Top Ten Reasons Your Realtor Advertising Isn't Working

I often talk to clients who bemoan that their Realtor advertising isn't working. And, as a matter of fact, I usually recommend against buying ads when the salespeople call, peddling ads in everything from high school yearbooks to restaurant bathrooms. I'm not against advertising, it's just that an awful lot of Realtor advertising - like most small business advertising - is "armchair advertising." It might look like something anyone can do, but advertising is a science built up on trial and error. There are some major errors you can avoid, though, to increase your changes of trial and success. Here are my top ten reasons most Realtor advertising does not work:

1. No Intention
You wouldn't hire an employee without having a task for them to do, so why would you buy advertising without a mission for it to accomplish? Sorry, but "creating awareness" is NOT mission. "Have people call me," "send people to the form on my website," or "increase attendance at my open house" are missions. If you don't know what specific mission you want your advertising to accomplish, donate the money to your favorite charity instead. At least there it will do something worthwhile!
2. No Message
"Hi, I'm a realtor" is not much of a message. The audience thinks, "well, that's nice for you... but what's in it for me, the client?" You want to tell home buyers the benefits of choosing you as their realtor.
3. No Brand
Your brand is your promise, communicated in "1,000 small gestures." The message, style, imagery, and language are all elements of your brand as a real estate agent. Combining your brand with a call to action will double effectiveness.Start working on your own authentic, profitable brand here.
4. Wrong Medium
Ads, especially audio ones, require repetition for audiences to remember them. So, for example, if your budget only allows for one radio ad, then save your money. Another example would be an add for luxury cars in a high school yearbook. Do high school students usually buy luxury cars? Yes, it's great to support the local high school. But, think of it as charity, not advertising.
5. Not Integrated
Do your business cards, website, brochures, and ads all communicate the same message? If the look and feel shows that some pieces aren't up to date, your message gets confused. By contract, integrated messages act like echoes, except they get stronger and stronger.
6. No Call to Action
"Give me a call today." "Get your free report at my website." In point no. 1, you decided what you wanted the ad to do. Now, ask your audience to do it!
7. No Intended Audience
We've talked before about the importance of limiting your intended audience. You also don't want to be everyone's real estate agent. If you prefer to work with commercial properties, then don't advertise in the "Living" section of the newspaper. We walk you through discerning your intended audience in the Enlightened Marketing Branding Roadmap.
8. Boring
I think this one speaks for itself. A good ad agency should be able to make a compelling, professionally designed ad.
9. No Testing
Porsche, IKEA, etc. can afford to test their ads before scientifically controlled focus groups. Now, real estate agents don't have to go that far. What you can do is simply ask friends and colleagues in your intended audience what they think. Show them the ad your agency has proposed and ask: "What message does this ad convey to you? Does it look like you'd expect from me?"
10. No Tracking
Marketing yourself as a realtor is a process. You can't just do it (successfully) in one shot. If you want to learn from what you do and improve, then you've got to track your results.
I often hear, "oh, I tried that once, but it didn't work." Well, why not? Was the message wrong? Was it in the wrong medium? Was the ad not shown often enough?
But how to track the ads, you ask? One typical approach is "mention this ad and get an additional 5% off." That's how retailers track adds. When a new client calls, you can simply ask them how they heard about you. It is even possible to set up a special phone number. Think creatively, and the possibilities are endless.

To learn how to create marketing messages that get clients to say, "OMG, I need to work with you!" get your complimentary ticket to the webcast on Jaw-Dropping, Client-Getting Messages.

http://jawdroppingmarketing.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Riegler_Andrews


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Metro Detroit luxury home sales rebound, but at bargain prices

Louis Aguilar, Detroit News staff writer

Sales of $1 million-plus homes in Metro Detroit are brisk again after two years of stagnation, according to industry analyses and local real estate agents.

But it's a painful recovery: Prices have been slashed. Sales have not returned to levels seen before the housing crash and economic recession. And most luxury houses have been on the market sometimes for several years.

Photos of metro Detroit luxury homes
New Pistons owner Gores seeks Detroit-area home

Examples of the discounts buyers have gotten or could receive on high-end homes in the past six months include:

A Bloomfield Hills home originally listed at $7.9 million sold for $1.7 million in January — a nearly 80 percent markdown. It was on the market for 3 1/2 years.

A Bloomfield Township house stayed on the market for 4 1/2 years before being sold in February at a 70 percent discount of $1.87 million.

In Grosse Ile, an estate formerly owned by the late auto aftermarket magnate Heinz Prechter was listed at $11.2 million in 2004. The current asking price is $5.2 million.

"People have succumbed," said Marie Sexton, a West Bloomfield Realtor for Re/Max Property Source. She has sold three $1 million-plus homes so far this year. It is common for sellers to cut half a million dollars off their original asking price, Sexton said.
"(Sellers) have admitted this is where prices are going to stay for a while — no more holding on for a price that you could have gotten a few years ago. It's time to finally sell. But also buy at an incredible bargain, too," she said.

In 2008, sales of million-dollar houses in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties plunged to 54 and 2009 wasn't much better with a total of 65 sales, according to statistics from Realcomp II Ltd., a Farmington Hills real estate information company.

Last year, sales improved 42 percent when 92 properties were bought. This was a marked contrast with overall home sales in Metro Detroit, which fell 8.6 percent in 2010 compared with the prior year, according to Realcomp.

Agents optimistic for 2011
So far through June of this year, 45 houses have been sold for $1 million or more in the three-county region, according to Realcomp. That's about the same as the 44 high-end homes sold during the same six-month period last year.

Several real estate agents said they hope more than 100 high-end properties can be sold in Metro Detroit this year, a number not hit since 2006.

"This year, we've got many more clients finally out looking again at properties, even compared with last year," said Ronni Keating, a Realtor with SKBK/Sotheby's International Realty in Birmingham.

"It's confidence in the economy, interest rates are at an all-time low, (and) prices are never going to be better."

The lion's share of sales activity of $1 million-plus homes is in Oakland County, where 83 high-end properties were purchased in 2010 compared with seven luxury homes in Wayne County and two in Macomb County, according to Realcomp.

"It's the same story. The auto industry has stabilized, and that means everything else is stabilizing," said Realtor Nanci Rands.

She and Meredith Rands Colburn, both associate brokers at Birmingham's Hall & Hunter Realtors, are "very, very busy this year," Rands said.

Many sellers have had their properties on the market for months.

For homes that sold for $1.5 million this year in Oakland County, the properties sat on the market for an average of 254 days, according to data provided by Sexton.

Amenities can drive sales
The average selling price of the Oakland houses was $1.8 million. The average listing price was $2.2 million.

This was a decline from 2010, when the average selling price was $2.3 million and the average listing price was $2.8 million, Sexton said. Average days on the market: 300 or nearly two months shy of a year.

In comparison, the median price of a home in Metro Detroit was $65,000 in June, the latest monthly data available, down 13 percent from a year ago, according to Realcomp.

When prices are competitive, what sells a luxury home are its amenities, Rands said.
"This is for people who enjoy a lifestyle that they can share with others," said Rands as she recently showed off a $4.2 million English Tudor home in Franklin Village. The amenities include a two-story library, multiple fireplaces, a wine cellar, swirling staircases, a pond with a fountain and a gym.

"Many of our clients have made the choice that they want to stay in the area," Rands said. "They can live comfortably."

Short Sales - What Can Go Wrong and How to Avoid Loss

By Evan Leo

While short sales inevitably form a part of most real estate investors' business models, they are laden with pitfalls that can be avoided or managed to make sure your real estate investing business does not suffer.

This article goes though what can go wrong with a short sale and how you can avoid loss to your business.

Short sales can create a lot of equity and profits and make good deals even better or create good deals from deals that were otherwise marginal or non-existent.

The following is a few things that can go wrong in a short sale

1) Short sales take time
Typically it takes two to three months for a short sale to be completed. Sometimes it can take much longer than you expect, sometimes as long as 6 months.
Do not be surprised if your file is lost, or the documents you send do not find your file for weeks. It is therefore important to be prepared for these delays and not have short sales as your primary source of income.

2) Rejected offers
As much as you may think your offer should make all the sense to the lender and that they should accept your offer, sometimes they just reject them.
This means you might have to go with their counter offer or increase your offer price. If the offer does not make business sense, you need to be ready to drop the deal.

3) Shaky sellers
It is not unusual to have your sellers develop cold feet to the short sale process. Lenders need a lot of information, including a statement of hardship where the seller explains the financial difficulty that forces them to be unable to continue making payments. Usually they may need to see proof income, bank statements, etc.
On top of this they may request for more information before they can make their decision.
Some sellers may get discouraged by this process and give up in the middle of the process. As the real estate investor, it is therefore important to explain to the sellers what is involved in the short sale, and the expected time lines and possible pitfalls that can be expected.
As long as they understand the process, they are unlikely to have a change of heart in the middle of the process.

4) Unable to close
You have an approval from the lender but your financing is not ready. Typically, banks will give you a time period within which you must close the deal.
If you are using private money or hard money to close the deal, it is important to make sure you have the process well ahead and ready to close if you get an approval.

If you are a realtor who has submitted a short sale offer to the lender on behalf of a buyer, it is important that you get the buyer scrutinize the property so they know exactly what they are getting for the money.
It is not unusual to a buyer back out or notice problems or repairs and requests to lower the price to cover them.
The bank may accept or reject such counter-offers, but being prepared can save you from this experience.
Successful real estate investing requires that you automate most of your tasks and increase efficiency to do more deals spending less time and money. Learn how you can run your business from a feature packed real estate investor website with numerous designs and features that make your work easier.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Evan_Leo
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Buy a home at the Wayne County Tax Auction

MORE DATES ADDED!!!





People are cashing in on the Wayne County Tax Auction; and so can you. Buying houses at the tax action for $1500 or as little as $500 and selling them to families with poor credit for as much as $6000 to $12,000 on land contract. This is not wrong, but shouldn’t you be one of the people that bought the home at the tax auction for only $500? This can be you and with one of our FREE Introductory seminars you will learn how to do just that. We will provide an overview of the tax sale and explain the benefits of preparing early for the tax sale auction. You too can buy a home for as little as $500.







SEMINARS
Will be every Monday And Saturday in September :

Dates: Monday’s 6pm – 7pm
Saturday’s 11am – 12pm

Fro more information or to register:
Please call 313-340-3600
Or visit our web site at http://www.bid4detroit.com/

Hosted by: JCI Realtors 3845 W. 8 Mile Rd. Detroit, MI 48221
3 blocks east of Livernois across from the Fifth Third Bank

(((Seating is Limited!!!)))

GMAC Mortgage Signs on to States' Hardest Hit Programs

By: Carrie Bay

GMAC Mortgage, the mortgage subsidiary of Ally Financial based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, said Tuesday that the company has signed contracts with all states participating in the Treasury Department’s Hardest Hit Fund (HHF).

The HHF program was established to provide targeted aid to homeowners in states hit hard by the economic and housing market downturn, specifically, states where unemployment rates are above 12 percent and home prices have experienced the steepest drops.

Housing finance agencies in these states have received federal aid in the form of grant money from Treasury to develop their own foreclosure prevention and mortgage assistance programs to address the specific needs of struggling homeowners in their communities.

Since the HHF was established in February 2010, GMAC Mortgage says it has worked continuously to ensure that the federal funding can be delivered to distressed borrowers in every eligible state.

The HHF participating states are: Alabama, Arizona, California, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, Illinois, and Mississippi.

“GMAC Mortgage is committed to helping borrowers in distress,” said Tom Marano, CEO of Ally Financial’s mortgage operations. “Providing our customers with as many options as possible for affordable and sustainable payment relief remains our top priority.”

Marano says GMAC has already been able to provide assistance through the HHF programs to borrowers throughout the country.

Banks' Liability Grows Over Foreclosure Errors

Daily Real Estate News May 25, 2011

Banks' Liability Grows Over Foreclosure Errors If five of the nation’s largest banks can’t reach a settlement with state and federal regulators over shoddy foreclosure practices soon, they stand to face at least $17 billion in civil lawsuits, The Wall Street Journal reports. The banks’ liability could be even more. Banks also owe billions of dollar in possible claims to federal agencies, such as the Justice department and Department of Housing and Urban Development. In over two months of settlement talks, banks and state attorneys general and federal officials have been unable to reach a settlement stemming from allegations of abuses in mortgage services.

Regulators first began investigations last fall into a “robo-signing” scandal, in which banks were accused of approving thousands of foreclosures on home owners without proper reviews. So far, banks have proposed a $5 billion settlement, which would go to compensate borrowers who faced errors in the foreclosure process as well as provide transition assistance for home owners who were wrongly evicted from their homes. However, federal and state officials have said that’s not enough; some have asked banks for more than $20 billion.

Source: “Banks Face $17 Billion in Suits Over Foreclosures,” The Wall Street Journal (May 25, 2011)

Mortgage industry fights to keep 3.5% down payments

Mortgage industry fights to keep 3.5% down payments
by KERRI PANCHUK

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011, 11:46 am

A litany of mortgage industry players spoke in Washington Wednesday about the challenges of doing business in the current housing market.
Additionally, they told the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity, new regulations are doing more to kill their line of work, than to preserve it.
Changes to the current Federal Housing Administration requirement of 3.5% down on home purchases, is a clear example of this well-meaning, yet misguided directive coming from inside the Beltway, they said.
"NAR strongly opposes increasing the downpayment for FHA," said National Association of Realtors President Ron Phipps. "The correlation between downpayment and loan performance is significantly less important than the linkage to strong underwriting, which FHA continues to have. FHA's foreclosure rate remains less than conventional mortgages, so we don't believe changes to the downpayments would do anything but disenfranchise many creditworthy homebuyers."
Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, offered an opposing view, telling the congressmen FHA reserves have fallen to $3.5 billion $22 billion, and warning "further declines could easily erode the remaining reserves," requiring direct appropriations to cover claims, which would put taxpayers on the hook.
Calabria said to ensure the solvency of the agency and to save taxpayers from future bailouts, FHA reforms should require a 5% cash down-payment instead of the current 3.5% threshold.
He also believes the agency should only accept mortgages with reasonable debt-to-income ratios. Calabria said borrower eligibility should be limited to borrowers with incomes that do not exceed 115% of the median area income.
Michael Berman, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said Dodd Frank's proposed risk-retention rule, which requires issuers to keep a 5% stake in securities to provide a hedge against potential losses to investors, could have the opposite effect — keeping private capital on the sidelines.
The oddity is that Dodd-Frank requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to shrink in order to allow private capital back into the mortgage finance market. But risk retention will likely equal a higher down payment as borrowers will also be expected to keep some skin the game.
Berman said current proposals define a qualified residential mortgage under the risk-retention rule as a loan with at least a 20% downpayment. One school of thought is that lenders will not wish to retain risk, without further assurance the homeowners will not walk away from their investments in another scenario of consistent home price declines.
Therefore, as regulators continue to shape the future of the FHA, lawmakers must address the provisions of Dodd-Frank that conflict with the Treasury Department's goal of bringing more private capital back into the market, according to the market participants that testified Wednesday.
"We support FHA’s role as a source of financing for first-time homebuyers and other underserved groups," Berman said. "However, because of the wide disparity between FHA’s down payment requirement of 3.5% and the QRM's requirement of 20%, MBA is concerned that the FHA programs will be over-utilized."
Berman said that end-result would conflict with the Obama administration's stated goal of moving to a market that is more privately funded.
Berman also warned lawmakers about plans to lower the maximum loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA. While these loan-limit levels stand at $417,000 for average homes and $729,750 for properties in high-cost areas, an extension to the maximum loan limit expires Sept. 30. Allowing the expiration would cause the loan limit ceiling to revert back to a maximum high of $625,500.
"MBA believes the higher limits should be maintained until the housing market stabilizes and the private market shows more signs that it has returned," Berman said. "We believe that careful consideration should be given as to whether the housing market is ready for a change in the loan limits."
He added that any extension of the loan limits should occur before Oct. 1, to prevent market disruptions.
Write to Kerri Panchuk.

Real estate agent prices it right ... on 'The Price is Right'

Real Estate Roundabout
By Inman News, Friday, April 29, 2011.
Inman News™

Goddard, Kan., real estate agent Jamey Blubaugh answered the call to "Come on down!" -- and went away with more than $26,000 in goodies as the "Showcase Showdown" winner on a recent episode of "The Price is Right."
Among other prizes, Blubaugh won a washer and dryer, sailboat, underwater cameras, and a vacation on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, according to the Wichita Eagle newspaper.
Blubaugh, who was taped on the show in February, had a party for about 100 supporters in his Keller Williams Real Estate office on the morning the show aired.
Reports from the ranks:
The number of real estate licenses issued annually in the state of Florida has plummeted by about 75 percent since the market began to collapse there. Licenses issued declined from about 47,000 in 2005 to 11,700 in 2010, according to the Miami Today newspaper.

NAR weighs policy change on Facebook, mobile listings feeds

By Matt Carter, Friday, April 29, 2011.
Inman News™

The National Association of Realtors next month will consider revising rules governing multiple listing services in order to explicitly permit brokers or agents to display Internet Data Exchange (IDX) listings on social networking sites and mobile devices.
Some aspects of proposed changes to NAR's IDX policy -- particularly a recommendation to allow IDX listings to be distributed using Really Simple Syndication, or RSS -- have raised concerns by The Realty Alliance, a network of 60 real estate companies whose members include HomeServices of America Inc.
Distribution of listings via RSS "allows anyone to obtain all data in an MLS area with no permission required and allows situations where another broker, who does not have a contract with the seller, (will) broadly publish another broker's listing data with no limitations," The Realty Alliance said in a letter to the chairman of NAR's Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee, Pat Callan.
"This creates a condition where the legally responsible broker is no longer in compliance with their contract with the seller and their MLS rules and regulations."
NAR's Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee, which has been grappling with the issue for more than a year, is scheduled to debate the issue again next month at NAR's midyear meeting in Washington, D.C.
Brokers and agents have wide leeway over how and where they distribute their own listings in order to market properties on behalf of clients.
But IDX listings -- which include all the listings in a given market that brokers have agreed can be published on each other's sanctioned IDX websites -- are governed by more complex rules.
One intent of the rules is to encourage brokers to participate in the IDX system by providing assurances that listings they represent won't be redistributed to other, nonsanctioned sites without their OK.
(In a separate debate involving NAR's IDX policy, The Realty Alliance and Leading Real Estate Cos. of the World are protesting NAR's decision to allow franchise companies to index and display their broker's IDX listings.)
According to the latest report of a work group created to study the issue, NAR began receiving questions from MLS administrators early last year on whether the Internet display of IDX listings was limited to member agents' or brokers' sanctioned IDX websites, and whether delivery via RSS subscription was allowed.
The work group recommended revising the IDX policy to expressly authorize display of IDX information not only on MLS members' sanctioned IDX websites, "but also using RSS subscription, social media, mobile devices, and other electronic means."
The work group's proposal was presented to the Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee in November at NAR's annual convention in New Orleans.
A number of MLS administrators voiced concerns about compliance, questioning how they would monitor social media sites and mobile devices to make sure IDX rules were being followed. Some wondered whether listings posted to social media sites would be kept up to date, and whether required IDX disclosures could fit into formats like text messages and "tweets."
The committee put off making a recommendation to NAR's board of directors, and directed the work group to reconsider issues raised by MLSs.
After meeting again last month, the work group issued another report, acknowledging the issues raised by MLS administrators but concluding that such concerns were outweighed by the benefits of increased exposure of listings.
Increasing the ways MLS members can deliver IDX listings to consumers "might somewhat diminish the control MLSs exercise over that information, and might increase the administrative burden of MLSs," the work group concluded in its report. But "the value to sellers, potential purchasers, and to MLS participants and subscribers that will result from increased availability of those listings through enhanced IDX channels outweighs those concerns."
The Realty Alliance questioned that conclusion, saying the return on investment in distributing listings to multiple websites "drops dramatically after just a handful of websites," while problems and liabilities increase.
"There is no consumer outcry for more sources of listing data, as there exists today a bewildering amount of options, and they tend to concentrate their time on a small number of reliable sites," The Realty Alliance said. "Too often the obscure, third-party websites have old, expired and inaccurate data and do not produce meaningful leads for our firms anyway."

Concerns about RSS

Joe Horning, chairman of The Realty Alliance's board of directors and the president of Wisconsin's largest brokerage, Shorewest Realtors, said that the group is mostly concerned about RSS distribution of IDX listings.
A number of vendors offer "framed" solutions that allow agents to display IDX listings and provide IDX listings searches on their personal website, Facebook page, or blog that are actually driven by the brokers' or agents' sanctioned IDX websites.
"If I put my listings on my Facebook page (using an application) that frames my (sanctioned IDX) site, that's not really putting listings on a social media site," Horning said. "That's fine."
Similarly, "We don't have issues with mobile devices, when they are pulling (listing) data off the (MLS or MLS vendor's) server," because the information will be accurate and accessed with permission. "The RSS transmittal, we're definitely concerned about."
As its name implies, Really Simple Syndication is easier for brokers and agents to implement than "framed" solutions or application programming interfaces (APIs) that typically require support from vendors.
It's also easier for an agent's clients to tap into an RSS feed -- and, critics say, help themselves to listings data in unintended ways.
Michael Wurzer, president and CEO of Fargo, N.D.-based MLS vendor, FBS, said RSS is typically used by brokers and agents who want to provide buyers with updates on new listings in a particular neighborhood they're interested in, rather than to provide a stream of every available listing.
Such uses go hand in hand with mobile devices, Wurzer said. "To be able to read an RSS (listings) feed with Flipboard (a feed reader app) -- that's cool. Who doesn't want that?"
Wurzer said if the concern is that permitting brokers to provide RSS feeds of IDX listings would leave "the whole feed just sitting there, that it just lays it out for anybody," then the work group's recommendations could probably be tightened while still permitting more limited use of RSS feeds.
Mobile "is an interesting twist," Wurzer said, because while brokers and agents can easily argue that a website that's been optimized for mobile falls under the existing definition of an allowable IDX website, "when you enter the world of native applications, that's a little more fuzzy."
MLS executives have said they aren't sure how they will monitor mobile applications that provide IDX listings for compliance.
APIs and framed solutions
In a blog post on the topic, Wurzer said the work group "seems to have the right intent, which is to allow IDX to be a source of innovation and competition for brokers and agents."
But the work group's recommendations could be further refined, perhaps by limiting the number of fields allowed in an RSS feed, or to allow listings to be accessed only through queries directly to MLS servers by purpose-built APIs.
Wurzer's company, FBS, already makes a WordPress plug-in and API that work with the company's flexmls IDX system.
Janet Choynowski, CEO of Immobel Group, said Immobel's IDX-Buzz product serves IDX listings "with full IDX rules and disclaimers embedded" on social media sites such as an agent's or broker's Facebook business page.
"With the IDX-Buzz product, they go in a controlled, quality-assured way, disclaimers and all," Choynowski said in an email. "I think it gives a comfort level, rather than having members posting content to Facebook and tweeting it willy-nilly."
New Jersey-based Limeyboy, a website builder for real estate agents, provides a similar IDX search capability for agents' Facebook pages.
Limeyboy founder Nick Lovegrove said that framed listings solutions don't provide the boost in search engine results that RSS does.
"I do think RSS is a fantastic format for displaying information in a searchable format," Lovegrove said. "Any way to make content more searchable on an agent's website is beneficial" to the agent.

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Keeping score in FICO-fair lending controversy

Commentary: Answers on the horizon?

By Ken Harney, Tuesday, January 4, 2011.
Inman News™

Flickr photo courtesy of @mikepick.

There's a housing issue bubbling away at U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department headquarters in Washington that bears watching by any real estate professional whose clients might be helped by getting an FHA-insured mortgage in 2011.
It drew some press attention late last year, but I think the big news is yet to come. The controversy concerns credit scores and how lenders use them to screen out homebuyers seeking FHA financing -- now the dominant source of mortgage money for purchasers in many markets across the country.
Last year, the Federal Housing Administration set the minimum FICO (Fair Isaac Corp.) score for its lowest-down-payment mortgages (3.5 percent) at 580. Yet dozens of large banks and mortgage companies have insisted on posting their own higher minimum scores -- typically anywhere from 620-640 FICO.
Often they won't even consider loan packages if they see the applicant's score is above FHA's 580 acceptable mark but below their own minimum.
They argue that despite the fact that FHA insures them 100 percent against losses from nonpayments and foreclosures, they worry about the "reputational risk" and possible uninsured servicing income losses they could incur from delinquent, low-score mortgages.
Last month, the lenders' refusal to make loans to people with FICOs between 580 and 620 or 640 triggered federal fair lending complaints against 22 companies -- all filed by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an umbrella organization representing 600 local and state groups and government agencies.

The charge: Cutting out homebuyers with scores between 580 and 620 or 640 disproportionately hurts minority applicants -- African Americans and Latinos especially -- who are more likely than other borrowers to have FICO scores in that range, according to statistical analyses presented in the filing documents.
John Trasvina, assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at HUD, welcomed the filings and said that "for lenders to deny responsible home seekers this source of credit" solely on the basis of credit scores that meet FHA's minimum criteria but not the lenders' own self-set minimums "would raise serious fair housing concerns, and if proven, undermine our nation's recovery efforts."
If Trasvina's staff finds merit in the complaints, the U.S. Justice Department is expected to step in and file federal civil rights suits against the lenders, who include MetLife Bank, Nationstar Mortgage LLC, Bank of the West, Sierra Pacific Mortgage Co., Franklin American Mortgage Corp. and PHH Mortgage Corp., among others.
Flagstar Bank was subsequently added to the complaint list, according to NCRC chief executive John Taylor.
Another 21 banks currently are in negotiations about their score cut-off policies, but three of the original defendants have decided to essentially settle and reduce their FICO thresholds to 580, according to Taylor.
In a discussion with me Dec. 30, he said he could not disclose their identities or those of the 21 lenders who could still be the subject of additional complaints.
What's so important for real estate and lending professionals in all this? Shouldn't banks be allowed to decide what sort of borrowers pose too much credit risk for them? Absolutely.
But here's my take: When the FHA itself tells lenders that 580 scores represent acceptable credit risks for federal mortgage insurance, and that the government will cover the costs of defaults, why reject otherwise qualified applicants out of hand -- with no other review -- when they come in with FICOs well above FHA's threshold but below 620 or 640?
That's what NCRC's dozens of "test shoppers" say they documented while applying for mortgages at each of the 23 banks.
Even when their applications contained substantial evidence of long-term employment, good payment histories, savings and other financial assets plus credit scores in the low 600s, their loan requests were rejected simply because they didn't quite hit the FICO number set independently by the lender.
To put the record straight, FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens -- former president of the Long & Foster real estate brokerage firm and a former executive vice president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage -- weighed in with a memo to lenders before the Christmas holiday break.
While FICO scores of 580 to 620 do "indicate a higher risk of default," he said, FHA has a historical commitment to provide "fair access" to mortgage money "to underserved borrowers," especially those who've suffered temporary economic reverses during the recession but who otherwise are qualified to buy homes.
"Our message is clear," he said. "We are asking our industry partners to consider all the factors to determine the borrower's ability to repay their mortgage and look beyond a simple credit score."
Stevens made no direct reference to the fair-lending complaints filed by NCRC. But if his year-end memo has the intended impact, federal litigation won't be necessary.
All lenders need to do is to look at homebuyers' total financial and credit pictures before writing them off, and the civil rights cases should go away.
The big news yet to come? I expect that most banks will heed Stevens' advice and open up FHA mortgages again to a wider span of applicants. I don't mean giving everybody with a 580-plus FICO a free pass, but taking a closer look to give people a fair shake.
That's got to be helpful to Realtors, builders and, yes -- lenders themselves -- who want to grow their business in 2011.
Ken Harney writes an award-winning, nationally syndicated column, "The Nation's Housing," and is the author of two books on real estate and mortgage finance.

Contact: Ken Harvey

Loan Modification Firms - Top 11 Questions to Ask Before You Hire One

Loan Modification Firms - Top 11 Questions to Ask Before You Hire One
By Todd Wetzelberger

Consumer Awareness Guide: Eleven Critical Questions You Need to Ask Before You Hire a Loan Modification Company

Most people that are experiencing financial difficulty have no doubt heard of loan modifications. They are talked about on the nightly news and although once shrouded in secrecy, they are now common knowledge. Those also in the know, realize that the government solutions to the financial crisis we're experiencing will hardly solve the problem. The first round of government intervention after TARP 1 created "Hope For Homeowners" which was the federal government's attempt at loan modifications.

Well, here are the facts on that one. Of the supposed 400,000 families that were to be shielded from foreclosure, as of this report, approximately 400 loans (that's right 400 total) have been refinanced. Industry executives correctly called the program "useless" because of its onerous details.

Here are the stats on the "Hope Now Alliance" formed in the fall of 2007. Ironically, a former sub-prime mortgage executive was put in charge- can you say "fox in the henhouse?".
Of the 2.2 million foreclosures supposedly "prevented" by Hope Now Alliance, 53% of homeowners were in default again within 6 months. Why, you ask? Because the supposed modifications led to higher, not lower payments, since lenders are tacking on missed payments, taxes, and big fees to borrower's monthly bills.

The newest round of "foreclosure prevention" solutions from the Obama administration unfortunately will not fare much better. Lenders are currently overwhelmed with calls from borrowers since the plan was announced, and don't have the resources or the training to deal with the inquiries.

Homeowners who have tried to get their own loans modified have met with frustration, deceit, incompetence, bureaucracy, and failure due to a system which is rigged to favor the banks, not the homeowners.

I speak form personal experience. Hurricane Katrina wiped out my real estate business and I had to do my own loan modifications. I spent over 2 years trying to get insurance claims paid on damaged properties after hiring several attorneys, public adjusters, and engineers.

The irony was that lenders only allowed a 3-6 month grace period and they wanted their money. I scrambled not only to rebuild my business, but also to save my own home after this catastrophe. I learned a very hard lesson. The banks are definitely not looking out for you. Having a professional on my side would have leveled the playing field.

This report is therefore dedicated to help those that realize that hiring a professional loan modification firm with a track record of success, is their best solution in keeping their home.
Despite what the T.V. pundits tell you when they say "...contact your lender, they want to work things out..." trying to get your loan modified yourself is akin to representing yourself in court. Nine times out of ten it's a bad idea.

With that said, it's easy to be overwhelmed with all the conflicting information out there. After reading this report, you will be armed with the knowledge to evaluate whether or not a loan modification company is legitimate or a scam!

Before you make a decision to hire anyone to handle a loan modification it's vitally important that you answer the following 11 questions. The answers to some of these questions are more subjective and to be taken in as part of a whole, others are absolutely critical.

1.) How long has the company in question been representing clients for loan modifications?
While the fact that a company is new by itself doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to get a bad modification, you're less likely to be scammed if the business you are dealing with has some sort of track record.

If it is a brand new company, or they just started doing loan modifications, you want to use more caution. Even attorneys and law firms are no exception to this rule. Law firms are no exception to the economic turmoil we live in, and as they have seen their billable hours reduced, some scramble to find work in other areas such as loan modifications.

Whether they are actually competent enough to get a successful modification done is a different matter, and they must be evaluated as stringently as any other company.

2.) What is the company's success rate in achieving successful loan modifications?
Most loan modification firms will claim to have above a "90% success rate".
If the company can't tell you their success rate, this is an immediate red flag and you should RUN, not walk the other way! Ask yourself: if you were in a service business like this, would you take the time to know how many loan modifications you had taken on, and how many had been approved?

Second, you need to dig further when a company gives you their so-called "success rate". What does that mean? That the company got a modification with a payment higher than before and the homeowner defaulted 3 months into it - is that considered a "successful modification"?

The definition you should hold of a "successful loan modification" is where the borrower is able to keep their home. Any loan modification company that takes fees after they have a client's budget and knows they can't afford the payment, is inherently unethical.

If the loan modification company can't give you a solid idea of what their REAL success rate is in getting quality loan modifications done that allow the borrowers to stay in their homes at their current income level, then you need to look elsewhere.

3.) Do you have recent examples of successful modifications you have done?
The loan modification company should be able to produce SOME documentation of the work they have done. Since the loan modification documents contain personal financial information, you may see the specific new terms such as interest rate and fixed term, but not the homeowner's personal information such as name, address etc.

If the company cannot produce examples, or they reply "...well I haven't done any yet but I've been a loan officer and a real estate agent for 3 years, how hard can it be?", let someone else be their guinea pig. Saving your home is too important of a task to put in the hands of an amateur.
Also, make sure that the examples are modifications performed by THAT particular company. A typical scam operation will use "generic" testimonials and loan modifications, or will say "As Seen on TV" because a show on CNBC spoke about loan modifications and made no mention of their company.

If you find that the testimonials they provide are not done by them, BEWARE!

4.) What criteria do you look at when deciding whether or not you can do loan modifications?
Examine the answer to this one VERY carefully. Also, make sure you get it answered to some degree, before they know anything about your particular situation.

This is a true test of whether they fall into the boiler room category, or a professional advisor. If the loan modification rep gives a song and dance about how they can do any modification and can save your home no matter what, you know you are dealing with a scam.

A reputable loan modification firm will need to obtain a full analysis and assessment of your hardship, income, assets, liabilities, with supporting docs before they can make any promises, and will be upfront with you that they cannot help every person that contacts them.

Unfortunately, not every homeowner qualifies for a loan modification. If you currently have no income, or any prospects of becoming re-employed in the near future, you may not qualify for a loan modification.

If your lender is not doing loan modifications at this time, you may not qualify. Every situation is different. A competent, professional loan modification company, that does hundreds or thousands of loan modifications each month, knows what lenders are willing to do in terms of modification and these criteria are changing literally weekly, due to the current financial crisis.
It is up to the professionalism of the loan modification company to NOT take your fee if they know they cannot help you, or better yet, have a results-based money back guarantee to hold themselves accountable.

5.) How long does it usually take to successfully negotiate a modification for your client?
Today's lending environment is always fluctuating on a near daily basis, with new legislation being proposed, failed banks, and many other factors. Still, a good loan modification company should be able to give you some idea of how long the process is going to take.

If they duck and run at this question without a clear explanation, you need to give them the finger. (That's taking your finger and pressing the receiver!)

6.) Does the company offer a money bank guarantee for their services? Do they guarantee that you will have a lower payment than before?
This is a big one. Stories abound of people that were promised the world by a loan modification company, paid a fee of several thousand dollars, and ended up never hearing back from the company.

If a company does not offer a guarantee, or gives an excuse such as "..no one can guarantee results", buyer beware. If they do offer a guarantee, examine closely as to what they mean exactly. Some inexperienced loan modification companies do not have the skill to get quality loan modifications done, resulting in payments that are even higher than before!

Bear in mind that loan modification companies take significant risk in offering a guarantee. They are performing a service with up front costs, so it isn't like returning clothes that they can re-sell.
On the other hand, you as the homeowner are taking a GIGANTIC risk in putting out your hard earned money to do a modification.

You see, by having a strong guarantee, the loan modification company essentially provides a check and balance on whether to take your fee or not - since they know if they don't do their job, or get a poor modification done for you, they bear a financial risk.

7.) Do they offer a free approval process or is there a charge up front to take an application?

If your state requires that a loan modification company be registered, are they?
A good loan modification company will generally not charge an application fee, as their goal is to actually help people get their loan modified and stay in their home, not to collect as many application fees as they can. If a company wants an application fee upfront, you may want to investigate their success record a little more.

Certain states such as California are regulated in how loan modification companies can take upfront payments. However, California ironically also has had more modification start ups in the past 6 months (this report was written in March 2008). Many of them are not registered, are complete scams, and playing a cat and mouse game with the Attorney General's office.
Others, like Maryland, require that an attorney review the documents. Know the laws in your state BEFORE you contact the modification company, and listen to what they say either on the phone or on written materials to test their level of competence.

8.) Will I be kept informed throughout the modification process?

Do I have multiple ways to stay in touch on the process - for instance, a way to track my case, phone number, fax number, etc?

You need to have a consistent mechanism to keep track of your file throughout the modification process, ideally a secure website or some form of automated mechanism.

9.) What other lines of business is the company in besides loan modifications? What lines of business were you in prior to loan modification?
When evaluating a loan modification company, the one thing you need to realize is that the businesses are typically small (less than 100 employees). You want to know what professional credentials and experience they bring to the table.

If the principals in the company just closed the doors of their subprime mortgage broker office that was shut down...it may be a red flag.

Do a Google search and look for the names of individuals involved in the company.

While online forums can be useful, bear in mind that with the anonymous nature of text based sites, anybody (including competitors) can pose as a disgruntled customer...and they often do. Many legitimate companies have been ruined by well-orchestrated smear campaigns on behalf of their competitors. Look at the information, but use caution when evaluating what you see on internet forums.

10.) Will you modify more than one mortgage, and do you offer help with a forbearance agreement, short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure? Do you charge extra fees for these additional services?
If a loan modification effort fails, you need to know what "Plan B" is. Even if you can't stay in the house, walking away and doing nothing is DEFINITELY not the right option.

A Deed in Lieu of foreclosure, where you give the house back to the lender, should be your last resort. There are consequences of this action, but they are far less than that of a foreclosure. It will generally leave you with less bruised credit and likelihood of a judgment against you compared to having the lender foreclose.

Some loan modification companies offer alternate services, such as a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure free of charge if the initial effort to modify the loan is not successful and the homeowner is unable to keep the house.

11.) Do you have any complaints against your company with the Attorney General's Office, Better Business Bureau, etc?
This is important to know. If a company has complaints it doesn't necessarily mean they are a bad company, depending on their volume of transactions.

For instance, if a modification company has been in business several years and has processed hundreds or thousands of modifications, a few complaints over several years, is probably not a big deal. However if they started six months ago and already have 30 complaints, then that's probably a red flag.

If the business is reputable, see how they handled any customer complaints, since every business, if they've been around a while, will inevitably have them.

Also bear in mind that the Better Business Bureau rating is VERY subjective - for instance, Best Buy has an "F" rating, and Disney Films has an "E" rating! Ratings also change, so make sure you read between the lines.

Conclusion: We're currently experiencing an unprecedented era of economic turmoil, and it is unfortunate that many vultures have risen to swoop in and take advantage of people's desperation.

Hopefully this report has put you in a more empowered position than you were prior to reading it. By applying it to every modification company you look into, you give yourself a much better chance of finding a competent company that can solve your financial crisis.

Remember, while these questions serve as a measuring stick, you also want to take a step back and look into the "big picture" and as the saying goes, "trust your gut". Is the company run by people who are "visible" and put themselves out there publicly using new media tools like blogs and videos, or do they hide behind "template" websites?

Do you get the feeling that they are competent, and that they also truly have empathy for your situation?

No matter what happens, remember that a house is just that...a building and the finances attached to it. It doesn't define who you are as a person. If you look at the most successful entrepreneurs of our time: many had bankruptcies and serious financial problems in their past.
However they never lost sight of their values or their end goal, learned what they could from the situation, and moved forward to success.

You can spend time asking yourself "why me?", or you can ask yourself "how can I use this challenge to find a way to solve my problem?" - either way you will get an answer. It is up to you to choose which question to ask.

I wish you success in your search for a solution to your housing crisis.
©2009 By Todd Wetzelberger

Real Estate Agents Help Find New Homes

Real Estate Agents Help Find New Homes
By Burke Caball


Unless a buyer has purchased several homes in the past, chances are that the buyer doesn't know enough about real estate to handle it on his or her own. First time homebuyers and inexperienced homebuyers can utilize real estate agents during the home buying process. Although agents cost a bit of money to employ, they are certainly worth it in the end thanks to their expertise.

One of the main reasons why real estate agents are beneficial is that they are fully educated on the process. Unless a buyer went to school for it, the buyer probably doesn't know too much about the process. Agents not only know the buying and selling processes back and forth, but they also have a lot of experience that can benefit the buyer.

Real estate agents also keep tabs on market conditions in their area. This information can help future buyers find out the average prices of new homes in Monmouth County so that they don't end up overpaying for a house. They typically have a good knowledge of the best areas in town, and will let buyers know what neighborhoods to avoid.

One of the hardest parts about buying is making direct contact with the seller. It can be awkward to give the seller a price that is lower than their asking price. Real estate agents become the middle person, so to speak, and take the awkwardness out of buying and selling. They deal with the seller so that the buyer doesn't have to.

Evans Enterprises has stood as the benchmark for modular home design and construction of new homes in Monmouth County. (http://www.evansmodularhomes.com/)

Does Steering Still Happen In Today's Real Estate Market?

Does Steering Still Happen In Today's Real Estate Market?
By Adam Ciboch

In the United States most people believe that the fight for equal rights is over. Discrimination against ethnic minorities in areas such as public transportation and restaurants is no longer a problem. While it is encouraging that our nation has come so far, there still exists a practice among real estate brokers of showing and selling houses based on a person's ethnicity, although it is not as common as it once was. This is called steering.

There are two types of steering which are typically acknowledged. The first pertains to the real estate agent's duties of advisement to his or her clients. Sometimes a real estate agent might advise his or her clients to buy a home in a particular neighborhood solely as a consequence of their actual or perceived race. If this happens, it is referred to as steering.

Steering of second kind involves not doing something, on the other hand. It occurs when a real estate broker fails to show his or her clients any homes that meet their desired requirements. It can also simply be failing to inform the clients that such homes even exist on the market in a given area. The client's actual or perceived ethnic make-up must be the driving factor behind this act of omission. It is considered steering if this occurs.

In an effort to combat steering and other offenses of fair housing rules in the United States, federal regulations are also established. Prohibiting discrimination on the basis of ethnicity whenever a sale, rental, or financing of housing happens, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 is an illustration. Additionally protecting people from similar housing discrimination based on religion, national origin and sex, subsection 3604 is a part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that is also referred to as the Fair Housing Act.

Steering, although now out-of-date and highly unusual in today's real estate market, was once a serious problem during the battle for equal minority rights in the United States. It is fortunately becoming less of an occurrence, however, now that ethnicity is protected by federal laws.

A Closer Look on Why You Couldn't Sell Your Home

A Closer Look on Why You Couldn't Sell Your Home
By Scarlette Brooks


If you are wondering why you could not sell your home property despite all the efforts that you have exerted, then there must be something that you have to work on. If time continues to pass by without you having your property getting sold in Southlake real estate, then perhaps you should step back and take a closer look at what you have been doing lately and try to analyze things to find out what are the underlying reasons or factors that hinder you from finally selling your property.

To begin with, you might have to start doing some research on which kinds of homes are selling in your vicinity. It's better if you would check out nearby properties to find what kinds are popular among buyers. Perhaps you could also find out what qualities are common among the other homes that have long been waiting for a buyer but always fail to do so. Some minor details about the current condition of your house might need some of your utmost attention. Who knows, you might just have to change the color of the house's paint to close the deal with a potential buyer.

Not all of your potential buyers have the time or ability to take a complete walkthrough in your house, though some might try to do so; but still, not everybody would be patient enough to tour around the property that you're selling. This is the time when photographs and other digital means of presenting the property come in handy. Photos or images are basically the most common way of showing to the market how your property looks like in its entirety without them having to personally check each part of the house.

However, the photos you show to your buyers might also be the reason why you're buyers lose interest in purchasing your house. Low quality images or shots that look too unprofessional are not very good visual tools to convince your buyers. Try using higher quality images. Perhaps you should try those images with a higher resolution. So that whether you have them printed out or have them on presented to your buyers, let's say using a notebook, buyers no longer have to squint to look for the details that they want to see.

Try to be more creative. These days, pictures are not the only means of showing your buyers how your property looks like. You might as well try other tools like a simple but effective PowerPoint presentation, together with moving texts, animations and all. Or if you know anyone who can help you, make digital 3D models of your house or even create a virtual tour presentation that would definitely catch their attention. Moreover, have in mind that it is also important to allocate a little bit of your money to advertise and create other marketing strategies to help you out. Through the Web, you can make a simple blog site describing your house together with its digital images or you can also try to upload a short video of you promoting your home on YouTube. These kinds of efforts would definitely show how eager and serious you are in selling Southlake homes for sale.

In addition, you should take some time to sit down and figure out how you have priced your house to sell. You might say you're definitely sure that you have put the right price on your house, but then you should ask yourself if you are really pricing your house correctly. Perhaps your emotional involvement is getting on the way. You might be pricing the house a bit too high because the house has a great sentimental value to you. Focus and try to stick to the fact that you are doing some business here. You might be basing your price on different stuffs which are of less importance in the business world, so to speak, more than a few clear cut factors that usually determine the market value of a real estate. You might be selling, very good houses, but remember that its location or its distance away from shopping malls, school, or parks, or even bodies of water nearby, can greatly affect how much you should sell your house.

Knowing and accepting that there is an underlying problem that you haven't been paying attention to is important, but it is just one step to solving the problem. For sure, you are not the only seller who is experiencing this kind of difficulty in selling properties. So, go ahead and try to check out some of these factors that you might have been taking for granted in a short while.

Scarlette Brooks is a freelance writer who specializes in writing content about real estate, business and investment.

Knowing the ABCs of Home Protection Plans

Knowing the ABCs of Home Protection Plans
By Scarlette Brooks


Now that you finally have your own home in Southlake real estate, you should not immediately relax as there are still some other things you need to take care of, like house maintenance. There's always a possibility that one or more of your appliances or home systems break or malfunction. For this reason, it's advisable to have a home protection plan to keep your mind at ease, especially if you're a first-time home buyer who doesn't know much about maintaining a home.

Home protection plans, also referred to as home warranties, are reasonably priced. Generally, they range from $250 up to $400, depending on the type of coverage. These are paid early, about a year advance, wherein they get expired or renewed. There are some companies that run special sales and give added coverage or discounts.

A home protection coverage may be financed either by the buyer or the seller, but most of the time, the latter sponsors such warranty since it may also be beneficial for him/her; if the seller pays for the coverage, the buyer would not bother him/her by calling after the deal has been closed if something needs to be fixed. There are some instances in which the real estate agent pays for the home protection plan to give it as a present to the buyer.

Even though there's a particular home protection plan that gives a particular coverage, most of these have the same process of how they work. For example, if one of your appliances or home systems starts to malfunction, you just contact the company and then they call their service provider, which has an arrangement with them in terms of business. The provider, then, calls you to arrange an appointment to have the broken appliance fixed. In the event that it cannot be repaired, the company will pay to have it replaced and installed, depending on your coverage plan. Afterwards, you pay a small amount of trade service fee of not more than $100.

A home protection plan has a lot of different types so it's best to ask the coverage of each type and find out if it can be upgraded. Focus on whether the home warranty company pays for the repairs to make a certain type of system or appliance compliant with regulations.
In general, the coverage of a home protection plan includes the following:

- Oven and range
- Telephone wiring
- Ceiling fans
- Electrical systems
- Garbage disposal
- Internal plumbing stoppages
- Water heater
- Ductwork
- Doorbells
- Heating system or furnace
- Air conditioning
- Dishwashers

There are items in the house that are not included in a home warranty. Some of these include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Permit fees
- Haul aways
- Certain home protection plans do not pay for dryers, washers, garage door openers, or refrigerators
- Pools or spa (unless they are requested to be included in the coverage) - Outdoor items (for example, sprinklers)
- Some plans do not cover faucet repairs

There are cases wherein a home warranty company refuses to pay for the coverage plan. These may be caused by any one of the following:

- Strange wear and tear
- Incorrect installation
- Inadequate maintenance
- Violation of code

Even after you've purchased your new house from one of the Southlake homes for sale, you may still inquire about these home protection plans to your real estate agent.

Scarlette Brooks is a freelance writer who specializes in writing content about real estate, business and investment.

It's all about eyeballs

Letters From the Home Front

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, December 8, 2010.
Inman News™

Flickr photo courtesy of JackVinson.

Good grief. You would think that something big happened, given the way everyone in the online agent community is freaking out. The cries range from "Mean people will game the system!" to "It's a game-changer!"

What's all the fuss?

Last week, Zillow announced the introduction of agent ratings on its site, and once again the company threw down the welcome mat for the real estate community. And it seems that for every agent assuming the crash position, there are several others who can't beat a path to Zillow's door fast enough -- with their clients in tow.

Now, consumers can publish reviews of agents on Zillow.com. So what? This is nothing new; it's just new to Zillow. Our clients rate us every day and have been doing it for years.

They used to serve up the ratings at the supermarket or the block parties, of course, but that was before the birth of the mouse and social media. Now, they dish online.

There is no stopping this trend of social search, so there is no point in fretting about what someone might or might not say. Eventually, somewhere, say it they will.

Heck, I even added a tab to my own blog a few months ago inviting my company's clients to post their evaluations (gasp) online.

This transparency stuff can be a little daunting, but I vowed at the outset to never moderate a comment about our services unless it was disingenuous (like, not from a client).

The amazing thing is that, to date, no one has even attempted to lie or otherwise tell half-truths. That day will come ("Kris supports terrorism and told Sherman Gregory back in 1978 that her grandmother died -- to get out of going on a date with him").

But for now, it is a little unmanned page powered by the honor system. The reality is that most people aren't inherently ornery, even though some weeks it seems that way.

But, here's the thing. The news this week, despite the healthy online debate and the perception among those debating, is not about agent ratings. And it's not about creating, designing, or building something new or better that satisfies a real need or even a latent demand.

It's about advertising. More specifically, what it's really about is the ability to achieve critical mass, that all-important quorum where the "eyes" have it.

Zillow, I'm betting, didn't introduce agent ratings because the public demanded it, nor did the company do it to make all of its agent clients happy by showcasing their remarkable talents. The company did it to attract eyes, and dispatched the agents to go fetch those eyes.

If that doesn't make sense, let me tell you about a little scheme I have been cooking up. You see, I have been a working real estate agent -- and a damn good one, I might add -- for more than a dozen years, but Google has yet to make a play for me.

And dream as I might, there is no IPO in sight, which leaves me with my day job. All of this got me thinking that I have been screaming into the wrong end of the bullhorn for too long.

When I do the work -- when I represent a seller or buyer in their real estate transaction -- there is just one of me. And, as awesomely awesome as I am, my one-girl show has constraints (time, money and a litter box to clean out, to name a few).

It's oh-so limiting, but there is a veritable unlimited upside potential if I can just corral all of the little me's into one big dining hall of opportunity.

These were the things that I pondered as I squeezed in a run this morning, a bit of healthy "me" time designed to offset yesterdays No. 3 Mexican food combo plate, and wedged in between a morning spent catching up on files and an afternoon booked with showings and a walk-through.

I'm going to call it DinnerzOn.com.

Here's the plan. I will be throwing a potluck dinner, but it will be a potluck with a twist (because, duh, you can't be an innovator if you don't have a twist).

You bring me food. You buy the ingredients, you add them to the pot, you simmer and stir, and you cook it to brilliant perfection. Then, you bring it to my house.

So far, it sounds like the typical potluck. But, here is the differentiation. You don't get to eat -- well, not at first, and certainly not for free. Just drop the macaroni surprise at the door, and I will invite all of the neighbors over.

I'll only draw a small crowd at first, but eventually they will start to tell their friends ("Free food!"), and pretty soon everyone will be clamoring to get a piece of the pie.

What's in it for you? Well, initially, not much, but this could just be the next big thing, and you can't risk it. There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Sally's an early adopter; she's already sent over her casseroles, and you, too, need to be dishing it up where the hungry folks are.

As a small token of my gratitude, I will display a little tent card below your offering. "Jambalaya presented by Jim's Realty." It's free advertising. What have you got to lose? Just bring food.

As our, or rather "my," popularity grows, you will be rewarded, because we're partners, after all. I'll be hanging a banner or two at the entry, a couple in the dining hall, and several more near every food group.

You will have the opportunity to buy or bid on these to promote your own culinary skills. Granted, more people are interested in the main dish than the vegetables, so getting your name next to the steak Diane will cost you a bit more.

There will be contests to promote you. Send all of your friends over to vote for the best meatloaf in Miami, and I will give you a badge to display on your apron -- "Follow me to Kris's house!" And I will link to you in my blog.

While you can't eat for free, you are most certainly welcome at the party. Seriously, you would be foolish not to come. People will have questions, and they want their questions answered by an expert. You can be that expert!

"Will my water burn if I boil it too long, and where can I find more free food?" they will ask. If you aren't around to answer, some other wannabe sous chef will be, and you might find that no one is coming 'round to your table any more. Just sayin'.

Finally, there will be the rating system. You know in your heart that your tortilla chicken casserole kicks ass, and maybe a couple of your friends kind of liked it. But Margaret, three ZIP codes removed, invited all of her friends to rate her own make-ahead peasant stew, which is generating quite the buzz.

Show up and bring those friends of yours; we'll pin a note to your collar and let the consumer be the judge. "Best plating, biggest portions, most satisfying" -- they will all vote. But remember, you've got to come; no one wins as a write-in.

You like to cook. I have access to lots of people who like to eat. It's a win-win. And while you are home busting your butt to fry the bacon, or even back at my house fielding questions about safe food-handling practices, I will be on the network news, the go-to guy talking about my spreadsheets that suggest the imminent collapse of the soufflé and the consumer's tendency to overindulge.

Crazy as my plan sounds, it could work. In fact, it has been proven to work. It just takes vision, intense effort and coordination, and a whole lot of capitalization.

But make no mistake; it's not about feeding hungry people or even about helping you become a better cook. It is about creating value that will ultimately allow me to levy a very profitable cover charge.

Too often, I find myself going by the alias of Miss Understood, so I want to be clear. I am neither vilifying Zillow nor am I defending the company. On this issue, call me Switzerland. The fact is that, unlike my potluck idea that will always be just that -- an idea -- Zillow did it. The company created value, and did it with our permission. For this, I give Zillow props.

Phoenix broker Jay Thompson summed it up quite nicely on his blog: "Don't want to be reviewed on Zillow? The solution is simple: Don't create an agent profile there (or delete the one you already have). No profile, no review. Don't want your listings on Zillow? Don't send them there.

"Blame your broker for sending them there? Find a new broker. Blame your (multiple listing service)? Opt out of syndication. Don't want to buy ads on Zillow? Don't write (Zillow) a check."

He's right. But, the opponents of the agent reviews are missing the point. I believe it's not about reviews, any more than the company's "Advice" tab is about showcasing my expertise or the Zestimate is about really pinning a value on your home.

It's about eyeballs. That's my conviction. More eyeballs equals more revenue. That's it. And like the "Best Blog" contests the company hosted earlier this year, it's all rather brilliant. "Help us populate our party so we can charge you to come," seems to be the message.

Admire the company for the table it set or not, it needed the agents and we rallied. We couldn't wait to send our listings in -- couldn't do it fast enough -- and then we couldn't wait to send a check to capture some of that gold dust.

We slapped the links and the widgets on our blogs and websites like the rest of the cool kids while we moaned about being taken advantage of. Now, the flock is dashing off to send all of their clients off to the site once more, while Zillow is no doubt recalculating next year's rate for my sidebar ad.

And, yes, I have one of those. I bought the banner for my own bean dip. It's a business decision and, as long as it continues to provide value to me -- a return on that investment -- I will continue to show up.

Call it our just desserts but, like it or not, the company is doing what it set out to do -- find revenue by aggregating the work of our industry. That's the point, and that's not really news at all.

Kris Berg is broker-owner of San Diego Castles Realty. She also writes a consumer-focused real estate blog, The San Diego Home Blog.

Real Estate in 2011

Share your predictions, resolutions, wish list
By Inman News, Monday, December 6, 2010.

2011 is just a calendar page away.
And while there are many unknowns about what the coming year holds in store for real estate professionals, Inman News wants to hear your resolutions, predictions and wish list for the year ahead.

Please share your views below.

1. PREDICTIONS: What's in store for the real estate industry, housing market and economy in 2011?

2. WISH LIST: What is on your real estate wish list for 2011?

3. RESOLUTIONS: What do you and/or your company plan to do in 2011 to persevere and prosper?

4. What is your name, title, company and e-mail address?

To enter a prediction use the comment tab below.

How to Sell Your House Quickly

How to Sell Your House Quickly
By Luis Pezzini

Most people who are out in the market to sell their property want to sell it off as soon as possible. People who decide to sell their house usually do it because of some urgent need, either for money or they plan to relocate and they surely do not have much time at hand to spare. Those with a financial problem find selling their house the best option. Selling home through agents takes a long time, so if you want to sell your house fast you have to take control of the situation and manage certain things on your own.

The simplest and easiest and quickest thing to do is to sell your house to a realty organization, which usually buys homes almost instantly. There are those which have instant buying processes as well and those formalities which sometimes take a lot of times sometimes ranging to a couple of month might be easily finished off within weeks. One can find these companies online; all one would have to spend some quality time online looking for the right company. There are those buyers who can buy houses at sale in the shortest time possible. Spending time online browsing through these would help one get a better idea about the working principles of these organizations.

Most of these websites offer online forms in which one has to fill the details of the property. On submitting this form the companies would go through the form and any one who is interest would revert back with email or a phone call. They would get in touch with you and express interest in buying our house. They would know how to evaluate the approximate cost of your property and would then fix a cost at which at which they would buy the house. That would be a negotiable amount on which both you and they would bargain and then finally fix a certain cost. After that when the home owner agrees to sell the house the organizations would send their representatives in a day or two who will let the owner know about rules and regulations and show them the various possible options.

These organizations, which buy homes so quickly, also offer buy-rent-buy back offer. These offers ensure that the owner enjoys maximum benefit and even after selling the house they get to stay in it. They do not have to relocate to a new place and this in a valuable and a very interesting option to the one selling the house. Those who sell home like this usually do so because they have no other better option at hand. If you do not have to relocate immediately to some other place, this is very useful for them who sell the house, as they don't have to go searching for a temporary home.

If you are up to selling your home quickly do not just blindfolded look at your side of the story. You should always confirm about the whereabouts of the company. They do provide information online but try finding out from some other source and it is also crucial to know well about rules and regulations by finding it out from the representatives. Be in the safe zone and try to benefit the most by selling your home.

Luis Pezzini
lpezzini@SunsetStripRealty.com
http://www.SunsetStripRealty.com

Selling a House - The Importance of the Right Packaging

Selling a House - The Importance of the Right Packaging
By Luis Pezzini

The old adage 'little things mean a lot' is especially true when someone is trying to sell his or her house. The way they present their property to their buyers can make all the difference between success and failure. In fact sometimes certain little things are crucial to conveying the message that the house on display is the exact dream home that the buyer is looking for. Apartments and homes can be presented in the very best light without having to investing in extravagant and time-consuming redecoration and renovation projects. According to experts, the secret to getting a house sold at lightning speed is to step back and take a look at the property from a buyer's perspective. This takes a little time and some conscious effort but the end results are well worth the try. Here is how an appealing dream home atmosphere that will speed up the selling process.

1) Doing a Spring Cleaning

This can be done by hiring a professional to do a thorough spring cleaning of the house. Then all those all those knick knacks collected over the years should be dusted properly and put on display in an attractive manner in order to show the buyers how important the house has been for the owner and how deep an emotional attachment he or she shares with the house.

2) The Quick Clean Up

Most of the times buyers will come to have a look at the property on sale with pre-scheduled appointments. But sometimes someone might turn up on real short notice. There is no reason to panic though. A well-maintained house can stand any scrutiny.

3) Inexpensive Visual Enhancements

Buyers react strongly to kitchens and baths. These seemingly insignificant areas of the house actually make a deep impression on the subconscious level on the minds of the buyers. These areas can be spruced up with little investments. A pretty shower curtain or the bathroom and a few color coordinated hand towels for the kitchen would serve the purpose. If the kitchen is not in a much updated form, switching a few handles and knobs should suffice. Attractive glass on the kitchen window also goes a long way in giving it a bright look. Any leaky faucets around the house should be fixed for dripping water suggests faulty plumbing.

4) Appropriate Safety Measures

It is necessary to make sure that the house on sale meets all safety requirements. All the rooms in the house should be checked meticulously on a regular basis and especially before a prospective buyer comes to take a look around. The smoke alarms should be in place. Floor mats that might cause that occasional accident with people tripping over should be removed. The owner may be very fond of his or her pet but a house viewing is not at all the time for one of them to be around. They should be secured inside a pet carrier and kept outdoors because several people are allergic to pets.

Luis Pezzini
lpezzini@SunsetStripRealty.com
http://www.SunsetStripRealty.com