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Wells Fargo still leans in on mortgage business | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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The mortgage business is a top source of revenue for banks, and mega bank Wells Fargo is no exception.

Wells Fargo ($40.55 -0.7%) CEO and President John Stumpf presented at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference on Wednesday discussing the overall health of the bank.

Stumpf said the culture of our company and the way we do business is about serving customers. “We work together. And if it’s not mortgage – its mortgage today, it might be credit card tomorrow.”

“It might not be an even tradeoff and might not be a quarter-by-quarter tradeoff, but if we provide great services and products, the rest seems to take care of itself,” he added.

However, Wells Fargo may adapt for the customer, but the bank’s revenue tells a slightly different story.

Mortgage is an important business, the CEO explained. “We love the mortgage business. For two-thirds of Americans, it is still the biggest asset purchase they’ll ever do. It is part of the way Americans save and it changes families.”

Despite the bank saying it will follow the customer, the bank shows no signs of backing away from mortgages anytime in the near future.

“To be in the consumer business, we think you have to be in the mortgage business. We like it that we love that business, but we also love the other 89 businesses we are in,” Stumpf said.

 

Wells Fargo still leans in on mortgage business | REwired.

Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1 | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Zillow: Homeowners with ‘effective’ negative equity helped keep inventory low

Despite rising home prices early in the year, a significant portion of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage — about 44 percent — still owed more on their home than it was worth or didn’t have enough equity to move at the end of the first quarter, according to Zillow’s first-quarter Negative Equity Report.

Zillow’s analysis showed that 25.4 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were underwater on their homes, while another 18.2 percent more were “effectively” underwater, with less than 20 percent equity in their homes.

Taken together, about 22.3 million U.S. homeowners likely don’t have enough equity in their homes to afford a down payment on another home, Zillow said, keeping them in their homes and preventing new inventory from hitting the market.

“Reaching positive equity, even barely, is an important milestone,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries in a statement. “But things like real estate agents’ fees and a down payment for the next home traditionally come out of the proceeds from the prior home’s sale. Without enough equity, these costs will instead have to come out of a homeowner’s pocket, leaving many still stuck,” he said.

“Looking at the effective negative equity rate could explain why recent, healthy declines in the number of underwater borrowers haven’t yet translated into more homes for sale,” Humphries added. “The only cure is patience, as rising home values continue to build equity to the point where more homeowners can realistically sell.”

Among the 30 largest metro areas covered by Zillow, those with the highest effective negative equity rate, including homeowners with 20 percent equity or less, include Las Vegas (71.5 percent), Atlanta (64.1 percent), and Riverside, Calif. (59.7 percent).

 

Nearly half of all US homeowners with a mortgage still ‘underwater’ in Q1 | Inman News.

Foreclosure threat subsides for more Miami households | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Foreclosure rates in the greater Miami area remain astonishingly high, but they’re headed in the right direction.

In March, 13.25 percent of the outstanding mortgages in the Miami, Miami Beach and Kendall area were in some stage of the foreclosure process, according to CoreLogic. That was down from 17.51 percent a year earlier. But it was dramatically higher than the national foreclosure rate of 2.84 percent, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based real-estate data firm.

 

Foreclosure threat subsides for more Miami households | HousingWire.

Pound Ridge NY Weekly Real Estate Report | RobReportBlog

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Pound Ridge NY Weekly Real Estate Report

5/23/2013
Homes for sale
88
Median Ask Price$1,045,000.00
Low Price$285,000.00
High Price$4,250,000.00
Average Size3903
Average Price/foot$354.00
Average DOM119
Average Ask Price$1,357,334.00

 

 

Pound Ridge NY Weekly Real Estate Report | RobReportBlog.

Offers remain high even in depreciating markets | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Forty-one percent of buyers surveyed by Redfin said today’s low inventory has caused them to consider paying more for a home in the second quarter of 2013. This is up from 34% of survey respondents in the first quarter and 26% in the fourth quarter of 2012.

As someone who was looking to buy a home in this crazy North Texas market where prices continue to appreciate, I can attest to feeling the need to offer over list price. In fact, on the second home my husband and I put an offer on, we offered nearly $4,000 more than the original listing price of $214,000. This was only to find out that the home ended up selling for $225,000… another $5,000 on top of our offer. 

But what about the markets where prices are still depreciating?

According to the April Trulia Price Monitor, Honolulu, HI, New York, NY and Rochester, NY, also saw a decrease in the seasonally adjusted asking prices year-over-year. So are offers going in above listing price in these markets as well? 

Patrick Hastings, a broker/associate at RE/MAX Plus in Rochester, NY, says the market is surprisingly stable. 

Hastings said buyers are still going over the listing price on homes from time to time in multiple offer situations. In the good neighborhoods, there is still pent up demand, says Hastings. 

Patti West, an agent in Manhattan, said she is definitely still seeing offers come in at or above listing price.

It depends on the property, West said, because there are so many variables: how it’s priced to begin with, if it’s priced right to begin with, etc. 

There are some who still try to negotiate, but it depends on what the property is. For instance, condos are a bit more money, so they’re going in at asking or above listing price, while co-ops are a little bit more negotiable, according to West. 

So it seems that even in markets that are still depreciating, demand remains high. This only raises the question: at what point will that depreciation turn into appreciation? We’re going to guess soon.

 

Offers remain high even in depreciating markets | REwired.

Mortgage apps tumble, refis drop to lowest since late March | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Mortgage applications tumbled this week as refinancing and purchase applications continued their downward trend.

Application volume fell 9.8% from one week earlier for the week ending May 17, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Also posting significant drops, the refinance Index decreased 12% from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted purchase index dropped 3% from one week earlier, the industry trade group said.

“Mortgage rates increased to their highest level since March last week, leading to the largest single week drop in refinance applications this year,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics.

He added, “The refinance index has fallen almost 19% over the past two weeks and is back to its lowest level since late March. Purchase activity declined over the week but is still running about 10% above last year’s pace at this time.”

The refinance share of overall mortgage activity slightly fell to 74% of total applications.

Meanwhile, the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity inched up to 5% of all mortgage applications.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan balance continued to escalate, rising to 3.78% from 3.67%.

Additionally, the average 30-year, FRM with a jumbo loan balance rose to 3.93% from 3.87% compared to a week prior.

The average contract interest rate for the 30-year, FRM backed by the FHA surged to 3.53% compared to 3.43% the previous week.

The 5/1 ARM squeaked up to 2.60% from 2.55%, and the 15-year, FRM jumped to 2.96% from 2.88.

 

Mortgage apps tumble, refis drop to lowest since late March | HousingWire.

7 Facebook Marketing Case Studies | Pound Ridge Realtor

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Learn some inventive ways to integrate Facebook into your social media marketing strategy.

7 Facebook Marketing Case Studies 7 Facebook Marketing Case StudiesEvery day, businesses are inspired to bring creative marketing ideas to life on Facebook in ways that have a real impact on their bottom line. Many have discovered how to leverage their Facebook communities to strengthen brand loyalty and communicate directly with customers. As your company invests in the social network for marketing, advertising, and branding, it’s useful to have a few examples of what others have done with the platform. These case studies look at the goals, approaches, and results for several Facebook campaigns.

 HubSpot Facebook Marketing Case Study 7 Facebook Marketing Case Studies

HubSpot

The all-in-one marketing software platform wanted to promote its brand in a 3-month campaign as a thought leader in the B2B field on Facebook to:

  • Lead fans to its Page and ultimately engage them with other content
  • Drive customer engagement and generate more leads

Results:

  • 71% sales increase from Facebook
  • 15% increase in ROI from Facebook
  • 39% increase in traffic coming from Facebook

Read the case study

 Corcoran Group Facebook marketing case study 7 Facebook Marketing Case Studies

Corcoran Group Real Estate

The New York real estate brokerage wanted to use the global reach of Facebook to increase engagement with potential homebuyers, local New Yorkers, and the real estate industry at large, as well as strengthen its online brand presence to:

  • Create a community where people could start a conversation and discuss the question, “What does it feel like to live in New York?”
  • Connect with a larger pool of people interested in buying homes before they decide to reach out to a real estate agent
  • Drive awareness of Corcoran’s social hub and provide information about the brokerage’s activities

Results:

  • 2x visitors now come from Facebook compared with its other advertising platforms
  • No. 2 in organic search results for Corcoran’s Facebook Page, second only to the brokerage’s own website
  • 6x higher reach for posts on days when ads are running
  • 10x more Page views of its Facebook Page when ads are running

Read the case study

 Canvas People Facebook marketing case study 7 Facebook Marketing Case Studies

Canvas People

The canvas print maker wanted to drive brand recognition and establish a presence on Facebook to:

  • Increase fan engagement to build a dedicated Facebook community
  • Drive Facebook fans to purchase directly fromCanvasPeople.com

Results:

  • 3,959 individual transactions as a result of the Facebook campaign
  • 180,000 people liked the Canvas People Facebook Page
  • 1.5x return on investment on Facebook advertising
  • 10x page engagement increase based on the “People Talking About This” metric

Read the case study

 Luxury Link Facebook marketing case study 7 Facebook Marketing Case Studies

Luxury Link

The high-end hotel website wanted to drive engagement and increase brand visibility for the well-traveled luxury customer to:

  • Offer a way for people to share luxury travel experiences and new featured destinations
  • Continue to grow revenue by offering relevant deals to its community

Results:

  • 100% increase in sales for travel packages coming from Facebook
  • 30% increase in site visits month over month from Facebook
  • 90% of the Facebook community who purchased travel packages were new Luxury Link customers

Read the case study

 

7 Facebook Marketing Case Studies | Pamorama | Social Media Marketing Blog.

Colorado foreclosure filings plummet | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate

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Foreclosure filings in Colorado dropped a dramatic 41.3% in the first quarter of 2013, the Denver Post writes.

Citing data from the Colorado Division of Housing, the publication noted that 4,571 foreclosure filings were reported, down from 7,785 a year earlier.

 

 

Colorado foreclosure filings plummet | HousingWire.

Facebook Advertising for Grown-ups | Pound Ridge Realtor

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Facebook is Maturing for Users and for Advertisers

Several members of the Find and Convert team recently attended the Social Fresh EAST Conference here in Tampa. We all came away with a lot of food for thought but the key takeaway that is still ringing in my ears, something we heard from more than one speaker at Social Fresh, is that Facebook has matured. It’s true! Since the release of Graph Search in January, Facebook has released several powerful new tools that give marketers new and exciting ways to reach hyper-targeted audiences with relevant, effective content like never before.

Facebook’s Audience has Matured

According to SocialBakers, the age of the average Facebook user, 29.53 in 2010, is now 30.11. But anecdotally, we know that teenagers have moved on to channels like Instagram, Kik, and Vine while older adults are warming up to social media and discovering Facebook. So, in terms of audience, we can say Facebook has “matured” and there is clear evidence that older users may be more likely to click through to an ad.

Facebook has Matured

Many Facebook users feared changes that would come when the company went public. For a while, it seemed as though Facebook wasn’t entirely sure where it was going. For anyone paying attention recently, however, Facebook seems to have found some direction. There are still grumblings about changes to the user experience and new types of advertising but the still-active users don’t seem to be giving up on Facebook quite yet. They’re talking about the changes…but they’re staying on Facebook to do it!

Facebook Advertising has Matured

As Facebook itself has matured from the wild, young start up to a large corporate entity employing over 4,600 people and responsible to its shareholders, they’re almost tripping over themselves to improve the user experience for business users as well. While there is a real danger in relying too heavily on Facebook advertising, neglecting engagement and undervaluing the power of organic reach, the tremendous potential Facebook now presents for advertisers cannot be ignored.

There are really three ways to advertise on Facebook:
• On the page with promoted posts and offers;
• In the Ads Manager with ads, sponsored stories, and promoted page posts;
• In the Power Editor with mobile ads, advanced targeting, and testing options.

Crawling and Walking

Promoting a Post from the Facebook Page

On-page ad creation gives the page manager very few options. You can specify a budget to reach users who already like your page and their friends. Unless your target audience truly includes anyone in the world, I do not recommend promoting or “boosting” posts from your page.

 

 

Facebook Advertising for Grown-ups | Find and Convert.

New Home Inventory Search Tool – Builders Update | Pound Ridge NY Realtor

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Realtors run into a myriad of different obstacles trying to sell newly constructed homes to their clients.
These hurdles can range from just finding accurate inventory data, to decimating the correct information to their buyers usually implementing a laborious process of cutting and pasting details.  Just attracting and capturing new home shoppers was a tedious process that most Realtors aren’t prepared for.Builders Update Logo
Lee Goldstein, COO of Builders Update, looks to change all of that with his new search tool!
Once added, clients can peruse your site and search for new homes in a similar fashion to searching for previously owned properties.  Map searches, list views, detailed property descriptions, photos and even buyer registration features are now accessible to your website visitors.
Check out the video below to watch the interview as well as view screen shots on how the Builders Update system works.
Popout

 

 

New Home Inventory Search Tool – Builders Update | Pound Ridge NY Realtor | Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY.