I just wanted to let everyone know that the Real Estate Realities site has moved!
The URL has always been www.therebelbroker.com. That is still true. However, it now points to a different website!
There will be no more posts on this site! So if you subscribed to the RSS feed at this site, you will want to head over to www.therebelbroker.com and reconnect via the new RSS feed.
Feel free to contact Robert if you have any questions.
Every once in a while, something comes along that can completely change/improve/evolve how things get done. In the world of real estate, the Realtor.com application just might be that big of a deal.
Right now, this application is only available for the iPhone. I would guess that the folks over at realtor.com are working on versions for other devices, but for now, only the iPhone community will be able to use this amazing tool.
The bottom line is that this application identified the basics of what it needs to do and they focused on doing those things right.
Realtor.com App Front Page
Once you have downloaded and installed the application, give that cute little icon a tap and you will be greeted by the screen shown above. From here you can get to all the useful features. Lets get down and dirty with what this application has to offer.
Nearby Homes For Sale Screen
You can check out just homes within a range you define or you can enter a completely different part of the country. By far, the most useful mode for finding properties is to simply let it detect your location, then give it a range and let the search engine go to town. Note that once the results come back, you can check them out in list mode, map mode or satellite mode.
The data you get is every bit as complete as you get from the realtor.com website. In fact, I would make the case that the interface, information and format is even better than what you get from their website. However, if you are using the website, the application lets you use the same account for both the website and the application. This way, your favorites and searches all get linked to the same place. A huge time saver when you are looking through lots of available properties and trying to filter out the ones that just do not interest you.
Once you drill down to the details of the property, you have a variety of options that make the tool even more useful. First, there is a notes area that allows you to make specific comments about a property listed for sale. Maybe you want to note why it is not for you or what features made it most attractive. This is great information to keep. Once you select an agent to work with, that is exactly the kind of information they can use to only show you homes that meet your needs. The property detail screen will also give you the ability to map the property or get directions to it from where you are right now. You can also save the property to your favorites if you decide it just might be for you.
Map view of found properties
The listing information page will also give you all the photos and details that you would expect from the full web interface at realtor.com. There is really only one bit of information that is missing in the iPhone app that is available on the website. That is local school information. I would hope that in a future version, they include the same school rating information in the iPhone application that they do on the website. For now, this is a small shortcoming in a tool that gets everything else right when it comes to finding properties.
Frankly, buyers, sellers and investors should all be making use of this part of the application. The use for buyers and investors should be clear. However, we are still in a buyers market and sellers need to be aware of what buyers are seeing in this competitive market. A seller should check in with this application every week or so and see what is up with the competition – you can bet that is what the buyers are doing. By being aware of what is up for sale in the area around your home for sale, you will be better able to adapt to the local market so that you can be the one that ends up getting sold. The best part is that this tool puts this information in the palm of your hands with little or no effort. It is as simply as standing in your living room and hitting the button to find nearby homes for sale!
This will give you a list of homes with scheduled upcoming open houses. Just a tip on this one, don’t just look at the list and head on over. The list will show you all upcoming open houses, not just ones going on today or this weekend. I have already had one buyer head on over to a house that showed up on the open house list only to discover that the open house was a week away. This a great feature, but it is just crying out for a “Today Only” button to let buyers easily find properties while they are out on a Saturday or Sunday trying to get a feel for what is on the market in a given area.
This has simply become the most powerful tool in the arsenal of anyone who wants to be able to easily access information on homes that are listed for sale in the Multiple Listing Service. While there are a ton of tools out there, realtor.com is THE source for information on homes in the MLS. All the other tools out there may have some of the homes for sale information, but for the most part, they can only have a part of what is listed by realtor.com.
As a Real Estate Broker and Investor myself, this has revolutionized how I search for properties.
It really does... Kick Ass I mean.
Clint Eastwood. For my generation, when you think about ass kickers, you mentally go there first I think. Maybe you also lean toward John Wayne or Chuck Norris.
It is time for you to clear out a few brain cells to make room for a new default/goto ass kicker. But guess what? When this movie is over, it will not be the character that this film is named after. We start out with your typical high school kid who wonders why nobody has ever tried being a super hero.
We get to watch him make his way through becoming a super hero while being escorted by witty writing, great directing and tight editing. Your going to enjoy the ride and if you are like me, leave with a whole new appreciation for what action is all about.
The film is graphic in its violence. You are not going to want to take the kiddies to this one. If you are even thinking about it, watch it yourself first. I did, thinking that I could take my three boys and decided they were not quite ready at the ages of 9 and 10.
Many of the typical hollywood storyline cliches are present. Good guy getting the girl, if not in a slightly original way. Bad guy getting his just deserts, etc. You are not going to see a truly original plot line, but you are going to see one character in this movie really make an impression. That character is:
Yes, an 11 year old girl has replaced Clint Eastwood in my mind.
I know it sounds nuts, but the Hit Girl character has replaced guys like Clint Eastwood in my mind when it comes to total butt kickers. Aside from the moves, this girl inherits the crown from old Clint through the way she delivers a line and her ability to grimace bad assidly. Picture in your mind that moment when Clint says “So, do you feel lucky? Punk.” now morph that into being slapped across the face of an 11 year old girl. Yeah, I know, it’s shocking. In all honesty, that is where I was as I was walking out of the theater.
So head on out and let this one seap into your brain stem sometime soon. Just make sure and clear some space up there for who the the ultimate butt kicker is, your going to need it.
In a recent article published in the Christian Science Monitor, there were some concerns expressed about the effect of ”Real Estate Wholesalers”.
What is a real estate wholesaler?
The article from the Christian Science Monitor describes them as:
“…[someone] who quickly flips homes to a new buyer, usually an investor, for a profit ranging from a couple of thousand dollars to $10,000.”
That definition is basically correct. However, it underestimates the skills that this wholesaler brings to the market place. There are very few people that are good at everything. There are some folks that are fantastic at spotting the great deals and there are others that are great at taking a property like that and making it something worth more. Many investors who are good at turning a rundown property into something more desirable are not as adept at tracking down appropriate properties. In some cases, they simply do not have the time to go through the process of tracking them down. This is where the wholesaler often comes in.
Wholesalers and investors establish relationships and each begins to learn who the players are in both worlds.
The wholesalers gets paid for their skill at finding the right property and the investor takes a property that is unlikely to sell due to its condition and makes it one that is more appealing to buyers and therefore can sell for more than what the investor paid for it in aquisition and improvement costs.
Wholesaler Risks
After reading their article on Wholesaling, you may just want to give it a try yourself!
After all, it sounds like these guys are making a nice chunk of change and not doing any real work. Not quite. First, there is a HUGE cottage industry in “Get Rich Quick” schemes relating to wholesaling. Just do a google search on the term to see what I mean.
The truth is that a wholesaler is often the best example of putting their money where their mouth is. In order to really get those properties, they have to pay all cash. Todays loan climate simply makes that part of the deal. What if the wholesaler is wrong? What if the property is not as desirable to investors as they think? While the linked article seems to want to make it sound like profiteering, these folks are definitely taking a risk.
Finally, investors are cagey about wholesalers. Investors like to put together a team they work with regularly, so an investor and wholesaler need to build a relationship where each trusts the others abilities.
The only investors I have come across that use wholesalers are the ones that are working on multiple properties at any given time and simply do not have the time to find that next investment. They use wholesalers they have had a long relationship with. To imply that a good wholesaler is not offering a service for which they should be compensated is to reveal that you really don’t know that much about real estate investing.
So what’s the problem?
The Christian Science Monitor tries to walk the line. It gets the argument about half right. It points out that these folks get distressed properties into the hands of people that can restore them quickly. It then goes on to try and imply that this is bad for lower-income and affordable housing groups.
I would disagree to the point that getting rundown homes into the hands of low income folks tends to result in sustained rundown housing. Most low income families simply do not have the funds to make the improvements that investors do. Investors are also in the position to make the improvements the most cheaply. The end result is a home that is in better shape and more move in ready so that lower income families will have less of a burden in maintaining the home in the long term.
The case trying to be made here is that somehow things would be better for lower income families if wholesalers were not buying these homes. I don’t share that opinion. For each home that an investor gets via a wholesaler in a neighborhood, the value of the other homes in that neighborhood will increase, bolster a sense of pride of ownership and allow residents of the entire neighborhood to benefit from the improvements.
Given all the aspects in play here, there is a greater long term benefit to everyone involved, including low income families, to wholesalers and investors playing their part in these neighborhoods.
Much Ado About Nothing?
Depending on where you are located, the percentage of homes that are purchased by investors can range from 15 – 25%. According to the Sacramento Business Journal, more than 25% of homebuyers now are investors. This same article goes on to state that,
“…most [buyers] are not looking to sell quickly but instead will rent homes until real estate begins to appreciate…”
Using Sacramento as an example, an area where foreclosures are high and investors are drawn, gives us what this article would likely consider the place where this would occur most. However, the reality does not indicate this.
In addition, we would have to look at what percentage of these investor buyers are using a wholesaler. Most investors, in my experience, do not use wholesalers. In my 20 years of real estate experience, I would have to say that less than 5% of the investors I have worked with make use of a wholesaler. However, even if we assume my first hand experience does not represent the norm and assume that half of all investors use wholesalers, this would mean that in an investor dominated marketplace like Sacramento, only 12% of all sales have a wholesaler involved.
For most parts of the country, that number will probably be closer to 7 or 8% – if we continue to assume half of all investors use wholesalers. That low number hardly seems like something likely to shift markets or freeze out anyone looking to buy – regardless of income level.
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey (Future Governor of Califonia - Cuz we have dibs)
I, Robert Whitelaw (AKA: The RebelBroker), on behalf of the once great state of California, do hereby offically declare the time honored tradition of “Dibs” on Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey.
That’s right, we get him next! While his opponents seem distracted by his girth, his policies seem to be showing him to be the most politically svelte guy in all of New Jersey politics.
California seems determined to plug their ears and cry out “Nananananana” whenever someone points out that cutting spending is the only real way to solve a spending problem. Like the federal government, California seems to think that simply taxing more will get them more money. Sadly, history tells us that you hit a point where even if you increase taxes, you actually bring in less money. We need Christie or his clone to start taking the same stand here in the (Now less than) Golden State.
After this bit of interaction with the press, you may want Gov. Christie for your own state:
When was the last time you heard a politician talk like that? Of course, only time will tell if Gov. Christies actions match his words, but so far, he has been batting 1000. As reported recently by The New York Times, Christie has followed through on his promise to bring down the spending. His latest budget only brings spending down by 5% but still manages to upset all the usual suspects including teachers, unions, Democrats, etc.
Christie did violate a promise he made regarding the suspension of a property tax rebate program. In my book, promises should matter. Instead, is is proposing that, as quoted from the New Jersey Newsroom”
Christie will propose converting the money property owners and some renters would have received into direct credits on their tax bills. Some seniors may still receive rebates.
So I suppose that an argument can be made that he lived up to the spirit of his promise by at least keeping some version of the rebate alive.
He also proposed a law limiting how much property taxes can be increased – an idea that will force future budget makers to be more limited in their spending ways.
There is plenty of time to see where Christie takes his administration, he is only 8 weeks into his Governorship. I cannot help but think that he is on the right track, a track that other states in trouble could learn something from.
Or so says Harry Reid (D-Nev). I am not a big fan of Harry Reid. Some of the things that come out of that mans mouth just don’t make much sense when you actually have your brain engaged. Here are a few of my favorite gems:
On Iraq: “The War Is Lost”
On Obama: a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one’
On Job Loss: “Today is a BIG day in America. Only 36 thousand people lost their jobs today, which is REALLY GOOD…”
Sadly, the stupidity does not end there. Like the time he voted against his own health care bill… twice.
I LOVE this one. Here, Uncle Harry tries to explain how taxes are voluntary. Get comfortable and prepare for one of lifes most amazing intellectual train wrecks.
While there are plenty of examples left to share, lets get to Harrys most recent act of intellectual crash and burn. With President Obamas recent selection of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, Mr. Reid had some sage wisdom to offer to any potential opposition to this appointment.
According the the website The Hill, Harry Reid said that since Ms. Kagan was already approved for her position as Solicitor General last year, all those who supported that appointment should approve her appointment to the Supreme Court. So according to good old Harry, the same level of scrutiny and questioning applied to someone applying for Solicitor General should apply to someone applying for the job of Supreme Court Justice. Sure, that makes sense. Aside from the fact that a Supreme Court Justice is appointed FOR LIFE and that in this position will fundamentally effect the legal fabric of the entire nation for generations, there is really no difference at all.
As Solicitor General, she can be fired at any time by the President and is likely to be replaced when a new president is elected. The idea that there is ANY equivalence between a Supreme Court Justice or the Solicitor General in terms of how much scrutiny they should get in order to get the job is the worst kind of intellectual bankruptcy that Harry Reid has become the poster child for.
Ms. Kagan SHOULD and MUST face the kind of rigorous scrutiny that we would reserve for only the most important positions in the nation – since Supreme Court Justice fits that bill!
As of today, the change over is complete!
For those of you accessing the podcast via iTunes, you will no longer see any of the old podcasts. If you would like to take a look at the archives of all older podcasts, you will find them here.
That archive should remain available for the time being. Feel free to listen in any time!
While I will continue to strive to do the show at the same time each Saturday morning, I am finding that there will need to be some flexibility in the start of the show from time to time. This weekend is going to be a busy one, so the show will be starting at 8AM pacific instead of the 10AM time I have been shooting for. If you are up… why not take a listen or even call in!
As we move into the fourth year of ‘Real Estate Realities With The RebelBroker’, some changes are in the works!
As many of you know, last year I ran an experiment with doing the shows live. There were some glitches, issues and concerns and many of you shared with me your thoughts on the format. Well, I took all that to heart and went to work on making changes that would only improve on what “Real Estate Realities” has been offering its audience for over 3 years!
So what do we have on tap to improve the show?
Longer Standard Format
The show will now be standardized at right around 1 hour. Overall, listeners have said that they would prefer an hour long show to a thirty minute show. Done!
Listener Participation
I like hearing from listeners, I share those conversations with you when I can, but I can’t help thinking that you would get more out of it if you could hear it for yourself or even have the ability to call in and comment yourself. So, I have gone with a solution that allows you to participate in the show in a variety of ways.
So until we can manage the whole mental telepathy thing, I think we have covered just about every way that you can participate in show!
Current Subscribers
For my current subscribers, the changes are pretty limited. All your old RSS feeds, etc. should work. If you run into any problems, let me know. The only change is that all my old shows will no longer be available via my normal show feed. If you use iTunes to access the show, all the new shows will show up there for download as soon as they are completed. So now you can enjoy the show just like you always have and still have the option to participate. The vast majority of my old shows will stop showing up in my RSS feed and iTunes within the next few days. For now, you can get at any of my old shows as usual. Once the switch over occurs, my website will be the only place to get access to the archives. I will leave those archives up for at least a month after the switch over.
Some come on out and join the show this Saturday!
Anyone who has been hearing the popular news headlines and sound bites regarding the recently enacted illegal immigration policy in Arizona should have every alarm bell in their head going off. Not because they should be concerned about the law, but because of the way people are arguing against it. I hear lots of people talking about NAZI tactics, and other emotional attacks, but I am not hearing much about what the policy ACTUALLY SAYS OR DOES.
This is the kind of thinking that should always set off alarm bells when someone is trying to convince you of something. As soon as they start throwing accusations of racism, fascism, etc. you know it is time to stop listening to those folks and start looking more deeply into what they claim is the spawn of all evil. So I did. I headed off to the internet and got myself a copy of the law passed in Arizona. What I found was interesting and from what I can see, has gone completely ignored by those in the mainstream media. First, here is a copy of the law for you to read. It is only 16 pages and worth the time it will take to read it.
NOTHING NEW
For those old enough to recall, this law might just sound familiar. That would make sense since the law is basically a reprint of the immigration law passed by the federal government in 1986 (Here is the Wiki page for the 1986 law). So what is the difference? The difference is that Arizona makes it part of state law and actually facilitates the laws enforcement. Why? Because the federal government has refused to enforce it’s own laws in favor of pandering to a group of folks that they see as a voting block they do not want to upset. If you were around back in 1986, you might also recall the other element of these laws. Amnesty. That’s right, the estimated 2-3 million illegal immigrants suddenly became legal. Does any of this sound familiar? The government always tells us they will create new laws and then give amnesty to current illegals and then never follow through on the enforcement end. With federal immigration reform looming, we all might do well to keep this fact in mind. These deals always end up delivering on the amnesty, but never on the enforcement. Just remember that today, instead of 2-3 million illegals in the country, estimates run from 10-20 million. You can find a link to a PDF of the 1986 federal law below.
Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986
NO NEW CHANCES FOR ABUSE
We all know that from time to time, law enforcement authorities abuse their powers. However, this does not create a new opportunity to abuse the rights of individuals with impunity. Stopping someone just for being Latino will be just as illegal under this law in Arizona as it was 2 weeks ago. Just as with the federal law, this law makes clear that it is ILLEGAL for law enforcement officials to stop someone for “Looking Latino” in order to check their citizenship status. When we read the law, it is made clear that only legal contact with law enforcement is covered:
“FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY”
What is “lawful contact”? If you get pulled over for speeding, driving drunk, robbing a store, etc. that is “lawful contact”. However, an officer cannot just walk up to anyone and start to harass them. They have to have observed something indicating the person is in violation of some law or statute. Then, as part of establishing the identity of the person they are dealing with (something they are already able to do), they can further establish their immigration status. Prior to this, officers were simply not allowed to even ask about immigration status. Remember, nobody is required to carry any new documents. Only currently required ID is needed. Legal immigrants are already expected to carry their green card with them at all times.
IT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE
Yes, this may shock you, but there is already one county in Arizona that for all intents and purposes, has been doing this. Maricopa county has been doing this for quite some time under the supervision of County Sheriff Joe Arapaio. In over 36,000 encounters with people where immigration status was determined, there has not been a single case of abuse reported.
SO WHAT REALLY CHANGES?
Given the example set by Maricopa County, there is likely to only be one change in the day to day life of police officials and people who are stopped in Arizona at large. When dealing with suspects, speeders, drunk drivers, etc. they will actually be allowed to determine the identity of the person enough to find out if they are an illegal alien or not – something they were previously not allowed to do.
In addition, and something else nobody seems to be talking about, is the fact that the law also makes it a violation of state law for cities in Arizona to declare themselves “Sanctuary Cities”. It simply requires all parts of Arizona to comply with the law and its equal application.
Illegal immigration is … well… illegal. To not enforce immigration laws is a slap in the face of all those people across the globe and those already here who have done and are doing it the right and LEGAL way.
Thats right, it is time for another RebelBroker LIVE! event. There is plenty to talk about this time around. You can either pick from any of the topics we have recently covered in my podcasts, or head into some new territory. We will also spend some time talking about all the myths and lies that so many people accept as the truth in the real estate business. This is going to be a great chance to talk about some of the biggest loads of bull you find in the real estate business!
So tune in to the LIVE show!
Where: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rebelbroker
When: 9:00AM Pacific – Set to go for 90 minutes.
Looking forward to talking with you all then!
Real Estate Realities With The RebelBroker LIVE! Shows Feed
