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Jun

15
2009

'Suck it up' and wait for recovery

By Inman News, Monday, June 15, 2009.

Re: 'Careful buyer regrets home purchase' (June 12)

Dear Editor:

Our team counsels with our buyers in a quite lengthy interview before we take them out. We listen to them and ask lots of questions so we can understand what they are wanting in their real estate dreams and goals.

Even in spite of all we do ... not every story is going to have a happy ending in this market.  more...

Jun

12
2009

Real estate tech heads to the small screen

By Brian Boero, Friday, June 12, 2009.

The announcement of the iPhone 3G S this week adds confidence to my belief that real estate Web sites as we know them are a legacy platform.

The handheld device will be the locus of real estate technology innovation in the coming years.

The inherent "limitations" of the small screen are in fact liberating for the people who count: end users. These are the folks too often forced to slog through a chopped salad of links, footers and gratuitous content served up by SEO-obsessed product teams. The small screen concentrates the developer mind and compels a better experience.  more...

Let's get the system moving again

By Inman News, Friday, June 12, 2009.

Re: 'Helping borrowers who don't deserve it' (June 8)

Dear Editor:

I read the letter referenced in Jack Guttentag's column and I had to read it twice to see if it was my letter. I feel like the writer hit the nail on the head.

I live in the Sacramento area, which has been devastated by foreclosures. I owned 30 or so rentals in the early 2000s, and by 2004 I was warning everyone about what was coming. I sold my rentals and moved the equity to Boise, Idaho, where the economics seemed more in line.

No matter how hard I tried to get people to understand that the values could not continue to rise as they were, the lure of money would override good judgment.  more...

Hey buyers: Don't worry, be happy!

By Curbed.com, Friday, June 12, 2009.

A Wharton professor's study found that renters may be happier than homeowners, and here's the kicker: The research is based on data collected before the market soured.

From the professor's summary: "Overall, I found little evidence that homeowners are happier by any of the following definitions: life satisfaction, overall mood, overall feeling, general moment-to-moment emotions, and affect at home. The average homeowner, however, consistently derives more pain (but no more joy) from a house and home."  more...

Bring down the MLS data walls

By Inman News, Friday, June 12, 2009.

Re: 'It's time for MLS consolidation' (June 11)

Dear Editor:

After reading the article by Amanda Adams about having an integrated or standard multiple listing service, I wanted to also echo the need for this. We are in a world where information is vast, cheap, and the lack of openness and the unwillingness to provide information is seen as a sign of having something to hide.

The truth is, much of what anyone would ever want to know about a property is already available at the touch of their fingertips, whether it's a property profile, sale history, comparables and nearby sold listings, amount owed, and what it looks like (using Google Street View) without ever having to pick up the phone to call an agent. So agents need to understand that in order to be successful in today's world, it's no longer about having more information than your clients.  more...

Jun

11
2009

Housing hasn't hit bottom unless it already has

By Curbed.com, Thursday, June 11, 2009.

1. Blog post headline from today's Atlantic.com: "Why I Think the Housing Bubble Has Not Yet Bottomed." The Atlantic's Megan McArdle points out that a house in her neighborhood has been reduced from $499,000 to $495,000, and is now being happily touted as a great deal by the listing agent. Meanwhile, the old sellers bought in 2005 at the "height of the market," according to McArdle for $460,000.

She writes: "People's expectations still have pretty substantial price increases baked in. Until people let go of the assumption that offering a mere 2.5 percent annual profit from the market's peak is a real bargain, prices will not have bottomed."

First and only comment on her post: "Denial is not just a river in Egypt ..."  more...

Revisiting referrals and rebranding

By Inman News, Thursday, June 11, 2009.

Re: 'Rebranding Real Estate' (June 10)

Dear Editor:

My first reaction to this article was that a lot of us miss a great opportunity to help our clients and sphere of influence by not letting them know that we can save them a lot of time and problems by interviewing agents for them virtually anywhere.

Think about it: These are people we know and have done business with or grown up with or worked with in the past. We know their styles, temperament and what their expectations are in a real estate professional. Does anybody enjoy the process of interviewing agents who will represent you in a sale or purchase? I don't think so.  more...

It's time for MLS consolidation

By Inman News, Thursday, June 11, 2009.

The multiple listing service system as we know it will not be around in the near future if drastic changes are not made immediately. This may sound bad at first, but I think in 10 years when we look back we will wonder how we ever got along with the MLS system as we know it today.

First of all, MLSs that are clustered in the same geographical areas need to be consolidated into larger regional MLSs or even statewide MLSs. With the current technology and local user-based customization there is no need to have the smaller MLSs.  more...

Jun

10
2009

Defaults on de rise

By Curbed.com, Wednesday, June 10, 2009.

LOS ANGELES -- The latest default numbers from the Los Angeles Times' Peter Hong: "In April, 7.16 percent of Los Angeles County mortgages were in default, up from 4.67 percent in April 2008, according to First American, which reports on foreclosures as a percentage of active mortgages, rather than as a share of total households as some other firms do."

Which means?  more...

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