Lifting is hard, but it makes you stronger

I work for a company that makes you lift the heavy things. As a matter of fact it is the focus and not something you do only when you have to. Sometimes this is what I like least about working here. Things that are hard to do are hard to do. As a matter of fact, I don't know anyone who loves to do it, but as any great lifter could tell you, the results are very satisfying. Our President, Joe King, is fond of saying "I want us to be tomorrow's real estate company today". This is a tall order, this is the heavy stuff. Sure it is not that difficult to achieve certain feats of strength once, but the hard part of "tomorrow's real estate company today." is that tomorrow is always the future. In order to keep up with tomorrow, we must do the heavy lifting, today. But the results that we are achieving, for tomorrow, are well worth the push and the strain today. We have become far stronger in all areas of our business, marketing,technology,organizationally, community/charitable involvement and most of all - agent development. None of this has been easy, but the results look really good on us.

Cost vs. Value Report Holds Valuable Appraiser Insight

Cost vs. Value Report Holds Valuable Appraiser Insight

NAR Market overview

CBWS Anderson East Regional
A good market overview from the NAR: http://goo.gl/tBkqI
June Existing-Home Sales Slip on Contract Cancellations, but Prices Stabilize
www.realtor.org
Existing-home sales eased in June as contract cancellations spiked unexpectedly, although prices were up slightly, according to the National Association of Realtors®...

Quick market update

Currently,in our area, home prices are holding fairly steady and will most likely do so for the next 2 months. Until the mortgage companies unleash the back log of foreclosures (caused by the "robo signing" debacle). This hold up has reduced the number of "lender involved" properties on the market, by roughly 25%. When these come onto the market , and at what pace, property values will drop another few percent. This, according to the majority of economists, will happen this fall. Home sellers should price their homes to sell now - they may not see the same values, again, for 2 years.
This fall will be "The" best time, perhaps in generations, to buy a home. Prices will definitely be at their lowest and interest rate will still be around historic lows. We expect a buyer frenzy, as wll as a great time for investors.
About the middle of the first quarter of 2012, will bring about the end of this market and the begining of next. We should begin to see an uptick in prices, which if all goes as economists predict, will continue until sometime in 2015.
It is necessary that we finish this correction. It is also worthy to note, as prices begin to "tick up" late winter/early spring of next year, they will be comming in off their lowest point...they will be comming off the bottom.
The people who buy this fall, if they hold onto their homes for 3-5 years, should see good appreciation. What has come down, will go back up. and once it is up, it will not do so forever.
Take advantage of the market, but I advise buying a house to be a home and not an investment. This fall will be a great time to buy that home.

Positive comments from Diamond Jim Watson

This is so nice to see.

Our Market right now

By now everyone knows that all real estate is local. Different areas are affected to different degrees, but with few exceptions, they are effected in the same way.
Last Winter we were predicting rapid sales this spring, because of the pressure on pricing from banks unleashing large volumes of forclosed properties over a relatively short period of time. This did not happen exactly as predicted, because of the now infamous "robo-signing", which was seemingly just a lazy and improper way for mortgage companies to relieve their books of an abundance of foreclosures. Or as Fannie Mae phrased it:“Our foreclosure rates remain high. However, foreclosure levels were lower than what they otherwise would have been in the first quarter of 2011 due to the delays caused by servicer foreclosure
process deficiencies
and the resulting
foreclosure pause.”
Although sales have been strong, an odd thing has occurred. May sales dropped below expected levels,because of a lack of supply of foreclosed and short sale properties. This meant that the investors were temporarily dropping from the market and home sales were "normal" sales. We actually saw a rise of "Short Sale" prices from 85% of market value to 90% over the past quarter because of a shortage of supply. Our area showed a leveling out of home prices over the past few months. The next 90 to 120 days will probably be the best time to sell your home, because the mortgage companies are expected to unleash the pent up forclosure or "shadow market". When this happens, these will become comparables and competition for all homes on the market, which will place a downward pressure on prices. This will and should bring investors out again.Many forcastors are pedicting historic record numbers of home to be sold. This will be necessary to clear the market of 'bank involved' sales. Then by the 2nd quarter of 2012, prices should rise and we should see a much more normalized market.
It is important to realize that if you have your home for sale or are thinking about it, that what what might seem a loss on the value of your home will be made up in the next home you purchase. Many buyers are buying into homes that they could not previously purchase and the mortgages will be low, because of the price and our current interest rates. Which is different than the circumstance that brought us into this market. Home prices will be what are affordable, not just mortgages. It is an opportunity to buy your dream home. And though you will certainly see large equity gains in 5 years, it is important to change our focus on why we buy homes; a home should be our castle, our safety, our security and our haven - I believe we need to stop viewing them as get rich investments. Real Estate is a commodity and not a product. prices will go up and prices will go down. bubbles will rise and bubbles will burst. But the place your family lives is home.

Randy Wax showed some agents a sneak peak at the new website and went in depth at the functionality, tools and really cool personalization of the agents profile websites. A lot more personality will be able to come through. A lot more agent directed customization and a very user friendly website.