There have been so many cool real estate sites popping up in recent years (Trulia, Zillow, Redfin, etc) that it seemed as if the monsters like Realtor.com were destined for obsolescence just as soon as the average consumer started trusting the new techno sites for their real estate search. But not so fast.
The NAR announced a recent take over of Cyberhomes assets and data, and is revealing an interested long-term strategy to compete with these new kids on the block. Will it work? Maybe. Who does it benefit? See this awesome article on 1000 Watt Consulting for an in-depth analysis.
This news made me recall another incredible article/piece of news by the ever-entertaining and brilliant Notorious ROB where he discusses how a little guy (think local real estate agencies) may have suddenly delivered a potential knock-out punch to the tech-heavy real estate start-ups of the last 4 years. In a nut-shell, ROB comments that a particular local real estate company has just unveiled a new website which competes and possibly exceeds the user experience and amount of data delivered by these tech start-ups. Big deal, right? Maybe not.
One thing is for sure: it’s an interesting time to be in the real estate industry. Who will survive? I’m not sure. I know that I’m constantly amazed by some of the tech start-ups like Redfin and the now bankrupt BuySide Realty/Iggys House who receive all this VC money and ALSO offer deep discounts. How can these companies be soooo top-heavy and programmer heavy and also offer deep discounts and also survive? I don’t know. I know that the only way we’ve survived while offering deep discounts is by offering a level of service that the above discounters don’t or can’t. We’re basically offering the same service as a traditional agent, AND we offer discounts. How? Our overhead is almost non-existent, no multi-level management, no VC money, no standing staff of programmers.
But that’s not enough, is it? No, I don’t think so. I think that we also need to provide great service AND a great user experience on our website. Which brings me back to the above point made by Notorious ROB: if little guys can deliver a big, satisfying punch on their websites then what will drive people to keep using the large tech sites? The answer to that question remains to be seen, but if the age-old adage that “all real estate is local” is true (which i think it is), then the answer is: nothing. If, in the near future, there’s no significant difference between the average local agent’s site in regards to data and user experience when compared to the big non-local tech sites, then there’s really nothing but recent momentum to keep carrying new users to those tech sites. And momentum can change.
Uncle Sammy has agreed to keep his pockets open through April 30, 2010. And now, even more home buyers will be eligible to reach in and grab $8,000. Here are the details:
First-time home buyers are eligible for an $8,000 tax credit.
Current homeowners who have lived in their current home for 5 consecutive years are eligible for a $6,500 tax credit if they purchase a NEW home.
If you have bought a home previously but have not owned a home in last 3 years then you’re eligible for the $8,000 tax credit.
Income limits: $125,000 for an individual, $250,000 for a couple.
The home must be $800,000 or less and cannot be a vacation or second home.
Pretty generous overall.
I’m torn about this tax credit. I’ve come out pretty consistently in favor of the tax credit as it appears to have a direct effect on the buying habits of my Denver and Boulder clients. It’s clearly one of the issues they’re considering when making their decision to buy at this time. So expanding the tax credit will likely continue to help buyers get off the fence and jump in to home ownership if they were considering it in the first place.
But I just can’t help but to wonder what is going to happen with all of our debt in this country. Tax credits like this equal lost revenue for the Fed. God knows we’re already in hock up to our necks with China holding most of the purse strings. What happens if the Chinese decide to transition out of the US Dollar and into other currencies as suggested by this article?
Realasave.com is not only a great real estate company, we are also a technology company. We leverage technology to support our green, paperless business and to build great tools for our users. We also rely on great tools to keep us organized and communicating well within our organization.
When I first saw the Google Wave developer preview video, I wanted to play around with this cool looking new system from Google. Luckily I was granted a preview invite back in September and was able to share a few invites with our team. Since then we’ve been using Wave internally for some small collaborative projects.
In general, I do like the idea of a Wave and the nice threaded interactions being stored in one place. It’s really nice to be able to add other users to the Wave and have everyone contribute. We’ve used it on some website changes to discuss mock ups and work our way to a final version. The playback feature is useful in seeing who has made which changes. You can also make a Wave public by adding the user public@a.gwave.com to the Wave.
I think that Wave is coming along quite nicely overall and, of course, there are always glitches with technology at this early stage, which is part of the learning process for the product. We experienced issues with trying to add Word documents to a Wave. Some docs just wouldn’t load. I also experienced severe slow down and even some browser crashes (even in Chrome) when trying to interact with large public Waves. The real time typing updates are interesting, but I’m not sure I’m a big fan or how useful this actually is. I’m guessing there will be an option to turn this feature off. The plugin landscape is also pretty sparse right now, so it’s hard to say how plugins will help flush out the product. Being able to edit someone else’s reply / text is also kind of weird, but you can see the changes in the playback mode. It might become hard to see where edits were made if there are a large number of them. A filter on the playback or other form of timeline may be useful.
One thing I think that is really needed is an notify option. Currently, you don’t know a Wave has been updated unless you are logged into Wave watching your inbox. Right now we find ourselves pinging each other in IM.. “hey I just updated the mock up wave, go check it out”. There is a FireFox plugin that will help you with this now, but it needs to be part of the core system. This may be in the plans, and likely is, but I would also like to see integration with Google docs.
Overall, I think Wave is going to be a useful tool. Will it replace email? unlikely. Will it be a useful tool for smaller teams and friends to collaborate on units of work? I think so, but I’m not sure it’s going to be quite as game-changing as Google hopes.
Uncle Sam is indicating that he’d like to use a few of our tax dollars to finance billions in loans. Great. Now, I’m all for the current $8,000.00 tax credit as I’ve seen first hand benefits for buyers I’ve been working with in the Denver and Boulder markets. But this is a much different creature.
The program I’m referring to is the one announced today by the Obama Administration whereby the Federal Government will become the new buyer in the previously evaporated mortgage-backed security market, thus allowing state agencies to fund millions of mortgages. What? Basically, when the economy and housing market imploded last year the bond market for mortgage backed securities disappeared. This caused various HFA’s (housing finance agencies) to cease giving loans or raise rates considerably. So now Uncle Sam is Subprime Sammy!, your mortgage backed security expert and buyer extraordinaire.
All kidding aside- how is the potential of this program any different than what subprime lenders did over the last decade or so to “encourage” first time buyers to jump into the market? Aren’t we currently living through the aftermath of the collapse of just such a program?
Part of this program would allow first-time buyers to use the future $8,000 tax credit as part of their down payment. Another bad idea. This means that this new round of buyers will have the same amount of skin in the game as the subprime borrowers who got 100% financing in 2003. None. So there is no incentive to stay in the game, and we might as well look forward to another massive wave of foreclosures 3-5 years from now when some of these new homeowners realize that this is not their cup of tea.
I’m all for helping first-time buyers…we do it all the time at Real-a-Save. But if a potential buyer has ZERO dollars, then maybe, just maybe, they’re NOT a potential buyer after all. FHA loans require 3.5% down right now. That’s a pretty darn good deal. Why are we looking for ways to require zero down? Isn’t that exactly what got us here in the first place?
Email bob@realasave.com if you have any real estate questions, or if you would like to know about our Colorado commission rebate program. And no, you cannot use a commission rebate towards your down payment;-)
We’re looking for some new agents in the Fort Collins, Colorado area. If you or one of your friends or family members would like to join the Real-a-Save team then please email us at bob@realasave.com, or simply call 303-415-2541.
Experience: you’ll close a higher volume of deals, and will gain more experience, thus becoming a better agent. Period. There’s really no faking experience.
Best technology and tools: maybe you’re an agent who is not up to date on things like digital signatures, blogging, social media, electronic contracts, virtual offices. We’ll show you how to use these tools in ways that your clients will love and you’ll appreciate.
A place on our site: you’ll get your own agent page on our website, giving your clients access to the best Colorado map search around. Try it, you’ll like it!
Systems: we’ll train you on the best client management systems, blogging, work-flow, and advertising.
Real-a-Save is a great company- sure, I’m biased because I own the company, but I really believe in what I’m doing. I love coming in to work- which is much more than I can say about my time in a traditional real estate company. The traditional company is set up to benefit the Brokerage. That’s it. The brokerage employs as many Broker Associates as possible (reminiscent of “Boiler Room“) and hopes that a few of them will pan out. They charge lopsided splits of up to 50% or more. Then there’s the whole “administrative fee”…but I’ve already written about that one and it’s a total joke. Not here. You’ll keep at least 90% of what you earn, and there’s no “administrative fee”.
So pass along this post if you’ve got a friend who works the Fort Collins real estate market, or just tell them to email me at bob@realasave.com. And remember that we’ve got the best Colorado rebate program around where home buyers receive 50% of our commission, see www.realasave.com for more details.
You’ve got a contract on your home and you’ve just sailed through inspections without a hitch. All’s well, right? Maybe.
It used to be that once you get through inspections it was all downhill from there. Closing is just around the corner and unless the buyer decides to bail on the contract then the property should close (Incidentally, buyers are really in charge and have lots of protection in Colorado. More on that another time ). But with the way that the lending industry is reacting, and often overreacting, to the recent housing meltdown, there is a new hurdle that’s often more treacherous than inspection: The Appraisal.
I have no problem with an honest, experienced, reliable appraiser doing his or her job and placing a proper value on a home. And if that value is less than the contract price then so be it. Appraisers serve a very important function in the real estate world. And honestly, if there were more rigorous appraisals in years past then maybe we would have had the severe run up in housing prices we saw over the last decade or so…that’s debatable, but an interesting issue none the less.
The problem I have with the way that appraisals are currently done is that we are getting inexperienced appraisers who are often NOT familiar with the neighborhood trends and micro-market they’re working in. Does this sound like typical BS from a Realtor who just wants the deal to close? Sure, I understand skepticism like that. But all real estate IS local. And you truly need to understand how pricing works from one city and one neighborhood to the next if you’re going to put a proper value on a place.
What to do? Well, since there’s really no way for sellers to change appraisal laws/rules and force lenders to hire experienced, impartial, LOCAL appraisers, then we have to do the next best thing: make sure you have pricing support IN HAND at every moment when your home is for sale. Sounds obvious, right? Well, not to everyone. Maybe you’ve had your home listed for 9 months and you started out at $350k, and dropped to $345k a few weeks ago. You remember the comps from 9 months ago and they clearly supported a price of 345-350k, so you priced on the high side (which is not the best tactic anyway…). But it’s quite possible that the market has dropped significantly since then. And when an appraiser comes to value your home they’re only going to be interested in the last 3 months of sold comps. And there had better be about 3 of them.
So be sure you are constantly updating your sold comps as you sit on the market. Numbers don’t lie. If home values are dropping significantly in your area then it’s best to SET the market then to chase the market. Price just under what the numbers support, generate some interest and get your place sold.
Remember that www.realasave.com can help you save lots of cash on commissions with our Colorado commission rebate program and flat-fee listing service, so email bob@realasave.com for more info.
If you’re a first-time home buyer here in the Colorado Front Range region you should have someone on your side. Whether it’s Real-a-Save or some other agent, or even a lawyer, it really doesn’t matter. The main point is that you should have someone who is representing your best interests.
Many home buyers start their home search by calling listing agents directly. Now, that’s fine if you plan on using that particular listing agent as your representative, but maybe not so fine if you plan on having a Buyer’s Agent represent you. If it’s your intention to use Real-a-Save, or some other real estate company as your agent then it may be best if you direct all information requests and especially showing requests through your agent and NOT through the listing agent.
Just out of courtesy, it’s advisable not to waste the listing agent’s time. But you also want to avoid raising the specter of Procuring Cause. Procuring Cause is a sticky issue in real estate and one that cause many a mediation session between Realtors. When an agent claims procuring cause they’re basically saying that they’re the reason you bought the house. Some listing agents have tried to claim procuring cause when they’ve opened doors for a buyer (like you) and then that buyer later comes back with their own agent to make an offer. Personally, I think this is a ridiculous practice and those listing agents should be ashamed of themselves for this level of greed.
Be very careful when you begin your home search. Feel free to email bob@realasave.com if you have any questions about Buyer’s Agency.
Table Mesa remains one of the Boulder real estate market’s darlings even in these fairly difficult times. While it’s true that many of the 1MM ++ homes on the market in Boulder are just lingering on the market, Table Mesa is still holding its own in sales.
There are 15 residential detached homes currently for sale in Table Mesa ranging in price from $409,000 to $1,095,000. Average days on market is currently 107, and the median home price in Table Mesa is $609,000.
You can search the Boulder MLS on our cool map search. You can even draw right on our map and save your “sketch”. Our system allows you to create as many of these little “sketches” as you’d like and to save them with your specific search criteria so that our system will run your search automatically every night and email you any homes that fit your criteria. Pretty nice, right?
Shoot me an email at bob@realasave.com if you have any Boulder real estate questions, or if you’re interested in our Colorado commission rebate program. Remember, that’s the program where we pay you to use our services. Our average client receives a cash rebate of approximately $7,000.
Are you an SEO expert? Sure, me too. And your Mom. Probably your brother too. Everyone seems to be an SEO expert. SEO (in case you don’t know) is Search Engine Optimization. This is the process whereby you, or a high-paid consultant, makes your website “friendly” to Google and other search sites. Anyone with a web-based business knows that they must be found on Google under a certain set of search terms. You want John Q. Public to be able to find you when they enter a certain set of search terms in Google…and there are plenty of people out there who will let you pay them thousands of dollars to figure out how your company can rank higher for certain search terms on Google. Our company, for example, should be visible for certain Boulder real estate and Denver real estate related terms. And we’ve had lots of solicitations from SEO experts claiming that they can help us rank higher on these terms. Because, truth be told, we don’t rank at the top for many of these terms…yet. But we’re continuing the “Good Fight” by cranking out relevant information on the Colorado real estate market, and by creating more and better MLS home search features on our site as well. It’s going to take us a lot longer to reach the top of Google results for many of these search terms, but that’s ok. We’re a small operation and simply don’t have $10,000 per month to spend on some SEO expert who will do whatever it takes to get us onto those top Google pages. But our slow and steady approach to SEO will, I think, give us much better long-term traffic. The logic is simple: you can pay someone to give you traffic by any means necessary; or, you can EARN the traffic by slowly and surely becoming the best resource for your particular area of expertise.
Email bob@realasave.com if you have any Denver/Boulder real estate questions, or simply visit us on the web at www.realasave.com
Several “new” real estate models have proven themselves unable to survive long term. BuySide Realty and Iggy’s House come to mind. But just because these discounters fail does not mean that all discount/rebate models will suffer the same fate.
Real-a-Save has been profitable since our first year in 2007. Our business model differs in a number of ways from companies like BuySide/Iggy’s House. One of the main reasons that BuySide/Iggys failed is due to the low-touch nature of their business. Instead of proving that discounters cannot survive, the failure of BuySide/Iggys simply proves that you can’t sacrifice service on your way to big savings. Consumers have way too many choices right now to put up with poor service from a real estate company- or any company for that matter.
Just think of the success of online shoe company Zappos. Why in the world would a shoe retailer have such success? Service, plain and simple.
Take a look at our testimonials and it’s clear that we at Real-a-Save are fanatics about our customer service. Email bob@realasave.com if you have any questions.
Realasave.com is not only a great real estate company, we are also a technology company. We leverage technology to support our green, paperless business and to build great tools for our users. We also rely on great tools to keep us organized and communicating well within our organization.
