Witch Broker

It's probably good that we closed the sale of my condo right before all the news about credit crunch. With "For Sale By Owner", I think you can get about 5% less than a realtor can get, which makes it even. In any case, the cost of selling is figured in. I wasn't expecting on selling the condo after only two years, but I probably broke even with... renting a very expensive apartment over the same time period.

There are a bunch of businesses that market "Flat Fee FSBO" services which use a network of brokers around the country who will list properties on the MLS for a few hundred dollars. Apparently, sometimes you get a good one, and sometimes you get a bad one, assigned at random. My aunt and mother had used this company before and had a good experience. Looking at their Web site, I probably wouldn't purchase something from a Web site that looked like that. There are better-looking "Flat Fee FSBO" Web sites that I've found. I suppose younger people have better Web-sense.

Updating an MLS entry seems simple enough. The first time my mom spoke to the broker on the phone, she said she sensed something was wrong, like he was not a good person. Without going into details, after things weren't getting done and contacting a void, I ended up circumventing the broker by making friends with a data entry customer service person at the local MLS directly. The guy, who is probably paid not much more than $10/hr for data entry, was so nice over e-mail and phone, like he just wanted to help people and loved his job.

Anyway, on searching the broker's name on the Web, I found that the same name belongs to a big-time author and leader in Wicca, witchcraft, paganism, and that sort of thing. I tried searching to find out if they were the same person, but was unable to conclude anything.

Not too long ago, I thought all religions could be true, and that there was nothing wrong with religions such as Wicca. Lately, and these days, it really seems like there is deception and dark and evil spirits around.

¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:11-12, English Standard Version)