We’ve all heard it; “real estate is local”. I’m not so sure.

I believe that all of the different “local” real estate markets are in fact intertwined with one another. While there is not much value in a national average or median real estate price, there is value in national sales volume, national inventory levels and other national housing statistics.

Think of them as a barometer - a measure by which you can assess your local market. Perhaps your market is selling more homes on average at a higher price point than the national average. Perhaps it’s less. Either way, national market statistics matter. You can use this information as part of a general wellness test of your local market. Not to mention that what actually is happening in other local real estate markets can directly affect what happens in your local market.

We in fact just ran into a scenario where a client of ours could only buy a home at a certain price here because the home he owns in Michigan cannot sell for a reasonable price there. They wanted to spend about $600,000, but, bought for $250,000 until the home in Michigan can sell. This is an example of exactly how these markets are intertwined and why in fact real estate is not all local.

To truly understand your local market, you must stay abreast of and understand more than just your neighborhood, town and city market statistics lest someone else who does understand will be the “local expert” instead of you. Continue reading this post

Congratulations to the 17 real estate agents who have earned half a million dollars or more in gross lifetime commissions from HomeGain leads through the AgentEvaluator® marketing program!

We are pleased to recognize these agents for their tremendous success by inducting them into HomeGain’s new Diamond Club.

Diamond Club inductees include (listed alphabetically by last name):

• Jeffrey Bastress, Startpoint Realty in Massachusetts
• Virginia Cheezum, RE/MAX Allegiance in Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. areas
• Les Davis, Realty Executives Metro One in Missouri
• Dorothy and David Eiglarsh, The Eiglarsh Team in Florida
• Sheryl Goble, Realty Executives Premiere in Illinois
• Howard Gordon, Broward Brokers Realty Corporation in Florida
• Doug Goss, RE/MAX Real Estate Services in California
• Sharon Kunz, RE/MAX Greater Atlanta in Georgia
• Joseph Niece, Joe Niece Team at RE/MAX Results in Minnesota
• Brenda Porter, Porter and Associates in Nevada
• Barbara Tidwell, Keller Williams Realty in Texas

I spoke with Realtor® Virginia Cheezum, who said: “I am delighted to receive this recognition! I’ve been with HomeGain for many years and it’s become a critical piece of my business. I continue to be impressed and delighted with the quality of leads you provide. You do a magnificent job and provide a valued service.”

Howard Gordon also commented: “I have found HomeGain to be an exceptionally successful way to reach qualified, serious sellers who are seeking to meet with the best real estate professionals they can find. The leads are of high quality and high motivation to list I highly recommend HomeGain to agents wanting more listings.”

Over a dozen other real estate agents are quickly approaching the $500k mark. Continue reading this post

The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage is  a  product created by Congress in 2008 to provide some liquidity to the struggling home market. The amount you can borrow depends on age, current interest rates, and the appraised value of your home or FHA’s mortgage limits,whichever is less. Generally, the more valuable your home is, the older you are and the lower the interest, the more you can borrow.

1. No payments are necessary as long as the house is your principal residence.
2. No need to repay the loan as long as you or one of the borrowers continues to live in the house
3. You can never owe more than the value of your home at the time you or your heirs sell the home.
4. When you sell your home, you or your estate will repay the cash you received from the reverse mortgage plus interest and fees.
5. The rest is yours.

The Rules Just Changed

More seniors are turning to reverse mortgages to supplement their retirement savings, which have been decimated by market losses. Continue reading this post

I mastermind with agents from my area on a regular basis and a question came up in discussions with this mastermind group of top agents in Tampa, Florida, that I thought would be a great blog topic.

So, when do you know it’s time to add a full-time assistant to your business?

I was asked this question and the first response I could think of was: “When you can afford it”. I’ve learned in the last year, as our business has more than doubled, that if I hadn’t taken the plunge to hire my assistant, I’d still be in the same place I was last year.

Looking back a year ago when we decided to build a team, hire staff and add agents, I realize there were some tell tale signs it was time for us to get “people leverage” and help to take our business to the level we wanted to.

We were very productive and profitable (I sold $7 million that year and was “lean” on expenses) but we had lofty goals and knew there is no way I could keep up with it all myself.

Ultimately, I knew if I wanted to sell more real estate, I would need someone to handle the paperwork, admin tasks, transaction management, appointment setting, photo taking, lock box hanging, and all of the other tasks that can take us away from our lofty sales goals.

However, you have to have enough income or savings to be able to afford it for a few months. It’s always a risk because you could hire the wrong person, lose money, disappoint clients, etc. Continue reading this post

Floor plans have been a standard element in builder marketing materials for years. Recently there have been a number of positive statistics relating to the use of floor plans in the U.K.

Several of the larger property portals there are promoting the fact that properties with floor plans receive 30% more interest than properties that don’t.

It seems like it’s an affordable marketing tool for Realtors. There are some real estate floor plan solutions out there at $10 or less per plan. One such company we’ve seen is Metropix – a floor plan creation solution for real estate professionals. Within this solution, there are multiple ways to create a floor plan, including a “draw your own service”, which costs $9.99 for 48 hours use.

It looks like it’s easy to use, too. For example, if you don’t want to draw yourself, there’s an “AutoDraw” feature that converts a rough sketch/plan into a professional floor plan for you. You can decide mid-way through to upgrade your “classic floor plan” into an interactive floor plan with photographs and/or a 3D floor plan or Walk-through.

What’s your opinion as to whether Realtors would market homes and properties with floor plans? Do you currently use a floor plan solution as part of your marketing? Would such marketing be well received by U.S. consumers?

We all know why we have websites, right? Lead generation!

With so many people using the web to find out information before even placing a call to a Realtor, we have to keep our websites up with the times.

I have made my website easy to use and full of information. From links to the MLS system for easy home searching, to a list of what to expect, to a list of preferred providers, to a mortgage calculator, it is all in one place.  I am constantly uploading new listings, price changes, and disclosures for all of my listings.

There is a fine line on providing too much info. Vs. creating a reason for the lead to call.  Continue reading this post