benrobb

Or Moving on Part 2

I was waiting for one last thing to become public before I wrote this post, but it’s not happening as fast as I thought, so I’ll leave it out and catch you up later.

One of the things I discovered about myself is that I am a designer at heart.  I love digging into a particular issue, understanding it from all angles, and brainstorming a solution.  When it comes to discovery and exploration, that is where my interest and talents are.

I’m not particularly bad at implementing things, I just don’t enjoy it as much, which means it doesn’t receive my full attention, and I find myself looking for the next challenge.  In the technology world, that always means I’m looking for the latest gadgets.  In the business world, it means I like small teams where roles are ambiguous, job descriptions are in flux, and there’s lots of changes to mix things up.

My new job has a little implementation and a lot of design.  Perfect.

In a nutshell, my job has three main responsibilities.  First, I’ve inherited and now own the Omniture implementation inside of the Omniture suite, measuring how our customers are actually using our applications (very much like an Omniture customer would measure how their users are using the website).  The current design was created during a day where everything was pretty much web-based.  It’s been extended a bit and we’ve got more mileage out of it than was ever intended, but it’s time to rethink a few things in an Omniture world that’s expanding beyond the web.

Second, I believe all companies struggle with data in silos.  Omniture has gone to great lengths to build a foundation where data is shared, and I’ll be working to define behavioral metrics, integrate them with the flow of information, and get them into the hands of decision makers.

Finally, I belong to a team known as the Emerging Business team.  This is a small team of extremely bright folks that are looking for new business opportunities.  They liaise closely with the business development team exploring technologies, running Proofs of Concept with customers, and various other things to see if new developments in the industry (online or off) could be a viable business.  The tie for me is that we hope to glean some insight into the trends taking place in the market provide some extra direction for out efforts.  And there are a few things I’m looking into myself.

So that’s the run-down.  Some of it I know I’m good at, some of it is completely new.  All of it is challenging and extremely interesting.  Success is defined very differently with long-term objectives and lots of rope to go with it.  But I believe I’m up to the challenges and I plan on giving it my best effort.

For about 2 1/2 years now, I’ve been working at Omniture as a business consultant, helping companies to create measurement strategies, uncover optimization opportunities, and run their analytics programs.

Besides the incredible amount of learning I’ve been able to do specifically related to the analytics field, I’ve also learned a lot about effectively managing my time, successfully managing my team, setting prioties, making estimates, setting deadlines, and in general, being a professional.

For the past few months, I’ve been feeling like I’ve been on a plateau, doing the same kinds of things (and doing them well, after all, my work is my brand) repeatedly, but not really learning anything new or working on things I found particularly challenging.  In addition, I made some personal discoveries, and realized that the defined career path was headed in a direction that I really didn’t want to go.  I figured it was time to find a new path.

I didn’t feel like leaving Omniture, I love the company, and I love the direction that we’re going, but I needed some new challenges.  I told my management that I was looking around and I started to branch out into my network within the company see what other opportunities might be available.

I found one that fits my desires in all respects, and as of August 1st, I’m the new Manager of Market Insight.  More info coming soon.

I’ve been thinking a little bit about life lately, and how long we stay in different stages of it. I’ve been part of the workforce for a few years now. Looking back it seems like a long time, but looking forward I see that the entire span of my life so far will be repeated again before I retire (barring me striking oil, gold, or winning the lottery).

But having spent longer in my first real job than any other job I’ve had so far has caused me to start thinking about what the rest of my career looks like. I’ve been exploring a few options for a month or so and discussions I’ve had with managers and potential managers have caused me to really start to zero in on the things I like to do and the things I would rather avoid.

I love exploration and discovery, looking at different options, figuring out the best parts, and putting the pieces together to fit into a holistic solution. When it comes to actually executing on my developed strategy, I start to lose interest. I’m more of a thinker than an actual doer, but I’m convinced that it’s OK to be this way and that the world can use more strategists. More people like me. The challenge now is finding the best opportunity that will let me think big…

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

These words serve as the Preamble to the Constitution which was adopted 221 years ago, give or take a few months, and created the United States of America.  Though the Constitution has been amended on a few occasions, these principles still stand as a shining ideal for what I hope is a country that still believes in that ideal.

The question I’m asking myself on the day of President Obama’s inauguration is this:  have I done anything recently to contribute to the formation of a perfect union?  Have you?

In Part 1, we talked about finding an agent, getting pre-qualified, and finding a home.  Now we’ll talk about what to do once you find a few homes you want to walk-through.

Step 4: Walk-throughs

So give your agent a list of homes that you’re interested in.  Your agent has likely found a few homes to show you as well.  The more you can see, the more informed your decision will be, so don’t shy away from looking at lots.  My advice during this stage is simply to know what you want, and know where you’re willing to compromise.

Men and women have different ideas about what makes a good home.  I wanted a house that was wired for network, Alison was more interested in the neighborhood.  I was impressed by vaulted ceilings and large rooms, while Alison looked into school districts.  We both wanted a good sized yard and a master bathroom with a tub and a walk-in shower.  Alison wanted a jetted tub, and I couldn’t care less.  We both wanted something that was built fairly recently (within 10 years for us), one that was in good condition, and (obviously) one within our price range.  Talk through this together and know what you absolutely must have and what you’re willing to sacrifice.

Your agent will schedule time to walk through the homes.  It was our experience that most people will have an excuse to be gone when you come by, which is nice because you can talk about the things you like and don’t like with your agent as you go through.  Your agent is legally bound not to share financial information about how much you can afford, etc. with anyone else.  There’s a paper they sign for this, so make sure they do, but this allows you to tap their experience and opinions as well.  Trust me, they’ve seen a lot more houses than you have.

If the house is not empty when you go through, “just play it cool boy, real cool.”  Don’t wander around talking about how amazing things are, how much you love it, and how much better it is than all the other houses you’ve seen so far.  This will make it more difficult for you to get the seller to agree on a lower price =)  And no matter how much you want the home, you want to get it for the lowest possible price, so observe this rule.

Hopefully you can find the house with everything you want, but don’t hold your breath.  We gave up the master bathroom for the big-fenced in back yard.

Step 5: Making An Offer

OK, so now it’s time to get serious.  Up to this point it’s been all fun and games, but now you’ve got to get down to business.  When you’ve decided on a home you want to make an offer on, let your agent know.

The actual process is fairly painless.  Your agent will likely have a canned contract of some kind and you’ll spend an hour or so filling in all the required details, but more importantly talking through the actual offer you’ll make.  How much below asking price will you offer?  Are you paying closing costs, or is the seller (keep in mind that the amount in the contract is an estimate only, and the seller is bound to the estimated amount, not the actual cost)?  Do you want a home-owners warranty?  Who will pay for that? How long does the seller have to make an official response to your offer?

What won the deal for us – I think – was how fast we were able to close.  This was our first home and we’d been renting, so we didn’t have another house to sell, which simplified the process for us.  The seller had just had a job transfer and was looking to get out as fast as possible, so we offered them a quick closing date.  Keep in mind that there’s a lot to take care of pre-closing, so don’t move too fast.

Another thing to keep in mind is that as a buyer, you’re only committing to buy the house if you like it.  Final acceptance is hinged on a home inspection, more walk-throughs, and any other number of conditions you want to write in.  You can structure these contracts, so that if you change your mind at any point, you can back out.  You wouldn’t do this for just any reason because you’re honest and honorable, but it gives you some peace of mind.

Once this is done, written, and you sign it, then your agent contacts the seller’s agent to let them know and faxes them a copy of the written contract.  Now the negotiations begin.

Step 6: Negotiations

If you’re anything like me, you’ll love having an agent for this part, because they’re the ones that get to play hardball for you.  Also, we mentioned up front that agents don’t get paid until the deal is made and papers are signed, so your agent at this point in time has a slight conflict of interest and may no longer be as interested in getting you the best deal, but rather getting you to sign.  Once the offer is made, they are starting to taste that 3% of the purchase price, so they may start to push you in a direction you don’t want to go.  Just remember that as addendums roll in and things change from the way you originally laid it out.  Listen to your agent, but take thing with a grain of salt and if you don’t like something, don’t agree to it.

This was not our experience because we observed rule number 1, we had an agent that we knew and trusted.

Anyway, once the seller has your offer, they have the right to accept, reject, or counter.  In today’s’ market if they don’t like it they’ll counter, but everybody knows it’s a buyer’s market, so at the moment, things are in your favor.  The key to this step is finding a middle ground where everybody gets a good deal.  If you can’t do that, then you better hope your agent is better at hardball than the other guy.

Any change to the contract will be added as an addendum and signed by both parties.  Maybe they want a higher price.  Maybe they won’t pay closing costs.  Maybe the close date is too far out or too soon.  In our case, maybe they are using a relocation company to move and there’s a ream of extra paperwork to do.  Also in our case, the close date was actually too soon, so we worked out a deal where we own the home and they rent from us for a few weeks until they an get everything moved out.

In any case, keep copies of everything you sign, and work out the best deal you can.  When you emerge from negotiations, then everybody is under written contract.  Now you can go blog that you’re buying a home and you can start planning the move.  It’s not a done deal yet, but you’ve clearred a major hurdle.

Now you need to get the home inspected.  You’re already pre-qualified, but you need to obtain financing.  You also need to get hazard insurance.  I’ll cover these topics in Part 3.