Technology Transactions
Building client loyalty has been the key to a long and successful career in real estate. We all know it. Some agents do this very well—are in constant contact with past and current clients and see a good consistency in their business. They lose a few transactions each year, but don’t really worry because they have so much going and are comfortable with their results. But, why not have it all? Let me give you some ways to surprise your clients.
For you to master this great speciality of real estate finance qualifying buyers is only part of the challenge. Almost as important is to keep up to date with changes in the industry. The lenders I have asked agree that you are smart to qualify a buyer by calculating the buyer’s front-end (housing) and back-end (debt) ratios.
Question: I negotiated the purchase of an Arizona condo recently and closed a about a month ago. Most of the units in the complex are unsold. I happened to be on the Internet the other day and saw that the builder has now reduced the asking price of similar units in the complex by $35,000.
View From The Top:Industry Leaders Speak Out
In your first conversations with buyers, ask them: How much are you comfortable spending? As they pause before they answer, you promise them you will never bump them up in price, never show them properties listed for more than the price they give you, and never even send them information on properties listed for sale at a price higher than the number they are about to provide.
There are plenty of "e"s that have appeared in the new world of electronic communication, and there are many new tools and systems that empower us to serve our clients and customers faster, easier and in real time.
Not everyone who walks into your office is going to have pristine credit. So how do you serve those with less than perfect credit in a way that helps them while making good use of your time? Push for preapproval instead of prequalification.
Is there a difference between a bit of self-pity on occasion and down and out martyrdom? You bet your career there is. Recently I asked a class of 46 agents to brainstorm the things that were their biggest impediments to success. The list they came up with was a real eye opener for me and the whole group.
You drive up to the house with your prospects in tow. You prepare to put the best face on the property at hand. There"s a process you go through to help your clients evaluate this particular choice. Without even thinking about it, you draw attention to the items and features to which you think this couple would want to pay special attention.
The best agents are the ones that know how and when to close. They work on mastering great closing techniques and can never have enough of them. As a matter of fact, they collect closes, so to speak.
It"s a surprisingly simple success strategy - stay in the present.
Once the domain of home buying and home equity rip-offs during the boom market, mortgage fraud is muscling in on subprime loans, foreclosures, reverses mortgages and insider trading related to mortgage securities in housing"s down market.
Every year, at about this time, I am often asked by home owners if it is prudent to put their home on the market during the upcoming holiday season, or if they should wait until after the first of the year. My answer, always, is that they should definitely consider putting their home on the market, because November and December offer a higher exposure ratio compared to other months.
Recently, I was asked what I thought about the following situation: a group of young 20-something men were sitting around a conference room table at the company where they worked. The mayor of the city entered the room and greeted the young professionals. The business owner was aghast when not one of the men bothered to stand when greeting the mayor.
Picking a loan is a little like picking stocks. If market timing were the way to go, everyone would be as wealthy as stock investor Warren Buffet and have 4 percent mortgages on fantastic homes. But the reality is that even the world"s most successful investor doesn"t expect to buy stock at the very moment it is at its lowest price. While buying low is certainly a fundamental, Buffet chooses investments based on their ability to generate sustainable earnings and growth.
The horrific events that took place on September 11, 2001 have deeply effected us all. Many of us have taken this opportunity to reconnect with loved ones, friends and neighbors—and we’ve all been grieving our nation’s enormous loss together. This is also an important time to contact current and past clients, in order to offer support and service if they are needed. Current clients need reassurance from you at this time and both current and past clients will appreciate your thoughtfulness during this emotional time.
Have You Taken The Mr. Internet/Realty Times Referral Survey? What are fee-based referrals worth to you? Express yourself about online referrals and fees, and find out what others think, too.
It"s a sign of the times. California"s San Bernardino County is seeing its first new home subdivision of homes designed to run on solar panels.
For years, the real estate professionals have summed up what our business is about with a single phrase: "Location, location, location." In this age of the Internet, many agents are depressed by the competition from Web-based realty services who stress lower fees over service.
Is it time for you to get into action? Whether you need to blitz for a week or all month, committing to action will bring you business. It’s the planting of seeds for the future. Soon you’ll be complaining about not enough time to take care of the flood of business. That would be a good dilemma to create. Boost your business with a blitz!
With a comprehensive set of resources for real estate educators and professionals, Dearborn Real Estate Education, a division of Kaplan, takes one of the nation"s largest real estate publishers and puts prelicensing and continuing education training materials online in a new enhanced Web site.
Selling investment property differs from selling single family residences in a wide variety of ways. Here are some simple guidelines as well as some potential pitfalls.
One of the questions that come up from new agents frequently is: how do I control my time so that I get everything done? New agents get wrapped up in the business and the first thing that they set aside is prospecting! If you keep putting this important aspect of the business aside you will end up with lots of time because you will have no business. Here are two tips to follow to keep you on track:
In many parts of the country, square footage is becoming one of the most important home selection tools that a buyer can use, primarily because it can be quantified as a hard and fast number. But can it? Should agents help their clients by measuring square footage?
Is there a value crisis in the real estate industry? According to Larry D. Romito, president and CEO of Quality Service Certification, Inc., there is. He says that consumers believe they are paying way too much in brokerage fees for the service they get, particularly the higher they go in price for a home.
Question: What can I do about a mortgage broker who had an appraiser come out. I later found out that they inflated my appraisal. That was over a year ago and I haven"t been able to get a copy of the appraisal and I"m now losing my house because of a divorce and the payment is too big. I don"t think I can save the house but because of the inflated appraisal, I now owe more then it"s worth. I haven"t been able to sell it, even on a short sale.
In order for us to win in life we must push through the adversity we face. Without it we are poorly prepared for winning. The truth is most of us don’t welcome adversity like a long lost friend, but maybe we should.
The dog days of summer are upon us. I think that expression came from the way dogs can lounge in the summer sun. They relax as if there isn’t a care in the world. It’s easy for us to lounge as well.
Do you have the desire to walk across the stage and get the recognition from your peers? To be recognized as one of the "top gun" agents in the country? If you do you need to start by taking dead aim daily. It is the disciplines we do each day that will mean the difference between being on the platform or being in the crowd come next year.
Marketing new homes online is no different than existing homes. Or is it? There are some differences that you need to know, whether you are a Realtor representing one or more builders and their properties, or whether you are builder"s agent working for one builder.
It"s possible to break into the relocation industry without any experience as a REALTOR®, but you would definitely have to start on the bottom rung. The broker for long-standing, sophisticated top-producing agents generally reserves relocation clients.
There was one characteristic or skill that was most important in helping me achieve high production in sales while working a four-day workweek. This one skill allowed me the opportunity to develop the others that were necessary for success in sales. You are probably thinking, what is that one characteristic above all others? It"s time mastery. If we learn to master out time and understand the value of time we can change the outcome of our lives.
Change can be traumatic and the thought of fundamentally changing the way real estate professionals do business can take some individuals in the industry so far out of their comfort zone that they elect to leave the business. For those of you waiting to buy a computer or a fax machine until this silly trend passes may as well contact your financial planners and start making arrangements for retirement or run the risk of being run over by the “Web Wagon.”
A visitor to my philosophy-enhanced web site e-mailed me, asking: “You talk about achieving aliveness in business. What does that mean? And if recreation time impacts our professional lives, what can we do to make that impact a positive one?” Here’s what I answered:
We are beginning a new year of opportunity. It is an appropriate time to consider where we stand, to evaluate our characteristics and ourselves. Do we have the stuff inside to take us to the next level in life and in business?
Stress is a killer.
“ We’ve decided we’re not going to list our home with you. We went with the other company...”
Managers, do you have good attendance at your weekly sales meetings? Are you struggling to figure out what to do each week? Do you "wing" it? Here"s a format for having a meeting that will have your agents coming back for more each week.
Mortgage fraud has become a staple in today"s organized crime circles.
Do you want to inject your agents with the kind of enthusiasm that generates more sales and higher profits? Read on.
At the beginning of each year so many of us commit to changes and
We all have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. And if you
We invest large amounts of time with buyers. There is nothing more frustrating than spending a lot of time with buyers and than never getting paid for our efforts. The key component to successfully working with buyers is the qualifying process. Qualifying is the lost art of the sales process. Sometimes we get so excited that we have a lead that we fail to determine its value. That is why the process of qualifying is focused on determining the value of leads.
Certainly the impressive figures cited by listing aggregators such as
Are you frustrated with your phone service? Are you still anchored to
As the real estate business becomes more challenging and complex, top
Few real estate offices can afford private offices for sales people. In most cases open cubicles are the order of the day. And a cubicle where you have space for a desktop computer is a rarity. How do you conduct business from the office and maintain privacy at the same time?
With over 80% of all home sales in existing homes, and with many homeowners turning their homes in four years or less, remodeling within the median of the immediate surrounding neighborhood is an important consideration.
If you"re looking to remodel your house this year, as thousands of Americans do, be sure to look beyond just the color swatches, carpet samples and appliances. Remodeling is more about shoveling out the junk than anything else.
The property rights revolt against the Supreme Court"s controversial "Kelo" eminent domain ruling rolled on last week to Michigan. The legislature overwhelmingly approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution last Tuesday that would effectively negate the high court"s decision within Michigan"s borders. The amendment would prohibit local government eminent domain seizures of property from private owners solely for the purpose of transferring it to other private owners for "economic development" purposes or to increase local tax revenues.
The financial pages during the past few days have been filled with great news from Wall Street. Last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached an all-time high of 14,115.51.
Every spring and summer, you are sure to spot stories in the press about shark attacks off the cost of Florida, Alabama, and California. You rarely see a story, however, about the loan sharks attacking homeowners all across the United States.
The appraisal process is supposed to represent the independent valuation of properties by unbiased professionals, people paid for their opinion -- whether their opinion is higher or lower than clients might like.
HousingPredictor.com"s list of the 25 worst housing markets in 2008 is dominated by California, who has 8 cities in the list.
Eminent domain -- the right of the government to take your home -- has been much in the news since the Supreme Court"s 2005 Kelo decision, but now comes word of a New Jersey court decision that adds a fresh aura of common sense to the debate
Whether home values rise or fall there are always self-sellers in the marketplace. To some in the real estate community this is a great cause of alarm, an apparent assault on their self-worth, but in reality those who engage in For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) transactions are hardly a threat to the value of brokerage services.
Consumers in New York state are getting a bonus, thanks -- as usual -- to their crusading attorney general, Eliot Spitzer. After taking on banks, stock brokers, insurance companies and others, Spitzer has now struck a glancing blow at the title insurance industry -- an industry that collects $1.1 billion in annual premiums just in New York state. Why he can"t go further should be on the front page of every real estate section.
Imagine if someone said, let"s raise $1.8 billion and use that money to create more affordable housing opportunities. That would be a hugely impressive project, a winner for everyone.
With newsstands dominated by scary headlines, Hollywood break-ups and still more diet plans, Harper"s magazine is typically somber and understated. However, for those with an interest in real estate the May issue offers a jarring cover story that"s tough to ignore: "The New Road to Serfdom: An illustrated guide to the coming real estate collapse" by Michael Hudson.
Okay, here"s today"s puzzle: Imagine that you wanted to live in a city with terrific museums, professional sports, cheap housing and short commutes. Where would it be?
I get email from folks who complain that real estate and politics do not mix, and thus it"s inappropriate to write about political matters for a real estate news service. If such a perspective were true, then we would surely not have debates about zoning, wet lands, property taxes, property rights, a national energy policy (if any), federal anti-trust claims against brokers, furnace taxes and the "taking" clause of the Fifth Amendment.
In the past few weeks oil prices have reached nearly $50 a barrel, both a record and a sure sign of things to come. What"s coming? Little tiny cars that will change our homes, roads, and national priorities -- cars we should have adopted years ago.
Home prices have been rising with great ferocity in recent years, a matter which suggests to some that a real estate bubble is surely ahead. Now from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York -- that citadel of capitalism -- we hear something which approaches common sense: Home prices may not rise everywhere and everyday, but real estate has done wonderfully well in recent years and relative to other investment options offers a surprising level of security and potential.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.36 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.40 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.81 percent.
The National Association of Realtors has some one million members and a huge political action committee, but what it does not have is the ability to prevent the further swelling of the federal government.
Mortgage Rates Tumble In Late November
Mortgage Rates Remain At Long-Time Lows
By it"s nature real estate is a localized commodity. If you"ve ever
Mortgage Rates Reach New Lows In May
The news from Ohio on the brokerage front is not good -- and more alarmingly, it may set a woeful example for other states.
Interest Rates Remain Low
With the federal government and many states now running at a deficit, it"s little wonder that local bureaucrats are eying the Internet as a potent source of new revenue. The idea is to tax online retail sales, not a bad thought when you consider that one alternative might be still-higher property taxes.
The insurance business is all about odds and risk, a form of betting where you "win" if something bad happens but you win more when you have a "losing" bet.
Mortgage Rates Remain Near Recent Lows
Mortgage Rates Reach New Lows
It"s back....
Mortgage Rates Bump Up, Remain Low
It was 10 years ago this month that something new appeared
There"s news from Homestore, perhaps a hint that the company is down but not out.
Is it true we"ve reached bottom, that this is as bad as the economy will get for the next several years?
In a few days thousands of real estate professionals will congregate in Chicago for the annual convention of the National Association of Realtors. The theme this year is "profiting from innovation" but I"m not sure that"s really the core concern at this moment of most attendees.
Hardly any discussion of Homestore lasts more than a few minutes without mention of "the deal," some $200 million in Homestore cash and stock promised to AOL in exchange for a "distribution alliance" with the leading Internet service.
Joanne Brown is reporting that California home sales decreased 28.5 percent in February compared to the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 26.2 percent.
Question: I bought a vacation town home in a Florida resort property from a reputed builder. The broker who sold to me gave a letter in his letterhead that said he would lease back the property for two years. He even signed a guaranteed leaseback for one year. But after three months he got himself out of the whole thing on the pretext that the market has collapsed and he can no longer give the guaranteed leaseback.
Wow! What a week in Washington. In the span of a few days the political landscape changed in ways which will influence public policy for the next decade, if not longer.
If there"s one subject which never goes away it"s the matter of wealth and how to get it -- preferably with great speed and as little effort or risk as possible.
At first the proposal seems benign: Let"s allow taxpayers to place more money in tax-deferred retirement accounts. What could possibly be wrong with that?
Imagine for a moment that two real estate sites are battling for your business. You"re a broker and post listings on both. At the end of the day which site is more interesting?
The question of which realty site is #1 continues to simmer, as both Realtor.com and HomeAdvisor stake out opposing claims to the top spot.
Here"s the good news: New appliance standards from the Energy Department will cut fuel usage and save American consumers $19 billion over 30 years.
Wouldn"t you like to know that the person appraising your home is competent and able?
Chris Skrip is reporting that the Beaufort County, South Carolina market has seen a doubling of residential sales from December 2007 to January 2008.
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Bob Stahl reports that the sales volume in the Greater Phoenix area resale market improved in February, with 3,700 recorded sales compared to 3,300 in January.
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Washington -- While the Federal Housing Administration issued 1.1 million
In a new, get-tough campaign, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have warned, or sued, real estate regulators in three states to avoid adopting anti-competitive rules that discriminate against non-traditional real estate brokers who offer either commission rebates or limited service, discount-priced services to consumers.
On November 4, 2004, Congressman Mike Oxley, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, wrote to David. M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, outlining the Committee"s "responsibility and authority" to continue oversight of "the Nation"s housing market and potential barriers to home ownership."
Question: My fiance and I are looking for our first home. We have been approved for financing, we have good credit plus we have cash for closing. We see that there ways to avoid paying higher monthly payments and higher rates. One way we keep hearing about is "assumption of title." I have researched what it means and basically it sounds that when the owner is distressed, he/she can transfer the title to people like us and we take over the current payments without "assuming" a new mortgage which is more costly. Is this correct or are there other implications involved with this process?
Question: I found a house through the newspaper. Since no broker has shown me the home or done anything for me related to the property, can I go directly to the listing broker and ask for the half of the commission that a broker would have earned had he done his job?
Question: I have a client who is currently in escrow with a REO property. After the termite inspection, there were significant repairs that needed to be done. The seller agreed to give us a $2,600 credit "towards closing costs" for the repairs. However, they want us to do the repair "after" close of escrow, citing "liability concerns". Why do you think they would want us do the termite repair "after" and not during escrow?
Question: We are currently looking into selling our vacation rental home and purchasing a fractional beach front home (1/13th share). Can we do a 1031 exchange for this property? As we are we are allowed to use the home for only four weeks per year, what would be the rental requirement?
Question: I have a property with an existing mortgage and a lot of equity. I have a buyer who wants to buy only if I provide owner financing. My lender will not allow me to sell subject to the mortgage. Is there any way I can keep the existing mortgage and provide financing for the rest of the amount?
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.42 percent with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.34 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.87 percent.
Question: I just signed the contract on a new house 10 days ago and gave $10,000 as an initial deposit. The builder has lowered the price of the property by $30,000. How can I get that new price for my signed contract house. Can I cancel the contract or ask builder to lower the base value on the existing contract or compensate me with $30,000 worth of upgrades?
Question: I"m a mortgage lender and have been for 15 years. Since relocating to a new state several years ago, I"ve been continuously fighting a problem with builders and new construction loans.
Question: About five years ago I contacted a neighbor whose tree was obstructing our view. Though I offered to pay for its removal, she declined my offer, and I respectfully let it go. She was elderly, and when she died I respectfully contacted her daughter and again asked that the tree be cut down. The daughter said that she would sell the house and it would be up to the new owners. The house has been on the market for quite awhile now, and there are more trees of considerable size that really should be removed. Other neighbors who also have obstructed views have contacted me and asked me to please find a solution. We all know that our property values are being adversely affected by this problem. What can we do?
Question: I have an acquaintance who has listed a house for sale where her son was living. The son subsequently died unexpectedly. She has listed the property with a local broker and now has second thoughts about selling at this time. She believes she perhaps acted in haste in her grief. What is the procedure for withdrawing the property from the market at this time?
Question: I"m renting a home from my father because I have bad credit. How do I protect myself from losing my home if he passes away? Are there any loans programs for me, someone with a 520 credit score?
Question: I"m in the process of buying my mother a house for cash. She is 71 and very poor. Her only income is what I give her and her Social Security.
Question: I plan to sell my home for an estimated $1.5 million. I don"t know when last it was painted, but both the exterior and interior paint jobs are in good shape, though with some flaws here and there. I am told that the flaws can"t be touched up since they will show, so if I paint I would have to paint the entire house.
Question: We have what I think is a "piggyback" loan. There will be a foreclosure on the second lien, which is smaller than the first loan. What happens, do we lose our home?
[Note: To follow is an excerpt of a March 5, 2008 interview with Saul Klein, CEO of Point2 Technologies and President/CEO of the InternetCrusade. To listen to, or download the show archive MP3, go to IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com.]
Question: I purchased a four-year old home nearly two years ago in northern California. At that time a home inspection was completed. After moving in I noticed that my coffee table in the living room sat at a slant. The slope is extremely noticeable and there is no way anyone living in the house could not notice it. I thought the slant was probably due to the poor quality of the carpet and its pad.
Question: I am in the final stage of purchasing property. As a part of my purchase agreement, I inserted a contingency that the appraised value of the home must meet or exceed the selling price. The appraisal came in $14,000 less than the selling price, giving me the right to re-negotiate or to rescind the purchase agreement.
Question: Can a buyer"s agent represent two purchasers seeking the same property at the same time? My agent recently dropped me as his client when I asked him to write an offer for a house which was also of interest to another client of his. As my agent just prior to my offer, he knows all my weaknesses and strengths as the buyer for that property, even my offering price, and the maximum price I am willing to pay for that property. Now that he is representing another client by dropping me, I will be in very disadvantaged position. Is there anything I can do?
Question: I co-signed on a home for my boyfriend. The original agreement was that he pay half the mortgage. We broke up and in my grief I had my name taken off the title with a quitclaim deed.
Question: I just received a call from my broker earlier today telling me that the lender misquoted my rate from over a month ago, a rate that I locked in. I have now been offered financing at a higher rate. Is there anything I can do? I am trying to find a new lender, but with 11 days before closing, I don"t see that happening.
Question: What does the term "under contract" mean?
New home sales fell another 2.5 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted rate of 512,000 units. At this rate, about one million new homes will be sold by the end of the year. That"s about half what both the National Association of Home Builders and the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard says sustainable new home sales should be.
The mortgage crisis was caused by malfeasance in both the board room and the boiler room. From the arrests of Bear Stearns" hedge fund managers to the widespread sweep of small-time crooks for fraud, the government is taking strong action toward prosecuting those responsible for the current credit crunch and over $350 billion in Wall Street write-offs.
When looking at a market to see if it"s slowing down or speeding up, it requires examining more than just price. In fact, if an observer looks at just price to determine if a market has turned around, they"ve actually waited too late to get in on the bottom.
Who says banks should say who gets to buy a home? Right now, banks are turning away good borrowers, choking home sales. What"s the answer? Seller financing. There"s just one little problem. Real estate agents need to tell sellers that it"s an option.
Some consumers using Craigslist classified ads to find bargain rentals are getting a nasty surprise. Phony landlords are collecting security deposits and first month"s rent. When the renter shows up ready to move in, they find their new keys don"t work or that the property is occupied.
The website RealEstateABC.com is reporting an aberration in price increase for one region in particular in their most recent report.
Realtor.com is announcing a terrific new benefit to NAR members. The company has enhanced the free basic listing required by the NAR.