Archive for July, 2008
Whimsical Wednesday: The Rocket’s Red Glare
· CommentsI hope you enjoyed the 4th of July weekend. I had a great day. Hot dogs for dinner. As silly as that sounds, I love hot dogs and don’t eat them often. But a grilled hot dog with all the trimmings and pasta salad, excellent tomatoes and so forth. . . Delightful.
Then, there were the fireworks. For the past couple years, I could watch them from my driveway. But, it is amazing how fast trees grow, and I was afraid our view would be blocked, so we walked down to the corner to make sure we had a clear view.
As usual, we were early and the fireworks were late. So, we sat in those foldup camp chairs and watched the activity. We were sitting at the edge of a neighborhood street, and we complained about the cars going too fast trying to get even closer to the fireworks display. But, then there was no light from the cars, and no streetlights. But, lots of people joining us in the street.
It was fascinating watching the shimmery figures of people in the dark. They seemed to suddenly appear from nowhere, flickered in the dark as they walked along - then either disappeared as magically as they had appeared, or planted themselves in what they thought was the best viewing position.
Then, the fireworks started. We were right – our seats were perfect. We watched in awe as shapes and streaks exploded in the sky. Sometimes I jumped when the explosion of light was particularly loud. I’m glad that there were a lot of my favorites – the ones that end up looking like a brilliant weeping willow tree, curving out of the sky and sparkling toward the ground.
The finale filled the sky with light, sound, and a regal salute to our freedom. I’ve seen fireworks many times, but each time is different. And, each time I’m grateful for America, and for the grand serendipity that resulted in my being born here.
Blogging seems like a fairly safe activity. You’re working hard to provide information that your readers will find useful. And, after all, you’re writing a real estate blog – how much trouble could you get into doing that?
Since there have been two major lawsuits recently, it seems like a good time to mention the problems that you can get into, even with a friendly little real estate blog.
If you look at the suits like the one involving a Florida agent, you’ll see that something written by an educated, savvy REALTOR® turned into a $25 Million lawsuit. I imagine that the agent wrote the post without having any idea that it would start a lawsuit!
So, this might be a good time to think about how you write your blog posts. There’s a great list of things to think about on an Inman article. If you don’t want to read the entire thing, scroll down to the bottom where the list is.
Good News About Falling Home Prices
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Falling home prices is not good news. The good news is that most markets have less chance of prices declining in the next two years according to PMI Mortgage Insurance Company. You may remember the earlier post here that identified PMI as a good place to get a broad view of what the market is doing.
According to an article in Inman News, PMI’s analysis indicates that the risk of declining home prices fell during the 1st quarter in 326 of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that PMI tracks. A total of 381 MSAs are tracked, so that translates into improvement in 86% of those areas.
As you might expect, price declines are more likely to happen in those areas where prices increased the most when the market was hot. PMI estimates that there is a 40+% chance that prices will fall in 16 of the largest 50 MSAs. You can review the chart and see that those areas are mostly in Foreida and California. I’m surprised that Detroit isn’t on the list.
But, the good news for Detroit is that Michigan was one of the states, along with Ohio and Indiana, where new foreclosure rates actually declined.
If you want more information, visit the Inman article or follow the links in the earlier post on PMI.
Heating Up Negotiations in a Buyer’s Market
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If you’ve got a listing in a market that isn’t very energetic, you and your seller know how frustrating it can be – the house is shown – prospects come and go – but no offers are made.
It’s true that nothing happens until somebody sells something. And, you can’t sell something unless you at least have the opportunity to start negotiating.
RISMedia published an interesting article in their best practices series that describes a unique way to get those negotiations going. To me, the article describes an approach that exemplifies true out-of-the-box thinking.
The idea comes from Todd Walters, an Atlanta agent with RE/MAX. You can read about his outstanding accomplishments and his idea at the RISMedia article.
In summary, Todd has been successful with what he calls a “reverse offer”. He and his team have their sellers sign a purchase-and-sell agreement when the house is listed. Then, every potential buyer who sees the house receives an offer from the listing agent and seller within days of their viewing the home.
The article also addresses the thought that immediately came to my mind. Wouldn’t a reverse offer result in the potential buyer making an extremely low offer? Could be, but if the worse thing that happens is that a tough negotiation results. . . How bad can that be?
Have you ever tried this approach? Do you think it would work for you?
Happy 4th of July!
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Happy 4th of July!
Don’t forget that our troops do a great job of keeping the spirit of July 4th alive! Here are several ways you can show your support:
Send an email at America Supports You!!
Let’s Say Thanks – Xerox Corporation sponsors this site. Just choose a card design – the designs are donated to the site by school kids - then, write a greeting or choose one that’s already written. Xerox prints the cards and sends them to our troops serving overseas.
AMillionThanks.org – This organization is dedicated to showing support for and assisting our military. You can write letters and drop them off at many locations nationwide. It’s a good idea to check out the website first to review the guidelines for what to send.
“Operation Homefront is one of a select few charities privileged to operate under a Department of Defense auspices. Operation Homefront provides emergency assistance to our troops, to families troops leave behind, and to wounded soldiers when they return home. Operation Homefront leads more than 4,000 volunteers in 31 chapters nationwide. Since its inception, Operation Homefront has provided assistance to over 45,000 military families in need.”
