Who REALLY has your back?  The question is of obvious importance but most of us have no clue as to the answer.

Recently I picked up a book, by Keith Ferrazzi, with the name, Who’s Got Your Back.  The book discusses the importance of finding and developing deep relationships with an “inner circle” of friends and associates who have your best interest at heart, will be candid with you, and who will help you with your real estate business and personal growth.

As I was reading through I realized that I have done this in my life without the formal attempt but that I could carry this advantage much further if I made it a conscious priority in my life.  I feel like this may be the best book I read all year and will contribute to my future growth in exponential ways.  So, I felt like I should share this with the HomeGain real estate community.

One of the statements in the book that really struck me was that even though we are more connected than ever through our cell phones and the internet we seem to be more alone.

The book stated that in 1985 the average American had 3 people to whom they could confide matters but by 2006 that number had dropped to 2 and that 25% of Americans admitted that they had no confidants at all.

Wow! Continue reading this post

A few months ago we announced the top 12 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people selling their home.

With the environment and sustainability in the hearts and minds of many Americans, HomeGain has also surveyed Realtors for the top 9 GREEN DIY home improvements.  Nearly 1,000 REALTORS® responded to the survey.

While the results show that green home improvement projects may not be as popular as traditional non-green improvements (percentage of Realtors who recommend them), the GREEN trend does seem to be catching on as people realize the benefits. (See Realtor comments below.)

According to a McGraw Hill study, 70% of homebuyers would rather buy a green home than a non-green home in a down economy. The Management Information Services/ICMA has said that “landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values as much as 20 percent.” According to Move.com, to date, around 1,100 Realtors have earned the NAR Green Designation (out of 1.3 million registered Realtors in the U.S.).

Based on national average cost and return on investment (ROI) to sellers…

The top 5 GREEN home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers are:

1. Plant native trees and plants ($141 average cost / $399 average price increase / 284% average ROI / 65% of agents recommended)
2. Replace air filters ($76 cost / $201 price increase / 266% ROI / 63% recommended)
3. GREEN home staging ($223 cost / $445 price increase / 199% ROI / 47% recommended)
4. Weather strip and caulk doors and windows ($169 cost / $313 price increase / 185% ROI / 68% recommended)
5. Install programmable thermostats ($146 cost / $249 price increase / 170% ROI / 62% recommended)

The complete 9 GREEN home improvements are as follows:

Continue reading this post

Inman News has named HomeGain’s General Manager, Louis Cammarosano, one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Leaders of 2009” in the Technology and Real Estate category.

Inman reports that the top 100 list reflects the real estate industry’s best and brightest and who embody leadership, innovation, ingenuity, power and persistence.

Join us in congratulating Louis!

Louis Cammarosano was also recognized in Inman News’ Top 100 Most Influential Leaders of 2008 and as a Top 10 Person to Watch in 2007.

See Louis’ Linked In profile here.

Read more HomeGain news

I’ve seen many business plans in my day. Although I’m a great advocate for planning and setting goals, I believe there is something even more important. In fact, I believe that without this critical ingredient, no great game plan or strategic goals will get you where you want to go.

It’s adaptability.

This past year is a great case in point. Our team duly met prior to the year’s beginning to lay down the tracks for the coming year’s business. Since we’ve historically focused on home listings, listings were at the heart of our discussions. We fine tuned our listing presentations and geared up to handle all the details that would come from an increase in listings.

Who knew that normal listings would go into the toilet because home sellers were afraid to compete with REOs and Short Sales?

Had we stuck with our game plan, we would have ignored the long queue of home buyers lining up at our door to cash in on record low prices, rock bottom interest rates and the first-time buyer tax credit. Our business would have slammed to a halt.

Bottom line: We quickly switched our focus and game plan. By reacting to the market and adapting, we ended up doing 2 ½ times the total business we’ve ever done in any previous year.

A great example is a football running back. The play is called in the huddle, the ball is snapped and the running back swings into motion. What if the planned hole in the line doesn’t materialize? Continue reading this post

Homeownership is a part of the American dream. As a public policy, it’s been a powerful magnet for talented immigrants. From the early promise of 40 acres and a mule for every man and women who would homestead to the Levittowns of post World War Two, America has always promised its people greater rewards.

I took a short look at some of the institutions charged with public policy that made home ownership easy and how they are still playing a big public role.

The New Deal

President Roosevelt’s New Deal created policy and institutions to encourage people to become homeowners. Facing high levels of mortgage foreclosures during the Great Depression, the Roosevelt Administration, created the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Federal National Mortgage Association. Fannie Mae established the 30-year, fixed rate, fully amortized mortgage as a standard. The FHA was created to insure those mortgages, to cushion the loss and so incentivized investors to take risk. Huge capital markets are created to draw pools of money into the housing industry to fuel a politically mandated public homeownership program. Continue reading this post