I just read Lisa Udy's featured post, Are Cutthroat Home Buyers Causing Home Values To Decline More? and it made me wonder about things. She and others think that a buyer getting a home under the fair market value is causing neighborhood values to fall. The buyers might actually be cutting their...

07/30/2010

Short Sale Approved. Buyer Ready and Willing. Seller Decides She Wants to Keep Living Free for as Long as Possible.

6 Comments

I had a buyer ask me to check on the status of a home that was showing up as "Pending Sale". I saw that it was a short sale that went under contract in April and the proposed closing date was at the end of May. I figured that it was already closed but I called the listing agent just to make sure...

07/28/2010

Why Do I Love My Job? I Just Made a Difference in Someone's Life and They Sincerely Appreciated It.

4 Comments

I had a closing today and at the end, my buyer was so happy that she couldn't stand it. I won't go into the details of this transaction, but let's just say that sometimes life throws a lot at you and you sometimes think that you'll never recover. My buyer had gone through a family tragedy two ...

07/28/2010

Will the "Cap and Tax" Bill Require Energy Retrofits Before Selling a Home? The NAR has a Good Fact Sheet to Dispel the Myths Flying Around.

5 Comments

A friend of mine forwarded me an email that's being sent around saying that if the "Cap and Trade" Bill that just passed in the House gets through the Senate, home sellers will need to make energy saving repairs before they'll be allowed to sell their homes. Maybe you received a similar email. ...

07/21/2010

Newest Pre-Approval Letter Myth

0 Comments

This is a great explanation about what a pre-approval letter actually means and how it affects the RESPA rules.Lenn Harley wrote a blog on Sunday in which she rightfully questioned the accuracy of what was being stated on another blog about Pre-Approval Letter. The writer of the blog that Lenn w...

07/21/2010

A Guy Who Pushed for a Pro-Slavery Constitutional Amendment. You Might be Surprised.

2 Comments

I enjoy studying the Civil War. I was born a proud Yankee but have lived in the South for 24 years and I try to learn about it from a different perspective. I found a speech given by a major player in the Civil War or "The War of Northern Aggression" as some refer to it down here. Read the exc...

07/18/2010

The Healthcare Mandate Penalty. Is It a Tax or Not? It Depends on Who's Asking.

1 Comments

This kind of stuff is what drives me crazy about politics. They say whatever they think they need to say to push something through. Back in September, President Obama had a spirited interview with George Stephanopoulos about whether the penalty that will be imposed on people who choose to not ge...

07/18/2010

Are Blog Discussions About Retainers and Pricing Policies a Price Fixing Lawsuit Waiting to Happen?

35 Comments

Everyone seems to know that it's not OK to talk about commissions. Fellow real estate agents can't have a discussion about what they charge. You can advertise what you charge and other non-agents can discuss and compare commissions that are charged but competing members in the same business can...

07/16/2010

I Couldn't Care Less Where LeBron Decided to Play Basketball

8 Comments

It was almost comical yesterday. It seemed like everyone was talking about and waiting for LeBron James's big decision on where he was going to play basketball. I kind of played along because I didn't want to be rude. But honestly, I think most people have gone nuts. With all of the things goi...

07/09/2010

Foreclosure Deficiency Judgment Compared to Deed In Lieu and Short Sale Scenarios

0 Comments

This is a great article that should help many better understand foreclosures and short sales and what the consequences might be. It's a little different in Georgia but the concept of a mortgage vs. a promissory note is very important to understand.We get so many questions about what is a DEFICIEN...

07/06/2010