Entries from Searchlight Crusade tagged with 'competition'
Pocket Listings: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Every so often, you will see references to a "pocket" listing. These are usually bad for owners, and usually bad for buyers, but good for agents. A "pocket listing" is one where there agent keeps the listing "in his pocket"...
Fixed rate, Balloon, ARM and Hybrid Loans
One of the things that always seems to be aiming to confuse mortgage consumers is advertising based upon whether the loan is fixed rate, and for how long. First, I need to acquaint you with two concepts: amortization and term....
"All of the Good Properties Get Offers So Fast!"
That's way up there on the list of complaints buyer's agents get. Probably number one, definitely no lower than number three, and it's only going to get worse when the markets recover. There's really only one honest response: "Well,...
Exclusive versus Non-Exclusive Buyer's Agent Agreement
From an email: I was in the process of buying and selling the house when we saw a FSBO house we liked was for sale. But sale fell through, which is a good thing anyway because of contigency on our...
Don't Allow Yourself To Become A Victim of Bad Real Estate Practice
This woman made herself a victim stayed in a hotel for 7 weeks looking for my "Dream Home." And, when I found it, even though it wasn't in my price range, I knew I would do anything I could to...
Desperation Mining: How a Buyer Hits Paydirt (and How Sellers Can Avoid it)
One of my favorite blogs ran a picture of a listing sign that included the caption "REDUCED But Not Stupid or Desperate." I beg to differ on the former. On the latter, time will tell. Most successful real estate investors...
Credit Reports: What They Are and How They Work
I went to a "direct from the providers" seminar on credit reports and credit scores. Some of this information has changed from previous information, and some of it will change in the future. Credit Reporting, FICO scores, and related items...
Procuring Cause and Multiple Agents
Dear Mr. Melson, If you sign two or more non-exclusive buyer's agent agreements in your search for a home to buy, how do you avoid putting yourself at risk for a procuring cause situation from either agent, or even the...
Stupid Negotiating Tricks: Appeal to Pity (or Falling for Appeal to Pity)
A while ago, another agent in my office got an offer and brought it to me for feedback. The listing was range priced over a $30k range, and priced correctly, so there was a lot of activity on it. The...
What to Do When Your Loan is Declined
Loans are declined, or actually, the next thing to it, all the time. It is pretty rare for a loan to be outright rejected; I do not recall ever having had a loan outright rejected. That's a sign of a...
Did That Slap On The Back Leave a Knife?
One of the things the place I work does to attract clients is advertise foreclosure lists to our clients. Several times a week, people call and ask for the lists, and we say, "Great! Just come on down, fill out...
Is Remodeling Likely To Show A Profit?
My general rule of thumb is "Remodel for your own enjoyment. If you're lucky, you'll get some of your money back when you sell." The remodeling industry has made a very large amount of money seducing people into believing...
Top Ten Reasons You Bought The Wrong House
A while ago, I wrote Top Ten Reasons Your Home Isn't Selling. It was well received so I thought I'd take it from the buyer's perspective. Once again, I'll try to inject as much humor as I can. And...
Agents "Buying" Listings: Promising the Undeliverable and Hurting Their Clients
Quite a lot of the time when I view a property, I get requests for feedback. Usually it's an automated email. Other times, it's some office assistant who wants to fax me a form which will "only take a...
Trying to Buy Real Estate Below Market
This question: What real estate office can I trust to help buy below market house in (location) California? brought someone to the site and I have not previously written a real answer to the question. The short answer is "nobody."...
The History of Suburban Housing
For at least the last thirty years, I've been hearing "affordable housing" advocates yammer about the high cost of housing, and how working families can no longer afford "decent" housing, which they apparently consider to be the three or...
You Never Have To Sell to a Any Particular Offer
Must you sell if you list at a specific price and the broker comes up with a qualified buyer? in the US in general, no you do not have to sell, but you could still be liable to the...
Why Cost Is As Important As Rate For Mortgage Loans
When I wrote explaining why borrowers should consider a 5/1 ARM, because the tradeoff between rate and cost is lower for that loan, and most people don't keep their loans 5 years anyway, so having a likely need to...
Mortgage Lenders Don't Want to Compete on Actual Price
Yet that is exactly what you want them to do. To avoid competing on price, they have all kinds of distractions they offer to make life more convenient, but not cheaper. They offer automatic payment options, the convenience of having...
Top Ten Reasons Your House Isn't Selling
No, I never was a David Letterman watcher, for reasons having to do with turning into a pumpkin before his show started. I'm going to treat it a little more seriously than he did, as this is a serious...
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