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realestate: It Is Time To Learn What A Bank Buyback Is. - 11/09/10 06:38 PM
The latest term in the real estate mortgage meltdown is Bank Buyback. The quick explanation is: when the FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) says that if a mortgage file has some flaws, mistakes, and/or improprieties, the originating entity must "buy it back." Thus, the bank, mortgage company, and even the originator could be asked/forced to buy back a loan that was funded because of improper underwriting and/or faulty documentation.
This has huge economic ramifications. Imagine if those banks that sold loans to the secondary market are asked to buy back many of those loans. Some of the major "lenders" have financial … (0 comments)
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realestate: No Interior Pics? Clever Or Not? ... Do you Prefer To Visit To Verify? - 07/29/10 12:50 PM
What would happen if agents stopped putting interior pictures of their listings on the Internet? Oh yes, there would be an outcry from surfers and hobbyists who love to see what is inside. And there would be some agents who don't understand the usefulness of actually communicating with buyers.
So why would one think of that no interior pics would be useful? Maybe it would be so more people would make an appointment to look at a property. Maybe it would be to make the interior pics on your personal or company web site more useful that the listing sites are. maybe it … (3 comments)
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realestate: Borrower Bulldozes His House When Bank Reportedly Refuses A Payoff! - 02/24/10 12:10 PM
Oh My Goodness! There has to be more to this story than what I read and watched in the videos! The reporters have written that this borrower/owner bulldozed his house when the bank would not accept a sale. As a professional, I wish the reporters had asked more questions, so more of the circumstances could be understood.
For example, was the $170,000 offer he had from a buyer enough to pay off the mortgage or was it a short sale? The article says that he owed $160,000. If he was behind and there were already legal fees, then the $170K may not have been enough … (2 comments)
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realestate: New HUD Rules for foreslosures - 02/05/10 04:16 PM
It seems that the HUD Secretary has tried to make it easier to buy a foreclosure. Shaun Donovan has initiated a policy that will last 1 year (from Feb 1). It will allows buyers to use FHA financing to buy HUD owned property, foreclosures, or private resales.
There are some conditions that have to be met, like it has to be an "arms length" transaction. Another is that if the sale price of a property is 20% or more above the seller's acquisition costs, the lender has to meet some specific conditions. And one more is that reverse mortgages are excluded.
Of course when … (0 comments)
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realestate: New Acceptable Radon Levels Published by W. H. O. - 09/24/09 07:39 AM
The World Health Organization has decided that the acceptable level of Radon in a property is now 2.7 pCL/l instead of 4.0 pCL/l. This means that MOST of the US is now a Zone 1. The old Radon map of the US currently shows three zones with Zone 1 indicating possible levels of Radon exceeding the 4.0 range, zone 2 ranges from 2 to 4 pCL/l and Zone 3 are the areas of less than 2.
So the new map, when it is redone, will indicate 2 zones: areas of over 2.7 and all the other areas.
If you want to see … (6 comments)
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realestate: A Call to Action For NAR Members - 09/22/09 08:45 AM
I blogged about extending the $8000 tax credit to first time home buyers yesterday. Today I found a link for the call to action from the NAR. If you are an agent, a broker, a consumer, a renter, or someone else who can use this program, please use the letter to encourage your government reps to extend the credit.
I am not sure if more than one extension will be necessary, but there are many consumers who are just waking up to the available credit and how it could help them buy a home. Traditionally, interest rates rise in the second … (1 comments)
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realestate: Let's Get The First Time Buyer Credit Extended! - 09/21/09 01:18 PM
If you haven't done so already, email your reps and the prez with your request for an extension of the First Time Buyer Tax Credit. Interest rates usually rise in the second year of a new president, so we will need some help for the first timers early next year.
If we don't start asking now, we might see another slowdown. If your market can benefit with the First Time Buyer Tax Credit extension, here's where you can find out who to contact.
Go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt and enter your zip code. You will see who your reps are and how to … (1 comments)
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realestate: The Average Web Site Is Down How Many Minutes? - 09/16/09 07:11 AM
I receive weekly updates from a few site monitors. Some are sales gimmicks and some have interesting information.
Today one of them mentioned that of the over 1 million sites they are monitoring, the average down time is almost 1 hour. Over a week that doesn't seem to be too bad. 24 x 7 = 168 hours so one hour may not be a problem.
But, if that hour is during the time a customer was searching for you, it could be a problem. Such a small amount of downtime is less problematic than other Internet issues. Most people have learned … (0 comments)
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realestate: Real Estate Is A Courageous Business Effort - 09/16/09 06:53 AM
"Courage is the form of every virtue at the testing point." CS Lewis
The real estate business is a business that could be called courage inducing. There is no guaranteed paycheck for a commissioned salesman. There is only the possibility of success. And with each success, the possibility begins again.
Throughout each part of a transaction, from the initial meeting to the deposit of the check after the sale, courage is a requirement. Sometimes courage is required to make the initial phone call. Sometimes it is required to co-broke with an obstinate business person. Sometimes courage is required to choose what … (3 comments)
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realestate: 91,000,000 results in a search this morning - 07/21/09 10:41 AM
So I ask you, does having 91,000,000 results in a search for real estate help or hinder a customer's understanding of the real estate market they are looking to buy or sell in? I don't think it helps. I search my own MLSs every day. Because I do it every day, I know where to look, what to look for and HOW to look.
Even looking at the name of the listing agent in an MLS listing can tell me more about the listing than any picture can. Many agents have tendencies - price too high, embellished descriptions, pictures of a beach when … (3 comments)
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realestate: Seniors CAN Avoid Foreclosure! IF...! - 06/19/09 03:31 PM
I just spoke to Bob Tranchell, a Relationship Manager with Financial Freedom, and he told me about how one senior aged owner saved his property using a reverse mortgage.
It seems that this particular older guy had an adjustable rate and he got caught in the rate increases. But, with some help and with a reverse mortgage, he not only saved his house, he got some cash.
It sounds too good to be true, but Bob, says the story is true.
Read the article here:
Reverse Mortgage: Seniors Can Escape Foreclosure
… (0 comments)
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realestate: Top of goo gle in 24 hours! One trick. - 06/18/09 01:46 PM
I was at a meeting this week where one guy said he'd won a bet because he'd gotten his site to the top of goo gle in 24 hours. I listened to see if he was selling some "latest" tool or if he had some "black hat" type of seo spoof. In fact, he had found a niche that many of us are not exploiting.
It is zip codes. Many of us don't include the zipcode of the town we work in on our pages or in our seo coding. If you list property, list the zip codes you have listing … (15 comments)
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realestate: Top States Searched For Real Esate in MAY - 06/07/09 11:18 PM
The top states searched for real estate on REindex.com, The Site Engine in May, were NY, IL, CA, PA, IA, MO, TX, MA, FL, OH. Each of these states has been in the news lately for various real estate reasons.
New York real estate has seen a slow down, and even has had a few large real estate companies close. Illinois is coming back from its downturn. CA real estate has finally found bottom and is starting to move property again. Pennsylvania has an active economic development plan. Their web site, www.NewPA.com, has interesting information and growth data. They are working … (0 comments)
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realestate: Hollywood East is Attracting Commercial Attention - 05/27/09 09:10 AM
Hollywood East is Attracting Commercial Attention! If you haven't heard about Hollywood East, it is a huge, state of the art commercial media production facility (movies, tv, etc.) that is under development in Plymouth MA near Cape Cod! It is the most advanced studio in the country!
Recently, one of the staff of developers, Joe DiLorenzo, visited the National Association of Industrial Office Properties (NAIOP) to talk a bit about the studio. He spoke to a packed room of interested commercial real estate professionals. Those pros paid close attention to the thousands of jobs the studio is producing as well as the … (0 comments)
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realestate: Beware the SEO Emails - 03/20/09 04:27 PM
Here's what I think you need to know about your own site before you answer the latest email you received from the "greatest seo guru".
First, are you in control of your code? If you are using a template, you may not be able to change much of the seo coding. If you have control over the code, how much? Can you change the layout? Can you change the links? Colors? What? It is not necessary to know how - just know what you can do with your site. You have to know before you know what a programmer can fix.
Second, who … (6 comments)
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realestate: So where were they looking for real estate last month? - 11/03/08 02:22 PM
The latest real estate sales reports and numbers indicate that the market in many areas has stopped falling. This is good news for California real estate and Florida property owners. For a long time they have been leading in the "falling prices" category of real estate reporting. But now they are said to be leading in the return to normalcy. The largest states once again were the areas of greatest activity for those starting to look for property. Large states like NY, CA, PA, and TX, IL, FL all received some of the most inquiries in the month of October. Other … (2 comments)
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realestate: Arizona ranks 46th in US House Price Appreciation in 2007 - Bummer. - 06/12/08 01:32 PM
Arizona real estate sales were ranked number 46 out of 50 in terms of appreciation in 2007. No specific town or city like Phoenix was in the bottom twenty cities in the United states real estate market for appreciation, but the Arizona economy appears to need som time to get stable again. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) produced an 88 page reports that says Arizona real estate sales were number 46 in the list of states that had "...positive four-quarter appreciation" in 2007...". The report has lots of positive information, but it hasn't been widely publicized. The list of … (0 comments)
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realestate: 5 Monkeys - Why Real Estate Agents Are Willing To Give Their Listings Away - 03/21/08 04:58 PM
5 Monkeys - Why Real Estate Agents Are Willing To Give Their Listings Away."
Here is an explanation of the why agents aren't more concerned with giving their listings away:
Five monkeys were put in an enclosure with a ladder.
Every time a monkey went up the ladder, scientists soaked the rest of the monkeys with cold water.
After a while, every time a monkey went up the ladder, the others beat up the one on the ladder.
After some time, no monkey dared to go up the ladder, regardless of the temptation.
The scientists then decided to substitute one … (10 comments)
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realestate: Why don't other MLSs follow the actions of the NWMLS? - 03/08/08 12:30 PM
I have been talking to agents and brokers all over the country over the last few months and I am amazed that no one knows about the NWMLS's decision to stop feeding their listings to sites like Rltr dot com.
It may be that everyone is so busy in their market that they don't read what is happening in the industry. Or it could be that most "news" rss feeders are advertising driven and they don't want to bite their advertiser's hands. Or it could be that the managers and staff in the offices of the MLSs are not operating … (0 comments)
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Falmouth MA Cape Cod Heath Coker
Falmouth,
MA
More about me…
http://www.CapeGroup.com & http://www.REindex.com
Address: 279 Main St, Skype: heath.coker, Falmouth, MA, 02540
Office Phone: (508) 508-9800 x 328
Cell Phone: (508) 274-5613
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