Real Estate: Behind the Curtain

Survey gathers input on dual agency, pocket listings, more …

By Inman News, Monday, April 11, 2011.

Inman News™

Flickr image courtesy of Fuzzy Gerdes.

While consumers may have more information at their fingertips than ever before about for-sale homes and real estate transactions, some consumers remain misinformed or in the dark about the intricacies of real estate transactions and even how real estate agents are compensated.

In the aftermath of the subprime mortgage market collapse, which escalated into a full-blown housing market and global economic disaster, blame was cast upon many parties involved in the home-sale process. Complex financial instruments were at the core of the meltdown, though other systemic enablers may have magnified the problems.

Take the "Real Estate: Behind the Curtain" Survey

Congress and regulatory agencies have proposed widespread reforms in an attempt to safeguard the mortgage market and real estate transaction process from new catastrophes, and the future will tell whether these reforms go far enough, or whether they go too far.

Inman News wants to hear from our readers on areas within the real estate industry that are due for an overhaul — whether it be industry practices or policies that don’t serve consumers, that disadvantage real estate agents or brokerage business models, that cause confusion, or that otherwise work against an efficient and transparent real estate transaction process.

There are examples of conflict and clashes between agents and consumers; agents and brokers; brokers and franchise companies; brokerage companies and trade groups; and trade groups and regulators, for example, over services and compensation.

Over the years, the real estate industry has battled charges of price fixing, discriminatory practices related to alternative compensation models, engaging in dual agency to the detriment of consumers, and recommending service providers that may not offer the best value to consumers, among others.

In upcoming coverage, Inman News will shed light on industry practices and policies that our readers believe may benefit from reforms and updates, and those that they believe should be abandoned altogether.

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 Fannie Mae is once again offering closing-cost assistance for buyers who close on a home in the mortgage giant’s real-estate owned (REO) inventory, but in most states will not bring back cash bonuses it previously paid to buyers’ agents.

Buyers who put in initial offers on or after April 11, and close on the sale of a Fannie Mae HomePath property by June 30, will be eligible to receive up to 3.5 percent in closing-cost assistance.

The offer is only good for buyers who intend to occupy the home they are purchasing as their primary residence — second homes and investor properties are not eligible.

Offers submitted before May 15 have the best chance of qualifying, Fannie Mae said, as offers submitted after that “are particularly questionable for closing” by the June 30 deadline.

It’s essentially the same deal Fannie Mae offered to buyers last year. In the last three months of the year, Fannie Mae was also offering a $1,500 cash bonus to buyer’s agents on each sale of a HomePath property.

In announcing that it’s restoring its closing-cost assistance for HomePath buyers, Fannie Mae said it will offer a $1,000 bonus to buyers’ agents in California and Washington whose clients close on a HomePath property by June 30.

Fannie Mae pays listing agents representing its REO properties a standard commission of 2.5 percent, with a guaranteed minimum of $1,000. Buyer’s agents are paid commissions equal to 3 percent of the sales price.

In its most recent annual report to investors, Fannie Mae said it acquired 262,078 homes in 2010, up 80 percent from 2009. REO sales picked up 51 percent, to 185,744, leaving Fannie Mae with REO inventory of 162,489 homes valued at $14.9 billion at the end of the year. The company also said $212.8 billion in mortgages guaranteed by the company were delinquent by 60 days or more.

“Given the large number of seriously delinquent loans in our single-family guaranty book of business and the large current and anticipated supply of single-family homes in the market, we expect it will take years before our REO inventory approaches pre-2008 levels,” Fannie Mae warned.

The internet means that many time-consuming forms of white-collar drudgery have disappeared, or at least been offloaded to cheaper people who aren't you, permitting you to spend more time on things that are actually productive and highly leveraged.

No more standing in line at the copier, trudging to the Fedex box, waiting two weeks for a letter to be returned, leaving voice mails, searching for the right person to contact, waiting months to learn a skill or a fact, discovering that a project is hopelessly broken, and on and on.

It's a little like the bump we got after the Cold War ended. The peace dividend was there, just waiting for us to repurpose our military, our military budget and our military research. We didn't. We squandered the window, wasted the money and didn't rush to fill it with the sort of top-down industrial projects (like high speed rail and efficient new forms of energy) that could have changed everything.

So, what are you going to do with the digital dividend? Cruise Facebook?

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April 01, 2011

Foolish Marketing Can Be Fun!

April Fools' Day is here and all around the internet you can find humorous gags and jokes that in addition to being funny, make you take a moment and think, is this for real? We applaud everyone that has a sense of humor and lets it come through as an opportunity to engage and connect with their audience…and maybe drive some sales in the process!

Here are a few of our favorites:

American Apparel: Great subject line that's sure to drive huge open rates with 100% Off Sale!

 

Hootsuite: Hootsuite pulled a fast one on our Social Media Manager, Ellery, with their Happy Owls "game." Very clever and sure to get some good social media buzz for their brand.

 

Gmail: You can always count on Google to bring it on April Fools' Day and this year is no exception with their Gmail Motion. It's hysterical and we love the email spin.

What were your favorite April Fools' Day messages? I'd love to see them!

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