Lane's Blog - Looking out from the garage

Short Sales - Warning! You May Cause Your Client to Fail the Means Test

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:00:19 -0600

I;m not sure if the rules are exactly the same here in GA, but at the very least this is a GREAT reminder that you need to look at the whole picture and bring it into focus before taking action.

Via Louis Esbin (Law Offices of Louis J. Esbin):

A recent email to a client follows, and should be a fair warning to have clients consult with bankruptcy counsel before execution of short sale purchase and sale documents:

As a result of the short sale of your home before you file bankruptcy you will no longer have the contractually due amount owing to your first and second.

As a result, when we calculate your eligibility for Chapter 7 relief (rather than Chapter 13 relief) we will not be able to deduct from your Annualized Monthly Income those monthly payments.

As a further result, if your Annualized Monthly Income (calculated from the prior 6 months of payment advices) exceeds the Median Income for your 4 member household (currently $79,971) you will not "pass" the Means Test, meaning that you will be forced into a 5 year Chapter 13 repayment plan; and to add insult to injury you will only be repaying your debts without the benefit of saving your home.

Rent does not reduce your Annualized Monthly Income for purposes of calculating the Means Test.

Remember that the short sale does not monetarily benefit you (you will still have liability for the deficiency owing on the second), and yet the inability to claim the contractually due amounts (even if not being paid) will cause you greater harm because you cannot gain a Chapter 7 discharge, but must wait out a Chapter 13 discharge.

The short sale, although delayed, can happen any time after you receive your Chapter 7 discharge. This would be a win-win for you and the Realtor.

Louis J. Esbin, Esq.
Law Offices of Louis J. Esbin
27201 Tourney Road, Suite 122, Valencia, CA 91355-1857
Tel: 661-254-5050 | Fax: 661-254-5252 | Web: www.LouisEsbin.com

Certified Bankruptcy Specialist - State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

I'd love to hear from you...

New Homes Around Gwinnett County

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:39:59 -0600

Image by lane.bailey via Flickr

There are still some new home developments going up around Gwinnett County, GA. Even though we keep hearing on the TV and radio that new construction has all but stalled, it hasn’t completely stopped.

And, December is traditionally the slowest month of the year for homes to go under contract (January is the slowest for closings…). So, there are a number of builders that are offering incentives for buyers during this time of year.

Talk about a Christmas present!!!

Regardless of what holiday you might be celebrating this time of year… or even if you aren’t celebrating anything except the great sales, there are great deals to be had all over Gwinnett.

In Buford, there is a development that has cut prices on their standing inventory (homes that are ready to go…).

3BR/2BA/Finished Bonus Room/Full Basement – $269,900 $219,900
3BR/2BA/Hardwoods/Granite & Tile – $219,900 $184,900
3BR/2BA/Dining Room/Gas Fireplace – $210,900 $179,900

Another builder, with several developments around Gwinnett, including one in Lilburn, has put up a promotion to buy down rates to 2.78% (first year, 3.78% second year and 4.78% for the remainder of the loan). The also offer a discount for active duty military, school teachers and emergency workers of 2% off the price of their homes.

Also in Buford there is a developer closing out that last two homes for sale. One is a Model Home.

4BR/3.5BA/Model Home/Balcony – $179,900
5BR/3.5BA/Balcony/Family Room – $179,900

In Peachtree Corners, an upscale development is offering attractive pricing on their luxury homes… starting in the $700k’s.

In Norcross there is a townhome development that is offering $0 Move-ins. Nothing Down. Zero Closing Costs. Zero PMI. Closings must happen before March 2010. These are townhomes priced from the $190k’s, with finished basements, 2 car garages, vaulted ceilings and “creative interiors”.

* All properties are subject to pre-sale. There aren’t my listings, so I don’t know what properties might be under contract. Information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. I would be happy to represent you as a buyer’s agent. This service does NOT cost you as a buyer. Aside from when working as a buyer’s agent, I have no financial interest in any of these properties. If operating as a buyer’s agent, I work in the buyer’s interest, and not for the builder. Contains no sugar…*

from LaneBailey.com

I'd love to hear from you...

Meet Mike and Terri

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:03:24 -0600

I thought I might pass along some words from some of my clients.

Mike needed a house with a big garage. In addition to enjoying woodworking, Mike has a 4x4 habit... and a sports car. So, the normal 2 car garage wasn't going to cut it. And that is before mention of Mike's son... also an avid off-roader. We were looking for homes with 4+ car garages, or homes that could easily accomodate a 4+ car garage. We had a good start, but the short-sale didn't come through in time. Getting back into search mode yielded a home that met almost every criteria. A couple of changes and the home was perfect.

Terri was in search of room for the long arm machine. As a quilting enthusiast, it was the center of her search. She had a GIANT sewing machine that needed a GIANT room to live. It also needed to be adjacent to storage (for the fabrics) and hopefully have easy access to the outside world. Bringing bolts of fabric through the house all of the time wasn't high on the priority list. We ran across a few bonus rooms that would fit most of the bill... and then we found the perfect house. The rest of the house was pretty cool, too.

I like working with cool people with interesting hobbies. I have a Jeep habit, and have also spent a lot of time playing with sports cars. Of course, I have also had a few other hobbies, too.

Let me help you find that cool and unique home that fits your lifestyle.

I'd love to hear from you...

A Little Christmas Music... GarageGuy Style...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:31:52 -0600

GarageGuys don't always do things the way everyone else does... We're a little twisted compared to the average... ok, compared to average.

So, as I am getting myself in the mood for the season, with family coming in town next week, I thought it might be nice to share a little Christmas Music with my friends. And of course I can't kick in the same music everyone else listens to... How many times can you hear Deck the Halls before wanting to find someone named Hall to deck? (the answer is 7...)

Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses - Lightorama 16 channels

Brian Setzer - Run Rudolph Run

Stray Cat Strut/You're A Mean, One Mr. Grinch - Live!

Twisted Metal 3 Soundtrack - Rob Zombie Christmas Theme

Sure, you could listen to "normal" Christmas Carols, but what fun would that be? Imagine waking the kids up on Christmas morning with a little Rob Zombie Christmas mix. Think that would shock a little cheer into them?

Yes, my children have a good sense of humor. And my wife is a Saint...

;^ )

Merry Christmas

I'd love to hear from you...

Make some Mo!

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:21:16 -0600

Momentum...

Often discounted, but ever present...

A few months ago I lost my blogging Mo. It just went away... I had written a 101 part series, and while that only carried two of my posts each week on LaneBailey.com, when it ended, I was kind of lost. Around the same time I had a hard drive crash and a couple of closings... I couldn't blog because I couldn't keep all of the tasks straight.

My garage had also gotten uglier and uglier. Junk had piled up and the actual project just became a convenient place to set stuff. Working on the Jeep wasn't possible because GETTING TO the Jeep wasn't possible.

Momentum was moving against me...

A short while back I decided that I'd had enough of the blogging malaise. I got Outlook 2010 which has a great calendar/task system, and wrote out my blogging commitments. Staring at me right now is a checklist of posts that need to be completed over the next week or so. Shortly before that I got a little notebook to write down those fleeting ideas... I needed to capture a higher percentage of my ideas.

In the last two days I have pulled a bunch of crap out of the garage. Boxes have been broken down for recycling. Random pieces of shredded steel have been put into the metal recycling bin. The floor has been swept and a bunch of stuff has been organized. Each time I walk into the garage I have my project looking at me...

I have turned the Momentum...

Now I am looking at my business... I am using the same tactics. It isn't where I want it to be, and the first thing I need to do is figure out what is standing in the way of SEEING the direction I need to move. After that, I have to clean up and get the blockages out of the way. When the right path is staring at me, it is hard NOT to take it.. and that turns...

... Momentum

I'd love to hear from you...

News from Zillow... Purple Houses...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:26:24 -0600

Image by brad.coy via Flickr

I participated in a conference call with David Gibbons from Zillow on Monday. He was sharing a new program they will be offering beginning today.

Primarily, this is aimed at people searching for and offering rentals, however there is one aspect of it that is VERY interesting to buyers. Here is the release:

SEATTLE (Dec. 15, 2009) – Real estate Web site Zillow.com today launched rental listings and search to its home shopping service and database of more than 90,000,000 U.S. homes. For the first time on Zillow, anyone can list a home for rent, and Zillow users can now search both rental homes and homes for sale in their area. Additionally, Zillow has built the industry’s first mapped search by monthly payment, allowing home shoppers to simultaneously find for-sale and for-rent homes, based on a monthly payment they can afford.

According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive 25 percent of people who plan to move in the next three years say they will search for both homes for rent and homes for sale.

With Zillow’s new monthly payment search, home shoppers can now use the “monthly payment” filter as one of their search criteria in addition to specifics like number of bedrooms or bathrooms. Zillow calculates the monthly payment on homes for sale using that day’s local mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, assuming a 20 percent down payment, and shows both for-sale and for-rent homes that match the entered criteria. Shoppers can then save their search and receive email notifications when new homes are listed. No other Web site helps home shoppers easily compare the monthly cost of owning versus renting side-by-side, and figure out the best solution for them today.

“In today’s volatile housing market, many would-be sellers are opting to rent for a few years and ride out the market, while many home shoppers are just trying to decide whether to buy or rent,” said Spencer Rascoff, Zillow Chief Operating Officer. “With the launch of rental listings and search, we are arming our more than 8 million monthly users with information, tools and options to make the right housing decisions for them today.”

Home shoppers on Zillow can search for rental properties and homes for sale by neighborhood, ZIP code or city, and filter their search based on price, monthly payment and numerous home characteristics. Additionally, landlords now have the opportunity to reach the nearly one million renters who currently visit Zillow each month. Zillow offers landlords a premium listing experience, with a Featured Listing for just $9.95 for 180 days. Featured Listings are sorted to the top of search results and receive six times more views than non-featured listings. Each listing can include unlimited photos, a full list of property features, marketing text, a link to an external Web site for the property, and personal contact information.

Zillow.com is the second-largest real estate Web site, according to Hitwise. On average, 8.3 million unique visitors came to Zillow each month this year, up 60 percent over 2008.

Image via Wikipedia

David mentioned that they aren't expecting an initial rush of "purple houses" on the first day of implementation. It certainly is interesting, and shows how much more important the rental market has become amidst the current housing crisis.

I have certainly not been a giant cheerleader for everything coming from Zillow. However, they are doing many things right. I have also had the opportunity to hang out with David on a couple of occasions. He is a cool guy... and there aren't very many people with whom I can talk about South African Sports Cars.

I'd love to hear from you...

Atlanta's First Playground... Norcross, GA

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:45:50 -0600

Have you heard of the Eastern Continental Divide? It is an imaginary line that runs right through the Norcross Historic District... and all of the rivers and streams on one side of this line eventually flow into the Atlantic... on the other side, they flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

I knew a lot of things about Norcross... that wasn't one of them.

The site that is now Norcross, GA, sits along an old trail that ran from Fort Daniel (near Dacula ay Hog Mountain) to Peachtree Fort (near the confluence of Peachtree Creek and the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta). It was called the Peachtree Road. Parts of it are still called Old Peachtree Road in Gwinnett County.

Later, in 1856 a rail line was proposed by former Atlanta Mayor Jonathon Norcross. It wasn't until 1869 that the first 20 miles were completed... right to the site of downtown Norcross. John Thrasher bought the 250 acres around the site of the terminal, and named it for Jonathon Norcross. The Park that sits near the Terminal is named for John Thrasher.

Soon after, the Brunswick Hotel was built and Norcross became a fashionable escape for Atlantans. The City of Norcross was chartered in October, 1870.

Another tidbit that had previously escaped me was that between 1910 and 1950, Norcross had 16 players signed to professional baseball contracts. Per capita, it was the most successful baseball town in America. Hometown boy, Roy Calyle, hit a 618 foot homerun in Oakland, CA on July 4th, 1929... a record distance.

Before it was cool...

Norcross was one of the first cities in Gwinnett County to revitalize its "Old Town" area. There are a couple of reasons for that. To start with, Norcross was one of the first "luxury suburbs" of Atlanta. Because of the rail line and Norcross being seen as a fashionable place, there were a lot of large, beautiful homes built near Old Town. For at least the last 20 years, Peachtree Street in Norcross has had quaint shops and restaurants. More recently, the street lights and signs were "updated" to look more like they might have looked 100 years ago .

While you are hanging out in Old Town Norcross, stop into Norcross Station or Dominick's for a bite.

And you can live here too...

To see the latest market stats for Lilburn, take a look here...

If you'd like to browse homes currently for sale in Lilburn, check this out...

I'd love to hear from you...

Wellington Florida Real Estate News: Chinese Drywall- If You Have Chinese Drywall There May Be Help

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:05:03 -0600

This is a very important, but very misunderstood issue. There isn't much being said about it in most of the media, but this is a big danger in the houses that have this defective product.

Via Nestor & Katerina Gasset Realtors® Wellington Florida Luxury Homes (International Properties and Investments, Inc.):

Wellington Florida Real Estate News: Chinese Drywall- If You Have Chinese Drywall There May Be Help on the way.

I wrote a detailed post about Chinese Drywall Claims May Get Your Insurance Canceled and since then there have been lawmakers here in Florida and other states plagued with Chinese drywall working on some solutions.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development will issue some guidelines for homeowners who have Chinese drywall to follow in order to apply for federal money. Senator Bill Nelson (D) has been one of the supporters of getting relief to homeowners here in Florida. While I don't agree with him on most issues- this is one of the issues that I do feel needs to be addressed by HUD because it was the Federal Government who supports buying products made in China. Since we can't sue the companies in China for sending this horror of a material someone has to be held accountable. The builders and developers who used this drywall have mostly all filed bankruptcy and are no longer in business. The builders that are still here are doing a lot to help the homeowners who are living in homes that they sold that have the chinese drywall. In fact, some builders are paying for the homeowners to temporarily move out of their homes, paying for their expenses and helping them as they remove all the chinese drywall and replace it.

The HUD secretary came to Florida to see some of the damage we are talking about. It is hard to understand the extent of this awful drywall as it can destroy the plumbing, the foundation and lead to serious health problems. We had one family that was buying one of our short sale listings. They owned one of the homes with the Chinese Drywall. They had two children who were getting sick. It was from the sulfuric gas that the chinese drywall leaks and these poor kids were so sick that they had to move into a hotel until we could get the short sale approved. It was because of the health of these children that WAMU (now Chase) worked very quickly to get the short sale approved so these little children could be in a home again.

HUD said that homeowners may be able to get help through the Community Development Block Grant program. But the problem, as usual, with government programs, is that that person saying that you may get help from a program doesn't even know if that is truly the case or not. Well, this was not the case because the Block Grant program is for poverty areas and low income people. Most of the home that have the chinese drywall are middle class to high end homes. Most of the people affected are people who are not poor. But the Cbinese drywall can certainly land any middle income earner into the poor house because you have to basically gut your entire house to get at the drywall and underlying problems it causes.

So now the HUD secretary sent Senator Nelson a letter saying that they are working with the guidelines so that these homeowners can get assistance to repair their homes.

Here are some photos from the Florida Health Department. The first photo is the black corrosion that is caused by Chinese Drywall the other corrosions are not black and are normal corrosion of copper, wires, etc. Please seek out the advice of a licensed contractor if you suspect your home to contain Chinese drywall. The easiest way to tell is to check the back of piece of drywall. If it says, MADE IN CHINA- you have Chinese drywall:



The Federal Government has received over 2,276 complaints from homeowners and more than two thirds of them are from Florida. I am sure that more are affected that don't even know they are and more still that have not filed complaints.

For information about Florida Short Sales- click here.

T o view Florida Short Sales- Click here . We know Palm Beach County Short Sales and Port St Lucie Florida Short Sales and will help you get your home Sold if you need to Sell your home and help you buy your home in Palm Beach County Florida: Call us today.





Wellington Florida Real Estate News-Chinese Drywall- If You Have Chinese Drywall There May Be Help was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.

Copyright © 2009 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved.* Wellington Florida Real Estate News-Chinese Drywall- If You Have Chinese Drywall There May Be Help*

I'd love to hear from you...

Going Home for the Holidays?

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:15:46 -0600

For many years about this time I have a conversation with my mother... and it revolves around "Coming Home for Christmas". Up until the passing of my grandmother a few years ago, "Coming Home for Christmas" meant going up to Midland, MI... where I never lived. After that, my mom would talk about me going up to her home in Hampton, VA. I loved my grandmother, and enjoyed spending Christmas there... but it wasn't my home... And since I turned 18 and moved to Minneapolis, MN (and later here to Atlanta, GA), my mother's house hasn't been MY home, either...

Home for me is in Georgia. I didn't leave home in a huff... My mother and I get along quite well and talk on the phone once or twice a week. We visit each other a couple times each year... in fact, I was able to spend a little time with her after Thanksgiving during a "road trip" with a friend up to the Washington, DC area. I didn't leave home because I didn't like being there... I left because it was time for me to make MY way in the world.

That was more than 25 years ago... And in that 25+ years, I have lived in Minnesota and here in Georgia. I have a lovely wife and two beautiful little boys. I have a house in Gwinnett County, and have built my life right here for most of the last 20 years.

Home is more than a house... Home is a community. Home is family, even when the "family" is a group of friends. Home is many things to many people. Home is a place of love. Home isn't just a building where you keep your stuff... that is a house.

Obviously, I am a real estate agent. I sell houses... so people will have a place to keep their stuff. Sometimes it can even be an investment. Most often, in addition to buying houses, people are buying homes. Their kids may run through the doors after getting off the school bus... wanting a snack. It could be the place they will open presents with their grandkids. Perhaps one day in the past of the futre it was the scene of someone proposing to their soulmate. Or maybe where they dropped their bags after the honeymoon.

This year, my mother is coming home for the Holidays... to my home. It isn't the first time, and I hope it won't be the last. Along with my step-father, she'll be able to enjoy time with her grandkids... and her grand-dog. Later, we'll all go over to my in-laws and enjoy family time there. My mother and step-father have begun to think of this as "coming home"... So much so that they are thinking of moving here to Gwinnett County. Aside from family, they have friends here... roots, so to speak.

It is probably too late to buy a house for the holidays this year...

But there are a LOT of holidays next year. And maybe next year you can be the one to ask if your family wants to "come home for the holidays".

I'd love to hear from you...

Office 2010… FREE…

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:20:44 -0600

I like free stuff. Free stuff is good. Good free stuff is better...

Right now, Microsoft is running BETA tests on MS Office 2010. And it is a public BETA, so ANYONE can download and install the total MS Office suite. This includes:

Word
Excel
PowerPoint
One Note
Outlook
Access
Publisher
InfoPath
SharePoint Workspace
Communicator

This depends on exactly which version you download. I didn't get InfoPath, SharePoint Workspace or Communicator.

And there certainly are some things to keep in mind. To start with, these are only going to run until October

of 2010 (I have been told...). Also, they are BETA releases, and so there may be bugs. Microsoft has some specific instruction for trying it out.

Outlook 2010...

The reason I even ran across this is that I needed a calendar. I have been sifting through a

PILE of calendar solutions over the last couple of weeks and not found a single one I liked as much as my old Outlook Calendar. And I like the new one, too.

I haven't even opened the rest of the software, nor have I set up Outlook to handle my email... I am using Thunderbird 3... but just having the calendar function makes it worthwhile for me.

In the coming weeks I will likely dive into Publisher, and One Note has long been something I like to use with my Tablet PC. I will also try to compare the functionality of Word and Excel to their counterparts in Open Office.

In the mean time, they are free to try.

One last thing to keep in mind, this is a BIG download. Expect it to take quite a while to download...

Here is the download link...

from LaneBailey.info

I'd love to hear from you...

Let's Talk About Lawrenceville, GA...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:49:36 -0600

Lawrenceville is the largest city in Gwinnett County, GA (pop. 29528 inside the city limits in July, 2008). And it is the second oldest in the Atlanta Metro area, created by Charter by the the Georgia General Assembly in December 1821.

It is named after Commodore James Lawrence, Commander of the Frigate Chesapeake during the War of 1812. He is best knownhis dying command, "Don't give up the ship." He never lived in the area of Lawrenceville, though.

The first courthouse was built on what is now the Square in Lawrenceville in 1823-1824, although the current courthouse that stands in that location only dates back to 1885. There were actually a couple of buildings on that plot of land between those times, including a courthouse that was burned down by the KKK in 1871. They thought there were records indicating a member was involved in bootlegging stored in the courthouse. The records were actually at the Sheriff's house... but many other records were destroyed in that fire.

Lawrenceville actually didn't suffer a lot of direct damage during the Civil War, excepting a raid by the Union forces in July, 1864 which ended with the burning of one of Gwinnett's largest cotton mills. However, the area's 12,000 residents mustered 2,000 men to fight for the Confederacy.

Since then, Lawrenceville served as birthplace for former Heavyweight Champ Ezzard Charles and writer Charles Henry Smith (under the name Bill Arp). It was also briefly the home of Oliver Hardy.

History is just part of any City...

Living in Lawrenceville has plenty of highlights. There are ample opportunities for shopping, playing and working. Transportation is also plentiful and convenient... although, like everywhere in Metro Atlanta, traffic can be a challenge.

Shopping ranges from The restored Square in downtown Lawrenceville which houses numerous smaller, quaint shops and bistros, to Discover Mills, which has businesses ranging from jewelry kiosks to Bass Pro Shops. The Mall of Georgia is also nearby, as is Gwinnett Place Mall and numerous smaller shopping centers.

The downtown Square is also home to Aurora Theatre, presenting everything from musicals to children's shows... with Shakespeare in between. There are numerous parks, including several that are part of the Gwinnett County Parks system, which was named the #1 Parks & Recreation Agency in the country by National Recreation & Park Association in 2009. These include Sweet Water Park and the Collins Hill Aquatic Center... as well as about a dozen more.

If catching a game is more to your stlye, the Gwinnett Braves play in their new Baseball Park in Lawrenceville. They are the AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, playing in the International League. The Gwinnett Gladiators play nearby at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. They are the East Coast Hockey League affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers. The Atlanta Falcons practice in nearby Flowery Branch.

Gwinnett County is a Vibrant business hub...

...and Lawrenceville is right in the middle of it all... From the impending relocation of NCR to being the home of Gwinnett Technical College and Georgia Gwinnett College (part of the Univ. of GA system), Gwinnett is growing and poised to continue that growth. Its convenience to Atlanta, I-85 and other regional amenities, as well as lower costs of living than other nearby areas, makes Gwinnett a prime target for corporate relocations and start-ups.

And you can live here too...

To see the latest market stats for Lilburn, take a look here...

If you'd like to browse homes currently for sale in Lilburn, check this out...

I'd love to hear from you...

How's This For Job Creation?

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:47:00 -0600

The first "stimulus" package, now known and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (but lovingly remembered as Porkulus) was an absolute failure and waste of $787 Billion so successful that the Democrats are talking about doing another one.

Apparently, the act accomplished all that it set out to do except for one thing... creating jobs. All of the talk of "shovel ready projects" and "infrastructure improvements" from the administration was slightly premature. While many thought that those types of expenditures were built into that stimulus package, we are now finding out that they weren't...

When the stimulus bill was being "debated", we were told that if it wasn't passed, and passed quickly, unemployment could go up to 8%... well, it was passed and it was passed quickly, but unemployment is at 10%.

So, we are back to where we were nine months ago. Except we have already added over $1.5 trillion to the National Debt. We have spent over $1.5 trillion "creating jobs and saving the economy"... but few jobs have been created, money still isn't being lent by banks and companies are still not expanding. The ONLY segment of the economy that is expanding is the government.

And the result of $1.5 trillion dollars being spent is "saving or creating" between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs. We'll skip how the whole "saving or creating" tag is pretty much impossible to prove. But, if we go with the middle number.., 1,000,000 jobs, the COST of each job is $1.5 million. WOW.

So...

Let's try something different. Wasn't it Albert Einstein that said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result?

It is time for something BOLD.

One billion dollars is one thousand, million dollars.
Upwards of 70% of the jobs that will be created to end this recession will come from small businesses.
GM isn't going to grow...
Neither is BoA...

Maybe what needs to happen is that the government should take $500 billion and grant that to 500,000 small businesses. Not businesses with 100 employees, but rather businesses with 2-20 employees. Think of the growth opportunities. Think of the upgrades to equipment, facilities, staffing, technology, marketing... EVERYTHING. Think if YOUR small business recieved a $1,000,000 grant to improve your business. Do you think you might hire more than 2/3rds of a person? Do you think that you might create opportunities both inside and outside of your business?

I would bet that the "bang for the buck" would be in the area of 2,000,000 jobs in the next 90 days, and 4,000,000 jobs in the next year... DIRECTLY attributable to THAT spending.

That is guessing that each of those businesses would hire about 3 people in 90 days, and that there would an additional job created in a support industry in that time frame. In one year, I would guess that each business would hire 5-6 people and there would be 2-3 jobs created in support industries.

And if there are 4,000,000 people put back to work from this plan, I can see a cascading through the service and retail sector... car dealers, retailers, wait staff, resort workers, builders, landscapers...

After all, isn't that the object of "priming the pump"? We keep hearing that government spending primes the pump of Capitalism. But it really hasn't worked in this cycle... and there are economists that would argue it really didn't work before, that what has worked before is lower taxes on businesses and getting THEM to prime the pump...

But...

I don't see this government or any other government doing it... It doesn't add to their power. It doesn't create government jobs. And how do you decide which businesses would be the beneficiaries? And finally... and most importantly... it isn't really the job of government to decide who will be the winners and losers in the economy. Of course, that would apply to the other "stimulus packages", too.

But hey... if you want to try it out, I can give you my address for the $1,000,000 check. ;^ )

I'd love to hear from you...

Mini-Bar Camp...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:40:59 -0600

What do you get when you take 9 real estate pros in 4 states, Skype, DimDim and a blustery Thursday?

Mini-Bar Camp...

Half BarCamp, half accountibility group and half implementation assistance hotline, we "met" for almost 7 hours of hardcore tech and sales talk. Four of us were in the Atlanta area, so we all got together in a reasonably central location during the camp. The other agents, in North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama all called in.

Each person "presented" at some point during the day and we had some wide-open discussion periods as well. While we had planned on having fairly structured sessions, we ended up flowing from one presentation into another and still covering almost all of the subjects we had on our list.

A few lessons learned...

We went through a lot of trouble to set up the "webinar" portion of the camp. We tested several webinar solutions, looking for one that had VoIP, was free, and had the ability to rotate through presenters. We ended up using a platform called DimDim. Combining it with Skype seemed like a good option, although it seems that DimDim might have VoIP capability.

In the end, we turned off the webinar and were pretty much content with Skype. By building a group call, we also had a group chat. Between the chat and the voice interaction, we were able to communicate and share a LOT of ideas, technologies and resources.

Next time, we will likely just use Skype. Aside from some bandwidth issues and voices dropping out every once in a while, it worked great.

We started with a list of topics... we didn't have anyone assigned to run specific topics, and winging it would be the best description... and it went REALLY well. But I think in the future it would be better to have a little better idea going in about who would be presenting what... At least for me.

Who was this cast of characters?

Replicate?

Yes. We will, and you can. This small group will be starting a bi-weekly coaching/accountibility/implementation/support call. Instead of spending a day of it, we will be "meeting" for about 90 minutes, with a clearly defined topic... and time for open discussion.

For those that enjoy the rebarcamp experience or other technology camps, this might be a great way to amp up the learning between events. We have all been there... head ready to explode from new tools we learned about at REtechSouth or rebarcamp... but we just couldn't get all of those tools into the toolbox when we got home.

By breaking down the technologies and not having to learn everything at once, we expect to get more from all of the events we attend. Also, because each of us have different strengths, we all can learn from each other and help each other with implemention.

The Beauty of Mini-Bar Camp...

I'd love to hear from you...

Where in the World is Lilburn, GA?

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:18:23 -0600

And more importantly, why does it matter?

A little about Lilburn...

Lilburn is a little city in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA, in southern Gwinnett County. It is the home of Parkview High School and Berkmar High School. And while the City of Lilburn has about 11,000 people (as of the 2000 Census... it has grown since then), there are a couple time that many people with a Lilburn mailing address. In fact, the most recent numbers show over 53,000 people residing in 30047, Lilburn's ZIP code.

The City of Lilburn was founded by the Seabord Airline Railway in 1890, but it was previously called McDaniel (until around 1900). It was renamed in honor of Lilburn Trigg Myers, a Superintendent of the railroad, and incorporated on July 27th, 1910. In the 1920s, Lilburn suffered a devastating fire, then the boll weevil killed the cotton crop in the area. The result was that shortly after the stock market cresh of 1929, the government "ceased to exist". It wasn't until a new water line was needed in 1955 that the city government was re-organized.

There is more to an area than just history...

Every town has a little history... but that is only part of what makes up a town. In addition to schools, parks and all sorts of other local amenities also are very important to a community and the quality of life.

Gwinnett County Parks were names the #1 Parks & Recreation Agency in the country by National Recreation & Park Association in 2009. Several of those parks are in Lilburn including the Mountain Park Aquatic Center, Mountain Park Park, the Harmony grove Soccer Complex, Lions Club Park and the Lilburn City ParK and Greenway.

Notably, Lilburn is also home to BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, which is the largest Hindu Temple outside of India, and the 3rd largest in the World.

And a Local Character...

General Beauregard Lee has called Lilburn home for a couple of decades. He rose to fame because of his accurac in predicting the extension of Winter... He only works on February 2nd each year, and has "advised" Willard Scott, and been awarded honorary doctorates from The University of Georgia – "DWP, Doctor of Weather Prognostication" and Georgia State University – "Doctor of Southern Groundology."

He lives at the Yellow River Game Ranch. Aside from "Beau", there are lots of friendly critters wandering around. Ducks, squirrels, rabbits and deer are all wandering around the park, and are all really friendly. There are also bison, coyotes, fox and bears among others that are not wandering around being friendly... but are available for observation.

And you can live here too...

To see the latest market stats for Lilburn, take a look here...

If you'd like to browse homes currently for sale in Lilburn, check this out...

I'd love to hear from you...

Try the LOCAL guy... HL Computers in Lilburn

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:53:01 -0600

This morning my wife woke me up to tell me that her desktop computer wouldn't turn over. She pushed the button, and nothin'...

It is old, and although it has had a little bit of updating, it isn't going to get much money input because it just isn't worth it. We knew it was likely a power supply. They don't cost much, but sometimes when you have to get something quickly, and local is the only option... prices seem to get a little higher.

Off we went to HL Computers in Lilburn. They actually rebuilt her computer a few years ago. She set the computer on the work table, and 8 minutes later we were pretty sure it was the power supply (they plugged one in to test it). A couple more minutes and we had a power supply... $29. The best price I could find in an online search (without spending much time) was $26 + shipping.

When I had my laptop hard drive failure last month, I picked up a new 320GB IDE hard drive for under $89. The local big box stores were $119 or higher. The best price i found online for the same unit was $99. But the online places wouldn't spend 30 minutes seeing if they could salvage data from the old drive...

We have picked up cables, cards, memory and other items pretty regularly from HL Computers, and they always seem to be competitive on their price. They also always have a couple of techs that will answer questions and offer advice. We picked up the equipment for our Clear WiMAX from them as well.

So often, the tendency is to run to WalMart or order something online. We just assume that those folks are going to offer up the best price. On computer equipment, there are so many small companies out there that provide great service, but charge an arm and a leg to get it. If you are around Lilburn (US 78 and East Park Place... near Outback Steakhouse) there is an option that can provide a great price AND excellent, knowledgeable service.

HL Computers probably isn't the only option in the country for that kind of price and service. There are small stores all over the country that provide great service and price... Sometimes the local guy (or girl) has the best deal. Give them a shot.

I'd love to hear from you...

My List of Indispensible WordPress Plugins...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:15:52 -0600

And I'm going to start off with two that aren't for WordPress, but that I use ALL of the time...

Zemanta - This is one of my "blogging assistants". Zemanta searches for relavent photos for posts, while I am writing them. It is a FireFox plugin, and functions on all of the WordPress blogs without installing a WP plugin. I also have it installed on my Joomla sites... I did have to install a Joomla plugin...
ScribeFire - Another of my "blogging assistants" ... and a commenting assitant, too. ScribeFire lets me format posts or comments, even adding video to comments on Active Rain. I can add headlines, colored text and other features using it. It is also a FireFox plugin.

I promised WordPress Plugins... So here are a few...

Add Post Footer - Just like the Post Footer settings here on AR, I can add whatever I want to each post on my blog with this plug-in. Automatically...
All-In-One SEO Pack - Tunes SEO for the blog and posts easily...
Apture - A different way to present media. I just started using this on my WP blogs after reading about it here from Brad Andersohn.
Google XML Sitemap - It is very important to have a sitemap. This automatically creates, updates and sends to search engines...
Great Real Estate - I can showcase listings easily on my blog... I also can run sidebar widgets with the listing pics and other info if I choose.
Local Market Explorer - This is a tool from Zillow that put market stats, reports, pictures, info and other juicy stuff on pages in my blogs... easily.
MobilePress - Automatically see when a mobile devide is looking at the blog and tweak it to better display on that device.
NextGEN Gallery - This is a better gallery system that the stock one in WordPress. It is also required for Great Real Estate.
Property Watch - Automatically builds a form so that buyers can send me requests for the type of property they are looking for...
SoJ Tag Feed - I can create a landing page for ANY tag or catagory on my blog... with this I can create an RSS feed for any tag as well.
Wibiya - Check out the Toolbar at the bottom of LaneBailey.com. Although I might have to pull it down to experiment with something else (something BETA this way comes?)
WP-DB Manager - I can do database management from my blog... and have it automatically email back-ups to me.

There are actually a lot more plugins that I run, but this gives you a good idea of what is available. it is a VERY extensible platform.

What do you think of the new theme? Like how it matches GarageHomesUSA, even though they are on different platforms?

I'd love to hear from you...

100% Client Experience...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:56:31 -0600

One of the things that I learned in the retail management world was that customer service is perceived VERY differently on the other side of the counter. And it doesn't matter which side of the counter you were on... the person on the other side of the counter might not have an easy time seeing your side...

My photo lab ran in excess of 95% on-time orders. Literally, several hundred rolls of film on an average day, and there might have been a dozen that weren't ready on time for whatever reason... 95% looks pretty good. 99% looks even better. I felt pretty good...

But what about the person on the other side of the counter? If THEIR roll was late, that was 100% of THEIR experience. They didn't know that 200 other rolls were on-time. And they didn't care.

Maybe this person had been through a few trying times and been incredibly polite... but my lab not having their pictures ready on time was their last straw. Of the 20 problems they dealt with that day, they were able to maintain a positive attitude through 95% of them...

But they unloaded on me... And 100% of MY experience with them was negative. I didn't know that they managed to not rip the head off of the buffoon at the home improvement store. And I didn't care.

In the real estate business, we might only have one chance to help a client in a decade. THAT one chance may be their ONLY transaction directly with us. Or, if we are really good, and hang out for a while, we might help them again... but a large part of our client base will only transact one time with us (directly). EVERY transaction that we have with them is 100% of their experience. If we are "off", we are always "off" in their mind. Do you think that they will be talking us up to their friends and family?

The same holds true with people we refer out clients to... If I recommend an inspector, and he does a crappy job and misses the impending HVAC failure, I look like a moron. If the mortgage broker I send a buyer to fumbles the file, I might as well poop on it myself. If the stager I call ends up over budget and not on time... I am over budget and not on time.

I understand that. I don't recommend vendors lightly. I don't take your home buying or selling experience lightly. I want my clients to have the best experience. YOU deserve it.

I'd love to hear from you...

Customer? Client?

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:31:13 -0600

One area of consumer confusion revolves around the use of the words Client and Customer in regards to a real estate transaction. And there are some VERY important differences between the two.

Let's start with the basics...(this applies specifically to GA, but might be true in some other states)

What is a Client?

A Client in a real estate transaction is the person that a particular agent represents. That means the client has a written contract with the agent to represent the Client's best interests. In essence, the agent is required to put the best interests of the client above their own. They are also acting at the direction of the Client. There are some situations where the direction of the client might be contrary to the law... in those cases, the agent MUST follow the law.

What is a Customer?

A Customer is someone in the transaction that a particular agent doesn't represent. While they still need to deal honestly, they are still acting at the direction of the Client. Again, the agent always has to follow the law, but otherwise they don't work FOR the Customer, but may assist in the purchase of a property.

Non Real Estate example...

When you go to Best Buy and are asking questions of a sales associate, they help you, but they don't work for you... they work for Best Buy and their job is to promote the interests of Best Buy. If you were to hire a consultant to help you get the right Audio/Visual System, then you would be a Client of your consultant, and still a Customer of Best Buy.

What does it mean?

There are some things that an agent CAN'T legally do...

Misrepresent the property or the condition of the property. If they are aware of an issue, they (and the seller) MUST disclose that issue. In fact, one could argue that if they should be aware of the issue, whether they are actually aware of it or not, it needs to be disclosed. The only exception is obvious defects... but that is splitting hairs... A court would be left to define "obvious defects".
Fail to present a legitimate offer. There are a LOT of agents that can get in trouble with this. If a buyer makes a written offer, the agent is REQUIRED to present it. The seller can't require the agent to disregard offers that don't meet some criteria. The seller certainly doesn't have to address the offer, but the agent must present it. In fact, according to the Real Estate Commission, one can argue that it must be presented in the same manner as any other offer. In essence, the listing agent can't hand the seller their chosen offers individually, and then hand them an envelope with the other offers... they must also be presented timely... again, the court gets to decide on timeliness.
Steer... and several other HUD Fair Housing related issues. Basically, if you tell your agent that you want a house in a nice "white" neighborhood close to a Mosque and populated with loads of single people... they CAN'T use those criteria to help you search. Race, Religion, Familial Status, Age and Sex can't be used to steer a buyer towards or away from a location. They also can't be used as leverage to convince a seller that it is time to sell... That is sometimes referred to as Blockbusting.
Break any other law... like helping with mortgage fraud or lying about other offers to a cooperating agent or buyer. Obviously the list isn't exhaustive...

Real estate agents work closely with both Clients and Customers... and often there is confusion surrounding the duties they owe to each... even among real estate agents. I have had clients, customers AND agents ask me to do things that were illegal and/or unethical. And sometimes those things are frustratiing for everyone involved... but the rules are the rules.

When I have a mother with young kids ask me if the neighborhood is "kid friendly", I can't answer it. Some argue that I can't even quote census data... In those instances, I often tell buyers that they might want to drive around the neighborhood on a nice Saturday and see how many kids are outside playing...

I have had potential buyers ask me how to cover for "issues" in their homes... A/C that is old or needs repair, weak or worn roof, water intrusion in the basement or ther shortcomings of the property. If I know about it, I HAVE to disclose it. And it is my job to have a reasonable knowledge of these issues. I can't count how many times as a buyer's agent I have had a listing agent tell me that they don't attend inspections because they don't want to know about any defects... I attend my seller's inspections because I feel the sellers have a right to know what is being said about their property, and they need someone to represent the property. And I have seen some inspectors that were just plain out of line (please note, that isn't meant to slam inspectors in general). I also want to know that the inspector being used is qualified. I've dealt with "Inspector Dad"... and while he might be a great guy, and handy as they come, that doesn't make him an inspector.

The Bottom Line

As a buyer or seller, you should know what duties the agent you are working with owes to you. When you are a buyer in a new home community, the builder's agent DOESN'T REPRESENT YOU. They might be nice, friendly and personable... but they aren't your agent. The same holds true when you call a listing agent. Even me. If I am the listing agent, I represent the seller... If you hire me to represent you (and that generally doesn't cost you a single penny), I represent you . I caution buyers to have their own agent. Be a Client.

I'd love to hear from you...

Absorption Rate? What is this about?

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:22:09 -0600

There are some terms that we toss around in the real estate industry as if people knew what we were talking about... Absorption Rate is one of those terms.

It isn't complicated, but if you are unfamiliar with the term, if can be confusing. And unlike "Bacon Double Cheeseburger", it isn't really self explanatory.

What is Absorption Rate?

There are a couple of components to Absorption Rates.

Inventory Level
Sales Pace over a specified time period
How long the inventory would take to be "used up" at the current level and pace...

That is it in a nutshell. But, let's look at a few examples, as well as some caveats. By the way, this isn't just for real estate, but can apply to anything that might be considered a commodity...

Let's say that your family eats frozen pizza twice a week, and you have 6 Digiorno's Pizzas in the freezer. If you don't go to the store to pick up more, and you continue eating them at the same pace, you have a three week supply of frozen pizza.

Obviously there are a couple of ways that you can alter that situation.

You can start with more pizza
You can alter how often the family eats pizza

Now, maybe you buy your pizzas at Costco, and go there once a month... Even though you have 6 pizzas in the freezer, if you aren't going to be going there for another month, you might want to pick up a few more. If you buy 3 more pizzas, you will have a 4 1/2 week supply, which will carry you through another month.

About that "Specified Time Period"

In order to quantify sales or usage pace, we need to look at a period of time. Back to our pizza...

With Thanksgiving happening recently, the fridge is full of turkey, so maybe in the last week we haven't had any pizza... But, things were really busy before that, so we had 3 pizzas in 6 days. So, if we look at just the last week, we had 0 pizza... theoretically, 6 pizzas would last forever. That can't be right.

So, we look at a longer time period. Over two weeks we had 3 pizzas... 1.5/week. That means that the 6 pizzas would last 4 weeks.

But wait... If we look at the last 4 weeks we had 8 pizzas... that is where we came up with the 2/week consumption level.

How about in Housing?

The generally accepted number in housing for inventory level is 6 months. That means that is 100 homes are selling each month in a given area, then having around 600 homes on the market would be fairly balanced.

If there are only 200 homes on the market, sellers have the upper hand. Basically, supply is smaller than the demand. That is referred to as a seller's market. Sellers have their pick of buyers, can push up their prices and be less willing to offer incentives.

If there are 1200 homes on the market, buyers have the upper hand. Now the supply is outstripping demand. That would be the classic definition of a buyer's market. In this case, buyers can make more demands of sellers and prices are generally pushed down.

Careful though...

Right now in Gwinnett County Georgia there are several markets happening all at once. I compile sales data for a variety of markets and micro-markets and see conflicting data...

In Gwinnett County, overall we have about an 8.6 month supply of homes.
In Duluth, for homes under $200,000, the supply is about 6.1 months.
In Suwanee, for homes under $200,000, the supply is only 4.6 months.
Also in Suwanee, for homes over $1,000,000, the supply is 45 months.
(please note, these are all using a 6 month sales average)

A little more about time frames...

Generally, in real estate we use 3 month, 6 month and 12 month averages. To arrive at these, we look at sales data for the time period (3, 6 or 12 months), divide it out monthly, and then divide that into the number of available homes in that market.

The fun part is that we can glean additional information by comparing these three numbers. Let's go back to Suwanee...

The 12 month Absorption Rate for homes under $200,000 is 5.2 months of inventory...
The 6 month Absorption Rate for homes under $200,000 is 4.6 months of inventory...
The 3 month Absorption Rate for homes under $200,000 is 4.3 months of inventory... (note, the November sales data isn't yet complete, and this number is actually going to get better...)

Comparing these numbers tells me that that sales in this segment were actually accellerating. As we got more recent, the average sales per month increased. Of course there are a few things to keep in mind...

Limitations and other notes...

To start with there is "seasonality". This means that there is an expected change in the pace of sales because of the time of the year. Here in the Atlanta area, sales generally pick up in the late spring and early summer. They also tend to fall off of a cliff in January. So, just because we see an accelleration doesn't mean that it isn't natural.

The next thing we have to consider is "outside influence". Right now, that would be the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. It was originally slated to expire at the end of November. So... there was a rush to get under contract in October. And a rush of closings in November. We'll have to see if the pace holds...

Which brings us to the next point... We can't predict the future. We can look at the past and we can theorize about how outside influences are going to alter future trends. But that is it. How many times has the NAR said that "Now is the time to buy" or that they "see growth moving forward"? Obviously over the last couple of years, they were WAY wrong. I have made my share of mistakes. Sometimes it is because we make wrong assumptions, and in other cases, things change... Maybe the government changes FHA qualifications... Perhaps there is a new tax credit... A large employer could relocate...

I hope this helps you understand the real estate (and other) markets a little better. Market reports are often dry and full of stats, but understanding them can be a great way to understand why the market is moving. Understanding why helps you better understand what you should do.

from LaneBailey.com

I'd love to hear from you...

REtechSouth Tickets on sale NOW! and I have a discount...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:30:19 -0600

Are you planning on hitting REtechSouth in Atlanta? As usual, I have a discount code for tickets. Brad Nix gave me the hook-up to deliver a 10% discount (affiliate link... that is where the discount comes from) on all ticket levels. Here is how it breaks down:

All Star Admission $134.10 + $3.35 EventBrite fee. This is normally a $149 ticket. It includes event access on both Thursday, Mar. 25th and Friday, Mar. 26th. It will get you in to all of the learning sessions... You can see folks like Jeff Turner, Amy Chorew, Brad Carroll, Ilyse Glink and Heather Elias... and WAY more.
MVP Admission $179.10 + $4.48 EventBrite fee. This is normally a $199 ticket. This includes everything in the All Star package, as well as special seating, access to the MVP/Speaker's Dinner on Thursday evening and access to the MVP Lounge. Those that went to New Media Atlanta had a blast in the Rock Star Lounge hanging out with the speakers.
10 All Star Ticket bundle $891 + $9.95 EventBrite fee. Yep, you get a discount on the discount. This is 10 $149 tickets for just $89.10/each. The bundle normally sells for $990. Grab some folks from the office and get a discount.
25 All Star Ticket bundle $1687.50 + $9.95 EventBrite fee. That brings the price down to just $67.50/each. Brokers, bring the WHOLE office. Ramp up production with technology and social media marketing in the new year.

I will be there! I can't wait. Brad has built REtechSouth into THE event in the Southeast for real estate technology and social media marketing. In just a couple of years, this event has become one of the premier conferences to attend, regardless of where you live and work. Atlanta is an amazing place in the Spring.

Last year I had the opportunity to attend the speaker's dinner. I HIGHLY recommend the MVP Admission for that reason. Imagine yourself standing in on a conversation with Jeff Turner and the Notorious R.O.B. At the previous REtechSouth I was able to spend some quality time talking with Pat Kitano and Tom Royce. The luminaries of the re.net will be there...

Don't forget, these tickets will likely sell out, especially the MVP tickets. they are limited by the size of the dinner venue. Don't miss out. Here is the link again to get the discount.

Catch #retso on FaceBook, too.

I'd love to hear from you...

Which is the most Recognizable Real Estate Franchise brand in the nation? ---------------------------------------------------VOTE NOW

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:10:10 -0600

If you are a real estate agent or other RE-pro, shoot over to Stephan's blog and vote... The results will certainly be interesting.

Via Stefan Swanepoel (Author, Speaker & Trends Guru):

Six months ago I wrote a blog post about The Changing Face of Real Estate Franchise Brands that garnished a lot of attention because I dared to compare and even more list in order the top 10 franchise brands in my opinion.

Then last month my blog post Merge Creates One of the Largest Real Estate Franchises in Northern America exploded with over 155 comments as the debate continued about brands when a significant number of agents had never even heard of the brands mentioned.

Well now I have created an opportunity to see what the industry really thinks.

Starting today and until midnight on Friday, December 11th, everyone has the opportunity to grade the top 35 real estate franchise brands on a scale on 0 – 5; starting from “Never heard of the brand” all the way up to “Excellent brand.”

Base your vote on your experience of the brands visibility, awareness and impact in your local market.

There have been various studies reporting who is the largest, has the most agents, does the most transactions, etc. Now we will determine the Top 10 real estate franchises as voted by the industry itself.

GO TO THE VOTING PAGE ON RETRENDS HERE

Please help get the word out to as many agents as we can so that we can have a fair and representative vote. Many thanks. Results will be announced on December 15th and full details published in the 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report due February 2010.

Feel free to leave a comment below on who you think is the #1 franchise brand in your area after you have voted.

I'd love to hear from you...

Foreseeably Harder Approvals: FHA gets tough

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:09:17 -0600

If you are getting ready to buy, Ken is making the case for why waiting isn't a good idea...

Via Ken Cook, FHA Home Loans 678-439-8683:

For many years home mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) have made home ownership possible for millions of home owners. During the "boom" FHA loans lost a lot of ground in the marketplace because non-conforming loans were often easier to get and cost the borrower less scrutiny and often less out of pocket. (More on Examiner.com from my article this morning.)

Welcome the day when Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD) Shaun Donovan stood in front of Congress and reported the reserves of the FHA insurance pool to be only .53% - far below the federally mandated, by law, 2% reserves. As you may imagine Mr. Donovan, in an effort to save his job, is now scrambling for good ideas to get those reserves back to the minimum legal level. Let us all observe as the fireman tries to put out a big fire while his own pants are on fire.

Here are some of the recommendations thus far:

Raise the required minimum down payment from 3.5% to 5%

Lower the maximum seller contribution from 6% to 3%

Establish a required minimum credit score

Eliminate the ability to finance the Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium (UFMIP) into the loan

Raise the cost of FHA mortgage insurance (higher premiums)

Currently it is much more difficult to be approved for a home loan, purchase or refinance, than it was two years ago or even six months ago. Mortgage brokers are not dropping like flies they have already dropped like flies and the remaining small percentage are having great difficulty getting loans underwritten and closed when they involve lower credit, lower income borrowers. Mid-level lenders are now the ones who are disappearing as they still lose warehouse lines of credit at an astonishing rate. This week saw the demise of LendAmerica.

Judging from the applications I have accepted and closed over the last few months these changes will absolutely impact at least 25% of the borrowers who have successfully purchased or refinanced their homes in the last few months. In fact I have two borrowers today who easily qualify who will likely not qualify if these changes are made. Considering I'm one out of tens of thousands go ahead and do the math.

Just wait ... it's not only FHA - it's Fannie, then Freddie and Ginnie. We predicted it a few months ago that it would not be long until buyers would need a minimum of 5% down, a minimum of a 640 credit score and rates would start to rise.

Are you ready to pay attention even if you don't get CEs for participating in the conference calls? If I were an agent I would be - I would want to be ahead of the curve!

Ken Cook - Georgia - FHA, USDA, VA and Conventional Home Loans (678) 439-8683

I'd love to hear from you...

Gwinnett County Property Taxes... Going Up...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:38:49 -0600

On Tuesday, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved a millage rate increase for redisents of Gwinnett County. It will be effective with the March, 2010, Property Tax bill.

The old millage rate was 10.97, while the new rate is an increase of 21% to 13.25. This is the first millage increase in Gwinnett County in 13 years, but the county has experienced value growth over that period increasing the amount of the county budget.

Here are a few more sources with a little more about the story.

Gwinnett Daily Post

AJC

The increase represents about $160 for an average $200,000 home. Of course the total tax bill will depend on where in the county the house is located, whether it is inside city limits or in an unincorporated part of the county. Homestead and Senior Exemptions also come into play.

I'd love to hear from you...

Gwinnett Market Reports for November

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:20:19 -0600

We have just introduced a new format for our Gwinnett County Market Reports. In addition to the traditional report covering the entire county, we have added reports for several of the cities in Gwinnett. They are viewable here:

Lilburn, GA
Lawrenceville, GA
Duluth, GA
Suwanee, GA
Sugar Hill, GA
Buford, GA
Norcross, GA

Of course, market stats can get kind of dry, so there are a lot of types of information on each city's page.

Zillow Market Value Graph (with a lot of interesting data...)
Photos from Flickr
A short history
An interpretation of the market data
Selection of recently sold homes in the city
Links to school information for both public and private schools
The Walk Score for the city

We are trying to get all of the data spun up for each city and should be up to speed by the end of the week. We have also crunched out the data and in addition to each city, we are breaking out data for homes in various price ranges: under $200k, $200k-$400k, $400k-$600k, $600k-$800k, $800k-$1m and over $1m. This will allow you to get a better idea of the market activity in the range in which you are interested.

We have also added a page for the County-wide Market Stats. This page will always have the most recent month's market activity.

Preliminary numbers will be updated later in the month.

We sincerely hope that the new format is more interesting and allows you to better follow the markets segments that are important to you.

I'd love to hear from you...

(Get a) Home for the Holidays...

Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:55:05 -0600

I was talking with one of my mortgage guys a few days ago, and the subject of mortgage timelines came up… and there is still time to get your dream home for the holidays… OK, not Thanksgiving… but Christmas is still possible for a few days… New Year’s is possible for about a week.

Image via Wikipedia

But think about this for a minute…

You could start the New Year with a New Home…

Happy New Home!

Don’t forget, there are a couple of presents that you might find under your tree…

Uncle Sam is giving a First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit of up to $8000 or Move Up Buyer’s Tax Credit up to $6500.
Uncle Sam also has favorable treatment for mortgage interest… It is deductible for many home owners, and can results in a tax savings.
Don’t worry, Ken Cook & I have something to put in the stocking, too. We are offering “Pink Slip Protection” (Job Loss Insurance to pay your mortgage) for a limited number of qualified buyers.

There are some great deals in the market right now, and around December and early January, the deals generally get better. “Casual” buyers aren’t in the market, so sellers have to compete for the serious buyers.

Getting a house around the holidays can be the gift that keeps on giving…

I'd love to hear from you...