Heath's Blog

Hollywood East, the new movie production, sound stage, etc., continues to grow its organization here in Massachusetts!  Now they have an office at MIT so they can tap into the robotical mental pool in Boston.  As the snow melts here on Cape Cod, we are looking forward to movies being made.

As Lamar says in "That Thing You Do" We got movie stars in my market area!  My kids are making their own movies for their facebooks and the like.  It is quite a different world than I grew up in.  Movies back and forth to the 2 at college from the 2 still at home.  Technology is taking us places that were ideas when I was a kid!  LOL.

Here's the link to the directors of Hollywood East showing off their MIT offices (a closet in some places).

http://www.hollywoodeasttv.com/video/video/show?id=2131296%3AVideo%3A66696

I laughed when I read this.  Sounds like someone in the courts is still a little conservative.  Even if it isn't a true case, I thought it might cause a few more smiles.

A Florida judge has set a holiday for atheists.  Here is what happened.

An atheist created a case against the Easter and Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that the holidays are unfair because atheists had no such recognized days.

The case got into court and before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, "Case dismissed!"

The lawyer immediately stood, objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays."

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do have such a day. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant."

The lawyer replied, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."

 The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day.  Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned!" 

Happy Selling and Listing!

I have published a free Java Script that will allow you to give site visitors an instant value for their property.  It is a strict math function based on assessed values.  You can customize it, personalize it, and adjust it for your particular area.  (And yes, it is as incorrect as you find on the big sites. LOL.)

I hate those calls that say, "I don't want you to come look, just give me a value over the phone," or when the customer says "I saw on-line that my property is worth...".  This simple code lets you provide the answer for Internet surfers who have a curiosity for bad math calculations.

This calcuator is just as incorrect as other online estimators, but it will be on your site so the surfer can stay on your pages. 

Free Value Estimate Code  or REindex.com/VECode.html

Happy Selling and Listing!

This is for brokers more than people looking for real estate who may be reading my personal blog.  Although, it is an interesting glimpse into some of what is going on in the real estate business apart from listing and selling property.

There is an interesting legal case in Boston MA.  As I understand it, a website has gone from being a place for posting listings to a full fledged real estate company.  Some of those who invested in the site were existing real estate companies.  They were blindsided by the switch from domain to real estate company.

Why is this interesting?  Well, which sites are you putting your listings on?  Could they switch from just displaying listings to becoming a competitor?  If you are putting your listings on a site other than your own, you may be complicating your business success rather than enhancing it.  Byhelping a future competitor establish a stronger presence than you have on the Internet, you may be shooting yorself in the business foot.

Ten years ago, agents and brokers didn't have their own web site to promote.  Today, our industry, and the customers who participate in it, are led to believe that real estate listings need to be placed in as many places as possible.  Not only are we brokers supposed to promote our own business site, but the sites of all the places on the Net where listings might be found. 

The company that invested in the website turned company, had no interest in helping a future competitor pre-establish itself.  The investor company was just practicing the idea of another place to put listings.  Their investment of time, money, and listings has come back to haunt them, and now they are having to go to court and spend hard earned dollars to reverse their efforts, and to protect their established business.

This example is another aspect of the Internet polluting notion, that listings should be placed all over the Internet in the name of "greater exposure".  Actually, real estate is still done locally.  Finding the website of a true local professional is much better for consumers, than using a site which may refer them to some agent who might only know a little about the local market but who has paid for the lead.

Happy Selling and Listing!

Real Estate investors ask "How much could this rent for?" and tenants ask "Is this a fair rent?"  Well I found a government website that takes the liability off of us brokers.  It can be found in the mish-mash of HUD web sites and information. 

For my area it is pretty accurate.  Rents here are between $700 and $1500 a month year round, depending on bedrooms and location.  With more waterfront that any other town in the country, Falmouth has some good locations.

Real estate in Falmouth MA can be rented by the week in the summer and by the month the rest of the year for a seasonal rental property.  For a year round rental the rate stays the same of course.  The HUD calculator seems to have a good idea of real estate values here. 

It is called the "Fair Market Rent System." Apparently it is current for the year 2009.  Here is the link:  http://www.huduser.org/datasets/fmr/fmrs/fy2009_code/index.asp?data=fmr09

Happy Selling and Listing!

There are real estate articles beginning to circulate that New York is in for one of the biggest declines in real estate values they've seen in decades.  Hold on!  Before you chime in on the negativity with, "Well what were they expecting with condos selling in the millions," or "Of course with the wall street mess...," or what ever your chime in is, there may be an alternative, and even may be alternatives - plural.

Of course those alternatives are dependent on some large ifs.  Fortunately for the New York real estate  market many of those ifs may turn into actual solutions.  The large ifs are actually more whens - and the whens are coming soon.

Here are some ideas that have basis.  For one, many of the banks receiving bailout funds haven't begun to apply them yet.  (I didn't say spend them, I said apply them.)  When those who took funds, start circulating dollars the way they were intended to be circulated, the real estate market will respond.  On top of that, there are many smaller (un-publicized) banks that do not need to take funds because they didn't participate in poor lending decisions that some of the larger ones did.  When both of these begin to catch attention, the real estate market will respond.

Next, there are some procedural ideas beginning to bubble to the surface that will help people stay in their homes.  These bubbles are popping up with plans, ideas, and programs that will provide employed people who are still paying bills, relief from the value declines that are affecting every owner.  There are many who can make their payments but are still upside down in their values.  There are others who also could make payments if they were given some principal relief or interest rate relief or both.  When these bubbles start popping, watch for a market that can stabilize.

This mess was created "behind the scenes" by people connected to each other by relationship, by company, by industry, and by interest in making money.  These same types of connections are going to, and are even now beginning to, clean up the mess.  There is a cleaner-upper for every spill.  Keep your eyes opened and watching for opportunity.  It is on the verge of appearing!

Happy Selling and Listing!

It must be insurance month.  The other day I posted about a new insurance product specifically for open houses.  Today I see one about lock boxes.  Although I agree that placing a listing on a lock box has some risks, I haven't seen an insurance offering for listings on a lock box before.  I don't use lock boxes, so I am not so worried about the insurance.  But, having a few listings on lock boxes listed by other companies can make showing homes a little easier.

The electronic lock boxes were tried here, but never took off.  We accompany all our real estate showings so we can hear comments, get feed back, and so we know who is actually going in.  Many agents here and off-Cape will give a non-agent the lock box code so they don't have to actually show the house.

I hope it doesn't come down to requiring more insurance for things like this.  Accompanied showings can slow down looking at homes a little, but it does make getting information not in the listing, less difficult.  I guess if some of the foreclosures that are on lock boxes weren't, they'd still have their copper pipes.

Happy Selling and Listing!

Open houses require attention by the attending agent that goes beyond letting customers walk through the property.  Now, I have received an advertisement from an insurance company offering an insurance policy for open houses.  This type of policy may have been available for awhile, but I haven't seen one offered before.  If I hadn't already curtailed my open house activity here in Falmouth MA, here is the encouragement to do so.

I have often been at an open house where more people than I can personally manage arrive and tour the home.  This takes a great awareness of what is in the home, where all the parties are at any given time, and what is a possible target for thieves.  Jewelry on dressers, prescriptions in the bathrooms, and even art or collectibles, never mind something that might get broken by a visitor.

As if we have disposable cash for another "add-on", the insurance companies are making it more risky to hold an open house by bringing attention to the risks.  Maybe open houses are a thing of the past.  Maybe brokerages are going to need to be more careful about holding open houses.  I can see the day when open houses are no longer part of real estate marketing.

Happy Selling and Listing!

The Massachusetts state government web sitehas posted some suggestions to keep in mind if you are pursuing a Property Tax Abatement.  (You must request an abatement if to lower the tax if you believe the tax assessment on your property is too high.)  First, check for the forms you need in your local tax assessor's office.  If you'd like to see a printable form on-line, you can click here.  You cannot get started without the correct form. 

Next, the form needs to be filed at the town hall governing the property before the bill is due. The signature(s) of the owner(s) must be on the form, or the signature of their representative.  (If the signature is not the owners', you should provide some proof that the person signing the form has authority to do so.  Otherwise it can be rejected easily as an improperly filled out form.) 

If mailed, the postmark must be no later than the due date of the assessment bill.  If hand delivered, applications must be in the assessors possession by the close of business on the due date. 

Some towns have a very complete web site and others are still developing one.  Don't rely on the on-line information for your town though,because sometimes it is out of date.  A personal call or a visit to your town hall will insure you have current assessment information, and you can also clarify any "special circumstances" that your town may acknowledge or disallow.

You will also need a good estimate of the current value of your property.  That can be easily handled by a good local real estate professional that both lists and sells property.

Happy selling and listing!

Have you heard about the MLS in CT that presented "The MLS Bill of Rights" stating that they think every Realtor in the state should have access to all Connecticut real estate MLS listings regardless of which MLS they are in? Well, it is the latest in the debate over a National MLS. There are discussions going on all over the country about this topic. 

How will it affect real estate brokers and agents? Agents are still working under brokers so they can only influence their own broker. Some brokers are looking down the road and saying they want a National MLS because it will help them sell real estate in their own town. But I though real estate was local? How many brokers work in more than the five towns that surround them? I have seen web sites for agents and companies all over the United states in the last 8 years as I link to them, and the average towns one agent works in is five.

So what makes an MLS useful to an agent or broker today? 1) Members can be assured of being able to cooperate in the commission due at the sale of a property. 2) the database of the MLS makes it easier to stay up with the listings and sales going on in the local market, 3) It is more convenient for brokers and agents to use the data in MLS than it is to gather the data another way, 4) Customers looking for property can go to one office and utilize one MLS member's access to listings rather than visiting every office, 5) Sellers can hire one office to market their property and utilize that member's access to the MLS.

What makes MLS useful to consumers today? They can view more listings in one place.

Some of those who want a national MLS seem to think that there have large numbers of buyers in many far away communities who are trying to find real estate in distant places. Will the consumers of Cape Cod real estate have a huge impact on the Utah real estate market? Are there real estate surfers who live in New York that want to buy real estate in Sacramento? Or real estate investors in San Antonio that want to own property in Columbus?

And, if a broker has access to a national MLS, let alone a an agent, how does one show property in Hawaii from their home in Vermont? Or in Virginia from Vermont? Does showing real estate take on a new definition?

Lots and lots of questions. I foresee local companies using sources for sale data that are not related to an MLS. Then using their own web sites to provide the listing information to both the public and other agents and brokers.

Right now there are companies who are members of MLSs that do not have all the listings on their web sites in an MLS. Whether by agreement with the seller or some other method, not all listings are in an MLS database. An certainly not all sales are in any MLS, although the majority of them are. There are also whole areas of the country that have no MLS. How do they currently do a CMA? How do they price a property correctly for a sale? They have another source for their data.

And what about the large franchisees that are developing their own "internal" MLSs?  The last point is this: Less than ½ of all real estate licensees in the United States are in any MLS. So if we get a National MLS, do we make/force membership on licensees? Lots and lots of questions.