The announcement of San Francisco's sexiest real estate practitioner this year was supposed to be made Friday, but it has been delayed by "hangovers" and "contingencies."
This year, 27 women and 20 men competed for the title offered by The Front Steps blog.
As you might imagine, not everyone is thrilled with this competition, but flaunting it when you've got it can be a boost for business. When Wendy Heath, a practitioner with LB Brokerage in Long Beach, Calif., put herself on a billboard in a bikini, traffic on her Web site went from 2,000 to 20,000 in a day.
Source: SFGate.com, Anna Marie Hibble (12/10/2009) and NBCBayArea.com (12/11/2009)
*** What has the Real Estate Profession come to?
Is it really worth sinking to this level to hopefully generate business?
And what type of business will you generate?
How many buyers or sellers would want to deal with this "flaunting" agent?
My wife would shoot me before letting me do any transactions with her!
And to think that 47 people competed for this "honor". ***
Mark Greene, the CEO of credit-scoring formula maker FICO, predicts that the next six months will lead to more mortgage and credit card defaults.
Greene points to 10 percent unemployment and depressed home prices as the reason why no bailout can effectively help the 30 percent of home owners who are underwater on their mortgages. He says the reality of this is so clear to many home owners that they are changing their priorities and paying off car loans and credit card debt before they pay the mortgage.
"I'm a notch less sanguine than some financial observers are," said Greene, in an interview with Bloomberg. "We still have a very considerable period of working out credit issues."
With housing values falling from their peak a couple of years ago and millions of homeowners forced to sell under distress, pricing a home for the market has become a very delicate task.
Market-rate properties are having to compete with foreclosed homes or short sales that have been discounted by 20 percent or more, increasing the pressure on real estate practitioners to get the best deal for the clients even as buyers demand more and more concessions.
Aligning a seller's needs with the realities of today's market can be unpleasant and, in many cases, simply impossible. "What do you do when you have to tell something to someone that they really do not want to hear," asks on agent. "What technique do you use to soften the blow and avoid the heat?"
Some agents say it is important to assure sellers that they are not at fault-it is simply the nature of the market right now. Others say they avoid working with people who do not trust them and believe they are more knowledgeable than the property professional about the market.
Source: United Press International, Steve Cook (12/03/09)
*** Why struggle with the truth? It is the truth! How can you argue with the truth?
Homeowners selling under distress need the truth now more than ever.
Why is telling the truth now "very delicate" that the market is different?
Supply and demand. The Free Market. The price of homes is controlled by the market not by any agent. Agents did not take credit for the prices going up (at least I didn't) so they should not be taking the blame for them coming down.
The "realities of today's market" are just that - this is the real world. When you go to the doctor do you want to hear the truth whatever it is - right then and there - or do you want them to sugar coat reality for you and give it to you in small doses over time as your condition gets worse?
If a seller will not listen to you - believe you - trust you - then it is time to move on. Life is too short to be dealing with ostriches that have their heads in the sand. ***
(1) Some home sellers, unhappy with declining prices, are pressuring real estate practitioners to give up part of their sales commissions.
But Elizabeth Weintraub, an associate with Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, Calif., and the author of The Short Sale Savior, is quick to tell her colleagues, "You'd be foolish to give part of your salary away. I'm worth what I get paid."
On the other hand, Kellie Jones, an associate with Century 21 Beachside in Orange County, Calif., says that during the real estate bubble, practitioners could discount their commissions and make the loss up in volume. Today, she and her colleagues are "really digging in their heels because they aren't selling as many homes."
(2) One situation where some real estate professionals are willing to consider a discount is when the practitioner is both the listing and the selling agent and gets the whole pot. "But if the seller doesn't request it, they won't get it," Jones says.
Source: Los Angeles Times, Mark Yemma (12/06/2009)
*** A seller asking their agent to cut commission is one of the dumbest things a seller could possibly do. It will cost the seller money in the long run! Let's look at the two situations above.
•1. If the seller hired an agent that would cut their commission then they should fire them as quickly as possible. When an agent is not strong enough to protect their own commission then do you think they will be strong enough to negotiate the seller the highest price possible?
•2. You get what you pay for. If and agent cuts commission then they will also cut the services they offer to the seller. In this difficult market do you want more or less services-marketing-exposure-visibility-expertise-dedication to get your home sold?
•3. The agent that cuts their commission does not believe in themselves or the services they provide. So why should a seller hire someone that does not believe in the product they are selling?
•4. A professional, trained, dedicated and honest real estate agent works so much harder these days for the benefit of the seller so these agents will walk away from a penny wise and dollar foolish seller. Doesn't that leave the seller with inferior agents to choose from?
•5. Offering a selling agent less commission than the houses you are competing with is real estate suicide. Why would any agent show your house and make 33% to 50% less than selling any other house that is on the market? Would you - Mr./Mrs. Seller?
The second situation is even sillier. Let's see.
•1. The seller is paying only one commission (not two) and that is to get their house sold. The agent showing-selling the house that the seller is buying is getting paid by the seller of that house and not by you.
•2. An agent juggling the sale and purchase of two houses trying to get them sold-under contract-closed at the same time is working twice if not three times as hard. Why would you penalize your agent for working harder? How would you feel if it happened to you Mr./Mrs. Seller?
Professional real estate agents are working harder than ever and are worth every penny they get paid!
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Home Characteristics - Style: Expanded Cape, Rooms: 8, Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 2, Appearance: Excellent, Year Built: 1953, School District: Community District 5, Taxes: $10,082.
Rooms - Eat-In-Kitchen: Yes, Dining Room: Formal, Den: No, Office: No, Basement: Full, Attic: Yes
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Heating/Cooling - Fuel: Gas, Heat: Hot Water, Number of Heating Zones: 1, Separate Hot Water Heater: No
Location - Cul-De-Sac: No, Waterfront: No, Waterview: No
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Home Characteristics - Style: Expanded Cape, Rooms: 7, Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 2.5, Appearance: Excellent, Year Built: 1920, School District: #4 North Bellmore, Taxes: $10,044.69
Rooms - Eat-In-Kitchen: Yes, Dining Room: Formal, Den: No, Office: No, Basement: Full, Attic: No
First-time home buyers who bought as long ago as last winter are still waiting for their $8,000 tax refund.
As of mid-September, more than 1.4 million taxpayers had requested the credit by amending their federal tax returns. The IRS announced in October that it expects 5.1 million claims by year-end. That count doesn't reflect the extension and expansion of the credit in November.
IRS spokeswoman Carrie Resch says the agency is experiencing a higher-than normal number of amended returns and because amended returns are reviewed by hand, the process is delayed.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has been fielding constituent calls for weeks from irate home buyers. She sent a letter to the IRS that said in part: "The full and immediate economic impact of the tax credit is lost when it takes up to four months for people to get the money due to them ... such lengthy delays are unacceptable and erode the public's trust in the competence of the government."
Source: Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, Kara McGuire (12/10/2009)
*** The government got it "right" again. They really worked this plan out well - thought of all the options -anticipated what could go wrong & fixed it - got every goverment agency involved on the same page working together - OH YEAH! "The public's trust in the competence of the government" - what trust? what competence? Remember - The mess you got yourself into is the same mess that YOU have to get yourself out of - not anyone else! ***
Only about 4 percent of the home owners who signed up for loan modifications-fewer than 31,000-had received them by the end of November, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Of the largest lenders, Bank of America Corp. had the worst results. It completed a total of 98 modifications. With 7,100, GMAC Mortgage completed the most.
Lenders have blamed their lack of success in part on the failure of borrowers to complete the paperwork necessary for the process.
The government says it will expedite its efforts to push through as many modifications as possible.
Source: Associated Press, Alan Zibel (12/10/2009)
*** Thank you banks. Thank you government. Another "great" plan put together by the government & implemented "exceptionally well" by the banks as we spiral downwards after Alice down the rabbit hole. ***
New Federal Housing Administration condo-loan guidelines that took effect Dec. 8 could make it much easier for condo buyers to get a loan.
Under previous guidelines, half the units in a new condo development had to be sold before the FHA would underwrite a mortgage in the complex. New guidelines cut the requirement to 30 percent and raise the ceiling on FHA loans in a development to 50 percent from 30 percent.
The new rules also allow condo associations to turn down an accepted offer if they agree that it's too low-unless they will be violating the Fair Housing Act. This is expected to motivate many associations to seek FHA-approved status for their buildings.
Even if they solve the vacancy problem, FHA loans can be a tough sell in some buildings, says Miami-area practitioner Madeleine Romanello, an associate with Douglas Elliman Florida.
"An FHA loan still has the connotation of being low-income. Condo boards say, 'No, we don't do FHA.' They don't understand that the FHA is the only game in town. We could be moving tons of condos if we could get their buildings FHA-approved," Romanello says.
Source: Investor's Business Daily, Marilyn Alva (12/10/2009)
The increasing willingness to abandon home ownership in favor of renting could, in a counterintuitive way, be an important step in the economic recovery, some analysts say.
The U.S. home ownership rate has declined to 67.6 percent as of September, down from its peak of 69.2 percent in 2004. Much of the reason for this decline is the number of foreclosures.
Deutsche Bank Securities expects 21 million U.S. households to be underwater by the end of 2010. If 20 percent of these homeowners default, loses to banks and investors could exceed $400 billion.
While these losses are definitely bad for banks, relief from paying a mortgage makes more money available-an estimated $5 billion a month-for consumers to purchase other things.
"It's a stealth stimulus," says Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics, a consulting firm specializing in real estate. "The quicker these people shed their debts, the faster the economy is going to heal and move forward again."
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Mark Whitehouse (12/10/2009)
*** The world is up side down. Good is bad and bad is good. Abandoning responsibility builds character. Losing money is the way to make money. The government will get rid of your current debt so that you can accumulate more debt. Fiscal responsibility is as uncommon as common sense. Lets all follow Alice down the rabit hole.***
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