Donna & Larry Johnson's (elbow3140) Blog

Each quarter, Fannie Mae releases their National Housing Survey. They survey the American public on a multitude of questions concerning today's housing market. We like to pull out some of the findings we deem most interesting each time it is released. Here they are for the most recent report: The...

     When there was easy money to be made in real estate and stocks, mortgage debt seemed like nothing to fear. Now an increasing number of homeowners are wondering if it makes sense to hasten the day they can say goodbye to a big monthly expense while earning the equivalent of a decent, guarante...

Let me ask a question - "Where do you find this information?" Numbers of homes that well each month? The average selling prices? The sale price to listing price ratio? The average days on market? The absorption rate? And the number of homes listed each month? In most areas this information is re...

Last week, my son and I were flying home after spending a week at The LeadingRE Conference in Las Vegas. He said he couldn't wait to sleep ‘in my own house' again. That made me think of this blog post I wrote last year. - Steve My Son, His New Home, and What It Means Every week we try to help you...

Basic Guide for Cold Calling    If you have read our previous articles on this topic, you will get the impression that we do not think highly of "cold calling." Sales people actually ignore previous and present customers as sources of additional business while they spend their time focusing upon...

Start by taking a walk around your office and ask different agents some of the following questions: What are the numbers of homes that sell each month? What is the average selling price? What is the sale price to listing price ratio? Do you know the average days on market? Do you know how many m...

Last week, we posted a blog titled: The Impact of Distressed Properties on Neighboring Values. In the article, we said there would be more distressed properties coming to market in the next six months and that these properties would put added downward pressure on prices of other homes in the area...

The Fed's New Dilemma   Each time the Federal Reserve Board has met in the past few years, the questions have been the same. How do we overcome a huge recession and the hangover caused by this recession? The real estate market was a mess. Unemployment was soaring. Confidence was waning. The respo...

Shortage of Homes Coming?    "In 35 years I've never seen a shortage of new construction like the one I'm seeing today," declares Mike Cast leman. "America needs to build a lot more houses. And in most markets the price of new homes is fixin' to rise, not fall." Castleman is in a unique position ...

Affordability Soaring     A new report from Deutsche Bank notes that housing affordability is presently at an all-time high. DB's proclamation is based on figures compiled by the National Association of Realtors. Bank analysts note that the acceleration in affordability is "unprecedented" and it ...