Video 32: I have said in a few videos over the last few weeks about the Tempe real estate market and national real estate market and how I thought anyone guessing what was going to happen over the next few years was doing just that, guessing. After talking to someone who works for a a major bank yesterday I am starting to question what I personally had believed would happen to the Tempe market over the next few years. With all the 5/1 arms coming due in the next few years it is estimated as many as 20 million homes a year are going to be foreclosed on. The housing market in Tempe may be on a slight increase now, but it could be stuck here for a while. I still don’t think we will see another free fall like some are predicting, but we also may not see the spike like some other were thinking. Would love to hear your thoughts, you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.
Tempe housing market, have we hit bottom? Still don’t know, but had an interesting conversation yesterday
Top real estate posts of the day for 10/30/2009
1) What’s happening with the $8000 homebuyer credit? – There is a lot going on in Washington right now with the tax credit, and while the Senate looks to have their favorite plan, any plan has to pass both the House and Senate before it has a chance to become law.
2) Tax credit update – is expanding it a good thing? – If the tax credit is expanded to include more people is it a good thing. I don’t think so, but what do I know.
3) Top 40 real estate resources and sites – While all of these sites may not like real estate related sites, if you are a real estate agent into blogging and technology they are all sites you want sitting in your RSS feeds.
4) What’s all the hype about “short-sales”? – This video explains what a short sale is, while I do not agree with everything he says, I do agree that designations for short sales are pure bs and a way for people to profit from the latest trend. The thing I really disagree with is I believe Matt sounds like he may be to quick to believe banks. They do not want to send it to foreclosure and are using the threat of doing so as a negotiating tool more often than not.
5) What’s the benefit of doing a short sale? – Short sales are not going anywhere, so what are the benefits of doing a short sale? Here is a good list of benefits to the homeowner and the bank.
6) Google made a big real estate move today – Listings can now be viewed in Google Maps. No, I do not think this is the end of the world as we know it like some do, I think its another great service from a company that “gets it.”
7) 5 ways Twitter jump-started my business – I think he really nails down one of the best features of Twitter and doesn’t even realize it. Twitter is an amazing tool for learning and expanding your knowledge on any topic you may be interested in.
8 ) Zip home hunter report for the third quarter – Want to know where you have to bid over asking price and what markets are cold right now? This is your resource. (H/T Heather Barr).
9) The FHA 90-day seasoning rule – Recent changes in the seasoning rule have been very confusing and few people really understand them, here is a great resource that explains it the best I have seen yet.
10) The paralyzing effect of analyzing Web 2.0 – Great video from Matt Dollinger on how you need to do what you need to do to bring you business and schedule time accordingly.
First-time home buyer credit likely to be extended and/or expanded
Video 30: The first-time home buyer tax credit is very likely to be extended and maybe even expanded. While I do not think the first-time tax credit should be extended, I certainly and not going to discourage buyers from using it. For more information you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.
Top real estate posts of the day for 10/29/2009
1) Mortgage rate predictions – I have been watching this poll for a while now and with 67% believing rates will increase over the next month this is the highest percentage of people I can remember agreeing on anything in this poll. This means rates are probably going up.
2) Realtor.com redesigns home page – Sure it looks better, but that doesn’t mean I am going to start going there.
3) 7 bad writing habits you learned in school – Bloggers may want to read this. There is a reason I gave up writing and moved to video, because I know I am not a great writer.
4) A world without the MLS: It exists – Walking neighborhoods to find listings, no one place to search for homes, listing a house with more than one broker? What is this, France or something?
5) Quality content plus site navigation = Success – Site navigation is very important, it has to be easy for users to get around your site without thinking or they will find another site they can easily navigate.
6) Want to know how to influence buyer and seller behavior? – Interesting posts, but It feels to salesmanish for me. I know, I should work on that.
7) Extend the home buyer tax credit – Here is an opinion in favor of extending….
8 ) Please do NOT extend the $8,000 tax credit – And here is an opinion opposing…. Should it be extended? Here is my opinion on extending the tax credit…
9) Tricks for buying a home at the bottom from the Today Show – This video from the Today Show gives advice on buying a home. The questions that come to mind are we really at the bottom of the market? And she states buying a foreclosure can be a great deal, and while that is true, that does not mean you are going to get it a lot under asking price.
10) Why a Realtor vs. for sale by owner – Brad does a video on why you should consider using a Realtor vs. for sale by owner.
PMI on a $20k 2nd? Make sure you interview your short sales agent
Video 30: Short sales in the Tempe real estate market are going to be around for a while so you need to make sure you interview your Tempe short sale agent if you are going to be giving them a listing. Any agent should be able to get an offer on a short sale house in a few weeks at most, the trick is then getting them closed without the bank running all over you. For more information you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.
Top real estate posts of the day 10/28/2009
1) Realtors under attack and fighting back – It’s something I don’t think about much, but probably should. How safe are we when we go show houses to strangers.
2) How to Stumble Upon to improve your blogging – Stumble Upon is something I used to use a lot, but have not in a while. After reading this I am inspired to download it again and start over.
3) Trulia’s balancing act: considering the needs of all our our users – Trulia admits that real estate agents are not their top priority, that should upset some agents. My personally I am fine with that, everyone has to know their audience and what they are trying to achieve and Trulia appears to know theirs.
4) Brokers: Take your time with mobile – Great point, being first to market is not always a great idea if you mess it up. If you put out garbage it is not to inspire many to download your next version, they will more than likely just delete it and forget about you.
5) Mortgage applications decrease – Could it be seasonal, could it be because of the end of the first-time home buyer tax credit ending? Either way adjusted applications were down 12% from last week.
6) Applying for a mortgage – required documents – Although this post was written to target Boise Idaho borrowers, the information in it is generally standard information.
7) Tips for buying a fixer-upper home – This advice is not only good for investors, but agents who may be working with a first-time investor should also pay attention. If you are new, not only should you get an inspection, but you should also get a contractor to walk through to help you with a budget.
8 ) Looking for the housing bottom? These stats say it was back in February 2009 – It is amazing, seems like every time you turn on the tube and they are talking about housing it is about the bottom that is coming, yet every report out there has housing prices increasing since somewhere between February and April of 2009. It is going to be interesting to watch what happens to the market in the next year to see if this rebound will continue or if another big dip some are predicting is coming. My best guess is we stay somewhat flat.
9) Breaking: Senate Democrats reach deal on homebuyer tax credit – I first heard two weeks ago from a friend of mine who works for a US Senator in DC that a deal was coming to extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit. It appears what that deal is changes on a regular basis, but it appears something is coming. That does not mean it is a good thing, but something appears to be coming indeed.
10) You are viewing someone else’s home, it’s not yours yet – This is one we have all probably seen before, and it’s not pretty.
Another great reason to move to Tempe AZ: No daylight savings time
Video 29: Another great reason to live in Tempe AZ, there are no changing of the clocks every six months. Some day the rest of the country will catch up and move to the 21st Century, until then you can always move to Tempe if you are sick of changing clocks. Other things you need to know before you move to Phoenix. For more information you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.
Top real estate posts of the day
1) Inflation is both overstated and understated. Mortgage rates lose and win. – OK so I like to know if inflation is going up or down and what that means to me. If you want more information than that, like how its calculated and how it may be a misrepresentation, Dan Green is your man. Conclusion, inflation is not as bad as some on Wall Street think.
2)How long does it take to close a loan? – According to this post, the guys at Academy Mortgage are closing FHA loans in 10 days, guaranteed. I am not sure this one passes the smell test.
3) Can I get a house in Phoenix for less than a car – OK so I can buy a house for less that $28k, but what if the buyer is like me and won’t spend more than $10k on a depreciating asset like a car? Well the pickings are slimmer.
4) Don’t SPAM your old friends – So I have to admit I have not spent a lot of time really on Facebook, but now that I am working on that, it is good to know little tricks like this. How to turn off notifications of sending your friends acceptances to all your friends.
5) Work expands to time allotted – Another killer video by Tom Ferry, I know time allotment is one of my biggest problems, that is not allotting time for not working.
6) REALTOR 2.0: Getting started in social media – NAR’s social media guru Todd Carpenter gives some advice on how to get started in social media. This is a good starting point for those just dipping their toes in the social media ocean.
7) Decision on extending the first-time home buyer tax credit could come this week – Will it be extended? Will it be slowly phased out? Will income levels to qualify be raised? With the deadline coming soon we will find out shortly. Do I think the first-time tax credit should be extended?
8) While waiting for new FHA rules on condos, anticipation mounts – New FHA rules are coming for condos including the elimination of spot approvals. This means the while unit must be approved for FHA. This will not effect luxury condos as condo units over $346k (in Phoenix) do not qualify for FHA funding anyways.
9) Office supplies, task management and more with a web 2.0 flare – This post gives you a bunch of tools you can use from creating business cards, to creating to-do lists, on-line marketing and free conference calling.
Starting today I am going to try to have a video post of the day. Some days will be hard because there are not enough of us video bloggers out there yet to have something every day unless I have a video from Ian Watt or myself, but I am going to try to have one each day.
10) Charlottesville and Albemarle – Real Estate Anecdotes and anomalies – Jim Duncan does a good job showing how you can do video and keep it on a local topic, I may be borrowing some of this stuff for an upcoming webisode.
Have housing prices in Tempe and Phoenix hit the bottom?
Video 28: Have prices hit the bottom in the Tempe and Phoenix real estate market? Depends who you ask, which means nobody probably knows for sure. Banks seem to be manipulating prices, and who can blame them. If you have an opinion that differs from mine you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.
Top 5 real estate posts of the day for 10/26/2009
1) Auctions and value – Things aren’t what they seem – This post is dead on, sure some people may walk out of an auction with a great deal, but that is the exception to the rule.
2) Banks hire D-students? – Even bank employees seem to not be impressed with bank employees these days.
3) [False positive] Existing home sales = Mother of all head fakes – Interesting video, is the hot market really a false market?
4) Have you met DeedStreet yet? Real estate in real time – I have been playing with this a little and think it is a great service.^
5) Could today’s housing market be a false market? – Seems to be a common theme this weekend.
















