tag:searchlightcrusade.net,2024:/mt//feed/competition 2024-05-06T10:53:00Z Movable Type 4.21-en 116 1 116 tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4898 2009-12-09T15:15:00Z 2009-12-09T15:22:27Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Today we have the final installment in the series on the new Good Faith Estimate formThe 2010 Good Faith Estimate (Page Three). Your government that should be protecting you from the worst sort of mortgage provider lies is now actively... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4896 2009-12-08T15:00:00Z 2009-12-08T14:49:51Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The second installment in the series The 2010 Good Faith Estimate (Page Two) is now up. Read it and weep - for consumers nationwide who were hoping the government would provide the solution to their troubles. Didn't happen. Instead, it's... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4894 2009-12-07T17:00:00Z 2009-12-07T17:23:38Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ It's been a while, but the most recent Transaction From Hell (seller's tenants didn't want to move out - or even let inspectors in) is finally over and I've had a little bit of chance to recover. Today's new consumer... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4873 2009-10-28T14:20:00Z 2009-10-28T14:17:04Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ It's been a while because I've been both busy and depressed over dis-improvements in the market and their effects upon consumers, but yesterday I found time to write a new article Changes In The Mortgage Market And Transparency Since 2005.... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4825 2009-08-10T14:00:00Z 2009-08-10T13:47:40Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Two Things Sellers Need To Understand About Buyers, a discussion of two things both important and basic that sellers do not seem to understand about buyers, and judging by the available evidence, most... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4799 2009-07-13T14:00:00Z 2009-07-13T13:47:56Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Some Offers Are More Equal Than Others, talking about how to evaluate two different purchase offers even though they may be for the same or similar amounts of money. This is primarily important... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4790 2009-07-07T14:00:00Z 2009-07-07T13:58:18Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is The Loan Shopping Koan, talking about the contradiction offered by dueling interests: The fact that while consumers want the best possible loan, against the opposing fact that it's very easy for loan providers... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4746 2009-06-09T14:00:00Z 2009-06-09T14:08:26Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is The Sperm Donor Theory of Buyer's Agents. The real estate industry is built around the listing of property. Okay, it's actually built around the care and feeding of real estate brokerages, but... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4742 2009-06-08T14:00:00Z 2009-06-08T13:45:26Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Segmented Real Estate Markets And Taking Advantage of Them. I've written about how hot the current market is in San Diego. But if you break it down into market segments and micro... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4726 2009-05-27T14:00:00Z 2009-05-27T13:48:10Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is I'm Competing Against Multiple Offers. How Do I Proceed?. It's an article directed at consumers, not real estate professionals, so it doesn't go over some things such as alternatives to money that are... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4715 2009-05-19T14:15:00Z 2009-05-19T14:14:52Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is The Measurement Unit For Desirability Is Dollars. It really is that simple. A good agent can make a difference, but a property that has more will cost more. It isn't rocket science, but... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4705 2009-05-14T14:00:00Z 2009-05-14T13:51:11Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Buying Real Estate Isn't Simple. You can pretend it's simple, and hope you get outrageously lucky. Or you can prepare and do the work, and come out reliably enough better to more than... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4694 2009-05-11T14:00:00Z 2009-05-11T14:26:12Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is You Want an Agency That Can Pay ENOUGH Attention to YOU. It really doesn't benefit you to list with an agency that is too busy to pay proper attention to your property, nor... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4666 2009-04-21T14:00:00Z 2009-04-21T13:48:08Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ We were ready for a strong turn in the market, but the strength of what we've gotten in the last six weeks is amazing. It has been, if anything, worse that a few years ago. What caused it? People... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4663 2009-04-20T14:00:00Z 2009-04-20T13:56:25Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Shopping For The Best Loan In The New Lending Environment. There have been changes in the lending environment in the last few months, changes that are practically designed to make loan officers with... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4623 2009-03-23T14:00:00Z 2009-03-23T13:46:15Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Buyers: Stretching Your Budget Means Compromise. It's something too rarely covered by the press, and by real estate agents. There are tradeoffs in every choice a buyer makes, and unless they have a... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4608 2009-03-13T14:00:00Z 2009-03-13T13:55:03Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Online Real Estate Photographs. I know why people want to see online photographs, but I don't understand why they obsess about them to the degree they do, even after they assure me that... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4591 2009-03-03T15:00:00Z 2009-03-03T14:37:29Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Reminds me of this gold rush movie (one that I recommend watching if you have a chance) Okay, it's not quite like that, but correctly priced properties are flying into "Pending". It has to do with supply and demand. At... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4578 2009-02-25T15:00:00Z 2009-02-25T14:49:10Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is Why It May Be Costly to Reject Paying Points. The advice "never pay points" actually started out as misleading advertising intending to keep consumers away from what in fact were better loans, but... tag:www.danmelson.com,2009://4.4504 2009-01-20T15:00:00Z 2009-01-22T14:58:01Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The new consumer article for today is There Is Always A Reason For A Low Asking Price. Sellers are not looking for people to sell their property to below market price. Usually, low asking prices should be even lower than...