Category: Real Estate (page 196 of 266)

April 21, 2007

When Banks Are Permitted to Compete…The Consumer Might Just Win

by Brian Brady

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

In Southern California, many loan originators are licensed by the Department of Real Estate. Such licensing is unique to California. California was one of the first states to require licensing of loan originators and chose to require that they have a real estate salesperson’s license.

Some bright Realtors realized that they could earn an income from both functions: real estate brokerage and loan origination. In fact, business models were built that center on that unique ability. Utopia Mortgage and Real Estate offers an 80% commission split to agents for such dual agents. It’s not a bad deal for an agent. Represent 3-4 buyers a year, secure them financing, add 4-5 more refinances in the year and you’re a six figure agent!

The problem in the past was that HUD explicitly forbids real estate licensees to engage in loan origination if the lender/broker offers FHA loans. That hasn’t been an issue in California for 5-6 years.

Tracy Nicole posted an excellent article in the Members’ Only section of Active Rain entitled: Jack of All Trades, Master of None. Fact or Fiction? You need to be a registered member at Active Rain to see this article and comments. Get a free membership by clicking this link. The premise is that she opts for the dual function because it (a) gives her control of the transaction over the “so called professional” loan originators (b) it allows her to “drastically cut the mortgage fees” for her customers 90% of the time (paraphrased quote)

I asked the question “Why Can’t Banks Engage in Real Estate Brokerage ?” in a like members-only post at Active Rain. My rationale is that if the consumer benefits, as was presented by the commenters, than it is just too substantial to pass up. True, federal banks are exempt from state licensing laws and that’s unfair. However, pretend that we could force them to license in each state
Will the merging of real estate and mortgage functions benefit the consumer? Can the big banks be more efficient at Read more

April 20, 2007

What’s the hottest game in Vegas? Strip Monopoly!

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Oh, keep your shirt on… Strip Monopoly refers to that famed Parker Brothers board game (now owned by the soulless Hasbro, alas) as played with the real-life real estate on Las Vegas Boulevard — a/k/a “The Strip.”

Earlier this week, Kirk Kerkorian’s MGM Mirage acquired 33.4 acres of Strip-front real estate surrounding the company’s Circus-Circus property. This brings the Circus-Circus site, already 68-acres huge, to over 100 acres of land fronting on one of the priciest streets in the history of pricey streets.

MGM Mirage is already building the $7 billion Project City Center on and around the old Boardwalk property — apposite appellation strictly coincidental. The company plans a similar city-within-a-giant-casino development on the Circus-Circus site.

Vegas Today and Tomorrow has a nice Monopoly map to show you who is winning the game. Here’s a way of thinking of things: The green spots on the board are split between Wynn Las Vegas and The Venetian. Harrah’s owns the orange and the yellow properties. The railroads and utilities are divided among Boyd Gaming, Station Casinos and various minor players. Everything else belongs to MGM Mirage.

Harrah’s is technically the largest gaming company on earth, but MGM Mirage owns more undeveloped Strip-fronting real estate than Harrah’s owns in developed land on the Strip. All three of the companies that merged to form MGM Mirage — MGM Grand, Mirage Resorts and Mandalay Resort Group — have been persistently greedy in acquiring land on Las Vegas Boulevard over the years.

Circus-Circus was built by the man who may have understood Las Vegas best, Jay Sarno. He also built Caesar’s Palace, thereby inventing the idea of the themed casino-resort-hotel. Caesar’s, of course, has become almost a city unto itself, and it was the success of the Forum Shops that led other Strip casino operators to explore the convergence of gaming and shopping. MGM Mirage pledges to refurbish Circus-Circus as part of its development of the newly-assembled 100 acre parcel, so both of Sarno’s creations will live on in the city he influenced so decisively.

But what’s next for Strip Monopoly?

Other than Caesar’s Palace and The Paris, most of the Harrah’s Strip-front Read more

April 20, 2007

Zillow.com notes: Fear and Ludditism, advertising, a better farming strategy and more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Zillow notes: Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy asks “Why do so many agents fear Zillow?” He makes the same point in a BusinessWeek article on the Seattle-based Realty.bot.

Brian Brady, America’s Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker and a BloodhoundBlog contributor, covers some of the same ground: “Is your Realtor threatened?”

Both gentlemen are objecting to what we might characterize as the opportunistic bandwagoneering going on with respect to the Arizona Board of Appraisal’s attempts to outlaw consumer-oriented Automated Valuation Models. I can’t speak for them, but for me this is a matter of vitally-important principles, liberty the first among them.

I may write more about this over the weekend, because the issues involved are vast and very interesting — at least to me. Earlier this week, in email, I wrote, “When the sabot is a Ferragamo, Ned Ludd has a whole new style.” I have no doubt that this regulatory and legislative initiative is Ludditism in a Brooks Brothers suit. It’s bad enough that Zillow is afflicted, but I expect this is but the first salvo in a long war.

Witness: This came in as a comment last night, but I wanted to highlight it:

MLSPIN of Massachusetts just sent out this notice:

“RULES AND REGULATIONS REMINDERS:

I. Recently, the On-Line Valuation site, Zillow announced a new function being made available to advertise listings for sale on that site, whether or not you are the listing broker/agent. The MLS Rules and Regulations, STRICTLY PROHIBIT the advertising of another broker’s listings without their prior WRITTEN consent. The REALTOR&174; Code of Ethics, Standard of Practice 12-4 also prohibits the advertising of a listing without proper authority. Better safe than sorry; do not advertise another office’s listing anywhere without prior written approval.”

“Better safe than sorry” is an interesting choice of words.

Even more interesting is the fact that MLSPIN is arguing that MLS members have fewer rights to act than ordinary people. As things stand now, any non-MLS member can advertise another party’s home for sale, but, of course, no one does. Why? Advertising costs money. But anyone except MLSPIN members can announce that another party’s home is for sale Read more

April 19, 2007

Protecting whom? There are no complaining parties in Arizona’s quest to outlaw free consumer-oriented home evaluations

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

I hear a lot of rumors, as you might guess. They’re usually way less than half the truth, but they can be useful for shaking the real truth loose, so they’re not entirely a bad thing. In any case, I’ve been hearing ugly rumors about Zillow.com in Arizona. Zillow Public Relations Specialist Amanda Hoffman has been working night and day to help me pin them down.

Like this:

Q: Is Zillow being sued by Arizona homeowners who regret having used Zestimates as opinions of value? Anywhere else?
A: “Nope. Not true.”
Q: Are there any extant complaints about Zillow before the Arizona Board of Appraisal? In other words, have any real persons claiming standing as victims come forward?
A: “Not that we know of.”
Q: Do you have any comment about Arizona Senate Bill 1291? Has Zillow had any involvement with the debates on this legislation so far?
A: “We recently learned about the Arizona bill and we’re looking into what it may mean for Zillow users. We believe it’s important for home buyers and sellers to have easy access to real estate data and home valuation tools.”

I’m reading that last response to suggest that they might only have heard about the bill today.

The first two responses are significant because they argue that there are no self-identified injured parties appealing for relief from Zillow.com in Arizona. I don’t think offering an unwelcome opinion of value can be conceived of as a tort, but no one is complaining of an injury in the first place.

< ?php include("Zapraisails.php"); ?>

Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing

April 19, 2007

Seth Godin’s promotional tour for The Dip to include Phoenix

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Seth Godin definitely is coming to Phoenix. I had email about it yesterday:

Thanks for signing the pledge and telling your friends. Seth Godin saw how quickly this grew and called me to confirm he’s coming to Phoenix.

[….]

More details to come in the next few days regarding the date, time and location.

If you haven’t already done so, go sign the pledge so that you will get all the where and when details as they become available.

Your commitment: $50 a head. Your benefit: Hearing Seth Godin speak plus five copies of his new book, The Dip.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

April 19, 2007

HARD MONEY LENDING: Defined

by Brian Brady

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

Ardell over at Rain City Guide has been posting some good, consumer-friendly stuff about lending. It’s refreshing to see an agent work through the lending process.

In an earlier post, Ardell and I exchanged comments about hard money lending where she claimed ignorance; that couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

Ardell wrote a consumer post about pre-payment penalties. In the third and fourth paragraphs, Ardell explains the essence of private mortgage lending.

It really is that simple.

April 19, 2007

When Banks Compete, You Lose

by Morgan Brown

Mortgage Banker

Brian Brady wrote a great series of articles on how to obtain the best mortgage loan by shopping for a mortgage originator first, and then the loan second. His brilliant advice is a bit counter-intuitive but dead on. If you are considering shopping for a mortgage by using the internet, keep his advice in mind as you read the rest of this post.

My company primarily uses internet leads for new business. Of our approximately $12 million a month in loan originations $4 million comes from repeat and referral business and the rest comes from new business originated by internet leads. We spend about $30,000 per month on internet leads and get about 4 to 1 on our marketing dollar. I like to think we’ve figured out how to win business while competing with other banks. We use the big boys like LowerMyBills.com; but have stayed away from LendingTree.com — we don’t want to have to pay the lead provider off the HUD at closing.

There are a lot of misconceptions about internet leads both from the consumer and the industry side. We’ll focus on consumers in this post. For more in-depth information on the subject please read my Zillow Real Estate Guide article on 6 things you should know before shopping for an interest rate online. To summarize here the 6 things:

Plan on getting a lot more than 4 calls from the 4 lenders that are supposed to compete for your business — get ready for a ton of calls.
Plan on drinking from the mortgage information “fire hose” while different lenders pitch their products and expertise.
Be prepared to spend some serious time on the phone.
Don’t just go for the best up-front offer, keep some contingency offers in your back pocket.
If an offer is too good to be true, it probably is.
Know who you are working with.

But even before you read these 6 things, read Brian Brady’s post. When you shop online for an interest rate and fee quote INSTEAD of shopping for the mortgage professional first, you are opening up yourself to be the victim of bait and switch tactics. Think Read more

April 18, 2007

Idle chatter of idle neighbors to be outlawed in Arizona: Appraiser’s job protection act passes Arizona State Senate

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Little Pink Houses dug up the smoking gun: The State of Arizona is trying to make it illegal for anyone without a state-issued license to express opinions of value about real property. Oh, there is an exception: You will be able to express an opinion about the value of your own property.

This law, if ratified, is only one court case away from being quashed.

< ?php include("Zapraisails.php"); ?>

Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing

April 18, 2007

Brokers & Agents: How Do You Answer Prospect’s And Client’s Questions?

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

It’s shameful the way I used to answer questions from prospects or clients. The excuse of age is available, as I was only about 27 or so. But even youth, or having just transitioned from homes to investments doesn’t wash as an excuse for my pitiful performance back then. It’s truly a blessing there were no hidden cameras or recorders in the office back then.

Clients would ask me if the rents in the area would tend to rise during the holding period. And I’d answer yes. The problem? Most folks asking questions want the answer, of course. But what they really want is the ‘why’ or ‘how’ behind your answer. Back then it irritated me no end that they wouldn’t just accept my answer as if I was quoting from the missing third tablet Moses forgot on the mountain. 🙂 I knew the answer. Why couldn’t they just take my word for it? What a moron I was. I could have been more full of myself back then, but I’m not sure how.

That’s about the time I was blessed by the teachings and example of Chuck Chatham. As far as I’m concerned Mr. Chatham was absolutely the best teacher and practitioner of real estate counseling. As the title of his seminar promised, The Art of Real Estate Counseling, (also the title of his book) he was indeed a master artist. One the subjects near and dear to his heart was how we, as professionals, dealt with questions from our clients, or those pondering becoming a client. He was especially sensitive to young upstarts like me and a few others in his seminar one day.

You first have to imagine a smallish older guy with what appears to be several centuries of experience. He literally oozed authority. I remember his face as having an eagle’s beak nose, and a patrician like stare, that when focused on you, was both chilling and assuring at the same time. Figure that one out.

Anyway, he’d been talking with some of us whipper-snappers during breaks, and was not happy at either our attitude or demeanor. Don’t get Read more

April 18, 2007

Ask the Mortgage Broker: How Do I Become A Hard Money Loan Broker

by Brian Brady

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

Brian Brady of World Wide Credit Corporation will be offering a free conference call and presentation:

“How to be a Hard Money Loan Broker “

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

4:00PM Pacific Daylight Time (7:00 PM EDT)

SIGN UP IN THE COMMENTS SECTION (8 spots available) . Make sure that your e-mail is correct when leaving a reply in the comments section. We will be using Go To Meeting technology. I will e-mail you the conference call phone number and link on Monday evening.
Topics Covered will be:

1- What is “Hard Money” ?

2- Who are these new “hard money lenders” ?

3- What is trust deed broking?

4- How do I find investors for private mortgages?

5- What is a California mortgage pool ?

6- How do I price my loans?

7- How do I market my new private mortgage product line?

April 18, 2007

Casting a wider net: Hungry iPods crave content

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Russell Shaw held his second Sales Success Seminar last night. For the moment we don’t know if there will be a third. So far, we’re sitting on about seven hours of new audio and perhaps four hours of new video. All of this will be released in bulk, but its primary purpose will be to spark Russell’s creativity in making a series of Q&A podcasts, a sort of Russell Shaw Sales Success FAQ.

This will be organized in FAQ-like form, with an index page of questions, each one linking to the podcast of the answer. You’ll be able to read the index to look for specific questions. Or, if you like, you could just start with the first question and work your way through the training course, one podcast at a time. And, catching the tiger by the long tail, organic searches will lead people who hadn’t even known about the course to particular podcasts.

As Russell mentioned last night, you should email him with any questions you might have. In very short order, he’ll start answering them one by one and we’ll start building the FAQ.

In the mean time: I had email about where to go for more information- and inspiration-rich real estate podcasting content. I confess to ignorance on the subject. Cathy has an iPod, and now Russell has one, but I don’t. I have about 12 days of unique content in iTunes, but it’s all music. I’ve listened to a few real estate podcasts in the iTunes store, but they’ve seemed pretty spammy to me.

So: Tell us where to go for good real estate podcasts, video or audio. If we can unearth some treasures, I’ll build a link page so that others can find them more easily.

Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing

April 18, 2007

JOIN SAM WERCINSKI, THE NEW REAL ESTATE COMMISSIONER, ON THURS., JUNE 21, 2007

by Russell Shaw

Mega-Producing Realtor

Regarding the success seminar tonight (Tuesday), it was wonderful to meet Brian Brady in person, and to see Jay Thompson and the other familiar faces (Matthew Hardy & his lovely bride) but a special thanks to Allen Butler and Greg Swann. Also, I need to mention that Greg and his bride, Cathy bought me a wonderful surprise gift – a video ipod. Totally unexpected, and a delightful and much appreciated gesture. (now I can see and hear myself more!:-)

It looks like we now have a direction for the future. I would like to use what we have as a base and in addition get any questions anybody has and respond to them via a direct video recording. We can have the responses indexed via the questions and anyone who wants to hear / see the answer to that question can watch that video. Allan can direct me regarding any needed equipment and Greg now has the web space to host all of this. Feel free to fire away with questions – I won’t
be able to get to all of them at once, but we can get started with the video postings soon.

____

I received the following via email. The panel will most likely consist of me, Jo Ann Calloway, Walt Danley and Mike Mendoza. If you aren’t from the Phoenix area those names might not mean much. If you are – you will recognize each of their names as leaders in the industry. I am really looking forward to meeting the new commissioner, as I have heard only really good things about him. I am posting this now, as I suggest you make your reservation early – this will be standing room only.

___

Hi Russell,

It was a pleasure to speak with you last week about being on our expert panel at the event being hosted to provide Sam Wercinski with a professional forum to explain his future vision of ADRE. As we get closer to the event, the message below will be altered to include the names of Read more

April 17, 2007

How Google Blogsearch ranks weblog posts . . .

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

ProBlogger. Long, detailed post, but this stands out: Far from being a bad thing, blogrolling matters a lot. No telling how Blogsearch affects the main search engine, but it’s reasonable to surmise that they at least confer with each other.

Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing

April 17, 2007