Archives of real estate blog entries for August 12, 2007

Featured blog posts


Widgets: How to Add Them to Your Blog - 07:18 PM
How do you add "Widgets" to your Active Rain Blog?  You can only add them to either your profile page, your posts, or in the right side column on your main Blog page.  These instructions are to add a Widget to your Blog under your photo, the same as you see on mine.
The first step is to select a "Widget" that you'd like to add to your blog.  All Widgets will require you to use the HTML code provided by that Widget, and then paste it into Active Rain.  If you would like to see some samples of the Widgets I have previously used, you … (231 comments)

Where do users live? - 04:00 AM
Haven't posted in a while and was playing around with Google Analytics and thought members might be interested in the traffic maps:

… (18 comments)

Can Someone Seriously Explain to Me How Prices Were Allowed to Skyrocket? - 06:40 PM
Reading Lenn Harley's amazingly 'on point' post today got me thinking about something that keeps churning in my brain. If prices on homes should be $300,000, how in blazes did they get to $500k and $600k in the time it takes to eat a cookie? I'm really serious about this.
What do they tell you about appraisals for homes? Here they say, you better expect your home to be within one precent (two MAYBE) of the comparable sales in the neighborhood.
How did these homes pass appraisals or am I missing something? I believe in a free market economy; I surely want … (79 comments)

Beef Up Your Business...Sell More Real Estate!!! - 06:22 PM
Recently activity has gained momentum in our office.  It's been interesting with the new set of issues popping up on transactions.  To me some quite unique but other's, same problems, different customer. 
I am not perfect nor am I actively selling but I can assure you some things never change!

If you are struggling to get your transactions closed or you want to sell more real estate, think about these things.
1.  Do you know the difference between lease option or lease purchase?  Not sure ask!
 You will come across this if you haven't already. 
Seller's who really want to sell may consider … (79 comments)

Flat Ben's Online CMA and Proposal - 04:01 AM

If I'm lucky, I can usually find a Significant Other when valuing a property.  I took a walk over to Flat Ben's, who lives about five blocks from me.
When looking for Significant Others for this house, it's best to try to stay right on 7th Avenue.  We're in luck.  Ben mentioned he was hoping to sell it as a "teardown".  No staging.  No people coming in and out bothering him.  Let's see what the price differential might be for a tear down vs. an owner who will live in it.
A few doors down is an "almost completed" something.  Looks more like … (23 comments)

Is the commitment date just as important as the settlement date? - 11:36 AM

This has always been a problem and debated amongst the real estate industry and mortgage industry for eons. I know realtors that can be stuck on this debate and upset when lenders don't meet the commitment date. I know some lenders that just don't care at times, thinking that as long as they meet the settlement date, things will be fine.
So, who is right? Let's break this down some.
Commitment date : An agreement or pledge given by a certain date stating a guarantee for financing.
Settlement date : The date by which an executed order must be settled by the transference of … (34 comments)

Optimizing Your Active Rain blog for Visitors and Search Engines (Part 2) - 04:06 AM
After such a great response from my blog post about optimizing your Active Rain profile, I decided to write this follow up post about how to optimize your Active Rain Blog.
Your Blog Title It’s amazing how many people on Active Rain simply title their blog as “Bob’s Blog” or “Sue’s Blog.” The problem with this is that this is not very descriptive for Search Engines or Web Visitors. Instead, try to incorporate a keyword into your blog title. After all, this text will appear at the top of every post that you write. But don’t just take the simple way … (128 comments)

The Architecture of Ambiguity - 11:41 AM
Generally, I find it easier to do what I do than to talk about what I do.  One thing that I do is to prowl for possible examples of real estate fraud to use during presentations.  It's not as cut and dry as it might sound.  Last week, Tom Weiss shared one such example in the form of an ambiguous loan product known as PayoutOne (Advance Home Value Access).  Tom wrote a post asking for our opinions concerning the legitimacy of the product.  Another thing that I do is to deconstruct the big picture into a verbal lexicon of practical do's … (29 comments)

My Theory on the Failure Rate in Real Estate Related Careers - 07:16 PM
As always, argue with me if you think I’m wrong.  I’m twisted, I like it.  (But that’s another post.)
In most real estate related careers, we are independent contractors, our own bosses.  That gives you FREEDOM and if you’ve had a dictator of a boss in a past job, you’ll be dancing inside as you realize that you really DO have control over your days.  It’s wonderful, the world is at your feet and you decide how, what, where, when and why.
Now, on the flip side, the thing that I think brings down so many Newbies is that you are … (76 comments)

Battle of the Sexes? Maybe Some Just Have Issues - 11:27 PM
Dena Stevens recently wrote a post called Does gender matter? This is a rant!  which she questions Female Salespeople vs. Male Salespeople and well, you see where this is headed. Do men have a better chance of landing a client than women? The post actually brought out some interesting discussion and me being the Statistics Crazy Person I am...I went searching.
I searched both Google and Yahoo trying to find some REAL Statistics on this.  I actually questioned whether or not to write this post, but here I am.  Don't worry, I'm not here to bash anyone or insinuate anything.
Well, I did not find … (96 comments)

CEO... DOES IT FIT? - 12:04 AM
 
 
 Sounds pretty good! But does it fit?
 Are you the chief executive officer of your company? Do you put yourself into your business? Do you work it??
 Carol Smith recently wrote a Blog: Determination - Just what it takes to make it in RE. It really got me thinking.
 How we see ourselves as Realtors is what makes or breaks us in this profession.
 If you see yourself as the Captain of your Own Ship, the person at the Helm and also the Crew...then you get it! You get the fact that your sucess or failure depends on you. No one else will push … (50 comments)

Hey Pretty Ladies...sell more Real Estate! - 06:39 PM
                                                                  DEB's DIDDIEs 
Okay guys, you can read this too. You might just glean some understanding and insight for your own sales techniques. But ladies, this is for you. You may or may not consider yourself attractive. At this point your opinion doesn't really matter. The only opinion that does matter is that of your customer or client. You may feel like an old sack of potatoes but if the lady you're working with is insecure it won't matter. It's not just about looks it's about NOT BEING INTIMIDATING. This is really a moot point because we are going to discuss how your good … (45 comments)

An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas (N-R) - 07:06 PM
Hello and Welcome to Post IV (4) - An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas (N-R). If you are just now finding this series, please take a moment to check out my recent posts, where I covered letters A-M: An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas (A-D)An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas (E-H)An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas (I-M)An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas (S) An Alphabet of Localism Post Ideas (T-Z)
I have taken the time to put these together for 2 reasons:
Writer's Block Sucks. Sometimes staring at a blank screen (possibly even drooling) is all that you are capable of doing … (39 comments)

Should Broker/Owners, Brokers-In-Charge or Broker/Managers sell real estate? - 07:14 PM
When I was first interviewing real estate firms in the Lake Norman area I was surprised at how some firms touted the fact that their Brokers-In-Charge (BIC's as they are known here) do not sell real estate.  Having worked in California for 15 years with firms where owners, brokers and managers all sold real estate I didn't quite understand why that was a selling point. 
Sure, I guess it is nice that our brokers aren't competing with us.  However, as I soon found out, there were some real negatives about my "BIC" not selling:
First and foremost, she lacked a working knowledge of our … (65 comments)


Blog posts


Where do users live? - 04:00 AM
Haven't posted in a while and was playing around with Google Analytics and thought members might be interested in the traffic maps:

… (18 comments)

Beef Up Your Business...Sell More Real Estate!!! - 06:22 PM
Recently activity has gained momentum in our office.  It's been interesting with the new set of issues popping up on transactions.  To me some quite unique but other's, same problems, different customer. 
I am not perfect nor am I actively selling but I can assure you some things never change!

If you are struggling to get your transactions closed or you want to sell more real estate, think about these things.
1.  Do you know the difference between lease option or lease purchase?  Not sure ask!
 You will come across this if you haven't already. 
Seller's who really want to sell may consider … (79 comments)

Snohomish WA real estate and homes for sale. Area Market Statistics - 11:12 PM
Snohomish WA real estate and homes for sale. Don't believe the media hype!We have all been seeing stories in the media about how slow the housing market has become, how the housing prices are dropping, and what a buyer's market it is.However, in our part of the country, most of this is not true.  The fact remains that while there are more homes on the market and they are taking slightly longer to sell, the market is not nearly as bad as the media would like you to believe.I personally believe what we are seeing is a NORMAL market for Snohomish real estate.  Snohomish … (0 comments)

Monroe WA real estate and homes for sale. Area Market Statistics - 11:24 PM
Monroe WA Real Estate and homes for sale. Don't Believe the media hype.We have all been seeing stories in the media about how slow the housing market has become, how the housing prices are dropping, and what a buyer's market it is.However, in our part of the country, most of this is not true.  The fact remains that while there are more homes on the market and they are taking slightly longer to sell, the market is not nearly as bad as the media would like you to believe.I personally believe what we are seeing is a NORMAL market for Monroe real estate.  Monroe … (0 comments)

Snohomish County wa real estate and homes for sale. Area Market Statistics - 11:33 PM
Snohomish County WA Real Estate and homes for sale. Don't believe the media hype,We have all been seeing stories in the media about how slow the housing market has become, how the housing prices are dropping, and what a buyer's market it is.However, in our part of the country, most of this is not true.  The fact remains that while there are more homes on the market and they are taking slightly longer to sell, the market is not nearly as bad as the media would like you to believe.I personally believe what we are seeing is a NORMAL market for Snohomish County real … (0 comments)

Obtaining funding for your home purchase in current market - 06:58 PM
After an eventful couple of weeks for the mortgage industry, you are wondering what it all means to you as you consider your real estate plans. Here are some answers:
Q Will I still be able to get a mortgage?
A One of the widest-held misconceptions that the current problems will have a negative impact across the entire mortgage spectrum. So far, borrowers with decent credit histories who can document their income aren't being shut out from getting a loan.
What is getting harder to come by are Alt-A mortgages, which often don't require income documentation. And jumbo loans -- those that … (0 comments)

FLW Outdoors Fishing Tournament in Hot Springs - 09:28 AM
Hot Springs was filled with tons of visitors last weekend with almost every hotel room booked up.  The largest fishing tournament in Arkansas' history was held last weekend on Lake Ouachita.  There were 61,976 fans who attended the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup.  Scott Suggs of Bryant, Arkansas became an instant millionaire as the bass fishing tournament winner.  Be sure to watch "FLW Outdoors" on FSN September 23 and September 30 at 10:00 a.m. to relive the excitement! … (0 comments)

Unusual Weather in Hot Springs - 10:21 AM
Hot Springs has been experiencing some really unusual weather for this time of year.  Up until a few weeks ago, we were enjoying a really mild summer with plenty of rain and moderate temperatures around 70 - 90 degrees.  Last week, the temperature rose to around 106, and the weather forecast shows that the we can expect those temperatures again this week with no rain.  This is extremely unusual for our area!  It seems that Al Gore may be right about all this talk on "Global Warming", huh?!
… (0 comments)

Community for 55 and Beyond - 10:45 AM
We are so excited about the new development going on at "The Legends at Hot Springs".  This is a one of a kind development that seems to be in much demand in our area. 
Having a background as a Registered Nurse in Home Health, I spent a great amount of time caring for the elderly and assessing their needs at home.  I became extremely concerned about several of my dear patients, and I strongly suggested a different living environment for several of them.  However, I discovered a common response from most of them -- "I don't want to leave my home and … (0 comments)

Hot Springs Earns Spot in Magazine's Top 50 Town List - 02:22 PM
The National Geographic Adventure magazine has chosen Hot Springs as one its 50 Best Adventure Towns in the United States for 2007. 
Hot Springs will be featured in the upcoming September issue that hits newsstands on this Tuesday, according to Ethan Fried of the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.
"Choosing one town per state for the cover story feature - 50 Top Adventure Towns - National Geographic Adventure breaks the top adventure towns where you can live the adventure dream daily into five categories:  Wilderness, Small Town, Mountain, Waterfront, and City and also highlights a few select Hot Spots", Fried said.
"With … (1 comments)

Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: The Clock - 11:06 AM
Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: The Clockby John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR® Mission Grove Realty
If you Want to Read More about Other Common Mistakes Made when Purchasing Real Estate, Follow This Link.
So many times a good real estate deal is lost due to the clock. No, I don't mean that the sale ends at 5:00 p.m. like it might if you were buying clothes at the department store - because good real estate deals don't end - they are taken by someone else.

It does not matter if you are a first time homebuyer looking for that … (8 comments)

Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: Trusting The Seller - 12:11 PM
Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: Trusting The Seller by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR® Mission Grove Realty
If you Want to Read More about Other Common Mistakes Made when Purchasing Real Estate, Follow This Link.
When a homebuyer wants to buy a home for sale in Hemet CA, the seller must complete a stack of disclosures. Heck, I often kid, as we start completing the paperwork that in California, we have disclosures disclosing that there are disclosures to disclose what you know about the property. Then I will ask my seller to try and say that 3 times fast.
… (2 comments)

Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: Trusting The Appraiser - 01:24 PM
Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal:  Trusting The Appraiserby John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®   Mission Grove Realty  
If you Want to Read More about Other Common Mistakes Made when Purchasing Real Estate, Follow This Link.
 
Another common mistake in analyzing a real estate transaction is to put too much emphasis on the appraisal.Granted, there is a time and place for an appraisal, but unless you actually hire and pay the appraiser, how can you be sure of what you are getting.  When you hire the appraiser to analyze a Hemet real estate transaction then you control what criteria they are … (9 comments)

Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: Overestimating Market Rents - 02:04 PM
Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: Overestimating Market Rents by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®   Mission Grove Realty  
If you Want to Read More about Other Common Mistakes Made when Purchasing Real Estate, Follow This Link.
A very common mistake made by investors when buying rental property is to not have a complete and thorough knowledge of market rents in Hemet, if that is where they plan to buy their rental property.
                                                                                Many times when an investor is researching market rents, they will rely on the newspaper or even an internet website to tell them what rents are going for … (6 comments)

The Tax Consequences of Real Estate Investing - 10:36 PM
 
The Tax Consequences of Real Estate Investing   by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®     
Now before I even begin, I must disclaim that I am neither a tax advisor nor an attorney and that the purpose behind this article is NOT to provide you with either a tax strategy or any tax advice.  Not knowing you and your personal situation, it would be rather difficult to do so, I just don't need to hear in a year or two that you are in trouble with the IRS and you can remember reading  this column - and pointing your troubles this way.Please, … (18 comments)

Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: Overestimating “As Is” Value - 10:56 PM
Common Mistakes When Analyzing a Real Estate Deal: Overestimating "As Is" Valueby John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR® Mission Grove Realty
If you Want to Read More about Other Common Mistakes Made when Purchasing Real Estate, Follow This Link.
When investing in a Hemet home for sale and your intention is to flip it quickly, you have to have a very realistic idea of what the "As-Is" price is - otherwise holding costs can eat up any profits found in a slim deal.
Many real estate investors will look at a Hemet CA home for sale and think it is worth more than it … (23 comments)

Daily Fair Diary Day Two - 06:54 PM

I had the early shift Saturday arriving at the fair grounds a little before 9 a.m. There is something special about directions that include "turn right at the goat barn, go to the end and then turn into the vendor lot next to the livestock exhibitor parking".
The gates opened and the first visitors began their search for giveaways and as much free stuff as their plastic bag would hold. I was ready. I had a full helium tank and a 4 boxes of balloons prepped with ribbon and a nifty little filling cap. Soon the midway was adorned with small children … (2 comments)

College Station Schools Gearing Up for New School Year - 04:41 PM
College Station ISD recently revamped their website.  The new website is very appealling!  Kudos for a great job!  On the website you can find the new school calendar, as well as the 2007-2008 school supply lists, there are seperate ones for grades K-4, and grades 5 & 6.
You can visit the website also to find school hours, bus information or menus.
Information about individual schools can be found here.
A&M Consolidated High School (grades 9-12)
A&M Consolidated Middle School (grades 7-8)
College Station Middle School (grades 7-8)
Cypress Grove Intermediate School (grades 5-6)
Oakwood Intermediate School (grades 5-6)
College Hills Elementary School all elementaries Pre K (income dependant) through 4th
Forest Ridge Elementary School
Pebble Creek Elementary … (6 comments)

SEOBook Issues - 09:43 PM
A while back I got the cool tool, SEOBook and started checking it for multiple keywords daily.  I've been doing this for approximately a month and suddenly the words, which I always ranked high in, are showing no results what-so-ever.  Before I was #16 for College Station Real Estate and now it's showing no result.  I was #8 in Bryan Real Estate and, again, no results. 
When I type the search words in the Google Toolbar I haven't lost ranking at all.
Any ideas in what the trouble is?  Is this "predictive" of a situation, or just a glitch?
… (30 comments)

Casting a very harsh light... - 12:29 PM
I'm normally a very positive guy.  So this post isn't meant to look at things in a negative light or paint with a broad brush.  But... Can't help but notice a not very subtle shift in the focus of this forum when the topic involves loans and the loan industry.  Approx 6 months ago there were many posts from people on the financing side of our industry which highlighted and even boasted about various techniques on how to artificially " improve"  the credit score of a potential buyer.  The posters seemed to fall over each other to be the first to … (6 comments)

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