FRIDAY FACTS
January 28, 2011
RISMedia has an article by Chip Poli on 4 Tips to Ensure a Smooth Real Estate Transaction:
1. Have your client check their credit score to make sure they meet minimum requirements. Don’t waste your time showing homes to someone who can’t buyer them.
2. Have your client obtain a pre-approval
3. Make sure your client has set aside enough cash for closing
4. Your client should be prepared to pay closing costs unless they qualify for a no points, no closing costs loan.
§ Here’s an interesting response from Tara-Nicholle Nelson in Inman News to a seller complaining that her agent didn’t show their home to her own buyers, just to other agents with their clients. “You seem to be operating under the impression that your agents primary job is to personally procure buyers and show them your home herself. In fact, your agent’s primary job is to market the property, not just or even primarily to buyers, but to buyer’s brokers.”
§ Carl White, Chief Strategist for MortgageMarketingAnimals.com offers a simple 10 work email that will revive dead deals from months past for real estate agents:
Subject Line: A quick question for you
Email Body: “Are you still looking to buy a home on Cape Cod?”
He says that you may be tempted to add to this email, but don’t. It has three things going for it: It’s short, it’s personalized, and it’s expecting a response.
Here’s something to think about from a RealTrends blog: Jim Rohn’s philosophy on wealth – if you make a sale, you make a living. If you make an investment of time and good service in a client, you can make a fortune.
A new columnist for Inman News, Ken Harney wrote an article noting that the Obama administration is working on an energy scoring program for houses. They will shortly begin pilot tests of energy rating disclosures in 10 real estate markets across the country. Home sellers in France must provide their energy consumption rating scores to any interested buyer and as of January 1st, have to include their ratings in all ads whether online or in print, and at the real estate office..
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday facts 1-21-11
FRIDAY FACTS
January 21, 2011
In December, NAR estimated that the sales of existing homes in 2010 would be 4.8 million, down about 6% from 2009. Contributing factors were unemployment, tight credit and worries about further price declines.
From an Inman News story titled, “Real Estate Market to Hit Bottom in 2011?” Altos Research expects the housing recovery to start in about a year. From 2012 to 2014 or so, the company expects the market to stabilize and slowly improve, though high unemployment and high inventory will keep prices low even as transactions pick up over time.
Here’s a quote from Lou Barnes in Inman News: “Financial market people do all they can to ignore housing, hoping that one day it will just go away. On current trend, it might. This notion of consumer-based economic acceleration is fatally incompatible with all four home-price gauges reporting new declines (CoreLogic, Zillow, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Case-Shiller); and new declines in sales, with possibly no net absorption of inventory at all. A 1% increase in mortgage rates is not helpful.”
RealTrends reports that Freddie Mac’s servicers have been told to delay initiating foreclosures for at least nine months for financially troubled service members who are released from active duty through the end of 2011 and have Freddie Mac owned mortgages.
We’re doing better than many. CoreLogic reports that 15% of homes with mortgages in Massachusetts are worth less than the loan amount compared with 23% of homes nationwide
A holiday card sent by Inman News had a quote from Albert Einstein that we should internalize:
“Learn from yesterday
Live for today
Hope for tomorrow”
January 21, 2011
In December, NAR estimated that the sales of existing homes in 2010 would be 4.8 million, down about 6% from 2009. Contributing factors were unemployment, tight credit and worries about further price declines.
From an Inman News story titled, “Real Estate Market to Hit Bottom in 2011?” Altos Research expects the housing recovery to start in about a year. From 2012 to 2014 or so, the company expects the market to stabilize and slowly improve, though high unemployment and high inventory will keep prices low even as transactions pick up over time.
Here’s a quote from Lou Barnes in Inman News: “Financial market people do all they can to ignore housing, hoping that one day it will just go away. On current trend, it might. This notion of consumer-based economic acceleration is fatally incompatible with all four home-price gauges reporting new declines (CoreLogic, Zillow, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Case-Shiller); and new declines in sales, with possibly no net absorption of inventory at all. A 1% increase in mortgage rates is not helpful.”
RealTrends reports that Freddie Mac’s servicers have been told to delay initiating foreclosures for at least nine months for financially troubled service members who are released from active duty through the end of 2011 and have Freddie Mac owned mortgages.
We’re doing better than many. CoreLogic reports that 15% of homes with mortgages in Massachusetts are worth less than the loan amount compared with 23% of homes nationwide
A holiday card sent by Inman News had a quote from Albert Einstein that we should internalize:
“Learn from yesterday
Live for today
Hope for tomorrow”
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday Facts January 14, 2011
Friday Facts
January 14, 2010
The CoreLogic report of 12/13/10 quotes their chief economist, Mark Fleming, “Negative equity is a primary factor holding back the housing market and broader economy. The good news is that negative equity is slowly declining but the bad news is that price declines are accelerating, which may put a stop to or reverse the recent improvement in negative equity.”
This same report notes the state where homeowners have the greatest positive equity: New York, 50%; Hawaii, 43%; Massachusetts, 40%; Rhode Island, 40% and Connecticut, 39%.
Inman News pulled “Tech Must-Haves for the New Year” from The Real Deal. They include:
QR codes – when scanned with the camera in a mobile phone, the user is given a message or website.
Docusign – allows contracts to be signed digitally
Mobile receipt – converts receipts into expense reports with the phone photo
Rulerphone – digitally measures objects after the phone’s camera takes a picture.
According to the Remodeling 2010-11 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com), for mid-range remodeling projects, the following gave the greatest cost recoup upon sale in the Boston area:
1. 102.1% Steel entry door replacement
2. 72.8% Minor kitchen remodel tied with wood deck addition
3. 72.4% Vinyl siding replacement tied with wood window replacement
4. 72.2% Attic bedroom remodel
5. 71.6% Vinyl window replacement
· Inman News reports that the Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing TARP concluded that the Obama administrations Home Affordable Modification program will fall far short of its goals, and the Treasury Department’s failure to acknowledge this before it lost its authority to reallocate the $30 billion in TARP funds earmarked for the program means most of that money won’t be spent.
· From RealTrends: “Consumers today are expert comparison shoppers, always on the hunt for the best deal, but when it comes to their mortgage, borrowers often locked in their 1st home loan offer. According to a new Lending Tree survey, 96% of American consumers compare prices when shopping for anything but nearly 40% obtain just one loan quote.”
January 14, 2010
The CoreLogic report of 12/13/10 quotes their chief economist, Mark Fleming, “Negative equity is a primary factor holding back the housing market and broader economy. The good news is that negative equity is slowly declining but the bad news is that price declines are accelerating, which may put a stop to or reverse the recent improvement in negative equity.”
This same report notes the state where homeowners have the greatest positive equity: New York, 50%; Hawaii, 43%; Massachusetts, 40%; Rhode Island, 40% and Connecticut, 39%.
Inman News pulled “Tech Must-Haves for the New Year” from The Real Deal. They include:
QR codes – when scanned with the camera in a mobile phone, the user is given a message or website.
Docusign – allows contracts to be signed digitally
Mobile receipt – converts receipts into expense reports with the phone photo
Rulerphone – digitally measures objects after the phone’s camera takes a picture.
According to the Remodeling 2010-11 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com), for mid-range remodeling projects, the following gave the greatest cost recoup upon sale in the Boston area:
1. 102.1% Steel entry door replacement
2. 72.8% Minor kitchen remodel tied with wood deck addition
3. 72.4% Vinyl siding replacement tied with wood window replacement
4. 72.2% Attic bedroom remodel
5. 71.6% Vinyl window replacement
· Inman News reports that the Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing TARP concluded that the Obama administrations Home Affordable Modification program will fall far short of its goals, and the Treasury Department’s failure to acknowledge this before it lost its authority to reallocate the $30 billion in TARP funds earmarked for the program means most of that money won’t be spent.
· From RealTrends: “Consumers today are expert comparison shoppers, always on the hunt for the best deal, but when it comes to their mortgage, borrowers often locked in their 1st home loan offer. According to a new Lending Tree survey, 96% of American consumers compare prices when shopping for anything but nearly 40% obtain just one loan quote.”
Friday, January 7, 2011
Friday Facts January 7, 2011
FRIDAY FACTS
January 7, 2011
Nick Lonegrove reveals a disconnect in his article in Inman News: “Ask any real estate agent what they want their real estate website to be about and they will tell you that it has to reflect their track record, their successes, communicating their area knowledge, their expertise and that certain “je ne sais quoi” that makes them special … Ask buyers and sellers what they are looking for, and they will tell you that it really boils down to two things: the actives and the solds.”
Here’s the bad and the good news from a recent Zillow report: Homes are expected to lose $1.7 trillion in value in 2010. The second half of the year saw the largest decline. The loss in 2009 was $1.1 trillion. Since market peak in June of 2006, homes have lost $9 trillion in value, and Inman News notes that is equivalent to the cost of 12 Iraq wars. The good news is that among the 20 largest markets, only 3 saw an increase, the highest being Boston.
Facebook has 500 million active viewers – 250 million in the US. U.S. Facebook.com generates almost 1 in 4 page views in the US, 4X that of second ranked YouTube. Facebook represented 10% of US Internet visits in mid-November compared with 7% for search engine Google.
Think Big Work Small reports that Freddie Mac had a calculator on their website that spit out the wrong answers when determining whether it was a better option for a consumer to rent or buy. Calculations were based on the assumption that real estate prices would never go down
January 7, 2011
Nick Lonegrove reveals a disconnect in his article in Inman News: “Ask any real estate agent what they want their real estate website to be about and they will tell you that it has to reflect their track record, their successes, communicating their area knowledge, their expertise and that certain “je ne sais quoi” that makes them special … Ask buyers and sellers what they are looking for, and they will tell you that it really boils down to two things: the actives and the solds.”
Here’s the bad and the good news from a recent Zillow report: Homes are expected to lose $1.7 trillion in value in 2010. The second half of the year saw the largest decline. The loss in 2009 was $1.1 trillion. Since market peak in June of 2006, homes have lost $9 trillion in value, and Inman News notes that is equivalent to the cost of 12 Iraq wars. The good news is that among the 20 largest markets, only 3 saw an increase, the highest being Boston.
Facebook has 500 million active viewers – 250 million in the US. U.S. Facebook.com generates almost 1 in 4 page views in the US, 4X that of second ranked YouTube. Facebook represented 10% of US Internet visits in mid-November compared with 7% for search engine Google.
Think Big Work Small reports that Freddie Mac had a calculator on their website that spit out the wrong answers when determining whether it was a better option for a consumer to rent or buy. Calculations were based on the assumption that real estate prices would never go down
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday Facts December 31, 2010
FRIDAY FACTS
December 31, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Bernice Ross of Inman News notes that education is the foundation for top producers. Top producers constantly seek new strategies, systems and technologies. The agents who really need the training don’t show up. Here are excerpts from her equation for more business in 2011:
Get out of the box. Open and read any training material you’ve purchased.
Small steps over time lead to big results
Work on your strengths, not your “shoulds”. If you hate it, you won’t do it. Identify what you enjoy.
Expand what is working
Focus on “right now” business
Don’t wait for the business to come to you
Stay in regular contact
Be an early adaptor.
To read the article, go to:http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/berniceross/real-estate-equation-more-business-in-2011
December 31, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Bernice Ross of Inman News notes that education is the foundation for top producers. Top producers constantly seek new strategies, systems and technologies. The agents who really need the training don’t show up. Here are excerpts from her equation for more business in 2011:
Get out of the box. Open and read any training material you’ve purchased.
Small steps over time lead to big results
Work on your strengths, not your “shoulds”. If you hate it, you won’t do it. Identify what you enjoy.
Expand what is working
Focus on “right now” business
Don’t wait for the business to come to you
Stay in regular contact
Be an early adaptor.
To read the article, go to:http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/berniceross/real-estate-equation-more-business-in-2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday Facts 12-24-10
FRIDAY FACTS
December 24, 2010
Below is a chart that shows what happened to our market after the expiration of the tax credit. If you look at the year to date compared with last year, we still look okay with an 11.77% increase in the number of single family sales and a 3.12% increase in the number of condominium sales. However, the picture changes if you break the numbers into January through June and July through September. The first half of the year was extremely strong with a 35.84% increase in single family sales compared with the same period in 2009, and a 31.17% increase in the number of condominium sales. The second half of this year through November shows a 7.9% decline in the number of single family sales, and a 15.61% decline in the number of condominium sales for the same period last year.
CAPE COD & ISLANDS MLS
BARNSTABLE COUNTY
Time Period Type # $ Volume Median DOM
01/01/10-11/30/10 Single Family 2867 $1,323,197,065 $335,000 147 01/01/09-11/30/09 Single Family 2565 $1,112,055,593 $320,000 148
01/01/10-06/30/10 Single Family 1569 $ 771,432,784 $330,000 148
01/01/09-06/30/09 Single Family 1155 $ 464,713,233 $310,000 150
07/01/10-11/30/10 Single Family 1298 $ 611,764,281 $340,000 146
07/01/09-11/30/09 Single Family 1410 $ 647,342,360 $325,000 147
01/01/10-11/30/10 Condominium 595 $ 174,897,400 $245,000 190
01/01/09-11/30/09 Condominium 577 $ 158,326,021 $230,000 202
01/01/10-06/30/10 Condominium 303 $ 87,044,098 $238,000 190
01/01/09-06/30/09 Condominium 231 $ 61,428,074 $218,000 193
07/30/10-11/30/10 Condominium 292 $ 87,853,302 $251,000 190
07/30/09-11/30/09 Condominium 346 $ 96,897,947 $244,500 209
Now, more than ever, pricing a listing properly is critical. Here’s something from Dian Hymer in Inman News to use with your sellers: “It’s best to list your home at a price that buyers will perceive as a good value. Overpriced listings sit on the market. Real estate agents and buyers forget about them.
As difficult as it may be for sellers to consider a price reduction after only a couple of weeks on the market, that is often the best strategy. Buyers and their agents focus on new listings. Ideally, you want to reduce the price before your competition does.
December 24, 2010
Below is a chart that shows what happened to our market after the expiration of the tax credit. If you look at the year to date compared with last year, we still look okay with an 11.77% increase in the number of single family sales and a 3.12% increase in the number of condominium sales. However, the picture changes if you break the numbers into January through June and July through September. The first half of the year was extremely strong with a 35.84% increase in single family sales compared with the same period in 2009, and a 31.17% increase in the number of condominium sales. The second half of this year through November shows a 7.9% decline in the number of single family sales, and a 15.61% decline in the number of condominium sales for the same period last year.
CAPE COD & ISLANDS MLS
BARNSTABLE COUNTY
Time Period Type # $ Volume Median DOM
01/01/10-11/30/10 Single Family 2867 $1,323,197,065 $335,000 147 01/01/09-11/30/09 Single Family 2565 $1,112,055,593 $320,000 148
01/01/10-06/30/10 Single Family 1569 $ 771,432,784 $330,000 148
01/01/09-06/30/09 Single Family 1155 $ 464,713,233 $310,000 150
07/01/10-11/30/10 Single Family 1298 $ 611,764,281 $340,000 146
07/01/09-11/30/09 Single Family 1410 $ 647,342,360 $325,000 147
01/01/10-11/30/10 Condominium 595 $ 174,897,400 $245,000 190
01/01/09-11/30/09 Condominium 577 $ 158,326,021 $230,000 202
01/01/10-06/30/10 Condominium 303 $ 87,044,098 $238,000 190
01/01/09-06/30/09 Condominium 231 $ 61,428,074 $218,000 193
07/30/10-11/30/10 Condominium 292 $ 87,853,302 $251,000 190
07/30/09-11/30/09 Condominium 346 $ 96,897,947 $244,500 209
Now, more than ever, pricing a listing properly is critical. Here’s something from Dian Hymer in Inman News to use with your sellers: “It’s best to list your home at a price that buyers will perceive as a good value. Overpriced listings sit on the market. Real estate agents and buyers forget about them.
As difficult as it may be for sellers to consider a price reduction after only a couple of weeks on the market, that is often the best strategy. Buyers and their agents focus on new listings. Ideally, you want to reduce the price before your competition does.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday Facts 12-17-10
FRIDAY FACTS
December 17, 2010
Here’s an interesting REAL Trends Comment by Steve Murray: The times they have changed
“Can we move on from the days where we thought we could manipulate consumers with the old saying “it is a great time to buy a home”? In the Internet age they can see for themselves and read for themselves what is going on in the housing market wherever they live and come to their own conclusions about whether it is or isn’t the best time to buy. Further whether it is or isn’t the best time to buy is a highly personal decision as well – do I need to make more, do I want to, can I bear the cost, can I get a decent price. Because while for some it might be a great time to buy, even the most over optimistic real estate professional might admit that it is a lousy time to sell.
The report from Fannie shows that consumers are far from the tipping point as far as the belief that housing has finished correcting. In some markets yes and in more than a few further corrections in price and inventory have yet to be completed. Those are just the facts on the ground.
We don’t do anyone any favors spouting “it’s a good time to buy”. Many consumers might think the pressure of this tough market has caused us to lose our collective minds.”
Nationwide, the average sales price of properties sold in some stage of foreclosure during the third quarter were discounted more than 32% compared with the average sales price of properties not in the foreclosure process.
Zillow now provides agent ratings for those agents and clients who have activated profiles on their site. Zillow will screen the reviews before publishing. They join the ranks of the Houston Association of Realtors, Redfin and Ziprealty in providing rating systems.
From a recent court ruling on whether agents should disclose a short-sale situation: “When a real estate agent is aware that the amount of existing monetary liens and encumbrances exceeds the sales price of a residential property so as to require either the cooperation of the lender in a short sale or the ability of the seller to put a substantial amount of cash into the escrow in order to obtain the release of the monetary liens and encumbrances affecting title, the agent has a duty to disclose this state of affairs to the buyer, so that the buyer can inquire further and evaluate whether to risk entering into a transaction with a substantial risk of failure.”
December 17, 2010
Here’s an interesting REAL Trends Comment by Steve Murray: The times they have changed
“Can we move on from the days where we thought we could manipulate consumers with the old saying “it is a great time to buy a home”? In the Internet age they can see for themselves and read for themselves what is going on in the housing market wherever they live and come to their own conclusions about whether it is or isn’t the best time to buy. Further whether it is or isn’t the best time to buy is a highly personal decision as well – do I need to make more, do I want to, can I bear the cost, can I get a decent price. Because while for some it might be a great time to buy, even the most over optimistic real estate professional might admit that it is a lousy time to sell.
The report from Fannie shows that consumers are far from the tipping point as far as the belief that housing has finished correcting. In some markets yes and in more than a few further corrections in price and inventory have yet to be completed. Those are just the facts on the ground.
We don’t do anyone any favors spouting “it’s a good time to buy”. Many consumers might think the pressure of this tough market has caused us to lose our collective minds.”
Nationwide, the average sales price of properties sold in some stage of foreclosure during the third quarter were discounted more than 32% compared with the average sales price of properties not in the foreclosure process.
Zillow now provides agent ratings for those agents and clients who have activated profiles on their site. Zillow will screen the reviews before publishing. They join the ranks of the Houston Association of Realtors, Redfin and Ziprealty in providing rating systems.
From a recent court ruling on whether agents should disclose a short-sale situation: “When a real estate agent is aware that the amount of existing monetary liens and encumbrances exceeds the sales price of a residential property so as to require either the cooperation of the lender in a short sale or the ability of the seller to put a substantial amount of cash into the escrow in order to obtain the release of the monetary liens and encumbrances affecting title, the agent has a duty to disclose this state of affairs to the buyer, so that the buyer can inquire further and evaluate whether to risk entering into a transaction with a substantial risk of failure.”
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