Watch for the Signs: Look into Your Crystal Ball
Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
How many times have your clients or friends asked you about your crystal ball? My clients ask me all the time. It’s almost daily you hear, “If I buy this house, how much do you think it will appreciate in the next 2 years, or 5 years?” or “How much more money will I make on my house if I wait a year to sell it?” Practitioners need a new core course to renew our licenses titled, “Gypsy 101,” or “Palm Reading 201.” Or you can just read this blog entry and you can become pretty good at being psychic. There are two parts in being psychic right now to know what is happening with the market: know how to price listings, and to know what to tell your clients.
First, you must follow the rules. In 2006 when the market was booming in Utah, there were numerous people that came to me and asked, “Should I buy this home? All I have to do is use my credit and flip it the next day.”
Many of you now are thinking, that’s common sense. But then it wasn’t. It was very enticing, someone’s friend just made $100,000 doing one flip supposedly. I asked 2 questions. Read more
Not Blogging Like You Should
Filed under: Business Challenges, Technology & Social Media
By Amy Steele
Amy Steele
I have been remiss. I readily admit it. I used to blog about the Crestline and Lake Arrowhead area in California on the ActiveRain platform regularly. The best part about ActiveRain is that you get to learn from other real estate professionals from all across the country, reading their stories and experiences, and what to do and what not to do in today’s real estate market.
I am also a chosen YPN Lounge blogger, and my duties to my colleagues for being chosen as such should definitely take precedence.
I am on ActiveRain daily, reading what others post, but lately I haven’t been posting my own content. Why? I suppose it’s because I end up reading a lot of other blogs, and by the time I should write my own, I end up doing paperwork, going through the nearly 400 e-mails I get daily, cleaning my desk, watering my plant, or watching a movie on Netflix (gasp! For the record, that only happened once on a Sunday doing floor time in the spring on a REALLY foggy day).
Once you get into this mode of self-defeatism, it is hard to break back out of it.
Working With Short Sales: Too Much Junk in the Trunk! Try These Navigation Techniques
By Dave Robison
A short sale would have you think it’s going to be a quick and short closing. The problem is they all have too much Junk in the Trunk. In a race, their tail end is dragging along the ground, which makes the vehicle go about as slow as my kid in a wagon.
Here are two examples of what is going wrong and what you can do about it.
First case involves Aurora. We submit an offer in to the bank on our listing from a buyer. It goes 60 days or so before we get a negotiator from the bank. In the meantime a couple comes in with an offer for higher than what the current offer is. Aurora approves a sale price and we should be good to go right? Wrong!
The bank will only take the offer they reviewed. You can’t switch it out for a higher offer. If you do, you have to cancel the offer, resubmit another offer and guess what …. wait another 60 days for a negotiator. Too much junk in the trunk! All of these policies in their trunk are making the banks lose even more money.
Second case involves Fannie Mae. Banks appraisal at $230,000. FannieMae wouldn’t accept less than $270,000. Really? That’s right, Fannie Mae won’t take anything less than $270,000 when the purchaser owes $255,000. That is just plain silly that they think a buyer is going to come up with $40,000 more than what it appraises for.
This home got foreclosed on. Today, it is on the market for the same price it could have sold for 8 months ago. They could have cut their losses 8 months ago but now their cut is getting deeper and deeper.
Third case from various lenders. They approve the short sale but want the seller to sign a note for the difference. The sellers are going into bankruptcy. This doesn’t make any sense. If they could make payments for the difference, they would rent it out and make payments for the difference.
I have three deals right now with different banks that the banks want a note and the buyer won’t sign. The buyers attorney said don’t do it. We are doing bankruptcy.
Video Challenge: Enter Your Videos on the Home Buyer Tax Credit
Submit you video to the challenge: The 2009 REALTOR Party Video Contest challenges REALTORs to make a short, personal video explaining how the Home Buyer Tax Credit has helped their clients buy their first home.
The contest runs until Sept. 30.
The winning entry will receive a $500 American Express gift card and be shown at the Annual Convention in San Diego in November.
Two runners-up will receive Flip UltraHD Camcorders.
Get more information about the contest rules and instructions on how to enter >
Get Involved: Habitat for Humanity Event at REALTOR® Conference
YPN members: If you plan on attending the 2009 REALTOR® Conference & Expo in San Diego this November, consider participating in the Habitat for Humanity build. This will be the first “green” Habitat project.
Only 80 people can participate in the Nov. 11 event. Sign up to volunteer online at www.realtor.org/conference.
July 30 Webinar on Social Media: Playback the Recording
In case you missed the July 30 YPN Webinar on “Use Social Media to Get Results,” the recording is now available online.
View other upcoming real estate webinars through REALTOR® Magazine, including an Aug. 27 webinar on “Understanding Lease-to-Own Deals.”
Nashville YPN Kicks Off Chapter With Networking Event
The Greater Nashville Association of REALTORS® launched their new YPN chapter with a wine tasting event on July 16 at Sunset Grill. About 75 young professionals turned out for the networking event. View the photos below!
Get your YPN chapter’s events featured on the YPN Lounge blog! Send in your photos and write a blog post about your event to share with our YPN community. Please send to ypn@realtors.org (subject line: “YPN Lounge: Chapter Event”).
Is the “Discovering Commercial Real Estate” Course for Me?
By Julie Cain Cwynar
Have you ever asked yourself if commercial real estate may be for you? Not sure where to start or where to go for answers? The “Discovering Commercial Real Estate” course is an excellent place to begin! After taking the course, I feel as though I’ve just had an in-depth conversation with an experienced commercial broker who has described what I need to do to begin in the commercial arena.
Below are a number of interesting points I have taken from the course:
- Commercial real estate requires a long-term, singularly-focused commitment. Practicing both residential and commercial real estate will only lengthen the process of achieving success in the commercial arena.
FREE July 30 YPN Webinar on Social Media: Register Today!
Learn how you can use social media to land new business. YPN will be hosting its first Webinar on July 30 featuring three real estate professionals who will share how they’ve leveraged social media in new ways to get more clients.
Register online for this free Webinar >
In case you miss it, the recording will be available shortly after the live event on July 30 at REALTOR® Magazine Online.
YPN: Get Ready for the REALTOR® Conference! Here’s Why You Can’t Miss It!
San Diego will be the place to be this fall! The 2009 REALTOR® Conference & Expo will be in San Diego Nov. 13-16, and YPN members will have plenty of opportunities to network and attend sessions to better your business!
There will be a range of sessions to help you maximize technology, improve your prospecting, and jump-start your sales with a special Young Professionals track. This lineup of sessions, identified by our YPN Advisory Board, features a sample conference calendar to help you get the most from your conference. View the Young Professionals track online.
Also, be sure to watch this short video from YPN Advisory Board Chair Shannon Williams King, who will be delivering the session “Real Estate Road Warrior,” at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. In the session, King-who runs two real estate offices in different states-will provide 15 new tools to help you get more out of your business, including how to start a virtual office, mobile technology to help you stay ahead of the curve, and how you can be more profitable and efficient in your business.
You can view other videos from conference speakers at REALTOR.org.
Also, save the date: YPN’s annual networking event! On Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m., you’ll have the chance to connect with more than 300 other new and young real estate pros in the business. Read more
