Did you know that Fort Lauderdale has an organization called the Greater Fort Lauderdale Sister Cities International? GFLSCI’s goal is to develop municipal partnerships between U.S. cities and states with similar jurisdictions in other nations. more...
The results for the XXIX Real Estate Olympiad are in.
Wow, what a huge undertaking it has been to tally the scores, taking all factors into consideration, weighted scores, removing highest and lowest scores and of course double checking the hanging chads. Thank you to all paticipants, nominees,voters and judges!
So the Medal Winners of the 2008 Real Estate Pacesetter Award, as voted by the Inman Real Estate Trends Group, are: more...
The Florida Finance Network, a nonprofit consortium of organizations, exists to ensure that small to medium sized Florida companies have access to affordable capital they need to succeed. FFN delivers financing assistance from state and federal programs. Most Florida businesses established for two years are eligible. Start-ups are also funded, but might require assistance from the Florida Small Business Development Center Network.
Member organizations are: more...
So, I've been author of the Hamptons Real Estate Blog for just under two years now. The blog has been viewed nearly 90,000 times, yet I am not getting as much "business" from the blog as I anticipated. More importantly, I just closed my Remax office and I want to open an Exclusive Buyer Agency in the Hamptons, where I have been listing/selling/managing/brokering for ten years. I'm looking for a model that has successfully used the blog as an income/lead/business generating platform for a Buyers Brokerage in a luxury market. more...
Mason Pruner, Branch Manager of Wells Fargo on Glades Road in Boca Raton recently sent me this update from Washington on The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. If you haven’t already heard, I’m sure you would like to know the new facts. more...
This is in follow up to the post last week titled Real Estate Olympics
Recap of Beijing
Mark Spitz's 36-year old record of 7 gold medals at one Olympic event, across all Olympic sports, was shattered when 23-year-old swimming machine Michael Phelps grabbed his 8th gold in Beijing and 14 all-time gold medals. Who will ever forget his 0.01 of a second photo-finish with Serbian - Wow. more...
As a real estate professional you have an important task of keeping your clients satisfied. One of the key factors in keeping your clients satisfied requires you to be available to your client when they are available. After all, they've chosen you to work for them. (I know, I should be nicknamed "Captain Obvious"!) However, there is a fine line that can be crossed, and that's the line between your personal and professional life. When that line is crossed, it can eventually cause small sparks that lead to a fire in the relationship between you and your clients down the road. more...
It is my pleasure to share another exciting incentive enrolled by the governor’s office toward making Florida an environmentally sound and beautiful locale for living.
On June 24, 2008, the South Florida Water Management District began negotiating an agreement to acquire as much as 187,000 acres of agricultural land owned by the United States Sugar Corporation to reestablish a part of the historic connection between Lake Okeechobee and America's Everglades. more...
BREATHE EASIER IN FLORIDA: Reducing Greenhouse Gases
As of the 16th of July 2008, a Memorandum of Understanding was drawn between the United Kingdom’s Carbon Trust and the State of Florida. The memorandum, signed in London by Michael Rea, COO of The Carbon Trust and Governor Charlie Christ, is summarized as follows: more...
With the XXIX Olympiad - The 2008 Summer Olympic Games - officially underway in Beijing China I thought it would be interesting to have a small online real estate olympiad of our own. more...
Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Association of Realtors aggressively supported the now-passed Amendment 1, originally known as the Save Our Homes Amendment begun in 1995. For those residents unsure of how Amendment 1 affects their real estate plans, here are facts from Florida Realtor Magazine: more...
Looking back on the unprecedented growth in the real estate market for the past ten years, the well-muscled housing prices seemed to have been on . . . well, steroids. While lenders matched loans and interests rates to the swelling real estate market, many observers knew the day would come when the high would hit a low.
An interesting article in Continental Airline’s July in-flight magazine called, The Silver Lining Strategy, by Chris Warren, cites real estate developers and investors across the country excited about the new real estate diagnosis. more...
Mayfair International Realty (one of Premier Estate Properties’ affiliates), based in London, England, provides me with valuable market data and an opportunity to promote some of Fort Lauderdale’s finest luxury residences. The latest report from Mayfair International Realty revealed the following facts:
1. Some Florida Statistics more...
The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (the Housing Act) was signed into law last week as the most sweeping housing legislation since the Great Depression. The new Act authorizes the Department of the Treasury to stem the tide of home foreclosures and provide a lifeline to mortgage lenders.
It’s significant as the last legislation addressing a large group of homeowners was the National Housing Act of 1934 that created the Federal Housing Administration and authorized the creation of Fannie Mae. more...
GOOD NEWS ON FLORIDA'S HOUSING PROGNOSIS
Florida Trend Magazine has an interesting article in the July 2008 issue. A ‘prognosis’ made by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness states that the U.S. will begin recovering from its “mild” recession right about now. Good news. Florida, however, is supposed to be delayed in its recovery due to the statewide housing slump. more...
IDENTITY THEFT AND THE STEALING OF CONFIDENTIAL DATA
“Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation - especially in the suburbs,” says Congresswoman Melissa Bean. The FTC receives over 250,000 reports of identity theft every year and USA Today reported that in 2007 an estimated 260 million records were stolen - that amounts to 8 records stolen every second of every day.
In real estate this is also a growing concern. Here are three possible vulnerable areas of our industry that I see: more...
After experiencing the wonderment of it all, from ReBar to the incredible group of leaders of our industry talkinig about "When will it turn?" I was deflated by the walk away message that we social media types were told to get off the computer and go out just be social.
In the wrap up Joel Burslam said the take away message he got was to go out and do it the old fashioned way. more...
Margot Larkin, Assistant Vice President and Mortgage Office from Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust, recently commented on the emerging trends towards luxury real estate, which she claims is always the first asset to be super-sized, ultra-designed, and updated with the latest technology and trends.
• Design and Layout
Today’s high-end luxury residences are brimming with amenities never dreamed of years ago. “Smart” homes have been the rage for a few years, but now you can “call” your residence and pre-set the temperature, lighting, television, and more. more...
Guy Johnson from Reno Realty Blog interviews leading real estate bloggers about their blogging habits at Inman Connect NY. A lot of well-known bloggers make appearances here, along with many faces new to the blogging scene. Just a taste of how much fun an Inman Connect Conference can be... ;)
In the latest issue of Focus on Fort Lauderdale published by the City of Fort Lauderdale good news prevailed!
Continued confidence in the financial management of the City of Fort Lauderdale by the Wall Street's leading credit rating institutions is resulting in strong bond ratings and an optimistic outlook for the City. more...
Wow...we had secured a short sale listing with IndyMac and we were told from the get go...90 days minimum before we receive our short sale approval. Kim and I were bummed when we here told this unreasonable amount of time.
We would check in every day or every other day...just as Tim Harris of Harris University told us...and low and behold, we received approval in 37 days! No counter offers...not even a call from a short sale negotiator. IndyMac held a $580,000 lien and we were approved for a $248,000 offer. more...
When the stock market took a nose dive, real estate brought growth.
When the economy did poorly, real estate introduced wealth.
When 911 all but destroyed our faith, real estate restored the American Dream.
In many occasions, and in many years, real estate has been the rock to depend, or in some cases even the rocket to ride to riches. But times have changed and the bright years of 2000-2005 have become a dull memory. more...
Wordpress and Blogger blogs seem to be among the most popular platforms for bloggers online. Over at Single Property Sites, we just launched a Real Estate Marketing blog and we used Wordpress to do it. more...
What are banks thinking? Listing a “new” REO at above market price! Scaring potential buyers off from the start, as our buyers watch the surrounding homes drop at a rate of 5 to 10 percent per month? Reasonable offers made on these properties and are being rejected, only to have the property sit 120 days plus, declining in value along with it’s neighbors…..
Does your website appear at the top of real estate-related search engine results?
If so, enjoy it while it lasts.
The adoption of a universal MLS data language could hike the demand for real estate search-engine keywords online.
NAR has mandated that all MLS companies nationwide adopt a standardized language called RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard) by June, 2009.
RETS will allow approved Realtors & industry vendors to gain third-party access to MLS listing data like never before. more...
6-19-2008: I'd like to see a discussion on the FHA Rescue Bill, which also includes major improvements for the Reverse Mortgage. I see a need for the bill, especially among the elderly whose income cannot keep up with rising food, gas, taxes, utility costs (Dominion Elec. is raising their rates by 18% in July. 18%!!! more...
Many expect a further correction in home prices in India. Since the volumes of property transactions are going down, hence the asking price for property will also go down. Additionally, over-supply of property is posing as a major reason for the slow down in Real Estate prices.Recent media reports have also suggested the same trend. Reports suggest that Real Estate Prices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, and National Capital Region have corrected 15-20% in the first quarter of this year. Market-watchers say that this trend will be repeated across the Tier II cities and suburbs too. more...
After spending over a year developing an online lead generation web application for fellow Real Estate agents, it has come to my attention that most Realtors still do not understand how to transform their own business into a mobile money-making machine. more...
I have seen action in a comatose market, bottom feeders are looking for the next bargain and desperate home sellers are welcoming the chance to see their property sold (finally)
This new opportunity is present and the majority of the prospective buyers are coming from out of state and out of country.
South Florida is still in the map!
...well, I think if you don't blog now, you may miss the boat when something leapfrogs blogging.
Either that or your laptop might fall off your lap.
Seriously.
Steve
steven.stearns@obeo.com
Obeoman
I love the internet, but I forget how much time goes by once I get on. It is also like going to the store for one item and then doing all your shopping. I love all the information and just keep clicking away. There must be a name for that, OC maybe? What will we be like in the future; just arms and head, something out of a Scifi movie? I just upgraded my laptop to Broad Band so I think it's all over now. I don't have a Blackberry yet waiting to see the next generation. What will it do next? Great time we are living in. I wonder if I see a real estate office on Mars? more...
I recently took a hit in rankings with Google, so I'm working on ways to get my site back up on the front pages.
From reading discussions on Inman and other blogs, I now know I need to concentrate on getting backlinks from commenting and directories.
What are the best directories (like dzom.org) to register a real estate blog?
Thanks,
Eliese Pivarnik
www.SteamboatHomeSales.com
Today I’d like to share an emotional story we received from Stephane, a real estate investor just starting up, looking to find his first property. I am withholding onto last name for privacy purposes. So, here we go…
I have been using several websites looking for foreclosures and other possible deals. I had about 50K to start with and I was looking at a fixer-upper, SFH 2 or 3 bedrooms, something in need of some repairs that can command a high price discount, even a foreclosure. more...
Any mortgage bloggers want to be a guest contributor on my blog ?
AnnArborRealEstateTalk.com
I am interested in posts on
1) short sales
2) FHA
3) Unique mortgage programs
4) Opinions on how the sub prime got to be a mess
5) Stated income loans
Thanks
Riffing off of Jay's RSS post about the copious number of feeds many of us read - I've been trying to find a way to aggregate some of the real estate blogs and determine what others are reading.
One way I'd like to try this is by using a new service called Toluu - what follows is a description of the service and what it does, but if you want an invite, please email me. jim@realcentralva.com
-----
From the developer -
I have also included a description of Toluu below and a Link to Louis Gray's review of the site which walks through the main points of the app. more...
Hello again!
I was just curious how many of you use guest authors on your blog? I try to write every day on my reverse mortgage blog but it's tough. I have been thinking about trying to bring on some guest contributors but wanted to see if anyone had experience doing that or having guests write on your blog. Are there any networks of guest blog writers out there?
Let me know your experiences, i'm interested to see who does what..
Thanks,
Rogan McGillis
Founder, Sr. Editor
ReverseMortgageCity.com Media Center
www.reversemortgagecity.com/blog
I'm assuming that most people in this group use an RSS reader to read blogs. (That may not be a safe assumption....)
Was curious as to how many RSS feeds folks are subscribed to.
I use Google Reader and have .... 425 feeds. Seems ridiculous, but it is what it is.
I don't understand what is happening in the marketplace. Buyers are taking for ever to buy and sellers thinl their house is worth more than the other houses in the area. A lot of the sellers I talked to already took out their equity in their homes and wonder why they can't get what they want fot their home. I see what they mean when they say "YOUR HOME IS WORTH LESS THAN YOUR MORTGAGE" Now you tell me who is at fault for the downfall in housing??????????????????????????????????????????????
How many blogs do you have? Contribute to? Can you get "over-exposed" by too much blogging? (not to mention burned out!)
In addition to my main blog, I also contribute to AgentGenius.com, HomeGain's Blog and GeekEstateBlog.com. And NARWisdom! (thanks Jim!)
One more and I think my head will explode...
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to introduce myself. I"m pretty new here, it looks like the site is pretty new itself. Not sure if you all have the same issues with some of the sections as me?
Anyways, I just wanted to introduce my Reverse Mortgage blog. I try to update articles every day but it's tough. If you have any comments I would appreciate them, and if you had anything you would like to see on the blog feel free to email me. I have a lot of things planned for the site in future that should be pretty neat as well so remember to bookmark it or join our email list.
Thanks! more...
Would love some input on my blog at
Lake Powell Real Estate Blog
This is my first venture into blogosphere but have managed a couple of static sites in the past. This is a whole new ball game.
I just started the blog, so some of the static pages are, as of yet, without content. I am in the process of getting my AZ RE license so two more weeks and I'll be official in Arizona and Utah. more...
I've been blogging for several months, but I haven't had many readers or comments. My intended audience is prospective buyers and sellers of residential real estate . What is best way to promote my blog and build readership?
Are things getting better in your market? more...
