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Hey, Why Is It Taking So Long To Sell My Home? Theme Park: Northern Virginia Real Estate Market

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July 2014 REAL ESTATE MARKET is like a carnival rideThe summertime real estate market is a lot like a theme park – ups and downs like a roller coaster with sales, activity and interest rates and a lot of unknowns like a haunted house.

There are a lot of questions around what is happening in the market from sellers and builders we are working with to sell their houses.

It is an interesting dynamic where we have extremely low interest rates – at or near 4% – and a high home affordability index yet sales are not as strong as we expect them to be considering this situation.

July 2014 REAL ESTATE MARKET for sellers is like a haunted house
What are the reasons for this?

One potential reason is price appreciation along with the multiple offers earlier this year. Many potential homebuyers naturally paused to wonder: is it a new bubble? Or can I afford these prices? But price appreciation has greatly moderated as we have seen inventory rise dramatically since the beginning of the year.

Therefore, potential homebuyers will no longer face the sticker shock and can now make rational decisions about whether or not it makes sense to buy a home.

Along with the increase in houses on the market, we will be creating new buyers as these homes sell. So demand will increase as more sales happen in many instances.

Another reason is the economy isn’t growing as quickly as was expected and consumer confidence is not extremely strong. Once buyers gain confidence in the economy, housing will follow suit and grow with the economy. Until then, we will see moderate house sales as well as price appreciation.

We also are still experiencing tight lending guidelines and underwriting policies on mortgages. It is still hard for many potential buyers to obtain loans. The “qualification pendulum” is still too far to one side and needs to be moderated to allow more buyers into the marketplace with sound lending practices.

So, in order to be a seller in today’s market, you need to be patient. Good houses, properly priced, in the right condition will sell. It will just take a little longer.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call me (703) 652-5777 so we can discuss your personal situation in more detail. We are here to help.
Happy 4th of July!

Scott MacDonald

RE/MAX Gateway

Sequestration: FHA Delays, Department of Agriculture, USDA Loan Processing and How It Will Affect The Real Estate Market in Northern Virginia

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Sequestration is here and it is going to affect a lot of areas of our life – some people more so than others.  The initial $85 billion cuts will include furloughs for 2.1 million federal workers for five months.  They will be required to take 22 unpaid days beginning in April and will end in September.  This 20% reduction in pay to many people has the potential to put them behind in their mortgages resulting in an increase in default notices.  This in turn could result in more short sales and foreclosures thereby affecting prices and more importantly the housing recovery.  Additionally, if people are making less money, they do not have the ability to “move up” so we will continue to see a lack of inventory in housing.  Worse yet, in some cases if people with security clearances fall behind with other bills, they could lose those clearances and their jobs.Image

Speaking of housing, FHA has acknowledged they will see delays in endorsements/claims time frames which will impact settlement dates because of getting loans not being completed in time for closing.  FHA is responsible for approximately 25% of loans so this is a big deal and you should pay attention to your closing dates.  Along these same lines, cuts in the Department of Agriculture will mean there will be delays in the processing of USDA loans.  These loans typically take a minimum of 75 days – I would encourage you to look at a minimum of 90 days to be safe.

In addition, people who rely on Federal Housing Assistance are going to lose their benefits which would leave them homeless.  These people include veterans and the disabled.  One other area that is affected is foreclosure prevention aid to nearly 75,000 people – keep an eye on this development.  People who receive Housing Choice Vouchers will be cut.  These vouchers are used for renting apartments.  Approximately 125,000 will be affected here potentially leaving them homeless.

A majority of the cuts will come from defense spending.  It is estimated that nearly 207,000 Virginians will lose their jobs with 75% of those residing in Northern Virginia.  California will also lose a total of over 200,000 jobs with Maryland not far behind with over 100,000 jobs lost.  In totality, it has been predicted 2.14 million people would become unemployed as a result of sequestration.  There will be unintended consequences resulting from these cuts which will total $1.2 trillion by 2021.  One area that comes to mind is travel by air.  Fewer air traffic controllers and fewer TSA employees will result in delays at the airports for sure.  Another area is Hurricane Sandy victims, their aid will be diminished as well.  Lastly, when the hardworking, lower middle class government workers get 20% of their income slashed, there will be less discretionary spending which could have broad sweeping consequences – let’s see what else will be impacted.

How will your year end?

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As we move forward into the second half of the year fast and furious take the time to look at your business and determine what you need to do to have a successful year end. 

The first area to review would be your contacts.  How many do you have?  How often are you communicating with them?  What are you communicating to them?  Are you picking up the phone and speaking with them?  As I meet with agents regularly to conduct performance consulting with them – the most successful agents today are the ones making the calls to their database regularly and are meeting face to face with them.  Virtual contacts through Facebook, email, texts, etc. are good but you need to pick up the phone and get in front of people to get the best results. 

Are you growing your database?  Are you involved in networking groups?  Are you holding open houses?  Are you involved in community outreach programs?  Are you involved in charitable endeavors?  You need to be actively growing your contacts in order to expand and grow your business.  You can’t send our postcards, post on social media sites or advertise in print publications and expect business to come in to you – you have to go out and find it to be successful today.

Are you educating yourself?  If so, how?  What are you reading?  How often are you reading?  Do you have designations and are they applicable to today’s market?  Do you attend seminars?  Do you attend office trainings to further your education?  In order to grow, you must take the time to learn.  If you want to earn more you need to learn more – bottom line.

Are you effective on line?  Are you blogging?  Are you utilizing Google+?  What is the content you are providing on your other social media sites that engages people to read your posts and view you as a trusted resource and provider of information?  It is not the end all be all to obtaining business but it is a spoke in the wheel of your success that should not be overlooked.

You have to be better than your competition to be successful today.  You need to communicate better, you need to have better sales skills, better negotiating skills, better people skills, bottom line – you have to improve every day.  What are you going to do today to become better?  Pick a skill set and work on it!

These tips are critical to your success not only for the second half of the year but going forward as well.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

As we near the end of July…

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As we near the end of July, I thought I would provide a little insight into our Northern Virginia real estate market.  Inventory of resale properties has been very stable throughout the late spring and into mid-summer at 7,636 houses for sale.  What has caught my attention is the number of properties that have gone under contract the previous 30 days.  At the end of May, 3,500 homes had gone under contract the previous 30 days.  Since then, that number has declined every week to where we just had 2,880 homes go under contract the last 30 days – a 17.7% decline.  Does this cause us to panic?  Probably not, we are in prime vacation season.  We had the 4th of July holiday during this timeframe as well.  Plus, sales are cyclical and summer is usually a slower time of year for us.  Nonetheless, we will continue to see if this a more serious trend as we move forward into late summer and fall.

This decline in sales has resulted in a slightly larger month’s supply of homes.  We currently have a 2.7 month’s supply of house up from the end of May’s 2.1 month’s supply.  Again, no need to panic as it is still as seller’s market.  We continue to see when sellers price their houses to sell, have it staged properly and are in the right condition they sell in a reasonable amount of time.  In fact, we have experienced several situations where homes had received multiple contracts on them. 

Distressed home sales continue to hover around the 15.5% of total inventory active and on the market for sale.  In these numbers, we have seen a slight decline in short sales and a slight increase in foreclosures.  What continues to baffle me is that distressed property sales make up 30.7% of the home sales the previous 30 days.  This tells me that people want to say they bought a short sale or foreclosure because they believe it is a “deal” when often times they are not deals at all.

Our rental market continues to be strong for landlords.  We currently have a 1 month’s supply of rentals available.  Houses that used to take weeks to rent in the past are renting in just days.  Additionally, these homes are, in most cases, renting for more money.  The market continues to be prime for investors.

Builders in the area are still selling as well.  Loudoun County along the Greenway is selling exceptionally well.  What we are seeing in the new home sales arena is that houses that are priced right – just like resales – are selling.  Overpriced builders whom have not responded to the market are languishing on the market just like the resale properties.  As mentioned in previous blogs, we are in a very price sensitive market today.

Let’s review the national real estate news, housing starts rose to a 5 month high – up 15% from May.  The FTC won’t enforce the MARS rule against Realtors who help consumers obtain short sales – this is good news as the paperwork was unnecessary and didn’t apply to Realtors. And the Helping Responsible Homeowners Act is gaining additional support.  This Act will eliminate barriers blocking millions of non-delinquent home owners from refinancing their mortgages at today’s incredibly low interest rates.  This will help stabilize neighborhoods by keeping people in their homes.

As long as interest rates remain low, foreclosures and short sales remain a low percentage of our market, we will continue to have a steady real estate market in Northern Virginia.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

What’s it all mean?

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Over the last few years we have been providing you with information on the real estate market that we believe is valuable to you and helps aid you in your decision as to whether or not to buy and sell real estate.  Also, our thought is it gives you something to talk about around the office, with your neighbors or at cocktail parties! 

  • But what do all the numbers and terms mean you may ask?  Well, here is a quick guide for you going forward.  The numbers we quote are for the areas our offices conduct a majority of their business.  These areas include Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, and Fauquier Counties plus all the cities in between like Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, and Manassas Park. 
  • Active inventory or resales are the number of houses for sale where the owners are selling their homes and not a builder. 
  • Month’s supply of houses is the absorption rate or sales of homes divided into the number of active properties on the market.  Basically, if no other houses came on the market, it would take that many months to sell all the houses that are for sale.  As a general rule, 6 months is considered to be a balanced market – neither a buyer or seller’s market.  Less than 6 months is considered to be a seller’s market and more than 6 months is a buyer’s market. 
  • Days on the market are the average number of days on the market it takes for a house to sell after going up for sale.  Again, typically the fewer the average days on market the more likely it is to be a seller’s market and the longer the average days on market is typically indicative of a buyer’s market.  In addition, the fewer the days on the market of a particular home, the more likely the sellers are to receive a full price offer or even multiple offers. 
  • This brings us to multiple offers.  It is what it says.  The owners received more than one offer to purchase the home when it was put on the market for sale.  How does this happen?   Typically it is because of high demand for an area because of the school district, location to commuter routes, shopping, etc. along with the sellers pricing the property properly, getting the home in the right condition and the staging of the house that makes this possible.
  • Distressed property inventory are houses that represent short sales and foreclosures.  A short sale is when a home owner owes more money on the house than what the house is worth and they are trying to get their lender(s) to approve a sale for less than the amount owed to them.  A foreclosure is where the owner of the house stopped making payments and the bank took the property back through a series of steps required by the state and allowed through the deed of trust.

If you have any other questions or concerns about the numbers or the terms discussed monthly, feel free to contact me.  As Sy Sims used to say, “An educated consumer is our best customer”.

The bubble burst…Now what?

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What has been the catalyst in spurring the housing bubble and subsequent burst that has left us in the mess we are in today?  Was it the run up of prices?  Was it greed?  Was it poor advice given to buyers by Realtors and lenders?  Was it lax underwriting guidelines?   Was I the government’s proclamation that everyone should be able to achieve the American Dream of home ownership?  The answer is yes to all of the above.

The housing prices escalated at ridiculous rates – far above historical percentages that had been established over decades.  Builders couldn’t build fast enough to satisfy the demand which drove up their prices.  Buyers were having a difficult time being able to purchase a home and therefore bid up the price of the home above what they were willing to pay for a house originally.  It was a stressful and fascinating time to be a Realtor.  Buyers were mad that they had to bid so high to get into a home and sellers were mad at Realtors because their neighbor’s house sold for more money than theirs did – no one was happy.  Yes, over escalating prices were one of the causes that affect us today.

The greed factor came into play with “flipping”.  Many people bought homes from builders.  In most cases, as they went through the lengthy construction phase and because of demand, prices escalated.  You could buy a house, not do anything to it other than wait until it was ready, then raise the price and sell the home for a profit – many times for tens of thousands of dollars more than their original purchase price.  It seemed as if everyone had a story of someone who did this so they tried to do the same thing.  As the saying goes, too many chefs spoil the pot – well same thing happened in the new homes arena.  As prices declined, buyers bailed and builders got left holding too much inventory.  Also, greed came into the picture with people using their homes as a piggy bank and not a savings account.  How many people do you know that refinanced not just once but many times and bought properties, fancy cars, and vacations they normally would not have been able to afford?  Greed is not good Gordon Gekko and it has affected us today.

How many inexperienced, uneducated people got into the real estate and lending business when the times were good?  Hundreds of thousands got into our businesses.  Whose interests were they looking out for in the transaction?  One guess, not the buyers – theirs.  They got into the business for what was believed to be easy money.  They gave advice that wasn’t the right advice about the market and where prices were headed.  They got people into loans that were not right for the people they gave them to and as a result, they defaulted.  Poor advice definitely contributed to people’s over exuberance in their decisions on purchasing and financing properties and it is taking its’ toll on the market today.

Was it the policies that were put into place that lead to lax underwriting guidelines a cause that lead to where we are today?  You better believe it!  These loose guidelines resulted in allowing people who should not have become home owners to become home owners.  In my opinion, this probably had the biggest impact on how everything listed above was able to occur.  What were the guidelines that were slack you ask?  Here are just a few:  debt to income ratios up to 45%, no income no asset loans, loans up to 125% of value if combined with other liens, minimum FICO scores of 620 for prime loans, 10% down payments for financing investors, interest only loans and of course the teaser rate loan products.  Without these underwriting guidelines being loosened, we wouldn’t have had the ability to do all that was stated above.

Was the government’s belief that everyone should be afforded the American Dream of Home Ownership a contributing factor?  Of course it was.  Not everyone should be a home owner.  Credit scores need to be higher to be considered prime.  People should have some skin in the game and not be allowed to finance above the sales price to get into a home.  People need to verify their employment, prove they have cash reserves, and provide tax returns, etc. in order to obtain financing – it is common sense.  The problem today is the virtually the same legislators who made these loans possible have swung the pendulum too far the other direction and are hampering our recovery efforts in the housing sector of the economy.  FHA costs have risen, talk of raising down payments to 20% are going to hurt the market, stricter ratio requirements are in place and the overall costs associated with a loan are up 8.8% over last year as reported by Bankrate.com.  These trends have to stop if we want to see true recovery in the housing market and the overall economy.

Real estate has always been the key to getting the economy out of its slump and the longer housing languishes, the longer we will be in a recession.  What we do know is that more strict underwriting guidelines are not the answer.  Responsible lending and more educated agents and lenders providing the consumer the right information are going to be part of the solution  but getting the underwriting guidelines back in line with reality is the catalyst to recovery.   Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

My crystal ball broke…it’s all about the numbers

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Although my crystal ball is currently in the shop, we do know where things stand in regards to the local housing market in Northern Virginia.  Inventory levels of active resales are virtually the same – we currently have 7,640 homes for sale in Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, City of Alexandria, Prince William and Fauquier Counties.  This time last year we had 7,680 – pretty similar.  There is a slight difference between these two timeframes and that is in the number of distressed properties on the market.  This year there are only 293 foreclosures for sale along with 882 short sales – last year, there were 450 foreclosures and 1109 short sales.  This result is a difference of about 5% of the total inventory.  The perception is we are inundated with distressed properties when in reality, we have a lower percentage of overall inventory than the rest of the country in relation to foreclosures and short sales.  Our market is healthy. 

We have a 2.6 month supply of homes which is a seller’s market.  Houses are selling when the sellers have them priced right, in the right condition, and staged properly – often times with multiple offers.  We had several agents engaged in multiple contract situations this past weekend with a few of those properties being listed for several months.  We have buyers in our market because we have jobs.  One of our agents relayed a story of his nephew and their job search.  Over 140 people interviewed for a job at an oil change shop in Florida – that’s unbelievable.

Our rental market is strong, currently posting a 1 month supply of homes.  The reason is people relocating into our area are gun shy on purchasing.  This is as a result of a few different factors.  It may be their confidence in the housing market because of where they came from to relocate here, they can’t buy because of a potential short sale or foreclosure on their credit report or they are losing out to other contracts and have a short time to find a property and get forced into renting.  Either way, it is a great time to be an investor in Northern Virginia.

Prices are stable to increasing in the Washington Metropolitan area.  We are seeing price increases throughout our region in several price points.  Typically in house priced below $400,000 (pretty much everywhere) and those priced between $800,000 and $1,200,000 (closer into the beltway and DC).   In addition, builders found their bottom in pricing towards the end of last year and the first quarter of this year and have started to escalate their prices as they have seen an increase in sales of their homes.  Reports show that we are expected to have a 7.4% increase in housing prices in our region compared with -3.2% in the rest of the country – a difference of over 10%.  Again, we have a healthy market.

We also have low interest rates which are fueling our sales – housing is affordable because of rates.  If people are waiting to buy because they feel prices will come down – they are mistaken.  If they think rates will continue to decrease, they are mistaken as rates have actually increased over the last few weeks.  Now is the time to buy.

 

Top Prodcers meet to discuss the market

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It is hard to believe it was the second Thursday of the month already…time and summer sure fly by fast!  Here is what the Top Producers in real estate had to say this month.  If you have questions you would like me to pose to them, please let me know.

Negative news is everywhere.  Some websites even post good news one day and negative news the next.  How do you handle it and when will it stop?  Tell people to look at time frame of ownership – long terms hold will have fluctuations no matter what the investment is – stocks, gold and housing.  Show stats of our area being number one in appreciation month over month.  We are seeing incremental price increases in lower prices.  The news is reporting what is true across the country, we are just jaded because our prices are stable, unemployment is low, and pay rates are low plus they can’t sell houses.  Use the bad news to get price reductions.  Talk about the “cost” of money today and how great rates are compared with other years.

The government will come to an agreement on the deficit so we don’t lose AAA status, rates will stay low and the dollar won’t devalue.  Both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill will do the right thing and make it happen because if they don’t, we all lose.

Control your closings – select the title company to get information on the lender when agents fail to give you Form 100 – removing financing contingency.  The bottom line is too many agents are not familiar with the contract or the process.  Agents need to be educated and then educate their buyers.

Interest rates have increased recently, have you seen any effects on the market?  Everyone agrees that nothing has really slowed down.  The market remains stable.

Where is the market?  Contracts have slowed down in Loudoun and Prince William counties, agents are busy listing houses and trying to find where the prices should be on their listings and trying to find buyers.  Townhouses are selling well in Western Fairfax County – singles are lingering on the market.

Appraisals are problems for some not for all right.  Appraisers are still coming from outside the area to and are appraising properties low – herein lies the issue.  We need market specific appraisers every time.

What are you going to do the second half of the year?  Some agents are hiring coaches for the second half of the year, focusing on new home construction, and one is bringing in vendors to open houses to provide gift cards to agents who attend.  Others are calling their sphere more frequently and generating leads this way.

The discussions today were lively so it is better to attend if you qualify then just by reading the notes.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

 

Do they really like you?

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Likability is one of the critical areas for success in sales and in life.  As the saying goes, people do business with those that they know, like and trust. So the question becomes, how do you get people to like you? 

The first step is to become approachable – smile, make eye contact, extend a handshake first and introduce yourself first.

Listen more than you speak – people love the sound of their voice and to voice their opinions.  Listen, don’t interrupt and be respectful of others opinions.

Much like the sound of their voice, they love to hear their name.  Use their name – it not only will make them happy but it will reinforce and help you remember who they are when you see them later.  Remember and acknowledge dates that are important to them – birthdays, anniversaries, and birthdates of their children are just a few!

Deliver on what you promise and be true to your word.  Your reputation takes years to build and you do it one day at a time one interaction at a time.  Remember, each encounter is extremely important to the other person you are meeting with – make it count for them!

Become solution oriented for others.  Help them solve what issues they are encountering and it will endear them to you.

Be humble – don’t brag, put down or show a huge ego.  Let your actions speak for you not your words.

Respect others and be empathetic.  Don’t talk down to people or ignore their needs or wants.  You don’t always have to agree but take the time to understand where they are coming from in with their point of view.

Be happy, positive and upbeat.  Optimism goes a long way to having people like you.  Negativity, snapping at people, complaining and putting others down is ways to drive people away from you.

Act professionally in your appearance, your demeanor,  your actions and remember to be polite – it will go a long way to adding to your likability.

Be honest and show integrity.  When people lie, exaggerate or stretch the truth, people will see through this over time and you will lose credibility and in turn, it will hurt your likability factor.

Be inspirational, motivational and last but not least have a great sense of humor.  Be able to laugh and do it often.  People like to be around people who are fun.

These are just a few thoughts to help you get further in life faster.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something! 

It’s going to be a long and busy summer!

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As we head into the dog days of summer, I thought you may be interested in reading about the Northern Virginia real estate market as well as some national real estate news as well.  Let’s dive right in!  The Fox Gate development at the doorsteps of Loudoun County received its’ approval to begin development.  Fox Gate is located between Pleasant Valley Road and Tall Cedars Parkway, encompasses 27 acres which will offer 1.2 million square feet of office, retail, hotel and civic space along with 110 residential units. 

Apparently Bechtel, the country’s largest contractor – the contractor building the Silver Line – is secretly looking for up to 300,000 square feet in Loudoun County.  Obviously, this is a huge home run for the area as Loudoun boasts a 26% vacancy rate on commercial properties and Fairfax County has 16% in the areas where they are searching.  Forbes ranks Bechtel as the third largest privately held company with just under $28 Billion in revenue with 52,700 employees – not too shabby!  Here is a great opportunity if you know of anyone who works there to do some relocation business.

Also, locally our market is seeing the same market we were in last year as far as numbers are concerned.  For the first week of July, active resales were 7,379 this year versus 7,534 last year.  We have a 2.3 month’s supply of houses for properties that went under contract the previous 30 days both this year and last.  The rental market is virtually the same with a one month supply this year and a 1.2 month supply from last year.  I have to say it to remain consistent.  If you aren’t working with investors, holding investment seminars or obtaining a designation to help investors, you are missing out on a huge opportunity.  We will discuss more reasons why later.  Houses that settled the last 30 days have a 2.7 month’s supply of houses – last year it was a 2.5 month’s supply, a difference of 300+/- houses.  I think the difference here is short sales and the changes in the bank’s stance in regards to their handling of them.  We are seeing the banks counter the prices way above what is realistic based upon market conditions, asking for interest free loans and even the requirement for sellers to bring cash to the table.  Agents need to set the expectations for our sellers so they know that these options are serious possibilities and keep these deals together.  Obviously the pricing piece can’t be overcome easily but the other two options can be discussed upfront to help keep deals together.  Additionally, Chase recently announced that they are not in the short sale business, they are in the foreclosure business so be on top of your Chase owned loans.  Distressed properties make up 15.5% of the active inventory this year versus 19.9% this year.  Foreclosures are down this year versus last year as the foreclosure process is taking longer and inventory continues to be slow to get on the market.  Buyers continue to be price sensitive and are looking for the “perfect” house so continue to encourage proper pricing, staging and even prelisting inspections to get your listings in the best light for potential buyers otherwise, they will sit on the market.  Pricing properly is even more important in the outer counties and localities as new home prices are attractive in areas closer to the beltway.  Therefore, new home sales continue to post strong numbers as their pricing is competitive today and the buyers get to select how they want their houses to be decorated.  Our friends from Van Metre will share their success with us shortly.

There have been several good articles posted recently to help buyers realize now is a good time to buy along with the Housing Secretary Shaun Donavan stating it is unlikely housing prices will drop further and a noted now was a good time to buy.  He also mentioned officials must find ways to provide access to home ownership without requiring a 20% down payment.  Additionally, Warren Buffet posted his Five Real Estate Tips which include: 1) Housing prices increase in value over time especially as the dollar becomes worth less.  2)  Buy low, prices are down due to the housing bubble and appear to be at the bottom and you can never time a market.   Also, remember, you make money when you buy – not when you sell.  3)  Don’t wait too long to take advantage of low prices – if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.  4)  Smart home ownership has 3 elements – fixed rate mortgage, affordable payments and a long term hold.  5)  Buying a dream home can be a nightmare – don’t let your eyes be bigger than your wallet – go with the fundamentals previously discussed.  And lastly, pending home sales rose strongly in May which was the first time contract activity was up over the previous year since April of 2010 and we all know the reason for that was the expiration of the tax credits.  Let’s continue this trend into the second half of the year!

The things to look out for to carry us into the second half of the year are number one, jobs.  If jobs don’t get created then consumer confidence will stay low and housing sales will suffer. Number 2 is  underwriting guidelines for mortgages cannot get stricter, they need to be relaxed as the pendulum has swung a little too far.  In 2009, 23.5% of loans were rejected, in 2010, 26.8% of loans were rejected which is not a good trend.  If underwriting continues to become more difficult home sellers and buyers will be hurt and the ones who will benefit will be investors.  Investors typically pay cash plus, if buyers can’t get loans, they become renters and the rental market becomes stronger.  Remember, you need to be working with investors. Number 3 is distressed property numbers need to remain low which may be difficult.  CoreLogic estimates that 10.9 million or 22.7% of home owners with a mortgage are underwater at the end of the first quarter – 2.4 million home owners have less than 5% equity so this puts a total of 27% of the nation’s mortgage holders at risk.  The foreclosure process is now taking an average of 400 days which is twice as long as it took in 2007 so distressed properties will be in our market for the foreseeable future.  Number 4 is rates need to remain low allowing more buyers to be able to afford homes – Leslie Wish knows all too well how an increase of 1% in rates can knock down the potential number of buyers in the buyer pool.  And lastly, number 5 you!  You have to be active in the business, speaking with people – not just emailing, blogging, texting and attending trainings – you must physically speak with people on the phone, at networking events, open houses, at the pool, at your kids or grandkids sporting events anywhere you can get belly to belly with people.  You need to make it happen by spreading the word about how market is different from what they read in the papers or see on TV.  Get busy getting busy!

Now, quickly some fun stuff.  Zip Realty is no longer offering buyer rebates.  They have closed offices in 12 markets and have shed 700 agents.  They will continue to offer sellers a 1% listing credit in the 23 markets they are staying in but after posting losses of $12.9 million in ’09 and $15.5 million in ’10 they are finding it increasingly difficult to remain profitable – duh!  In addition to these losses, they will experience even more as their transactions are down 12.2% this year versus last…who could be next??  Perhaps it could be Redfin – we shall see!

Take this information and share it with your clients and demonstrate to them you are the expert in the business.  Get it?  Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!