Time is on my side, yes it is...

I have no real excuse for being so late with my posts. The Buck Stops Here!

However we have been very busy providing short sale services on about 60% of our transactions. So not only do we need to have the buyer approved and well qualified to purchase, the sellers' lender must approve a short payoff to the mortgage (they get less than the original mortgage amount).

I must say that our whole housing/finance system is in a bit of a logjam. Truly I don't see the largest problem with the real estate "market". There are still lots of buyers who want to buy and sellers who want to sell. On the buyer side many restrictions are in place (some would say this is good business, I'm not disagreeing). I do however believe that lenders are running scared and have overreacted which is causing one part of the "credit crunch" you hear about on TV. The other side is that if demand falls (and restricting credit becomes self-fulfilling prophecy) then prices fall as well. This wouldn't be such a problem but many homes were sold or refinanced in the last several years at 100% or more of street value. So many of these homes are "upside down" today. And to sell them the banks have to approve the transaction.

This post isn't to get into the whys and hows but just to talk about today. I hope that we can push through this quickly. This will mean that the lenders have to approve short sales and workouts at breakneck pace. It seems our transactions today can be 5-6 months (even with a buyer and seller ready for a 45 day transaction). When transaction cycle time is stalled everybody is hurt. The buyer has to wait to make his upgrades, has to wait to spend money at Home Depot and Lowe's, wait to spend money in his community... and the seller has to wait to move and do the same. I believe ultimately the lender loses because it's 4-5 months to wait to get his asset performing again as well. It's economically viable; in business you always want your assets working. And while a bank stalls in committee on an approval for short sale, they are losing the chance to make money on that asset.

In this case time is not on our side. This is where much of the time of Realtors (and attorneys, and mortgage brokers..) is going as well. I think we can do better than this. I hope we can get together and put on our thinking caps and get things moving again. We're in this together. Let's go America!

Barnstorm or Brainstorm?

Once again I hope that informed logic trumps the soap-selling hype that is all-pervasive in today's media. I am linking here to Lou Barnes of Boulder West Financial Services. Please take a moment to read this. Here Lou compares and contrasts today's credit woes to that of the 1930's.

During that time the government sprang into action and created the FHA - Federal Housing Administration as part of the National Housing Act of 1934 to help contain the rise in foreclosures.

FHA had it's problems regarding lack of urban loans and pervasive racial downgrading that hurt inner cities. FHA is now part of HUD, whose mission has changed from urban development and now focuses on housing.

FHA underwriting guidelines were (and are) a solid benchmark. There may always be a need for certain creative mortgage programs but largely it's the tortoise who wins the race.

We already know that the Americans are a tough bunch, and ready for the challenge. Some intelligent leadership would be a good thing right now. The tools are already here. Let's get back to basics!

Gimme that Old-Time Sports Tradition

As a kid I loved all sports. I spent most of my time outside, playing football, baseball, basketball, street hockey and soccer. We would have large games of tag (which we would call chase) where we'd have 8-10 kids on a team hide like an army of ninjas in the local woods and the other team had to find the whole group to accomplish their mission. Those were truly wonderful days.

I can remember how much I loved to play football in the field across the street from my our house. We loved to play after it rained. The more mud the better. I still can hear my mom yelling to take off my shoes before I entered the house and left a trail of dirt bombs across the kitchen floor.

I also followed professional sports and at one time couldn't be stumped on most any variety of sports trivia. I was a NY Giants fan. Really I liked Fran Tarkenton. I don't think the Giants won anything when I was a kid much to the joy of my Dallas Cowboy fan friends). Hoping to maybe someday win something, and really liking the Purple People Eaters, defensive line Carl Eller, Gary Larsen, Alan Page & Jim Marshall) I became a Minnesota Vikings fan. I didn't consider myself a flip-flopper or whatever, I just followed Tarkenton when he was traded.

The rest of my fanatacism was rooted in New York with the Knicks, Rangers and Yankees. I was lucky enough to go to lots of Mets games in 1969. What a year. My cousin was a Cincinatti Reds and fan we went to most Reds/Mets games and some others. I remember Johnny Bench hitting a home run so high I thought it would touch the sun.

After Tarketon's retirement, I came back as a Giants fan and I was very happy of course in 1986 and 1991 for their wins then.

New Haven (I grew up in West Haven) is located right between New York and Boston so we have lots of fans representing both areas. The New England Patriots joined the NFL in 1970 and I have some friends (mostly those I met later at UConn who live in northeast CT) who are diehard Pats fans.

I feel a bit bad for the Pats. It must be hard to get so close to perfection and have it melt away in the last minute of the season. There will be comparisons to Bill Bruckner and the Sox (ouch). But I don't think that's really fair.

The end of the 2008 Super Bowl game was truly amazing. Eli Manning is sacked, no wait a minute he's still on his feet, he's throwing...and Tyree catches the ball on his head! That's just insane! Sports history in the making! The throw to an open receiver in the end zone seemed almost anti-climatic.

In recent years (ok, for a lot of years) much of my hard-core sports fanaticism has been redirected to both business and family pursuits. I play more John Madden than getting my clothes dirty on the field.

I am a continual student of advertising and most years I watch the Super Bowl to see the commercials. This year I had some interest in the game too. I was so glad I watched.

I didn't expect this post to be so sports oriented even though I started writing about the Super Bowl. My observation was meant to be in regard to the commercials or the lack of them.

As always, we had plenty of Anheuser-Busch, and Coke, Pepsi, Bridgestone Tire, GoDaddy and even a Proctor and Gamble.

Conspicuously absent were bank and financial commercials. No Chase, no BOA, no VISA, no Capital One, no Merrill Lynch. There were two e-Trade commercials and that was it. After the recent couple of business quarters it seems ad budgets for banks have been lightened.

I've been writing lately with regards to buying fundamentals for real estate property. I still believe the timing is perfect to buy. Right now we see super low interest rates as an entry point. The banks have lost money in recent time. They are regrouping, but need to loan money to stay in business. So there will be some adjusting within that industry.

My guess is the financial community is a bit like the Patriots of late. They flew so close to the sun. They had record years and profits and have been at the top of their game, almost undefeated. But now this will be a building year, a year of regrouping. So we'll watch for some new plays. Some new talent. Definitely some creative thinking.

The Super Bowl lets us live large and watch heros and history in the making. So now we think of this year's game and we know that if we're playing, anything can happen. Ya gotta believe! As we focus back on the lives most important, those in our everyday game, we remember that we are making history every day. And every now and then we catch the ball on our head.

"Take that, Chicken Little"

Boy the news can make you crazy. It can even paralyze you if you let it. I choose to keep moving and take it all with a grain of salt. Every newspaper and TV show seem to have their own spin. In doing review of ACTUAL market dynamics for the local area, the fundamentals are actually BETTER than last year to buy a home. I have a success story this week. A first-time home buyer I've been working with found a great home at about 15% less than we had anticipated and found a super mortgage program. Some background: my buyer is a factory worker with decent credit (625 middle score) and earns about $45,000 a year. Our home: $165,000 single family. Our mortgage: We are using a CHFA product through a reputable mortgage lender. His Rate: 5.25%. Total funds needed: about $5000. We're expecting the total payment with tax and insurance to be about $1350/month. I'm really amazed at how affordable things really are for anyone who has guarded their credit at all. It's really a great time to buy. Call us anytime and let us go through some examples and see if the shoe fits. Home ownership isn't for everyone, but it is more possible than one might think by listening to "mainstream" news.

Back from Toronto

Oh, Canada... well, our neighbors to the north sure do it right. I spent last week at the headquarters of EXIT REALTY INTERNATIONAL receiving additional training in ways to help our agents achieve greatness and enhance the customer experience. I've been to lots of training and have several designations but the training here is the best I've ever encountered. Not only do you leave knowing WHY but you know HOW. I'm not embarrassed to say I learn something everyday, and I learned a whole lot last week. We are an empathic company and that is why we are the fastest growing real estate franchise in North America. Everything here revolves around you, the customer, and how our agents can give you the experience you're hoping for.

Here are some photos of the trip...

Tami Bonnell, President, US Operations
EXIT REALTY INTERNATIONAL with
Steve Rivkin, Broker, EXIT CREATIVE REALTY

Joyce Paron, President, Canadian Operations,
EXIT REALTY INTERNATIONAL
and Steve Rivkin, Broker, EXIT CREATIVE REALTY

Statue of Man Creating Himself in the lobby of EXIT's

corporate offices.

This is an example of the vision EXIT REALTY CEO and

Founder Steve Morris brings. We are constantly creating and

re-inventing ourselves and our experience. It is our thoughts and actions that produce our results. We are responsible. We

are accountable.

When we look back on this day we will be satisfied with the work we have done and know why we have achieved so much.

Well everyone has to have a tourist photo, right?

Here I am at Niagara Falls on the way home. I drove up with my family so we could be together at least for the nights and we got to make a couple stops. The falls are behind me.

Ok one more. This looks like we're on a night flight but it's a shot from the CN Tower in Toronto. Fifteen hundred plus feet high and you get there in like 45 seconds. Awesome. What a rush. Hey, that guy needs a roof...

Starting Over

I thought this picture would be appropriate for 2008. I personally had much loss in 2007. My favorite uncle, a best friend, my grandmother and stepfather all passed. I am personally very happy to start again this year anew.

In 2007 we also heard of the death of real estate. Well, it did get sticky for those trying to take away from the average Joe. But to quote Mark Twain, "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." (Boy, I love Mark Twain, that has to make you proud to live in Connecticut, know what I mean?)

According to reports from the Federal Reserve, Connecticut is one of the states already heading back in rebound. In any event, the rates are still low and the values have leveled out some.

Indications are for a good market. What does it mean to you? Good value, decent, affordable monthly payments. Isn't that what's it's always been about?

So we'll keep tuned. Anyways, enjoy your life, it's too short if it's 125 years. Have a laugh. Hug your kids. And buy a home for your family, start your future. It's your turn!

Happy New Year!

Well it really is about turning a new leaf, isn't it? I hope that this year gives you everything you dream of...dream big, it's your turn! Let 2008 be your magic year!