Archive for the ‘client protection’ Category
Wayback Wednesday… Why the Hurry?
- Image via Wikipedia
This hasn’t changed… unless it has become MORE important.
Looking through listings is kind of like wading through a sea of REOs (bank owned properties) and short sales (properties on their way to becoming bank owned, barring a miracle). And one thing uniting these listings is that they are generally marketed VERY weakly. Scant pictures, minimal descriptions and even non-existent directions to the home.
So, when a property comes on the market that is well photographed, marketed and with a well written description, it stands out.
Two years ago I wrote about agents rushing to get listings onto the market… before things like photographs could even be sorted out. Then and now, buyers reject properties without photos. Seldom do they come back to see if the listing has photos updated on it… unless they have moved past everything else on the market.
Here is the original post…
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- Wayback Wednesday… Don’t Hide in the Sand… (lanebailey.com)
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- Wayback Wednesday… SPICY! (lanebailey.com)
- Wayback Wednesday… Add on or Get out? (lanebailey.com)
- Wayback Wednesday… The Dirty Little Secret… (lanebailey.com)
View CommentsFlashback Friday… Get Out of Your Mortgage for FREE?
- Image by cobalt123 via Flickr
Don’t expect it to actually happen… I wrote about this phenomena a year ago, and there are still lots of practitioners claiming it can be done. They all say that they have done it, but I have been able to find no verified cases where the mortgage was set aside by one of these operations… Delayed, perhaps… but not set aside.
The bottom line is that it could happen… could. BUT, it is WAY more likely that you will spend thousands of dollars on legal fees, and be strung along for months and months… or even years, and then end up in worse straights than when you started.
The line sounds great, and to a non-legally trained mind like mine, it seems logical. But, my industry friends tell me that it just isn’t realistic in the real world.
View CommentsWayback Wednesday… The Dirty Little Secret…
- Image by marcmo via Flickr
Here is a post that actually goes back three years, but I posted it two years ago on this blog. It is about the ‘Dirty Little Secret’ that the folks offering to list your house for $999 (or whatever) don’t want you to know. Yep, they have a business plan, and there is an integral part of it that they will NOT tell you about. If you ask them about it directly, they will hem and haw… but it is pretty doubtful that they will come right out and tell you…
I’m NOT telling you that one of those services can’t be a great option, but only if you know the secret, and go into it with your eyes wide open. In fact, I offer a similar services… but I add something that they don’t. It doesn’t alter the basic premise, but there is a reason why my discount listing plan is different…
But you’ll have to talk with me to find out all of the details. Don’t worry, I don’t bite.
BTW, I have had a lot of discussions with discounters and they don’t like that I have said this out loud… They can’t counter it… but they are mad at me.
View CommentsThere IS a New Real Estate Transfer Tax in the ObamaCare Law
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One of the forums in which I participate has had stories on both sides of this issue for a couple of months… with the more conservative members saying that there is a 3.8% sales tax on the sale of homes, and those that are more supportive of the President and his policies saying that there isn’t.
Neither side was real specific about their information source… talk radio for some, blogs for others… nobody seemed to be going to the source… the 20,000+ page law signed by the President. In all fairness, there is a LOT of room in 20,000 pages to hide a lot of little Easter Eggs like this. And being fair to the other side, if there isn’t a tax, the bill isn’t going to say “there is not a tax” anywhere…
I have an answer…
There is indeed a tax on the sale of real estate. It doesn’t apply to many people, but it WILL apply to some people that have profit from the sale of their homes. Starting in 2013, those with incomes over $200,000 will have to pay a 3.8% tax on profit from the sale of their primary residence or investment properties. The exact amount will be based on a formula that includes the profit from the property and the income above $200,000. The tax is not an income tax, but rather it is a “payroll tax”… officially it is a Medicare Tax.
It does not just apply to real estate, but also applies to investment income and dividends.
The bottom line is that both groups are right… and both are wrong.
But…
It will drive another nail into the luxury real estate market. It has been in the doldrums for a while. Adding new taxes will not get it going again. And if you are thinking that this only affects ‘the wealthy’, think again. Those homes are not built by ‘the wealthy’. Those homes are not renovated by ‘the wealthy’. Those consumers are more likely to hire contractors to do improvements. And they are more likely to update more often… They are a driver in the housing sector. This added tax is NOT putting gas in the tank…
View CommentsWayback Wednesday… Don’t Hide in the Sand…
A couple of years ago I wrote about folks facing foreclosure. I would love to say that things have really changed in the last couple of years, but I can’t… They have actually gotten worse in many regards. But we might be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel… but it is just a pinprick of light…recent numbers are showing that the tide of foreclosures might be easing… if only slightly… from record levels.
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