It seems these days more and more agents are going the route of the press release to get out their listings, to market themselves or make a dollar or two off referrals...

Today it seems Michael LaPeter , a San Francisco agent has gone the route of trying to make a buck or two off referrals by issuing a press release online and maybe some advice.

LaPeter’s press release is chuck full of links to services he’s endorsing to help agents save money in a slow market... What he fails to mention is some of the links are more than likely getting him a referral fee...

When you click on the links he offers, each URL links back to his account... I have no problem with someone making a living, especially if the service really is a help...

With that said, take his advice with a grain of salt, and remember he’s probably getting a cut of the clicks that turn into clients for the sites he’s offering...

The advice he’s offering is titled:

Starving Real Estate Agent? Seven Ways To Cut The Fat And Start Saving

Here’s his advice:

As a real estate agent, you can't count on any financial bailout to save your business during this recession. These seven tips by Michael LaPeter, an active real estate broker in San Francisco, will help you trim the fat and make your business lean, mean, and most of all more productive:

1. Use Free Online Office Software.

A relatively new phenomena, several companies now offer free software that can essentially replace Microsoft Office and other expensive office software. You can spell check, cut and paste, format your text, and do everything else the average writer would need to online. As an added bonus, your documents are automatically saved and stored online, so you never need to worry about backing up your files or what happens if your computer is lost or stolen. My favorite is Google Docs, which can be found by simply googling "Google Docs".

2. Use Free/ Low Cost Online Transaction Management Software.

If you're looking for a quick way to differentiate yourself and offer great service to your clients, try using free/ low cost online transaction management software such as Basecamp. You can add tasks, milestones, messages, upload documents, and best of all your client can login and view his listing or purchase status at anytime. You save money by not needing a transaction coordinator, your clients love the transparency, and you'll save time because there will be less emails and calls back and forth.

3. Use Low Cost, High Impact Single Property Websites.

If you want to win more listings, you'll need to differentiate yourself during the listing presentation. Consider creating a free single property website from a low cost company such as Single Property Websites. They'll let you create a free preview version for your listing presentation, and if you win the listing it's only $9 to activate your single property website. Your competitors are already using single property websites... what have you got to lose?

4. Use Free/ Low Cost Online CRM Software.

Most Customer Relationship Management software, especially that made for the real estate industry, is notoriously hard to use. Are a few custom fields worth hundreds of dollars and hours of syncing and tech headaches? If you don't think so either, try Highrise, an online CRM that lets you manage up to 250 contacts for free, with more powerful plans available for only a few dollars a month.

5. Track Your Expenses.

While this sounds obvious, you'd be surprised by how many agents have no idea how much they're spending or what they're spending it on. It's no surprise: real estate agents are usually social animals, and digging into a heavyweight accounting program such as quickbooks is downright painful. For personal finances, I recommend Mint.com. You can link your accounts in about five minutes, and because they only track your finances (you can't transfer or withdraw anything), they're very safe.

6. Instead of Advertising, Try Picking Up The Phone.

I learned this idea from the course "Ninja Selling" by Larry Kendall. His great advice: make 50 brief calls to people you know every week and offer them real estate information of value (sales in their neighborhood, market update, etc.). This costs you nothing, and is probably the single most effective thing you can do to generate more business. Try it for a month.

7. Consider Working From Home. If you're an experienced agent and not doing it already, consider working from home. You'll save on commuting costs, those occasional lattes, and going out to lunch. Note that working from home isn't for everybody, especially new agents or those who have trouble focusing. New agents need the interaction and experience from co-workers, and those who can't focus will lose more money than they save on lost productivity!

Real estate is an incredibly fulfilling career, and the steps you take now can not only help you ride out the recession, they can put you in prime position for the coming recovery. Powerful new tools such as single property websites are making it easier than ever to save money. Stay hopeful, stay hungry, and best of luck!

Sometimes there are other factors that go into determining a price... Sure there’s the traditional supply and demand factors, but a good news article can go a long way swinging price pendulum one way or the other... This morning the National Insurance Crime Bureau released its list of U.S. Cities with the highest car theft rates... Proudly making the top ten is San Francisco... So suddenly having a indoor parking space my be more than just convenient...

The top ten list goes like this....
1. Modesto, CA
2. Laredo, Texas
3. Yakima, Washington
4. San Diego, CA
5. Bakersfield, CA
6. Stockton, CA
7. Las Vegas, NV
8. Albuquerque, N.M.
9. San Francisco/Oakland
10. Fresno, CA


Eco-friendly condo in Mission Dolores

Wonderful eco-friendly home located in one of the hippest parts of the city, right by Dolores Park. Listed for a great price, the two level condo boasts bamboo floors, a soak tub with a separate shower, double vanity, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, fireplace, private deck and additional rooftop deck. Public transportation is at your fingertips.

Click here for more details...

If you’re a big fan of Gregg Allman, and buying chunks of rock and roll memorabilia are you in luck.... The auction company WIlliams & Williams will be selling the Hall of Fame Rocker's San Rafael house come April 21st.... Opening bids for the 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home will begin at $250,000... You’re welcome to do your bidding online... It should be pointed out that others have owned the house since Gregg called it home....

If you’re interest in photos or a REALLY bad virtual tour, click on the link below....

tour

The wood shingled home sits atop of over an acre, includs a wine cellar, pool, spa, tropical gardens and the standard rock-n- roller recording studio

If you’re interested in bidding, click here

For years I’ve wondered and asked aloud why real estate agents put their photos on their business cards... It’s a trend that HASN’T caught on in the business world... I’m guessing Steve Jobs doesn’t have his photo on his card, nor does Bill Gates or Warren Buffet... I’ve heard all the reasons directly from the agents themselves... None of the explanations plausible... What I can tell you is the shock I’ve experienced meeting an agent for the first time who doesn’t look a thing like the prom photo she’s been using on her card for years...

So today I’m happy to announce the folks at the Huffington Post have taken up the issue of photos on business cards... They offer a little insight into the right and wrong way to go about doing it....

click here for the Huffington Post

Rates Edge Downward on Monday, According to Zillow® Mortgage Rate Monitor

The weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for thirty-year mortgages remained relatively flat during the past week. Last week's rate was 5.10 percent, up slightly from 5.08 percent the week prior, according to the Zillow Mortgage Rate Monitor, compiled by leading real estate Web site Zillow.com®. Meanwhile, rates for 15-year fixed mortgages decreased to 4.73 percent, down from 4.77 percent and 5-1 adjustable rate mortgages also decreased, down to 4.65 percent from 4.71 percent the week prior.

Average Rate Average Rate
Mortgage Type Week ending 4/12/09 Week ending 4/05/09 % Change

30-year fixed 5.10% 5.08% 0.4%
15-year fixed 4.73% 4.77% -0.8%
5-1 ARM 4.65% 4.71% -1.3%

A report out today from MDA DataQuick says LA homes prices has remained steady for the past three months... which begs the questions are we at the bottom?

still trying to find some local numbers, but hey, it's a positive sign no matter how you look at it...

The Christian Science Monitor has a nice piece today on the Bay Area market coming back to life... a little positive press goes a long way...

First-time homebuyers jolt market into life

Ucilia Wang is eager to reclaim her kayak and camping gear from a friend’s garage. There’s simply no storage in her tiny one-bedroom apartment in Oakland, Calif. She wants a yard, too. Maybe even two bathrooms.

Ms. Wang, who is single and writes for the technology news website Greentech Media, is
set to join a surge of first-time homebuyers in California and across the country who are taking the plunge into the still-shaky housing market, exchanging rents for mortgages.

Lured by a combination of a drastic drop in home prices, expanded Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans, record-low interest rates, and an $8,000 federal tax credit, these newcomers are breathing new life into a beleaguered market. Their entry, many hope, will help slow the fall in home prices and sales.

First-time buyers bought more than half of the existing homes sold in February, according to the National Association of Realtors, and helped add to the 5.1 percent increase in sales from the month earlier. Existing home sales in February rose to 4.72 million units in the biggest monthly jump since July 2003.

Lured by low prices

Wang realizes there’s some risk to buying now: prices could slide further; the economy could worsen. But, she says, it’s a chance she’s willing to take. Like others who have decided that now is the time to buy, she has been enticed into the market by the huge drop in prices around her neighborhood.

Overall, in Oakland, the median home price dropped 66 percent over the past year to about $145,000. In her sought-after neighborhood of Piedmont District, Wang is finally finding homes in her price range of about $500,000, which would have been hard to come by two years ago.

Across the country, prices dropped 19 percent in January compared with the year earlier, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 major cities.

“You don’t have to spend $500,000 for a one-bedroom condo [anymore]. You might be able to get a single-family house for that now,” says Marci Orler, a realtor in San Jose, Calif., who bills herself as a first-time homebuyer specialist.

With six active clients, Ms. Orler is much busier today than she was this time last year when few first-timers, or anyone else for that matter, were shopping for houses. Prices have finally fallen to a level that people without equity can consider buying, she says.

click here for the complete story...

The number of homes sold in the Bay Area rose for the seventh month in a row in March, the result of continued bargain hunting and foreclosure-discounted communities.

The past year's steep drop in the median price slowed significantly, indicating that the market might be near its price bottom, real estate information service MDA DataQuick reported.

In Santa Clara County, 1,288 houses and condos were sold in March, almost 17 percent higher than the same period a year ago but nevertheless the second-lowest amount in DataQuick records. The median price was $425,000, a 38 percent drop from the year-ago price. A month earlier the median price was $421,000.

Of the homes sold in the county, about 45 percent had been foreclosed on during the year.

A total of 6,325 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was up 25.7 percent from 5,032 in February and up 29.1 percent from 4,898 in March 2008, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

Last year's March was the slowest in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Last month was the third-slowest March of all time, ahead of last year and 6,210 sales in March 1995. March sales have averaged 9,025 and peaked in March 2004 at 12,645 sales.

"More than any other region, the Bay Area is waiting for so-called jumbo loans to come back on line. Even with prices off their peaks, most home purchases in the upper half of the market still require a mortgage for more than $417,000, which are far more difficult to come by. We think there’s a good chance those larger loans will become more available during the second or third quarter,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.

click here for the complete story

It's the price range all the kids are talking about... 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a backyard full of turf... Located in Novato with a view $799,000

For years now I’ve heard agents warn other agents not to market themselves as the, ‘luxury home specialist’ or the ‘Marina agent’ because one day it would come back to haunt them...

BOO!

It appears that day has arrived for the luxury agents... One of the town’s top agents is now bemoaning her crown... Seems she has a handful of multi-million dollars listings and none of them are selling and more coming on everyday... She takes full responsibility, and says the cost of keeping those listings is a major drain...

She admits the last few years have been good to her, but it’s been awhile since she’s sold anything...

Her decision, time to rebrand...

Love to hear from other agents on where they stand on the ‘luxury’ marketing title

Thanks to: Video Fishbowl & Photography of San Francisco

Just on the market... 1549 Francisco
Contact:Tania Albukerk 415.225.5178

If you missed this one, another great read from the NY Times... Just substitute San Francisco for New York every time you see a reference to the Big Apple, and you'll never know it isn't a local story..

By TERI KARUSH ROGERS

IN the past few years, New York City’s frenzied love affair with real estate fueled a veritable geyser of cocktail party/water cooler/diaper circuit chatter. In these circles, who bought what and for how much was far more fascinating than the mating preferences of celebrities or the dark machinations of Dick Cheney.

Flash forward to the winter and now spring of our proliferating discontent: the median sales prices of co-ops have plunged more than 20 percent in six months with no bungee cord in sight, buyers are abandoning six-figure deposits on new condos, and sellers stranded with underwater properties are feeling like victims of a Ponzi scheme. The toupee is off, and in the flat gray light of the morning after, real estate looks a lot like tech stocks in the aftermath of the Internet boom.

So for those who have invested in it, has real estate become the dirtiest pair of words in town?

“From what I see, it’s not that it’s a dirty word, but that it’s not a word anymore,” said David S. Markus, 44, a former hedge fund manager who owns a co-op on the Upper West Side. “Nobody wants to talk about it. In my building a year ago, people would talk about how much someone listed their apartment for. Today nobody wants to talk about the fact that we have three apartments in the B line that are for sale and none have sold. We’re all in this together and everybody’s apartment has come down in value and nobody wants to talk about it.”

It may be that real estate is more persona non grata than public enemy No. 1.

click here for the complete story...

Working out of town this week, but found as always a good read in the NY Times...

As Housing Market Dips, More in U.S. Are Staying Put

By SAM ROBERTS
Stranded by the nationwide slump in housing and jobs, fewer Americans are moving, the Census Bureau said Wednesday.

The bureau found that the number of people who changed residences declined to 35.2 million from March 2007 to March 2008, the lowest number since 1962, when the nation had 120 million fewer people.

Experts said the lack of mobility was of concern on two fronts. It suggests that Americans were unable or unwilling to follow any job opportunities that may have existed around the country, as they have in the past. And the lack of movement itself, they said, could have an impact on the economy, reducing the economic activity generated by moves.

Joseph S. Tracy, research director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said the lack of mobility meant less income for movers and the people they employ and less spending on renovation and on durable goods like appliances. But, Dr. Tracy said, the most troubling prospect is that people were no longer able to relocate for work.

“The thing that would be of deeper concern is if job-related moves are getting suppressed and workers are not getting re-sorted to the jobs that best use their skills,” he said. “As the labor market started to improve, if mobility stays low, you can worry about the allocation of workers.”

How long will the downturn in mobility last? Michael J. Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Indiana, said, “I think it will be well into next year before we see any growth in migration, and that still may be optimistic.”

“If the stock market rebounds before the housing market, we might see a scramble for retirement housing,” Professor Hicks added.

The American Moving and Storage Association said the number of people changing residences had been dropping for four years and fell 17.7 percent from 2007 to 2008. The first quarter of 2009 is likely to be even worse, the trade group said.

“We saw a standstill in new home construction, so there was no domino effect from people moving,” John Bisney, a spokesman, said. “People are a little nervous about getting a mortgage. And the recession is so broad-based it’s not as if you can pull up stakes and move to a part of the country that’s growing.”

Jed Smith, a research director for the National Association of Realtors, said that on average it took a homeowner 10.5 months to sell a house in 2008 compared with 8.9 months in 2007.

“Generally speaking, people move based on the economy,” Dr. Smith said, “and obviously the economy in 2008 was mediocre to bad. That would tend to have a negative impact on people’s desire, ability or need to move.”

In its report Wednesday, the Census Bureau said that Americans’ mobility rate, which has been declining for decades, fell to 11.9 percent in 2008, down from 13.2 percent the year before and setting a post-World War II record low. Moves between states dropped the most, to half the rate recorded at the beginning of this decade.

In addition, immigration from overseas was the lowest in more than a decade, which experts attributed to the lack of jobs. Over all, movers were more likely than nonmovers to be unemployed, renters, poor and black.

For decades, several trends have driven a decline in American wanderlust.

Click for the complete story...

Hope seen, despite home sales downturn

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes fell in March, according to an industry report released Thursday, but analysts say the housing market is showing signs of stabilization.

The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million units, 3% lower than the downwardlyrevised rate of 4.71 million in February.

March sales were down 7.1% year over year, and came in weaker than the 4.65 million rate forecast by analysts surveyed by Briefing.com.

Despite last month's decline, existing home sales appear to be stabilizing, according to Ian Shepherdson, economist at High Frequency Economics.

"Sales are volatile month-to-month, but the trend appears to be flattening off," Shepherdson said in a research note.

Single family home sales, which are considered the core of the market, fell at a 10% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2009, after a 17.4% drop in the last three months of 2008. At the current sales pace, existing-home sales will be down "only" 2% in the second quarter, according to Shepherdson.

First-time buyers made up 53% of existing home sales in March. Charles McMillan, NAR's president, said first-time buyers are "crucial" to a recovery in the overall housing market.

"The housing market always heals from the bottom up, and with large numbers of first-time buyers entering the market it will become a little easier for sellers to trade up or down," McMillan said in a statement.

Meanwhile, sales of "distressed properties" accounted for over half of all transactions in March. Foreclosed homes typically sell for 20% less than traditional homes, according to NAR.

"Clearly foreclosure activity is driving the marketplace," said Adam York, an economist at Wachovia Economics Group, in a research report. "Buyers are clearly looking for 'bargains,' if they are looking at all."

Existing home sales in the West declined 4.2% in March. Sales in the South and the Northeast also fell, while sales in the Midwest were unchanged.

The national median existing-home price was $175,200 in March, up 4.2% from $168,200 in February. Still, the median existing-home price was down more than 12% since March 2008, when it was $200,100.

The total number of existing homes on the market at the end of March fell 1.6% to 3.74 million units. At the current sales pace, it would take an estimated 9.8 months to sell that inventory of properties. That's down from 9.7 months in February.

"The inventory overhang has stabilized too," Shepherdson said. But the number of existing homes on the market remains historically high, and prices will continue to fall rapidly "for the foreseeable future," he said. To top of page

In case you missed the latest trend in Bay Area home marketing, here’s a recap...

New home builder D.R. Horton is marketing their homes as competing with foreclosed properties and short sales...

a few lines from the ad (click here to see)

"short sale pricing without the hassle of short sales and the uncertainty of used home."

"pricing that competes with short sales and foreclosed properties"

The funny thing is, the homes aren't short sales, the builder is just using the term to get folks in the door... buyers have become so accustomed to looking for short sales and foreclosures, suddenly it's a way to move inventory...

D.R. Horton has even bought the domain BuliderShortSaleCA ... Clearly for buyers it’s not a good sign... a slippery slope as they say in the cliche business... When sellers go about marketing their listings as, “short sale pricing,” when they’re not...

Horton is counting on folks Googling the words, short, sale, builder and CA. to round up business...

Horton does has several developments here in the Bay Area...

Home sales increased 63.8 percent in March in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home declined 39 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

“The March sales figure of 522,980 homes indicates that the market continues to be very active,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “All of the regions in the state experienced increases in month-to-month raw sales, with the smallest gain in the Sacramento region at 9.7 percent and the largest gain in the Riverside/San Bernardino region at 32.2 percent.”

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 522,980 in March at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 63.8 percent from the revised 319,290 sales pace recorded in March 2008. Sales in March 2009 decreased 16 percent compared with the previous month.

The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2009 would be if sales maintained the March pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during March 2009 was $253,040, a 39 percent decrease from the revised $414,520 median for March 2008, C.A.R. reported. The March 2009 median price rose 2.2 percent compared with February’s $247,590 median price.

“The statewide median price showed the first monthly increase since August 2007, and has remained in the $250,000 range over the past three months,” said C.A.R.’s Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “A number of regions around the state also have registered monthly gains for one or more months since the beginning of this year. While these are welcome signs, it remains to be seen whether home prices have stabilized.

“While we still face continued weakness in the general economy and expect continued foreclosures, the increased incidence of multiple offers indicates that first-time home buyers and investors are responding to dramatically improved housing affordability. Low mortgage rates and house prices, coupled with the federal first-time home buyer tax credit, is having a definite impact on the California housing market,” Appleton-Young added.

Highlights of C.A.R.’s resale housing figures for March 2009:

. C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in March 2009 was 5 months, compared with 12.2 months (revised) for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

. Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 5 percent during March 2009, compared with 5.97 percent in March 2008, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 4.86 percent in March 2009, compared with 5.12 percent in March 2008.

. The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 48.3 days in March 2009, compared with 56.8 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

Home prices in the Bay Area (yes, I do read the comments) continue their record slide towards the basement. Only Vegas and Phoenix had worse months... for the past 12 months the Bay Area is down 31 percent, Phoenix 35.2 and Las Vegas 31.7 percent...

The good news is the level of decline as slowed, and nationally it wasn't a record month of declines for the first time in 16 months...

Another problem seems to be some sellers, those I’m guessing underwater with the mortgages are still not coming down in price.... leaving lots of unsold inventory...

This past weekend I was at an open house clearly $300,000 over value... when I asked the agent, who turned out to be the seller who she expected to pay the nutty price, I was told it was an, “emotional buy.” I wished her luck and hoped she found a banker who was as emotional about making the loan...

Here’s what the Wall Street Journal has to say about the latest on home prices...

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, a closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices, continued to post declines in February but the pace stopped setting records after 16 consecutive months.

In the 20-city index, no area experienced year-over-year price gains, the eleventh straight month that has happened. Further, none of the cities managed to avoid month-to-month declines for the fifth month in a row.

Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco continued to lead year-over-year decliners, with drops over 30%. Cleveland posted a large month-to-month drop, as the rate of decline accelerated there. The rates of decline also accelerated in Charlotte, New York and Washington.

click here for the complete story...

For years now, I’ve been in the business of designing and consulting on websites for real estate agents... I’m proud of most of my work but sometimes the client didn’t agree with what I was doing, but I did what was asked of me...

I officially got out of the design business a few weeks ago because the last agent I worked with pushed me over the edge... so here’s everything you need to know that no one is ever going to tell you (keep in mind this is based on years and years of experience and my past month of looking for a new house).

1. if you bought one of those fill in the blank websites where you pick the color and select from a series a templates, you’re wasting your time and money... send me the link to one you like, and i'll show you what's wrong with it...

2. your website is not about you... random people cruising the internet looking for homes are only looking for two things... a place they can easily search for homes and information about schools... no one cares you’re involved in the PTA, donate one percent of your commissions to homeless purebred poodles or that you have a BA from Smith College...

3. school information is the Holy Grail of search... I can tell you first hand this past month has been hell.... I’ve preached it for years and i’ll say it here... every single person moving to your town with kids needs reliable school information... they don’t want to be redirected to the school district’s website, or the state’s website on school scores... provide solid information and test scores in an easy to read format and you’ll be the go to destination of million of buyers

4. no one cares what awards you’ve won... I mean no one... half the times no one even knows what they’re about... the endless streams of initials after your name, the President’s Award for 2006 or that you were a Top Producer... What is a Top Producer? There is no definition, so if you can explain it to me, feel free to put it in the comments below.

5. you don’t need five phone numbers on your website... JUST PUT DOWN THE NUMBER WHERE PEOPLE CAN FIND YOU... here’s what I typically find on sites under contact number: office, direct, home, cell and fax... who the hell faxes any more...
the only number people want and need is your cell... I don’t have the time or desire to call four numbers trying to hunt you down, nor does anyone else... if you’re trying to give the appearance you’re always reachable, it’s not working...

I’ll be back Friday with more advice that’s going to save you time and make you money