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.

6 ways agents can boost productivity

The SLAM model for real estate success

BY BERNICE ROSS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012  Inman News®

Smokestacks image via Shutterstock.

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

What does it take to succeed in real estate? Whether you are a 40-year veteran or a brand-new agent, your success or failure in the real estate industry essentially boils down to four critical elements: systems, leverage, attraction and mindset -- also known as SLAM.

Systems

Regardless of how experienced an agent is, strong systems form the foundation upon which successful real estate careers are built. Agents who have strong systems have more time to spend with buyers and sellers, which normally translates into more deals. The key areas where agents need systems include:

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.

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.

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.

Husband's affair inspires FSBO marketing campaign 'Adulterers need not apply'

BY INMAN NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012 Inman News®

Photo of for sale sign via GreatFamilyHome.com.

A Beaverton, Ore., woman has created what may be the most successful single-property "for sale by owner" website in history by advertising that her home is up for sale because her husband of 10 years left her for a younger woman.

"Husband left us for a 22 year old," says a sign in the front yard of Elle Zober's home. "House for sale by scorned, slightly bitter, newly single owner."