Dear (Contact First Name) 

 It's the final quarter of the year. Activity is picking up. More and more people are creating owner carryback notes. More and more people are selling their owner carryback notes.

Industry experts who track these things estimate that about 1 of every 50 real estate transactions involves an owner carryback. I can remember giving a presentation to a real estate group several years ago where I said that 1 out of every 400 real estate transactions involved an owner carryback. That's a huge activity swing.

How far reaching is this activity?  A July www.marketwatch.com article referred to a 35,000 square foot mansion in San Francisco that had been on and off the market for the past 10 years. Asking price? 29 million! No takers. So, the seller decided to sweeten the pot. He put the home back on the market and added this tantalizer - if the buyer agreed to allow the seller to carryback 40% of the purchase price, he would offer a 3.8%, 30 year fixed interest rate and reduce the price to 26 million. The article did not mention if the home had been sold.

The high end market sees a lot of cash transactions. But, creativity and the desire to sell doesn't seem to have market value boundaries. If you are selling a property and don't have any takers, maybe you should consider sweetening your pot that will help you attract the right buyer. Consider offering an owner carryback with strong but fair terms that protect both buyer and seller.

Meet the fall rush and become part of it.

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"I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." ... Clarence Darrow.

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                          Guilty - I was Very Rude!

I went to an event this past weekend. I saw someone who I knew casually talking with a small group of people. I went up to him and without acknowledging the presence of the others, I interrupted their conversation, started talking to him, gave him my business card, and asked him to call me. I chatted briefly with one of the other folks, then left.

I haven't heard from him!

At the time, I didn't think anything of it. Later that day, it hit me like a ton of bricks - I was a rude, arrogant, obnoxious interloper. My own behavior now shocked me. Why did I act this way? I have absoulutely no idea.

I decided then that I owed this man an apology. Not by email or phone, but face to face. Since we live in the same community and bump into each other from time to time, I will see him soon. Hopefully sooner. I will admit my sins, be unable to explain my behavior, and hope that he will forgive me.

I bring this up because two days ago I read an interesting article that directly applied to me and my actions. The article is titled "How to Give a Real Apology in 6 Steps". It mentions that we as Americans seem to have a problem being sincerely apologetic when we screw up, and the purpose of an apology is to show remorse and rebuild trust. I need to do that.

See Bo Barron's October 5, 2013 article at www.bobarron.com/author/bozer75.

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                          Neologism Contest

Say what?

The Washington Post asked its readers to supply alternative meanings for common words. Here are some of the winners I especially liked:

Esplanade - to attempt an explanation while drunk.

Willy-nilly - impotent.

Testicle - a humorous question on an exam.

Pokemon - a Rastafarian proctologist.

Oyster - a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

Flatulence - emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

Frisbeetarianism - the belief that when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

Circumvent - an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

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                       Lonely Housing Bear

Interesting article by Lewis Braham and his views on an upcoming housing tumble. Well written, good points. See www.Bloomberg.com, personal finance, October 7, "A Lonely Housing Bear Predicts a Big Tumble."

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                             Like to Read?

If you read this Newsletter, chances are pretty good you like to read a good book. So, when do you abandon a book?

According to Goodreads, it stacks up like this:

Less than 50 pages         15.8%

50-100 pages                  27.9%

100 pages                         7.6%

100+ pages                     10.6%

Always Finish                 38.1%

I don't know about you, but I hang it up in a few pages if I am bored.

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                           Piece of Nirvana

If you are a music fan, you know the group Nirvana and its' lead singer Kurt Cobain who committed suicide at age 27 in 1994.

Cobain grew up in Aberdeen, Washington and his childhood home is on the market for $500,000. Zillow estimates its value at about $73,000 and neighborhood sales are in the $93,000 range.

If you are a nostalgia buff and think this may be a good investment, see the listing at www.TheAgencyRE.com.

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                                  Honesty

"The most important thing in acting is honesty. Once you've learned to fake that, you're in."... Samuel Goldwyn, Film Producer.

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If you enjoyed this Newsletter, tell a friend.

If you know how I can make it better, tell me.

Thanks for reading

 Denny Stanz

CA Broker # 01915404