Because our dear friend Andy Salo put up a post yesterday, the reason of the week post got moved to Thursday. Here it is:
When you represent yourself and have your own Multiple Listing Service, contracts with listing agents are no longer necessary. All too often, home sellers are forced into questionable contracts with listing agents and come to find out that the agent his or herself isn’t quite holding up their end of the bargain. Being your own seller assures focus and priority on your property, not someone else’s.
Archive for April, 2010
Reason of the Week #8: No More Questionable Contracts
Thursday, April 29th, 2010Everybody’s Talkin’ ’bout China, China!
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010So in my usual perusal of the cyber-net, I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about China and their real estate market. It’s a topic I have kind of avoided for some time, but I figured there’s no better time that now. So what I’ve done is kind of assimilated all of the info on what bloggers and journalists have been saying about China and their respective real estate market and put it plain and simple.
Here’s what we know: their real estate market is booming, their economy is somewhat in the midst of a decline. Essentially, they are seeing “rich growth where earnings growth hasn’t been firmly established.” An undue balance much like what we saw in the U.S. real estate economy.
Developments are on the up and up. In cities like Hefei, a smaller city about the quarter of size of Shanghai or Beijing, large apartment housing developments are putting stress on land uses. Buildings are encroaching on fields, construction is disrupting everyday life for the residents of Hefei. (To read the account, click here.)
There’s not much that I can say about China and their real estate economy, except that their housing industry is currently experiencing a bubble—one eerily similar to same that struck the U.S. in the early 2000s. Read up on everything that you can, if you’re interested. Now you know…
Preliminary Data on For Sale by Owner Real Estate by ForSalebyOwner.com
Monday, April 26th, 2010Being a For Sale by Owner home seller is kind of like being a beer baron during prohibition—you know it’s going on but it’s kind of hard to pin us down. We’re not official. Of course, it’s a much more respectable profession to pursue, although I’m sure that some libationists back then were great supporters of the barons.
Discerning any sort of concrete data on FSBOs darn near impossible, but the kind researchers at ForSalebyOwner.com, a cyber brother in arms in do-it-yourself real estate, have compiled some preliminary data on FSBOs that looks promising. According to their data (I can’t account for where they got it), they estimate that 20% of the real estate marketplace is For Sale by Owner. 20 PERCENT! That means one in five of us out there is selling real estate ourselves and saving thousands in commission.
Another startling statistic accounts for $55 billion of the real estate market’s dollars going to straight to realtor commission. That’s nearly double what realtors were taking ten years ago.
The data is invariably heading in the favor of the For Sale by Owner community. $55 billion dollars is a hefty figure for commission fees that approximately 20% of the real estate market could do without.
My Emissions Exchange
Sunday, April 25th, 2010Hey there, FSBOs. I’m going to take an opportunity to tell ya’ll about this great program. It’s called My Emissions Exchange, and it’s a web-based company that actually pays you money for reducing your carbon footprint, and in this world of the “green”, what could be better than actually being paid to help out the cause. Now, this won’t exactly help you sell your house—I doubt that it would change anything for your asking price, but it could have a positive influence on the contemporary home buyer looking for an ecologically savvy seller.
Their mission is simple: give people real rewards for affecting real change. All you do is create a profile (no fee is required) and you enter in your electricity and gas usage from your monthly bills. The you start reducing you carbon footprint via the tips and blogs available at their website. And depending on how much you actually reduce, My Emissions Exchange cuts you a check via Paypal for the amount of energy you saved.
I think it is an ingenious idea and I am considering taking part. Anyone want to join up with me? Expect to see future blogs about this program.
Adjustable Rate Mortgages: The Lowdown
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010PHEW!! Almost missed that Reason of the Week #7…
I’ve tried to avoid it as long as possible for fear of personal boredom and melancholy, but I think it’s time I hash out for you a few starter points on the various types of mortgages out there.
Banks as of late have been rearranging the mortgage system, dropping interest rates, and keeping things interesting (no pun intended) for the mortgage shopper. But, thankfully, the basics still apply.
Perhaps the most popular mortgage out right now is the Adjustable Rate Mortgage, or what people are calling the ARM. It’s gained most of it’s popularity based on the fact that the initial interest rates are lower than that of the Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM). That low rate lasts for an initial period—something your and your mortgage broker will discuss—at which point it will adjust to whatever the current interest rate is at the time of adjustment.
Typically, your interest rate will go up after the initial period, as it’s not really in the banks interest to have you paying less money monthly after adjustment. But who knows, you could get lucky…
The philosophy of the ARM that many homeowners adhere to is that before your adjustment period, you will either refinance the loan or sell the house, thus avoiding the uncertainty of the adjustment on your loan. Or you are planning on being able to afford a bigger monthly payment after the few years that your interest rates are low.
So there you have it, short and sweet. The ARM—a great option for people who feel like they can weasel their way out of a mortgage after a few years and move into a new house only to take out another Adjustable Rate Mortgage and do it all over again…just kidding! The ARM is a feasible financial option for many homebuyers that allows a little wiggle room for anyone not ready to pay for their house upfront in cash.
Reason of the Week # 7: You Are Not Alone!
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Online resources are abound. Despite what many may tell you, the FSBO is not alone in their pursuit. In fact, there are agents and real estate professionals out there waiting to help you should you need it. Online features like Agent Assistant are there to help FSBO’s through the more difficult and sometimes confusing processes of closing a home sale.
More Angry FIZBOS!!!
Friday, April 16th, 2010Sorry to do this again gang, but I’ve found another thread on the Patrick.net forums, a website dedicated to chronicling what the general public has to say about the housing market crash. This is like reality TV for the online community.
Here we see a staunch group of do-it-yourselfers/anti-realtor bloggers having it out on the realtor community. Poor realtor lady—they pounced on her like a pack of wild hyenas. It’s also kind of like watching high-school kids gossip and trash each other behind their backs.
Although I don’t mean to condone this kind of professional prejudice against the licensed home seller, these hecklers do bring up a good point. As a customer, you can’t really make decisions based on what your particular realtor is telling you. People—I would like to think out of a lack of poor intent—tend to take information at face value and simply repeat things they hear or read. Which makes it that much more important that you, the FSBO, do your research and figure just what the heck is going on out there. It’s a vast and fluctuating market. People have a lot of different outlooks on how the market is going to function in the near future, so take all opinions and as many facts as you can into account.
Reason of the Week #6: Personal Insight
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010This particular reason may have a little less meat on its bones than the others, but it’s relevant nonetheless. Being your own realtor gives you the advantage of knowing the property you’re selling intimately. Who knows what makes your house great besides you? This is an instant advantage of being an FSBO.
Realtors are often successful working in region-specific markets. Place that equation under a microscope and you’ve got the one of the best reasons to be an FSBO. Know all the selling points and how to present them to buyer. Cha-ching!
FED Boosting Incentives for Short Sales
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010Well FSBOs it looks like you may have a little more competition out there than before. At the beginning of this week it was announced by the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative Plan that the government is now allotting incentives to industry pros (i.e. borrowers, servicers, investors) to move short sale homes.
This means the quicker that banks can sell a foreclosed house—no matter how cheap—the more help they could receive from the government. That, along with the ever presence of the nations growing shadow industry could mean a very busy market in the near future.
Not to sour the day, but a few voices out there are questioning the decision to put more incentives into the hands of the banks. Apparently, there’s a lot of room for fudging (see the pages here and here to get an idea for concerns.)
