Archive for the 'Offices' Category
In class our instructor mentioned several times that they fired one of the secretaries here. It would appear that there is a high demand for real estate assistants, as the offices where we are schooling have lots of ads, and seem to be advertising in local papers as well, in an attempt to find some good help.
They obviously haven’t heard of Craigslist, given that there probably aren’t five computers in the whole office.
I found all of this hilarious as he went into depth on why they fired the secretary. Apparently, no calls came to the offices for several days. Suspiciously, the real estate agents began to call their own office line, and received a busy signal. Turns out, the new secretary was using the internet…without realizing that the office uses an old-fashioned dial-up line for their internet connection AND their phones.
So they fired the secretary, who seems to have been the only net savvy one in the office. The poor girl probably didn’t even realize that the office phone line and the internet line were one and the same. I mean really who still has dial-up in their office? And on their main phone line at that!
And now they can’t figure out how to find another secretary to hire because no one knows how to use the internet.
I apologize for all the missing lessons. Look for the second parts to appear as the week progresses. Thanks for reading!
I’ve gotten a few scans up from some of the class material and other odds and ends.
Car Ad - There is a specified parking area for all Real Estate Students in the back, I guess so as not to scare off potential walk-in clients who park in the front of the school’s brokerage and could potentially see our not so blinging cars(Front lot has hummers). I park in the front anyway because I’m lazy, but I tried the back lot the other day and found this on my windshield when class ended. I have since started parking in the back more on the hopes that I will be given job offers by other celebrities.
Criminal History - Here are some of the criminal background questions asked of all agents. Answering yes won’t necessarily preclude you from becoming an agent, but lying can. This wasn’t nearly as detailed as a blood donor questionnaire. Now those things are thorough!
Closing Problem - This was handed out to us with the challenge that no one ever gets it right. Spending five minutes trying to answer will show you why. This is probably worth reading over simply because it provides some genuine sample closing-related documents.
Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement - This was provided as extra information for the above problem. It created more questions than it answered.
Exclusive Sale And Listing Agreement - This is a dated listing agreement used by agents to list a property for a seller.
Closing Instruction Sheet - This is actually somewhat useful for double checking a closing statement to make sure everyone was charged the right fees.
Blank Closing Statement - Want to try doing a closing statement of your own? Knock yourself out.
Approaching the front desk I found a blond secretary happy to help. I had already called under a false name earlier in the day to attempt to find out if they had wireless Internet. Sadly the secretary hadn’t known, and I quickly saw why not. The brokerage was full of cubicles, row after row furnished with just a phone. I was taken back…how could I brokerage this large have so few computers?
I nervously stated my desire to sign up for Real Estate School, and was handed a thick pile of documents, and instructed to just sign them all. Having worked a bit for my father’s law firm, and a healthy dose of hard knocks growing up had taught me to always read the contract, particularly if the person handing it to me was instructing me to sign it without reading.
I politely took the thick pile over to the waiting room lazy-boy, and began to read. I was positive that somewhere in that thick pile of documents I would find one that said something like “by signing this document, applicant promises to work for this brokerage. I read, and was relieved to see nothing of the sort. They must wait until we actually get the license before they begin pressuring.
Reading it through, I found some information that hadn’t been on their website, and more surprisingly some things that conflicted with the site. One is handed a long form asking in 10 different ways if the new student has ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, or had a civil judgement entered in against them. Other than being 18, that’s about all you have to do to get a license. If one is honest in regard to any convictions, they can often get a license anyway.
I signed it all, and paid my $449. Or tried to. My card was declined…embarrassed, as I had only brought one card I called my wife and got her card number. They ran it…declined.
Nervousness returns. I should probably explain… I am not your typical credit card user. In the past week I bought roughly 70 DVDs from 2 different Bestbuys, as well as two laptops, and roughly 50 small items from a small tech shop. This is typical for me, but for some reason causes my Credit Card issuer to cancel my credit cards without contacting me.
My unucky wife was kind enough to go to the horrendous ordeal of calling Providian. We do so monthly, as they never seem to actually notice that we have been steadily buying large quanties of items online EVERY month. Her call went something like this:
“Hi, my card doesn’t seem to be working…”
“Oh yes, the primary card holder called us last week and closed this account”
“I AM the primary card holder, and I did no such thing”
“Yes maam, but the primary card holder called us last week and closed the account…”
“I AM THE PRIMARY CARD HOLDER AND I DID NOT CALL TO CLOSE THE ACCOUNT LAST WEEK”
“Maam, if you would just settle down, you see the account was closed by the primary card holder…”
After some argument, they agreed to reopen the account and overnight a new card for $20…after more argument they agreed to do so free. (It’s been 3 days, still no card…)
Meanwhile I finally got my check card to be accepted, and collected my books, one large national real estate book, and one small Utah state law booklet.
I was told where the classroom was, and went upstairs. I had to walk through the entire cubicle farm of an office and overheard a stereotypical office conversation…
Well dressed real estate agent to an obviously newer one: “You see, it’s your birthday, but for everyone else it’s just another day! Just one more day for me!”
Young agent looks on sheepishly, secretary gives an uneasy cordial laugh.
Well dressed agent continues: “Just another day, now I’m off to lunch, but you, you could go in a restaurant and eat for free! But you’re just staying in the office. Making it just another day for you! You see? Even when the day is special for the person it’s not!”
The well dressed agent bursts into hysterics with the secretary laughing because she can’t seem to think of anything else to do. The young agent just seems to be in pain with the entire conversation.
I leave them and enter the ’school’ part of the office.
There are several real estate schools for me to choose from. Although a Californian at heart, I decided to enroll in school located in Utah. Other than the obvious reason of current residence, Utah makes a good choice of state to hold a license in because of it’s reciprocity agreements with Colorado, Idaho, Georgia, Montana, Wyoming and Alberta Canada. Reciprocity is only possible if the state law between these localities is extremely similar. Under reciprocity, I can go to any of these states and upon presentation of the licensing fee, and my Utah license, I would be given a local license. Pretty cool, especially the reciprocity with Canada.
Deciding on a school began as a search for the closest school to my home. I decided from the start that I would be aiming to complete the entire course in under 3 weeks, so I will be driving there daily. If only one could become a lawyer in that time right? I ultimately decided on the school closest to me, not because of the distance, but they were the only school that seemed to offer a program under which one could feasibly finish in 3 weeks time.
I drove down, having dressed up a bit, and feeling very nervous. Would the school be able to see through me and know that I have no intention of being a real agent? Would the other students see me for the undercover writer I was? I had already heard horror stories of young agents being pressured into joining local brokerages working slaving for next to nothing. I drove around for a while, and finally found the school. It’s located in the offices of a large real estate firm, which undoubtedly offers the school to provide it with a steady stream of fresh agents. This was it, I was entering enemy territory.