By Renee Porsia

Short sales, loan modifications and foreclosures oh my!  Add in a boat load of new mortgage rules, regulations, restrictions and what you have is a lot of confusing information and if a home owner wants to sell their home, they better have a Realtor who is on the ball. Same holds true for home buyers. 

It’s not the same real estate market it was two years ago.  You can’t put a home up for sale, guess at a price, (high, I might add) expect it to sell and if by chance you do find a buyer willing to pay what you are asking then have it appraise.  Oh no, there’s a new sherif in town now and your Realtor better know the rules or you won’t be selling your home or buying your dream home.

Someone has to be able to make heads or tails out of all the new FHA mortgage guidelines, condominium rules and conventional requirements.

I recently had a bank issue a mortgage commitment to their buyer which had a long list of conditions that needed to be cleared but buried in all those conditions was the whopper of all conditions which was the appraisal.  Are you kidding me? A commitment from a bank is their commitment to loan the money to their borrower (which also means, all conditions were met and more importantly removed) so how can they issue the commitment to their own borrower when they don’t even know how much the home is worth yet? So, to add insult to injury the appraisal came in too low which means the bank won’t lend the money the borrower needs to purchase the home that they just committed to do.  Commitment my aunt Fannie!  So, if you had a Realtor who wasn’t on the ball, you might think this sale was dead in the water but if you have a Realtor who is on the ball and knows how to find a solution rather than whine and complain about what happened, the deal can get done.  So, I immediately went to work to find properties that recently sold for the price of the home the buyer wants to offer even though the buyer was not my client and I contacted the bank.  In essence, I had to do my job, the job of the buyer’s agent and now the job of the appraiser who clearly was unfamiliar with the area.

Now, so you don’t think that I over price my listings, I want you to know that my listing did appraise for what I listed it for but it didn’t appraise for over what I listed it for which is what the buyer offered in order to get money back from my seller to help with their closing costs.

That is just one in a long list of issues facing each and every real estate transaction these days.  Realtors will have to work extra hard to ensure their client gets to the settlement table now and consumers should make sure they have a Realtor who will know what to do when faced with a possible deal breaking situation.

If you don’t already have a family Realtor, do your homework now don’t wait until you are ready to sell your home or buy a home.  Find a Realtor and don’t let him/her go once you do. It’s hard to find a “good” Realtor these days but very easy to find a “bad” Realtor and that “bad” Realtor could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Renee Porsia is an expert Associate Real Estate Broker in the Philadelphia area with RE/MAX Action Realty and published Author.

In Real Estate, A Picture Is Not Worth An Extra Thousand Dollars Or More

By Renee Porsia, Real Estate Girl

If you are thinking of looking for a new home or selling your current home and you are now thinking about finding a Realtor, it’s too late.  Seriously. Now, all you will be doing is rushing to find someone and you will wind up making a bad decision.

So, you might be saying “so, when is the right time to find a Realtor?” Glad you asked. The time to find a Realtor is when you are not thinking of selling or buying a home.  Since you are not in a hurry to find a home or put your home on the market, you will have time to ask around to friends, family or co-workers if they have had a great experience with a Realtor or know someone who has and if they do not know of any good Realtors, you can search the internet on such sites as Trulia or Zillow.  You can then take time to meet with and talk with a few different Realtors to see which one you feel comfortable with, go on Trulia or Zillow and ask questions and then read the answers of the Realtors who answer them to see which Realtor’s answers you like and then start to build a relationship with one and when you are ready to either buy, sell or know someone who is, you will have your Realtor to use or refer.

You might also be asking “what can a Realtor do for me if I am not buying or selling?” Another great question. While you are building this relationship, you can find out how much your current home is worth, what other homes in your immediate area have sold for recently and how long homes have been on the market.  You should always know how much your home is worth or isn’t worth. You can also talk with the Realtor about the different types of representation there is and what it means to you?  You can contact the Realtor with all of your real estate type questions. Want to know if its a good time to refinance, need a home equity line of credit, need the name of a good plumber, contractor, electrician, your Realtor is a great source for referrals. You can read your Realtor’s blog. Any good, tech savvy Realtor has a blog these days to keep their current clients informed as well as potential new clients.

Realtors are not only there for you to help you find a home or sell your home. I know that I am here for all of my clients needs. I call my clients after they’ve purchased or sold their home. Why would I do this? I know they are not buying a new home or selling another home any time soon. I call them to let them know that I am still there for them to answer any real estate question they might have, to let them know they can call me any time and that I didn’t just disappear after they purchased their home.

It really bothers me that people only think of Realtors when they are about to do something. We have a wealth of knowledge and would love to share it with you. People know who their doctor is, their hairdresser, lawyer and if anyone they know was in need of a doctor or hairdresser, they would not hesitate to refer them to who they use. People should know the name of their Realtor the same way and without hesitation.

So, if you are not thinking of buying or selling a home in the near future, give me a call and I will be happy to not list your home or sell you a home but instead, build a life long relationship with you.

Renee Porsia is an Associate Real Estate Broker with RE/MAX Action Realty and published Author.

The Old Real Estate Bait and Switch

Bait & Switch

Something that really bugs me about my profession is how so many Realtors over price listings just to get business. I call it the old bait and switch.

Now, I know that this will upset many Realtors well, those that are guilty of over pricing their listings that is.  To those Realtors I say, too bad! You are hurting and discrediting our profession every time you take another over priced listing and giving the rest of us, honest, hardworking, knowledgeable, ethical Realtors a bad name.

So, why would a Realtor take or even want to take an over priced listing? Simple, to get business. They figure any listing is better than no listing and that the home owner won’t want to go through the entire process of finding and hiring another Realtor, so they will just reduce the price in time and eventually the home will sell. 

Now, I am not only going to only pass blame solely on the Realtor because the home owner bares responsibility as well because they do not have to hire the Realtor with the highest value for their home.  Naturally, every home owner believes that their home is worth more than everyone else’s but it is the responsibility of the “professional” to advise and be truthful with the home owner and to walk away if the home owner has unrealistic expectations for their home.  Home owners look to Realtors for guidance, professional advice and for facts. When a Realtor over prices a listing to simply get business, what they are telling the public is that Realtors are useless, that we are a dime a dozen and we simply do not know what we are doing. Isn’t that what most of the general public already thinks about Realtors anyway?

I feel that as a “professional” it is my job to be the “expert” and to make sure that my opinion and my knowledge be credible. I take my career very seriously.

Many will argue that it’s just too easy to obtain a real estate license and that is why there are so many “bad” Realtors and that very well may be, but for now the requirements are the requirements we are not all bad. I myself worked very hard to obtain my license and then my Broker’s license. 

I feel one of the problems facing the real estate industry is that people get into the business for all the wrong reasons whether it be to earn extra money, to flip properties, or to buy investment properties and those are not the reasons to become a Realtor. Being a Realtor is not easy and is not for everyone. I know that I became a Realtor so that I could help people with what might be probably the biggest financial decision of their life and to educate, and guide them. I’ve never purchased an investment property, never competed with my clients, never threw them under the bus for my own financial gain and never will. That’s not to say that one day I won’t purchase an investment property but when I finally do, it will be to secure my financial future and won’t have been the reason or the motivation for obtaining my real estate license.

If Realtors want the general public to view us as “experts” and actually put a “value” on what we do, you have to stop being desperate for business. You have to be strong and believe in yourself, your expertise, your license, have respect for our profession, our Code of Ethics and stop misleading home owners by over pricing their homes.  Have the competence to walk away when a home owner is unrealistic and show the home owner that there is a need for a Realtor. Home owners know that if you won’t do what they want, there will be another one who will and that needs to stop.  

 Stop the bait and switch.

What Will You Do in 2010

Are there things that you want to do but keep telling yourself you simply don’t have the time or you can’t do that?  You are not alone. With work, family and kids, you can feel like you simply don’t have the time to do any more.

Write it down. It’s a fact that you will accomplish more of your goals if you simply just write them down. Write them on a piece of paper and title it my goals for 2010 and post it on your fridge, your bathroom mirror, your car or put it by your bed at night and make sure to read it right before you go to sleep and as soon as you wake up in the morning.

Before you can accomplish something, you have to see yourself doing it. So, open up your mind and visualize yourself living in that new home, driving that new car, writing that new book, losing that weight or going on that vacation. You can do it!

To help your visualize more, you can create a dream board. Put all of your goals and dreams on a board and display it where you can see it every single day. 

Don’t let anyone hold you back or tell you that you can’t do it. The only person who can hold you back is yourself.

Soon it will be 2010, a brand new year to do whatever you want. Start it off on the right foot, write down your goals and see how many you can accomplish before the end of the year. This is your year.

Barnes & Noble Nook Horrible?

Here on Renee Porsia's Blog, I like to write about other things other than real estate at times because face it, there are other things going on in the world other than real estate.

That being said, today I wanted to write about technology. I absolutely love technology and thus when a new gadget comes out, I just have to get it. So, it shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me that when Barnes & Noble announced their new addition, Nook which is an e-reader, I wanted it.

Demand was much higher than I guess Barnes & Noble had expected and the release date which was originally scheduled for the end of November was pushed off to January 2010. Naturally, I was hugely disappointed and wanted to kick myself for not pre-ordering in early November.

When reviews started coming out, which were not very favorable for the highly anticipated Nook, I started to wonder if what was being written was in fact true. I decided to go check out my latest desire for myself at Barnes & Noble.

When I first saw the Nook in person, I immediately thought how pleasing to the eye it was. I picked it up and it was pretty light and not hard to hold.  The reviews had said that it was hard to maneuver and the network 3G was very slow. I do not agree with either of those reviews as I found it very easy to use and the network was extremely quick. Naturally, with anything new, it will take a bit to get used too.

I found it very easy to get around and find books, magazines and newspapers and you can order a new book very quickly.

I am extremely satisfied with the way the Nook performed and happy that I decided to not simply listen to the negative reviews and research myself.

So although I will not get any Nookie for Christmas this year, I can relax and find comfort in knowing that I will have it in January.

Don't just take my word for it, go in to any Barnes & Noble and check out a Nook for yourself and let me know what you think.

Barbara Corcoran was on NBC's TODAY show this morning talking about the $8000 first-time home buyer tax credit.According to Mrs. Corcoran First-time buyers accounted for 1/3 of all home sales this past July and more than 1.4 million Americans have qualified for the tax credit this year. She also stated that she wanted home buyers to know that "it's a tax credit, not a deduction."When asked is there enough time for home buyers to run out there and find a home? Mrs. Corcoran answered "if you believe in miracles and you can find a really good foreclosure where the bank has sweaty palms yes its not too late but for the most part its impractical. Most homes take 60-90 days to close and the banks don't lend the money so readily so the whole process has slowed down. So if you found a house this weekend, chances are very good that you wouldn't get the tax credit."

Mrs. Corcoran went on to say " there are 12 bills on the floor to extend the deadline. I think it will happen because every congress guy out there or gal wants to tie their name onto this very popular bill. So, I fully expect that this is going to be extended."

Having the tax credit extended would be great news in my opinion because it would continue to stimulate the housing market as well as the economy and improve consumer confidence.

Also, on the table is increasing the tax credit from $8000 to $15,000 and extending it to all home buyers. When asked if she thought that this would happen, Mrs. Corcoran stated that "there is a lot of talk about this, that or the other thing but anything that will stir up the housing market is a good thing and probably will pass."

If you are a home buyer this is great news. Continue your search for a home because home prices are back to where they should be which means they are not ridiculously over priced as they were last year, rates are still at an all-time low, there is still plenty of inventory and if this tax credit is extended that just sweetens the deal all the more. Home buyers should rejoice!

If you have any questions about buying a home or have any comments, please feel free to contact me at reneeporsia@mac.com or feel free to visit my web site at www.reneeporsia.com.