- virtual negotiations don't show inflection or emotions
- virtual negotiations dont have a time for sides to "caucus" or consult
- virtual negotations are going to be more popular, even after the COVID scare is over
Posted at 11:12 AM in Real Estate | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 09:24 AM in Carmel Valley Realtors, Economy, FHA Loans, Green Real Estate, International Real Estate, Jumbo Mortgage Capital, La Jolla Real Estate , Mission Valley Condo Loans, Mortgage Financing, Mortgage Rates Report, Oceanside Townhouse For Sale, Radio Mortgage, Real Estate, Recession, San Diego Condo Loans, Solana Beach Real Estate, Triple Crown Condos, VA IRRL Home Loan Refinance, Value Investing, Veterans Admin Home Loans | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 08:47 PM in Economy, FHA Loans, La Jolla Real Estate , Mission Valley Condo Loans, Mortgage Financing, Mortgage Rates Report, Real Estate, Recession, San Diego Condo Loans, Triple Crown Condos, Trust Deed Investing, VA IRRL Home Loan Refinance, Veterans Admin Home Loans | Permalink | Comments (0)
A North County Realtor asked me to help her answer the question, "Has real estate peaked in 2020?".
The short answer is "No.' Here is the long answer:
We have a supply/demand imbalance which won't get much better for years to come, maybe decades to come. f you REALLY want to get a read on the supply problem (and potential for upwards pricing) perform this exercise:
Run a search (on Homesnap) for 3 BR /2BA properties FOR SALE , in all of Carlsbad, under $850K.
Now run that same search for "UNDER CONTRACT"
Then look at them overlaid-.
This frightens me. What I can't determine is whether this is a demand curve shift (which means that prices are about to rise dramatically) or whether this is a seasonal/cyclical top. I sincerely believe the former, mostly because of this article about demand (and many other articles before it.) I saw this coming two years ago and articulated it here.
Challenge my theories but please read the linked material. Demographics are destiny and demand is going to be at this level for 10-20 years. Unless NIMBY politics is defeated (it wont be), I think the demand CURVE is shifting. Buying property is a good idea but an even better idea is to start educating your Gen-Z kids so they can "get on the ladder" in 10-15 years
Posted at 10:58 AM in Real Estate | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 07:58 PM in Real Estate | Permalink | Comments (0)
I try to speak to 25 real estate agents a week on the telephone. It's pretty hard because none of you answer your phone anymore. Before you jump back at me and say "maybe they didn't want to talk to YOU, Brian", you should know that I have called from different numbers so that's not the case. Last week, I called over 150 real estate agents just to speak with 25 of you and that kind of shocked me. I am not alone. The number one problem I hear from real estate agents is that other real estate agents don't answer their phone when THEY call-- clients tell me the same thing.
ANSWER YOUR PHONE when it rings during business hours and I promise you that you will close more business. That call could be a new buyer, an agent with a buyer for your listing, an appraiser who needs to see your listing, a lender updating you on a problem your buyer had, the escrow company wondering where your client's statement of information is.
Why don't REALTORS answer their phones?
Atlantic Magazine published a good article answering this question . Essentially, there are two reasons why you don't answer your phone:
There are many reasons for the slow erosion of this commons. The most important aspect is structural: There are simply more communication options. Text messaging and its associated multimedia variations are rich and wonderful: words mixed with emoji, Bitmoji, reaction gifs, regular old photos, video, links. Texting is fun, lightly asynchronous, and possible to do with many people simultaneously. It’s almost as immediate as a phone call, but not quite. You’ve got your Twitter, your Facebook, your work Slack, your email, FaceTimes incoming from family members. So many little dings have begun to make the rings obsolete.
But in the last couple years, there is a more specific reason for eyeing my phone’s ring warily. Perhaps 80 or even 90 percent of the calls coming into my phone are spam of one kind or another. There are unsolicited telemarketing calls. There are straight-up robocalls that merely deliver recorded messages. There are the cyborg telemarketers, who sit in call centers playing prerecorded bits of audio to simulate a conversation. There are the spam phone calls, whose sole purpose seems to be verifying that your phone number is real and working.
I will stipulate that both are good reasons: lots of less intrusive communication methods are at our disposal and spam calls are annoying. But consider the negative effects of "screening" your calls-- missed business opportunities. Consider this story from Denise Lones:
Like a lot of potential sellers, I got on the internet. And I found about nine agents who claimed to be the area expert in my parents’ neighborhood. So what do most people do next? They call someone. I called the agent whose internet site said he was the expert. He said he had the most sales in my parents’ neighborhood. But when I called him, I got his voice mail.
I wasn’t really ready to leave a message…I’m just at the beginning stage of finding an agent to talk to…I was also at work…and I had lots of other things to do. I thought, “Okay, I’ll just quickly call the next name on my list. Maybe she hasn’t had as many sales, but I’m pretty sure she can at least get me the information I’m looking for.” So I called her. Voice Mail. I called the next person. Voice Mail. The next person? Voice Mail. I did this SIX times. I don’t have time to call six people to just get their voice mail!
Finally, the 7th person answered. In fact, when he actually answered the phone and said “Hello”, I was so surprised that I could hardly even speak! I told him what I needed and what our situation was. He seemed very pleasant on the phone and sounded interested in helping me out. Twenty-four hours later, he’s given me a report of comparable homes that are on the market right now. He’s given me some client testimonials. He’s given me a list of homes that he has sold. In 24 hours, he got me loads of information. That is what he’s supposed to do. He’s a real estate agent.
Spam calls are annoying. Facebook, Twitter, texting, and email all offer alternative communication tools. A voice conversation however, is the second best thing to an in person meeting and, if the call is inbound, you are going to get a chance to sell yourself to a new customer.
Pick up the phone. You are losing money if you don't.
Posted at 04:43 PM in Radio Mortgage, Real Estate | Permalink | Comments (0)
I have been talking about the housing backlog for a few years-- it's getting MUCH worse.
Companies are leaving California because their labor costs, to compensate for the high cost of housing, make it nearly impossible to operate as a profitable concern. California has the highest percentage of the homeless population in the nation; one in four of this country's homeless people live in California. While wealthy, older people are moving TO California, the next generation is leaving California at a record pace.
If you are rich and have gray hair, enjoy our little paradise but, if you are young and upwardly mobile, we don't have room for you. So, leave.
This is a problem. Fortunately, the rest of California is realizing what I have been screaming about for the last 4 years-- we need more housing. While everyone acknowledges that we have a housing shortage crisis, the politicians are acting like it's an opportunity to grant political favors. To wit: 13,000 new, Bay Area homes are not being built because the city wants the builder to use only union labor:
The negotiations between Lennar and the unions have been going on for more than a year and spilled into public discussion this week at the council’s Tuesday meeting, which drew hundreds of people to the small council chambers.
For more than six hours, the council heard testimony from the developer, the Contra Costa Building Trades Council and city staff, along with close to 100 people — residents, union workers, business leaders and housing advocates — who spoke during the matter’s public comment period.
While about half of the speakers at the meeting spoke in support of the unions — noting the need to maintain good wages and strong apprenticeship programs — others urged the council to do whatever it takes to keep the project moving. Local business owners and leaders see the site as a potential hub for technology companies and other job creators. Housing advocates want the project’s 3,000 affordable housing projects to come to fruition.
I have nothing against labor unions. Unions offer superior training which, in the long run, can save businesses money. But not every single job on a construction site needs union-trained labor and higher costs eventually means higher sales prices on the finished product. If the city approves housing, and puts a cap on the end-user sales price (which cities often do now), and forces the builder to overpay for labor, the builder won't earn a profit. Make no mistake about it, if there is no margin, there is no mission-- builders will just stop building in California.
This is no way to address a crisis. When 1 out of 4 of the country's homeless is living on the streets of California, and our kids and grandkids are moving to Texas, Nevada, Arizona, and Tennessee, it's time to change the way we do business in California.
"Business as usual" got us into this housing shortage crisis. Radically different approaches to increase supply will get us out of it.
Posted at 01:16 PM in Real Estate | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 11:33 AM in Economy, Financial Planning, Investment Strategies, Mortgage Financing, Real Estate, Renovation Financing | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 08:45 AM in Radio Mortgage, Real Estate | Permalink | Comments (0)