Posted August 31, 2015

Fast . . . So They’re Not Furious

InSellerate, a lead-generation company, conducted a study that yielded some very interesting insights:

• 32% of consumers expect a company to respond to an online inquiry within 30 minutes

• 42% of consumers expect contact within one hour

• More than half of the companies studied (56.34%) did not respond to the online or email inquiry at all

Of those companies that did respond, the average response time exceeded 24 hours, and the primary response vehicle was email, which is a passive, relatively non-effective method of contact. The take-away thought from all of this is “no kidding”, of course, but it underscores the wisdom that a lead is only as good as the work you put into it.

Safety Over Sales

According to a USA Today article, realtors in Iowa are taking steps to ensure the safety of all agents. The initiative includes an optional seller contract that prohibits any agent from showing a property to someone they have not previously met and identified. Ideally, the agent should insist that the buyer meet them at the agent’s office where she/he can check ID. If that’s not possible, the agent is encouraged to meet in a public place like a coffee shop. The conventional wisdom behind this, of course, is meeting prospective buyers in public and checking their ID discourages would-be attackers and allows agents to spot red flags in a safe place.

Real estate brokerages and other firms all over the country have joined Open Door Partners (www.meetmeherefirst.com). This is a service in which participating companies open their facilities for agents – even from competing companies/brokerages – to meet with prospective buyers before going out to view a property. The site enables an agent to input an address and find participating companies within a specified radius. In those instances when such a company is not close, it will list a Starbucks location that is convenient.

Bark First, Delay the Bite

There are pending bills in both the Senate and the House to provide a hold-harmless period from the enforcement of TRID through the end of the year. The main argument is that a grace period is necessary to assure companies have sufficient time to test their systems to comply with TRID without the fear of any repercussions. Priority Lending has been ready since the early summer – we’re THAT good.

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The Definition of Insanity (in Real Estate)

More than a couple of years ago, I witnessed something that makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. Having lunch at a local restaurant, I spied a real estate agent and a loan originator having what I would characterize as a “first date”. I couldn’t help but overhear little snippets of their conversation, and as far as I could tell, things were going relatively well . . . at least until the agent asked the LO this question: “So, do you like to sit at open houses with agents?” I immediately looked to the LO’s face awaiting the response. I didn’t need to hear another single word coming out of the LO’s mouth because his face said everything: you would have thought the agent had asked him if he enjoyed bobbing for apples in a pool of acid judging by the look on his face. While his face was communicating complete revulsion, his lips said, “Yes, of course.” And that’s when I looked over at the agent’s face to see, ...

Time for a New York-Style Housing Fix

Previously, I’ve written about a man who works in our office who lived in New York City back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s – let me assure you that while that does seem like a very long time ago, it’s not nearly as far bac k as when the wheel was invented and humankind learned to harness the power of fire. If you’ve been to New York City recently and blissfully walked around Harlem to get chicken and waffles at Sylvia’s on Malcolm X Boulevard between 126 th and 127 th Streets or stopped in at Keybar on 13 th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A to wedge yourself into a cozy corner next to their notable fireplace, you wouldn’t get a sense that these areas were once . . . not as welcoming and glitzy as you now see them. Our office mate has told some fairly interesting stories of living in those and other areas of New York City that give a much different sense. In the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, no matter how many great things you heard about Sylvia’s food, 127 th Str...

Change: the Only Sure Thing

Which headline is better for grabbing your attention and prompting you to read the article to which it’s attached: “Credit Reports to Exclude Certain Negative Information, But Read on to See if This Even Applies to You” or “ Credit Reports to Exclude Certain Negative Information, Boosting FICO Scores”? Obviously, the former is less than tantalizing while the latter makes you say, “Tell me more!” I was in the “tell me more” camp, and the folks at The Wall Street Journal sucked me into their vortex. The development, set to go into practice on July 1 st , is certainly a departure from how the Big Three (Experian, TransUnion , and Equifax) have done things in the past, but it’s not going to wave a magic wand and make bankruptcies, foreclosures, short sales, etc., go away. It’s sort of a bittersweet development. Let me explain: Many tax liens and civil judgments will be removed from people’s credit reports if they don’t include a complete list of a...

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