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.

Foreign buyers, trade-ups are where the money's at

Grow your real estate business in 2012

BY BERNICE ROSS, THURSDAY, AUGUST 2, 2012.

Inman News®

World flags image via Shutterstock.

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

What are the trends that will influence your business now and throughout the rest of 2012? More importantly, what steps can you take to capitalize on these trends to build increase your profitability?

Part 1 of this series outlined four key trends that are critical to the profitability of your business. If you want to get the jump on the competition, here are four more important trends to consider.

5. Foreign buyers binge on U.S. homes
The U.S. housing market appears to have hit bottom in most places. Part of what is driving the recovery is the number of foreign buyers. With the uncertainty of the euro, potential bankruptcies of large countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy, as well as the substantial tax increases in France, capital is looking for safe havens. As a result, international sales volume in the U.S. is predicted to be at $82.5 billion for 2012, representing a 24 percent increase from last year.

Responses to economic peril not grounded in reality

Commentary: Central banks can't make debt disappear

BY LOU BARNES, FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2012.

Inman News®

Flying saucers image via Shutterstock.

This bizarre time resembles a sci-fi epic involving three alternate universes -- one real and two political -- at each change of scene each universe moving more distant from the others.

Reality first. Today's reported 163,000-job net gain in July has surprised markets expecting more bad news, and thus triggered a short-covering rally in stocks and a dumping of safety-bought bonds, with market moves magnified by thin attendance during vacation season.

The job gain was half-again the forecast, but other aspects of the report were as weak as prior months: more part-time workers unable to find full-time jobs, and fewer people in the workforce able to find any work at all.

The Institute For Supply Management reports for July were on the cusp of weakness, manufacturing shrinking slightly at 49.8, the service sector at 52.6 a hair better than hoped. June personal income grew 0.5 percent, spending not at all. June factory orders were expected to rise and instead fell 0.5 percent; excluding a nice month for aircraft, orders tanked 1.8 percent.

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).

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.

Using third-party AVMs to price your listings Tips for arriving at a realistic value

BY BERNICE ROSS, MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2012 Inman News®

Magnifying glass on housing image via Shutterstock.

Let's face it, home sellers are often skeptical about prices, market conditions or the necessity to stage a property to get it sold. While they may not be willing to believe you, many younger clients are willing to believe the information they see online.

Recently I was speaking to a young woman whose family was facing foreclosure for failure to pay their condominium association fees. They had two severely disabled kids. Even though they had medical insurance, the bills had overwhelmed them. They were under the mistaken impression that if they continued to keep up their mortgage payments they could keep their home. Sadly, the homeowners association was enforcing its right to foreclose. The question is whether they could stay in their home possibly through a loan modification?

The family's existing loan was at Chase with the initial loan amount being $290,000. The family had paid the loan down to $275,000. The question was whether Chase would agree to take a principal reduction under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).

There's still time to break into REOs Experts advise agents to tailor services to investors and asset managers

BY ANDREA V. BRAMBILA, MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2012 Inman News®

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SAN FRANCISCO -- With the vast majority of bank-owned properties not yet listed for sale, there is plenty of opportunity left for real estate agents and brokers to break into or delve deeper into distressed properties, according to panelists at the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco.

Estimates of real estate-owned properties (REOs) held off the market by lenders after repossession -- sometimes called "shadow inventory" -- varied somewhat among the panelists. Foreclosure data site RealtyTrac estimates there are about 600,000 REO properties total nationwide and about 85 percent of these are currently off the market. RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist noted that only about 22 percent of Fannie Mae REOs are on the market.

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®

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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."

Internet scams use Re/Max brand Franchisor warns consumers of email account phishing, rental schemes

BY PAUL HAGEY, FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 Inman News®

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The Re/Max real estate brand name has been used in at least two recent online scams, one an email account phishing ploy, the other a false rental scheme.

The online scams appear to be part of the larger milieu of Internet fraud, which, according to the FBI, increased 3.4 percent last year in the U.S. and totaled $485.3 million in losses.

The global real estate franchisor, which has more than 90,000 affiliated agents, has issued warnings for both on its website.

A still-active website that "spoofs," or pretends to be a Re/Max website, attempts to obtain victims' email login and password info. The site has no connection to Re/Max, as evidenced by its address: dijitalkataloog.com.

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.

Spat over commissions as KW enters Des Moines market | Iowa Realty won't pay commission splits to rival's agents

BY INMAN NEWS, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012 Inman News®

Tornado image via Shutterstock.

By LISA WAHLGREN

A HomeServices of America Inc. brokerage in Iowa is refusing to split commissions with buyer's agents at a competing brokerage, and is paying reduced commissions to agents at another.

The move by Des Moines-based Iowa Realty has raised eyebrows, but does not violate local Realtor association or multiple listing service (MLS) rules, those involved say.

Tax deductions on gifts to clients subject to 'draconian limits' Real Estate Tax Talk

BY STEPHEN FISHMAN, FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2012 Inman News®

Gift image via Shutterstock. A common practice among many real estate agents is to provide a housewarming gift when a client closes on a new house.

An agent gives clients a $100 gift card from a home improvement chain or a $100 bottle of wine. He attaches a note with the gift asking for future business and referrals accompanied by three business cards.