Katherine Massey Century 21 Beal Realtor

Susan,
 
My husband Chris and I have been extremely impressed with Kathy Massey, our Century 21 Beal Realtor. I first contacted Kathy back in the fall when my husband first heard about his transfer to Dallas. Kathy took the time to give us some good, solid information even though we were not ready to list the house at that time. We went back to Kathy and got our house listed February 1st. We got a contract that evening and a second the morning of February 2nd. I think our house is attractive, but Kathy’s pricing advice put us in a great position to get two full-price offers quickly. She’s been so patient and friendly through the whole process and continues to be so as we work towards closing. 

Thank you.
 
Terrie (and Chris)

PS – You can reach Kathy at 979-764-2100 or katherinem@century21bcs.com

College Station Texas Real Estate – College Station Realtor

Raylene Lewis is a top agent at Century 21 Beal in College Station Texas. A few months ago she was contacted about publishing her “interesting real estate experiences” in a book. Below are the 2 stories (TRUE STORIES) they chose.

Real estate is an interesting business. We deal with people at their bests and at their worsts! We see clean houses and houses no one should live in. We work with people who are understanding and those who are demanding. We find pets left in houses, appliances and sinks removed, wires cut, houses flooded, carpet removed, clients that lie but more often than not, we get to meet WONDERFUL people. Most of our clients are kind people who enjoy working with us to achieve their goals of either buying or selling real estate. Most of the time we not only have a real estate transaction together but we also build long term relationships and friendships.

Enjoy Raylene’s stories. They are only 2 of hundreds of experiences we have on a regular basis.

Smashing Success

A story like this will probably have some considering the need for a real estate driving course and designation. Raylene was having an open house for agents on her very first listing. New to the business, she was doing her best to make the right impression both with fellow agents and her sellers

She had provided a nice lunch for the agents and was collecting business cards to hold drawings. Apparently the pull of these caravan drawings was just too much for one busy agent who, although she didn’t’ have time to stay for lunch or tour the property, stopped by to drop off her business card.

The agent was in an obvious hurry. She quickly parked, grabbed a business card, and hurried into the house. Depositing her card with the many other agent cards, the woman quickly retraced her steps to her car.

A few moments later, however, she came back inside. Raylene asked her what she thought of the house.

“It’s great, but I think it needs a new garage door.”

“Really, why?”

“Because I just drove through it!”

 Experience #2

 If you ever have clients get in your car with children carrying buckets, you might want to bail – literally. Texas agent Raylene Lewis had no idea why three or the four small children in this large family would be carrying small, pink plastic buckets.

She soon found out. As they began driving the day’s showings, two of the kids threw up into their buckets. “The clients said they just had to have a house that day. I dropped them off at a new home community.”

Susan Hilton – Realtor & Sales Trainer for Century 21 Beal

Want to Search the Bryan/College Station Real Estate MLS? CLICK HERE!!!

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Real estate agents often suggest sellers use “Stagers” to assist with making the home for sale look more appealing to buyers so it will sell quicker and for the highest price.

Staging is one of many things a real estate agent works with sellers on. This is a good, reasonable and honest thing to do to showcase a home in the best possible light. But, staging a home for an appraisal is a completely different thing!

When a lender (mortgage broker) calls a staging professional to stage a vacant home to make it look like someone is living there, red flags should come up. Remember, it is very common for an AGENT to call and ask for a home to be staged. It is very uncommon for a lender to do so. It is especially odd when the staging is only needed for a few days and just long enough for a few photos to be taken while the appraiser is there.

Questions should be asked – is this vacant home being staged to sell or is it being staged for a refinance? Would the second one be wrong? YES!

When a property is staged to sell, it is showcasing the home to show the “highest and best use” of the property. When a vacant property is staged for an appraisal, there is a good chance some type of refinance scam is taking place.

Don’t participate! The housing market does NOT need any more problems!

Susan Hilton – Realtor & Sales Trainer for Century 21 Beal

Want to Search the Bryan/College Station MLS? CLICK HERE!!!

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Foreclosures and strange things seem to go to together. Bryan-College Station has significantly less foreclosures than many other parts of the country. We are not in a struggling enconomy. We are not seeing entire neighborhoods boarded up and standing vacant. We also didn’t see the huge rise in values that many makets experienced. We didn’t see “investors” purchasing properties before they were built with plans to sell before the properties were complete.

As the community and as real estate agents in Bryan-College Station, we didn’t make a fortune in the real estate market like others did but we have had a nice steady increase in values. Remember slow and steady wins the race and certainly keeps us all sane!

Even though we have not had the huge rise in foreclosures, we do have a number of foreclosure properties and most sell very very quickly. Lenders are interested in putting these properties on the market as close to market value as possible yet sell them within the first 60 days. The holding costs for these properties are significant to the lender.

Now for the strange in the forclosure market…

• How about walking into a vacant home that has a room where your cell phone immediately stops working and there are shotgun shells on the floor. Then when you check a little further you find laser sensors for lighting and hidden rooms in the slab which are found only when the carpet is removed. The hidden rooms are large tubes built into the slab that will hold several people plus food and water for weeks. We found 2 rooms and the new buyer found a third.
• We walked into one home to find a notice on the cabinet telling us that the house contained a bomb. The bomb squad had to do a complete search. That was exciting!
• Or walking into a mobile home that someone had left their dogs when they moved away. The property was covered with animal feces and dead animals. Shoveling it out was the only way.
• How about the woman who was viewing a property, fell into a hole waist deep of water and rotten eggs.
• The house that a local gang decided was the best hangout in town. They “tagged” (spray painted) the inside and repeatedly used it as a hangout.
• A property with chicken feet left in the back room. Lots of chicken feet!
• A property where the old owner takes EVERYTHING – I mean everything from the counters, sinks, wall plugs, light fixtures, light switches, toilets, faucets…
• House where people used a white toilet in the living room for an end table.
• Property that has so much “stuff” in it that you can’t even walk inside. When you carry all the stuff outside to the front yard the pile is so high and so think you can’t even see the house from the street.
• Or the family that moves into a house because they wrote an offer on it and they want it – they didn’t buy it – they just wanted it.

Yes, life as a Realtor is odd dealing with the public yet when you add in the strange things that happen with a foreclosure, life is NEVER boring!

Susan Hilton – Realtor & Sales Trainer for Century 21 Beal

#1 in Real Estate in Bryan and College Station Home Sales

Bryan College Station Real Estate & Community Blog

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Some people say, “The only good snake is a dead snake.” What about a snake that kills other snakes? Is it better off dead or alive? I had a college girl call me the other day and she said she had a snake in her front yard. We don’t usually do snakes, but the girl said it was in her yard and I was close by so I went to take of it for her. The snake was not just in her front yard, it was in the raised flower bed right next to her mail box. The snake was what my family calls a Pepper King snake, also known as a Speckled King or Salt and Pepper King Snake. These snakes are beneficial and kill other snakes. She didn’t care that the snake was beneficial she just wanted it gone. Being that it was right next to her mail box I don’t blame her.

Geoff – Breakaway Pest Control

Did you see the other picture about the Buzzards in Pebble Creek? Check it out!!!

Saw one of them again today! Have you seen them in Castlegate or Woodland Hills? Where have you seen these big birds?

Good thing I know where my kids are and I know real estate home prices are strong! Otherwise I might worry…

We received a phone call one day a couple weeks ago saying one of our properties had been vandalized.

Foreclosures are easy targets for vandals but usually it is someone breaking a window or stealing – rarely is it vandalism where EVERY surface is painted except the tile floor. A foreclosure in College Station was victim to spray paint.

Almost every surface was painted – counter tops, stove, refrigerator, faucets, tub, toilet, walls, light switches, A/C controls, electrical outlets and more.

Who did it?

No one has been convicted yet but several teens were arrested the same day for the crime.

As a real estate agent I spend a lot of my time driving. Driving to a closing, driving to check a new listing, driving to check a foreclosure property, and of course driving my children. While driving I see lots of interesting things. Usually when I see something odd it is at one of our houses (like the one with the spray paint) but today the ODD thing of the day was going down Hwy 6 in Bryan near Producers Co-Op.

I’m not sure if this man thought he was superman or a refrigerator wrestler!

Lady in a Hole with Rotten Eggs and the Chicken Runs Through the Truck with a Dog on its Tail

I know that almost sounds like the “Cow Jumped Over the Moon” song but this story is true!

People often ask my why I like real estate. Yes, it is a good career and yes we have the flexibility to work 80 hours a week and meet lots of new people and see lots of houses… but one of the big reasons I enjoy this career is that it is NEVER boring!

Since we list the majority of foreclosed properties in the Bryan, College Station real estate market, we often have VERY interesting properties for sale. While showing a property in the country we had a husband and wife walking through the “yard”. The “yard” was more like a f

ield with tall grass and holes and as we walked, the woman stepped/fell right into a hole. She ended up standing about waist deep in water and rotten, smelly eggs.

To make matters worse, about that time the neighbor’s dog began to chase a rooster around and under the house. The neighbor began to chase the dog chasing the rooster yelling “he’s gonna get that chicken”. In the rooster’s attempt at escaping the jaws of the dog fast on his tail feathers, the rooster heads straight for the client’s truck. Of course, the truck doors were standing open and the rooster and the dog ran straight through. While helping the woman out of the hole filled with water and rotten eggs the dog ran the rooster under the house and we heard a loud clucking sound and then nothing.

The neighbor yells “he got that chicken” and the dog walks back proudly with his head held high with the rooster’s neck firmly in his grasp. The neighbor ran to get the dog, the dog dropped the rooster while the rooster sprang back to life and was off and running again.

Sad to say the client decided the foul smelling adventure was more than they could handle and they moved on to purchase another property.

This is just one of the MANY “Real Estate True Tales” to come!