Joe Pryor.com Realtor Oklahoma Investment Properties

First let me say that this is not a rant, nor is it going to be a condemation of the big bad corporate entities in real estate called franchises. Everybody has to be someplace, and that someplace has to give you a comfort level, and a sense of being in the right place. For me, that all changed at Inman News in January 2008. There I met Jim Cronin of the Real Estate Tomato and started training in blogging. I listened to Jay Thompson, Kris Berg, Teresa Boardman, and others talking about how they took individual control of their business. Then I spent September through November in Houston getting medical treatment for cancer, and I continued my online education, and starting blogging on Active Rain in November. 130,000 plus points later in eleven months, here I am. It was a great ride with a great organization. It just didn't meet my requirements any more. So let me go down the list in no particular order of my decision making process.

Number One. Broadband internet connections empower the individual. We can now do business in real time, so the world wants there information now, and an individual can move quickly, but large organizations move slowly. Even if it is a mistake, I can quickly take a chance, and just as quickly stop it.

Number Two. Web 2.0 applications let an individual look big but act small. Everyone wants us to act like they are our only clients. First I can with online presence find the clients. I don't need a big organization feeding me. Second, my team can work quickly to have a direct connection. If I am on five times on page one of a search on Google, I look really big. If I act quickly to a response, I am small and personal. For a potential client, that's big.

Number Three. I want to control where the money is spent. Yes, contributing to a national ad compaign creates branding, but it isn't my branding. Recently I decided to do a $150 per month Google pay per click program for certain search terms. Within thirty days I average 40 email captures per week at an average cost of 80 cents per email. If it didn;t work to my satisfaction it is easy to change. It works.

Number Four. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Active Rain, custom web sites, Diverse Solutions IDX, Altos Research, etc. Tools for the times. For me it is fun and proactive. Too often we criticize our franchises, and our brokers for not creating more opportunities. I don't want to be that way so working towrads this goal, creating a more defined database with action plans, creating the marketing, this was mother's milk. I know that people here on Active Rain are in franchises and creating there own business, and I am not trying to say you are wrong. What I am saying is that I am doing what is right for me and my team.

Number Five. Great support. It starts with Cherie Young of www.cherieyoung.com, who does custom sites, interactive maps, and SEO. Besides the Tomato I give kudos to Patrick Kitano and Kevin Boer of www.domusconsultinggroup.com. They can take you to the next level of social media, and at an incredible value price. This kind of help is invaluable, and help you build the courage to make a change.

RE/MAX did a lot for me. They have always stressed education, getting designations, and networking. I would not have been able to be in this place without this help. So to RE/MAX, my great brokers Victoria and Ruth, the many firends i still have at the old office, thank you, I love you, but I will not miss you because I have not really left, I have just changed locations. We are at 500 W. 15th Suite 300 Edmond, Oklahoma 73013, and the office numner is 405-216-0020. Everything else is the same.

Ernie Banks, the eternal sunshine of sports loved the game of baseball. His full quote was "It's a beautiful day for a ball game, let's play two!" he was not as quotable as Yogi Berra but his inspiration was and is contagious. He played the game with pure joy and gratitude and I loved to watch him. He was interviewed on NPR today about Obama's Nobel Prize award, but more about that later. The interview came at an opportune time for me. This time last year I was in cancer treatment. It has been a long hard road back but this week was particularly good. For the first time I felt like I had my mind back. Once again I looked at real estate as pure joy and love. So in honor of Mr. Banks, I would like to put his quotes in real estate terms.

Let's play two. Ernie Banks could have come to the majors a bitter man. He was segrated in the Negro Leagues until baseball was finally integrated. Instead, he focused on the game he loved. The result, everbody loved him. You couldn't help it. In real estate if we take that same joy, and regardless of why we got into the business, this exuburance will catch on with our clients. They may be grumpy some times or negative, but if you play the game of real estate like Ernie, you keep smiling and tell them it will be all right. treat other Realtors the same way by helping not judging. We will leave this business a better place, and hopefully like Ernie Banks we will leave much loved.

I really care, but not too much. Let's face it Ernie's Cubs were bad. Jimmy Dykes said "Without him, the Cubs would finish in Albuquerque". When asked today about what it was like to play his whole career with a perennial loser, he said this quote. Sure it hurt to lose, but there was always the next game. We have many times in real estate where we are disappointed, and deals don't work out and yes it hurts, but like Ernie hopefully not too much. Sometimes failure is the only way that we get to see our true character. Ernie banks as a team player experienced more failure that we could ever have, but he never let it stop his drive for excellence.

I haven't really done anything. When asked about his honors like being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame and many more honors where he was feted, he made this remark. Excussse me! Until Cal Ripken, his 512 career home runns and 277 as a shortstop was the record for that position. What he meant was unlike President Obama all he did was play baseball. he didn't cure cancer or contribute to world peace. On World peace I beg to differ Mr. Banks. Your selfless attitude, your joy of the game, and your humbleness at the privilege of doing exactly what you wanted to do in life contributes to world peace. The ego is a great enemy often times. I don't care how successful we have been, how many deals we have closed, we didn't creat the Salk Vaccine for polio. let's be like Ernie and keep ourselves in perspective.

Finally, let me say that for commission, this has been one of my worst years in real estate, but I am okay. I am still breathing, and I have finally come back to waking up in the morning with an attitude that says, what are we going to learn and accomplish today. It has been very difficult for me, and I know that those of you out there who have gone through severe medical issues share my experience. But today I want to thank Mr. Banks for being 79 years old, loving every minute of life, and never believing that anyone he meets is a stranger. Ernie, i will wake up in the morning, thinking about real estate, and saying, "Let's play two".

Distressed homeowners in Metro Oklahoma City are coming in increasing numbers. Although our city is faring better than most, unemployment has risen from 3.& to 6.1% in one year. I was in the mall today, and I noticed that two stores have closed very recently. Both Bacrach's and American eagle Outfitters have been here a long time, but are now gone. If we take this, medical problems, and divorce, people are having problems paying there bills. I remeber the bad old days of the 1980's when Oklahoma was devasted economically, and i can remeber the daily calls in my retail business for when the payments would be made. I have empathy for what these folks are going through, and declaring bankruptcy is not uncommon.

Let's first talk about the difference between bankruptcy and foreclosure. If you want to qualify for an FHA loan at a later time, you can be considered two years after bankruptcy. Foreclosure makes that three years or more. Foreclosures also have what is typically around a 450 point credit hit. If you were at 640 which you need for FHA think about how long that is going to take you after foreclosure. Foreclosure also stays with you for 7 years. I am not recommending you to avoid bankruptcy even if you are being harassed, but I am telling you to pursue a short sale regardless.

What a Chapter 7 liquidation does to the foreclosure process is to stop it in place. It does not prevent it from happening it just delays it. One advantage to doing this is that the bankruptcy can eliminate the possibility of a mortgage company coming after you for a deficiency judgement and of also sending a 1099 to the IRS for taxable forgiveness of debt. So from a personal standpoint, you get rid of all your personal debts excepting taxes, but once the process is done and finalized, the foreclosure starts up again.

So why still do a short sale since you have no personal liability? That is simple, foreclosure is still worse for your future credit. It is not just that your credit rating is hit harder, When you eventually go for a home loan think about what the lender sees if you have a foreclosure showing on the report. If you do the short sale route, it goes away within two years from the report. Yes they see a bankruptcy, but that is an easier explanation. Losing your job, having unpayable medical bills are understandable in making the decision to clean your slate. Remember that by doing a short sale you are saving the mortgage company money, since a foreclosure is more expensive in time and money. We can help you with your distressed home. Email me at joe@joepryor.com, or for more answers you can go to our web site for short sales, www.avoidforeclosureoklahoma.com.

The deadline for the end of the $8,000 is rapidly approaching. Normally the last Friday of the month is the favorite time for Realtors to close a home loan for sellers and buyers. The 28th of November is the last Friday, and the last possible day to close for the tax credit is the following Monday. Those days are going to be like the Gunfight at OK Corral, all guns blazing, hostilities on display, and the more than usual biblical wailing and gnashing of teeth. If you are trying to close on the tax credit, do me a favor, if your Realtor suggest one of these two days, just say no. Hey, if you have to you have to, but if you can close with a margin of error, you are better off. Let's discuss why Realtors suggest this.

First, the last Friday gives you the lowest closing cost in that month. You pay interest to the end of the month becasue your payments are always in arrears, paying for the previous month. I think Realtors very often think this is in your best interest, but I think not. These days are the most heavily booked. This means the error factor is exacerbated. The closing companies are overbooked, the lenders are not going to hire people just to accomodate you, and it only takes one or two problem closings to throw the schedule into the toilet. Do you want to be the one with the 4:00 Monday closing on November 30th? I wouldn't want to be.

Second, maybe the middle of the month would be better. Yes your closing cost are higher. You pay around two weeks of interest, but there are advantages. First, this is a slower closing time. Lenders are less burdened, title companies are less booked, and Realtors have plenty of time to correct mistakes on your closing statements. Yes they do happen, and it is so much quicker and easier to make corrections. So why pay more for an accurate closing? There is another advantage. it is that your first full payment which includes principle, taxes, and insurance as well as interst is now around 45 days away. From a cost out of pocket, those two weeks give you a little cushion and besides that you got to pay to own a home daily anyway. But wait, there's more!

Buying a home is one big part of the American dream. Having two hour delays or more at the end of the month, lender closing departments that are stressed, and listening to the problems are people are having, does nothing to make the end of this journey pleasant. Let's get over this closing at the end of the month ordeal just because it has become customary. If you are closing on your tax credit, please push for an earlier closing, then you will look back and say, that was a great experience, besides gnashing of teeth is bad for your health.

I I am a native Oklahoman that grew up in Oklahoma City. What my city has done in the last ten years is remarkable. After the energy bust in 1982, we were in a major recession that in some ways was worse than what we are seeing now, and it lasted for more than 13 years. Then Oklahoma City got religion. No not the Baptist kind, the kind that when you are on the bottom, and nothing tradition works, go for the creative approach. So it the midst of a down market, our city embarked on a surpising ventrue. We would vote a voluntary sales tax of 1C on the public, and revitalize downtown Oklahoma City and surrounding areas. We built a river walk like San Antonio, revitalized the warehouse area called Bricktown with over 80 restuarants and clubs with the river walk going though it. We built a Triple A baseball park, a 20,000 seat arean, a state of the art Library, a new Museum, an updated hall for the symphony and ballet, a new public transportation system, and updated the Fairgrounds which has more horse shows than anyplace in the world. Then we did it again and rebuilt the Oklahoma City School System with 75% new buildings, and the rest remodeled. We did it all, had nothing that was cut back, and had oversight that saw no one put in jail for graft or fraud. We also now have an NBA team, The Thunder, that despite being the smallest NBA market ranks in the top 10 in attendance.

Could I also add that we did this with ZERO DEBT. Jow about a stimulus package that truly stimulates, and no future debt to pay off. No wonder Oklahoma City is used as an example nationwide about how a city rises from the ashes and coordinates the business community with the local government. Now we are being asked to do MAPS 3. To see the proposal go to www.maps3.org. This is a 777 million dollar upgrade. Among the projects is a state of the art convention center, a 70 acre downtown park. a downtown streetcar system, new sidewalks and bicycle paths, and more. This is a collaborative effort with over 2400 sugggestions that poured in from the residents. Oklahoma City has been taking control of it's own destiny. We have achieved the lowest unemployment of any city over one million inpopulation, and our real estate market has actually appreciated in the last two years. I am proud of our city, our people, and our forward thinking. Not everything new has to come from one of the coast. Go to the website and see the history of the MAPS projects. You will see that Oklahoma City is OK.

For more information about Oklahoma City you can go to www.joepryor.com. For answers to short sale question go to www.avoidforeclosureoklahoma.com.