Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 2/11/2010 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate - Short Sale Agent

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

1) Why we don’t need more professionalism among REALTORS – It is time to RTB, raise the bar. We have heard that over and over during the last month from real estate agents. Daniel Rothamel says let’s not worry about it.

2) #RETT Opens its Doors to Anyone & Everyone – What the heck is all this #RETT talk on Twitter over the last 48-hours. Well here is a good explanation of how the Real Estate Tech Tank started.

3) Simi Valley Home Buyers 3 Important Concerns with Short Sale Offers – If you are a buyer looking at possibly purchasing a short sale there are a list of things you should really know, Ted Mackel does a good job here of taking the concerns and making a top 3 list.

4) Finding Customers in the Palm of your Hand – “The mobile web is the flyer box for the 21st century” I love that line.

5) Bank of America Achieves Surrealistic Central Status – Bank of America is not the brightest group when it comes to short sales, that is not a shock. The reason this post is so valuable is there are two hidden lessons on short sales. First when you do not get the results that you should be getting, escalate to management levels who are much more educated and understand the process and they will get things that make sense done. Second it costs $3800 just the first day after a bank forecloses on a house, then come repairs, carrying costs and more… that is why it makes sense for banks to do short sales vs foreclosures.

6) Feb. 10, 2010 – Industry News Sites Announce National MLS – This shows you how long the national MLS has been coming. What no one has been able to really express to me is why as a licensed Arizona real estate agent I need to know what is on the market in Harrisburg, PA. It is a little outside my realm of expertise.

7) Controlling Your Real Estate Deals and Handling Catastrophes – This is a great lesson I learned the hard way in the last two months on a couple of deals that were having issues. You need to control your deals at all times.

8) Secret Squirrel and the Redfin Home-buying Class – Great marketing idea for home buyers and sellers that I see now and then, but could be done more for sure.

9) Rewards to Stop Mortgage Walkaways? – Idea has some merit, but it really depends on where the program is run. I could see it working in Iowa or NH where you may not be that far under, but somewhere like Las Vegas, Phoenix or Southern California where you may be $300,000 underwater $10k is not going to make much of a difference.

10) Are Banks Discriminating Against VA Homebuyers? – We all know banks are favoring conventional loans to FHA and VA, this post just highlights the point how we should maybe give a little better consideration to VA offers.

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 2/8/2010 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate - Short Sale Agent

1) Learn by Doing, Exercise 2 for Real Estate Investors – How to Sell – Want to practice your sales techniques? Here is an interesting idea, a way to practice on Craigslist.

2) Does the Realtor’s Code of Ethics Prevent Real Estate Agents From Serving Their Clients? – Great post, something I admit I struggle with on a regular basis. How do you answer that question from the out of state buyer when they ask, is that a safe neighborhood, or is that a nice neighborhood, or would you put your mother there? You can’t.

3) RUMOR: First American offers up to 40% rev share with MLS providers – The part I find  most interesting is the rumor RPR may go around MLS providers and get their data straight from brokers. Sit back and grab the popcorn, this is going to be interesting to watch.

4) When Miami Beach Condo owners listen – Look at these pictures, staging can make such a difference, yet not really cost much money at all.

5) Agents of Change – Is there a week that goes by without a good discussion on Redfin and their model? I recently talked to them myself and what struck me was their overwhelming emphasis on customer satisfaction. Everyone says that is what they are all about, but with them, that is how you get paid.

6)  You Can’t Get Your Mortgage News From A Newspaper. And Here’s The Proof – Dan Green does a number on a mortgage column in the business section of his newspaper.

7) Loan Modification Horror Stories, What Are The Lessons? – If you are going to try to do a loan modification please do your homework. Check out the long term results of loan modifications and see who they really help in the end. And double, triple check any company you may work with and have them provide a list of a dozen clients who worked with them over a year ago to see if they are still happy.

8) FHA Streamline Refinance: Is It Still Possible? – If you have an FHA loan that is currently over 5.5% it may be time to look at a streamline.

9) Dallas RainCamp – Internet Marketing Class For Professionals – New to blogging or just intimidated about setting up your first real estate blog, RainCamp may be for you.

10) Alternatives to the Apple iPad for Tablet Computing – I have been struggling to hold off on the iPad. By this fall I will have a tablet for sure, I was wishing I had one last night when I was printing off all my MLS sheets for today’s showings. But there is some good stuff coming down the road that may be worth waiting for so I can avoid ATT’s network.

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 2/2/2010 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate - Short Sale Agent

1) Realtor® or Detective? When Listing Short Sales, You Must Be Both! – This is good for agents who want to join the short sale listing club. I treat short sales different, I fell the home seller needs to hire me and I am only taking the position if there is full commitment. This post explains many of the things I am looking for.

2) If I Can Change, and You Can Change, Everybody Can Change! – I know Redfin takes a lot of heat from the real estate community, but this post makes me stand up and cheer. I really like their philosophy.

3) Licensing to Realtors Property Resource (RPR) and Others — Things to Consider – Attention MLS committees. Thinking about if you share your info with RPR? Here is a good place to start. Now if I could just get my MLS Committee to call me back, been trying to join them for months now.

4) No Brown Nosing Required. Your RAISE Is Ready When You Are. – This gives me an idea for a post, why I got into real estate. This may be reason number 1, you control your own fait.

5) FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums : Don’t Confuse The FHA’s Wish List For Your Own Reality – OK Dan, why are you trying to confuse me with the facts. FHA cannot just change their guidelines, they need Congress to approve it.

6) Learn by Doing, Exercise 1 for Real Estate Investors – How to Buy – This is directed towards investors, but really there are lessons here for everyone reading this.

7) How Do Search Engines Find My Real Estate Website – New real estate blogger? If so read this, just because you have a site does not mean anyone will find it.

8) 10 Home Features Buyers Want – What do buyers want it a house? The only one of these I do not really hear on a regular basis is number 8, the rest of the list I think is dead on.

9) The BEST way to share content on Facebook – Wondering how the best way to share an Internet article or video on Facebook? Here you go.

10) “Life of a Realtor” Video – This one is for pure entertainment purposes.

Top 10 real estate posts for 12/22/2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate - Short Sale Agent

1) Large Backlog Of Bank Owned Homes – The flood is coming, buckle up everyone.

2) The Great Tsunami of Foreclosures – Shake up or Shaky Ground? – Disregard number one, the flood is not coming.

3) Loan Modification Program, Good Intention Bad Idea – Good post and the key point is the last paragraph.

4) Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New Good Faith Estimate – More on the new GFE’s, have to get ready for them. Looking forward to part 2 of this one.

5) WTF with NAR?! (Updated) – Another shot at NAR for due increases.

6) Who’s Afraid of Redfin.com? – Very interesting post on how Redfin.com is the trendsetter in real estate, not Zillow. The one question I have is, I always hear about the high tech Redfin agents. Where are they in the blogging and Twitter universe?

7) Another Vote in Favor of Professionalism… – Is the business really changing so that it will become more consumer centered and we really need to lift our professionalism in how we take care of customer service or has it always been that way and the best will continue to rise to the top?

8) 6 Ways to Build your Buyers List – Looking for some buyers in the hot market? Here are six places you can target.

9) The MOST Frequently Asked Home-Buyer Question: “How Much Should I Offer?” – This has got to be one of the hardest questions to answer in real estate, really impossible with so many factors as pointed out here.

10) FHA Loans After A Foreclosure – So how long after the foreclosure before you can purchase your next house? Depends on the lender.

Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 12/18/2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate - Short Sale Agent

1) #1 Real Estate Investment Myth – Cash Flow Always King – Is cash flow not always king? BawldGuy makes the argument if you are thinking that way you are thinking to short term.

2) HUD releases webcast on final RESPA rules – Ready for the new HUD-1 and GFE rules? You should be.

3) The Real Estate Brokerage of the Future – What a great quote, make sure your real estate agent is technology-centric and customer-obsessed.

4) A Lot Of People Are Going To Take A Walk – We love to blame the lending industry for the run up in housing prices. Let’s not forget the role some appraisers played too.

5) Virtual Tours and Video Go Another Round – This is an interesting new technology if it ever becomes affordable, but my favorite part is the UrlThatIsLongerThanSomeShortStories.

6) We Blew Up the Call Center (And We Launched Atlanta) – Here they grow again. Everyone’s favorite agency to talk about, Redfin, expanded into Atlanta this week.

7) Brokerage from the ashes – Great read as always from the 1000Watt crew. All we need now is a link to Mikes website so we can check it out.

8) Getting the $6500 Tax Credit as an Existing Home Owner – Do you need to sell your old house to qualify for the homebuyer tax credit of $6500?

9) Running a Successful Real Estate Business Part Deux: Multiple Profit Centers – Great advice for agents, you can prepare for today’s market, but what happens when it changes next week. Make sure you are ready.

10) Five Reasons Why Short Sales Are Declined – This list of top 5 reasons a short sale is declined is Bank of America’s list, other banks may vary.

Top real estate posts of the day for 11/13/2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate - Short Sale Agent

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.

Top 5 real estate posts of the day 7/16/2009 is a post from: Tempe Real Estate - Short Sale Agent

Top 5 real estate posts of the day for 7/16/20091) Can you qualify for a mortgage after doing a short sale? – How soon can you qualify for a mortgage after you short sale your home?

2) Are mortgage rates really lower? It depends on what day you lock – Mortgage rates continue their recent roller coaster ride.

3) The school of Redfin revisited – Redfin does things different than other brokerages. Does it work? They did just have their first profitable quarter.

4) Can there be too many property details? – Can your property listing have to much info and too many photos? Not sure I agree with Ginny on all this, but she does make some good points for discussion.

5) What does getting back to basics really mean? – Practice makes perfect.