Selling real estate on the $300 house

'Reverse innovation' is unique way to penetrate emerging markets

BY GAHLORD DEWALD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2012 Inman News®

Tree forming world map image via Shutterstock.

In the Harvard Business Review recently, Vijay Govindarajan and Christian Sarkar put forth the idea of designing and manufacturing a house for $300 in order to more adequately house the poor.

What is specifically interesting about the concept is that it is not to be a charity project. It is to be an actual business in an unfortunately large market.

Working through Dartmouth College, Enterprise for a Sustainable World, and International Fund for Africa, the team is planning to deploy a solution to India, Haiti and Indonesia, as well as working on an integrated model for Ethiopia.

One of the core principles of the work is "reverse innovation."

Reverse innovation is any innovation likely to be adopted first in the developing world. And though it may seem counterintuitive (How do developing countries get "innovation" if they don't have financial resources?), there is a lot of merit to the concept.

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®

Blue skies image via Shutterstock.

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.

5 green energy projects with buyer appeal Real Estate Tax Talk

BY STEPHEN FISHMAN, FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 Inman News®

Wind turbine image via Shutterstock.

In this difficult real estate market, one way homeowners can make their property more attractive to potential buyers is to install energy-saving equipment such as solar panels and solar water heaters.

This can not only increase the value of a home, it can also result in a tax credit for the homeowner. A tax credit results in a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your taxes -- for example, a $1,000 tax credit reduces the amount of taxes you pay by $1,000. Moreover, you may claim tax credits regardless of whether you itemize deductions on IRS Schedule A.

The residential energy tax credit helps individual taxpayers pay for residential alternative energy equipment. You can get the credit for installing such equipment in your primary residence or second home, and for new construction. This credit is for residential property only, not rentals. It is scheduled to be phased out at the end of 2016, so you have some time to act.

Don't wait for NAR to rethink the future Realtor Notebook

BY TERESA BOARDMAN, THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2012 Inman News®

Man holding lightbulb image via Shutterstock.

It has been my observation that people who are not members of the National Association of Realtors are more supportive of the organization than many of its members.

To me, as a member, NAR is big and bureaucratic and seems out of touch with the average member. The average member is much older than the ideal member, more likely to be female, and may not have health insurance but still pays dues every year.

And every year, NAR launches some new initiative. The latest is called "Rethink the Future of Real Estate."

According to a dedicated website created by NAR, rethinkfuture.com, the Rethink initiative will launch in August. A number of workshops will be held with a goal of reaching 20,000 people before publication of a final report at NAR's 2013 annual conference.

Show new homes, and you'll sell more resales New-home prospects buy resales, and resale buyers buy new homes

BY DAVID FLETCHER, WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012 Inman News®

New home image via Shutterstock.

General agents need to show new homes, because they will sell more resales and get more listings if they do.

About 95 percent of agents don't believe this. The other 5 percent believe it, and, because they do, they are closing sales they may have otherwise lost.

Realtor Lorraine Kuney of Re/Max Executive Realty Kuney-Todaro team in Franklin, Mass., believes it. In fact, her team is so sold on working with new-home prospects that they market directly to them. Why?