Smartphones and the House Search

The Mercury had an article today about one more way that our tech savvy buyers are using to house hunt. Realtors in the Silicon Valley know that a huge percentage of our buyers use the Internet to search for homes and to check out open houses. That's why we make sure that we cover all the bases ans have quality photos, virtual tours, and detailed information available to them.
Now they have another way to look at what's on the market...their cell phones and wireless devices. How simple it is to see a house you like, get driving directions, and call your agent, all on one gadget. Realtor.com has had a downloadable feature for over a year, and Trulia, recently connected with our Coldwell Banker system, has a search (Trulia Mobile) that will show you open houses and listings nearby without typing in your location.

My Take of the Freddie, Fannie Bailout

I guess that I'm not the only one working on a Sunday.
Today, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the anticipated plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans, about half the nation's total. An alarming number of those loans have started going into default, draining the companies' financial reserves and sending a chill through credit markets worldwide. As investors grew more nervous, borrowing costs started rising.
For homeowners behind on their mortgage payments, or who owe more than their homes are worth, this plan doesn't offer much help, but it will be good news to homebuyers and some homeowners hoping to refinance if it leads to lower mortgage rates, as experts expect. Falling rates...by as much as 1/2% in the next few weeks...should attract more potential buyers into the market.
Maybe government control will allow the companies to focus on their mission of supporting the housing market. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the new agency created by Congress this summer to regulate them, is planning to work with the companies on loan modification efforts and to report on their results in the coming months. Most mortgage brokers expect Fannie and Freddie's lending standards to remain unchanged, with tight requirements on buyers' credit, but some of the extra fees that have been passed on to buyers may be reduced.
Just remember, the costs for all this, estimated at tens of billions, will come out of taxpayers pockets.

Feeding the Realtors

The San Jose Mercury printed an article from the Los Angeles Times this morning, titled, "Nourishing the Feeble Market." In it, they described serving food on the Realtors' tours as if it were a new idea, created out of desperation by agents in a down market. Certainly, there were agents who didn't bother with the extras in the all-too-brief periods when a sign on the lawn meant an instant sale, and there are still a few lazy salespeople who don't bother to expose their listings fully to agents who might have a buyer...but a professional Realtor is at the house to greet fellow agents, and to offer food and drink. When we are out touring, we will check out most properties, whether they offer goodies or not, but food adds an extra incentive. Long-time agents even have their specialities...Dave Clark brings chicken wings, Carolyn Miller offers cheesecake, and I bake homemade brownies. (I tried cookies once, but everyone asked where the brownies were!)
We leave the catered meals to the Beverly hills agents with their listings in the $35million range, but it's not news that the way to a Realtor's heart is through his/her stomach.

The Scoop on Santa Clara

Our speaker at today's Board of Realtors meeting was Carol Anne Pointer, city planner for the City of Santa Clara. With most of California's cities (and counties, and the state!) complaining about their lack of funds, it was a pleasure to hear about one that has a healthy budget, and money to invest in its infrastructure. Santa Clara's funds come primarily from two sources: rent from city-owned land and Silicon Valley Power, which is also owned by the city. This company, which provides reasonably priced power to city residents, obtains 70% of its energy from alternate sources, such as wind and solar power. Less expensive power, combined with a smooth planning system, are attracting new residential construction huge commercial growth by companies such as Yahoo...quite a coup for a city of 115,000.

When the Leverage Disappears

One of our biggest selling points in real estate sales used to be the buyer's ability to leverage a relatively small amount of money into a large and growing investment. But low down payment loans are becoming a rarity, now that lenders are becoming more discriminating with their credit.
Leverage is a good synonym for credit. It lets you lift more than you could with your own financial muscle. In 2007, 45 percent of first-time home buyers put no money down on their purchase, and the median home buyer financed a full 98% of his mortgage. But these generous terms began to fade in late 2007, and had nearly disappeared by early 2008. It's not wonder that existing home sales fell 13.2 in July over the same month last year, while new home sales dropped even more...by over 35 percent.

What is it That These Realtors Do?

Clients seem to realize that much of a Realtor's function is in the "paperwork"...writing and negotiating contracts...especially here in California, where attorneys are rarely used in these transactions. They might have guessed that much of our work now involves computers, in property searches, researching values, and inputting listings on the MLS. They might also note that we are in the people business, holding homes open, and helping buyers to choose the perfect home.
What they might not be aware of is how much work is done behind the scenes. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been preparing a townhouse listing for sale. This has involved meeting with a painter and carpet installer, choosing colors, negotiating price, and scheduling. Inspections had to be ordered and inspectors met, a cleaning service arranged, and nearly daily meetings held with my handyman to make certain that all the big and little jobs were done. Tomorrow he will be planting the patio flowers that we choose and I will be mini-staging the place. Then on Thursday, the photographer that I hire arrives. All this needs to be done before the property ever goes on the market. Then the real work begins.

Labor Day, and the Remodelers are Working

I spent a good part of the weekend in downtown San Jose dressed in petticoats, and demonstrating square dancing with my club. Next to our performance area was Parkside Hall, filled with vendors of all sorts. As I walked through the building, I noticed that a very large number of the booths were taken by home remodelers of all sorts...dual pane windows, sliding doors, solar panels, kitchen and bath displays, and a big Home Depot setup...It was almost like a home show. I couldn't help but think that this industry must really be hurting when the economy takes a dive, and the former "easy money" from refinances has dried up.