CHRIS GRIFFITH

• Chris Griffith: Full disclosure and paper cuts Published 02/01/2012 at 3:17 p.m.

  About a decade ago I faxed (fax machines were once bleeding edge) a contract to a prospective real estate purchaser. She worked in the Pennsylvania school system and gave me a number at work to fax it to. A few ...

• Chris Griffith: Quit claim refis and mortgage questions Published 01/25/2012 at 2:48 p.m.

  A couple of great mortgage questions have come in over the last few weeks…

• Chris Griffith: Twinkle lights and hurricane tape Published 01/18/2012 at 12:57 p.m.

  There isn’t a more magical time of the year than Christmas, uh, “the holidays.” A good portion of the masses deck their halls and don their lights with gay apparel as early as, well, before Thanksgiving now.

• Chris Griffith: Selling your soul for real estate data Published 01/11/2012 at 3:21 p.m.

  Maybe you’re curious about what your home is worth or you’re a serious buyer prowling the web for the latest new listings or price reductions in the area you want to buy a home in, but sooner or later, a ...

• Chris Griffith: Truth in advertising not always so true Published 01/04/2012 at 4:06 p.m.

  It’s a no brainer that pictures sell real estate, especially in the digital age. What is surprising is that there are still so many homes skating by or even floundering in the real estate market without proper or, at the ...

• Chris Griffith: Create community by paying it forward Published 12/14/2011 at 2:39 p.m.

  On the west side of tumbleweed peppered, middle-of-nowhere, Texas, I drove past a cyclist pulling a wagon with a sign on it that read in part, cycling for cancer. I wondered who in his life he had lost to the ...

• Chris Griffith: Regret sounds like screeching tires Published 12/07/2011 at 10:54 a.m.

  Sometimes buyers back out. There you are, minding your own beeswax. You’ve tended your real estate, preparing it for sale the way a dutiful seller should, shining it sparkling clean, pricing it right, listing it for sale and before you ...

• Chris Griffith: The value proposition and sifting for the ‘dream home’ Published 11/30/2011 at 1:33 p.m.

  Who doesn’t like a great value on anything that they purchase, whether it’s a car, gym shoes or real estate? Housing and real estate present a special dilemma for consumers in years of late. As a nation and as a ...

• Chris Griffith: ‘Save the cheerleader, save the world’ Published 11/22/2011 at 3:59 p.m.

  For years we had a family inside joke, “Save the cheerleader, save the world.” It’s a line from the cancelled sci-fi TV show “Heroes.” Since we had a diehard cheerleader in the family it was the perfect smart-aleck thing to ...

• Chris Griffith: Why your real estate agent needs to be truly connected Published 11/09/2011 at 2:46 p.m.

  Never could anyone have imagined just a few short years ago that social media would be such an important way to advertise and sell real estate. With the technological advances that have developed over the last decade, we’re well beyond ...

• Chris Griffith: The winter real estate and bee season Published 10/20/2011 at 4 a.m.

  Typically, I get an email or a phone call from potential buyers who are beginning the search for a home in Southwest Florida. They’ve been “educated” by whatever news sources they watched or read about the Florida real estate market.

• Chris Griffith: What real estate agents can’t tell you about your neighbor Published 06/29/2011 at 3:20 p.m.

  Prior to ushering buyers around in my car I’ve occasionally recommended buyers drive around a little to familiarize themselves with the area. If, for example, there is a cute little cottage that buyers think they just have to see but ...

• Chris Griffith: Real estate agents sell their real estate for free? Published 01/05/2011 at 10:33 a.m.

  Most consumers only buy and sell real estate as a necessity. Often times there are great periods of time between transactions so there isn’t exactly common familiarity with the procedures and protocols of how things work. Revise that: how things ...

• Chris Griffith: Nepotism in real estate never a good idea Published 09/22/2010 at 12:22 p.m.

  Who doesn’t have a friend or family member with a real estate license? I think there is an old joke about driving across the Georgia-Florida state line and having one handed to everyone in the car.

• Chris Griffith: Selling short is a legal and tax issue Published 06/30/2010 at 1:49 p.m.

  Sometimes I really get scared for the circumstances that homeowners are in. People live through the toughest of times, foreclosures, bankruptcy, job loss, accidents. Without minimizing how traumatic losing a home can be, it is a loss that will eventually ...

• Chris Griffith: Short sales fan the flames of market infidelity Published 04/07/2010 at 9:55 a.m.

  The short sale phenomenon in the market has fanned the flames of real estate infidelity. With months of impatient waiting for a “maybe” purchase with so much time to kill, eyes start wandering and before you know it the pre-approved ...

• Chris Griffith: New doesn’t mean perfect Published 03/31/2010 at 10:13 a.m.

  Many buyers don’t understand that it’s usually an illusion that a new home is perfect. It doesn’t matter who built it, it was still built by human beings who can make mistakes.

• Chris Griffith: Banks are short minded about short sales Published 07/10/2009 at 8:56 a.m.

  Here we are years into this housing and economic crisis and everything is still the same as far as dealing with lenders and short sales. There has been absolutely no evolution to the process. I don’t know about you but ...

• Chris Griffith: When does selling personal property become theft? Published 04/24/2009 at 2:03 p.m.

  If you’ve recently been shopping or working in the local, fun filled real estate market, you’ve witnessed what’s going on out there with the bank involved properties. It’s hardly a secret that some homeowners take their emotions out on the ...

• Chris Griffith: Investing in rentals for college students can be profitable but tricky Updated 04/17/2009 at 9:52 a.m.

  Since Florida Gulf Coast University opened its doors parents have been investing in real estate in the Estero and Bonita Springs area to house their students.

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