Video 52: Do some REO banks have ethical issues? Well I can tell you there are occasions where they step right up to the line and while they may not cross it according to the letter of the law, they do with the spirit of the law. One bank I have issues with is Nationstar Mortgage, but they are not alone. I would love to hear your thoughts or any suggestions for future videos you have, you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.
1) Non disclosure in real estate? “Really?” – I am right there with Nick on this one. How some people can ask to be exempted from the rules drives me crazy. I understand the bank owned foreclosures, but any other situation they should be required to fill out the disclosures.
2) Real estate videos, or if the trailer’s rockin’… – Amaretto has put together the three most interesting videos marking a house I have ever seen
3) Where does that large agent commission go? – Think your agent is making “to much” money on the sale of your house. After you read the break down you will realize that large commission is not as large as you think.
4) Foreclosure alternatives: Fannie Mae’s Deed for Lease Program – Instead of rent to own, how about own to rent?
5) Cool new market data on the blog – I didn’t blow anything up – Kris does a good job implementing Zillow stats into her blog. Just one more thing for my long to-do list.
6) Realtor says short sales getting easier to do – Just because we are better educated, and more short sales are getting done does not mean it is getting quicker.
7) 8 reasons dogs shouldn’t sell real estate – Every now and then we in real estate just need a good laugh.
8 ) RPR Quiz: Is a real estate agent blog a consumer website? – Will you be able to use all this great RPR data on your agent website? Interesting question, one I am sure a lot of vendors are hoping NO is the answer to.
9) Another 25%? Ouch, that’s going to leave a mark… – Could prices still be over inflated?
10) The report of RPR’s birth is an exaggeration – Another great overview.
Video 44: The latest video in the short sales series covers a few big advantages of short sales over foreclosures? There are some big advantages of a short sale over a foreclosure including tax advantage and the ability to purchase another house sooner. I would love to hear your thoughts or any questions you may have about short sales, you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.
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.
1) First-time Homebuyers Tax Credit extension passes the Senate – So of the dozens of posts on this subject why did I pick this one to highlight, first he got the facts right that it has not passed yet, still needs approval by the House and the President’s signature, but also because he included the text of the actual bill!
2) Of Gettysburg, open houses and tax credits – Tying in history of Gettysburg, pricing houses to high and open houses the way only PapaGrande can do.
3) Loan modifications, 5 things the Government is not doing but should – It is an interesting ready, interesting as in it amazes me that some people still think a lot more government intervention is a good thing. Isn’t it a large part of government’s fault for forcing lenders to loosen the purse strings that we are in this mess? #3 and #4 may have some merit, but 1, 2 and 5? I think it was Mark Twain who said “Thank God I don’t get all the government I pay for.”
4) Real estate iPhone apps gaining traction – When are people going to wake up and realize there are more Blackberry devices out there than iPhones. Give us our apps too.
5) Commercial real estate outlook: Between a rock and a hard place – Could things really be worse in the commercial side than residential over the next 5 years?
6) Escrow trenches: Nutty funding conditions – Oh so glad to see someone talking about one of my pet-peeves, the bizarre funding condition coming up at the last minute these days.
7) Better Homes and Gardens takes real estate iPhone Apps beyond listings – See #4, but really, this app sounds really interesting and would love to see it in action, can’t wait for it to come to the Blackberry, if it ever does.
8 ) The great unknown in buying foreclosure properties – While it makes some good points, buying a foreclosure is not as risky as it sounds. You still get the home inspection even though it is “as-is” just make sure you get yourself an agent who has worked a lot of foreclosure deals this year to help guide you through the process.
9) Happy sandwich day (and some stuff about the escrow process) – Some of this stuff is California specific, but most of it will give you a good idea about the escrow process.
10) Ian Watt speaking at Tom Ferry’s Realtor even in San Diego – The man, the myth the legend.
1) Don’t fall into the trap – Good planning is where it’s at – It is that time of year where as business owners and managers we should be thinking about our goals and objectives for 2010. There are some good tips here, not to get started on mine.
2) Turn off the Real Estate Muzak and demand perfection – I never thought I could learn anything from Michael Jackson that would help my real estate career. Marc Davison shows me I was wrong.
3) A ReTechulous real estate office website live chat approach – I have a live chat on my site, but will be updating it now that I have read this with a the Gmail approach.
4) Do your leads in your database have value? – I have hundreds of leads in my database, and in the past week I started going through all of them get a real pulse for them. This post hits on exactly what I have been doing, and in less than a week I have already seen a change in my business.
5) Luxury real estate branding: Connecting through emotional branding – a good illustration on how branding can move an emotional chord in someone and if you miss that emotion, your branding may fail.
6) Congress poised to keep homebuyers’ tax credit – Despite my repeated objections to extending the program it is looking more and more everyday like the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit will be extended. Guess Congress doesn’t watch my videos.
7) 5 reasons every agent needs a Facebook page – I have been working on my Facebook presence of late by checking out what Mike Mueller is doing, some of his customization work is amazing and makes you feel like you are not even on Facebook. The video at the bottom is very helpful.
8 ) Forget everything you know about social media and Google – The new Google Social Search should be effecting the way you use social media.
9) Newsweek: Foreclosures spread to middle class – Reading the whole Newsweek story it is interesting to see one persons perspective on the foreclosure crisis starting with bad loans, then unemployment in wave two and now speculation we will be moving into a third wave of adjustable rate mortgages coming due.
10) Staging with storage – Whether it is the kid’s toys or dad’s much larger toys, they need to be kept organized when you are selling your house.
1) Tenants rights and LemonLandlord.com – Renters have a place to go and check to see if a foreclosure is coming on their house.
2) Strategic defaults – They can afford to pay, but don’t – There are people who are making strategic financial decisions to walk away from their homes even if they can afford to make the payment.
3) On marketing strategy: Answers to critics – Traditional marketing vs social media is always a hot topic.
4) What about ads in home magazines? – Is advertising in home magazines still worth the money?
5) The catch 22 of blogging for business – Blogging can help your business, but what happens when you get to busy?
1) Are mortgage rates going up or down? – Dan Green thinks they will remain unchanged for the next month, as do half the people asked for the survey.
2) Think price doesn’t matter? – A look at what happened in a local market in one day and how price may have something to do with it. This was not the only post in the last 24 hours on price matters.
3) Is your Realtor a bully? – Should you hire a bully real estate agent?
4) No way has housing bottomed, says David Leavy – Despite three straight months of housing price increases, forecaster David Leavy says housing has not bottomed yet.
5) Buyers/sellers: What does few foreclosure/bank-owned properties on the market mean to you? – Bank owned foreclosure inventory is down in a lot of places, that means different things to buyers and sellers?
1) Dear loan underwriters – Please stop asking for pointless time wasting minutiae – It seems with every deal underwriters come up with something new to ask for, almost like it is a contest. Here Jay gives some examples.
2) Zillow COO discusses next wave of foreclosures on Fox Business – Interesting video interview on the “shadow” inventory with Zillow COO Spencer Rascoff.
3) What is my home worth? Beats me – Appraisals are completely unpredictable in the housing industry right now.
4) FHA broker approval delegated to approved DE Lenders: Will this squeeze out smaller players? – Will new FHA guidelines kill the small lender? It’s not the first time we have heard this in the last few months.
5) Measuring influence on Twitter: Who “cares?” – Marc Davidson does a great interview with Klout to determine what exactly Twitter influence is.
1) You’re fired – When agents or loan officers get fired the buyer still buys a house usually. And 5 clients to dump now – Agents firing buyers.
2) FHA to adopt HVCC-ish guidelines effective January 1, 2010 – Everyone’s favorite new HVCC regulations are about to hit FHA loans, fun, fun fun.
3) The downside of HOA’s – For every $70 in monthly HOA dues you could buy another $10,000 in house.
4) Trulia exposed? – Interesting question, should Trulia have FSBO’s?
5) 7 million more foreclosures to pressure housing market – 7 million more? That’s gonna leave a mark. Make sure you check out the video.
