Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ Category

Here is to a prosperous and exciting 2009 from everyone here at the Vcorp Services team!

Roost announced today that it has partnered with First American CoreLogic to add foreclosure listings from First American CoreLogic to Roost.com’s already database of homes for sale. This partnership offers real estate investors fast and easy access to information on more than 1.5 million foreclosed homes nationwide.

Roost.com is now showing foreclosures in an easy-to-understand, color-coded format. Users can instantly get shorthand information on each foreclosure property – street, size, bedrooms, etc. – as well as its foreclosure status, from just-announced foreclosure to auction, bank sale or reintroduction to the general real estate market. With this partnership, investors will now be able to view summary property-level foreclosure data with instant access to RealQuest, First American CoreLogic’s, online property record Web site, where detailed property-level reporting is available on 97 percent of all U.S. properties.

“We are excited to have Roost.com become one of our national data syndication distributors,” said Michael Maron, senior vice president of First American CoreLogic. “Roost.com offers a high quality consumer experience for home sale listings and a commitment to quality that is a core value of both of our companies. Roost’s superior search technology enables real estate investors and homebuyers to act on great property opportunities quickly and thoughtfully, especially during the current downturn in the real estate market,” added Maron.

“The upside of these challenging economic times is that real estate investors can help reinvigorate some markets, especially those hardest hit by the mortgage meltdown,” said Alex Chang, Roost chief executive officer. “Because we offer listings at every stage of the foreclosure process, real estate investors can jump on immediate opportunities, while homes that don’t sell right away or at auction will be reintroduced to the traditional market, giving everyday homebuyers a chance to purchase their dream home.”

Know your thyself, know thy industry.  These are words to live by, and if you are in the mortgage or real estate industries, I’ve discovered some helpful research information for you this morning. iEmergent has issued specialized versions of its market data reports for lenders of all sizes who are interested in using affordable forecasting tools to improve performance.

By identifying lending opportunities within specific markets, these simplified forecasting reports enable lenders to increase loan capture efficiency to achieve sustainability and improved performance. iEmergent offers lenders the option to choose between one of two report types:

• Mortgage Opportunity Report - Detailed county-by-county forecasts and metrics covering purchase mortgage volume projections for 2009-2013. Each county is ranked by iEmergent’s eight different market behavior variables, such as the size, density and rate of growth of purchase lending opportunities.
• Mortgage Opportunity Totals Report - County-by-county projections for the total 2009 mortgage lending opportunity, including both purchase mortgage projections as well as a projection of refinance opportunity ranges. Interactive tool enables the user to adjust the national Purchase-Refinance Ratio to recalibrate the refinance lending opportunities in each market.

Home sales and prices will continue to fall next year and more people will try to sell their homes more cost effectively, according to 2009 predictions made by ForSaleByOwner.com, the nation’s leading by owner real estate website.  Based on trends among real estate consumers, it is also predicted that the Internet will continue to play a more prominent role in the selling and buying of homes, as real estate websites continue to make it easier to complete real estate transactions without paying expensive real estate commission fees.

“While 2008 will be remembered as perhaps the most painful year for real estate in decades, declines in home sales and prices will likely continue well into 2009,” said Greg Healy, Vice President of Operations at ForSaleByOwner.com. “As a result, we’re seeing new trends emerge that will affect both the industry and consumers who need to sell or buy a home.”

Healy continued, “Sellers facing lower home values will utilize the Internet and other alternatives to using an agent to avoid the expense of a real estate commission. On the buyer’s side, we expect that in 2009 the industry will reach a “tipping point” where — for the first time ever – more people will find the home they buy after seeing it on the Internet, rather than finding out about it from a real estate agent.”

“Finally, we believe the number of real estate agents and brokers will decline in 2009 and more real estate services will follow ForSaleByOwner.com’s lead in allowing sellers to advertise their home on Realtor.com without having to be on their local Multiple Listing Service,” added Healy.

There was exciting news in the real estate industry this week, Cogent Road, a provider of Internet-based applications for the mortgage industry, announced the launch of Business Spaces, the company’s new collaborative document management system.  In addition to a fully interactive, end-to-end e-mortgage platform, Business Spaces automates work processes by delivering documents, tracking their status and notifying key workgroups of issues that may delay closing.

The moment a loan officer orders a credit report, a Business Space is created and the applicant is notified via e-mail. The loan applicant enters a private, secured environment through which he or she can view, e-sign or upload documents directly into the Business Space via computer, fax or an easy-to-use virtual printer. The borrower can also communicate using micro-blogs and discussion threads integrated in different areas within the Business Space. With automatic audit logging, all borrower actions are effectively tracked for compliance purposes.

If the loan progresses, the Business Space evolves into a true collaborative workspace enabling communication among both external and internal partners, with the loan officer able to invite such third-party partners as title agents, notary agents, appraisers and real estate agents into the Business Space. Parties may contribute relevant documents and dialog to the Business Space, and while communicating, photographs of all the parties involved are shown for a virtual face-to-face business transaction. However, the loan officer remains in total control of what the external partners can actually view. The process yields a highly interactive yet confidential business transaction.

In addition to increased efficiencies and elimination of overnight shipping charges, an established Business Space enables originators to strengthen their relationships by expanding their brand using corporate logos and photo enhanced profiles of all business partners assisting on the applicant’s loan. This feature enables a more active and desirable customer service connection between the applicant and loan originator.

Business Spaces also offers one-click order and delivery of state-specific disclosures with full e-signature capability. Should the loan applicant decline the e-signature option or fail to enter the Business Space within a predetermined amount of time, bar coded hardcopies are automatically delivered for ink signing. The signed documents can be automatically uploaded via fax or mailed back to the lender and scanned into the borrower’s Business Space.

“In addition to efficient document management, we wanted Business Spaces to eliminate document shipping charges by both pushing documents outward as well as collecting them from external sources,” said William DiPaolo, managing partner of Cogent Road. “And most importantly, we designed Business Spaces to foster collaboration between the loan officer and all external business partners connected to the loan. In this way, the potential issues can be proactively addressed and the loan applicant receives the highest level of service.”

The holiday season from November through January is often considered the worst time to put a home on the market. While the thought of selling your client’s home during the winter months may dampen your holiday spirit, the season does have its advantages: holiday buyers tend to be more serious, and competition is less fierce with fewer homes being actively marketed. First, decide if you really need to sell. Once you’ve committed to the challenge, don your gay apparel and follow these tips from HGTV.

1. Deck the halls, but don’t go overboard. Homes often look their best during the holidays, but sellers should be careful not to overdo it on the decor. Adornments that are too large or too many can crowd your home and distract buyers. Also, avoid offending buyers by opting for general fall and winter decorations rather than items with religious themes.

2. Hire a reliable real estate agent. That means someone who will work hard for you and won’t disappear during Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s. Ask your friends and family if they can recommend a listing agent who will go above and beyond to get your home sold. This will ease your stress and give you more time to enjoy the season.

3. Seek out motivated buyers. Anyone house hunting during the holidays must have a good reason for doing so. Work with your agent to target buyers on a deadline, including people relocating for jobs in your area, investors on tax deadlines, college students and staff, and military personnel, if you live near a military base.

4. Price to sell. No matter what time of year, a home that’s priced low for the market will make buyers feel merry. Rather than gradually making small price reductions, many real estate agents advise sellers to slash their prices before putting a home on the market.

5. Make curb appeal a top priority. When autumn rolls around and the trees start to lose their leaves, maintaining the exterior of your home becomes even more important. Bare trees equal a more exposed home, so touch up the paint, clean the gutters and spruce up the yard. Keep buyers’ safety in mind as well by making sure stairs and walkways are free of snow, ice and leaves.

6. Take top-notch real estate photos. When the weather outside is frightful, homebuyers are likely to start their house hunt from the comfort of their homes by browsing listings on the Internet. Make a good first impression by offering lots of flattering, high-quality photos of your home. If possible, have a summer or spring photo of your home available so buyers can see how it looks year-round.

7. Create a video tour for the Web. You’ll get less foot traffic during the holidays, thanks to inclement weather and vacation plans. But shooting a video tour and posting it on the Web may attract house hunters who don’t have time to physically visit your home or would rather not drive in a snowstorm.

8. Give house hunters a place to escape from the cold. Make your home feel cozy and inviting during showings by cranking up the heat, playing soft classical music and offering homemade holiday treats like cookies and eggnog. When you encourage buyers to spend more time in your home, you also give them more time to admire its best features.

9. Offer holiday cheer in the form of financing. Bah, humbug! Lenders are scrooges these days, but if you’ve got the means, then why not offer a home loan to a serious buyer? You could get a good rate of return on your money.

10. Relax — the new year is just around the corner. Thanksgiving and Christmas are stressful enough, with gifts to buy, dinners to prepare and relatives to entertain. Take a moment to remind yourself that if you don’t sell now, there’s always next year, which luckily is only a few days away.

Have you ever driven by a home for sale and wondered how much it costs or how many bedrooms and baths it has? Now potential buyers can quickly and easily get the information they need about a home and decide if they want to obtain more. Using technology from RocketBux, Portland-based Hasson Real Estate is bringing new innovation to home selling. Now potential home buyers can simply use their mobile phone to have home data appears within seconds.

How It Works

By typing in the house-specific code advertised on the real estate sign in front of a house, potential home buyers instantly get all the basic information about the house delivered right to their mobile phones. Consumers can quickly determine if they want to contact the real estate agent and tour the home. Links to the real estate agent’s phone and email are also provided in the text message, making it easy for potential home buyers to move to the next step.

“It’s a big convenience and benefit to all parties involved: buyer, seller and realtor,” says Bill Berger, Managing Principal Broker at the Hasson Bend. “It’s also a great first step for the potential home buyer to engage with Hasson in a non-committal way.”

“Now there is no need for expensive flyers which will end up in a landfill,” says Brian Tompkins of RocketBux. “Also, unlike a flyer, our technology enables agents to easily change home data – such as price – in real-time.”

This past week, at the California Realtor Expo, Foreclosure Trackers launched its Real Estate Agent Network.  “Now more than ever, Realtors are trying to generate viable leads that will result in sales,” explained Robert Lee, CEO of Foreclosure Trackers. “The launch of our Real Estate Agent Network provides real estate professionals with fundamental tools necessary to succeed in this shifting market. We are equally excited to announce the appointment of Sean Stanfield, a well-respected leader who will be instrumental in identifying practical solutions that Foreclosure Trackers can offer to professionals throughout the state and potentially the nation.”

FTI’s Real Estate Agent Network offers Realtors direct and immediate access to the most comprehensive, accurate and timely foreclosure data currently available for Southern California and Nevada. Plans for nationwide expansion are expected within the next 30 days. Membership privileges include the opportunity to own exclusive territories of more than 40,000 zip codes, as well as buyer and seller leads, Broker Price Opinion (BPO) requests generated within assigned zip codes, exclusive REO and foreclosure leads and more.

The rise in foreclosures in states such as California and Nevada makes the availability of extra leads and access to accurate foreclosure data imperative for real estate professionals. In response, Foreclosure Trackers is also offering real estate professionals 60 days free access to www.foreclosuretrackers.com.

“Realtors are in need of quality, accurate data that will enable them to offer quality advice and counsel, and offer choices to struggling homeowners,” explains Stanfield. “By providing real estate professionals with easy, obtainable access to foreclosure data and a host of other efficient and handy tools, Foreclosure Trackers has the potential to aid professionals in shifting the sales process.”

California Association OF Realtors Executive Vice President Joel Singer this week presented results from the Association’s “2008 Use of Technology Survey” during the “Wired for Change: Industry Experts’ Take on Technology and The Future of Real Estate” opening session at Tech Tuesday in Long Beach, Calif. Tech Tuesday offers a full day of technology training and information preceding CALIFORNIA REALTOR EXPO 2008 at the Long Beach Convention Center Oct. 14 to 16.

“Wired for Change” panelists included Jeff Culbertson, executive vice president of the Southwestern Region of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, NRT LLC; Brad Inman, founder, “Inman News” and TurnHere.com; and Mike Silvas, president and co-owner, Morgan Lane real estate brokers.

The annual survey, conducted in the third quarter, tracks current trends in technology used by the Association’s members. REALTORS are queried on topics ranging from computer and technology adoption to Internet usage and trends.

According to the survey, the top business uses of the Internet for REALTORS include e-mail (93 percent), checking online listings (90 percent), MLS access (89 percent), access to brokerage Web sites (59 percent), and access to WINForms electronic forms software (55 percent).

“Since most REALTORS have a high-speed connection in their homes, the Internet has evolved into a crucial tool for REALTORS,” said C.A.R. President William E. Brown. “REALTORS are doing more than ever on the Internet — marketing, maintaining their Web sites, posting their listings, and communicating with clients. As a result, they are generating more business from the Internet than ever before.”

The survey also revealed that REALTORS also are turning to high-tech instruments such as handheld Internet devices, e-mail, and Web sites to communicate with their clients. Twenty-two percent of REALTORS said they own a handheld wireless Internet device for their real estate business to respond to clients more quickly; 32 percent of respondents said they answered clients’ e-mails instantly and another 34 percent said they did so within 30 minutes to one hour. REALTORS also are making use of their personal Web sites to be more easily accessible to their clients. More than three-quarters (77 percent) of REALTORS who have personal Web sites include an IDX feed to display listings, along with other features such as virtual tours (53 percent), contact me options (42 percent), and interactive maps such as Google Maps (33 percent).

Additional survey highlights include:

• Thirty-three percent use a laptop or tablet computer in the field, up from 27 percent last year. Seven out of 10 of those who use their laptop in the field (70 percent) cite conducting listing presentations as the main reason for doing so, an increase from 58 percent a year ago
• Twenty-seven percent indicated that a hands-free cell phone was their most important business upgrade in the last 12 months
• Thirteen percent said they purchased a new computer, down from 20 percent in 2007
• When asked how technology helps them in their real estate business, 45 percent said their use of technology gives them a competitive edge over other agents in the field
• Sixty percent pay for upgraded listings on Realtor.com, up from 48 percent in 2007
• Eleven percent of respondents send their clients an electronic newsletter, while 7 percent of REALTORS say they participate in online real estate forums or blogs
• On average, 48 percent of REALTORS’ business originated from the Internet in 2008, compared with 44 percent in 2007
• Fifty-eight percent said keeping up with e-mail is one of the biggest technological challenges they face in today’s real estate marketplace