Jesse.Tharin.Of.300/7@f7.n300.z1.fidonet.org (Jesse Tharin Of 300/7) (11/06/90)
Index Number: 11542
[This is from the Spinal Injury Conference]
John...
Tried to send this earlier, but the net 261 host ain't answering
the phone! Again. Here goes again, but direct this time:
Got this from Ron last night. As I said (I think!) earlier, he
is a Realtor who specializes in handicapped clients for both
sales and rentals. As far as I can tell, and from what I have
heard, he's honest and maybe a little direct. He gives a good
discussion below from the point of view of the agent, at least
using the information that I fed him, which (being second hand)
may or may not be accurate. So to simplify things, I'm stepping
out of this picture. Give him a call; he won't make a penny off
of you so he has nothing to gain by giving you advice, good or
bad. Consider yourselves introduced! He's at 101/460.
>> Msg. #6777 in *Network Private Mail*
>> Posted on 10/30/90 at 20:24:14
>> To: Jesse Tharin
>> From: Ron Rothenberg
>>
>> Hi Jesse,
>>
>> Sounds like a case of laziness on the part of the agents, and a
>> case of Mr. Lynch inadvertently removing any incentive for any
>> agent to do a thorough job for him. Two years ago the market was
>> considerably livelier in Md. than it is now. He might find things
>> a bit better now. I have to admit (from experience) that it is
>> much harder to find wheelchair accessible housing than it is to
>> find housing for people with other specific needs (such as 3
>> bedrooms, 2 baths). This doesn't sound like a valid case of
>> discrimination to me at first glance.
>>
>> One problem that Mr. Lynch may have made is to spread the work
>> too thin. Everybody's customer is nobody's customer. If you're
>> working with every agent in town there is no incentive for any
>> individual agent to go out and put in the extra work. In fact, a
>> good agent who valued his time highly would not work with a
>> customer who was working with many agents. The agent could put in
>> a lot of work finding a home for the customer, only to find that
>> another agent had already sold a property to the prospect.
>>
>> In the future, he might want to call around, get referrals,
>> interview agents then make it clear to the best agent that you
>> are working only with him/her. This loyalty and exclusivity and
>> guarantee of compensation makes it economically possible for an
>> agent to put in the amount of extra work required.
>>
>> If someone came to me and told me he was working with every agent
>> in town, I wouldn't invest more than a few minutes of my time --
>> this is a simple and understandable economic fact of life. My
>> time is valuable, and I need money to eat, also. No
>> discrimination involved, just simple business necessity and fear
>> of starvation. This applies to any customer who requires a
>> substantial outlay of my time.
>>
>> When you've found an agent, make your needs very clear and
>> explain why. Explain why there must be a barrier-free path to the
>> front door. Explain why the bathroom must be large and why there
>> must be transfer room by the tub and toilet. Don't worry too much
>> about doors -- these are relatively inexpensive to modify and you
>> are entitled to do so under the Fair Housing Act Amendments of
>> 1988. Every apartment, even ones that are built accessible, will
>> probably need some modification. Make sure the expensive parts
>> (ramps, bathroom size) are in place, and try not to demand and
>> sweat the smaller details.
>>
>> If an agent needs a better description of what makes a home
>> accessible or adaptable, I am happy to share this information
>> with any agent, broker or REALTOR. My phone numbers are (617)
>> 489-4812 (VOICE) and (617) 489-3848 (TTY).
>>
>> -rsr-
--
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