Rough Draft: Realtors Have To Write Too

Realtors Have To Write Too

Travis Frohlich

tfrohlich@antioch.edu

Writing 310

Professor: Zack De Piero

11/22/15

           Have you ever wondered how to become rich by selling something without having to necessarily buy the inventory? Many people think that real estate is a business that is difficult or hard to get into. I am here to tell you that although the business may not be hard to get into, it is hard to make a name for yourself and be successful in the industry. Here is the story of a real estate agent whom became successful in the Santa Barbara County virtually on his own. Keith Berry is a native Santa Barbara local with some of the most experienced knowledge in the field of real estate. He knows the area from Carpentaria to Goleta where he would start selling homes in the 1970’s. Keith has written many articles and been a guest speaker for the real estate industry with regards to many different areas of the real estate business. Currently, Keith is a real estate agent with Coldwell banker. Although the real estate industry seems like an easy buying and selling process, it in fact tests the realtor’s ability to read the fine print and write creatively.

            Keith Berry found his interest in the Real Estate business at age twenty-three. As Keith graduated high school he was drafted into the Navy, so he did that for four years. He was not educated and didn’t know what direction he was going to go in. As he explored his options on how to become financially stable independently he determined that he would have to be in sales.  Real estate was a business that, “one can get into and have the inventory without having to buy the inventory”(Berry, K). Keith describes the business just as easy to get into now as it was back when he got started. When Keith started he got into the title business. He would make sure that the title to a piece of real estate was legitimate and then issues the title insurance to the property. Title insurance protects both the lender and the owner from lawsuits or claims against the property. Keith says that he became a partner to the firm that he was working with and expanded that firm all over California very rapidly. Keith ended up with forty offices, 2,500 agents, in 5 counties in California. He then sold it all to Merrill Lynch. This would support himself, as he would raise his kids for the next twelve years. Retirement was too boring for Keith Berry so he decided to go back to what he did originally which was list and sell real estate.

            Rhetoric is used in many different ways in real estate and this should be understood before getting started (Understanding Rhetoric, Into: “Spaces for Writing”). One way that they use Rhetoric would be when a realtor tells a client how much they charge for doing a transaction. Usually it is a percentage of the total sale price that is non-negotiable. A house contract is something that the agent and the seller or buyer will create in order to do a transaction with the opposing side. Some of the information in the packet go without any say but other things like the price, property lines, interest rate, and so on are what the agents write up. A mortgage is something that needs to be discussed in great detail as well as it needs to be agreed upon by both parties. If the one buying a home can only afford to pay 6% interest then don’t let the offer say 7% because that is how you can get yourself into a lot of trouble. All of this has to be presented using a certain tone that appeals to the readers. Also know as the clients to the real-estate agents.

            Getting your name out there and building trust from the buyers is key. Who better to inform someone buying property in the Santa Barbara area than people whom have grown up here their entire lives? Something that Keith and I have in common is that we both are from Santa Barbara and know the ins and outs of our town pretty well. Now there is still no possible way for anyone to know that Keith is in the real estate business without advertisement. For a long period Keith would create his own ads for his website, but now that he is a bit older Keith has his assistant help him with all of that. There is a lot more involved in putting up an ad than would expect (Driscoll, D). A photographer needs to go to the home and take pictures that are going to be grab the buyer, or with the new technology of flying drones through homes and above the homes to capture the house entirely. Voluntary Participation from the current owners is something that the agents will have to mention when trying to take pictures, see the property, getting people to clean the home, gaining knowledge of the neighborhood and the surroundings, and having a selling point for the home. This isn’t an issue usually because the seller wants they’re home advertised. There has to be somebody that makes the ad and properly advocates for the property in a way that will appeal to the viewers. This is important because there is a lot that goes into this description like address, number of rooms, yard size, whether there’s a garage or not, and so on. This will eliminate buyers calling and asking the same questions over and over again as a result of an incomplete ad.

            Real-estate leases spell out the terms of a residential tenancy between a landlord and a tenant. They are perfect for landlords, property managers, and real-estate invertors. These are for all residential property types, including homes, apartments, condos, basement suites and many more. Leases are created uniquely for the customer, by an agent and lawyer, depending on the situation. All fifty states in America use this in order to buy or sell a home. A rule of thumb I have always lived buy is in order to buy something I either have to have the money and I will buy it and if I don’t have the money then I will not buy it. I see myself making an exception when buying a home in the future and leasing it is what I will do. Now understanding what I am going to be getting myself into is going to be very crucial for me. I will be critical with the fine print in the writing of my lease. I will rely on my reading and comprehension skills as I sign my way into the biggest purchase of my life. Once I purchase a home I plan on keeping it until I pass away. Whether I get another home will depend on what happens in life but I will make sure to sign an agreement that the home will go into someone’s name whom I love and trust if I were to pass away.

            Transferring a property after the death of the owner is a specialty that not many real estate agents get into. It’s a field that someone will specialize in and have many clients from all over. This can be an extensive amount of paperwork depending on the situation. If a house is left to somebody then it becomes very easy to transfer the home. In this case there is a name that the property can be transferred to. There are legal contracts that need to be written up by the agent and then the home goes into he name of the new owner. They can do with it what they wish after this happens. If there are two owners to a property and one of the owners passes away the property automatically goes into the name of the other owner. The laws are set for each individual state so the agent must know the laws for the state in which they are selling the property. This is extremely important so that the agent and the buyer or seller don’t get themselves in any legal trouble by doing things they are use to doing in different states. This is a practice that Keith does not participate in but does know whom to refer someone to if they were to have questions.

            What I am getting at is with any change in the real estate market there is paperwork. One may think that real estate agents just sell and buy homes but there is a lot of writing and reading that goes along with it. Doing the proper reading and writing will reassure the agent that they are making the best decision possible for their clients.

Works Cited

            Driscoll, Dana Lynn. (2011) Introduction To Primary research: Observations, Survey’s, and Interviews. Retrieved from http://www.parlorpress.com/pdf/driscoll--introduction-to-primary-research.pdf

            Spaces for writing Retrieved from file:///Users/travisfrohlich/Downloads/Understanding+Rhetoric+p.+1-22%20(1).pdf

            Berry, Keith. (1997-2015) Keith C. Berry, Santa Barbara Real Estate Professional. Retrieved from http://www.keithberryrealestate.com/