rmasse10's Blog: All Categories

I can understand with the way the banks have mucked this whole thing up with the Bank Owned Homes and Foreclosures and Short Sales...the Agents still are taking on the attitude of the bank and the Banks are actually turning us fellow Realtors against each other.  Here's a thought, stop taking what the bank says it needs to get to sell the house in a short sale because the number they give you is bogus.  Maybe it is what they would like to get, but not necessarily what they are going to get.  I have seen banks hold out for another $2000 only to have the property finally go to foreclosure, become bank owned and now the property is listed for $50,000 less than what the offer was originally, I don't get it.  Then to make things worse, they wait until they have…

In the Tampa Real Estate Market and our MLS states that when an agent puts in a commission on a listing that is a short sale or bank owned, the commission that is in the system must be paid, no negotiating.  So here is the dilemma, I have a short sale that is basically approved and the bank is only willing to pay 3.5% commission.  OK, so now the other agent wants me to split my commission...Like I said, don't ask because the answer is no.  But wait, it gets better...I may have felt some level of compassion, but the listing also states that the current price is approved by the lender and I know for a fact that the contract has fallen thru twice because of financing.  In addition, the property was never put into Pending status as the MLS rules state that it…

OK, so this happened to my wife today.  She has been trying to get paperwork together for a Tampa Bank Owned Homes.  She has approval on the offer so that is no problem.  The problem comes in when she is trying to submit the paperwork to close.  The company hired to be the middle man to put together the paperwork is totally incompetent.  We have had to resend original copies now 3 times overnight each time $20/mail and now they want it sent again.  This over things that if they read all the paperwork completely the first time, we would have been limited to 1 overnight max.  I watched a cat fight occur on the phone between my wife and the woman on the other end as they both were screaming at each other.

My wife, after the phone was thrown across the room,…

I haven't had any of these happen to me lately but I have had my fair share and have heard around the office of other agents suffering from Rude Clients, Clients that expect agents to take them on a Taxi Ride around town just so they can write off their trip for taxes, babysit, you get the picture.  I think with the Tampa Real Estate Market the way it is being a buyers market, some buyers seem to feel that they can make everyone run around like mice in a cage and we Realtors will just do it.  Guess what, that will only last so long with un-seasoned agents, and won't fly at all with seasoned agents.

Like I said, I have had my share, and I give everyone that I deal with (since I am no longer a buyers agent it doesn't matter but every now and then I will…

Ok, so I am what I would consider a high Tech person, love every aspect of technology and how to apply it to Real Estate.  I have used a Blackberry 8800 for some time now and the instant email was great.  It allowed me to respond quickly to leads and questions from clients.  Now comes along the IPhone.  My buddy decided to get my wife and I both an IPhone (original model) and at first glance, I thought it was pretty much a toy....a really pretty toy, shinny, pretty pictures, etc.  As I started to use it more and more, I found that it was a great phone (if you want to call it a phone).  The internet browser is amazing, no more mobile mls for me.  The speaker phone is pretty good and the phone in general is pretty good.  One of the great things that the…

The temperatures here in the Tampa bay area are reaching the mid 90's with a couple of peaks to 100.  With the high temps come high demand for real estate in the Tampa Real Estate Market.  I think the concept here is that most of the clients we speak to live in parts of the country where it is cold and rainy and they just want a piece of sunshine, nice walk on the beach, or a good day fishing (any day and everyday is a good day fishing).  Tampa is a great place to live and play, so if you are one of those people that has always dreamed about living in paradise, on the water, or by a great backyard pool, give us a call today!  There are some great deals going on right now as well as the Tampa Foreclosures market, it just may take a bit longer to…

Now that the Tampa Real Estate market is busting at the seams with homes of all styles and price ranges and because of this we have a problem.  With so many choices, comes that feeling of being overwhelmed and lack of ability to make a decision.  By the time you make a decision, odds are the property is going to be gone.  Here is some advice if you are in the market to buying a home:

1. Figure out what you are willing to spend and then increase that by $20,000.  The reason for that is it is a buyers market and you will most likely be able to get a better house for a good deal.  Negotiate down.

2. Know exactly what you want.  Don’t waste time looking at homes that don’t meet your needs.  Put your needs on paper and stick to them.

3. Speak with a…

OK, so I think the banks are starting to figure out that they stand to make more money (or should I say loose less) by processing short sale offers instead of making it to the foreclosure process.  Working in the Tampa Real Estate Market, which is improving, the Tampa Foreclosures market is moving quicker in terms of offers, but not closing.  Lets take a look at a few examples.

Example 1. My wife takes out some first time home buyers and they are interested in this one property.  The price is listed at $125,000 and they put in an offer of $97,000.  The bank, after  4 weeks says no way.  Ok, so the clients move on and are still looking and then we see that the property went thru foreclosure and is now bank owned.  The property is now listed at…