Theresa's Blog - Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate

Merry Christmas & a gift for the New Year - were now iPhone compatible

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:08:07 -0600

Holiday Greetings to all who visit our site, we hope that you and your family have a very Merry Christmas.

This is a perfect time to announce that the Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate -Blog - and for that matter the entire Real Estate site has been mobilized by our web design team over at Virtual Interactive Systems. What does this mean to you ? If you currently have an iPhone or are lucky enough to have just received one for a gift, then you really want to open up your browser to our site and behold the wonder of actually being able to see and interact with the site and the content. Yes, you can now view all of our Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate listings in addition, you can search all Tampa Real Estate MLS listings or for that matter all of Florida from our site, via your iPhone, now how cool is that ?

By the way, there have been two really good articles written recently regarding Real Estate web sites and mobilizing them for the iPhone and other platforms. Here's a great article from the Home Gain blog entitled "Is an iPhone Under Your Tree This Christmas?" featuring some of the screen shots of our new iPhone compatible site. Not to be outdone, the design team at Virtual Interactive Systems followed up with their article "Real Estate Mobility".

Now this is truly a gift for viewers to our site, that will last through out the year!

DOJ sets sights on more MLS boards - more MLS complaints to follow ?

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:25:16 -0500

As the DOJ case against NAR enters into a critical path this summer, the DOJ is starting to take aim at other players in the MLS game. This is only the beginning and it is very apparent to many, that NAR’s iron fisted rule on the MLS will not come out of this unscathed.

Having interacted with over a hundred of the top MLS’s through the United States I can say from my perspective, that this is going to be welcomed with open arms for those wanting to open this up to the masses and to help create a free and unfettered access to this data. The way it has been controlled has got to change. The times and the technologies brought to bear in today's digital world that we live in are also changing and this is another one of those changes that is coming soon to an MLS Board near you.

Barry Cunnigham over at the Blood Hound Blog wrote a great post on the latest foray into this battle The War Against The MLS Continues | The MLS Must Fall!.

It is worth reading and before you comment, you should arm yourself with the knowledge of actually reading the content of the complaints as filed by the DOJ (links are in the posts - his and mine). Also, be sure to check out the article I wrote back in February 2007 that goes into more background and details on this. MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ

Related Posts:

MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ

New Technology and Real Estate Agents

DOT HOMES submits to US Real Estate BROKERS - dont worry - be happy !!

Tampa and Florida areas 2008 Q1 Mortgage statistics

Thu, 01 May 2008 11:36:37 -0500

The results are in for the first quarter and it is not a pretty picture on the foreclosure front here in Florida or for that matter the Tampa Real Estate Market.

Two reports this week that are interesting depending on how you can decipher the content ? The first report is by Trans Union. They put together a trended analysis report that reviews 2007 fourth quarter data to compile their latest statistics and then forecast for 2008. They are reporting that Florida delinquent mortgages have increased by 34 %.

The top three areas showing the largest growth in delinquency from previous quarters are Florida at (34 percent), California (33 percent) and Arizona (32 percent).

“The market continues to see the effect of the mortgage crisis in the steeply increasing mortgage delinquency rates among borrowers across the country,” said Keith Carson, a senior consultant in Trans Union's financial services group.

The national 60-day mortgage borrower delinquency rate is expected to continue to rise throughout 2008 from a value of nearly 3.0 percent in the 4th quarter of 2007 to 4.0 percent or greater by year end.

On another note: Realty Trac released their quarterly report on the U.S. Foreclosure Market which states that “Foreclosure activity has increased by 23 % in the first quarter of 2008.” They are reporting that Nevada, California, Arizona posted the top state foreclosure rates.

“Foreclosure filings were reported on 87,893 Florida properties during the first quarter, the second highest state total and giving Florida the nation’s fourth highest foreclosure rate — one in every 97 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure activity in the state was up 17 percent from the previous quarter and up 178 percent from the first quarter of 2007.”

“The highest ranked Florida metro area was Fort Lauderdale, which ranked No. 8 with one in every 73 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Other Florida metro areas in the top 20 included Orlando at No. 13, Miami at No. 14 and Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice at No. 15. The foreclosure rate in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater ranked No. 21.”

So this actually shows that the Tampa and St. Petersburg Real Estate areas are faring a bit better on the over all State level.

While the numbers on a whole do not look too promising, this is still a positive note for the Tampa Bay Area Housing Markets, and once again affirms the prediction by our States Economist that Tampa Real Estate markets will recover first starting with Pasco County.

If you want to find out specific information on Foreclosure statistics in your area and or find out which homes are in foreclosure or are on the auction list, you can go to RealtyTracs home page, click on the interactive map. For example click on the US Map, in the Florida area, this will then pull up a State Map where you can enter in a specific county. For example Pasco County and then click on search.

You will then be presented with the break down of total number of homes in pre-foreclosure, auction, bank owned etc. You can gain some pretty good information for free however, to see specifics on taxes etc you have to have a paid membership. The site looks complex but is fairly easy to navigate. Check back tomorrow and I will post a quick video over-view to walk you through the process.

Florida’s indifferent real estate market in Tampa…huh ?

Exisiting home sales bottom still elusive

Buy your home in Florida NOW

Tampa home sales bottom still elusive

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:00:54 -0500

NAR released their March 2008 report and the picture is still not very pretty.

Resale homes continued to drop and now stand at 19.3 percent off of March 2007 numbers. In addition, the media resale home price continued it’s spiral and fell another 7.7 percent compared to the same month in 2007. The median price in 2007 was $217,400. and as of March 31, 2008 it now stands at $200,700.

According to NAR “Regionally, sales rose in the Northeast and West but fell in the Midwest and South.”

So how does the picture differ her in the Tampa Real Estate Market ?

Well according to recent report by the West Pasco Board of Realtors, the Pasco County market has actually had two very good months back to back that prove while the bottom is still elusive in most places it appears to be settling some in other areas. It does appear that their is still more room for prices to drop before the national average stabilizes though.

What is interesting in the Pasco County scenario is that a Florida Economist “Hank” Fishkind, had predicted that areas within the Tampa Bay would recover before others in the state. It may be a bit optimistic at this point to say he his right only more time will tell.

If you are a regular reader to this Blog, then you might recall this post back in February “Florida’s indifferent real estate market in Tampa…huh ? The significance of this post is the comments made by Mr. Fishkind, with specific reference to Pasco County Real Estate he said”

1. HOME SALES: Pasco and Hernando counties’ housing markets have hit bottom and are most likely to start the the turn around ?.this will be seen later in the year. Hillsborough County is close to the bottom, but Pinellas County has a few more months in this downturn before home sales and prices will stabilize.

You can down-load a copy of Dr. Hank Fishkinds Power Point report in PDF format entitled **Economic Outlook U.S. and Tampa Bay/Bay Area Real Estate Council.

** Be sure to check out pages 28 to 63 of the PDF for Tampa Counties (158 to 197 as listed on the lower right corner of the presentation).

Buy your home in Florida NOW

1 in 3 Home Owners with Negative Equity according to Zillow

Get Paid to NOT Trash your home upon Foreclosure Vacancy

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:43:27 -0500

I could not believe this latest information on the Foreclosure front. Just when you thought things were as unreal as they could be with the entire mortgage market meltdown, the amount of home owners that have walked away from their homes due to falling values and now add to this Trashing your Home for money ?

You heard me correct, check out this video segment. It appears that many homeowners angry with their banks refusal to work with them have been taking out their frustrations on the bank and the lenders by totally trashing their homes as they-vacate them. It has been so bad that many banks are now paying top dollar to the former owners to leave the property with a guarantee not to tamper with the home.

I believe that this footage is from the West Coast.

Has any one in the Tampa Real Estate Market observed this ?

What about Florida as a whole ?

Please comment if you have heard about this, or know anyone that has ?

How to stop foreclosure - 101

1 in 3 Home Owners with Negative Equity according to Zillow

New Technology and the Real Estate Agent

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 18:36:05 -0500

By Tom Townsend

I was recently accepted as a guest Blogger and Technology advice contributor over at the Home Gain Real Estate Blog. Since my back ground is based in the technology sector and I have been actively involved in the Real Estate industry for some time, it made sense for me to contribute to the larger Real Estate society of Bloggers and those that look upon Home Gain. After all Home Gain was one of the first major players in the online scene of Real Estate and competitors like Zillow have continued to hone their best practices following the path all ready blazed by Home Gain.

With that, I was warmly introduced into the Home Gain family by the Marketing & Communications Manager Jessica Gopalakrishnan of Home Gain on Thursday April 3, 2008

My first article written exclusively for the Home Gain Blog is entitled New Technology and the Social Forest. In the article I take a look at the amount of Industry published self help articles aimed at Realtors that are not into the Social Media aspects of today's online Real Estate.

This article has started a lively debate and several comments have all ready developed from the article. The comments are positive and supportive of my article comments. However, one comment in particular I felt should be drawn out for more dialog. So I thought I would share it here and then those that want to continue can do so, as well as having you check out the base article over at the Home Gain Blog.

So moving on:

_{Steve Obermon commented:}

_{“There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all entry point to social media marketing. There are many entry points and if one does not work for a Realtor, they should just try another until one works in their market.}

_{Those who choose not to participate in social media do so at their own risk.}

_{Eight out of ten housing consumers are on line – are you visible to them as a Realtor? When they contact you by phone or email, are you available?
Is your brokerage set up to work in web time?
Good basic questions to start with – and review as you go along.}

_{And,yes – seek out the best advice you can get for free and pay for if you need it.}

_{Start as soon as you can your market is waiting!”}

My Reply to Steve:

Trial and error in the Technology arena especially in the current market is only for those that have the aptitude, foresight, time and money. If you are one of the agents I referred to that still has issues managing your email and trying to figure where to find files on your PC then you need professional, expert advice. The first place you should look would be your local community college or other technical training resources in your community to get you up to speed with the rest of the business community on basic computer skills. Trying to jump in on the social scene without the basics will make you even more confused and steer more agents way from the very thing they should be learning to embrace.

Every one talks about consumers on line, and most of those consumer are more computer and web savvy than your average Realtor.

Why ? Because most of them have grown up with games and computes from the very onset.

I have very vivid memories of when the PC revolution really hit me. Do you recall when yours was ?

It was in my first year at a community college back in the mid 80’s. I was taking English composition 101 and had to write weekly short stories for submission. I was on active duty in the Navy at the time and had access to IBM Selectric typewriters which were the best you could get at the time. Obviously, word processors were only used by those that could afford them. While Apple had started building PC’s in the late 70’s it was not until IBM started selling the Personal PC in the 80’s that Personal Computer usage really started to take off. So here I was typing, re-typing and correcting my term papers only to find out I missed a major typo that cut my final grade by a whole grade point. Yet, the top student in the class did all her work on an Apple PC. At the time, my thought was that she was cheating. Interesting enough, I was all ready involved with computers as my job in the Navy was as Technical Instructor teaching students how to maintain and repair system utilized on the then most advanced Submarine of the time, the Ohio class Trident Submarines. The systems I worked on were the Univac AN/UYK-7 and AN/UYK-43 systems which were the US Navy's standard main frame computing system for war ships. So, I had a head start on the technology arena, and I still spend a massive quantity of my time learning and trying to stay up to date on the technological changes which seem to happen at an almost daily rate.

Yet, many of today’s realtor's have not been involved with computers of any type for this length of time. Not that anyone should have to match my skills, thats not what I am implying here however, they should be more proficient at the normal tools of business for that profession.Statistics will bear that most children born to these same Realtors have mores computer skills than their parents.

If there was an aptitude test for a Real Estate Agent to obtain or renew their license today , based on the ability to manage email, organize files on a computer and be able to aptly use MS Office tools like Outlook, Word, Excel and Power Point, I would wager my home that over 50% of the active Real Estate agents in the US would fail and loose their license.

This is a rather huge issue and NO ONE is willing to even discuss it, except maybe me. The Brokers I think are the ones who have looked the other on may of these issues, yet again many Brokers I know and have talked with suffer from the same affliction. Yes, there is a lot of training available by the various Realtor Organizations, but much of it is still fee based, and from the ones I have investigated they cost more than the tuition to a local community college or technical school would charge.

If NAR really wanted to assist Realtors, they would open up their E-PRO classes to any realtor. Or even better yet, make it mandatory in order to for you to renew your license. But the fee structure should be waived and they should also institute basic skill sets.

In my opinion: When this happens you will see more agents embrace blogging and Social Media. Until then they should look to experts in their fields to get them up to speed.

In my neck of the woods or even yours that would be Get Found Now. Go ahead, go to Goggle right now and type in the name. What you will see is the number one listing, they are Social Network Marketing Experts SEO Blog Design Web 2.0 ... etc. They can get your site where it needs to be at.

If your goal is get to eyeballs to your site, that is increase your site traffic, so you get more phone calls etc…then pick someone who has a proven track record of doing just that. Weather you have a static site and just want improve upon it by adding blogging, or maybe your blogging is not getting you anywhere and you need some one to look your site over and tell you what needs to be done, check them out.

Shameless Plug: Now when you want to talk about Video for your site, I am not talking about your garden variety You Tube video. I am talking about a Viral Social Media Video campaign that works in synergy with your blog system to get your message noticed. If that’s your cup of tea or coffee as it may be, then check us out and give us a call over at Virtual Interactive Systems.

The lazy agents way to collect a paycheck

Why we should embrace change

Tags: SEO,+Social+Network+Marketing,+Social+Network+marketing

+Experts,+SEO,+Blog+Design,+Web+2.0,+Video,

+Video+for+the+web,+Socail+Media+Campaign,

+Viral+Social+Media+Campaign,+Real+Estate

+Video,+Real+Estate+Blogs

Is it crunch time with Home Equity Credit or misinformation ?

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:14:56 -0500

It’s no wonder that home buyers sit on the fence and wonder when the right time to buy will arrive? Since the the mass confusion in the markets continues and the various media outlets can’t seem to come together on what’s really up anymore.

Heres a perfect example of Florida Real Estate as compared to other states :

In this weekends local St. Pete Times Finance section, I read an article that discussed the facts, that some home owners were finding out that the falling values of their homes were effecting previously issued home equity lines of credit. This column-article by Helen Huntly lists several local citizens as point of reference.

What’s interesting in this story, is that one of the individuals used as a source doesn’t come clean and tell the Times that their are…umm…issues with that owned property, that would make anyone understand why the bank said NO.

St. Pete times should vet comments or sources a little bit more prior to printing articles using outside sources.

Ok even so …..this seems plausible given the current economic climate we are in. But then today I read an online article on the Wall Street Journal touting how a Home Equity line of Credit could be your safety net ?

The last line in that article is kind of interesting to say the least “And you won't be penalized if you never tap your home-equity credit line.”

So what’s your experience, is this happening as much as the Times says it is here in the Greater Tampa Bay?

What about the WSJ article…good idea or bad ?

1 in 3 Home Owners with Negative Equity according to Zillow

How to stop foreclosure - 101

DOT HOMES submits to US Real Estate BROKERS - dont worry - be happy !!

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:06:10 -0500

By Thomas Townsend:

Earlier today I received the following from DOT HOMES:

New pingback on your post #117 "MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ "

Website: BYTEPLAY » Blog Archive » For US listing brokers (IP: 195.62.28.205 , www.ec1m.net)

URI : http://www.byteplay.com/blog/archives/57

Excerpt:

[...] [...] some of the ensuing controversy (Lenderama, CBS5.com, InmanNews, GreaterTampaBayRealEstate), I’m going to attempt here a crude recap of my conversation with Kevin. If you’ve any [...] [...]

This is related to an earlier post I made regarding the DOJ's lawsuit against Realtor.com and the issue over MLS (Multiple Listing Service). It appears that the presence of this new venture on the scene in the Real Estate Search community, had ruffled some feathers of a few of the Top Real Estate Brokers (BLOGGERS). Some suggested that what Dot Homes was doing may not be entirely legitimate or in compliance with MLS regulations.Seems that this answer is right on the money: After you have clicked on the link above you will also see my reply:

"I think this is an excellent review of Dot Homes capabilities as well as highlighting the short sidedness of many Brokers in the Real Estate industry today. I don’t think you can explain it any clearer than this. This is a tool that Brokers should welcome with open arms…especially given the current economic climate.
Also, keep in mind that there are well over 150 MLS associations in the U.S. alone, that all have their own version of what constitutes compliance. This entire MLS issue is so overblown and in many opinions has been the major issue that has suppressed innovation and competition in our industry. Why else is the US DOJ going after Realtor.Com with such vigor? Could it be that they represent monopolistic tendencies when it comes to the MLS ? Going forward, I think this kind of makes Kevin’s entire comment on the MLS issue kind of baseless. "

MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ

The lazt agents way to collect a paycheck.....won't work much longer.

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:42:14 -0600

I was working another post and in my research came across a comment from Marc Davison (1000 Watt Consulting Blog) that really fit the exact phrasing for what I was trying to convey. “Mmm, when did not having to work hard become the path to success? Oh yeah, 1997-2005. I wish we can scroll back time. I wish I could sit around and collect paychecks by doing little or nothing.”

The comment above was in response to a post regarding implementation of Web 2.0 services by Realtors, or lack there of. Things like this blog for example. Yes there are quite a few of us that GET IT especially when it comes to Tampa Bay Real Estate. Blogging and Real Estate seems to be a bit more lofty of a goal for too few. We, are a rare minority in the scheme of National Real Estate statistics. Ok, so where am I going with this ?

Well, besides the whole Real Estate Technology thing, I think one of the larger problems with our industry is the lack of oversight by the Brokers, much the same has transpired with the mortgage industry. No way your saying….say it isn’t true ?

Let me share these two small stories with you to help explain my point.

1. A local Buyers Agent works with an out of town client (out of town meaning out of State or out of the Country) who wants to invest in a large home and has a set price in mind. The agent locates a suitable home and helps to buy the home at the full asking price of the seller. Where this gets interesting is that the agent never attempted to negotiate for a lower price for the buyer. This agent in doing this deal just added to the entire housing industry mess we are in. How ? because this agent was truly un-ethical, greedy and lazy to boot. In the current market, not even attempting to negotiate for your client to gain a better price is shameless, regardless of how much money the person has.

2. A seller negotiates with a client to list their vacation home at a reduced rate of 2% if the deal is split between buyer and seller agents. So this agent takes a picture from the client and lists the home on the MLS and waits for the buyers to call. What’s wrong here ? The Agent took the clients picture (which by the way was a very bad shot of the home). The agent did not take any pictures of their own or even suggest to the client that they would need additional pictures to help advertise the listing. There also, was no mention or suggestion of Virtual Tour or brochures (oh, I think the client did the brochures…) and no web marketing. Meaning the listing was not advertised anywhere except the MLS, the Brokers site and Realtor.com (with-1 photo). So now the home has little to no chance of getting a buyer in the current market.

Our industry has gotten a huge black eye lately and agents like these don’t help make it any better. A lot of the agents are the ones that are complaining that Web 2.0 technologies are too hard or complicated. They are the same lazy ones that act as I mentioned above. Those of us that really go the extra mile for our clients continue to get maligned in the media because of our industries lack of oversight in cases like this. And who is to blame ? Mostly the same lazy brokers that are allowing this to happen. Either they are too lazy to educate their teams or they have no clue? It’s time that our industry started to gain a better hand at managing the ethical ways in which we conduct business.

Our clients are getting smarter and more savvy at technology. I think it’s time for an over haul of our Realtors ethics pledge, or rather the methodology to ensure that the agents and or brokers that allow this are sent packing.

If your a home owner that has had a bad experience like this or even an agent, speak up.

Do you agree ?

Disagree ?

Maybe you have a better way of addressing this ?

Inquiring minds would like to know ?

Please leave a comment.

Why we should embrace change

MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ

Zillow revises Q4 2007 housing report on Feb 28th

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:19:26 -0600

Zillow revised their 4^th Quarter report late Thursday the 28^th of February that according to Zillow “MORE EXPLICITLY DESCRIBES THE RATES OF NEGATIVE EQUITY FOR ALL HOMEOWNERS IN THE U.S. IN EACH OF THE YEARS 2003, 2006 AND 2007.” The original report had been released on February 12th as reported on PRNewswire.

In that report the key news was with regards to Condos where Zillows stated that Condos had posted the largest Year-over-Year value declines; down 7.4% compared to single family housing that was down by 5.5%.

This is the 3^rd News Release by Zillow for the month of February. I strongly believe, that the main reason for this clarification was the confusion and somewhat dissolution by most home owners at the report posted on February 7^th, where Zillow reported the findings of a survey that revealed, that Home Owners were in Denial or Inattention to what was happening in their markets with many indicating that other houses had lost value but not theirs. Actually I think Zillow was spot on here.

The new report does add some clarification to the 3^rd Paragraph as detailed below:

“The continued decline in home values means many U.S. homeowners saw equity slip away while more homeowners were pushed into negative equity situations, meaning they owe more on their mortgage than the home is currently worth. Nationwide, those at most risk of being underwater on their mortgage are those who bought in the last two years when most markets peaked. Of those who bought in 2006, 39 percent now have negative home equity as do 30 percent of those who purchased in 2007. By comparison, only 3 percent of those who purchased five years ago, in 2003, and less than one percent of all homes in the U.S., in each of the years 2003, 2006 and 2007, have negative equity.”

What really puts this into perspective are the graphic images from Zillows Zindex Home Value Estimator

Hers is the link for the full size US Map version below:

I have also compiled a quick look at the Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate scene including Sarasota so you can gain a good perspective of the shape that we are in locally in Florida.

Click on the thumbnail picture (below) to pull up a larger view:

Persistence and Diligence makes the sale of Clearwater Home possible -SOLD-

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:57:58 -0600

Future Home Realty and the Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate Team of Marie Becklund and Theresa Townsend announce the Sale of 2924 Eagle Estates Circle, a beautiful home in the Eagle Estates development of Pinellas County, Clearwater Florida. This Stunning Home is close to Chi Chi Rodriquez & Countryside Golf & Country Clubs.

We would like to say Congratulations and Thank You to the Proud New Owners of 2924 Eagle Estates Circle. Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate wants to Wish you many Happy and Memorable Years to come in your New Home.

ENJOY

This has been a long haul. We finally sold a home that we have worked so very hard to market for the former owner.

In any market there is always that one house that no matter what you do, short of dropping the price to a ridiculous level it does not sell. In this case the home is in a beautiful location and the home is no ugly duckling either. What is interesting is that when the former owner purchased the home in the early 90’s it had been on the market for over a year.

We gave up on counting exactly how many open house events, broker events and listing tours we provided on this home. We had received several offers over the course of the listing, but they were not serious and considered low ball offers when compared to the other homes selling in and around the neighborhood.

The new owners are ecstatic, and the seller is very happy to have sold the house. So persistence can make the sale when both parties come to together and realize they can make a deal that works for both.

I can tell you that it is interesting, that we have had listings where the owner did not head our advice and subsequently re-listed the home with another agent only to find that their home is still unsold many months later. So jumping ship is not always the best thing to do, you really have to look at what your agent is doing for you. If they are doing everything humanly possible and the home is still not selling, then the price may have to be lowered to compete in the current market. I can tell you that the owner still made a good profit over what they had originally purchased the home for.

Denial will stop you from selling your home

Buy your home in Florida NOW

Central Florida First Time Home Buyers Workshops

How do you gage peoples reactions to major issues like 2008 canidates ?

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:18:02 -0600

By Thomas Townsend

While I was pondering a good topic for our post today….which I will now save for Sunday, I received an interesting email from a PHD candidate at the Stony Brooke University in New York.

How they came across my name and email is topic for another post on blogging and marketing fundamentals, but the gentleman asked for my assistance in posting a link to what I think is a pretty interesting survey.

Since I don’t usually post unsolicited Surveys, I took the survey myself. It took me about 12 minutes, but on average I am told it can take 15 to 20 minutes. I also went one further and wrote a comment in the survey asking if the survey was politically motivated or in support of one candidate vs another ?

I was pleasantly surprised to receive an almost immediate reply from Mr. Chris Weber who wrote:

"Hi Tom,

Thanks for taking the survey. I really appreciate it. I saw your note in the message section. As for your questions, no, the survey is not politically motivated. We are simply interested in gathering people's emotional reactions to two political candidates. We don't have a bias in favor of one candidate over another; and as I'm sure you noticed, the questions asked about Hillary Clinton are the exact same questions that are asked in reference to John McCain.

We originally wanted to use the two front-running candidates, but given the closeness on the Democratic side, we chose Hillary since we figured people would be more familiar with her. The purpose of the survey is mainly methodological. There's a lot of controversy in political science about how to measure people's emotions about political figures. The survey randomly assigns people to one of three conditions, which only differ in how emotion questions are asked. Our interest isn't so much in specific emotions pertaining to these two candidates, but rather, how to best measure emotional reactions to any political candidate, Democrat, Republican, or Independent. Let me know if you have any other questions."

So here is the survey information:

***
The purpose of this survey is to examine how people think and feel about the political issues, parties, and candidates in the upcoming election. In the survey, you will be asked a series of questions about two political candidates, John McCain and Hillary Clinton. We are very interested in how individuals that find information on the web think about politics, and your participation would be greatly appreciated. In total, the survey should take about 15 minutes to complete. The survey is completely anonymous and you can skip any questions you do not wish to answer.

Click on the image here to take the survey:

Please feel free to contact Chris Weber (crweber@notes.cc.sunysb.edu) at Stony Brook University with any questions or concerns. Thanks for your help!

If you can't open a browser from clicking on the image you can copy and past the following into your browser:

http://www.ic.sunysb.edu/stu/crweber/TAKESURVEY/election_2008.htm
***

I will be sure to post a follow up link to the results that I am sure Chris will copy me on when they are in.

MLS Data Exchange - NAR and DOJ whose coming clean ?

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:10:20 -0600

By Thomas Townsend

Marc Davison of 1000 WATT Consulting wrote an article for Inman Real Estate News recently that was in part an answer to a discussion that had been started over at the 3 Oceans Real Estate Blog site, regarding the entry of a New Search firm in the real estate arena called DOT HOMES.

Both posts elaborated on the issue of compliance of IDX data within the search realm. I think this is a good topic to continue because in my humble opinion I think that Marc and Kevin both missed on discussing an important aspect in their respective discussions. While I commend both for bringing up the topic they do not fully detail the problem or the issue at hand here.

Yeah.. Marc does a good job of describing the facts “that home sellers are not interested in this issue other than they want to sell their house and want the listing data displayed anywhere an every where that will give them a possibility of attracting a buyers attention.”

The problem I have with the context of the issue is that both guys refer to the data as the Brokers Data and that it is a broker issue. That is only partly correct. The larger issue over control of the data that both failed to mention, is the control of the listing data by the local MLS boards. (Multiple Listing Services)

Let me explain for the layman here; Brokers have to pay fees for the IDX (Internet Data Exchange) or RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard)feeds and many of the MLS Boards have draconian limitations on how and where the data can be displayed. Part of the issue also runs into fairness, competitiveness and the rules of fair play, when they (MLS Boards) appear to have different rules for different brokers and vendors based on who is in this month with a particular MLS board.

Take for example the Utah MLS board. They won’t provide an IDX feed unless you pay thousands of dollars a month. Yep you go it right, THOUSANDs. Another one I have personally dealt with in the past was Lake Tahoe-Incline Village MLS who are so overly protective of their data streams, and these are only a few off the top of my head that I can readily recall of the many MLS's across the U.S. Who are they protecting though? In the current housing market they are killing the careers of the very people they claim to protect.

MLS Compliance is a rule who’s time has come and gone and should be done away with to better the industry as a whole. In it’s current incarnation it is behind the times, out in left field. In fact you could even say that the current policy’s of the MLS boards are effectively holding your homes listing data for ransom, adding to the quagmire of all ready declining home sales.

I think the the MLS boards are going to have to adopt some type of open source protocol on a national platform, so the likes of DOT HOMES can readily disseminate the data to those consumers who are looking to buy.

I really am not one to advocate the Federal Governments intervention in business, but as the U.S. Justice Department continues it’s probe into NAR’s (National Association of Realtors) business practices it might behoove all of us if they take an even closer look at how the individual MLS’ are run and controlled and whether or not NAR’s influence has anything to do with the issue.

NAR has been working to formulate the new rules into what is called the Internet Listing Display (ILD) which is suppose to replace the current IDX and RET’s policy’s. Most of this is as a direct result of the FED’s probe. To date the standard has not been completed and the FED’s initial probe completed in November 2007. A court date of July 7, 2008 has been set.

This is what NAR has posted on their site: NAR strongly disagrees with the government's contentions and is vigorously defending both the MLS as a vehicle for broker-to-broker cooperation as well as the ability of a listing broker to control the use of that brokers listings on the Internet by competitors.

The problem as I see it is; that the MLS’ boards have way too much control and are stifling competition by not allowing those with valid business reasons access to the data, with out putting often times unjust qualifications or access fees for the usage of the data.

Either way there needs to be change in the way business has been done in the past to accommodate future technology and the changing way in which consumers conduct research to purchase homes. My research on DOT HOMES also shows that they provide a direct link to the listing agent without having to drill through tons of minutiae. And that is a good thing !

Will you find your home on Roost ?

Why we should embrace change

Denial will stop you from selling your home - Sellers Get Reality Check

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:13:50 -0600

Take a quick look at this video segment:

A new report from Zillow.com shows home values dropped nationwide by 3%. Chief Financial Officer Spencer Rascoff discusses which cities saw the largest declines.

Time for little cold water on the face for those that have obviously been asleep for oh..the last year. Hey times are tough, I don’t need to rehash all the media hype of the last several months however, todays news has continued with fact that Mortgage Applications volumes decreased this last week in large part because the interest rates started creeping back up again. The Wall Street Journal reported on Zillows market data from Monday, that outlines the Bubble Areas of California and Florida. Basically, they reported that prices are still falling and may continue to fall more.

So where does this leave the home owner that really wants to sell their home ? Well first off you have to be really motivated to sell. Yes it is difficult the house you are selling was to bank role your retirement plan and so you have a certain number that you feel you have to sell at. Sound familiar ? If this is you then you had better get your head out of the sand. Either take your home of the market and forgo that retirement plan for a year or two or reduce your house to what your Realtor says it should sell at. And even then you need to be prepared to lower the price even more again.

That is if you want to really sell your home ? Now maybe you don’t have retirement in mind, but you wanted to profit from your sale. Who doesn’t ? However, if you have had your home for some time, you have a lot of room to work with. It is unfortunate that homes are over valued. And yes that means the very one you are trying to sell now.

You can read more of this article by the WSJ concerning your R.O.I. here:

As I am writing this, I am also reminded of an article I read in January’s issue of Realtor Magazine discussing this issue of Realtors Getting Sellers to Get Real. They did cover both ends of the spectrum and covered unrealistic buyers expectations too. The larger issue that we face here in Florida is the fact that our homes are over valued. It is not personal, believe me, we bought into a new home at near the top of the market. If we had to sell today we would loose a lot, but that’s just what the market bares right now and being realistic is the only way to keep moving forward.

If you are a Realtor and have “clients who won’t budge from unreasonable thinking,” then you may have to try an alternative approach then the one you are currently using. One of those items that I find no one has mentioned is the use of BLOGS. Yep, give them the web site address here or email them the link to this article. They can get mad as hell at me, but I have included the links to the statistic within this article.

I can’t say it any better then then this “When you have clients or prospects that are being unreasonable, it’s your job to help them revise their expectations based on the market reality.” I have to give credit where it’s due. This quote is from Kelle Sparta’s article that I mentioned above. (Kelly is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent).

In closing, it appears that the signs of denial for Sellers are still all over the map here in Florida and California. . Inman news covers it fairly well in their article entitled Denial: Didn’t we do this stage already ?

How to avoid foreclosure

Pricing your home to Sell

How to stop foreclosure - 101

Florida's indifferent real estate market in Tampa Bay Area

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:18:06 -0600

Yep, it’s that time again. The NAR Real Estate forecast report was released on Thursday February 7^th. As is usual with NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, he mixes it up to the point you just have to say …huh ?

The title of the report itself really sets it up. “Existing-Home Sales to Hold in Narrow Range, then Begin Upward Trend”…huh ?

This is the summary of the report by NAR: Soft market conditions are forecast to continue for existing-home sales in the months ahead, with improvement expected by the second half of this year if loan limits are increased….. huh ?

Current housing conditions vary widely… huh ?

You can review the report your self from the link above but from all accounts they are saying the market is so, so….which according to the dictionary I checked means it’s an indifferent market…huh ?

Well now that I have dispensed with the things that make you go huh ?

The real meat and potatoes came out about (2) days earlier from a local source that I find a bit more reliable or credible, however you like to portray the data, NAR does not really have a great track record of getting to the issue at heart without um..making you say huh ? OK I promise no more. Anyhow, the source of the data is an economic and financial consulting firm based here in Florida called FISHKIND and associates. At least as it pertains to Florida’s economic forecast they have the data to back up what they talk about. Dr. Hank Fishkind is often referred to in the Florida media as “Florida's best known economist “. Dr. Fishkind presented his report to the Bay Area Real Estate Council on February 5^th, 2008

Since our business is all about Florida’s Tampa Bay Area, hence Greater Tampa Bay Area Real Estate, we were really pleased to see that the reporting data shows that a good portion of the Tampa markets may have hit bottom and are ready for the turnaround to begin.

A few of the highlights of Hank Fishkinds February 5 meeting are:

1. HOME SALES: Pasco and Hernando counties' housing markets have hit bottom and are most likely to start the the turn around ….this will be seen later in the year. Hillsborough County is close to the bottom, but Pinellas County has a few more months in this downturn before home sales and prices will stabilize.

2. FORECLOSURES: While bad in certain neighborhoods, Dr. Fishkind thinks foreclosures have received way more press than they deserve. Measured against the total housing market here, they're a "thimble in the ocean."

3. AMENDMENT 1 PROPERTY TAX CUTS: Don't expect any noticeable stimulus from tax cuts this year. We won't get a tax break until next year. Plus people are still having difficulty selling their houses, making the portability issue a moot point.

4. CONDO CRISIS: Dr. Fishkind was not too high on condos in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. He said oversupply, combined with limited sales, "makes me nervous." He sees no bottom yet here.

5. MORTGAGE RATES: Good news here. Dr. Fishkind expects home loan rates for credit worthy borrowers to continue to drop to below 5 percent this year. If you have equity left in your home , it will be a good time to refinance.

You can down-load a copy of Dr. Hank Fishkinds Power Point report in PDF format entitled **Economic Outlook U.S. and Tampa Bay/Bay Area Real Estate Council.

** Be sure to check out pages 28 to 63 of the PDF for Tampa Counties (158 to 197 as listed on the lower right corner of the presentation).

Dr. Fishkind also spoke on local Orlando Radio station with regards to the Amendment 1 Property Tax cuts. You can access the audio by clicking in this link >> Click here to listen to story.. (You don’t need an ipod to listen. If you have a PC with Windows Media Player installed …..no problem.)

Pricing your home to Sell

NAR’s spoon full of sugar before medicine

NAR Paints Rosy Picture for Tampa Housing

Who else wants a Free Mitigation Report to save on Florida Home Owners Insurance ?

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:12:22 -0600

Save on your Florida Home Owners Insurance with this Free Mitigation Report.

Many home owners may have heard about the My Safe Florida Home imitative for Free Wind Inspections on their homes, but as I have recently discovered, just as many do not know that this service is available to them for Free.

Here’s the story, I was in Home Depot recently here in New Port Richey, and noticed a table set up in the front with information about the Free Wind Inspection. Since we live in a new development and our home was one of the first to be built with the new 2007 standards I thought this was of little value to me and was about ready to just walk on by. However the gentlemen running the booth was very nice and we struck up conversation and the result was my education in exactly what this process is and how it can potentially save you money on your home owners insurance.

I am hoping that this gets wide spread dissemination here amongst Florida Real Estate bloggers and anyone that reads this site, as it is very apparent that there are many in the industry besides myself that have no idea about the process or who can use this ? Testament to that was a recent call that we received from an Insurance Broker. We were researching options for Home Owners Insurance for a client who is looking to purchase a home that was built in 1998. The Agent suggested that we hire a local inspector to perform the inspection and obtain a Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (OIR-B1-1802) to present to the insurance company. The cost of this inspection is typically around $150.00 This was a few days after I had talked to the Inspector at Home Depot. I asked the agent if he was aware of the Free Wind Inspection that could be obtained via the My Florida Safe Home program. While he was aware of the program he did not know the specifics and was quite surprised when I informed him of the facts and that we could save the client a $150.00.

So even thought this program has been out a while , it is still relatively unknown by many in Florida. So if you know about this that’s great, however, I would encourage you to check out the site and the details to gain an updated perspective on who this applies to?

On the site there is also a list of State Approved Inspection firms based upon your locale in Florida. For example there are 4 Regions and associated contract firms with those regions. I have included a copy of the hand out I received from the Inspection firm called SkyTech (see below).

Should you have questions you can call them or call one of the numbers listed on the My Safe Florida Home Web site.

I hope this as helpful for you and your clients as it has been to us.

Can you stop foreclosures - The basics - 101

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:58:18 -0600

According to a New Report published yesterday by Realty Trac US Foreclosure activity increased 75% in 2007 over 2006 figures.

Nevada hit # 1 with Florida #2 followed by Michigan to round out the top 3.

The states with the highest household foreclosure rate were

1. Nevada (3.38 percent)
2. Florida (2 percent)
3. Michigan (1.95 percent)
4. California (1.92 percent)
5. Colorado (1.92 percent)
6. Ohio (1.8 percent)
7. Georgia (1.57 percent)
8. Arizona (1.52 percent)
9. Illinois (1.25 percent)
10.Indiana (1.03 percent)The U.S. average was 1.03 percent.

Following fresh on the report release was an interesting piece from the Today Show Wednesday, entitled Foreclosure 101 -

This interview is with Barbara Corcoran a so called business baroness. She is listed as one of the most powerful brokers in the U.S. Barbara is legendary for being the most well-known name in New York real estate and for having personally sold only three apartments. She is a Real Estate contributor on the payroll of MSNBC, who produces the Today Show.

In this news segment they break down exactly how a foreclosure process works.

Some of the not so pretty points:

Foreclosures up 75% in the last year
1 out of every 100 homes are in Foreclosures
40% of Las Vegas Homes are in Foreclosure
Most People don’t return calls to the bank
Foreclosure starts after missing 3 payments
Filing Bankruptcy doubles the time you can stay in your house
Takes 3–18 Months before you lose your home
Bankruptcy stall foreclosure
It takes 6 years to restore your credit after foreclosure
Bank Loses Average of $59,000 for each foreclosure

How to Stop a Foreclosure:

Short Sale
Apply for FHA Loan
Ask for a reduced Payment
Return the Deed

The take away from this according to Barbara, “People don’t realize they have more muscle than they think when they are in financial trouble”.

I invite you to comment on this after viewing the video.

What are your thoughts ?

Please post your comments here: How to stop foreclosure - 101

Pricing your home to Sell

How to avoid foreclosure

Florida Foreclosures Double from this time last year

Get out and Vote on January 29th in the Florida Primary Election

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:52:29 -0600

It’s our turn here in the Greater Tampa Bay Area. There is a lot of activity going on and all the media hype on the polls can make it pretty intimidating to ascertain what exactly is going on. So, no matter what your political affiliation is or what trash talk you hear in the media, I would encourage you to ignore it and vote your conscience. Of course it helps if you know a little more about the person you are going to be voting for. I personally try to look at their past record as an indicator and not rely on what others think. If you are one of those that is sitting on the fence and think that your Vote in the Primary is not worth the effort, I would ask that you reconsider. If you don’t vote, then you loose your ability to help direct the course of history that will shape the direction of our county, as it moves foward into the future. Every VOTE does count. As they say in show business “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”, in this case it is not over until the votes are all counted or even recounted as it may be!. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE POLLS, they are often baseless, inaccurate and just plain wrong!

Besides voting in this primary election for a Presidential Candidate, here in Florida we have another very important vote. That is for a constitutional amendment that affects property taxes for all home owners and business; that is Amendment # 1.

Weather you are for or against this, you should do yourself a favor and check out this online calculator to determine your actual “tax equity” While there has been media spin on this a plenty both Pro and Con, I can say this from past experience on a similar vote on property taxes (I experienced in another State several years ago). Local and State officials do not like to cut taxes. What this means is that they will have to work like you and I and and try to live within their means. They will try scare tactics to prevent you from taking any action that might impede on their ability to spend like a drunken sailor. Fiscal responsibility is what they are trying to avoid. I won’t try to sway you one way or the other, just do your part and get out and Vote.

Will you find your next home on Roost ?

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:25:28 -0600

Another NEW Generation Real Estate Platform, joined the likes of Trulia, Realtor.com and Zillow earlier this week. I believe their actual launch was on Wednesday the 23^rd.

Roost.com says they will partner with MLS’s and Brokers. They claim they are unlike other online models in that, “Roost’s network of broker sites ensures consumers have access to comprehensive MLS listings in major metropolitan areas across the U.S., via close collaborations with MLSs and leading local brokers that can help them find their next home.”

From what I can tell they are predominantly covering the West Coast now and are in about 13 markets. It is too soon to tell if and when they will develop into the South and the Florida Markets.

From a quick overview of their platform, I noticed right off the bat that they have optimized the site for Fire Fox Browser which is great. But they may have missed a beat here. As most Realtors know, almost all of the MLS’s at present require usage of IE and in fact do not work well with Fire Fox. But then again Fire Fox is a much better browsers in my book and many Realtors could do well to add it to their tools.

Gregg Swann over at Blood Hound Blog did a really great job of describing what Roost is all about and how they intend to market their product so I would invite you to take a look at his excellent post on Roost.

If I had one initial comment to make, it would be that the folks over at Roost should spend a little more time on their blog. Using a template advertising someone else's free WP template does not give the professional polished look you would associate with a New Technology Company that is looking to compete with some of the bigger league players. Other than that I can’t wait to kick the tires and see what this will do for us here in the South and more specifically, the Greater Tampa Bay Area Real Estate markets.

Is Roost a tool for you or your clients to use ?

Newspaper ads for listings a dying breed

Zillow Newspaper advertising alliance - So What ?

Why you should buy your home in Florida NOW ?

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 23:58:52 -0600

I wrote a post back in early November last year, Is now the right time to buy your Florida home ? The comments then are just as apropos now as they were then. However, I have some interesting recent data to add to this that lends even more support and definitively answers the question.

After reviewing the search word index over the last 45 days or so, I see a pattern that is emerging. That of many blog readers inquiring if it is safe to buy in Florida ? It would also appear that lot’s of buyers or should I say prospective buyers, have been sitting on the fence and many have been typing in the search engines all types of long tail questions that all center on the condition of the Florida Housing Market.

A lot of activity in the media and in and around the State itself is reason enough for a lot of the speculation and confusion among would be buyers.

On the one side you have the media that continues to projecting doom and gloom on the economy. You can expect this will continue throughout the year. But hey it’s an election year, why do you think this gets tons of press every day ?

The latest scare out on Friday was from a report published this month in the Journal of the American Planning Association. This report talks about Baby Boomers and the Housing bubble, with yet another spin. The original report was published early in the week and then was carried by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday and by Friday it was over on Inman's Blog. This latest scare says that the housing bubble now pails in comparison to what will happen when the Baby Boomers stop buying houses.

Right now there is so much speculation out there on the national markets. However, the one thing that is verifiable right here and now, in the Greater Tampa Florida Bay Area it’s time to buy a house now.

If you continue to sit on the fence you will lose a valuable opportunity to get a great deal at a mortgage rate that you will most likely not see again for some time to come.

Yes you will continue to hear negative things in the press. The economy has issues, and if the fed lowers the borrowing rate too-much it will spook the investing community and then Mortgage Rates will go up, not down.

Will the price of housing continue to move down ? Possibly, but there is opportunity a plenty right now and it is a true buyers market in Florida. If you wait, you then have to weigh the risk of a larger mortgage vs the small incremental price reduction you might see by waiting it out.

Call your local Realtor and ask them. Heck just click on the MLS link on our site (at the top of the page - looks like the one right below this paragraph) and you can search the entire State of Florida, take a look at the wonderful opportunities that await you in our great state.

Central Florida First Time Home Buyers Workshop

A Real Estate Story of another cyclical time

Pricing your home to Sell

Is now the right time to buy your Florida home ?

Why the Real Estate Industry should embrace change

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:23:07 -0600

I actually found this video while looking at the 1000 Watt Blog as I was waiting on hold for customer support for over an hour for something that has in my mind been broken. You may notice that I have not been posting on as regular a basis as I had anticipated for the New Year, This is due in large part to my hosting service company having major technical issues that they cannot seem to get resolved. Anyways less I digress here, the relation to Real Estate is really very apropos.

As Marc Davison comments on his Blog “ Why not fix what isn't broken? Would that not be a great way to gain advantage over the masses embracing complacency? “

Take a look at the Video below:

OK, I am experiencing technical difficulties at the moment that prevent me from directly posting the video (embedding) so I have to post the link instead. After you view the video please continue with the rest of the post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM

Now that you have seen this…most people look at this and …say ,wow what a neat idea!

It is unfortunate for the Real Estate industry that many do not embrace the changes that are inevitable and that is because they hold on to the old adage of Don’t try to fix what is not broken. This is clearly a very good reason why, we should embrace change and look at this in a very different light. “From thinking about technology as a complication or a wedge to embracing it as your greatest friend.” There may be problems in the mortgage industry that has slowed down a lot of buying, but I can’t think of a better time for agents to get up to speed on what is going on around them.

Central Florida First Time Home Buyers Workshops for 2008

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:14:37 -0600

First Time Home buyer Workshops–Updated Calendar for 2008

I have noticed quite a few in-bound links lately from those looking for more information about First Time Home Buyers programs and classes in Florida. Our post last year had a very good response and I had been planning on making an update but was waiting for the CCCS to update their list and it looks like they just recently did.

Your local community has tailor made programs to help ensure you have all the pertinent information that you will need as you make one of the biggest decisions of your life, that of becoming a home owner.

They will take you step-by-step, from contract to closing, through the home buying process. You will learn what it takes to qualify for a mortgage, how to save for a down payment and even provide information regarding down payment assistance.

Should you have additional questions or when you are ready to start your search after completing the classes. please be sure to email either Theresa or Marie and they can give you some one on one coaching and personal advice that will take you on the next step of your journey to home ownership.

Here is the link to the work shops offered by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Central Florida

Right now I don’t see a schedule update on their site for Hillsboro County, but they do have dates for Pasco and Pinellas Counties…just click on the associated links

Pasco County Schedule for 2008
Pinellas County Schedule for 2008

Be sure to check back for tomorrows post covering – why now is the best time to buy your first home in Florida !

Is now the right time to buy your Florida home ?

Home appraisals - Realtors vs. Lenders what’s the deal ?

A Real Estate Story of another cyclical time of market corrections

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:23:33 -0600

By Tom Townsend

Most every thing related to Real Estate sales is cyclical. Even if we had not had all the issues with the sub-prime market conditions...the bubble had to burst. The gains made by many here in Florida over the last year...at the height of the industry were rather ridiculous and I think this resetting will normalize things out.

During the Holiday's I visited my ailing Father in California who at 90 still recalls his heyday in the market and also a large down turn. He was very big into Real Estate in the early to mid 60's for about 6 years. He was active in the Oakland Bay Area Real Estate scene and even had his Brokers license. He recalls that about 3 years into his business that the market started a correction and prices and commissions went down along with many of the Realtors.

The later 2 years, as a full time Realtor he took on odd jobs in the shipyards in San Francisco because he had a family of 6 to provide for. My mother was a stay at home mom with two toddlers and two other young boys just starting elementary school. My father was also a trained mechanic and a member of the merchant marines,so he would do his real estate during the day and at night would drive to SF and work as a first mate on several ships. When the market continued into it's 2nd year of correction, he had to make a choice that I think was almost ordained for him. He did not make enough to pay the mortgage and keep 4 boys and their mother fed and clothed. At that time many women were not working, it was not the norm. He was offered a position to go back to sea. At that time my father was in his mid 40's and he stayed on in the merchant marines until he retired in his mid 60's as a chief engineer. He still dabbled in Real Estate through out his working time. When he retired he sold several duplex he owned and bought an apartment complex in Hayward, California that he managed for many years. He finally sold it about 6 years ago. Not something he wanted to do but age had caught up with him and my step-mother was afraid he would fall off a ladder trying to fix something. My dad did not like to hire sub contractors to do repairs. He did almost everything himself. I recall the week he sold the apartment...he was very sad and told me that he felt like he had lost a family member.

My wife is the Real Estate professional in the family. I am the Technical guru and having worked on the National Scene as a VP of IT for New Homes Realty, I know my way around the industry and have many contacts. If the market had not taken a down turn, who knows I might have even taken a license. For now I am happy to help my wife and her partner Marie get a leg up on their competition in the market and keep them at the cutting edge on the technology side.

This is a rather tough blog for me to write as my father is in the last stages of his life having been diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer a few moths ago. So the lengthy discussions I had with my father over the holiday’s will be the last. He wanted to impart on me how tough he knows conditions can get, but said that the market will correct itself. He has had long discussion with Theresa as they connected a lot on the Real Estate front. So I know things will get better.

My Dad’s parting comments on this conversation were “be sure to take care of your customers”. Which is something that we see a lot of comments about. I read a great article over at Inman news today written by Marc Davidson of 1000 Watt Consulting, (which by the way is another great Blog to read up on) Where he discusses among other things that 2008 should be the year of CEM or Customer Experience Management. You can read his article from the links I left but a few bullet points I think are worth repeating here.

2008 should be the year of CEM
2008 needs to be the year of crystal vision.
2008 is the year to reduce expenses.
2008 must be the year we begin to conserve.

I am also resolving here to not use the term down market anymore as it appears by all measures that the market is returning to a normal cyclical correction.

Related Posts:

Is there an upside to real estate downturn ?

Are Florida Realtors up for the challenging time ahead ?

Pricing your Florida home to Sell in todays market

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:54:22 -0600

Looks like the 2007 year ended pretty much as predicted here in the Greater Tampa Bay. The Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) released their latest statistics comparing November 2006 to November 2007 this week and I don’t think any one was surprised.

The synopsis for the year:

Sales down 30 percent
Prices down 15 percent

That's for single family homes. If you look at the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area, there were 1,644 existing homes sold this last November, down from the 2,362 sold the previous year. The Tampa Bay Business Journal does a pretty good summary on this as well. One of the key issues we have observed over and over again by sellers though is that they resist the advice to price accordingly the first time. It is a Buyers market and and if you really, really want to sell your home, you have to un-attache yourself from it and set the right price.

With that, I am including a You-Tube clip that says it all in BLACK & WHITE, check it out below.

I am often researching what it is going in other areas of the country, as well as keeping an eye on technology related issues. This is from the one of the guys who is a key note speaker at the Bloggers Connect Forum that will take place next week in NY. I expect some good information to come out of it and look forward to sharing the information.

Happy New Years from the Greater Tampa Bay Area in Florida

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 10:53:37 -0600

To a Great 2008

Well it's finally the New Year and many are talking about resolutions, well just what the heck is a resolution anyways ?

Here's one example as applied to Realtors:

Resolution:

The new year resolution is one example of the rolling forecast-method of planning. According to this method, plans are established at regular short or medium-term time intervals, when only a rough long-term plan exists.

According to market surveys, many agents don’t make set plans, they wing it. While that has worked in the past during a rolling economy, in the current down market cycle it is extremely important that business activity’s are planned. While there are many daily activities that cause a plan to go awry not having one is just cause for frustration and set back.

So a good resolution would be to make a plan for the year, a long range set of goals with smaller milestones along the way to help guide and motivate you towards the larger goal for the year.

The Real Estate Industry took it’s lumps last year and many people through-out the United States were effected. Whether you worked in the industry or not you were most likely effected. By all accounts it appears that it may still be a little rough, but we vow to keep an optimistic outlook and look at the glass as half full going into the year.

Theresa's Blog - Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate

Merry Christmas & a gift for the New Year - were now iPhone compatible

DOJ sets sights on more MLS boards - more MLS complaints to follow ?

Tampa and Florida areas 2008 Q1 Mortgage statistics

Related Posts:

Tampa home sales bottom still elusive

Get Paid to NOT Trash your home upon Foreclosure Vacancy

Has any one in the Tampa Real Estate Market observed this ?

What about Florida as a whole ?

Please comment if you have heard about this, or know anyone that has ?

Related Posts:

New Technology and the Real Estate Agent

Related Posts:

Is it crunch time with Home Equity Credit or misinformation ?

Related Posts:

DOT HOMES submits to US Real Estate BROKERS - dont worry - be happy !!

Related Post:

The lazt agents way to collect a paycheck.....won't work much longer.

Related Posts:

Zillow revises Q4 2007 housing report on Feb 28th

Persistence and Diligence makes the sale of Clearwater Home possible -SOLD-

We would like to say Congratulations and Thank You to the Proud New Owners of 2924 Eagle Estates Circle. Greater Tampa Bay Real Estate wants to Wish you many Happy and Memorable Years to come in your New Home.

ENJOY

Related Posts:

How do you gage peoples reactions to major issues like 2008 canidates ?

MLS Data Exchange - NAR and DOJ whose coming clean ?

Related Posts:

Denial will stop you from selling your home - Sellers Get Reality Check

Take a quick look at this video segment:

Related Posts:

Florida's indifferent real estate market in Tampa Bay Area

Who else wants a Free Mitigation Report to save on Florida Home Owners Insurance ?

Can you stop foreclosures - The basics - 101

I invite you to comment on this after viewing the video.

What are your thoughts ?

Related Posts:

Get out and Vote on January 29th in the Florida Primary Election

Will you find your next home on Roost ?

Related Posts:

Why you should buy your home in Florida NOW ?

Related Posts:

Why the Real Estate Industry should embrace change

Central Florida First Time Home Buyers Workshops for 2008

Related Posts:

A Real Estate Story of another cyclical time of market corrections

Pricing your Florida home to Sell in todays market

Happy New Years from the Greater Tampa Bay Area in Florida

We wish everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!