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I’ve earned my pin | negotiation
Through the years, I’ve learned that the one aspect of real estate that really sends folks around the bend is contract negotiation. There’s something about asking for what you want, and denying what “the other guy” wants, that just gets people all aflutter, and causes them to do things that are not necessarily in their best interest.
I had an epiphany today | Selling real estate
For any given market, the total time it takes to go through the entire process of selling real estate is about the same for all properties. Which is better for you, physical or emotional work?
Real estate as an investment
Just as your home and your body are systems unto themselves, they are also part of a the greater neighborhood and community. You also need to look at your home as part of other systems that are important to you: your own personal financial and comform systems.
Documenting loan transactions | HUD-1
Now, for 2014, the HUD-1 will be revised again, for only the second time in 40 years. This coming revision to the HUD-1 is going to be mostly formatting, but it makes the whole thing look very different, and some information is being added that I’m afraid is going to make it quite confusing until everyone gets used to the new format.
We failed today | foreclosure
We didn’t get the deal done. Instead, the sellers now have a foreclosure on their records, which will severely hinder their ability to purchase another home for a long time to come. The potential buyers must continue to pay rent and enrich someone else, rather than creating benefit for themselves. Meanwhile, a house sits empty, with no one to care for it, and no one to call it home.
Steps to your door | buying a home
More importantly, the system is accessible to the buyers, so they can always see where they are, too. Every step of the way toward buying a home is clearly explained, so buyers always know what they need to do, why they need to do it, and when it needs to be done so that the process of buying a home can move forward.
Renting vs. buying
There are real financial advantages to owning your home. Here’s a way to figure out your situation.
New blog post calendar
To get a better focus on everything I have to do, I’m incorporating a blog editorial calendar into my working style. So far, so good, with only one snafu when a draft post was tagged, “Scheduled” and went out into the world wearing nothing but a title.
Is staging necessary?
The third variable in the selling equation is the packaging. Some marketers think this is the most important piece because it’s the most emotionally-based. It’s how we present the product to the potential buyers in the marketplace. The packaging can leave you cold, or full of warm fuzzies. In real estate, the name we give packaging is “staging.”
Meet me at the office. No, really.
I’ve been doing this far too long to not know that in the long run everyone — you included — will ultimately save loads of time and effort if we all calm down, slow down and start at the beginning.
Failing this test has big consequences
One of the challenges buyers are having with financing might be their own understanding of [...]
Searching the real estate listings
Given that technology is a beast that can apparently never be satisfied, the next logical step was to allow easier access to the real estate listings by people outside the real estate companies. The information in the real estate listings database is valuable, and had always been considered sacred. For real estate companies to willingly allow outside users access to the information was a huge paradigm shift in the real estate business.
