Mark Hughes, First Team Real Estate:

The Unsettling Thing About Ellen - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 05:16:00 +0000

The Unsettling Thing About Ellen - NYTimes.com: "Oh, to be Ellen DeGeneres’s decorator. Or her architect. Or her real estate agent. Or even her movers.

When the economy is still sputtering and the housing market hasn’t fully recovered, these are boom jobs.

In the last few years, the comedian and talk show host has been in home-renovation "

'via Blog this'

Senate tax reform proposals: “chilling effect” on real estate industry

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 18:56:00 +0000

2/4/2014

Bruce Thompson

| DLA Piper Contact

According to the comment letter submitted to the Senate committee by the real estate groups, the “proposals in the Finance Discussion Draft could have a severe, widespread, and chilling effect on U.S. real estate activity.”A tax reform proposal released by the Senate Finance Committee would have a major impact on the real estate industry, according to comments submitted to the committee by a number of industry groups. If enacted in their current form, the group says, these proposals would threaten real estate activity and investment and have a negative impact on the US economy.

As part of the effort to create a comprehensive tax reform bill, the Senate Finance Committee has drafted and released a number of detailed discussion drafts on various issues, including a cost recovery proposal which includes significant changes affecting the real estate industry. Comments on the discussion drafts were due late last month.

The letter warns that the proposals amount to “substantial and radical tax increases on real estate” and that they would be imposed retroactively on existing investments.

These changes, the group says, are “more sweeping and fundamental” than those enacted in the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and would “pull the rug out” from under the real estate industry.

The Finance Discussion Draft proposes a number of fundamental changes to the tax code’s treatment of real estate investments:

Under the proposal, all real property would be depreciated on a straight-line basis over 43 years. The proposal would eliminate the current, distinct recovery periods that apply to leasehold improvements (15 years), residential rental property (27.5 years) and nonresidential property (39 years). The new recovery period would apply to all real property, regardless of when it was placed in service.
The proposal would repeal Section 1031, the deferral of gain on like-kind exchanges of real property. The proposed change would apply to transactions after December 31, 2014, regardless of when the initial investment was made.
The proposal would raise the tax rate on recaptured depreciation, taxing all gain attributable to prior depreciation as ordinary income, instead of the current tax rate of 25 percent. The change would apply to transactions after December 31, 2014, and would apply retroactively by imposing the ordinary income tax rate to past depreciation deductions.
The proposal would repeal Section 179 D, the tax incentive that encourages energy-efficient improvements to commercial and larger multifamily buildings.

According to the industry groups, these proposed changes in commercial real estate taxation would have dramatic effects on real estate investments, financial institutions, pension funds and large segments of the US economy, and the potential consequences of these changes would be far-reaching.

Although the momentum for enacting major tax reform legislation has stalled in Congress, key tax-writers in the House and the Senate remain committed to fundamental reform of the nation’s tax laws. Tax reform is not going away, and the discussion drafts developed by the tax committeescould be a framework for eventual legislation.

Changes in depreciation rules will be a major part of the ongoing tax reform debate, and the tax reform goal of lower tax rates and a broader base makes all tax preferences vulnerable to change.

As a result, these proposals need to be taken seriously and closely monitored. Your voice matters in this debate.

Top 10 Most Affordable And Safe Cities To Buy In Los Angeles County, CA

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 06:34:00 +0000

6. La PuenteAve. Listing Price: $378,000

Ave. Sold Price: $345,000
Crime Rate: 2.99

View La Puente homes for sale

Los Angeles is an amazing place to live. The entire county is literally jam backed with amazing places to go, things to see, fine arts, culture, night life, and more. However, that all comes at a hefty home price tag. The average listing price of a home in L.A. County is $1,114,000 and the average sale price is $652,000. That’s why we’ve put together this list to help you find an affordable place to settle in this amazing county.

There are approximately 90 cities within Los Angeles County, so we started to form our list by first finding the top 30 cities with the lowest average listing price. From there we decided to use one other factor to find the cities you should be living in – crime rates. The average violent crime rate in the state of California is 4.23 (number of violent crimes per 1,000 people). The cities that made our top 10 list were those within the most affordable 30 cities which all had crime rates below the state average.

So not only are these some of the most affordable cities in Los Angeles County, they’re the safest which means you should take a good look!

1. Bell Gardens

Bell Gardens made it to the top of our list because it was the most affordable real estate market in Los Angeles County with the lowest crime rate. Coincidentally, it has the lowest crime rate on our entire list except for West Covina which made it in at #10. The city is one of five in L.A. County to legally allow casino gambling. The luxury Bicycle Casino is a major source of revenue for the city and community resource offering conference rooms for business and delicious dining for pleasure.

Listing Price: $343,000
Sold Price: $216,000
Crime Rate: 2.92

View Homes For Sale In Bell Gardens

2. Norwalk

Norwalk is bordered by the cities of Downy, Bellflower, Cerritos, Artesia and Sante Fe Springs. It is a relatively large city and traffic heavy because of its location off of the 5 Freeway. The city is home to Cerritos College and is served by several different school districts including the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District.

Listing Price: $356,000
Sold Price: $306,000
Crime Rate: 4.04

View Homes For Sale In Norwalk

3. Baldwin Park

Located in the central San Gabriel Valley, Baldwin Park has a population of about 75,390. Now is a good time to buy in Baldwin Park especially because home values and prices are on the rise. Listing prices have increased 18.1% from last year and 2.8% from just last month. The city’s claim to fame is as home of the first In-N-Out burger stand back in 1948.

Listing Price: $366,000
Sold Price: $313,000
Crime Rate: 3.41

View Homes For Sale In Baldwin Park

4. Pico Rivera

Pico Rivera is centrally located within the county, just 11 miles from downtown Los Angeles and within close proximity to LAX airport and the ports of Long Beach. Community friendly, the city has 9 parks in the city including 18 athletic fields, four community centers, a nine-hole golf course and a skate park.

Listing Price: $371,000
Sold Price: $302,000
Crime Rate: 4.08

View Homes For Sale In Pico Rivera

5. San Fernando

Nestled into the San Fernando Valley, this suburb is completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. The city is popular among young families – the average age in the city is 31 years old and 55% of households have children. Listing prices in the city have been rising, 28.8% year-over-year and 1.1% from last month which means now is a good time to invest in San Fernando real estate.

Listing Price: $371,000
Sold Price: $288,000
Crime Rate: 3.2

View Homes For Sale In San Fernando

6. La Puente

The city of La Puente has a population of 114,928 and has a 70% homeownership rate among residents. La Puente is a great city to invest in now because home values and prices have appreciated since last year, listing prices up 23.9%, however in the last month prices have been stable. Take a look at La Puente homes for sale and see if this community is right for you.

Listing Price: $378,000
Sold Price: $345,000
Crime Rate: 2.99

View Homes For Sale In La Puente

7. Duarte

Duarte is a relatively small city in L.A. County with a population of 29,160, located just outside of one of the most expensive zip codes in the country. Bounded to the north by the San Gabriel Mountains, Duarte is surrounded by the cities of Irwindale, Bradbury, Monrovia and Azusa. Fun fact, historic Route 66 runs through the heart of the city and every September the city holds a Salute to Route 66 Parade.

Listing Price: $423,000
Sold Price: $365,000
Crime Rate: 3.28

View Homes For Sale In Duarte

8. Artesia

Artesia is a small city of 16,691 residents but has a lot to offer residents and visitors. The city is very diverse and home to what’s commonly known as “Little India” or the city’s International Cultural District. The area has numerous Indian restaurants grocery stores and boutiques as well as other South Indian businesses. The city is also home to EastWest Ice Palace which is co-owned by former Olympic champion Michelle Kwan.

Listing Price: $431,000
Sold Price: $417,000
Crime Rate: 3.57

View Homes For Sale In Artesia

9. Bellflower

Bellflower is a suburb of the city of Los Angeles and borders on Downey, Norwalk, Cerritos, Lakewood, Long Beach and the city of Paramount. Larger than most of the cities on our list, Bellflower has a population of 76,146. The city is a great location to settle if you love the cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles, its central location between the two as well as easy access to the 91 Freeway and MTA are invaluable.

Listing Price: $432,000
Sold Price: $314,000
Crime Rate: 3.9

View Homes For Sale In Bellflower

10. West Covina

Inventory in West Covina has been on the rise which means more home choices than ever. December stats revealed there are 123 homes for sale in the city, a 61.8% increase from last year. West Covina is also the safest city on our list with a 2.61 violent crime rate. For the price tag, West Covina is a great city to settle into if you love Los Angeles County.

Listing Price: $454,000
Sold Price: $414,000
Crime Rate: 2.61

View Homes For Sale In West Covina

Written by Grace Keister

Grace Keister, Content Marketing Specialist for First Team Real Estate. If you're in the market to buy a new home or list your home in Southern California, keep us in mind. Visit www.FirstTeam.com for daily up-to-date listings and we have over 1,800 local agents throughout Orange County, Los Angeles, Inland Empire, and San Diego that are ready to help with your real estate needs.

Agents need more than a niche and a farm to dominate a specific market | Inman News

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 03:47:00 +0000

Agents need more than a niche and a farm to dominate a specific market

Show your expertise through marketing, blogging and Facebook strategies

Christina Ethridge Contributor

I don’t think “niche” means what you think it means. Really. I don’t.

I’m finding that my fellow real estate agents think that a niche means a location. For example, when many agents say they are focusing on a niche, most of them refer to a town, neighborhood or community.

Sorry, but focusing on a geographical location is not a niche. No matter how small that geographic area is. Focusing on a geographical area in real estate is called a farm. For example, focusing on the downtown Philadelphia real estate market isn’t a niche.

So, if that’s not a niche, then what is?

Well, what is a niche?

niche /niCH/ a specialized but profitable corner of the market.

In other words, a niche is a specialty, a specific type of business, a specialized aspect of the real estate business. Here are some examples of niches:

First-time homebuyers.
Senior homebuyers.
Vacation-home sellers.
Investor home sellers.

Those are niches.

Even better? An even more narrowed focus:

Downtown condo sellers, in a specific price range, in a specific building.
Equestrian land buyers, looking for five or more acres.

Why are these even better?

They are more focused. They incorporate both a niche and a farm, allowing you to really dominate a specific niche market through your expertise. When you narrowly focus your business, your business will explode. Seriously. Here’s why:

You’ll be seen as an expert.
You’ll become an expert (if you aren’t already).
Your marketing will focus on your expertise.
Your blog posts will reflect your expertise.
Your SEO will go through the roof.
Your lead generation efforts will produce more highly qualified leads.
Your focus will become sharpened.
Your ads will hit the bull’s-eye.

Agents need more than a niche and a farm to dominate a specific market | Inman News

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 03:47:00 +0000

Agents need more than a niche and a farm to dominate a specific market

Show your expertise through marketing, blogging and Facebook strategies

Christina Ethridge Contributor

I don’t think “niche” means what you think it means. Really. I don’t.

So, if that’s not a niche, then what is?

Well, what is a niche?

niche /niCH/ a specialized but profitable corner of the market.

In other words, a niche is a specialty, a specific type of business, a specialized aspect of the real estate business. Here are some examples of niches:

First-time homebuyers.
Senior homebuyers.
Vacation-home sellers.
Investor home sellers.

Those are niches.

Even better? An even more narrowed focus:

Downtown condo sellers, in a specific price range, in a specific building.
Equestrian land buyers, looking for five or more acres.

Why are these even better?

You’ll be seen as an expert.
You’ll become an expert (if you aren’t already).
Your marketing will focus on your expertise.
Your blog posts will reflect your expertise.
Your SEO will go through the roof.
Your lead generation efforts will produce more highly qualified leads.
Your focus will become sharpened.
Your ads will hit the bull’s-eye.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:04:00 +0000

Home Prices Rise in Most Metro Areas in 2013

Median home prices are up nearly 13% from last year. Read

Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 20:05:00 +0000

Lenders Loosen Down Payment Requirements

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Lenders' tight underwriting standards have been blamed for sidelining many potential home buyers the last few years. But lenders may be showing signs of loosening up a bit.

The average down payment on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell 2.74 percent from the second quarter to 15.73 percent of the home’s value in the third quarter, according to a new report from LendingTree.

"Lenders are putting more focus on purchase mortgages and are adjusting minimum requirements to attract borrowers," says Doug Lebda, LendingTree founder and CEO. "With home values improving, the risk of borrowers defaulting on loans has decreased, giving lenders more confidence to lend with less cash down from qualified borrowers."

According to LendingTree, the states with the highest home values are also where down payments remain the highest percentages of the property price.

The states with the highest down payments are:

New Jersey: 18.8%
California: 18.6%
New York: 18%
Washington, D.C.: 17.9%
Massachusetts: 17.5%

Meanwhile, the states with the lowest average down payment in the third quarter were:

Nebraska: 12.5%
South Dakota 12.8%
Arkansas 12.9%
Alabama: 12.9%
Missouri: 13.1%

Source: “Mortgage Lenders Reportedly Accepting Lower Down Payments,” Credit.com (Nov. 15, 2013)

Simon Sinek - Denmark 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 19:26:00 +0000

Understanding Your Brain

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 23:28:00 +0000

Understanding Your Brain: the Architecture of Emotion Fast Company | Apartment Therapy:

These two similar rooms have one very big difference and it has do with your emotions. Try this: turn off your analytical brain and pick the room you're most drawn to.

If you were inexplicably drawn to the room on the right, here's why: the architecture of the room on the left is primarily linear whereas the right room's lines are mostly curved. It's such a small difference, you may not have not have noticed, but your subconscious sure did. More

National Debt

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 06:52:00 +0000

What The National Debt Means To You:

The ONE Character Trait

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 18:19:00 +0000

The ONE Character Trait You Need to Succeed (And How to Start Developing it Today!):

What You Get For ... $1,000,000 - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:30:00 +0000

What You Get For ... $1,000,000 - NYTimes.com:

Good article about what 1 mil gets these days.

A scientific guide to posting Tweets, Facebook posts, Emails and Blog posts at the best time

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 16:25:00 +0000

Posted on Thursday, August 29th, 2013

Written by Belle Beth Cooper

We’re pretty keen on optimal timing for social media here at Buffer, and I figured it was high time I collected all the information we have about online communication into one place. I’ve collected research and stats on Twitter, Facebook, email and blogging to help you find the best time to communicate with others in each format.

The tricky thing I’ve come across is that since the web is still so new, a lot of the research available to us is conflicting. We really need more time and more studies to get definitive answers about what works best, and the fact that our audience members are constantly changing their own activity patterns makes it even harder to work out for sure. Looking at the latest social media stats seems to only confirm that.

So my suggestion would be to use this guide as just that—a guide to help you work out what to test for your own audience, so that you can see what actually works best in your specific case.

Let’s get into the stats then!

Facebook – find the best time to post your updates

When I posted about Facebook’s News Feed algorithm, one of the factors I talked about was time decay. This is simply the age of your post: how long has it been since you posted it? With the recent introduction of Story Bumping, time decay matters a lot less than how relevant your story is to the user in terms of getting into their News Feed (i.e. does it from a user or Page they interact with often, or have interacted with recently). Still, it’s good to keep time decay in mind, since it does make some difference: you won’t see posts from 3 months ago in your News Feed today.

In terms of specific days and times to post on Facebook, here are some of the stats I found:

Engagement rates are 18% higher on Thursdays and Fridays.

I love the way this was explained in Buddy Media’s study: as they put it, “the less people want to be at work, the more they are on Facebook!”

Specific industries varied slightly in which days of the week garnered the most engagement, but most of them sit around the end of the week, from Wednesday to Friday.

Another study found that engagement was 32% higher on weekends, so the end of the week is definitely a good rough guide to start experimenting with.

The best time of day to post on Facebook is debatable, with stats ranging from 1pm to get the most shares, to 3pm to get more clicks, to the broader suggestion of anytime between 9am and 7pm. It seems that this generally points to early afternoon being a solid time to post, and anytime after dinner and before work being a long shot.

For more Facebook stats and Facebook statistics we’ve written a complete guide for you to check out.

Twitter – when is the best time to Tweet for engagement vs. clicks

Twitter is such a popular network for mobile users that it can be a bit tricky to lock down exactly when the best time to post is. Here are some suggestions from the research I’ve found:

Twitter engagement for brands is 17% higher on weekends.

If you’re tweeting from your company account, you might want to keep this in mind, especially if engagement is what you’re looking for. Buffer can help you spread out your tweets to post at the optimal times, so you don’t even have to work weekends to take advantage of this! Click-through rates are generally highest on weekends, as well as mid-week, on Wednesdays.

On the other hand, an Argyle Social study showed that weekdays provide 14% more engagement than weekends, so this is definitely one you’ll want to test on your audience.

When we look at the time of day, retweets have been shown to be highest around 5pm.

For click-throughs, the best times seem to be around noon and 6pm.

This could be due to lunch breaks and people looking for something to keep them occupied on the commute home after work.

There are lots of Twitter users who primarily use a mobile device—rarely loading up Twitter on their desktops. Twitter did an interesting study of these users and found that they are 181% more likely to be on Twitter during their commute.

They’re also 119% more likely to use Twitter during school or work hours.

For more details on the latest Twitter stats and Twitter statistics, check out this guide.

Email – find the best time to send for the right content

There’s been lots of research done on the best time to send emails, particularly in the case of email marketing. Some research done by Dan Zarrella from Hubspot broke down each time of day and worked out which type of emails work best for that period. Here’s what he found:

10pm–6am: This is the dead zone, when hardly any emails get opened.

6am–10am: Consumer-based marketing emails are best sent early in the morning.

10am-noon: Most people are working, and probably won’t open your email.

Noon–2pm: News and magazine updates are popular during lunch breaks.

2–3pm: After lunch lots of people buckle down and ignore their inbox.

3–5pm: Property and financial-related offers are best sent in the early afternoon.

5–7pm: Holiday promotions & B2B promotions get opened mostly in the early evening.

7–10pm: Consumer promotions are popular again after dinner.

What I thought was really interesting about this breakdown is why each type of email is more popular at certain times. From 3–5pm, for instance, the reason people open financial and property-related emails is that they’re more likely to be thinking about their life situation and how to improve it. Understanding how these time blocks work can be a good start to sending your emails at just the right time.

And since 23.63% of emails are opened within an hour of being received, this is something we definitely want to get right.

For more general emails, open rates, click-through rates and abuse reports were all found to be highest during early mornings and on weekends.

This probably means that most of us have more time to dedicate to our inbox during these periods, rather than during the day when we’re trying to get work done.

In a different study by MailChimp open rates were shown to be noticeably lower on weekends.

They also found that open rates increased after 12pm, and were highest between 2pm and 5pm.

A GetResponse study backed this up by showing that open rates drop off slightly, and click-through rates drop significantly on weekends.

GetResponse found that Thursday is the best day for both open rates and click-throughs.

Mark Suster offers some great advice when it comes to sending emails:

Often I’ll write emails on the weekend and then send first thing Monday morning. I want to be on top of the stack, not at the bottom of the pile. Most people process email first thing in the morning (although productivity experts say not to!).

BTW, when I wrote blog posts on Sunday’s I always Tweet again Monday morning for exactly this reason.

Blog posts – what time should you hit publish on your posts?

So let’s take a look at when to publish blog posts.

Dan Zarrella has some more great stats on this topic, but he makes a good point about the pros and cons of the timing you choose. One thing Dan suggests we consider is that if we post during time of higher traffic, we’re more likely to have higher bounce rates and get lost amongst the noise of other content being published.

On the other hand, posting at times when fewer people are online will garner less traffic and engagement, but give our posts more prominence and less competition against other content.

Here are some useful stats from Dan’s research into blog timing:

70% of users say they read blogs in the morning
More men read blogs at night than women
Mondays are the highest traffic days for an average blog
11am is usually the highest traffic hour for an average blog
Comments are usually highest on Saturdays and around 9am on most days
Blogs that post more than once per day have a higher chance of inbound links and more unique views

Knowing your audience is obviously important for working out the best time to publish on your blog. If your audience is women, for instance, mornings are probably a better bet than nights.

While Mondays are the best days to publish for traffic, Social Fresh suggests posting on a Thursday for more social shares across the web. Here are also more ideas to find the best time to publish blogposts.

This study also found that most content sharing happens in the morning, which backs up Dan’s stats that mornings are the most popular time to read blogs.

With Buffer’s new custom scheduling feature, you can now publish your post whenever suits you and schedule it to be promoted on social networks at a more optimal time. Plus, you can nowsend and schedule posts to Google+ from Buffer!

Timing depends on the individual

Timing is difficult to get exactly right, and a big part of this is because we all have different schedules and routines for checking email or using social media. An experiment by online retailer eBags showed this point perfectly. Looking at the latest social media statistics the range of different schedules seems to only increase too.

The company thought that when users were signing up to an email list, that was probably a good time of day for them to be online, so sending emails to them at that same time of day would work best. By analyzing the behavior of each individual user, eBags sent out emails to users at the same time of day they had signed up for the email list.

This actually worked incredibly well: click-through rates rose by 20% and conversion rates rose by 65%.

Unfortunately, this is such a complicated and time-consuming process that it wasn’t sustainable. Hopefully these kind of features can be built into social media and email management tools in the future so we can all take advantage of these insights!

Since it’s still so difficult to find the optimal time for each type of online communication that will work for everyone, I’d love to hear about your personal experiences. What works best for you?You can comment below, send me an email or catch me on Twitter at @bellebethcooper.

P.S.: Oh and lastly, we’ve started to gradually roll out the new Buffer for Business to make posting at the best time to Social Media easier than ever. Take a look!

Twitter 1.7KFacebook 1.2KPin It Share 220Buffer 1KFilament.io 4.1KFLARES

About the Author

Belle Beth Cooper

Content Crafter at Buffer. Co-founder of Hello Code. I write about social media, startups, life-hacking and science.

3 Step Quick and Easy: How to Use the EDDM Program

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 07:45:00 +0000

How to Use the EDDM Program

What It Is:The US Post Office's EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) program allows agents to send out marketing material through the mail by using the post office's carrier routes. Because the Post Office has to deal with minimal sorting issues, EDDM postage is offered at half the cost of standard mail.

BEFORE PRINTING

Step 1: Decide how many EDDM postcards/flyers you will need to send out to your farm.
To do this, visit eddm.usps.com and select the zip code you would like to target.

Enter your zip code in the "Search Location" box

Select your desired Carrier Routes by clicking the checkmark beside the Route name.
Res: Refers to the residential door count
Bus: Refers to business door count
Cost: Refers to the postage cost of the specific route
Once you click the checkmark next to the Route name, the map will automatically highlight that route.

In the example above, we've selected the second carrier route in the list.
The map has automatically highlighted that route in blue

Hit the 'Continue' button and choose Expected Drop-Off Day. If you don’t have a USPS account, you will have to create one here.

Make special note of the key above the calendar to see what days are unavailable.

The "Confirmation" area will tell you how many post-office drop-offs and when. Click the "Details" link for the address of the post office that you need to drop off at.
Select whether you want to pay online or at the post office. If you choose to pay online, follow the check-out instructions and print your confirmation. Be sure to also print out the facing slips. YOU WILL NEED TO PRINT ONE FACING SLIP PER BUNDLE.
Bring your facing slips and payment receipt (if applicable) with you to the post office.

ORDER YOUR EDDM POSTCARDS

Step 2: First Team Marketing offers many postcards in EDDM-approved sizes. To view all EDDM-ready postcards, click the "EDDM Ready" Category under Promote Yourself or Promote Your Listings.

Once you've made your selection, fill out the "Personalize It" form (found on the second tab of the bottom grey box). Enter all your details so that First Team Marketing is able to design your postcard.

Every "Personalize It" form is designed to ask you all the necessary information for each piece.

Next, Choose Your Options. Select Your Quantity (keeping in mind how many doors are on the carrier route), Turnaround Time, and whether you would like for them to be professionally bundled. The Post Office requires EDDM postcards to be delivered to them in bundles of 50's or 100's.

Your price depends on the options you select.

Step 3: YOU'RE ALMOST DONE!

After you've chosen your options, Add to Cart and Checkout. Your cards will be delivered to the shipping address that you specify.

Once your cards arrive, take them to the assigned Post Office with your facing slips and payment confirmation.

Younger Buyers to Dominate Luxury Market

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 04:22:00 +0000

A new survey finds that wealthy younger buyers are driving the luxury real estate market, and they are willing to pay more than similar wealthy buyers age 55 and older.

The survey looked at Americans age 21 or older with a minimum gross annual household income of $250,000. It found that 43 percent of younger wealthy consumers are considering purchasing residential property in the next 12 months, compared to 21 percent of those age 55 and older. These younger, wealthy buyers spent an average of $2.1 million on their most recent purchase of residential property, approximately twice the average amount spent by older and similarly wealthy buyers.

“Luxury homes are for more than successful and retired empty nesters,” says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. “Today’s luxury buyer is both dynamic and diverse, and it’s reflected in the homes and products they’re buying.”

So what are these younger buyers looking for? The survey found they are significantly more likely than wealthy buyers age 55 and older to want homes with amenities such as a pool, outdoor kitchen, home gym, home theater, wine cellar, and four or more garages. They are also more than twice as likely to value green or LEED-certified properties.

“This trend toward younger luxury buyers is leading a change in desired home amenities,” says Betty Graham, president of Coldwell Banker Previews International NRT. “Whether these younger buyers have young families or are single without children, they are looking for homes that fit their active and unique lifestyle.”

For most luxury buyers, location is the most important factor when considering the purchase of residential property. And though they may travel internationally, only 6 percent of wealthy homeowners surveyed own residential property located outside the U.S.

Surprise Fed Move Could Ease Mortgage Rates

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 15:59:00 +0000

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke shocked the financial world Wednesday by announcing that the Fed would wait “a little longer” before tapering its $85 billion-a-month bond-purchasing program. The Fed says it wants to see more improvement in the economy before proceeding with a wind-down.

"It was a precautionary step," Bernanke said at a news conference, adding that Fed policymakers have "decided to wait a little longer to make sure the economy is conforming to" their positive economic outlook. Bernanke noted that job growth has also fallen the past three months and “is far from what all of us would like to see.”

The Fed started its bond purchase program in 2008 in response to the financial crisis. The move has brought mortgage rates to record lows, providing a boost to the housing market.

However, the housing market’s recovery has recently showed some slight signs of slowing as mortgage rates tick up. Since the Fed first signaled in May that it may start slowing its bond-purchasing program, mortgage rates have jumped a full percentage point, rising from 3.51 percent to 4.57 percent for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

Bernanke has said the Fed likely would begin to taper its bond-purchasing program this year and end it by mid-2014. But that relies on the economy and job market improving, he said.

"The general framework [for the tapering] is still the same," Bernanke said. He added that the Fed likely would begin to pull back on the program “possibly late this year.”

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 15:53:00 +0000

Sep
16

Nimble’s List of the Top 50 Social Realtors and Realty Strategists (and Their Best Practices)

Sep 16, 2013 | By Alyson of Nimble

There are many best practices in social media — we’ve picked 10 things that the top realtors (and realty experts) do to rock their own social media presence. We think you’ll benefit from seeing what these top-of-their-game professionals are doing right. Scroll down to view the complete list — congratulations to the Nimble First Annual list of The Top 50 Awesome Social Realtors.

Read More

Number of Underwater Homeowners Down 42%

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 17:51:00 +0000

Home prices are rising, more underwater home owners are regaining equity, and home sales are on the rise, according to the Obama Housing Scorecard, released each month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The August report showed that home prices continue to make strong gains while the number of underwater home owners has dropped by 42 percent since the beginning of 2012. The number of home owners who owe more on their mortgage than it is currently worth has dropped from 12.1 million to 7.1 million as of the second quarter of 2013. Home sales—for existing homes and new homes—continue to rebound as well.

However, the report also stikes a cautious note, underscoring the fact that housing market hasn’t returned to normal quite yet.

“As we regain stability in our housing markets, it is important to remember that we still have a long way to go in making sure that our housing finance system is strong for future generations,” says Kurt Usowski, HUD deputy assistant secretary for economic affairs.

The report notes that more than 1.7 million home owner assistance actions have taken place through the administration’s Making Home Affordable Program, including loan modifications and other foreclosure-mitigation efforts. But the administration continues to press mortgage servicers to improve their processes in helping struggling home owners, such as through better identification of home owners who could be helped through the program as well as improving upon the timeliness, accuracy, and detail of servicers communications with home owners.

“While there is significant progress, there is still more improvement needed in [mortgage] servicer behavior,” says Tim Massad, Treasury assistant secretary for financial stability. “And while the housing market has recovered substantially, there are still home owners struggling to avoid foreclosure and it is vital that we continue to try to help them.”

17 of the Most Amazing Treehouses From Around The World | Bored Panda

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 08 Sep 2013 08:05:00 +0000

17 of the Most Amazing Treehouses From Around The World | Bored Panda:

Strange....A First-Ever Flip in Mortgage Affordability.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 19:09:00 +0000

A First-Ever Flip in Mortgage Affordability

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2013

For the first time ever, interest rates for jumbo mortgages have dropped below the average rates for conforming mortgages, lenders say. Not a lot making sense in the world these days.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate conforming mortgage last week was 4.73 percent while the average for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.71 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"In my 30-year career, I've never seen nonconforming loans priced below conforming loans," says Brad Blackwell, executive vice president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Typically, rates for jumbo mortgages run at least 0.25 percentage points above rates for conforming loans. In 2008, jumbo mortgage rates peaked at 1.8 percentage points above conforming rates, according to HSH.com data.

"I've had situations where I've told clients, 'You don't need to borrow within the [conforming] limit. I can get you a lower rate if you borrow a little more,'" said Rolan Shnayder, director of new-development lending at H.O.M.E. Mortgage Bankers in New York.

Jumbo mortgages are those that exceed the $417,000 limit to qualify for backing by mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The limit may be lifted to $625,000 in some high-cost markets, such as New York and Washington.

Source: “'Jumbo' Mortgage Rates Fall Below Traditional Ones,” The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 4, 2013)

Top 10 ways Google Glass could affect real estate - AGBeat

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 04:46:00 +0000

Top 10 ways Google Glass could affect real estate - AGBeat: "Top 10 ways Google Glass could affect real estate
by AG Staff in Tech Gadgets - September 4, 2013
Google Glass is about to go mainstream, and there are hidden advantages of what is more than just a novel tool.

Google Glass is coming at 100 mph

In 2014, it is said that Google Glass stores will begin popping up and it will no longer be tester geeks roaming the streets with computers on their eyes, no, they are about to go mainstream in a big way, leaving various industries considering how this technology will impact their own practice. Read More

Not a Bad Seat In the House: DIY Home Theater With Elevated Stadium Seating MinHembio | Apartment Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 20:18:00 +0000

Not a Bad Seat In the House: DIY Home Theater With Elevated Stadium Seating MinHembio | Apartment Therapy:

'via Blog this'

4 great selling Tips for Lagging Listings

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 19:03:00 +0000

In real estate, we generally have positive connotations with the concept of “seasoning.” When we get a little experience under our belts, we might call ourselves a “seasoned” agent. In a mortgage context, we’re constantly aiming to have our clients report to their house hunt with seasoning on everything from their financial troubles to their reserves. And who doesn’t love working with a buyer who’s already been seasoned by a purchase or two in the past, and is less freak-out prone as a result?

Most of the time, seasoned is better.

But there is one context that comes to mind in which seasoning isn’t necessarily the ideal: listings. Listings that have been on the market a long time compared with the area’s average are tough nuts to crack – so tough that we don’t call them “seasoned,” we call them lagging. They often indicate that the seller’s expectations are unrealistic. And they always indicate that buyers have spoken, and what they’re saying is that the home is overpriced for the area, condition, etc. Lagging listings often herald a coming tough conversation (or ten) that you’ll need to have with the seller, and often indicate a price cut is coming down the pike.

This is not about snagging another agent’s expired listings, nor is it about trickery like pulling the place off the market and relisting it. Just as sellers get panicked and fearful when their listings sit on the market while others fly off, it’s easy to get into our own heads about lagging listings out of the fear of losing all the time and money we’ve invested into marketing a place.

1. Get out in front of it.

Real talk: lagging listings are a bit like bad romances, in that you generally have all the red flags you’ll ever need on your first date (i.e., at the listing appointment). If you know a seller is committed to overly optimistic pricing from the jump, you can avoid drama later in one of two ways.

You can choose not to take the listing and hope the seller will come back to you later once the market has proven you right. Or you can sign the listing agreement and get out in front of the issue, making a pact with the seller from the beginning that if the place has no offers in 30 days or 6 weeks (or whatever time constitutes lagging in your market), you’ll reduce the list price to the number you recommended in the first place.

Not only does this make the conversation smoother when the time comes, it also manages some of the panic that would otherwise arise on the seller’s part during those initial weeks. It helps avoid leaving the place lagging so long that it starts to reek of desperation and lure lowballs. Rather than being shocked and dismayed when it doesn’t sell, they will be disappointed but not surprised. And even while the listing is still lagging, they’ll have the calm of knowing you have a well-reasoned action plan B already in place.

2. Show that it’s not the market and it’s not you – it’s them.

Some sellers feel that brokers and agents are more concerned with a fast, easy sale than they are with getting them top dollar for their home, and are skeptical about price reduction recommendations as a result. Most agents, on the other hand, know from experience that the number one cause of lagging listings is overpricing. And so with lagging listings, the specter of a possibly adversarial conversation about cutting the price always looms large in the minds of both agent and buyer.

You can render a lagging listing’s price reduction conversation all business, and less personal, by focusing on the market data that shows why your seller’s pricing or refusal to stage their home is unreasonable.

Continually surface new, relevant data as it comes out, whether it be a nearby new listing that went pending in a hot second, or a series of over-asking solds in the same area that started with aggressively low list prices.

3. Don’t sugarcoat the feedback.

Contrary to reality TV, brokers’ open houses aren’t only for showing off the latest in sushi catering and mobile string quartets. What they are is one of the richest opportunities to get feedback from the people who represent the vast majority of qualified buyers on the market.

The same goes public open houses and viewings by buyers who pass on the place – during open houses and after buyer viewings, make a point of systematically gathering feedback on the property and the price directly from the brokers, buyers and open house attendees. Then deliver that feedback to your sellers. In some ways, this can remove the adversarial nature of the price reduction conversation: you’re just the messenger, delivering the clear feedback of the marketplace.

If there are overarching themes and recurring pieces of feedback you hear from multiple buyers or brokers, like that the kitchen is so dated people can’t visualize themselves in it, or that the price is just unrealistically high compared to a couple of competing listings, the seller deserves to hear this helpful information from you. Deliver it always with respectful frankness and a recommended plan of action to address the feedback.

4. Position your price reduction or other sale strategies as experiments.

Every experiment has a hypothesis, variables and a trial time frame at the end of which the experiment’s findings are measured and reported. Whether you are recommending that the seller cut $10K off the list price or that they green-light the staging budget and projects you’ve suggested from the start, provide the seller with all of the elements of your proposed “experiment” when you lay out your strategy reset to them.

Rather than saying “I told you this place was overpriced – we need to cut about $15,000 off,” consider approaching it with the data points that bolster your hypothesis, explain what you think the results of their following your advice will be and set a time and date on which you two will meet up to see whether the experiment will be successful.

Like so: “The house on the corner that just went pending gives us some insight into how we need to course correct. It was basically identical in size and condition, but it was listed $20,000 lower than us. They had tons of traffic and multiple offers, while we’re not even having any viewings. We have to get more viewings to get an offer. I think we’re listed higher than most of the buyers in our area are even searching online. I believe if we cut the price to just below $450,000 we should see a serious uptick in viewings in the next two weeks, and we should see an offer in the next month, based on the average DOM (days on market) of homes listed under $450,000 in this neighborhood. I recommend we cut the price to $449,000 and have a meeting two weeks from today to make sure it’s working – deal?”

Approach the process of figuring out what actions to recommend with the same experimental perspective. Be willing to rethink any and everything. Starting with the property’s preparation and presentation, through contract terms and incentives and, of course, pricing and marketing – leave no stone unturned.

It can be helpful to bring the property up in your office sales and marketing meetings, or bring it up with your broker to talk through novel marketing strategies that you can try out. It’s much easier for a seller to swallow making a price reduction if they know you are willing to pull out the big guns and be creative on your end of the deal, as well.

WRITTEN BYTara-Nicholle NelsonMore about Tara-Nicholle Nelson

Mobile Technology Dominates Home Buying Process, REALTOR® Survey Finds

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 16:42:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Demonstrating the proliferation of mobile technology into nearly every facet of our lives, more than eight out of 10 home buyers are accessing home information on their smart phones and computer tablets, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^®’ (C.A.R.)“2013 Survey of California Home Buyers.”

“With more and more consumers using mobile devices and mobile technology, such as apps and social media platforms, buyers are increasingly using their smartphones and computer tablets to view comparable house prices, search for properties, take photos, and create videos of homes and amenities, as well as research communities and real estate agents,” said C.A.R. President Don Faught. “As a result, home buyers today are more informed and have a greater sense of control over what could be a daunting process.”

The survey found 85 percent of buyers used a mobile device during the home buying process, with the majority of buyers (70 percent) accessing the Internet from their smart phones and 15 percent accessing it from their tablets.

While the majority of buyers (61 percent) found their home through an agent, the percentage who found their home online more than doubled from 16 percent in 2012 to a record high of 37 percent in 2013.

Almost one-third (30 percent) of buyers rated Realtor.com as the most useful website, followed closely by Zillow at 28 percent. Broker and agent websites were also helpful in the home buying process as buyers increasingly seek local expertise and information.

The use of social media in the home buying process continued to increase, with three-quarters of buyers now using it, compared to 52 percent who used social media in 2011. Buyers primarily used social media for buying tips and suggestions from friends (43 percent), neighborhood information (42 percent), and to view their agents’ Facebook pages (41 percent). The use of social media as a form of communication is expected to grow, with 91 percent of buyers saying they are receptive to receiving information about the home buying process from their agent via social media.

The survey also found that buyers spent nearly six months considering a purchase before contacting an agent, nearly twice as long as last year. They took more time investigating homes and neighborhoods before contacting an agent, spending just over seven months on researching, compared to about 1.5 months last year. Additionally, buyers spent nearly 10 weeks looking for a home with their agent, a week longer than last year. More than eight out of 10 buyers (85 percent) made offers on other homes, and one-third said they settled for the best option given the limited supply of houses.

“The lengthier consideration time and home search illustrates the impact of low housing inventory and increasing home prices,” said Faught. “These factors caused buyers to weigh their options more carefully before making their home purchase.”

Additional findings from C.A.R.’s “2013 Survey of California Home Buyers” include:

Buyer optimism about the future direction of home prices continued to grow, with the majority of buyers (60 percent) believing prices will go up in five years and 36 percent seeing prices rise in one year, up from 41 percent and 25 percent, respectively, last year.
Buyers cited price decreases (38 percent), favorable prices/financing (12 percent), and the desire for a better location (10 percent) as top reasons for purchasing a home.
Reflecting the prevalence of tight lending standards, buyers experienced extreme challenges in obtaining financing. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being extremely difficult, buyers rated their difficulty in obtaining financing at 8.6 on average, the highest in the survey’s history.
Higher down payments are the market norm these days, with buyers putting an average of 25 percent down on their home purchase. The average down payment has been greater than the traditional 20 percent since 2009.
Ninety-one percent of buyers obtained a fixed-rate loan, up from 84 percent in 2011, reflecting low rates and the desire for certainty as the market gets back to basics.

Survey of California Home Buyers Charts:

View a video of additional survey findings with C.A.R.’s Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.
Multitude of mobile device uses.
Use of social media in the home buying process.
Most buyers find their agent online.
Buyers continue to have difficulty getting financing.

The 2013 C.A.R. Home Buyer survey was conducted by telephone with 1,400 people statewide to measure their perceptions of the home buying process. Eligible respondents all closed escrow on their new homes within the six months prior to March 2013. For the full report on the survey findings, please visit C.A.R.’s Market Data webpage.

Leading the way…® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (www.car.org) is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States with 155,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Lotus Lou, 213-739-8304
lotusl@car.org

Source: CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 03:28:00 +0000

Cash Sales Saved Housing Market -CoreLogic

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Jul 16 2013, 10:41AM

"The death of cash is greatly exaggerated." CoreLogic concurs with that quote from Mark Twain in an article analyzing the impact cash sales has had on the real estate market over the last few years. The company says that there has been a surge in cash on corporate balance sheets during the recession to the highest levels ever recorded and a rapid expansion of currency in circulation; real estate has been heavily impacted by this.
CoreLogic's article "Real Estate and the Impact of Cash Sales" is one of several views of the current real estate environment in its newest issue of MarketPulse. The publication this month also includes "Fire Burn and Caldron Bubble" which looks at whether there is a real estate bubble, and "Recovery, a Long Row to Hoe," as well as summaries and recaps of other CoreLogic's other recent research and data releases.
Cash sales of real estate have risen in every sale segment and across a large number of geographies. CoreLogic says, and while these sales heavily contributed to the stabilization and recovery of the residential market, cash sales have peaked and are now receding. First-time and trade-up homebuyers will have to step up to replace cash buyers if the recovery is going to continue to recover.
Cash sales were fairly steady in the early 2000s, averaging 25 percent of home sales but as the market collapsed in 2007 and 2008 the share of cash sales rose swiftly, first in the bank-owned real estate area (REO) and then everywhere. The overall market share of cash stabilized in 2010 and has most recently been slowing declining but REO cash transactions continued to rise proportionately through 2012 even as REO sales themselves declined. In May 2013 cash sales had a 39 percent share, down from 40 percent a year earlier, an annual decrease that has occurred for 19 consecutive months. Among non-distressed sales the share was also 39 percent but that was a 2 percentage point drop from a year earlier.

It was cash sales that provided the floor for prices in 2009. Both cash and mortgaged sales peaked in 2005 but then mortgaged sales fell 78 percent to a January 2011 trough whereas cash sales ultimately declined 47 percent and bottomed out in January 2009. Since then cash sales have risen 39 percent, more than triple the 10 percent rate of mortgaged sales.
Without cash sales overall sales today would be much lower and the price declines would have been worse. More recently cash sales have helped fuel price increases dramatically in several boom and bust markets. Median prices for cash sales are up 24 percent from a year ago while prices of sales generally have increased 15 percent.

CoreLogic also notes the surprising surge in prices for non-distressed cash sales in the markets with the most investor activity which indicates that investors are moving from REO and short sales to non-distressed existing homes. The company also says it is a myth that the hardest hit markets have the largest shares or increases in cash sales.

The article concludes that the rapid rise in home prices will soon lead to a lower presence of cash sales as investor activity returns to moderate levels and traditional and new homebuyers will have to pick up the slack. While mortgaged sales have been increasing over the last two years, what remains to be seen is the impact of rising interest rates on the two segments. CoreLogic says it remains optimistic that rising prices and rates will not dissuade these buyers from entering the market.

Mark Hughes, First Team Real Estate:

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Number of Underwater Homeowners Down 42%

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A First-Ever Flip in Mortgage Affordability

Top 10 ways Google Glass could affect real estate - AGBeat

Not a Bad Seat In the House: DIY Home Theater With Elevated Stadium Seating MinHembio | Apartment Therapy

4 great selling Tips for Lagging Listings

1. Get out in front of it.

2. Show that it’s not the market and it’s not you – it’s them.

3. Don’t sugarcoat the feedback.

4. Position your price reduction or other sale strategies as experiments.

Mobile Technology Dominates Home Buying Process, REALTOR® Survey Finds