Archives of real estate blog entries for December 6, 2008

Featured blog posts


Foreclosing On A Paying Tenant...Why? - 09:47 PM
For the life of me I just don’t understand why a bank would rather have a property sit vacant than rent it out to a willing and able tenant.
Take a break and watch this AlJazeera interview with the Dabner family.  It’s only 2:42.

What really bothers me about the Dabner’s situation is that they actually paid their rent.  They were forced out of their home due to no fault of their own.
Their landlord quit paying the mortgage but continued collecting the rent month after month.  When the home was finally foreclosed on the Dabner famiy was given 3 … (121 comments)

Blogging Safely, Professionally & Respectfully ONLINE - 07:21 PM
Writing respectfully and professional online is always in the back of my mind.  I have always believed that ActiveRain is a place to write about ourselves, our experiences and our businesses with the intention of showing a bit of transparency so our peers and the consumer will be walking along side with us through our journey in blogging.
Picking a few of the posts I'd written on these topics, I took an exerpt from each to share with you all. If you have a certain post you've written about on this same subject put a link in the comment section for others to read as … (42 comments)

Do's And Don'ts For Beginner Websites - 04:17 PM
 
      First off, no, I am not a professional site builder. I AM a success full real estate broker due to the 50 websites I have built. Too often we lose sight of the general public perception as they click on your website. You have only seconds to hold perspective lookers and turn them into a client, this has always been a major misconception for websites.
#1 Where are the homes? Do you have an easily identifiable link for a search?
#2 Do you have a long drawn out biography of you and you accomplishments? Get rid of it! Put it in … (55 comments)

Be The Third Real Estate Agent First - 06:24 PM
It was overheard in our sales meeting this week, that it’s best to be “the first girlfriend, the second wife and the third real estate agent.” The theory being supposedly that at those certain points in time, you get the best of the other person involved. First girlfriends are doted over, second wives get a guy who learned from his mistakes and third real estate agents get sellers who have finally come to see the light of the reality of the market and are willing to listen to their agent’s professional advice.
My thinking is be the third real estate agent … (41 comments)

SOLD. They found all the pictures on the internet and bought without visiting. - 01:01 PM
This is the blog that I put up a few weeks ago.  An out-of-town REALTOR  was showing property to a family who lived in another state.  The family found pictures of my listing on realtor.com, asked him to preview it for them, made an offer from his previewing, and it closed yesterday!!  They checked it out personally just days before closing.  This house is also one that I spent two hours  trying to make it show better through staging.  The staging would have made the house show better in the pictures.  I call it depersonalizing the house.
Each year when it comes … (77 comments)

SURVEY SAYS! THE HOUSING INDUSTRY IS IN RECESSION. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? - 09:09 AM
                                                   * * * *  HARD CORE REAL ESTATE TALK  * * * *
REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND BROKERS NEED TO GET A GRIP ON REALITY AND LEARN THE FACTS ABOUT THE HOUSING INDUSTRY IS IN RECESSION.  BY ALL LOCAL AND NATIONAL NEWS REPORTS, IT IS REAL. 
A recent opinion based survey conducted by INMAN on December 1st shows that I am not alone in my opinion that the recovery from this housing industry recession may take several years. 
However, I don't rely on opinions or platitudes.  I rely on FACTS.
My word means everything in the world to me.  I will not … (86 comments)

Learning Curves! - 09:48 PM
I was on a Social Web 2.0 Webinar today getting more information to pass along to my coaching clients and to implement in our business when suddenly Nestor interrupts me and asks me to grab my Flip Video camera and come outside to film our son riding his bike without his training wheels on. 
Certainly the step from training wheels to two wheelers is a sight no mom is going to miss so I ran out with my Flip and grabbed some footage of our son riding his bike on his own.
He had learned to go from training wheels to … (57 comments)

THIS is EXACTLY Why The Mess We are In WILL Continue! Stop The Madness! - 12:59 PM
 

This is a picture of homeowner, in the U.S. who has a mortgage and is having problems.
What do I mean? I mean they are prisoners to their mortgage company. They do not care about you, the economy or the community where you live. You are nothing but a number and a payment amount. How do I know this. Let me tell you the story a friend told me yesterday.....it sent chills down my spine.....
My friend called me, knowing that I'm a real estate broker to tell me about the most unbelievable conversation he had with his mortgage … (59 comments)

Read the mail you get from your Credit Cards Issuers or BEWARE - 08:34 AM
Bookmark this blog at www.fransblog.com
Read ALL the mail you get from your credit card issuer's and here's why. 
With rising defaults on credit card debt, banks and retailers are trying to keep up profits by raising interest rates on their faithful credit card holders that are making their monthly payments on time.
They do this by sending their credit card holder a letter in the mail that is pretty innocuous looking, but read it because it is going to greatly impact your finances.
My son, who has never been late on a payment has received two this week, one from HSBC … (48 comments)

Are you ready for the Real Estate floodgates to open? - 09:49 PM
 
     During these slow times   it is all about being ready for action when the phone does start to ring again.  I feel very fortunate to have been as busy as I have been.  Getting calls as a result of my fooling around here on ActiveRain has helped me weather the reduction of calls from agents.  There are so many things that one can do to be ready when those calls do come, and we all should be getting all those things done while we have the time.
     My fellow inspectors will appreciate the opportunity to update our ever growing & … (109 comments)

I opened the Commission envelope and NOTHING was there! RANT!@^%$^!@ - 09:48 PM
So, I opened the bright orange envelope to see the commission check inside and what the Heck!!!
There should have been a check there!  There should have been a check there!  BUT THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CHECK THERE!! 
Instead I find a list of my sales for the year.  That's all well and good but what happened to the MONEY for the closing last week?
This is a sad tale.  A tale of desperate people doing desperate things.
The agreement between myself and another party in my office was  a split commission for a buyer that came in on a … (111 comments)

What to do when your clients ask for a closing gift? - 04:15 PM
I'm still relatively new to Active Rain and real estate, but an issue of closing gifts came up and I thought this would be a perfect place to get some thoughts/suggestions on the mattter.
Some background:  We will be closing escrow this week on the purchase of a home for my clients.  We have been working together for close to six months, and I've come to think of them quite fondly.  By the time this house came on the market, I was pretty familiar with what they were looking for and when I went to preview it, I had a feeling … (79 comments)

How much TIME do YOU Active Rain? - 01:00 PM
I'm relatively new to Active Rain, signed up in August of this year, didn't really get going until November.
Even though I'm not new to Real Estate and have been networking for a very long time, I find that this is an excellent forum for information and contacts.
For me, I try to learn something new everyday!
I find myself:
Checking the recent blogs Looking at profiles Keeping up with various area's market trends Reading about the various areas & their history Coming up with new ideas to help my business ...and the list goes on
I've read several blogs … (58 comments)

What Not To Do - What Consumers Find Offensive About Real Estate Agents? - 04:18 PM
It's easy to establish that not all real estate agents are alike. I've heard many stories while consulting with buyers and sellers who have had bad experiences with their agents or were simply turned-off by the agent's personal and/or professional style. I can list a few, and I hope that other AR members will share stories that we can all learn from - WHAT NOT TO DO!  
Dripping In Gold - One couple who had hired me to list their home after interviewing several agents told me something that has always made me look twice in the mirror before an appointment. They described how one of … (82 comments)

Do Rentals? You Need To Read This. - 04:08 PM
At one of our recent office training sessions, this little ditty came up.  Never gave too much thought about it before now but Today's Real Estate World has forced all of us to more closely examine exactly what's going on with our paperwork/contracts, etc.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about: 
Have you heard the one about the renters who paid their rent on time yet were thrown out of their home?  There's got to be a catch, you're thinking.  They had to be loud and unruly, maintaining a nuisance house?  Parents of crazy teenagers? Owners of menacing pets that … (42 comments)


Blog posts


My First Goal For 2009-To Be Real Estate's Biggest Loser! - 09:08 PM

 
I ran out into my living room telling my husband I was going to be in the real estate biggest loser competition...he looked around the room like we were in public...shushed me and asked me....
"Why would you say that?"  I had to laugh...no I'm not striving to be a loser..well in reality yes I am but not a real estate loser....but
A loser of 35 pounds You can read about it on Jay Thompsons blog and Craig Barrett's post. It's amazing how things happen...and a few of us..are putting it out there for the world to witness... Thanks … (30 comments)

Los Angeles Cross Town Rivalry Day - 09:42 AM
Every year when I purchase a new wall calendar, the first think I do is flip to December and mark off the first Saturday.
The first Saturday of December is the annual USC-UCLA Rivalry Game.
The streets are empty.  Not a lot of business gets done.  I love it!!!
 

… (1 comments)

Interview with a Real Estate Rock Star... Margaret Rome - 04:06 PM
Marti was fantastic to work with for my book cover...and now I can almost touch it! The books are being shipped from the printer soon and we hope to have them for signing and shipping just in time for the holiday rush.

Via The Blog Artist - marti garaughty:
.

 
  A few months ago, one of the rock stars of real estate asked me to do the cover art for her new book. That was the beginning of a power relationship between three "Type E personalities".
 In case you don't already know, the rock star I'm talking about … (14 comments)

Affordable Florida Lakefront Living. - 04:51 PM
Catch the big one from your back yard!!
One of the best things about Florida is the fishin'. Large mouth bass are abundant and can be caught in just about any fresh water puddle. I caught this one right from my back yard in a Golf Course water way. It hit a plasic worm and weighed in right under 7lbs. Not quite a keeper!!! If you want to move down and join the fun check out this affordable lakefront home in Haines City Florida. Less than 30 minutes to Disney World.

Affordable Lakefront living. 1/4 acre lot on Lake Ellen. Fish from … (16 comments)

Photoblogging Knoxville's annual Christmas Parade - 03:22 PM
Last night (Friday, Dec. 5) was Knoxville' annual Christmas Parade. Even though it was around 30 degrees the Saturday news said they estimated the crowds at 35,000. 
I think that was a great turnout for such a cold night but.....Santa Claus was there and it is Christmas.

There were lots of kids of all ages. We got there about 45 minutes early and were able to get a good spot right on the curb. That turned out to be a good move because by the time the parade started people were lined up 5 to 6 deep all along Gay … (4 comments)

Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County North Carolina Third Quarter Real Estate Market Data - 11:12 AM
This update is year-to-date, encompassing the first nine months of real estate sales activity in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County, North Carolina.  In a nutshell, showings, contracts and closed sales are down.  Thankfully, although prices are down somewhat, they are not down as much as in other markets.  It is also very interesting to see the difference in the average price changes in Orange County as compared with Chapel Hill & Carrboro.  I also have taken a deeper look in Chapel Hill and Carrboro between single family homes, new construction and condos & townhouses.  Our inventory is up but also … (0 comments)

Durham, North Carolina 3rd Quarter Real Estate Market Data - 07:06 PM
This update is year-to-date, encompassing the first nine months of real estate sales activity in Durham, North Carolina.  In a nutshell, showings, contracts and closed sales are down.  The story regarding prices is good.  In Durham, unlike the rest of the Triangle, average sales prices are remaining steady.  Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange, Chatham and Wake Counties are all experiencing some decline in average prices.  

Year-to-date, showings are down 30%.

Contract pendings are down 21%.  The trend in the Triangle area overall is 22% so Durham County is tracking with the rest of the area.

Closed sales … (0 comments)

1015 INDIGO DR, CELEBRATION FL 34747 - 11:22 AM
 
 MLS# S4645960            1015 INDIGO DR, CELEBRATION, FL 34747    $$$ 575,000 $$$

 This is the one!  Nestled in East Village overlooking the East village park where children practice soccer, play baseball, fly kites, and swim in the East village pool, life is sweet!  Enjoy three levels of comfortable townhome style living.  Appointed with beautiful natural exotic treasures merbau flooring and plush carpeted bedrooms, this townhouse feels like home, or the perfect home away from home in Celebration (with all furniture possibly included!)  Gourmet, eat-in kitchen is designed with Chatham Ginger Cherry cabinets and Giallo Veneziano Granite.  Formal dining is perfect … (0 comments)

2652 DAULBY ST, KISSIMMEE FL 34747 - 11:28 AM
 
 MLS# S4643969       2652 DAULBY ST, KISSIMMEE FL 34747    $$$ 464,900 $$$

 
 Popular Brentwood located in the desirable Windsor Hills. This beautifully fully furnished, spacious 6 bedroom, 4 bath vacation home offers spacious kitchen, breakfast bar, impressive great room, pool and spa, and Games Room in the garage. Clubhouse amenities include: Two 24-hour guard gated entries, lighted tennis and basketball courts, sand volleyball, putting green, gated playground and clubhouse features lagoon-style swimming pool with fountains and splash area with water slide, community spa, game room, movie theatre, convenient store, covered meeting/lounge area.  This is the Disney Area's most prestigious … (0 comments)

7457 GATHERING DR, REUNION FL 34747 - 02:58 PM
 
MLS# S4646344                   7457 GATHERING DR, REUNION FL 34747  $$$ 1,225,000 $$$

 LIVE A LIFE OF LUXURY IN THIS INCREDIBLY PRICED FULLY FURNISHED, 4 BEDROOM, 4 BATHROOM GOLF FRONTAGE CUSTOM HOME.  Enjoy the complete resort lifestyle that Ginn's Reunion has to offer with this FURNISHED Brentwood Custom Home. Master bedroom conveniently located on the first floor provides privacy. Luxury Features include: tile roof, custom pool/spa, hardwood stairs, gourmet kitchen with wine refrigerator, granite counter tops throughout, wet bar in bonus room that overlooks the Tom Watson golf course, stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops throughout house, volume ceilings, well appointed … (2 comments)

The "Garbage-in Garbage-out" State of Real Estate Numbers - 05:28 AM
Martket time
List-to-Sale Ratio
Open house sales
FSBO sales (were they REALLY commission free?)
… (0 comments)

To FSBO (For Sale by Owner) or not ... And What Does that Mean, Exactly???? - 08:06 AM
Sounds like it should be a pretty simple question ... "Should I list my home with a broker or should I sell my house myself?"  And prior to the mid 1990's, the decision as to whether to list with a broker or go it alone was a pretty clear and decisive one.  If you chose the FSBO (pronounced FIZ-BOH, and meaning "For Sale by Owner") route, you put your sign in the ground and placed ads in the paper, you told everyone you could think of that you were selling your house, and sometimes that word of mouth advertising brought you a … (0 comments)

What's Your Perspective....How can it Change ? - 09:31 PM
  
 
 Maybe you are tired of reading, listening, seeing all the whining that creeps into the media...and I am disappointed to say...is all too prevalent at times "In the Rain."  What is worse is when members give whining an audience....the more the whiners whine...the more attention they get.  This of course, teaches them that whining works...do it more...you get more points...more sympathy...more attention....oh yicks...do we come to the Rain for sympathy ? To Whine ?  I know many of us are fortunate to have made some friends that we know that we will have for a lifetime....we have come to … (6 comments)

Wordless Saturday! - 03:17 PM
My New Hairdo....

… (27 comments)

AZ Real Estate Bloggers Gathering - AZREBN & SAAR Come together! 12.18.08 - 05:38 PM
 
I wanted to reblog this post.....'cause it'll be an EXCELLENT event! Sometimes there are so many blog posts that come into view that we don't get to all of the good ones. There are a TON of people that will be there....be sure to sign on and let Candace know whether you will be there or not. This is my first reblog...so I hope it gets good reviews. ;-)
 

Mesa, Arizona Real Estate. Call me at: 480.216-3334 for information on purchasing or selling a home in Mesa, Arizona or surrounding towns. OR email me: Teri@TeriEllis.com. Feel free to … (15 comments)

Now Is The Time To Buy In Pelican Bay and Bay Colony! - 09:38 AM
I was just checking the market today and was amazed at the prices and how they have dropped but sales are still good.
A few years ago you couldn't buy anything under $500,000 and now there are several properties under $400,000!
There are close to 6500 homes or condos in Pelican Bay and Bay Colony and less then 5% ,350 are on the market for sale.  NAR says that it is normal to have 10% on the market for any area so we are way under that!
There has been close to 230 sales this year priced from $300,000 to … (2 comments)

Another new camera - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28 - 04:25 PM
How many cameras does a person need? Don't know - haven't found my limit yet. I hate when you have to buy something because what you have breaks or stops working, but that hasn't been the case with my cameras - there's always something with a new twist.
I have a Canon Rebel (digital) EOS which is a great camera with interchangeable lenses - but it's too heavy and too big to carry around in my purse all the time.
So then I bought a Sony Cybershot DSC-W150. That's really easy to carry around with me, but the location of the … (22 comments)

Checking tenants credit history - 04:31 PM
"We don't handle rentals" - well, mostly. We do handle rentals in downtown St Petersburg condos, and we do handle rentals for our clients whose homes haven't sold and who want to do a "For Sale of For Lease, whichever comes first." and yes, we do help our clients and their families find rentals when they need them. So - with all these exceptions increasing, we're more involved than ever in getting credit reports on potential tenants.
A few years ago, a Foreclosure or Bankruptcy would have been the Kiss of Death. Today, however, it's the situation for most of the … (5 comments)

Team Decisions - 05:41 PM
I love working with a family team - my son, my daughter, and my "assumed daughter" for the last 20+ years. We talk about things a lot, and it's interesting since each of us approaches a situation from a different perspective.
Do we want to open our own office? Which contractor shall we choose? Do we want to take this listing? What more can we do to market this property? Where can we find what this client needs? What are our goals for 2009? We all know all of our clients, and we think as a team. Brainstorming is wonderful, and … (5 comments)

Sending template newsletters to other agents - 05:47 PM
It's one thing to send a template newsletter to clients and your circle of influence - odds are that they won't be receiving it from other agents.
It's one thing to send your own news and your own market statistics to other agents - it's good to know what's going on in other areas.
It's another things to send your template newsletter to other agents, especially if most or all of it is what comes from the company you purchase the newsletter from.
When I get Xamir's newsletter and the same day, same time I get 6 other identical newsletters - … (10 comments)

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