Reflections on Writing & Publishing My 1,000th ‘Real Estate Today’ Column
Because journalism was my first profession, writing a column about real estate seemed an obvious way to make myself known when I entered the real estate industry in 2003. The first column I published as a paid advertisement was on July 30, 2003, and I estimate that I have published at least 1,000 columns since then — 52 columns per year for most of the last 21 years. And every one was written by me, on a new topic each week.
have never written a column which embarrassed me due to something I wrote. (I still show each column to my wife, Rita, and to my broker associates before sending it for publication.)
From the beginning, I saw this column as “my own continuing education program,” because I had to study each topic before I could write knowledgeably about it. At first, that meant showing the first draft to my managing broker at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, to make sure I had my facts right. Even now, I will often send a first draft to another broker who has expertise I don’t in the topic I chose to write about that week.
You can see the topics of those columns going back to July 2003 at www.JimSmithColumns.com
The links on those original columns don’t all work, but you can at least see the headlines.
cal homeowner, with letters and postcards saying, “I have a buyer for your home” — which may or may not be the truth. I much prefer to spend those hours being of service to the general public, studying every aspect of real estate that I can think of where I myself would like to know more, and then sharing it with you.
tation where the seller mentioned a particular issue of concern to them. “I wrote about that a few years ago,” I said, whereupon the seller opened a manila folder in which that old column was on the top of the pile.
As a result, I can honestly say that I
I don’t know of any real estate agents anywhere in the country who have taken this approach to promoting themselves, but that may be due to the fact that the vast majority of people in any profession other than the writing professions have trouble expressing themselves in writing — and it’s a big commitment of time. If I weren’t writing this column, I’d probably have to spend hours every day or week prospecting — making cold calls or knocking on doors soliciting sellers and buyers. I might have been one of those agents who bombards you, the typi-
We Learned Firsthand About Vacant Land Scams
The Colorado Association of Realtors (CAR) issued a warning last month about scammers trying to sell vacant land that they don’t own in Douglas County, adding that it may be happening in other counties.
One of our broker associates found himself caught up in just such a scam even before that alert was issued. Here is how the scam unfolded and was discovered, so that the property owner and buyer were not victimized.
Via our website, we received an inquiry about listing a parcel of land in Coal Creek Canyon, so I referred the lead to a broker associate who lives nearby. He quickly got a signed listing for the property at $100,000, and I advertised the parcel in that week’s ad. He put a for-sale sign on the parcel and a neighbor quickly snapped it up, going under contract for it below full price.
The scammer said he was in a cancer isolation ward and didn’t have an ID with him. He needed to close quickly so he could pay his medical expenses.
The folks at First Integrity Title, which received the contract for processing, got suspicious because of no ID and sent a FedEx letter to the real owner of the property at his home in Maryland. The owner immediately called our broker associate, incensed that his property was being sold without his knowledge or involvement.
If the title company had not taken that action, it is possible that the transaction might have gone to closing based on forged IDs from the scammer, and the proceeds of the sale would have been wired according to the scammer’s directions.
The sale would ultimately have been voided, but the buyer would have lost his money. The seller would not have suffered loss.
In its October alert, CAR provided some guidance on how to recognize a vacant land scam in the making:
“In these cases, the scammer tries to list vacant land with no mortgage. He wants to sell it at below market prices for a quick sale. The scammer makes it clear there can be no in person communications, and that all communications are to be done by text or email. The scammer tells the real estate agent one of several stories about why he is out of town. He insists on a remote, no-contact closing, typically using a “local” notary of his choosing. He will not accept a local notary selected by the title company.
“The scammer has presented fraudulent driver’s licenses and fraudulent passports as identification. He uses spoofed phone numbers and untraceable email addresses.”
No such scam should be successful so long as the title company does what First Integrity Title did, which was to contact the registered owner of the land to verify the transaction.
In listing any property for sale, it’s a good practice for the listing agent to have the title company run an “ownership and encumbrance” report, which identifies the owner. Then, using an app called Forewarn, which is only available to licensed real estate agents, we can find the phone number(s) of the registered owner and call them to verify that they are indeed who is talking to us.
BTW, once the seller knew we were not scamming him and had foiled the scam attempt, he said he might list his land with us!
Golden Real Estate’s Broker Associates
Joined us in 2008
Licensed in 2000
Chuck Brown
303-885-7855
Joined us in 2014
Licensed in 2000
Don’t be misled by our name. Our agents have listed homes throughout the Denver Metro area and helped clients buy homes and other real estate all over Colorado!
When I ran for political office in 1981, I did exactly the same thing. Before announcing my candidacy I spent several months investigating every aspect of municipal government, speaking to civil servants in each agency and learning everything I could about policing, criminal justice and corrections as well as welfare, housing and economic development. When I announced my campaign, I released a 16-page tabloid spelling out my program for “saving” my city. I referred to it as “the power of the well-printed word.” It helped that I owned a typesetting business at the time, so I knew how to make what I printed look professional.
That effort wasn’t as successful, however, because I was running against seasoned politicians with political clubhouses behind them, not competing with fellow professionals, most of whom had a lot more experience than me but couldn’t demonstrate that experience or knowledge as well as a seasoned journalist like myself.
My training in journalism came from writing and editing my prep school and college newspapers but most especially from winning a summer internship in 1968 at The Washington Post I really love the practice of real estate and the reputation I have built with my readers. I love getting emails and phone calls asking my advice or reacting to something I have written. And when you call me about selling or buying a home, I love to know that the call was based on the trust and reputation I have built over two decades (or less) from my writings. Often, when I go on a listing appointment, I find that the seller has a folder containing clippings of my columns. I love to tell the story of one listing presen-
My first year in this business, I attended a retreat hosted by one of the preeminent real estate coaches. Following that event, I hired that coach’s firm briefly, but the focus was on memorizing scripts and “time blocking” several hours per days for cold-calling. I couldn’t do it.
It just wasn’t my style. I have never memorized a script and never made a cold call — in fact, never prospected at all. This column is what made that approach possible. The hours I could spend prospecting are so much better spent writing and publishing this column.
At first I wrote monthly, then biweekly, and within a couple years I was able to write this column every week. At first I bought a page in a little Golden newspaper because I couldn’t afford the Golden Transcript. When the Denver Post introduced the regionalized “YourHub” section, I jumped on it, limited to the Jefferson County editions.
Then came the Golden Transcript and three other Jeffco papers. When over 20 metro area weeklies were combined under the non-profit ownership of Colorado Community Media, I expanded to include my ad in all of them. That was after I had already expanded to be in all the local editions of YourHub.
A couple months ago, I signed a contract with the Denver Gazette, a digitalonly newspaper with a large readership.
And, of course, I am also online, with over 1,300 email subscribers to our blog at http://RealEstateToday.substack.com
For me as a journalist, there is no greater pleasure and satisfaction than what I get from having my writings broadcast so thoroughly around this metro area that I call home. Thank you for letting me take this week off from writing about another real estate topic to share my story with you.
It’s not often that you can buy a duplex where one side is empty and the other side is rented and contributing $1,500 per month to your mortgage costs! That’s the situation with this well-built and well-maintained brick duplex at 12613 W. 8th Ave. in that quiet neighborhood next to Welchester Tree Grant Park called Foothills View Estate. The two sides of this duplex are mirror images of each other and identical in terms of updating, including newer bath fixtures, doublepane windows, and new garage doors. (The two 1-car garages are accessed from an alley.) The vacant half is the one with a 12’x30’ wood deck, from which you can see the foothills to the west. Welchester Tree Grant Park is just a block away, with nature trails, including to the adjoining Welchester Elementary School. A narrated video tour of both sides of this duplex can be viewed at www.GoldenDuplex.online, along with interior photos of the vacant unit. The rented unit is not available to see until you’re under contract, but it is identical in condition to the vacant unit, as you’ll see on the video tour. Open Saturday, Nov. 16th, 11am to 1pm
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