I recently hosted a Realtor-focused conference call on Downpayment Assistance Programs - co hosted by John Lamberg, Florida Area Manager for the Nehemiah Corporation.  One week prior, I participated in this conference call with Dan Martin and Brian Kludt from Mad Mortgage World and Rhonda Porter from The Mortgage Porter Blog to talk about my conference call setup strategy as well as some of the marketing strategies Rhonda and Brian are using to drive business in our direction now.  You'll notice a common thread in each of our solutions or concpets in that we all talk about providing our clients with measurable service.  And this is the key point to keep in mind for anyone who is in the planning stages of a marketing campaign - specifically one for Realtors.  Telling a Realtor you will p... 08/15/2008

Well, up at the O-Dark Thirty today and caught a Tara Siegel Bernard New York Times article on rising mortgage interest rates syndicated out to our local fish wrap - the Ledger.  The article brings up an interesting point: Do buyers act now to lock in a lower rate, or is it best for them to wait and let rates go up a bit, thus pushing home prices down (in some over-priced / high inventory areas) as sellers begin to feel the heat from a "tougher to get financed" environment? On a Downpayment Assistance Program I hosted yesterday, a couple of Realtors expressed frustration regarding seller reluctance to price homes according to present market conditions.  They each cited a mix of sentimental value and naivete on the part of sellers who feel a $5,000 price reduction to be an acceptable mov... 08/14/2008

This question was recently posed by Joe Hall, Founder and Chief Webhead of Jozoft, as he compared and contrasted the consumer market draw of Web 2.0 stalwarts Zillow.com and Trulia.com against the more traditional Real Estate / Brochure Ware sites of Century 21 and RE/MAX. In the article, Hall makes an interesting point - stating that while RE/MAX and Century 21 rank #1 and #2 in search volume among all of the major branded real estate sites online, they both rank behind Zillow and Trulia: "We already know that RE/MAX is dominating in the area of brand recognition in web search volume. So its no surprise that remax.com is ranking as the top name brand real estate site. Century 21 comes in second and in the same token is placed as the second most visited name brand real estate site. Howe... 08/13/2008

Take heed of the current changed in conforming loan amounts - especially if you reside in a county that currently has values set at $729,750.   After December 31, 2008, the maximum conforming mortgage loan in your area will go down, which very well may affect you personally! Act now to avoid higher mortgage rates! Here's how everything shakes out. Effective with loans that are closed (based on the date of the note) after December 31, 2008, the new conforming maximum loan limits for 2009 are: General Limits – “shall not exceed” $417,000: 1-unit $533,850: 2-units $645,300: 3-units $801,950: 4-units Maximum Loan – 150% of General Limit $625,500: 1-unit $800,775: 2-units $967,950: 3-units $1,202,925: 4-units High Cost Areas – 115% of median home price in the area   If the conforming loan li... 08/13/2008

Manufactured / Mobile home financing is better left to the experts.  This type of property is just DIFFERENT and, like anything else, if you do it every day you get REAL good at it.  I've done financing on 1965 single wides, 100% VA purchases, tons of loans for homes in 55+ parks on rented or leased land.  I'm an expert at FHA loans and the FHA programs are a lot simpler to do these days.  If you have a manufactured home listing, call me to get the scoop on financing.  Or, pass my number on to your clients and I'll help them directly.          - Randall  863-229-1235 -     08/13/2008

                (Image courtesy of VARBUZZ.com) If you're a Realtor and you use social networking and blogging to get your message out to clients and colleagues, then the Center for Real Estate and Social Technologies (CREST) wants to know about your direct experience in this and related media.   The good folks at CREST urge you to take the second CREST survey, and help them determine exactly how much ROI and ROT (Return on Time?) you are gaining from your blogs and what social networking tools you use to supplement or enhance your blogging efforts. The cool part is that everyone who completes the survey gets a copy of the executive summary, so be sure to fill it out! Note:  The survey closes at 9 a.m. EDT on August 21, 2008. For those of you who are interested, the 1st CREST survey is... 08/10/2008

   Manufactured / Mobile home financing is better left to the experts.  This type of property is just DIFFERENT and, like anything else, if you do it every day you get REAL good at it.  I've done financing on 1965 single wides, 100% VA purchases, tons of loans for homes in 55+ parks on rented or leased land.  I'm an expert at FHA loans, and the FHA programs are a lot simpler to do these days.  If you have a manufactured home listing in Florida, call me to get the scoop on financing.       Call me  - REBECCA  863-229-2524 - (Florida homes only please)     08/09/2008

When is the last time you, as a loan originator, stopped to realize how much trust a Realtor who refers their trusting client to you is placing in you?  First, they're in a precarious position.  In many cases - their client has yet to gain pre-approval for a loan, so there's the "Are they going to qualify?" question in play.  Second, they are, in many cases, giving a good bit of control over to you as they wait for the loan to make it through to closing. I got to thinking about this after reading a blog post by Sean Purcell on the Bloodhoundblog entitled Before They Get It, Make Sure They Get It.  Mr. Purcell breaks the real estate transaction into two phases: The Dark Ages and The Age of Enlightenment (hey, where'd the Renaissance go?).  He likens the discovery phase Realtors go throug... 08/08/2008

Attention Realtors:  What You Don't Know About DPAs is Costing You Easy Sales   Are your listings sitting on the market too long? Are your advertising costs climbing because inventory isn't moving? Are you spending too much time & money promoting homes that aren't selling? Educating your buyers about Downpayment Assistance Programs WILL turbo-charge your bottom line, but you may have less than 60 Days to implement them!  Join me and Mr. John Lamberg, Florida Area Manager at Nehemiah Corporation of America, for this exclusive look into DPA programs.  Together, we'll help you understand how you can use them to increase sales, lower advertising costs and bring stability to your business.     Be On This Call or Miss Out on the Following Take Aways: What you don't know about DPA and how it's... 08/07/2008

I'm in Butler, PA for the next couple of days on business and had the opportunity to sample Straub's All Grain Beer. I make it a habit of trying out local brews when on trips outside of Florida - and this one's a fine example of natural, handcrafted lager goodness out of St. Mary's, PA that dates back all the way to 1872. Straub uses the words "Honestly Fresh" to relay that the beer is in good drinking condition - but more importantly - that it contains no sugar, no salt, and no preservatives. As someone who reads food labels to cut down on products that have too many artificial ingredients and especially high fructose corn syrup (not that they put this in beer - thank gravy!), I really appreciate Straub's commitment to freshness. As I was "taste testing" my first ever Straub Premium in... 08/06/2008

If you're finding it difficult to keep up with everything that's going on with H.R. 3221 - join the club!  I attended the conference call and must admit that I've been scouring the blogosphere trying to get all the colors on my H.R. 3221 Rubik's Cube to match.  Easier said than done. Thankfully, we have access to a few folks out there who have done a fine job of summing up the various aspect of this legislation.  General Summary Info The kind people over at the National Association of Realtors have provided a very handy and succinct break down of the general issues at hand with H.R. 3221. Information provided in this post includes several helpful Realtor.org PDF files covering the following:  2009 FHA and GSE Loan Limit Estimates FHA Reform First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Information (I... 08/05/2008

Breaking News!   Hi folks.  I received an update from my company that this afternoon - August 4, 2008 - at 2:30 pm Eastern, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will be hosting a teleconference for members of the industry to discuss FHA Modernization and related changes in H.R. 3221, the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008." For approximately one hour, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions directly of HUD officials. The call-in information is as follows:Toll- Free Number for Participants - 1-866-359-7482Conference ID# - 58972822Be sure to join the call early as there are limited lines. 08/04/2008

I was browsing through the HomeGain Real Estate Blog recently and came across an interesting "Winning Agent Call" article entitled Home Staging: The Key to Moving Properties.  In it, Karen Breen Elia of Re/Max Exclusive Properties states that many of today's agents are realizing that home staging is the key to moving properties - especially in areas where inventories... and competition are high.  One of the  most interesting points made in the interview deals with Karen's need to consistently convince her clients to agree to the costs involved with home staging, put their own personal design tastes aside, and let her do her job.  I think we've all been in the position of having to work a bit to gain a customer's trust in us, and we should have to work a little for that.  On my side of t... 08/03/2008

Today’s real estate prospects know more about the housing market than ever before. In fact, thanks to the Internet, there’s a good chance that most of the information many Realtors provide in FREE consultations has already been digested - leaving your unique expertise left for you to prove. Like no other time before, prospects today are distrustful until they see results and above all – they just don’t want to be sold. They are pinched for time and have little patience for anything that comes across like old hat hard sell advertising. For this reason, we must find ways to interact with leads and prospects without selling them. Their attitudes about us are being shaped from word one, and much of what they think we are all about has been filtered through to them from TV, web, and print s... 08/02/2008

“I LOVE the life after 55!” This seems to be the catch phrase here amongst retirees in Central Florida. The reasons for loving retirement seem to cover a lot of areas, including waking up at anytime, not answering to anybody, and most importantly, taking up new hobbies. Hobbies are so important for active adults; good for brain stimulation and blow flow. And, aside from the physical benefits of hobbies, I have realized that they tend to bring out the hidden talents in people. Recently, I observed some of my friends at Lake Ashton’s clubhouse, and I noticed that some of the hobbies they have taken up have brought out their natural gifts. Active adults that used to work as accountants are finding that they are exceptional bingo players. Others that used to work in Hospitality Management a... 07/22/2008

More and more, active adults over the age of 55 are finding travel and adventure an essential part of retirement in Central Florida. To celebrate their longer and fuller lives, Baby Boomers are just looking to have fun more than anything! And now, with senior discounts and senior-specific lines, cruises have become the preferred way to travel after retirement.   A recent article on Travour.com states this about senior cruises, “These types of cruises are designed keeping in mind the age of its guests and their choices and likings. The most important thing in these cruises is the comfort level. The beds and seating arrangement are highly comfortable and cozy. The cabins have a warm ambience and are spacious enough to make sure that guests have a safe journey.”   With several Florida reti... 07/10/2008

Realtors Take Advantage of CRF Communities’ 2008 5% Commission Promotion CRF Communities is the leader in retirement communities in the Central Florida area. A more recent promotion was intended to motivate one group of people, in particular. Instead of benefiting the new home’s buyer or seller, this incentive was intended for the man behind the scenes - the realtor. Vienna Square, one of CRF Communities’ premier retirement communities, is offering realtors a 2% commission increase for every single family homes that they sell. Normally, Vienna Square offers 3% of the sale to the realtors, but as of the promotion’s start date in June, a 5% commission is granted to any realtor that brings a new, happy homebuyer into this community. Realtors receive 5% on all contacts ... 06/24/2008

Looking for information in books, periodicals, newspapers, and websites can be a research nightmare! CRF Communities now has an online library: a one-stop shop for finding information on active adult lifestyles, senior health and fitness, and real estate in Central Florida.  Using the computer to find all that you want to know is nothing new for the Baby Boomer generation who are online almost as much as their grandkids; the Internet keeps Boomers connected to family and friends and gives them the ability to do all their research from home. CRF Communities has a database of articles to chose from with just a click of the mouse. This database includes a list of ways to search the following: Real Estate, Manufactured Homes, Motor Coach Homes, Motor Coach Pads, and Villas, Gated Homes, fit... 06/19/2008

"Our residents compare Lake Ashton to a cruise ship on land!" says Tricia Adams, director of activities and community relations at Lake Ashton, one of CRF Communities’ luxury retirement communities . Lake Ashton residents can cultivate life-long passions and hobbies here; others are here to re-invent themselves by learning new skills and trying new experiences. Whether it’s golf or bowling, tennis or boating, choosing a retirement community  like Lake Ashton puts you at the front door of a menu of amenities to fill your days and fulfill those aspirations you have waited a lifetime to enjoy.  Hone your swing on two 18-hole golf courses Practice for that 300 game of bowling with just a short trip in the golf cart Fish on Lake Ashton's 400-plus-acrelake filled with bass and pan fish – the ... 05/27/2008

Lake Ashton, a CRF Community, Press Release May 20, 2008           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Jon Lawson, Marketing Manager                                     Lake Ashton Community                                         Telephone: (863) 324-8664                                                      jlawson@lakesashton.com www.lakeashton.com                                                                New Homes Sales Top 1050 at Lake Ashton, a Central Florida Retirement Adult Active Community   Lake Ashton, one of the premiere active adult communities in Central Florida, continues to attract active adults looking for a retirement community that keeps them healthy and connected. Most of these active adults have been looking specifically to reside in one of Lake Ashton’s new homes for sale... 05/21/2008