Short Sale Listing "Pretenders" outed by real data

One unfortunate phenomenon of the Phoenix Short Sale market is the abundance of self proclaimed experts who have closed "hundreds" of transactions with a closing ratio of "90% or better".

Folks - that just ain't true.

It's a simple search on our MLS (ARMLS) by date range, closed cancelled and expired, tagged with "short sale", and date range back as far as you want to go, to see exactly how many Short Sales a specific listing agent has listed that have closed, cancelled or expired.  Actives and Pendings don't count as until they close - you don't know if they will.

Here's the harsh truth for all those who would blow smoke at unsuspecting sellers who are literally betting their financial future on the veracity of the Short Sale "Pretenders".

There is not one agent in the Phoenix metro area that has closed 200 or more Short Sales.  Not one!  And, to accurately claim that you have closed "hundreds" (plural), 200 Short Sale closings is the absolute minimum for that claim to be true.

In fact, you can count on one hand the number of Short Sale agents that have closed over 100 Short Sale transactions, and their closing ratios range from a low of 34% to a high of 73%.

We don't claim to have "closed hundreds" - which would put us in the ranks of the blatant liars - we claim "dozens" - a claim which is clearly supported by the data in the MLS.

We don't claim to have closed "90% or better" - which would put us in the ranks of blatant liars - we claim "100% for "regular" Short Sales", "74% or better for Hail Mary Short Sales, and an overall blended closing ratio of 89% which is clearly supported by the data in the MLS.

In reviewing the track records of all Short Sale Listing Agents in the Phoenix Metro Area that have closed as many or more Short Sale transactions as we have, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had the best closing ratio of all!

Don't get me wrong, there are other well qualified Short Sale Listing Agents in our area, some of whom have closing ratios very close to ours.  The next 5 Short Sale Listing Agents that have closed as many or more Short Sale transactions as we have are at closing ratios of better than 80%.

So - why this "rant"?  Homeowners in trouble are making decisions on who to trust to list and close their short sale based on what they see in the market place.  

If someone is claiming to have closed hundreds at a 90% or better closing ratio, when the truth is that they have closed less than a hundred, and their closing ratio is less than 50%, don't you think the homeowner would want to know the truth before they make a decision?

This is not a case of buying a listing with an unrealistic list price.

This is a case of a homeowner having a successful short sale or going to foreclosure.  

This is not an opportunity to lie to get more "at bats".

This is the time to be honest - unless you want homeowners coming after you later on when they find out they were lied to in order for that agent to get their listing, and their reliance on the lie took them to foreclosure!

 

* All metrics calculated from data in ARMLS

* Graphic from PhotoBucket - free use approved

** Any Phoenix Metro Area Short Sale Listing Agent who disagrees with the metrics published here is welcome to contact me and request a correction or clarification, which will be done immediately if the data in ARMLS supports the claim.

 

About the Authors - Updated 2010

If you like what you've read, there is no better time to:

If you are considering a Short Sale of your home in Phoenix, Scottsdale or any location in Maricopa County Arizona, you owe it to yourself to talk with Haven Express @ Show Appeal Realty to determine whether Tony and Suzanne Marriott are the best Short Sale real estate Brokers in the Phoenix and Scottsdale metropolitan area to help you with the Successful Short Sale of your home.

Listed, Sold and Closed Dozens of Short Sales with a 100% success rate!

AvoidForeclosureInPhoenix.com

PhoenixForeclosureSolutions.com

HavenExpress.com

HavensAbuzz.com  

Tony and Suzanne Marriott

Associate Broker, REALTOR

Show Appeal Realty

Reverse Mortgage Short Sale - Part 2

Prefinished Hardwood vs. Unfinished Hardwood - Which is better? Which costs less?

I'm often asked whether prefinished hardwood or unfinished hardwood is better.  We install both and the truth is it depends on which of below factors is most important to you.  The next question I get is, which is less expensive???

Just to make sure we are on the same page for definitions, prefinished means that it's all finished in the factory and then you just install it.  Unfinished means you have raw hardwood that needs to be nailed into the floor and then sanded & refinished on-site.

Advantages of prefinished

More scratch resistant/lasts longer.  Usually prefinished hardwood is 7-10x more scratch resistant than unfinished hardwood.  That's because when it's finished on site, you generally get 2-3 coats of poly while when it's factory made, you usually get at least 6-7 coats which are oven baked along w/ aluminum oxide, the worlds' 2^nd hardest substance.

Less messy - Anyone who has lived through sanding & refinishing knows what I'm talking about.  It's a mess with all the sawdust.  Oh, and did I forget to mention the smell?

Faster - Of course this depends on the space, but usually most of our prefinished jobs can be done in 1-2 days.  When  it's unfinished, it often takes 4-5 days + drying time, and you can't walk on the area at all during this time.

For do-it-yourselfers, prefinished is certainly easier.  Some that are handy can just install it themselves vs. most do-it-yourselfers can't sand & refinish nor do they have easy access to these machines.  I would definitely leave this up to the pros - I've seen way too many botched up jobs when homeowners attempt this on their own.

 

Advantages of Unfinished

Smooth edges - Most prefinished hardwood has a slight bevel at the edges.  Some customers prefer this because they think it looks more real; other customers like the smoothed out look when you sand the floors.  No right or wrong answer here; just a preference.

Matching color of existing - If you have hardwood in other parts of the home, using unfinished hardwood will be the easiest way to match it.  You can have your installer select and/or test the stain colors as well as make sure they get the matching wood (e.g. is it red oak or white oak and which grade).

Choosing  a very specific color - If you want to mix and match/blend stains and finishes you have this option vs. with prefinished, the color selections are sometimes a bit more limiting.

So which is less expensive????  Hard to say and it actually changes over time since the price of unfinished hardwood usually fluctuates.  The truth is, over time, if comparing apples to apples, they are prob. about equal in cost.  Last year and beginning of this year, it was less expensive to do unfinished; now, with all of the recent increases on oak, prefinished is currently a bit less expensive.

Essentially with prefinished hardwood, you are paying more for the wood and less for the labor; for unfinished hardwood, you are spending less on the wood and more on the labor.  Many general contractors prefer to do unfinished hardwood because  they make more money on this since there's more labor.  Cost is same to you, but more in their pocket. 

I noted, before if you are "comparing apples to apples" and the issue is that often customers are not comparing apples to apples, esp if they are talking to a contractor they can't trust.  (Have you ever met one of these?).  It's very easy for a contractor to reduce the cost by giving you a lower grade of wood (e.g. No 1 common or worse No 2 common rather than select grade).  This means you'll have hardwood w/ more color variation and more knots and sometimes shorter lengths.  So be careful and hire someone you trust and check their references.

Please feel free to visit our website for all your flooring needs or questions.  www.westchester.floorcoveringsinternational.com.  And, feel free to download our FREE flooring guide.

Debbie Gartner, Floor Coverings International in Westchester/Western Fairfield

"We bring the store to your door."

How To Use ScribeFire to Enhance Your ActiveRain Blog Posts

How To Use ScribeFire to Enhance Your ActiveRain Blog Posts  

Scribefire.com is a great 3rd party add-on to the Mozilla Firefox Browser.  Lately, the emails and calls have been coming in about how to setup AR Blogs, get API's, and how to use Scribefire with ActiveRain Blog posts.  First off, the reason I mention Scribefire is that it is one of the few third party apps I have found that works well and doesn't conflict with the AR Network HTML format. 

Really Important

Some members on AR use MS Word, Publisher, Front Page and other sources which often times (but not always) has hidden HTML codes, tables, and formatting that is incompatible with ActiveRain.  You've seen them, you know the ones, these are the posts that show funky looking codes, push the sidebar half way down the page, and make Blogs look like "you know what" when they load on your computer screen.

Why Use Scribefire?

Though the AR Blog Post editor may seem somewhat simplified and to some, a bit archaic, it still does a great job for creating great text content, adding images, photos and links, and producing search engine friendly creations.  However there are many who want to customize and create larger fonts, add color to their fonts, use a different style of font etc. This is where Scribefire does a great job and works well with AR.

THE MAIN REASON FOR POSTING THIS

Where most of our members get hung up is when downloading Scribefire as their Firefox add-on. Somewhere in the process, Scribefire asks for your Blog URL, API, and other information that IS NOT NECESSARY to begin using the Scribefire tools on ActiveRain. The requested and "perceived as required" information is ONLY for use on Blogging Platforms where you plan to use ScribeFire as the total replacement tool for creating your Blog posts. IE: Wordpress, Blogger, Self-Hosted Blogs etc. NOT ON ACTIVERAIN.

Here's the Scoop on How It Works

Go to Scribefire.com, download it and add to your Firefox Browser.  BYPASS all the additional questions and other stuff they want you to enter. (unless you are using scribefire on another blogging platform) To begin using the Scribefire tools and options, just press the "hotkeys" FUNCTION + F8 while in the edit mode of a Blog post, and the Scribefire Window (shown below) will open up in the lower section of your computer screen. Now you will have two areas to work in, your AR Blog post, and the Scribefire editing window.

Create your text, change your font color, select a larger sized font, use a variety of different style fonts, have a field day, and when you're done, just highlight the section you've created in the Scribefire window, copy it (CTRL+C) and then paste it into your AR Blog post body (CTRL+V)  You can do this using the ActiveRain WYSIWYG tab.  Save your post in "draft" mode to be sure everything looks just as you want it, then make the necessary changes you want before making your post public.

DISCLAIMER.. I mean Warning.. NO... A QUICK TIP!

One thing to be careful of is that you don't go CRAZY with Font Colors and sizes.  Sometimes the colored fonts and multiple sized text can make your Blog Post hard to read and unpleasing to the eye. Yellow font colors are difficult to read, Big Fonts can take away from the message in the little fonts, and multi-colored Blog post (for some) can and will cause nausea. (IMO)

SUMMARY and PURPOSE

The Scribefire add-on tools will allow you to enhance your AR Blog posts to your liking, give you a bit more versatility, and keep the AR network and your Blog clean of those Hidden and incompatible HTML codes.  Many of these outside third party apps can and will make Blogs on AR look like "you know what" and frustrate AR members beyond your wildest imagination.  I'm not kidding, you should see and hear some of the emails and calls I get. lol~ NOT!! :-)

Scribefire

For my next trick, we'll look at how to insert iFrames and tables into your Blog post without completely blowing out your Blog. This is one of the more common errors I see on ActiveRain by members that not only affects your AR Blog, but does even worse things to your Localism and Outside Blogs.

 

   Download The ActiveRain "HELP" Toolbar for your Browser

ActiveRain University Calendar    Real Estate RainCamp     The ActiveRain Manual

           

Intense Dust Storms in Northern Arizona – Not Normal

Looks like copy machines are something else for us to worry about

Do you remember the last thing you had copied, either for yourself or someone else? 

You probably do.  It could have been someone's driver's license for your client file, a HUD statement, an earnest money check, tax returns for a mortgage broker, or a contract.  How about your insurance card at the doctor's office or your social security card for a job you just accepted?

These are just a small sample of what we copy on a daily basis.  But did you know that the copy machine keeps a digital image of every single thing that it copies??  They're all stored on its hard drive, ready and waiting to be re-viewed by whomever looks for them.

I don't know about you, but to me, that it S-C-A-R-Y. 

My uncle sent me this YouTube video the other day which explains everything clearer that I can.  It's a piece that CBS News did on April 25, 2010.  It is a couple minutes long, but you'll be glad you checked it out.  Or maybe not.

 

*****************************************

We proudly serve and sell real estate in and around all of Charleston, SC.  If you are thinking about purchasing or selling your home in Charleston, Johns Island, James Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, West Ashley, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, North Charleston, Hanahan, Summerville, Goose Creek or other surrounding areas, and more importantly, want to work with a local area expert, contact us at your earliest convenience.

 

Jim and Maria Hart
Realtors®/ AgentOwned Realty
(843) 364-9845
hart@agentowned.com

 

Copyright © 2010 by Jim and Maria Hart (AgentOwned Realty).

 

 

The Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Myth - Not Every Buyer Benefits!

The Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Myth - Not Every Buyer Benefits!

Today I got a referral from a past client and had to do some damage control on some of the misinformation the couple's buyer's agent had filled their heads with.

The issue - the agent had told them that because mortgage interest is tax deductible, their $1,000 rent payment compared to a $1500 house payment.

MORTGAGE, EXPERT, MICHIGAN, BIRMINGHAM, BLOOMFIELD, DETROIT, ROCHESTER, ROYAL OAK, TROY

I can only assume the agent was implying that they were in a 33% tax bracket to make that claim.  The buyers were never asked that information.

The bigger issue though was that the agent clearly had no understanding about how the mortgage interest tax deduction works.  They were just abusing a sales technique they'd picked up somewhere and never really learned about.

What did I have to clear up?  Well let's take a look.

Assume the $1500 PITI breaks down like this:

P&I                   - $1,125
Property Tax      - $300
Home Insurance - $75

This about works out for a 5% interest rate on a $210,000 loan.  Let's ignore down payment & PMI for this example.

Now intially this sounds like a fantastic deal.  Can't you just hear the buyers, "wow honey, instead of paying $1,000 for this apartment, we can buy a $210,000 house for the same payment using the mortgage interest tax deduction!"

Well unfortunately, that's not even close to the real story.

Here's how the numbers actually work out.

The first year's interest on the mortgage above would be approximately $10,430.  The annual property taxes would be $3600.

So the total ELIGIBLE for deducting on Schedule A of the 1040 would be $14,030. 

Now the agent in question would probably say that since the buyers were in a 33% tax bracket, they could write off, and thereby save, $14,030 x 33% = $4630.

Not true!

Look at the image of Page 2 of the 1040 tax return below:

Notice that the "Married Filing Jointly" Standard deduction is $11,400.

Line 40 of the 1040 states, "(from Schedule A) or your standard deduction Itemized deductions".

What this means is that the buyers get an $11,400 tax deduction whether they own a home or not!  The only time you'd put your Schedule A total on line 40 would be if it exceeded $11,400.

So the couple's actual benefit from owning the home in this example would only be:

                 $14,030 - $11,400 = $2,630 x 33% = $867

A drastic difference from what their agent had ignorantly misled them with.

I've seen mortgage people make a version of this mistake also by telling clients, "that 5% interest rate is really 3.35% after taking into account your 33% tax bracket." (that's 5% x (1-0.33))

Keep in mind that our example was based on a $210,000 mortgage.  I've heard agents using this same technique on deals under $100,000 - where the buyer wouldn't realize any additional tax savings whatsoever.

The true professionals in our industry really need to know the facts about tax deductions to avoid making any misleading statements. 

The best way to handle the issue is to recommend that your buyers take the tax deduction savings issue up with their CPA.  If they don't have a CPA, you could easily refer them to YOUR trusted CPA partner to earn some reciprocal referrals from them.

 _______________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed my blog post,
I invite you to connect with me on the social networks below & subscribe to my blog! 

     

"Referrals are Sending Someone You Care about, to Someone You Trust!"
So, forward this blog post to someone that'll appreciate it!

_______________________________________________________________

Drew Sygit: CMPS, CMC, CRMS, CMLO, CALO, MBA, NAMB/MAMP Instructor & Speaker
The most Certified Mortgage Expert in the Midwest

Contact him for The Lending Edge
P: 248-356-3739 • F: 866-215-3755 • dsygit@TheLendingEdge.com • www.TheLendingEdge.com

Unscrupulous Listing Practice?

Yesterday, while preparing a CMA (comparable market analysis) for a client's property, I came across something that got my blood boiling.  What do you think??  Does the following constitute an unscrupulous listing practice?   

In July 2008, I showed a house that had been on the market for 184 days.  The house was only 4 years old, beautifully decorated and well-maintained.  It showed very well but wasn't exactly what my client was looking for.  That evening, I responded to an automatic showing feedback request explaining that the property was not right for my client and gave their reaction to the home.  I always give feedback to the listing agent so he can discuss that with his seller.  Since this property had already been on the market 184 days, I was sure the seller would want feedback.

Several days later, I got a call directly from the seller.  I had left my business card on her countertop at the showing.  She asked me if I could give her some feedback from my clients.  I explained that I had sent feedback to her listing agent and that she should speak directly with him.  She then said, "My listing agent never gives me any feedback.  My house has been on the market almost 190 days and I don't know why it's not selling."  I gladly explained why my client had passed on the property but then she started to ask questions about the current state of the market and my thoughts as to why her house hadn't sold.

I explained that as long as she was listed with another agent, she would need to speak with him.  She said that she had never even met him.  He had a large team and she only spoke with agents on his team. She never got the same agent twice.  She always had to call them after showings because they never called her.  I, once again, instructed her that she would have to speak directly to her listing agent. As long as she was under contract with someone else, I was unable to help her.  I did say, however, that if she decided not to re-list with her agent, I would be happy to speak with her.

I decided to put her on my auto-notification list so I would be alerted when her listing expired.  About 45 days later, the listing expired and I proceeded to contact her.  She didn't even know that the listing had expired.  She then advised me that she would call me back when she investigated further.

A little while later, she called and said that she had re-listed with the same agent.  She explained that when she originally signed her listing agreement in February 2008, she also signed a document giving her listing agent permission to re-list her property automatically.  They just hadn't gotten around to re-listing it in the MLS.

I couldn't believe what she was telling me.  I had never heard of such a thing.  Why would any seller agree to these terms?  It doesn't benefit the seller at all.  The only person who benefits from such an agreement is the listing agent.  I was shocked. 

As I watched expireds appear week after week, I would see this same agent's name again and again.  All of his listings had been on the market for many, many days.  I placed several calls to these expired listings.  The response was always the same.  They felt if any agent could sell their house, he could.  Besides, they didn't want to get into a confrontation by calling the listing agent and cancelling their agreement. 

I didn't understand what these people were thinking.  It appeared to me that he was putting a sign in the yard and walking away.  He didn't even have to call them again to re-list their home.  He did it automatically.

As I was preparing this CMA, I noticed that the home I had shown in July 2008 had finally closed.  The house was originally listed for $789,999 in February 2008.  When it closed last week, it had been on the market a wopping 821 days.  It had been re-listed with the same agent, 17 times with 9 price reductions. It sold for $500,000--63% of the original list price.

When this seller listed her home, the average days on the market was 87 days.  However, what the CMA showed is that the property sold within 77 days of listing at 91% of asking price.  This agent is manipulating the system to reflect lower days on the market and percentage of listing price.  To make it look like he can sell your house under the current days on the market for above 90% of listing.

I can't believe that this woman remained loyal to an agent that failed to produce a buyer for over 2 years.  The seller's ability to negotiate price and terms ceased to exist a long time ago.

Between 5/29/09 to 5/28/10, this agent closed 150 listings (remember he has a large team).  These 150 listings had been on the market with this agent a total of 21,946 days and had re-listed with him 403 times.  That means that each property was on the market an average of 146 days and had re-listed an average of 3 times.  These numbers don't even include the expired and withdrawn listings that had smartened up and moved on to another agent.

The moral of this story...as a seller, you owe nothing to the listing agent.  His job is to market your home and get it sold in a reasonable amount of time--821 days is not a reasonable amount of time.  If you are unsure what a reasonable amount of time is, ask the listing agent for the average days on the market for your area.

Remember, in this case, the agent re-listed his client's homes several times.  Why would he do this?  Because then he could say that his average days on the market were lower than the actual number of days he had these properties listed.  When interviewing agents, question them as to how many times they re-list their properties to reflect those numbers.  And never, ever agree to sign a document giving your agent the authority to re-list your property automatically prior to the expiration date of your contract.  Make that agent work for the listing or find an agent who will.  

Is this an unscrupulous listing practice? You be the judge.

 

************************************************************************************ 

Contact me: 

Tammie White

Keller Williams Realty

(615) 495-0752

Tammie@TammieWhite.com

www.TammieWhite.com

  
 
        
 

   
 
 

 

Serving the Franklin, Brentwood, Nolensville, Spring Hill, Thompsons Station, College Grove, Leipers Fork and greater Nashville area.  All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted.

        
 

Would You Let Your Buyer Purchase This House?

Reverse Mortgage Short Sale