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22November

Real Estate Coach – A Daily Dose

Most sports teams have one thing in common. They all have coaches.  Most real estate professionals do double duty as coaches, encouraging clients in their property search and fellow agents in selling properties.

In the interest of “encouraging the encouragers,” we are sharing a resource we’ve recently found.  It’s RealEstate Coach Radio.com, a “5-minute Daily Internet Show For Real Estate Professionals.”  The format is a great fit for time-challenged real estate practitioners, written for a broad market of residential real estate sales professionals. The show features Bernice Ross  named, America’s top real estate coach by Inman News – Inman.com.  The daily resource is free to subscribers.

Show segments provide actionable information from industry experts on topics Realtors® wrestle with on a daily basis.  It’s informative and every segment is closed with a motivational gem. The show is like a nutritional supplement for your real estate day. It tackles hot topics, compressed in shows that are 5 minutes or less in length.  They also make scripts available.

Recent topics include: “How to Get First Time Buyers off the Fence and Under Contract;” “A Blueprint for Facebook Success;” “Client Questions That You Should Never Answer;” and “A Quick Tip to Improve Your Energy.”  The show recently featured an interview series with David Stevens, President of the Mortgage Bankers Association, entitled “A Bullish View on Homeownership.”

Check it out and enter a comment to let us know what you think.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

18November

“The Best Time Ever to Buy” | President and CEO of Mortgage Bankers Association

Is this the best time ever to buy real estate? A Google search on the topic revealed a page of articles from experts who state unequivocally that it is. Should buyers wait for the market to hit bottom or could rising interest rates cancel out anticipated savings? This recap is a fresh take on the real estate market with a positive perspective.

  1. “The Market is Stabilizing”- Delinquency rates are down from 10 percent in the second quarter of 2010 to 8.5 percent for second quarter 2011.  Delinquencies among fixed rate loans dropped to 5 percent in 2011—this is near the normal range.
  2. “Most Sectors are Experiencing Real Home Price Growth”- Both the negative equity issue and the challenge of declining home prices are actually concentrated in a few key states. David H. Stevens, the president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, D.C., notes that “24 percent of the foreclosure activity is concentrated in Florida. Fifty percent of the foreclosure activity is in five key states.” He suggests that those who quote declines in the average price of homes nationally are using dangerous data, since each market is different.
  3. “Price Declines are Not a National Problem” – Stevens observes that “If you remove the foreclosure properties from the equation, non-distressed properties have actually experienced an increase in prices.”
  4.  The Best Time Ever to Buy”- For those waiting for the market to hit bottom before purchasing, Stevens provides a reality check scenario. Buyer A plans to finance a home purchase with a $200,000 mortgage.  He waits until the market price has dropped an additional 5% because he wants to buy at the bottom of the market. Buyer A saves $10,000 on the sales price of the house. During the waiting period interest rates increase from 4% to 6%, adding an additional $87,937 in interest to the cost of owning the home. Subtract the $10k savings on sales price and the delay will cost the Buyer A an additional $77,937 in interest payments. Many are waiting to save a small percentage of the price of the home when rising interest rates could cost them much more.
  5.  “If There Were Ever A Time To Buy” – Stevens’ bottom line assessment is clear: “Real estate is now at bargain levels that we will never see again in our lifetimes. If there were ever a time to buy a home, that time is now.”

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Source: This is a recap of a recent interview of David Stevens, former head of FHA and the current President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association conducted by Bernice L. Ross, Master Certified Coach, Ph. D, and Author of Real Estate Dough, Your Recipe for Real Estate Success.

16November

Margo’s Top 6 Conference Tips | 2011 NAR Conference

The 2011 National Association of Realtors (NAR) Conference was held November 11-14th  in Anaheim, CA.  Our “on-the-scene” participant was Margo McKay Broughton, Vice President Program Development and Director of Training. In case you did not make the trip, we want to share Margo’s take on the most useful tips and trends she picked up at the conference.  If you attended, feel free to join in and share your insights from the NAR Conference.

1. From the Roundtable Session –  “Internet Cafe”: More and more real estate agents are taking their iPads and iPhones and setting up shop at their local Starbucks or other coffee houses. This puts them in the mix with the public – getting more opportunities for leads. These shops offer music, art and free parking – plus coffee!

2. Also from The Roundtable Session: “Innovative Ways to Build Your Business” Session–CMA and Marketing: Eliminate printed materials!  Many agents are getting away from printed advertising. The actual sales contract is the only surviving hardcopy document. Agents are showing sellers electronic data to help determine sales price. Statistics from FHFA.gov provide data such as absorption rates, market analyses, and key stats by state and other valuable information.

3. Great tip from Marketing Without Money:  Look through your local paper to see who has been recognized with a new position, won an award or started a new business. Send them a congratulatory card or letter. Works especially well if you’ve met them before or if you have mutual interests.

4. Public Relations: So many ideas, so little time!

  • Did you know you can buy BRANDED Starbucks cards for only a couple of bucks? You can even have your picture on them! Give them to you clients!  Consider other branded gift cards that people will use and appreciate as a way to introduce yourself to new clients and remind exiting ones that you are available to help their family and friends.
  • YouTube channels are free…how about making some how-to videos to give to you customers?  A “How to Change Locks” video is a thoughtful gift to give to your buyers after they close on their new house. How about holding a customer appreciation party at your buyers’ new house? You buy the food and rent a bounce house, get the list of invitees from your happy new home owner. You expand your sphere of influence. And you now have contact information for warm prospects and –possibly all new leads!

5. Connecting with Mobile or Tech Savvy Agents:   The speaker at this session stated that “The poor old Blackberry appears to be on its way out.  It is all about downloadable applications…the power is in the app!” The speaker also said, “If you have a smart phone and haven’t downloaded any applications, you have a sports car without any fuel!” In 2008, there were $363 million generated through mobile applications. In 2010, there were $4.9 billion generated from mobile applications!  The mobile app from Realtor.com, which does all kind of cool things, and has been downloaded 7 million times. The apps are where it’s at!

6. From the Session – “The One Thing Power Brokers Can’t Live Without”: was an amazing quote from a speaker who said: “When the pie gets smaller, the table manners have to change! You have to do things that are not usually done, if you want to survive.” In this session, the speakers talked about a recent study of 24 real estate offices who agreed to share information about their successful businesses to help the industry.  Participants learned that each of the businesses had the following items in common:

  • Technology is the number one aspect to success:  Agents need to embrace technology and make the necessary investments in smart phones, tablet computers, etc.
  • Office space is no longer needed:  Agents are working out of their homes or out of coffee shops.
  • Social media:  It’s at the core of successful business growth.
  • Customer service is built into the core structure of each of these entities:  While they don’t compete with other agencies on price, they differentiate themselves in the market by providing outstanding customer service.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

15November

“It’s Time to Buy That House” – Wall Street Journal | Upside

It's time to buy that houseDo you know a prospective buyer who is still analyzing the market and sitting on the fence?  Help them out by sharing a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, simply entitled, “It’s Time to Buy That House.” The facts are presented by columnist Jack Hough of Smart Money.com who rounds out his analysis with this conclusion: “when prices are low, loans are cheap and plump investment yields are scarce, buyers should jump.”

Key points include: 1) the nation’s ratio of house prices to yearly rents is nearly restored to its pre-bubble average and 2) when mortgage rates are taken into consideration, houses are the most affordable they have been in decades.   These and other factors have created a perfect opportunity in many markets for homeownership whether as owner occupant or investor.

All real estate is local and some markets are more attractive than others. Ten “Sweet Deal” markets are listed in the article along with their price/rent ratios. (Single digits suggest big value.)

The article also provides quick price/rent ratios and “back-of-the-envelope ways” to help buyers determine which markets and which properties are the best investments compared to yields from other assets.

The writer encourages due diligence, but not analysis paralysis. The analysis includes input from Yale economist Robert Shiller, Moody’s Analytics, Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index and The National Association of Realtors® Housing Affordability Index.

Overall, it’s a balanced look at the potential risks and rewards of buying real estate now.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

 

10November

Lender Discounts – Review the Options Carefully

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Lender DiscountsQualified buyer prospects as a group are highly sought after by lenders in all categories from credit unions to major banks. Many are offering a menu of snazzy sounding promotions, discounts and incentives. A SmartMoney article, New Discounts for Mortgage Borrowers, dated October 5, 2011, offers a cautionary note for borrowers.

In a nutshell, “Critics say the newest offers still stop short of the best deal for borrowers: Lower rates,” according to AnnaMaria Andriotis of SmartMoney.com. The bottom line is that some institutions offer such enticing incentives that buyers are distracted and fail to simply negotiate for a lower interest rate.

Offers and Incentives Some of the high profile buyer incentives noted in the article are:

  1. “Capital One is waiving some closing fees for refinancers, which can save $3,300 on average.
  2. Citi and Bank of America are discounting fees by as much as 0.75 percentage point.
  3. Quicken Loans is telling customers who get a mortgage through December that if mortgage rates fall in the future, they’ll be able to get the lower rates with most refinancing costs covered.
  4. The Navy Federal Credit Union (designated for Department of Defense employees and their families) began offering $2,500 off of closing costs for borrowers.
  5. Capital One is eliminating on average $3,300 closing costs — including the appraisal and title-related charges — for homeowners who refinance into a 30-year mortgage in some locations, including New York, Texas and the Washington D.C. metro area.”

The Catch According to Keith Gumbinger, Vice President at HSH Associated, a mortgage data firm, “If you’re seeing incentives, there might be a catch. To qualify for the Bank of America discount, for example, consumers must have at least $50,000 socked away with the bank or its investment firm.”

There are exceptions. HUD’s $100 Down Payment program allows qualified buyers of HUD- owned homes in certain states to secure FHA mortgages with a $100 down payment. Buyers should ask their real estate professional if their state and dream home are eligible. Qualified buyers can use the program and still negotiate for the best interest rate.

Shop Around  Prospective buyers are well advised to diligently shop the market for best interest rate deals. After all, the mortgage is the single most important component of the home buying transaction. The terms often dictate the buyer’s long term success or failure as a homeowner. While comparing terms from large banks don’t overlook neighborhood credit unions, small local banks, online banks or organizations like USAA – a resource for military personnel and military families.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

8November

Get Your Listings Noticed On Google

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Get your listings noticed on googleAre you interested in your listings and business profile getting better ranking on Google searches? According to Mark Walser, former Vertical Marketing Manager of Real Estate for Eastman Kodak, this is the perfect time to begin using a new insight to make it happen.

On a recent episode of RealEstateCoachRadio.com, Walser reported that Google has begun to index 60-90 second video clips into search results. Therefore it’s a great time for real estate professionals to begin recording 60-90 second videos showcasing their properties and their expertise on local points of interest.

The video clips should be labeled descriptively and placed on your YouTube channel.  Descriptive labels of most searched words include property address, street name, zip code and city name, according to Bernice Ross, owner of Real Estate Coach.com.  Walser anticipates that if you begin to record and post vignettes of value, your content may gain a dominant presence on commonly searched real estate topics in your market.

To demonstrate this principle, a few weeks ago we posted a blog entitled, The Next Big Thing in Real Estate, Short Films Starring the House. The short vignette showcased a house with an actor demonstrating the lifestyle of a prospective buyer. When entering the property’s address into the Google search window, the house video and related info has taken over the entire first page of Google search results.

You can use this kind of exposure to accelerate sales. Videos don’t have to be produced by a movie studio to be effective. They just need to be well executed and interesting so that prospects find them informative, well organized and worth watching.

Online video exposure could make you and your listings the next big stars of local Google search results.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

3November

HUD Announces Suspension of Allied Home Mortgage

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HUD announces Suspension of Allied MortgageOn Wednesday, November 2, 2011, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the immediate suspension of Allied Home Mortgage, “thereby preventing it from originating and underwriting new FHA mortgages.” Government loan insurer Ginnie Mae also suspended Allied, “which eliminated its ability to offer VA, Rural Housing Service and Office of Public and Indian Housing mortgages.”

Real Estate professionals should be aware of this development and inform clients who are relying on Allied for lending.  Read more»

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

1November

5 Technology Trends Every Business Owner Should Know

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We often share ideas about new apps or websites; however, in this article, we will take a more comprehensive look at where real estate technology is headed.

This big picture overview is inspired by an October 4, 2011 article posted by technology guru Charlie Gunningham on a site called B2 Business2—Real Estate News and Technology. Several excerpts are outlined below.

Social Networking Has Surpassed Email

a.      Of the 107 trillion emails that were sent last year, 89% were spam. (Trend: email is dying, the younger gens don’t email anymore; they connect via social networks.)

b.      There are 1.8 billion email accounts, compared to 3 billion social accounts. Social network accounts overtook email a year ago.

c.       Social recommendations from friends have more clout than advertising.

d.      14% of people believe advertising works best while 90% believe personal recommendations in the social space (Trend: do less advertising, do more work in the social space)

e.      75% of people share a good recommendation with a friend.

Mobile Is What Matters- This Must Be A Priority For Your Website Development

a.      1 in 6 real estate queries are now via mobile sites. That’s 16% of real estate queries.

b.      However, 4 in 5 businesses are not ready to service customers via mobile applications. That’s like being open for business only on Tuesdays!

c.       Consumers love clicking to call – 60% of these searches result with a call to the business – and 60% of those who call actually visit the business.

d.      Consumers are twice as likely to visit an agent site (when a mobile site is available)-yet most don’t have mobile sites set up.

The PC Era Is Shrinking While The Mobile “Touch” Communications Trend Is Ballooning

a.      The “draw” tool on REALTOR.com’s iPad app allows the user to touch the screen and draw (with their finger) an area of the map in which interests them. The area shades in and properties fly in. An “InBox” listing the same properties opens on the left and you can interact with either.

Searching For Homes By Bedroom And Bathroom Count Is Being Replaced By Lifestyle Searches

a.      With property searches, for example, few people know the ZIP Codes.  People don’t start with bedrooms and suburbs – they are more interested in commute times, schools, and locations near a park.  Consumers previously go off and seek this information and then get back to the portals to search for properties – now the portals and real estate websites need this information embedded. These sites will be the ones most widely used in the future.

Your Online Reputation Is Your New Business Identity – Learn How To Protect It

a.       If you get a negative (comment), engage respectfully and see if you can make it right. If you solve the issue, the user will become your best advocate.

b.      Deliver as many pages that you control as possible so you own the first few pages of Google.

This summary is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are a lot more examples, resources and stats sited in the article “5 Emerging Technology Trends” by technology expert Charlie Gunningham.  Check it out – it’s interesting, insightful and well documented. It just may help you to stay ahead of the crowd.

For more information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

27October

Five Fall Housing Trends of 2011

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Five Fall Housing TrendsIs it time to buy? How long will mortgage rates stay low?  Will it become easier to qualify for a mortgage—or is it better to rent? Will foreclosed properties become available to rent? How will the recent lowering of loan limits impact houses in lower price categories? Will short sale volume grow or shrink in the fall marketplace?

If you are a real estate professional or a prospective buyer who has struggled with these questions, here’s a resource that may help. Fox Business.com recently published a feature story that addresses these issues–and more– in an article titled “Five Housing Trends in Fall 2011”. The writer explores not only the trends but also the anticipated timeframes and estimated outcomes. At least five expert industry sources from around the country are quoted in the article.  Scores of market observers are asking these questions; hopefully this resource will shed some light on the topics for prospective home buyers and real estate professionals alike.

The 5 key forecasted trends include:

  1. “Mortgage Rates Won’t Stay Low Forever — Just a Long Time”
  2. “Lenders Will Keep Their Strict Underwriting Standards”
  3. “Foreclosures Will Become Rentals”
  4. “Lower Loan Limits Will Push Home Values Further Down”
  5. “A New Wave of Distressed Properties Will Crest”

 

For more information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

25October

Smooth Moves: 2 Great Online Tools for First-time Homebuyers

With existing home sales increasing by nearly 19% in August 2011 over year ago and 32 percent of buyers as first-time homebuyers, we expect a lot of moving to take place in the near future.  To keep headaches to a minimum, we are sharing some online moving tools. One is a website called movecentral.com, a resource affiliated with Move.com and Realtor.com®.  The site offers a treasure chest of tools to help plan and execute a well-organized residential move.  The second site is Lowe’s, the well- known home- improvement company.

Movecentral.com

This site offers numerous checklists and a moving calculator to expedite quotes from moving companies for full service, self-service or auto transport moving options.  There are money saving and storage tips, mover inventory sheets, last-minute task reminders and instructions on having a yard sale and safely moving pets.  They even remind you to save key moving expense receipts for maximum advantage on your next tax return. Check out the “Packing 101” segment for eight great packing techniques.

Lowe’s Movers Toolbox and Workbook

Most Realtors® are already aware of the Lowe’s “moving coupon,” which provides a 10% homebuyer and home seller discount.  But did you know they also offer a free Mover’s Toolbox? It includes a collection of online “how to” tools that span the process from selling or buying to moving and maintaining a home.  There is also a Mover’s Workbook for use in planning home improvement projects and organizing an entire house.  To ensure a trouble-free move day, the site instructs you on how to stock a “Moving Day Survival Kit.”

A wise person once said “For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” If you or someone you know is facing a change of address, use these free tools for a smooth and efficient move.

For more information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.