reindex: Is the Doom Forecast for New York Real Estate Well Founded?
- 01/20/09 06:16 AM
There are real estate articles beginning to circulate that New York is in for one of the biggest declines in real estate values they've seen in decades. Hold on! Before you chime in on the negativity with, "Well what were they expecting with condos selling in the millions," or "Of course with the wall street mess...," or what ever your chime in is, there may be an alternative, and even may be alternatives - plural.
Of course those alternatives are dependent on some large ifs. Fortunately for the New York real estate market many of those ifs may turn into actual solutions. … (5 comments)
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reindex: Insurance for Houses on a Lock Box - Another new insurance cost.
- 01/20/09 04:34 AM
It must be insurance month. The other day I posted about a new insurance product specifically for open houses. Today I see one about lock boxes. Although I agree that placing a listing on a lock box has some risks, I haven't seen an insurance offering for listings on a lock box before. I don't use lock boxes, so I am not so worried about the insurance. But, having a few listings on lock boxes listed by other companies can make showing homes a little easier.
The electronic lock boxes were tried here, but never took off. We accompany all our real estate … (4 comments)
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reindex: An Insurance Policy For An Open House?
- 01/19/09 03:06 AM
Open houses require attention by the attending agent that goes beyond letting customers walk through the property. Now, I have received an advertisement from an insurance company offering an insurance policy for open houses. This type of policy may have been available for awhile, but I haven't seen one offered before. If I hadn't already curtailed my open house activity here in Falmouth MA, here is the encouragement to do so.
I have often been at an open house where more people than I can personally manage arrive and tour the home. This takes a great awareness of what is in … (9 comments)
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reindex: Property Tax Abatement Notes for Massachusetts
- 01/16/09 07:03 AM
The Massachusetts state government web sitehas posted some suggestions to keep in mind if you are pursuing a Property Tax Abatement. (You must request an abatement if to lower the tax if you believe the tax assessment on your property is too high.) First, check for the forms you need in your local tax assessor's office. If you'd like to see a printable form on-line, you can click here. You cannot get started without the correct form.
Next, the form needs to be filed at the town hall governing the property before the bill is due. The signature(s) of the owner(s) … (6 comments)
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reindex: CT MLS Says There Should Be No MLS Boundaries.
- 01/15/09 12:56 AM
Have you heard about the MLS in CT that presented "The MLS Bill of Rights" stating that they think every Realtor in the state should have access to all Connecticut real estate MLS listings regardless of which MLS they are in? Well, it is the latest in the debate over a National MLS. There are discussions going on all over the country about this topic.
How will it affect real estate brokers and agents? Agents are still working under brokers so they can only influence their own broker. Some brokers are looking down the road and saying they want a National … (6 comments)
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reindex: Major Franchise Is Stopping TV Ads Means More Competition for Search Results
- 01/14/09 02:59 AM
I read in one of the emails I get in my junk box that one of the larger real estate franchises is slowing and possibly stopping their advertising on TV. That is an interesting re-allocation of funds. Their focus will now be on the promotion of their brand on the Internet.
What does it mean to us non-franchisees? It means our real estate marketing on-line will become even more complex anddifficult. With the deep pockets of the franchises, out SEO (search engine optimization) will be even more important. Niche keywords and excellent content are even more imperative.
If you are an … (9 comments)
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reindex: Are Banks holding funds rather than lending? - So they can take over other banks?
- 01/13/09 08:36 AM
I just heard a new take on the bail out funds and why they haven't hit the streets yet. The idea was postulated that the larger banks are holding funds rather than lending them with the plan/hope to buy some smaller banks. This idea is becoming more well traveled (especially since I heard about it). So now there may be some pressure from the bail out gods for those holding money to begin lending instead of holding.
If they are holding funds to try an take over other financial companies, and they are pushed/directed to start lending again, we may see movement … (10 comments)
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reindex: Close encounter with a Hawk.
- 01/08/09 11:50 PM
This is a local post. I love to watch hawks for some reason. As a kid I read about them and watched them fly. I have always loved to watch them soar.
Yesterday, as I went to an appointment in Falmouth, I ran across the one below and I had to stop an take a pic. I walked up very close and he just turned his head to inspect me. The pond he was watching has ducks and varmints around it so I'm sure he was planning lunch.
This isn't a real estateentry, but I enjoyed the encounter and so I post … (7 comments)
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reindex: Download Suzi Orman's new book for a limited time - Free.
- 01/08/09 04:19 AM
I just got notice of Suzi Orman's new book about what she thinks happened in the US real estate business/industry, and how we should think now. You can download it free for a limited time in .pdf formatting. It only has 227 pages and is a pretty fast download if you aren't still on dial up. (Is anyone?)
Maybe there are some items we can quote in our blogs that are positive! She says she wrote it fast so people can keep what they still have. I will probably read it tonight.
Happy listing and selling!
Here's the link
http://media.oprah.com/sterm/action_plan_english.pdf
(Update: 1/14/09 I … (18 comments)
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reindex: Here's where "they" searched for real estate in December 2008
- 01/08/09 02:04 AM
In December 2008, while reporting of the demise of real estate continues in the media, there is still a lot of activity in real estate markets across the country. At REindex.com, (pronounced Are-ee-index) we have started publishing reports of where our site visitors are looking at real estate. The following is information that real estate buyers, sellers, and investors will find interesting.
The top states searched on REindex.com in December were: New York, Illinois, Texas, Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Virginia. These states were searched most often on REindex.com. Each town in every state has a separate page on … (4 comments)
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reindex: It's a beautiful day on Cape Cod!
- 01/01/09 02:56 AM
Yesterday we got "some" snow. Today the sun is shining and we are off to play soccer! Indoor soccer that is.
A clean blanket of snow on a bright sunny day makes the world look fun. The temp is colder than I prefer, but for the few days the snow will stay, I can enjoy bundling up too.
Enjoy the pics. Woods Hole harbor before the storm, Main Street during the storm, and from the deck this New Year's day.
We are looking forward to a great year in real estate!
… (5 comments)
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reindex: A visual "chart" of the mortgage meltdown.
- 12/19/08 12:54 AM
The complexities of the mortgage mess the world is in has been made into a visual explanation. Many people understand complex topics and issues more clearly when they can see what is being explained. I do not know if this visual explanation provides any clarity as to what has happened, but it is a very interesting representation of the complexity of the problem. It also provides some understanding as to the difficulty that any intervention will be in the real estate market.
The site it is on is a commercial site focused on managing money. The link here in my blog … (1 comments)
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reindex: Alabama real estate is still appreciating!
- 12/13/08 03:05 AM
Alabama real estate is appreciating!
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) produced a report in November that indicates Alabama real estate has been appreciating, even though most areas of the country are still experiencing a troubled real estate market. Alabama was number 4 in the list of US states that are appreciating. The report shows almost 3% appreciation which is a result of the local economic successes of the Mobile, Huntsville, and Decatur areas.
In this area of the country, there are federal tax incentives for investment. Known as the "Go Zone," investors that meet certain requirements get huge tax breaks for investing … (6 comments)
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reindex: Doncha ya love statistics. OR START typing the GOOD news!
- 12/11/08 08:35 AM
So I spent some time playing with data today. When I last used the OFHEO report to study the national real estatemarket, the title of the report was "Decline in House Prices Accelerates in First Quarter". As I read through the report, I noticed that more than 1/2 of the United States was actually appreciating and not declining as the title stated. It was one more example of reporting good news as bad.
That caused me to look at the data in the current report more closely, too. Unfortunately, this time the title is backed up by the data pretty well. … (4 comments)
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reindex: The OFHEO indicates the Austin area is appreciating!
- 12/11/08 04:38 AM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) produced a real estatereport in November that indicates the Austin area real estate has been appreciating, even though most areas of the country are still experiencing a troubled real estate market. The OFHEO (Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight) uses the report to show that the Austin area was number 1 in the list of US cities that are appreciating. The reported 5+% appreciation (35+% over the last 5 years) in 2008 is in part a result of the local economic successes of job growth and the long term plan to create 72,000 jobs in … (3 comments)
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reindex: How to get some real estate site traffic back.
- 12/09/08 03:17 AM
If you have noticed a drop in your Internet real estate traffic, here is a suggestion to recover some of it. Sometimes there has been a change in the criteria the search engines use, and sometimes there is a change in the competitive real estate web sites that are after high ranking for your search terms like "Falmouth MA real estate". In either case, you can write an article and/ or include the topic in your blog. In the paragraphs of the article, make sure you use the search terms your site is optimized for and embed a link to the site … (21 comments)
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reindex: Tailgaiting. Or not.
- 12/09/08 01:14 AM
I was impatiently rushing to an appointment that I wasn't late for the other day when some things dawned on me.
I had purposely taken the coast road so I could relax and enjoy the view and the peace of the beach. As I turned onto the beach road, another car pulled in front of me. They were obviously not in any rush to get anywhere and were driving very slowly. I became frustrated at their intrusion very quickly and got close enough to their car that they felt my impatience and frustration. I could see them looking in their mirror. … (12 comments)
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reindex: It is the worst of times, It is the best of times.
- 12/06/08 04:57 AM
The real estate business has never had more opportunities. Prices are low. Interest rates are low. Inventory in almost every part of the US has property that provides an opportunity.
These days look like the days in the 1980s and 1990s that were the trough of the next wave of investing. The crash in the 80s came from government changing the tax code relative to investment properties. The changes in the 90s came partly from people cashing out of the stock market and driving up real estate prices with their cash profits.
And the real estate market today is recovering from … (5 comments)
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reindex: Does your brain see the good or the bad?
- 12/05/08 03:17 AM
The other night my wife watched part of a television special on the brain. She said they had the viewer do a fascinating experiment while watching the show. The TV screen was full of small, active, blue dots. Then three larger stationary yellow dots were placed in the center of the screen forming a triangle. The viewer was told to focus their attention on the center of the triangle and on the blue moving dots. Within a very short period of time the yellow dots started to randomly blink and disappear. However, when she shifted her focus off the moving blue … (6 comments)
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reindex: The over pricing hangover.
- 12/03/08 04:56 AM
So if you read this humorously with an "Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes" voice, you will capture my intent more clearly. Here goes.
Did you ever take a real estate listing that you knew was over priced? Any experienced agent or broker can probably answer yes to this one. Why do we take over priced listings anyway? Is it because we don't want to hurt the feelings of the owner? Or maybe we don't want the competition to get the listing instead of us. Maybe it is our first listing and we just want one on the books. Or maybe we haven't … (3 comments)
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There are real estate articles beginning to circulate that New York is in for one of the biggest declines in real estate values they've seen in decades. Hold on! Before you chime in on the negativity with, "Well what were they expecting with condos selling in the millions," or "Of course with the wall street mess...," or what ever your chime in is, there may be an alternative, and even may be alternatives - plural.
;)
;)
;)
