Technology Transactions
Today’s seller is busier than ever before and their private time is one of their most valuable commodities. If you think that you are going to win a listing presentation by overwhelming the seller with stacks of information you could be very surprised to find out that the seller has chosen another real estate agent.
I was recently at a seminar and a fellow manager and friend, Michael Williamson, discussed the 90-day rule.
Hire me, I work for free!
"These meetings are an important part of the communication process within the office," said Doris, a broker with 30 years experience.
You may be well intended about getting things done during your day at
How far do your responsibilities as a buyer"s agent go when helping a first-time buyer get qualified for a comfortable monthly payment?
Real estate sales are slowing in some areas. Mortgage bankers report that late payments and defaults are on the rise. That means more business for asset managers and subsequently, for brokers who are willing to do Broker Price Opinions (BPOs.)
Prequalifying buyers is an important step for both the buyer and you. You get an idea of how to handle the buyer and the buyer gets an introduction to reality - how much, give or take a small margin of error, he or she can really spend on a home. Calculating loan ratios for the buyer requires first calculating the monthly housing costs, which are commonly known as PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance).
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.
It"s a surprisingly simple success strategy - stay in the present.
Tis the season to be setting goals for the coming year! Here are a few important elements in creating results from those goals.
Have you been part of the majority of agents in the "plan-less" category? Perhaps you are now ready to raise your standard of greatness by creating a written plan. Before you get started, take a look at some of the pitfalls that could trip you up on the way.
According to the NAR"s 2001 Member Profile, the median age for brokers and agents in 2000 was 54 years, indicating that the industry is clearly a haven for baby boomers. But Realtors are finding no rest for the weary as they face an onslaught of change - new technologies, fee pressures, competition from banks and other new business models, agency and other liability issues, shifting markets - all exacerbated by a rising boom in Generation X buyers who question the ways things have always been done.
The holidays are a time for great joy for some, and a time of stress and
What is the most important asset you own? Is it that wonderful home you own? Is it the beautiful car that you drive to and from those listing appointments? Is it your investment portfolio?
If only it was easier to get a mortgage. It would be a buyer"s paradise.
Don’t buy into the notion that sales and production for the fourth quarter should slack off due to the “holidays”. If your business development plans are not in order to finish off your year with high numbers, this is the perfect time to insure ending this year on a more productive note!
There seems to be some conflict among real estate practitioners regarding the value of earning the professional designations that are available within the industry, and of the benefits of promoting them, once they have been earned.
Retro is definitely IN! We’ve seen it in many categories of
For years, it"s been bandied about that 80 percent of real estate sales are accomplished by 20 percent of the top salespeople. Have you ever wondered if it"s true, and if it is, how do you get there?
It’s clear to many who are dealing in the frenetic world of real estate today, that the possibility of getting multiple offers on a new listing is fairly high. While there are pockets of the country where this rarely happens, there are other places where it occurs 8 out of 10 times a new listing pops up.
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!
The hot garden color this year is yellow, and it is spicing up home sales across the country. Annuals abound in every shade and hue from butter to dayglo! Some garden experts suggest choosing bright shades for sunny spots, and using pastel yellows for the shady areas of the garden.
Like most people in the business, you probably have paid a lot of money to hear one of the real estate gurus tell you how to build your business. Unfortunately, the same 50-year old message is still being preached on the circuit: Hunt "em, Tell "em, and Sell "em (i.e. prospect, tell them how great you and your company are, and get them to sign the contract). With more and more people using the web to purchase real property, this outdated approach is simply not sustainable in today"s "virtual" environment.
The greatest success in strategic planning is derived by identifying powerful pivotal strategies…ones that your whole plan must revolve around. These pivotal strategies start with your vision and purpose and enable you to express from the deepest motivators. The what to do lacks a driving passion to make it so without know the why behind it. German philosopher, Nietzsche observed, "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how."
If you"re looking for an innovative way to keep your name in front of potential clients, here"s a great prospecting tool your clients will keep all year long. If you prospect a specific geographical area or have sold several properties in an area where you would like to do more business, create an "Annual Report" following the steps below:
First-time buyer Teresa Aldana says her older home is turning into a money pit, and that she wasn"t treated fairly by her agent or the seller. Calling everyone she can think of from attorneys to the local TV station, she wants some financial help getting some repairs completed on her home which she claims were not disclosed by the seller. She didn"t get her own inspection done on the home and chose to accept the seller"s and agent"s word that the home was in good repair and that her new home warranty would cover any problems, she says.
Phoenix Realtor Bob Stahl reports the number of closed sales in March increased to 4,293 -- a 25 percent increase of February and the highest number of closed sales since August 2007.
How do you attract good agents to your company? You are your own best asset, says Dallas broker Virginia Cook of Virginia Cook REALTORS, a traditional full-service brokerage. "Your brand is your reputation," says Cook.
During thirty years as a time management speaker and
Despite seasonal adjustments and predictions by the N.A.R. and the N.AH.B. that home sales will slow down in the coming years, communities from Houston to Washington, D.C. are still reporting record sales.
The unemployment rate is lower than it has been in a quarter of a century,
Agents discouraged by the prospect of living on cheese sandwiches for six months while they launch a real estate career are getting wired and getting hired. Online brokerages offer agents the dependability of a salary, and often stock options. They also provide a workplace that values efficiency, technology and teamwork.
There is a delicate balance that exists today for agents in how they should prospect using technology and also offer personal service. The agent who has developed a program to combine the two is the agent who has "staying power" in this new real estate industry.
When you enter a career in real estate you are armed with little more than desire, hope, a license to sell, and a little course work that is more geared to keeping you and your broker out of arbitration/litigation than helping you make money. You are up against incredible odds - 170 out of every 200 agents fail their first year, and only seven percent of those renew their licenses, according to an Arizona broker, Cec Daniels. Moreover, 76 percent of all agents earn less than $30,000 per year, says the NAR"s latest member survey. Yet, others earn in the six figures or in the millions. So how can you compete?
Are you interested in selling real estate and want to know more?
When you carry a large number of listings and have solid lead-generating systems in place, buyers are attracted by the dozens. Of course it"s impossible for one agent to work all those leads effectively. That"s why the buyer"s representative is one of the real pillars of the team concept for selling real estate. I have three buyer"s representatives at present who work exclusively with buyers. That"s their sole function.
In the last couple of years, many housing markets have improved to the point that homes offered for sale frequently have multiple offers, raising the final selling price equal to or above the listing price. Does that mean in hot seller"s markets that buyers overpay? What can be done to make sure that buyers are treated fairly and don"t become disillusioned in a multiple-offer situation?
Mortgage fraud has become a staple in today"s organized crime circles.
As both 1999 and the millennium draw to a close, the year 2000 looms ahead and with it new directions for real estate. What will change, and how will real estate be impacted?
As Margaret Mitchell wrote in the classic novel, Gone With the Wind, "Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything, for "tis the only thing in this world that lasts ... . "Tis the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for – worth dying for."
If you are a REALTOR® who enjoys being prepared for the future, here is a list that will give you insight into the homebuyer of tomorrow. By the time, this generation is ready to buy homes, most of the agents who are currently practicing will be retired, or will have turned their businesses over to daughters and sons. How different will the industry be then and how will it address the needs of the consumer who is more comfortable with the Internet than most Realtors are with cell phones?
Over 25 state real estate commissions think so. Distance learning has been allowed
On-line buying by women is up across the board. Are you ready to serve this
Most agents know deep down inside that they need to do a better job of
Are you frustrated with your phone service? Are you still anchored to
Whether you realize it or not, new information is coming to you daily that subliminally or consciously impacts your perceptions and performance as a REALTOR®. It is your choice to accept it, analyze it, and decide whether this data is important enough to make a change in how you do things, or change you as a person and the way others perceive you.
If there was ever a time to start building a career in high dollar, luxury real estate, it is now. So often, new and part-time agents get started in the business by marketing the smaller homes of relatives and friends and building from their contact base of neighbors, church and school that they never have the opportunity to grow into the larger home market.
Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan made it official last week: Yes, there are home price "bubbles" in some parts of the country, where values have soared far beyond local income growth, and yes, they might deflate.
The shake-up of Canada"s home improvement retailing industry continued last week with the announcement that Montreal-based Rona Inc. will purchase Revy Home Centres, a network of 50 hardware and building materials stores. The purchase price will be about $220-million when the deal closes in early July.
A dozen years ago, the Canadian retail landscape was pretty sleepy when it came to the home improvement sector. Small hardware stores and lumber yards served both rural and urban do-it-yourselfers and renovation contractors, while major department stores and specialty shops took care of the home decor market.
Knowing how well home values will hold up in a given market is a key point of knowledge for both sellers and buyers.
It"s up to California"s home owners and renters to hunker down, continue to push the envelope on energy conservation efforts, build in energy efficient home improvements, replace old appliances with new Energy Star machines and otherwise limit or reduce power use to do their part to cut the cost of electricity.
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.
Given the minimal news coverage it"s received, you might think that a $7 million donation is an everyday occurrence, something so common it hardly merits comment.
When last we looked, a big part of the U.S. economy was related to real estate, therefore it was curious to see the reaction to tough news during the past week.
Wouldn"t it be ironic if the people least impacted by changing real estate trends were the oldest folks in the neighborhood?
Spring is here, what else could possibly explain a mortgage lender who called to say my monthly payment is late.
Now that the mid-term elections are done it"s time to get on with the realities of life and some of those realities concern real estate.
For as long as anyone can remember the only form of listing allowed in local MLS systems has been the "exclusive right to sell" agreement.
For a long time the biggest real estate rumble in Washington has concerned the question of whether or not banks should be allowed to offer real estate services.
What should a smart home seller do with that fat federal tax rebate check?
A few months ago the local government where my wife and I have some property sent us a "final notice" explaining that if we did not pay the local tax within 30 days our property would be foreclosed.
The start of a new year is always a benchmark of sorts, an opportunity to see where we"ve been and perhaps where we"re going.
Beginning with loans closed after October 30th, Fannie Mae will no longer purchase mortgages which include a mandatory arbitration clause. This is great news for lenders and lawyers, whether it"s also great news for borrowers is an open question.
Real estate is all about location, so we all like to know what"s happening in the neighborhood. In the usual sense, this means tidbits about home sales, schools, roads, stores and jobs.
Mortgage Rates Fall In December
Editor"s Note: First published during the 1998 holiday season, this column is re-printed with good wishes to all.
Mortgage Rates Tend Lower
Mortgage Rates Edge Upward In Late March
Is there anyone who opposes clean air and water?
It"s been a tough year. The enduring memory of 2001 will be the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the plane crash in Pennsylvania, and the use of anthrax as a weapon. Thousands of people died before their time, something that will be remembered.
If you believed the predictions of the past few years, by now Internet growth would have caused newspapers to close, malls to empty, computer terminals would have replaced college campuses, and the Postal Service would have gone the way of the Pony Express.
If you"re a commercial property investor looking toward 2010, where are the most promising real estate markets in the U.S.?
With high-tech firms and online sites facing tough times, perhaps the moment has come for Internet empowered workers -- "IEWs" no doubt -- to consider a new career.
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.
HomeStore.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: HOMS), operator of Realtor.com, announced pro forma revenues of $118.4 million for the first quarter, as well as a pro forma profit of $4 million. This is the third consecutive quarter the company has reported cash profitability.
As the weather improves, homeowners start to tackle a major home improvement project: fixing or replacing their roof. Often this is a job that homeowners delay doing because it can be a pricey, tedious process.
Imagine that a year from now new regulations allow banks to broker and manage real estate. What will change? The answer may not be quite what people expect.
Christmas trees now sparkle in millions of homes, but did you ever wonder how the tradition began? No doubt there are several stories regarding the start of this custom, and here"s one I"d like to pass along.
It used to be that a million-dollar home was a big deal, the biggest place in town. But now, million-dollar homes are barely included in the "upper-brackets."
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
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Equity?
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
Peter G. Miller
The North Carolina Banking Commission recently proposed stricter guidelines for state regulated brokers, bankers and lenders offering nontraditional loans.
Question: I just joined a major lender and I"ve been told that most of our mortgages are scheduled interest. This means if a borrower pays additional principal one month it will be taken off the back end of the loan and the prepayment will not change the loan"s amortization schedule. Is this true or just bad information to get people into our simple interest loans?
Question: I have three new duplexes and have not been able to rent them. They each have three bedrooms, two baths, garages, fireplaces, garage door openers, tile kitchen floors and inside laundries. I"m offering free rent for three months. Why can"t I rent these properties?
Question: As a first time new home buyer, my wife and I are interested in how you feel the mortgage debacle will impact buyers across the board.
Question: Is it possible to exchange stock options for real estate with a 1031 exchange?
Question: I"m planning to take out $60,000 as either a home equity loan or home equity lone of credit (HELOC). Assuming I use the entire amount of the credit line, which is preferable right now? Is there any way to tell if this will change in the future?
The larger the mortgage, the riskier the loan.
Question: What can be done if both a seller and buyer agree to cut their own deal, in order to cheat both the seller"s and buyer"s agents out of their commissions?
Question: I have a home that I rent to others. After negotiating a lease with two potential tenants, they disclosed that they were both real estate brokers. Is there a law or guideline which says this couple should have disclosed this information prior to my renting to them?
Question: We found out that our brand new vacation home was previously occupied. We are the first owners but the home was used for almost two years. The developer never disclosed this to us.
Question: I was told by our real estate broker that if the buyer fails to purchase the house per the terms of the contract, the house cannot go back on the market until arbitration is completed over the earnest money deposit, which can take months. Is this true?
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: Our coop is on a land lease. I asked the managing agent what happens when my lease expires in 2030 and he just said, "Then it expires." I have the offering plan, bylaws, house rules, and the like but can"t find where it states what happens.
Question: I had my closing a year ago. Now the title company realizes they made a math error and undercharged me. They want me to pay that amount to them. Am I obligated to do so? They should have Errors and Omissions liability insurance to cover their mistakes, right?
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 purchased a house for $195,000 in 2003. At the time, the county appraised the house for $268,000. When I check different Internet valuation sites they show the property is worth $338,000 to $438,000 while a local broker wants me to sell at $299,000 or less. Why do we have that much difference of opinions?
Question: I"m getting ready to purchase a new home and found out the rental investments (four of them) on my credit report are driving my score low. What"s the best way out of this. Should I set up a company to hold these companies?
Question: I"ve been an investor for a little over a year. I own three single family homes, one in which I live and the others are for rent. I got into investing being very ignorant and ended up with some deals that are not performing. These properties are hurting me more than anything.
Question: Is it possible to buy a house that costs $570,000 with a 5 percent downpayment? I have excellent credit. What other requirements would I need to buy a house using a 5 percent downpayment. Is it worth it or should I save for a bigger downpayment.
Affordable mortgage money is the fuel that is going to pull the real estate market out of the woods. And there are some encouraging signs that may be happening right now.
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: Do you know if trees add value to a home? If so how can I get more information regarding this issue?
Question: We just moved into our new home. It"s 10 years old. We purchased this home in early July. Due too the unusual heat we"ve been experiencing, we turned on the AC but to our dismay it"s not functioning up to par. We had an inspection done as part of the acquisition and it came with seller"s one-year home warranty. The home warranty company told us the unit is working fine but it"s too small for a 2,500 sq. ft. house and thus cannot get the house to cool down. Two more companies came out to our home and they both said the same thing.
Question: My husband wants to purchase investment property; I do not. Can he enter into a real estate transaction without me?
Question: Our broker has agreed to cancel our 180-day listing contract two months early. However she is now telling us that she won"t release us from the contract unless we pay her marketing expenses.
Question: My sister has four lots, a house is on two of them and a propane tank is partially on a the third lot nearest the house. I"m hesitant about buying the two vacant lots because of the tank. Can I buy one and a half lots?
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: We expected to close on a house today, but then found out that the buyers" broker neglected to mention the minor contingency of them needing to sell their home first. At contract, they specifically mentioned the buyers had no contingencies. Now they are having trouble closing on their home ... which they need to close on our deal. What happens if our deal falls apart?
Question: In a nearby upscale subdivision, one of the sales agents owns a particular lot for which she was asking $129,000. My husband and I wished to purchase it in order to build a custom home some eight months later. The agent offered to sell it to us under the following terms: $10,000 down, with the rest financed at 10 percent over 120 months. We had no problem with the down payment amount, but the $1,440 monthly payment was nearly twice as much as we could comfortably afford to carry, so we declined the offer.
Question: We had our house on the market for four months and took it off the market. Does this negate the listing contract? Our assumption was that it did, but now I find that it did not. We would like to put the home back on the market with a different Realtor, but cannot because the previous contract is still in effect.
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: What is the best way to measure appreciation in local homes?
Question: I"m a first time home buyer. Earlier this month I locked in a 3/1 adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) with the mortgage broker. Because of delays (on my part) it is highly possible that the paperwork will not get completed within the 30 day lock. I"ve tried to educate myself in regard to ARMs vs. fixed-rate mortgages. Sometimes I"m completely comfortable with my decision to go ARM and other times I don"t feel as confident. During the lending process, can I change my mind and go with a fixed-rate loan instead of an ARM? What about if the rate lock expires?
Question: I just purchased two homes and would like to sell one but I don"t want to reveal who I am for privacy purposes. I was wondering if I had to reveal my identity to the potential buyer?
Question: Do interest-only loans make sense?
Question: We signed a purchase agreement to buy a home several weeks ago. We had a loan approval, builders inspection, appraisal scheduled, everything going right and then the seller wanted out of contract. We said no. The owner has offered to pay all of our costs but we still want this property. We lived up to our agreement and just love this house. If we took the owner to court for "specific performance" would we win?
Thirty-one percent of top executives interviewed in a survey by the Business Roundtable said most will cut payrolls in the next few months. By how much is not known, but one thing is for certain -- they won"t cut their own pay.
If it feels to you like the flood of foreclosures is never going to end, there"s signs of hope coming from an unlikely place. According to the broker-owned Realcomp, housing sales in foreclosure-drenched Detroit and Wayne County are up for the fifth consecutive month.
Unfortunately for them, home builders are paying a heavy price for overbuilding, building too far away from city centers, and building the wrong products for the population.
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.
The good news is we"re still in a housing recession. Why? Opportunity. Even better news -- the worst markets are starting to see signs of life. That means the window to get the best buys will soon close.
Why buy a house now? You"ve been getting bad information. Here"s why.