By Don Dunning | October 20, 2010
I have received a number of inquires from clients and those who read my newspaper column about a “3.8% ‘sales tax’ on homes sold after 2012.” There are a lot of rumors and much incorrect information going around, especially online. Here is a statement from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.): “Misinformation has been spreading […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, was the first day of the Fall meetings of the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) in Anaheim. 900 Realtors attended the 2011 housing market forecast by C.A.R. chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young, an always popular session. We were told that the weak economic recovery has led to a projected 10% decline in 2010 […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | August 10, 2010
Two recent news bits reinforced my observation that people behave in ways that often can be considered irrational. Item 1: An online story I read last week about a real estate survey that indicated, in today’s market, buyers have a significantly higher opinion of the agent who represents them than sellers have of their agent. […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | July 30, 2010
The next time you pick up a flyer at an open house, you might see an odd design stamped in a corner. Called a “QR Code” (Quick Response), its purpose is similar to the bar codes used in stores. It provides an electronic link to further information. Using your smart phone to photograph the QR […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | July 24, 2010
As a result of the mortgage meltdown, lenders are now hyper-cautious about who gets their money. A recent L.A. Times article, “Lenders’ Data Mining Goes Deep,” explains how banks use “data mining,” i.e., delving into seemingly insignificant information, available online, about their borrowers to make or change lending decisions. An example that seems amusing, but […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | July 20, 2010
According to an online real estate article, the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), with 23,000 members, recently “pulled the plug” on a web-based application that allowed consumers to view which agents had the greatest number of listings and/or transactions in a given neighborhood or Zip code. This happened shortly after it was introduced because HAR was overwhelmed by angry communications from its members.
Reading this, you may be thinking that the mediocre or weak agents were trying to prevent progress. Why else would there be such an outcry over a new system designed to provide useful information to the public?
After over 30 years in the business, I understand what is behind the uproar and it gives me an opportunity to revisit this topic.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | May 22, 2010
I have always counseled my buyers to be careful not to take on additional debt, or to even apply for more credit, right before they purchase a home or during the escrow period. This is because banks use ratios of borrowers’ debt to income to grant or refuse loans. In an effort to tighten up […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | May 14, 2010
In the overheated real estate market of 2004 to 2005, many buyers paid outrageously high prices for properties that were not special in quality or location. This included numerous ones that were decidedly underwhelming. Now, a plethora of purchasers are either victims of foreclosure, have sold for large losses or are paying mortgages on houses worth a lot less than their total loans.
Conversely, in today’s much weaker market, where prices have softened substantially, we see some homes listed at unrealistic amounts. These are the ones that sit unsold. In a number of situations, overpriced properties that did not sell were taken off the market and are now back on at equally improbable figures.
We can ask: “What advice, if any, did the agent give his or her buyer or seller?”
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | May 1, 2010
One casualty of the mortgage meltdown was the disappearance, especially in California and other “declining markets,” of private mortgage insurance (PMI) companies. These were the ones that handled the majority of home loans where the borrower put down less than 20%. With PMI companies no longer backstopping these low-down mortgages, borrowers flocked to FHA loans, […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | April 15, 2010
Last December, I wrote about a product that is making my real estate life much easier ( “Heard of DocuSign?”). On April 8th, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced it is now accepting electronic signatures “on third-party documents originated and signed outside of the lender’s control, including real estate contracts,” per the California Association of […]
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