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The "ABC fee" (administrative brokerage commission), of $149 and up, is becoming increasingly common in some real estate markets. Defenders of the fees say brokerages have instituted them in order to cope with the rising cost of providing services and smaller commission splits with agents. As long as they're properly disclosed, they are both legal and ethical,... Read More

Five needed changes in the home buying process:

1.The feds should pass minimum national standards to ensure that real estate agents and mortgage professionals receive ample training that really prepares them for work in the industry and weeds out the treasure-seekers and crooks.

2.Home mortgage origination process: disclosures should allow consumers to make an even comparison... Read More

Should real estate agents be paid by commission only?

Real estate agents need to be trusted advisors for their clients. They are more than sales personnel, moving inventory as fast as they can, for the highest price.

Deciding whether to use a real estate agent or not is an age-old question. There are pros and cons to both sides.

The benefits of using a real estate agents are: access to MLS, realtor's own connections, negotiation skills, expertise, market knowledge and time. Home selling is extremely time-consuming.

The benefits of not using a real estate agent: save the price of commission... Read More

Why do some homes sit on the real estate market and others sell? It could be poor quality photos uploaded online.

• Photos that are too dark with blinds and drapes closed

• Photos turned on their side and not rotated

• Junk in the room

• Uncropped photos

• Pets sleeping in a chair

• Not enough photos submitted, especially if it’s only one unflattering shot.

• High resolution pictures that take... Read More

How much experience should real estate agents have?

Instead of asking how much experience a real estate agent has, ask how many times they have renewed their real estate license. In Oklahoma, for example, real estate licenses are issued for three years; New Hampshire's term is two years; in California, there are four-year terms.

10% of the agents do 90% of the business... Read More

The quality of your purchase offer is almost as important as the price you offer in buying a home. Listing real estate agents should not be placed in the position of having to educate selling agents on how to write an offer. Poorly written offers reflect badly on everybody and lessen your chances as a buyer to get your offer accepted.

10 tips on how they write the purchase... Read More

The real estate market seems to be dead and your home for sale. You need to sell. How can you and your real estate agent increase the traffic of prospective buyers through your home?

Here are 10 ways to increase traffic in home selling:

1) Make Your Home Easy to Show

At a minimum, your MLS listing should read "call first, lockbox." The "call first" is to... Read More

Not every mistake in a real estate transaction can turned around or fixed before closing. If buyers mess up and make an innocent mistake, they might very well be stuck with the results for a long time or, worse, their deal might not even close. It could fall out of escrow.

Home buying # 1 mistake: not confiding in your real estate agent:

Home buyers can withhold information... Read More

In real estate market news 2008 version (Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers) from the National Association of Realtors became available in November.. The information is based on answers to an eight-page questionnaire mailed to 133,000 consumers who purchased a home between July 2007 and June 2008 an shows how home buyers find the future home they will buy.

Here are the... Read More

Do you know what an ELP is? An ELP is a term that comes from Dave Ramsey, who has been a financial adviser for the past 15 years. He has radio and TV programs and it the creator of My Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace University among many other financial tools. ELP means "endorsed local provider". ELPS are the "cream of the crop" experts in the... Read More

Why isn’t my home selling? Real Estate Agents share the frustration with the home owners across the country.

If your home has had showings but no offers, that usually indicates it is still a bit overpriced. Buyers have been scared to death by the media, and unless they feel they are getting a "good" deal, they are reluctant to even make an offer,especially in... Read More

Reasons Home Buyers Don't Make Offers on Overpriced Listings in the real estate market?

• They don't want to offend the seller.
  

• Buyers mistakenly believe that the seller knows the home is overpriced. They believe that if a seller would be willing to sell for less, the seller would simply lower her price.

• Buyers also assume that the seller must have turned down low-ball offers... Read More

If you are looking for a good real estate agent, Estately Agent Match may be for you. Since there are over 1.2 million agents in the United States, how do you find a highly qualified, neighborhood expert without interviewing hundreds of them?

Estately Agent Match compares personalized proposals from 3 agents, works with neighborhood experts, helps you to get expert help... Read More

For real estate agents who have great websites that are rich in content, highly targeted for key search words and easy to navigate, the true challenge is to convert the leads that are received in a timely manner.

Consumers typically do not want to provide contact information because of being afraid that they will be bombarded with spam and telephone calls. A well written... Read More

FlyInside is an online, do-it-yourself virtual tour service for real estate agents. Using FlyInside, you can create virtual tours and have them published to the web instantly. The service is completely free and very easy to use.

An online wizard guides you through the simple and intuitive step-by-step tour creation process
Instantly create, preview, edit, and publish tours to... Read More

In real estate market news what do you do if you inherit property?

"A lot of people have enough to do just to maintain their own property and now all of a sudden they have another piece of property they have to deal with -- that's a little difficult, says Carl Izzo, Managing Director at Fiduciary Real Estate Advisors in Boston.

1. The first step is get legal advice. The... Read More

It’s a tough market for home selling. Yet, real estate agents say, there are people out there ready to buy a home and it is possible to sell a property if the right steps are taken.

The Best Offer is Often the First Offer: Agents have found that if you get an offer in this market, you’d better try to make the best of it and live with it if you can, because there isn’t always... Read More