Bethesda, MD

Fannie Mae recently took an assertive step, in its own mind at least, to stem the growing tendency of mortgage borrowers pulling off strategic defaults. In that homeowners who could afford their payments choose to walk away from the obligation anyway. The GSE went ahead and added another category to the new policy. Home loan recipients who fail to do a workout in good faith also fall under the spell of its new guidelines. What this all means is that property owners fitting these parameters would be ineligible for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae for seven long years from the recorded foreclosure date.

Strategic default entered the already crowded mortgage and real estate vocabulary just recently when the ever thinner-skinned housing bubble couldn't hold on any more worthless air and popped. The event sent property values on a long skid toward the beckoning abyss and in the process wiped out equity in numbers not seen in modern times. Eventually home prices sank below the underlying mortgage balances and to the utter horror of observant homeowners just kept on going down, spawning the unpleasant designation for the phenomenon; underwater. And those underwater on their mortgages are prime candidates for a strategic default.

Right now Fannie Mae controls a decent chunk of the mortgage market and that gives its policy adjustment some teeth. Yet, as government-affiliated home loan providers today just about completely dominate the housing finance arena, no one else has thus far followed suit. Freddie Mac and FHA are the other major performers and predictably will then attract with their less restrictive rules much of the business Fannie Mae will be turning away.

The private home loan sector is still struggling to rise from the ashes, but when they do so Fannie Mae's policy is bound to lose even more of its bite. Mortgage applicants - with strategic default/ foreclosure on their record - with down payment funds and solid income will be shopping for the best deal and private mortgage lenders with their innovative minds are certainly going to find a way to accommodate this specialty slice of the real estate market pie.

As things stand, Fannie Mae's policy change seems to hold minimal deterrence power for homeowners contemplating to go for the now notorious strategic default. People simply have too many options besides Fannie Mae to look at.

For the latest information on trends in the Montgomery County and DC real estate markets, watch this informative video from MRIS/ our local multiple listing system.

These are broad county-wide trends. Remember: all real estate is local, hyper-local in some cases. If you are planning to buy or sell a home in Bethesda, the market dynamics are not the same as in Gaithersburg. Consult with an experienced local Realtor® first to understand the trends that will most affect you.



Dana Scanlon - Local Expertise ~ Global Advantage - licensed in MD, DC & VA - 301-575-4915

As we mentioned in our three-part series on Craigslist, (see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) Best Agent Business is Johnny-on-the-spot for posting listings to this free site, as often as you want (up to the site maximum). What if you want a more proactive approach? Craigslist Advanced is a new approach to posting to Craigslist. The goal is to generate more buyer leads. We anticipate seeing leads costing $10 or less, and turning those leads into active buyers.

The short version: We create a series of "campaigns," - what we call "general ads"- that directly leads to a landing page, where respondants fill out their personal information (Name, Phone & Email). These leads are then emailed directly to the client, and a software program tracks not only how many clicks there were to that site, but also how many "live" leads have actually been created. The agents are then responsible for contacting the leads.

Kick Off - Sign up for Craigslist Advanced, and our Craigslist team will create a landing page for leads to complete information that is tracked, and sent directly to our clients for them to take action. Kick off right now is about five (5) hours, (which includes a 30 minute kick off call) with complete set-up of all necessary information. Once the initial kick off is complete, 1-2 hours per week of posting time is required.

Implementing the Campaign - Once all information is received and the sites are ready to go, our Craigslist Team begins "implementing the campaign.» This is simply starting the posting process to Craigslist. We post twice daily Monday thru Friday, at designated times that are geared toward receiving the highest rate of response. Our team also posts daily on Saturdays and Sundays to increase traffic (i.e., leads to the landing page).

Re-Posting - Once the initial campaigns are in place, our team begins the "re-post" process. What this means is, we go to the oldest post, delete it, and then re-post it. This keeps the ads fresh, and in the line of potential leads' eyes. This process goes on continuously, seven days a week. We have an amazing team trained to keep this going.

Follow-Up - Once the leads are coming in, our Best Agent Business Client Services team can contact the agents/clients, to ensure that they are receiving their leads. If they are not, our Craigslist team is alerted; we will research to find out why, and resolve the problem.

If you want to take your marketing up a notch, Craigslist Advanced might be for you. Take a moment today to schedule a 30-minute call with Steve Kantor; learn how a part-time virtual assistant can transform your business, and allow you to try new things with little start-up cost. Interested in a part-time career with us? Visit our website for more information on how to apply.

Anything is possible in life - and business. I learned this.

I'd like to begin my Best Agent Business story by sharing a personal experience that happened in my life two years ago. On August 3, 2008, I gave birth to my son, Matthew, who arrived 15 weeks prematurely. He was not due until November 15th, so having him arrive so early was certainly shocking to our family. When he weighed in at only 1 pound 12 ounces, we were all very concerned as to whether or not he would make it, and if so, what kind of life he would have, or whether or not he would have any life-altering disabilities.

At the time that I gave birth, I was only six months into a wonderful, well-paying job as a Marketing Director for a corporate real estate company in Fairfax, Virginia. My boss (who had four children of her own) was extremely supportive of me during this difficult time. She even went so far as to let me work from home for eight weeks after Matthew was released from the hospital, since he couldn't go directly into daycare after such an arduous ordeal.

Even after the eight weeks that I got to spend with him after his hospital release, I felt extremely conflicted about going back to work at my corporate job and leaving my son in the care of others, especially when I knew he was still in a rather fragile state. However, after his first birthday, I was starting to feel better about the situation. He had gained almost 25 pounds and was continuing to reach some important milestones. Since my son's health was no longer in jeopardy, and all I ever knew how to do was work, work, and work, I wanted to get back to the outside world of work. Unfortunately, that's when things were starting to get a little "shaky" at my corporate job. A few months later, I was laid off from the company, due to some challenging economic factors that had impacted upon it.

At first, I was not sure about being a SAHM (stay-at-home mom). (Yes, being a SAHM is hard work too, but a very different type of work). When we figured it out that 1/3 of our combined income actually went to pay for daycare when I had an outside job, we rethought our situation. My husband and I decided that it just made sense for me to stay at home with the kids.

After about three months of being a SAHM, I was getting kind of bored. I really wanted to interact with others aside from my children during the day, plus feel like I was contributing financially to the household. I did a few online job searches for some work-from-home positions, and stumbled upon the parent company of Best Agent Business, Lifebushido. I was attracted to the company - because of the company motto, which is "Anything is Possible." I immediately thought of my son and our battle during the 119 days he spent in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and how just a year later, he was 100% fine. Yes! Anything IS possible!! So, I applied, and after about three weeks of waiting, I got the good news that I was accepted to work as an independent contractor (Ishido) working for Lifebushido! Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled!

I have been working with the company for only two months now, and I have already had personal interaction with the company president, Steve Kantor, who is an amazing person with whom to work. If you're reading this, perhaps you already know this, but here's a secret: If you share your goals and thoughts about what you feel your unique talents are with Steve, he will give you the reins (so to speak) to run with your ideas and let your creativity shine. I also get to interact with people who have various work experiences and diverse backgrounds; the level of talent that my coworkers possess makes me feel fortunate to be working with them. I can honestly say that this is an experience I could have never had working in corporate America. Lifebushido, where anything is possible...Join Us!

The story above was written by one of our newest contractors, who comes to us with experience in marketing and SEO. Her knowledge makes us stronger and increases the depth of experience we can offer you. Schedule a call with the "amazing" Steve Kantor to learn how our deep well of expertise can benefit you. Interested in a part-time career with us? Visit our employment website for more information.

One of my favorite short stories is the Lion and the Mouse. I used to think it was just for children, but there are life lesson for us older folks, too - even agents thinking of how to grow their business. There are so many nuances it's impossible to summarize - so here it is in short form:

A small mouse crept up to a sleeping lion. The mouse admired the lion's ears, his long whiskers, and his great mane. "Since he's sleeping," thought the mouse, "he'll never suspect I'm here!" With that, the little mouse climbed up onto the lion's tail, ran across its back, slid down its leg and jumped off of its paw. The lion awoke and quickly caught the mouse between its claws.

"Please," said the mouse, "let me go and I'll come back and help you someday." The lion laughed, "You are so small! How could ever help me?"

The lion laughed so hard he had to hold his belly!

The mouse jumped to freedom and ran until she was far, far away. The next day, two hunters came to the jungle. They went to the lion's lair. They set a huge rope snare. When the lion came home that night, he stepped into the trap. He roared! He wept! But he couldn't pull himself free.

The mouse heard the lion's pitiful roar and came back to help him. The mouse eyed the trap and noticed the one thick rope that held it together. She began nibbling and nibbling until the rope broke. The lion was able to shake off the other ropes that held him tight. He stood up free again! The lion turned to the mouse and said, "Dear friend, I was foolish to ridicule you for being small. You helped me by saving my life after all!"

So, when you read this fable.... are you the lion or the mouse?

If you are a smaller real estate company needing help with leads, graphics, closings, mailings, billing, etc. you may look at Best Agent Business as the BIG lion, who offers services outside your realm of affordability. For a reasonable monthly fee, we can give your smaller company the information, processes, and experience you need. With one phone call you can access literally hundreds of years of schooling, experience, MBA wisdom, and reliability. It would cost you thousands of dollars a year to develop this dream team - we're right at your fingertips and ready to help at a price you can afford!And we can definitely teach your business to roar!

If you are a top producer, you may see yourself as a big roaring lion that, at present, doesn't need help from anyone. You have a competent in-house staff and everything is all under control.

Truth be told, the benefits of working with Best Agent Business strongly resemble the mouse, only we're no fable. We carefully but systematically "nibble" away at what ever holds your business back from reaching its full potential. Maybe you have projects that your staff just can't get to. Or maybe you have parts of your system that need a second pair of eyes to evaluate. Because of our experience, we know exactly where the ropes are that are tying you down, making you unable to reach your business goals. We can give you freedom to move and can literally save the life of your business - move it to a new level.

Whether you are a lion with a problem or a mouse who wants to roar, schedule a call with Steve Kantor to plan your strategy. Interested in a part-time career with us? Visit our employment website for more information.