Have you seen the sun today?  Don’t miss out!  Homebuyers perfect weather to find your home!!  It’s beautiful, enjoy the weather while looking for your home…

 

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent van Gogh: Was a Dutch post-Impressionist artist

NEWS & HEADLINES

NAMB/NAIHP motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent the rules from becoming effective this Friday. The judge’s last words, reportedly, were that they should expect her ruling shortly. If the judge rules in favor of granting a temporary restraining order, she will probably also grant a preliminary injunction, which would prevent the rule from becoming effective until after July 21st, when the new Consumer Protection Bureau comes into effect.

Markets don’t like uncertainty. So, on the plus side, at least yesterday’s QRM-related proposals by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve (the Fed) removed some of it. And it would certainly seem to help the argument of many in the industry that we’re better off with government sponsored agencies (GSE’s) than without them. Qualified mortgages are defined as those that will not require any form of risk retention by any entity. The proposal limits qualified mortgages to below 80% LTV for purchase loans, below 75% CLTV for refinanced loans, and below 70% CLTV for cash out refinance transactions. Negam loans, IO loans, and loans with significant rate increases are excluded. Front end/back end DTI is capped at 28% and 36%, respectively, and for ARMs, these ratios are calculated at the maximum interest rate attainable in the first five years after origination of the loan. There is also a restriction on the timing of prior delinquencies. In particular, mortgages made to borrowers who have been 60 days or more delinquent on a prior mortgage at any time in the preceding 24 months do not qualify. Any pools with an explicit government guarantee or backed by the GSEs, as long as they are under conservatorship or receivership, is exempt from risk retention requirements.

In the short run, most experts see no significant effect on the mortgage origination and funding universe if what was proposed goes through. This is because more than 90% of current originations are done through the GSEs and FHA which are not really affected by this proposal. The remaining origination volume is being funded through bank balance sheets, so is not affected by risk retention.

Monday’s 2-yr auction was poor, and yesterday’s $35 billion was bit “sloppy” but not as bad as the 2-yr. (Today we have $29 billion 7-yr. sale.) Stocks rose in spite of the economic outlook being whacked yesterday by a couple pieces of minor news. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which I don’t think has ever gone up, showed its 20-city index down 1% in January, and down over 3% for the last 12 months. (11 cities saw prices sink to new lows – Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tampa.) And the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 63.4 in March, down from 72.0 in February.

Yesterday, for the day 10-year notes lost about .375 and closed at 3.49%. Current coupon mortgage prices were worse by about .250. This morning we have already learned that the ADP employment number showed an increase of 201k jobs, with service sector jobs +164k, and small business gains positive for 13 straight months. The MBA reported that apps dropped last week by 7.5%, with refi’s down about 10% and now accounting for about 64% of all apps. Currently the 10-yr is yielding 3.47% and MBS prices are roughly unchanged.

---

 REAL ESTATE: GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY OF THIS DECADE

Everyone wants to comment on the current real estate market. They want to talk about how now is not the time to buy a home. Some even argue owning a house has never been a great investment. Most say it will be a long time before real estate again begins to appreciate. It all sounds so familiar to me. It was just a decade ago that many made the same arguments about gold as an investment.

Gold had dropped from over $400 an ounce to $250 an ounce (a 40% decline) from February 1996 to August 1999. People ran from gold as though it was a plague.

Lord William Rees-Mogg, the current Chairman of The Zurich Club, in 1997 said:

“No investment has been so thoroughly exploded as gold; most people think that there will no more be another gold boom than there will be another boom in tulip futures in The Netherlands.”

Two years later in 1999, Don Wolanchuk author of the Wolanchuk Report explained:

“Everybody hates gold. You can’t have a bottom until everybody is out. And everybody is out of the gold sector.”

Everyone knows what happened next. The proclamation of gold’s death was rather premature. Gold rose from $250 an ounce to over $1,400 an ounce in the next twelve years. I see the same situation with real estate today. I am not predicting that real estate will see the same levels of appreciation. I do believe however that the market will rebound strongly.

Those who continued to believe in gold as an investment were rewarded. Those who continue to believe in real estate as a sound investment will also be rewarded.

Here is what Adam Hamilton wrote in October 2000 in an essay titled Is Gold Dead?

The road for gold investors has been long and parched in the last five years. They have wandered through a seemingly endless desert, occasionally tempted by what proves to be an illusory mirage. Many have fallen beside the sun-cracked path, their white bones picked clean by buzzards and gleaming in the sun. Nevertheless, a brave contrarian core continues to march forward. They have studied history, currency, gold, investments, economics, and finance. They understand the timeless value of gold, the cyclical nature of the markets, and the vagaries of human psychology. They realize it is darkest before the dawn, and the journey most difficult right before the homestretch is reached. Gold is in an INCREDIBLE position, and it will have its day. Nothing goes up in price forever, and nothing goes down in price forever. Investments are cyclical. Gold is NOT dead, it is simply biding its time, waiting for its next earth-shattering mega-rally. The spoils that go to the few remaining gold investors when that day inevitably arrives will be fantastic. The stunning victory will quickly blot out the painful memories of the long struggle…

You could replace the word “gold” with the words “real estate” throughout this essay and it would apply today.

---

8 BILLS TO CHIP AWAY AT FANNIE, FREDDIE

House Republicans plan to introduce eight bills on Tuesday in what some are calling a “bite-sized approach” to phasing out government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Associated Press reports.

Fannie and Freddie, along with other federal agencies, have backed about 9 in 10 new mortgages over the past year. The federal takeover of the GSEs in 2008 following the housing market collapse has cost taxpayers $150 billion, which has prompted many in Congress and even the White House to call for the GSEs to be phased out gradually over a five-year timeline.

Earlier this month, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, a member of the House GOP leadership, took the first shot by introducing a wide-ranging bill to end the government’s ownership of Fannie and Freddie in two years, either phasing them out completely or making them fully private companies within five years. However, experts say that the bill has little chance of surviving the Democratic-run Senate.

The eight smaller bills would include many of Hensarling’s proposals but by taking a “bite-sized approach” may have a better shot at weaving its way through Congress, aides and lobbyists told The Associated Press. The proposals are also expected to include a gradual increase in Fannie’s and Freddie’s fees as well as reduce the size of loans they’ll be able to back.

---

 WEB LOGS AND THE EVOLUTION OF REAL ESTATE MARKETING

The question becomes: Which customer are you trying to woo? And if you can’t answer that question, you can’t possibly make thoughtful and ultimately profitable business decisions.

There is no right approach, but understanding who it is you are targeting is paramount in understanding how to go about the whole new-business-capture thing. With my little blog lacking initial purpose, I admittedly lucked out, but hoping to get lucky is a pretty bad business strategy in the long-term and not one I would recommend.

Instead of intentionally packing each post with so many search-happy keywords that one might suspect I suffered from Tourette syndrome (“If you are searching for San Francisco homes or San Francisco real estate in San Francisco and haven’t found the best San Francisco real estate agent in San Francisco …”), I just wrote stuff. Crazier yet, it worked.

I learned over time and quite by accident that the right words tend to find their way into the post all by themselves if you stay on topic.

For me, these include words like “San Francisco” and “Sunset District,” and in the case of a more recent post, “Gisele Bundchen” and “Weebles.” In any event, my blog magically started to rank well beyond the pages of anonymity for many popular search terms and a larger number of the more obscure ones.

The goal is to write something someone, like, say, a potential client, might want to read without having a gun pointed at his head.

In other words, my approach is backwards; use traditional media to drive Internet traffic and let the Internet presence put the icing on the relationship — not the other way around. I guarantee that, whatever your market, sticks in the ground — those all-important yard signs — will trump any online lead generator you can find or manufacture. Every time.

For the average agent, however, the job is to connect with committed and qualified buyers and sellers and earn their business. For the average agent, the goal is to build an impressive following of happy past clients who will do repeat business and refer prospective clients.

Your approach may be different. But whatever your approach, just remember whom it is you are targeting and be sure to allocate your most valuable resource — your time — accordingly.

Oh, and it’s not a bad idea to give each page on your site a unique name, something other than “New Page.”

Catch me on 910 AM Fox News Radio from 6-7 PM every Sunday…

As an effort to help relief efforts in Japan, my assistant created these wristbands.  Proceeds go to the American Red Cross…email Sherrell at sayers@rpm-mtg.com for more information.  $5.00 each. Thank you for your interest in helping Japan…

 

 

“The great secret of success in life is for a man to be ready when his opportunity comes.” — Benjamin Disraeli: Was England’s prime minister

 

NEWS & HEADLINES

Today the FDIC Board will vote on a credit risk-retention proposal that is required under the Dodd-Frank bill. A joint release yesterday from the Federal Reserve, HUD, FDIC, FHA, OCC and SEC said all the agencies this week “are considering for approval a notice of proposed rulemaking that addresses section 941 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.” If all the agencies approve, the proposal will be published in the Federal Register for public comment. Look for the proposed thresholds on banks retaining 5% of mortgages unless excluded by being “Qualified”: purchase with at least 20% down, no cash out refi with 25% down, cash out refi with 30% down, with minimum income standards and no borrower who fell two months behind within the previous two years could get a qualified mortgage.

How is the jumbo market doing out there? In the 4th quarter of 2010 roughly $33 billion of jumbo mortgages were funded. This is higher than 2009’s fourth quarter by 57% according to survey figures compiled by National Mortgage News’ Quarterly Data Report. **Ask Me About RPM’s Jumbo Program**

NAR came out with its Pending Home Sales Index yesterday, viewed by some as a leading indicator for the housing sector since it measures sales activity based on sales of units where contracts have been signed but the transactions have not closed. Nationwide the number was +2.1% month over month, but down over 8% versus a year ago. We also learned that Personal consumer spending rose by 0.7% in February, and Personal Income increased 0.3%. Inflation is increasing as the overall PCE price index went up 1.6% from February 2010, compared with a 1.2% gain in the 12 months ended in January. The Fed’s preferred price measure is core PCE, which excludes food and fuel, rose 0.2% for a second month, and was up 0.9% from a year earlier.

But the recent improvement in US Treasury prices, and the corresponding drop in rates, has been erased as we are now at March 10 levels – the same as prior to the Japanese earthquake. The 10-yr closed at 3.45%, and MBS prices closed flat to 3 ticks higher, respectively, on 5s down through 3.5s, while 5.5s and 6s were a plus to a tick lower on relatively light trading volume. REITs are steadily emerging as a key source of levered demand for agency MBS, which is helping to keep mortgage rates low relative to Treasury rates (spread).

The Treasury auctioned $35 billion of 2-yr notes (a weak auction), will do $35 billion of 5-yr notes today and $29 billion of 7-yr notes on Wednesday. Today is another report on housing – S&P Case-Shiller HPI for February at 6AM PST. We also will have Consumer Confidence for March 9AM CST, along with the $35 billion 5-yr auction. So far the 10-yr is roughly unchanged at 3.45% and MBS prices are also roughly unchanged.

---

13% OF HOMES ARE EMPTY, CENSUS SAYS

Of all U.S. homes, 13 percent stand vacant, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

“More vacant homes equal more downward pressure on home prices,” says Brad Hunter, chief economist for Metrostudy, a real estate information provider.

But there are a few surprises on the census’ list of most empty states. Here are the states with the highest proportion of empty housing, according to census data:

1. Maine: 22.8 percent

2. Vermont: 20.5 percent

3. Florida: 17.5 percent

4. Arizona: 16.3 percent

5. Alaska: 15.9 percent

The U.S. Census includes empty properties such as ski lodges, beach houses, and pied-Ã -terres when configuring its vacancy rate – properties that most other real estate statisticians would not include in their data.

While these are often summer homes or second homes, the census groups them with homes that have been sold but not occupied, empty homes for sale or rent, and homes used by migrant workers.

“You can only live in one home,” William Chapin of the Census Bureau’s Housing Statistics Branch told CNNMoney. “If you own five homes that you occasionally live in, four of them will be counted as vacant.”

Paul Bishop, the vice president for research for the National Association of REALTORS®, told CNNMoney that these properties aren’t vacant in the usual sense.

“A vacation home is hardly the same situation as a foreclosed home that has been taken back by the bank,” he says.

In Maine, for example, more than two-thirds of the 160,000 vacancies were vacation homes in 2009. Vermont had a similar number.

---

 MONTH’S SHADOW INVENTORY: STATE BY STATE:

Last week, it was reported on the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Economists’ Outlook and gave cx you a map showing the percentage of overall sales that distressed properties represented in each state. Today we want to show you another map from the same NAR outlook. This one shows the number of months shadow inventory by state:

NAR explained their methodology:

The map shows the number of months it would take to clear the shadow inventory by state. The months’ supply is estimated by dividing the shadow inventory and the monthly number of distressed sales. The numbers range broadly from 51 months in New Jersey to 7 months in Nevada. When looking at months’ supply it is important to keep in mind that this estimate highly depends on saturation of distressed sales. Given that New Jersey over the past year on average reported about 20 percent of existing home sales to be distressed sales, it will take a longer period for the shadow inventory to clear. In contrast, Nevada’s distressed sales averaged a considerable 70 percent share of the existing sales and at that rate the current shadow inventory would clear in 7 months.

Bottom Line

Appreciation of residential real estate will not take place until a region works their way through the shadow inventory that exists. This map gives you an indication of when that will occur in your state.

---

WHERE DID ALL THE FIRST TIME HOMEBUYERS GO?

In January, first-time home buyers made up 29 percent of the market, the lowest since the National Association of REALTORS® started tracking first-time buyers on a monthly basis in 2008.

In a healthy market, first-time buyers generally make up 40 percent to 45 percent of all purchasers. So with low interest rates and falling housing prices, why are first-time home buyers sitting on the sidelines?

A USA Today article highlighted some of the factors that have first-time home buyers skittish about the market:

Tougher lending standards: Some first-timer buyers can’t meet credit or employment history requirements, Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, told USA Today. Lenders also are requiring higher credit scores and some want higher down payments that are shutting out more first-timers. The best loan terms usually require 20 percent down payment or more, says Greg McBride, senior analyst at Bankrate.com.

Expired tax credits: Federal incentives that included lures for first-time buyers gave a big boost to home sales in 2009 and 2010. But with those tax credits now expired, first-time buyers aren’t as eager to jump in to the housing market.

Competition from cash buyers: NAR reports that cash buyers accounted for a record-reaching 33 percent of existing-home sales in February. Sellers like cash deals because those transactions are more likely to close, says Jerry Abbott of Grupe Real Estate in Stockton, Calif. As such, competing against these cash buyers has left some first-time home buyers out.

---

 MORTGAGE DELINQUENCIES CONTINUE TO DECLINE

Mortgages for single-family homes that are 90 days or more delinquent declined for the third consecutive month in February, Freddie Mac reports.

Delinquencies on single-family homes dropped to 3.78 percent in February from 3.82 percent in January. What’s more, delinquencies were lower than the 4.2% rate reported one year ago.

Freddie Mac also reported that it has completed 23,017 loan modifications for the first two months of the year. Loan modifications in February totaled 11,885 and totaled 11,153 in January.

Enjoy the sunshine….a little break from the rain is always nice

 

 

“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come.” – by Victor Hugo

NEWS & HEADLINES

HUD has some free training classes coming up that might be of interest to some. At 1PM EST on the 30th it is presenting a Webinar “Important Changes to HudHome Sales” for HUD registered real estate brokers nationwide. “FHA staff will provide information on recent changes & how they will affect the real estate community.” Register at http://www.visualwebcaster.com/FHA/77434/reg.html. HUD is also doing some loss mitigation training in Hollywood, Florida on April 28th for housing counselors. “Please Note: The completion of NSC’s Online EClass Training is a “prerequisite” prior to registering & attending any HUD live classroom training. The NSC EClass training date on your certificate is a required field when registering for live classroom training.” Register at https://eclass.hudtulsa.org/, and additional information regarding EClass requirements can be found in Mortgagee Letter 2009-45 at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/.

Friday I mentioned a proposal for paying foreclosed-upon borrowers to help them start anew. “Sheila Bair, FDIC chairman, raised the idea but people involved said it was not an official government proposal and was rejected strongly by some of the banks.” I received this note. “Marx, Engels, Lenin, etc. would be proud that their failed ideas on economics live on in Sheila Bair and our benevolent banking/mtg industry ‘regulators’. How many more times do we need to listen to our leaders talk about abandoning free market principles in order to save the free market? ‘Congress recognizes that the country’s debt path is unsustainable. While the economics of the matter is straightforward – cut spending, raise taxes, or both – the politics is not. And if voters cannot insist, or are not going to insist, on fiscal sustainability, and if Congress is not going to control public finances on its own accord, then one must conclude that the fiscal process is lacking a necessary ingredient.’ A wise economist once said, ‘if something is unsustainable, it will not be sustained.’ If our ‘leaders’ don’t get their fiscal house in order, bond vigilantes and our creditors will do it for them. Then Helicopter Ben will start raining more dollars into the economy magic printing press, call it stimulative quantitative easing III, IV, V or whatever, and then we’ll be Weimar Germany. My parents came to this country by literally escaping communist Yugoslavia for economic and political freedom, and it scares me to think that, less than 50 years later, I might have to leave the US for the same reasons my parents fled communist Yugoslavia….in search of economic and political freedom.”

Turning to the markets, the 10-yr closed around 3.44% on Friday, with not much in the way of news aside from GDP from the 4th quarter and a University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index survey that showed a drop in sentiment back to November 2009 levels. From the previous Friday’s close, however, 10’s lost 1.375 in price and its yield shot up 17 basis points. For the week MBS prices lost between .5-.75 points on current coupon rates.

For economic news this week today we will have Personal Income and Consumption/Spending, along with PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) and Pending Home Sales. Tomorrow is the Case-Shiller 20-city Index, which never seems to bring good news, and Consumer Confidence. On Wednesday the 30th we have the Challenger Job Cuts and ADP Employment Change. Thursday is Jobless Claims, Factory Orders, and the Chicago Purchasing Manager’s Survey. Friday is all the unemployment data, the ISM index data, and Construction Spending.

Last month’s Personal Income was up 1%, and Personal Spending rose .2%, although adjusted for inflation spending fell .1% – the first decline in a year. Later this morning look for a pick-up of about .5%. Bonds are not really trading yet although at this point rates appear to be slightly worse with the 10-yr at perhaps 3.47%.

---

 5 SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS TO WIN REAL ESTATE CLIENTS

(Part 2 of the 3 Basics of Social Media from Thursday’s Email)

 Are you gaining clients from your social networking activities? If not, it’s time to create a plan that not only builds your friends and followers, but also helps them become your clients as well.

There are literally thousands of ways to use social media to attract clients. The following list contains strategies that are working for top agents in today’s market.

1. Micro-marketing on Facebook business pages

One strategy that has worked well for a number of agents is to set up a fan page or business page for the specific markets they serve. On this page, provide as much information about the subdivision, condo project, or market niche that you are serving. In most cases, the more specific you are in your target, the better your results will be.

2. Market your listings on Facebook Marketplace

As mentioned in Part 1 of this series, the Facebook terms of use prohibits you from marketing your listings on your Facebook profile page. You can market your listings on your Facebook group and fan page.

3. Video testimonials

Video testimonials are one of the most powerful ways to build your online identity using social media. Not only do you help others build their online presence, you build your personal online presence as well.

There are a variety of places that you can post video testimonials. One great place is Yelp.com, which comes up high on most search engines.

Another excellent way to post video testimonials for your friends and followers is on LinkedIn. Do this without expecting the person you recommended to reciprocate. The law of attraction says that this will come back to you in a positive way. It just may not return through the same person you recommended.

4. Communicate with your high-probability contacts

Research suggests that most people can manage no more than 150 relationships. If you have more than 150 people in your database of friends and followers, consider which 150 are most important to your business.

Since most social media platforms allow you to create lists, place these individuals into a separate business list. This allows you to focus on seeing the interactions that matter most to you.

The next step is to make a point of commenting on five posts each day from your list. This means that you will contact each person in your core database of 150 people at least once a month. The research from the National Association of Realtors shows that most people will do business with the Realtor with whom they have had the most recent contact. You want to be that person.

5. Give to get

One of the best ways to convert a friend into a client is to use a “give-to-get” approach. In other words, you take the initiative in helping that friend with something that matters to him.

For example, if one of your high-probability contacts is involved in a walk or run for a charitable cause, offer to volunteer or participate at that event. This gives you valuable face-to-face time that strengthens your connection. Another alternative would be to prepare a snack bag with water and energy snacks that you give to your friend’s friends who are running or walking in the event.

Using social media to build connection is not rocket science. Simply build your online connection with those who share a mutual interest; interact with them regularly online; see them face to face as much as practical; and be involved in giving back to others.

---

DOUBLE DIP OR DOUBLE YOUR MONEY?

Last week, MacroMarkets LLC announced the results of the March 2011 Home Price Expectations Survey, compiled from 111 responses of a diverse group of economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists. Many media sources reported on the survey’s comment about a projected “double dip’ in prices. What the media didn’t aggressively cover was the other projection in this same report. Today we want to shed light on both portions.

Double Dip

There is no doubt the survey looked negatively on house prices through the rest of 2011. Robert Shiller, MacroMarkets co-founder and chief economist said:

“Overall, the sentiment among our expert panel regarding the U.S. housing market outlook continues to deteriorate. Now they are expecting only a weak recovery, and even that is not until 2013. This uninspiring view must be influenced by the persistently weak market fundamentals … high unemployment, supply overhang, an unabated foreclosure crisis, and constrained mortgage credit.”

Terry Loebs, MacroMarkets managing director commented on the dreaded “double dip”.

“Many more experts are now projecting a double-dip after witnessing the double-dead cat bounce that came in the wake of expired government stimulus programs. In December, only 15% of our panelists were projecting that a new post-crash low would materialize for national home prices. Now, just three months later, almost 50% foresee a double-dip happening this year, and not a single panelist expects national home prices to recover to the pre-bubble trend in the coming 5 years.”

However, the longer term view of home prices was much more optimistic.

This means, if you purchased a house today with a 10% cash down payment, you could double your cash in five years; even taking the projected double dip into consideration.

Shiller also noted that there continues to be significant dispersion among the panelists regarding their individual home price forecasts:

“A few respondents do see a real recovery, predicting prices up 20% or so by 2015.”

If that happens, you would have TRIPLED your cash.

Bottom Line

If you are thinking of selling in the next 12 months, you should do it before the projected “double dip”. If you are thinking of buying and you plan to live in the home for at least five years, your financial investment will be fine.

---

ARE WE IN REAL ESTATE SALES OR CUSTOMER SERVICE

There is a lot of talk about real estate agents being in customer service. Certainly those talking don’t mean this to be news. We get paid to provide very important and very difficult services.

Think of a transaction as a management companies and title companies being in customer service, because they build their business on relationships with third-party referrals (from real estate agents, for example). Real estate sellers and buyers need a solution, not a towel. We don’t provide real estate services for tips based on guests’ whims.

I will believe I am in the customer service business when I get paid a fee or hourly rate for services rendered to a real estate homebuyer or seller. We are dealing with large purchases on behalf of families and individuals who need our help. My guess: This is one reason they don’t Google “customer service” when they want to buy or sell real estate.

Allow me present a couple of scenarios, because positioning is so important to any business. What you don’t want to do, of course, is confuse the market — or even worse, yourself — in today’s real estate market as to whether you are in real estate sales or customer service.

Which of these sample ads would best fit your services?

1. “Looking for a service-oriented real estate agent to help you purchase your next home? Look no further. I am a Realtor. I will answer all of your questions by phone, text or e-mail seven days a week. Think of me as your concierge/chauffeur. If you don’t like my services because I was of no real help (you don’t buy), don’t pay me.”

2. “Home shopping can be fun when you give me the great honor of providing more than 100 services to you at no charge. We laugh. We have lunch. We look at as many homes as you wish. You will absolutely love my service, and as always, I work for nothing and pay my own expenses.

“Gas prices got you concerned? Not to worry. My car is my office. Let me show you the home of your dreams. I am a no-pressure customer service professional. I am not a door-to-door salesman, but I do provide door-to-door service.”

In closing, we have learned for years that referrals do not come from satisfied customers — they come from enthusiastic ones. We are in the service business, for sure. But we have known that for years. What we have not known, perhaps, is how to sell ourselves on how important our professional services are to many who use them.

Promoting team building with our morning smoothies, great start to a day!  Snap shot of our fruity goodness…Happy Friday!

 

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” — Joseph Campbell: Was an American Mythologist, writer and lecturer

NEWS & HEADLINES

U.S. Census Bureau reports that state government tax collections decreased about $14 billion to $705 billion in fiscal year 2010, following a drop of $66 billion in 2009. According to the survey, corporate net income tax revenue was $38 billion, down 6.6%, while tax revenue on individual income was $236 billion, down 4.4%. General sales tax revenue was $224 billion, down 1.8%. For more information about this survey Census.

Anyone needing presentation material on “the shadow inventory” may want to use NAR’s, which has a colorful state map:NARMap.

According to a story in the Financial Times, “The five biggest US mortgage servicers were told this week at a private meeting with regulators to consider paying delinquent borrowers up to $21,000 each as part of a broader settlement of the foreclosure crisis…The industry-wide “cash for keys” program would involve the biggest servicers paying borrowers as an incentive to leave their homes.” “Banks would pay borrowers who are more than 90 days behind on mortgage payments up to $1,000 to seek independent financial advice and up to $20,000 in cash as a “fresh start” payment towards living costs in a new home. They would have to vacate their properties quickly and leave them in good condition.” Sheila Bair, FDIC chairman, raised the idea but people involved said it was not an official government proposal and was rejected strongly by some of the banks.

Why is there so much press against the 30-yr mortgage? The 30-yr mortgage did not cause the credit crisis. This is yet another example of regulators not being able to find one single cause of the credit crisis, and swinging at different parts of our industry like they are some kind of piñata, and they have the blindfolds. If the banks want to better match their assets and liabilities by emphasizing ARM loans, that is fine, or if a borrower wants a loan to match their expected ownership period I understand, but saying that a 30 year term for a mortgage is bad is plain wrong.”

Yesterday MBS prices worse/down by about .250. Dick Lepre (LoanMine) writes, “Low Treasury yields are discouraging the addressing of the massive amount of public debt. Our nation is taking on debt at an unsustainable rate. The MegaMillions Jackpot last weekend was $201,000,000. Is that a lot of money? That is the amount of debt the Treasury Department will add every 70 minutes of every day this year. This week the House voted to cut spending $6 billion. That is 1.5 days’ worth of deficit…Congress recognizes that the country’s debt path is unsustainable. While the economics of the matter is straightforward – cut spending, raise taxes, or both – the politics is not. And if voters cannot insist, or are not going to insist, on fiscal sustainability, and if Congress is not going to control public finances on its own accord, then one must conclude that the fiscal process is lacking a necessary ingredient.

This morning’s 4th quarter GDP number was revised to +3.1% versus +2.8% previously reported. Later on we’ll receive a University of Michigan survey number, not exactly a market-moving volatile number especially given overseas events. But until then the 10-yr is sitting around 3.40% and MBS prices are not doing much.

---

DISTRESSED PROPERTIES: DISCOUNTS AND DIFFICULTIES

Most buyers want to make sure they get a “good deal” when they purchase something. Purchasers of real estate are no different. That is why many decide to buy a distressed property (a foreclosure or a short sale). The National Association of Realtors (NAR) last week reported foreclosures, on average, sell at a 22% discount and short sales at a 17% discount. It sounds like a pretty good decision to buy a property at those levels of discount.

However, the purchaser must realize that there are added obstacles in these type of transactions. Many foreclosures are left in less than pristine condition by the previous owner and some have title issues that must be corrected before they can change hands. Many short sales have multiple loans that must be negotiated before an offer is accepted by all parties to the transaction. This can take months in many cases. Purchasing a non-distressed property will probably have a lot fewer pitfalls.

Patience Equity

Does that mean that you shouldn’t consider a distressed property? Not necessarily. Just understand that there is an additional cost to purchasing a foreclosure or a short sale: the cost of time. For some, the 17 or 22 percent discount is well worth the extra time they must spend on the transaction. We like to call that savings your “patience equity”. Patience equity will require you to be patient however. Realize going into the deal that there will be obstacles to overcome and make sure you give your real estate professional time to overcome these challenges. Again, patience equity will require your patience.

Bottom Line

Buying a distressed property could make sense for you as long as you realize you will need to be VERY patient with your real estate agent throughout the process. If you are, you will own a home that has considerable equity the day you move in.

---

8 CAN’T-MISS REAL ESTATE TECH TOOLS

Here are some great free programs and services that I use every day, and most of them have been around for years and have a large user base.

1. Pixlr  is a free photo editor that is a browser extension. You can use it to edit photographs right in your browser. I use it in Google’s Chrome browser, but it is also available for the Firefox browser. Pixlr has the look and feel of Photoshop Elements and similar features. It can even be used to create graphics. Also try Pixler Expressfor quick edits and Pixlr Grabber  for screen prints that can be edited and shared and saved in the browser.

2. Chrome browser: I have recently switched to the Chrome browser by Google, mainly because it is a faster, smaller program and it doesn’t crash. I also use the Chrome Web store, which is full of free time-saving gadgets and Chrome browser extensions. I have found browser extensions and add-ons that replace services that I used to pay for.

3. Open Office: I stopped buying Microsoft Office. I think it is an expensive, bloated software package that takes up a lot of space and is CPU-intensive. Open Office is free, can be downloaded from the Internet, is a much smaller program, and the upgrades are free, too. Open office is compatible with Microsoft Office and cloud-based Google Docs, and is a complete office suite with word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation tools and even a drawing program.

4. Blogger: Maybe you’ve heard of tumblr, Posterous and wordpress.com— they are popular free blogging platforms. Blogger is also free and is great for mobile blogging or any kind of blogging. It can be used with a custom domain name and it is very easy to customize the look and feel and the functionality by adding free Gadgets and widgets.

I will always recommend running a free blog off of a domain name that you own so that it can be moved, if needed, without loss of traffic. Any of the free blog platforms can be used to create a free agent or brokerage website, or even an individual property website.

5. Google Sites: If you work on a team or maybe in a small office, you can use Google Sites to set up a company or team intranet. Forms and documents can be stored on the site and shared. The site is easy to build and share, and it is free.

6. CutePDF writer:A free and easy way to create PDFs. Install it on your computer and it becomes a PDF printer. Any file can be saved as a PDF file. Also check out the other CutePDF programs that cost far less than the programs they replace.

7.Scribefire: is a browser extension that is available for both Chrome and Firefox. I have used it for many years for writing blog posts. It is a full-featured blog editor. You can grab photographs, links and text from the Internet and compose and post to all of your blogs, all in one place. I like the writing interface, and Scribefire can be used offline and is a handy place to store notes and ideas for future blog posts.

8. Instapaper: My bet is that this tool will quickly become indispensable for you. With Instapaper I can easily save articles that I find on the Internet to read later. The articles can be organized into folders. The “read later” bookmark can be installed into any browser — even the Safari browser on the iPad.

Most brokerages cannot compete with companies like Oracle and Google to provide better free software for their agents, so even if you are getting free software from a brokerage it doesn’t hurt to check to see what the competition might be using.

---

 HOUSING MARKET – COULD TAKE YEARS TO CORRECT

It was a big, bad and highly disappointing week for housing.

Existing sales fell 9.6% for the month of February to the lowest number seen in almost a decade.

Housing starts posted the biggest decline in almost 30 years in and home builders added the smallest number of new homes since 1967. Builders cut back due to rising foreclosures and high unemployment.

Meanwhile, supply ticked up to 8.9 months worth of new home inventory on the market.

The Daily Ticker gang talks about the overall grim reality of the housing market. Until the excess inventory is taken up — which could take five to ten years — there will be no price support, Dan says. Right now the market outright “sucks.” To Watch Video  CLICK HERE

---

There’s Sunshine after the rain…and rainbows too!  Sharing the great site from my office window we saw yesterday

 

“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want. “ – Ben Stein

NEWS & HEADLINES

Six Federal agencies have to sign off on the QRM provisions, and apparently the first will be early next week. Early next week the FDIC opines on, “What counts as a “Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM)?” as it scheduled a meeting of its Board of Directors for next Tuesday to vote on the issue. A draft of the proposed rule will be made available to the public at that time. Industry folks believe that the FDIC will move first on the rule, followed by (in random order) the OCC, the Fed, HUD, SEC and the FHFA — will be approving the rule in the days following the FDIC’s notice. Once all six agencies have approved the proposed rule it will be published in the Federal Register, and the comment period will begin. For more information visit CMBP.

Freddie Mac notified its servicers of some changes to its servicing requirements that should be noted. The changes are numerous but include, “Permitting Servicers to postpone foreclosure sales handled by designated counsel as long as the newly scheduled foreclosure sale date is within Freddie Mac’s State foreclosure time lines” and “Eliminating the option to foreclose in the name of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (MERS).” Best to check out the bulletin: Freddie.

Anyone looking for a rebound in the housing market did not find it in yesterday’s release of New Home Sales for February. Anyone in the market for a home is asking, “Why buy a new one when there are so many others around?” And indeed, New Home Sales were down nearly 17%, and are at their lowest level since 1970, and following NAR’s Existing Home Sales drop of 10% announced earlier this week. Most analysts are not looking for any rebound this year. It was the third monthly decline in a row and far below the 700,000-a-year pace that economists view as healthy, with the median sales price dropping to $202k.

In terms of interest rates, Treasuries opened higher (rates lower) on more flight-to-safety (European sovereign debt, Libya and Japan issues continue) but then tailed off during the day. The 10-yr closed nearly unchanged at 3.35%. MBS prices and spreads ended mixed with lower coupons mostly “lower and wider”, while higher coupons were “higher and tighter”.

Today we have seen Jobless Claims and the volatile Durable Goods. Last month Durable Goods orders remained positive, increasing 3.6%, and expectations were running around +1.3% for February. They came out +.9%. Jobless Claims were at 382k, down from 387k – good new. We will also have the Treasury’s announcement for next week’s 2, 5, and 7-yr auctions. Currently the 10-yr is sitting around 3.39% and MBS prices are worse about .125.

---

4 STAGES OF WEALTH BUILDING AS A HOMEOWNER

One of the primary objectives of owning a home is to let the home appreciate over time and become a pillar of a family’s financial strength.

But before we can discuss “wealth”, we need to identify the stages to get there.

Stage 1

Having “Emergency Cash” is the first stage. It’s having $5-7,000 liquid for life’s inconveniences (the boiler breaking down, the car needing work, etc). When faced with the inevitable challenges that arise, many people are forced to run to their credit cards to make it through. They become stuck with high interest rate, non-tax deductible borrowing.

Stage 2

The second stage is the elimination of “Bad Debt”. We define “Bad Debt” as any debt whose interest is not tax deductible. Obviously, those high interest rate credit cards must be the first to go. But we also want to divest ourselves of the borrowing associated with car loans, boat loans, student loans, and personal loans because it typically can be done cheaper.

Stage 3

Shockingly, when you arrive at stage three, you will be considered in the Top 5% of Americans in terms of financial security. Stage three is accomplished when you have 3-6 months of your total expenses in reserves. The average homeowner (who is logically financially better off than the non-homeowner) has less than one month’s expenses in reserve! When life shows them more than a minor inconvenience (like a job loss, an illness/disability, or worse), most people are in a panic situation. With 3-6 month’s reserves, you will have time to weigh options and make better choices.

Stage 4

True financial security is attained when you become “Debt Free”. But not without debt. We consider our clients “Debt Free” when they have enough liquid assets to pay off whatever mortgage they have outstanding. Wealth building almost requires utilizing the tax benefits of having a mortgage in combination with strategies that utilize The 3 Miracles of Money…

The 3 Miracles of Money

Compound Interest – The impact of money left to grow upon itself can be dramatic. If you had $1 on Monday and you could double it every day ($2 on Tuesday, $4 on Wednesday, etc.), by the end of 20 days, you would have $1,048,576.00!!! Now, you can’t double your cash every day, not even every year, but the concept holds true…..compounding interest is a good thing!

Tax Free Growth – The ability to accumulate assets without giving Uncle Sam a third of it (in the form of Federal and State Income Taxes) is how the $1 became $1 million. If the growth was taxed at 33% ($1 on Monday gave you $1.67 on Tuesday (instead of $2- and so on), your $1 would only grow to $28,466.20 after 20 days!!! THAT IS NOT A TYPO! You would have “lost” over $1 million.

Leverage and Arbitrage – If you can put up minimum of cash and take title to a significant asset (like a down payment on a home…the smaller the down payment the better), you can leverage that cash investment to large returns. At the same time, if you can take the cash that you don’t bury in home equity and effectuate a spread between your “after tax cost of money” (mortgage payment) and your investment options (hopefully, in a tax free environment), you can gain the exponential growth that creates wealth.

Bottom Line

Please take the time to investigate all that is possible, by harnessing the POWER of a mortgage to help you move your family towards wealth. Work with a loan officer who can educate you on the power behind properly leveraged real estate via tax savings and reallocation of equity.

---

3 BASICS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT

(This is Part 1 of 2 part series, check Monday for part 2)

Everyone says that you have to be on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The question is, “How are you converting your social networking activities into an income stream for your business?”

Eighteen months ago, at a National Association of Realtors conference, I was in the audience for a social media panel composed of five of real estate’s best social media experts. When an agent stood up and said, “I’m on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but how am I supposed to make money with them?” sadly, there was not a direct answer from the panel.

Establishing connection consists of three basic steps: curiosity, communication and commonality.

Step 1: Curiosity

Are you curious about the people you meet? Do you inquire about what recreational activities they enjoy? What hobbies they have? How about where they like to spend their free time? What is their favorite type of food? Avoid very personal questions until you develop rapport. Do your best to learn what matters to them and what gives their lives meaning.

Step 2: Communication

Communication implies a two-way conversation. Engage your friends and followers by asking questions and commenting on what they post. This is the quickest and easiest way to get to know them. The law of attraction says, “We attract who we are.” The more the people in your database of friends and followers feel that you are like them in some way, the more likely they are to do business with you rather than someone else.

Step 3: Commonality

The moment you say, “I’ve done that” or “I have eaten there,” your shared experience or commonality forms the basis for building connection. People prefer to work with others who share similarities. You can observe this any time you have a party where new people meet. People will group themselves with those who share similar interests. The cooks and the sports enthusiasts always seem to find each other.

To make yourself more attractive to more people, stay up on movies, current events and sports. Take time to read major best sellers or business books. Know where to find the best ethnic food in town as well as the best-kept secret about where to shop. In most cases, a little bit of knowledge goes a long way in building connection.

There’s an old adage that says, “You get what you give.” When you give connection, you get connection. Connection ultimately forms the basis for all great business and personal relationships. Once people connect with you, you are no longer perceived as that “pesky real estate salesperson.” Instead, you become “my friend” who sells real estate.

---

NEW-HOME SALES REMAIN SLUGISH

New-home sales continued to fall in February as prices took another tumble, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

New-home sales dropped 16.9 percent last month–the third consecutive monthly decline. New-home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000 homes; economists view a 700,000 a year pace as healthy for the sector.

The median price of new homes dropped nearly 14 percent to $202,100–its lowest level since December 2003.

The new-home market has been pummeled by the sluggish housing market in recent years as it tries to compete against low prices and a huge inventory of foreclosures on the market.

A turnaround in the new-home market may not come for another three years, analysts say.

Residential construction continues to slow nationwide. Builders started on fewer homes last month than in nearly two years as building permits fell to their lowest level in more than 50 years.

---

SMARTER AGENT OFFERS MLS’ FREE MOBILE APPLICATION

Mobile real estate applications company Smarter Agent will build a free, branded mobile application for any interested multiple listing service, the company announced last week.

The consumer-facing app will be branded with the MLS name and logo, and all leads will be directed to the listing agent. In the last year, the company has built apps for agents and brokers from more than 250 MLSs, and “we’ve had a lot of interest at the MLS level for their own mobile solution,” said Shelly Schwartz, spokesperson for Smarter Agent.

The apps are designed for a variety of phone platforms, including the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Palm operating systems; and non-smartphone systems on Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon.

“For the MLS to get this valuable mobile app, it’s a requirement that its members are not charged additional fees. We can do this because we are (a) venture-backed mobile firm and we want the industry to go mobile to meet consumer demand,” Schwartz said.

“By offering our base product for free to an MLS, Smarter Agent hopes to reduce costs and frictions to brokers and agents as MLSs become more familiar with mobile, while at the same time providing a member benefit for MLSs.”

The apps can contain ads from local retailers, Schwartz added, and “if these are revenue-generating, it is shared with the MLS as auxiliary income.”

---

 

Despite our local weather, I thought I’d bring some color from Spring to our day…

 

 

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” — Joseph Campbell: Was an American Mythologist, writer and lecturer

NEWS & HEADLINES

The markets were relatively tame yesterday following some Treasury-induced volatility Monday. The volume of MBS sales went back down below recent averages, per Tradeweb, the yield on the 10-yr was stuck around 3.33%, and MBS prices ended the day worse by about .125. Overall the $10 billion per month is seen as manageable, helped in part by limited mortgage banker supply that is averaging around $1.5 billion per day.

We learned that, per FHFA’s House Price Index, home prices declined 0.3% in January and December’s number was revised downward. Every week we are reminded of the anemic housing market, and the news continues today with the New Home Sales for February (actually projected to increase slightly). Rates are down slightly today, but unfortunately the market is being moved by more bad news from Japan and the Middle East. The 10-yr is down to 3.29% and MBS prices are better by .125.

Mortgage Applications Increase: The Market Composite Index increased 2.7%, the Refinance Index increased 2.7%, and Purchase Index increased 2.7%. The refinance share remained constant at 66.4% and the ARM share increased to 5.9% from 5.6%. The average 30-year rate increased to 4.80% from 4.79% and the average 15-year rate decreased to 4.02% from 4.03%.

New Home Sales were down 16.9% in February an annual rate of 250,000, a record low, and the third monthly decline in a row and far below the 700,000-a-year pace that economists view as healthy. The median sales price drop 14% to was $202,100 as builders struggled to compete with distressed prices of foreclosures. The average sales price was $246,000. New home prices are now 30% higher than existing home sales, which is twice the markup in healthy housing markets.

Treasuries Gain on Global Turmoil, Unexpected U.S. Drop in New Home Sales, with the 10-year UST note 12/32 higher to yield of3.284% as of 10:40 AM. Treasuries increased as the nuclear disaster in Japan worsened, preparation for an attack of ground forces in Libya, and the possibility that Portugal might need to be bailed out. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said the earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan presented some “short-term inflationary impetus,” though he cautioned that the pressures were conflicting and complicated and didn’t present a medium-term or long-term risk.

Fed to Send $79 Billion to Treasury as higher earnings from securities the central bank bought during the financial crisis. The record transfer marks a 68% increase from the $47.43 billion the Fed sent to the Treasury in 2009.

---

 REAL ESTATE GROUPS ORGANIZE JAPAN RELIEF EFFORTS

In the wake of a devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan, some real estate groups are organizing relief efforts for the country’s short- and long-term needs.

Allen Okamoto, broker-owner of real estate and insurance agency T. Okamoto & Co. in San Francisco and founding chair of the Asian Real Estate Association of America(AREAA) has set up a relief fund through the association to assist people in the country’s Tohuku region rebuild their homes.

“I am currently involved with several relief efforts by different organizations. All of the other organizations are dealing with the immediate needs of the victims such as food, water and clothing. Since the Asian Real Estate Association of America is a real estate-related organization I felt it only proper that we help with the long-term needs (of) rebuilding homes,” Okamoto said.

The association is accepting donations by mail to: AREAA, 5963 La Place Court, Suite 312, Carlsbad, CA 92008-8823. Checks should be made payable to: AREAA Foundation Earthquake Relief Fund.

The death toll in Japan continues to mount, with the lastest figures exceeding 9,000, and with more than 12,000 people still missing since the quake and subsequent tsunami hit on March 11. Whole coastal towns have been destroyed. Electricity access, roads and rail lines have been damaged, stranding more than 1 million people across the country, according to news reports.

Some electronics and auto plants have temporarily shut down due to breaks in their supply chains. A breakdown of reactor cooling systems at the country’s Fukushima nuclear plant triggered a massive evacuation in the area surrounding the plant and is not yet resolved.

The National Association of Realtors has recommended four organizations it believes are “well equipped” to provide disaster relief services. These are AmeriCares, Habitat for Humanity International, UNICEF-USA and World Vision.

NAR reports that some members have received “scam e-mails from organizations, some calling themselves real estate associations, purporting to collect money for Japanese tsunami relief.”

To “make sure their donations reach those in need,” the association recommends potential donors follow tips from Charity Navigator, a nonprofit organization that evaluates charities. These include avoiding newly-formed charities and seeking out a charity’s authorized website.

Major property search site Realtor.com is donating ad space to the Salvation Army to help raise aid funds for Japan and also urges others to donate through text message or through the Salvation Army’s website. To donate by text, donors can type JAPAN to 80888.

“Coupled with higher gas prices already effecting rural real estate, we are likely to see increased pricing pressures on the rural areas surrounding nuclear plants in this country.”

The crisis in Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, will likely have more of an impact on inflation and global stock markets, some experts say.

Much of the cost is expected to fall on the Japanese government, which covers earthquake damage to residential property as well as natural disaster-related damage to nuclear power facilities. That will be a heavy burden to bear for a country with a public debt that is more than twice the size of its $5 trillion economy.

Floods, human misery, loss of life and possessions do not necessarily defeat the will to rebuild. Ecological disasters can only be watched. Nothing is more defeating to the human spirit than the feeling of helplessness.

---

DISTRESSED SALES: STATE BY STATE

We have often written on the impact foreclosures and short sales have on the value of the house next door. The Center for Responsible Lending has done great reporting on the subject. It seems distressed properties will be a challenge we will need to deal with for some time. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Sales Report. The report said:

Distressed homes – sold at discount – accounted for a 39 percent market share in February, up from 37 percent in January and 35 percent in February 2010.

This week, NAR released an Economic Outlook. In the report, they covered the percentage of overall sales that distressed properties represented in each state. Here is a map that accompanied the report:

Bottom Line

Distressed properties have a major impact on house values in a marketplace. Where there is a large percentage of distressed properties, home prices will continue to soften until we work our way through this inventory.

---

 RAPPORTIVE BRINGS SOCIAL MEDIA ALIVE IN GMAIL

Rapportive is a free browser add-on developed for Firefox, Chrome and Safari that allows you to view your contacts’ social media profiles and activity right inside Gmail. The add-on works with both Gmail and Google Apps. Give it a try! It’s quick and easy to set up and it truly enhances your traditional mail client.

There are a handful of popular social CRM (customer relationship management) tools available that integrate with your mail client.

Last month, RIM (Research in Motion) announced the acquisition of Gist, one of the more widely used applications that enhance email contacts by displaying profiles that includes blogs, social networks and more. The future of Gist and how BlackBerry users will utilize the product remains to be seen.

The well-established Microsoft Outlook add-on Xobni will finally be releasing the tool for Gmail and are now accepting registration for a private beta preview.

However, since making the transition to Google Apps at Residential Properties Ltd, I have been enjoying Rapportive.

What is Rapportive?

Rapportive was launched in January 2010 by three developers: Rahul Vohra, Martin Kleppman and Sam Stokes. The successful venture capital firm Y Combinator, whose portfolio also includes Dropbox, reddit and Posterous, funds the company. Interestingly enough, it is also funded by Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail.

Unlike other similar services, Rapportive streamlines your contacts’ social profiles directly in Gmail without having to leave the mail client and access a separate CRM application. Having one less site or service to log into is always refreshing.

After a quick installation of the extension, connecting social networks is super easy, and all of the major networks including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are supported.

After your networks are added, just open an email and your contacts profile is displayed in the side bar with a wealth of information including a profile picture, Twitter user name with recent tweets, the latest Facebook activity and links to other social networks.

I also found the add-on to be an extremely useful discovery tool as well. You can follow a contact on Twitter or send a Facebook request right from the mail client. Editing your own profile can be accomplished right in Gmail as well. Also, one of my favorite features of Rapportive is the ability to assign a “note” to your contact, which is private and can be viewed only by you.

How does Rapportive obtain its data?

Rapportive states on their site that they “combine information from several sources; at the moment, these are Academia.edu, Bitbucket, CrunchBase, Econsultancy, Facebook, Flickr, GitHub, Google Profiles, Gravatar, LinkedIn, Plancast, Posterous, Rapleaf, Stack Overflow, Tungle.me and Twitter, as well as thousands of organisations’ public websites.” You can learn more about this and their privacy policies here.

Raplets

Another feature that differentiates Rapportive from other services is the ability for vendors to build extensions, which are called Raplets. There are few good extensions that can easily be added, including BatchBook, MailChimp and Klout. Raplets can easily be added or removed right from inside Gmail.

Rapportive is a handy little tool that brings social media right to your inbox. The add-on is lightweight and fast loading — I would love to see a mobile app. Those who spend a fair amount of time in Gmail will appreciate having everything integrated in the mail client without having to access a third-party CRM application.

---

 NAR FLOATS $40 DUES HIKE FOR POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

The National Association of Realtors is considering a hike in member dues by $40 a year in 2012 and 2013, with the goal of raising nearly $80 million in “soft money” for political advocacy at the local, state and federal level.

NAR’s board of directors is scheduled to vote on the “Realtor Party Political Survival Initiative” on May 14, at its annual midyear meeting in Washington, D.C.

If the initiative is approved, NAR says it will be spending nearly half of its budget on political advocacy, which the group’s members consistently rate as the most important benefit they receive from NAR, the group said in a “talking points” memo in support of the initiative.

The Political Survival Initiative — prompted in part by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down restrictions on independent campaign expenditures by corporations — was unveiled at a meeting of Realtor association executives in Dallas this week.

The National Association of Realtors is considering a hike in member dues by $40 a year in 2012 and 2013, with the goal of raising nearly $80 million in “soft money” for political advocacy at the local, state and federal level.

NAR’s board of directors is scheduled to vote on the “Realtor Party Political Survival Initiative” on May 14, at its annual midyear meeting in Washington, D.C.

If the initiative is approved, NAR says it will be spending nearly half of its budget on political advocacy, which the group’s members consistently rate as the most important benefit they receive from NAR, the group said in a “talking points” memo in support of the initiative.

The Political Survival Initiative — prompted in part by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down restrictions on independent campaign expenditures by corporations — was unveiled at a meeting of Realtor association executives in Dallas this week.

Initial online reaction among some NAR members to what would amount to a 50 percent increase in national level dues, from $80 to $120 a year, was mixed.

The Supreme Court ruling on “soft money” restrictions has opened the floodgates for independent campaign expenditures, and NAR must up its spending in order to maintain its voice, association executives were told.

In its last annual report, NAR said it currently collects $80 in national dues, of which $23 is used for legislative regulatory advocacy, $15 for consumer and member relationship building, $15 for state and local association services and support, $10 for economic and technological research, $7 for code of ethics, legal policy, and enforcement; $5 for publications (Realtor Magazine and Realtor.org), and $5 for commercial and international alliance partnerships.

Of that money, $9.77 million would be earmarked for state and local issue campaigns, and $8.95 million for federal issue campaigns. Another $7.02 million a year would go to supporting state and local candidates, and $3.95 million to federal candidates. The dues increase would provide an extra $5.17 million a year for Realtor mobilization, and $4.32 million for unspecified “campaign services.”

NAR last raised dues in 2008, after the group’s board of directors voted to fund a technology incubator, Second Century Ventures, among a series of other initiatives, with a $16 dues increase. Members also pay a $35-a-year special assessment for NAR’s “Home Ownership Matters” public awareness campaign.

---

 BUYERS READY TO SNATCH BARGAINS THIS SPRING

Bargain prices on housing combined with low interest rates below 5 percent may bring the real estate market its busiest spring season in years, economists say.

Distressed sales continue to put downward pressure on home prices, which may lure more buyers off the fence and ready to snag a deal during the typical prime-time buying season.

Some builders are ramping up discounts on new homes as well as boosting commissions to brokers to try to spark more transactions.

Sellers of existing-homes also are getting more competitive in pricing their homes.

“After three years of the housing downturn, people are becoming much more realistic in terms of valuing their homes,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of REALTORS®.

An improved job market with better income potential may also motivate more people to buy, says David Berson of the PMI Group.

“Household formations are also very important,” Berson says. “Kids may have moved back in with their parents, or two people may have moved in together, because of job concerns. Now they can move into their own place.”

While interest rates are sitting comfortably below 5 percent for now (30-year fixed rates averaged 4.76 percent last week), economists warn the attractive low rates won’t last long.

“Few think mortgage rates are going lower,” says Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics chief economist. “It’s more likely they will be 6 percent than 4 percent next spring. This lights a fire under buyers.”

Yes, gas prices are extremely high!

See 6 tips on how to squeeze out better gas mileage below…

  

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” — Oscar Wilde: Was an Irish writer and poet

 

6 TIPS TO SQUEEZE OUT BETTER GAS MILEAGE

1. Slow down: Most cars get the best gas mileage at 45-55 miles per hour. Driving faster than 60 mph actually can cut gas mileage anywhere from 7 to 23 percent.

2. Don’t idle: If you need to wait longer than 20 seconds, you’re better off turning off your engine than keeping your car running. Restarting the car requires less gas than leaving it idling.

3. Lose the heavy load: Make sure you’re not carrying in your car more than what you need. An extra 100 pounds sitting in the trunk or back seat can reduce fuel economy as much as 2 percent.

4. Tighten the gas cap: Fuel can evaporate through gas caps with broken or weak seals. Loose or broken gas caps can cost you a loss of about 2 percent in your gas mileage.

5. Close the windows and turn off the AC: Driving with the windows open or the air conditioner turned on can be big gas wasters. Instead, the most efficient way to keep the car cool is by using the air that comes in through your flow-through ventilator.

6. Get an oil change: Improve your gas mileage by as much as 2 percent by using energy-conserving or synthetic motor oil, which can reduce engine friction.

NEWS & HEADLINES

Well, it seems that the “markets” had grown a little jaded about watching the turmoil in the Middle East, the European debt crisis, and the Japanese nuclear & tsunami havoc. What to do? The U.S. Treasury announced that it will begin an “orderly wind down” of its $142 billion MBS portfolio over about 1 year by selling roughly $10 billion agency MBS’s per month. (In this case, “agency” means Freddie and Fannie securities, as the Treasury does not have any Ginnie securities in this group, which started at $300 billion but has since been paid down by borrowers.) It is part of continuing wind down of emergency programs put in place in 2008 and 2009, which also include TARP, Citi stock, AIG, etc. The Treasury expects to make about $15 billion in profits. It does not impact the FOMC’s position (they bought $1.25 trillion, which is now down to about $950 billion.) MBS

Suddenly Wall Street firms and investors were scrambling to find out the current holdings of the Treasury. The bulk of its holdings (purchased between 10/08-12/09) are in Freddie & Fannie 5 & 5.5% securities, which contain 5.25-6.125% 30-yr mortgages, but the MBS pass-through rates range from 4%-6.5%, and include 15-yr MBS’s. MBSSaleFAQ

Keep in mind that monthly MBS pay-downs have slowed over the last 6 months (due to higher rates and fees), and, relatedly, daily origination has slowed to about $1.25 billion. Sterne Agee noted that in the context of the overall MBS market, $10 billion is slightly more than 1/3rd of the recent 3 month average net issuance of the total MBS market. Prior to December, net issuance had not totaled over $3.3 billion/month in any single month for 10 consecutive months, dating back to the initiation of GSE delinquency buyouts. There is no indication that the Federal Reserve will begin systematically selling its $950 billion MBS portfolio. However, the Treasury’s announcement makes one wonder…

Just when you thought your head was about to explode from comp “stuff,” HUD weighed in. “(HUD)…issues the following additional guidance on how mortgage loan originators comply with the RESPA, in light of the FRB LO Compensation rule…This guidance seeks to clarify RESPA requirements related to proper disclosure on the GFE and HUD-1 settlement statement. This guidance does not address substantive issues related to restrictions on mortgage loan originator compensation that are within the jurisdiction of the FRB.” HUDRegZ.

Sterne Agee, on the other hand, stratified prepayment speeds by servicer for conventional 30-yr and 15-yr MBS’s. “We conclude that the business practices of any given servicer can have a meaningful impact on the prepayment speeds of MBS. Furthermore, market prices do not fully reflect the differences in speeds among servicers presenting investors with opportunities to enhance prepayment protection.” MBS investors, of course, are particularly interested in rates and their impact on early payoffs (refinancing), but should also note the company servicing the loan.

Sterne Agee suggests that “investors consider pools that are not explicitly prepayment protected pools, but have a relatively high concentration of attributes that can be associated with slower prepayment speeds. In addition to a relatively low WAC (low rate) and a relatively low average loan size, we favor pools that have a relatively high LTV ratio, low FICO score, high % of non-owner occupied property, low % of third-party origination (TPO), high % of purchase loans, low % of refi loans, low % of delinquent loans, favorable ‘geographics’, and favorable servicers.”

Rates began Monday slightly worse than Friday’s close, but by the end of the day were worse by .375-.5, depending on coupon and security. Who cared about the Existing Home Sales number after the Treasury’s announcement (noted at the top) that it would commence selling its holdings of MBS’s at $10 billion per month. 10-yr Treasuries tagged along for the ride somewhat, but finished down about .375 to 3.32%.

Any moves in the market will be driven by “headline news.” Currently the 10-yr is sitting around 3.35% and MBS prices, depending on coupon, are worse by about .125.

---

MEASURE WHAT MATTERS TO YOUR REAL ESTATE SITE

One thing consistently recommend to clients is that they install and monitor Web analytics. Not everyone does, of course. But it’s definitely the starting point for making websites better, in terms of accomplishing business goals.

There can be lots of different approaches to a Web analytics program. In fact, there might even be as many unique uses for Web analytics as there are different real estate websites that have analytics installed.

One company may be measuring to calculate ROI on paid advertising or search traffic versus social media efforts.

Another company might be using analytics to listen to their customers by reviewing keyword reports and traffic patterns.

A third company might be using analytics to identify conversion rates for different paid advertising headlines.

A fourth might be using analytics to figure out if new visitors behave differently than repeat visitors.

Depending on the goals of each company, all of these approaches are right. There really isn’t a simple “four metrics every Realtor must track day and night or risk joining the career path of the fax boy.”

Here are some examples of metrics that might be aligned with your company values.

Outstanding customer service: Many real estate professionals promote their high commitment to customer service. You can measure your performance in this in several ways.

Number of social media mentions that are expressing positive sentiment after being helped in some way. (Usually these messages include “Thanks!”)

Number of qualitative/voice-of-customer surveys that mention “ease of use” of website as something good about the site.

Number of non-real estate questions answered via social media (answering real estate questions isn’t outstanding if your business is real estate — it’s standard).

Expertise: Like outstanding customer service, many real estate professionals claim to have expertise in a geographic region or property type or type of sale. You can put some measurements in place to track your progress in being the expert. Here are a handful of metrics related to expertise:

Number of questions related to your expertise answered.

Number of new pages related to your expertise created.

Increase in expertise-topic mailing list distribution.

Measuring for values, measuring values

The purpose of metrics and analytics is to help you make better decisions so you can take better actions. If you aren’t sure how your Web analytics can really relate directly to your bottom line, start by measuring things that encourage fulfillment of your brand promises.

Once you do have a solid program in place that can directly relate online activity to your company revenue, continue measuring the company values metrics. Hopefully you will see a direct relation between your values-based metrics and your bottom-line-based metrics.

If you don’t see a relationship between fulfilling your brand promises and an increase in your business, then perhaps your values aren’t matched well with the people in your market. Or perhaps you don’t really believe your company values yourself.

Either way, if you see no relationship between your company values and your bottom line then it’s probably a good time to review your values.

Ultimately, the kinds of things we measure will influence the actions we take each day. If all of your key metrics are strictly focused on the bottom line, you may run the risk of losing your company “soul.” Attaching performance metrics to your values is a way to maintain your vision.

---

WE THINK WE’RE GOING TO BELIEVE GRANDPA

There are those currently debating the financial advantages of owning a home. Some are looking at studies and reporting that homeownership has never really been a great investment.

One of these people is Jack C. Francis, a former Federal Reserve economist and professor at Baruch College. He said in a recent CNBC article:

“For generations, parents and grandparents have been telling us that the way to get ahead was to buy a house and keep making payments with a fixed interest rate and after 20 or 30 years it would be way up in value and that was your nest egg in old age. You could either live in it rent free or sell it and use the proceeds to rent an apartment.”

The article goes on to explain the rest of Mr. Francis’ comment:

That was good advice until 2006 when home prices collapsed, he says, and it “may become good advice 10 years from now, but right now it’s not.”

Mr. Francis bases his conclusions on a study he completed which covered the years 1978 through 2008. In his study it showed that home prices increased annually by 5.7% and that the S&P 500 increased by 10.8%. Based on this information, Mr. Francis gives the following advice:

To students who come to him for guidance on whether to buy or rent in the near term, however, Francis has one word of advice: wait. “I keep telling them this is not the time to buy,” he says.

Let’s take a closer look at this conclusion.

1. We have our own study.

Mr. Francis did a study over a thirty year period which did not include the last 3 years. If we look at the same categories since January 2000 (covering one of the worst decades in American real estate history), we find that home values GAINED 42% while the S&P LOST 4.7%. It all depends on which set of data you choose to use.

2. The proper comparison is rent vs. buy.

All of these comparisons claim that putting your money into a different investment vehicle other than real estate might make sense. What they are not taking into consideration is that the investor will still have a housing expense. They will still need money for shelter. They cannot just take their money for shelter and buy other assets with it. A person can’t live in their 401k or their IRA. This leads us to…

3. In most markets today, owning is LESS expensive than renting.

Trulia recently came out with their Rent vs. Buy Index. The report shows:

that it is more affordable to buy than to rent a two-bedroom home in 72 percent of America’s 50 largest cities.

For more on this issue including a 50 city breakdown, click here.

4. Current mortgage opportunities may never be available again

The government has driven mortgage interest rates to all time lows. You can still get a 5% rate and guarantee it for 30 years. Both of these opportunities may soon disappear. Mortgage rates will increase as the economy improves and the Fed no longer feels pressure to keep rates low. The 30 year mortgage may soon be a thing of the past if suggested mortgage reforms come to be. You can lock in your housing expense for 30 years if you purchase. Renting is like having an adjustable rate loan with no cap that readjusts EVERY year. Which way do you think a landlord will readjust it?

For more on this, click here.

5. Most Americans see more to homeownership than financial value.

Last week, Fannie Mae released the National Housing Survey. The survey reported:

96% of all homeowners said homeownership has been a positive experience.

84% of Americans still believe that owning a home makes more sense than renting. Even 68% of renters believe owning makes more sense.

2 in 3 Americans believe that lifestyle benefits of homeownership (65%) are superior to the financial benefits (32%).

Bottom Line

There are more and more studies being done on the value of homeownership. We think we will trust in what our parents and grandparents said. Your mortgage payment is money you put into your savings. Your rent payment goes into the garbage.

---

BIDS RIGGED IN CALIFORNIA PROPERTY AUCTIONS

Six people, including two licensed real estate brokers, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids at public foreclosure auctions in San Joaquin County, Calif.

Prosecutors said the conspirators would designate one person to bid for them at public auctions in order to keep prices low. After the designated bidder bought a property at a public auction, the group would hold a second, private auction, where each conspirator would bid what they were actually willing to pay.

The highest bidder at the private auction won the property. The difference between the rigged bid at the public auction and the high bid at the private auction was divided among the conspirators — an “illicit profit,” prosecutors said.

The scheme ran from about September 2008 until October 2009, with more than $10 million in homes purchased at artificially low prices. The U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office are conducting an ongoing investigation of “fraud and bidding irregularities” at auctions in the county, prosecutors said.

Stockton, the county seat, has been a hotbed for foreclosures. Stockton real estate executive Anthony B. Ghio was the first to enter a guilty plea in the case last year.

Facing a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine, Ghio pleaded guilty to bid rigging in April and agreed to cooperate with investigators in return for a recommendation of a lighter sentence.

On June 24, licensed brokers John R. Vanzetti and Theodore B. Hutz also pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy.

Vanzetti agreed to cooperate with investigators and pay $271,000 in restitution and a minimum fine of $20,000. In return, federal prosecutors said they would recommend that he be sentenced to no more than 24 months in prison.

Hutz, who is also a Realtor, agreed to the terms of a plea bargain calling for him to pay $96,500 in restitution and a minimum fine of $20,000. In return, prosecutors said they would recommend the same sentence for Hutz as Vanzetti — 18 to 24 months in prison.

In February, real estate executive Richard W. Northcutt was the fourth person to enter a guilty plea, followed by real estate investors Yama Marifat of Pleasanton and Gregory L. Jackson this month.

The California Department of Real Estate still lists Vanzetti and Huntz as licensed brokers, with no record of disciplinary action.

A California Department of Real Estate spokesman, Tom Pool, said that charges against an agent or broker can’t serve as the sole basis for disciplinary action — licencees are entitled to a hearing before an administrative law judge. Even in cases where a broker has entered a guilty plea or been convicted, they may still have the right to appeal their conviction.

A recent investigation by the Sacramento Bee found dozens of California real estate professionals charged with crimes or sued for allegedly fraudulent dealings in recent years still have their licenses.

---

JOBS KEY TO HOUSING RECOVERY, MORTGAGE EXPERT SAYS

Get ready for a showdown between the Obama administration and the banking industry over the mortgage market. Described as a “shock and awe” approach, the White House wants the nation’s five largest banks to reduce the principle on mortgages in an effort to reduce monthly payments for struggling homewoners, reports the Huffington Post.

The White House hopes the plan will take effect in the next six months may cover as many as three million distressed homeowners. This new modified mortgage plan could cost Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial as much as $30 billion, according to unnamed sources cited in the Huffington Post report.

“The banks are going to fight this tooth and nail,” says Paul Muolo, executive editor of National Mortgage News and author of “Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Cause the Mortgage and Credit Crisis.”

If implemented the plan will lead to a “horrible precedent for the industry,” he tells Aaron and Henry in the accompanying clip.

Muolo raises two key problems with the plan:

Legality “There’s something called rule of law. The mortgage contracts are legal contracts and there’s nothing in those original loan documents that say they should write-down the principle in the event of a default,” he argues.

Not a Solution Like the White house’s first attempt at this – HAMP – Muolo says there’s no reason to believe a principle write-down will prevent foreclosures, just delay them.

Nearing a Bottom?

The key to finding a bottom in the housing market is not government intervention, it’s employment, Muolo argues. “If you want to help someone with their mortgage, help them with their job, get them back to work and they’ll pay their mortgage,” he says.

The good news is, we are getting closer to that bottom. Muolo estimates the balance between supply and demand may tip back to sellers in the next year or so. We’re closer to a healthy equilibrium judging by the February housing starts data released today. Home construction dropped 22.5% last month to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 homes – the lowest level since April 2009 and the second-lowest on the books.

---

 DON’T CUT HOME INSURANCE, EXPERTS SAY

Many home owners are contemplating reducing their homeowners insurance coverage since their property’s value has dropped. But experts warn that’s not a good idea and could leave home owners with insufficient coverage if a disaster ever strikes.

“The market value of your home and its insurance value can vary widely because they are based on different assumptions and calculations,” according to an article in the Baltimore Sun. The insurance value is based on what it would cost to rebuild the house, not on what you paid for it.

As such, even though housing prices have dropped in many markets, rebuilding costs have not.

For home owners looking for savings, they might instead consider increasing their deductible. For example, increasing a deductible to $1,000 from $500 could lower the premium by 25 percent.

In addition to my visit to the speedway, I was also able to enjoy a Cirque De Soleil show.

 

 

“The pessimist borrows trouble; the optimist lends encouragement.” – William Arthur Ward

How many lenders can say that their average close of escrow is 21 DAYS? Well, I’d like to share, that our Team’s average is 21 days right now. This doesn’t only help with those of you with REO’s to impress those asset managers of yours, as we all know time is of the essence. Not to mention that your buyers will have a better chance to get into contract with such an impressive timeline. Did you happen to catch my co-hosted radio show yesterday on 910AM? If not, you can listen to it by visiting http://www.CoopsCoffee.com. If you’d like to call me with any difficult loan scenarios, questions on financing options for your buyers, need a pre-approval or an open house flyer – I’ll be in the office all day today, so please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a great Monday and I’m hoping you have an awesome week! Please let me know if there’s anything my team and I can do to help.

---

 NEWS & HEADLINES

The National Association of Realtors, community banks, and probably practically everyone in the mortgage business tend to believe that a drastic withdrawal of government, or a dismissal of government insured loans, could slow the recovery and shut out deserving borrowers. In addition, although there have been steps made toward having “private money” re-enter the mortgage market, most would agree that it is in no way ready to step into the private and secondary markets quite yet. In fact, the government continues to be involved, as we all know – the Federal Reserve Board held a teleconference late last week to clarify some outstanding issues/questions about the comp issue.

Hey, how about taxing foreclosures? An assemblyman in California has introduced legislation that would bill banks $20,000 for every home foreclosed. The money collected would supposedly be used to cover foreclosure costs, property tax losses, support school districts, police and fire departments.

Investor updates continue unabated. As always, this commentary tries to point out the trends, rather than go into too many specific details. So for example, three weeks ago Freddie Mac announced the reduction of its maximum LTV, total LTV (TLTV) and Home Equity Line of Credit TLTV (HTLTV) ratio requirements to 95% for all conventional mortgages it purchases. (This doesn’t include Freddie Mac Relief Refinance Mortgages.) One can expect investors that sell loans to Freddie Mac to follow this change.

Friday ended the day with MBS prices where they started: unchanged from Thursday’s close. For the first time since 2000, the G7 intervened in the currency markets when the Fed, Bank of England, ECB and Bank of Canada committed to concerted intervention in response to the recent strengthening of the Yen. Ultimately the market impact should depend on the total size of intervention over the medium term. It is extremely difficult to put an estimate to this question since it depends on the size of repatriation flows and the G7 commitment to maintain the yen, and the news did not roil the rate markets.

For economic news it was pretty quiet over the weekend. This week we have Existing Home Sales today and New Home Sales on Wednesday. Thursday has Durable Goods and Jobless Claims, and then on Friday is GDP & a Michigan Consumer Sentiment number. Existing Home Sales, which will come out at 10AM EST, rose 2.7% last month, the highest level in eight months but due mostly to distressed and all-cash transactions. Look for a big drop this time around. Ahead of that, our 10-yr is up to 3.33% and MBS prices are worse bout about .125.

---

DID MODIFICATION PROGRAMS WORK?

The government decided early on that the market would not be able to absorb the number of foreclosures that the financial crisis was creating without crushing house values. This was one reason that they funded the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). This past week, the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) weighed in with their opinion on TARP’s success.

Today we want to concentrate on the parts of the report that pertain to real estate. TARP funds were to be used:

…in a manner that protects home values, college funds, retirement accounts, and life savings; preserves homeownership and promotes jobs and economic growth; maximizes overall returns to the taxpayers of the United States.

Did TARP Accomplish Its Housing Goals?

One way TARP was to accomplish “protecting home values and preserving homeownership” was through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). According to the COP report:

…when the President announced the Home Affordable Modification Program in early 2009, he asserted that it would prevent three to four million foreclosures. The program now appears on track to help only 700,000 to 800,000 homeowners.

We want to say that, if hundreds of thousands of families averted the devastation foreclosure can bring, we consider the program as worthwhile. Successful? That’s a different story.

Another program initiated to help was HOPE for Homeowners. It was established by Congress in July 2008 to permit the FHA to insure refinanced distressed mortgages. However, as the report explains:

HOPE for Homeowners was initially expected to help 400,000 homeowners, but it managed to refinance only a handful of loans. This was likely due to the program’s poor initial design, lack of flexibility, and its reliance on voluntary principal write-downs, which lenders were very reluctant to make.

The Only Good News?

The only silver lining is that TARP didn’t cost the taxpayer as much as was originally estimated. At what expense to troubled homeowners? In discussing the falling cost of the program COP stated:

…a separate reason for the TARP’s falling cost is that Treasury’s foreclosure prevention programs, which could have cost $50 billion, have largely failed to get off the ground. Viewed from this perspective, the TARP will cost less than expected in part because it will accomplish far less than envisioned for American homeowners.

Bottom Line

TARP was set up to avoid home values being crushed under the weight of foreclosures. To that regard, it seems to have done nothing but delay the inevitable.

---

 EXISTING-HOME SALES DIP IN FEBRUARY

Existing-home sales fell in February following three straight monthly increases, according to the National Association of REALTORS’.

Existing-home sales dropped 9.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million in February from an upwardly revised 5.40 million in January, and are 2.8 percent below the 5.02 million pace in February 2010.

Total housing inventory at the end of February rose 3.5 percent to 3.49 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.6-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 7.5-month supply in January.

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.95 percent in February from 4.76 percent in January; the rate was 4.99 percent in February 2010.

Single-family home sales fell 9.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.25 million in February from 4.70 million in January, and are 2.7 percent below the 4.37 million pace in February 2010. The median existing single-family home price was $157,000 in February, which is 4.2 percent below a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales dropped 10.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 630,000 in February from 700,000 in January, and are 3.1 percent lower than the 650,000-unit level one year ago. The median existing condo price was $150,400 in February, down 11.1 percent from February 2010.

---

7 TIPS TO CREATE REAL ESTATE MARKETING BUZZ

Gone are the days where advertising alone does the job. The secret to having a steady stream of clients today is to create a positive buzz about your business.

Word-of-mouth marketing is nothing new. We all want others to say positive things about our businesses. If you would like to get people buzzing about how great you and your services are, here are seven great ways to do it.

1. The best marketing buzz: a new listing sign with a “sold” rider in 72 hours

When a for-sale sign pops up in a neighborhood, the neighbors are always buzzing about the price, the reasons their neighbors are moving, and most important: whether the agent will get the job done.

If you have a reputation for selling homes quickly, you will likely have more sellers seeking out your services. You can also expect that your sellers will tell everyone they know about how their house sold quickly in this tough market.

2. Help someone avoid foreclosure

Many people have the impression that most real estate agents care only about themselves and their commissions. You can get people buzzing about how great you are by helping distressed property owners find a solution to their situation.

For example, if a past client is facing a foreclosure sale, you can tell them about the “ask for the note strategy” to delay or stop the foreclosure. You can also refer them to an organization such as the National Association of Consumer Advocates, which performs forensic loan audits to determine if the lender violated any RESPA or other requirements.

If the lender did so, the owner now has more leverage to work out a loan modification, a short sale, or some other solution.

3. Support your local team

To create a positive buzz about your business, host a special event for people in your referral database. Rent a bus and take your guests to the most important away game for your local high school or college. Provide plenty of food, ice cream, souvenirs and other goodies.

Arrange for a photographer and post the pictures to your website. Send out the link to everyone who attended as well as to any alumni you happen to know. Whether your team wins or loses, everyone will be “buzzing” about the great time they had.

4. Be “You-nique”

Butch Grimes of WeTalkRealEstate.com uses a variety of methods to get people buzzing about his real estate business. In addition to hosting a 24-7 radio show, Grimes emphasizes the importance of being “You-nique.”

For example, Grimes has a 20-foot-tall, inflatable open house sign that he uses to attract visitors to his open houses. To help people find his open houses, he had directional signs made with a life-sized cutout of him attached to the sign. From a distance, it looks as if he is personally standing there directing you to his open house.

The one thing he does that gets the most buzz, however, is sending a chauffeur-driven limousine to pick his clients up at work and take them to the escrow to sign their final closing documents. You can imagine the buzz this creates among his clients, as well as their colleagues, who see them being ushered into a limousine.

5. Take advantage of social media and texting

Rather than being aggravated when you work with a client who is more involved in texting than interacting with you, take advantage of this activity. When you send your buyers information about the listings you will be showing them, include as many pictures of the listings as possible.

Next, ask your buyers to forward the information to their friends via e-mail or on Facebook. Make it a game. Ask their friends to predict which house your buyers will like best. Everyone has fun. You can also probably expect lots of texting going back and forth about which house will be the buyers’ favorite.

6. Help others build their businesses

Do you have a favorite dry cleaner or restaurant? Do any of your clients own their own businesses? If you are a customer, post a video testimonial for them on Yelp.com as well as on their LinkedIn profile if they have one. Normally, when someone posts a testimonial for another person’s business, they will reciprocate with a testimonial for you.

7. Give away a conversation starter

Many agents market their businesses by giving away magnets. In 2005, Inventables began distributing “squishy magnets.” These magnets feel like a piece of foam rubber and can be used to close doors without the doors slamming. Distributing these to your geographical farm or on your open houses will make a great conversation starter and get people buzzing about the agent who gave them this nifty little gift item.

There are literally thousands of ways to get people buzzing about you and your business. All it takes is a little creativity. If you have a great suggestion, we invite you to share your suggestion in the comments.

---

 6 WAYS TO SQUEEZE OUT BETTER GAS MILEAGE

With gas prices topping $4 a gallon, real estate professionals who use their car frequently for work are looking for ways to get as much as they can out of every gallon.

Here are some tips for getting better mileage out of your car:

1. Slow down: Most cars get the best gas mileage at 45-55 miles per hour. Driving faster than 60 mph actually can cut gas mileage anywhere from 7 to 23 percent.

2. Don’t idle: If you need to wait longer than 20 seconds, you’re better off turning off your engine than keeping your car running. Restarting the car requires less gas than leaving it idling.

3. Lose the heavy load: Make sure you’re not carrying in your car more than what you need. An extra 100 pounds sitting in the trunk or back seat can reduce fuel economy as much as 2 percent.

4. Tighten the gas cap: Fuel can evaporate through gas caps with broken or weak seals. Loose or broken gas caps can cost you a loss of about 2 percent in your gas mileage.

5. Close the windows and turn off the AC: Driving with the windows open or the air conditioner turned on can be big gas wasters. Instead, the most efficient way to keep the car cool is by using the air that comes in through your flow-through ventilator.

6. Get an oil change: Improve your gas mileage by as much as 2 percent by using energy-conserving or synthetic motor oil, which can reduce engine friction.

To preserve your happiness & decrease any stress you have, you have to enjoy yourself!  

166 MPH on the NASCAR Racing Experience in North Carolina is a great way to do so…

 

“Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.” — William Blake: Was an English poet, printmaker, and artist

910AM BAY AREA REAL ESTATE RADIO SEGMENT

Last Friday I announced that I’d be featured as a co-host on the 910AM Bay Rea Real Estate segment on Sunday from 6-7 PM. I will be on there again this coming Sunday – as a regular co-host. You can listen through 910AM or iheartradio.com on your mobile phone. We will also feature links on my website for you as well on Monday morning just incase you’re not able to listen to it on Sunday, check out my website to see the links Monday Morning – www.ZackryCooper.com

    

---

 REDFIN TO SERVE UP AGENTS’ COMMENTS ON REAL ESTATE LISTINGS

Registered users of Redfin’s website can now see what the brokerage’s agents thought of listings they’ve toured, whether “the lawn needs to be mowed” or the home “showed well,” CEO Glenn Kelman announced in a blog post.

The comments that Redfin agents make in “Agent Insights” notes will also be e-mailed automatically to listing agents, Kelman said.

Given the sheer number of homes Redfin agents tour, the new feature will be a “game changer,” for consumers, he said. The 13,793 Agent Insights currently available for homes on the market represent 35 percent of active listings in Irvine, Calif., and 31 percent of Seattle listings, Kelman wrote.

Redfin will give the client who requested the tour two days to decide whether they want to suppress Agent Insight comments.

“The reasoning behind this is that if you tour a hot property with Redfin, you shouldn’t have to worry that your agent will tell everyone else about it before you’ve had a chance to make your own move,” Kelman said. “The customer who requested the tour comes first.”

Only registered users of Redin’s virtual office website (VOW) will be able to see Agent Insights.

Under the terms of a November 2008 settlement between the Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors, Redfin and other VOW operators are allowed to provide registered users of their sites with a broader range of property data from multiple listing services, which Kelman said includes the notes that agents take on home tours.

“This is exactly the kind of communication the Department of Justice’s historic settlement with the National Association of Realtors was designed to protect,” Kelman wrote.

That doesn’t mean that buyers and sellers will be comfortable with this “degree of candor,” Kelman acknowledged.

He said Redfin almost offered access to agents’ notes 18 months ago, after the settlement was finalized, but “couldn’t find a way to make it work for our agents, our buyers, our sellers, our peers in the industry.”

By e-mailing “Agent Insights” to listing agents and giving prospective buyers the power to suppress their public display, the company hopes it has found a way to balance the interests of those groups, Kelman said.

The company plans to pay close attention to the feedback it receives on the new capabilities.

In 2007, Redfin was fined by Northwest MLS for publishing reviews of properties for sale on the company’s Sweet Digs blog. The reviews were authored by writers hired by Redfin to visit the properties in person.

Redfin appealed the fine, but shifted the focus of its blogs to be sources of information about markets it serves, analyzing price trends and recent sales.

---

KILLING AN ELEPHANT WITH A BAZOOKA

There’s an old saying that talks about “killing a flea with an elephant gun”. I think that may somewhat trivialize the issue at hand and I don’t want to do that. The issue is a big one, a serious one. So, I modified the saying just a bit to establish that I understand the gravity of the situation. What is the issue? Those damn loan officers! What I mean is that regulators, politicians and the media have chosen to blame loan officers (LOs) for the economic meltdown.

Why did people take loans they couldn’t afford? Their loan officer talked them into it! Why did they get approved for those loans? The loan officer pushed loan programs that ignored basic qualification items like income, credit and/or assets! How about those inflated appraisals? It must be because the loan officer had too cushy of a relationship with the appraiser! It goes on and on…

Let me admit some things:

The standards for entering the mortgage industry were pitifully low and many unqualified (and potentially unscrupulous) people started selling mortgages. That has now been addressed with testing and licensing.

Loan programs were too liberal. Those loan programs are virtually gone.

Many consumers got caught up in the home buying frenzy and they began to use their home’s appreciation like an ATM. The correction we are now enduring is fixing that issue.

With all that being said, the regulators have taken steps to corral the cowboys. The results are clear. The number of licensed LOs is down from a high of 450,000 to estimates of about 115,000 today. Those who are left have survived reduced loan products, testing, licensing AND the scorn of a reluctant public who views the LO with a suspicious eye. Those who are left are qualified professionals who are looking to serve their clients with solid financial advice and counsel. There are still some bad apples of course just as there are in any industry. However, the weeding out process has had a dramatic impact already.

But, that wasn’t enough. Bring out the Bazooka – LO Compensation. Effective April 1st (assuming there is no last second change or delay), the way LOs are paid is going to change. Without going into all the nuts-and-bolts, for the most part, the mortgage BROKER (who just a few years ago represented 70% of all loan originations) will become a dying breed with projections of less than 15% of originations in 2011. Individual LOs will now be compensated based on nothing other than the loan amount for a transaction and/or an hourly wage. (Some lenders are working on “bonus monies” tied to some other quantitative and qualitative metrics, but those payments represent a somewhat gray area at the moment.)

The Consequences

It’s too late for whining and there isn’t a likely outcry from a brainwashed public to rise up in defense of the loan officers. But, there does need to be an understanding by every one of the likely consequences:

More Loan Officers are likely to leave the industry as their income is slashed..estimates of 75,000 LOs by 2012 are not uncommon.

Loan Volume will continue to consolidate to the 4 major banks, some regional banks & credit unions and some large mortgage banks with the smaller mortgage banks and mortgage brokers folding into larger companies or folding all together.

The additional cost to cover the additional expenses for accounting and compliance resulting from this regulation (projected to be 20-30 basis points) will increase the costs of borrowing money.

More loan products (like state mortgage programs that are below market interest rate programs) could go away because LOs need to be paid the same on those programs as they are on other programs and companies will not be able to afford to do that.

LOs will need to do more volume to replace their lower commissions and customer service will suffer.

The good LO is now poised to pay an even steeper price for the LO who was part of the problem but has now left the industry. I believe in transparency. I believe LOs who take advantage of customers (in loan product steering or the timing of the locking in of the loan, for example) have been eliminated or can be controlled in other ways besides this vague directive. I do expect some dissenting opinions on this blog post. However, I am hard pressed to find another industry that discloses as much as we are required to do (in terms of costs) to the consumer. And now we are being told by the government how to dissect the revenue. What’s the next weapon to kill the elephant?

---

ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY FOR BUYERS?

Business Insider’s Money Game interviewed real estate expert Barbara Corcoran earlier this week. This is what she said about buying in this market:

“We have a regular real estate miracle happening right now. We not only have record low prices, but we also have cheap money.”

A second real estate icon, Donald Trump, just a few weeks ago said:

“This is a great time to go out and buy a house. And if you do, in 10 years you’re going to look back and say, ‘You know, I”m glad I listened to Donald Trump’.”

Maybe it’s time to start listening to the people who have made fortunes buying and selling real estate. They may know best!!

---

10 TAX DEDUCTIONS: IN TIME FOR THE APRIL 18TH DEADLINE

Your tax return is due by April 18, 2011 (the deadline was extended three days this year because of weekends and holidays). If you haven’t filed yet, make sure you haven’t forgotten the following 10 tax deductions, which are often overlooked by real estate agents and brokers.

1. Business clothing with logos

2. Car expenses if you take standard mileage rate

3. Home telephone expenses

4. Business gifts

5. Continuing-education courses

6. Tax-preparation fees

7. ATM fees, credit card fees, and interest

8. Subscriptions

9. Greeting cards

10. Websites

---

CALIFORNIA LAWMAKER PROPOSES BILL THAT WOULD CHARGE BANKS $20,000 FEE PER FORECLOSURE

A California state assemblyman is introducing legislation that would bill banks $20,000 for every home foreclosure they execute in the state.

San Fernando Valley-based Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield’s office said in a fact sheet released Wednesday that the bill would help make up for costs associated with foreclosures, such as property tax losses.

The money collected would be used for school districts, police and fire departments, small-business loans and other applications.

Amy Schur, who directs advocacy group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which is supporting the bill, says its language is currently being vetted by the legislature’s legal staff.

Blumenfield spokesman Anthony Matthews did not return a phone call. A message was left with Mortgage Bankers Association spokesman John Mechem.

---

 GEN X BUYERS TO LEAD HOUSING RECOVERY

Generation X – adults ages 31 to 45 – are expected to lead the recovery in the housing market, according to real estate experts in a recent webinar produced by the National Association of Home Builders. During the event, speakers highlighted results of a survey of 10,000 buyers in 27 metro areas.

While Generation X isn’t the largest population group – making up 32 percent of the population compared to 41 percent of baby boomers – it’s the most mobile age group, says Mollie Carmichael, principal of John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif., the company that conducted the survey.

“They are in full force with their careers, and they need to accommodate growing families,” Carmichael says.

This generation is coming with their own set of house preferences that may differ from other generations. Even though home sizes continue to shrink, first-time buyers and younger families are looking for more room to grow, Carmichael says. Nearly 50 percent said they prefer a home with a large lot and in a suburban development. Only 21 percent said they are looking for a traditional or “walkable neighborhood,” according to the survey.

“They want something compelling, from a design or personalization standpoint,” Carmichael says.

And many want “green,” energy-efficient features, too. Regardless of age group, 70 percent of buyers said in the survey they are willing to pay $5,000 more for a home with “green” features.

Most buyers also said they’d be willing to pay a premium for such housing characteristics as dark wood cabinets, a separate tub and shower, and a fireplace in the living room.

---

 

 HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!

 

 

TEAM EMPOWERMENT MORTGAGE CHATTER: March 17; Happy St. Patrick’s Day!; News & Headlines; What Homeownership Truly Means; 5 Real Estate Tech Time-Savers; FHA Chief Stevens Heads to Mortgage Bankers Group; Weighing An Offer: 3 Seller Tips

 

“If not you, then who? If not now, then when?” – by Hillel

 

NEWS & HEADLINES

The ability for a borrower to refinance is determined by several factors: current rates, credit quality, and collateral value being primary. Lenders know that higher fees have a negative impact on refinancing volumes going forward as FHLMC, FNMA and the FHA have all recently increased costs for certain borrowers. Loan Level Price Adjustment changes by Fannie & Freddie, and the increase in FHA’s MIP fees, make home purchases more expensive and raise the refinancing bar. But for a very long time mortgage applications show that over 60% of loans are refinances. Who & why are these borrowers refinancing? On the retail side, lower rates can be found for high quality borrowers with pre-existing relationships with the lending institutions. Otherwise, borrower’s with lots of equity, government loans because of LTV, borrowers who paid cash for their home and are now taking money out, and borrowers converting from ARM’s to fixed-rate mortgages are refinancing. In addition, lenders report that there are still borrowers out there with higher note rates that can still refi into a lower rate, those taking advantage in some areas of the $729,750 loan amount while it exists.

Fannie & Freddie were in the subprime business? The SEC is checking into it: FF

Does a decline in foreclosures mean that the improving job market is helping folks make payments, or that the servicers are so backlogged it is holding things up? CNBC

The question about whether or not Freddie or Fannie accepts e-signatures occasionally comes up. For example, Fannie answers the question at FannieE-Sig But this appears to be for the note and e-delivery to Fannie only. But FHA issued a Mortgagee Letter concerning what documents it would accept electronic signatures on (such as initial 1003, disclosures, purchase contracts), but, according to one reader, Fannie has not issued guidance on this. “Our private investors only want to accept e-signatures per FHA’s guidance, and don’t want to extend the policy to conventional loans because Fannie doesn’t make any specifications. Freddie Mac believes that authentic electronic signatures from duly authorized individuals that comply with E-SIGN and UETA are as enforceable as authentic pen and ink signatures from duly authorized individuals that comply with applicable law. In either case, a signature (pen & ink or electronic) must be capable of being legally attributable to the signer. The conventional agencies don’t give much further guidance, as most of their e-Mortgage guidance refers to the mortgage documents not ancillary documents.” If anyone is listening…

In regards to MI, it seems that they may no longer have to worry about being “squeezed out of the market” due to the Dodd-Frank provisions. Nothing is set in stone, but recent reports hint that the requirement that banks retain 5% of the risk of a loan – “skin in the game” – may not apply to agency loans while in conservatorship. Non-agency loans are still a big question mark, as are any loans done that have more than an 80% LTV. Six federal agencies – the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the OCC, HUD, the SEC, and FHFA – must sign off on the proposal before it is released for comment.

In the markets, Japan, Europe, and the Middle East continue to dominate the news, and this uncertainty has helped the “safety” bid on Treasuries. Yesterday the 10-yr hit a low of 3.15% but closed around 3.21%, its lowest level in months as the markets seemed driven by rumors of rumors. Over in the mortgage camp, as might be expected, the higher prices and lower yields kept many investors near the sidelines or taking profits, particularly in higher coupons. There was servicer buying in the lower coupons to add duration, and by the end of the day current coupon agency MBS prices were better by about .5.

Today we have a slew of economic data. Last month we learned that the previous month’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4% in January, mostly due to gasoline and food costs. But clothing (cotton) and airfare prices were also on the rise. Today’s CPI was expected to also be +.4% and came out at +.5% with the core rate, for those who don’t drive or eat, at +.2%. Initial Jobless Claims were 385k, down 16k from the prior month with the 4-week moving average (smoothing out the volatility) is down 7k. Later we will see Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization, along with Leading Economic Indicators and the Philly Fed Survey. So far rates have drifted higher with the 10-yr yield at 3.26% and MBS prices worse by about .250.

---

WHAT HOMEOWNERSHIP TRULY MEANS

I thought this blog was perfect to share! Enjoy!…

My Son, His New Home, and What It Means

Every week we try to help you put an accurate value on housing in today’s real estate market. We give you all the charts, report on all the surveys, and quote every housing expert willing to talk on the subject. And we are still not 100% sure what prices should be. At best, we can only tell you what we think.

This week was different. I was able to personally FEEL the true value of a home. My older son closed on his first home yesterday. I have the great fortune to work with him at our company. I get to see him a lot when I am not traveling. This week I was home and got to spend every day with him.

I saw how nervous he was as he got all the last minute paperwork together. I heard the relief in his voice when he found out that he had overestimated his costs and would need to bring a little less money to the closing. I could feel how proud he was when he hugged me as he left the office the night before the closing.

He should be proud. He just purchased his own home. He just took a major step toward accomplishing the American Dream. He now owns a piece of this country. He now has a community he can call his own. He has a place to go “home” to every night, a place where he can work in the yard, a place he can invite friends and showoff his “castle”, a place where he will someday raise his family.

Owning a home makes things different. You can’t necessarily explain it logically. But you can feel it. That feeling is the real value of a home AND IT IS PRICELESS.

My son slept in his own home last night. I am happy for him.

---

5 REAL ESTATE TECH TIME-SAVERS

Are you looking for some simple new Web tools that will definitely help your business and won’t break the bank? Here are some great suggestions.

Evernote and Dropbox are the two relatively new tools that I use constantly. Evernote allows you to take notes anywhere on my smart phone or iPad. It then syncs those notes so they appear on all my devices, including my laptop.

have complete accessibility to my notes at all times. Best of all, I can quickly search my notes to locate keywords. Evernote aggregates each document containing those keywords as well as highlighting the position of the keywords within the document.

Dropbox saves me tremendous amounts of time by avoiding the hassle of downloading and uploading files. Normally it would take three to five minutes to upload a 6MB video. I recently moved my presentations folder, which occupied 672MB of disk space, using Dropbox.

I dragged and dropped the file in my Dropbox folder. It took three minutes for the entire file to reach my assistant. For agents uploading videos and other large files, this system is terrific time-saver.

Here are five other tools that you may want to add to your toolbox.

1. Join.me

How many times have you wished that there were a simple way to share your screen with someone else? Until recently, the best option was to sign up for a service such as GoToMeeting or WebEx. Both systems take time to load and also require the user to upload the application.

Join.me is fast and simple. The first time you use the system, it will take a few seconds to upload the application to your computer. After that, all you have to do is to click on the icon that says, “Share my screen with others.” The system then generates a code that appears at the top of your screen.

Give the code to the person with whom you would like to share your screen. When they visit Join.me and enter the code in the appropriate box, the system automatically shares your screen.

Another great feature of Join.me is that you can also hand off control to the person with whom you are sharing. For example, assume that you have a new software program and you’re having issues with it. Your assistant has figured out how to use it, but you also need to know. Your assistant can screen-share with you. You can give her control and she could actually install the program and demo it for you. This can be a huge time-saver that eliminates a considerable amount of frustration as well.

2. Zosh.com — sign with your finger

If you own an iPhone, iPod touch or an iPad, you can save yourself and your clients time with a great little tool from Zosh.com. Suppose that your clients forgot to initial one of the pages of a disclosure statement and the lender can’t fund their loan without a signature. If they have Zosh, all you have to do is send them the document. They then initial it using the Zosh application and send it back. You can even sign documents using your finger. This is a great application that can save you a long trip across town to get a signature.

3. Never wait on hold again

Let’s face it. Most agents are busy and don’t have time to sit around on hold. If you have ever called customer service and waited forever to be connected somewhere overseas, LucyPhone.com is a free service that makes the wait disappear. With LucyPhone.com you enter the number you want to call. The company completes the call and rings you back once the other party is off hold.

Best of all, the company that made you wait actually has to wait a few seconds for you to connect, rather than vice versa.

4. Make your website mobile-phone friendly

Even if you own the latest smart phone, website and blog, load times can be extremely slow. If you want to make your blog site load super fast and fit perfectly to the screen size of mobile devices, you need WPtouch Pro. At $29, WPtouch Pro automatically makes your blog fit the small screens of mobile devices and also speeds up the load time by up to 500 percent. This is a great way to keep mobile visitors to your blog happy and coming back.

5. 1Password and Last Pass

Are you tired of trying to remember all those passwords for all the sites you visit? Have you taken to storing them on a sheet of paper or in your address book? If so, 1Password.com provides a great way to manage all your passwords if you’re running an iPhone, iPad, Android or Mac platform. The price is $39.95. 1Password works with file sharing systems such as Dropbox.

If you’re running a PC, another great product is LastPass.com. This stores your passwords on their secure servers. LastPass.com is only $12 per year and has received some rave reviews.

Each of these applications is relatively inexpensive, makes it a lot easier to conduct your business, and will save you plenty of time.

---

FHA CHIEF STEVENS TO HEAD MORTGAGE BANKERS GROUP

David Stevens, who announced his resignation as FHA commissioner last week, will take over as president and CEO of Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association, the trade group announced. Stevens, who was appointed to FHA in mid-2009 and helped design the Obama administration’s response to the mortgage crisis, will step down at the end of this month. He will replace John Courson at MBA.

“David Stevens is uniquely qualified to lead the association in its next chapter,” says Michael Berman, MBA chairman. “Most recently he has had a tremendous impact at FHA, as that program faced its own unprecedented challenges. He also brings a wealth of industry experience in mortgage lending that will help him further build MBA’s position as the industry’s leading voice in advocacy, communications, education and research.”

Prior to being confirmed at HUD, Stevens had been president and chief operating officer of real estate firm Long and Foster Companies. He started his professional career at the World Savings Bank, where he began as a loan officer. He later served briefly as executive vice president at Wells Fargo, and spent seven years as senior vice president at Freddie Mac, where he created and ran the small lender channel.

Stevens told news outlets that he wants to remind policy makers that the goal of the organization, whose members have come under “broad brush” criticism for the mortgage crisis, remains fundamental to the country for its role in making home ownership possible. “It’s important to restore balance,” he says in a quote that appears in Wall Street Journal coverage of his announcement.

Stevens has spoken regularly with REALTORS® as FHA chief. His remarks often aimed at challenging lenders to close a “trust gap” that had opened up between them and consumers and lawmakers because of lending practices during the housing boom and the way they’ve handled foreclosures, short sales, loan modifications, and tightened underwriting standards for creditworthy borrowers since the mortgage crisis.

---

WEIGHING AN OFFER: 3 SELLER TIPS

Sellers can feel pressure when trying to decide whether to accept a buyer offer on their home. While real estate professionals can advise clients on whether to accept an offer, the final decision is up to the seller–and it can be an agonizing one.

In the current buyer’s market, buyers aren’t shy about making lowball offers to sellers either. So when should you accept or decline an offer?

Realty Times recently offered the following questions for sellers to consider.

1. Is the buyer pre-qualified/approved? You may not want to risk a deal falling through because the buyer wasn’t pre-qualified for a loan.

2. Do you need to move quickly? If you need to move quickly–due to a job relocation or to avoid foreclosure–you may need to accept an offer that is less than what you want.

3. Can you accept a loss? Be sure to take closing costs into consideration too as you weigh whether you can even afford to agree to the buyer’s offer.

Realty Times also suggests sellers take into account how long their home has been on the market and the number of showings. Such considerations also can help sellers determine whether getting a better offer soon is realistic and would be worth the wait.