Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield's Blog

The Perfect Storm

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:03:32 -0700

It's been a while since I put one of these on top of my sign.

With this being "The Perfect Storm" for buyers there sure aren't that many around in my market. I keep seeing inventory increasing, prices dropping, interest rates dropping and still not that many closings. Recently I attended a few CE classes being the procrastinator that I am, but I was not alone those classes were full, and every instructor was so upbeat. Now one of them was a Short Sale expert and all they dealt with were short sales and the other a broker dealing in upscale properties. But the overall feeling in those packed classrooms was that we all had a boat load of listings but nobody to buy them. I hope its the calm before the storm and all those buyers are just lurking around the corner waiting for one more positive day in the stock market, another quarter point drop in the mortgage rate or just for a sunny day here in Chicago.

I have sent out countless emails to all of those buyers that have been sitting on the fence post about the alignment of the equinox and the building of "The Perfect Storm" with very few responses. Thankfully I am deeply entrenched to weather this out and I have seen quite a few agents who couldn't. I am keeping the faith because I see the storm coming and think that once that thermometer breaks 70 degrees and that sun comes out from behind the clouds that storm of clients will burst through finally.

I don't know the optimism of everyone else but I am a firm believer that it is time to buy! Its time to get things moving and if we all keep pushing and word gets out of all these great buys to be had things will get better and fast. And that storm will start raining money on all of us.

LET'S MAKE IT A POSITIVE DAY!

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:42:08 -0800

IT'S TIME TO HEAR SOME GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE!

As I was watching my favorite television show tonight the news kept hyping a story about how to protect your job. When I am in the car I keep hearing finacial experts talk about how bad the market is. When everytime I talk to my friends they keep telling me how bad their 401Ks are doing.

ENOUGH ALREADY! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT ANYMORE!

Now I am not saying that I its time to bury my head in the sand but what if, what if I turned on the news and heard something good? I came up with a great idea the other day. What if the news focused one lead story every day on something good? I heard of a start up business that helps people reduce their mortgages, I know that the new stimulus package is supposed to do that but we all hate to talk to banks right about now. So this group of people are out there saving people money and they are making money doing it. That's good news right? What about hearing of a company actually hiring people?

I know it's bad out there but I don't have to keep hearing it over and over again.

What's the old saying, "when the going gets tough the tough get going". You can't get going if all you have in your head is doom and gloom. When asked about how the real estate market is I say it's fine. I say that I just closed on 2 properties last week. I have more listings now than I have in some time, now granted I have had them for some time. But I wake up every morning and put a smile on and say today is the day that one of my buyers or a buyer is going to wake up with a smile on his face and say "I'm going to buy a house today!" "Today is the day, rates are low and home prices are too so I'm going to do it!"

If I can get enough of people to put a smile on their face and think positive then you know what? We will move out of this funk a whole lot faster. The more homes we sell the more money that starts to circulate around the better we all do.

So no more car commercials saying that if you lose your job you can give the car back. No more stock market concerns, just do what I do, don't open the 401K statements. I know it's bad, but dwelling on it will only make it worse.

So I want to wake up tomorrow and while listening to the weather hear about a business or a person out there that had a good day or good quarter's revenue. NO MORE DOOM AND GLOOM.

"Exclusive Renters Agreement" ~ Do You Use One in This Market???

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:59:49 -0800

With the large number of renters in this market, I am finding that we need a form similar to the Exclusive Buyers Agreement, entitled 'Exclusive Renters Agreement', which needs to be signed by clients looking for rental property. Does anyone have such a form or use one?

In our IL market, many listing agents are not offering much for rentals, sometimes as little as a few hundred dollars in commission even though the rents they're asking are in the thousands (another issue I think needs to be addressed by US as Realtors who are out there representing landlords....what value do you put on YOUR time? It's our job to educate clients about what is a reasonable commission for the amount of work we do as buyers/renters agents!).

When working with renters, it is taking as much time, and often more effort, to set up searches, show properties, evaluate credit reports, prepare rental applications and negotiate rentals (and try to persuade listing agents they'll be good tenants even though the majority of renters have very sub-par credit reports) than it is to work with a buyer. I know a lot of agents who won't even work with renters, but in this market, sometimes you have to make exceptions.

I am finding there is no loyalty from renters (perfect example...one rental client used my search results and went directly to a home to view a property without me in hopes of signing a lease for less money since the owner wouldn't have to pay me a commission).

Lesson learned the hard way...that was the end of the free ride and no bilateral agreement between client and agent. I have instituted a policy that requires a potential rental client to first provide a current copy of a credit report so I can evaluate it to determine the likelihood of a landlord accepting their application. Second, I am looking for an Exclusive Renters Agreement that they will sign that commits them to use my services exclusively, and similar to the Exclusive Buyers Agreement, calls for payment of my brokers commission in the event they secure a rental on their own after I have provided my services. There is no such form on our Board site, but I have submitted a request for one to be developed. Times are changing and so must we. With the high volume of renters in todays market asking for our professional service and advice, it's something we need to address now.

Any thoughts??

$8000 Homebuyer Tax Credit~When Can a Buyer File For It?

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 08:28:48 -0800

Can anyone comment on this CNNMoney article (just an excerpt) regarding the $8000 new homebuyer tax credit, specifically the statement at the end of the first paragraph that states 'on their 2008 or 2009 taxes'?

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- There's a nice windfall for some homebuyers in the economic stimulus bill awaiting President Obama's signature on Tuesday. First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 - or 10% of the home's value, whichever is less - on their 2008 or 2009 taxes."

My first time buyer closed on a home yesterday (2/19/09) and is eligible for the $8000 credit. The article implies that they can claim it when they file their 2008 taxes this year and get the credit immediately even though they purchased the home in 2009.

Any comments??? Thanks. The RE/MAX Pro Team

WordPress for Realtors

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:19:57 -0800

I am just now starting to experiment with different marketing avenues via the internet and am trying my hand at hosting a wordpress blog. I have several questions that I am hoping my fellow AR members can help me with.

1) I am firts off looking for some good, trusted links to wordpress real estate templates, plugins and widgets.

2) Recomendations to widgets/plugins for listing photos of my listings, real estate search egines for clients and ways to capture client information.

3) Can anyone recomend any books for intro to coding used with Wordpress? I already have read through the Dummies for Wordpress and am looking for more information on writing code specific for setting up Wordpress pages etc but I want a book that is not going to be too dificult to understand.

Thanks for your support and I look forward to your suggestions.

Presidential Speech

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:38:27 -0800

I can't remember watching a more casual presidential speech than the one tonight from president Obama tonight. His responses seemed sincere enough and definitely not scripted. Maybe they should have screened the questions some what I don't think our current economic situation evolves around whether or not A-Rod is doing steroids. The president did handle that question as best he could and did put a nice spin on how it reflects upon our children.

I give him a A for effort and and A+ for what I thought to be some off-the-cuff answers almost as though it was a conversation being held in my living room. It was just a little odd on how laid back the whole thing felt. Let's just hope that the single mom losing her home can turn it around with the new stimulus package. I know a few people who resemble that remark and we really have to turn this around quick

Why cant anyone return a feedback inquiry?

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:20:41 -0800

I don't know what is happening lately reading posts about Realtors not returning client calls being inaccessable for their clients. What about not returning feedback requests after they have shown a listing to a client. Sellers are very anxious lately and they want to know how that showing went yesterday and you have called the showing agent 3 times and left messages for a return call and still no response.

Gives us all a bad name and makes people think we dont care about what we do. I use feedback to improve upon things that maybe I did not realize about my sellers home. Maybe that color that I thought was neutral was offensive to a prospective buyer. Or maybe my seller was leaving their home in disarray when they said it was spotless. Please, please, please return those calls so we can get our listings sold and hopefully start to turn this market around.

Say good-bye govenor

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:40:24 -0800

Oh happy days for us Illinoisans, its time to say "Good-Bye Gov". No more corruption, no more talk show insanity, no more Blagojevich signs over our toll roads! I am so tired of hearing how corrupt our state is from every out of state client or business partner I run across. Ryan this, Blagojevich that, Al Capone...... my only hope is that our other Illinois politician not follow in those footsteps and give us some credibility! All of amercia is watching you Mr President do us proud!

Print Ad, Craigslist, You Tube What works for you???

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:48:07 -0800

I was just reading Michelle Buckman's post about Open Houses and she brought up print ad. As of the past 2 years I have gotten away from it because it just seems that nobody picks up a paper to find a home anymore. Has anyone had any sucessful print ad, for home sales, for open houses?

I have been experimenting with Craigslist as an alternative avenue (in addition to my websites) and seem to pick up a hit here and there. But I guess that I am looking for the Golden Goose of what works. Can anyone give me any success stories for what advertising avenues work for you?

Naperville 3BR TOWNHOME

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:07:48 -0800

NAPERVILLE,IL 3BR, 2.1BA, 2 CAR GARAGE IN SIGNATURE CLUB

JUST REDUCED $244,900

VIDEO TOUR

http://marketing.remaxdesigncenter.com/96/66596/774353

BEAUTIFUL NORTHWEST DOWNERS GROVE!

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:54:46 -0800

NBC NEWSCAST ON SHORT SALES TONIGHT

Larry Ulfig Naperville/Plainfield (RE/MAX Professionals South) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:23:43 -0800

Did anyone in Chicagoland have a chance to listen to the short sale segment on NBC tonight.

They stated that short sales post a 19% loss to the bank whereas foreclosures post a 40% loss.

Question was is with a short sale giving the banks the lesser of a loss why does it take so long for a response on a short sale offer? Amazing that the finacial institutions refused to answer the question. Were is all of that bailout money going?