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

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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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 1/15/2010

1) How To Avoid Loan Modification Companies And Save Thousands – A successful loan modification that actually cuts the balance is so far and few between I don’t see many cases where it is worth it. Here is a good post on how homeowners can go about it themselves.

2) Proposed Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee – New proposal that would charge banks who received TARP money a fee to recollect the money. Yea this is good, but is there anyone who really thinks they won’t just pass those fees back onto the consumer?

3) Finding a Home After Foreclosure or Short Sale – It is hard for me to admit how great this video post idea is seeing she is my chief competition (she knows I am joking). Everyone is talking about foreclosures and short sales, but who is advising those people what to do next. Great job Kristin!

4) The Beauty of the Short Sale Transaction (No Folks, I’m Really Not Kidding) – This is the first post I have ever read from Melissa, but she is already becoming one of my favorites! There are so few of us out there who actually enjoy going to battle with the banks on the short sales.

5) Self-Directed IRAs – A Few Answers For You – Who’s looking for a new niche market….

6) Savvy Real Estate Agents, Brokers, and Managers Understand The New HUD-1 and GFE – Can we ever get enough of the new HUD and GFE?

7) REALTOR.com® was Most Visited Real Estate Website in December – So who was the most visited real estate site in December? Zillow? Realtor.com? Both claim to be.

8) The Most Important Question (that Most of Us Answer Poorly) – What do you do? We all ask it and get asked it almost every day. Is I drive around in my car all day talking to a flip cam a good answer?

9) All of the Best Features of Top Producer…for $100 – I have been looking for a good Top Producer like system for a while. Not sure this is it, but it is one of the closest I have seen.

10) CleanSlate videos from Inman – This is not really a post, but Sherry Chris of Better Homes and Gardens is doing a great job with videos in the hallways at Inman Connect.

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Dean Ouellette rants about government spending, short sales, TARP and our money, not theirs

Video 69: The government likes to tell people how they are spending their money to help people, to help secure the housing market and to help with things like loan modifications and short sales. First part of the rant… it is not their money, they have no money, the government only has money by taking it from you, your friends, your family and myself. And what they are doing with the TARP money is making life miserable for many of those they have taken the money from. If you are doing a short sale the money you are paying for the housing assistance may be the same money that is preventing your short sale. Would love to hear your thoughts, you can leave a comment or e-mail me Dean Ouellette.

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 12/15/2009

1) Be a Sociologist – Overnight Success – In 45 seconds Chris Brogan breaks down what truly makes a great real estate agent without even mentioning the word real estate or house.

2) Your Loan Officer Is Not Your Friend – Your loan officer works for the bank, not you.

3) Who Do You Pick To Sell Your Home? – Interesting conversation between Kelly Koehler and Rob Hahn – who would you pick to sell your house and why. No you cannot pick yourself.

4) 88% of current homeowners willing to consider purchasing a foreclosure – I hope and educated home buyer would be willing to purchase a foreclosure, there are still some great deals to be had in that market. But remember, you need to be understand what it means to get a great deal.

5)  Zillow gets ready to charge and adds rentals, a list of posts – Zillow Steps Beyond Free – Rental and Search (Jim Duncan) – Zillow Adds Rentals (Jim Reppond) – News from Zillow… (Lane Bailey) – Zillow to Go Head to Head With Realtor.com, RPR & Your Wallet? (Lani Rosales) – Changes To Zillow – Charges From Zillow (Eric Stegemann) – Announcing: Rental Listings and Search (Zillow) – Zillow starts charging for listings (Joel Burslem) – Zillow Play Zanta – Craigslist finds a lump of coal (Kris Berg)

6) Home Financing Options – There are different financing options out there, and not every option is right for you. That is why I included “finding the right loan for you” in by Homebuyer Bill of Rights.

7) Obama and Bankers Meet Today, Bankers Give Good Lip Service – Obama wants the bankers to loosen the strings on small business loans to help spur the economy, and the bankers seem willing to, as soon as the economy turns around.

8) Why Would You Pay a Real Estate Transaction Fee? – I hate frivolous fees, real estate firm transaction fees, or Great American Title and their e-mail fee, some fees are just greedy attempts to make an extra few bucks.

9) Real Estate – A strategy for buying foreclosures. – Some pretty sound advice on buying a foreclosure property.

10) 2010 Top 5 HOT or NOT List (in Black and White) – The only question here is how did @LilZebra not make it in the top 5?

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 12/3/2009

1) We’re the Treasury- We’re Here To Help You With Short Sales (kinda) – More on the new short sales program. Rathbun has a reserved opinion, me, not as reserved, I think the new short sale guidelines are going to fail.

2) BofA to Repay $45 Billion in TARP – My take on this? The government is making the short sale “suggestions” listed in #1. When it fails will they make the suggestions mandatory for those who still owe TARP money? Don’t be surprised and BOA being one of, if not the worst to deal with when it comes to short sales may want no part. Just a thought.

3) FHA Downpayment, FHA Insurance Costs To Rise? – It is going to get tougher to get an FHA loan. Will be interesting to see if they do require a larger down payment. I for one hope they do!

4) Get a free credit report before you look for a house – I like her recommendation of getting one of your reports every four months. I used to do that when I cared about my credit score.

5) REW’s New IDX Map Search is Coming – For the other agents out there this is going to be an very interesting one to watch.

6) Exactly How The Long Tail In Real Estate Blogging Will Bring The Ready-To-Act Home Buyer – Determine what keeps home seller and buyer up at night and blog about that? So what is it?

7) Stop Thinking About It. It’s Time to Sell Your House. Inventory is Very Very Low in Northern Virginia – Looking for content for your site? I bet this is relevant to many agents out there and well done.

8) Christmas Comes Early For Some FHA Borrowers – Not to be confused with number 3 in this list. 2nd appraisals appear to be going away.

9) I can’t tell you how disgusted this makes me…. – Is Bloodhound becoming the Thom Vanderwell blog?  He is just cranking out content. Great story he picks up here, if true everyone involved should lose their license.

10) “The Digital Handshake” by Paul Chaney – Don’t Miss This One! – There are very few books out there on social media worth owning. This sounds like it may be one

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 12/1/2009

1) Avoid rushing into home ownership for tax credits – Sometimes you need to look outside the real estate world to find good advice on real estate. If you were buying a house anyways the $8000 first-time home buyer tax credit is a good program for you, but don’t buy a house just  because you think the program is going to save you money.

2) To point, or not to point – THAT is the question – Should you pay points to get a lower interest rate? Depends on a few factors, one being how long will you live in the house.

3) Obama send SWAT teams into mortgage servicing office – The Obama administration is applying pressure to banks to approve more loan modifications.

4) The  2009 NAR profile of buyers and sellers if full of important and interesting data – I have posted this information before from another post, but it is worth reposting.

5) Are you the CEO of your real estate business? – Good advice for new agents who are still trying to set up their business.

6) Mortgage rates should linger near all-time lows for a while – The one thing about mortgage rates, no one knows for sure. Over the past few weeks all the “experts” have been saying rate increases are coming. Now that they are to “linger” near the low, maybe that means increases will come now?

7) New RESPA laws and what they mean to you – John Jones’ Tuesday Morning Coffee looks at the new RESPA laws coming in January and what they mean to you the buyer and mortgage brokers.

8) Update on changes coming to short sales – The US Treasury Department has announced changes coming to short sales and new requirements they will have for lenders. With changes this big I’m gonna hold a “I will believe it when I see it” attitude.

9) Walk away from mortgage if underwater: Professor paper – I was just asked by a friend in California yesterday if I thought it was a good idea to walk away from a mortgage that is way underwater. And I must admit I agree with most of what the professor says in this paper, even if he is from the U of A.

10) ROI in social media marketing for real estate – Is the time you are spending on social media as a real estate agent really worth your investment?

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Top 10 real estate posts of the day for 11/30/2009

1) How bad will foreclosures hurt your credit? – What I find most interesting about this is how things effect your FICO score different based on where your FICO score starts.

2) Carpeting – It’s time to add it as a disclosure topic to the AAR seller property disclosure statement – Lorti makes a great case on why carpet and other flooring should be added as something the seller discloses to the buyer.

3) The move-up buyer’s gameplan – So much attention has been given to the first-time homebuyer market because of the $8000 tax credit. With the addition of the $6500 move-up buyer credit we could see more people looking to get a bigger house with today’s deflated prices.

4) Climategate posts – With the news this week that climate scientist were fudging the numbers to make the data say what they want on climate change, here are two posts on the effects of the climate change debate and real estate. Climategate & you: The real estate edition and a video Will fraudulent climate changed revelations effect housing?

5) How to safely text and email while driving – What does this have to do with real estate? Nothing, unless you are a real estate agent who spends as much time as me a day in the car and finds yourself wandering daily because of texting and emailing.

6) 640 is the new 580 – 580, 620 now 640, minimum FICO scores continue to rise for a mortgage.

7) President Obama Calling Lenders to the Carpet Today – Obama is expected to try to shame banks into moving faster on saving houses from foreclosure (they are talking about you Bank of America). My take is just stop giving them my money (TARP) and if they don’t want to approve loan mods or short sales and would rather make the poor economic choice of foreclosure let them sink.

8) A question that needs to be asked more often… – When deciding how long you are going to live in your home are you considering the variable of what interest rates may be then?

9) Should we put our home on the market during the holidays or wait until spring? – One thing is for sure, anyone looking at your house during the holiday season is very likely a serious buyer.

10) Evaluating professionals: Imperfect solution for an imperfect world – Agent ratings, always a fun and popular topic.

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