I just read a great article about short sales.  I don't agree at all with the idea that short sales are rarely worth the trouble, but what I do love about the article is that it shows that there are still a lot of real estate agents out there that don't know how to handle a short sale properly.  this quote is great, '"Short sales are really not worth the effort," says Serina Lancia, a real estate agent in Old Tappan, New Jersey. "We've had a few attempts by interested buyers, but they seem to get the short end of the stick and end up walking away," she explains.'  I hear this all the time from other agents, but I truly believe that they are speaking from a lack of experience and knowledge.  My goal isn't to speak badly about other agents, but just to point out that not all agents are eq... 05/28/2009

David Burns | Keller Williams Realty | 856 321 1212 125 Kings Hwy W, Haddonfield, NJ Open House Sat. July 11th 1-3:00pm!! Colonial with great Detail! Retail/Commercial offered at $550,000 Year Built 1944 Sq Footage 4,100 Floors 3 Parking Car garage Lot Size 20,280 sqft Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION HUGE $150,000 PRICE REDUCTION!! PRICED LIKE A BANK OWNED PROPERTY. Owner says sell and all reasonable offers to be considered. Stately Georgian style 4,100 SF office building on prestigious street, located within easy 3 block walk to PATCO and downtown Haddonfield. Beautiful architecture, loaded with old world details including 9 foot ceilings, hardwood floors everywhere, finished basement w/drain system. Ideal for doctors, lawyers, professionals and other businesses requiring offices. Form... 05/19/2009

Full Service, Fulltime, Top Producing Agent in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester County gets results!  Why hire a For Sale By Owner Company, and sacrafice service.  In most cases, your home sits on the market for 6 months after you've already paid them a flat fee up front! Why use a small town Realtor with small town marketing in this Real Estate Market when you can use a Top Realtor with The World's Largest Real Estate Company to Market Your Home! Janet Larsen will market your home to maximize the exposure!  I don't get paid unless your home sells!  Janet has a proven track record and has been a full time Realtor for over 8 years.  My clients refer me time and time again to their friends and family so they know they are getting an honest, hardworking, top negotiator working for them!  ... 05/14/2009

This is a video that was posted on my Twitter site by one of the people that are following me.  I thought that it was interested and wanted to share it on this blog.  There are many points that we have tried to educate our clients and customers about.  The one that stick in my mind is the one that seller are desperate.  Sellers may have different reasons as to why they are selling their homes, but I haven't come across anyone that was willing to "give" their home away because they were desperate. So, without further adeiu, watch and enjoy the video.   Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy 02/12/2009

So much talk about foreclosures and associating subprime mortgages with the word foreclosure. Don't get me wrong, as 4th quarter figures come out, delinquencies are on the rise, on subprime mortgages.  But they are also on the rise on FHA and conventional mortgages also. But let's take a deeper look at some of the reasons for foreclosures. What would you think a big reason for more foreclosures of lately?  What about the fact that home values are dropping all over the country. Think about it. More people a year or more ago, who were heading in the direction of a foreclosure, still had equity in their homes. They could actually sell for a slight profit, take the money to pay bills, and be able to rent comfortably. Some even took the money to buy again, but downsized. This is not the cas... 01/26/2008

 Google has just been very fascinating with their logos throughout the holidays, that's if you have been paying attention. I keep stating that we could learn so much from this. Some of you had replied with previous comments that you don't like change and that you don't see how it could help. Let's take a quick look at this. Why possibly change up your logo or web site?Keeping it active. Google actually likes to see change. When was the last time that you actually changed your web site, even if it was a little change.If anything, it keeps people on their toes and could get them to keep coming back to you, expecting change or wanting to see what you have done differently.  Overall, there are many ways of Marketing & Branding yourself. Knowing the difference is key and could not only help ... 12/23/2007

  Do you feel like you are sometimes back in time when shopping for a mortgage? Is it because you have now talked to 5 different lenders and nothing seems consistent?  How is the communication level when shopping good faith estimates? Does that loan officer just give you want you think you want to hear? Let's look at one major contributing issue when shopping for a mortgage. "If it's too good to be true, then it usually is." Do you think that you are a savvy shopper because you think you know what you are asking for? Do you think by asking for the APR (Annual percentage rate) that this will tell you the whole story in regards to your Good Faith Estimate that you just received? Companies can manipulate the APR also.  Just asking for rate and the lenders fees is a combination that could ... 12/17/2007

 Please welcome Sheri Smith to the Active Rain family. She finally has made the leap from park bench to the Active Rain playing field. After inviting her a few months ago, Sheri Smith finally started her profile. I sat down with her for about an hour introducing her to Active Rain and behind the scenes.  What Sheri will bring to Active Rain is not only her many years of real estate experience, but most importantly she brings a professional attitude with integrity and ethics. She takes her fiduciary responsibility very seriously. Overall, please make her feel comfortable and at ease. The next step is getting her to write her first blog. But there shouldn't be any pressure with that, right?  She does understand the power of the internet in which she was excited to finally get started  her... 11/22/2007

Prepayment penalties sound like a terrible word and a waste of money. Yes and no. No?  What do you mean no. There are many different types of prepayment penalties on mortgages and many reasons why this takes place. You need to start with a knowledgeable loan officer that will explain this to you.Why are there prepayment penalties on some loans? It's usually because you either have bad credit which would put you into the subprime market or because you can't prove your income (Alt-A loans) and are placed into some sort of stated program. Why does this matter to you? Generally people should improve their credit situation and credit scores over time. Or if they can show their income, they might be able to do this in a few years or build more equity in 2 to 4 years which will allow them to r... 08/25/2007

I just wish I could have called it a day after reading this e-mail and just float on cloud 9 the rest of the day. Now I know why I love my job, because of clients such as Rob. I wrote a post a few days ago, Doctor Doctor, this patient can't be helped!!!! Need a loan Medic., explaining how this was only my 3rd purchase loan ever lost in a 15 year period. And this is including anything that could possibly happen. Meaning that I could have appraisal issues in the past, title issues, etc, etc. Sure, I guess you could say I was lucky in some ways. But when it comes down to qualifying my clients, I was just very careful on their end.  And their were times when I didn't make a dime on a deal just because I had to make it work. I looked at the future, hoping for referrals, instead of killing t... 08/07/2007

 How many of you market to your current clients? Those clients that you have closed since you have been in the real estate business. How do you market to them? Quarterly newsletters? If so, do you use paper newsletters or e-mail newsletters? So, what about reaching more people than ever before? Are you interested?  I wrote a post several weeks ago in regards to business card tips.  Do you save the business cards that you receive? Could you have 100's by now? Think of these business cards as your Rolodex. Potential clients that could be buying and or selling real estate in the future. And you could even set up a different type of newsletter just for these potential clients. And if a newsletter is too much, you could do small postcards. The ideas are endless. Yes, certain types of marketi... 08/06/2007

Loan Officers, Realtors, and Consumers...... be very, very careful out there. Loan programs are changing by the minute. Not only are stated loans becoming nearly extinct (by Janet Guilbault), but 100% financing is becoming extremely difficult. On August 17th, 2007, I will have been in the mortgage business as a loan officer and as a manager for a total of 15 years. I have only lost 2 purchase transactions ever. And I have saved over 15 loans or so that I can remember in recent years that were turned down by other lenders.Well today I might have lost a loan. Closing was set for 8/10. My guts are all in a knot and I haven't been able to eat as of yet today. We had to rerun the loan in the DU system (delegated underwriting) late yesterday afternoon to only find out that it was not being ac... 08/02/2007

(please listen to the music as your read this)  Are you a leader? A follower? Do you make polite comments on a subject even if deep down inside, you don't fully agree? After reading 100's of blogs, comments, and so much in life; I see so many that just say "great job" and then move on. The best comment, "this is great advice and well done". It's even better from those that might not even know anything about that particular subject. Unless you do your homework, how do you know what your reading is even correct. Just because it's written extremely well and sounds great doesn't always necessarily mean that it's correct or true. Opinion's are great, but maybe I am just a stickler for detail. It's like having a debate. Know your facts.I respect those that make a comment as this one, "I don't... 07/28/2007

The internet can be a very interesting place while searching for information at warp speed. We use it for many reasons in our daily lives. But have you ever thought about what your peers are saying about you?  Possibly your competition? Is it good? Or is your name mud in some cases? Have you ever typed in your name into Google to see what may appear?  Try it, you might be surprised. What about typing your name into the search feature here on Active Rain?  As stated, maybe you would like to try this for several reasons.  One thing that I have found here on Active Rain or even out in cyber-world are the thoughtful words mentioned about myself. I even found one blog site that has linked one of my blogs sites. You can use this to your advantage, but you need to know about it first. Why does... 07/27/2007

I wrote a blog back in December, Business Cards can help you move your career forward.... I received an e-mail today from Dena Stevens who gave me the idea to write more about business cards and what many of us learned from my first blog about this.There are several different ways to think about the look of your business card. Do you want it to be full of color? Do you want your picture on it. Do you want a lot of information on it or not much at all. Large print?  Small print? Do you want your slogan on it? A professional business card?  A goofy or eye catching card? You can get a lot of examples of these types of card in my previous post about business cards. Please take a look at it when you get a chance. And  So, what were some of the hidden secrets that were shared in the comments?... 07/24/2007

Every year in July, Haddonfield has the Crafts and Fine Arts Festival, which is a 2 day event. It's a nationally ranked event with over 230 fine arts and crafts persons that come to display and sell their work.   Haddonfield's main artery, Kings Highway, is closed down for this 2 day festivity. If you want to see what Kings Hwy looks like prior to the festival, please click onto this link. An Introduction to Haddonfield New Jersey. It's the first main picture on the left Some of the arts and crafts range from jewelry, metal, paper drawings, glass, wood, paintings, photography, ceramics, and wearable art and clothing. Some of these artists get to show off their work and how they create some of their beautiful pieces as a demonstration which is held near the Gazebo in Kings Court. In addi... 07/15/2007

Word Verifications : Just a question to ponder. When you are asked to type in a word and or bunch of numbers to verify for security measure, do you sometimes have trouble reading the letters? Why is it that they make some long or difficult to see to where sometimes you make a mistake that you have to retype a new set of letters.  I was trying to order baseball tickets for a Phillies game tomorrow. Here is what one company defined their reasoning when and verifying these letters.   Word Verification This additional step in your purchase process assures us that seats are being requested by a legitimate ticket customer, and not an automated seat request placed by web robots. This word verification technology is often used to prevent spoofing of order confirmation processes and presents a '... 07/14/2007

 Take a look at these two hamburgers. Very similar. On your left, it has onions and on your right, it has cheese. But these basically will tase the same. Comparing these to mortgages, think of one as a no point loan and the other as a 1 point loan. And that would be the only difference. Both can be said to be a 30 yr fixed mortgage with no prepayment penalties. Pretty basic and simple to understand, right? But could you be made to think that are totally different? YES!! So after reading one of Olan Carder's blogs about no closing costs and that Bank of America seems to be pushing this type of loan in his area, this made me think about the different types of loans and their names. Read below for an interesting take on this.After almost 15 years in the mortgage business, it's sometimes f... 07/01/2007

Wow, no closing costs, what a great deal. Well, yes, because you won't have to come to the closing table with hardly any money out of your pocket. Just watch out for catchy phrases. They can bury you, just as if you were buried under a pile of rocks. That you can't dig yourself out of this. So, Advertising, it can be really catchy at times. As a consumer that might not know any better, this sounds like an awesome deal. NO CLOSING COSTS!! Sign me up and 50 of my friends and family members. Because that last lender was charging me about $5,000 in costs.  Reality check: When it sounds too good to be true, it's because it usually is too good to be true. Why is this?   Take a peak here for the reasons why, because you might not like the answers. (this opens in a new window) 06/26/2007

I have had several questions in the last few months and I can't seem to get any detailed information. Can any of you help? Know some inside information? Know how some of these searches work?  Can it be beneficial to me or can it hurt me? I went to Google the other night to search my name again, Jeff Belonger. This is something that I would recommend doing often, just to see if others are using your name. There are also services out there that will alert you to when someone has potentially copied a blog of yours or even some bits and pieces of your web site. If you have any links to these companies, please share them with us. In any case, I searched my name and here are a few facts I found. Part Time ScholarshipsJeff Belonger I have just one tidbit of information that was totally overloo... 06/20/2007