My opinions about this discussion continue to evolve.  But, yesterday I had an experience with Zillow that had me fired up, so much so that I’m breaking my blogging silence.

Hey, I’m the Listing Agent!

One of the themes in the syndication discussion centers around the idea of clearly identifying the listing broker.  I abhor paying Realtor.com to ‘enhance’ my own listings.  I pay them so that I may give them the very content that makes their site worth visiting in the first place.  But, I am unwilling to have a contact form next to my own listing that goes to another agent that may, or may not, know anything about the area.  And, they certainly won’t know enough about my listing to be truly informative when that buyer inquiry rolls in.  As a matter of fact, knowing the stats on REALTORS  responding to internet leads, they may not even respond at all.  THAT does not serve my seller.

Let’s be clear and honest.  Unless you’re the listing agent, a buyer inquiry on a property is a lead.  But, when you are the listing agent, that inquiry is an opportunity to serve your seller and sell their home.

I know, everyone can scream and holler about dual agency.  I’ll let you all work that out in the Facebook Raise the Bar Group.  But, Ken Brand, brilliant guy that he is, noted that you could also avoid the ‘risk’ of dual agency by allowing another broker to put his sign in front of your listings.  Ludicrous, right?  We advertise on and offline to sell our listings.  Handle the dual agency issue how you will, but let’s not say that just because I want my name on my listings in these syndication sites, I’m just looking for dual agency opportunities.  I actually care about serving the seller.

Tsk, Tsk Zillow

A couple days ago, we activated a new listing.  As part of my listing presentation, we always discuss where buyers come from and what we do to reach out to those various segments.  In the 2010 Buyer and Seller Report from the National Association of REALTORs, they reported that 38% of buyers found their home on the internet.  Once I have listed a property, I provide the links to many of the places the seller can now find their property online.  They’ll likely go looking for it anyway, so I’ll save them the trouble and shoot over the links.

While in the course of this little project, I find our listing on Zillow.  Just one problem….someone else is noted as the listing agent.   I know about the ‘premier agents’ that are listed next to my listing.  No big deal.  But someone else is the ‘listing agent’?  I don’t think so.

Zillow was very responsive when I called.  They immediately ‘reclaimed’ the listing for us.  But, of course I wondered, how does this happen?  Who is responsible for policing this?  How often does this go on?  She said that it was being flagged and noted that this gem of a company had claimed 730 listings.  730 listings?!

Zillow sent me a follow up message later in the day, “Thank you for notifying us regarding ReeBroker CA claiming your listing. We have removed the listing from this users account and are handling this issue appropriately.”  I guess I’m wondering what ‘appropriately’ means.  Have 730 listing agents not noticed that someone claimed their listing?  Has anyone else notified Zillow that there is a problem?  How easy is it to claim a listing that is not your own?

The experience made me aware of how much I do care about being the listing agent on MY listings.  I can live with other ‘area specialists’ next to my listing, but this?  Yeah, this is putting your sign in front of my listing buddy, and that’s not happening.

Is IDX Different?  Maybe Just a Little

In many ways, IDX and syndication can be looked at in the same way.  I guess I see one difference.  These heavily trafficked sites are  well known, national channels that buyers visit early in their search.  And really, I think they do offer tremendous exposure for listings.  If 38% of buyers found their home online, then I think it’s fair to say that the seller is reasonable in the expectation that their home is easy found on these sites.

IDX is used on websites that must be promoted locally by that agent or broker.  The work they do to promote that site and generate traffic is to generate buyer and seller leads.  Am I as concerned about making sure that my seller is served in the same way on those sites?  No.  They do get exposure and that agent is generating business from their efforts.  Super.  But in the heavily trafficked national sites, you betcha, I want to have the opportunity to support my seller when a buyer expresses an interest in his home.

Maybe it’s a subtle difference, but to me, it’s significant enough.

Friends know that I think one of the great gifts of South Orange County is Saddleback Mountain.  Growing up in Southern Oregon, surrounded by hills, mountains and lush trees, I have often struggled with the Southern California transition.   Part of the reason we chose to live in the Rancho Santa Margarita area, was the solace I find in living with that mountain as the backdrop.

Robinson Ranch is a community served well by the varied elevation, affording residents spectacular city light and Saddleback Mountain views.  With just shy of about 1500 homes, it’s got an intimate feel in the vastness of Orange County.

Property taxes are relatively low.   Original period of construction varies from late 80′s to early 90′s.  Beautifully planned with large greenbelts, tennis courts, trails for hiking or horseback riding, this community is one that continues to appeal to buyers attracted to close-knit communities, cul-de-sacs and views.

Robinson Ranch is served by the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

Here are a list of the current homes for sale in Robinson Ranch

[listingsearch type="layers" layerid="29" hqid="115" orderby="price" order="ASC" lp="200" ptype="Single Family"]

There’s no question that we’ve taken a hard fall in our Orange County values – a very hard fall and we all long for the days that we could comfortably calculate our net worth, even if it was funny money and we weren’t planning on selling.  Others are hoping to just see values climb back into the vicinity of their purchase price.

There isn’t good news here.  It will be a while, likely a long while. But when I heard the question again this week, I had some better frame of reference to keep all of this last decade in perspective.

“Where would our homes’ value be if the bubble had never occurred at all?”

This may in fact be the better question.  If the unsustainable appreciation was never a factor and we experienced a normal rate of growth, what would that look like?

Recently Mike Simonsen, of Altos Research, turned me on to the company that’s examining and providing some of those answers in Macromarkets excellent web application Gap Gauge.

If you are curious about where we stand nationally, in various cities around the country, it’s a fascinating perspective and way to judge where we are in the ‘burst’ of this unfortunate bubble.  Although Orange County is not specifically charted, Los Angeles and San Diego are.   It’s interesting to note, we are still slightly higher (using Los Angeles numbers) than we would be had we just experienced ‘normal’ growth.

Sadly, I know many of us are looking for the day when homes will return to previous values (I know I do), however, it may be time to get comfortable again with a slow, more sustainable type of appreciation.

It’s sorta like the difference between the motorcycle and the minivan; it ain’t sexy, but it might just be a little safer.

The rising trend of ‘Strategic Foreclosure’, allowing your home to foreclose even though you can afford the payment, is a force to be reckoned with.  Recently, a colleague, Amanda Wernick, shared her view of this trend on her blog.  She has found that when a homeowner tries to go through the loan modification channels they often “have contacted their banks to work on loan modifications, only to be run around by what seems to be inept phone answerers who only follow scripts and have no authority what-so-ever to make these kinds of decisions”. This is the kind of run-around that leaves homeowners at a loss and without options.

Schlesinger shares a rule of thumb – if you are underwater by 20% or more, this may be a strategy to consider.  The example given was a $240,000 mortgage and a $200,000 home value.  I cringe slightly when I hear these national numbers because I know the values in Orange County are extreme versions of the national numbers.

Example:  $1,050,000 purchase price, 10% down, loan amounts $945,000 – Today’s Value is $720,000.  That’s nearly 24% and rather than a $40,000 discrepancy you are looking at a $245,000 discrepancy!  Additionally, in Orange County our taxes are assessed based on purchase price.  The original buyer paid $10,500 annually plus his mello roos bond.  Today’s buyer of the same home has a $7,200 annual tax liability plus his mello roos bond.  To manage the tax consequence, a buyer would have to apply every year to the County Tax Assessor for a reduction in those property taxes.

Some of the industry folks bantered this topic around online and a good friend, Rob Hahn, asked me if I ‘supported’ strategic foreclosure.  ‘Support’ implies that I encourage it, which isn’t necessarily the case, and yet I understand it. I don’t think it’s a black and white answer.  It’s deeply personal for every set of circumstances and in Orange County with property values and unemployment rates high, rent becomes an attractive option for those struggling with ways to justify paying for a home deeply underwater.  Are there better uses of their funds long term?

Frankly, I don’t believe that anyone who carefully considers their options and chooses foreclosures does so lightly.  There is no real win here.  For 7 years there is terrible damage to one’s credit.  The ability to secure credit, buy a car, acquire a student loan, easily find a rental, will all be impacted by this decision for 7 years.  In fact, those types of purchases will likely be more expensive in light of the lower credit scores.  Strategic Foreclosure is not an easy out, but it is undeniably an option.

The greater impact on our economy cannot be ignored.  And while homeowners struggle with ways to weather the storm, the real solution, in my opinion, lies in how the banking systems response to their borrowers.  Simply leaving this sizable problem in the hands of low cost, undereducated call handlers, turns a massive blind eye to this industry reality.

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To explain my reasons, I have to go back a bit and explain the evolution of my business over the last year or two.  When I launched Belterra in May of 2008, I came into managing a brokerage greatly dissatisfied with the big brokerage model I had been part of in previous years.  Mass hiring, promises of quality that often felt empty, and a general sense that my clients clearly didn’t seem to care whether I worked for my own private company or a national brand.

I immediately had some long term agent relationships that expressed interest in joining Belterra, entirely unsolicited. I will confess, I thought very little about the brokerage model I was delving into. My real intent was to operate my individual business with integrity and autonomy.  Hiring like minded individuals was the extent to which I thought of ‘brokerage’.

In 2009, I sat at a dinner table at Blogworld in Las Vegas surrounded by some of the most fascinating people in the internet real estate space.  The conversation that night and for weeks preceding that dinner surrounded around ‘Brand Promise’, ‘Brokerage of the Future’, and the like.

It became clear to me that the industry was on the cusp of potential change.  I was surrounded by folks that considered the current big broker model broken (maybe even beyond repair) as I did, and that the small brokerage model may in fact have the ability to make significant local change.  The ideas spoke to me, the part of me that is passionate about the industry, the general poor consumer perception of agents, and the value we provide our clients.  It was that trip that I became interested in participating in that industry change – not just witnessing it from the sidelines.

I began to look for like minded people that could support me in creating the technology support to execute my developing vision of a brokerage that provided a clear promise to consumers – great, experienced, knowledgeable agents that are able to provide their clients exceptional information and knowledge utilizing superior technology.

I was fortunate enough to talk to some of the best and brightest in the real estate space that helped me evolve a vision and a plan.  In the end, Garron Selliken‘s M Realty in Portland was most in alignment with my philosophy; it really resonated with me and I knew that this was the type of environment I was looking for.

Orange County became the first M Realty office to extend outside Portland, Oregon.  The brand has now extended into Seattle, Washington.  I feel fortunate to be part of the M Brand and am so thrilled to see my vision coming into reality in Orange County. I really believe what we can bring to consumers and agents are unique and powerful!

Next week, we will be participating in the BuzzRE OC event 29th and will be talking about the role of the internet in agent’s business and how they can bring real meaningful value to their clients utilizing technology.  That evening, we will be enjoying the Launch Party at Tijeras Creek Golf Club.  Looking forward to celebrating!

Welcome back to the newly launched OC Real Estate Voice.  Lots of changes happening here so stay tuned and check back.

The real estate market is a strange world right now.  It’s plagued by distress sales, foreclosures, a challenging lending environment, and economic uncertainties, and yet there are certain price points where inventory is so low that sellers are receiving multiple offers within days of listing.  If the home is priced right and it’s under $500,000 – it will sell – fast.

Many investors and fence sitters feel like with the steep declines in values, it’s time to jump back into the Orange County real estate market.  And guess what?  They have cash.  This video done by Tyler Wood - my go-to-guy for all Big Bear real estate needs – illustrates a similar dynamic in their market and raises some important questions for cash buyers to consider.

So what is the value of an all cash offer?

Are YOU one of those cash buyers?

There is no question that coming into a multiple offer situation with cash will give you an advantage if the other offers have to secure financing.  But as Wood points out, you may be finding that you aren’t the only cash buyer.

But even if you are the only cash buyer in a multiple offer situation – what advantage does that give you in your negotiation?  Let’s look at the potential benefits that the seller has when they have an interested, all cash buyer:

1. The question of the buyer’s ability to secure financing goes away.
2. A possible quick escrow period.
3. Less contingencies to contend with.  No loan contingency.  No need  to appraise.

So what is the value of those things to a seller?  What monetary value do you place on that?  Clearly, the answer will vary depending on a seller’s circumstances and how important a sure and quick close is for them.

I know in theory that ‘Cash is King’.  But, I think you’ll find that a seller, if given a choice via multiple offers, will go with a buyer that requires a loan at full price rather than a buyer that is offering 10% off asking just because they have cash.

It’s important to note that at the end of a transaction – whether it’s a cash buyer, or a bank that funds a buyer’s loan, – IT’S ALL CASH.  Either way, the money is the same in the final analysis.

This video is a bit dry – but good news – it’s relatively short. Hang in there with it and there is some good information from Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist.

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I want your thoughts! I also invite you to share any additional things you would like to add in the comments section below.

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1. “I just have to return this one phone call.”  Translation: 30 minutes and several phone calls.
2. “I just have to run down to my office and shoot out a quick email.”  Translation: 20 + minutes in the office.
3. “I’ll be in my office catching up for just a bit.”  Sadly the translation: I’ll be in bed about an hour after you.

Consequently, he has affectionately referred to my home office as, ‘The Black Hole.’  I have three children so he certainly appreciates the fact that I get things done when I have time and unfortunately, that isn’t always 9 to 5.

This week, something fun came out of ‘The Black Hole’ that I’m excited to launch:  My Las Flores hyperlocal community blog.

After working in the Orange County community of Las Flores for several years, I began to rethink the methods for marketing.  Since the launch of OC Real EstateVoice, I knew my business was headed in a profoundly new direction.  I knew that consumers were looking for information about a community (listings, trends, values) not just another, ‘Look what I sold!’ marketing piece from an agent.  Hence, the birth of the My Las Flores site.

I’ve got a couple tweeks to make as of yet – the video has to be redone.  It’s excruciatingly long and I made the video on garbage day with garbage cans out on every street.   Bad news, so this will be my project for the coming weekend.  But overall, I like the direction it’s heading in.

Every now and then I emerge from ‘The Black Hole’ and something satisfyingly ‘tangible’ is born.  This is one of those weeks.