That old, old House.

A short discorse between a client and myself, enjoy...

Matthew, what do you think of this listing for us?

I actually have two answers. The first is short and to the point. I like this house a lot. I like the location and the land that the house sits on, but it is old.

The second answer is a little longer so grab a cup of coffee.

I firmly believe that houses are like human beings. They have a life cycle. Some are short, some are long, and the rest fall somewhere in the middle. Some homes were made to live a long, long time, case in point, the castles in Ireland, Bunratty castle comes to mind. It's hundreds of years old. A little less impressive is the White House, a couple of hundred years of age. Some houses were not built to live quite as long, case in point, my house. My house is a typical brick cape cod. It was built in 1940. It is nearing the end of it's lifecycle, granted it was not well cared for in the past, but there isn't a whole lot you can do to extend the life of one of these old cape cods. You can replace or refinish the hard woods, replace vinyl with ceramic tile(face-lift), replace Formica and wood countertops with granite(collagen injection), extend the house with more rooms(boob job), or you could even go so far as to change out entire bathrooms(liver transplant), HVAC system(lung transplant), or kitchen(heart transplant). There are many of these things that can be done to extend the life of a fifty year old brick cape cod, but it is still a fifty year old cape cod. You can do all of the fixes that there are but you can not turn back time the bones will continue to get old(framing and trusses), and it's soul or essence will continue to get old(foundation). My house is on life support and the doctor(my architect) is asking my wife and I if we want to pull the plug. If we had the money we would. We would build a new house where this one is now. But for now, it's life support for this old house.


So in short a fifty year old house is fine if it is built to last for a hundred years. But the cape cods in this neighborhood were built in the fifties and are getting to the end of there life cycle. You and Jill are looking at some very nice new homes that are in your price range. You would probably be better off going for one of the newer homes. Less yard granted, but who wants to mow the thing. I had to get a riding lawn mower for my 1/2 acre. This is all, of course, my opinion. I hope that answers your question.

Photos:

old house courtesy of Library of Congress

house with snow courtesy of Matthew Ryan

Why use just one Realtor?

Some of my clients are perplexed by the notion that I will only work with them if they work with me exclusively. The idea of a buyer’s agent can be a difficult concept to grasp. I like to use a term that Larry Anderson, a teacher with NVAR(Northern Virginia Association of Realtors), uses a lot in his classes, “Buyer’s Advocate.” A buyer’s advocate can look out for the best interest of their client, the buyer. Doesn’t sound very unique, does it? Well, let me backtrack a bit. Way back in the earlier years of real estate in Virginia, up until about twenty or so years ago. There was no such thing as a buyer’s agent. There were only agents and subagents. The agent worked for the seller and the subagent worked for the agent. Loyalties were with the seller. According to agency law there was no choice. All of the facilitators to the transaction were being paid by the seller and were duty bound to do what was in the best interest of the seller. It’s no wonder people didn’t like real estate agents. When the idea was introduced to have buyer’s agents, or someone that worked for the buyer, it was met with a great deal of trepidation. These agents for the buyer were introduced somewhat sheepishly to the market. Only a few were bold and brash and took the idea of buyer representation to heart and truly advocated for their clients. It is those Realtors and real estate agents that I respect. When I present a buyer with the opportunity to work with me, I first ask them if they would be willing to sign a buyer agency agreement. This contract states that the buyer will work with me exclusively and that I will work in the buyer’s best interest, and that they will pay my commission. It is a concept that I hold very dear and take extremely seriously. Just ask a few of my clients and you will see. I joined Frankly Realty not just for the fact that I think that Frank is brilliant and his ideas about real estate brokerage are fantastic and ground breaking, but also because I believe that Frank holds the same belief that I do, that we are agents for our clients whether the are buyers or sellers and that regardless of what we may want, we need to do what is in the best interest of our clients, or get rid of them as clients. If my client’s needs are better met by someone else, I will often recommend someone else that I think will do a better job for them. I don’t see it as a short fall of mine. I see it as doing my job better than someone that would still work for that client in order to make the commission, knowing that they were doing a disservice to that client. By taking my job seriously, I can get something that most Realtors simply can not. I can get my clients to take my job seriously. Larry Anderson has a shirt that says “Buy from me or get out of my car.” A lot of Realtors like to complain about clients letting them chauffer them around for a couple of days treating them like walking lock boxes and then deciding that they really didn’t want to buy anything after all, or else go to there friend or relative to write a contract on the house that they want. I say, you brought it on yourself by not having respect for your profession. If you would stand up for yourself in the beginning and show the prospect that you have worth and that your time is valuable, then they would have no choice but to see you the same way. So I say, “Buy from me or get out of my car.” My client’s sign a buyer agency agreement that states that they will pay me the commission I charge regardless of who they buy a house from. I will take them to FSBOs that don’t pay a commission. I will take them to owners who haven’t even realized that they are going to sell their house yet. I will take them to MLS listings that are offering less than I charge for commission. I am able to open the market up to the every house that they see by making it a requirement that they pay me I don’t have to go to the home owners with listing agents that are deigning to pay my commission. I can take them to any house, regardless of it’s status. I do everything in my power to ensure that the seller will reimburse my clients for the commission that they pay me, but ultimately they will be responsible. If they don’t get the value of my service at that point they are better off with an agent who likes to be a chauffer.

Winner of the $500 Dollar Cash Drawing!

I am pleased to announce that the winner of the $500 cash drawing at the Open House for 4155 Brookgreen Dr. on March 7th was Talaya Meyers. Congratulations Talaya, and thank you for coming to the Open House and registering for the $500 cash drawing. As of today the other three homes that were on the market during our open house are now under contract, except for the short sale on Trumbo Ct. Good luck, I hope you get a contract soon. Anyone else that is interested in putting your home on the market, I am available for April and May listings now. Call/txt 703-517-7800 or email info@MatthewRyanRE.com for your free market analysis today.

OPEN HOUSE 4155 Brookgreen Dr. Fairfax, VA 22033

There will be a wonderful catered(thank you Panera!) OPEN HOUSE on March 7th form 12-3. The door prize is $500 in crisp, clean, real $100 dollar bills. The drawing will be held at 3pm in the kitchen I hope that everyone can come.
I Have written a review of the home on http://www.franklymls.com/ just search for "4155 Brookgreen" and It will come up. The review is at the bottom. I'm reposting it here. The link at the bottom is for ninety or so pictures of the house and I think a video got stuck in there as well. the number of pictures and videos will grow as the listing progresses, so keep tuned. Without further ado...

This is my listing. Now that that is out of the way. I have never had such a great listing before. This fabulous three level, three bedroom , townhouse, has everything I could possibly ask for. Huge master suite, that is a king size bed in the picture, it looks small in that huge room, The soaking tub and separate shower, double sinks and dual closets, would be perfect. The second full bath and two large bedrooms , not the usual 8x10s you would normally see, leave room for a great office. The gourmet kitchen is laid out Bobby Flay style, which is perfect for me, not to brag but I was a professional chef for many years and I do like to show off for a crowd. The family room with it’s gas log fire place ceiling light and fan and space for a large couch and chairs makes for the perfect after dinner drink and conversation area. Then to the formal dinning area for coffee and a game of cards. The family room is great for relaxing after all that fun and letting a wonderful evening wind down until it's just my wife and I. Down in the basement the rec. room, which is the entire width of the house, can be used for multiple purposes, I lean towards a great game room with pool table, dart board and table tennis, yes they'll all fit. The shade of the outdoor patio with extended deck above is perfect for mid afternoon tea when it's to hot to be in the sun upstairs and the two hole putting green waits patiently for the next round of friendly competition. I forgot to mention that one of my favorite thins is having the laundry area on the ground floor ,with the buffer of the living area there is no reason not to stick a load of laundry in right before bed. And finally, what I wouldn't give for a two car garage with space for two more cars in the driveway. Well back to my mundane life in Alexandria. I hope you enjoyed the review and also enjoy the 90 or so picture from the photo album, Chow! Matthew Ryan 703-517-7800

Photo Album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/110721113236221091215/Pictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLVp6zXlsbyoAE&feat=directlink

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Matthew Ryan
Frankly Realty inc.
703-517-7800 cell & txt
MatthewRyanRE - IM (all of them!)
MatthewRyanRE@gmail.com
http://www.matthewryanre.com/