When I met Margaret Rome in Washington, D.C. during the NAR meetings, she gave me her book, "Real Estate the Rome Way".  I read it while there and finished it on the plane, returning to California.  It's a great book and I found new ways of doing business, even though I've been a Realtor for 30 years.

Whether you are a veteran Realtor or a brand-new Realtor, I recommend that you read her book.  As you may know, Margaret is an avid Active Rain blogger.  She's also a giving person and I know that she is dedicated to other's success.  Take advantage of her wisdom and kindness! 

I love her advice.  "Don't let unimportant people or unimportant things become important".  Thanks, Margaret!

 

 

My Realtor colleagues and I met with our legislators yesterday to discuss housing issues with them and how they can help homeowners in their districts.  It is important for them to understand the diffference in what the rules are and how they are effectively played out at home.  Things sound so good in theory but sometimes don't work in the real world.

We shared our frustration with short sales and how the process is not working (usually).  We have a long way to go and we wanted to make sure that they knew that the cost for buyers to obtain FHA loans is keeping buyers from being able to buy.  It's interesting that legislators don't want banks to raise interest rates but the mortgage insurance premium rises (which goes to the government).

I'm very vocal about letting my clients know that Realtors fight for their private property rights!  I encourage you to do the same!  We must be vigilant in watching the process and being in the forefront of keeping homeowner affordable by not increasing fees.  And now, since municipalities can't increase taxes (Prop. 13 in California), they call them "fees".  Semantics...

Thanks to my new Active Rain friends for welcoming me into their fold and encouraging me to blog.  As a 30 year real estate veteran, it's fun for me to learn from YOU.  I look forward to meeting you on-line or in-person.  Now it's time for me to return to responding to Requests for Repairs, looking for homes in the MLS, etc.  Emjoyful!

I appreciate that my CRS buddy Jeff Dowler (Carlsbad, CA) invited me to join him and meet up with a few other Active Rain bloggers yesterday at the NAR Headquarter Hotel, the Washington Wardman Park Marriott.  I met Pat Kennedy, Margaret Rome, Monika and Jay Mc Gillicudy.  Margaret gave a copy of her FABULOUS book, "Real Estate the Rome Way" to me!  Thanks, Margaret.  I learned lots about blogging and success stories about blogging from the others.  I look forward to "seeing" them online at Active Rain and meeting with in person whenever I can.

Thanks for welcoming me into your group!  I will blog frequently and hopefully help other Active Rainers through my real estate experiences.  We can all learn from each other.  As Joeann Fossland says, "Life is too short to make all the mistakes others have made".

Blog on.  Emjoyful

 

 

I had the pleasure of attending a presenation by Dick Betts on Smart Phones today in Calcary, Canada. He is a great presenter (one of my favorites) and I learned a lot about Super Phones and Smart Phones. If he will be in your area, attend his session.  Go to his website - www.DickBetts.com - or become his friend on Facebook.

He does a lot of teaching/training for Associations and Affiliations for Realtors. Like most Realtors, I want to be proficient immediately when I buy new technology for my business.  While it's never immediately, Dick makes it so much faster than finding out on my own. And, I love the "free" applications that he gives.  Thanks, Dick!

More than ever, we need to stay on top of our escrows.   I've been in escrow for 2 ½ months where the buyer's agent has almost disappeared.  Oh, he tells me that he's "doing everything he can" but when he's doing nothing, what is everything?  All I want is for the loan to be funded and get my seller's proceeds to her.  If I have to provide paperwork to the lender and escrow that should come from him, I will.  When he doesn't even know the forms and he's a broker who has been in the business more than 10 years, that's scary.  I see this as an opportunity to educate the public that with the changes in loan requirements, it's more important than ever to work with a Realtor that will do the work that's required to get the job done, not just sit back and wait, while nothing gets done.  I'm proud to be a "doer" and not a "watcher"!  Go get ‘em!

We are still waiting more than one month after the scheduled close of escrow.  In February, after 20 days of processing the loan, they claimed they couldn't do the loan.  When I met with the loan officer, she said they could.  That was 2 months ago and although we have loan approval, they can't seem to get the loan documents to escrow for the buyer to sign, fund, and close.  This is so unfair to all parties!  My seller has paid more than an extra payment, plus writing a check for property taxes instead of taking it out of sale proceeds at the close. 

If I get an offer with Bank of America as the buyer's lender, I will require the buyer to apply elsewhere.  Bigger is not better!  Realtors, beware!  Don't put yourself and your clients through this.  It's torture.

 

In order for a file to be reviewed to see if it be approved for a short sale, a FNMA loan must be two months late.  So, a buyer must harm their credit to order to find out if they can do a short sale or not.  This is what my seller was told to do.  She was told, "it appears that I can approve the short sale but you must miss two payments in order for me to review the file".  Does this make sense?  If they approve the short sale, her credit will be harmed.  If they DON'T approve it, her credit will still be harmed.  Plus, they are missing out on two months of payments that a borrower would make. 

The process could be much easier for the seller and buyer if the banks would do what makes sense.  This is a FNMA requirement so in essence, it's the government telling them to miss payments.  We all pay for this in the long-run!

 

Wow!  There was so much great information given regarding social media.  The speakers were Dustin Luther and Amy Chorew.  They gave overviews and nuts-and-bolts and inspired us to make changes to help us connect and interact with our clients and families.  If you get a chance to them, sign up and go!

NAR's Chief Economist Lawrence Yun gave an Economic Update that was outstanding!  Leaders from Better Homes and Garden, RE/MAX, and Keller Williams were on a panel about what to expect today and beyond in the real estate market.  They covered short sales, economics, agent productivity, etc.

I am so glad that I attended the Summit because I got true value for my time and money.  If you are not a member of the Women's Council of Realtors (smart men are members too!), I encourage you to check us out.  The education and networking is first-class and we welcome you.

 

I have an appropriately-priced condo next to one that is a short sale listed by a broker from 2 counties away.  His is priced 20 % below mine and he doesn't care that he is hurting the homeowners and other sales in the complex.  I have spoken with him about his hurting prices and he just said, "yeah".  What happened to doing what is best for your client, even if they will not net anything at the sale?  He doesn't even have it listed in the local MLS so that agents in this area know about it.  That especially hurts the price.  There was another one that I called too.  Let's get back to working together to do what is best for everyone!

Buyers, don't listen to the media!  With rents in our area having increased 40% in the last 5 years and home prices at 2002-2003 prices, it's truly cheaper to own than rent.  There are affordable loans with low interest rates, lots of homes on the market, and unbelievable deals to be made.  Even if prices drop, it doesn't take much of an interest rate increase for your payment to go up a lot.  Now it the time to buy!  With so many people renting that used to be homeowners, that will put an even greater pressure on rental prices to go up.  More demand equals higher rent.  Call or text me and let's discuss your options!  805-587-3688.