A New Wave of Mortgages Set To Default
September 14, 2009
I was surfing the web yesterday and came across this YouTube video of a 60 minutes episode that must have aired recently. The episode was concerning a new wave of adjustable rate mortgages called option mortgages. These mortgages grew in popularity the last few years due to its payment flexibility. A borrower can choose to make payments that are less then the interest due on the mortgage. From a borrowers perspective this seems like a great deal. But According to TheTruthAboutMortgage.com:
What many borrowers may not understand is that paying the minimum payment each month is simply a way of deferring the interest, not avoiding it altogether. By paying the minimum payment each month, the accrued interest eventually stacks up against the borrower, while effectively building zero equity. And after five years of paying the minimum payment, the borrower would have a loan balance above their original balance without the flexibility of the minimum payment option. попки порно онлайн
секс фото галереи порно онлайн смотреть фото
What’s even worse is that many borrowers are currently defaulting on their 3% teaser rates that haven’t even reset yet. What’s going to happen when the interest rates reset? And like other exotic mortgages, option mortgages were sold in mortgage back securities that were purchased by major financial institutions. We may not have seen the worst in the Real Estate market yet. There will be a sharp rise in distressed properties that will overwhelm the market in the next few years. What can we do as Realtors? If you aren’t dealing with Short Sales now, then my suggestion is you start. Because if this article proves to be correct, short sales will be here to stay for some time.
Listing Syndication? Not for this Broker!
May 19, 2009
Curtis Reddehase, a real estate broker in Austin Texas recently wrote announcing his decision regarding Listing Syndication
and why his brokerage will no longer be participating in that form of marketing. Several reasons were cited, but the 2 main reasons boiled down to:
1. He doesn’t want his listings to be utilized by the national sites, as a means of generating advertising revenue. He goes on to explain that the national real estate listing aggregators take his listings, use that to drive up traffic to their website – and then sell that traffic to advertisers for profit.
2. He has NEVER had a productive lead generated for as long as he has been participating in real estate listing syndication.
The use of real estate listing data, and determining what are the long term impacts of listing syndication, continue to be topics that are heating up and gaining momentum within the real estate industry.
Future questions that the real estate industry will have to deal with regarding this topic include:
Does listing syndication establish these national listing aggregator sites, or the local broker as the authority for the local real estate market?
If the national listing sites become established as the authority – what sort of fees will they start charging back to the local brokers?
Is it worth it in the short term to try to pick up a deal today by syndicating to these national aggregators? Is it worth it in the long term?
These and many more questions need to be answered. The real estate industry will have to continue to evolve to stay current with the ever changing technology that becomes available.
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion divx
Sarasota Association of REALTORs Actions are Questioned
October 22, 2008
An enlightening article on recent Sarasota Association of REALTORs (SAR) actions are questioned
. The Sarasota Association of REALTORs recently acquired a ruling that allowed them to gain control of a website that Marc Rasmussen had been using for 5 years – this story has been widely publicized on the internet.
It appears this isn’t the only questionable action that the Sarasota Association of REALTORs has taken. In this article, it appears that the local SAR board leveraged the notoriety of one of their member’s sites – to push their own site, promotions, and agenda. It calls into question the motivation behind the actions of the board, and why they are so insistent on hurting and competing against their members – instead of promoting the welfare and the best interests of their members in the first place.
Its almost like the SAR board doesn’t have a true understanding of how the internet works, and are taking a caveman approach toward creating their own internet presence – and if they have to crush their membership to do it, so be it.
Home Sales Are Up in Some Areas
October 10, 2008
A bit of good news that not everything in the real estate world is negative. Home sales are up in some areas
The Poet (aka Hearts Of War) movie full
Birthday Girl release Big Momma’s House 2 movie download . Overall, if you compare August 2008 to July 2008, pending home sales have increased 7.4%. And if you make a relative comparison to the year previously in August 2007, home sales are up 8.8%. So those are some good numbers. Sales in all 4 regions of the United States have increased with the strongest gains going to the West and Northeast, and the smallest increases in the Midwest and South. BUT – the important thing to note is that all areas showed improvement. For those number crunchers the numbers actually shake out as follows: West 18.4% increase. Northeast 8.4% increase. Midwest 3.6% increase. South 2.3% increase.
Real Estate is Local
September 27, 2008
The old saying “real estate is local
” definitely applies. And the story definitely goes to show that while some areas of the country are getting creamed with market slow downs, huge inventory increases, and very high double digit rates of depreciation – a great deal of many other communities are enjoying only very slight down turns (and in some areas, they are seeing decent rates of appreciation). Its a great example of why even though many persons want to see things from a national perspective, ultimately real estate comes to the local level.
Analysis of the Real Estate Bubble
September 24, 2008
Excellent piece on the analysis of the real estate bubble
Wild Child trailer . Discusses a personally known example of what a person was doing, why it was a poor long term choice, and the consequences of those poor decisions. Essentially, one of the primary contributors to the real estate, mortgage, and market/economy crisis has been that persons were getting into homes with little or no money down. They were then relying on the very strong/fast appreciation of the real estate market to then provide them “built in” equity in the home. The problem of course with this way of doing things: what happens when the appreciation isn’t there, or worse, when the market starts declining in value….and this is what has led the charge on driving the economy down. Risky and greedy financial strategies – and now they are paying the price for their unconservative decisions.
Fiduciary Duties of Real Estate Agents
September 21, 2008
A short and to the point blog post about the fiduciary duties of real estate agents
. An easy way to remember the list is to use the acronym COLD A/C (granted the author has them in a different order than than acronym would call for). Its good for the public consumer to be made aware of the obligations of those that are representing their interests in any home buying or selling transaction.
Active Rain vs Wordpress (ActiveRich and Dave Smith @ REBlogWorld)
September 20, 2008
There are a LOT of reasons that I would have LOVED to be @ REBlogWorld. The chance to meet Todd Carpenter would be one. Hanging out with Teri Lussier
would be another. The biggest reason that I would love to go would be the following. The best presentation on the REBlogworld card promises to be Dave Smith’s debate with ActiveRich about the merits of ActiveRain vs a Wordpress blog.
While I am a huge fan of WordPress blogs vs outside blogs, I like both of these guys and look forward to hearing how it went! Best to both.O Brother, Where Art Thou? psp
Real Estate Agents Using Blogs To Sell Homes
August 11, 2008
Interesting story showing how 4 real estate agents are using blogs to sell homes
. Blogs are really coming into their own in selling real estate and getting homes sold. They help provide an alternative to connect to the consumer beyond the traditional real estate website. The article also goes into detail on how to help get your blog known and out there so people know it exists by interacting with the online community.Born on the Fourth of July movie download
This week's blog watch: First week of August 2008
August 1, 2008
Jonathan Washburn joined the ranks of those discontented with Realtor.com Fishy download who are taking the position that Realtor.com needs to update and change it’s practices. Will this surge of upset help bring about change? We will have to see.
Benn and Lani Rosales picked up the Inman Innovator award for AgentGenius.com. Congrats, guys!
Dave Smith noted the lower PR that came with the Google PR Update to many real estate bloggers. Quite a few blogs went down a notch, but hey…it’s just the toolbar. Dave’s blog is a great read.
Athol Kay contiinued his assault on the Bad MLS photos of the day. You know, it would be funnier if it were not a HUGE negative reflection on our industry.
Rob (the Notorious One ) and Mike Farmer (along with Louis from HomeGain Frankenstein buy
) got into a discussion about what real estate actually is. Rob’s synopsis of it is here.
Finally, Jay Thompson entered the Agent Genius arena with a post about writing for Google vs writing for the consumer
Born on the Fourth of July movie . That got the comments rolling!
Have a great couple of days and send us you’re picks for the quote of the week!

