7 customs to know before taking on foreign clients

Cultural differences in real estate

BY BERNICE ROSS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2012.

Inman News®

Businessman image via Shutterstock.

Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series. Read Part 1.

Working with global clients can become a highly profitable niche for your real estate business provided you are curious about your clients' culture and you stay away from the pitfalls that can undermine your success.

Part 1 of this series outlined two important pitfalls to avoid when working with global clients: discussing anything about them or their transactions and avoiding questions about their profession or how much they earn. Here are seven additional pitfalls to avoid.

Bulk REO sales have California Realtors calling for FHFA leadership change

Investors buy 1,763 homes in 5 states

BY INMAN NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012.

Inman News®

Bulk sales image via Shutterstock.

California Realtors are calling for a change of leadership at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) following the first transactions in a pilot initiative to sell real estate owned (REO) homes in bulk to large corporate investors.

The California Association of Realtors has previously criticized the agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for moving forward with the initiative in California without giving full consideration to the objections of state lawmakers or the program's potential negative economic impact on housing markets and cost to taxpayers.

CAR has also criticized what it said was "the highly secretive manner" in which the bulk sales were carried out, objecting to the FHFA's failure to publicly disclose sales prices and exact locations for individual properties.

Google Ventures backing agent matching site

HomeLight features only top agents based on performance data

BY ANDREA V. BRAMBILA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2012.

Inman News®

Screen shot from HomeLight home page.

A new real estate technology company backed by Google Ventures, among others, officially made its debut into the fractious world of agent rankings today.

HomeLight is a referral-based site that claims to match homebuyers and sellers with unbiased real estate agent recommendations based on transaction performance data.

The site launched out of beta today with $1.5 million in funding in hand from Google Ventures (the venture-capital arm of search giant Google), Crosslink Capital, Innovation Endeavors, and several undisclosed angel investors.

The company had been in beta since late last year.

How to attract higher-quality buyer, seller clients

The SLAM model for real estate success

BY BERNICE ROSS, MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2012 Inman News®

Contemplation image via Shutterstock.

Editor's note: This is Part 4 in a five-part series. See Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Would you like to double your income without doubling your work? Once you have mastered systems and leverage in the SLAM (systems, leverage, attraction, mindset) model, increasing your income shifts to being more heavily influenced by factors outside real estate.

Have you ever noticed that when you plan an extended vacation your business suddenly picks up? The principles of attraction explain why this is the case. Rather than allowing this system to work haphazardly in your business, being intentional about its use can produce amazing results. The six steps described below are the foundation for attracting the real estate business that you have always dreamed of having.

3 cool mobile apps for real estate agents

Tools from Real Estate Connect SF

BY BERNICE ROSS, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2012 Inman News®

aTablet computing image via Shutterstock.

Mobile technologies are completely transforming how consumers experience the real estate transaction. As always, Real Estate Connect highlighted a number of new apps that can help you organize your real estate business as well as the other areas in your life as well.

Are you someone who suffers from "shiny app syndrome"? Even though you have plenty of apps on your mobile devices, you're always on the hunt for the next new app that will entertain or amuse, or help you grow your business. On the other hand, if you haven't jumped on the app bandwagon, don't wait -- and here's why.

Rather than sitting at their computers to search properties online, today's consumers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to view real estate-related searches. IDX searches are a great case in point.

There are 48 million IDX page views per week. Five million page views originate from the Safari mobile browser (1.2 million from iPhones and 3.8 million from iPads.) Contrast this with only 42,000 page views from the BlackBerry. As a result, the first step in creating your personal mobile strategy is to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile.

10 expenses you can deduct when renting out a room

Real Estate Tax Talk

BY STEPHEN FISHMAN, FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012.

Inman News®

Tax forms image via Shutterstock.

Lots of people are trying to earn a few extra bucks by renting out a room in their home. This can not only be a good source of income, but result in tax deductions.

If you rent out a room in your home, the tax rules apply to you in the same way as they do for landlords who rent out entire properties. This means you get to deduct the expenses arising from your rental activity.

There is one big difference, however: You must divide certain expenses between the part of the property you rent out and the part you live in, just as though you actually had two separate pieces of property.

You can fully deduct (or, where applicable, depreciate) any expenses just for the room you rent; for example, repairing a window in the room, installing carpet or drapes, painting the room, or providing your tenant with furniture (such as a bed).

Bernanke defends easing but holds off for now

Commentary: Central banks must be as active as neccessary without risking inflation

BY LOU BARNES, FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2012.

Inman News®

Iceberg image via Shutterstock.

At the end of each August, the world's central bankers gather in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Sit around the ol' campfire singin' sad songs, goin' fishin' in pin-striped suits, and tellin' tales about the big trout that got away. This year, most of 'em.

Despite the risk of feeding conspiracy theorists, it's good to know that these people talk with each other constantly. The People's Bank of China comes to Jackson Hole. Money is money everywhere, the problems different but the same, and today are tightly linked. Mangled policy in Europe creates risk in China, and makes it all the more difficult for China to adjust its own severe imbalances.

One central banker is missing: in the midst of widespread expectation of bond purchases by the European Central Bank, its chairman, Mario Draghi, cancelled his scheduled Jackson Hole speech. One thing is certain: if you're afraid to leave town, you don’t have a deal.

How to buy a home like it's a car

Questions to ask before signing on the bottom line

BY ALISHA ALWAY BRAATZ, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 Inman News®

Gary Whitton / Shutterstock.com

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love cars. I told my roommates in college that I would be driving a '69 Camaro by the time I was 30 -- a really hot one with a great sound system.

I bettered that. I married a man with classic cars. Besides the fact that he's my best friend, I must say, it was a great car decision. Why? I've got the best of both worlds.

During the work week I drive a very conservative four-door sedan. And then, in my free time I do burn-outs in the '63 Impala.

This is a very good compromise because if something goes wrong with my muscle car I must choose one of the three following options: call Husband, call Dad, call AAA. I don't even know where the oil pan is, and I don't care to find out.

5 reasons to make the leap to Mountain Lion

Realtors using Macs will appreciate features of new Apple OS

BY TOM FLANAGAN, TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012 Inman News®

Mountain lion image via Shutterstock.

Apple Inc. has equipped its newly released OS X Mountain Lion operating system with features from the company's mobile platform, including some that are popular with real estate agents. But before rushing to the App Store to upgrade your Mac, it's important to make sure the critical software you're using today is compatible.

For those keeping score at home, Mountain Lion is version 10.8 of Apple's operating system for laptops and desktops. The system is available via the App Store as an upgrade for $19.99. Most Macs made since 2008 and 2009 can be upgraded, and iMacs and MacBook Pros made as long ago as mid-2007 will also run Mountain Lion.

Why mortgage rates are rising

Commentary: To foster recovery, something has to give, but what?

BY LOU BARNES, FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2012 Inman News®

Dollar sign sinking image via Shutterstock.

Two things this week: Explain the sudden rise in Treasury and mortgage rates, and then provide a simple tool for understanding budget issues in the election. Nuthin' to it.

In the last two weeks the 10-year T-note has run up from 1.45 percent to 1.85 percent, taking many mortgages from below 3.5 percent to above 3.75 percent.

Explanations offered by sharpies: The economy has turned for the better, no longer sliding toward recession. Or because the Fed will not soon begin QE3, either because the economy is better, or because it won't do any good, or because of the election, or because of internal politics. Or rates have risen because Europe might save itself.

Big data is here to stay Analytics can help predict which website visitors will close

BY ANDREA V. BRAMBILA, MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2012 Inman News®

Gauges image via Shutterstock.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Real-time data of human behavior is an increasingly valuable resource real estate professionals should take advantage of, according to panelists at the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco.

The ability to track consumer habits both online and offline keeps advancing with technology -- a boon to marketers who want to find and engage with a target audience.

"You've got to embrace it because it's not going anywhere," said Jed Katz, managing director of Javelin Venture Partners. "The concept of putting the right ad on the right device for the right person in a way that's not creepy" is more and more important, Katz said.

Michael Chui, a principal at McKinsey Global Institute, noted that since the advent of the multiple listing service, data has continued to increase at an exponential rate.

"We're seeing a diversity of sources of data: social media, all kinds of sensors out there. (And of an) increasingly real-time nature," Chui said. Data is also being used in new ways, particularly for marketing and forecasting or "now-casting" purposes, he said.

LORE Magazine - Lives of Real Estate Fall 2012

Open publication - Free publishing - More lore

Welcome to the second issue of the new LORE magazine! If you liked the amazing stories of the lives of real estate (LORE) professionals in our first issue, you'll love the stories of the hard-earned success of those featured in this Fall 2012 issue.

Home equity protection insurance yanked off the market | No explanation from backers, including venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins

BY KEN HARNEY, TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2012 Inman News®

Empty seats image via Shutterstock.

Its Silicon Valley venture capital backers saw it as a game-changer for real estate, and envisioned themselves picking off $250 million a year out of a potential $25 billion market: insurance policies that would protect the nation's homeowners from one of their deepest fears -- further losses in their equity.

Known as "Home Value Protection," the plan was featured on CNBC, FOX Business and publicized in news articles across the country.

As recently as June 20, Scott Ryles, chairman and CEO of the company that developed it, San Francisco-based Home Value Insurance Co., told journalists at the National Association of Real Estate Editors' annual conference in Denver that despite continuing home value declines in many local markets, his policyholders "have financial protection and peace of mind knowing they are insured against a housing market that continues to prove difficult to predict."

Lenders using new credit score may approve more loans CoreLogic providing supplemental consumer credit data for new FICO Mortgage Score

BY ANDREA V. BRAMBILA, MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012 Inman News®

Credit score image via Shutterstock.

Mortgage lenders now have access to a new credit score designed to uncover potential borrowers' hidden credit histories and more accurately predict mortgage loan performance.

Last fall, Santa Ana, Calif.-based real estate and mortgage data aggregator CoreLogic signed an agreement with Fair Isaac Corp., the owner of the widely used FICO score, to develop new credit risk scores for the U.S. mortgage industry.

10 tips for successfully handling multiple offers | Agents, are you prepared for market shift?

BY BERNICE ROSS, MONDAY, JULY 16, 2012 Inman News®

Purchase offer image via Shutterstock.

Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series.

When I was actively selling real estate in Southern California, multiple offers were a fact of life. While you may think that receiving two or more offers on one of your listings is a great situation to be in, actually it's not. For properties that sell with a single offer, the fallout rate is 10 percent. For properties where there are two or more offers, the fallout rate increases to 50 percent.

Unique, local blog content trumps generic | Realtor Notebook

BY TERESA BOARDMAN, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012 Inman News®

Full house image via Shutterstock.

Daily posts on my real estate blog and my interactions on Facebook constantly remind me of how local real estate is.

Yet much of the information about real estate on the Internet, including agent marketing materials and testimonials, is generic. Some days it feels like we are in our own separate world.

There are a ton of generic agent websites out there. There are even special themes for real estate agent blogs, so they all have a similar look and feel. It's as if someone decided they have to look a certain way and feature the same stock photography.

How to solve the stimulus-austerity gridlock | Commentary: Reining in health care costs would boost economy

BY LOU BARNES, FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012 Inman News®

Health care image via Shutterstock.

Markets show justifiable concern at a steady flow of soft data all over the world, but it's hard to figure disappointment that the Federal Reserve did nothing dramatic this week.

The Fed's QE (quantitative easing) operations have been designed to pull down long-term interest rates, to prevent runs on banks, and to ease credit. In the last 80 days the run from Europe has accomplished Jobs One and Two, cutting 10-year T-note yields by one-third, and all but drowned the U.S. system in cash.

RentJuice releases ad metrics tool Users can track ROI of rental ads

BY INMAN NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2012 Inman News®

Chart image via Shutterstock.

Online rental platform RentJuice has released a new marketing metrics dashboard that allows real estate offices, brokers and agents to analyze their marketing campaigns.

RentJuice says the new Ad Dashboard marketing metrics tools allows users to evaluate production data broken out across key metrics in order to better understand the value of ad-related strategies and marketing channels like Craigslist and RentJuice ad syndication.

Overseas buyers snatching up pricey homes | NAR: International sales volume up 24 percent

BY INMAN NEWS Inman News®

Global connections image via Shutterstock.

Though U.S. home sales to foreign buyers declined slightly in the year through March 2012, a preference for more expensive homes pushed the total sales volume of international sales up by 24 percent, according to an annual report from the National Association of Realtors.

NAR's 2012 Profile of International Home Buying Activity includes results from 1,745 member respondents surveyed in April 2012. The survey covered purchases of U.S. residential real estate by international clients in the 12 months through March 2012. International clients were divided into two groups: foreign buyers with permanent residences outside the U.S., and buyers who are recent immigrants of less than two years or temporary visa holders residing in the U.S. for more than six months.

Are third-party sites worth your marketing spend? | Rethink your syndication strategy

BY BERNICE ROSS  Inman News®

Real estate listings network image via Shutterstock.

Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series.

An issue that is becoming increasingly more contentious is the role of third-party publisher (syndication) websites such as Realtor.com, Trulia and Zillow. Do these sites really serve the industry well or are they actually harming the consumer experience?

The answer depends upon who is answering the question.

On May 21, 2012, I attended the Hear It Direct conference in Dallas, Texas. Sue Adler and Rob Hahn provided us with a firsthand look at how buyers and sellers actually experience the listing and sales process. One of the most fascinating surprises was that the buyers and sellers interviewed had never heard of Trulia or Zillow. However, several of the buyers did mention Realtor.com as a site they had visited.