won't be making the offer.

I left the reasons in the first post- childrens' bedrooms were to small, and PPOR.

Jan's book hjving prominence amused me, but really, now that the tongue is no longer in cheek, not a factor.

 

[Jakk]

Originally posted by geoffw
Thanks people, but I won't be making the offer.

I left the reasons in the first post- childrens' bedrooms were to small, and PPOR.

Jan's book hjving prominence amused me, but really, now that the tongue is no longer in cheek, not a factor.

C'mon Mr. Geoff,

It really is a very nice house and from your own words I can see that it has impressed you..........Lets see......you yourself said

"It is quite nice. Good space, good design, views, pool, spa..."
.......but there is this tiny factor that you feel that the childrens bedrooms are a tad on the smallish side.
Now lets face it, kids nowadays basically mainly use their rooms for sleeping in and having a smallish room could possibly encourage them to spend more time being active outdoors, which is really what they should be doing. ........and you also said you feel that the asking price is possibly also a tad high..........Well why don't we just go back to the office and put alll the positives that the house has down on paper and then compare it with any negatives that you feel that it presently has, which by the way, I personally feel a person of your calibre and astuteness could quite easily change.........and then we'll run the figures, take a good look at them, and with my assistance of course, communicate that all back to the vendor....and if we all work together, I'm sure we'll be able to secure this beautiful home for you and your family.........Cos let's face it Mr. Geoff, at the end of the day, it is the happiness ofyour family that is most important, isn't it?...........and I can see that someone like you wouldn't deny his family the happinesss that they deserve for maybe a couple of thousand dollars........would you?
OK then, meet you back at he office in 15 minutes and we'll run over everything then..........I'll have a cuppa waiting for you......how do you take it sugar? milk?......ok I'll see you in 15 minutes.

Regrads

 

[Jakk]

By the way Mr. Geoff,

you do have your cheque book with you, don't you?

Regards

 

[Jaffasoft]

B.T.W. If you get a house with the Jan Sommers book thrown in.

I wouldn't mind reading that book.

 

[bundy1964]

Originally posted by Jakk
Now lets face it, kids nowadays basically mainly use their rooms for sleeping in and having a smallish room could possibly encourage them to spend more time being active outdoors, which is really what they should be doing.

More likely they would want to spend time on dads computer

bundy

 

[geoffw]

Originally posted by Jakk
C'mon Mr. Geoff,

It really is a very nice house and from your own words I can see that it has impressed you..........Lets see......you yourself said

"It is quite nice. Good space, good design, views, pool, spa..."
.......but there is this tiny factor that you feel that the childrens bedrooms are a tad on the smallish side.
Now lets face it, kids nowadays basically mainly use their rooms for sleeping in and having a smallish room could possibly encourage them to spend more time being active outdoors, which is really what they should be doing. ........and you also said you feel that the asking price is possibly also a tad high..........Well why don't we just go back to the office and put alll the positives that the house has down on paper and then compare it with any negatives that you feel that it presently has, which by the way, I personally feel a person of your calibre and astuteness could quite easily change.........and then we'll run the figures, take a good look at them, and with my assistance of course, communicate that all back to the vendor....and if we all work together, I'm sure we'll be able to secure this beautiful home for you and your family.........Cos let's face it Mr. Geoff, at the end of the day, it is the happiness ofyour family that is most important, isn't it?...........and I can see that someone like you wouldn't deny his family the happinesss that they deserve for maybe a couple of thousand dollars........would you?
OK then, meet you back at he office in 15 minutes and we'll run over everything then..........I'll have a cuppa waiting for you......how do you take it sugar? milk?......ok I'll see you in 15 minutes.

Regrads

Yes, Yes, I'll buy it!

Jakk, you are a cynical B... and you have been around far too many real estate agents for far too long.

A masterful post. It made my day. Thanks.

 

[geoffw]

Originally posted by bundy1964
More likely they would want to spend time on dads computer

Not just on Dad's computer.

We just got our latest phone bill on Friday. Calls from fixed line to mobiles- $550. Just about all from 14yo.

And would you believe- $110 to the mobile of the person next door!

14yo will be going without a lot of pocket money for a lot of time.

Fortunately for 14yo, she is on a 3 day sleepover. Enough time for Dad's annoyance to subside into a mere rage

 

[Aceyducey]

Originally posted by geoffw
Fortunately for 14yo, she is on a 3 day sleepover. Enough time for Dad's annoyance to subside into a mere rage

Fortunate or well-planned...

How well does your daughter know when phone bills arrive?

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[skater]

I have strict rules in place in regards to my teenagers use of the phone. They must ask before they use it and are only allowed to call a couple of times a day, and not to mobiles.

14yo now has her own mobile (pre-paid calls) which she has to pay for and surprisingly only uses it for her friends to call her or extreme emergencies. I think in the 8 months she has had it has only topped it up twice. She works part-time so is not short of money but prefers to save her money than waste it on phone calls.

Cheers

 

[Aceyducey]

My kids are allowed unlimited business-related calls on the fixed line.

They each have mobiles but no Telco connection yet - they're happy playing pretend.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[geoffw]

Originally posted by Aceyducey
Fortunate or well-planned...

How well does your daughter know when phone bills arrive?

She does not know at all.

I've scanned and OCR'd the details, and put the details into Excel. That way, I was able to determine what numbers were called most frequently, and how much cost was incurred- I wanted her to learn to be responsible for her actions, but not for ours.

She did have a friend who stayed for two evenings. There were $50 worth of calls during those days to numbers which were not called at any other period. This time around, 14yo is not responsible for those calls, but she has been made to realise that next time around it is her responsibility.

She's just learning about the costs of mobiles. Her allowance will be docked for quite some time.

We learn one lesson at a time. Bringing up children has a whole new set of parameters I never had expected.

 

[Kristine..]

Originally posted by geoffw
Yes, Yes, I'll buy it!

Jakk, you are a cynical B... and you have been around far too many real estate agents for far too long.

A masterful post. It made my day. Thanks.

Actually, Geoff, Jakk is a Licensed Agent, and a very successful one, too, as you can tell from his masterful post!

Regarding phone and other bills -

It's not just children who have to realise that the bills are not paid with money from Heaven.

When I had the child care centre, I also had to educate my customers - the parents - of how much it cost to open the doors. When the electricity bills arrived - more than $800 per bill, and this is going back ten years - I used to stick the bill to the fridge next to the attendance book.

The parents forgot - while they were at work, the bills were not running up at their houses, but at my creche! The fees they paid to me covered staff wages, food, rent, electricity etc and not just the art work which went home by the bag full.

All of us have a blind spot when it comes to other people's expenses.

By the way - we check running costs when we buy a car, we check trading statements when we buy a business, how many of us factor in the cost of running the various types of heating, air conditioning, gardening and most of all, the cost of maintaining the inground pool!! when we look at a property to buy?

If we are buying for investment, we bear the cost of the rates and insurance, but the tenant has to pay for utilities and the pool, gardening etc Will this affect the length of time before the property is let, and how long tenants stay?

I had a tenant comment recently about her responsibility to pay for water. I reminded her I paid to dispose of her rubbish through my rates payments. With water payments, have any of our investment gardens suffered because of this?

Cheers

Kristine

 

[Jacque]

"All of us have a blind spot when it comes to other people's expenses"

Kristine,
How right you are on this one! I would also add that, without records, most people tend to underestimate how much their day to day general expenditure actually amount to.
For example, Quicken has been our main tool for many years for recording purposes. Simply recording your spending habits over a long period can serve to be sobering exercise, when it's all there in black and white- exactly HOW MUCH you really spend on food, entertainment, education etc for the week/month/year.

Back in my more organised days (pre children!) I would calculate the average amount spent in a category (eg: groceries) and keep this amount aside per week in cash. The challenge was not to exceed it. Any leftovers went straight into our PPOR loan at the time.
The trouble was, of course, that certain periods meant that you spent more (Xmas, more visitors than usual etc) so it really didn't work for too long, as I ended up "borrowing" money from other categories, and I have since discovered the joy of credit cards (paid off in the interest free period of course!)

After doing this for some years, I was always amused by other people's "estimations" of how much they thought they spent, per week, on groceries, for example. In most cases, it was always way under what they actually spent, as without record keeping you are simply guestimating, based on your last Woolies receipt or two.
People will always justify the purchase of something they like/want, even if the running costs (eg; pool, garden, electricity) are high, as they are not "in your face" or consistent. It's easy to remain blind to such costs, until the bills start mounting up

As for children and phones, I can remember my brother racking up one enormous landline bill years ago and the shock my dad got when the bill came. He was ropable!
Acquaintances of ours many years ago had a payphone installed for their chatty teenagers, whilst friends had a moneybox by the phone for all outgoing calls. This may seem like over-the-top measures, but they seemed to work!
As for mobiles, none of my children will be having one unless they've paid for it and the pre-paid cards! We got by pretty well without them when we were teenagers, so I really don't see the necessity for our kids to have them at all. Perhaps not all of us have to follow the herd.....