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It is kind of interesting to hear the term Short Sale as most people have no idea what that really means. Most people think it is a sale that will happen quickly...guess again. A short sale is a term that implies that the Owner of the property is short on funds for repaying the loan. In our board, the Seller and Buyer must sign the contract first and then submit it to the bank for third party approval. This may take a very long time as the bank has to decide how much money they are willing to... Read Full Post

How hard does a Short Sale have to be. It is pretty hard right now to get the paperwork together, get all parties to sign off and submit to the bank just to wait anywhere from 30 days to 6 months for a response. Our board locks the buyer and seller in when they both sign, so this is not for the faint at heart. But when the listing agent starts to pull crap like sneaking in other offers while the bank is in the middle of negotiating yours, one it is not allowed per our board rules and it's jus... Read Full Post

It's that time of year again, Tampa Real Estate dues are due. One of the positive things that comes out of dues time is the fact that all those weekend agents that are clogging up the system will drop out of the business. We just lost 14 agents the other day and I expect that we will loose another 10-15 before September (the board gives them a grace period to pay). We have been struggling with the banks and at times these not so good agents that don't know what they are doing. Getting a prope... Read Full Post

We have some new agents in our office and for someone that has never really done anything like Real Estate before, it can be overwhelming especially if working a deal and another agent is trying to take advantage of the fact that you are new. I won't go into the details of what is happening with the deal other than I overheard her say that the house blew up (it didn't really but sometimes new agents over exaggerate things), the other agent, who has he buyer is trying to get her and her client... Read Full Post

The Tampa Real Estate market is heating up and with that come wave after wave of buyers looking for that great deal. Our Team is looking for Agents that are not afraid to work,not afraid to write contracts, and not afraid to do the right thing. If you are one of these agents and would like to be part of an aggressive Real Estate Team, please visit us online at Join Keller Williams. We look forward to speaking with you about the great opportunities we have in store for you! Read Full Post

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 h... Read Full Post

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... Read Full Post

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 paperwo... Read Full Post

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. G... Read Full Post

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 ... Read Full Post