Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 2/24/2010

Here is today’s list of top real estate posts of the day.

1) HUD May Limit SELLER FINANCING! – It is time to let your voice be heard before the feds make another big mistake in the housing industry.

2) Valid Electronic Contracts: Consent to do Business with eSignature – Glad to have this so I can point it to some agents who have no clue, yes believe it or not they are out there.

3) Drop The Motive! Step Away From The Consumer! – What are the motives you have when you talk to people? Are they just another deal?

4) How You Can Get The Most Accurate, Real-Time Mortgage Rate Quotes Available – It is something I work on educating clients with all the time. That 3.975% you saw in the add or the 4.60 you saw in the paper are unlikely to be real. To many factors go into an interest rate to make one number work for everyone. And if it was real, it has likely changed 6 times since then.

5) Q & A with Morgan Carey (Real Estate Webmasters) about Indexable IDX – Indexable IDX results, do they hurt you? Do they help you? If you are not having some sort of indexed results on your blog you are missing out, but that is ok, us who are will just keep enjoying the benefits.

6) Brokerage replaces 176 sales agents – Now we are talking about some RTB’ing. Grubb & Ellis terminates 176 agents who are not meeting sales goals that Grubb & Ellis set.

7) NRVLiving – Real Estate. Simplified. – Quick video well done on how interest rates move and work.

8) Rent/Buy Worksheet from Inman Column – Very detailed worksheet if you are wondering if you should buy or rent right now? This will help you decide.

9) Handling Multiple Offers in Today’s Market – A very good analysis on a subject that comes up a lot today, what do I do when there are multiple offers on the table.

10) Treasury Proposes Plan to Help Borrowers – Why do I feel like we get beat over the head twice a week with a new federal plan that is going to save the housing market. Wasn’t it about a year ago that Obama stood less than 1.5 miles from where I am typing this now and said he was going to help 4million homeowners over the next year? How did that turn out, something like 160,000 helped. So hang onto your wallets as they keep rolling out these plans to help the market.

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 2/19/2010

Here is today’s list of top real estate posts of the day.

1) Mortgage Markets Pass The Tipping Point; Mortgage Rates Up For Good? – We have been hearing it for a while, rates are only going up. With an increase in the discount rate is that time now?

2) Day 2: Sonic Drive-In Happy Hour in East Vancouver – This one goes under the “you should be stealing this idea for your blog” category. Don’t take this the wrong way Dale, but this post by itself is not something amazing, and the video is nothing amazing… but the concept for the series? Brilliant. So easy, so informative, such a great idea. I hope you keep it going for 365 days, I am looking forward to watching it develop.

3) Is There a Loan Modification That Will Work? – There are so many factors in loan modifications, but from my experience the answer is with the current system banks are using, no! Tom does a good job writing about it in a lot more detail here.

4) WARNING: You Don’t Want Your Home on the Market Forever! – If you are serious about selling your home do not let this be you. If you are not serious, and only going to sell if you get what you want for it (different than what it is worth) this method is ok, but don’t expect an agent to spend much money and time marketing it.

5) $100 Down payment HUD Home Financing in Phoenix – The 2,000.00 Mistake – Do you have a buyer that is interested in using the $100/down HUD program? If you are in the Phoenix and Tempe area you can almost forget it. Most of these homes are selling over list price, which causes a problem as Christoph points out.

6) RPR MLS License-What RPR can do with data – So I have a sickness, just can’t get enough reading in about the RPR. And I think my opinion on it is starting to change. I can’t wait to get to play with it.

7) What Unique Selling Proposition is a Real Estate Broker or Website Using? – Really this is a challenge, how far out of the box can you go? Who can get outside the box, help the client the most and gain traction doing so?

8) 10 Reasons Why eSignature is the Most Powerful Tool In My Bag! – Yup Docusign rocks! Why are you not using it, that is just mind-blowing.

9) Short Sale Tempe – Bank Of America Equator – I just love watching people rant on BoA short sales process.

10) FHA Flip Rule Video – This is a fairly creative video on the FHA flip rule, nothing new really, but just an interesting way of presenting it.

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 2/4/2010

1) Real Estate 101: Representation – Jay makes a very strong case on why calling the listing agent on the sign may not be the best way to get the best deal on the house.

2) New Government Short-Sale Guidelines (HAFA) – Don’t Believe the Hype – I personally have vlogged about this on 4 separate occasions, and came to the same conclusion. The new short sale program is unlikely to change anything for the better.

3) “Highest and Best Offer” – How To Negotiate Real Estate – Often highest and best is just is just a negotiating tool.

4) I’ll Take The Blame, Will You Take Some With Me? – Sometimes you run across a writer on a blog and you think, yea that is how I feel, I could have never said it that well, but that is what I believe too. Lately Matt has been one of those bloggers for me. There is some great advice in here for new agents.

5) No Clue Or SPDS, No Consideration. Tough Love In The Phoenix Real Estate Market – I agree completely, there is no reason in the world a seller (not a bank) should be making disclosure. Why just because you are selling via short sale should you not have to disclose?

6) $8000′s to first time home buyers almost out of time! – Only a couple months left to take advantage of the first-time buyer tax credit.

7) Luxury Real Estate Branding: Canned Content = Canned Brands – Just having a blog is not enough, people have to actually read it.

8) How You Can Dominate Your Market Without Spending a Mint – I have been working with a new agent over the last month who wants the result, but does not want to do the work needed to get people to their blog. If you are not willing to work long and hard for the results, don’t expect the results are going to come quickly.

9) Network Products Guide Names DocuSign 2010 Hot Companies Finalist – Congrats to Docusign, glad to see others are seeing the value as much as I do.

10) Your Real Estate Listings on Your Facebook Profile with the REALTOR.com App – Still not sure about the Facebook app, how many people go to Facebook to see house adds? When someone tries to sell me on social media I usually unfollow pretty quick.

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 12/11/2009

1) The New & Improved HUD-1 and why it’s a good thing for home buyers – Good write up by Dru. The part that worries me for consumers is the new GFE, not sure from what I have heard it is really good for the consumer. More to come on that soon.

2) Mortgage Rates Hit Rock Bottom – Agree, if you have not locked, get to it because what are the chances it goes down from here vs going up.

3) Awesome clients deserve awesome listing photos – This is the place I really plan on spending money next year, making sure I have professional photos to sell those houses.

4) Realtor Jane Doe, RIP – Really? NAR amends their trademark policy to allow the Realtor logo to be used on gravestones?

5) Dumbest Real Estate Questions of the Year – Now for something completely different…

6) Working Phoenix Short Sales – Be Smart – I have one right now that this post reminds me of. Walking a fine balance between pushing to get it done before buyer walks and not being so pushy they push us to the bottom of the pile.

7) Are You a Provider? – Sure this seems obvious when you read it, but sometimes you need someone to put it into words to make sure everyone gets it.

8) Taking Green to Another Level With DocuSign Electronic Signature – When I use Docusign I never think, this is for the environment. I always think this is easier, keeps the contract cleaner, saves me time and keeps less paper off my desk. Now if you want to think of it as saving the environment then its just one more reason to use the kick ass product.

9) Short Sales Are About Patience! (Unless You’re Lucky) – Short sales and patience, he talks about it from the sellers end, my short sales requires patience video this last week was from the buyers side.

10) Web 3.0 – A Series of Posts Intended to “Design” & “Define” – Question #2 Discussion – Part two in the series of where the Internet is going from here.

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 11/25/2009

1) The flip property – When it’s time to give it the slip – Dave takes a look at some of the pros and cons of purchasing a property that has been flipped and also what to look for in a flipped property.

2) Q and A: Using a buyer’s agent or going directly with the listing agent? – As I have discussed in many posts before, you should always have your own representation.

3) Half of Arizona homeowners with mortgages are underwater. 23% nationwide… – Imagine being in a state where every other house has negative equity. Well Arizona is not alone, and 1-in-4 nationally are in the same boat.

4) Advanced Facebook – Some good tips on using Facebook for real estate agents.

5) Thinking about buying an Apple iPhone? – Interesting video on how a real estate agent uses his iPhone. I am still not sold, or at least going to wait until it comes to Verizon to see if doesn’t drop calls there.

6) Mortgage rate predictions for the next 30 days – WOW, this is the first time in this poll I have seen everyone so much in synch with what is going to happen in the next 30 days, and it is not good.

7) New cameras for the Bloodhounds: MY take is that the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZR1 offers a lot of bank for the buck – Many agents take their own pictures for their listings, so it is important to have pier reviews on cameras.

8) Tsunami of foreclosures in doubt  – Demand for retail space is falling fast in 2009, but will that trend continue?

9) Self love machine: Futurenow – How often do you talk about your customers on your blog or do you talk more about yourself?

10) Electronic signatures – Not groundbreaking but great all the same -  Everyone knows what a huge fan of Docusign I am, I do all my contracts either with Docusign via email, or in person signing. Here is another take on their service.

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Top real estate posts of the day for 11/13/2009

1) Introducing… Electronic signatures! – Another convert to the wonderful world of @Docusign.

2) What’s my home’s value – If you are going to sell your house, you want to know what it is really worth. There are many tools out there, but honestly the best way to come up with your homes value is talk to a full-time real estate agent who is in the field selling houses every day and have them look at comparables.

3) Your real estate website is talking about your credibility – If you are not trying to get any real clients from your website should you still care about your website? You should, because buyers and sellers will “Google” you, and you want to control the message.

4) Subject: Need your help… Making Home Affordable Program – It is always great with Rhonda Porter tackles a complicated subject because she has a way of explaining it in John Q Public terms.

5) Greylock leads a $10 million investment in Redfin – Redfin recently announced they had become profitable, this backing could lead to more growth.

6) What will NAR’s political strength be in 5 years? – I was in politics both as an elected official and campaign consultant for over a decade. Trust me when I say Realtor’s has been and will continue to be a powerhouse in politics.

7) The #1 obstacle in real estate – What is the #1 obstacle to success in real estate? I saw this one coming a mile away… look in the mirror.

8 ) 13 ways to grow your audience – Looking to grow the audience to your blog, here are 13 ideas you should be working on.

9) Of the top 10 foreclosure markets nationwide, only 1 is getting worse – Foreclosure activity is actually slowing down in almost all states, with the exception being Illinois.

10) How long has your realtor been licensed? – Ian Watt as entertaining as always.

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How I got started with Docusign and why I would do it again

I remember it was in January of 2009. I got an inquiry about a property that we had listed and the buyer asked if they could see it right away. I showed the home to the older couple and learned they were down from Utah and looking for an off-season place in the Phoenix area.

docusignTwo days later they wanted to get an offer in on the house, but they had returned to Utah. It was Saturday night and after talking to the buyers realized fax was not going to work easily as the nearest fax machine was not close to them, it was at a Staples which was over 30 minutes away.

I sent out a quick Tweet asking people for ideas on good electronic signatures. A few trusted friends responded back quickly and recommended DocuSign. So I signed up. During the sign up process I was in a rush and as happens, made a mistake and could not get it to work.

I had told the buyers they would have the contract before late on Saturday night, and here it was about 7pm. I sent out a quick Twitter alert that I was having problem and needed advice on how to fix it. Within minutes I received responses from both @DocuSign and @tgonser on Twitter. I would not realize until later that @tgonser was the owner and president of the company.  I was very impressed with their support on the Internet at 7pm on a Saturday. From there I was sold.

DocuSign not only helped me get that deal done, they have saved me dozens and dozens of hours of chasing contracts over the last 8 months. I have said it many times, besides my car and Blackberry, it may be the most useful tool I have in my real estate career.

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Making real estate easier – DocuSign electronic signature helps simplify business

docusign I want to thank DocuSign for asking me to do an interview for their blog. I want to take a few minutes and go more into my history of how I made the move to use their service. If you are a real estate agent I recommend you sign up immediately if you have not done so already.

After I had written a few dozen real estate contracts I realized after I had been in business a few years I was going to be overwhelmed by paperwork, it was stacking up quickly. When you consider the Arizona Real Estate Contract is 9 pages, then you add in the buyers advisory, home owners association addendum, as-is and more, a real estate contract could easily become close to 30 pages.

[Read more...]

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