Britney Elizondo :: 940.453.5308 :: Your Dallas Home Buying Specialist

Friday's Employment report was a disappointing indicator of the current state of the US economic recovery. This report, along with just about every other economic measure released this week, was weaker than expected. As a result, mortgage rates fell to a new low for the year. Against a consensus forecast of 150K, the economy added just 54K jobs in May, and the figures for prior months were revised lower as well. This was the lowest monthly level of net job creation since September 2010.

The big question about the economy is whether the slowdown in growth is mostly due to temporary factors or whether it will be longer-term. The earthquake in Japan caused a shortage of parts, which had a large impact on global manufacturing, and the swift rise in oil prices caused consumers to scale back on other spending. The Japanese earthquake was a one-time event, and oil prices have dropped back to $100 per barrel. Other investors, though, feel that economic troubles are more fundamental. They view debt problems in weaker European countries and a winding down of some fiscal and monetary stimulus programs in the US as major factors in the slower growth. Since mortgage rates are heavily influenced by the pace of economic growth, the degree to which the slowdown proves to be shorter-term versus longer-term will likely determine how long rates remain at these low levels.

Many factors were favorable for mortgage rates this week. Weaker than expected economic data, strong results for the Treasury auctions, and renewed concerns about weaker European countries all helped mortgage rates end the week at the lowest levels of the year.

All of the major economic data released during the week was weaker than expected. First quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic growth, was unchanged at 1.8%. Most investors expected the figures to be revised higher to at least 2.0%. April Durable Orders fell 4% from March, which was the largest monthly decline since October 2010. Weekly Jobless Claims unexpectedly increased. These measures suggest reduced inflationary pressure, which is good for mortgage rates. In addition, the Core PCE price index confirmed that inflation remains very low.

Uncertainty in Europe also helped US mortgage rates improve. There is no clear solution to the debt problems of Greece, and the parties involved in aiding Greece disagree on what approach to take. European Central Bank (ECB) officials stated that Greece must adopt tough austerity measures to remain a member of the Euro zone. Greece has already sharply reduced spending, though, and further cuts will be difficult politically, increasing the likelihood of a default on Greek government debt. Investors also grew more concerned about similar problems in Spain and Portugal. Spending cuts or debt defaults are expected to lead to slower global economic growth.

The biggest economic event next week will be the important Employment report on Friday. As usual, this data on the number of jobs, the Unemployment Rate, and wage inflation will be the most highly anticipated economic data of the month.

Being in Real Estate for nearly 9 years, I've seen the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the good, the bad and the ugly! When the market is hot, EVERYONE wants to be a Real Estate agent; when it's down, everyone is jumping ship. When the market is good, you want to focus on marketing yourself as a Real Estate professional to remind the consumer that no, not every agent is the same. I, personally, get excited when the market isn't at it's best because it weeds out all the agents who get their license for fun and don't really take the industry seriously.

Here lately I've been reminded time and time again why agents have a bad reputation; they're lazy, they don't communicate, they expect everyone else to do everything for them, they don't stay on top of their education, they don't yearn to be a better agent; trust me, this list goes on!

I work on a team in which we have 2 lead agents - a listing agent and a buyer specialist (me), as well as an assistant. Vicki, the listing agent, is working a deal with an agent who has been in the business for 9 years. This came as a HUGE surprise after she:

1. sent the inspection report to her and in her amendment simply wrote: "all of page 7 and 8;"

2. called Vicki and asker her to schedule her closing for her; and

3. 2 days before the closing, she called Vicki and said, "do you think your clients would mind if we changed the buyer's name from her dad to her?"

WHAT!????? Part-time agent, maybe!?? I don't know! It's things like this that make us, Vicki and I, in our buyer/seller consultation put emphasis that we are both FULL TIME agents! This is not a hobby; we take what we do seriously and we market ourselves as professionals. Read our testimonials, you'll see our clients agree!

Here's another episode I experienced myself. I am working a deal with clients who are moving from Oklahoma to Dallas. Their home in OK is set to close and we had been negotiating back and forth, back and forth on the purchase of their new home for about 10 days at this point. My clients are in a panic because they HAVE to find something and when they think they have, the sellers are holding out for someone to pay top dollar in a declining market (yeah right!!), and the listing agent has a 2-3 day turn-a-round time in getting back to me on anything! No wonder my clients were starting to panic. We finally negotiated everything in which everyone had already agreed; my clients sign, I forward the contract to the listing agent and I hear nothing. She has an appointment with them on Friday morning, I call her around noon to check on the status - no answer and no call back; I send a follow-up email, and still nothing. Finally late that evening around 11:00 she emails me and says her clients had to check on the dates with their builder before they could move forward which is why it took all day but she should have it back to me first thing in the morning. If she doesn't get it to me in the morning it will have to be Sunday night.

Wait, what!??

I don't hear from her on Saturday nor Sunday. Finally Monday morning she forwards me the contract with 1 small change and apologizes for not getting back to me sooner but she was out of town. I understand being out of town, I forgot to mention, I had actually been out of town as well since Friday morning and got back Sunday evening, and Saturday was spent at the spa getting ready for a wedding. I still emailed and phoned my clients as well as the listing agent to make sure things were moving forward. I know in this business it's nice to get away and not worry about anything, but you do that after you make sure all your ducks are in a row; you don't leave people hanging.

Another something I found interesting is that a past client of mine called and said he has a friend who is really upset with her agent. She's been nothing but rude, non-communicative, doesn't explain anything to her, and doesn't feel she's looking out for her and her interest. She had a question about a contract and the agent simply said "read the Third-Party Financing Addendum;" that was it - no explanation. So he called and asked me the same question and I told him exactly what she needed to do. I also offered to look over the contract to make sure everything was accurate and then give her a timeline for due dates and deadlines. I'm not trying to steal this agent's client by any means! Honestly!! But agents forget purchasing a home is a huge milestone in a lot of people's lives and it isn't something that should be taken lightly. You don't want to purchase a home and instantly feel regret knowing you overpaid, your questions weren't answered, and you may or may not be in the area you truly wish to be in because your agent didn't take the time to explain anything to you.

These are only a few examples of a laundry list of bad examples of an agent. It honestly gets to the point in which you find it funny! So, here's a small remindeer (if you even get to this point in this blog, ha) that we as agents have a responsibility to be a professional. Communicate in a timely manner, answer the phone and/or return phone calls, always hold your client's best interest to heart, know the market and make sure the purchase or sell makes sense from a numbers standpoint, be courteous, be promt and on time, stay on top of your education to be as knowledgeable in your field as possible, have a desire to better yourself always, put your clients first and you and your wants and needs second, always be prepared, and always fully educate your clients and answer all their questions. You don't have to know everything, and trust me, your clients don't expect you to know everything; there's never anything wrong with sayind you don't have the answer but you will definitely look into it and get back to them. Under promise and over deliver! And always always always come from contribution! Do all these things and you, as a Real Estate PROFESSIONAL, will shine!

I guess you can take this long blog as a simple plea asking all agents to do their jobs and be good agents; it definitely will make negotiations and transactions a lot more enjoyable and maybe even a little more smooth which, in the end, truly benefits our clients!!

Weaker than expected economic data helped mortgage rates decline to the lowest levels of the year early in the week. On Wednesday, though, a reminder that the Fed will eventually sell its portfolio of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) helped to erase the improvement. These two influences offset each other, and mortgage rates ended the week nearly unchanged.

The economic data released this week fell far short of investor expectations almost across the board. The most significant report, April Industrial Production, was unchanged from March, which was well below the consensus forecast. Manufacturing output was hurt by a shortage of parts from Japan due to the earthquakes. The Index of Leading Indicators declined for the first time since June 2010. The housing sector data also showed weakness as Existing Home Sales, Housing Starts, and Building Permits all declined in April.

The FOMC minutes from the April 27 Fed meeting contained few surprises, but they highlighted the fact that the Fed's eventual return to more normal monetary policy will include both asset sales and rate hikes. The minutes gave no indication of the timing of any Fed tightening. Longer term, officials believe that the Fed's balance sheet should contain only Treasury securities, meaning that the Fed at some point will begin to sell its roughly $1 trillion portfolio of MBS. In order to disrupt the mortgage market as little as possible, officials said that the selling may be done over a period of many years, and any asset sales would be announced far in advance.

Next week, New Home Sales will be released on Tuesday. Durable Orders, an important indicator of economic growth, will come out on Wednesday.

much less thrive in this business, when you can't even answer the phone??

Granted, I understand in real estate, especially now as we're in Spring and heading into Summer, we as agents get busy and can't always answer the phone. We're in meetings, showing houses, in the middle of negotiations, etc. But what's the excuse for not returning a phone call? If your seller or buyer only knew!

I called 5 listings agents yesterday, "Hi, I have someone who is potentially interested in your listing located at xyz but he has a couple of questions; can you give me a call when you get a chance? I would very much appreciate it!" Of these 5 agents, only 1 actually answered and 1 other called me back. Still no word from the remaining 3. If the seller only knew!

In real estate it is our business and our responsibility to represent our client's best interest. I will never understand how you can represent your client to the best of your ability if you can't even return a simple phone call. No wonder so many people have nothing but negative feelings towards real estate agents. I take it as a personal challenge to change people's minds about Realtors, one buyer and/or seller at a time!