3.26.2012 Monday News you can USE

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.
- Steve Jobs

Buying a Home Cheaper than renting in 100 major cities. WOW!

Month of Supply of Shadow inventory by State - I don't know how they measured it (does it include just REO's or those in pre-foreclosure) but it's still pretty dramatic

No wonder why we're confused:  Opening Sentence is in direct opposition to the headline:  What??  This is why your clients need you - to interpret the data.

Bank of America Testing a new program - forgive debt and let homeowners rent the house back from them! Small case study now but who knows?

How to know when theres a housing recovery?  Here

Canada - Busy Spring!  Wait.. is it spring there yet?? ;)

Testing!

Testing to see if this works:

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Real Estate Sales 101

Real Estate Sales 101:
Find People who want to Buy or Sell
Qualify them by asking Questions
Set a job interview appointment
Educate CLEARLY so they understand (it's 24 degrees Celsius doesn't educate)
Close for the signature
Provide them excellent Customer Service (Educate some more)
Close the deal
Continue to keep in touch with a Database Program (Educate some more)
Reap rewards of Repeat and Referral business

- Repeat the above as often as needed to meet your goals

3.19.2012 Monday News you can USE!

Here's something to think about: How come you never see a headline like 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?
- Jay Leno

Think Glink!  An interesting view of the real estate market :  More of the Same

Prudential Survey:  Homeownership still very important

Dan Pink Favorite Tools (maybe to make your KANBAN on?):  Ginormous Stickies

And a great way to use the Big Stickies:  Skills Training from last THURS.... recording

Do you do ShortSales?  HAFA Changes Explained Here - YouTube video

The pig is starting to move through the python:  Foreclosures likely to increase per CNN

Canadian Statistics for February: Here

Canada due for a downturn?  TD Bank Group says yes

Untitled

4329860- 891 Old Farm Walk  PRICE $71,500  WILL RENT FOR $1200-$1300

 

4305949- 3075 Woodland Dr.  PRICE $64,000  WILL RENT FOR $900-$1100

 

 

 

Please click on the link(s) below to view property information.

 

       Buyer Full+Photo

 

The link(s) sent with this email will expire in 30 days on 4/15/2012.

 

 

Calling all INVESTORS! NOW is the time to MAXIMIZE your RETURNS!

Market is about to pop again and NOW is the the time to buy your investment.... Our last investor spent $70K and has his property rented for $1000/mo.  And WE manage it for him.  He has a contract on a 2nd one that is the same price but should rent for about $1200/mo.  LET US HELP! Read article below:

 

New Real Estate Poll: Americans Increasingly Optimistic about HomeownershipPosted By susanne On March 15, 2012 @ 3:15 pm  

 Americans are significantly more optimistic about homeownership than they were a year ago. That’s according to a new national survey released this week from Prudential Real Estate, a Brookfield Residential Property Services company. According to the second-annual Prudential Real Estate Outlook Survey, a full 60 percent of Americans have favorable views toward the real estate market. That’s up 8 points since last year.

                                          

The survey shows that signs of increasing optimism are widespread:

• With interest rates at historically low levels, 96 percent agree or somewhat agree that now is a good time to buy.

• A full 70 percent of respondents have some degree of confidence that property values will improve over the next two years; with an 8 point increase in those very confident or confident compared to last year.

• 63 percent believe that real estate is a good investment despite the recent market volatility; that’s up 11 points from last year.

The survey confirms that despite the recession, homeownership remains a central part of the American Dream. Eight in 10 respondents said homeownership is very important to them; only 15 percent said the economic downturn made homeownership less important.

“Respondents told us what our sales professionals see every day that, despite recent market volatility, homeownership remains integral to the dreams of most Americans and that consumers’ confidence in the housing market is returning,” said Earl Lee, president, Prudential Real Estate. “This is good news for home buyers and sellers, communities and our economy as a whole. As more people look to take advantage of historic interest rates and prices, we believe the foundation for a sustainable recovery is in sight.”

The survey also highlighted strong ties between homeownership and the community: 77 percent agree that homeownership strengthens a sense of community with 87 percent agreeing or somewhat agreeing that neighborhood comprised of homeowners have a stronger sense of community than neighborhoods made up mainly of renters. This is critical in an environment where two in three respondents believe community feelings in America are declining.

Among the generations, 94 percent of respondents believe that finding the right home and community are crucial to helping their family be happy. Only a small minority of older Americans said the recent housing crisis made homeownership less important to them. Nearly half of Gen Y respondents said it made homeownership more important. Gen Y’ers are particularly optimistic about the road ahead with 72% expressing favorable views about the residential real estate market.

“Characteristically, many of these consumers, particularly Gen Y, share a firm sense of family and community,” Lee said. “It’s not surprising now that they’re embracing homeownership to build on that sense.”

The survey also highlighted consumer caution in a recovering real estate market: 93 percent of respondents said that the housing crisis reminds them that they must be more careful about buying and selling property. More than 90 percent of respondents said a good real estate sales professional can help them make the right choices about homes and communities; and 71 percent believe good agent representation is more important than ever, up 4% from last year’s survey.

Methodology: Interviews with 1,251 Americans who are “in the market” to buy or sell a home were conducted online by Palisades Media Ventures and Penn Schoen Berland, between Feb. 10 and 20, 2012. Respondents are aged 25-64 with a household income of at least $50,000, and either recently bought/sold a home or are considering buying/selling a home. The margin of error is +/- 2.8% for all respondents and higher for subgroups.

For more information, visit http://www.prudential.com/realestate

Investors, here this ! BEST TIME IN HISTORY TO INVEST IN US!

New Real Estate Poll: Americans Increasingly Optimistic about Homeownership

Posted By susanne On March 15, 2012 @ 3:15 pm In Business Outlook,Consumer News and Advice,Home Owner News,Real Estate Information,Real Estate Trends,Today's Marketplace,Today's Top Story,Today's Top Story - Consumer | No Comments

^[1]Americans are significantly more optimistic about homeownership than they were a year ago. That’s according to a new national survey released this week from Prudential Real Estate, a Brookfield Residential Property Services company. According to the second-annual Prudential Real Estate Outlook Survey, a full 60 percent of Americans have favorable views toward the real estate market. That’s up 8 points since last year.

The survey shows that signs of increasing optimism are widespread:

• With interest rates at historically low levels, 96 percent agree or somewhat agree that now is a good time to buy.

• A full 70 percent of respondents have some degree of confidence that property values will improve over the next two years; with an 8 point increase in those very confident or confident compared to last year.

• 63 percent believe that real estate is a good investment despite the recent market volatility; that’s up 11 points from last year.

The survey confirms that despite the recession, homeownership remains a central part of the American Dream. Eight in 10 respondents said homeownership is very important to them; only 15 percent said the economic downturn made homeownership less important.

“Respondents told us what our sales professionals see every day that, despite recent market volatility, homeownership remains integral to the dreams of most Americans and that consumers’ confidence in the housing market is returning,” said Earl Lee, president, Prudential Real Estate. “This is good news for home buyers and sellers, communities and our economy as a whole. As more people look to take advantage of historic interest rates and prices, we believe the foundation for a sustainable recovery is in sight.”

The survey also highlighted strong ties between homeownership and the community: 77 percent agree that homeownership strengthens a sense of community with 87 percent agreeing or somewhat agreeing that neighborhood comprised of homeowners have a stronger sense of community than neighborhoods made up mainly of renters. This is critical in an environment where two in three respondents believe community feelings in America are declining.

Among the generations, 94 percent of respondents believe that finding the right home and community are crucial to helping their family be happy. Only a small minority of older Americans said the recent housing crisis made homeownership less important to them. Nearly half of Gen Y respondents said it made homeownership more important. Gen Y’ers are particularly optimistic about the road ahead with 72% expressing favorable views about the residential real estate market.

“Characteristically, many of these consumers, particularly Gen Y, share a firm sense of family and community,” Lee said. “It’s not surprising now that they’re embracing homeownership to build on that sense.”

The survey also highlighted consumer caution in a recovering real estate market: 93 percent of respondents said that the housing crisis reminds them that they must be more careful about buying and selling property. More than 90 percent of respondents said a good real estate sales professional can help them make the right choices about homes and communities; and 71 percent believe good agent representation is more important than ever, up 4% from last year’s survey.

Methodology: Interviews with 1,251 Americans who are “in the market” to buy or sell a home were conducted online by Palisades Media Ventures and Penn Schoen Berland, between Feb. 10 and 20, 2012. Respondents are aged 25-64 with a household income of at least $50,000, and either recently bought/sold a home or are considering buying/selling a home. The margin of error is +/- 2.8% for all respondents and higher for subgroups.

For more information, visit http://www.prudential.com/realestate

Rents Rising! It's time to buy a US Invesment in the South

While homes prices continue to be on the decline, rent prices are actually on the rise and showed a 3 percent increase from January 2011 to January 2012, as opposed to home values, which dropped 4.6 percent during that same period, according to the January Zillow Real Estate Market Reports released today.

“While it seems that rents are rising at the expense of home values, the opposite is true. A thriving rental market will stimulate home sales as investors snap up low-priced inventory to convert to rentals,” said chief economist for Zillow Dr. Stan Humphries in a release.

To clear out the excess of unsold properties, the federal government announced an REO Initiative in August 2011 to sell homes owned by government agencies to investors with the purpose of converting them into rental units. The first block of 2,490 REOs went to sale in February.

When looking at rent prices on a month-over-month basis, January’s median rent prices actually declined slightly, falling 0.3 percent to $1,218, according to the Zillow Rent Index (ZRI). During the same period, home values fell 0.5 percent to $146,200, according to the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI).

The states that saw the greatest year-over-year decline in home values were Nevada (-10.3), Illinois (-9.4), Georgia (-9.3), Washington (-7.8), and New Jersey (-7.2), according to the ZHVI.

Based on the ZRI, the states with the greatest increases in median rent over a year were New Jersey (+16.5), New York (+13.7), Kansas (+10.2), Indiana (+10), and Michigan (+10.0).

The ZRI also showed year-over-year gains for 69.2 percent of metropolitan areas covered by the index. For the ZHVI, only 7.3 percent of metro areas saw increases in home values.

For some metros, the increase in rent and drop in home prices were closely matched. In the Chicago metro, the ZRI went up 9.1 percent year-over-year, while home values fell 10.4 percent during the same period. In the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, rents rose 11 percent as home values dropped 8.1 percent.

“The flourishing rental market is the silver lining to the nation’s housing downturn,” said Humphries. “We haven’t had a good way to quantify what is happening with rental rates until now, and the inaugural Zillow Rent Index shows us a healthy and growing rental market across the majority of the country, even as home values continue to fall.”

Nationwide, foreclosures decreased by 0.3 percent compared to the year before in January 2011, but went up 0.3 percent on a monthly basis compared to December, with 8.4 out of every 10,000 homes foreclosed upon in January 2012.

Foreclosure re-sales went up by 2 percent over a year ending in January 2012 and rose by 1.4 percent compared to the month before. Overall, foreclosure re-sales accounted for 19.46 percent of all home sales in January, and Nevada had the highest percentage of foreclosure re-sales at 49.65 percent. The state also saw a yearly increase of 12.6 percent for foreclosure re-sales.

RENTS RISING!

While homes prices continue to be on the decline, rent prices are actually on the rise and showed a 3 percent increase from January 2011 to January 2012, as opposed to home values, which dropped 4.6 percent during that same period, according to the January Zillow Real Estate Market Reports released today.

“While it seems that rents are rising at the expense of home values, the opposite is true. A thriving rental market will stimulate home sales as investors snap up low-priced inventory to convert to rentals,” said chief economist for Zillow Dr. Stan Humphries in a release.

To clear out the excess of unsold properties, the federal government announced an REO Initiative in August 2011 to sell homes owned by government agencies to investors with the purpose of converting them into rental units. The first block of 2,490 REOs went to sale in February.

When looking at rent prices on a month-over-month basis, January’s median rent prices actually declined slightly, falling 0.3 percent to $1,218, according to the Zillow Rent Index (ZRI). During the same period, home values fell 0.5 percent to $146,200, according to the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI).

The states that saw the greatest year-over-year decline in home values were Nevada (-10.3), Illinois (-9.4), Georgia (-9.3), Washington (-7.8), and New Jersey (-7.2), according to the ZHVI.

Based on the ZRI, the states with the greatest increases in median rent over a year were New Jersey (+16.5), New York (+13.7), Kansas (+10.2), Indiana (+10), and Michigan (+10.0).

The ZRI also showed year-over-year gains for 69.2 percent of metropolitan areas covered by the index. For the ZHVI, only 7.3 percent of metro areas saw increases in home values.

For some metros, the increase in rent and drop in home prices were closely matched. In the Chicago metro, the ZRI went up 9.1 percent year-over-year, while home values fell 10.4 percent during the same period. In the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, rents rose 11 percent as home values dropped 8.1 percent.

“The flourishing rental market is the silver lining to the nation’s housing downturn,” said Humphries. “We haven’t had a good way to quantify what is happening with rental rates until now, and the inaugural Zillow Rent Index shows us a healthy and growing rental market across the majority of the country, even as home values continue to fall.”

Nationwide, foreclosures decreased by 0.3 percent compared to the year before in January 2011, but went up 0.3 percent on a monthly basis compared to December, with 8.4 out of every 10,000 homes foreclosed upon in January 2012.

Foreclosure re-sales went up by 2 percent over a year ending in January 2012 and rose by 1.4 percent compared to the month before. Overall, foreclosure re-sales accounted for 19.46 percent of all home sales in January, and Nevada had the highest percentage of foreclosure re-sales at 49.65 percent. The state also saw a yearly increase of 12.6 percent for foreclosure re-sales.

Which is better to pay for an Investment... $192K or $165K?

Case Study...  IN MY MARKET AREA...

In 1985 you could buy a NICE older home for about $65,000 & rent it out for about $650/mo
You put down 20%
The interest rate was 12% and discount points were about 7%.
You put down $13,000
The discount point cost was $4,550
Normal commission was 7% $4,550 (Seller paid, but it's part of the costs)
Other costs were around 1% $650
Total: $22,750
YOUR PAYMENT WAS $534 plus taxes and insurance = $192,600 total payments - maybe break even on the income/cost but the tenant paid off the mortgage, so it's just income after 30 yrs. A retirement plan costing $22,750 and netting about $8K/year income every year after 30 years. If you owned 30 more years you'd make a cool $240K on your $22K cash out of pocket. Not bad.

TODAY you can buy a NICE older home for about $120,000 and rent it out for about $1500/mo
You put down 20%
Your interest rate is 4% and discount points are NONE in most cases.
You put down $24,000
No discount point cost is $0
Normal commission is 6% $7200 (Seller pays but it's part of the costs and less than 1985)
Other costs are still around 1% $1200
Total: $32,400
YOUR PAYMENT TODAY IS $458/mo plus taxes and insurance = $165,000 total payments - with about $10,000+ a year positive cash flow. After 30 years, you have $300,000 income AND you have income continuing after it's paid off of about $18,000/year. After another 30 years total income on your $32K out of pocket is about $840,000.  Better???

IT'S NOT THE PRICE, IT'S HOW MUCH DOWN AND HOW MUCH A MONTH...

Great property for sale in Alpharetta!

via zingding.com