Lendisphere

 ….why not try this?:

How about, instead of hacking away at the purchase price (and your commission), you put that money toward buying down your buyer’s interest rate for the first two years?    

Let’s say you have a property listed at $300,000.  You could  accept a 3% reduction in the price — and accept a contract down to $291,000.   But what about leaving the price at $300,000 and use that 3% to buy down the buyer’s payments for a full two years?

Scenario 1:  $291,000 @ 4.875%  = $1533  for 30 years

Scenario 2:  $300,000 @ 2.875% = $1241  for 1 year

                                   3.875% =  $1406 for 1 year

                                   4.875% =  $1581 for the remaining 28 years

Just a little something different to try — who wouldn’t like to take an initial rate that starts with the number “2″ … but locks in today’s killer interest rates 30 years into future?

Taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming, I wanted to share this site with you.  It’s a site called www.karmatube.org, and it is basically made up of short videos of simple things we can do to “spread the good”.  

*gulp* (lump in my throat)  

Want to feel human again?  Click HERE.

Despite being called a “Requiem”, this piece is cool and thoughtful with an undeniable sass — just like a good realtor.  The times are challenging right now, but ultimately:   you can’t hold a good man/woman down.  

David Saks is a realtor from the great state of Tennessee – so he’s weathering wintry economic conditions under extreme humidity.  Give this melody a listen, or you can read his original post by clicking HERE.

CNNMoney.com has an interesting article about the next big demographic trend and its effect on housing demand:  The Echo Boomers.

“There will be 5 million more echo boomers than there were boomers when they first started swelling housing markets,” said Eric Belsky, executive director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

“This is a powerful, powerful underpinning of future demand,” said Belsky.

 To read more, click HERE.

Is it possible this real estate market might be barely inching toward recovery?  Could it be?

Real-Time Housing Report, published by Altos Research and Real IQ say, “We won’t be able to call a bottoming of the market until we see stability continue into the seasonally weak fall and winter months.”

But for now…the Real Time Housing Report is clear:  the prices of homes on the market are climbing, and inventory levels are falling.

The prices of properties listed for sale rose in 22 of 26 major markets in the month of April.

Add to that another little bit of happy news:  in that same month, they also report that inventory actually fell in 15 of the 26 major markets.

Add to all this happy talk a statistic from NAR’s “pending home sales index” — which is based on contracts signed in March.  That index increased 3.2% in March.   Hmmmmmmm.

So the question is:  are we there yet?  Are the property valuation clouds finally parting, or is this just a temporary fluctuation of the spring market and/or ultra-low interest rates?

Take back your life!

Tim Ferris, of  The Four Hour Work Week fame, has this sage wisdom to offer on ways to reclaim your life, and how to make time your own again:

“Not-to-do” lists are often more effective than to-do lists for upgrading performance.

The reason is simple: what you don’t do determines what you can do.

Here are nine stressful and common habits that entrepreneurs and office workers should strive to eliminate. The bullets are followed by more detailed descriptions. Focus on one or two at a time, just as you would with high-priority to-do items. I’ve worded them in no-to-do action form:

1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers
Feel free to surprise others, but don’t be surprised. It just results in unwanted interruption and poor negotiating position. Let it go to voicemail, and consider using a service like GrandCentral (you can listen to people leaving voicemail) or Simulscribe (receive voicemails as e-mail).

2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
The former scrambles your priorities and plans for the day, and the latter just gives you insomnia. E-mail can wait until 10am, after you’ve completed at least one of your critical to-do items…

3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
If the desired outcome is defined clearly with a stated objective and agenda listing topics/questions to cover, no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes. Request them in advance so you “can best prepare and make good use of the time together.”

4. Do not let people ramble
Forget “how’s it going?” when someone calls you. Stick with “what’s up?” or “I’m in the middle of getting something out, but what’s going on?” A big part of GTD is GTP — Getting To the Point.

READY FOR MORE?   CLICK HERE. 

Yes, you may have filed on time, but is it hard to see your desk underneath the aftermath of Tax Season ‘09?  

Are you losing things beneath the piles of charitable deduction receipts, real estate tax notices, account statements and 1099’s leftover after April 15? 

If you are suffering from the dreaded post-tax season desk mess, it’s time to kiss all that goodbye.   Here is the definitive list on what you need to retain.  If it ain’t on this list:  shred, baby, shred!  

…..if your seller is upside down

Other than people with vertabrae problems…who wouldn’t stand on their head to get a sale ? I mean c’mon….that’s it ?  Well in today’s market even getting upside down may not be enough if your seller is…….well, upside down.

I’ve been saving this great video on “How To Handle The Disappointment of an Upside Down Seller” (and still get the listing), and I thought I would share it with everyone.  This came out on Election Day, 2008, but this quick ten-minute seminar by David Knox is more relevant now than ever:  it covers how to break the news to your seller that they may not make any money on the sale of their home, or worse still, they may have to come to the  table with a checkbook.  Ouch. 
 

Dave’s tie may be terrible, but the information is worth watching.  Just click the link below.

The Upside Down Seller - click here

But before you do, please be sure to read all the new stuff  (jokes, factoids, pets etc) on the sidebar…….cause you probably won’t come back from Youtube.  

Your Comments Are Always Appreciated