Real Estate Technology

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/17/2010

March 17, 2010 By Dean Ouellette 1 Comment

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

1) HVCC and AMCs Violate RESPA?] Here’s a possible solution – Holding the banks more accountable, This is long fairly dry post, but worth the ready. The problem is it almost makes sense, so what chance does it have.

2) An RPR Q&A Overview from Leading RE – So what is this RPR thing everyone has been talking about for six months now. If you want to get caught up quick this is for you.

3) Want Smooth Sailing? The Short Sale Listing Agent and the BPO – If you list short sales read this… “So, if you are a lazy listing agent who has little interest in your deal closing successfully, that’s cool. Don’t go to meet the agent preparing the BPO. But, if you want to be a super successful short sale listing agent and see more closings than ever before, get out of bed and go meet the agent at the door!” – I would take it one step further, meet them with photos on a thumbdrive and comps in hand. They are not making that much money, make their job easier.

4) Online real estate opportunity screams – are you listening? – Why is Marc comparing a house to a pair of sneakers? Read it and find out, then chances are most agents will be kicking themselves.

5) Trulia’s VP of Marketing Heather Fernandez on CNBC: The Search for a New Home – Could there be a trend where after the foreclosures are picked through in a market the market in that city just crashes?

6) Cash for Appliances Program – One of our jobs as real estate agents is to bring value added to our clients. Letting them know about programs like this is one way to do it.

7) Phoenix home buyers, are you being realistic? – A conversation I have with buyers on a daily basis. Yet for some reason few want to believe me until they loose the first 4 houses they make an offer on. Then they start to get it.

8) I Wasn’t Going To Buy This House Until I Saw The Realtor’s Headshot On The Sign – A little comedy for you on this St. Patrick’s Day. Enjoy, it is worth the read. (H/T Jim Duncan)

9) Adjustable Rate Mortgage Talk – Is your market strategy prepared for where your market is headed over the next few years? Which by the way may not be that different than it has been for the last six months.

10) Storytelling through Real Estate Video. Take two. – If you have looked around my blog at all here you know I am in love with video. This is just a “WOW” video when it comes to marketing a house.

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: Appraisal, BPO, HVCC, marketing, Real Estate Technology, RPR, short sales

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/15/2010

March 15, 2010 By Dean Ouellette 2 Comments

1) Can SMS Real Estate Marketing Attract more Home Buyers? – There will be more text messages sent this year than phone calls made. Why fight it any longer. People like to communicate that way, make it easy for them and place a rider on every sign you have.

2) Gifts from the Bank of Mom and Dad – Part 2: Conventional Financing – In only a way Rhonda can do she takes a boring subject and makes it easy to understand and enjoyable.

3) February 2010 : 4 States Account For More Than 50% Of Foreclosure Activity – What is really amazing about this list is no sign of Nevada or Arizona? The have dominated this list in the last 18 months.

4) How To Succeed in Anything in Life – Don’t Do This And You’ll Fail… Every Time! – OK tell me you are not going to read that one with that title. I did, and it was worth it. Nothing earth shattering, but a good reminder of what we should be doing.

5) Listing Icons: Is Adopting Abandoned Buyers Stealing or Smart? – Now this is an idea I admit I never heard of. But I love it!

6) The Purpose Of Real Estate Photography… – Want to learn something? Read this post! You will never think of photos for a house the same again.

7) The Source of Confusion – What do you get when take one of the top thinkers in the business dissecting the work of another top thinker? You get something that makes you question the very work model which you love.

8) Top 5 Tips for Securing an Accurate Appraisal – Be prepared if the appraisal comes back and you know it is bad.

9) “Gearing Up Your Web Presence” Seminar – I dont agree with those who believe you need to be successful online to be a successful agent, but if you are making it part of your business plan, are you doing it right.?

10) Top 10 Tips for !st Time Homebuyers in Northern Virginia – There are a lot of Top 10 lists out there for home buyers and sellers, This list is as good as any of them.

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: Appraisal, Foreclosures, gifting down payment, home buyer tips, photography, Real Estate Technology, text messaging

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/12/2010

March 12, 2010 By Dean Ouellette 1 Comment

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

1) Three Geniuses Walk Into a Bar… – Three respected individuals in the industry answering a series of questions in 10 words or less (sometimes).

2) FHA Flips for Flipped Homes (Some Restrictions Apply) – The FHA 90-day no flip rule was suspended for a year in February. There are restrictions though.

3) 5 Secrets To Success When Getting a Mortgage – Here are five things that seem so obvious to us for people who are in the process of buying a house. Then thinking about the last year I think I had someone who broke all five of these rules.

4) 1,000,000 Real Estate Agents Have Got IT All Wrong – Very interesting take on agents and how they do and should be using the internet and their website.

5) In Just 50 Days Your Home Will be Worth $8000 Less! – Going into last November I would have agreed with there, there were a flood of people looking to take advantage of the first-time home buyer tax credit. I just do not see the same wave of people this time.

6) Realtors Top Marketing Preferences – My favorite part of this may be how little agents think of Youtube. There were some surprising answers, but the one thing I agree with, referrals are still the king.

7) Paying More Than Asking Price For Your Home – In today’s market sometimes you are going to need to go over asking price to get what you want. That doesn’t mean you are overpaying.

8) Reclaiming my “rookie” enthusiasm…. – This is a great post that showed up in my RSS reader yesterday. I didn’t realize at the time it was a year old, but it is still worth posting as a top post of the day.

9) Impacting Home Values Is the Real Estate Industry Heroes or Villains? (Video Blog) – As agents we impact the value of the home through pricing and how we market the home. We also effect the future value of other homes in the area.

10) Treating Buyers the way Greg Swann treats sellers…and Cheryl Johnson treats agents in her office. – This is a very interesting tool that any brokerage could use that would save both time and money for the agents and their buyer clients.

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: anti-flip rule, First Time Home Buyers, marketing, mortgages, Real Estate Technology, top real estate posts

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/11/2010

March 11, 2010 By Dean Ouellette Leave a Comment

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

1) Determining Maximum Purchase Price (MPP) – If you are looking to invest you need to be able to quickly determine the maximum purchase price. Here is a quick formula that could help you.

2) Questions to Ask Before Listing Your Home with a Real Estate Agent – Advice from the Donald Trump team about what questions to ask before listing your home. Agents, are you prepared to answer them?

3) Assessed Value vs Market Value – Why is my assessed value so different than what my agent says my home is worth?

4) Real Estate Print Advertising – Not Dead, but Evolved – Interesting way to use print to drive people to your blog.

5) The Official Mortgage Rate Prediction For The Next 7 Days (March 11, 2010) – Very interesting results this week. There are three options, Up, Down, Same… usually the split is pretty good between the three, not this week. Check out these results.

6) Q&A Session with Dale Ross, CEO of the REALTORS® Property Resource (RPR) – You have a question on RPR it is probably answered here. Lots of good questions.

7) Underqualified? Underread? Under a Rock? Became an Underwriter! – This could be on the top 10 posts for the months! Dalton hits another one out of the park!

8) Safety – Cash Reserves – Never a Losing Year – If you are going to invest make sure you are really in a good position to do so.

9) Home Valuation from the Buyer’s Perspective – An interesting debate can occur from this, who does control pricing? Is it really the market or could it be the real estate agents or appraiser?

10) Does Face Book Help Your SEO? – How Twitter and Facebook can help you in Google with the new Google profile search

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: CMA, investing, market value, mortgage rates, MPP, Real Estate Technology, RPR

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/9/2010

March 9, 2010 By Dean Ouellette 2 Comments

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

1) How To Shop For Mortgages And Keep Your Credit Scores High – Just a wealth of information in here I did not realize. A must read for agents and home shoppers.

2) 7 Expectations of Real Estate Investors – Beware of Potential – Thinking of getting involved in real estate investing or working with a new investor who is looking for some tips? Here are some tips that you need to be aware of.

3) Socialist need not read –> Like Big Oil –> Big Expired Program; windfall profits – Looking for a new marketing program, but expired listings are not your thing? Check out these numbers.

4) Homes for Sale in Denver Face Scams from Craigslist…Still. – I had this happen on one of my listings a few months ago. Beware of this scam. Seems to have hit Tallahassee too.

5) Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Needs a Good Flipping – NAR has their ideas for reforming Fannie and Freddie. What I don’t understand is how an organization I usually agree with in their political endorsements can be wrong on so many issues like supporting HAFA and even further federalizing Fannie and Freddie.

6) Taking a Short Sale Listing: ‘To Be or Not to Be?’ – I couldn’t agree with you more Melissa. Before I even take a short sale listing I make the seller gather all the required documentation, that way I know there will not be a problem and I know they are willing to do what it takes.

7) Squatter Claiming Adverse Possession in Puyallup – Ohhh if only it were that easy, I would have a new house next week.

8) Real Entrepreneurship – GREAT read. Real estate agents are true entrepreneurs.

9) Twitter 101 – Some basic Twitter tips for those who may not be getting what they hoped out of the social networking platform.

10) Keep those Garlic Fries to yourself – Those of us who do not play the Mafia Wars and Cafe World usually don’t want to see those continuous updates from others playing the games. Here is a good tip on getting rid of those updates.

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: craigslist scams, Credit Score, Expired listings, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HAFA, investing, NAR, Real Estate Technology, short sales

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/8/2010

March 8, 2010 By Dean Ouellette 2 Comments

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

1) REDC Auction: Scam or the Real Deal? – There are different types of auctions for houses, there is the type where you go to the courthouse step and bid on the foreclosures and then there are the auctions like Hudson &Marshall or REDC where you can bid on a property that has been on the market a while. The advantage to the second is you can visit the house before hand and you can use financing, but don’t think you can steal it with a low ball offer.

2) Rants and Raves ! WHERE DO THESE MIAMI PRICES COME FROM? – One of my favorite subjects, why do we still price houses like it is 1992 and people are still looking at pictures in a MLS book. How we shop for houses has changes, so should the way we price them.

3) Is a Short Sale Free? Will it Cost Me Anything? – This is a common question I get too, what will a short sale cost me as a seller? The answer should be not much if anything at all. Although I would add into this equation the cost of getting legal advice.

4) Why Never Taking ‘No’ For an Answer Will Make You Wealthy – This is a great post that is relevant to investors, agents or anyone in life. If you refuse to take no for an answer it will get you thinking out of the box.

5) The Challenge of Being an FHA Home Buyer in a Seller’s Market – Condos, single-family homes, both have different challenges, but both do have challenges with FHA loans in today’s market.

6) Real Estate Agency, and Why I Can’t Help You – If you are working with another real estate agent, sometimes we just need to do the ethical thing and say sorry, we cannot help you.

7) Is Homebuyers’ Negotiation Power on the Rise? – The average price a house sold for 97.3% of the last list price in January.

8) The Difference Between a Blog and a Website – Do you know what the difference between a real estate blog and a real estate website is? Not much.

9) Consumers Are Not Getting Enough Credit in Today’s Market – Access to credit, HVCC, all things that are helping keep the market down.

10) Two Things: Agents and Listings – Great story for Brokers looking to expand, there are only two things to concentrate on. And for agents, take this information to your business. What are the two things that are money making activates, concentrate on them.

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: agency, FHA, HVCC, Pricing, Real Estate Technology, REDC Auction, short sale

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/5/2010

March 5, 2010 By Dean Ouellette Leave a Comment

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

1) 8 Ways To “Un-Approve” Your Mortgage By Mistake – Like your mom always said, behave. You just need to read to know what misbehaving is.

2) CDPE – Certified Disaster of Proportions that are Epic – Anyone who has read my blog or watched the videos I do knows I am not a big fan of designations. I think I even called them money making ponzi schemes for the NAR before. As a matter of fact one of the most overrated designations in my opinion is the CDPE. That may be why I enjoyed this story so much.

3) Should New Agents Choose to List to Exist or be Busy With Buyers? – I know there are people out there that don’t enjoy working with sellers, and others that don’t enjoy working with buyers. Then again I have met agents that don’t enjoy working with either. :-/ I say bring them both on.

4) Roost Launches Free Real Estate Facebook Application – I am not a big believer in pimping real estate on your Facebook page or even a fan page for you as an agent. Really who wants to read that, not exciting. But this is something I will probably add in to my Fanpage TempeAZ. I really like what they have done with it.

5) The passion of the Realtors Property Resource – I’ve said it before, can you ever get enough RPR? I cannot wait to see this in action.

6) Tips for selling in today’s market – Really is a great video to use for sellers to prepare them for selling the house.

7) FOR SALE BY OWNER… You’re Certainly Not Alone, Thinking You Can! – A wealth of good advice for those who are looking to sell their home by themselves.

8) Create A Real Estate KIT and List Properties Anytime Anywhere – There is a few things in here I would never have, like paper contracts? When is the last time I used paper? But still a good list to go off of.

9) 27% of construction workers go jobless – And we wonder why the housing mess has such an effect on the economy.

10) MLS Photo Fail – There is bad photos, and then there are bad photos. Maybe there is a reason this listing expired before it sold.

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: CDPE, designations, Facebook, FSBO, Real Estate Technology, RPR

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/4/2010

March 4, 2010 By Dean Ouellette Leave a Comment

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

1) Realtor Facebook Fan Page Strategy Gains 4,000+ Local Fans in 12 Days – He is now over 7,000 fans in 15 days. I first mentioned what Dale Chumbley was doing in my Top 10 list on day 2 of his 365 day project. I thought it was going to be a hit, but nothing like this.

2) Shock Value – Lesson learned, keep your house ready to show when you are selling it because you never know when the buyer will be coming through that door.

3) CitiMortgage Tests New Foreclosure Alternative – So Citi is looking at taking homes back with a deed in lieu of foreclosure instead of foreclosing. If other banks followed this my guess is it would have an effect on short sales. Part of the reason it is beneficial for a bank to allow a short sale is because the cost of foreclosing. They would still have carrying costs, but how much of the cost is in the actual foreclosure? Something to watch.

4) How Much Would You Pay for a Viable Real Estate Lead? – A good look at leads, what do they cost when you buy them and are they worth it?

5) Home Inspection — Is it important when buying a home? Any post that every answers that question with a no would never make my list. Talk to your agent about good home inspectors. They know the good ones from the ones who miss black mold. Yup, it happened.

6) Traits of a Great Real Estate Agent – Great advice on being a great real estate agent, but really this should have been titled be a great listing agent. And we all know we need more great listing agents. There are some out there, but not enough.

7) Buyer Agency – is This Realtors’ Dirty Little Secret? – I’m including this because I would love to see more discussion. I know most agents I talk to never use an exclusive buyers agreement. Yet they are represented really in the comments here.

8) OK, not exactly a post here, but I noticed this fancy new brochure that NAR has put out on the HAFA program. I am still convinced, as I have been since November when I did my first video on it, that Vicki Cox Golder has not read this. I’d love to know how much of my dues went to the HAFA brochure from the NAR. Another fine government program that will have the same effect as the last few useless programs.

9) It’s Not You, It’s Your Neighbors – One of the biggest challenges with getting a new loan, be it a new or refinance, is the appraisal. Appraisers were quick to jump prices in the mid 2000’s and now seem just as quick to price homes in the other direction. Even when every indication is prices may be raising in an area. So how do they come up with that price? Blame your neighbors.

10) How Long Do Potential Buyers Need to Wait to Obtain Financing after a Hardship? – It’s a common question we get a lot these days, if I file BK, or do a short sale or have a foreclosure, how long until I can buy a house again?

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: agency, Appraisal, CitiMortgage, Facebook, HAFA, HVCC, Real Estate Technology, short sales

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 3/3/2010

March 3, 2010 By Dean Ouellette Leave a Comment

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

1) Just When You Thought It Was Safe… – Once again Elizabeth Newlin thoroughly entertains as she educates. I personally wish she wrote more, her stories are so entertaining when she does. Good education in here for those looking to purchase Short Sales.

2) What is LPMI? – What is lenders paid mortgage insurance? It is an alternative to PMI you may want to consider.

3) Home Shoppers Unlikely to Obtain Estimated Good Faith Estimate – HUD wanted the GFE to be a tool to rate shop, but because lenders are locked into what is on the GFE (and things change quickly) they are reluctant to give one out.

4) If you think a real estate transaction is easy, think again. – Funny how timing works, I was sitting at the Pub N’ Grub last night with another agent discussing this very issue over beers.

5) Let Uncle Sam Pay to Replace Your Drafty Windows – You have until the end of the year to make energy saving upgrades in your house and get a tax credit. Here is a good post on tips for replacing your windows. The only part I don’t like is the headline, Uncle Sam isn’t paying you squat, it is the tax payers in the country that are. But the program is out there, I would take advantage of it if you need upgrades.

6) Hate your real estate agent? Here’s why! – I found this very interesting, the market condition seems to be tied to ones satisfaction with their real estate agent.

7) CREATING LEADS VERSUS CONVERTING LEADS – Great piece on the difference between generating leads and making them customers. You need to find what works for you and concentrate on that.

8) What’s ‘Good’ Leverage? Maybe Not What You Thought – This is what I love about Jeff Brown, he takes your common perception of investing and spins it upside down. He makes you question everything you thought you knew about investing.

9) The Dubious Resting Place of TARP Funds – So where did all that TARP money go? The answer may (or may not) surprise you.

10) Multiple Offers, 2010 Style… – We have been dealing with it for a year now in the Tempe/Phoenix area. Sounds like other parts of the country are now facing the same thing.

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: GFE, LPMI, PMI, Real Estate Technology, short sales, TARP, Tax Credits

Top 10 real estate post of the day for 3/1/2010

March 1, 2010 By Dean Ouellette 1 Comment

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

1) Ten Questions to Ask Yourself Every Month – Did you join me in making a great business plan last November for 2010, and have not looked at it since January 5th? If so this method may be a better way to keep on schedule.

2) On Admin Fees and “Commission” – Kristin LaVanway and I were just talking about this a few days ago. We came to the same conclusion that brokers should not be charging an administration fee on top of commission. But interestingly Jonathan finds a court case which may make it illegal to do so.

3) Indexing on Top of Google…the Easy Way! – Want to be on the top of Google? The local business center may be the answer.

4) What happens after the tax credits? – Check out the results of the unscientific poll here. According to the poll results the sky is falling.

5) MOVE puts on the white hat. – Ok Greg you peaked my interest for sure. Anyone know of any online demos for this? I would love to see it and write about it if you do.

6) “Walking away” is the new divorce –I love the metaphor, walking away from a loan used to be taboo, much like divorce. But times change.

7) Existing Home Sales – Down Or Up? – Matt does a good job at taking a set of numbers and showing how it could be bad news or good news depending on which way you wanted to look at it.

8) Homeowner Estimates as Good as Zillow? Appraisal Academics Think So – Zillow estimates are horrible if you are trying to figure out how much a to list a house for, but Zillow even admits they are not perfect and they are intended to be a rough estimate of a value in an area.

9) Have a Question About Your Home or Zestimate? Check Out Zillow FAQs – Zillow comes right back and defends themselves with this post and again stresses they are only a starting point. But I have yet to talk to a home owner or buyer who understands that.

10) A Real Estate And Mortgage Technology Conference You’ll Want To Attend – They have a world class speaking group in Atlanta this year. If anyone wants to chip in some airfare I will gladly wear their t-shirt the whole time I am there ;-)

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Filed Under: blog, Top Posts Tagged With: admin fees, CMA, First Time Home Buyers, Real Estate Technology, stratigic defaults, tax credit, zestimates