Real Estate News

[Note: To follow is an excerpt of a radio show interview conducted by Peter L. Mosca, host of Income Property Investment Talk dot com, with Steven Moreira, CCIM, CIPS, and CEO and sole stock-holder of the 4-Quadrant Magic Companies, who provides a comprehensive look at the financial markets, financing, and what is happening on the streets in the marketplace, right now in terms of funding and lending. To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/021010.]

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Moreira on Success: Be Flexible, Willing to Change and Never Stop Learning

It’s about to get tougher to qualify for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage, often considered the replacement loan for the collapsed subprime market.

Originally posted here:
Tighter Requirements for FHA Loans Loom

A question from Bay City, MI, asked by chummydog in Zillow Advice is:

What does “house in redemption” mean?

Do you know?

P.S. Real estate agent Mike Emery received the “Best Answer” vote.

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We’re still feeling some Oscar® fever, so allow us to indulge with yet another home owned by an Academy Award nominee — Glenn Close. Yes, we still have vivid memories of her role as deranged stalker Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction and were curious to read about the sale of her Manhattan “aerie” from none other than Real Estalker.

Close’s Upper East Side condo is on the market for $11,800,000 and her apartment, 19-D, is described as being one of Central Park West’s most glamorous since it’s part of the “… coveted “D” line east over Central Park, south over the Planetarium and all the way down the Park to the Manhattan skyline.” A spacious 19

A word of advice for builders, contractors, developers and all other players interested in re-building strength back into the real estate marketplace: only strong, balanced, and experienced leadership at the executive level will pull the industry through to the next upcycle. According to Bill Ferguson, author of the new book “Keepers of the Castle: Real Estate Executives on Leadership and Management” it is time to rid the industry of the greed and egos that helped contribute to the industry’s downfall and allow the “great leaders in the industry” to get real estate back on its feet. Now, says Ferguson, companies must implement another business strategy–a focus on leadership and building a leadership bench within their companies.

Here is the original:
Nine Leadership Mistakes to Consider As You Rebuild Real Estate

There are a lot of exciting things coming out in the next few weeks – here are my top 3:

1. Like it? Hate it? The iPad which drew a ton of rumors and speculation is ready to make it’s debut. The 1st commercial aired during the Academy Awards (which explains why Steve Jobs was on the red carpet) and is officially going mainstream. The iPad will be on sale on April 3, 2010 and pre-orders begin March 12, 2010.

Here’s the commercial in case you missed it:

2. Better than the iPhone?! The Google Nexus One phone – the phone that had a lot of buzz when it first came out, is a phone that critics are still wondering if it can compete with the iPhone and other touch-pad type smartphones. Google has never made it a secret that they plan to release it to multiple carriers – just WHEN is the question. This phone is rumored to be coming to Verizon on March 23, 2010.

3. Wonder if I could sneak into this? f8 – The Facebook Developer Conference is slated for April 21-22, 2010.

According to the Facebook blog,

“f8 has always been about empowering a community of developers to hack, to build and to delight users. We’re looking forward to continuing this tradition at our third f8 in San Francisco on April 21-22, 2010. Please save the date!”

BONUS: One more thing to add to your calendar this month. Planning on coming to Real Estate Connect SF (#icsf) – Early Bird Registration ends in 11 days! Sign up by 3/19/10 and save over $300!

Would love your comments – please leave feedback below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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How much is your real estate–your house, condominium unit, cottage, income property–worth in this market?

Source:
What’s My Real Estate Really Worth?

It may not feel like Spring in your town, but for most of the United States, we’ve turned a corner. The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and the crocuses are poking their heads up through the ground; a brutal winter is winding down.

The House Hunter’s Toolkit

Despite being just 3 1/2 weeks from the much anticipated end of government purchasing of mortgage-backed securities, mortgage rates remain steady.

Excerpted from:
Mortgage Rates: The Calm Before the Storm?

“I have nothing to say.”

I have heard this over and over again, not just by real estate agents – but by many people who are trepidacious about getting involved in Twitter.

To many, Twitter has become more useful as a way to tap into what’s “going on today,“ than to broadcast their own messages. And once you get acclimated to Twitter, you might just find you have something to say after all.

Biz Stone, Twitter’s co-founder says,

“Naysayers should simply log onto their Twitter’s home page and search for a topic they are interested in, whether it’s their favorite sports team, the name of their company or a topic in the news.” Within a minute, they understand the appeal, he said.

Here are 3 ways to make Twitter work for you:

1. Create a custom feed. Find people to follow by searching Twitter directories. My two favorites are WeFollow or Just Tweet It. Remember, to get followers at first, you must follow others!

2. Create lists.

Lists are fantastic – and a GREAT way to organize people you follow. You could make lists for news sources, fellow Realtors, geographic areas, etc. This way you can click on that list to see what those specific people are talking about. I just created the Inman Team list – as a place for people to contact the right person at Inman News (i.e. editorial, marketing, advertising, etc.) If you don’t know who the best users are on a favorite topic, look for lists on sites like Listorious or by checking profiles.

3. Check out the most discussed topics in your area. We hear it over and over again, but real estate is truly a ‘local business.’ Find out who is around you locally and what they are chatting about. Some Twitter apps, like Tweetie and TwitterLocal, let you search posts near you. Check the Web site Happn.in to see the most discussed topics in your area.

BONUS: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Once you’ve gotten your feet wet, use Twitter to ask questions such as the best place to grab a bite to eat in a new city, marketing tips, or anything else you need an answer to!

Some questions Realtors could start asking via Twitter are: “What’s the best marketing tool that is working for you?” or, “What is the most effective thing Realtors are doing to convert leads to sales?” These questions open the door to conversation and networking!

What are you doing to make Twitter work for you? Would love your feedback – please leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News

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Tip Tuesday: 3 Tips to Get the Most Out of Twitter

The Corky McMillin Companies ‘ unveiled plans for its new town, Millenia, designed to be the epicenter of the sprawling Otay Ranch community.

Read more here:
McMillin unveils Millenia project

In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes.

Here is the original:
NYT: Plan to pay homeowners to sell at loss

If you’re trying to figure out where real estate is headed in the coming months, should you listen to the Federal Reserve — or do you focus on the latest pending home sales numbers?

More:
Real Estate Outlook: Federal Reserve Beige Book

One of the first steps to take as a potential home buyer is to get pre-qualified for a loan. This step helps both you and your lender learn just how much home you can afford. And you should begin this process before you even start looking for a home.

Excerpt from:
Pre-Qualifying for a Mortgage

One of the best social media strategies for real estate agents is to become your network’s trusted advisor. And of course one of the best places to put that strategy into play is, without a doubt, on Facebook. So you create a profile and import your sphere list, now what?!

Well, as a real estate professional you can easily showcase your expertise and knowledge about your market area and industry trends. One of the ways I suggest doing this is by posting status updates that offer relevant info and/or tips your network would find helpful. Now some of you are already REALLY GOOD at sharing this type of info…and you might be so good at it that you decide to create a Fan Page to focus more intently on business.

Fan Pages are becoming more popular among real estate professionals for several reasons. Most importantly, it is more widely accepted (and preferred by Facebook) to utilize a Fan Page for promoting your business and sharing comprehensive listing data. NOTE: There are some people that truly ROCK the essence of Facebook and have mastered the art of the 3 P’s (personality, passion, profession) from their profile and don’t need to maintain the separation of church and state….or personal and professional. However, for many the draw of a Fan Page breaks down to the ability of sharing listing data, as well as relevant market data in a more appropriate fashion…with an opt-in network of interested folks.

Up until now adding real estate specific applications to a Fan Page has been, to say it nicely, less than effective. Many of the listing applications copy Website functionality and seem to have forgotten the nature of this network. Ideally, these applications need to offer more than just listing information but a way to provide interaction….or a rich data set of relevant information.

And that is why I was very excited to hear about  a new application for agents that launched this week! The Roost Social Real Estate Application is the first app of its kind to offer agents the opportunity to:

• Showcase their expertise from a Fan Page
• Provide valuable market data and information for a particular area (city) to their network
• Easily customize and install on your own Page (in 5 minutes!)
• Avoid the cost of hiring a professional to customize a local resource tab for you (this app naturally integrates local market trend info via Altos Research, active listings via Roost, mapping via Google, school info via Education.com, and neighborhood info via Walkscore).

The Roost Social Real Estate Application is clearly a value-add now…but there are more goodies to come with this app! Derek Overbey and Alex Chang of Roost took some time to share some important details about using this new app, as well as what’s in store in the future! In the coming months, Roost will add the ability to share market data for up to 5 cities! In addition the feature scope will widen to include featured properties, testimonials, and IDX compliant MLS search (inside Facebook)!!!

I have to say it’s very refreshing to witness a company like Roost incorporate Facebook functionality and real estate expertise…and deliver it to agents for FREE! Yep, this app is currently available on Facebook for FREE. You can add it to you Fan Page today, simply search “Roost Social Real Estate” once logged in to Facebook. Several agents have already taken advantage of the opportunity to add the app, check out Brad Coy’s Page,  Heather Elias’ Page, and Engel Real Estate Page for great examples of customization.

To add the Roost Social Real Estate Application to your Fan Page, follow these steps:

(1)    Visit the Roost Social Real Estate Application Page inside Facebook, and click on “Go to Application”.

(2)    You’ll be prompted to customize the app to your selected Fan Page by selecting: “Create Profile”

(3)    Next customize the application with your contact information, logo, and informational verbiage. NOTE- You can update the marketing verbiage periodically to share the latest trends and tips with your local network.

(4)    Finally, you’ll need to add the app to your Page. FYI- Facebook must render some images of the app so if it doesn’t load completely at first, be patient!

Once the tab has loaded onto your Page, you can direct your clients to the info by announcing it via a status update on your Profile, and even on your Fan Page! Also, be sure to share your Facebook Page URL on all your marketing. Write a blog post letting your clients now about this new feature on your Page, or create a postcard to share with your farm.

Related Posts

• AgentPress: The Ideal Theme for Real Estate Bloggers
• Real Estate Bloggers: Increase Your RSS Subscribers with Facebook
• 7 Ways to Syndicate Your Real Estate Listing

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Add To My Page: Roost Social Real Estate App