This was put out by a true expert on FHA loans, Jeff Belonger, and there's no better way to say it than the experts!!

I was at a Realtor luncheon the other day, talking to another Realtor about how a friend of mine was going to be joining our team at TradeMark Realtors Group and the question came up. Is this a good time to join the ranks of Realtors out here who are scrambling to make ends meet?

Many people's immediate response would be, "are you crazy?!!". The market's in the toilet, Long time agents are running scared now and, honestly, I have no idea how they survive long enough to pay their dues every year. Yet I see them at the Realtor functions, so they must be doing something to earn some money. My friend and I were discussing how so many of the people we saw at the luncheon never show up on the hot sheet and left us wondering how they could afford to hold on to their licenses. It's not cheap to be a Realtor, that's for sure.

We discussed our market and how long we thought it'd be before we saw a bounce back in sales. The Wilkes-Barre real estate market always lags behind the rest of the nation, so it took a while before ours felt any real impact from the foreclosures that have ravaged much of our nation. Last year was the year! We really have very few segments of our market that haven't been affected by an influx of REO listings over the last year. I think it may be a while before our market bounces back fully, especially after the tax rebate ends, but that's a different blog post altogether.

So, is it really a good time to get your Real Estate license and try to make a living out of our market? I imagine many people have asked that question. Based on our attrition rate in our board, I'd say that there are many Realtors who have decided that it wasn't worth the struggle and have moved on. That was the opinion of my friend that day as well. If it's not working for you and you aren't successfully paying the bills, it is probably time to look elsewhere. My thought is that it's a different story for a new Realtor. Let me explain myself and see what you think.

I think back to my first days as a Realtor. I was so excited to have my Realtor's license, but I didn't know what I was doing. Really, believe me when I say that I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I didn't have any systems in place to help generate leads, I had no idea how to speak to clients and I definitely didn't know my market enough to help anyone make an informed decision when buying or selling a home. I was just like every other new Realtor, fresh out of class and no idea what I was doing. You don't learn that kind of information in Fundamentals of Real Estate class. It takes time. It took me a full 6-8 months to become familiar with my market and develop the skills I needed to truly be of benefit to my clients.

That's precisely why I believe it's a good time to become a Realtor, as long as you are realistic that it will take a while before you will be earning a living selling houses. I started as a part time Realtor, which gave me an advantage of less pressure, but I really don't know if the lack of pressure made me take longer to get up to speed. I really don't believe it's possible to establish yourself in less than that amount of time, unless you already have a network in place.

The eternal optimist in me wants to predict that our market will strengthen quite a bit before year's end, so that will give the new Realtor plenty of time to hone those skills necessary to be successful in today's market. I believe that any agent who can make it in today's market will make it in any market. That is, of course my humble opinion, which you can put with a dollar and get a cup of coffee at McDonald's on most mornings.

Until next time...

Yes, you read that right. I was turned down on a recent refi because the appraisal came back too high. I never imagined that I'd see the day when that happened, but maybe it's an effect of a mortgage industry running scared amidst accusations of fraud. Personally, I'm more than a little bit upset over the whole deal.

You see, last year I ran across a property that had some great potential. It was a foreclosure 2BR/1BA raised ranch with a full concrete basement and a 1 car garage, situated on 1/3 of an acre. It was a small house, smaller than my normal investors' requirements of 1300SF and it was a 2BR property, so it didn't fit for my investor clients and none of them wanted to make a move on it. I still thought it had some potential, so I kept an eye on it. I knew it didn't fit the profile of most investors, so it was a safe bet to wait it out for a while and it was on the market for only $24,900 after all.

A couple of months later, as we neared the end of the year, the price took a steep cut to $17500, so I made an offer of $15000. I guess someone else was watching it too, because I ended up in a bidding war. I finally ended up making a full price offer and the house was mine. This purchase didn't come without risks. The house was a foreclosure and had been vacant for over a year. I had no idea what worked and what didn't, so started turning utilities on and checking things out.

It turned out that the systems were in fine working order, actually much better than I could have hoped for. Not a leak in the house. The furnace and water heater were in great shape. The electrical was upgraded and the windows all worked as well. I was as happy as I could be with my purchase. After changing the flooring out and painting, I put some appliances in and was ready to rent.

It didn't take long to find a tenant and I had all the pieces of the puzzle complete. I was content with my purchase and went about my business. This year, my wife and I saw another house we liked and decided to cash out the value in our investment property in order to use that money to buy this property. We made application through a mortgage broker in our area who had worked well for my clients in the recent past.

Things were going well until we got to the appraisal. It seems that my property is worth too much money now. My appraisal came back at $39000, which thrilled me when I got it back. It would be enough to pay back my investment and give me enough cash to buy the property I wanted. Then the bank sent it back to the appraiser. The value was too high, they said. Find cheaper comps, bring the price down.

The appraiser pushed back. Those were the best comps and the value was good. The bank pushed back. Redo it so you can reflect a cheaper value or they wouldn't accept it. The appraiser refused to change it yet again. The bank, true to their word, dropped me like a hot rock. It seems that my property is worth too much for the bank to refi. So...here I am, with my over-valued investment property that I can't get refinanced because my appraisal came back too high. Maybe I should have tried to influence the appraiser to fudge on the numbers to bring the price down? Hey, Mr Appraiser, I need that value to come in lower...think you can hook me up? I don't think I'll be having a conversation like that with an appraiser any time...ever!

I got a letter from the bank. It says I have been denied credit due to an "Unacceptable Appraisal". It's laughable really. I mean, I paid for an appraisal. The appraisal was done. The bank didn't like it. Now, I'm back to square one. Well, I guess that's not altogether true. I do have this nifty appraisal that the bank won't accept. Maybe I should get a nice frame. 

Until next time...

I own a property management company in Wilkes-Barre, PA, ADT Property Management Company. That's quite a statement, if you consider that I never wanted to do property management. If I had known what I know now, before I took that first step down the slippery slope that's led me to where I am today, I may never have done it at all. But I did, so here I am.

I started managing properties because I had a client who bought a house and needed to rent it for a year until he moved into the area. That pretty much opened the door and before I knew it I was getting flooded with requests for my services. Of course, it took some time for me to truly understand the whole picture and I guess I'm still learning new things as I encounter situations that I never encountered before. I thought it might be helpful to highlight some of the things I've learned over the last 2 years that might help someone make the right decision before getting into the business of renting their proeprties.

My experiences don't just come from the management of clients' properties either. I have a couple of my own that have helped me to understand the dynamics of property management. I hope these things may help someone as they embark on their own journey. Before buying that first rental property, you need to consider...

LOCATION!!!

It's not enough just to buy a cheap house, fix it up and rent it. There are certainly a ton of cheap listings in today's market. Just like the rest of the market, your rent rate will be determined by the location your property is in. Is it near the schools, shopping, bus routes, churches and hospitals?  Those are all very important factors to consider when purchasing a property to rent. I have had plenty of outstanding properties that were in tough locations for renters, which made it even harder to rent. The longer your house sits on the rental market, the more money you lose.

AMENITIES!!!

Yes, I said amenities. What does your property offer that the other houses in it's market don't? The Wilkes-Barre market has seen a huge influx of investment buyers over the last two years. They all have the same plan...buy a cheap 3BR/1BA house, rehab it as cheaply as you can and put it on the market at the high end of the rent tier. That was a great plan and it worked...for a while. It wasn't long before there were 100's of the same type of houses on the rental market, all at the same time, all offering the same amenities and all at the same prices. This made it a tenant's market and they could literally choose from 4-5 houses to rent. The one that stood out the best (or offered the most amenities) was the one they chose.

RENT RATE!!!

Consider this carefully before ever even making the purchase. If you can't get the right rent rate, you could be stuck with an alligator. You know what that is, right? It's a property that keeps eating your profits month in and month out. If you're not careful, it could even take a bite out of you!! If your house sits for more than two months, you need to review your plan and make sure you have the property priced right. A lesson I learned over time was to be sure that the rent rate is right before I take over a property. It costs me to have that place sitting there, unrented, while I run back and forth to show it as well.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT!!!

10%!!! Are you kidding me? That's the response I get sometimes when I tell someone what my fees are for my services. I've also heard the statement that I am making more money off of some of my clients properties than they are. That may very well be true, but it certainly isn't my fault. There are some rather simple formulas for figuring out what your income vs. costs will be for your property. Property Management is one of those costs you will want to consider. I have a good friend, who is also now a client, that considered my fees to be too much until she was forced into court by a tenant. After spending a lot of time and money, she now understands why it's better to have a property manager.

I have actually been able to make my clients even more money, after paying my fees each month, because of my understanding of the market. I am able to locate and place better tenants. I am able to follow up more closely when maintenance is needed. I can take better care of the tenants and a happy tenant is worth their weight in gold, believe me. I have relationships with contractors, local building code inspectors and local law enforcement, so my relationships can make the lives of my clients much easier.  

In Wilkes-Barre, if you don't live within 20 miles of the city, you have to have a Property Manager registered with the city. I have seen the city actually shut down multi-unit buildings, essentially evicting all the tenants (at the owner's expense) because the owner lived out of town and didn't have a property manager. That meant large fines from the city and some very angry tenants. In addition to those requirements, in order to be a property manager in PA, you have to have at least a Real Estate salesperson's license. That pretty much narrows the field when it comes to property management.

Yes, there is a lot to consider before wading into these sometimes turbulent waters. Choose your steps wisely and, if you find yourself with a question or two, give me a call.

Until next time... 

and I know that old addage to be true in most things in life. It's really because what we knew as home turns out to be something so totally different when we've been away from it for a while. Well, I've been away from ActiveRain for a while...a long while, and now I find myself back at the computer, peering at the screen and trying to align my thoughts in some sort of order that will make sense to anyone who stumbles across my blog in their search for knowledge, comic relief or an escape from something else they'd rather not be doing right now.

Hello ActiveRain readers, my name is Andrew Trevino and I am a blogger...

I feel like I have to introduce myself, like the first day I posted a blog on ActiveRain many, many months ago. No, I'm no newbie, but it's been so long since I've written a blog post that it feels brand new to me. Brand new isn't a bad thing, is it? Maybe it's more like that alcoholic who has beaten their addiction, for now, and is able to stand up and say that they've been clean for 5 months, 21 days, 8 hours and 46 minutes. Yes, I still remember those anxious moments, at 2:38am where I was sitting in bed, my laptop beginning to make my legs uncomfortably sweaty under the covers while artlessly ignoring my wife's almost continuous moaning because my incessant typing and the dull glow of the screen was keeping her awake. I just had to get that post out and then I just had to wait a few minutes to see if my post was worthy of some other blog-addicted writer's comments.

Am I the prodigal son returned to his blogging home? Where's my ring and fatted calf? I guess in a way I am. I did a Google search today and found, not unexpectedly, that I am on the 4th page. Tucked away in no-man's land like the 100,000 other returns on "Realtors in Wilkes-Barre PA". Might as well be the last, right? It's a good thing that I have a steady referral base or I just might be in some serious trouble!!

I haven't checked yet, but I imagine I may have lost a few of those faithful readers who seemed to get something out of my posts day in and day out. For you, I apologize for my extended absence. If you are still there, I'm grateful and I hope to have some worthwhile reading for you soon. In the meantime, bear with me while I get my, ahem, groove back.

It will certainly take me some time to catch up on my old friends' blogs, see what's going on in the lives of those who definitely impacted mine through their writing and figure out what I've been missing since I've been gone. I imagine that my blog will be very "old-school" for all of you. Maybe I should have read a few of yours to see just how old-school I'll appear, but I've never been known for being pragmatic.

I will take some time over the next few days to get back in the groove and update you all on what's been going on in my life over the last few months. A lot has changed...some for the better and some for the worse, but that's life after all. In the meantime, let me assure you of a few things...

1. I am still a Realtor in Wilkes-Barre, PA.I still work with TradeMark Realtors Group and am enjoying a very busy schedule these days. I guess all that work at learning to be a good buyer's agent is paying off. It is a buyer's market after all, so I'm perfectly in my element.  

2. I still own my own Property Management Company. Maybe some of you didn't know that at all, so it may be news to you. My company is called ADT Property Management Company. This company has grown tremendously over the last year, from 7 properties to almost 60 now. If you can imagine, this takes up a lot of my time and is the main reason for my absence. There are only 24 hours in a day, I've found.

3. I have gotten no better at time management, so my start may be as stop and go as that '67 Dodge Dart, with the bad carburetor, I owned many years ago. But, much like that car, I'll manage to keep moving forward as well as I can.

4. I still enjoy writing very much. Well, I think I do. I've learned that you don't always get to do the things you like every day, but I've made it my goal to spend time on this each and every day. So, like pulling the old bike out of the basement each Spring, I will pull out the keyboard and loosen up the typing fingers to put some of the gazillion thoughts that run through my brain each day on the proverbial internet paper that this blog has become.

Oh man, is this becoming a top ten list? I better stop before I get too deep. Anyway, thanks for checking out my blog and bearing with me as I shake the dust off. I hope you have tissues handy and aren't allergic!! I imagine there'll be much more shaking to do before I get it right.

Until next time...

OK, this isn't a post about posting naked pictures of yourself on Active Rain. This is a Real Estate blogging community after all. Aside from a few choice bloggers I know, I don't think anyone else would even think of doing such a thing.

No, I'm talking about getting exposure for yourself through your blog. I was recently asked in a comment on one of my very boring ad posts about a rental property if I had turned my high ranking on AR into exposure for myself and my business. My answer would have to be...yes and yes.

First off, let me say that I never considered that I had a "high ranking" on Active Rain. Heck, Jason Crouch got more points than I have now in his first 2 months on AR. OK, maybe it took him a bit longer, but certainly not much. Maybe it's just that Pennsylvania is a bit slow on the take and there isn't all that much competition out there. Right now, my almost 90K points has earned me a #10 spot in PA and #1 in Luzerne County. I'll take it.

You see, my ranking has earned me some exposure on the internet. Just today I received a call from a potential buyer interested in knowing about FHA loans and if she would qualify. It seems that Jeff Belonger commented on one of my posts quite some time ago. Jeff is the FHA expert in PA, you see, but because he commented on my post and this particular buyer searched for just the right combination of words, she got me. While I don't put "FHA Expert" in my claim to fame, I know enough about them to feel perfectly confident in talking with her about it and we are well on our way to forming a lasting relationship.

I love the exposure this blog has given me with the internet search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo. I get the calls all the time from the SEO guys wanting to sell me their optimizations, only to find that I am already on the first page of most of the search terms my clients use. Yes, that exposure has paid off very well with my business.

I have been exposed to some people who share my same beliefs, those who don't share my beliefs and those who couldn't care what my beliefs are. It is a community after all. I have been exposed to new ideas, countless hours of training on many subjects real estate related and, through the comment stream on many posts, a whole variety of different angles on how to view most any topic or tackle just about any problem.

I have also exposed myself to others, through my writing here, sometimes to the chagrin of more than a few readers who have made their opinions of my writing well known to me. I think if I have to write another MeMe, I'll die of writer's block and have to take up a hobby that doesn't require human interaction. I take the good with the bad. The truth of the matter is that I enjoy writing. An enjoyment I have taken less and less time to do as of late. I'll have to remedy that.

In the end, I have exposed myself and have been exposed to much more than I ever thought possible when I joined over a year ago. I have thoroughly enjoyed that exposure and hope to gain more exposure as time goes on.

$750 / 3br - 786 N. Pennsylvania Ave, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702

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Date: 2008-07-16, 10:24PM EDT

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18702-Wilkes-Barre (East End)

FOR RENT $750 Monthly

	TradeMark Realtors Group
Andrew Trevino Email Andrew Work: 570-613-9090 Cell: 570-991-1073 Fax: 866-558-3179
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	Address: 786 N. Pennsylvania Ave Type: Residential Style: 2 Story Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Suite: No Living Area: 1,107 square feet Year Built: 0 More Details

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	Fully remodeled 3BR 1.5BA home for rent in the East End of Wilkes-Barre. You won't want to miss out on the opportunity to be the first to live in this beautifully redone home. Call today for a showing. More Description

Country Retreat in Warrior Run, PA $109,900

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Date: 2008-07-16, 5:23PM EDT

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18706- (Warrior Run)

FOR SALE $109,900

	TradeMark Realtors Group
Andrew Trevino Email Andrew Work: 570-613-9090 Cell: 570-991-1073 Fax: 866-558-3179
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	Address: 210 High Street Type: Residential Style: Single Story Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Suite: No Living Area: 1,570 square feet Year Built: 1989 More Details

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	Looking for the privacy of living in the country but don't want to drive too far to go shopping? Then, this is the one for you!! This former manufactured home has been permanently affixed to a foundation and has two quality stick-built additions for lots of room. Situated on over an acre of land, with a paved drive and a heated 2 car detached garage, this property has a lot to offer. Call to see it today!!! More Description

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18644-West Wyoming (Dickville)

FOR SALE $159,900 Reduced!!

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	Address: 260 W Eighth Street Type: Residential Style: 2 Story Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Suite: No Living Area: 1,800 square feet Year Built: 0 More Details

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	Just like new!!! You won't believe your eyes when you see the interior of this beautifully rehabbed home. The minute you open the door, the open floorplan will draw you in and you won't want to leave. 3 Bedrooms, 2 Full Baths, woodburning fireplace, first floor laundry room, tile floors and granite tile countertops on refinished cherry cabinets are just a few of the treasures you'll find inside. On the outside, you'll find a very nice sized private lot, with an above ground pool and a 2 car detached garage with electric. You won't be disappointed with this house!!! More Description

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There goes the neighborhood!!!

I was so embarrassed to hear that comment today while showing a house in an affluent neighborhood to some Hispanic clients of mine. I wasn't embarrassed for my clients, I was embarrassed for the people who made that racist remark in front of my clients. I was embarrassed that someone would have the nerve to say that comment, while looking sideways at us, and walk away with their smug looks on their faces. Did they think that because we were speaking Spanish that they wouldn't be understood?

I was proud today as well. I was proud of the way my client handled the situation. They just shrugged it off and went about their business, as if it didn't matter. Because it really didn't matter at all. You can't allow the racist remarks that issue forth from rich, ignorant mouths to dissuade you from realizing your dreams in life. I'm sure they won't. Yes, I was very proud of them.

I was also dumbfounded today. You see, that comment was made in the presence of a Realtor. Well, two if you include me. The part that dumbfounded me was that the other agent agreed and walked away laughing with them. I was boiling inside to think that a Realtor would be an active part of such a conversation. It's a good thing that I have had time to think about the situation since then.

You see, I could very possibly have made a big mistake by reacting to that situation out of my anger over what I thought had happened. How often do we do that? We see everything through our own individual filters. My filter today caused me to see that conversation in a certain way that made those people out to be bigots. They very well may have been just that, but consider this...

The people are having a great time talking with their Realtor about the house they are considering buying. They are joking with one another about the possibility that they might buy the house and the husband mentions that he'll really enjoy having his buddies from the men's group he just joined over for a bar-b-que sometime. His wife says, a bit loudly, "There Goes the Neighborhood!!", which draws a good bit of laughter, even from the Realtor, as they walk away.

Yes, I was embarrassed today...for myself. I've got to get my filter cleaned. How about you?