SAN DIEGO REAL ESTATE AGENT BLOG » San Diego Real Estate

Learning how to hire a Real Es…

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:48:23 +0000

Learning how to hire a Real Estate Agent. http://bit.ly/firmo

How short sales & loan mods af…

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:45:45 +0000

How short sales & loan mods affects credit. http://bit.ly/inKZK

Real Estate Hit Bottom?

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:59:11 +0000

As a real estate specialist we become knowledgeable of the housing trends. Many economist have preached that we have reached the bottom of the housing market. I think we’re going to see another surge of foreclosure in 2010 due to the ARM adjusting from 2005. This is inevitable because 2005 mortgage application was in record high as well as the housing market prior to the “crash”. I’ve informed my clients that their’s no hurry in purchasing a property and more bargain is on the horizon. Have we hit real estate bottom, I think not but real close.

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

Pending Home Sales on a Roll

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:46:26 +0000

Contract activity for pending home sales has risen for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of the index since it began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,¹ a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from a reading of 94.6 in June, and is 12.0 percent higher than July 2008 when it was 87.1. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it was 100.7.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market momentum has clearly turned for the better. ”The recovery is broad-based across many parts of the country. Housing affordability has been at record highs this year with the added stimulus of a first-time buyer tax credit,” he said.

by Walter Molony

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

8 Steps to Writing Effective Advertising Copy

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:13:08 +0000

Need to write snappier ad copy for your real estate listings? Remember the phrase “G.E.T. C.A.L.L.S.” This is key to writing effective advertising copy and can get you results in eight easy steps.

I first talked about the acronym memory aid for writing advertising copy in my book 5-Minutes to a Great Real Estate Ad (Cengage Learning, 2006). Here’s how you can use it.

G: Grab the Reader’s Attention

To perform this task, use a headline or phrase that will cause the reader to stop and want to read more. Your local television station is excellent at getting our attention and causing us to tune into the newscast (e.g. “You won’t believe what this six-year-old boy did today at the zoo!”). They’ve got your curiosity and make you want to know more.

E: Entice the Reader With Information

Giving useful, interesting information about the property is the next step. But you need to go beyond the basic info. For instance, if you’re promoting a three-bedroom, two-bath bungalow for $159,900, you’re going to need to distinguish it somehow. After all, there are lots of these kinds of listings.

What’s especially appealing about this bungalow? How’s the floor plan, the woodwork? What words can you use to paint a picture about this home?

T: Truth in Advertising

You may have heard the saying “Don’t let the truth interfere with a good story,” but in advertising to the public, it’s bad business practice. Always paint an accurate picture in all of your promotions. In the long run, misrepresenting a property or exaggerating features will hurt you. Once the consumer visits the property or otherwise discovers the misleading information, then the game is up.

C: Close the Sale

It may seem odd to ask for consumers’ business in classified ads, but it’s a smart practice. There are a number ways to ask for the business: Tell them to contact you for more information about your services or schedule a private showing, or to visit your Web site for a virtual tour. Whatever method you decide, make sure you take steps to move the transaction to its successful conclusion.

A: Ask the Seller What They’ll Miss About Their Home

This is often overlooked by many real estate professionals, but one most sellers understand when asked. Think about your own home for a moment: If you planned to sell your house today, what would you miss the most? I’m sure you could come up with a lengthy list of positive features you will be reluctant to leave behind. The same is true for your clients. These are excellent features to list in your advertising copy.

L: List Key Features About the Home

For example, you’ll want to point out bedrooms, baths, central air-conditioning, location, school, price, and other important aspects of the property that consumers need to know. There’s actually a debate on whether to include area schools or location. Both have pros and cons—use your judgment in every situation. However, certain key features about the home are essential to any promotion. Normally you would include this information somewhere in the middle of an advertisement.

L: Look at Other Ads

Whether you’re new to the real estate business or a veteran practitioner trying to increase your sales, one good way to improve your advertising copy is to watch and read what other “successful” real estate professionals are doing. Just don’t copy what they’re doing! Simply read and watch to help create new ideas for you when developing classified ads in the future. It will make a huge difference in the way you market yourself and your clients’ properties if you look at ads that are producing results for other real estate pros.

S: Spend Time Preparing and Writing Your Ads

Write several ads for each listing you have. This is an overlooked practice in the real estate industry. We spend thousands of dollars on marketing our listings, hours of time earning new business, and agree to follow a strict fiduciary obligation with our clients. But then we only write one or two ads in a brief 60-second drill to move on to our next “to do” item.

Avoid that pitfall by reminding yourself to devote a significant amount of time and effort to developing multiple, quality ads.By following the G.E.T. C.A.L.L.S. format, you will be able to build effective ads and, most importantly, get calls from prospective buyers!

By John D. Mayfield | August 2009

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

U.S. home prices rise for a second straight month

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:37:13 +0000

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Prices of U.S. single-family homes rose for the second consecutive month in June, exceeding expectations and adding to evidence that the three-year housing slump is easing, Standard & Poor’s reported on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case-Shiller composite indexes of 10 and 20 metropolitan areas both rose 1.4 percent in June from May, almost three times the 0.5 percent increases of the month before. May’s increases were the first in nearly three years.

Optimism over a housing recovery blossomed last week after reports showed rising confidence among homebuilder and sales of existing homes rose in July for the fourth consecutive month. Economists expect the sector’s recovery could help the nation emerge from recession and further stabilize financial markets that have suffered their worst crisis since the 1930s.

The 10- and 20-city indexes have dropped 54.3 percent and 45.3 percent from their 2006 peaks, respectively.

”This is just another month that supports those that think we have bottomed, or are nearing a bottom,” said Jesse Litvak, a managing director in mortgage- and asset-backed securities at Jefferies & Co. in Stamford, Connecticut.

Economists in a Reuters poll expected the 20-city index increased by 0.2 percent in June.

S&P said its U.S. National Home Price Index recorded a 14.9 percent decline for the second quarter, compared with a 19.1 percent year-over-year drop in the first quarter. Versus the first quarter, prices rose by 2.9 percent in the first such increase in three years, S&P said.

Regionally, only Las Vegas and Detroit posted declines in June over May, of 2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. Cleveland home prices registered the greatest increases for the past two months, topping 4 percent each time.

by Al Yoon

Michael Carter
San Diego Real Estate Agent
MTC Future Realty
(619) 488-5774

San Diego Real Estate Prices Down as Sales Soar

Michael Carter - San Diego Real Estate Agent — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:48:03 +0000

In San Diego prices have dropped an average of 34.6 percent due to lower-priced foreclosures and sales have increased over 40% in January accroding to DataQuick.

The overall median for real estate in San Diego county area stood at around $278,000, down from the year-ago level of $425,000. As previously reported, San Diego County’s median was $300,000, off 30.2 percent from $430,000 in December 2007.

An increase in sales in San Diego totaled 3,325, up 34.7 percent from December 2007.

In a continuation of trends noted for some months in San Diego, homes foreclosed in the previous 12 months represented a record 55.7 percent of the resale market in December, up from 54.7 percent in November and 24.3 percent in December 2007.

For San Diego, foreclosure sales declined as a proportion of resales, going from 52 percent in November to 50.4 percent in December.

For San Diego, new new-housing maket was also a record low December for new homes with only 321 units sold, down from 873 in 2007 and the all-time peak of 1,769 in 1988. Since that year, 11 Decembers have had sales counts exceeding 1,000 and 10 have had less.

“The builders are in a holding pattern, staying alive until the market recovers,” DataQuick President John Walsh said.

Besides low prices, low interest rates apparently are fueling sales. The most recent Freddie Mac mortgage interest rate survey showed that the average for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan was 4.96 percent with 0.7 percent in points.

Consequently, DataQuick found, the typical monthly mortgage payment on homes sold regionwide in December was $1,239, down from $1,380 in November and $2,060 in December 2007. After adjusting for inflation, current payments were 54 percent below the peak at the height of the real estate boom in July 2007.

Not only are buyers benefiting but current owners also have awakened to the new lending environment, if they have enough equity to qualify to refinance their mortgages