Renter2Buyer

Save Your Commissions!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:30:00 +0000

You received this email because you are a Real Estate Professional, affiliated with Real Estate or potential homebuyer who made your email address publicly available for the purpose of receiving communications regarding real estate business. This email is sent to you on behalf of a real estate professional or developer and is a business communication. If you'd prefer not to receive email like this from Flyerus.com in the future, please click here to be removed from our mailing list. Alternatively, mail your request to be removed from our mailing list to Flyerus.com, 3708 Raboli Street, Pleasanton, California 94566

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noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:26:00 +0000

Click here to send your own flyer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 04:20:00 +0000

test

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:15:00 +0000

17K Sigs and Counting. Ban Plastic Pollution NOW! Sign Our Petition and Be Heard http://ow.ly/2kGV3

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:57:00 +0000

Sign Our Petition! Stop Selling Styrofoam Coolers "Say No To Styro" - Help Stop 1 Million Coolers from reaching our parks http://ow.ly/2kGDe

Blog title...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:30:00 +0000

TEST

2010 GREEN EXPO ANNOUNCES RECYCOOL INC WILL SPONSOR AND EXHIBIT

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:18:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Recycooler will participate at the â€œItâ€™s A Green Day Festivalâ€ on Saturday August 7th at NTC Park, Liberty Station, Point Loma, California, at Booth No.: 15B

San Diego, California, July 22, 2010, knowing that organic is not enough, and that â€œnaturalâ€ still allows space for chemicals, Recycooler has taken the absolute natural route. Theyâ€™ve scoured the global community finding the best fair trade and organic products to produce a recyclable ice cooler that everyone can use, which is made in the USA and will be attending â€œItâ€™s A Green Day Festivalâ€. The opening ceremonies will commence with the San Diego Sea Cadets Corps, Challenger Division delivering a Color Guard in observance of Veterans, current servicemen and servicewomen who received the â€œPurple Heart Medalâ€. The Purple Heart is presented to those who have been wounded or killed while serving with the U.S. military. August 7th is the day to observe these servicemen and servicewomen. There will be FREE Live Reggae and Blues Music with East of Echo, Subliminal Trip; Paul Mitchell Salons/Schools providing FREE hairstyle at the event, and Eco Fashion Show and other activities. At the festival you will find emerging and available technologies that promote solutions to environmental problems, ways to green your world by saving energy, reducing pollution, recycling, healthy living, green home products, educational workshops and eco-businesses.
After two years of research and development, Recycooler has succeeded in creating a disposable cooler that meets every green consumerâ€™s demands. Using the most eco-friendly materials available, Recycool, Inc. invented the Recycooler. The Recycoolerâ„¢ is a reusable and recyclable, green/earth friendly cooler made from a minimum 60% post-consumer product and printed with soy based ink. The Recycoolerâ„¢ is 100% recyclable and great for picnics, concerts, tailgating, ball games, road trips, and all types of events.
Manufacturer Representative David Fresquez says, â€œRecycooler is a product that we can be proud of as parents, people and business. As a result of great research and concern, we have introduced a quality, affordable, organic product in 2009 that does more than keep your drinks and food cold. We take polystyrene out of the equation and itâ€™s a perfect for consumers and companies who want to spread and share the message of renewability and sustainabilityâ€
The patent pending design of a recycoolerâ„¢ comprises a unique cellulose insulation component that is superior for keeping drinks and food COLD for long periods of time even in the hottest conditions. Best of all, by choosing the recycoolerâ„¢ you are helping our environment by making a smart, environmentally conscious choice over traditional polystyrene coolers. www.recycooler.com

Contact
David Fresquez, Recycool Inc
858-336-9899
1-888-9.RECYCOOL X 4
# # #

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:46:00 +0000

Sign This Petition to Stop Plastic Bag Pollution - It all starts with You! http://ow.ly/2jA20

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noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Google SEO Marketing Tips - Using Online Press Releases to Get FREE or Low Cost Traffic from Google in 24 Hours or Less!

There are a lot of ways nowadays to get traffic from the internet and search engines. If you have read my blog you know that I have been pushing Google Business Directory Listings, Google Websites, Profile Pages etc....but perhaps nothing brings in faster results than submitting Online Press Releases.

Online Press Releases can get first page search engine rankings within as little as 15 minutes up to 24 hours and if you are a bit savvy with how you market them you can get them to "stick" for months and even years at a time.

I have written 65 press releases in the last 5 months and have gotten an extra 14,000 visitors to my websites and client websites I have done work for.

If you are a real estate agent looking to get some targeted traffic I would suggest a few things about doing Press Releases.....

1. Focus on niche markets - I am in San Diego but if I focus on Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach etc...I will have a better chane for success.

2. Submit your press release to multiple services - I nomally use three that are either free or less than $5.00 to use

3. Write script and copy that is at least 6-8 paragraphs in length.

4. Focus the Press Release on ONE keyword phrase per article

If you do not rank in the search engines within 24 hours then the chances are you did not get the keywords in the article enough or you repeated the phrases over so many time Google did not like it.

IE: Pacific Beach Condos for Sale
I want that to be the main keyword but I want to say things like

"the condo market in Pacific Beach is picking up"

"condos are becoming popular in Pacific Beach"

etc...I do not want to keep repeating the same phrase over and over as that constitutes spamming and the search engines do not like it.

So the goal is to incorporate those words in the text without repeating the same phrase over and over, although the main keyword phrase should always be used in the title.

Check out this video Sean and I did showing some Press Releases I have done that rank high in Google
http://ping.fm/C3ImC

If you want some more free real estate marketing tips visit www.postandsend.com and provide an email address and I can send out other ways to get free or low cost traffic to your real estate website.

Best wishes to your continued success!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:47:00 +0000

How to Format Keywords, Title Lines and Meta-Tags for Google SEO

When it comes to formatting a real estate website one of the most common mistakes I see is how people set up their title lines, keywords and keyword descriptions areas.

First off let me just explain that "keywords" and "meta-tags" are the same thing, just with two different names. This often leads to a little confusion.

Keywords / Meta-tags

There are three things to go with setting up keywords.

1. Assigning the keywords you want to use for your home page
2. Creating a "description" for your keywords
3. Setting up the Title Lines in your website for your keywords

When setting up keywords make sure you do not overload that section with more than 4 keyword phrases max.

Normally when working with websites I can see as many as 20 keyword phrases stuffed in the back end of a real estate website and that is not good for getting search engine rankings.

Keywords should be relevant keyword phrases like
"home for sale in pacific beach" "pacific beach real estate for sale" and not homes, houses, condos, real estate, realtor, real estate agent etc.....

Never use keywords if you do not have the words mentioned and used on your home page.

Many times I will see "mission beach homes" "pacific beach homes" ocean beach homes" etc......but the Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach words are not even mentioned on the home page.

That is why I do not like websites where the home search feature is presented as just a button that says "home search".

If you do not bring the home search feature into your home page abd break it down with some descriptive text then you are not converting the amount of visitors you need to and also not getting any useful content on the home page to back up the keywords you have in the back end.

If you service a ton of areas then you are best off to create a web page and/or landing page on your website for each area - it helps your site rank better overall if you can add more content on it anyway.

As an example let's say that Pacific Beach is the main market - use some keywords for Pacific Beach on the home page and / or create keywords for the home page like "san diego beach real estate" or "san diego coastal real estate" since Pacific Beach is a section of San Diego.

Then you would want to create a seperate page for Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, La Jolla etc...and use keywords relavent for each area on those new pages.

Just about every real estate website company allows you to add additional pages at no xtra charge and the more content you have on the website the better your chances of getting good organic search engine placement.

The Description Section

The "Description" area of the website - which normally sits right below where you add the keywords should be 1-2 sentences which include the keywords you just added in the meta-tag / keyword section.

If my keyword phrases are "homes for sale in pacific beach" and "pacific beach ca oceanfront condos" then the description should be something like "Find Pacific Beach homes and oceanfront condos for sale on and by the beach"

The key is that the one to two sentence description should include the keywords you are using.

The biggest tip is to then add the description on the home page of the website towards the top of the landing page.

Title Lines

It is also important thattle lines include the keywords you added in the keyword / metatag section website.

One common thing I see if real estate agents stuffing their name in the title line section and that is a mistake since coming up in Google under your name is easy and does not require you to use a title line for that purpose.

Title lines should contain 2 keywords phrases seperated by acomma or | character. In general title lines should not exceed 80 characters in length.

If you can coordinate your keywords / meta-tags with verbage on the website, a good description and title line you can start getting free treaffic from Google.

One tip for doing this is to use long keyword strings like "home for sale in Pacific Beach Ca" or "Pacific Beach Ca real estate listings for sale"

These "long tail" keywords are much easier to rank under than keywords like "Pacific Beach real estate" which normally have much more competition and require more work, backlinks etc to get ranked.

By formatting your real estate website correctly and providing search engines the information they are looking for you can deliver more relevant search results to the end user and thus get much better rankings in Google and Yahoo.

I have been able to get my help companies like www.realestatemarketingnerds.com wesbite to rank on the first page of Google out of 100 million websites for "real estate marketing company" by using this same formula and even though I am just a one man band I can compete with much larger companies the same way that agents need to in todays real estate market

If you need help or have questions you can email me at info@postandsend.com
or call me at 888-270-POST

Best wishes to your success!

David Fresquez
www.postandsend.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:21:00 +0000

Forget what you know about Real Estate Short Sales.. The Game has changed..
http://ping.fm/BRBDX

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:24:00 +0000

Do you believe in UFO's? Check out this video shot last month http://ping.fm/KVwaw

?When it comes to lead generation?what works??

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Last year Baylor researchers asked real estate agents, “When it comes to lead generation–what works?”

These researchers discovered two things.

First, those real estate agents who reported doing better–or much better–in their market than most agents reported significantly higher lead conversion rates to appointments.

Second, these same agents reported higher conversion rates from appointments to a transaction.

What was their secret? Well, their secret pretty much boiled down to 5 characteristics that make up a compelling real estate agent profile.

Let me show you what I mean.

Real estate agents who reported doing much better in their market tended to:

1. Have higher lead and appointment conversion rates.

2. Spend less on open houses as a percentage of their total spending.

3. Spend less on promotional items as a percentage of their total spending.

4. More productive when using open houses.

5. More seeker oriented in their lead generation activities

One way to approach this information is to use it as a baseline for your own lead generation investment. The question is: Are your lead generating strategies seeker-oriented or attract oriented?

Attract-oriented strategies tend to be activities like print advertising or signage where the real estate agent puts out the ad or the sign and then waits for leads to come in.

These types of strategies tend to be passive. You sit and wait.

On the other hand, seeker-oriented real estate agents typically invested in the proactive strategies like networking, referrals and IVR technology.

These type of strategies are active. Aggressive. They put you in control of your leads. And your career.

Yes, I know. Aggressive strategies are nerve racking for the timid. So, the question is: If you could be in control and guide your career to success, don’t you think it’s worth the risk of sticking your neck out there a little to be more aggressive?

I do. And I hope you do, too. You and your career are worth it. Let me know what you think.

David @ Post and Send.com

www.postandsend.com

Lead Evolution - A Quick Peak at Dr. Mike's Latest Innovative Software

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:02:00 +0000

I recently was privy to an incredible
software application... that (get this!)
finds people on the internet already
interested in your product or service.

Imagine going to the some of the worlds most visited sites and instanly find quality matches of what your selling and what they want to buy. Instantly.. I couldnt believe it myself until I saw it with my own to eyes...

In fact, a quick test found 34 leads
in just 18 seconds...who've said YES.
I'm interested.

See for yourself how incredible
this app...I dare say it could change
your internet business.

Check out the short video explaining more.

http://rt.nu/rb9o

Troopal - An Unbias Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Review of Troopal and EAPD Software

Ive spent a good amount of time testing this and other sofrware applications that provide auto posting to classified websites like craigslist, backpage and alike.

In my research, there are just a handful of non black hat companies out there that provide a working version with support.

I will write a review on all well and not so well known autoposters and hopefully provide my readers with some good information. I have learned a lot doing this and think it will be helpfull to other people out there...

The 3 software applications that I will be discussing will be 1) Troopal, CLAD, and CLBOTPRO. I have tested all 3 versions and will provide results in this and future blogs.

The first software application I want to introduce you to is Troopal. Troopal is the successor to Easy AD Posting Deluxe software. Currently, as a whole, the company proudly states they post over 1.5 million ads per month on craigslist! WOW... Thats a lot of posts, wouldnt you agree? Since taking over EAPD, the team at Troopal have been burning the midnight and it seems to have paid off. With the recent upgrades, troopal has made some critical changes that make the poster's job easier and more goof proof then before.

Troopal has a full support staff and is available by phone to answer questions. In fact, at one point, i spoke to a customer service rep for over 1 hours discussing techniques on how to post.. Again,, talking technques..not discussing how to get it work.

The software itself is very easy to use and navigate. It is very easy to create a campaign in seconds. If you plan to post lots and lots of ads, the system allows you to add variables to ensure you dont post the duplicate ad over and over again.

You can easily post 10 ads in as little as 13 minutes. Another great feature is that you can set up the auto campaign to post your ads in the future to automatcally post for you.

You can set up an unlimited amount of posts that you want set up daily, weekly and even hourly.

Many video tutorials are available to watch. The forum provides a great source of information for the newbie poster and also the experienced one.

By far, Troopal offers the most well rounded "working" package out there. However, there is few negatives that I have to ad..The first thing, it can be addicting to post. Dont shoot yourself in the foot when you see how easy it is to post 10,20, 30 ads in minutes. You will piss many people off and ultimately to "volunteer flag brigade" will get you and flag your ads! Now that you have this tool, its important to use it wisely.

On a scale of 1-10, I give troopal a 8/9 for inngenuity and simplicty..

Here is a link to view more information and to learn more about troopal..

http://ping.fm/wVzTu

My next blog I will write a review on the New Star on the Block, "CLAD"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:35:00 +0000

Would You Like To Make Insane Amounts Of Money?

Have Your Own Cash-Sucking Twitter-Related Reseller Website Online And Earning Money
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Check Out This KILLER MRR/PLR Package
And Prepare To Be Stunned!!

SUPER BONUS:
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Upload & Start Selling Instantly - Keep 100% Of The Profits!

Hi Tweeple!

Twitter is sizzling hot these days. It is more than just a fun way to communicate with people all around the world: it is a global phenomenon that is growing every second of every day, with millions of people eagerly awaiting your messages.

As you no doubt have heard, Twitter’s traffic is growing at an incredible rate. As of April 2009 there are currently 6 Million (yes, you read it right.... 6 MILLION) registered Twitter users, which equates to around 3.8% of people on the Internet.

Twitter is here to stay and ...

Right here before you is the opportunity
to claim your piece of the pie

I have put together a one-of-a-kind package that will teach people everything they need to know about Twitter: from setting up their first Twitter account to driving hundreds of followers and traffic to their website. The package includes the newest ebooks, video tutorials and other products available out there!

All products have been carefully selected and they're all high quality products. On top of that, they all have MASTER RESALE RIGHTS AND/OR PRIVATE LABEL RIGHTS , so you can not only use these products yourself, but you can also re-sell them and keep 100% of the profits: you can sell the individual products contained within the package separately, together, or you can repackage them. You can also sell this entire TwitSellers' Dream package itself! I will provide you with a ready-made sales page similar to this one.

There has never been a quicker or easier way to start your own automated online business. All the hard work has already been done for you.
All you have to do is insert your order link, upload your products & pages and begin making sales!

You are literally only minutes away from owning your very own turnkey special offer, designed to start raking in the profits almost instanly!

All Products Included In This Amazing Package:

Click here for more information, http://postandsend.com/twitmega/index.html

To Your Success!
B. David Fresquez

Why so many agents fail on Craigslist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Post and Send.com
Group Organizer
Aug 10, 2009 12:17:23 PM
This post has not been rated.

I hear these 2 words alot, "Success and Fail" when I am discussing the benefits classified posting and it doesnt take long to find out why agents fail at craigslist, backpage or any other social maketing websites.

For those agents who fail at classified marketing there is ussually a minimum 4 factors that contribute to their failure. In fact, depending on what you what post, guarantees failure.

Common Failures on Craigslist:

Poor Titles
Poor Ad Copy/Flyer
Actual Time Posting the Ad
Poor Posting Habits
Frequency of Posts
I am going to cover all 5 of the above topics and provide some great tips to turn your "failures' into "success".

Poor Titles:
You can have the best offers, best services best everything, but if the title is terrible or poorly written, no one will click on it. If no one clicks on the the title all your efforts go out the window.

Unfortunately, our societys "online brain" has been programmed to think in under 140 characters or less which makes the "art of story telling" that much more important.

Make an effort to create a min of 3 compelling titles per ad that you create.

Here is 2 examples of a good title versus a bad title for the same home for sale:

Bad Title Sample:
"1987 Home with side and backyard in nice neighborhood"

Good Title Sample:
"Rarely Available Home for Sale in Desireable Neighborhood. Inviting side and backyard is ideal entertaining"

Poor Copy/Flyer
You dont need a fancy flyer to be effective. What makes an ad effective is the content and even more important, the "call to action". With no "call to action" in your advertisment you might as well not even advertise it. Consumers including home buyers need suggesting and persuasion to take take action.

When to Post your Ads?
For real estate, statiscally, before 8 am and after 6 pm is the best time frame. However, with over 8 billion page views per month on Craigslist there is no shortgage of people online looking 24/7

Poor Posting Habits:
You need to keep your posts "dynamic" and "fresh" and never "stale" or "static". With every post you should have a different title. Just like direct mail, it takes a consumer upto 6 times to see the same message before they take action. So if it takes someone to see your ad more than once, make sure it pounds the same message to them with the same call to action.

Also, do not use the same craigslist account over and over. Create more than one and rotate them daily.

Frequency:
Without doubt, the best frequency is to have the ability to post every day. Not once per week, or twice per week but every day. If you dont, you will get lost in the abyss of the thousands of posts daily on craigslist.

These tips are for realtors who want to bulk post on craigslist and not for the casual poster. These tips and techniques are tried and tested and have proven to work.

More tips to follow. I hope this information helps those who are in need of assistance and have no where to turn

For more information visit www.postandsend.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:57:00 +0000

Testing Ping.fm.. Lots of promise with this new Web2.0 Innovation www.postandsend.com

Craigslist Posting Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Tips for selling on Craigslist

Offer detailed descriptions. Provide essential information. Give the size, the color, the style, or any other relevant information a buyer might need to make a decision.
Be honest. You’re not going to fool anyone. If you say something is “like new” and a potential buyer shows up to discover it’s well-worn, you’re not going to make the sale and you’re going to have a cranky customer on your hands. Tell the truth.
You don’t need to post a photograph, but you’re going be more successful with certain items if you do. I spent two months searching for the perfect desk on Craigslist. There was a strange disconnect between the text people used to describe their desks and the actual desk as shown in a picture. I wasn’t about to bite on a post that didn’t include an image. But if you’re posting an ad for a used Nintendo Wii game, a photo isn’t required.
Ask a reasonable price. If you’re not sure what’s reasonable, watch Craigslist for a week or two to see what similar items fetch. If you price your item too low you’ll sell it but you will have left money on the table. If you price your item too high you’ll never get a response.
You will get many responses, but few will follow through. That’s just how Craigslist works. Don’t let it bother you. Be grateful for the few that do follow through.
Don’t let buyers talk you into alternate forms of payment. If you’re asking $250, don’t accept a trade for something you don’t need. I’ve made this mistake twice, and one time it really bit me. (I traded for a computer that didn’t work — long, stupid story.)
Take down your ad once you’ve sold the item.
From my experience, collectibles do poorly on Craigslist. It’s the wrong audience. I watch for comic books because I’m a collector. People have unrealistic expectations of what comics are worth and what the demand for them is. I would never try to sell comics on Craigslist. That’s what eBay is for.

Don’t Pay Another Cent in Rent To Your Landlord . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:56:00 +0000

"If you’re like most renters, you feel trapped within the walls of a house or apartment that doesn’t feel like yours."

It’s a dream we all have - to own our own home and stop paying rent. But if you’re like most renters, you feel trapped within the walls of a house or apartment that doesn’t feel like yours. How could it when you’re not even permitted to bang in a nail or two without a hassle. You feel like you’re stuck in the renter’s rut with no way of rising up out of it and owning your own home.

Don’t Feel Trapped Anymore!

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been renting, or how insurmountable your financial situation may seem. The truth is, there are some little known facts that can help you get over the hump, and transfer your status from renter to homeowner. With this information, you will begin to see how you really can:

save for a down payment

stop lining your landlord’s pockets, and

stop wasting thousands of dollars on rent.

6 Little Known Facts That Can Help You Buy Your First Home

The problem that most renters face isn’t your ability to meet a monthly payment. Goodness knows that you must meet this monthly obligation every 30 days already. The problem is accumulating enough capital to make a down payment on something more permanent.

But saving for this lump sum doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might think. Consider the following 6 important points:

1. You can buy a home with much less down than you think

There are some local or federal government programs (such as 1st time buyer programs) to help people get into the housing market. You can qualify as a first time buyer even if your spouse has owned a home before as long as your name was not registered. Ensure your real estate agent is informed and knowledgeable in this important area and can offer programs to help you with your options.

2. You may be able to get your lender to help you with your down payment and closing costs

Even if you do not have enough cash for a down payment, if you are debt free, and own an asset free and clear (such as a car for example), your lending institution may be able to lend you the down payment for your home by securing it against this asset.

3. You may be able to find a seller to help you buy and finance your home

Some sellers may be willing to hold a second mortgage for you as a seller take-back. In this case, the seller becomes your lending institution. Instead of paying this seller a lump sum full amount for his or her home, you would pay monthly mortgage installments.

4. You may be able to create a cash down payment without actually going into debt

By borrowing money for certain investments to a specified level, you may be able to generate a significant tax refund for yourself that you can use as a down payment. While the money borrowed for these investments is technically a loan, the monthly amount paid can be small, and the money invested in both home and investment will be yours in the end.

5. You can buy a home even if you have problems with your credit rating

If you can come up with more than the minimum down payment, or can secure the loan with other equity, many lending institutions will consider you for a mortgage. Alternatively, a seller take-back mortgage could also help you in this situation.

6. You can, and should, get pre-approved for a home loan before you go looking for a home

Pre-approval is easy, and can give you complete peace-of-mind when shopping for your home. Mortgage experts can obtain written pre-approval for you at no cost and no obligation, and it can all be done quite easily over-the-phone. More than just a verbal approval from your lending institution, a written pre-approval is as good as money in the bank. It entails a completed credit application, and a certificate which guarantees you a mortgage to the specified level when you find the home you’re looking for. Consider dealing only with a professional who specializes in mortgages. Enlisting their services can make the difference between obtaining a mortgage, and being stuck in the renter’s rut forever. Typically there is no cost or obligation to enquire.

There are many important issues you should be aware of that affect you as a renter. Why on earth would you continue to lose thousands by throwing it away on rent when with your agent you could take a few minutes to discuss your specific needs so that you can stop renting and start owning.

This conversation costs you nothing. And, of course, you shouldn’t have to feel obligated to buy a home at the time you review this. But by taking the time to explore your options, and learn about the ways you can afford to buy a home, think how prepared and relaxed you’ll be when you are ready to make this important step.

The Rich Get Richer: Investors are positioning for a HUGE year!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 04:41:00 +0000

Investors Ready to Make a Fortune!

Those who know me or listen to my podcast, know that I always say, "When they say the real estate market is "bad", that means it's bad for home owners wanting to sell their homes for top dollar. But if you are an investor, then it's the best time to buy.”
Buy low / sell high, works in real estate as well as it works in anything else. Let's look at what's going on. There is a surplus of homes on the market, which means that there are far more sellers than there are buyers. Sellers are in trouble and can't afford to pay for their homes, so they are willing to do anything to just out from under their situation. Lenders are losing money and getting far too many properties back in their inventory (which they don't like, they are in the money lending business, not the real estate holding business), so they are very motivated to recoup as much as possible on their loans.

When you add all this up, what do you get?

You get a situation that is one of the best in many years for investors to make tremendous profits. More Millionaires are made in the economic downturns, than in the good times.

Smart investors who understand these markets, can make a lot of money. With foreclosures approaching record levels, opportunities are everywhere. Sellers are willing to sell their properties for literally no more than they owe on it, and lenders are willing to do what is called a "short sale", where they will accept a discounted amount as payoff for the loan in order to avoid having the property go through foreclosure and risk getting it back.

I know that all sounds incredible, why would the homeowners just walk away from their properties, and why would the lenders accept less than they are owed?

The answer is, because they don't have a choice. The homeowner is over leveraged, they owe more than the home is worth. Same for the lender, if they take the house back, they cannot sell it for enough to recover what they are owed. This presents opportunities for us, the investors. We get the house under contract from the owner, then negotiate with the lender for a lesser payoff amount (often 30%-40% off, sometimes much more) with a cash offer.

So while everyone else is running away from real estate, smart investors who want to create tremendous profits, are running out to buy all they can get. Even in a slower market, if as an investor, you buy the property right, you can still sell it for a profit. A market slowdown does not mean that there are no buyers. It means that the majority of the general buying public is not getting into home ownership at this time. In a slow market 2 things will sell a property .... Price, or terms.

Price means that if the price is right, you will find a buyer. Buy a property for 60% of value, you can turn around and sell it quick to an investor for 70%-80% and turn a profit. Buy it for even lower than 60% of value, and make even more.

Terms, means selling it with good financing. As a rent to own (also known as a lease/option), or owner financing. With the slow down in available credit from lenders, buyers are looking for ways to still get into home ownership. By being willing to sell on terms, you can get at or above full market value, and take a option fee or down payment up front to put cash in your pocket.

So if you want to truly make money as a real estate investor, do what the wealthy do (buy property now), and not what the average person does (wait for the market to improve, which means high prices and less profits).

NOW is the time to get into investing in real estate in the U.S.

Run that by me again? What will the Stimulus Plan do for me?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 05:32:00 +0000

I've had quite a few inquiries from people wanting to know what is going to happen with the conforming loan limit and the upper limit for FHA loan guarantee programs in their market under the economic stimulus bill passed by Congress and signed into law today by President Bush (see story).

The language in the stimulus bill IS confusing, and the fact is nobody can tell you exactly what will happen to loan limits in your market until HUD publishes the median home price figures that will be used to determine them. HUD's got 30 days to do that, and then it will take Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a few weeks (or months) to update their credit guidelines and automated underwriting systems.

But you can get a pretty good idea of what's going to happen to the loan limits in your market.

Here is what the bill says:

In high cost areas, the conforming loan limit, and the upper limit for FHA loan guarantee programs, will be 125 percent of the median home price for the area, not to exceed $729,750.

In areas that are not high cost markets, the conforming loan limit will remain $417,000. The upper limit for FHA loan guarantee programs in "normal" markets will be raised from $200,160 to $271,050.

So if you are in a high cost area, multiply your median home price by 1.25, and there's your new maximum loan limit for Fannie, Freddie and FHA loan programs (up to $729,750).

What is the median home price for your market? Am I in a high cost area? That's what we need HUD to tell us. They will be providing a median home price for your county or metropolitan statistical area (MSA). If you're in an MSA, it will be the median price for the most expensive county in the MSA.

If you click "continue reading," you will see a chart of an analysis done by the Stanford Group Co. that shows how this might play out in 19 markets. The analysis uses numbers from NAR, which is where HUD may get some of its numbers from. If you don't see your MSA on this chart, that doesn't necessarily mean you won't see increased loan limits.

It seems to me a simple rule of thumb would be if the median home price in your county or MSA is less than $333,600, you will not see an increase in the conforming loan limit (because 125 percent of $333,600 is $417,000).

But EVERYONE will see FHA loan limits go up. Instead of $200,160, the upper limit in "normal" markets will be $271,050. Instead of $372,790 in high cost markets, the upper limit for FHA loan programs will be 1.25 times the median home price, up to $729,750.

Don't forget, these new limits will only be good until Dec. 31, unless Congress works out its differences over other legislation that's intended to further expand FHA loan programs and strengthen oversight of Fannie and Freddie.

This is a very important issue for buyers and sellers alike, so please: everybody who's got any additional insight on how this will work, leave your comments.

Estimated conforming loan limit increases

Buyers: Should you wait for the market bottom?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 07:49:00 +0000

The housing market will continue its downward spiral, forecasts say, and that means opportunities for buyers. But waiting for the market bottom may not be the smartest strategy. Here are 5 reasons to buy now -- and 5 reasons you may want to wait.

The latest housing headlines are far from encouraging: Foreclosures are up, home prices are down and new-home sales are at record lows. All this dismal news has many buyers sitting on the sidelines, afraid to make a move. But, economists say, waiting for the bottom may not be the smartest strategy.

Calling the market low is a difficult task, and it's most often spotted in the rear-view mirror. For one thing, there's no agreement on when the U.S. real-estate market will officially touch bottom. If you believe the National Association of Realtors, it will happen later this year. Investment bank Merrill Lynch is much more pessimistic, predicting that U.S. home prices will drop another 15% this year and 10%in 2009, with perhaps even more depreciation in 2010.

But for many buyers, there's no real need to wait for the market as a whole to officially bottom out, says Delores Conway, director of the Casden Forecast at the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate. "Real estate is local," Conway says, and therefore what constitutes the bottom for the country is meaningless for those looking to buy and sell homes in their own neighborhoods.

Prices in many markets have not yet hit their lowest point, but they aren't that far off. And in other areas, only the pace of sales has been affected; prices have held firm or gone up.

Waiting for the absolute bottom to hit before buying puts you at risk of missing it and getting caught up in a market on the upswing. Plus, for some first-time home buyers, owning simply makes better economic sense than renting.

Downturn, what downturn?

Of course, in some parts of the country, there's no real reason to get cold feet about buying. Prices have ticked up slowly and are expected to continue that slow march for the foreseeable future. "We have not seen a downturn in our market," says Marianne Ackerman, of The Property Shop in Glenwood Springs, Colo.

Indeed, prices in this small community outside Aspen have been nudging up 5% a year unchecked for several years, thanks to a shortage of property suitable for development and a booming tourism market.

This appreciation prompted longtime Glenwood Springs resident Marianne Virgili -- who also heads the town's chamber of commerce -- to buy a parcel of land now, without the slightest bit of hesitation. "Prices are rising, so the best time to get in is now," Virgili says. She plans to start building a home on her lot in the spring.

Other markets that experienced healthy price increases in the latest quarterly sales data from the National Association of Realtors are Farmington, N.M.; Reading and Pittsburgh, Pa.; Columbia, S.C.; San Jose, Calif.; and Fargo and Bismarck, N.D.

"Just like the weather, there are large local variations in home prices," says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. Yun says that in his examination of last quarter's metro home prices, two-thirds of the markets posted price increases.

Realtor Tom Rhodes in Dallas says that he has seen sales slow a bit, but that prices in his market haven't dropped as they have elsewhere. "Some people read what's going on around the country and say maybe this is not the best time to buy," he says. But, "we've got a pretty strong market. Those headlines are coming out of Miami and Las Vegas."

There are plenty of markets in Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and the Midwest that are now starting to tick up. In these areas, this might be a great time to buy, with interest rates historically low, a fairly large inventory of properties to choose from and less chance of getting caught up in a bidding war, analysts say.

Houses and neighborhoods that hold their value

There will always be some people who need to move because of job relocations, expanding families or a need for better schools. In desirable neighborhoods, there's a price to pay for waiting. You have to ask yourself, "How greedy do I need to be?" says James Gaines, research economist with Texas A&M's Real Estate Center. "If (the price) goes down much more, you've got other people trying to buy it, even if it's not the absolute bottom." Then, you might end up in a bidding war, erasing the savings you thought you had achieved by waiting.

Caren Saiet, a Los Angeles agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, says that even in a down market, the best houses are at least holding their value. One of her listings -- a two-bedroom Craftsman with a large, professionally landscaped lot, in the gentrifying Highland Park section of Los Angeles -- has four offers and will likely fetch several thousands more than the $499,000 asking price that the seller paid for it 14 months ago. "We are in a really good position," she says. And, she notes, the buyer is getting a fair deal too, given the much higher prices in neighboring areas.

For some people, the value of the local public schools will play a large part in their buying decision. A well-designed house in an established area with a good public-school district will hold its value and save you money in the long run. "These places don't get hurt as much as the whole market, and they recover faster," Gaines says.

Schools were the biggest consideration for Michael Daniels, who recently purchased a home in Charlotte, N.C. The 34-year-old health-care manager and his family had outgrown their existing home, but wanted to stay in the same school district. After studying the market for months, Daniels and his wife recently decided to act, when the house they were eyeing dropped in price from $425,000 to $379,000.

"(The sellers) had had four contingency offers that had gone bad," Daniels says. When he agreed to buy the house without the contingency of selling his own house first, the price was whittled down a bit more.

How to get the best deal

If you're ready to buy, try to make the best deal you can in a neighborhood that is holding its own, analysts say. Check real-estate Web sites such as Realtor.com, Trulia.com and Zillow.com, or go through the real-estate sales data published in your local newspaper to see what houses are going for in your area. When you have zeroed in on a neighborhood, work with an experienced real-estate agent to go over the fundamentals: How much inventory is out there? How many of the listings are foreclosures? How have prices in that neighborhood fared historically and over the past year or two? This will give you a feel for the overall direction of the neighborhood.

If there are a lot of foreclosures continuing to pop up, prices might fall further than you'd like in the short term. That may not be an issue if you plan to stay put for a while, but it could limit your options if you need to sell or refinance your mortgage.

Once you've bought, don't get discouraged if prices don't begin to jump back up immediately. Many, including Gaines and Conway, are predicting this down market to remain in a trough for a while, rather than bouncing back up.

"I think it will go down, hit bottom and slink along the bottom before it comes back up," Gaines says.

But ultimately, the market will come back up, he notes, even those markets in California that are taking a beating. "Does anybody really believe that California won't come back again, and with a vengeance?" he says with a chuckle.

5 REASONS TO BUY

1. Prices in the neighborhood you are interested in are relatively stable. Either they are holding their own or increasing, or the pace of decline is slowing significantly. If you have to move and don't like apartments, the small penalty you pay for missing the bottom may not mean much.

2. You plan to stay in the home for more than five years. If you can stick it out that long before selling, economists say you’ll probably ride out any downturn and come out ahead on price.

3. Your rent rivals a mortgage payment. If you can afford to buy, it can give you one bonus that renting can't: the mortgage-interest deduction on your taxes.

4. You've found the right house in the right area for you. The schools are great. You love the area and know it would be hard to find another house like the one you have your eye on. In a better market, you would most likely have much more competition for that home.

5. You've built equity in your house and are moving to a place where homes are cheaper. In your new market, your money will go a lot further.

5 REASONS TO HOLD OFF

1. You've lived in your house less than two years. Chances are you haven't had enough time to accumulate equity in your home. Indeed, you may have negative equity, if you live in many areas such as California, Florida, Arizona or Nevada.

2. Your job security is uncertain. If your company or business is in distress, it's probably better to say put until the smoke clears.

3. You don't plan to stay in your next house at least five years. While it's not important to buy at the exact bottom of the market, it is important to stay long enough to ride it out completely.

4. You don't have good credit or a decent down payment. Do you have a job and income you can document? As a result of the subprime lending crisis, lenders are much more careful about whom they're giving their money to.

5. You have an existing home to sell in a neighborhood where prices are dropping precipitously or where the number of foreclosures is spiking. In this climate, you're probably better off waiting out the storm.