Part 1

Few major decisions in life seem to be as monumental as moving to a new town and buying a home, or even buying a home in one’s existing town.

Those of us who work daily with homebuyers recognize the daunting task house hunting presents to many a homebuyer.

Many consumers of all products want to be on the leading edge of the latest buying trends. How many of us stood in line to grab the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii. The same can be said for home buying.

Not only do homebuyers want to locate in the hottest areas, but many assume there’s an ultimate financial payoff in being on the leading edge. Buy into an “up and coming area” the theory goes, and you can enjoy the thrill of watching your Pied-a-Terre appreciate in value.

As a Realtor who wants to earn repeat business and referrals from happy customers, it may prove beneficial for us to help our home buyers situate in growth areas, and not declining areas.

It’s interesting that of HomeGain’s most active metro areas for home buying in 2007, three are East Coast cities, Washington DC, Atlanta and Philadelphia. Chicago in the Midwest and Dallas in the South round out the top five. Continue reading this post

Seven years after sending a potential Annapolis, MD client a proposal to help him sell his home, Mona LaCovey received a call to get started with the transaction!

Here’s how the story goes:

In 2000 Mr. Chatterton started planning to sell his home. He began his search for a real estate agent online, opting to use HomeGain’s Find a Realtor® service.

Mona LaCovey responded to Mr. Chatterton with a personalized proposal outlining her services and addressing his needs and questions.

Although Mr. Chatterton decided to not sell his home then, with his retirement in 2007, he remembered Mona and called her up. Continue reading this post

I’ve been hearing so much bad news about the real estate market every day – it’s on TV, the radio, the newspaper – everywhere you look.

Naturally, since we’re in the real estate business, we’re very sensitive to any news on our profession. Whenever I hear real estate mentioned, my ears prick up.

Well, I’ve decided to do something about the bad news – I’m ignoring it. I don’t pay any attention to the real estate stories any more. I’m tired of hearing of all of the trouble in the real estate market. Instead, I’m maintaining a positive attitude and going about business as usual – assuming that the real estate market is great – and guess what? BUSINESS IS GREAT!

There are lots of people who want to buy homes and I’ve found out that most of them don’t listen to the news in the first place. They have no idea what the real estate market is like. All that they know is that they want to buy a house – and I want to help them.

Why don’t you join me. Put down the newspaper, think about all of the successes that you’ve had in the past, and with that positive attitude, go out there and create some more success stories. Continue reading this post

In response to current and forecasted market conditions, HomeGain has decided to reduce the referral fee for its AgentEvaluator program to 27% for all regular members and to 22% for Platinum and Gold Club members.

The new prices equate to a 10 percent reduction for all of HomeGain’s AgentEvaluator real estate agents and a 12 percent savings for HomeGain’s Platinum and Gold Club agents.

HomeGain’s AgentEvaluator Platinum Club and Gold Club members represent our top performing real estate professionals nationwide.

There are currently 299 Platinum Club members who have earned $125,000 or greater in gross commissions from their HomeGain leads, and 337 Gold Club members who have earned a minimum of $75,000 in gross commissions from their HomeGain leads. Continue reading this post

There are tons of media reports out there reporting on the real estate market in varying shades of mostly gray. You can’t log on to Inman News or Trulia and miss that it’s a little gloomy out there.

In fact, there are so many yard sale signs popping up on Zillow you almost can’t see the “homes for the ‘for sale’ signs”.

To their credit, Realtors® are adept at staying focused and getting the job done.

In fact, just the other day I heard from one of my long-time customers, Anthony Marguleas of Amalfi Estates in Los Angeles. Anthony deliberately surrounds himself with positive people and told me, “Business has been busy here and I just have to hustle a lot more. I am working to surround myself with positive people.”

That got me to thinking. Continue reading this post

Yes – contrary to what the media is saying, now is a great time to buy a house.

People who tried to buy a home in the last couple of years often found it to be very difficult. There frequently were multiple buyers interested in the same property forcing buyers to pay over full price.

Also, homebuyers had little leverage to negotiate repairs after a home inspection because if one homebuyer didn’t want to accept the home as is, there would be several others who gladly would.

Well, now the pendulum has swung and the homebuyers have the power.

Prices have come down and buyers can still negotiate even lower prices. Also, sellers have to meet buyers repairs demands or risk losing the buyer and having the home sit on the market a long time until another buyer comes along.

Additionally, interest rates have fallen a bit, which helps make homes even more affordable. Continue reading this post