Monday, July 13, 2009

Pictures

Hi,

So I was having a conversation last night with my friend Sandy. She is a regular blogger and suggested I start posting some pictures to go with my stories. Apparently most people have ADD so from this point on I will start putting some pictures up.

I have already added some pics to the story "poop in pants," It was one of my oldest posts so you will have a go a ways back to see them. Next week I will post some pictures of my new house, which I am very excited about.

Conor

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Bought a House

Hi!

Today is a good day, I bought my very first house. I still have an escrow period to go through so by no means is this a done deal but either way, at least the cogs are moving.

This is a big step for me because I've spent almost the last year of my life convincing people that that this is the perfect time to buy. All the while, I was still renting a house. I felt a little hyporcritcal not following my own advice!

Either way, it is a 3 bed, 1 bath house in Pleasant Hill and I couldn't be more excited to get in there are start making it my own.

Escrow will last 3 weeks so hopefully I will have another update sooner rather than later!

Conor

Monday, April 27, 2009

Recognition

Hi Everyone,

About 3 weeks ago I sold a house to my friends Dave and Michelle Levie. Dave has been a buddy of mine since we met at the University of Arizona and through Dave I of course met his wife Michelle.

Since the offer was accepted (they bought a house in Walnut Creek,) Dave has been very bummed that I didn't mention him on my blog. I think the quote went something like this...

Dave: So Conor, I see you haven't updated your blog in a while.
Conor: Yeah.
Dave: I was a little bummed that you didn't say something about selling a house to one of the coolest guy you know, or something along that line. Not even a mention, jeez.
Conor: Yeah, I will make sure to get on that.

So to one of the "coolest guys I know" Congrats on getting an amazing house. I couldn't be more excited for you and Michelle and I can't wait to see you make the place your own.

Conor

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Close of Escrow

Well today is a good day. I have officially closed my first Escrow! Although I have been working very hard it wasn't until today that I finally felt like a legitamate Real Estate agent.

Although it seems like the hard part is actually finding a place for someone, it turns out that going through the month long escrow period is the hardest part of selling a house. Not only are there piles of paperwork but there is negotiating, inspections, reports, not to mention waiting around for the lender to approve the loan. It is a trying experience but well worth it in the end. I was so happy today to hand over the keys to my buyer and be a small part of them buying their very first house.

On another good note, the weather is warm and it appears Spring is finally here...although I could definitely do without the seasonal allergies.


Conor

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Writing the Offer

It's been a while since I have posted a blog. I have to keep reminding myself to update this site but I have actually been pretty busy which is great.

Last week I wrote my first offer. I have been a part of plenty of contracts and deals but this was the first offer that I wrote on my own with a client that I had procured. It was a great experience doing it I was able to gain a ton of confidence just from actually doing it instead of being walked through. Once the offer was turned in, we got a counter but chose not to respond to the counter. Although I was a little bummed about the counter offer not being where we wanted it to be I was still happy for the first of many of these nerve wracking experiences.

This past Saturday was my first day off in almost 2 whole weeks. Although people might not think I am working as much (because I am not 9 to 5,) the reality is that I am working 24 hours a day. I am answering work related calls at 7 in the morning and then again at 9 at night. Not only that, but I can't screen calls anymore! If I see a number I don't recognize, I have to pick it up because I don't want to miss a call from another agent. No worries though, I can still screen my friends calls because their name actually pops up on my phone.

All in all, things are going great here. I love coming into my office because it is a nice place to be. I like working with people, and I love the feeling I get when I see someone get the house that they were looking for. This is a feeling I can't wait to have myself someday.

Last note...in the next few days I have to go and check on a house in the skits of Oakland again. You can reference my story (poop in pants) to see how excited I am to do this. Best part is that it is the same exact house, I just have to see if they've left. I am putting it off for as long as possible...wish me luck. I hope everyone had a great long weekend.

Conor

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Summer in January

Wow. For the past few days I have been walking around in what amounts to jeans and a t-shirt and I've been perfectly comfortable temperature wise.

Now, read that last sentence again, keeping in mind that it is January 13th. Seriously, The last time I experienced weather like this in January was back when I was in school at Arizona. Part of me wants some rain so that we won't have a drought, but a bigger part of me is absolutely loving this (relative) heat wave. It made it so much easier to go out and look at houses last weekend. At one point I believe I even uttered the phrase "wow, it's getting a little hot out here."

So here I am looking at houses this past Sunday with my dad and a family of three (the couple has a young son,) and I am in a pretty darn good mood. After looking at a few houses in the morning, it is getting close to lunch and the little guy, Felix, is getting pretty hungry. When asked what he wants, he says Chicken McNuggets, shocking that a 4 year old wants McNuggets, I know. So we stop at McDonalds and sit around the table and just start chatting and eating when I realize that life is pretty good. I mean, seriously, when someone asks me what my job is, from now on I will just say, eating chicken nuggets at McDonald's with a happy 4 year old. Pretty tough right? It turned out to be a long day of looking at houses but it was a good one.

Conor

P.S. McDonald's, if you are reading this, you owe me $100 for free McNugget advertising.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Neighbors Know

Well, it's Wednesday and I've made it halfway through the week. It's a tough task for many of us to get this far but don't worry about me, I'm doing alright. I assume everyone has made it passed their Thanksgiving food coma at this point. I just came out of mine yesterday (not really, but that's what it feels like) and realized that Christmas is going to be here before we know it. I will be spending my holiday with family down in Buenos Aires, Argentina and I couldn't be more excited about it. Onto the weeks activities...

I am working with a client who is looking for a place in Oakland. Recently, she found a place she liked but wasn't sure how safe the neighboorhood was. We decided that the best way to find out was to knock on some doors and see what the neighboors have to say. She set out that very day and started knocking on doors, good for her! it turns out that she met a bunch of very pleasant people during her door knocking and it made her feel much better about the property she was looking at. She also made her way down the street to talk to some of the local businesses, all the while getting a great amount of information about the area and even some other areas in Oakland that she might like.

After hearing all of this I realized that neighboors love to talk about the area that they live in. They are full of information and they know a lot more about certain areas than I do. I need to be open to listening to everyone and even make it a priority to just get myself out there and talk to people. Shouldn't be too hard to do right?

That's it for today. I hope everyone has a great week!

Conor