Just Real Estate. The Best of ActiveRain ReBlogged. No recipes, no jokes, no SEO, no fluff

                                  * * * *   HARD CORE REAL ESTATE TALK  * * * * GOOD GRIEF!  What's all the whining about?  All the government did when they became the conservators of Fannie (and Freddie) was what the public and lenders across the nation (not to mention foreign investors) always ...

It all started with a story in The New York Times, ominously titled "What's Lurking in Your Countertop?" The article recounted the tale of a New Jersey homeowner who had recently learned that the granite in her kitchen countertops was emitting radiation at 10 times the level of other areas in her...

Have you ever seen this.  An agent takes a listing on Wednesday.  instead of putting it on to MLS,  they keep it to themselves but they have time to put an Open House ad in the newspaper and get a sign ordered.  If they don't double end it themselves over the weekend,  they will put it on MLS. In...

OK, there is supposed to be a declining market in Washington, DC.  Really?  You coulda' fooled me!  During August, I was involved on the losing side of a couple of bidding wars.  Declining market?  And it looks like September is starting off with yet another one.  But whether the market is totall...

RERUN   *  RECYCLE  *   SECOND TIME AROUND  *  BACK ISSUES  *   IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM With the interest in Short Sales and our everyday frustration, this one was intended to be helpful to agents.  REAL ESTATE AGENTS DO NOT HAVE SPECIAL POWERS. WE ARE NOT SAVIORS. SOME FOLKS JUST CAN'T BE HELPED...

I am sure many of us have seen scenarios where buyers and sellers have moving trucks packed and people literally sleeping on couches or even on the floor waiting for a loan to fund and then for everything to blow up at the last minute?....AAARRGGGGGHHH!!!! Often times, I have had deals brought to...

  While it is admirable that parents want to look out for their kids, they are nothing short of a train wreck when they are out looking at homes. My buyers are all excited to buy a home we looked at. We have negotiated to an acceptable price, a bit higher than they wanted but doable. Now they wan...

When working as a buyer agent, I have a standard talk with all buyers as they prepare for an offer.  I suggest that we give the house a hard look to find things that might come up during a home inspection.  Obviously, I do not try to "play" home inspector, but I do try to point out the obvious (I...

Did you know that banks are continuing to contribute daily to the declining market?  Even though they have tightened their belts in terms of loaning new money, I see them squander their investors' money on a very regular basis.  Here's how: The Short Sale At this point, short sales are about 2/3r...

I'm one of the few home inspectors who will do re-inspections, and I do it for several reasons: Home owners can work on their own properties, but they still must do repairs correctly. Too often I find that the Seller stated that repairs were made, but they were not made properly. Home owners ofte...