End Of Year Ideas - 12/29/07 08:01 PM
It is the end of the year, here are some FREE ideas to help get you going in 2008
1) Send out HUD-Statements to all the deals you were involved with ... with a letter saying, "Here are your closing statements for your taxes." You may even consider sending these statements to … (4 comments)
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Office Move - 12/29/07 07:56 PM
This is not about the horrific job of moving your office, but about the steps you should take when selecting a brokerage to associate with. It has been my experience that you can tell a lot about the agents in an office based solely on the Employing Broker. But here are … (1 comments)
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What are the Titans Doing? - 12/29/07 07:48 PM
Having just read a preliminary copy of the 2008 Swanepoel Trends Report a section really caught my attention. The section was on the Titans of the real estate industry and what they have done over the last year.
Interestingly enough when you look at all the names on the list you … (0 comments)
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Why Do They Do It? - 12/29/07 07:38 PM
Well if Location, Location, Location are the words to live by in real estate than Fees, Fees, Fees are the driving force behind decisions made on many of the SIV (Special Investment Vehicles) messes we read about everyday. A typical fee is 1-1.5% of the total underwriting (billions have been underwritten).
So one … (2 comments)
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Learn About Your Neighborhood - 12/29/07 04:01 PM
Many things shape the area that you live and or farm. Without a doubt the biggest can be the HOA that governs your neighborhood. Recently I just encountered another HOA problem that is making life for some of the owners a terrible experience.
I have just heard of an HOA limiting … (5 comments)
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NORMA - 12/29/07 03:53 PM
An odd title to an odder investment vehicle. Norma CDO I Ltd. is the full name, but it goes by NORMA and is a new breed of investments that was created at the end of the housing boom. This tool is an example of how Wall Street took a good idea too … (0 comments)
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Prediction for 2008 - 12/28/07 07:05 PM
So here are a few predictions for 2008 ... lets see how well I do.
1) Housing sales will increase in 2008 to 5.1 million units however the median sales price will be lower since many of the home sales will be distressed properties
2) Investors will purchase roughly 30% of houses sold … (6 comments)
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Know Thy Trends - 12/25/07 07:02 PM
Each year our company produces a Trends Report of the things that are impacting the real estate profession. Not to spoil all the fun of reading the 2008 Trends Report, but ActiveRain is mentioned in the section on Social Networking and Sub-prime Meltdown is also discussed.
It is interesting that the sub-prime … (3 comments)
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Fraud a major cause - 12/25/07 06:54 PM
According to a Wall Street Journal article fraud is one of the major causes of some 50% of default sub-prime loans. Fraud maybe something small like overstating income or some large and grand scheme. The article sites examples of schemes in Atlanta that required at least 3 willing participants A Lender, … (5 comments)
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Watchout House Auto Are Defaulting Too - 12/20/07 09:37 PM
According to a Wall Street Journal Article, automobile delinquencies are on the rise. The auto delinquency rate has been tracking up to the highest level in many years. Approximately $575 Billion in auto loans are made annually. According to the article 12% of sub-prime borrowers were delinquent on their auto loans … (0 comments)
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Too Funny To Pass Up - 12/20/07 09:24 PM
Did you know that there is a violent knitting game? Shocking! As an advid reader of the Wall Street Journal I read an article on the front page center column ... those that read the WSJ will know what I am referring to ... about a knitting game based on the … (0 comments)
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Gone With The Winds - 12/20/07 09:15 PM
Default notices in four of Southern California's major counties. These numbers are from January through September of 2006 compared with the same time frame for 2007. Shocking was the comparison of Riverside and San Diego counties. Popular belief would be that the Inland Empire would be hit much harder than areas … (0 comments)
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FICO Score Changes - 12/20/07 09:02 PM
Fair Isaac Corporation is becoming more fair with the release of FICO 08. This new system will better reflect a potential borrowers ability to repay pay taking simple steps in correcting some of the issues raised by consumer groups. When you think about it, a FICO score can be the most … (5 comments)
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Trends Report Update Part 2 - 12/17/07 10:30 PM
Now for the scary part of last year's Real Estate Trends Report section "The Hangover". The legislation that is going through Congress becuase of the subprime meltdown.
The legal implications of "The Hangover" will impact the business well into the future. "Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007," The bill bars … (0 comments)
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Trends Report Update Part 1 - 12/17/07 10:28 PM
Each year we write a Trends Report which encumbaces the trends that may impact that next year or foreseeable future of real estate. After reading last years publication and doing some research here is some follow-up from lasts years section entitle "The Hangover"
One year late and countless headlines, this hangover has … (0 comments)
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Colleges Change View On Financial Aid - 12/11/07 04:00 PM
Recently several Ivy league colleges have changed their view on financial aid and who qualifies for aid and assistance. The reason is the size of the endowments that some of these schools have. Several of these endowments are BILLIONS of dollars ... Harvard is over $20 BILLION ... that means at a … (0 comments)
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More Comments on Jokes ... So Here Is Another - 12/10/07 07:33 PM
Since I seem to get more comments on jokes than maybe I should just post more jokes.
My mother actually told this one to me.
Husband calls wife and says, "You are 54 years old and don't do it for me. Although I love you, I am taking my 18 year old teaching assistant and … (1 comments)
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Year End Review - 12/10/07 07:03 PM
It is coming to the end of the year ... for many that means parties and time to visit family ... although I do that too I also visit with many clients about their own personal review. Yes you should do a personal review of your business at the end of … (0 comments)
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Time for a joke - 12/08/07 12:38 AM
How to deal with today's youth.I took my brother to the mall the other day to do a little shopping. Wedecided to grab a bite at the food court. I noticed he was watching a teenagersitting next to him.
The teenager had spiked hair in all differentcolors:green, red, orange, and blue.My brother kept … (12 comments)
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Are You Using ActiveRain? - 12/07/07 07:24 PM
As much as it reads like a "brown-nosing" blog, it is not. Lately I have found myself searching ActiveRain for more and more resources. Staging, Neighborhood Expertise, Economics, Community Issues etc. Bloggers are potential business relationships and more importantly a great place to seek new ideas.
This is the intention of social-networking sites … (7 comments)
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Who Needs Hard Money? - 12/07/07 07:00 PM
You would be surprised at who is going to hard money lenders for loans. Hard money loans were once considered the lender of last resort, but with the sub-prime market gone where else does a strapped borrower go?
Hard money loans do not come from banks ... they come from private venture … (3 comments)
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Builders Sell Land - 12/07/07 06:45 PM
According to a December 3, 2007 Article many builders are selling land once worth billions for 40-60% of book value. Recently Lennar Corporations sold 11,000 home sites to a venture mostly owned by Morgan Stanley. The sale of these lots valued at $1.3 billion as of September 30, 2007, $525 million … (0 comments)
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LIBOR Falling? - 12/06/07 10:48 AM
If you follow the mortgage industry this is actually pretty big news:
-----The Bank of England cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 5.5%, its first rate reduction in two years, as credit conditions tighten.----
Many loan our tided to LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offer Rate) it is similar … (1 comments)
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Where were the agents? - 12/05/07 04:40 PM
According to a article published in the Wall Street Journal 61% of sub-prime loans were issued to borrowers with credit scores above 620 (the threshold for a conventional loan). And combing through the data even more revealed that many of these borrowers had scores above 700. Much of this can be … (10 comments)
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To Bailout or Not To Bailout - 12/04/07 07:02 PM
During lunch today we had a very interesting conversation about the housing market. Here are some key observations:
1) In some areas on the country (Orange County, San Francisco, New York) the ability to purchase a home without some creative financing is next to impossible during this last run up in home … (3 comments)
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27 cents on the Dollar - 12/04/07 04:49 PM
27 cents on the dollar is what ETRADE sold their sub-prime mortgage backed security portfolio for. That means the value of these securities had dropped 83 percent ... the article written in the Wall Street Journal did not say what the mix of the sub-prime loans were or if these loans … (5 comments)
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Skill Set - 12/04/07 04:38 PM
Over the last few months I have read BLOGS about do this or don't do that ... recently it was concerning Open Houses. So many people complain about Open House and how bad they are etc etc etc
STOP ... each agent out their has a skill set. A set of personality … (4 comments)
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