Need something to do this weekend? As weather permits, here is this weekends open house schedule. Come on out and enjoy the weather, see some great home in the built green community of High Plains Village. To get to a specific open house, please click on a link below and look for the see map link.
Need something to do this weekend? As weather permits, here is this weekends open house schedule. Come on out and enjoy the weather, see some great home in the built green community of High Plains Village. To get to a specific open house, please click on a link below and look for the see map. link
This past weekend, I was showing property to one of my buyer clients. During the course of the day, the client identified two homes that he wanted me to check into further before making an offer. After leaving messages on the other agents voice mail, I heard back from agent # one within an hour or so of my original call. Agent # two did not return my call by the end of the day on Sunday. No big deal, I try and take Sunday's off myself. On Monday, still no call, so I left another voice mail message. Tuesday, same thing, no call. Wednesday I leave another message and finally get a return call about 4PM in the afternoon. The agent was quick to apologize for her delay in getting back to me. What she said next made me sad and angry all at the same time. This woman had to two part-time jobs in addition to her real estate practice, recently divorced with two young mouths to feed. Very sad!
This got me to thinking about her client and if they were made aware of the fact that their agent was part-time at best. Not even mentioning the fact that my buyer client was ready to make an offer on the first house because we did not hear back from the agent for four days after my original phone call. While I feel sorry for agent # two, I feel even more sorry for her clients. Do they know that they do not have full-time representation? Would they be ok with their agent not returning a phone call to another agent for four days? How pissed dissapointed would they be if my buyer and I had written an offer only to find out that the offer was not longer valid because the response time had already expired?
I know we all have challenges to overcome but now more than ever, buyers and sellers alike should only work with full-time agents to represent their best interest. The key phrase here is not full-time but rather best interest. I find it impossible to believe that an agent can truly be affective and represent someone's interest as a part-timer.
In order for me to be a Realtor, I must be a member of NAR. Much like a teacher, they willingly or unwillingly pay to be a part of the industry that is suppposed to represent their best interest. Question? What if I don't agree with those that I pay to represent my best interest? Do I quit and go find a real job? Nope, I whine. See below.....
As late as December 2005, the former Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, David Lereah was touting how great the national housing market was doing. This was before the credit crunch, sub-prime crisis and all the mayhem surrounding foreclosures. Meanwhile, the national housing market was not doing well and the writing on the wall was seeping through Lereah's everything is fine pile of crap forecasting. David Lereah was in the truest sense of the word an economic cheerleader. And why not, he was the Chief Economist for an industry that needed some positives. The problem was that he was paid to be the Chief Economist and should have acted like one.
Forward to our new Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors Lawrence Yun. He took over as Chief Economist at a time when the national housing market is considered to be in the tank. The best thing that Yun has done so far is tell the truth. So far, I have been very impressed with what I have read about him and his forecasting. It seems to me that he is not afraid to tell the truth even when Realtors are dropping like flies.
The National Association of Realtors® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun has been named among the top 10 economic forecasters by USA Today. Yun is ranked fifth on the list and is responsible for NAR's real estate statistics and economic forecasting. The annual list recognizes accuracy in forecasting.
"NAR is proud of USA Today's recognition of Lawrence Yun and his economic forecast accuracy. He is a highly regarded economist, and the housing and real estate industry have come to rely heavily on his economic analyses," said Dale Stinton, NAR executive vice president and chief executive officer. "This acknowledgement contributes greatly to NAR's reputation as the leading innovator in housing-related research."
Yun was named NAR's chief economist and senior vice president of research in November 2007. He has been with the association since 2000, previously serving as vice president and senior economist. He pioneered the development of the Commercial Leading Index after helping develop the residential Pending Home Sales Index.
"I'm honored to be recognized among some of the best economists in the country," said Yun. "The economy and housing industry are facing many challenging issues at this time, which makes this an interesting and stimulating position."
USA Today enlisted the help of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to determine the most accurate forecasters among the economists surveyed in the newspaper's quarterly survey on the U.S. economy.
The economists, whose identities were unknown to those gathering the data, received four scores - one for each quarterly survey - and were ranked on the average of those four scores. FRBA used statistical methods to assess the joint accuracy of the predictions rather than assessing the accuracy of each forecast variable separately, as is commonly done.
Before joining NAR, Yun worked as an economic consultant to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Education. As a research associate at the University of Maryland, Yun developed the graduate economics curriculum for and taught free-market economics in the former Soviet Union as that country transitioned from communism to a free-market system.
Yun received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland in 1995. He received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1987.
The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
As I was preparing my 2008 business plan and budget, I continue to be amazed that I was considering "throwing out" all print advertising. Some of the magazine ads that I have placed in the past have been fruitful (at best) but the newspaper has been a total disaster.
In the past year and a half, I have placed approximately 25 display ads and have received 0 calls. That's a 0 as in zero. Talk about a bad return on your marketing dollar. My basic theory when trying to sell houses is exposure creates demand and demand creates value. If the exposure is so minimal (newspapers), their cannot be any demand, no demand means no value.
My dilemna is not unique and because of this, I am hereby announcing that I do not plan on spending another nickel on newspaper advertising in 2008. The internet is just too powerful and in my estimation a better return on the precious investment dollar.
Here are several advantages that the internet has over any print media (specifically newspapers).
The internet is:
world wide
local (even targeted)
less rigid/ more flexible
perpetual (the same message can be seen over and over)
more timely (especially with blogs) and less reliant on deadlines
more colorful (assuming you have a color monitor)
less bureacratic (you don't have to worry about editorial guidelines)
more dynamic (RSS feeds will change the internet as we know it)
more creative (newspapers have looked just about the same for the last 100 years)
not going away
Wow! Looking at the bullets above just confirms my decision. The internet makes so much more sense and dollar for dollar is a much better value.
The latest stats from the National Association of Realtors are so compelling that I have no idea why so many real estate agents are not focusing their marketing on the internet. Did you know that over 92% of all active buyers start their search on the internet (source- NAR).
Yes, I am a bit surprised by this since I think we have a bunch of crazies on the road. I guess everyone has their share of bad drivers but this puts things in persepective. When I was living in California, they had road rage, here in Northern Colorado they have tailgaters. I'll take my chances with someone with a bad habit versus a bad temper all day.
If you didn't catch our Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speech the other day, you should really take a look. As a casual Fed watcher, it has become apparent to me that we have a completely inept chairman at the helm.
Chairman Bernanke said the following:
But the current housing difficulties differ from those in the past, largely because of the pervasiveness of negative equity positions. With low or negative equity, as I have mentioned, a stressed borrower has less ability (because there is no home equity to tap) and less financial incentive to try to remain in the home. In this environment, principal reductions that restore some equity for the homeowner may be a relatively more effective means of avoiding delinquency and foreclosure.
Lenders tell us that they are reluctant to write down principal. They say that if they were to write down the principal and house prices were to fall further, they could feel pressured to write down principal again. Moreover, were house prices instead to rise subsequently, the lender would not share in the gains. In an environment of falling house prices, however, whether a reduction in the interest rate is preferable to a principal writedown is not immediately clear. Both types of modification involve a concession of payments, are susceptible to additional pressures to write down again, and result in the same payments to the lender if the mortgage pays to maturity. The fact that most mortgages terminate before maturity either by prepayment or default may favor an interest rate reduction. However, as I have noted, when the mortgage is "under water," a reduction in principal may increase the expected payoff by reducing the risk of default and foreclosure.
How cool is that?! I wonder if the federal government will start requiring my current and future debts to be discounted or relieved right after I incur the debt. Imagine the possibilities..... I can go and buy a Mercedes Benz for the price of a Ford or I can run up my credit cards, ask for forgiveness and give someone else the bill.
Mr. Bernanke, this is one of the most irresponsible, thoughtless, government run-a-muck ideas that I have seen in my lifetime. Whatever happened to individual responsibility, working hard, living within one's means and having an overall sense of accomplishment? Oh, one thing that is worth mentioning..... who will be paying for all the immediate equity? My guess is the banks will seek to make up the difference somehow for those overnight losses.
Rare Opportunity- Main Floor Master with Separate Guest Suite
Location: High Plains Village at Centerra
Rarely available main floor master floor plan in High Plains Village. This 3 bedroom (or 2 with office set-up) end unit has 2 master suites and fantastic views of the mountains. Open, bright & cozy best describes this elegant town home. The main living area is spacious with vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, numerous decorative shelves (and did I mention views of the mountains?). The dining room and eat-in kitchen would be great for entertaining. A separate guest suite is all by itself on the 2nd level. With a vaulted ceiling, several mountain facing windows and a 5 piece bath arrangement, your guests will probably never want to leave. If you like garages (who doesn't) then the epoxy floor that you could eat off of may be of interest to you. The basement layout has great potential as well.
High Plains Village is 1.5 miles from I-25, very close to shopping opportunities and the Loveland Sports Park. With 2 lakes, a dog park, numerous community parks, 8 miles of walking trails and 275 acres of dedicated open space, this is an ideal community for just about every phase of life.
Almost maintenance free carefree cottage in High Plains Village at Centerra. This 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home has a an upgraded kitchen with tile countertops, smooth top cooktop, wood floors and pull out drawers. A full length finished attic is a great place for the kids room, and office or even a separate guest area. Since the property is a carefree cottage, the landscaping in the front and side yards is part of the HOA. High Plains Village is close to I-25, MCR, shopping, restaurants and offers a dog park, 2 lakes, dedicated open space and several miles of walking trails.
Great opportunity to own in desireable High Plains Village. This home offers a spacious kitchen, vaulted ceilings, open floor plan, 2 car attached garage, nice front yard, huge soaker tub, window seat (great for reading) and a great price in a great neighborhood. High Plains is close to I-25, shopping, restaurants, Med Ctr. The community offers miles of walking trails, 2 lakes, a dog park, dedicated open space and numerous community parks. Simply a great place to live with all the conveniences.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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