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Jan

19
2009

Explaining the financial crisis with humor

By Joel Burslem, Monday, January 19, 2009.

An update to last year's popular subprime sketch performed by British comedians John Bird and John Fortune.

In two parts:

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Recipe for a powerful business plan Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Monday, January 19, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/billhr/3189167473/" target=blank>Bill HR</a>.

More than 90 percent of all real estate agents operate without a business plan. If you want to increase your profitability in 2009, you must address how to increase your revenue as well as how to decrease your costs.

There are numerous ways to create a great business plan. The most important step is to write your goals down and share them with someone else. If you do nothing else from today's column, taking this one step improves the probability   more...

Mortgage shopping is all about technique

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, January 19, 2009.

Last week I reported the results of a mortgage shopping expedition, but did not say much about how I got those results. This article is about shopping technique. Most of it is simple. In a highly imperfect market, an investment in the time needed to shop effectively can pay large dividends.

Shop online: Lenders generally are prepared to deliver the prices they post online. Prices shown in printed media are obsolete when they are published, while quotes offered over the telephone are worthless.  more...

Contingent sale offers can benefit sellers

By Dian Hymer, Monday, January 19, 2009.

Convincing a seller to accept an offer that's contingent on the sale of another property can be challenging. The odds of acceptance improve if the offer is structured to the mutual benefit of both buyers and sellers.

From the buyers' perspective, there are advantages and disadvantages to contingent sale offers. A big advantage is that the buyers don't have to go through with the purchase if their home doesn't sell. They don't risk much.

The buyers may incur costs of inspecting and appraising the property, but the expense is minimal compared to buying a new home before selling the old one and ending up owning two homes at once.  more...

Who are they and what do they want? Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Monday, January 19, 2009.

There's more to Web analytics than holding a clicker and counting the number of people who come to your site and watching where they go.

Web analytics is about learning everything you can about your visitors, their intentions and needs. With a deeper understanding of how they use your site, you can tweak it to guide them not only to information they are seeking, but a "call to action" -- whether that's buying a pair of shoes or contacting a real estate agent about a listing.  more...

Lender can't nix loan on inherited home

By Benny Kass, Monday, January 19, 2009.

DEAR BENNY: My father passed away in January 2008 and I have inherited his townhouse. He had an existing mortgage, and I am continuing to make the mortgage payments. I have not notified the mortgage company. I am unable to obtain financing for the home in my name at this time. I have already been turned down twice. Does state law allow me to assume this loan, or if the finance company finds out, can it pull the loan? I don't want to lose the house. There was a will (I was the personal representative and sole beneficiary) and I had an attorney prepare the deed, which has been recorded in my name. It was my father's wish that the house be mine upon his death. --R.N.

DEAR R.N.: Please relax. State law has nothing to do with this. Federal law -- called the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 -- protects you. This law, among many other matters, specially addressed your issue.  more...

Video isn't just about listings

By Inman News, Monday, January 19, 2009.

For the last several months, Vancouver Realtor Ian Watt has been blogging his daily thoughts about real estate by video.

It’s a really bare bones production - he just props up a small camera on his dashboard and records himself as he drives to and from his listing appointments.

If you haven’t seen them, it’s one of the most interesting uses of video in real estate I’ve seen. You can see these video diaries on his web site at ianwatt.ca. Go watch a few and then come back.  more...