Did Mortgage Brokers Cause The Economic Collapse?

I don’t know, but wait until you hear this. A couple days ago I called a mortgage broker for my buyer to ask a question about a USDA loan. I just had a quick and easy question for the guy.

I asked him why the buyer qualified for a $120,000 USDA vs $80,000 FHA. And then BAM!!!! He hit me with a brick! "We need to get him in as expensive a house as we can, that way we get paid more…right? Hahaha". HOLY CRACK JACK, IS THIS GUY ON DRUGS? Smack me and I wouldn't have noticed. Is this guy serious?

I know mortgage brokers in general didn't cause our current situation. But I'm sure guys like this (Mister Snake Oil Salesman) didn’t help any. Unbelievable! With consumers already losing trust, how are we supposed to help them get back what they’ve lost with these kinds of people in our industry? What do you all think?

 

Image Courtesy of Yomanimus at Flickr

 

Be careful of the bridges you burn

                                            

Maybe this wasn't something your parents ever said to you when you were little, but it was an often-used phrase in my home..."don't burn your bridges". 

It took me a while to get the hang of this.  Its especially hard sometimes.  That job you've been wanting to quit for year; when the opportunity finally comes up, you just wanna run out of there screaming "kiss my heinie"!  That mean boss you took crap off of for who knows how long.  Didn't it feel GOOD to finally give him a piece of your mind?

What about all the clients out there who have wronged you, whether it really has any truth to it or just a feeling in your mind?  Its hard sometimes to bite your tongue.  REALLY HARD.

About a year ago, I had some clients who were referred to me through my husband.  They decided they wanted something in a town about 45 minutes away.  This was fine with me.  I connected them with one of my best lenders, and off we went...on the house hunting mission.  We looked for a few weeks steadily and even found a few contenders.

Then...things got a little too quiet.  I gave it a few days, thinking maybe there was some emergency or something that was holding them up.  About the time I was ready to call, they came to my office to see me.  "Great news"  they tell me.  "We found a house and are buying it"!  Say WHAT???

Turns out they took a drive one afternoon, passed a house they really liked the looks of, a lo and behold, the listing agent just happened to be there.  They went in for a look, and ended up writing a contract.

Well, I was pretty hurt.  I asked them why they used this other agent.  Had I done something wrong?  They assured me I hadn't.  It was just "one of those things".  Yeah...one of those things where you put in weeks of work and don't get a paycheck for it.  I'm all too familiar with "those things".

I decided to just let it be.  I wished them the best of luck, went to the bathroom and had a good cry, and went on with my life and my business.

Enter last week; My husband tells me that this same couple has decided what a mistake it was to buy that home, and they want to sell.  Not only that house, but another they own as an investment.  And they really would like me to be their agent!

Case in point for not burning bridges.  I honestly don't think they realized the mistake they made, or how I took it personally.  They were just excited buyers who found a good deal and jumped on it.  And boy am I glad I didn't cuss them out, tell them to kiss my heinie, or any number of other things I could have done or said in my moment of anger.

Its VERY hard at times to be the bigger person.  To take the high road.  And to not take it personally.  But I encourage you to try it as often as you can.  The results may not be tangible.  They might never even be seen.  But building bridges, and maintaining them all, IS part of our business.  At least it should be.

 

**Picture provided by Microsoft clip art.  Copyright © 2007 Microsoft Corporation and/or its suppliers.**

Thanks for reading!

Kelley Weimer

 a house "SOLD" name!

Kelley Weimer is a full-time Real Estate professional serving the residential and commercial needs of Southwest Ohio, including Preble County, Montgomery County, Butler and Darke Counties.  She serves the needs of today's home buyers and home sellers, working for one of the area's top real estate brokerages, Country Mile Realtors.  Making real estate dreams come true since 2002, Kelley prides herself on honest, friendly service; staying on the edge of technology yet always keeping the focus on good ole' communication.  For your real estate dreams, please contact Kelley today!

www.preblecountysold.com

 

 

Be careful of the bridges you burn

                                            

Maybe this wasn't something your parents ever said to you when you were little, but it was an often-used phrase in my home..."don't burn your bridges". 

It took me a while to get the hang of this.  Its especially hard sometimes.  That job you've been wanting to quit for year; when the opportunity finally comes up, you just wanna run out of there screaming "kiss my heinie"!  That mean boss you took crap off of for who knows how long.  Didn't it feel GOOD to finally give him a piece of your mind?

What about all the clients out there who have wronged you, whether it really has any truth to it or just a feeling in your mind?  Its hard sometimes to bite your tongue.  REALLY HARD.

About a year ago, I had some clients who were referred to me through my husband.  They decided they wanted something in a town about 45 minutes away.  This was fine with me.  I connected them with one of my best lenders, and off we went...on the house hunting mission.  We looked for a few weeks steadily and even found a few contenders.

Then...things got a little too quiet.  I gave it a few days, thinking maybe there was some emergency or something that was holding them up.  About the time I was ready to call, they came to my office to see me.  "Great news"  they tell me.  "We found a house and are buying it"!  Say WHAT???

Turns out they took a drive one afternoon, passed a house they really liked the looks of, a lo and behold, the listing agent just happened to be there.  They went in for a look, and ended up writing a contract.

Well, I was pretty hurt.  I asked them why they used this other agent.  Had I done something wrong?  They assured me I hadn't.  It was just "one of those things".  Yeah...one of those things where you put in weeks of work and don't get a paycheck for it.  I'm all too familiar with "those things".

I decided to just let it be.  I wished them the best of luck, went to the bathroom and had a good cry, and went on with my life and my business.

Enter last week; My husband tells me that this same couple has decided what a mistake it was to buy that home, and they want to sell.  Not only that house, but another they own as an investment.  And they really would like me to be their agent!

Case in point for not burning bridges.  I honestly don't think they realized the mistake they made, or how I took it personally.  They were just excited buyers who found a good deal and jumped on it.  And boy am I glad I didn't cuss them out, tell them to kiss my heinie, or any number of other things I could have done or said in my moment of anger.

Its VERY hard at times to be the bigger person.  To take the high road.  And to not take it personally.  But I encourage you to try it as often as you can.  The results may not be tangible.  They might never even be seen.  But building bridges, and maintaining them all, IS part of our business.  At least it should be.

 

**Picture provided by Microsoft clip art.  Copyright © 2007 Microsoft Corporation and/or its suppliers.**

Thanks for reading!

Kelley Weimer

 a house "SOLD" name!

Kelley Weimer is a full-time Real Estate professional serving the residential and commercial needs of Southwest Ohio, including Preble County, Montgomery County, Butler and Darke Counties.  She serves the needs of today's home buyers and home sellers, working for one of the area's top real estate brokerages, Country Mile Realtors.  Making real estate dreams come true since 2002, Kelley prides herself on honest, friendly service; staying on the edge of technology yet always keeping the focus on good ole' communication.  For your real estate dreams, please contact Kelley today!

www.preblecountysold.com

 

 

19 Winchester Dr Quakertown PA - Priced to Sell!

eSignatures: Your most asked questions - Answered!

As a representative for DocuSign I get a lot of questions about electronic signatures and how they can help improve the bottom line for real estate professional.  I've re-posted this blog post by An Bui, DocuSign's Social Media Manager, which addresses the most asked questions that will help you to understand the advantages of using a service like DocuSign for your business. 

1. What does DocuSign Electronic Signature do for me?

DocuSign enables you to electronically send, sign, and manage your real estate and broker forms with confidence. You can use your current form creation process and with DocuSign's ability to mark up the document with yellow stick-e-tabs, you'll never miss another signature or initial again.

DocuSign also notifies your clients via email that they have documents to sign and will walk them step-by-step through the process of adopting an electronic signature and signing the document. You can also set up DocuSign to copy the other agent in the transaction so that once your clients have all signed, the other agent will receive a completed signed form(s)  automatically! And you'll also receive an email notification when your signers have all signed.

Using DocuSign's electronic signature process with your real estate forms makes it easy and convenient for both you and your customers, giving you the competitive advantage buyers are talking about.

Try DocuSign FREE for 30-Days! 

2. How does the e-signature get into the DocuSign system?

First, the sender creates an envelope and uploads the documents for signature. The sender addresses the envelope with the signer's name and email address.

Then DocuSign sends the signer an email notifying them they have documents to be signed.  The signer clicks on the "Review" button and a secure link will take them into DocuSign to start the signing process. 

The process includes adopting an electronic signature and agreeing to sign electronically.  DocuSign will automatically take your client's to the first document and prompt the signer to hit the "Start" button.  That's it!  It is really very fast and easy.

Try DocuSign FREE for 30-Days! 

3. Won't using electronic signature hurt my ability to develop relationships with my clients?

We understand that as real estate professionals, relationships and relationship building are important to your bottom line.

For example, if you and your client are in the offer process, you may also end up counter-offering as well. What if your client doesn't have time to meet you every time new documents need to be signed? What if they're out of town on business?

With DocuSign, the signing process can happen remotely if that's what the client needs. DocuSign also offers in-person signing capabilities that enable you to leverage the power of electronic signature, an electronic audit trail, and provide the in-person interaction as well.

Try DocuSign FREE for 30-Days! 

 

4. Do I need any special equipment?

No. DocuSign is a web-based application which means you only need a computer with high-speed internet access and an email address. This means you can access the DocuSign system from your home, office, or local coffee shop with wifi.  Anywhere that you can get an internet connection.

You can DocuSign from your desktop PC, Mac, Windows laptop, tablet - whatever computer you currently have, as long as you can get email, internet and browse the web!

This fall, DocuSign also launched ‘Designed for Mobile" which provides the ability to sign documents from your data phone, such as Apple iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile or Google Android device to make it faster and easier for customers to complete transactions while on the go.

Try DocuSign FREE for 30-Days! 

5. Can I get more information about the legality of electronic signatures?
Absolutely - take a look at the legal section of the DocuSign blog, where Ken Moyle, DocuSign's Chief Legal Officer and the Public Policy Chair of ESRA, shares his thoughts and writings about electronic signatures, electronic signature acceptance, authentication and evidentiary considerations.

So are you ready to give DocuSign Electronic Signature Service a try?  You can try it FREE for 30-Days with our 30-day money back guarantee.  Just try DocuSign free for 30-days if you don't like it, just cancel and you will not be billed.  What are you waiting for?

Open House Sunday Nov 22 1503 Concord Court Quakertown PA

Perfecting Your Inventory Knowledge in Your Neighborhoods

This is not a rant, but rather a lesson learnt, obviously very much needed to share with all agents - especially when you plan to represent your clients in a specific neighborhood, be it if you are a listing or a buyer's agent.

Over the weekend, I showed a property in a Frisco TX neighborhood. The agent called for a feedback Monday afternoon. There's 2 things I learnt from the conversation:

(1) The buyer is ALWAYS right.

The listing agent went on and on the phone the whole time explaining to me what are the upgrades in the house. No question about that. However, in a home, whether it is a $1,000 custom made chandelier, or a $100 light bought from Home Depot, Buyers still expect lighting fixtures around the house.

The kitchen is installed with granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances and just tastefully done. But would you expect to sell the house without a proper kitchen? The conversation with this particular listing agent sounded as if these were "bonuses" to the house that you otherwise would not expect.

(2) Listing Agents must know the inventory in the neighborhood.

This neighborhood has high foreclosure inventory. Builders decided NOT to build in this neighborhood temporarily. The foreclosures are not rare-occasions. The only ones that are selling are foreclosures.

I explained that we acknowledged that this home is offered by a regular seller and he would never want to see an offer coming in with a foreclosure pricing. (Note that in presenting offers, Buyers seem to go much lower just to see how low the banks will go).

The question that appalled me in my 15 minute conversation was: How many foreclosures are there in the neighborhood?

I couldn't believed this question and my filters didn't work that afternoon. This is what I blurted out of my mouth:

"You are the listing agent for this house in this community. You should know your neighborhood invntory. I wont tell you how many foreclosure inventories are there because you can find it out on your own. I'm just going to say that there are a few too many".

 

Well, those that know me know that I'm not a rude, or straight in your face person. But I could sense some anger/ resentment/ disappointment in my tone because I was clearly upset that this agent knows nothing about selling homes in this neighborhood. I looked up his phone number. Sure enough, it was listed with a different area code, his office, some 45 minutes away.

What can I say? This home has been sitting on the market for over 150 days. It is clearly overpriced just with the market conditions and the listing agent is trying to get offers from any showing agents with no very good persuasion skills.

 

So, here's how you can become the best agent for your sellers:

(1) Set yourself up on property alerts for that neighborhood.

(2) Know every movement in the neighborhood.

(3) Make sure you stay on top of things by evaluating/ reviewing pricing at least every 2 weeks.

 

Until then, you havent deserve to earn your paycheck from your sellers. Be either very good or don't play. Don't ever let your Sellers know more or sooner than you do in his/ her neighborhood.

 

*********************************************************************************************

All contents are original. Consider subscribing to my blog for more real estate commentaries.

Subscribe via Email if you are not an Active Rain member here.

 

 

 

Contact:

Loreena Yeo
Realtor®/ Broker of 3:16 team REALTY
(214) 783-2210
loreena@loreenayeo.com

 

Super-serving Frisco, Plano, Dallas, McKinney, Allen, Little Elm, Prosper, Celina, Richardson, Dallas M-Streets, Dallas White Rock Lake area communities and other surrounding areas.

 

 

Copyright © 2009 by Loreena Yeo (3:16 team REALTY)
Perfecting Your Inventory Knowledge in Your Neighborhoods

Housing Market Predictions: We've Heard Them All, Except the One That Matters ... Yours!

• Housing will not fully recover until 2012.  That is when the glut of backlogged foreclosures is expected to be phased out of the market. 

 

• Housing will recover by the end of the year.  Now that inventory has contracted to average levels for what constitutes “normal” regional markets in major metropolitan areas where prices have declined as much as 50% in the past three years, and month to month sales have steadily increased over the past six months, demand has realigned with supply to arrest the freefall in values.

 

• The housing recovery began in early 2009.  Median price increases in some markets indicate that even while many pundits were openly wondering when the bottom of the market would appear, it was actually several months in the rearview mirror.

Many factors and variables, and just as many divergent opinions to boot.  So many, in fact, that you almost have to choose amongst the purported experts to determine whether you fall in the half empty or half full category.  Job rates, interest rates, unemployment rates … psychiatric rates, for spending too much time poring over the data and extrapolations will render one in need of a head exam. 

Overanalysis 101.

You don’t need flow charts to tell you where things stand at the moment.  You won’t need a market report to tell you when things are better.

You’ll know the market has recovered when you no longer dread the trip to the mailbox or evening phone calls.

You’ll know the market has recovered when you can confidently re-enable automatic bill pay from your checking account instead of prioritizing which ones get paid this month by how far past due each is.

You’ll know that the market has recovered when you don’t have to decide whether you or a loved one is really ill enough to warrant the cost of a trip to the doctor.

You’ll know the market has recovered when you no longer have to explain to the kids why you can’t go to the zoo or stop for ice cream today. 

You’ll know the market has recovered when sleep comes as readily as worry formerly did.

You can stop looking to someone else to tell you when the market is fully healed as the housing implosion is the root of these greater ails.  It’s far easier to take stock of your own life, and those of your friends and family, to see where along its arc the pendulum is currently settled.  As the finance/housing sector dragged our economy into the muck, it will again lead us back to dry ground.  No need to watch the stars for celestial clues.  Just do what no pundit can and watch your own life for improvement.  You’ll know housing has recovered when both of your own feet are planted squarely on terra firma. 

Most importantly, beware the forecasts that don’t jive with your own internal index.  Those who would adamantly assert the rosiest or bleakest prognosis are likely more interested in influencing your behavior than in your well being. 

“Buy now before prices shoot back up!” 

“Sell now before prices erode further!” 

When you stop listening to yourself, you risk placing all of your trust in the megaphones of those who have a vested interest in your fear.

Is the housing market improving?  Is now the time to buy?  The time to sell?  For months, I have been asked to provide the answers to these questions.  I have dutifully provided my vague predictions with the obligatory caveat that no one truly knows how a free market will behave from one day to the next.  I realize, though, that in supplying answers to those who actually give the market context, that we have all been looking at this thing from the wrong perspective.  It makes zero difference where I think the market stands at present, and where it is headed.  The very consumers who ask me these questions are the ones who will ultimately provide the truth or fallacy to my various hypotheses.  So I turn the tables and ask the consumer, the actual authority, the very same question. 

“What is the state of the Real Estate market?”

Feel free to comment here or send me an email with your thoughts.  Looking for opinions from consumers and laypersons, not agents or financial wizards (all comments welcome, though).  I will post the results in a follow-up piece.

Mr. Homeowner & Mrs. Homebuyer, the floor is now yours.

Understanding the Internet Buyer (NAR Convention Speech)

Here is my presentation from the NAR Convention in San Diego, "Understanding the Internet Buyer". If you ever want me or someone from Zillow to present to agents in your office (in person or via webinar), please let me know.

 

Here's the video. It seems to crash the Firefox browser when I embed the video, so you'll have to watch it over on ustream.

 

Understanding the Internet Buyer

 

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Lets Say Thanks

I just received an email from one of my past military borrowers who has a loved one in Iraq.  I thought it was a fabulous idea worth sharing with all the good folks on Active Rain.

 Xerox is sponsoring a Thank You card drive for the men & women of our armed forces stationed overseas this holiday season.  It will only take a minute of your time, and will definitely brighten their day.  All you have to do is visit the Lets Say Thanks web site,  follow the 3 easy steps (give your name, pick a design, and choose a pre worded thank you message, or create your own), and Xerox will print and deliver the card to one of our troops.

 It does not matter what your stance is on our politics, or foreign policy, these people are serving our country, and deserve everyone's support.  From a completely selfish standpoint, this is a great way to get in front of your database in a positive way.  Who knows, you might just get some business out of being a nice person.