Google unveiled its latest innovation for real estate this past week and they crushed a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth into the upper deck! Every time Google tinkers around with its website, real estate people get a shiver of anxiety and this latest innovation is likely to give many within the industry a full-blown case of hives.
Since Google announced the ability to see lots of real estate listings directly on Google Maps back in July of this year, they’ve been working hard to make it even easier to use. They’ve added things like brand new high-resolution Street View imagery and detailed map data. Now they’re making Google Maps an even more useful tool for online real estate searching. Here are a couple of things you can look out for next time you visit their website:
There are more and more positive signs that the fog is starting to clear in the residential real estate market. Gone are the dense, pea-soup like conditions from a couple of months ago that caused buyers and sellers to try and drive through it at 5 mph. It appears that they’ve put their collective feet on the accelerator and are now driving more confidently, albeit still with the headlights on.
Point2 Technologies, Inc., the largest independent provider of website and listing syndication solutions for the real estate industry, with users in over 100 countries on its platform, released its Real Estate Confidence Index (RECI) for August 2009 this past week. Over 3,000 real estate professionals covering every U.S. State, Puerto Rico and Guam contributed to this month’s report. Charts of their findings are shown below:
Google just upped the ante in the competitive field of real estate listing search engines. In a move that certainly had a few established players (i.e. REALTOR.com, Zillow, Tulia, et.al.) do a double take, Google Maps incorporated a new tool into its site that links buyers and renters to available properties. The feature was only launched in Australia and New Zealand yesterday, but I understand that selected metropolitan areas in the United States are already able to utilize the service.
The following is an instructional video on how to utilize the service:
Whether you were an original fan or opponent of the downtown convention center, it’s time to unite. It is now officially open for business. Instead of a vacant, aging monstrosity of a building on Penn Square; Lancastrians now have a beautiful, state of the art showpiece that we can now be proud of. You can take a virtual tour of the facility by visiting their website. The website also does a good job of promoting events and businesses in downtown Lancaster. Take the time to visit the facility over the next couple of days and welcome our newest resident to the neighborhood.
The following article appeared on LancasterOnline this morning:
Long Road to a Ribbon Cutting for Convention Center
$174 million project opens this week
For the Penn Square hotel/convention center, today is one part finish line, one part starting gate.
Developers and backers of the $174 million hotel/convention center on Penn Square this morning will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony, one day before the center is scheduled to open.
Yet, while it may look like construction is complete and the lights are ready to come on — after a decade of legal fights, building delays and skyrocketing material costs — today’s event is merely another milestone.
What begins when the facility opens Friday is a 20-year effort to pay back debt and confirm whether promises of a successful lodging and meeting center will prove true.
When I first got into the real estate business year’s ago, occasionally I would run into a seller that told me to sell their home quickly at the highest price but with some of the following caveats:
“Don’t put a sign on my front lawn. I don’t want my neighbors to know that I’m selling.”
“Don’t put my home in the MLS. I want to keep the sale of my house as private as possible.”
My response was always the same; “Are you out of your mind?” Actually, I conveyed my message a little differently but the point was always the same; “Mr. & Mrs. Seller, in order for me to get your home sold in the shortest period of time at the highest price, I need all the tools available to me. That includes . . . . “ At the end of the day, I would get the listing, use all the tools and eventually sell the home.
I can understand this line of reasoning from a seller (hmmm – not really) but from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), I’m floored!
I’m going to be right up front and tell you that this post is not about shoes; so if anybody is looking for tips on what kind of shoes go with that black cocktail dress – sorry to disappoint. I’ve never been mistaken for a fashion consultant anyway. It’s about a shoe company – Zappos.com. Zappos is an on-line retailer of shoes that was founded in 1999 and has grown over the past ten years into a business that does over $1 billion in sales. Over the weekend I read an article about Zappos that blew me away so I thought I’d share the highlights.
In order to understand how Zappos has made such a giant splash in a short period of time, you first have to look at their published core values:
Deliver WOW through service.
Embrace and drive change.
Create fun and a little weirdness. (Imagine GM having this as one of their core values)
Be adventurous, creative and open-minded.
Pursue growth and learning.
Build open and honest relationships with communication.
Build a positive team and family spirit.
Do more with less.
Be passionate and determined.
Be humble.
Now that you’ve read them, take a moment and find one that talks about the product that they sell – Shoes. Go ahead – I’ll wait – tick – tock – tick – tock – time’s up. I couldn’t find one either.
Over the last decade, the role of a REALTOR® has changed drastically. REALTORS® are no longer the gate-keepers of information because of the proliferation of real estate related web sites on the internet. Consumers today can compare mortgage rates of various lenders, read about ways to improve the marketability of their home and obtain comparable home data from the comfort of their home without any interaction from a real estate professional.
While a REALTORS® role may have changed, it doesn’t mean our importance as a trusted advisor has waned. In fact, our function today is more valuable than ever.
I read an article on REALTOR.org by Steve Harney that drives this point home. Steve specializes in negotiation and leadership training and has been in the industry for more than twenty years, first in sales and then as broker-owner of a 500-associate real estate company. He explains that the REALTOR® of today needs to be able to take all that information that is readily available to the consumer and interpret it for them. Here are four questions that Steve lists in his article that today’s real estate practitioner needs to be able to address. Notice that none of them has anything to do with providing a printout or a body of statistics but rather furnishes a valuable interpretation and opinion of why things are the way they are today.
Found an interesting and useful website while browsing over the weekend. The site is yelp.com. The site is all about the power of ‘word-of-mouth’ amplified. It is loaded with reviews of local businesses from real people on just about anything you can imagine in your area. Want to know something about that new Italian restaurant that just opened up down the block? How about which beauty spa gets high marks for service? Where should you buy your next kitten? I also found this website great to learn about businesses and service providers when you are traveling out of town. Happy YELPING!
Most of our elected government officials right now are scrambling around trying to fix Humpty-Dumpty because he fell off the “Housing” wall and is supposedly shattered in a thousand pieces. All the kings horses and all the kings men are trying to put the pieces back together again. But what if Humpty-Dumpty doesn’t need fixing? What if all he has is a bad cold that will run its course regardless of the medicine that is administered? Essentially, that is what Todd Zywicki, a law professor at George Mason University, is saying. Zywicki has done extensive research on the subject of bankruptcy and foreclosure and has appeared before Congress as an expert witness to testify on the subject.
In a recent article* that appeared on Forbes.com, Zywicki takes serious umbrage with the way President Obama and his administration is handling the housing situation in this country. Obama has recently referred to the housing situation as a “crisis” that is “unraveling home ownership, the middle class and the American Dream itself.” Zywicki’s assertion is that this just isn’t the case. Before you unload on me and say that I’m just another conservative (I am) Republican (I am) wack-job (questionable) trying to drag down our country and the Democrats, consider this – - – I voted for him.
Zywicki’s research indicates that different parts of the country experience different sets of problems when it comes to real estate. In other words, one size doesn’t fit all which is essentially what he argues the Obama Administration is trying to do with its housing policy. Zywicki points to three distinct types of housing markets that exist today:
The following article has been reproduced in it’s entirety from Lancaster City Living, a popular website promoting the benefits of living in Lancaster City. After you’re done reading the article, explore the website where you’ll find a brief history of the Red Rose City and the many attributes that set it apart from other cities in the Keystone State and the US.
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CITY HOME PURCHASES GET BOOST OF $5K * Buyers now eligible for federal help on closing costs, down payments.
Buying a first city home just got a little easier for low- to moderate-income residents.
First-time homebuyers in the city will now have access to a pool of $350,000 in assistance for down payment and closing costs through the Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership.
Networking has changed from when I first got into the real estate business over 25 years ago. Back then, you wanted to stay in touch with people (i.e. future listings and sales) via telephone calls or personal visits with the goal that they would remember you when it came time to sell or buy real estate. In addition, you were always asking the question, “Who do you know that could use the services of a professional real estate agent?” While these tried and true techniques still apply today, they are enhanced and accentuated by the phenomenon of Social-Media Networking. Click on the slide show below to get a better understanding of how Social-Media Networking can work for you.
HINT #1: Before playing the slide show, click on the “Full Screen” icon in the lower right hand corner. This will make the presentation easier to read (some of us need help with our eyesight.)
HINT #2: Definitely click on the slide with the embedded video about Trader Joe’s. What a catchy little tune.
HINT #3: When you’re done with the slide show, hit the “Esc” key to return to this blog so you can read more cool stuff.
What’s a “Walk Score”? A Walk Score is a new, web-based rating based upon characteristics of a neighborhood that are conducive to walking to nearby (or farby) amenities. Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc. Walk Score measures how easy it is to live a car-lite lifestyle—not how pretty the area is for walking. With the increase in gas prices, more people are cognizant of how much gas they’re pumping into their automobiles. Many people want to be able to walk out their front door and get a cup of coffee, pick up a newspaper, buy a quart of milk or grab a sandwich without hopping in their car.
Want to know how your address rates? Go to www.walkscore.com and type in your address. My home rates 37 out of a 100. I rate really high on schools, restaurants and drug stores but low on grocery stores. The site tells me that the closest grocery store is 2,434 miles away in San Francisco (well – - – maybe there’s a small bug in the program).
If you’re like me, you’ve had it up to here (place hand over head exactly 1′7″) with all the talk about the “stimulus package.” There was a House version, a Senate version, a Republican version, a Democratic version, the Auto manufacturers’ version, the State Governor’s version, the Sesame Street version, etc. etc. If you want to read the entire piece of legislation that finally got signed by President Obama known as “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009″more power to you. Most people though just want to know how it impacts them in their personal and professional lives. Because you are reading a real estate related blog, I will assume that you have interest in just the portions of this legislation dealing with real estate so I will limit my review to those provisions. Grab a cup of coffee – - – here we go!
Lenders everywhere are paying more attention to your FICO® credit score than ever before. But I hear from clients all the time, “What is a FICO® score?” Let me take a minute to try and demystify this funny-sounding term and why it is so important.
The acronym, FICO, stands for “Fair Isaac Corporation.” This company was founded in the 1950’s by two guys with the last name of “Fair” and “Isaac” who developed a formula that measured an individual’s credit risk. The formula generates a credit score based upon information that is used from a consumer’s credit file. The score can vary between 300 (you’ve got no shot at buying that car) to 850 (you’re good as gold). This score is used by banks and credit providers in their decision to extend or deny credit, charge a higher interest rate, demand more collateral, or require extensive income and asset verification. In other words, it will determine how much they put you through the wringer.
Like the recipe for the Colonel’s Kentucky Fried Chicken, the formula to determine a consumer’s FICO® score is a closely guarded secret. However, the Fair Isaac Corporation has disclosed the following components of the formula and the approximate weighted contribution of each:
• 35% – punctuality of payments in the past (only includes payments later than 30 days past due) • 30% – the amount of debt, expressed as the ratio of current revolving debt (credit card balances, etc.) to total available revolving credit (credit limits) • 15% – length of credit history • 10% – types of credit used (installment, revolving, consumer finance) • 10% – recent search for credit and/or amount of credit obtained recently
As a result of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, each legal U.S. resident is entitled to one free copy of his or her credit report every twelve months. This information is available at the only government-mandated credit reporting agency-operated website, annualcreditreport.com.
How do you make your FICO® credit score better? The website, myfico.com, offers ways to improve your overall score. It’s important to note though that raising your FICO® credit score is a bit like losing weight, it takes time and there is no quick fix. In fact, quick-fix efforts can backfire. The best advice is to manage credit responsibly over time.
Do yourself a favor, before you step one foot inside of an open house, know your FICO® credit score. You’ll sleep better at night.
Some glimmers of hope are starting to emerge on the horizon and some economists are starting to shed their doom and gloom facades and actually smile. Alan Murray, who writes for the Wall Street Journal, is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming year and he shared his thoughts recently in a piece posted on-line. He sees five things happening in 2009:
This will be a good year to invest in stocks. His rationale? He thinks that we’re at, or close to, the bottom of the market and the age-old adage applies - ”Buy low, sell high.” It will be tough for most people to take this advice because they have been burned in the market over this past year but if you can get over your investing jitters, opportunity awaits.
It will be a good year to invest in real estate. He points out that buyers who are entering the market at this time are finding historically low interest rates and an inventory of homes that is second to none. He feels sellers will start becoming more realistic with their pricing which will lead to good opportunities for those who can recognize it.
Americans will learn to live within their means. This trend is happening before our eyes. People no longer heat their homes to 70 degrees – it’s now 66 degrees. A new car that adorned their driveway every three years is now turning into six years. A pair of new jeans that used to be purchased at that trendy store in the mall are now being picked up at WalMart. Multiply these scenarios by 300 million and you understand what effect it is having on the American economy.
President Obama will have a historic opportunity to reshape public policy. Because of the economic crisis, the new President will have an opportunity to do things with the American economy that were unheard of in years past. The stimulus package numbers that are being bantered about are mind-boggling and this money is going to be pumped into new roads, bridges, infrastructure, schools and just about anything else that moves. A lot of companies and people will benefit because of this windfall.
Your (federal) taxes won’t rise. He claims that even though Obama said during his campaign that taxes would be raised for those Americans in the upper tax brackets, no politician is willing to back this in the face of a serious recession. Well if taxes aren’t increased, how is America going to pay for all this “stimulus?” That seems to be the million (or should I say trillion) dollar question.
Time will tell if these predictions become a reality.
Let’s face it - negative news sells! Very seldom are headlines written by the media that have to do with positive things that happen in our society. The real estate foreclosure situation is another event in a long line of stories that the media is sensationalizing to sell their product. The problem is that consumers are actually buying into what the media is spewing forth as the next coming of the Black Plague.
Before I get too far into this post, I want to make two things very clear. The first is that I want to disclose up front that I’m a real estate broker who makes his living listing and selling real estate. I have a biased interest in promoting my product. Secondly, I don’t want to make light of the fact that foreclosures are a terrible thing. When a person loses their job or some catastrophic event occurs in their lives that prevents them from paying their mortgage, my heart goes out to them. Now that my cards are on the table for all to see, let me hop up on my soapbox for a minute.
Real estate foreclosures across this nation are up. There – I said it. I agree with the media. According to the latest statistics compiled by Realty Trac, a well-respected web site that tracks real estate foreclosures, they are up nationwide in November of 2008, 28.9% from the previous year. As a consumer, if I heard that figure, it would cause me to sit up and take notice. But what the media fails to point out are ALL the figures behind the increase. When Realty Trac crunched their numbers for Pennsylvania, they calculated that .073% of households were involved in the foreclosure process at the end of November 2008 (No - I didn’t put my decimal in the wrong place). Put another way, that’s about 1 out of every 1,300 households in the Commonwealth. Do these numbers indicate that foreclosures are up in our state? Absolutely. But does this in any way sound like a financial epidemic of epic proportions? There is no question that some areas of the country have been hit harder than others, but Pennsylvania is just not one of them. In fact, Realty Trac has determined that only 5 states (California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona) account for close to 60% of all foreclosure activity. As mentioned previously, real estate foreclosures are not pretty. But what is disconcerting to those of us in the real estate business is that the mass media is proclaiming that foreclosures are running rampant when in fact, especially in Pennsylvania, that just isn’t the case.
Still looking for real estate open houses to attend by looking through the local newspaper? UGH! You know what an ordeal that is. You scan page after page in the newspaper trying to locate something in the right area and price range that will fit your needs. Between looking through the newspaper and traveling to the open houses, you spend hours of valuable time and at the end of the day you still aren’t any closer to finding that perfect home. You say to yourself, “Oh well, there’s next weekend.”
STOP THE MADNESS!
Introducing the better way to find an open house – - – www.lancasteropenhouses.com. One web site; all the open houses in your area. What could be easier? Oh yeah, and you don’t have to worry about washing the black newspaper ink off your hands after using the site.
So you’ve just bought a house – - – Congratulations! Now the tough part; trying to figure out how to physically get from Point A to Point B without losing your sanity. There are so many small, medium, large and ultra-gigantic details to deal with. How do you remember everything? Well help is just a click away! There is a relatively new website out there that will make your transition smoother than you ever thought imaginable. It’s called “White Fence.” As you click through the site you will find “To Do” lists, phone numbers, discount coupons, etc.
Welcome to my blog about real estate in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Glad you stopped by. Take your time, look around and feel free to leave me a comment on anything you see or read on these pages
All real estate advertising within this website is subject to the US Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 as amended, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, family status or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.
Posted by tblefko 
Welcome to my blog about real estate in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Glad you stopped by. Take your time, look around and feel free to leave me a comment on anything you see or read on these pages
All real estate advertising within this website is subject to the US Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 as amended, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, family status or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.