1. Properties under contract
These are your money in the bank. They are always "closest to the money." If it comes down to going on a listing appointment or handling a problem that could cause your transaction to cancel, the first priority has to be taking care of the transaction problem.
2. Listing appointments and prospecting have the same priority
This part of this approach may come as a surprise. Most agents will dump their prospecting time in favor of going on a listing appointment. This is a huge mistake.
Your prospecting time deserves the same priority as going on a listing appointment. In other words, the only time you would cancel your prospecting time is when you would cancel a listing appointment under the same circumstances.
While there are numerous reasons why agents have slumps, a major cause is failure to prospect for new business regularly. You get busy with out-of-town buyers or with overpriced listings, and your day disappears.
The next time you feel like skipping your prospecting time in favor of anything other than a transaction issue, just remember that without prospecting, you will have no transactions. Keep your prospecting time as a regular appointment.
If someone is calling to see a house during your prospecting time, tell your caller that you have a conflicting appointment. If you must change your prospecting time, make sure that you reschedule the time you're missing within the next 24-48 hours.
Again, treat your prospecting time the same way you would treat a listing appointment.
3. Buyers are the lowest priority
If you have buyers who are being transferred and must buy a house this weekend, then their urgency probably puts them at the top of your list in terms of who is closest to the money.
Nevertheless, they're still not as important as working on a transaction file that has a serious issue or dealing with sellers who need your attention. Remember that these people have signed contracts with you.
Unless you have a signed buyer agreement, buyers simply are not as important as these other committed clients.
4. Who is most likely to close?
When you have a conflict that requires you to postpone an appointment with one client to meet with another client, ask yourself, "Who is most likely to close a transaction?" This simple question is an easy way to help you identify where your time is best spent.
5. The top producer formula
There's a fairly common pattern you will see among most top producers. When they first come to the office, they handle any issues regarding their transaction files or their current listings.
The next part of their day is their prospecting time. Most top producers will become angry if you try to interrupt them when they are prospecting since they realize how important it is to maintaining their production.
Once they finish these two important parts of their day, they then turn to activities such as taking out buyers or going on listing appointments.
Source: Inman News
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Help Consumers Get their Home Holiday Ready
The REALTOR® Content Resource has released “Holiday Lighting Safety Checklist" and other free articles that will help consumers get their homes holiday-ready.
At the REALTOR® Content Resource, you can share consumer articles directly to Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail. You can also add them to your blog, Web site, or e-newsletter, or even print them as leave-behinds.
While you’re at REALTOR® Content Resource, log in to enter the REALTOR® Build-Your-Business Sweepstakes, featuring monthly drawings for an iPad and weekly drawings for a $150 Visa gift card.
The REALTOR® Content Resource, brought to you by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, is a member resource that entitles you to download free home ownership content from HouseLogic to use in your marketing materials.
Source: HouseLogic
At the REALTOR® Content Resource, you can share consumer articles directly to Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail. You can also add them to your blog, Web site, or e-newsletter, or even print them as leave-behinds.
While you’re at REALTOR® Content Resource, log in to enter the REALTOR® Build-Your-Business Sweepstakes, featuring monthly drawings for an iPad and weekly drawings for a $150 Visa gift card.
The REALTOR® Content Resource, brought to you by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, is a member resource that entitles you to download free home ownership content from HouseLogic to use in your marketing materials.
Source: HouseLogic
Second Liens Roadblock for Short Sales
Second mortgages have become one of the biggest roadblocks to closing short sales.
There are about 450,000 properties in some stage of the foreclosure process with at least one junior lien, according to real estate research firm CoreLogic. These second liens are a primary challenge for Freddie Mac, said Mark Johnson, who oversees short sales for Freddie.
Holders of second liens have little left to lose so some of them are willing to get in the way of a deal in hopes of being thrown a bone, said Jon Goodman, a real-estate lawyer and investor in Boulder, Colo.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (11/27/2010)
There are about 450,000 properties in some stage of the foreclosure process with at least one junior lien, according to real estate research firm CoreLogic. These second liens are a primary challenge for Freddie Mac, said Mark Johnson, who oversees short sales for Freddie.
Holders of second liens have little left to lose so some of them are willing to get in the way of a deal in hopes of being thrown a bone, said Jon Goodman, a real-estate lawyer and investor in Boulder, Colo.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (11/27/2010)
Foreclosure Crisis Slowing Sales
The foreclosure mess is making it harder for banks to sell properties. ForeclosureRadar, which tracks foreclosures in five Western states, says the number of properties coming to auction in Arizona, California, and Nevada has declined by more than 30 percent.
Investors are backing away from sales because they fear that the properties they buy will be tied up in an investigation, says Sean O’Toole, CEO of Foreclosure Radar.
O’Toole believes the problem is short-lived and ultimately will be settled in favor of the banks. "The fear that has been created in based more in hype than in law," he says.
Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (11/29/2010)
Investors are backing away from sales because they fear that the properties they buy will be tied up in an investigation, says Sean O’Toole, CEO of Foreclosure Radar.
O’Toole believes the problem is short-lived and ultimately will be settled in favor of the banks. "The fear that has been created in based more in hype than in law," he says.
Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (11/29/2010)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Foreclosure Mess Leaves Some Buyers in Limbo
An increasing number of buyers of foreclosed homes are finding that they can’t close on the property because the foreclosure — and the sale — is derailed by a problem with the foreclosure paperwork.
“Many of these transactions will probably never close,” said Greg Rokeh, a manager of bank-owned real estate in Longwood, Fla., for Watson Realty Corp.
Rokeh said he has about 25 pending sales that are tied up in the document reviews. He predicts that most of buyers will give up and purchase a different property.
“We understand it is a huge inconvenience to buyers,” Freddie Mac spokesman Brad German said.
Source: Bloomberg, David Henry (11/24/2010)
“Many of these transactions will probably never close,” said Greg Rokeh, a manager of bank-owned real estate in Longwood, Fla., for Watson Realty Corp.
Rokeh said he has about 25 pending sales that are tied up in the document reviews. He predicts that most of buyers will give up and purchase a different property.
“We understand it is a huge inconvenience to buyers,” Freddie Mac spokesman Brad German said.
Source: Bloomberg, David Henry (11/24/2010)
Commercial real estate markets stabilizing, slight improvement in 2011
Commercial real estate markets are flattening out, with modestly improving fundamentals expected in 2011, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said commercial real estate sectors appear to be stabilizing. “The basic fundamental of rising commercial leasing demand, resulting from a steadily improving economy, means overall vacancy rates have already peaked or will soon top out,” he said. “The outlook for the office and industrial markets has moderated with modestly declining vacancy rates expected as 2011 progresses, while the retail sector should hold fairly steady. Still, high vacancy rates imply falling rents.”
Yun anticipates a rise in household formation from an improving economy, which will increase demand for housing, both ownership and rental. “Multifamily housing is the one commercial sector that has held on relatively well in the past year, and can expect the best performance in 2011,” he added.
“Apartment rents could rise by 1 to 2 percent in 2011, after having fallen in 2009 and no growth in 2010,” Yun said. “This rent rise therefore could start to force up broader consumer prices as well.” He noted that the housing shelter cost of primary rent, and owner’s rental equivalence, is the biggest component in the Consumer Price Index, accounting for 32 percent of its total weight.
The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®’ SIOR Commercial Real Estate Index – an attitudinal survey of more than 400 local market experts – shows vacancy rates slowly improving, but rents will continue to be soft with elevated levels of subleasing space on the market.
The SIOR index, measuring the impact of 10 variables, rose 1.6 percentage points to 42.6 in the third quarter, though it remains well below a level of 100 that represents a balanced marketplace. This is the fourth straight quarterly improvement following almost three years of decline.
The last time the commercial market was in equilibrium at the 100 level was in the third quarter of 2007; the index now matches where it was at the beginning of 2009. Fifty-nine percent of respondents expect improvements in the office and industrial sectors in the current quarter.
Commercial real estate development continues at stagnant levels with little investment activity but is beginning to pick up in many parts of the country.
NAR’s latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook offers projections for four major commercial sectors and analyzes quarterly data in the office, industrial, retail and multifamily markets. CBRE Econometric Advisors provided historic data.
Office markets
Vacancy rates in the office sector, where a large volume of sublease space remains on the market, are forecast to decline from 16.7 percent in the current quarter to 16.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, but with very little change during in the first half of the year.
The markets with the lowest office vacancy rates currently are New York City and Honolulu, with vacancies around 9 percent. All other monitored markets have double-digit vacancy rates.
Annual office rent is expected to decline 1.8 percent this year, and then slip another 1.6 percent in 2011. In 57 markets tracked, net absorption of office space, which includes the leasing of new space coming on the market as well as space in existing properties, should be a negative 3.7 million square feet this year and then a positive 16.4 million in 2011.
Industrial markets
Industrial vacancy rates are projected to decline from 13.9 percent currently to 13.2 percent in the closing quarter of 2011.
At present, the areas with the lowest industrial vacancy rates are Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Kansas City, with vacancies in the 8 to 10 percent range.
Annual industrial rent is likely to fall 4.0 percent this year, and decline another 3.4 percent in 2011. Net absorption of industrial space in 58 markets tracked should be a negative 25.1 million square feet this year and a positive 134.0 million in 2011.
Retail markets
Retail vacancy rates are expected to change little, declining from 13.1 percent in the fourth quarter of this year to 13.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Markets with the lowest retail vacancy rates currently include San Francisco; Orange County, Calif.; and Honolulu, with vacancies in the 7 to 8 percent range.
Average retail rent is seen to drop 3.4 percent in 2010 but largely stabilize next year, slipping 0.3 percent in 2011. Net absorption of retail space in 53 tracked markets is projected to be a negative 0.5 million square feet this year and then a positive 5.0 million in 2011.
Multifamily markets
The apartment rental market – multifamily housing – is expected to get a boost from growth in household formation. Multifamily vacancy rates are forecast to decline from 6.4 percent in the current quarter to 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Areas with the lowest multifamily vacancy rates presently are San Jose, Calif.; Miami; Boston; and Portland, Ore., with vacancies in a range around 4 percent.
Average apartment rent is likely to rise 0.2 percent this year and another 1.4 percent in 2011. Multifamily net absorption should be 85,200 units in 59 tracked metro areas this year and another 147,000 in 2011.
The NAR Research Division publishes the COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK for the commercial community. NAR’s Commercial Division, formed in 1990, provides targeted products and services to meet the needs of the commercial market and constituency within NAR.
The NAR commercial components include commercial members; commercial committees, subcommittees and forums; commercial real estate boards and structures; and the NAR commercial affiliate organizations – CCIM Institute, Institute of Real Estate Management, Realtors® Land Institute, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, and Counselors of Real Estate.
Approximately 79,000 NAR and institute affiliate members specialize in commercial brokerage services, and an additional 263,000 members offer commercial real estate as a secondary business.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said commercial real estate sectors appear to be stabilizing. “The basic fundamental of rising commercial leasing demand, resulting from a steadily improving economy, means overall vacancy rates have already peaked or will soon top out,” he said. “The outlook for the office and industrial markets has moderated with modestly declining vacancy rates expected as 2011 progresses, while the retail sector should hold fairly steady. Still, high vacancy rates imply falling rents.”
Yun anticipates a rise in household formation from an improving economy, which will increase demand for housing, both ownership and rental. “Multifamily housing is the one commercial sector that has held on relatively well in the past year, and can expect the best performance in 2011,” he added.
“Apartment rents could rise by 1 to 2 percent in 2011, after having fallen in 2009 and no growth in 2010,” Yun said. “This rent rise therefore could start to force up broader consumer prices as well.” He noted that the housing shelter cost of primary rent, and owner’s rental equivalence, is the biggest component in the Consumer Price Index, accounting for 32 percent of its total weight.
The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®’ SIOR Commercial Real Estate Index – an attitudinal survey of more than 400 local market experts – shows vacancy rates slowly improving, but rents will continue to be soft with elevated levels of subleasing space on the market.
The SIOR index, measuring the impact of 10 variables, rose 1.6 percentage points to 42.6 in the third quarter, though it remains well below a level of 100 that represents a balanced marketplace. This is the fourth straight quarterly improvement following almost three years of decline.
The last time the commercial market was in equilibrium at the 100 level was in the third quarter of 2007; the index now matches where it was at the beginning of 2009. Fifty-nine percent of respondents expect improvements in the office and industrial sectors in the current quarter.
Commercial real estate development continues at stagnant levels with little investment activity but is beginning to pick up in many parts of the country.
NAR’s latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook offers projections for four major commercial sectors and analyzes quarterly data in the office, industrial, retail and multifamily markets. CBRE Econometric Advisors provided historic data.
Office markets
Vacancy rates in the office sector, where a large volume of sublease space remains on the market, are forecast to decline from 16.7 percent in the current quarter to 16.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, but with very little change during in the first half of the year.
The markets with the lowest office vacancy rates currently are New York City and Honolulu, with vacancies around 9 percent. All other monitored markets have double-digit vacancy rates.
Annual office rent is expected to decline 1.8 percent this year, and then slip another 1.6 percent in 2011. In 57 markets tracked, net absorption of office space, which includes the leasing of new space coming on the market as well as space in existing properties, should be a negative 3.7 million square feet this year and then a positive 16.4 million in 2011.
Industrial markets
Industrial vacancy rates are projected to decline from 13.9 percent currently to 13.2 percent in the closing quarter of 2011.
At present, the areas with the lowest industrial vacancy rates are Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Kansas City, with vacancies in the 8 to 10 percent range.
Annual industrial rent is likely to fall 4.0 percent this year, and decline another 3.4 percent in 2011. Net absorption of industrial space in 58 markets tracked should be a negative 25.1 million square feet this year and a positive 134.0 million in 2011.
Retail markets
Retail vacancy rates are expected to change little, declining from 13.1 percent in the fourth quarter of this year to 13.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Markets with the lowest retail vacancy rates currently include San Francisco; Orange County, Calif.; and Honolulu, with vacancies in the 7 to 8 percent range.
Average retail rent is seen to drop 3.4 percent in 2010 but largely stabilize next year, slipping 0.3 percent in 2011. Net absorption of retail space in 53 tracked markets is projected to be a negative 0.5 million square feet this year and then a positive 5.0 million in 2011.
Multifamily markets
The apartment rental market – multifamily housing – is expected to get a boost from growth in household formation. Multifamily vacancy rates are forecast to decline from 6.4 percent in the current quarter to 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Areas with the lowest multifamily vacancy rates presently are San Jose, Calif.; Miami; Boston; and Portland, Ore., with vacancies in a range around 4 percent.
Average apartment rent is likely to rise 0.2 percent this year and another 1.4 percent in 2011. Multifamily net absorption should be 85,200 units in 59 tracked metro areas this year and another 147,000 in 2011.
The NAR Research Division publishes the COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK for the commercial community. NAR’s Commercial Division, formed in 1990, provides targeted products and services to meet the needs of the commercial market and constituency within NAR.
The NAR commercial components include commercial members; commercial committees, subcommittees and forums; commercial real estate boards and structures; and the NAR commercial affiliate organizations – CCIM Institute, Institute of Real Estate Management, Realtors® Land Institute, Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, and Counselors of Real Estate.
Approximately 79,000 NAR and institute affiliate members specialize in commercial brokerage services, and an additional 263,000 members offer commercial real estate as a secondary business.
Source: Florida Realtors®
7 trends that will drive future of housing
Hanley-Wood’s ProSalesOnline.com identifies seven trends that the magazine’s editors believe will have the biggest impact on housing in 2011.
1. Big builders are wringing the extras out of construction costs and dropping the national average cost-to-build 36 percent to $52 per square foot.
2. Starting in 2011, Energy Star will ramp up its efficient design and quality installation standards. To get Energy Star certification, builders will have to correctly install the right insulation, HVAC systems and other features related to energy efficiency.
3. Sheds are the next evolution. As homes get smaller, a separate shed will become a popular home addition.
4. There are 81 million “Echo Boomers” born from 1981 to 1999, compared to just 78 million Baby Boomers born from 1946 to 1964. These children and grandchildren of Boomers will drive home building for years.
5. By 2015, demographers say, more than two out of every five households occupied by Generation Y people born between 1981 and 1999 will be WINKs (women with incomes and no kids).
6. Make room for the “Sandwich Generation” – Baby Boomers living with both their kids and their parents. These families like having two master suites, a second cooking area, and lots of storage.
7. Baby Boomers want to keep working and continue to live where they have always lived. They want a first-floor master bedroom near the washer and dryer and lots of convenient storage.
Source: ProSalesOnline.com (October 2010)
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
1. Big builders are wringing the extras out of construction costs and dropping the national average cost-to-build 36 percent to $52 per square foot.
2. Starting in 2011, Energy Star will ramp up its efficient design and quality installation standards. To get Energy Star certification, builders will have to correctly install the right insulation, HVAC systems and other features related to energy efficiency.
3. Sheds are the next evolution. As homes get smaller, a separate shed will become a popular home addition.
4. There are 81 million “Echo Boomers” born from 1981 to 1999, compared to just 78 million Baby Boomers born from 1946 to 1964. These children and grandchildren of Boomers will drive home building for years.
5. By 2015, demographers say, more than two out of every five households occupied by Generation Y people born between 1981 and 1999 will be WINKs (women with incomes and no kids).
6. Make room for the “Sandwich Generation” – Baby Boomers living with both their kids and their parents. These families like having two master suites, a second cooking area, and lots of storage.
7. Baby Boomers want to keep working and continue to live where they have always lived. They want a first-floor master bedroom near the washer and dryer and lots of convenient storage.
Source: ProSalesOnline.com (October 2010)
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
New lending guidelines benefit young borrowers
Under Fannie Mae’s new lending guidelines effective Dec. 13, securing a mortgage will become easier for some borrowers and more difficult for others. Freddie Mac is also considering similar new guidelines, according to spokesman Brad German.
The new rules allow buyers to use gifts and grants from nonprofit groups for their minimum 5 percent downpayment. Borrowers previously had to contribute a minimum 5 percent downpayment from their own funds, with additional downpayment money permitted from a gift.
These new rules are “definitely going to help upgrade buyers and young couples who for whatever reason don’t have enough money and are getting some from their families,” said Edward Ades, the owner of broker Universal Mortgage.
The gift rules apply only to single-family principal residences and cover mortgage amounts in excess of 80 percent of the property’s value. The loan balance also has a limit of $729,000 in high-cost areas like New York City and $417,000 in other areas.
At the same time, however, Fannie Mae is cracking down on debt-to-income ratios, with the maximum ratio for those seeking a conventional mortgage set to drop from 55 percent to 45 percent under the new guidelines. Fannie Mae is also increasing its scrutiny of payment histories on revolving debt, and buyers who have missed a payment will have 5 percent of the total balance added to their ratios.
Under the new rules, borrowers who have gone through foreclosure will be excluded from obtaining a Fannie-backed loan for seven years, an increase from the previous limit of four years.
Source: The New York Times, Lynnley Browning (11/21/10)
The new rules allow buyers to use gifts and grants from nonprofit groups for their minimum 5 percent downpayment. Borrowers previously had to contribute a minimum 5 percent downpayment from their own funds, with additional downpayment money permitted from a gift.
These new rules are “definitely going to help upgrade buyers and young couples who for whatever reason don’t have enough money and are getting some from their families,” said Edward Ades, the owner of broker Universal Mortgage.
The gift rules apply only to single-family principal residences and cover mortgage amounts in excess of 80 percent of the property’s value. The loan balance also has a limit of $729,000 in high-cost areas like New York City and $417,000 in other areas.
At the same time, however, Fannie Mae is cracking down on debt-to-income ratios, with the maximum ratio for those seeking a conventional mortgage set to drop from 55 percent to 45 percent under the new guidelines. Fannie Mae is also increasing its scrutiny of payment histories on revolving debt, and buyers who have missed a payment will have 5 percent of the total balance added to their ratios.
Under the new rules, borrowers who have gone through foreclosure will be excluded from obtaining a Fannie-backed loan for seven years, an increase from the previous limit of four years.
Source: The New York Times, Lynnley Browning (11/21/10)
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac give the ‘go-ahead’ to resume sales of foreclosed homes
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gave the go-ahead this week to restart sales of their foreclosed properties, which had been on hold since September when it was revealed that flawed or fraudulent court documents may have been used to repossess homes.
Brokers received memos Wednesday from the government-sponsored enterprises saying that the homes could once again be marketed and sales finalized on properties already under contract. Fannie Mae’s letter explains that evictions and lockouts are still suspended on its properties.
In South Florida, the move releases thousands of houses for sale that were removed from the market earlier this fall, leaving buyers and Realtors in limbo.
Brokers were encouraged in Fannie’s letter to contact buyers who chose to cancel delayed contracts to see if they are still interested.
“I’ve already sent e-mails to clients who opted out,” said Bill Richardson, managing broker for the Keyes Company in Boca Raton and president of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. “I had numerous people put on hold, and some of them canceled because it was very uncertain when the auditing process would be done.”
A Lake Worth broker said she received a similar memo from Freddie Mac on Wednesday, but a Freddie spokesman said he could not confirm it today because too many people were off for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Amy Bonitatibus, spokeswoman for Fannie Mae, said the decision to move forward with the sales was made after a review of property acquisitions, including those handled by the Plantation-based foreclosure firm of David J. Stern.
Fannie Mae and Freddie cut ties with the firm last month after former employees, one of whom had been fired, gave sworn statements to state investigators about wrongdoing at the company such as forged signatures on foreclosure documents and the hiding of flawed files from auditors. The Stern firm is one of four so-called “foreclosure mills” in Florida under investigation by the state attorney general’s office.
“Fannie Mae remains committed to ensuring that borrowers are treated fairly in accordance with the legal process and to allowing new homebuyers to close on transactions in a timely manner,” Bonitatibus said.
But some homeowner advocates said there are still too many unanswered questions about whether foreclosures have been handled legally. Concerns about obtaining a clear title are legitimate, said Tampa-based foreclosure defense attorney Mark Stopa.
The foreclosure paperwork problems already have led at least one former homeowner to challenge his foreclosure in Pinellas County. The man’s home, repossessed in 2008 by Bank of America, has since been sold to a family who has had to hire an attorney to defend their title to the property.
“There are still legitimate questions about the validity of title to these homes,” Stopa said. “Unfortunately, too few people in positions of authority care. The fraud is there and we all know it, but too many people think it’s easier or better to ignore it than fix it.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion.
About 12 percent of Fannie Mae loans in Florida are delinquent, while Freddie Mac has 17 percent of its Florida mortgages in arrears.
The embargo on selling foreclosed properties likely added to last month’s slump of existing home sales, which dropped 12 percent in Florida compared to September and 21 percent compared to October 2009.
Source: The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Kimberly Miller. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Brokers received memos Wednesday from the government-sponsored enterprises saying that the homes could once again be marketed and sales finalized on properties already under contract. Fannie Mae’s letter explains that evictions and lockouts are still suspended on its properties.
In South Florida, the move releases thousands of houses for sale that were removed from the market earlier this fall, leaving buyers and Realtors in limbo.
Brokers were encouraged in Fannie’s letter to contact buyers who chose to cancel delayed contracts to see if they are still interested.
“I’ve already sent e-mails to clients who opted out,” said Bill Richardson, managing broker for the Keyes Company in Boca Raton and president of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. “I had numerous people put on hold, and some of them canceled because it was very uncertain when the auditing process would be done.”
A Lake Worth broker said she received a similar memo from Freddie Mac on Wednesday, but a Freddie spokesman said he could not confirm it today because too many people were off for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Amy Bonitatibus, spokeswoman for Fannie Mae, said the decision to move forward with the sales was made after a review of property acquisitions, including those handled by the Plantation-based foreclosure firm of David J. Stern.
Fannie Mae and Freddie cut ties with the firm last month after former employees, one of whom had been fired, gave sworn statements to state investigators about wrongdoing at the company such as forged signatures on foreclosure documents and the hiding of flawed files from auditors. The Stern firm is one of four so-called “foreclosure mills” in Florida under investigation by the state attorney general’s office.
“Fannie Mae remains committed to ensuring that borrowers are treated fairly in accordance with the legal process and to allowing new homebuyers to close on transactions in a timely manner,” Bonitatibus said.
But some homeowner advocates said there are still too many unanswered questions about whether foreclosures have been handled legally. Concerns about obtaining a clear title are legitimate, said Tampa-based foreclosure defense attorney Mark Stopa.
The foreclosure paperwork problems already have led at least one former homeowner to challenge his foreclosure in Pinellas County. The man’s home, repossessed in 2008 by Bank of America, has since been sold to a family who has had to hire an attorney to defend their title to the property.
“There are still legitimate questions about the validity of title to these homes,” Stopa said. “Unfortunately, too few people in positions of authority care. The fraud is there and we all know it, but too many people think it’s easier or better to ignore it than fix it.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion.
About 12 percent of Fannie Mae loans in Florida are delinquent, while Freddie Mac has 17 percent of its Florida mortgages in arrears.
The embargo on selling foreclosed properties likely added to last month’s slump of existing home sales, which dropped 12 percent in Florida compared to September and 21 percent compared to October 2009.
Source: The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Kimberly Miller. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
10 Ways to Make a Small Room Look Larger
Most people have one: that room in the house that they wish was just a little larger. What many don't realize is that with a little work and some TLC, they could have exactly what they're looking for.
Here, Lowe's offers 10 designer tricks to help you make any room look larger:
1. For the illusion of a larger room, use a color scheme that is light rather than bright or dark. Pastels, neutrals and white are all color possibilities.
2. Use a monochromatic color scheme on the furniture, rugs and walls. Select different shades and textures of your single color.
3. Lighting is a key element in opening up a space. Recessed spot lighting is visually appealing and is perfect for a small space. A torchiere light is great for bouncing light off of the ceiling and back down on the room.Skylights and solar tubes are natural alternatives for adding light to a room.
4. Limit the number of accessories to avoid the cluttered feeling.
5. The floor and the ceiling are the fifth and sixth walls of every room. A light-colored flooring such as light oak or a light-colored carpet will make the room appear brighter and more open. The same applies to the ceiling—use a light color or white to "open up" the space above.
6. Increase the appearance of the size of the room by adding wall mirrors. They not only reflect images, they reflect light and color. Be a little daring! Use mirror tiles to mirror an entire wall. Your room will appear to double in size.
7. Don't place too many pieces of furniture in a small space. A love seat may work better than a full-size sofa depending on the size and shape of the room. Add two medium-sized chairs or two small wood chairs. Place the chairs closer to the wall and then pull them into the area when additional seating is needed.
8. Add paintings or prints to the walls. One large painting works better than a group of small paintings.
9. The visual balance of a room is also important. A large, brightly colored element can overwhelm a room and decrease the appearance of space.
10. A glass table, whether it is a dining, coffee or end table, will keep the appearance of an open and free space.
Source: RISMedia
Here, Lowe's offers 10 designer tricks to help you make any room look larger:
1. For the illusion of a larger room, use a color scheme that is light rather than bright or dark. Pastels, neutrals and white are all color possibilities.
2. Use a monochromatic color scheme on the furniture, rugs and walls. Select different shades and textures of your single color.
3. Lighting is a key element in opening up a space. Recessed spot lighting is visually appealing and is perfect for a small space. A torchiere light is great for bouncing light off of the ceiling and back down on the room.Skylights and solar tubes are natural alternatives for adding light to a room.
4. Limit the number of accessories to avoid the cluttered feeling.
5. The floor and the ceiling are the fifth and sixth walls of every room. A light-colored flooring such as light oak or a light-colored carpet will make the room appear brighter and more open. The same applies to the ceiling—use a light color or white to "open up" the space above.
6. Increase the appearance of the size of the room by adding wall mirrors. They not only reflect images, they reflect light and color. Be a little daring! Use mirror tiles to mirror an entire wall. Your room will appear to double in size.
7. Don't place too many pieces of furniture in a small space. A love seat may work better than a full-size sofa depending on the size and shape of the room. Add two medium-sized chairs or two small wood chairs. Place the chairs closer to the wall and then pull them into the area when additional seating is needed.
8. Add paintings or prints to the walls. One large painting works better than a group of small paintings.
9. The visual balance of a room is also important. A large, brightly colored element can overwhelm a room and decrease the appearance of space.
10. A glass table, whether it is a dining, coffee or end table, will keep the appearance of an open and free space.
Source: RISMedia
Friday, November 26, 2010
Capitalizing on Your Online Presence
As a real estate agent, there's no doubt you need a Web presence. You may have even been given reason after reason as to why you need a Web presence. Your clients are online; they’re looking at properties without you; bus benches and postcards are not effective; it’s the cool thing to do.
Whatever reason you were given, you were inspired to go out and secure yourself a Web presence. You may have even signed up for Facebook and, up-to-date you, a Twitter account.
You get it. You’ve got the tools. You’re with it.
The trouble is, your online presence is vapid and empty.
Despite the fact that you have been successfully tweeting for the last three months, every ten minutes on the dot, you have no presence. The only thing the world knows about you is your penchant for documenting your last fifty meals for the entire world to see.
The thing is, there are tools and there are uses for those tools. Without the proper content, all of your posting and updating is nothing more than thrashing. You need to focus your energies to get the most of your online presence.
Here are four tips to help you make the most of your username:
1. Get a website and use it. As Benn Rosales points out on AgentGenius, if you have no site of your own, tweeting and posting on Facebook is a great lesson in a snake eating its tail. You need a home on the Web. Besides, what happens when Facebook goes the way of MySpace and the only way you can communicate with your customers is through a website that you have no control over?
2. Fill it with quality and say something. You might have a website. It might even be filled with lots of content, pretty pictures, and plenty of testimonials. But it’s all focused on you; about how you are #1 in your region and how great you are. Here’s the thing: your clients don’t care about this type of information. They want to be able to find listings, get news about the area, and maybe learn a thing or two about the real estate process.
3. Have a conversation and patience. You will not be the number one site on Google ten minutes after creating your site. Nor would you want to be. A good site grows organically, and good growth happens gradually. Your site should allow clients the ability to converse with you, as a human being. This happens with a one-on-one basis, not by blaring out your ideas to no one in particular on Facebook or Twitter.
4. Keep a blog and maintain it. Blogs are hard work; they need to be updated regularly and maintained to keep their relevance. But they are worth it. It may be cumbersome at first, but think of it not as a chore, but as an opportunity. Having a blog provides an opportunity to inform your readers. Become the expert of your area. Write a review of a local restaurant or a neighborhood’s nightlife. Discuss the latest changes to FHA laws and make them understandable to your average readers. Inform and engage—if you have comments, reply to them.
As Seinfeld famously pointed out, anyone can just take a reservation; it’s the holding of the reservation that’s important. Similarly, anyone can have a Facebook account, a Twitter account, or even a Web page, but it’s what you fill it with that’s important.
Look around: there are a lot of empty, insincere websites out there. Make sure you’re not adding to the noise and that there is something of value beneath the shiny pixels. Your clients will appreciate it and your Web presence will have a face to go with along your Facebook profile.
Source: RISMedia
Whatever reason you were given, you were inspired to go out and secure yourself a Web presence. You may have even signed up for Facebook and, up-to-date you, a Twitter account.
You get it. You’ve got the tools. You’re with it.
The trouble is, your online presence is vapid and empty.
Despite the fact that you have been successfully tweeting for the last three months, every ten minutes on the dot, you have no presence. The only thing the world knows about you is your penchant for documenting your last fifty meals for the entire world to see.
The thing is, there are tools and there are uses for those tools. Without the proper content, all of your posting and updating is nothing more than thrashing. You need to focus your energies to get the most of your online presence.
Here are four tips to help you make the most of your username:
1. Get a website and use it. As Benn Rosales points out on AgentGenius, if you have no site of your own, tweeting and posting on Facebook is a great lesson in a snake eating its tail. You need a home on the Web. Besides, what happens when Facebook goes the way of MySpace and the only way you can communicate with your customers is through a website that you have no control over?
2. Fill it with quality and say something. You might have a website. It might even be filled with lots of content, pretty pictures, and plenty of testimonials. But it’s all focused on you; about how you are #1 in your region and how great you are. Here’s the thing: your clients don’t care about this type of information. They want to be able to find listings, get news about the area, and maybe learn a thing or two about the real estate process.
3. Have a conversation and patience. You will not be the number one site on Google ten minutes after creating your site. Nor would you want to be. A good site grows organically, and good growth happens gradually. Your site should allow clients the ability to converse with you, as a human being. This happens with a one-on-one basis, not by blaring out your ideas to no one in particular on Facebook or Twitter.
4. Keep a blog and maintain it. Blogs are hard work; they need to be updated regularly and maintained to keep their relevance. But they are worth it. It may be cumbersome at first, but think of it not as a chore, but as an opportunity. Having a blog provides an opportunity to inform your readers. Become the expert of your area. Write a review of a local restaurant or a neighborhood’s nightlife. Discuss the latest changes to FHA laws and make them understandable to your average readers. Inform and engage—if you have comments, reply to them.
As Seinfeld famously pointed out, anyone can just take a reservation; it’s the holding of the reservation that’s important. Similarly, anyone can have a Facebook account, a Twitter account, or even a Web page, but it’s what you fill it with that’s important.
Look around: there are a lot of empty, insincere websites out there. Make sure you’re not adding to the noise and that there is something of value beneath the shiny pixels. Your clients will appreciate it and your Web presence will have a face to go with along your Facebook profile.
Source: RISMedia
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
NAR wants FICO credit scoring model revised
The 1.1-million-member National Association of Realtors (NAR) is calling on Fair Isaac Corp., developer of the FICO score, to take immediate action to mitigate the negative impact on consumers when banks suddenly cancel or reduce credit lines to non-delinquent customers.
These borrowers may suddenly find themselves unable to qualify for the best interest rates and could have difficulty purchasing a home or selling an existing one. In a bold policy move, NAR is demanding that Fair Isaac “amend its formulas to avoid harming consumers whose utilization rates increase because their available lines of credit” are slashed despite a history of timely payments.
NAR wants FICO to either disregard the utilization rate altogether for these consumers or tabulate the score as if the credit max had not been lowered.
Tom Salomone, broker-owner of Coral Springs, Fla.-based Real Estate II and president of Florida Realtors in 2003, said it’s undisputable that credit card and home equity line reductions are undermining deals and arbitrarily raising users’ interest rates. He said in an interview that he witnessed many scenarios where homebuyers lost as many 30 points on FICO scores “but had done nothing wrong – the banks just lowered their lines.”
Salomone says that the inability of FICO’s software to differentiate between innocent victims and people whose behavior genuinely merits reductions demonstrates that “FICO’s model is archaic.”
Source: Los Angeles Times (11/21/10) Harney, Kenneth R.
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
These borrowers may suddenly find themselves unable to qualify for the best interest rates and could have difficulty purchasing a home or selling an existing one. In a bold policy move, NAR is demanding that Fair Isaac “amend its formulas to avoid harming consumers whose utilization rates increase because their available lines of credit” are slashed despite a history of timely payments.
NAR wants FICO to either disregard the utilization rate altogether for these consumers or tabulate the score as if the credit max had not been lowered.
Tom Salomone, broker-owner of Coral Springs, Fla.-based Real Estate II and president of Florida Realtors in 2003, said it’s undisputable that credit card and home equity line reductions are undermining deals and arbitrarily raising users’ interest rates. He said in an interview that he witnessed many scenarios where homebuyers lost as many 30 points on FICO scores “but had done nothing wrong – the banks just lowered their lines.”
Salomone says that the inability of FICO’s software to differentiate between innocent victims and people whose behavior genuinely merits reductions demonstrates that “FICO’s model is archaic.”
Source: Los Angeles Times (11/21/10) Harney, Kenneth R.
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
Solving the content problem
Real estate professionals often complain that they have no time to create website content; but new content is important for placing high in search engine rankings, attracting new visitors to the site and prompting regular visitors to keep coming back.
While new listings attract repeat visitors, fresh content shows first-time visitors that agents are actively engaged in the local real estate market – and encourages visitors to actually call the agent rather than simply search for properties.
If agents lack the time necessary to create fresh content, they should hire someone to produce it for them. Those considering content services should ensure their business goals will be met, whether they involve blogging for search-engine optimization or increased engagement.
A person hired to write content should have a good grasp of grammar, use spell-check, understand SEO and the web platform in use, and be interested in the topics that generate traffic.
Source: Inman News (11/23/10) Dewald, Gahlord
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
While new listings attract repeat visitors, fresh content shows first-time visitors that agents are actively engaged in the local real estate market – and encourages visitors to actually call the agent rather than simply search for properties.
If agents lack the time necessary to create fresh content, they should hire someone to produce it for them. Those considering content services should ensure their business goals will be met, whether they involve blogging for search-engine optimization or increased engagement.
A person hired to write content should have a good grasp of grammar, use spell-check, understand SEO and the web platform in use, and be interested in the topics that generate traffic.
Source: Inman News (11/23/10) Dewald, Gahlord
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
FTC is on the attack against relief scams
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week announced new rules that prevent mortgage foreclosure rescue firms and loan modification services from collecting fees until homeowners have a written offer from their lenders that’s acceptable.
“Peddlers of so-called mortgage relief services have taken hundreds of millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of homeowners without ever delivering results,” FTC chair Jon Leibowitz says. “By banning providers of these services from collecting fees until the customer is satisfied with the results, this rule will protect consumers from being victimized by these scams.”
The new rules also require that companies disclose that:
• They are not associated with the government, and their services have not been approved by the government or the consumer’s lender.
• The lender may not agree to change the consumer’s loan.
• If companies tell consumers to stop paying their mortgage, they must also tell them that they could lose their home and damage their credit rating.
Source: Federal Trade Commission (11/19/2010)
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
“Peddlers of so-called mortgage relief services have taken hundreds of millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of homeowners without ever delivering results,” FTC chair Jon Leibowitz says. “By banning providers of these services from collecting fees until the customer is satisfied with the results, this rule will protect consumers from being victimized by these scams.”
The new rules also require that companies disclose that:
• They are not associated with the government, and their services have not been approved by the government or the consumer’s lender.
• The lender may not agree to change the consumer’s loan.
• If companies tell consumers to stop paying their mortgage, they must also tell them that they could lose their home and damage their credit rating.
Source: Federal Trade Commission (11/19/2010)
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
Condo groups facing unpaid dues push for foreclosures
In Florida, a lawyer representing condo associations is taking a new approach with mortgage lenders in order to prevent the associations from being saddled with unpaid dues while lenders put off foreclosure because they do not want to be responsible for those costs. The attorney is giving banks two choices: foreclose now or have the mortgage terminated, a process also known as reverse foreclosure.
When an owner falls behind on condo fees, associations can file a lien against the unit, demand the balance of the yearly assessment or foreclose; but the latter option generally means that they own the unit and likely will be unable to sell it because the mortgage balance is greater than the unit’s value. However, the mortgage lender often doesn’t want to foreclose in these cases because it will then become responsible for the condo fees, real estate taxes and insurance.
Ben Solomon, an attorney with the Association Law Group, recently filed suit against Citibank after the association foreclosed on an owner who was delinquent on her condo fees. The lawsuit cited a “restraint on alienation,” meaning that the outstanding first mortgage and the fact that the mortgage balance was greater than the fair market value of the unit impeded the unit’s sale.
Citigroup ultimately released the mortgage so the association could sell the unit for whatever price it could fetch on the open market, with the new owner taking over the condo fees and real estate taxes.
Source: Washington Post (11/20/10) P. E1; Kass, Benny L.
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
When an owner falls behind on condo fees, associations can file a lien against the unit, demand the balance of the yearly assessment or foreclose; but the latter option generally means that they own the unit and likely will be unable to sell it because the mortgage balance is greater than the unit’s value. However, the mortgage lender often doesn’t want to foreclose in these cases because it will then become responsible for the condo fees, real estate taxes and insurance.
Ben Solomon, an attorney with the Association Law Group, recently filed suit against Citibank after the association foreclosed on an owner who was delinquent on her condo fees. The lawsuit cited a “restraint on alienation,” meaning that the outstanding first mortgage and the fact that the mortgage balance was greater than the fair market value of the unit impeded the unit’s sale.
Citigroup ultimately released the mortgage so the association could sell the unit for whatever price it could fetch on the open market, with the new owner taking over the condo fees and real estate taxes.
Source: Washington Post (11/20/10) P. E1; Kass, Benny L.
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Buy and hold becomes mantra for commercial real estate
With more capital available and increased demand for less volatile investments, institutional-level commercial property prices are on an upward trend, according to the CCIM Institute and the Real Estate Research Corporation (RERC). While institutional investors continue to buy or hold commercial real estate, the recommendation to sell has been steadily increasing over the last 12 months.
“Though much uncertainty remains in the overall economy, transaction trends for commercial real estate continue to improve,” says Frank Simpson, CCIM, the 2011 president of the CCIM Institute. “The challenge for investors remains finding the right properties at the right price with the best return potential.”
CCIM and RERC caution that the commercial real estate market is increasingly divided, with some historically high prices being paid for institutional properties in top-tier markets, while other markets are seeing little or no transaction activity other than distressed property sales.
“The good news is the institutional markets are typically a leading indicator … and we expect to see additional activity in more of these markets over time,” says Ken Riggs, CCIM, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Real Estate Research Corporation and the CCIM Institute’s chief real estate economist. “The gap between bid-ask is still too wide in many cases, and until buyers and sellers come closer together, actual transactions will remain sparse.”
RERC’s analysis of third quarter transactions shows significantly greater total volume on a 12-month trailing basis, with the hotel sector showing the largest increase at nearly 50 percent. The retail sector volume increased the least at 15 percent. Compared to previous quarters, there was a steady increase in volume of sales greater than $5 million for all property sectors. However, transaction activity of less than $5 million remains flat.
In terms of confidence levels of CCIM Institute members, the apartment sector continues to receive the highest investment conditions rating – a 6.0 on a scale of 1 to 10. Apartments easily outscored the industrial sector, which received a rating of 4.5. Investment conditions ratings for the retail and hotel sectors both declined to 3.9, indicating their general weakness, while offices were lowest at 3.8.
The apartment and industrial sectors were the only property types whose ratings increased during the third quarter.
Source: Florida Realtors®
“Though much uncertainty remains in the overall economy, transaction trends for commercial real estate continue to improve,” says Frank Simpson, CCIM, the 2011 president of the CCIM Institute. “The challenge for investors remains finding the right properties at the right price with the best return potential.”
CCIM and RERC caution that the commercial real estate market is increasingly divided, with some historically high prices being paid for institutional properties in top-tier markets, while other markets are seeing little or no transaction activity other than distressed property sales.
“The good news is the institutional markets are typically a leading indicator … and we expect to see additional activity in more of these markets over time,” says Ken Riggs, CCIM, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Real Estate Research Corporation and the CCIM Institute’s chief real estate economist. “The gap between bid-ask is still too wide in many cases, and until buyers and sellers come closer together, actual transactions will remain sparse.”
RERC’s analysis of third quarter transactions shows significantly greater total volume on a 12-month trailing basis, with the hotel sector showing the largest increase at nearly 50 percent. The retail sector volume increased the least at 15 percent. Compared to previous quarters, there was a steady increase in volume of sales greater than $5 million for all property sectors. However, transaction activity of less than $5 million remains flat.
In terms of confidence levels of CCIM Institute members, the apartment sector continues to receive the highest investment conditions rating – a 6.0 on a scale of 1 to 10. Apartments easily outscored the industrial sector, which received a rating of 4.5. Investment conditions ratings for the retail and hotel sectors both declined to 3.9, indicating their general weakness, while offices were lowest at 3.8.
The apartment and industrial sectors were the only property types whose ratings increased during the third quarter.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Economists forecasting 1M new Fla. jobs in 7 years
Florida will gain at least a million new jobs over the next seven years, which is 300,000 more than promised by Governor-elect Rick Scott without the tax cuts and other changes he’s seeking, state economists predicted Monday.
While their long-term forecast remained rosy, the economists from the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist’s office were gloomier about the immediate future than in July when they last updated their economic estimate.
They now are forecasting unemployment rates will remain at or near 11.8 percent and the housing market will stay depressed for longer than anticipated. That’s expected to reduce state revenues, which may widen a $2.5 billion budget gap earlier predicted for the next budget year.
The outlook is much more optimistic beyond the next couple years. The state now has about 7.2 million jobs, but that’s expected to increase to at least 7.7 million by the 2013-14 fiscal year and to nearly 8.3 million seven years from now in 2017-18.
The economists foresee a rebound to pre-recession prosperity, but it’s going to take a bit longer.
“Our belief is that there is nothing that has changed about Florida, its attraction to other states and other countries and that we’re slowly heading back to that same pace,” said Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research. “Over the long run there’s still significant growth in our forecast.”
The job growth is expected to come from that economic rebound even if the state does nothing more to stimulate employment.
Scott, though, has proposed property and corporate income tax cuts, state budget reductions and the repeal of government regulations to reach his more modest 700,000-job goal.
A spokesman for the Republican governor-elect did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The economists’ new forecast actually calls for slightly fewer jobs than the 8.32 million they had predicted in July for 2017-18.
They also said the unemployment rate will remain about 11.8 percent through the first quarter of 2011 before dropping to 11.6 percent. That’s a quarter later than previously forecast. As before, they still expect the jobless rate to finally drop below 10 percent in the third quarter of 2012. It’s expected to continue falling until it reaches 5.5 percent in 2019-20.
The state outlook is based on a national forecast the economists made last week except for the housing market, which is worse in Florida due in part to a high foreclosure rate that keeps dumping more homes on the market.
“We are flat out No. 1 in terms of the shadow inventory we need to get rid of,” Baker said.
The state forecast will serve as the basis for a general revenue estimate due next month for use in Scott’s first budget request to lawmakers early next year.
The revenue estimate doesn’t include potential tax losses from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Baker said that won’t be factored in until some time after Scott’s Jan. 4 inauguration.
Source: The Associated Press, Bill Kaczor.
While their long-term forecast remained rosy, the economists from the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist’s office were gloomier about the immediate future than in July when they last updated their economic estimate.
They now are forecasting unemployment rates will remain at or near 11.8 percent and the housing market will stay depressed for longer than anticipated. That’s expected to reduce state revenues, which may widen a $2.5 billion budget gap earlier predicted for the next budget year.
The outlook is much more optimistic beyond the next couple years. The state now has about 7.2 million jobs, but that’s expected to increase to at least 7.7 million by the 2013-14 fiscal year and to nearly 8.3 million seven years from now in 2017-18.
The economists foresee a rebound to pre-recession prosperity, but it’s going to take a bit longer.
“Our belief is that there is nothing that has changed about Florida, its attraction to other states and other countries and that we’re slowly heading back to that same pace,” said Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research. “Over the long run there’s still significant growth in our forecast.”
The job growth is expected to come from that economic rebound even if the state does nothing more to stimulate employment.
Scott, though, has proposed property and corporate income tax cuts, state budget reductions and the repeal of government regulations to reach his more modest 700,000-job goal.
A spokesman for the Republican governor-elect did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The economists’ new forecast actually calls for slightly fewer jobs than the 8.32 million they had predicted in July for 2017-18.
They also said the unemployment rate will remain about 11.8 percent through the first quarter of 2011 before dropping to 11.6 percent. That’s a quarter later than previously forecast. As before, they still expect the jobless rate to finally drop below 10 percent in the third quarter of 2012. It’s expected to continue falling until it reaches 5.5 percent in 2019-20.
The state outlook is based on a national forecast the economists made last week except for the housing market, which is worse in Florida due in part to a high foreclosure rate that keeps dumping more homes on the market.
“We are flat out No. 1 in terms of the shadow inventory we need to get rid of,” Baker said.
The state forecast will serve as the basis for a general revenue estimate due next month for use in Scott’s first budget request to lawmakers early next year.
The revenue estimate doesn’t include potential tax losses from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Baker said that won’t be factored in until some time after Scott’s Jan. 4 inauguration.
Source: The Associated Press, Bill Kaczor.
Economic factors impact Florida’s housing market in October
Statewide year-to-date existing home sales in Florida showed positive momentum in October: 143,398 single-family existing homes sold for a 7 percent increase over the same period a year ago, though uncertainty over job growth, restrictive credit and foreclosure issues had a dampening effect on housing activity last month, according to industry analysts. The latest housing data released by Florida Realtors® also reported a 33 percent rise in statewide year-to-date condominium sales compared to a year ago, with a total of 59,966 units sold.
In the latest industry outlook from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said several factors are slowing the housing market’s recovery, including the recent foreclosure moratorium. “Nonetheless, there appears to be a pent-up demand that eventually will be unleashed as banks resolve their issues with foreclosures and the labor market improves,” he said. “However, tight credit and appraisals coming in below a negotiated price continue to constrain the market.” Yun called for a gradual rise in home sales as buyers respond to historically low mortgage interest rates and favorable affordability conditions.
A total of 5,147 existing condos sold statewide in October compared to 5,398 units sold during the same month a year earlier for a decrease of 5 percent. Nine of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported higher existing condo sales last month, according to Florida Realtors. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $82,400; in October 2009 it was $105,200 for a 22 percent decrease. The national median existing condo price was $165,400 in September, according to NAR.
Meanwhile, in the year-to-year comparison for existing home sales, a total of 11,888 single-family existing homes sold statewide last month compared to 14,980 homes sold in October 2009 for a decrease of 21 percent. Florida’s median existing-home sales price in October was $136,600; a year earlier, it was $140,900 for a 3 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.
The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in September was $172,600, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, NAR reported. In California, the statewide median resales price was $309,900 in September; in Massachusetts, it was $295,000; in Maryland, it was $243,134; and in New York, it was $229,102.
In October, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.23 percent, significantly lower than the 4.95 percent average during the same month a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac. Florida Realtors’ sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.
Source: Florida Realtors®
In the latest industry outlook from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said several factors are slowing the housing market’s recovery, including the recent foreclosure moratorium. “Nonetheless, there appears to be a pent-up demand that eventually will be unleashed as banks resolve their issues with foreclosures and the labor market improves,” he said. “However, tight credit and appraisals coming in below a negotiated price continue to constrain the market.” Yun called for a gradual rise in home sales as buyers respond to historically low mortgage interest rates and favorable affordability conditions.
A total of 5,147 existing condos sold statewide in October compared to 5,398 units sold during the same month a year earlier for a decrease of 5 percent. Nine of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported higher existing condo sales last month, according to Florida Realtors. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $82,400; in October 2009 it was $105,200 for a 22 percent decrease. The national median existing condo price was $165,400 in September, according to NAR.
Meanwhile, in the year-to-year comparison for existing home sales, a total of 11,888 single-family existing homes sold statewide last month compared to 14,980 homes sold in October 2009 for a decrease of 21 percent. Florida’s median existing-home sales price in October was $136,600; a year earlier, it was $140,900 for a 3 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.
The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in September was $172,600, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, NAR reported. In California, the statewide median resales price was $309,900 in September; in Massachusetts, it was $295,000; in Maryland, it was $243,134; and in New York, it was $229,102.
In October, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.23 percent, significantly lower than the 4.95 percent average during the same month a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac. Florida Realtors’ sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Use earmark money for homebuyer tax credit?
Money saved by eliminating congressional earmarks should be redirected to re-establish the Homebuyers Tax Credit for another boost in home sales, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said Monday.
The program last spring provided an $8,000 tax credit for qualified first-time homebuyers and a $6,500 credit for repeat homebuyers. A lackluster housing market is generally blamed for much of Florida’s economic malaise, with the critical construction industry hobbled by the downturn in the market.
The tax credit was widely credited with the six percent jump in home sales – and the 42 percent increase in new home sales – that the country saw while it was in effect. The tax credit expired earlier this year, but Republicans in Congress are pushing for a ban on earmarks in the budget, which could free up money to restore it, Nelson said in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.
Restoring the tax credit would mean jobs selling, financing, and building homes and all the things that go in homes, Nelson said, adding that he’ll file legislation to reinstate the credit for 2011.
“But, it will carry a price tag,” Nelson said. “If the Senate’s going to vote to ban so-called earmarks, which you’ve probably heard much about, then I think we should take the money that would otherwise be spent on lawmakers’ projects and use it to pay for the homebuyer tax credit. …If my colleagues in Washington are serious about banning earmarks, instead let’s put the money into the pockets of homebuyers.”
Source: News Service of Florida
The program last spring provided an $8,000 tax credit for qualified first-time homebuyers and a $6,500 credit for repeat homebuyers. A lackluster housing market is generally blamed for much of Florida’s economic malaise, with the critical construction industry hobbled by the downturn in the market.
The tax credit was widely credited with the six percent jump in home sales – and the 42 percent increase in new home sales – that the country saw while it was in effect. The tax credit expired earlier this year, but Republicans in Congress are pushing for a ban on earmarks in the budget, which could free up money to restore it, Nelson said in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.
Restoring the tax credit would mean jobs selling, financing, and building homes and all the things that go in homes, Nelson said, adding that he’ll file legislation to reinstate the credit for 2011.
“But, it will carry a price tag,” Nelson said. “If the Senate’s going to vote to ban so-called earmarks, which you’ve probably heard much about, then I think we should take the money that would otherwise be spent on lawmakers’ projects and use it to pay for the homebuyer tax credit. …If my colleagues in Washington are serious about banning earmarks, instead let’s put the money into the pockets of homebuyers.”
Source: News Service of Florida
Where fewer foreclosures are now bad for business
Across the nation, troubled homeowners have cheered the news that some banks are slowing the foreclosure process to review questionable documents. Then there are places like Lee County, Fla., where not everyone is applauding.
Foreclosures became so common here that they spawned a cottage industry. Real estate agents had homes to sell, landscapers and plumbers had work to do, and furniture stores and restaurants benefited, too.
So in October, when some big banks suspended foreclosures in states like Florida where lenders need a judge’s approval to foreclose, some local businesses became alarmed. Foreclosures had become good for business.
The situation created a Catch-22 for Lee County. Hundreds of homes were seized a month, some possibly with flawed foreclosure documents. A slowing of foreclosures helps guard against wrongful evictions. Yet until the resale of foreclosed homes picks up, many local businesses may struggle.
Jason Ruggles, a foreman for B. Perez Landscaping in the Lee County city of Fort Myers, said he has cleaned and cultivated greenery at only a handful of foreclosed homes for banks and new owners in the past month. Without a pipeline of foreclosed homes with new owners, business has all but halted.
“Now, we have to search for work,” he said. “Sometimes we have to underbid for a job, and we’re doing fliers now. We don’t like to look needy, but we have to do something.”
In other places clobbered by the real estate bust – Las Vegas, parts of Arizona – foreclosure sales have become a rare bright spot in otherwise bleak economies. Now, as the pace of foreclosures slows, many local economies could, too.
In October, the number of U.S. homes repossessed by lenders fell 9 percent - the sharpest monthly drop this year, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
The slowdown occurred as lenders suspended tens of thousands of foreclosures after allegations that bank employees signed but didn’t read foreclosure paperwork. In Lee County, foreclosure filings last month numbered 565, the fewest in any month since 2007.
Some big lenders say they’re resuming foreclosures, though at a more measured pace, to review documents more closely.
One, Bank of America, has restarted the foreclosure process in about half the country, including Florida, though its nationwide halt in foreclosure home sales remains in place. Another, Ally Financial’s GMAC unit, is resuming some foreclosure actions, too.
The number of homes lost to foreclosure should eventually begin rising again. But with some large lenders like Bank of America halting foreclosure sales, purchases will remain sluggish. And attorneys general in Florida and other states argue that the systems the banks used to process foreclosures likely remain flawed. Their investigations could further slow the pace of foreclosures.
Peter Murphy, a Florida real estate consultant, is among those who worry about a slowdown in foreclosures in areas like Lee County. He argues that keeping foreclosures going, and thereby clearing a vast supply of vacant homes, is necessary to stabilize the local real estate market.
“We are not going to see any kind of recovery until this mess resolves,” Murphy said.
Consider how the local economy depends on people like Gene Richards of Burlington, Vt., who wants to invest in a $30,000 foreclosed condo in Lee County. Richards is still waiting for the foreclosure sale to be approved.
If he and other would-be buyers of foreclosed homes could complete their purchases, they could send money flowing through Lee County. Richards planned, for example, to spend thousands on renovations. That money would have helped support the jobs of a plumber, electrician and carpet installer.
He also intended to buy new beds and sofas at area stores. For now, those retailers won’t get that money. Neither will the management company that would benefit from his plan to rent the condo to seasonal residents – people who would shop at stores and eat in restaurants in Lee County.
Richards says he isn’t sure why the lender has delayed the sale. He says he’s received scant information about the problem. But if the situation isn’t resolved soon, he says he may dump the deal and find another property to buy.
“The domino effect is huge,” said Marc Joseph, a real estate agent who used to run bus and boat tours of foreclosed homes – until the document crisis halted them. “It’s going to hurt every trade business who would potentially make money off that foreclosed home.”
Joseph worries that a slowdown in foreclosures means a smaller supply of homes to show. And with the upcoming “snowbird” season, when retirees come South for the winter, Richards wants to give potential buyers ample choices.
Flanked by the Gulf of Mexico’s sands on one side and southwest Florida swampland on the other, Lee County is home to 440,000 people. It grew boundlessly over the past 20 years, driven by housing developments and fueled by the national real estate mania. But Lee County had no growth industry to speak of. Tourism and construction mainly drove the economy.
Then the housing bust upended everything. Lee County had the highest proportion of homeowners in default in Florida. Even now, “For Sale” signs crowd streets lined with boarded-up stucco homes. Furniture, dumped after evictions, lies curbside.
Lee was the first county to implement Florida’s so-called “rocket docket”: a daily court hearing to clear the backlog of foreclosure cases. Judges were known to plow through hundreds of cases a day, to the consternation of defense attorneys and homeowners.
“There’s a lot of mistakes being made and a lot of shortcuts being taken,” said Kevin Jursinski, a homeowners’ lawyer in Fort Myers. “There are 100 to 400 cases in front of the same judge in the same day. That’s a system that really creates a lot of strain. How can you read those files?”
Across Florida in September, nearly 373,000 homes were in some state of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac. It was the nation’s second-highest rate, behind Nevada.
Charlie Green, the Lee County clerk of court, is still waiting to see how the freeze will affect both his office and the county in general. Green said banks are still halting foreclosure sales. More than a third are being canceled each day, he said.
Overall, circuit civil case filings – and fees banks pay to sell foreclosed homes – are down. Green said he had to lay off three temporary workers and ask regular employees to start using their vacation before the end of the year.
“If this continues, we will respond by contracting again and letting more temps go,” he said. “We’re not moving the number of properties through. We don’t have the caseload that we just had three months ago.”
Source: The Associated Press, Tamara Lush (Associated Press). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Foreclosures became so common here that they spawned a cottage industry. Real estate agents had homes to sell, landscapers and plumbers had work to do, and furniture stores and restaurants benefited, too.
So in October, when some big banks suspended foreclosures in states like Florida where lenders need a judge’s approval to foreclose, some local businesses became alarmed. Foreclosures had become good for business.
The situation created a Catch-22 for Lee County. Hundreds of homes were seized a month, some possibly with flawed foreclosure documents. A slowing of foreclosures helps guard against wrongful evictions. Yet until the resale of foreclosed homes picks up, many local businesses may struggle.
Jason Ruggles, a foreman for B. Perez Landscaping in the Lee County city of Fort Myers, said he has cleaned and cultivated greenery at only a handful of foreclosed homes for banks and new owners in the past month. Without a pipeline of foreclosed homes with new owners, business has all but halted.
“Now, we have to search for work,” he said. “Sometimes we have to underbid for a job, and we’re doing fliers now. We don’t like to look needy, but we have to do something.”
In other places clobbered by the real estate bust – Las Vegas, parts of Arizona – foreclosure sales have become a rare bright spot in otherwise bleak economies. Now, as the pace of foreclosures slows, many local economies could, too.
In October, the number of U.S. homes repossessed by lenders fell 9 percent - the sharpest monthly drop this year, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
The slowdown occurred as lenders suspended tens of thousands of foreclosures after allegations that bank employees signed but didn’t read foreclosure paperwork. In Lee County, foreclosure filings last month numbered 565, the fewest in any month since 2007.
Some big lenders say they’re resuming foreclosures, though at a more measured pace, to review documents more closely.
One, Bank of America, has restarted the foreclosure process in about half the country, including Florida, though its nationwide halt in foreclosure home sales remains in place. Another, Ally Financial’s GMAC unit, is resuming some foreclosure actions, too.
The number of homes lost to foreclosure should eventually begin rising again. But with some large lenders like Bank of America halting foreclosure sales, purchases will remain sluggish. And attorneys general in Florida and other states argue that the systems the banks used to process foreclosures likely remain flawed. Their investigations could further slow the pace of foreclosures.
Peter Murphy, a Florida real estate consultant, is among those who worry about a slowdown in foreclosures in areas like Lee County. He argues that keeping foreclosures going, and thereby clearing a vast supply of vacant homes, is necessary to stabilize the local real estate market.
“We are not going to see any kind of recovery until this mess resolves,” Murphy said.
Consider how the local economy depends on people like Gene Richards of Burlington, Vt., who wants to invest in a $30,000 foreclosed condo in Lee County. Richards is still waiting for the foreclosure sale to be approved.
If he and other would-be buyers of foreclosed homes could complete their purchases, they could send money flowing through Lee County. Richards planned, for example, to spend thousands on renovations. That money would have helped support the jobs of a plumber, electrician and carpet installer.
He also intended to buy new beds and sofas at area stores. For now, those retailers won’t get that money. Neither will the management company that would benefit from his plan to rent the condo to seasonal residents – people who would shop at stores and eat in restaurants in Lee County.
Richards says he isn’t sure why the lender has delayed the sale. He says he’s received scant information about the problem. But if the situation isn’t resolved soon, he says he may dump the deal and find another property to buy.
“The domino effect is huge,” said Marc Joseph, a real estate agent who used to run bus and boat tours of foreclosed homes – until the document crisis halted them. “It’s going to hurt every trade business who would potentially make money off that foreclosed home.”
Joseph worries that a slowdown in foreclosures means a smaller supply of homes to show. And with the upcoming “snowbird” season, when retirees come South for the winter, Richards wants to give potential buyers ample choices.
Flanked by the Gulf of Mexico’s sands on one side and southwest Florida swampland on the other, Lee County is home to 440,000 people. It grew boundlessly over the past 20 years, driven by housing developments and fueled by the national real estate mania. But Lee County had no growth industry to speak of. Tourism and construction mainly drove the economy.
Then the housing bust upended everything. Lee County had the highest proportion of homeowners in default in Florida. Even now, “For Sale” signs crowd streets lined with boarded-up stucco homes. Furniture, dumped after evictions, lies curbside.
Lee was the first county to implement Florida’s so-called “rocket docket”: a daily court hearing to clear the backlog of foreclosure cases. Judges were known to plow through hundreds of cases a day, to the consternation of defense attorneys and homeowners.
“There’s a lot of mistakes being made and a lot of shortcuts being taken,” said Kevin Jursinski, a homeowners’ lawyer in Fort Myers. “There are 100 to 400 cases in front of the same judge in the same day. That’s a system that really creates a lot of strain. How can you read those files?”
Across Florida in September, nearly 373,000 homes were in some state of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac. It was the nation’s second-highest rate, behind Nevada.
Charlie Green, the Lee County clerk of court, is still waiting to see how the freeze will affect both his office and the county in general. Green said banks are still halting foreclosure sales. More than a third are being canceled each day, he said.
Overall, circuit civil case filings – and fees banks pay to sell foreclosed homes – are down. Green said he had to lay off three temporary workers and ask regular employees to start using their vacation before the end of the year.
“If this continues, we will respond by contracting again and letting more temps go,” he said. “We’re not moving the number of properties through. We don’t have the caseload that we just had three months ago.”
Source: The Associated Press, Tamara Lush (Associated Press). All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
HUD Launches New One-Stop Website for Economic and Housing Data
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has unveiled a new website (hud.gov/datamap) that consolidates a wide variety of economic and housing market data at the regional, state, metropolitan area and county levels.
Using data from the Census Bureau, Labor Department, state and local governments, housing industry sources, as well as HUD’s own field economists, the new website employs interactive maps that allow visitors to access a variety of reports—from a region-wide look at employment and housing activity to individual county-level figures on population trends, rental activity and vacancy rates.
“This is a powerful new tool that’s easy to use and offers the public a remarkable look at their local economic and housing markets,” said Dr. Raphael Bostic, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “Current and reliable data shouldn’t be hard to come by. This is precisely why this site will be so helpful to state and local leaders, developers, the real estate industry, and the general public who need the latest available data on their markets.”
HUD’s new website displays an interactive map of the U.S. allowing visitors an intuitive way to seek data in a number of areas of geography – from an entire region down to a particular county. In particular, the portal offers the following reports:
“Market at a Glance” reports contain economic and housing market data trends for every metropolitan area and county nationwide with employment data updated on a monthly basis. Employment data is provided from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and housing data is derived from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Some adjustments are made by HUD field economists based on regional information. The data are expected to be released on a monthly basis for most of the metropolitan areas and counties. Eventually these reports will become “live” documents enabling field economists to include analysis as they complete more in-depth research for specific areas and monitor local conditions.
“Regional Housing Market Profiles” are based on the quarterly U.S. Housing Market Conditions report and include non-farm employment, population changes, and building activity. These regional profiles also focus on the most recent housing rental and sales activity for the past two years. In addition, approximately 10-12 individual metropolitan areas are specifically profiled each quarter to provide these same data down to the metro area level.
“Regional Narratives” are broad overviews of economic and housing market trends within 10 regions of the U.S. These narratives are based on information obtained by HUD economists from state and local governments, from housing industry sources, and from their ongoing investigations of housing market conditions
“Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis” – Periodically, HUD field economists focus on particular metropolitan housing markets to produce counts and estimates of employment, population, households, and housing inventory. Each housing market analysis considers changes in the economic, demographic, and housing inventory characteristics during three periods: from 1990 to 2000; from 2000 to the as-of date of the analysis; and from the as-of date to up three years in the future.
Source: RISMedia
Using data from the Census Bureau, Labor Department, state and local governments, housing industry sources, as well as HUD’s own field economists, the new website employs interactive maps that allow visitors to access a variety of reports—from a region-wide look at employment and housing activity to individual county-level figures on population trends, rental activity and vacancy rates.
“This is a powerful new tool that’s easy to use and offers the public a remarkable look at their local economic and housing markets,” said Dr. Raphael Bostic, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “Current and reliable data shouldn’t be hard to come by. This is precisely why this site will be so helpful to state and local leaders, developers, the real estate industry, and the general public who need the latest available data on their markets.”
HUD’s new website displays an interactive map of the U.S. allowing visitors an intuitive way to seek data in a number of areas of geography – from an entire region down to a particular county. In particular, the portal offers the following reports:
“Market at a Glance” reports contain economic and housing market data trends for every metropolitan area and county nationwide with employment data updated on a monthly basis. Employment data is provided from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and housing data is derived from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Some adjustments are made by HUD field economists based on regional information. The data are expected to be released on a monthly basis for most of the metropolitan areas and counties. Eventually these reports will become “live” documents enabling field economists to include analysis as they complete more in-depth research for specific areas and monitor local conditions.
“Regional Housing Market Profiles” are based on the quarterly U.S. Housing Market Conditions report and include non-farm employment, population changes, and building activity. These regional profiles also focus on the most recent housing rental and sales activity for the past two years. In addition, approximately 10-12 individual metropolitan areas are specifically profiled each quarter to provide these same data down to the metro area level.
“Regional Narratives” are broad overviews of economic and housing market trends within 10 regions of the U.S. These narratives are based on information obtained by HUD economists from state and local governments, from housing industry sources, and from their ongoing investigations of housing market conditions
“Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis” – Periodically, HUD field economists focus on particular metropolitan housing markets to produce counts and estimates of employment, population, households, and housing inventory. Each housing market analysis considers changes in the economic, demographic, and housing inventory characteristics during three periods: from 1990 to 2000; from 2000 to the as-of date of the analysis; and from the as-of date to up three years in the future.
Source: RISMedia
Monday, November 22, 2010
8 viral marketing resolutions for 2011
1. The secret to 97 percent approval: The post-closing survey.
Many companies and agents have built reputations for excellent customer service through one simple technique: a post-closing survey. To implement this powerful tool in your business and reduce your risk of litigation, ask the following five questions:
•"What motivated you to hire me?"
•"What did I do well?"
•"What could I have done better?"
•"Do you know of anyone thinking about buying or selling a home?"
•"May I use you as a reference?"
2. Help homeowners stay in their home
One of the best ways to get people talking about your real estate services is to help distressed sellers stay in their homes.
Three ways to do this are to share the "ask for the note strategy," where the lender must produce the original note in court to proceed with a foreclosure. You could also put sellers in contact with HopeNow.com or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing counselors.
3. Help them lower their property taxes
Prices are still down in many places in the country. If this is the case in your market area, many of your past clients and members of your sphere of influence will qualify for a reduction in their property taxes. Supply them with a detailed comparable market analysis as well as the forms they need to file an appeal.
4. Do a video testimonial exchange
For your clients who have their own businesses, one of the best ways to get them saying good things about you is to say good things about them. You can post a positive review about them on Yelp.
If they have a travel-related business, you could post your review on TripAdvisor.com. You can also post your video testimonial on LinkedIn as well.
5. Community marketing
There are numerous types of word of mouth marketing. To take advantage of a community marketing approach, host a website for your local homeowners association. If you set it up as a blog site or a fan page on Facebook, you can invite owners to share important community information.
Use a toll-free call-capture number for watch groups and meeting announcements. It's also the perfect place for you to post what is going on in their local market. Over time, you no longer are a pesky Realtor. Instead, you become "Our association's Realtor."
6. Grassroots marketing
Realtors have always been engaged in fundraising for charity, collecting food for the needy, as well as working to improve the community. Grassroots marketing can include raising money for a local school, going door-to-door to conduct a coat drive, or collecting toys for a local women's shelter.
In each case, you meet people in your local community. They know you not just as a Realtor, but also as someone who contributes to your community.
7. Cause marketing
One the most widely known types of cause marketing is Habitat for Humanity. Other examples include people who raise money for medical research, who support political causes, or the environment. In each case, people are attracted to those who share their interests.
8. Buzz marketing
Buzz marketing is usually about something that is innovative or unusual that causes people to tell others about it. For example, Butch Grimes, host of "We Talk Real Estate," has a 30-foot-tall inflatable open house sign that he uses when he holds an open house.
The first time he uses it in a new neighborhood, it definitely causes a buzz. He also sends a limo to pick up his clients when they are going to the escrow to sign their final closing documents. Needless to say, his clients tell everyone they know about his services.
Viral marketing is hot for 2011, and best of all it only takes a little bit of effort to have people buzzing about how great your services are.
Source: Inman News
Many companies and agents have built reputations for excellent customer service through one simple technique: a post-closing survey. To implement this powerful tool in your business and reduce your risk of litigation, ask the following five questions:
•"What motivated you to hire me?"
•"What did I do well?"
•"What could I have done better?"
•"Do you know of anyone thinking about buying or selling a home?"
•"May I use you as a reference?"
2. Help homeowners stay in their home
One of the best ways to get people talking about your real estate services is to help distressed sellers stay in their homes.
Three ways to do this are to share the "ask for the note strategy," where the lender must produce the original note in court to proceed with a foreclosure. You could also put sellers in contact with HopeNow.com or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's housing counselors.
3. Help them lower their property taxes
Prices are still down in many places in the country. If this is the case in your market area, many of your past clients and members of your sphere of influence will qualify for a reduction in their property taxes. Supply them with a detailed comparable market analysis as well as the forms they need to file an appeal.
4. Do a video testimonial exchange
For your clients who have their own businesses, one of the best ways to get them saying good things about you is to say good things about them. You can post a positive review about them on Yelp.
If they have a travel-related business, you could post your review on TripAdvisor.com. You can also post your video testimonial on LinkedIn as well.
5. Community marketing
There are numerous types of word of mouth marketing. To take advantage of a community marketing approach, host a website for your local homeowners association. If you set it up as a blog site or a fan page on Facebook, you can invite owners to share important community information.
Use a toll-free call-capture number for watch groups and meeting announcements. It's also the perfect place for you to post what is going on in their local market. Over time, you no longer are a pesky Realtor. Instead, you become "Our association's Realtor."
6. Grassroots marketing
Realtors have always been engaged in fundraising for charity, collecting food for the needy, as well as working to improve the community. Grassroots marketing can include raising money for a local school, going door-to-door to conduct a coat drive, or collecting toys for a local women's shelter.
In each case, you meet people in your local community. They know you not just as a Realtor, but also as someone who contributes to your community.
7. Cause marketing
One the most widely known types of cause marketing is Habitat for Humanity. Other examples include people who raise money for medical research, who support political causes, or the environment. In each case, people are attracted to those who share their interests.
8. Buzz marketing
Buzz marketing is usually about something that is innovative or unusual that causes people to tell others about it. For example, Butch Grimes, host of "We Talk Real Estate," has a 30-foot-tall inflatable open house sign that he uses when he holds an open house.
The first time he uses it in a new neighborhood, it definitely causes a buzz. He also sends a limo to pick up his clients when they are going to the escrow to sign their final closing documents. Needless to say, his clients tell everyone they know about his services.
Viral marketing is hot for 2011, and best of all it only takes a little bit of effort to have people buzzing about how great your services are.
Source: Inman News
Mortgage fraud case activity tumbles
After surging in the second quarter, mortgage fraud case activity sank based on the Third Quarter 2010 Mortgage Fraud Index from Mortgage Daily. The decline appears tied to reduced federal efforts.
The Mortgage Fraud Index, which is published by MortgageDaily.com based on case activity tracked at the mortgage fraud blog FraudBlogger.com, came in at 1007 during the third quarter – down 41 percent from the second quarter. The index hasn’t been this low since the first-quarter 2008, when it stood at just 713.
The latest index reflected 151 criminal and civil cases with activity from July 1 to Sept. 30. On a dollar basis, the cases totaled $1.9 billion.
“During the previous quarter, case activity leapt as the Obama administration’s Operation Stolen Dreams focused government resources on mortgage fraud,” said MortgageDaily.com Publisher Sam Garcia. “But as the media blitz subsided, third-quarter case activity sank.”
Florida had the highest state index: 143. Still, it was an improvement from 213 during the second quarter.
The average case size jumped to $12.3 million from the second quarter’s $8.5 million. A newcomer to the top-five, Connecticut, saw its index rise to 47 from 30 three months earlier.
Top states and index rank
Florida: 143
California: 100
New York: 70
Pennsylvania: 50
Connecticut: 47
Based on the dollar amount of mortgage fraud cases, Washington’s $556 million was more than in any other state. A single case involving a former senior vice president at Pierce Commercial Bank accounted for $495 million of the state’s activity.
In North Carolina, a single case – the Waxhouse Investigation – accounted for around $42 million of activity.
Top states by amount
Washington: $555,800,000
Michigan: $247,600,000
California: $199,253,796
New York: $154,400,000
Florida: $110,333,006
North Carolina: $77,156,050
Full FraudBlogger.com Index report: http://www.mortgagedaily.com/FraudIndex.asp
Source: Florida Realtors®
The Mortgage Fraud Index, which is published by MortgageDaily.com based on case activity tracked at the mortgage fraud blog FraudBlogger.com, came in at 1007 during the third quarter – down 41 percent from the second quarter. The index hasn’t been this low since the first-quarter 2008, when it stood at just 713.
The latest index reflected 151 criminal and civil cases with activity from July 1 to Sept. 30. On a dollar basis, the cases totaled $1.9 billion.
“During the previous quarter, case activity leapt as the Obama administration’s Operation Stolen Dreams focused government resources on mortgage fraud,” said MortgageDaily.com Publisher Sam Garcia. “But as the media blitz subsided, third-quarter case activity sank.”
Florida had the highest state index: 143. Still, it was an improvement from 213 during the second quarter.
The average case size jumped to $12.3 million from the second quarter’s $8.5 million. A newcomer to the top-five, Connecticut, saw its index rise to 47 from 30 three months earlier.
Top states and index rank
Florida: 143
California: 100
New York: 70
Pennsylvania: 50
Connecticut: 47
Based on the dollar amount of mortgage fraud cases, Washington’s $556 million was more than in any other state. A single case involving a former senior vice president at Pierce Commercial Bank accounted for $495 million of the state’s activity.
In North Carolina, a single case – the Waxhouse Investigation – accounted for around $42 million of activity.
Top states by amount
Washington: $555,800,000
Michigan: $247,600,000
California: $199,253,796
New York: $154,400,000
Florida: $110,333,006
North Carolina: $77,156,050
Full FraudBlogger.com Index report: http://www.mortgagedaily.com/FraudIndex.asp
Source: Florida Realtors®
Mortgage-trading system gets aggressive defense
The financial services industry has launched an aggressive campaign on Capitol Hill to bolster the legality of the way companies have turned mortgages into securities and traded them across the globe in recent years.
The companies have opened wide their wallets for lobbying and are flying top executives to Washington for one-on-one meetings with lawmakers. They are holding briefings for key staffers, including an event last week that drew more than 60 aides. And they are blanketing Congress with white papers, memos and other documents that lay out their arguments.
The focal point of their efforts is Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, the controversial, privately run electronic database that is used by practically every lending institution and investment company to track the transfer of the ownership of mortgages as they are packaged into securities and traded at lightning speed around the globe.
But MERS does more than just track the trading of loans. In the vast majority of mortgage documents at local courts and offices across the country, it is listed as the holder of the loans. That allows the financial industry to trade mortgages as much as it wishes without spending the time and money to refile the paperwork.
The industry is seeking legislation that would effectively affirm MERS’s legality and block any bill that would call into question what MERS does. MERS has spent more than $1 million in lobbying since fall 2008, when lower courts around the country began to rule against it. But MERS had kept its name under the radar until the recent uproar over foreclosures revealed broad problems in mortgage paperwork.
If successful on Capitol Hill, the industry could in one quick swoop make all lawsuits related to MERS across the country moot and remove one of the key uncertainties dangling over the mortgage industry. On the flip side, lawmakers could create a new federal registry, effectively killing MERS’s business and forcing the industry to submit to greater oversight.
In recent years, MERS has become the target of numerous legal challenges from homeowners in foreclosure who allege that mortgage transfers made through the system are invalid because they bypass local recording laws. MERS, the lawsuits contend, does not have standing to foreclose because it is only a database and not the actual holder of the mortgage.
The liabilities could be astronomical for MERS. One lawsuit in California alone is seeking recording fees that could cost the company from $60 billion to $120 billion. But the consequences for the financial industry are even greater, as challenges to the validity of transfers done by MERS call into question the entire process of how loans were securitized and could render the 66 million mortgages in its system foreclosure-proof.
In the wake of such controversies, lobbyists for Reston-based Merscorp, which runs MERS, have been floating the idea of legislation that would establish the firm as the national registry to track the transfer of mortgages.
The MERS database “is a powerful tool that can be harnessed by the Congress and the industry to improve the mortgage finance system,” R.K. Arnold, Merscorp chief executive, told members of the Senate banking committee this week.
Tom Deutsch, deputy executive director of the American Securitization Forum, an industry group that defended the validity of MERS in a recent paper being circulated on Capitol Hill, said establishing a centralized tracking system would resolve much of the confusion resulting from the patchwork of local laws governing mortgages and their transfer.
“There’s a lot of validity in the idea of a national mortgage registry that is complete and unambiguous about legal title to loans across all 50 states,” he said in an interview.
In its paper, the forum argued that although there have been “several minority decisions” in the courts that have taken issue with MERS, “not one of these decisions has challenged MERS’ ability to act as a central system to track changes in the ownership.”
Consumer advocates say such legislation would retroactively bless all mortgage transfers made through MERS – and eliminate one of the strongest legal arguments that homeowners in foreclosure are using to challenge their cases. There’s also concern among state officials that such a bill might permanently remove some of their power over property law and place it within federal jurisdiction.
Some of the advocates are referring to the idea as the “great MERS whitewash bill.”
“Fixing MERS on a federal level to give them a free pass from complying with what we have known as the law for many years because the banks screwed up is really a bad precedent,” said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
The industry is also facing skepticism from Democrats such as Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), who is known for her strong opposition to the federal government’s bailout of Wall Street.
Kaptur plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit government-controlled mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from buying new mortgages that are in the MERS system. “It was invented by the most powerful financial players in the country while regulators were asleep at the wheel,” Kaptur said in an interview.
Kaptur is not opposed to a national system for tracking mortgages. She’s asking the Department of Housing and Urban Development to study how a federal land title system could operate in a way that would protect states’ rights. But she said there needs to be more transparency and regulatory oversight over such a system.
John Taylor, head of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said he, too, supports the idea of a national tracking system because it could force the industry to be accountable for mortgage paperwork. But he doubted whether MERS could fill this role.
“MERS was the personification of the darkest period of American finance, where Wall Street dictated to people in the real estate world the fact that they didn’t really care about underwriting standards anymore,” he said.
Lobbyists working for MERS include people who were prominent legislators or federal officials: former U.S. representative Bob Livingston and his former chief of staff, Allen Martin; John M. Duncan, assistant secretary of the Treasury for legislative affairs in the George W. Bush administration; and Arnold Havens, a former general counsel at Treasury.
MERS is also under scrutiny by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees national banks. The OCC is taking the lead in an interagency examination of MERS and the accuracy of the information in its database. The agency is also sending personnel to look at the foreclosure process at large mortgage servicers and how they use MERS.
Source: 2010 washingtonpost.com.
The companies have opened wide their wallets for lobbying and are flying top executives to Washington for one-on-one meetings with lawmakers. They are holding briefings for key staffers, including an event last week that drew more than 60 aides. And they are blanketing Congress with white papers, memos and other documents that lay out their arguments.
The focal point of their efforts is Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, or MERS, the controversial, privately run electronic database that is used by practically every lending institution and investment company to track the transfer of the ownership of mortgages as they are packaged into securities and traded at lightning speed around the globe.
But MERS does more than just track the trading of loans. In the vast majority of mortgage documents at local courts and offices across the country, it is listed as the holder of the loans. That allows the financial industry to trade mortgages as much as it wishes without spending the time and money to refile the paperwork.
The industry is seeking legislation that would effectively affirm MERS’s legality and block any bill that would call into question what MERS does. MERS has spent more than $1 million in lobbying since fall 2008, when lower courts around the country began to rule against it. But MERS had kept its name under the radar until the recent uproar over foreclosures revealed broad problems in mortgage paperwork.
If successful on Capitol Hill, the industry could in one quick swoop make all lawsuits related to MERS across the country moot and remove one of the key uncertainties dangling over the mortgage industry. On the flip side, lawmakers could create a new federal registry, effectively killing MERS’s business and forcing the industry to submit to greater oversight.
In recent years, MERS has become the target of numerous legal challenges from homeowners in foreclosure who allege that mortgage transfers made through the system are invalid because they bypass local recording laws. MERS, the lawsuits contend, does not have standing to foreclose because it is only a database and not the actual holder of the mortgage.
The liabilities could be astronomical for MERS. One lawsuit in California alone is seeking recording fees that could cost the company from $60 billion to $120 billion. But the consequences for the financial industry are even greater, as challenges to the validity of transfers done by MERS call into question the entire process of how loans were securitized and could render the 66 million mortgages in its system foreclosure-proof.
In the wake of such controversies, lobbyists for Reston-based Merscorp, which runs MERS, have been floating the idea of legislation that would establish the firm as the national registry to track the transfer of mortgages.
The MERS database “is a powerful tool that can be harnessed by the Congress and the industry to improve the mortgage finance system,” R.K. Arnold, Merscorp chief executive, told members of the Senate banking committee this week.
Tom Deutsch, deputy executive director of the American Securitization Forum, an industry group that defended the validity of MERS in a recent paper being circulated on Capitol Hill, said establishing a centralized tracking system would resolve much of the confusion resulting from the patchwork of local laws governing mortgages and their transfer.
“There’s a lot of validity in the idea of a national mortgage registry that is complete and unambiguous about legal title to loans across all 50 states,” he said in an interview.
In its paper, the forum argued that although there have been “several minority decisions” in the courts that have taken issue with MERS, “not one of these decisions has challenged MERS’ ability to act as a central system to track changes in the ownership.”
Consumer advocates say such legislation would retroactively bless all mortgage transfers made through MERS – and eliminate one of the strongest legal arguments that homeowners in foreclosure are using to challenge their cases. There’s also concern among state officials that such a bill might permanently remove some of their power over property law and place it within federal jurisdiction.
Some of the advocates are referring to the idea as the “great MERS whitewash bill.”
“Fixing MERS on a federal level to give them a free pass from complying with what we have known as the law for many years because the banks screwed up is really a bad precedent,” said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
The industry is also facing skepticism from Democrats such as Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), who is known for her strong opposition to the federal government’s bailout of Wall Street.
Kaptur plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit government-controlled mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from buying new mortgages that are in the MERS system. “It was invented by the most powerful financial players in the country while regulators were asleep at the wheel,” Kaptur said in an interview.
Kaptur is not opposed to a national system for tracking mortgages. She’s asking the Department of Housing and Urban Development to study how a federal land title system could operate in a way that would protect states’ rights. But she said there needs to be more transparency and regulatory oversight over such a system.
John Taylor, head of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said he, too, supports the idea of a national tracking system because it could force the industry to be accountable for mortgage paperwork. But he doubted whether MERS could fill this role.
“MERS was the personification of the darkest period of American finance, where Wall Street dictated to people in the real estate world the fact that they didn’t really care about underwriting standards anymore,” he said.
Lobbyists working for MERS include people who were prominent legislators or federal officials: former U.S. representative Bob Livingston and his former chief of staff, Allen Martin; John M. Duncan, assistant secretary of the Treasury for legislative affairs in the George W. Bush administration; and Arnold Havens, a former general counsel at Treasury.
MERS is also under scrutiny by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees national banks. The OCC is taking the lead in an interagency examination of MERS and the accuracy of the information in its database. The agency is also sending personnel to look at the foreclosure process at large mortgage servicers and how they use MERS.
Source: 2010 washingtonpost.com.
Frank: Single entity for loan assistance
Homeowners behind in their mortgage payments shouldn’t think that investigations into lender paperwork flaws will bail them out of their financial troubles, U.S. Rep Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said Thursday during a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing.
Frank, who is losing his seat as chair of the committee, is pushing for establishing a single entity to make decisions about homeowner loan assistance instead of allowing multiple interests to hold up the process.
“There should not be important decisions that need to be made in the private sector and no one has the authority to make them,” Frank said. “We have a tangle that is very daunting.”
Source: Associated Press, Alan Zibel (11/18/2010)
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
Frank, who is losing his seat as chair of the committee, is pushing for establishing a single entity to make decisions about homeowner loan assistance instead of allowing multiple interests to hold up the process.
“There should not be important decisions that need to be made in the private sector and no one has the authority to make them,” Frank said. “We have a tangle that is very daunting.”
Source: Associated Press, Alan Zibel (11/18/2010)
Source: INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
New fed initiatives to help foreclosures
The Department of Justice’s Access to Justice Initiative and Vice President Joe Biden announced a series of steps on Friday that the government will take to help middle class and low-income families secure their legal rights in a foreclosure. Those steps includes strengthening of foreclosure mediation programs, helping veterans secure the legal help they need, and making it easier for workers to find a qualified attorney when they believe their rights have been violated.
The announcement is the culmination of work between the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Access to Justice Initiative and federal agencies like the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and others.
“Many people’s lives can be improved without major new investments, and in fact with real savings, if we simply help them access the legal rights and benefits that are theirs,” says DOJ Senior Counselor for Access to Justice Larry Tribe.
Foreclosure mediation programs
DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative and HUD issued a joint report identifying emerging strategies for effective foreclosure mediation programs. To assist jurisdictions developing or expanding mediation programs, the report describes several features that help boost a program’s effectiveness. The report also lists existing foreclosure mediation programs that are willing to help other programs throughout the nation. View the report here: http://www.justice.gov/atj/effective-mediation-prog-strategies.pdf
HUD also announced a new training webinar that will highlight strategies and resources for avoiding foreclosure. The training – aimed at a wide variety of audiences including homeowners, housing counselors, pro bono attorneys and mediators – will include topics such as accessing housing counseling resources, finding state-specific foreclosure prevention resources, avoiding foreclosure rescue scams, and understanding federal foreclosure prevention programs.
HUD also provided guidance on the use of Community Development Block Grant and Neighborhood Stabilization Funds for housing counseling, a resource that can increase the effectiveness of foreclosure mediation programs. View the guidance here: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/pdf/housing_counseling.pdf
In addition to these efforts, NeighborWorks, a national non-profit created by Congress and funded by Congressional appropriations, will debut a foreclosure mediation workshop at the NeighborWorks Training Institute in December. More than 2,000 counselors and other nonprofit professionals are expected to attend the Training Institute. NeighborWorks is one of the largest funders of foreclosure-mitigation counseling in the nation, and is the administrator of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program.
Finally, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule and several enforcement actions to protect vulnerable homeowners from mortgage rescue fraud. View the FTC’s press release here: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/11/mars.shtm
More information about the Department of Justice’s Access to Justice Initiative can be found at: www.justice.gov/access.
Source: Florida Realtors®
The announcement is the culmination of work between the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Access to Justice Initiative and federal agencies like the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and others.
“Many people’s lives can be improved without major new investments, and in fact with real savings, if we simply help them access the legal rights and benefits that are theirs,” says DOJ Senior Counselor for Access to Justice Larry Tribe.
Foreclosure mediation programs
DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative and HUD issued a joint report identifying emerging strategies for effective foreclosure mediation programs. To assist jurisdictions developing or expanding mediation programs, the report describes several features that help boost a program’s effectiveness. The report also lists existing foreclosure mediation programs that are willing to help other programs throughout the nation. View the report here: http://www.justice.gov/atj/effective-mediation-prog-strategies.pdf
HUD also announced a new training webinar that will highlight strategies and resources for avoiding foreclosure. The training – aimed at a wide variety of audiences including homeowners, housing counselors, pro bono attorneys and mediators – will include topics such as accessing housing counseling resources, finding state-specific foreclosure prevention resources, avoiding foreclosure rescue scams, and understanding federal foreclosure prevention programs.
HUD also provided guidance on the use of Community Development Block Grant and Neighborhood Stabilization Funds for housing counseling, a resource that can increase the effectiveness of foreclosure mediation programs. View the guidance here: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/pdf/housing_counseling.pdf
In addition to these efforts, NeighborWorks, a national non-profit created by Congress and funded by Congressional appropriations, will debut a foreclosure mediation workshop at the NeighborWorks Training Institute in December. More than 2,000 counselors and other nonprofit professionals are expected to attend the Training Institute. NeighborWorks is one of the largest funders of foreclosure-mitigation counseling in the nation, and is the administrator of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program.
Finally, the Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule and several enforcement actions to protect vulnerable homeowners from mortgage rescue fraud. View the FTC’s press release here: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/11/mars.shtm
More information about the Department of Justice’s Access to Justice Initiative can be found at: www.justice.gov/access.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Want People to Read Your Blog?
Having great content is, of course, the number one reason why people will read your blog.
However, there are a number of things that will turn visitors off and have them looking elsewhere for real estate advice.
Here are seven tips for creating and designing your blog:
1. Are your colors easy on the eyes?
People are not going to stick around to read a blog that strains their eyes. Pick some easy-to-read colors, like dark gray or black text on a white or off-white background. If that is too plain, at least use dark colored text on a very light background.
You can always dress up the look by putting more color in your heading and sidebar, or add some images.
2. Is your font easy to read?
Take a good look at your font. It may be cool, but is it easy to read? Many Web designers will tell you that the best fonts for the Web are Verdana, Georgia and Lucida Grande.
3. Can people figure out your navigation?
How many times have you visited a website, only to leave because, after the front page, you couldn't figure out how to find more content.
You might think your blog is easy to navigate, but you are used to it. Ask a friend to see if they can figure it out. You might be surprised. (Especially if that friend is not very Web savvy.)
4. Does it look like spam, with ads plastered everywhere?
You should see more content than ads!
5. Do the links stand out?
On some blogs, the links are only subtly different from the rest of the text. If I have to squint to figure out if it is a link, people are not going to read it.
6. Do your pages take a long time to load?
Check your actual page load time. People will not stick around long if navigation is slow. Try to get your page to load more quickly. Maybe you have too many widgets or your images are too large. Adding width and height attributes to images makes them load faster, too.
7. Does your page look funny in other browsers?
If you have Internet Explorer already, download Firefox and test there, too. If you always use Firefox, test in Explorer. Those should be the minimum you test, but test more if you can.
Also, change your screen resolution (can be done in your Control Panel in Windows) to see how your site looks in different resolutions.
Source: RISMedia
However, there are a number of things that will turn visitors off and have them looking elsewhere for real estate advice.
Here are seven tips for creating and designing your blog:
1. Are your colors easy on the eyes?
People are not going to stick around to read a blog that strains their eyes. Pick some easy-to-read colors, like dark gray or black text on a white or off-white background. If that is too plain, at least use dark colored text on a very light background.
You can always dress up the look by putting more color in your heading and sidebar, or add some images.
2. Is your font easy to read?
Take a good look at your font. It may be cool, but is it easy to read? Many Web designers will tell you that the best fonts for the Web are Verdana, Georgia and Lucida Grande.
3. Can people figure out your navigation?
How many times have you visited a website, only to leave because, after the front page, you couldn't figure out how to find more content.
You might think your blog is easy to navigate, but you are used to it. Ask a friend to see if they can figure it out. You might be surprised. (Especially if that friend is not very Web savvy.)
4. Does it look like spam, with ads plastered everywhere?
You should see more content than ads!
5. Do the links stand out?
On some blogs, the links are only subtly different from the rest of the text. If I have to squint to figure out if it is a link, people are not going to read it.
6. Do your pages take a long time to load?
Check your actual page load time. People will not stick around long if navigation is slow. Try to get your page to load more quickly. Maybe you have too many widgets or your images are too large. Adding width and height attributes to images makes them load faster, too.
7. Does your page look funny in other browsers?
If you have Internet Explorer already, download Firefox and test there, too. If you always use Firefox, test in Explorer. Those should be the minimum you test, but test more if you can.
Also, change your screen resolution (can be done in your Control Panel in Windows) to see how your site looks in different resolutions.
Source: RISMedia
Friday, November 19, 2010
Save Money with Your Edible Garden
An edible garden featuring vegetables and herbs can save you a bundle if you keep it simple and raise plants that offer high yields.
Whether you're trying to pinch pennies on your grocery bill or just hungering to eat healthier, having your own edible garden is the answer. The beauty of tending a backyard vegetable patch is that you can pick and choose what to grow, allowing you to customize a mix that suits your family's palate-and gives you the greatest return on investment.
How much can you save?
A backyard edible garden will trim costs from your grocery bill while providing you and your family with the freshest produce possible. According to Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association (http://www.garden.org/home), a well-maintained garden can produce a half-pound of fresh vegetables for every square foot of garden space. At average market prices, that means a garden returns about $1 per square foot.
Studies conducted by W. Atlee Burpee Co. (http://www.burpee.com/), a mail-order seed company, are even more optimistic. According to Burpee, the average cost-to-benefit ratio of home-grown produce for those who have established gardens is better than 1 to 25. That means every $1 spent on seeds and supplies yields at least $25 worth of vegetables.
Even first-time gardeners will benefit. George Ball, owner of Burpee Co., says that a $10 investment in seeds for tomatoes, beans, bell peppers, lettuce, peas, and carrots, plus $80 for soil, fertilizer, and the cost of building several raised beds, can yield more than $250 worth of veggies and herbs-a substantial portion of the approximately $3,465 the average U.S. family spends on a year's worth of groceries.
For families that save the harvest, either by freezing, canning, or drying, the cost-benefit ratio climbs even higher. Martha Garway, who tends a 10x10 plot in a Providence, R.I., community garden, freezes much of her summer produce, such as okra, tomatoes, and peppers.
That summer harvest, which costs her $20 for the plot plus the cost of seeds (and she tends to save her own), enables her to "buy only meat and fish through winter-no vegetables," she says.
Top plants for great returns
For the average gardener in most regions of the country, here are some of the most cost-effective vegetables to grow, and an estimate of what you'll save over store-bought produce. These figures reflect veggies harvested for fresh eating only; if you freeze or can produce to consume beyond the harvest season, your savings will multiply.
Slicing tomato
Seedling cost: $2.00/plant
Yield: 10-15 pounds tomatoes/plant
Savings: $15-$23/plant
Bell pepper
Seedling cost: $2.00/plant
Yield: 6-8 peppers/plant
Savings: $9-$12/plant
Cucumber
Seed cost: $2.95/packet of 240 seeds
Yield: 10-15 pounds of cucumbers per plant
Savings: $5-$7.50/plant
Bush green beans
Seed cost: $2.95/packet of seeds
Yield: 2.5-3 pounds/5-foot row
Savings: $3.75-$4.50/row
Pole green beans
Seed cost: $2.95/packet of seeds
Yield: 4-5 pounds/5-foot row
Savings: $6-$7.50/row
Leaf lettuce
Seed cost: $2.00/packet of mixed lettuces
Yield: 16 oz. of salad every 3-5 days after leaves mature
Savings: $4 per week
A few vining vegetables, like squash or Malabar spinach, produce abundant yields for the price of a packet of seeds ($2.95). Winter squash types in particular are easy to cure and store, lasting well into spring and offering savings of up to $10-$15 per vine.
Herbs
Herbs offer amazing return. For $1.50, you can buy a 3-inch pot of parsley, chives, oregano, mint, or basil and harvest leaves all season long. With the perennial herbs, like oregano and mint, the harvest continues for years with little maintenance action required. Compare that to "fresh" herbs you'll get at the grocery for $3 for a 3-ounce packet.
What not to grow
Some vegetables aren't cost-effective in an edible garden. For instance, you could spend $20 for organic seed potatoes that will yield 15 pounds of spuds from a 20-foot row planting. Compare that with the average price of white potatoes in the supermarket at $1 per pound. Then again, you can't find Russian Banana fingerlings or Purple Viking potatoes at the grocer, so if you want a specialty spud, grow your own.
Other veggies that don't pay to grow are ones that are finicky, like celery or asparagus. Both are labor intensive. Onions are relatively cheap to purchase, and it can be difficult to get a large yield of good-size bulbs without a massive garden.
Try growing shallots instead, a gourmet-style onion family member that produces green tops you can harvest like chives and mild flavored bulbs that cost up to $4 a pound at the store.
How big an edible garden?
The median size of an edible garden is about 100 sq. ft., according to the National Gardening Association. For a family of four, a growing space of 200 sq. ft. should keep the family in veggies all summer long. Plan to spend 4 hours a week tending your garden, with 8-12 hours for preparing the planting area in spring, shopping for seeds and seedlings, and sowing crops.
Julie Martens is a writer with 21 years' experience in the field of gardening. Her bylines appear in magazines such as Nature's Garden, Country Gardens, and Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living. She recently moved into a renovated 1915 home and is busily working on a new garden.
Article From HouseLogic.com
Whether you're trying to pinch pennies on your grocery bill or just hungering to eat healthier, having your own edible garden is the answer. The beauty of tending a backyard vegetable patch is that you can pick and choose what to grow, allowing you to customize a mix that suits your family's palate-and gives you the greatest return on investment.
How much can you save?
A backyard edible garden will trim costs from your grocery bill while providing you and your family with the freshest produce possible. According to Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association (http://www.garden.org/home), a well-maintained garden can produce a half-pound of fresh vegetables for every square foot of garden space. At average market prices, that means a garden returns about $1 per square foot.
Studies conducted by W. Atlee Burpee Co. (http://www.burpee.com/), a mail-order seed company, are even more optimistic. According to Burpee, the average cost-to-benefit ratio of home-grown produce for those who have established gardens is better than 1 to 25. That means every $1 spent on seeds and supplies yields at least $25 worth of vegetables.
Even first-time gardeners will benefit. George Ball, owner of Burpee Co., says that a $10 investment in seeds for tomatoes, beans, bell peppers, lettuce, peas, and carrots, plus $80 for soil, fertilizer, and the cost of building several raised beds, can yield more than $250 worth of veggies and herbs-a substantial portion of the approximately $3,465 the average U.S. family spends on a year's worth of groceries.
For families that save the harvest, either by freezing, canning, or drying, the cost-benefit ratio climbs even higher. Martha Garway, who tends a 10x10 plot in a Providence, R.I., community garden, freezes much of her summer produce, such as okra, tomatoes, and peppers.
That summer harvest, which costs her $20 for the plot plus the cost of seeds (and she tends to save her own), enables her to "buy only meat and fish through winter-no vegetables," she says.
Top plants for great returns
For the average gardener in most regions of the country, here are some of the most cost-effective vegetables to grow, and an estimate of what you'll save over store-bought produce. These figures reflect veggies harvested for fresh eating only; if you freeze or can produce to consume beyond the harvest season, your savings will multiply.
Slicing tomato
Seedling cost: $2.00/plant
Yield: 10-15 pounds tomatoes/plant
Savings: $15-$23/plant
Bell pepper
Seedling cost: $2.00/plant
Yield: 6-8 peppers/plant
Savings: $9-$12/plant
Cucumber
Seed cost: $2.95/packet of 240 seeds
Yield: 10-15 pounds of cucumbers per plant
Savings: $5-$7.50/plant
Bush green beans
Seed cost: $2.95/packet of seeds
Yield: 2.5-3 pounds/5-foot row
Savings: $3.75-$4.50/row
Pole green beans
Seed cost: $2.95/packet of seeds
Yield: 4-5 pounds/5-foot row
Savings: $6-$7.50/row
Leaf lettuce
Seed cost: $2.00/packet of mixed lettuces
Yield: 16 oz. of salad every 3-5 days after leaves mature
Savings: $4 per week
A few vining vegetables, like squash or Malabar spinach, produce abundant yields for the price of a packet of seeds ($2.95). Winter squash types in particular are easy to cure and store, lasting well into spring and offering savings of up to $10-$15 per vine.
Herbs
Herbs offer amazing return. For $1.50, you can buy a 3-inch pot of parsley, chives, oregano, mint, or basil and harvest leaves all season long. With the perennial herbs, like oregano and mint, the harvest continues for years with little maintenance action required. Compare that to "fresh" herbs you'll get at the grocery for $3 for a 3-ounce packet.
What not to grow
Some vegetables aren't cost-effective in an edible garden. For instance, you could spend $20 for organic seed potatoes that will yield 15 pounds of spuds from a 20-foot row planting. Compare that with the average price of white potatoes in the supermarket at $1 per pound. Then again, you can't find Russian Banana fingerlings or Purple Viking potatoes at the grocer, so if you want a specialty spud, grow your own.
Other veggies that don't pay to grow are ones that are finicky, like celery or asparagus. Both are labor intensive. Onions are relatively cheap to purchase, and it can be difficult to get a large yield of good-size bulbs without a massive garden.
Try growing shallots instead, a gourmet-style onion family member that produces green tops you can harvest like chives and mild flavored bulbs that cost up to $4 a pound at the store.
How big an edible garden?
The median size of an edible garden is about 100 sq. ft., according to the National Gardening Association. For a family of four, a growing space of 200 sq. ft. should keep the family in veggies all summer long. Plan to spend 4 hours a week tending your garden, with 8-12 hours for preparing the planting area in spring, shopping for seeds and seedlings, and sowing crops.
Julie Martens is a writer with 21 years' experience in the field of gardening. Her bylines appear in magazines such as Nature's Garden, Country Gardens, and Garden Ideas & Outdoor Living. She recently moved into a renovated 1915 home and is busily working on a new garden.
Article From HouseLogic.com
Fannie Mae: Hopeful signs emerge in consumer spending and employment
Improving financial conditions and recent encouraging signs from the labor market should set the stage for an above-par growth trend by mid 2011, according to the November 2010 Economic Outlook released by Fannie Mae’s Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group.
Despite challenges, including uncertainty on the domestic fiscal policy and international fronts, the report foresees gradual improvement in economic activity moving into 2011. In 2010, the economy showed a slight pickup in growth in the third quarter and consumer spending posted the best showing since the end of 2006.
“For all of 2010, total home sales are projected to decline by about 8 percent from 2009, marking the bottom of annual total home sales in this cycle,” says Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “We expect home sales to increase by about 3 percent in 2011. However, the pace of recovery will largely be determined by labor conditions. If hiring improves at a faster pace than expected, home sales will likely see a stronger gain in 2011 and vice versa.”
Source: Florida Realtors®
Despite challenges, including uncertainty on the domestic fiscal policy and international fronts, the report foresees gradual improvement in economic activity moving into 2011. In 2010, the economy showed a slight pickup in growth in the third quarter and consumer spending posted the best showing since the end of 2006.
“For all of 2010, total home sales are projected to decline by about 8 percent from 2009, marking the bottom of annual total home sales in this cycle,” says Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “We expect home sales to increase by about 3 percent in 2011. However, the pace of recovery will largely be determined by labor conditions. If hiring improves at a faster pace than expected, home sales will likely see a stronger gain in 2011 and vice versa.”
Source: Florida Realtors®
Homebuyers get creative to close the deal
When Efrain Hernandez couldn’t seal a deal before the first-time homebuyer tax credit expired earlier this year, he lost faith that he would ever own a house in a market where investors and all-cash buyers are snapping up bargains and mortgages seem hard to come by.
But waiting – even though it wasn’t by choice – got him more than the $8,000 federal tax credit.
In a single day last month, Hernandez negotiated a contract on a five-bedroom, three-bath home in a development near Homestead, Fla. By the end of October, he closed, talking homebuilder Lennar into a $40,000 discount off the list price, getting it to pay $18,000 in closing costs and scoring a $7,500 no-interest loan from Miami-Dade County to lighten his downpayment.
“I was finally able to buy the house of my dreams,” Hernandez said. “Even though the tax credit was over, it ended up being a better deal.”
While cash is king when it comes to buying properties in a battered housing market, new homeowners like Hernandez are finding ways to finance their homes using hard-nosed negotiation tactics and unusual financing options they never needed during the boom.
And they are scoring deals on homes – not bedraggled or cut-rate foreclosure properties and time-consuming short sales, but well-kept homes with current mortgages.
After a long drought, more money is becoming available to buy homes. Take Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, for instance. Andre Brooks, vice president and regional sales manager for the bank’s Florida operation, said his company has made more than $3 billion in mortgages so far this year in Florida, nearly 20 percent more than last year.
But lending guidelines remain restrictive, said Terry H. Francisco, spokesman with Bank of America. Unlike the loose-money days of the real estate boom, people must painstakingly document their creditworthiness.
Making purchases happen now often requires creativity and calculation.
“Creative financing is about to become the primary means of financing,” said Joe Manausa, a broker and owner of a Century 21 First Realty in Tallahassee, Fla., who has blogged about the topic.
One fruitful financing option is a loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA loans can require a downpayment of just 3.5 percent compared with the much larger upfront investments many banks require.
FHA loans do have their limitations. For one, like other loans with a downpayment below 20 percent, these require the buyer to get mortgage insurance.
Another limiting factor: FHA loans have a maximum limit. They are available to people who don’t already have an FHA loan and plan to make the property their primary residence.
A private loan – made by a noninstitutional investor who does not advertise himself or herself as a mortgage lender – is another alternative, but requires some networking and using personal relationships to make a connection.
Grant S. Stern, president of Morningside Mortgage Corp. in Bay Harbor Islands, brokered a loan this summer for a condo buyer, financing half the purchase price.
The borrower had made a preconstruction downpayment of $90,000 on a two-bedroom, two-bath $300,000 condo in Sunrise, Fla. He had another $65,000 cash to close, but during the lending process, Fannie Mae’s approval for the project expired.
Stern said he learned that the developer was on the verge of default, and that his client’s money was in jeopardy if he didn’t close the deal quickly. There wasn’t enough time to get a conventional bank loan, so Stern arranged for a real estate investor to fund a five-year, fixed-rate loan in a hurry.
“They said, ‘Close in one week.’ We closed in one week,” he said.
The borrower, a 35-year-old wholesale electronics distributor with good credit, could conceivably arrange a more conventional refinance in the future.
“If this is the only way you are going to close, then it’s a really good option,” Stern said.
Part of real estate agent Gene Mastro’s strategy for buyers is avoiding foreclosures and short sales – especially for those buyers who intend to live in the properties they purchase.
Owners of nondistressed properties are “more ready to correct problems, any minor deficiencies,” said Mastro, who works for Coldwell Banker in Miami-Dade.
Another advantage: Sellers may be willing to pay all or part of closing costs, which can range from 2 percent to 7 percent of the purchase price.
Dilihara Martin said Mastro negotiated a seller’s contribution for closing costs on a home she bought near Kendall this month. The 1,700-square-foot home sits on nearly a quarter-acre.
Martin, 25, said the new place will be a nice change for her, her husband Julio and 6-month-old daughter Isabella, who have been living with her parents.
“He managed to negotiate down to $200,000 and we got a 3 percent seller’s contribution on top of that,” said Martin, an accountant. “He fights for you.”
Another client, Daniel Diaz, closes later this month on a three-bedroom, two-bath home in Kendall, Fla. The price is $150,000. Though Diaz, 28, said he’s a saver, he doesn’t have enough put away for a 20 percent downpayment, so he opted for an FHA-backed loan.
The sellers will contribute 4 percent of the home’s purchase price toward closing costs, said Diaz, who manages a Sports Grill.
“I had no idea about this,” he said. “Gene’s been educating me along the way.”
Another way to cover closing costs is a fast, short-term loan that doesn’t show up on credit reports.
Todd Hills noticed that some of the recent users of his company, Boomerang Lending, wanted fast cash to pay closing costs. His Colorado-based business works like a pawn shop for those with pricier assets, including paintings and fine jewelry. A recent borrower offered a 1955 Picasso sketch.
“It’s not something we’ve experienced before the last six months,” said Hills, the company CEO, but “it makes absolutely perfect sense. This is a way this consumer can get the cash that they need.”
A Texas woman who recently needed an additional $3,500 to pay closing costs sent the company several pieces of jewelry. They gave her the money, and she was able to close.
“They get their house deal done, then they have six months to make the determination about whether they want to come back and retrieve their asset,” Hills said.
Yet another possibility for buyers is a lease-to-own option, Manausa said. “It’s a purchase agreement with a very delayed closing – three months or three years.”
Tom Nisbet and fiancée Greta Leber have just such a contract on their condo. They are living in the 1,600-square-foot unit they hope to buy. It comes with two parking spaces, a pool and a gym, and it’s close enough to the University of Miami, where Leber is working on her Ph.D.
After watching others’ experiences with short sales and foreclosures, they steered clear. “This is by far the best place we saw on the market,” Nisbet said.
Source: The Miami Herald. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Nirvi Shah, Ina Paiva Cordle and Toluse Olorunnipa.
But waiting – even though it wasn’t by choice – got him more than the $8,000 federal tax credit.
In a single day last month, Hernandez negotiated a contract on a five-bedroom, three-bath home in a development near Homestead, Fla. By the end of October, he closed, talking homebuilder Lennar into a $40,000 discount off the list price, getting it to pay $18,000 in closing costs and scoring a $7,500 no-interest loan from Miami-Dade County to lighten his downpayment.
“I was finally able to buy the house of my dreams,” Hernandez said. “Even though the tax credit was over, it ended up being a better deal.”
While cash is king when it comes to buying properties in a battered housing market, new homeowners like Hernandez are finding ways to finance their homes using hard-nosed negotiation tactics and unusual financing options they never needed during the boom.
And they are scoring deals on homes – not bedraggled or cut-rate foreclosure properties and time-consuming short sales, but well-kept homes with current mortgages.
After a long drought, more money is becoming available to buy homes. Take Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, for instance. Andre Brooks, vice president and regional sales manager for the bank’s Florida operation, said his company has made more than $3 billion in mortgages so far this year in Florida, nearly 20 percent more than last year.
But lending guidelines remain restrictive, said Terry H. Francisco, spokesman with Bank of America. Unlike the loose-money days of the real estate boom, people must painstakingly document their creditworthiness.
Making purchases happen now often requires creativity and calculation.
“Creative financing is about to become the primary means of financing,” said Joe Manausa, a broker and owner of a Century 21 First Realty in Tallahassee, Fla., who has blogged about the topic.
One fruitful financing option is a loan backed by the Federal Housing Administration. FHA loans can require a downpayment of just 3.5 percent compared with the much larger upfront investments many banks require.
FHA loans do have their limitations. For one, like other loans with a downpayment below 20 percent, these require the buyer to get mortgage insurance.
Another limiting factor: FHA loans have a maximum limit. They are available to people who don’t already have an FHA loan and plan to make the property their primary residence.
A private loan – made by a noninstitutional investor who does not advertise himself or herself as a mortgage lender – is another alternative, but requires some networking and using personal relationships to make a connection.
Grant S. Stern, president of Morningside Mortgage Corp. in Bay Harbor Islands, brokered a loan this summer for a condo buyer, financing half the purchase price.
The borrower had made a preconstruction downpayment of $90,000 on a two-bedroom, two-bath $300,000 condo in Sunrise, Fla. He had another $65,000 cash to close, but during the lending process, Fannie Mae’s approval for the project expired.
Stern said he learned that the developer was on the verge of default, and that his client’s money was in jeopardy if he didn’t close the deal quickly. There wasn’t enough time to get a conventional bank loan, so Stern arranged for a real estate investor to fund a five-year, fixed-rate loan in a hurry.
“They said, ‘Close in one week.’ We closed in one week,” he said.
The borrower, a 35-year-old wholesale electronics distributor with good credit, could conceivably arrange a more conventional refinance in the future.
“If this is the only way you are going to close, then it’s a really good option,” Stern said.
Part of real estate agent Gene Mastro’s strategy for buyers is avoiding foreclosures and short sales – especially for those buyers who intend to live in the properties they purchase.
Owners of nondistressed properties are “more ready to correct problems, any minor deficiencies,” said Mastro, who works for Coldwell Banker in Miami-Dade.
Another advantage: Sellers may be willing to pay all or part of closing costs, which can range from 2 percent to 7 percent of the purchase price.
Dilihara Martin said Mastro negotiated a seller’s contribution for closing costs on a home she bought near Kendall this month. The 1,700-square-foot home sits on nearly a quarter-acre.
Martin, 25, said the new place will be a nice change for her, her husband Julio and 6-month-old daughter Isabella, who have been living with her parents.
“He managed to negotiate down to $200,000 and we got a 3 percent seller’s contribution on top of that,” said Martin, an accountant. “He fights for you.”
Another client, Daniel Diaz, closes later this month on a three-bedroom, two-bath home in Kendall, Fla. The price is $150,000. Though Diaz, 28, said he’s a saver, he doesn’t have enough put away for a 20 percent downpayment, so he opted for an FHA-backed loan.
The sellers will contribute 4 percent of the home’s purchase price toward closing costs, said Diaz, who manages a Sports Grill.
“I had no idea about this,” he said. “Gene’s been educating me along the way.”
Another way to cover closing costs is a fast, short-term loan that doesn’t show up on credit reports.
Todd Hills noticed that some of the recent users of his company, Boomerang Lending, wanted fast cash to pay closing costs. His Colorado-based business works like a pawn shop for those with pricier assets, including paintings and fine jewelry. A recent borrower offered a 1955 Picasso sketch.
“It’s not something we’ve experienced before the last six months,” said Hills, the company CEO, but “it makes absolutely perfect sense. This is a way this consumer can get the cash that they need.”
A Texas woman who recently needed an additional $3,500 to pay closing costs sent the company several pieces of jewelry. They gave her the money, and she was able to close.
“They get their house deal done, then they have six months to make the determination about whether they want to come back and retrieve their asset,” Hills said.
Yet another possibility for buyers is a lease-to-own option, Manausa said. “It’s a purchase agreement with a very delayed closing – three months or three years.”
Tom Nisbet and fiancée Greta Leber have just such a contract on their condo. They are living in the 1,600-square-foot unit they hope to buy. It comes with two parking spaces, a pool and a gym, and it’s close enough to the University of Miami, where Leber is working on her Ph.D.
After watching others’ experiences with short sales and foreclosures, they steered clear. “This is by far the best place we saw on the market,” Nisbet said.
Source: The Miami Herald. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Nirvi Shah, Ina Paiva Cordle and Toluse Olorunnipa.
NAR’s consumer website goes global
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) announced that Realtor.com, NAR’s official website, will add translation services and increase its presence in international markets to attract more international visitors to U.S. listings. More than 575,000 consumers from non-U.S. destinations currently visit Realtor.com each month.
“Realtor.com will expand the exposure of U.S. real estate listings to global markets and add international listings,” says NAR President Ron Phipps. “While all real estate in the U.S. is local, the same is not true for property owners. Foreign buyers understand the value of owning a home in this country and can rely on Realtors to help guide them through the process of buying property in the U.S. with expertise, knowledge and experience.”
NAR will work with Move Inc., operator of Realtor.com, to add features to Realtor.com that make it easier for international consumers to search for listings in their language and through personalized views.
“Realtor.com is committed to delivering the most comprehensive, timely and accurate real estate information on the Internet to consumers, wherever they may live,” says Realtor.com President Errol Samuelson. “For U.S. home sellers, this means they’ll be able to generate even greater international exposure for their properties, while U.S. homebuyers will be able to shop for global properties and connect with real estate professionals who can help them with international transactions.”
NAR’s 2010 Profile of International Home Buying Activity cites the strength of the dollar, value and desirability of U.S. real estate as the chief factors making U.S properties increasingly attractive to international buyers. Between April 2009 and March 31, 2010, $66 billion of residential property, amounting to 7 percent of the total U.S. residential market, was sold to foreign nationals, recent immigrants and temporary visa holders.
More than a quarter of Realtors – 28 percent – reported working with at least one international client in the past year, up from 23 percent in 2008. The median price paid by foreign buyers ($219,400) is higher than the national median price. Fifty-five percent of foreign buyers paid cash compared to about 8 percent of domestic buyers, according to NAR’s study.
Buyers from 53 different countries around the world bought residential property in the U.S last year. The leading sources of buyers were Canada, Mexico, the U.K., China, Germany and France. The top sources of international visitors to Realtor.com are Canada, the U.K., Germany, Australia, Japan and Mexico.
Source: Florida Realtors®
“Realtor.com will expand the exposure of U.S. real estate listings to global markets and add international listings,” says NAR President Ron Phipps. “While all real estate in the U.S. is local, the same is not true for property owners. Foreign buyers understand the value of owning a home in this country and can rely on Realtors to help guide them through the process of buying property in the U.S. with expertise, knowledge and experience.”
NAR will work with Move Inc., operator of Realtor.com, to add features to Realtor.com that make it easier for international consumers to search for listings in their language and through personalized views.
“Realtor.com is committed to delivering the most comprehensive, timely and accurate real estate information on the Internet to consumers, wherever they may live,” says Realtor.com President Errol Samuelson. “For U.S. home sellers, this means they’ll be able to generate even greater international exposure for their properties, while U.S. homebuyers will be able to shop for global properties and connect with real estate professionals who can help them with international transactions.”
NAR’s 2010 Profile of International Home Buying Activity cites the strength of the dollar, value and desirability of U.S. real estate as the chief factors making U.S properties increasingly attractive to international buyers. Between April 2009 and March 31, 2010, $66 billion of residential property, amounting to 7 percent of the total U.S. residential market, was sold to foreign nationals, recent immigrants and temporary visa holders.
More than a quarter of Realtors – 28 percent – reported working with at least one international client in the past year, up from 23 percent in 2008. The median price paid by foreign buyers ($219,400) is higher than the national median price. Fifty-five percent of foreign buyers paid cash compared to about 8 percent of domestic buyers, according to NAR’s study.
Buyers from 53 different countries around the world bought residential property in the U.S last year. The leading sources of buyers were Canada, Mexico, the U.K., China, Germany and France. The top sources of international visitors to Realtor.com are Canada, the U.K., Germany, Australia, Japan and Mexico.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Florida leads U.S. in serious mortgage delinquencies
Florida still leads the nation in the percentage of homeowners who are “seriously delinquent” on their loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.
In the state, 19.52 percent of borrowers were either 90 days past due or in foreclosure in the third quarter. Add in borrowers who are 30 and 60 days late, and nearly one in four Floridians are behind on their loans.
The good news is that Florida’s seriously delinquent rate is down from 20.13 percent in the second quarter. But no other state met Florida’s lofty level of late payers. Nevada was No. 2 at 17.83 percent, while Illinois’ 10.77 percent ranked third.
With Florida’s job market still weak and home prices way down from a few years ago, it’s no surprise that the state’s delinquency rates are so high, said Jack McCabe, a real estate analyst in Deerfield Beach.
“With 48 percent of the state’s homeowners underwater, we’re going to continue to see delinquencies go up,” McCabe said. “The truth is a lot of people have given up and have stopped paying their mortgages.”
Part of the blame lies with the way foreclosures are handled in Florida, said Michael Fratantoni, the Mortgage Bankers’ vice president of research and economics. Florida and other states where foreclosures go through the courts have foreclosure inventories that are twice as high as so-called non-judicial states, he said.
Of course, the court system is only partly to blame for Florida’s delinquency problem. The bigger culprits are a withering collapse in prices and an 11.9 percent jobless rate that’s well above the national unemployment rate of 9.6 percent.
Nationally, the delinquency rate fell, too, which the Mortgage Bankers Association attributed to modest improvements in the job market. The foreclosure freeze at some lenders hasn’t played a role in falling delinquencies.
“The foreclosure paperwork issues announced by several large servicers in late September and early October are unlikely to have had a large impact on the third-quarter numbers,” Fratantoni said.
Source: The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Jeff Ostrowski. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
In the state, 19.52 percent of borrowers were either 90 days past due or in foreclosure in the third quarter. Add in borrowers who are 30 and 60 days late, and nearly one in four Floridians are behind on their loans.
The good news is that Florida’s seriously delinquent rate is down from 20.13 percent in the second quarter. But no other state met Florida’s lofty level of late payers. Nevada was No. 2 at 17.83 percent, while Illinois’ 10.77 percent ranked third.
With Florida’s job market still weak and home prices way down from a few years ago, it’s no surprise that the state’s delinquency rates are so high, said Jack McCabe, a real estate analyst in Deerfield Beach.
“With 48 percent of the state’s homeowners underwater, we’re going to continue to see delinquencies go up,” McCabe said. “The truth is a lot of people have given up and have stopped paying their mortgages.”
Part of the blame lies with the way foreclosures are handled in Florida, said Michael Fratantoni, the Mortgage Bankers’ vice president of research and economics. Florida and other states where foreclosures go through the courts have foreclosure inventories that are twice as high as so-called non-judicial states, he said.
Of course, the court system is only partly to blame for Florida’s delinquency problem. The bigger culprits are a withering collapse in prices and an 11.9 percent jobless rate that’s well above the national unemployment rate of 9.6 percent.
Nationally, the delinquency rate fell, too, which the Mortgage Bankers Association attributed to modest improvements in the job market. The foreclosure freeze at some lenders hasn’t played a role in falling delinquencies.
“The foreclosure paperwork issues announced by several large servicers in late September and early October are unlikely to have had a large impact on the third-quarter numbers,” Fratantoni said.
Source: The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Jeff Ostrowski. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Report: More Time from Mortgage Application to Closing Drives Decline in Customer Satisfaction
Driven by an increase in length of time from application to approval, the average timeline of the mortgage origination process has increased for a third consecutive year, while customer satisfaction has declined, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study released.
The study, based on the voice of the customer, measures customer satisfaction in four key factors of the mortgage origination experience: application/approval process; loan officer/mortgage broker; closing; and contact.
The study finds that the time from application to approval has increased to 27.5 days in 2010 from 20 days in 2009. As a result, the time frame for the entire origination process has increased to 52.1 days in 2010 from 46.9 days in 2009. Consequently, overall satisfaction has decreased to 734 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2010 from 739 in 2009.
"While the revised Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act guidelines appear to have streamlined and shortened the time from approval to closing, the unintended consequence is that the application-to-approval time frame has lengthened and become more complicated," said David Lo, director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates. "Ultimately, this longer timeline has a negative impact on overall satisfaction, although there are specific best practices that may mitigate the negative perceptions."
The study finds that the most important best practices, which are most closely associated with high levels of satisfaction, are:
• Providing proactive updates on the status of the loan
• Providing a welcome acknowledgment after an application is submitted
• Avoiding asking for the same information more than once
• Closing on the promised date
• Clearly explaining loan options and ensuring that the customer understands
• Clearly explaining the entire process from application to approval
The study also finds that usage of the online application channel continues to increase. Nearly 20 percent of customers now go online to start the mortgage application process, up from 14 percent in 2009. In comparison, only 29 percent of customers start the mortgage application process in person, while 33 percent did so in 2009. In addition, fewer customers this year say that they met with their loan officer or mortgage broker in person during the mortgage origination process -- 50 percent, compared with 57 percent in 2009.
"Customer preference and, more importantly, perceptions, continue to increase with the online direct channel," said Lo. "Online lenders do a very good job of keeping their customers informed of the process every step of the way by providing periodic status updates and information pertaining to their loan."
The 2010 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 3,401 consumers who originated new mortgages. The study was fielded between July and August 2010.
Source: RISMedia
The study, based on the voice of the customer, measures customer satisfaction in four key factors of the mortgage origination experience: application/approval process; loan officer/mortgage broker; closing; and contact.
The study finds that the time from application to approval has increased to 27.5 days in 2010 from 20 days in 2009. As a result, the time frame for the entire origination process has increased to 52.1 days in 2010 from 46.9 days in 2009. Consequently, overall satisfaction has decreased to 734 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2010 from 739 in 2009.
"While the revised Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act guidelines appear to have streamlined and shortened the time from approval to closing, the unintended consequence is that the application-to-approval time frame has lengthened and become more complicated," said David Lo, director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates. "Ultimately, this longer timeline has a negative impact on overall satisfaction, although there are specific best practices that may mitigate the negative perceptions."
The study finds that the most important best practices, which are most closely associated with high levels of satisfaction, are:
• Providing proactive updates on the status of the loan
• Providing a welcome acknowledgment after an application is submitted
• Avoiding asking for the same information more than once
• Closing on the promised date
• Clearly explaining loan options and ensuring that the customer understands
• Clearly explaining the entire process from application to approval
The study also finds that usage of the online application channel continues to increase. Nearly 20 percent of customers now go online to start the mortgage application process, up from 14 percent in 2009. In comparison, only 29 percent of customers start the mortgage application process in person, while 33 percent did so in 2009. In addition, fewer customers this year say that they met with their loan officer or mortgage broker in person during the mortgage origination process -- 50 percent, compared with 57 percent in 2009.
"Customer preference and, more importantly, perceptions, continue to increase with the online direct channel," said Lo. "Online lenders do a very good job of keeping their customers informed of the process every step of the way by providing periodic status updates and information pertaining to their loan."
The 2010 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 3,401 consumers who originated new mortgages. The study was fielded between July and August 2010.
Source: RISMedia
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Deficit of new single-family homes must be addressed as economy improves
Annual single-family housing production in 2008 and 2009 fell about one million units short of the housing that would be needed in a normally functioning economy, suggesting that builders will have a lot of catching up to do as the economy improves and household formations return to trend levels, according to a special study by economists at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
The report, “Extent of Underbuilding in the Single-Family Housing Market,” found an excessive amount of single-family building from 2003 through 2005. But overbuilding largely ended by 2006, and the subsequent downturn was severe enough to more than offset the annual surpluses. This year is likely to add to the growing deficit of single-family homes by another one million units, according to the report.
“The single-family housing market in the U.S. currently finds itself in a significantly underbuilt state,” says NAHB Chairman Bob Jones. “Pent-up demand for housing will at some point need to be worked off, pushing single-family production in a positive direction. In the meantime, the deficit continues to grow as builders remain cut off from the credit they need to begin developing and building new housing.”
The analysis compares levels of single-family permits in recent years with the long-term trend that would be seen if housing, labor and credit markets were functioning normally and generating a normal rate of household formations.
Permits were used instead of housing starts because they are based on a much larger sample and provide more geographic detail, which enabled the study to be extended to the state level. (A building or zoning permit represents housing units that are authorized to be built. According to the Census Bureau, all but a small percentage of permits become starts. A start is when ground is first broken for the foundation of the building.)
Single-family permits plunged to a trough of 441,000 in 2009, their lowest level since World War II. The previous post-war low occurred in 1981, when 550,000 single-family permits were recorded. Adding to the magnitude of the recent downturn, multifamily starts and permits last year fell below 150,000 units, an historic low, compared to about 400,000 units annually during the early 1980s.
“In 1980, there were roughly 226 million people and 88 million housing units in the country,” the report says. “By 2009, these numbers had increased to 307 million people and 130 million housing units, so in that year the U.S. added a record low number of new housing units to a population and housing base that was larger than it had ever been before.”
From 1988 through 2003, the U.S. population was growing at a fairly steady average annual rate of 1.15 percent and varied only between 0.90 percent and 1.35 percent. During the recession, household formations slowed markedly below this pace, delaying two million household formations. The deficit in new single-family homes can continue as long as household formations remain depressed.
Over the 1988-2003 period – which goes right up to the housing boom years of 2004 and 2005 and can be considered a fairly normal one for housing – the number of single-family permits issued was increasing at an average of about 36,000 per year, consistent with a growing population that needs housing and an expanding inventory of older homes that need to be replaced.
Projecting that trend past 2003, single-family permits should have hit 1.4 million by 2005, 1.5 million by 2008 and around 1.56 million in 2009, the report finds. Instead, permits were well over 1.4 million in 2003 and pushed past 1.6 million in both 2004 and 2005, “a period of serious overbuilding.”
Subsequently, however, permits dropped to under 1.4 million by 2006 – already slightly below trend – and continued to fall through last year.
Single-family surpluses occurred from 2002 to 2006 and they were well over 200,000 annually in 2004 and 2005. Deficits, which began to materialize after 2005, reached about a half a million units in 2007 and one million every year since then as single-family permits dropped below 500,000 – more than a million units per year below trend.
Accumulating annual surpluses peaked at 493,000 single-family units in 2005, and that was worked off entirely by the end of 2007. Depressed levels of single-family housing production resulted in a cumulative deficit of 2.17 million units by 2009 and will likely grow to 3.28 million by the end of this year.
The study also found that there are now single-family housing deficits in most of the states. This includes the states that had the hottest markets during the boom: Arizona, with a deficit of 144,500; California, 49,500; Florida, 112,600; and Nevada, 75,600.
To read the entire report, go to www.nahb.org/underbuildingsfh.
Source: Florida Realtors®
The report, “Extent of Underbuilding in the Single-Family Housing Market,” found an excessive amount of single-family building from 2003 through 2005. But overbuilding largely ended by 2006, and the subsequent downturn was severe enough to more than offset the annual surpluses. This year is likely to add to the growing deficit of single-family homes by another one million units, according to the report.
“The single-family housing market in the U.S. currently finds itself in a significantly underbuilt state,” says NAHB Chairman Bob Jones. “Pent-up demand for housing will at some point need to be worked off, pushing single-family production in a positive direction. In the meantime, the deficit continues to grow as builders remain cut off from the credit they need to begin developing and building new housing.”
The analysis compares levels of single-family permits in recent years with the long-term trend that would be seen if housing, labor and credit markets were functioning normally and generating a normal rate of household formations.
Permits were used instead of housing starts because they are based on a much larger sample and provide more geographic detail, which enabled the study to be extended to the state level. (A building or zoning permit represents housing units that are authorized to be built. According to the Census Bureau, all but a small percentage of permits become starts. A start is when ground is first broken for the foundation of the building.)
Single-family permits plunged to a trough of 441,000 in 2009, their lowest level since World War II. The previous post-war low occurred in 1981, when 550,000 single-family permits were recorded. Adding to the magnitude of the recent downturn, multifamily starts and permits last year fell below 150,000 units, an historic low, compared to about 400,000 units annually during the early 1980s.
“In 1980, there were roughly 226 million people and 88 million housing units in the country,” the report says. “By 2009, these numbers had increased to 307 million people and 130 million housing units, so in that year the U.S. added a record low number of new housing units to a population and housing base that was larger than it had ever been before.”
From 1988 through 2003, the U.S. population was growing at a fairly steady average annual rate of 1.15 percent and varied only between 0.90 percent and 1.35 percent. During the recession, household formations slowed markedly below this pace, delaying two million household formations. The deficit in new single-family homes can continue as long as household formations remain depressed.
Over the 1988-2003 period – which goes right up to the housing boom years of 2004 and 2005 and can be considered a fairly normal one for housing – the number of single-family permits issued was increasing at an average of about 36,000 per year, consistent with a growing population that needs housing and an expanding inventory of older homes that need to be replaced.
Projecting that trend past 2003, single-family permits should have hit 1.4 million by 2005, 1.5 million by 2008 and around 1.56 million in 2009, the report finds. Instead, permits were well over 1.4 million in 2003 and pushed past 1.6 million in both 2004 and 2005, “a period of serious overbuilding.”
Subsequently, however, permits dropped to under 1.4 million by 2006 – already slightly below trend – and continued to fall through last year.
Single-family surpluses occurred from 2002 to 2006 and they were well over 200,000 annually in 2004 and 2005. Deficits, which began to materialize after 2005, reached about a half a million units in 2007 and one million every year since then as single-family permits dropped below 500,000 – more than a million units per year below trend.
Accumulating annual surpluses peaked at 493,000 single-family units in 2005, and that was worked off entirely by the end of 2007. Depressed levels of single-family housing production resulted in a cumulative deficit of 2.17 million units by 2009 and will likely grow to 3.28 million by the end of this year.
The study also found that there are now single-family housing deficits in most of the states. This includes the states that had the hottest markets during the boom: Arizona, with a deficit of 144,500; California, 49,500; Florida, 112,600; and Nevada, 75,600.
To read the entire report, go to www.nahb.org/underbuildingsfh.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Mortgage industry problems broad, Iowa AG says
The problems in the mortgage industry go far beyond the controversy over flawed foreclosure documents and call for an overhaul of the system of administering home loans, the state attorney general leading a nationwide investigation told a Senate panel Tuesday.
As Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller testified at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, senators also insisted that focusing solely on the so-called “robo-signing” is a mistake.
The banking industry, meanwhile, was criticized for maintaining that the problem was mainly technical. That view “shows a certain type of arrogance,” Miller said.
“There’s so much at stake,” he told the panel. The entire system of servicing and modifying mortgages, and foreclosing on borrowers must be changed “so that it works productively,” he said.
A resolution could involve penalties for mortgage companies that don’t comply with required practices, said Miller, a Democrat who was re-elected earlier this month. “We’ll need ultimately agreement from the banks and so far our discussions have been productive.”
CNBC reported that Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are nearing a settlement with the 50 attorneys general in which they would compensate borrowers whose homes were improperly foreclosed upon.
But Miller said after the hearing that a settlement wasn’t close. “That’s totally wrong. We’re a long way from an agreement,” he told reporters. “We’re at the beginning stages of a negotiation.”
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the panel’s chairman, said many people believe that the problems with shoddy paperwork in foreclosures “are simply the tip of a much larger iceberg, that they are emblematic of much deeper problems in the mortgage servicing business – problems that have resulted in homeowners losing their homes in unjustifiable foreclosures.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said some in the industry “have been a little bit glib.”
The banking panel was examining the highly charged issue amid growing concern and public anger over the disarray stemming from faulty foreclosure documents. A man in the audience in the hearing room interrupted testimony by a JPMorgan Chase official, standing and shouting, “He is lying.” The demonstrator, from the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, was removed from the room by police officers.
A congressional watchdog said in a report issued earlier Tuesday that the foreclosure documents distress could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, deepen the disruption in the housing market and hurt the government’s effort to keep people in their homes.
Revelations that several big mortgage companies sped through thousands of home foreclosures without properly checking paperwork already have raised alarm in Washington. If the irregularities are widespread, the consequences could be severe, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in the report. The full impact is still unclear, the report cautions.
Employees or contractors of several major banks have testified in court cases that they signed, and in some cases backdated, thousands of certifying documents for home seizures. Financial firms that service a total $6.4 trillion in mortgages are involved. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage have suspended foreclosures for some period because of flawed documents.
Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America’s home loans division, told the banking committee the company is making changes in its foreclosure process after an extensive review found areas needing improvement. The bank found in its review that its foreclosure decisions weren’t based on inaccurate documents but did see ways the paperwork could be improved, Desoer said.
Among the changes, the legal documents used in the process will each be reviewed by the signer and promptly notarized, she said.
Desoer said the bank is replacing and resubmitting affidavits that were filed previously in about 102,000 foreclosure cases that haven’t yet gone to judgment in the 23 states where courts play a role in the process. Also, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America is putting in new procedures for selecting and monitoring the law firms it retains to process foreclosures.
Source: The Associated Press, Marcy Gordon, AP business writer.
As Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller testified at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, senators also insisted that focusing solely on the so-called “robo-signing” is a mistake.
The banking industry, meanwhile, was criticized for maintaining that the problem was mainly technical. That view “shows a certain type of arrogance,” Miller said.
“There’s so much at stake,” he told the panel. The entire system of servicing and modifying mortgages, and foreclosing on borrowers must be changed “so that it works productively,” he said.
A resolution could involve penalties for mortgage companies that don’t comply with required practices, said Miller, a Democrat who was re-elected earlier this month. “We’ll need ultimately agreement from the banks and so far our discussions have been productive.”
CNBC reported that Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are nearing a settlement with the 50 attorneys general in which they would compensate borrowers whose homes were improperly foreclosed upon.
But Miller said after the hearing that a settlement wasn’t close. “That’s totally wrong. We’re a long way from an agreement,” he told reporters. “We’re at the beginning stages of a negotiation.”
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the panel’s chairman, said many people believe that the problems with shoddy paperwork in foreclosures “are simply the tip of a much larger iceberg, that they are emblematic of much deeper problems in the mortgage servicing business – problems that have resulted in homeowners losing their homes in unjustifiable foreclosures.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said some in the industry “have been a little bit glib.”
The banking panel was examining the highly charged issue amid growing concern and public anger over the disarray stemming from faulty foreclosure documents. A man in the audience in the hearing room interrupted testimony by a JPMorgan Chase official, standing and shouting, “He is lying.” The demonstrator, from the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, was removed from the room by police officers.
A congressional watchdog said in a report issued earlier Tuesday that the foreclosure documents distress could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, deepen the disruption in the housing market and hurt the government’s effort to keep people in their homes.
Revelations that several big mortgage companies sped through thousands of home foreclosures without properly checking paperwork already have raised alarm in Washington. If the irregularities are widespread, the consequences could be severe, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in the report. The full impact is still unclear, the report cautions.
Employees or contractors of several major banks have testified in court cases that they signed, and in some cases backdated, thousands of certifying documents for home seizures. Financial firms that service a total $6.4 trillion in mortgages are involved. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial Inc.’s GMAC Mortgage have suspended foreclosures for some period because of flawed documents.
Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America’s home loans division, told the banking committee the company is making changes in its foreclosure process after an extensive review found areas needing improvement. The bank found in its review that its foreclosure decisions weren’t based on inaccurate documents but did see ways the paperwork could be improved, Desoer said.
Among the changes, the legal documents used in the process will each be reviewed by the signer and promptly notarized, she said.
Desoer said the bank is replacing and resubmitting affidavits that were filed previously in about 102,000 foreclosure cases that haven’t yet gone to judgment in the 23 states where courts play a role in the process. Also, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America is putting in new procedures for selecting and monitoring the law firms it retains to process foreclosures.
Source: The Associated Press, Marcy Gordon, AP business writer.
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