Freddie Mac - Youtube sensation?

This headline caught my eye as it appealed to both the marketer in me and my interest in real estate:

"Freddie Mac turns to YouTube to help troubled homeowners"

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac is using YouTube.com to educate homeowners at risk of foreclosure on how they can help reduce the stress and time it takes to get a mortgage modification under President Obama's Making Home Affordable program or Freddie Mac's other workout programs.

Freddie Mac posted a new video on the site that tells borrowers what financial documents they need to have available before calling a mortgage servicer. The documents will enable the mortgage servicer to determine the homeowners' eligibility for a workout and process the application, Freddie Mac representatives note.

The two-minute video, available in English and Spanish, can be seen at www.youtube.com/FreddieMacWeb.

Huh, maybe they've hired some new talent.

Hey, it's the new REMAX bubble!

jasper pointed out the advertisement, thinly disguised as a news story:

" MAX EQUITY ROUNDTABLE SUGGESTS POSSIBLE “NEW REAL ESTATE BUBBLE” THEORY"

Here's an excerpt. Warning: Please put down anything you might be drinking, or else you might end up spiting it all over your PC due to spontaneous laughter.

"BEAVERTON, Ore. — Is a new real estate bubble forming? Executives at RE/MAX equity group think so. Gary Taylor, principal broker at the firm’s Sunset Corridor office and head of the company’s panel who studied recent market data and the prevailing theory, recently released the panel’s findings.

Local brokers are seeing steady sales through this “new market”. Last month the Portland Metropolitan area had 1,384 closed sales, up 27.6 percent from January 2008 (1). What the brokers are hearing is a real demand from individuals with a sincere desire to buy, but limiting factors are hindering their ability to execute a transaction."

Ah yes, the old monthly sales increase ruse. What they forgot to mention was that sales in Portland were DOWN 29% year over year. The February bump is seasonality, it happens every year. Yawn.

"Some of the factors that the panel identified in the current market:

Contingencies. Brokers are seeing a higher than normal amount of contingent offers, relative to total sales. These contingencies usually include the potential buyer’s ability to sell their primary residence."

Ah I see, this is a "wishful thinking" bubble. I wish I could sell my house, so I could buy a bigger house. The reality is, with no entry level buyers thanks to the elimination of funny money and zero down loans, others can't trade up.

"Deals, Deals, Deals. Brokers are hearing from their clients that are confident that the market may have hit bottom and is on the way back up. This has resulted in buyers acting on aggressive marketing tactics from local builders, as well as sellers trying to market their property. "

This would be the "hearsay" bubble. We hear there are buyers out there! Of course people are acting on builder incentives, I might be tempted by 50% off too!

"Financing Woes. The tightening of the ability for many to get mortgages may be true, but that has not affected the desire of buyers. In the last two years, there have been nearly 2 million new households formed (3), and it’s likely they will soon be in the home buying market. "
More wishful thinking. Those new households now need real savings to buy a house, and most people don't know the meaning of savings.

Gary Taylor and his team must be real geniuses to spot this bubble before the rest of us, I'd like to thank him for bringing it to our attention!

Tracking the NAR's Spin and Lies

This chart is a brilliant view of the continued spin from the NAR, and how often it has been wrong. I understand the are trying to encourage people to buy and sell, but at some point if you are continually wrong you lose credibility. I know they lost my attention respect a long time ago.

It's ever funnier (or scarier) when you put this chart together with the recent news that Lawrence Yun (the NAR's cheif economist) was named as one of America's top economic forecasters.

And just so we're all on the same page, I'll believe we will have hit bottom when we see the sales decline plateau and start increasing, and inventory stop increasing. Prices will rise after that.

And don't forget, two data points is just a line. Three is a trend.

Is the Wheelbarrow Included in the Price? - 5244 NE 18TH AVE

Here's my free tip of the day to all the realtors out there.

Your text might read: "No expense spared or corner untouched remodel." and "This your dream remodel"

But the first thing I notice in this photo is the dead lawn, and no landscaping. Which means I'll be investing in those as soon as I move in, or not if I've blown all my money on a deposit


The workers in the background above and the wheelbarrow, unfinished deck and crap in the driveway in the second shot scream "we just rushed through this and cut a few corners to get this onto the market before our financing runs out".

You only get one chance to make a first impression, the little details matter.

RMLS# 8020503

Advice for real estate agents (quit now!)

Seth Godin has an excellent post that all real estate agents should read. His advice is that you should either:

1. Quit.

2. Specialize, and become the best at one small niche of your market.

#1 is easy. #2 is scary and hard. There is also option #3 which is to keep doing what you've been doing for the past few years, and watch your business die slowly.

#2 isn't that hard as much as it's scary and counterintuitive for most people. And for those that say they don't have time, I found the time to build and contribute to this blog, and I have no incentive other than to help other frustrated buyer's like myself who are tired of the status quo.

I see Charles Turner doing an excellent job at #2, and I have seen a few other Realtors starting to specialize. But I see plenty of others that are still trying to take orders in a the new sales world.

I'd love to hear stories of Realtors that are reinventing their business during the downturn.