Here I am again...

Its been a month or more since I was here last. There was a time when Active Rain was the first click of the day..

What happened??

Mainly, I took time that I was spending here and went to go make some money. I continue to come back to the Real Estate market with a sincere hope that its time to start spending some time getting back actively involved.

The primary topics here seem to be Short Sales and the process of not getting deals done.

I know too many good agents who are now feeding their families with other resources now. Many have actually given up their licenses. Not me...I am getting too old to take a test like this again. Better to pay the fees and keep everything current until the downward trend slows a bit more here in Lake County Fl

I think there will be an increasing number of investors wishing to get into the market again. It may be time to dust off the old keyboard and get ready to start marketing again. Lets hope the over regulated financing markets will get more realistic when it comes to dealing with real investors. I certainly dont want a return to the horror show of liar loans that we had before.

Best wishes and Happy Holidays to all. I bet I wont be the only one looking to test the waters in the near future.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Please go look into this...we are finally getting some action on the Big Health Insurance Companies having monopolies in states....not allowing competition.

Did you know that Health Insurance Companies are exempt from the Sherman Anti Trust Laws...them and Major League Baseball...

WIthout competion, prices go up when ever they want.....lets open the doors to a more level playing field....

Whats your thoughts on this...........

Check it out....

The uproar over Roman Polanski is pissing me off. The amount of hollywood "stars" coming out in support of this child molestor is beyond belief....hey Debra WInger...lets put your grandaughter in the room with him and then see how you feel.

I have twin Grand daughters that will be 10 in a few weeks.If anyone wants my opinion, here it is:

There is no excuse for not taking these child molestors and shooting them at dawn.

I have a simple argument...if its your daughter, your wife, your sister..........who is wanting to Rehabilitate and take a chance that the molestor will come back for someone else you know....

These guys CANNOT be fixed...they are broken.......

My vote is to put Polanski in Jail with other Pedophiles.....Child Molestors... and then shoot, hang, or lethal injection...why do they have to be kept around to attack our children again...Or why should they get life in prison to further be a drain on our jail system....

Well, the big money politicians killed the public option again yesterday.

Several were quoted as saying that there was no real support for the public option........What!!!!!!!!!

Apparently, what we need to do is to strip all of Congress and all Washington workers (who have Gov Run Health Care) of their health care until they get this deal settled.

Lets see what they all do when they have their own families are shut out from a needed operation or treatment.

Again, I am not asking for coverage for Illegal Aliens, or self abusing druggies....oh yeah...they already can get free help here in the US.......

I am asking for competition to the Health Insurance Companies that are creating this situation.....The drug companies that sell Lipitor in Canada to their providers for $1.70 per dose and sell it here in the US for $ 4.50  per dose....I know of "Felony Lawbreakers" here in Central Fl that take orders from their friends and neighbors, and make a trip to Mexico a few times a year........yep, they are Felony Lawbreakers, drug runners..... They go down and bring back inhalers made by Squibb and Libby..........here they sell for $80.00 +  and in Mexico they sell off the shelf for less than $15.00.

Now these seniors, these long term taxpayers, our Parents, they NEED these drugs to LIVE. Why can they be sold to Mexican Pharmacies in bulk for 500% less than what they are sold for here...We are not talking generics...we are talking about the exact same products coming from the Drug Companies, some being shipped here, and some being shipped to other places....like Canada...Mexico...

Remember 2 years ago when the big Drug companies closed the loophole..I mean paid the Lawmakers to close the loophole that allowed the Canadian Pharmacies to open here in the USA and sell the drugs so much cheaper....FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC was why they changed it....

All of us have family members or older friends that are making choices every month between food and their drugs that keep them going....

Why have we sold our rights to the big money interests and cant seem to elect officials that will stop the bleeding. 

And who will even make any noise..............Please remember the story of the frog....if you place a frog in warm water, and slowly turn up the heat.. the frog will die in the water when it begins to boil....if you drop the frog in boiling water he will jump out.....I think I feel the heat continuing to rise...........

Wow...I am back on Active Rain...And I love my Air Card Powered netbook that allows me to write comments like this during the day, between stops.

Lets make the point again...I am an independent person with no real "Big Box Broker Franchise" affiliation.  A question continues to come up as why we as Realtors HAVE to play the PoP Tart Realtor Game...I NEVER wanted to give my time away, and spent very little time working for the National Franchises that perpetuate the outdated, unprofitable system.

I think its a perception problem that "pop Tart" realtors have created. Pop Tarts just are willing to "pop" out and show houses, drive people around, work for weeks, for nothing. Pop, Pop, Pop.

Let me add Roofers, Plumbers, Day Care Workers, Carpenters, and the vast majority of other workers who get paid for their time. Lets come up with ANY other regulated profession that encourages the public to take our services so lightly.Make a call to any of them for their services for free......somehow, the Real Estate business has created a perception that we are not worthy of getting paid unless the deal closes...every other part of the transaction got paid....but not us....hmmmmm

One of the MOST PROFESSIONAL REALTORS I have ever known is back to part time...she did everything by the book....yet all her hard work did nothing to take care of her needs in the future...meanwhile, the investors she worked with continue to make money every month off the fruits of the deals she put together....Hmmmm

The reason most Realtors have to have investor clients, is that their pay is so erratic that they cannot qualify for a loan....because their pay is so erratic. Anyone see a problem with this.....Hmmmmm

SO, those of us who have the greatest access to deals are not qualified my bank standards to actually take advantage of the deals.   If, at some point, customers are guided toward choosing a Realtor who's time is considered valuable, then we will be able to stop this problematic behavior.

Our society rewards consistent,structured pay plans. The only Realtors I know that have done well, are those that have property management income to cover the hills and valleys of our pay cycles. Or a spouse with a good steady paying job. We all KNOW thats the truth.

There are alternatives to making a living in Real Estate that will create a steady income to support our families.

Funny how all the books say that many fortunes have been made in Real Estate, but very, very few have been made by Realtors....its up to us to change how we are perceived and PAID.

Hello All,

With prices continuing to fall, and the mortgage industry all but drying up, we had better just spend our time listing homes that will pass inspections and appraisals. Our job as Realtors is continuing to evolve into total consulting position with a well rounded understanding of the entire home buying, financing, and marketing process. Contingincy offers make you feel good for a minute, but when the property, or the buyer cannot qualify, then we have done all our best efforts for nothing. I am on a record pace for deals that have fallen apart due to a myriad of reasons, but the final outcome is a disapointed seller(and buyer) and no money for me.

We do get paid well for the amount of time we actually spend on a transaction,that closes; we should align ourself with a professsional team around us to insure our deals have a chance to go thru before we just accept contracts.

If we take this same logic and back up a few steps, we see that we should take the same care in pricing and accepting a listing in this market. Our marketing budgets get stretched thin promoting properties that are out of reality but we have an obligation to fulfill our contractual obligations.

Better that we should leave the overpriced listings out there for the competion to go broke with, and spend our resources more efficiantly on the listings that are really sellable. We owe it to ourselves (and our spouses)to earn a living during this market. If we don't stand up for ourselves and do our job, then we will look less professional when our signs just sit on yards for a long time and just expire anyway.

Help encourage your fellow Realtors to regain our collective dignity and agree to leave the overpriced listing table and find the next motivated seller. Work expireds and FSBO's that are motivated, and I will see you in this Realtor only format a year from now. For those of you who feel its thier duty to just go along with whatever the seller wants to price it at, God Bless and I hope your part time job pays enough to pay the bills.

Lets all get more professional and stick to our guns. It will work out for the strong among us.

Mike Norvell Sr

Ahhhhhhh

Welcome back to Active Rain..........

I wrote my first post in many months this morning, and made a reference to the part time soccer moms with a real estate lic. Also, how we as Realtors are "bound" by our code of ethics to give assistance to all those in need. Again, I will restate...I am not here to do those kind of deals, work with those wonderful clients...you can have them all....

I will make a small concession here....I should have included part time soccer dads, or anyone who takes on buyers or sellers that do not really have the qualifications to represent the deals. You know the ones...they cant fill in a contract, do the paperwork, have no real idea of what it takes to make a deal close....

I was also given grief for not being sympathetic to the "potential" home owners that just waste time driving around in my car to look at overpriced homes they cannot afford. I would rather be walking the beach during that same amount of time...again, that's my choice...

My main goal was to state that I choose to work with experienced investors that are willing to commit to me, and will not waste my time.If anyone remembers me, I also do not drop everything to answer my phone....

Hey!!!!!!!! In most any other field this would be considered good career advice. But as Realtors, we are to donate our time, our resources, our experience..

Try this with your doctor, lawyer, or accountant. Lets be clear.......I am here to get paid. I have already paid my dues, many, many years ago. I do not sit around asking for floor time or chasing leads off a website.

All of these wonderful leads and drawn out procedures are left for all those who wish to work this way. I am at least honest enough to say its not for me.

If you are an investor, with cash, that want to find a great deal in Fla Real Estate, Please call me. I work as a Single Agent only, and make no concessions for getting the best deal for MY CLIENT.

Please keep the cards and letters coming...I need the entertainment

Is there a real moral question about home owners doing "Strategic Default" foreclosures....what choices do they have. Why should the homeowners pay for 30 years to cover the sins of an industry that got bailed out...

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If there is a real poll taken, we would have to be careful of the questions and the persons being called.

When it is your house, or someone in your family, suddenly the whole situation is looked at differently.

If we take the investors and flippers out of the equation, then we are left with the actual homeowners who have unfortunately got caught up in one of the biggest scams in US history. The banks and insurers are getting bailed out, yet the homeowner who is stuck in a home that will never get back to even is supposed to just stay put.

In every neighborhood, there are homes being offered for 50% of what people are now paying mortgages on. In the big picture, supporting your family over the next 20 or so years is the real job of the homeowners. If making a move now that frees up cash to actually support their families, and may lead to having a home that can be sold at a profit in the future, then why not explore the move.

Like it or not...more and more families are making these decisions. There is a home in a nice neighborhood not far from here that sold 4 years ago for 286,000.  The home has been sitting empty now for a year, and now the BANK is offering the house for $ 48,000.00.  Why is the bank not being held accountable??? They are now agreeing to sell it for this price, is this the real value....What just happened to the rest of the homes in the neighborhood....

Why wouldn't a neighbor down the street just change their street address and lower their payment by 70%. If I were in that position, I would get a lawyer and do it immediately.

This is the decision structure facing homeowners in many areas across the country. They, in good faith, were sold a bill of goods, and now they are faced with financial distress when the ones that perpetuated the debacle are being bailed out, and leaving the homeowners twisting in the wind....

Just my opinion......

This will be quick....I am doing a marketing job now that puts me in the front door of over 20 business owners a day. One of my points of discussion is the current Health Bill.

My very unofficial poll is that

1. Those that have a employer paid plan are afraid that it will change...
2. The employers are hoping there will be completion to lower rates...
3. Seniors with Medicare are only concerned that it will impact them in any way.
4. Those without any health coverage at work are hoping there will be an affordable option...soon

Lets get on to another point.....Cobra....anyone who is in favor of the current system has never had to experience Cobra.

Cobra sucks. It should be illegal. Don't tell me that ANYONE actually voted for this travesty. Here is the basics...if you have coverage on your job, and for any reason you lose the job, you have the option of continuing the coverage at an immediate 300% (-+) increase...This is real. This is an outrage yet where is the discussion on this from the people who are fighting public option.

Finally, why do the lawmakers who have GOV ISSUED HEALTHCARE and the Seniors who have GOV ISSUED HEALTHCARE fight the rest of us getting a similar plan to have available to our families and employees.

Did you know that the only industry in America that has an exemption to the Anti-Trust Monopoly (Sherman Act) is the health insurance industry...........

Do you think they want any competion...go look it up.

Please don't bring up any crap about illegal aliens...blah blah blah...just look in the mirror...go to my Facebook page and see pics of MY FAMILY...I have 5 sons...they have families...only one of them has employer provided health insurance....

If other countries can do it...why cant we....

My wife is the office manager of a Law Firm...she takes a little pill every day for thyroid...non smoker, great health, no problems....but she does not qualify for individual plans from Blue Cross..at all. One of the workers that had to quit her firm had her premiums immediately escalate to over $1000.00 per month....why does she suddenly have a higher risk, after years of no problems...

Look around and see all those who are not at the town hall meetings screaming....we have jobs, we are having our checks deducted every week to pay for the healthcare of all those screamers........

Just my opinion........a level playing field for all that pay taxes as AMERICAN Citizens is all I ask

Good Morning..

I am looking at Active Rain for the first time in months. I, a former avid blogger here on Active Rain, have gotten dusty. I took a much needed break that has gained me a more diversified opinion. Real Estate is local, and I have been working, in different markets across our country. Finally, Fla, my home for all my life, is ripe for doing business again........

I look around and see a lot of new faces...and some old familiar ones..

Who are all these new people.. where were they when many of us were fighting to stay alive in a business that was in a steady decline. Were they there and just not on Active Rain...or were they lucky enought to just be getting started and missed the big fall....

I recently began calling on my "old List" of Realtor friends. Most of them now go to voice mail. That's what happens when you now have a job that does not  allow the phone to be answered at all times. (note: this was the subject of many Active Rain posts in the past!!)

As a Florida based Realtor of more than 20 years, I feel I recognise the cycles and this is the time to get back in. My background of working with investors and for my own portfolio gives me a different perspective. I have never really had the patience or political correctness to deal with families trying to buy houses:

1)That they could not afford

2) Were actually overpriced

3) And Most importantly, had little or no loyalty or consideration for my time or income.

Number three states in writing what many Realtors will not put out there...I could not be less concerned.. One of my mentors in the business only does Single Agency deals, and only works with buyers if they go under contract with him.

By the way, he did very well for over 30 years in the field...and was an active investor for good deals throughout his career, making him a bona fide millionaire many times over through his real estate holdings. He did a tremendous amount of partnering with investors with money to spend that valued his skill and knowledge. I guarantee these client/partners did not drop him or attempt to circumvent him over something as trivial as commissions.

I know the current standard way of buying a house with appraisers and banks is almost a no win...I also know that I have been involved in literally hundreds of owner financing deals...in fact most of my own deals have involved some form of owner participation. I believe its time for the old fashioned deal makers to get back in the game...most of us, however dusty, still remember how to make deals close without banks...We do however still have a strong allegiance to Lawyers......

The real value, in my opinion, of being a Realtor is the access to information. What we have to offer clients is extremely valuable, and should not be offered out to the public like candy at a home show booth. What I see is the public viewing us by the lowest common denominator.

Don't compare me and my years of investment experience to a new house wife, part time Realtor showing listings with their only concern to close a deal...any deal.  Don't compare what an experienced professional can offer with the eager beaver "Pop Tart" Realtor who will just take days and weeks of their time with those who are not qualified, and will have ZERO loyalty to that Realtor when they suddenly find a "great deal" from a FSBO.

No, I only want to work with cash investors who know what they want, and are willing to pay me to find it for them. In the last year, I have been involved in such a variety of REO Real Estate deals on a national scale, and most recently REO deals in the state of Fl. The knowledge and experience that I bring to the table now for a client is not available on books and tapes.If it was, I would have gladly paid for it rather than to have lived it....

For anyone who will follow me, I will begin to start blogging again, covering what is real and what is fantasy in the investment side of Real Estate.

I believe its time to get a shower........being dusty in the Rain leads to just being muddy....see you all later.