This question was recently posed by the Realtor.com Blogging Team:

The Government and the mortgage industry announced the renegotiation of hundreds of thousands of loans.  What do you think the outcome will be?

First and foremost, I’m going to point out that I Think I Should Have Bought a Bigger House.  Secondly, I understand and sympathize with the number of people who are in severe financial trouble and at risk of losing their homes…that is an extremely scary place to be and I see it all too often lately.

That being said - from my experience (which I will grant you is extremely limited on a national scale but quite strong on a local level), too many (not “all”) of the folks who are losing their homes are in that position because they ate their equity, not because they were taken advantage of by unscrupulous realtors and/or lenders (keep in mind, I said “many”…not “all”).  They took the equity out of their homes and bought new cars, televisions, toys, and generally lived it up for a couple of years in the “ants marching” routine of just going with it and not thinking about the future when the bubble HAD to burst; and lets face it, we all knew it was going to happen…we just didn’t know when.

But that just points out yet again that investing in anything…ANYTHING…even a “sure thing” is a GAMBLE.  It’s a really really expensive hand of poker and too many people were playing with imaginary paper money that they didn’t really have to lose.

As far as what the ultimate outcome will be…I’m sad.  I’m sad that the money that many people earned and worked hard for that should be going to programs in their community for the overall good of their community is instead going to pay for someone elses mortgage…a mortgage which they used to buy a car.  This money didn’t just disappear…THIS MONEY WAS SPENT ON THINGS!  This isn’t money that someone stole from all of these people…it’s money that they took out of their homes equity with the understanding (playing the ignorance card doesn’t fly with me when you’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars) that equity changes with the market… and then it was SPENT - and now they’re crying foul because they can’t afford to pay it back.

I’m sorry to say it but there are always consequences to the decisions we make and the actions we take.  The people who were responsible with their finances, pay their debts, and don’t get themselves in over their heads (however much they might enjoy the home/boat/cars they can’t afford) deserve to have the opportunity to pick up the foreclosures that are flooding the market- that’s the “gold star” for being a good doobie.  This plan to bail everyone out rewards the wrong behavior and penalizes the good.

…and so again I say…I Think I Should Have Bought a Bigger House -gotten in over my head, and used the equity in the “good times” to buy the toys I can’t afford…after all…the government’s paying for it.

This question was recently posed by the Realtor.com Blogging Team:

How do you think the Real Estate market will be affected by Tuesday’s election?

Well…I have to say I don’t think the real estate market will change much at all…at least not in any major way.  People don’t buy houses because there’s a new president…they buy houses because they want a home to live in and/or a sound investment for their future that will always appreciate over time (for those that have lost money in the current housing market…the key words are “over time”…real estate always goes back up…you just have to wait for it).

Will the emergence of our new president spur some people to feel more confident in our “soon-to-be” burgeoning economy?

Possibly…but I would suggest that the vast majority of those people were already on the verge of buying a home anyway.

Let’s put this into a local perspective…

With regards to Hernando County Real Estate, towards the end of 2005…we had about 700 homes in our salable inventory (in the whole county).  It’s no wonder it seemed like every home sold overnight - it almost did!  With so much competition for homes and so little inventory, things sold quickly and usually with multiple offers (keep in mind; even then, only the homes priced for the market sold, granted the market was much more lenient…but it still held true that if you were priced too high, your home would sit with no attention).  Using a buyer’s criteria in a search would routinely narrow that 700 homes down to 10-15 that fit their needs, and after looking at those, maybe 3 that the buyer was truly interested in purchasing.

Right now we have over 3,500 homes available.  Using the buyers criteria, we routinely have 50-100 listings that fit…oftentimes even more…then the buyer narrows those down to the ones they are truly interested in…and we have 15-30 homes…Buyer’s have a glut of inventory from which to choose…as long as this is the case, lower offers will prevail.  Why?  ”Because if ‘you’ don’t take it, the next guy will”…and a buyer isn’t concerned because they have 15-30 “next guy’s” on the list.

Given that there’s a new president being elected on Tuesday…would that make you want to pay one penny more for a home than you absolutely have to?  Would it make you want to buy a home when you aren’t already in the market to do so?

I don’t think so…but let us know what you think - fill out the comment form below.

This question was recently posed by the Realtor.com Blogging Team:

What are the most important tricks of the trade that you learned to keep you a successful Realtor?

This question is hugely important and I’m definitely interested to see the answers of other successful Realtors throughout the country.

I would have to say, that for me…the absolute most important thing that I learned in my career thus far is to always put my customers needs above my own…and a lot of agents talk that talk…but I’ve seen all too many agents not walk that walk for whatever reason (I’m still in business and going strong while many other agents are getting out of the game left and right).

Putting your customers first means possibly telling them that NO, this is not a good time to buy or sell right now (depending on the situation, of course..right now is a great time to buy, lousy time to sell) and not just taking their listing for the sake of having a listing.  I turn down 9 out of 10 potential sellers…the reason?  I explain the market to them…I’m honest about it…it’s not a fun time to sell a house (especially if you bought anytime after 2003 here in Florida).  I show them the numbers, go over the market conditions, tell them where they need to be priced (this is not negotiable if they want me to work with them…the market determines the pricing!).  If they are ok with what the market tells us, then wonderful, we move forward.  If not, the conversation is ended gracefully, and I explain that while I might love their home and they might love their home, and their home may be nicer than the one down the street…we don’t create the rules for this game.  The market does…and if you don’t play by the rules, you can’t win.  The rules dictate your price, they dictate how you should market, they TELL YOU everything you need to know to sell a home…but you have to listen and follow them.

Our job, as Realtors - is to know the rules inside and out…and then educate our sellers and buyers, so that they understand WHY their home is worth what it is, and they understand WHY they either can or cannot sell right now…then they can come to their own conclusion.

Many times my 9 out of 10 end up listing with someone else for significantly more money than the rules tell them, and with significantly less marketing than the rules require….they sit…and they sit….and they sit…and they become a cash drain for the agent who accepted the listing.  Know why agents go out of business?  Because they spend lots of money without generating enough to cover it and still make a living.

Learn to be honest with your customers and yes, you may end up with a smaller inventory of listings…but the ones you do have, you will sell.

Money Spent = Money Earned = You Stay In Business

This question was recently posed by the Realtor.com Blogging Team:

I’m in the market — is now really a good time to buy and what do I risk by waiting?

Now is absolutely a wonderful time to buy.  As I mentioned in my previous post about the Home Purchase Tax Credit - I’ve bought several properties myself in just these past few months..all of which are now generating a positive cash flow for me and over time will accumulate equity as the market turns back around.

Speaking of the Home Purchase Tax Credit - that is one of the reasons why it’s a great time to buy NOW as opposed to waiting - but you should check out that article for more information about that.

Lower prices, a huge abundance of inventory for sale, sellers that are getting more desperate by the month (at least the serious ones are)…all of this is what creates a very strong negotiating position for the buyers side of the transaction.

What do you risk by waiting?

Read the rest of this entry »

Response to the mccain plan to buy and renegotiate mortgages

Original article is here:http://trends.move.com/mccain-proposes-mortgage-buy-out/

Buyer #1 - Buys a big house for $300,000 in 2004 that they can’t afford with 3 year ARM figuring they’ll just refi before it adjusts, then the boom hits harder in ‘05 and early ‘06 and they take the equity out to buy 2 cars and maybe a boat…so now they owe $400,000. Market dropped and now their house is only worth $250,000, they owe $400,000 and their rate is adjusting upwards and they can’t afford it any longer, so McCain wants to buy that loan from their lender, wipe out $150,000 of it, and only have them repay the $250,000 that the home is now worth… To clarify, the government just paid off $50,000 of their house, and paid for their cars and boat in full…with MY tax dollars.

Buyer #2 bought within their means, put a decent amount of money down, and is watching their cash savings get stripped away while they continue to pay the mortgage that they knew they’d be able to afford when they bought the house…and because they’re NOT in pre-foreclosure, they don’t get cars and a boat from the government…

Makes sense, right?

I think I should have bought a bigger house…

…What do you think?

The following question was recently posed by the Realtor.com Blogging Team:

Polls show 83% of Americans feel the Country is on the wrong track. What is your opinion on Friday night’s debate and the future of our economy?

I have to say I’m sad for the American Economy.  It’s not going to shrivel up and die, but it is going to hurt (a lot) before it gets better.  No matter what happens this is a cycle that we must go through - it is too late to change the circumstances that put us here, and any bailouts are ultimately just bandaids on our broken legs.

We need fundamental changes in how business is done.  Fundamental changes to how our economy works.  Fundamental changes on what people are allowed to do with their companies.  There needs to be a way for the INTENT of a law to mean more than the specific wording.  Specific wording is how loopholes are found…loopholes are ways to circumvent the intent without technically being able to be held liable.

No, this is going to be a long and drawn out process, and I fear the more we bail companies out that are unable to sustain themselves, the longer and more drawn out and ultimately more painful it will be.

I see a very strong parallel between the economy and selling a home in a downward trending market. Read the rest of this entry »

This question was recently posed by the Realtor.com Blogging Team:

Critics continued to raise serious questions about why taxpayers should help pay the price for Wall Street’s excesses. Do you agree the nation should assume the risk and burden of the failing mortgage companies?

Small business are going out of business every day due to the “big box stores” coming in to town and nobody is bailing them out.

The general public is watching gas prices go up, their mortgages go up, food prices go up, construction costs go up, while they go from owning the local hardware store, to working at Home Depot for $7/hour - and nobody is bailing them out. Read the rest of this entry »

This question was recently posed by a potential Buyer:

I’m looking to move to Hernando County, and need information on the different school systems…Which schools are the best?  

This is a question that comes up fairly often by any buyer who has, or is thinking of having children in the future.  It can even impact your potential resale value - so it’s good to know where to look!

School ratings tend to change from year to year, so there’s never any guarantees, but one of my favorite suggestions is to head over to www.GreatSchools.net and you can see all the latest trends, read parent and student reviews, and learn about the different schools in Hernando County.

It’s also worth looking

Read the rest of this entry »

This question was recently posed by the Realtor.com Blogging Team:

There are many listings on the Internet with limited or poor quality photos.  In your experience, do good listing photos help to sell a home?  Please share with us a recent example or two.        

According to NAR Statistics, fully 84% of all home buyers start their search online.

You can never make a second “first impression” and for that 84% of all potential buyers looking for Hernando County Real Estate, the first impression they will have of a home is the photography.

I myself am very passionate about the photographs I take for my listings.

I’ve purchased several thousand dollars worth of camera equipment and image editing software and I have taken the time to learn how to use it well (and continue to learn more and better ways to “get the shot” with every home I photograph).

In fact, I occasionally get chided by my family for spending up to 2 days working on the photographs for one house…usually taking 100-300+ photographs of each listing before narrowing it down to the best shots to use in my marketing materials.  

Why do I put so much effort into photographing my listings properly?

Read the rest of this entry »

This question was recently posed by a potential Seller:

I’ve had my Spring Hill Home for Sale for the past six months, and it’s just not selling - is it the market? is it my realtor? is it my house? what can I do?  I need to get this home sold NOW!                 

Well - to answer this question bluntly - it’s probably a combination of the market, your realtor, your house, and you.  Let me elaborate: Read the rest of this entry »