Archive for November, 2007

Why Market Online Instead of In The Newspapers? (Hint, thats where the people are)

According to Compete.com internet traffic for October, 2007 is up 24.3 percent over October, 2006.

So when the sellers tell you that they want their ego listing in the local paper, show them this stat and put that hundred dollars or so into a custom landing page for the home. That will really impress the [...]

30Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 5 comments | Continued

Time To Rebuild The Deck, Or Lumber Prices Decline On Low Demand

If you have projects around the home that need lumber then the new construction slowdown is working in your favor. Lumber manufacturers are facing an inventory glut as the housing slowdown in the United States has significantly reduced the demand for construction lumber.
So it looks like a great time to replace the lumber in our [...]

30Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

30 Year Mortgage Hits 2 Year Low

As demand has slowed down and the Federal Reserve is lowering interest rates fueled by slower growth in the national economy, mortgage interest rates are dropping. This week they hit a 2 year low. This is great news for home sellers as the affordability of homes is increasing with the lower payments providing more incentive [...]

29Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Selling Your Home On MTV’s Cribs – All For 50 Cent

Unfortunately getting onto MTV’s Cribs show will not cost 50 cents, you have to be the rap star 50 Cent to get your home previewed before hitting the market on this popular television show.
The rapper 50 Cent is about to put the Farminton, Connecticut home he purchased from Mike Tyson on the market for [...]

28Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

Newspaper Advertising Down, Online Advertising Growing, You Make The Call

Hey Real Estate agents and brokers, are you still having trouble kicking the newspaper advertising habit. Well, don’t be the last one throwing money into dark, grainy pictures and smudged type. It looks from the new numbers released that many are fleeing the newsprint to online.
So if your boss thinks that putting ads in [...]

28Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 6 comments | Continued

Prince Bandar Pulls 135 Million Dollar Aspen Home Off Market

Well, it looks like the housing slowdown has taken another victim. The royal Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia has pulled his 135 million dollar Aspen estate off of the market due to not receiving a good enough offer. The family decided that they liked the home too much to part with it after not getting [...]

28Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Lack Of Communication Leads To Foreclosure Problems

This has been a target of mine so I will continue to beat the drums. There must be an easy way for borrowers to reach their lenders when facing foreclosure issues.
How can the mortgage holders be so out of touch with their borrowers when the costs are so high. With the recovery rate at [...]

27Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Forget the Home Warranty – New Homes May Come With Personal Chef

If you are having difficulty selling your home it may be that you are not offering enough perks. That is the thoughts of this novel campaign by To Go Chefs that they are rolling out to the real estate industry. To generate buzz for your homes they have a plan to offer the services of [...]

26Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 6 comments | Continued

PMI Companies Feeling the Strain From Mortgage Problems

Top Private Mortgage Insurers are starting to feel the pinch from the recent spate of defaults in the mortgage industry. Companies such as MGIC are losing money as payouts surge and do not expect to see profitability until 2009.
While it will be a tougher road for the PMI companies, this is the role that they play [...]

26Nov2007 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued