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Attack of the 'pushy' agent

By Bernice Ross, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

DEAR BERNICE: I just listed my condominium for sale. An agent who lives in my building knocked on my door and yelled at me for not listing with her, saying she knows the building better than anyone else. She also claimed that my listing agent has so many listings that he will have no time for me now that the contract is signed.

So far, we have had only two showings in the last week. I'm beginning to wonder if the agent in my building is right.

On the other hand, she is so pushy I can't imagine having to go through a transaction with her. She actually tried to push her way into my home even though I was standing in the doorway blocking her. I signed a six-month listing. Should I just wait and see what happens? --Paula W.  more...

'Happy birthday' from your market Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/melloveschallah/3440131767/" target=blank>melloveschallah</a>.

SAN DIEGO -- In the free-flowing and informal world of social media, Realtors may stir up more business by wishing a colleague happy birthday, or snapping a picture of an encounter with a snake, than by blatantly promoting listings on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

That's been the experience, at least, of Mike Parker -- a genial Realtor from Northern Kentucky who shared his social media expertise with colleagues at the National Association of Realtors' annual convention in San Diego.  more...

Top mortgage secrets exposed

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
Image courtesy of <a href="http://www.ftpress.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0137020163" target=blank>FT Press</a>.

If you read this column often, you know how I feel about the fear-mongering approach we so often see in today's real estate and mortgage how-tos. It's hard for me to get behind any "advice" that attempts to position real estate consumers and their advisors in an adversarial face-off, or seeks to further foment the division and paranoia already pervading the real estate ether. My sense is that the most paranoid buyers are not necessarily the ones that save the most money and get the best deals. In fact, I've seen paranoia cause people to make poor, panic-based decisions and incorrectly suspect very well-intentioned advisors of steering them wrong, alienating themselves from all the legitimate folks and essentially delivering themselves into the hands of the folks they should really be avoiding.

Whew -- glad I got that out.  more...

Home inspector no-nos

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

DEAR BARRY: Our home is listed for sale. We accepted an offer a few weeks ago, but the buyers canceled the deal after the home inspection. The home inspector reported numerous problems with the foundation and structure.

We immediately hired a licensed structural engineer who determined that the foundation and structure are sound and that the home inspection report was inaccurate. So now we have a disclosure problem for future buyers. There are two conflicting reports, and both must be disclosed. What should we do? --Kim  more...

Home warranty springs a leak

By Benny Kass, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/globalreset/26817322/">globalreset</a>.

DEAR BENNY: Our home was built and completed in October 2007. Twice in the past year during driving rain and high winds, we've experienced leaks. The first time, a leak started on the back porch over the exit door to the porch. The second and most recent time, it was a leak coming through the light fixture in the walk-in closet of one of the upstairs bedrooms.

The builder's one-year warranty has expired. Thinking we were covered under the 2-10 Home Buyer's Warranty (Workmanship/ Systems and Structural Limited Warranty Coverage), I called to find out that the roof is not covered; it's only the roof framing systems under "designated load-bearing elements that are covered under this structural defect warranty." Is this not a framing issue? Do we have no recourse under this warranty? Any advice would be appreciated. --Willie  more...

Deconstructing real estate marketing Premium Content

By Gahlord Dewald, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

There's an app for that.

It seems that every other week some new piece of must-have-or-you'll-be-left-behind technology comes along. There's all the stuff to manage social media and social networking initiatives. There's all the reputation-management stuff. Then there's the search-engine optimization (SEO) stuff.  more...

NAR OKs indexing of listings Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Tuesday, November 17, 2009.

SAN DIEGO -- The National Association of Realtors' board of directors adopted a new policy Monday making it clear that real estate brokers can allow search engines like Google to index property listings displayed on their Web sites under data-sharing agreements with other brokers.

NAR's board of directors approved several changes to the association's Internet Data Exchange (IDX) policy as it wrapped up the group's annual meeting in San Diego.  more...