Sameer Punjani

The Real Estate Industry has changed for good. No more 15 Day Closings (unless you have a cash buyer). As you are aware, most of the MLS listings out there are either Short Sales or Bank Owned Properties. Both are a pain to deal with, yet the real estate commissions are still same at 5 or 6%.

With short sales, lenders / investors have a right to reduce our commissions. With REO's you have to kiss butt to get listings and do as the lenders say. No electronic signatures means more paperwork, more time. Terms like "Must be pre-approved through Bank of America to submit offer" For what? So the bank can get some loan business? Forget that.

We as agents need to step up and increase the "standard" sales commission to 8%. That's right I said it, 8%. We are pushing property for the banks / investors. Without us, properties won't sell and the banks will continue to lose billions of dollars.

What is all the agents got together and decided not to take any more bank listings or take any more short sale listings unless there was a change to the standard.

There is so much change in the lending industry as well. Pretty soon there will be NO MORTGAGE BROKERS. All loans will be regulated by the Federal Government. As you know for damn sure, government has no clue on what they are doing. Heck, they are still approving FHA loans in the 50% debt ratios.

That's my two cents on real estate commissions!

Sameer Punjani
Broker / Owner
mygpsagent.com

I get asked by my clients if this is a good time to buy a home? Or, "If this is the bottom" To be honest, nobody knows when the bottom will be. You can look at all the trends, graphs, and so called expert opinions, but are these the same experts who didn't advise the public this is a time to sell? Everyone has their own opinion as to when to buy and sell. But when my client asks, "Is this a good time to buy" I reply by saying, "Do you need a home?" Don't buy just because the price is low, buy because you NEED a home, you need more space, or you have a career change. Ask if I buy a home now, how stable is my job? Do I have enough savings for at least 12 months to make the mortgage payment incase I lose my job. I still see FHA loan approvals getting approved at 50% debt to income ratios. This is scary, it gives the borrower false hope by approving the loan, it makes the client think the bank approved me so therefore I can afford the home. Even if your client gets approved for a $400,000 loan, maybe they should buy a $300,000 home? Prices are still cheap now not to overextend, and when the housing market does get moving again, they will be sitting pretty in a home they can afford.

Sameer Punjani