Hey Old Friends!

[chrisprickett]

Been awhile... Last time I posted, I said I was off to reinvent myself in a way that will both use my talents and feed my family.

I am completely out of the inspection business now. I managed to stay with LandAmerica Property Inspection Services for three years after I sold, which is two years more than I expected! I am now focusing on both my writing career, and being a fulltime (drumroll please...) REALTOR! Hey, if Jimmy M. can do it, I figure anybody can.

My goal is to run my real estate business the same way I ran my inspection business. I pissed off plenty of agents when I was inspecting, and I hope to continue that trend.

Anyway, I'll try and not be a stranger. Check out my website and please send any and all of your greater Phoenix transplants my way.

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Chris Prickett

www.NewBuildAgent.com

"You Deserve More Than Location, Location, Location"

www.rantingfromtherooftops.blogspot.com

[hausdok]

[]

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Jim Katen]

Hi Chris,

Congratulations on your move to the dark side. Are they still building new houses in Phoenix? What are they planning to use for water 10 years from now?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Terence McCann]

I was wondering where you went... Congrats Chris on the new venture - I hope you make more money than when you were a home inspector .

Happy New Year to you and best of health in '08.

[Chris Bernhardt]

I have long wondered too what happened to Mr. Prickett.

Chris, Who do you use for an inspector?

The thought of crossing over to the dark side has crossed my mind. But here in Oregon, in my experience the realtors have to deal with way to much crap and hand holding. No thank you. I will remain a lowly inspector for now.

Chris, Oregon

[chrisprickett]

Jim,

They're not building as many new homes (this week) but in another year or two, it'll be same ol', same ol'. Our market got slammed like everybody else, but with a net of 10K new transplants a month, we're still breathing.

There are a lot of great deals down here, particularly REO's (bank owned). Those buyers need a guy like me to counter the slime.

When the water runs out, I'll move to Oregon...

Chris,

I'll refer the guys who used to work for me, and watch em' like a hawk. They still carry $3M E&O when many of our small shops have dropped it to save money.

[Bill Kibbel]

I assumed that you were making big bucks as a model and forgot all about us.

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by inspecthistoric

I assumed that you were making big bucks as a model and forgot all about us.

Yeah, umm, that never really paid off.

I'm truly hoping that you pulled that photo off the site and not from your "private collection"...

[kurt]

Chris, you're part of that new paradigm I was talking about. The realtor game has to change; too many morons skimming too much cream off the top.

The water's going to come from the Great Lakes and Canada. All the initial legislative finagling has been taking place for a decade, and the engineering has been completed and in the vault @ Bechtel for the last 20 years.

People want sun. They will bring the water where the sun is.

I've considered the realtor thing many times; it's not hard. I just hate working nights & weekends. Never suited me years ago. I'm not a closer. If someone didn't like a place, I'd always say, "well, there's others to see". I'm a lousy salesman for stuff that's all the same.

I think having solid inspection knowledge would be a terrific asset in selling real estate. It takes a whole layer of confusion out of the process. Screw that dark side stuff; it's not dark, it's just stupid a lot of the time.

[Brian G]

Best of luck Brother Prickett. The RE business, like almost every other business, is ultimately ambiguous. Honest men do honest business, and crooks do what they do. You should have a ball with any poorly educated, over-reaching HI's that cross your path. []

Brian G.

Darth Prickett?! Nooooooooo....... [:-scared][:-dev3]

[tbird]

There will alway be water, it will just get more expensive! Think desalination plants and pipelines.

As long as there is sun, there will be people!

[Jim Morrison]

Brrrrrr.......

You think you know a brother and he goes off and calls you a "Realtor" -right in front of the boys, too. That's cold, Dawg. Ice cold.

Still, I wish you luck, though you won't need it. You're smart, honest, funny, and know how to work yer arse off. Success is inevitable.

All the best in '08,

Jimmy

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by kurt

Chris, you're part of that new paradigm I was talking about. The realtor game has to change; too many morons skimming too much cream off the top.

The water's going to come from the Great Lakes and Canada. All the initial legislative finagling has been taking place for a decade, and the engineering has been completed and in the vault @ Bechtel for the last 20 years.

People want sun. They will bring the water where the sun is.

I've considered the realtor thing many times; it's not hard. I just hate working nights & weekends. Never suited me years ago. I'm not a closer. If someone didn't like a place, I'd always say, "well, there's others to see". I'm a lousy salesman for stuff that's all the same.

I think having solid inspection knowledge would be a terrific asset in selling real estate. It takes a whole layer of confusion out of the process. Screw that dark side stuff; it's not dark, it's just stupid a lot of the time.

You're right on the changing paradigms. I spent seven years swimming against the current of preconceived notions on the HI's role. What ultimately led to my decision to change careers was my experience teaching continuing education to Realtors.

Over the past two years, I stood in front of (at least) 2,000 agents, teaching 11 different classes- all home inspection related. I was utterly amazed at the overall ignorance of my audience. I could (and might!) write a book on the outrageous exchanges I had with agents. Here's one example:

I was teaching a class on disclosure, and asked the hypothetical question- "if you are representing a buyer and you have knowledge that there was once a meth lab at a house your client really wants to make an offer on, should you disclose it?" The class of 30 sat there, avoiding eye contact with me and each other for a full minute, saying nothing. I wasn't about to let them off the hook. I let the question hang there until one agent finally raised her hand. Her response (I'm not kidding) "If it was a young mom, with kids, I'd probably say something, but it it was an older couple, I'd keep my mouth shut." As I looked around, I saw a few faces that shared my horror, but most just nodded in agreement.

I've shared this story with many people, and they nearly always have a similar story about how they, or someone else they know, got screwed by an agent that put their payday ahead of their principles. That is where the paradigm shift lies.

The word is out on the street, that the water is filled with sharks in the form of Realtors, mortgage brokers, AND home inspectors. The smart people are looking for the "knight in shining armor" in these fields. Do the right thing and have a solid business plan, and you can flourish in any market and (more importantly) sleep soundly.

Ok, I'll step off of my soapbox now. That's what I get for mixing caffeine and carrot juice first thing in the morning!

Hey Kurt- Come out this way for a thaw, and bring your lil' Patriot lovin' "Realtor" buddy Morrison with you!

[ozofprev]

You're the sort of guy anyone with a brain would want as their Realtor. Best of luck. I know that it is people like Kurt, Les and Realtor Jimmy who understand this business better than anyone.

You will do well - once people are again brave enough to build lots of new homes.

[SonOfSwamp]

Brother Oz spake to Brother Prickett: You're the sort of guy anyone with a brain would want as their Realtor. Best of luck. I know that it is people like Kurt, Les and Realtor Jimmy who understand this business better than anyone.

You will do well - once people are again brave enough to build lots of new homes.

I say: For the foreseeable future, I'll be telling anybody who'll listen to buy houses built before 1970, or better yet, before 1965. The new builds I've seen in the last 10 years are disposable. My smarty-pants lawyer (SPL) estimates that one in five new houses has big problems. The skill level of the labor pool is rock-bottom, and heading for the earth's molten center.

Who here would put his mama in a new mass-production house?

WJ

[ozofprev]

Generally true, Walter.

All the more reason to want a Realtor like Chris who can point out the shifty work.

Chris is in AZ, but in the bitter cold id="blue">parts of the country, homes are much better insulated now than they were pre-70's. We found a very good contractor to build our new home, but yes - there are many low-quality builds around.

Whatever happened to craftsmen???

[kurt]

Some of them are building a $127,874 stairwell, I know of a couple quarter mil kitchens going on as I type, and in January, I'm going to be watching the installation of approx. $80,000 in doors & hardware into a house in Lincoln Park; that's doors & hardware, not installed.

There's craftsmen out here. Tough gig, though.

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by SonOfSwamp

[I say: For the foreseeable future, I'll be telling anybody who'll listen to buy houses built before 1970, or better yet, before 1965. The new builds I've seen in the last 10 years are disposable. My smarty-pants lawyer (SPL) estimates that one in five new houses has big problems. The skill level of the labor pool is rock-bottom, and heading for the earth's molten center.

Who here would put his mama in a new mass-production house?

WJ

I agree, in principle, but the problem with that advice is that in 1970 Greater Phoenix had a population of 582,000. By 2010, we'll be up to 4,582,00, according to AZ Dept. of Economic security.

If Mama wants to live in Phoenix, Mama's got to go somewhere. The large majority of pre-1970 homes are in places I wouldn't put my mother-in-law, let alone dear ol' Mama.

[SonOfSwamp]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

Originally posted by SonOfSwamp

[I say: For the foreseeable future, I'll be telling anybody who'll listen to buy houses built before 1970, or better yet, before 1965. The new builds I've seen in the last 10 years are disposable. My smarty-pants lawyer (SPL) estimates that one in five new houses has big problems. The skill level of the labor pool is rock-bottom, and heading for the earth's molten center.

Who here would put his mama in a new mass-production house?

WJ

I agree, in principle, but the problem with that advice is that in 1970 Greater Phoenix had a population of 582,000. By 2010, we'll be up to 4,582,00, according to AZ Dept. of Economic security.

If Mama wants to live in Phoenix, Mama's got to go somewhere. The large majority of pre-1970 homes are in places I wouldn't put my mother-in-law, let alone dear ol' Mama.

Y'know, around here, they're selling a whole lot of semi-high-rise condos. Right before I hung up my HI flashlight (I just consult now), co-inspector Rick and I looked at a lot of those condos. The build quality was much better than the quality of new stick-built houses. Seems the condo builders had commercial guys on the job, rather than the usual unskilled laborers.

Quality was pretty consistent throughout. These things sold out soon after the foundations were poured. They seem to be attracting a lot of just-out-of-college types and aging Boomers.

If I had a mama to put in a new build, I think I'd put her in one of those condos.

WJid="blue">

[Jigsaw Home Inspections]

My buddy and former President Jim, A ---realtor? Please say it isn't so. What will the people up here in New England say?

[hausdok]

Uh, no,

Jim's doing property management now. That's a long way from selling homes. I think Chris meant to say that if Jim can reinvent himself than he can too. Let's not put my cuz's rep in the toilet just yet.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Jim Morrison]

Hey Chuck,

Mike's right. Senor Prickett mistyped. I still work for the forces of good.

Happy 2008 to all,

Jimmy

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by Jim Morrison

Hey Chuck,

Mike's right. Senor Prickett mistyped. I still work for the forces of good.

Happy 2008 to all,

Jimmy

Jimmy and I both think we can write, which is where the "if Jimmy can do it" line came in. BTW Jimmy, have you heard this song?

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/chris ... 2335186590

Jim Melody is a good friend from my NY days. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!

[cguffin]

Bravo --- Jim Melody!![;-xmas][:-angel]

[Jack Ahern]

I'll have to put away the Tar and Feathers. Not much doing up here in the 16-0 Patriots land. I'm down to two Guinness's a week.

I think Jim M. is splitting time for now.[:-banghea