Surfing and the first time home buyer

Surfing….And Being A First Time Home Buyer

Many years ago the surfing bug hit me…..hard. I was twelve and growing up on an Island on the Gulf Coast, Galveston. You’re surrounded by water, you either fished, boated, skied, swam, just about anything having to do with water and at sixteen I was surfing in the state finals.

Anyone that’s surfed knows the reward of taking off on a wave and the sheer excitement of working the wave and enjoying the ride. Every wave is different. As I’ve grown older I reflected back and realized that you and the wave were a team, partners so to speak. Artists might describe the wave as a canvas and you held the brush and for a very short time you drew or carved into what the wave was providing.

Waves come in sets, usually two, three, or four waves at a time, usually different sizes. As the set was coming in you’d try to look over the first wave to see which one was the biggest or best formed. You had to do this pretty quickly because you had to decide to take the first one or wait, you also had to see if the other guys you’re out there with were jockeying for the same wave.

It was interesting territory, others deciding which wave they wanted. Everyone does a quick look to see who’s in the area, if you’ve got the best position and opportunity to catch the wave. Sometimes two or three guys would try to take off on the same wave, survival of the fittest, and sometimes just being at the right place at the right time. Many an accident would occur, or a few choice words about it being “my wave”, some would back out take the next one. Then there was ability and guts. Some waves were just too big for some. For others, the wave might be getting ready to break (crest) and if you took off it could be a pretty harrowing drop in, if you were too late, well you’d end up getting churned and found yourself swimming. If you’re surfing with a friend, you’d give that “look” at each other and if your buddy had the best position you’d just let him take it. Besides, you’d just catch the next one.

Funny thing, when you think about surfing, you only think about is the ride and the exhilaration after it’s over. You graded the wave, you graded your ride. You watched others and graded them. Thinking back I never counted how many waves I rode in a day. You rode till you were tired or the sun went down. One time I was the only one out and the Good Year Blimp was traveling up and down the coast. The pilot turned off the engine as he was coming up to me, and we talked for a few minutes as he drifted by. Kind of like a fishing story, my buddies didn’t believe me, but it’s true.

After the day is over and you’re dead tied, you don’t think about all the paddling you did against the endless waves crashing down on you. You’d paddle and get twenty, thirty yards and then a “set” would come in and you knew that there were going to be two, three, or four waves, all of varying sizes, and you had to make it through each one and try to make a little head way between waves. You’d get pushed back and lose ground, sometimes the entire distance you’d paddled. Once the set was through, you paddled like crazy to get out beyond the break. You’d be huffing and puffing and really need a break, but, sometimes another set is on you and you forget how tired you are you’re at it again. On days when the waves were really big it was a real challenge to get past the break. I’ll leave the part out of jumping off rock piers that go out into the water and have waves crashing in on them, and you’d time the waves as when to jump in, you didn’t want to get pushed back into the pier….it saved a lot of paddling. Or jumping off a forty foot high pier built out into the gulf with a hotel on it…..just to miss the break. At the end of the day, it’s the great rides you made and fun you had. You don’t think about the paddling….only the rides.



So, what does all this have to do with being a first time buyer and looking for a home? Buying your first home can be a nerve racking experience. You’ve heard stories but not fully understanding. Your agent has explained the process and talked about the market. Oh yeah….you’re looking for a deal too. You find a home, nice, this will work, and you write a contract and expect to hear something back. You wait. You don’t understand banks. Why does this take so long? Don’t banks want to sell this house? What’s an asset manager? You’ve put in a contract over list price…you wait, only to hear you’ve lost to another contract. You’re puzzled, depressed, angry, and after three deals you’re ready to give up.

Now’s not the time to give up. You’ve got to keep paddling. You’re buying a home, an investment for your family. You can’t stand paying rent. You want to be able to say it’s yours. So you start paddling against the waves, that just keep coming in and finally your reach the point where you’re now in a great place, ready to catch the right one.

A year’s past and you love driving down the street, and pulling into your home. Going in and having the kids grab your leg….there really glad to see you. You love having your friends over and just hanging out. You don’t think too often of the buying process anymore. Mostly it’s just the enjoyment being a homeowner.

To sum up, it’s a right of passage, buying you first car, your first home. Most everyone goes through it. You’d stayed with it and fought for what you wanted. Congratulations, it turned out to be a great ride!

We're Off An Running

We'll here's my first entry in the blogger world. All the pundit's say be interesting, be yourself, have a personality, post regularly.....OK, I'm all that and can do all that.

Been in Real Estate for over 13 years, pretty interesting last couple of years. Feeling frustrated today with lenders. Here are a few rambles.....

In Colorado we've had a major drop in the number on Real Estate agents, and lenders. The head counts are down, lenders are finally down by two-thirds. Amazing what happens when the state requires you to test out and show some proficiency. Lot's of moan and groaning when 15 year vets couldn't pass. The tests to hard!!!! Reducing the number of agents and lenders was a good thing. Old saying if you can't make a living doing what your doing, you're probably not that good. Law of natural selection. Except.......

now find a lot of folks that can't manage what they've got. Lenders ARE YOU listening. Oh, I know the suit fits great AND the words are slick and fruity.......but managers your processor in the back is getting her tail kicked with files, everything happens at the last minute, then.....wait for it.........the closing won't happen. Seems that the contract dates aren't that important and the loan conditions deadline isn't really there, you just didn't see it. CUSTOMER SERVICE.....calling but not picking up.

Ladies and gentleman......bitterness is a real flavor, it's really a sour taste left in the buyers and sellers mouths. The sign should read EXCUSE LENDING....WE'VE GOT THE RIGHT LOANS FOR YOU....BUT NOT TODAY!

I have worked with some very professional Realtor's. Very interested in serving their clients, return phone calls and like most of us want their clients positive approval and their referrals. Had one lender tell me. That's OK, they won't be buying another home for years. He's probably not in the business any longer. I know as an agent I won't be referring my client to him.

We're all human. We think we're important, but we're really not. Trying, caring and just speaking the truth goes a long way.

YOUR THOUGHTS????