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investors: Short Sale 2.0
- 08/03/12 06:47 AM
A major shift is taking place in the way the massive log jam of distressed properties is being dealt with. Over the last couple of years, defaulting homeowners have become a protected class. I say this without intent to sound heartless, but I still believe in the basic tenet that you can't keep stuff you didn't pay for. Houses included.
Partly because we have a government today that seems to distrust successful businesses, and partly because the banks brought it on themselves, the government has been abusing the mortgage lending industry for years. Law suit after lawsuit, a public relations … (31 comments)
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investors: Have you ever been to a retirement party for a Realtor?
- 07/01/12 11:23 AM
Seriously. I'm in the business 20 years and I have never even heard of one. I am a fun guy, so that can only mean one thing - no one ever retires from real estate. Is it because we love it so much, or that we can't?
There is a major flaw in our business model, in that each real estate agent is an independent entrepreneur, but even after 25 years, there is no value built that can be sold. Entrepreneurs retire when they sell their businesses. Without shareholder value, a business isn't really a business - it's a job.
Then … (16 comments)
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investors: I'm hearing interesting things from all over the country...weigh in.
- 06/23/12 06:06 AM
Reports are pouring in and some patterns are emerging in Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, Colorado, New York, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, California, and Washington. And that's just the people we've met with and spoken to in the last two weeks. Let me use this space to report what we are seeing and encourage everyone to weigh in.
Inventory shortages are a recurring theme, which of course means upward pressure on prices. Not a turnaround yet but a critical benchmark, because these things can cascade and create momentum. People experience or hear about a bidding war, and a sense of scarcity … (7 comments)
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investors: Shiller says it could take a generation to recover. Here is your chance to fight back
- 04/26/12 12:50 AM
If you are looking for a purpose for your social media strategy, a way to help the housing recovery along by just using your voice and passion, I want to deputize you today.
Robert Shiller, the founder of the Case Shiller Index, and a man who has spent a decade fomenting fear and negativity in the housing market, has reached a new low. In an interview with Reuters headlined US housing rebound could take an entire generation: Shiller, he stated that as a result of high gas prices and unemployment, "we might not see a really major turnaround in our lifetimes".
… (15 comments)
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investors: Investor Sales Surge, Owner-Occupant Sales Drop.
- 03/30/12 05:12 AM
NAR released a report this week which presented hard evidence that you need to make investors part of your business if you want to take part in this housing recovery.
Investor home sales surged 64.5% in 2011 to 27% of all sales nationally. That’s 1,230,000 houses. At an average sale price of $100,000, that amounts to over $6 billion dollars in commissions. Wow!
Here is the really important part: owner-occupied home sales fell by 15.5% in 2011!
The only reason our market is recovering right now is because of investors and, if not for them, our market and our livelihood, would still be shrinking.
49% of … (5 comments)
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investors: Do You Want A Piece of the 4.9 Trillion Dollar Pie?
- 03/28/12 01:53 AM
No, I am not talking about the latest government bailout or giveaway. I’m talking about the best kept secret in the investing world – the Self-Directed IRA.
Yes, you can use your IRA and 401k to invest in real estate, but try asking a financial advisor about that. Much of the time you will get the response that “it’s not possible” which is flat out wrong. Other times a financial advisor will say “It’s a grey area. Very murky. I wouldn’t recommend it.” Wrong again! There is nothing grey about this. It is completely legal, very possible, and becoming increasingly popular … (0 comments)
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investors: Investor Expireds - Shooting Fish in a Barrel
- 03/23/12 07:24 AM
I have been dedicating this series to demonstrating how easy it is to build a clientele of investors by simply doing what you already do, and just applying it to a new audience with new tools. Next up?
Expired Investor Listings
We all know how fruitful expired listings can be. They are all sellers who have demonstrated a desire to sell, and often they are disenchanted with their existing listing agent. It’s not always fair, but true nonetheless. And if you are the agent gunning to take that listing away, the more disenchanted, the better.
Who are the most unhappy, underserved, frustrated and … (10 comments)
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investors: What we learned from our investment pilot program last week...
- 03/20/12 12:12 AM
We attempted something that I think might be a first in real estate brokerage and I wanted to share the feedback. You know by now that investors represent 23% of the national market. It may be a little higher or a little lower in your town, but it's still 3 times bigger than new construction at the peak, and 5 times bigger than corporate relo ever was. OK...enough said...huge opportunity. How do we capture it?
Last week we tested a concept called the OwnAmerica Double Header:
- A Real estate agent certification by day
- An Investor Seminar for their customers by … (0 comments)
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investors: Question: How many people in your Sphere are thinking about investing?
- 03/11/12 01:31 AM
Answer: Most of us have no idea, but I promise you this - there are many.
You would be pleasantly surprised to learn that there are people you know who are talking about making an investment in real estate right now - people who already know you, like you, and may have experienced the quality of your service. The problem is...they don't think of you when the subject comes up. You sell homes, and they already have one of those.
We have discovered that finding new investor clients is as easy as sending a mailing to your sphere.
Today is the ideal day … (11 comments)
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investors: Have You Ever Heard Of an Investor Open House?
- 02/25/12 01:37 AM
The most significant thing we’ve learned in the past year about capturing and servicing the residential investor market is how easy it is. It turns out that most of the things that work to build a book of business of home buyers and sellers also work when you apply them to build a book of investor clients. Those tried-and-true methods that our industry has perfected over the years produce great results with investors. You don’t need to learn any new marketing and sales techniques, just apply your existing skills toward a new audience.
I am going to dedicate this space over … (41 comments)
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investors: So....what could the Government do that would help?
- 02/17/12 10:32 PM
In my last column we talked about how the government was causing more problems with every step they took. Every great idea they have implemented in Washington has triggered unintended consequences that exacerbate the problem. (At least we assume they were unintended.)
So what could the government do to help? Some have said “stay out of the way and let the market heal itself”, and that is half right. I would say “GET out of the way!”
“Stay” is passive. “Get” is active.
The housing recovery is waiting for one thing – an increase in demand. More demand means the … (11 comments)
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investors: How to Undermine the Housing Recovery for Fun and Profit
- 02/12/12 01:36 AM
First, force lenders to relax their standards in order to make everyone a homeowner, whether they have a down payment, good credit and a steady job - or not.
Once the loans start going bad because the people can’t pay, launch a massive PR offensive that casts defaulting borrowers as victims and banks as villains. Encourage more defaults in this way. Keep this going relentlessly for five years.
Launch a major legal and regulatory offensive to block foreclosures and encourage more borrowers to default by providing government mandated benefits if they do. Let the log jam of distressed properties pile up … (17 comments)
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A major shift is taking place in the way the massive log jam of distressed properties is being dealt with. Over the last couple of years, defaulting homeowners have become a protected class. I say this without intent to sound heartless, but I still believe in the basic tenet that you can't keep stuff you didn't pay for. Houses included.
;)
;)
