Did you see the article in another e-newsletter last week in which two “successful” social media real estate agents were profiled: one who had never sold a home from her four hours a day efforts and another who had sold one from his two hours a day efforts (oh, but they both have thousands of people following them?). 

You are being told that in order to succeed online you must continue to employ esoteric and obscure social networking sites, in addition to Twitter, Facebook, etc. After all, who can ignore the Twitter nation of 250 million members? You must participate. (Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain reporting that the vast majority of Twitterers make one tweet and never come back). 

Well, as I have been telling you for three years now, that is hogwash. Social media is a sinkhole that absorbs time, effort and money that could better be spent on finding listings and selling houses. Social media is the new blogging. It too will peak, then decline with one very large exception: affinity group business communication. 

Affinity group business communication is where groups of like-minded business professionals in an industry utilize a resource to stay in touch with each other. Unfortunately, it is my belief that such social networking won’t last or really take off between sellers of real estate and people looking to purchase it.

Why social media won’t be a long-term selling tool for real estate
In February 2008, I tried to explain why advertising and social networking don’t complement each other. My friend, Michael Krisa (“That Interview Guy”) explained it to me like this: “Advertising in social network sites is like this: You and I are in my newly renovated kitchen having a coffee. You ask me who did the work and I gladly refer the contractor because I am pleased with the job he did. As I’m writing down his name and number, there is a flash of light and the sickening sound of breaking glass as Home Depot throws a brick through my window promoting their own renovation team…ads on social network sites are just as welcome as that brick…and equally as annoying.” 

I have seen nothing—either in theory or in results—that has changed my mind. The two concepts are not compatible for what real estate professionals are selling. While those with huge sums of money to spend on mass advertising may disagree, my position comes from the frame of reference of the professional agent: someone whose time is money, and whose time cannot be wasted without deleteriously affecting their livelihood. 

It is the function of techies to push new technology upon us
I’m no slouch when it comes to IT. I’m no programmer, but I’m relatively in the know about all phases of the Internet and personal computing. When it comes to marketing, I understand it as well as anyone. My efforts in these columns are to advance marketing. 

Techies, on the other hand, love to wax rhapsodic about “the next big thing.” They write about things outside the experience of agents, regular folks and non-techies because that is their life. By telling us all we must utilize a particular technology, they make themselves more valuable and more influential. By offering new courses on the latest thing, they extract yet more money out of an already reeling agent base. 

Trust me, folks, a course on how to social network isn’t going to sell that next property for you. Neither is a tweet or a placement on your Facebook page. Sure, “everybody’s doing it” but don’t you toss that lame reasoning out when your high school kid told you the same thing trying to justify (insert unjustifiable thing, here)? 

Lemmings rarely are top salespeople, and those who do not understand the one great truth about selling houses in the digital age will never succeed at doing so. 

The one great truth about selling houses in the digital age
You must put the Internet to work for you. An estimated 880 million people search Google for a real estate related thing each month. They search Google—not Twitter, not Facebook or whatever the newest and hippest social site is these days. 

The home-buying audience may be hip, but most are concerned. They want access, value and service from their agent. No matter how “hip” they are, they want a professional who knows more than they do about real estate; to guide them and to help them. They play on Twitter, they social network on Facebook, they buy homes from the Internet. 

Want to sell houses online?
An advanced degree in techie is not required. Three things are required: 
Internet buyers must be able to find you when they search for homes online;
You must attract between 5 and 15% of these buyers to sign in and ask you for more information; you must follow up properly (not with auto-responders) and promptly; NAR says 50% of agents call an internet lead within 54 hours and the other 50% never call them. That may be in part due to the poor quality of many of these purported “leads” but regardless: 54 hours doesn’t cut it. Under one hour cuts it. 

Don’t be stampeded into feeling like you are disconnected
One of the oldest techniques in the world to promote a cure is to create a sickness. Lacking an interest or skills in social networking will not affect your selling real estate. Lacking an Internet presence will greatly affect that ability and having one will bring you success you can’t now imagine. 

If you could talk with agents who sell 10, 20, 50 or more homes from their websites annually, they’d tell you this: response time is far more important than any other factor in responding to a lead. They’d also tell you that the quality of leads is the single biggest factor in selling homes to Internet buyers. If you aren’t getting leads from your website, or you are getting the old “corporate junk leads” and are so frustrated with them that you have mentally kissed them off, re-read the paragraph above this one. Do that and you will succeed. 

The rest of this social networking stuff is fine for becoming and making friends. I don’t know about you, but most agents don’t go into real estate to make friends, they do it to sell homes and make a good living. Put your efforts where the results are, not into what today’s techie says you need to do to stay au courant. Techies don’t sell houses. You do. 

Mike Parker advises thousands of agents and brokers on the subject of online marketing services for realtors. If you want to learn more about how to succeed at selling homes to Internet buyers or to request a free review of your website to determine if it can be found by internet buyers and if it is set up to be effective for you, click here and we’ll review it for you at no cost or obligation. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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The luxury property real estate market is a highly specialized, competitive market that requires Realtors to utilize innovative marketing techniques to showcase their client’s properties. Multimillion dollar properties are not the average property listing and just placing the listing on the local MLS is not the ideal strategy to present to a luxury listing client. 

What’s the difference? When designed properly, blogs bring life to the property since they are much more search engine friendly than a typical property website, this is key when marketing luxury property. Today’s sellers expect a worldwide marketing budget and exposure in every domicile. The challenge is that many sellers expect their agent to pay for advertising in worldwide publications, which can put even a very successful agent in the red very quickly. Not to mention that most ultra luxury properties take time to sell. The key is to maximize exposure and develop a hub on the Internet with a very organic and highly “indexable” 1parkplace luxury blog solution so that the search engines become our best friend. 

What does this mean for luxury home sellers when choosing their marketing agent? Be extremely choosy. Remember, as a seller, the allure of print publications is visually pleasing, however, remember that 96% of all home shoppers start on the Internet. Pick the agent with the best Internet marketing plan and largest social network of luxury agents and clients. 

Using social media networking to market luxury or unique property listings is being utilized by a select few of the real estate industry. Jerry Simonson, a luxury home seller in Coronado, California set his sights on selecting an agent with the most comprehensive Internet marketing plan to find a buyer for his $14 million dollar Coronado luxury estate now named “La Bella De Coronado”. 

Simonson selected Jan Clements of Prudential California Realty in Coronado, California (www.coronadorealestatehomes.com). “After interviewing many agents, I selected Jan because of her vast knowledge of Coronado luxury real estate as well as her dedication to stretch the envelope in marketing my luxury Coronado property” says Simonson. 

Clements initially embarked on the typical luxury marketing channels to get the property exposure (i.e. property website, MLS, luxury print advertising), however, it became apparent that the market has really slowed down for properties at that price level and she needed to implement a larger reach, but not go bankrupt in the process. 

The solution – an innovative marketing strategy utilizing a combination of a 1parkplace luxury property blog and a social media marketing campaign that allows her to network this unique property to 1,000’s of fine home real estate marketing specialists around the world. 

Clements commissioned a blog site from 1parkplace to showcase her exclusive Coronado luxury property. She also engaged her seller into the process and as the seller, Simonson got to practically design this site to showcase his very special Coronado luxury home for sale, working directly with the 1parkplace blog design team. 

Starting with giving this fine Coronado luxury property a very special name, ”La Bella De Coronado,” then registering a keyword-rich domain www.coronadoluxuryrealestate.com, six weeks later, Clements is ready to market this luxury Coronado property around the world via the internet, Facebook, e-mail and more. What’s critical is the back end reporting built into the 1parkplace blog platform that provides details on what marketing is working, and want is not. 

Now “La Bella De Coronado”, a luxury resort by the sea with beautiful, expansive views of San Diego’s bay can get its story out in a way that cannot be communicated in a few paragraphs. 

In an arguably more challenging scenario, Jim Dalzell and his team of luxury marketing experts at Prudential California Realty in Rancho Santa Fe, California (www.dalzellgroup.com), secured a $32 million, stunningly beautiful Caribbean luxury estate listing named “Presidio Del Mar, “ located in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands by presenting a multi-faceted, Internet marketing strategy. 

While being over 3,000 miles away, this team of luxury marketing experts, together with 1parkplace, assembled a comprehensive marketing plan that relied heavily on a solid luxury blog platform, Internet marketing and persistent email campaigns to top luxury agents. “We had to make a strong commitment to networking and Internet, especially since the Caribbean MLS and market reach is so limited around the world,” says Dalzell. 

They too had a very methodical seller who interviewed agents from different parts of the U.S. and Caribbean, yet the seller, Rob Blakeney selected the Dalzell team because of their unique marketing plan and experience with selling ultra luxury real estate, even knowing that they were clearly across the U.S. The Dalzell’s partnered with a local Caribbean showing agent and then went to work on implementing their worldwide marketing plan. 

Starting with this luxury real estate blog site, www.caribbeanluxuryhomesandvillas.com, where the Dalzell team can showcase the photos about “Presidio Del Mar” and then adding the photos from their visit to describe the absolute stunning location, thus educating those who may not know about the area, about the history and many exciting activities to enjoy nearby this fine Caribbean luxury estate. 

International luxury listings present a unique challenge to Realtors. One of them being the capability to seamlessly market the luxury property worldwide. Using the Internet, Facebook, e-mail, Twitter and Active Rain, pointing to their luxury real estate blog site (www.caribbeanluxuryhomesandvillas.com), the Dalzell team has implemented a global strategy that incorporates social networking and search engine optimization (SEO) to reach luxury marketing agents and home buyers around the world. 

The following are three key steps every luxury property marketing specialist should know and follow in order to gain the best results in luxury property marketing: 

Step 1 – Create the blog site - Dedicated to the property in a way that it brings life to the luxury property by capturing every feature and detail. By using a blog platform, every feature can have its own set of photos and a story in the form of a highly “indexable” search engine friendly “blog post.” This is ideal for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Especially with a luxury property, you typically have much more information and photos and as the site comes to life, the more content the better the results. 

Step 2 – Social networking – While step one will provide an awesome place to go, step two will help get people there. The expectation being that the luxury listing will appeal to another luxury property specialist who has an interested client or, better yet, the client directly. Armed with this information, the luxury property specialist must assemble a comprehensive email list of luxury agents around the world. This is not an easy task, however, do it once and it will last forever. This is a difficult list to buy. There are networks already active such as RISMedia’s Top 5 In Real Estate, and many of the franchises such as Windermere, Prudential and Sotheby’s that provide their associates e-mail lists to luxury agents. Now a new and novel strategy is to research agents on the Internet and interestingly, Facebook now has tremendous reach into those agents who are marketing luxury property. By dedicating an hour a day, a viral friend network of hundreds and perhaps thousands of marketing agents around the world can be built. 

Step 3 – Measurement & follow-up – While the absolute method of realizing results is a successful closing, there are steps along the way that have to be monitored to maximize effectiveness. Having detailed tracking on visitors to the site and using email management technology that tracks the clicks to the site, provides a prospect list to effectively follow-up with. This is where the phone and personal email interaction kicks in. 

Contact 1parkplace at team@1parkplace.com or call 888-425-2300 

About Steve Hundley – CEO of 1parkplace, Inc.
Steve’s passion is to develop the most cutting edge internet marketing and technology solutions for America’s top REALTORS and brokers. He founded 1parkplace in 1995 after a 10 year successful real estate career listing and selling homes in the Silicon Valley of California. 1parkplace is an industry leading Internet Marketing technology solutions provider that develops custom lead generation, contact management, website and BLOG systems for maximum sales results. Steve is also recognized as an industry educator and recently formed the 1parkplace University where he has hosted exclusive training events delivered by top industry veterans such as Tom Ferry, Steve Rodgers and Allan Dalton. As an innovator, Steve constantly strives to blaze new trails and his company continues to grow at record pace. 

For more information, visit www.1parkplace.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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Based on lead generation research we completed in this fall, this workbook and the accompanying spreadsheets are similar to the method a financial planner uses with their clients; start with where you’d like to end up and then put in place the actions you need to take to get there. This is not a long, three- to five-year plan – especially difficult in these uncertain times, but a goal-setting exercise designed to help you achieve your desired income now. 

This 4-step program will walk you through:
1. How much money do you want to make?
2. How many homes do you need to sell?
3. How many leads do you need to generate to sell that number of homes?
4. What marketing sources can you use to drive the right number of leads of the right quality to sell the number of homes to generate the income you want? 

The Real Estate Book will be making this presentation at the National Association of REALTORS convention in their booth (#2435) at the Exhibit Hall. 

The schedule is below: 

Friday, November 13
5:00 p.m. 

Saturday, November 14
10:00 a.m.
1:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. 

Sunday, November 15
11:00 a.m.
1:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. 

Monday, November 16
10:00 a.m. 

For more information, visit www.realestatebookmediakit.com/income or http://blog.realestatebook.com/2009/11/11/income-targeted-goals-set/ 

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If you haven’t already, then start by simply requesting your friends and colleagues join you on your social media sites of choice (examples include Facebook and LinkedIn). You can then chat and tweet with your groups as you like, but it is important to note that while you want them to know who you are and what you do, constant direct selling is not recommended. 

Be patient—you will gain business by building a relationship with these contacts on a more personal level. They will recommend you and refer you to their contacts in time, and the business that comes from it will be golden because people trust friends, not corporations. Remember, never place potentially embarrassing pictures or comments online. 

You can create profiles on local search engines like YELP.com, which, along with Facebook, MySpace and others, offers smartphone applications, making it fast and easy for potential customers to find you. These applications often offer better matching results and no browser is necessary. 

The major point of social media and search engines is to be found. It’s your challenge to think through your business, brand and services and to present yourself in a strategic fashion on a consistent basis. Then maintaining sufficient activity levels on these sites will afford you higher rankings in related searches. This social media activity will help stack the results in your favor. 

Chris Kaucnik is marketing director for Home Warranty of America, Inc. 

For more information, visit www.hwahomewarranty.com. 

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Realogy had $161 million of readily available cash and no outstanding balance on its $750 million revolving credit facility. Realogy’s EBITDA for the quarter was positively affected by a $75 million gain on debt extinguishment, which was partially offset by $20 million of restructuring and legacy charges. Despite revenue declines of $172 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to 2008, EBITDA for the period, before restructuring and other items of $198 million, increased by $9 million year over year. 

“The momentum that both Realogy and the real estate industry experienced during the third quarter was favorably impacted by the first-time homebuyer tax credit along with the seasonal strength of the third quarter,” said Realogy President & CEO Richard A. Smith. “The tax credit has made a demonstrable impact on the housing market and the overall economy, which is why we commend Congress and the Administration for acting swiftly to extend and expand the tax credit through the first half of 2010. Stimulating the move-up or repeat-buyer market should maintain momentum in the fragile housing market and accelerate a broader economic recovery.” 

In the third quarter, Realogy’s core business drivers showed slight year-over-year improvement in home sales transactions but this was more than offset by continuing moderation in average sales price. On a year-over-year basis, the Realogy Franchise Group (RFG) and NRT, the company’s owned brokerage unit, saw transaction sides flat and increase 1%, respectively. RFG’s average home sales price decreased 10% for the quarter while NRT’s average sales price declined 14%. Particularly for NRT, the decrease in average sales price was driven by a continued shift in the mix of business away from higher priced homes. 

“We achieved a $9 million year-over-year increase in EBITDA before restructuring and other items as lower commissions and the realization of cost reduction initiatives more than offset quarterly revenue declines,” said Chief Financial Officer Anthony E. Hull. “We expect that the strength of our business model and management’s focus on maintaining the efficiencies executed within our businesses will continue to positively impact results for the foreseeable future.” 

For more information, visit www.Realogy.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

“The Real State of Long Island Real Estate” is the topic of the upcoming program, hosted by Adelphi University President Dr. Robert A. Scott. In its sixth year of production, the hour-long program features a roundtable of distinguished guests that explore a topic of significance to metro-area viewers. 

“The Real State of Real Estate” provides viewpoints on the current real estate market as influenced by factors in construction, architecture, commercial and residential real estate. 

“There have been so many changes to both the commercial and residential real estate markets, it is important to be able to look at the big picture,” said Retz. “The Internet, in particular, has revolutionized the home buying process. But much has stayed the same. We all still need a place to live, and the emotional and financial implications of buying and selling a home call for the expertise of an experienced real estate agent.” 

In addition to Jim Retz, panelists include Ted Sasso, President, Renaissance Realty Services, LLC; Mitchell Rechler, Rechler Equity Partners and President of ABLI (Association for a Better Long Island) and John Tsunis, Chairman, Gold Coast Bank, Chairman and CEO, Long Island Hotels, LLC, and land use attorney at Tsunis, Gasparis, and Lustig, LLC. 

For more information, visit www.danielgale.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

While the October RECI score came in below the September reading of 5.83, a number of brokers and agents leveraging foreclosure properties in most states cited and credited strong business activity to this category, enabled by the federal government’s $8,000 First-Time Buyer Credit. 

The RECI tracks the opinions of thousands of real estate brokers and agents, measuring their forward-looking sentiment of the real estate market, across the United States. 

Properties in the mid to low price ranges continued to generate the majority of market activity in most states, as indicated by brokers and agents who participated in the RECI survey in October. 

Typical winter season market adjustments were also cited by some respondents as a reason why markets may slow down until activity starts to rebound beginning in February. 

The RECI tracks the current market sentiment, short-term (3-6 months) optimism/pessimism and long-term (6-12 months) optimism/pessimism of real estate professionals in the United States. The median across all three time periods represents the forward-looking Index measure for the month. 

Real estate professionals’ current sentiment, one of the three variables that make up the RECI, averaged 4.89 on a seasonally-adjusted basis, for the month of October. The change represents a 3.36% decrease in confidence across the country versus last month. October is the first time the current sentiment has turned negative compared to the previous month’s reading, since the RECI’s introduction in June. 

The forward-looking short-term (3-6 months) optimism/pessimism reading came in at 5.37, remaining above the mid point on the RECI 1 – 10 scale despite it being 5.79 percentage points lower than the September score. 

Long-term (6-12 months) optimism/pessimism remains in stronger positive territory at 6.51 on the scale, but also off by 3.12% versus the September reading of 6.72. 

For more information, visit www.RealEstateConfidenceIndex.com or www.Point2.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

“This innovative and engaging rich media solution enhances and completes the consumer’s search for a home. Virtual Viewing provides the right amount of content consumers now demand; it’s visually engaging, supplying realistic perspectives of the home and surroundings; and most importantly, it connects the consumer to our real estate agents,” states Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain.com. 

According to the company, HomeGain agent members can now link their CyberCity 3D models to their property listings directly from their AgentView product. Agents simply enter the 3D model URL in their HomeGain account for that listing and a “View in 3D” button will automatically appear on HomeGain’s Search Results and Listing Detail pages linking the Google Earth API 3D model to the listing. 

“Online real estate search trends are changing. Consumers want accurate information, relevant content, website innovation, and a great consumer experience,” observes Jackie Murphy, director of product management for CyberCity 3D. “Our goal is to expand our 3D product road map to include additional innovative marketing tools and ground-breaking technologies.” 

For more information, visit www.homegain.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

“We begin today,” said Real Living CEO & Managing Partner Harley J. Rouda Jr., who will stay on as president of the newly combined operations. “We have 10,000 agents on the GMAC side that will begin to convert to Real Living.” 

The move was set in motion late last year when Brookfield Residential Property Services (Brookfield RPS), a division of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (Brookfield), acquired GMAC Real Estate. Earlier this month, Brookfield RPS acquired Real Living Network Services, a subsidiary of Real Living Inc., and as a result will now rebrand GMAC Real Estate as Real Living. 

“Basically the Real Living branding will remain the same,” said Rouda. “GMAC went through the process of looking at key franchises to get a sense of what they were looking for in their ideal brand. From characteristics, to identity, to value proposition, the process dovetailed into us.” 

“In Real Living, we found the ideal partner and brand for what we are hoping to accomplish with our real estate operations, which we are committed to building even further,” said Graham Badun, managing partner & CEO of Brookfield Residential Property Services. “We explored a number of options, including creating an entirely new brand from the ground up, but our customer feedback and research kept leading us back to Real Living. Both companies share many of the same core values and combined will be part of a bigger, stronger network of brokers and sales professionals.” 

“The Real Living Network is now poised for growth,” added Rouda. “We are looking forward to bringing new technology and the Real Living branding platform to the GMAC franchisees to help grow individual franchises.” 

Added Badun, “We are thrilled to have Real Living as our flagship U.S. real estate brand, and welcome Real Living’s 2,000 brokers and sales associates into Brookfield RPS’ North American real estate network of almost 30,000 real estate professionals. We look forward to further expanding the size of our network by adding new franchisees that are truly looking for something fresh and different, and we are excited about the opportunity to take the brand to new markets internationally. Adopting and expanding an already established and respected brand will benefit the entire GMAC Real Estate network of brokers and sales professionals from day one.” 

Real Living was founded in 2002 and the company has grown to become one of the nation’s premier real estate companies and brands. Its technology platform has been recognized by Inman News as one of the best in the industry, the company has been named “Most Promising New National Brand” by The Swanepoel TRENDS Report, and Entrepreneur Magazine listed Real Living as one of the Top 50 New Franchises. 

“We brought a truly fresh approach to the industry earlier this decade when we launched Real Living as the first-ever consumer lifestyle real estate brand, and we will continue to do so by bringing new programs, services, support, training and technology, to our brokers and sales professionals,” Rouda, Jr. said. 

“There is an incredible need for a broker and agent-centric brand that is consumer-focused, yet managed by an experienced team that understands real estate. Combined, Real Living and GMAC Real Estate have that team as well as a truly differentiated brand,” he said. 

Brokers and sales professionals looking for more information on the launch and rollout of the Real Living brand can click www.realliving.com for more about the announcement. Company executives will also be available at this week’s annual NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

All NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend. 

This session—held as part of the NAR Conference program, will be led by Top 5 in Real Estate Co-founder & President Allan Dalton—will help Realtors clearly identify and explain short sales, expireds and price reductions to their clients, while also explaining their own understanding of the subject matter and how they will assist those clients. 

Realtors will also learn how they can use various marketing techniques to acquire more listings and how to implement a marketing strategy that benefits their own business, while also educating consumers on the nuances of today’s market. 

This session’s panelists include: 

• Becky Boomsma, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
• Valerie Fitzgerald, Previews Director, The Valerie Fitzgerald Group, Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills
• Julie Vanderblue, President, The Higgins Group
• Rosemary West, Team Leader, The Rosemary West Team, RE/MAX of Joliet 

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“Although we had been saving money and thinking about getting into the real estate market for some time, the tax credit was the motivating factor behind our decision to move forward and purchase a home,” says Huisking. This sentiment echoes that of many first-time buyers who decided to take advantage of the tax credit at a time when home prices and mortgage rates are at all time lows. “Knowing that the credit was going to expire was a huge push into our moving ahead with the search,” he adds. Now that the credit has been extended and expanded, more first-time buyers as well as move-up buyers have the opportunity to take advantage of a benefit that won’t be around forever. 

For Bond and Huisking, the process of buying their first home and utilizing the tax credit is another success story in what will hopefully become a turning point for the real estate industry. Starting the process of searching for a home on their own, Bond and Huisking reached out to Vanderblue and Vartuli to enlist their help to be able to purchase a home before the tax credit expired. Vanderblue and Vartuli showed Bond and Huisking a dozen or so properties before they found the one that was right for them and recently purchased the home in a process that took just 30 days. “We recognized the value of the home as soon as it came on the market and moved quickly in order to close on it within 30 days,” adds Huisking. 

Even though Bond and Huisking could afford the home without the tax credit, it was a nice bonus for them. “If we had been on the edge of being able to afford the house, we might have been more hesitant,” says Huisking, “but we saw an opportunity to be able to purchase the home and then use the credit to invest back into the house.” Looking back on the entire process, Huisking sums it up in one word: simple. “In order to use the tax credit to purchase our home, all we had to do was file an amended 2008 tax return and we got the money within 6 weeks or so,” he says. “The biggest confusion we had throughout the process was whether or not we would be eligible for the entire credit or just a partial credit because of our income level.” Since Bond and Huisking filed as separate returners and she qualified for the entire credit, they were able to take advantage of the entire $8,000. 

“The first-time homebuyer tax credit has been a great tool to get prospective buyers off the fence,” says Vanderblue. “Now that the credit has been extended and expanded, buyers are going to sit up and take notice and will move to take advantage of it now, as it won’t last forever,” she adds. The increase in income level is a huge advantage of the extended tax credit ($125,000 for single filers and $225,000 for joint filers). “This is crucial, especially in a market such as Fairfield County,” says Vanderblue. “One of the biggest problems with the initial tax credit was the income level because most first-time buyers in our market didn’t qualify for the credit because of their income,” she says. 

Educating prospective buyers about the advantages of the tax credit has become an important task for Vanderblue and Vartuli. “We stress the overall picture of what the credit is about to our clients but advise that they speak with an accountant or attorney to get the specifics. The extended homebuyer tax credit gives us something to talk about as well as a way to shine as Realtors while educating our clients,” concludes Vanderblue. 

About the Vanderblue Team
One of the many benefits to using the Vanderblue Team is the specialized skill sets each team member offers, such as Short sales, New Construction, Investment Division, etc. Vartuli is highly-skilled in representing first-time buyers in the Fairfield and Trumbull areas and was chosen specifically to represent these buyers for her ability to guide them and educate them on the many options available to first-time buyers. 

For more information, visit http://vanderblue.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

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“We are very excited to be partnering with VScreen to better enable our power brokers in capturing the rapidly growing video audience with custom-produced content,” said Darryl MacPherson, executive vice president, RISMedia. “VScreen was a natural fit for us, since they have been working within this niche for a few years now…and we look forward to what the future holds as the need for video continues to expand.” 

With a 40% annual growth rate, Internet video has become an industry standard, according to VScreen Co-founder Stephen Schweickart. 

“Video for both websites and newsletters, as well as social media and mobile applications, is rapidly moving from being an exception to the expectation,” according to Schweickart, whose firm produces tightly focused “short form” videos, designed to effectively engage the brief attention span of today¹s online video viewers. 

The partnership was welcomed by both parties as the next logical step in expanding video content and technology to meet the ever increasing expectations of the online audience. 

To see VScreen’s conference recap, For more information, please visit http://VScreen.com or Info@VScreen.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

A “short sale” is a sale where the bank accepts as full value a price that’s less than what’s owed on the property. The debt is forgiven (although not always without some tax consequences), a foreclosure is avoided, a buyer gets a good deal on a property, the bank saves thousands of dollars in legal fees and the real estate agent makes a commission. Elegant. Practical. Simple. But as we’ll see, not really quite so simple. 

Short sales were never intended to be a mass market solution. Rather, they were relatively rare occurrences that took place when an unfortunate homeowner had a financial catastrophe—a job loss, a divorce, a medical problem—at precisely the same time his or her home lost significant value. When that happened, a loss mitigation manager at a bank would research the market, review the homeowner’s financial documents, carefully consider whether the borrower and loan in question met the criteria to justify a short sale and act accordingly. 

This approach worked well when there was one request a week or every few months. But with over 1.1 million homes in various stages of foreclosure in the RealtyTrac database, the workload for these loss mitigation managers has exploded from several a month to hundreds a week, with no drop-off in the amount of paperwork or research needed. So there are unavoidable delays in simply processing the volume of paperwork. 

But it gets worse. Each lending institution has slightly different versions of short sale forms. Property valuations, even—perhaps especially—appraisals, are in a state of flux, so loss mitigation managers are struggling to determine whether a short sale offer is reasonable or just plain silly. And there are some accounting issues: in many cases, lenders may opt to decline a good short sale offer today so that they can defer the loss (even though it may be a much greater loss) to a subsequent quarter—or even later. 

And there’s more. A second loan on a property makes it much more than twice as difficult to execute the sale. The second loan either needs to be negotiated away completely or satisfied with some nominal payment. In other cases, the holder of the primary mortgage may find it better financially to foreclose, wipe out the second lien, and simply use that amount as a discount to sell the property at a profit. Similarly, if there’s mortgage insurance on the note, the investor may decide it’s better to foreclose, collect the insurance, and let the insurer worry about getting value for the house. 

So why all the hype? Well, with the REO pipeline clogged and choking, and loan modification programs failing to make a dent in foreclosure numbers, short sales represent an opportunity to feed the demand for discounted properties while reducing the number of foreclosures. What can you do to help make this happen? What does the government have in mind? We’ll cover all that and more in next month’s column. 

Rick Sharga is senior vice president at RealtyTrac. 

For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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According to the company, incorporating state of the art, ultra-low power digital radio technology, REALTOR® Lockbox NXT Wireless raises the standard as the most technologically advanced, yet easy-to-use lockbox solution available. Coupled with the SentriLink Wireless Transponder companion product, a suite of extremely useful new features are now available for real estate professionals to differentiate their services to their clients. 

“Since we are majority owned by NAR, we know first hand how hard real estate professionals must work today to get the job done for their home sellers. So, SentriLock is bringing them the most future friendly lockbox to the market. We are excited to demonstrate REALTOR® Lockbox NXT Wireless in San Diego this week to real estate and association professionals,” said Scott Fisher, SentriLock CEO and co-founder. 

Fisher points out that REALTOR® Lockbox NXT Wireless provides real estate professionals with a number of industry-leading features and benefits including: Real-Time Notifications; Remote Reprogramming and Coexistence and Compatibility. 

For more information, visit www.sentrilock.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Nothnagle Realtors Property Center will open in two locations by early 2010, with the conversion of an existing office in the City of Buffalo and the opening of an additional office in the Clarence/Williamsville area. 

“Our current growth strategy focuses on establishing partnerships with other like-minded brokers to provide them with a successful platform to become market leaders in their area. The franchise arrangement allows brokers to maintain their independence while tapping into our successful infrastructure. Mark Pagano is an experienced broker with an exceptional business-sense. We share the same vision and believe that by empowering agents with the most innovative tools in the industry, we can offer the best buyer and seller experience in the Buffalo market,” said Armand D’Alfonso, president and CEO of Nothnagle Realtors. 

“Nothnagle not only creates innovative tools, they use them every day as a real estate company, so they understand the challenges I face in today’s market because they face them too. From the award-winning consumer-focused website, Nothnagle.com, to the comprehensive marketing tools and agent systems, Nothnagle’s advanced technologies have not been available in one platform in our market before now. It is a great fit for us. Our clients and agents will all benefit as a result,” said Mark Pagano, president of Nothnagle Realtors Property Center. 

For more information, visit www.Nothnagle.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

“We have made a number of strategic investments in our organization,” said Dave Lowman, head of home lending at Chase. “We have invested in new systems, aggressively grown our capacity and now are looking to increase our sales force. With our vast branch network and growing customer base, the opportunity for Chase loan officers is tremendous.” 

New loan officers will serve customers through bank branches in 23 states- including key states such as California, Florida and Texas and key metro areas such as New York and Chicago—as well as metro markets outside the bank’s branch footprint, such as Boston, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. They will help consumers meet their home financing needs by working with personal bankers and referral sources, such as real estate agents and builders, as well as with their own network of homeowners. 

“With nearly 5,200 bank branches—one of the largest networks in the country—we need to ensure each branch has seasoned mortgage professionals to help meet the needs of their communities and is well positioned when the housing market fully recovers,” said Lowman. “We see the mortgage business as core to our relationship with consumers and expect to be a major leader in the industry for many years to come.” 

For more information, visit www.jpmorganchase.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

QuantumDigital has been working closely with real estate professionals for over 20 years. The company is focused on truly understanding the needs of the industry, educating brokers and agents on best practices, and developing marketing tools that offer results. Specializing in streamlining direct marketing campaigns, QuantumDigital’s real estate lead-generation marketing programs combine targeted, data-driven direct mail, email marketing and on-demand print collateral with new technology so agents can be more effective with their local prospecting and marketing efforts and ultimately get more leads. 

“QuantumDigital is taking real estate marketing to a new level,” said Eric Cosway, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of QuantumDigital. “With our services for direct mail, printing and email still tried and true, we’re rolling out new products, tools, tips and trends to help real estate professionals stay focused on what they do best, while we handle the marketing aspects of their business.” 

Conference attendees can visit QuantumDigital at booth #1941 to find out how real estate brokers and agents are already generating leads and realizing true profit. 

For more information, visit www.quantumdigital.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

HomeGain’s recent survey shows the top do-it-yourself home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers. HomeGain received responses from nearly 1,000 Realtors nationwide and configured a list of the top 12 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements that cost under $5,000 and benefit sellers most when they sell their homes. 

According to the HomeGain survey, the top five home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers based on cost and return on investment (from highest to lowest ROI) are: 

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering ($200 cost / $1,700 price increase / 872% ROI)
2. Home staging ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase / 586% ROI)
3. Lightening and brightening ($230 cost / $1,300 price increase / 572% ROI)
4. Landscaping ($320 cost / $1,500 price increase / 473% ROI)
5. Repairing plumbing ($385 cost / $1,250 price increase / 327% ROI) 

Cleaning and de-cluttering continues to rank as the top suggested home improvement (since the survey was originally conducted in 2000), recommended by 98% of Realtors, costing less than $200 and returning a value of nearly $1,700 to the home’s sale price, or an 872% return on investment. 

“Many Realtors agree, especially in a buyer’s market, that sellers who make these recommended home improvements often get their homes sold faster and at higher prices,” stated Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain. “We have customized our Home Sale Maximizer online home improvement tool to help identify and prioritize the projects that can increase the salability and selling price of a home.” 

Rounding out the top 12, the list of low cost, do-it-yourself home improvements includes: updating electrical, replacing or shampooing carpets, painting interior walls, repairing damaged floors, updating kitchen, painting outside of home, and updating bathroom/s.

The home improvement projects with the highest price increases to a home’s resale value are updating the kitchen ($1,200 cost / $2,850 price increase), followed by painting the outside of the home ($900 cost / $1,815 price increase) and home staging ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase). 

“Inexpensive cosmetic home improvements and basic improvements greatly enhance the value of the home,” stated Carol Wilson of Carpenter Real Estate in Indianapolis, IN, HomeGain AgentEvaluator member since 1999. 

For more information, visit www.homegain.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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This year’s faciliators and panelists not to be missed, include:

Facilitators
John Featherston, President & CEO, RISMedia; Chairman & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network

Panelists
Gino Blefari, Founder, President & CEO, Intero Real Estate Services
Tami Bonnell, President, U.S. Organization, EXIT Realty Corp.
Jon Cook, President & CEO, Prudential California Realty
Jeff Davi, Real Estate Commissioner, State of California
Lawrence Lobpries, Marketing Director for Specialty Sales, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Rei Mesa, President & COO, Prudential Florida Real Estate Services
Spencer Rascoff, COO, Zillow
Rick Sharga, SVP, RealtyTrac
Mark Stark, Broker/Owner, Prudential Americana Group
Dennis Walsh, Founder, REbuildUSA™ Membership Network

All NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend this important discussion Friday, Nov. 13 from 12:30-2 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR conference.

Why should you attend? Each year, attendees walk away from the Power Broker Forum with tremendous insight into the best practices that have made our panelists the Power Brokers industry leaders they are today. In addition, you will have an opportunity to pose a question or two to these industry power players so make sure you’re prepared.

This year, the Forum will focus on how industry professionals can form strategies and excel in working with distressed properties, such as foreclosures, REOs and short sales.

RISMedia has an additional session on “Staying Up in a Down Market: Short Sales, Expireds & Price Reductions,” on Saturday, November 14 from 1:30-3 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR Conference. Once again, all NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend, however, the subject matter is geared toward agents.

This session will help Realtors clearly identify and explain short sales, expireds and price reductions to their clients, while also explaining their own understanding of the subject matter and how they will assist those clients. Realtors will also learn how they can use various marketing techniques to acquire more listings and how to implement a marketing strategy that benefits their own business, while also educating consumers on the nuances of today’s market.

Here is the breakdown of speakers at the Saturday session:

Facilitator
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network

Panelists
Becky Boomsma, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Valerie Fitzgerald, Realtor, The Valerie Fitzgerald Group, Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills
Julie Vanderblue, President, The Higgins Group
Rosemary West, Team Leader, The Rosemary West Team, RE/MAX of Joliet

For more information contact Stephanie Andre at Stephanie@rismedia.com or 203-855-1234 ext. 141 or visit http://rismedia.com/events/power-broker-forum-annual/.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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RISMEDIA, November 10, 2009—That is one of the most common objections to purchasing real estate where there is a community Association requiring the payment of regular dues and fees. These can range from less than a hundred dollars per month, if for example the only service is streetscaping, to upwards of a couple of thousand dollars for a luxury penthouse. Depending on square footage and amenities, most fees range between $250 and $750. 

Taken out of context, the amount can seem outrageous. But, when considered from a prospective of value received, you can be pretty certain that you are getting one of the last great bargains. 

When evaluating the HOA monthly fee, it is important to consider three things: how was the number arrived at, what does it cover, can anything be done for less? 

1. How is the HOA fee determined? 

In California, and probably most other states, developers must obtain state approvals before their projects can be offered to prospective buyers. Part of the submission process for developments with an Owners Association is the creation of a detailed budget for the operation and maintenance of the common area and the provision of necessary services. 

Developers want to project the most positive scenarios in order to keep HOA dues low and not discourage prospective buyers. And, they are also aware that a $500 per month Association fee equates to another $100,000 that the buyer could have spent for the home. The higher the Association fee, the less the borrower/buyer can spend. 

On the other side, the State wants to establish a realistic budget that will allow for proper funding well into the future. For the consumer, that process of compromising means that the budget is as realistic as it can be at the time it was created. 

The main thing to keep in mind is that the developer will be paying the Association fees on all unsold property within the Association. The developer is not the one benefiting from high fees so there is no reason to blame them. 

2. What does the HOA fee is cover? 

It’s also important to consider what is included. Amenities very widely from project to project; high-rises cost more to operate and maintain than low rise buildings. 

One of the responsibilities associated with real estate ownership is the obligation to maintain and protect the improvements from deterioration, damage, weathering, etc. Living out in the burbs you need a garage full of tools and a lot of weekends to stay ahead of nature. 

Depending on the type of development, there could be a need for a lot of landscape maintenance. That takes labor, and labor is expensive 

If there are common areas such as a lobby, pool, gym, or even hallways, they need to be cleaned regularly, maintained occasionally, painted often, and replaced over time. Garages must be swept and windows washed. 

Then there is liability, property and other forms of insurance, and possibly a security force. 

What utilities are included? Are water, sewer, electric, gas, trash and cable billed individually or are some paid collectively through the Association? 

Then there is usually a management Association looking after things, paying the bills, and communicating all of that to the homeowners. 

3. Can it be done for less? 

Add it all up and you’ll see that the economies of scale allow for a high level of service at a true cost far lower than you could do it yourself. 

And remember, it is your building and your Association. You want to protect your investment and to have the kind of amenities that will allow for profitable reselling in the future. Serve on your Association board. If you can economize, you can lower your HOA fee. 

But, don’t lose sight of the fact that you are paying for important services with a volume discount. It isn’t just an expense; it’s protecting your investment.

George W. Mantor is known as “The Real Estate Professor” for his wealth building formula, Lx2+(U²)xTFP=$? and consumer education efforts. During a career that has spanned more than three decades, he has amassed experience in new home and resale residential real estate, resort marketing, and commercial and investment property. He is currently the founder and president of The Associates Financial Group, a real estate consulting firm.

Mantor can be reached at GWMantor@aol.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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