Ok, I got up, made coffee and sat down here to see what was happening.  It is only 5:45am.  Got me thinking, am I the only person who gets up and has to see what is happening here first thing? 

 I actually pull up both MLS's to see what has come on the market, check the expired and look for price reductions....all before most of the area gets up.  I am usually done with my letter writing, my client emails and forwarding new listings to clients all before 7am.  This is not the only thing. My husband works midnights and leaves at 10pm.  I usually am on the MLS and this site then too.  Sometimes when I can not sleep, I get up and see what else is new here. 

Am I the weird one?  Do any of you have all this done before the sun comes up? 

To space or not to space....do you hold a space at the office?  Or do you work from home? 

I currently hold space in my office.  I pay to have a phone, fax and a desk and copies....which I have at home too.  I also work most of the time at home.  I go to the office about once or twice a week. They are all great people at the office, there is no fighting over phone calls, or floor time or anything.  But, let's face it, all of us know the routine at the office.  Get there about noon, stand at reception for about 30 minutes talking about the weekend then going into your area and talk to the other agents for a while, blah, blah, blah. Now it is after 11:00 and everything that you were going to the office to do is still not done.

 The thing is, I am a morning person.  I love to get on the websites between 5 or 6 and 7am. Check the MLS for anything new. I answer emails and send them all before 8am.  I go to the office with paperwork and contracts, EM, etc about 8am and have the rest of the day to get done what I need done. Show homes, do CMA's and network. 

 I ask you, should I continue to pay for space?  Is working at the office throwing money away?  What are your opinions on being an "at home" agent?

And, do you look at each website to see who, what and where they are?  I look at each to see if they are in a area that I go to.  I also see if they are good listings for content and such.  Do you do that?

Ok, I have these clients that I have put in three months, many many many hours, reams of paper, hundreds of phone calls and over 70 homes.  Brace yourselves, we have written 5 contracts on homes.  All to be turned down, not countered, turned down.  I have repeatedly told these clients about low-balling offers.  Client:  "But, It's a buyers market.  I don't understand these sellers".

Before we meet to write on this last home, his atty. calls me and asks to meet with me before he signs any contract.  Hummmmmmmmm, sounds like a problem to me.  At first I thought that the client didn't trust me.  That after all this time and all these contracts he thinks that I am either not presenting, or something.  So I meet with the atty.  I asked him point blank, "may I ask why you are seeing the contract before we present an offer?"  He says "there are too many contracts floating around with his name on them".  Now I get miffed.  I explain that in RE we have a page that is signed off from the other Realtor that they either counter or decline.  He looks at the client and asks if he wants to make the offer.  Client says yes.  Lawyer says how much.  I said "excuse me but we have not disscussed this yet and have not written a contract to present yet."  Lawyer says to the client, do you want to make an offer?  Client looks to me like, "what do I do?".......I said that I need to make an offer and negotiate.   Blah, blah, I left with a contract that the atty changed before negotiations, and signed. The contract was written for $9000 below asking, really within reach here.  I thought great, we are finally at a point to counter and be done with it.  Get these folks out of my life.

Now, after all this crap, the seller got pissed about another "low-ball offer" and took it off the market.  Back to square one.  I just received a call from the buyer again saying that he is going to make another offer on another home that I wrote on with him, but, get this, he is writting it with his atty.  I AM CUT OUT. 

I am planning a procurring cause case here.  Do I let the atty know?