Top Viewed For Sale Postings
By: Sarah Mann, Senior PR Specialist | September 6, 2007
With our fabulous intern Whitney on her way to Sienna, I have taken over writing the weekly Top Viewed For Sale Postings post. It’s harder than it looks! Makes me appreciate the creativity Whitney was able to muster. So please, bear with me here.
Ever since I was able to grasp the concept of owning a home, somewhere around the age of 10, I have fantasized about the different features I would want. These varied year to year— at one point the idea of not having a pool and a trampoline would have been tragic. The upside of still renting means I still get to fantasize about my first home. While certain things like recreational equipment is less important as I get older, I find myself cherishing more subtle things, such as the capacity for entertaining and wanting the home to have a cozy feel.
These days, every time I’m in someone’s home I’m making mental notes of features that I would like to have myself one day. Looking at this week’s top viewed postings, I find myself being drawn to numerous features for different reasons. For instance, I love the brick facade of the home in Clemmons, NC, the grand entrance of Olmsted Falls, OH and can just imagine myself enjoying the view from the huge front window, gazing out onto the dessert of Cornville, AZ. The bad news is, I do realize, that it is impossible to get everything you love in one home (unless perhaps you are Bill Gates).
So how do you decide what features are most important? At this point I am considering a game of eeny meeny miny mo…
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- Categories: Real Estate, Top Viewed Homes, Zillow
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3 Comments so far
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David Bragg on September 7, 2007 8:50 am
Hey Sarah,
I update the blog for the David Bragg Team on Hilton Head Island, SC and it is tough to be creative all the time.
I really wanted to comment on your having difficulty choosing your favorite features of the homes.
I go out and photograph all of our properties here and we really have some outstanding homes here on the island. Just really beautiful stuff.
I have been most impressed by the homes that have custom woodwork. I really think this makes a difference. It truly sets a home apart and makes it seem like there was some extra thought put into them.
You can view some of our listings and check out what I mean at http://www.thedavidbraggteam.com
Well, thanks Sarah and good work. Your writing is great.
Successful Agents on September 8, 2007 12:21 am
In the past few years I’ve been researching who are the successful agents, tried to figure out why top agents are top agents.
Do they have a common educational background? No. Good ones have high school diplomas, masters and doctorates. No correlation.
Similar previous careers? No. One of the best agents I know used to teach baton twirling. I doubt if I could find a lot of those if I tried! I’ve had waiters, teachers, high powered executives and stay-at-home Moms who were all very successful.
Common interests? No. Other than eating, (which we Realtor-types seem to do exceptional well) the interests are widely diverse.
After 13 years in real estate sales and management, I’ve only found a few constants.
1. Successful agents treat the real estate business as a business. They actually have a business plan and a budget. They understand that you have to spend money to make money. They know how many sales they need to make the income they require and then they figure how they’ll get from here to there. They plan in advance and execute the plan.
2. They actually work when they work and play when they play and take a day or two off every week. (Just like a “real job!”)
3. They have fun and enjoy selling real estate but know that it won’t be forever.
4. They buy a lot of real estate for investment when they see good deals because they know that no one gets rich selling the stuff. You get rich owning it! Financial independence gives one a lot of freedom, autonomy and a certain air of confidence that smells like success.
… And people like to do business with successful people so they do more business!
That’s why I choose this realtor http://www.realtydirectorymakers.com/ for my future
Concerned Mortgage holder on September 22, 2007 1:32 pm
I have an adjustable rate interest only loan that is due to reset next July. It is in my husbands name only. The house is in both our names. We got this house with 100% financing. We are making the payments fine. Our hope was as was most people’s 2 years ago is that the value of the house would go up and we could get better financing in the when the 2 year prepay was up. Because of the 2 year pre-pay and the value of the house stagnating, we could not refi before the prepay was up. Now we are in the position that our house is financed at 100% of value or less and might not be able to get the house refinanced. In the town we live in it is a small town and there is an abundance of houses on the market. My husband and I do not want to loose our house when the loan resets but we may have to walk away. The things we have in our favor is I am not on the loan and I have excellent credit. Wed could rent a house like ours for about 800 a month less than what we are paying. So with my credit and my income we could get a rental and not be homeless easier than we could re-finance our house. We do not have the money to pay our house down to 80% of value or even 95% of value in order to refinance when the time comes. I believe there are a lot of people who are in my position. We could pay the mortgage payment for our entire house if we could refinance it. The problem is the value of the house has probably dropped since we bought it and one cannot get financing for 100% much less more than 100% of value. I believe the market will eventually turn around and my home will be worth what I paid for it and someday even more. My husband and I just want to stay in our house and eventually pay it off. Because of the problems with the market that my not happen.
What I propose is that the note holders extend the fixed rate term of the note for 5 years or so until the market is better and then adjust or refinance the homes to a fixed rate. They will loose the interest that they may have made if the note adjusted and the people who owe on the note keep paying there payment. However, if the people on the note just rent a home before there credit gets bad and move out and send the keys to the bank who is servicing the loan. The note holder will loose a lot of money when this happens. They still have to foreclose on the house and then they have to sell the house in a very down market. This is happening all over the United States Today.
This scenario could all be stopped by extending the current payment arrangements until the market picks up enough for the people to refi their house or the income goes up enough to pay the adjustable after it adjusts. The note holder would earn the current interest on their money and not have to reposes the house in a market where so many homes are being repossessed and cannot be sold. This would bail out both the buyer and the note holder from a bad situation. The second note holders are the ones that will be hurt most but the first holders are not in that great of shape given how the prices are going down in some parts of the country. A piece of something is better than 100% of nothing.
I think this is a good proposal however I have no idea how to pitch it, and whom can I pitch this idea. I would go to the banks but most of the banks that you pay your payment to only service the loans they do not own the loans. Does anybody know where I can go to spread my idea so the it will be taken under consideration? I have talked to a few people in the mortgage market industry and they think it is a good idea. Can someone help me? I can be contacted by e-mail at astrial@earthlink.net.
Thank you for any and all help.