Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers Extended and Current Home Owners Added

Looks like there was an agreement by the Senate to extend the First Time home buyers credit out until the end of April and giving another 60 days to close the deal and current homeowners would get the credit as well.  In addition, repeat buyers now have a tax credit of $6500 to purchase a home and the income limits have been increased as well…here is a link from Marketwatch spelling out things in short order..

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/deal-struck-to-expand-homebuyer-tax-credit-2009-10-28

Realtors Need to open up the Channels of Communication

Hello Again…Time for me to get back on the soapbox and rant about some idiotic thing some Tampa Real Estate Agent did again…so here goes, I will keep it short.

We had the buyer and an offer was put in on a short sale property, $84,000 to be exact.  The lien holder in this case was the county of Hillsborough (don’t completely understand it but that doesn’t matter).  Anyways, for months now we have been trying to get updates from the listing agent on this property, they never call back, very rarely do they have anything to report and she complains alot about other agents not getting back to her with info regarding the short sale itself, hey we can relate to that, and here comes the kicker…

Our assitant talks to her today to find out what is going on, expecting her not pick up the phone, but she does.  She then tells our assitant that the lien holder says no go on the the short sale and they are gonna force a foreclosure…ok, backwards regarding what the county is trying to do with foreclosures, and then tells us that she has known about this for weeks….ahhhhmmmm, Hello, who’s not getting back to who now….what the hell are you doing, total lack of respect in my opinion.  You can’t expect to get respect if you’re not gonna give it in return.

So our buyer is going to move on after waiting months for some form of answer, we are pissed off and this agents name goes into our “crappy agent” file, and we start the process all over again.  Had the agent been upfront with us rather than us trying to pull the info out of them, we could live with that…but to withhold the info…just doesn’t fly.

So Realtors out there, if you have info on a short sale, have some respect for your fellow agents and let them know asap, we are all trying to do right by our clients, but that just aint RIGHT!

OK, I’m gonna get off of my soap box now, but I am leaving it right here ’cause I feel another one coming soon!

Short Sale Realtor Idiots – Are You Kidding Me?!?!

Ok, we all know about Short Sales and how difficult they can be working with sellers, banks, and buyer’s agents.  They are a long and tedious process; collecting paperwork from sellers, faxing short sale packages to lenders and calling them only to find out they “have not received the short sale package” for the umteenth time and the calling every week to see what the status is on your file… keeping everyone informed of the status (most of the time there aren’t any updates or status change since the first call).  You are persistent, you make your calls weekly, even daily sometimes because the person on the other end of the line at the mortgage company tells you to call back tomorrow…  So you see where this is going right?  It is very time consuming and frustrating to say the least.  But somehow that pales compared to the buyer’s agent that does not do his/or her job to inform their buyer’s about the whole short sale process, allows them to put several offers on multiple properties and then… finally when you have made major progress in the short sale process and you call the buyer’s agent to tell them the great news… and they tell you their buyer’s got tired of waiting (mind you this has been only two months and closing date is just two days away) and have moved on.

How long did the agent know this?  Why didn’t the agent notify us as soon as they knew when we have been working diligently to get it closed, all the while receiving weekly email updates and phone calls about our progress?   I asked for a cancellation and the buyer’s agent said; “I was going to let it play out to the closing date.”  “What ?!?!?!”  He went on further to say “NO HARM, NO FOUL.”  Ok, that really made me mad.  What do you mean no harm, no foul?!  We have only been working on this, tying up the seller’s property to get this closed, NO HARM, NO FOUL!  And this people; takes the cake…  His reply was; “What about all work I did?  I showed them the property and wrote up the offer!”  Are you kidding me?

Customer Service…Try it Once in a While!

Customer Service is a choice, no one can make you do it well…  I came across this wonderful story and I just have to share it.

The story teller was at an airport waiting in line for a cab to take him to his final destination.  When the cab pulled up, the first thing he noticed was that the taxi was clean and polished to a bright shine.  The driver was dressed in a white shirt, black tie and freshly pressed black slacks; the driver jumped out and opened the back door for his passenger.

He handed him a card that said; “I’m Wally, your cab driver.  While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

It read:  “Wally’s Mission Statement:  To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment…”

As the cabbie slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee?  I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf or if you prefer I have a cooler with Coke, water and orange juice.  If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, and USA Today.”

As Wally pulled away he handed his passenger another card, “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”

As if that weren’t enough, Wally told his passenger that he had air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable.  Wally went on to explain the best route to his destination, and he would be happy to chat and tell about some of the sights.

Totally amazed, the passenger asked Wally, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror.  “No, not always.  In fact, it’s only been in the last two years.  My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do.  Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called ‘You’ll See It When you Believe It.’  Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself.  He said “Stop complaining!  Differentiate yourself from your competition.  Don’t be a duck.  Be an eagle.  Ducks quack and complain, Eagles soar above the crowd.”

Wally said he decided to change his attitude and made some changes like his clean cab and his attire; the first year as an eagle, Wally noticed he doubled his income.  He predicts he will probably quadruple it this year.  He went on to tell his passenger, “You were lucky to get me today, I don’t sit at cabstands anymore.  My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave me a message.  If I can’t pick them up I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it.”

Wally was running a limo service out of a cab!  The story teller has told this story of Wally to more than fifty cab drivers over the years and only two took the idea and ran with it.  Whenever he goes to their cities, he gives them a call.  The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what Wally did.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice.  He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring eagles.  What about us?

“A man reaps what he sows.  Let us not become wary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up… let us do good to all people.”

So You Think You’re a Rock Star Realtor…Think Again!

As I was driving down the road today, I was thinking about all of these agents out there that think they are Rock Stars.  When I look at them, I see agents that aren’t really rock stars but just act like them.  Over the past few years when the market was ridiculous, these agents were walking on water.  They drove nice cars, had great boats, and talked like they were in command of everything…and they were cocky.  They wore ridiculous clothes, had odd quirks like showing up to parties in all white and no shoes, would have appointments with their physic, and had their color charts done.  Guys what guys, your days are over and your crazy antics with it.

If that is not enough info for ya, here is my opinion on these agents…

1. Doesn’t Act like a Rock Star, but is a Rock Star – You’ve made it, keep up the good work.  The fact that you don’t flaunt it and help others will help you go a long way!
2. Doesn’t Act like a Rock Star, is not a Rock Star – Just keep up the work, never give in or up, and strive for excellence and you will make it.
3. Acts like a Rock Star, is a Rock Star – The end is coming, stop acting concieded and become humble…like all stars, there are many bumps in the road and they’re all coming your way!
4. Acts like a Rock Star, is not a Rock Star – Quit now, stop walking around like you know everything, let people that know what they are doing, do it.  You people end up clogging the system up for all others that are dedicated to being the best that they can be.  Again, quit now!

Well there you have it, my opionin on all this “crap” in our Real Estate system, especially in the Tampa Real Estate Market.  I myself have always viewed my team as #2, never settle for the top, always work past it, and never stop learning.  After all, if you are at the top, there is really no other way but down!

Bidding Wars on Tampa Foreclosures Heat things Up!

It is no surprise to me that we are having bidding wars on Tampa Foreclosures as of late.  Sometimes it is difficult to get clients to understand that the properties they are interested in are not at LIST PRICE!  List price is what prices were back some couple years ago and the banks have taken a pounding on what they were owed vs. what they are valued at now.  I can tell with great certainty, if we do an analysis on what a property is worth, and it comes in pretty close to what the bank says it’s worth, odds are that the bank is not going to go much lower than that.  If you ask for closing costs, keep in mind that this lowers your offer price.

Let me explain so you can see why your offers are not getting accepted.  Lets say that a property is listed and is bank owned.  The price is $100,000 (this is market value).  Ok, so you come in and offer $90,000 and ask for 6% closing costs.  You just added an additional $5,400 off the offer price and now your offer is $84,600.  So now your offer is $15,400 off of their asking price which is market value.  This is 16% off of asking price…not very good.  This would be a much stronger offer if you came in at $100,000 and 6% closing costs.  This is still reduced by $6,000 but is much stronger of an offer even though you are now at $94,000.  The bank looks at the bottom line, so you need to make sure that bottom line is as close to their line as possible.

Also, make sure you hire a professional that understands the business, such as Team Masse Realty Group.  We deal with many clients looking for a deal, but there is a difference from looking for a deal, and trying to rob the bank.  The bank would rather sit on it, then loose thousands below market price, especially since the market is starting to move up!

Bank Sues Itself in Hillsborough County Foreclosure Case

Let me tell you, now, I have truley heard everything now in the Tampa Foreclosures Arena.  Apparently, according to Fox Business News Report, Wells Fargo, holder of the first and Second Lien on a Condo in Hillsbourough County, is filing suit on itself.  Wells Fargo, Lien 1, filled suit on Wells Fargo Lien 2.  And to make things even more hilarious, the attorney that filed the suit for Wells Fargo Lien Holder one is different than Wells Fargo Lien Holder 2, which has hired an attorney to defend itself, against, yes you got it, itself.

Now if the courts systems don’t throw this case out due to pure stupidity, I really don’t know what has happened to the US court system.  I don’t think, someone please tell me if I am wrong, anyone has ever sued itself and/or it has ever made it to court.

But all this stupid talk got me thinking and reminds me of a listing that I have where there is a first and second lien holder on the home.  We have an offer that was approved by the first lien holder but the second lien holder wants full payment.  Guess who the first and second lien holders are,…again, you guessed it, Wells Fargo and Wells Fargo.  Maybe Wells Fargo should sue itself to drop the request for full payment from the Second Wells Fargo.  I almost feel like I am in a soap opera where there is an evil Twin that shows up years later to reap havoc.  Whatever the case, this type of lunacy needs to stop, once and for all!

Tampa Foreclosures are on everyones Minds

Thats all you hear nowaday, Tampa Foreclosures, Short Sales, REO’s, Bank owned homes.  Everyone wants a deal and rightfully so.  For years the market was out of range for many, but now, even the first time home buyers have a chance at owning a piece of paradise.  Homes have never been priced at this point, ever.  You can basically get homes at half price (comparied at where they were a few years ago), and at times even lower.

If you are looking for a great deal on homes in and around the Tampa Bay area, you don’t need to look far.  Hope on over to http://www.findmyfloridahome.net and check things out.  You’ll be glad you did.

Oh and one more thing, first time home buyers have a great deal going on right now.  $8,000 towards down payment.  And actually, it is being looked at expanding that to $15,000.  The current date to close by is Dec. 1st of 2009 so hurry, although they are looking at extending that as well.

Tampa Foreclosures Getting a bit Better

Ok, so this is not an Oxymoron, what I mean is that the Tampa Foreclosures, ie. the Banks dealing with these properties, are getting a bit faster, a bit more reasonable with BPO’s, and a bit more friendly on the phone.  Not sure what happened, but all of a sudden, things just got better.

I can never tell what is going to happen tomorrow, but at least for now, the banks are a little friendlier.  Hopefully this keeps going, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one!

Tampa Commercial Market slows down

The Tampa Commercial Market appears to have slowed down a bit.  It seems that there is a seesaw type of effect occuring between Residential and Commercial.  Residential was down and Commercial was up, and visa versa.  Well Residential is up now due to great pricing, and Commerical is taking a back seat a bit.  Financing is a bit tighter, but there are still great deals for business’s, commerical and investment property, both seller owned and bank owned.

If you are looking for the best deals out there in the Tampa Bay area, please look no further, check us out at http://www.findmyfloridahome.net/commercial