Problem: No Buyers Agent Available

What client services are included when a home seller works with a Full-Service Realtor to list a home for sale?

• Agent-2-Agent Networking - Yes
• MLS Listing- YES
• Advertise Property - Yes
• Negotiate And Manage The Sale - YES
• Show property to other agents clients - ???

Showing a property to other agents clients is a hot debate among Realtor groups and real estate consumers. This extra service from the listing Agent answers the demand of home buyers who want to see a property before they buy it and then submit an offer through a Discount Broker. Before the Internets' transparent introduction of letting home buyers view MLS listings and Open Houses on their own, the Buyers Agent would accompany the buyer and show the property. Now a relationship with a Buyers Agent, is less of a requirement, to find a home.

Touring homes with Redfin participating as the home buyers agent is done through a service called Redfin Direct. The first tour, for up to three hours, is free and there is no obligation whatsoever to use Redfin as the agent. Future tours are $125 per home or $250 for a three-hour tour. Also Redfin explains:

Calling a listing agents or touring a property on your own is easy and listing agents are typically happy to show the homes they are representing to qualified buyers. For first-timers, Redfin offers an outline of what to say on the call, and a spiffy one-page Redfin introduction for you to print and show the listing agent once you do the tour.

Kevin Boer explains via his comments on the Refin Blog that there isn't an obligation to show property to other agents clients. Keep in mind - don't shoot the messenger.

...though it seems really, really, really screwy to folks outside the industry, as it stands now, the listing agent does not have an obligation to show the property, and if he/she does, it's going above and beyond...

Even though it's not a legal obligation to make oneself available to show the property on behalf of a missing Buyers Agent, I feel it should be a moral obligation. The owner and Agent have an interest to sell the house. A licensed Realtor in this situation should set an appointment to show the property and allow the home buyer(s) to tour the property by appointment.

If you're working with an Agent to sell your home make sure to ask how they will handle home buyers that choose to tour homes without a Buyers Agent.

FHA Brings the Holidays Home

What better way to celebrate the holidays than by purchasing a home of your own. To help increase homeownership opportunities during this holiday season, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is launching the "FHA Brings the Holidays Home" sales campaign.

Homebuyers who purchase a HUD-owned home and finance the purchase with an FHA-insured loan will be entitled to valuable sales incentives including:

• $2,500 Holiday Home Improvement Allowance
  
• $500 Selling Broker Bonus
  
• Minimum Required Downpayment of Only $100

The incentives are effective for HUD homes sold between Friday, December 8, 2006 and Friday, January 5, 2007.

In addition to the special holiday sales incentives, buyers may also receive a credit for up to three percent (3%) of closing costs, a benefit HUD provides on most of its home sales.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Architecture

The building sector not the transportation sector is responsible for the largest consumption of fossil fuels and natural resources in the world today. According to this independent survey.

U.S. CO2 Emissions by Sector
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics

Architecture2030.org explains that combining the annual energy required to operate residential, commercial, and industrial buildings along with the embodied energy of industry-produced building materials like carpet, tile, glass, and concrete exposes buildings as the largest energy consuming and greenhouse gas emitting sector. (Seems to makes sense when you combine such a large list of energy needs.)

U.S. Energy Consumption by Sector
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration statistics

After looking at this study - Is there a need for massive change in the way architects design buildings? The building community (according to this calculation) is responsible for almost half of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions annually. Globally the percentage is even greater.

About Architecture2030

Craigslist - "Fair" Housing Lawsuit Dismissed

The Craigslist website defines itself as "a community-moderated commons run by and for its users, who self-publish and manage their own ads and use a flagging system to police the site." Which led to the "Fair" Housing Lawsuit against Craigslist by the CLCCRUL, a non-profit that works to stop discriminatory housing practices - to be dismissed on the grounds that internet sites can not legally be held liable for content posted by users. Unlike, a newspaper that is defined as a publisher and held responsible for such morally wrong and evil content.

The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal "to make, print, or publish ... any notice or statement with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or family status." The summary of the lawsuit from the Craigslist Website can be read below:

A group of lawyers is suing craigslist over a handful of allegedly discriminatory housing ads posted by our users, ignoring the fact that craigslist is not a publisher, but rather a community-moderated commons run by and for its users, who self-publish and manage their own ads and use a flagging system to police the site. These lawyers demand that we impose ill-conceived, mistake-prone, and potentially illegal controls on the craigslist community, which if adopted would actually reduce fair housing opportunity, while eroding important free speech and privacy rights. In reality, the craigslist community already excels at ensuring equal opportunity housing, and continues to improve in this regard, earning praise from fair housing groups. This lawsuit will likely be dismissed as groundless, but more importantly the craigslist community will be recognized for its exemplary record in promoting fair housing for all, while fully respecting each person's constitutional right to free speech and free association.

If you suspect a housing discrimination contact HUD or just call 1-800-669-9777.

If Craigslist isn't responsible for removing the posting - someone needs to be. The flagging system at Craigslist explains: If a post receives enough negative flags it will automatically be removed. Well, what constitutes "enough"? The Craigslist community is working to help solve the problem inside the flag forum, check it out~!

NCRC Files FTC Complaint Against Zillow.com

The following press release was issued from the NCRC website. In summary the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) filed a consumer protection complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging Zillow.com is misleading consumers, real estate professionals and financial service providers in on-line home valuations.

Zillow is placing the American dream of homeownership at risk for countless working families,” says John Taylor, NCRC President and CEO. “For a company that represents to consumers that they are the ‘Kelley Blue Book of Homes,’ this is a very dangerous situation. We call upon the FTC to intervene and ensure that Americans receive accurate appraisals and valuation information to protect the single most important investment of their lives: their home.

From my understanding about Zillow's home valuations tool called "The Zestimate" it is a starting point to help a consumer figure out the true value of a home. The company explains that the vast majority of Zestimates are within 10 percent of the selling price of the home. Not an exact value - more of a range. For more information about the Zestimate Accuracy check out how Zillow explains the process to price a homes valuation.

Also note the article posted that brings attention to comments made by Lloyd Frink, Zillow's CEO when he was at a recent Realtor conference in Long Beach, CA. According to Maria Patterson - Frink’s comments did not sit well with the audience.

"Zillow is a Web site that’s trying to empower consumers with tools and information,” explains Frink. “We have been fortunate to date that what we’ve done is popular with consumers, which is to provide them with a starting point to figure out what homes are selling for in their market. I thought it was worth making it clear to everyone in the audience that our model is one of a media company, and we would like the people in the audience to buy ads from Zillow. I think that part of the apprehensiveness on the part of Realtors comes from our history at Expedia where we were part of the transaction and that’s not what we’re doing here. We think that we can add a lot of value in terms of information and tools and service that will be complementary to the expert advice and guidance that Realtors give to their clients." Source: RISMEDIA

When Rust Grows In The Front Yard

The real estate market has slowed, creating opportunity for homebuyers, builders and investors to negotiate an even better deal on your neighborhood "teardown" property (lot). In fact a common theme in most neighborhoods today is a "For Sale" sign in the front yard with "New Price" or "Price Reduction” added to the metal frame - starting to develop rust.

What happens after the sale and the house is demolished to dust for new construction? Does the buyer build another single-family home on the lot(s) or decide to replace it with a multi-unit dwelling? If the answer is a new multi-unit dwelling, then your neighborhood teardowns or price-reduced houses might be the targets for Infill Development (ie: Smart Growth).

This is a hot topic for the industry and is both the solution and problem for the parties involved. It concerns neighborhoods from the smallest towns to the world’s largest cities. Buyers should always review the lot zoning rules that regulate the kinds of activities and densities, which will be acceptable on a particular parcel of land. Homebuyers should be aware of what can be built next door. Moreover the multi-unit buildings built most often have limited space. The new family or owner that moves into the townhouse or condo might discover in a short time that "we found affordability but need more space." In turn, selling the home and not becoming a long-term resident of the community.

In parallel, some developers have switched from building, commute heavy - residential subdivisions in far out and rural areas. Aiming more towards parcels of land closer to suburbs with densely populated communities. This way the builder can expect a faster sale and lower the cost cycle to carry the land acquired.

Real Estate Español and Asian Pacific

RealEstateEspañol.com is a real estate/financial services portal created to serve the Hispanic–American community and the official Internet site of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). This site allows homebuyers to search for an agent profile, list a property for sale, or search new listings if you would like to purchase a property. In addition, you can read valuable educational materials, useful interactive tools, ask advice from the loan counseling service, or contact a mortgage center.

Also the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community has a national professional trade organization dedicated to closing the homeownership gap (AREAA). AREAA’s membership represents a broad array of real estate, mortgage and housing-related professionals that serve the diverse Asian Pacific American market.

Maps Reveal New Shapes of Land

Have you ever looked at an ordinary map of the world. All of us all have but Mark Newman uses the science of cartograms to view the world through the prism of population, greenhouse gas emissions, etc...

Population

In this map the sizes of countries are proportional not to their actual landmass but instead to the number of people living there; a country with 20 million people, for instance, appears twice as large as a country with 10 million. Where did Russia go?
Overcrowded Homes

Overcrowding is defined here as when there are more than two people for each room in the house. If you are interested to see more cartograms, visit the website of the Worldmapper Project. Mexico grew into a shape that looks like California?