Coach/Trainer/Realtor
The rain is coming and it is time to check your roof, attic, and crawlspace. Big problems start as small problems. As many inspections that I have been to where the seller had no idea what was going on above and below them, you would be surprised what can be going on.
*If you are viewing the individual post it is on the right, otherwise click on this link for the video. This is a great video put together showing some of the great things about Portland. Show this to anyone thinking about visiting or moving here, and maybe anyone who is thinking about moving away. Coffee, beer, […]
I say the 20th in the video but the book signing for Crush It! is Monday the 19th. Gary runs winelibrarytv.com and has created an empire through social media. He has influenced Realtor Ian Watt of IanWatt.ca who in turn influenced me to start doing video blogging. I find it fun but still a bit […]
There are still 100% loans out there though they are few and far between. For most, the least downpayment you can bring is 3.5%. You can still have the sellers pay for your closing costs so you only need about $7,000 to buy a $200,000 home. I still see people stretching themselves to take this […]
I wrote this in late December of 2007: The Wall Street Journal has a story on surveying economists and their guesses that there will be no recession. One of the biggest questions hanging over the economy remains: How far is the housing market from its bottom? Though many major markets are experiencing steep price declines, […]
The IRS is trying to drop a tax deduction for donating your home to SWAT and the fire department for training. When I first read the Yahoo! headline I thought it was going to be about homeowners burning their homes for insurance money. It is interesting but not what I was looking forward to […]
HOA’s (Homeowner Associations) are a necessary evil for attached homes – row homes and condos. They make sure the homeowners follow the rules that they agreed to when they bought the house. They also keep up the standards for yards and exteriors which includes replacing the roof and siding when needed. Part of the issue […]
Trying to limit repair requests from the buyer doesn’t work for a couple of reasons; 1. If you say I will only pay $X towards repairs then you have already given up that much money. What if the repairs are $100 more or $500 more? Will you let the house go for that? I have […]
This is a synopsis of what I am going through on a short sale. The bank has switched our contact person three times. This last one is because my short sale negotiator had a number up the food chain and got him removed from our file. He had not responded for a week and when […]
This is a tough question and I will soon have an answer for a current client. Part of the required short sale package of papers is a Hardship Letter. They want the homeowner to explain the circumstances that have caused them to ask for a short sale. <UPDATE: The bank approved for them to submit […]
The banks take their own sweat time because it isn’t a CEO making a decision. It is someone at the bottom of the chain and everyone above them is giving them policies and procedures to follow. And you can’t really strong arm them either though I do have someone who has phone numbers at some […]
This is my first video. It’s a trial run and also a thank you to Ian Watt and the REBARcamp Seattle. The rhyming was purely accidental.
It is counterintuitive that too many choices can cause problems with decision making but this has been shown in quite a few studies. In a longer video, Barry Schwartz talks about how too many retirement plan choices by an employer caused lower participation by employees effectively losing them an opportunity to earn money. This happens […]
I said a while back ago that I didn’t necessarily think the tax credit was a good idea, especially at the beginning of the time window. At first it is abstract idea to get a tax reduction that you didn’t feel until the next year, later it becomes real. Also if you were already buying, […]
Get moved with less effort but more people. They will love you for it.
It seems that the tax credit does have an effect on the market though all of the purchases I have dealt with haven’t qualified for it. I think as the media starts talking about the deadline, which is 14 weeks, it will become more and more real. Why are home sales important to the […]
