All Forum Posts by: Stephanie Dupuis

This just happened.

If you cringe when someone pays too much for property repairs...you might be a real estate investor.

A colleague just way overpaid (three times what it should have cost) for a roof and had to take a loan out for it. Heartache.

"If you cringe every time you hear of someone paying retail for a property ...

Oh, Dawn - So true!! I cringe every time. It kills me.

That was a great list. No way to top that one. I will add a few from my guilty conscience:

If your significant other asks if the two of you could take some time off for a road trip, and you drive them to a property you're interested in...you might be a real estate investor.

Pleasure reading consists of the "ABC's of Real Estate Investing" by Ken McElroy or "What Every Investor Needs to Know About Cashflow" by Frank Gallinelli...you might be a real estate investor.

If you walk into a friend's house and immediately start calculating it's cashflow...you might be a real estate investor.

If you start attending parties out of the blue because you might meet someone who knows of a house for sale...you might be a real estate investor.

That's all the confessing I can handle for now.

Anyone know a fairly priced and honest HVAC/Furnace repair/replacement guy or company in Seattle?

Thanks.

Connect with Michele Fischer form Longview, WA.

The analogy to attorneys is incredibly accurate. Agents do not have "set fees" - pay is negotiable for all agents. I believe this is federal law (the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?). Agents can also be paid per flat fee (also negotiable) in many states, and isn't a commission "on a contingency" basis? If the house doesn't sell, no commission is paid. The house being sold is the contingency.

With agents, you also get what you are willing to pay for (or afford). This seems like an excellent analogy to me.

If paying someone is not worth your money - then do not pay the person. Regardless of their profession.

Most people get into a business to make money. As @Jerry W. stated, and stated so well - We're all doing something to make money.

Some are good at what they do, some are not. As a consumer, you are either good at finding the good professionals, or you are not. I suggest developing great skills at finding great professionals to work for you. That's my opinion, though. I like to surround myself with great people. I'll pay these people well.

Adrian - I'm trying to understand the point you are attempting to make. Are you saying that lowering agent commissions will decrease competition?...and will improve quality? While I agree that there will be fewer agents (b/c quality people will leave the profession). I also think such a move will decrease quality because quality people expect to be paid well (don't you?).

The above comment about agents is equivalent to stating, " I think there are too many attorneys because attorneys are paid too much". We ought to lower attorney pay so fewer people want to be attorneys.

In fact..."I would suspect that the average attorney is not rolling in the dough because it's so hard to get clients (that's why attorneys post on avvo.com offering free advice to solicit clients, and why we see advertisements for legal services by attorneys - why else would attorneys need to advertise if clients were so easy to get?), because there are so many attorneys, because attorney pay is so high, etc. I think lowering attorney pay would solve many of these issues."

Am I understanding you correctly?

@Account Closed

Thanks, Joe - helpful info, per usual.

I worked in education as a teacher grades 4-12 for 15 yrs. I worked with the gov't, parents (worse at lying than the kids - parents lied more often and worse), students (ok - I expect them to lie, and sometimes the lies were pretty funny), other colleagues, and community members.

A few days ago my childhood bestie brought her 4 yo. over and (of course), the 4 yo tried to pull my dog's tail, and did pull my dog's tail, like she was walking my dog on a leash! (did you ever wanna do that when you were a kid?!?). I explained to the 4 yo that it hurts the dog to pull her tail. The 4 yo said, "I didn't pull her tail!"

Lying is part of our human experience - I lied just like this when I was this age (well, I drew on the side of my house with chalk. Wrote my name next to my drawing, and then denied/lied that I drew the drawing). Lying is part of our development as human beings.

We need to teach ourselves to tell the truth. Further, when we teach ourselves to tell the truth (which occurs after learning to lie) - we learn the benefits of truth-telling. It's like wearing a bullet-proof vest. The veil of truth cannot be pierced (it may appear to be pierced, but ...). Further, lies will eventually be pierced.

"Lies have speed - truth has endurance." Not sure where I read this, but I've often recited it to myself.

Great story, @Jerry W.

I need to check out Streak. Thanks for your generosity and help @Jerry Puckett

I have colleagues in my area who use a program called Top Producer - anyone here know about this?