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November 6, 2007

HR 3915: Anti-Consumer Bank Protection Act of 2007

by

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

Author website

HR 3915, the Anti-Consumer mortgage bill has passed the House Financial Services Committee. This was expected. The committee is chaired by the bill’s sponsor, Barney Frank. This bill seeks to destroy the consumer protections, guaranteed by free markets, through: a legislated oligopoly, a reduction is loan choices, and a contraction of loan pricing options, all dressed up as consumer protection.

This isn’t cause for concern…yet. Today’s House FSA approval was akin to a Politburo approval of Khrushchev’s recommendation of the Communist slate of officials – with Khrushchev presiding.

The horse trading with this bill starts tomorrow. The bill will be read to the House “Committee of the Whole” where time will be allotted for debate and amendments will be considered. ( C-SPAN junkies, this is where time is allotted to the “Gentlewoman from California” wherein she rambles about baby seals for two minutes and offers her support for the mortgage bill. Then, the “Gentleman from Arizona” talks about the second amendment for two minutes and concludes with his dissent for the mortgage bill. )

Mandatory licensing of originators will most likely be recommended although nobody will really understand why it’s necessary. Republicans and Democrats alike favor licensing- the former for its ability to fleece money from people without the appearance of a tax and the latter because it asserts some level of governmental control.

The “fiduciary duty” rule will be attached, also. Nobody knows what that means but it sounds SO DAMNED GOOD to the little people back in the home state.

Yield Spread Premium will not go away but be limited to 1%. Prepayment penalties will be abolished. A lobbyist will buy a legislator lunch, explain in fourth grade math about how it helps the consumer, who, in turn, will explain the concept to the Committee of the Whole, in third grade math. That amendment will be made and everyone will champion the cause of the consumer and smoke another cigar.

The Committee of the Whole will read the bill for a third time, with my predicted amendments, and the House will overwhelmingly pass the bill for referral to the Senate.

The Distinguished Senate Leader will announce Read more

November 6, 2007

The Guy Down At The Car Wash Gets It…

by

Associate Broker

Author website

There’s a lesson in all this, I promise you

In a transitional part of Atlanta, there now stands a brand spankin’ new car wash. It used to be a Burger King, but that closed years ago… and after demolition, this lot sat vacant for several years.

Fast forward a few years, and a sign went up announcing the construction of the car wash. That sign was up for at least a year in advance of the car wash actually being built… so on this busy street – there was NO question that EVERYONE in the area knew a car wash was coming.

So a few weeks ago, they opened for business – all bright and shiny – and offered a grand opening special of $5.99 to wash a car. They had a guy holding the sign out at the street to make sure everyone knew they were open and that a car wash was only $5.99.

Then, the following week, the sign guy was still out on the street – waving the public in – but this time, his sign stated “$4.99” – instead of the previous week’s “$5.99”. Hmm… maybe they’re making it up on volume, who knows?

Another week goes by, and now the sign guy is holding a sign stating “$3.99”. Do you see a pattern here? Good. You’re paying attention. Because there is one.

The car wash still does not really have any customers that I can see. And I’d be willing to guess that the owners are starting to panic. After all, they probably spent a million dollars building this place.

So here’s my analysis and how it relates to real estate:

The car wash owners obviously realized that the market did not accept their initial price – no matter how much promotion they had done… and they responded with price adjustments.

Home sellers should take note of this market economics fundamental.

However, what the car wash owners have failed to realize is that two miles down the road is a well-established car wash that has been there for over ten years… and they have a $3.00 car wash. So – unless they add more value Read more

November 6, 2007

“It’s A Great Time To Buy!” — But This Time, For Different Reasons

by

Mortgage Planner

Author website

Pirate's Booty

You hang around enough real estate agents, and you start to understand why “it’s a great time to buy real estate”. The reasons are many:

  • “You get terrific tax deductions.”
  • “Long-term, real estate is a fantastic investment.”
  • “With so much product available, you’ll be able to set your price.”
  • “This is the slow season — sellers are desparate.”

Well, now you’re going to hear from a mortgage guy why it’s a great time to buy real estate:

    The banks may not lend you money for very much longer.

The Federal Reserve surveys senior bank lending officials each quarter and not since 1990 has getting an approval for a residential home loan been as difficult as it is today.

And before you think I’m talking about “sub-prime”, think again. This is for all loan types — “prime” loans, too.

I read the story in Marketwatch as reported by the man with the best name in real estate reporting — Rex Nutting. Two out of every five banks surveyed tightened its lending guidelines for borrowers with ample income, ample assets, and strong credit, it said.

As an active mortgage planner, I can attest that this is true. Before long – maybe even before the New Year — I expect that five out of five will report tightenening up.

For people searching for new home loans, it’s like shopping at a supermarket that no longer stocks its shelves. Before long, there’s going to be very little food left and you’re going to go home either (a) hungry, or (b) with something you didn’t want.

It’s wise to do your shopping today, therefore, rather than take the chance that your Pirate’s Booty will still be on the shelf next month.

Why is today a great time to buy, the mortgage planner asked rhetorically? Not because real estate is a good long-term investment, he answered. It’s a great time to buy because the right mortgage product might not be there to finance it for you tomorrow.

November 5, 2007

Weapons of Mass Instruction

by

The Real Estate Group, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA

Author website

We are in a war, my friends. I am not talking about Iraq or the War on Terror, but a marketing war. In this war, we are battling to sell homes in a sea of inventory. Sellers are not listening to us. What we need is Weapons of Mass Instruction (sorry Rush…need to borrow the line) to break through and win.

Weapon 1: The IED (Improvised Educational Device):

Most MLS systems have “dream home finders” or “Email Updates” or other such systems. They are designed to provide buyers the latest listings via e-mail. “Get the latest listings as soon as they are on the market!” is how we sell them to our buyers.
Time to improvise! Use it on your sellers! If they live in a subdivision, set this program to give them ANY home price changes, sales, expireds or withdrawals. This provides your seller a real education as to the market in their specific neighborhood.

You would be amazed at the changes that they will make when they see the guy down the street drop his price in near real time. Call it your “Competitive Market Update”

Weapon 2: Electronic Warfare and Recon
This weapon is deployed by using one of several available feedback systems using email. The difference between feedback provided via e-mail vs via phone is that the e-mail feedback goes directly to the seller from the showing agent. Unaltered marketing information that is unfiltered and unmessed with, delivered in a email at light speed.
We have used this type of system for over a year and have had pretty stellar results. Why? Because when a seller gets information directly from the showing agent, they HAVE to accept it as valid. When they hear it from you, they think that it is less reliable.

I realize that may be hard to accept. We think we have done a great job of selling them on our value, but the bottom line is that they take what we say with a grain of salt. it could NOT have been the 5 years of cat pee that turned the sellers off. No, it wasn’t that the price was 20K Read more

November 5, 2007

Green building will soon be invisible

by

Realtor, Real Estate Ethicist

Author website

Three years ago, buyers rarely asked questions about utilities. When I recommended that they to bump the SEER rating on the HVAC, the response may have been, “Why? We’re moving in two years.” This year brings a different story – most want to know the monthly utility bills, some ask whether rain barrels (referred to as a “god-send” by my neighbor, in the context of Virginia’s current drought) are allowed by the HOA, others want to know if they can put up a clothes line (some can, others can’t).

The Wired blog notes that $100 oil will push innovation towards new technologies. The impact on the residential real estate market will be substantial. I suspect that a relatively small segment of the population “goes green” because of altruism. No longer is green confined to the fringe, regarded as being vastly more expensive than “normal” goods and services. Going green frequently means saving green – something everybody can support.

The Emerging Trends in Real Estate® report released recently shows, among other trends, an increasing awareness of the mainstreaming of “green”.

Real estate developers and investors haven’t gravitated toward greater environmental consciousness (“going green”) just to save the planet, although reducing carbon footprints and harmful emissions sounds fine. “This is not about Al Gore and global warming,” insists one interviewee. “It’s good for business and it’s good for marketing.”

The signs are obvious – Energy Prices surged in 2006. Energy Efficient Mortgages are gaining momentum and awareness. There are movements within various MLS’s to add green criteria, such as Earthcraft, LEED certified, Energy Star …  There’s even a green listing site. You don’t think that NBC would be “going green” for the next seven days unless there was profit involved, do you? CNBC not-so-subtly notes “Green is the Color of Money.”

The next few years will bring revolutions in design – driven by consumer demand (and a push here and there from governments) – towards smaller, smarter homes, more efficient transportation, and in a return to yester-year, more self-sufficient developments with corner stores, schools within walking distance and a refreshing integration of residential and business. More and more Read more

November 5, 2007

Greetings! and my unique point of view…

by

The Real Estate Group, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA

Author website

First of all..let me say upfront that I am humbled and honored to even be writing on this blog. It is daunting indeed to match wits with Kris, or write anecdotes like Geno, or make a picture clarify a position like Russell…not to mention to try to add to Greg’s insight on issues like Zillow.

There are a ton of others that I could point out as well…I feel like Wayne and Garth at an Aerosmith concert… but I have my guitar and play I will…

I do come from a unique point of view. We all look at the “elephant” of the real estate marketplace from different angles. Here’s my typical view:

istock_000003919673xsmall.jpg
One of the great things about my job is that I get to work with 120 real estate agents and teams all in one office. Why, you ask, is this fun? Well, speaking personally, it is because working with 120 agents means that I get to work with 140 business plans (written or not..)!

80 of the agents have a single plan. (Good idea.)20 of them have two plans (depending on their mood…).2 of them have a plan for every day of the week (grin.) That brings the total to 134 by my count. Then there’s the broker’s business plan, 3 licensed assistants who have unspoken business plans that they won’t tell their teams, but are happy to ask me about..total 138. Almost forgot! The two phone receptionists….ahhh..yes. That rounds it out to 140. They DEFINITELY have plans (just not selling real estate per se…!)

Of these plans, I get to observe the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. I respect the courage of you who (like Kris’ crazy man) brave the heights for the thrill of the ride..i get to live that out vicariously as I do similar things on the search engines.I get to see people build their futures both monetarily and online.

For the record, this was the first real estate related blog that I ever read that even mentioned the Cluetrain (a fact that is sad, but revealing in today’s industry). Pretty cool. I look forward to contributing Read more

November 5, 2007

The Odysseus Medal: “Becoming and remaining a ‘professional’ is not bestowed on someone by virtue of a degree or a certificate”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I am buried. I have five houses in play and Cathy is on compulsory bed rest — on pain of hospitalization. I have a zillion little jobs that need doing around here, and I keep coming up with new ideas. For instance, I think it would be cool to promote the long list of Odysseus Medal nominees as a feed, as they come in, so that people can see what others are nominating. I say “sufficient unto the day” all the time, but, for now, I have to really mean it, because I can’t afford to get sick.

Here’s a classic joke:

Q: How do you get a professional poker player off your porch?

A: Pay him for the pizza, cheapskate!

I’ve never been a big booster of the idea of real estate as a profession because I tend to associate the word “professional” with people who lie about what they do for a living and live in Uncle Bob’s basement. Real estate is a business, on its best days, and someday it might grow to be an industry — if it ever dares to wean itself from Big Mother’s teat.

Bill Leider from Real Estate Shows has a different take on the matter, and he deploys it to take this week’s Odysseus Medal with What Is A Professional?:

When we shift the focus of the term professional from what we do to how we are perceived and treated, the definition and the entire concept of the designation “professional” changes.

In that context of status and respect, what exactly is a professional? I believe that a “professional” is someone who takes what they do, whatever that happens to be, and transforms it into an art form. They make the mundane look magnificent. They make seemingly impossible things look drop-dead easy. They cover all the details, all the time. They master the subtleties. They silently acknowledge that they have a gift for what they do and they give that gift to the people in their world respectfully and compassionately. They know that they have never “arrived.”

They are never content with their present body of knowledge. They live with a Read more

November 5, 2007

One more for the hunt: Introducing Eric Blackwell

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The winner of The Black Pearl Award a few weeks ago is the newest contributor to BloodhoundBlog:

Eric Blackwell is Director of Technology for a RE/Max franchise in Louisville, KY. He is active in the real estate webmasters community and consults on Search Engine Optimization and Marketing for select clients.

Eric is a good soldier, so he’s pointing his BloodhoundBlog traffic to his day job, but he also operates the hugely informative Eric On Search weblog.

How many contributors do we intend to add to BloodhoundBlog? As many as it takes to make sure we don’t miss anything. And with that in mind, if you have something we need, we need to hear from you. There is plenty of room in the RE.net for many voices. But if you can command the attention of a national audience, we can provide the platform so that your voice will be heard.

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November 5, 2007

TV writers shoot selves in foot: Rassafrassin’ swearing unconvincing

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

TechCrunch:

The strike poses an interesting challenge for television at a time where internet usage has surpassed TV viewing time in most homes. Users are already choosing online entertainment over TV, how many more will switch off their televisions when their favorite shows stop going to air? These eyeballs present a real opportunity for online content creators at all levels; from the VC funded video startups through to the DIY part timers. The trends in viewer numbers have all been headed online to this point, this strike could well accelerate this trend, particularly if it lasts over the long term.

I was thinking about this yesterday, and, of course, this was the subject of the very first post I wrote on BloodhoundBlog:

In a subsistence culture, the work of the mind is precious and literally unsupportable. We are by now so rich that millions of people can create intellectual resources that they give away, in turn to be remarketed by others…. If almost-as-good is free or nearly free, what is the market value of slightly-better?

As an irony supplement, some of the free content that will be created during this strike will have been created by the strikers.

Amendment: Like this:

There are natural barriers to wealth, such as scarcity and inaccessibility. There are man-made barriers to wealth, like walls and laws. And there are barriers to wealth that are co-factors of relative wealth and poverty.

In a condition of vast abundance, trying to build walls around popular media content is an effort doomed to failure. What the Writers Guild actually needs to advance its agenda is not a strike but a campaign to forbid the creation of cheesy entertainment without a license.

And now you understand the National Association of Realtors…

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November 4, 2007

I may see you on the way down

by

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

At our office meeting this past week, our manager shared this video with the troops. Our meeting, you see, happened to coincide with Halloween, and the intended nexus was a scary market and overcoming fears.

So, watch the video of the Crazy Man with a Death Wish (I dare you to take your eyes off of it), and we will have a short review and Q & A following the show.

Review

We all have fears, and to a real estate agent who enjoys the finer things in life, such as food, shelter, and the occasional trip to the Haircut Store, our current market can be quite frightening. These fears can be overcome, as demonstrated by Crazy Man with a Death Wish.

Simply think of your career as one big-ass challenge, one where you have been dropped at the top of a ginormous mountain with a snowboard. Think of your career as teetering on the head of a very tall pin. Executed with absolute precision and focus, you will reach your goals. Flawlessly navigate the moguls of misfortune, and you will quickly reach base camp from the pinnacle of self-doubt. Screw up, and every limb will be ripped from your fragile body in a single, excruciating moment of self-destruction, or worse. You might not get the Top Producer plaque at the year-end awards ceremony.

Q & A

Q. This is supposed to be metaphorical of my real estate career? Isn’t Crazy
Guy going downhill very, very fast?

A. Yes, and your point is?

Q. Wouldn’t a better metaphor be one where I am at the foot of the ginormous mountain of opportunity, and I must work very hard to scale same?

A. Just trying to keep it real here, but good point. Do you have a link to that video?

Q. Okay, so what if I am schlepping my pathetic unprepared self up that vertical slope toward solvency and see the oncoming avalanche of no-fear agents on their way down?

A. Make a snow cave.

Q. Can I fly the helicopter?

A. No.

Tomorrow we will watch a spooky video involving an agent who, while dropping notepads at random doorsteps, survives an attack by a pack of rabid Lhasa Apsos who had escaped their model-perfect, highly upgraded Read more

November 4, 2007

The Odysseus Medal competition — Voting for the People’s Choice Award is open

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

A dozen-and-a-half nominees, but seven of them are from BloodhoundBlog. We had a great week; there were five more that I had to wince hard and cut.

A lot from the news, as usual, plus tools, tips, tricks and techniques and the kind of deep thinking that makes this competition what it is.

Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

< ?PHP $AltEntries = array ( "Galen Ward -- Photos Photos are worth 1,000 words (and a lot of money too)”,
“Kris Berg — The green room The Green Room“,
“Jim Cronin — RE weblogging The 7 Reasons Why Your (Future) Clients Should Care That You Are a Real Estate Blogger“,
“Jim Duncan — Martyr yourself? Are you willing to martyr yourself to the industry?“,
“Dan Green — Investors in ARMs Falling Prices And Adjusting ARMs: Real Estate Investors Have A Way Out“,
“Jay Thompson — Prize money? A Commission is Prize Money (?!?)“,
“Richard Warren — Trickle down The Economic Trickle Down Effect“,
“Rhonda Porter — Mortgage witch hunt The Mortgage Witch Hunt“,
“Steve Belt — Trulia Voices Opting out of Trulia Voices“,
“Brian Brady — Hiring a Realtor Hire A Realtor Like You Would Sign a Top NFL Draft Pick“,
“Bill Leider — What is a professional? What Is A Professional?“,
“Geno Petro — La spinster? Mademoiselle? Oui. La Spinster?…ZUT!“,
“Kris Berg — Gas guzzler My Hybrid is a Gas Guzzler“,
“Michael Cook — Perfect storm Real Estate Perfect Storm Warning: Do Not Miss This Window of Opportunity“,
“Brian Brady — HR 3915 HR 3915 Is Dangerous“,
“Teri Lussier — Twittering Twittering on a wing and a prayer“,
“Geno Petro — Search or sell Search Or Sell, Young Man“,
“Kris Berg — Genoa Petrol You, ma’am, are no Genoa Petrol!”
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    Deadline for next week’s competition is Sunday at 12 Noon MST. You can nominate your own weblog entry or any post you admire here.

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    • November 4, 2007

    The Odysseus Medal competition doesn’t change its clocks, but virtually everyone else does: Nomination deadline is 12 Noon MST

    by

    Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

    Author website

    Cut-off is today at 12 Noon MST, which means that folks on the left coast, particularly, need to adjust their thinking. In any case, if you know of something that reeks of pith (does that sound right?), your own work or someone else’s, nominate it now before you have to wonder what time it is in Phoenix.

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    Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

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