Sandra Nixon

When describing your listing, be very careful what you say. Many realtors use common phrases that actually HURT the chances of getting the home viewed. As we all learned in Real Estate school, over doing it for the area is a no-no. And when you use the phrase "Diamond in the rough" it indicates that the house is in great condition, but the area is not. Especially when buyers are aware of another old saying "LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION"!

Some banks are using systems or "internet sites" to get the value of homes. A client of mine recently refinanced their mortgage and was told that the appraisal came in fine. She asked when the appraiser came out, and if he did why didn't he come inside. The response was, "Oh we have a computerized system that we use to see the value of your home". I spoke to a mortgage friend of mine that told me they do sometimes use sites like "Zillow".

Another instance, of this "unbelievable" practice was, I had called an insurance company to get a quote for homeowners insurance. The insurance person didn't ask me much about the house at all, and said "I will call you tomorrow with a quote". To my surprise the quote was double what I am paying now. When I asked her how she came to that number, she proceeded to tell me that all the info on my home was in a "SYSTEM" that they use. So I started to question what the "SYSTEM" said about my home. To make a long story short, the quote was based on replacing a home of 2800 sq. ft. When my home is only 1400 sq. ft.

After flipping out upon hearing this, I went on Zillow and looked up my house................and there it was 2800 sq. ft. I went on the tax records for our MLS and there it was!

Somehow, at sometime, someone made an assumption, or mistake, and because of it I will forever have the wrong sq. footage plastered all over these "SYSTEMS".

If all of you go on Zillow (and I use Zillow because I have seen the WRONG information on it myself) you will probably see even the VALUE of some of the homes your are selling or even the one you live in REPORTED INACCURATELY.

People's insurance quotes, ability to refinance and who knows what else will greatly be affected by this.

This is NOT how things should be viewed or handled. Our clients are going on Zillow and looking up values and sq. footage of homes we are showing them and probably basing their offers on "THESE SYSTEMS".

This should be stopped!!

HAVING FAITH IN SOMETHING THAT APPEARS TO BE A RELIABLE SOURCE CAN BE DEADLY!

OH MY GOODNESS, I'M ONLY 105 LBS.! THIS HAS TO BE ACCURATE, IT'S THE SCALE THAT ALL THE HOSPITALS USE! GREAT, NOW I CAN KEEP EATING ICE CREAM. EVEN THOUGH THAT SILLY DOCTOR SAID THAT MY WEIGHT WAS KILLING ME!

I just wanted to let everyone know that they have a Community Manager on Active Rain, his name is Brad Andersohn. I felt compelled to acknowledge him after a frustrating week of "needing help" when Brad was the only one to exhibit true dedication to his profession.

After almost 20 years at the same Real Estate company I have opened up my own business. I spent several days trying to CHANGE my info. on sites that I have signed up for and visited for the past several years. We all know that social networking is now BIG in helping you to become a success in no matter what business you are trying to promote. Therefore I needed to change my company name EVERYWHERE I had left footprints.

Needless to say many of the sites were difficult to log on to (since I hadn't been on them for awhile...being busy with my new venture). And many of the sites were difficult to figure out how to change info. I had spoken and emailed MANY site managers, but to no avail. Some with no phone numbers, some would put you on hold forever, emails went unanswered and when I finally did get responses, they couldn't help.

When I decided to go on Active Rain I realized that I couldn't log on. I found something with Brad's email on it and decided to try asking for some help. OMG!!! I recieved a response immediatley. Brad not only dove right into helping me, it was as if he was just sitting there waiting "every day" to make sure my log in was fixed.

I suggest you all go to Brad's profile and get to meet this guy: http://www.activerain.com/activebrad

KUDOS TO YOU BRAD ANDERSOHN!!!

Active Rain has the Internets most dedicated Community Manager!

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!

Try to modify your loan!!! Being in the Real Estate industry is one sentence that needs no explanation of "loss of income". Back in February I was notified by a friend who works for Wells Fargo (the holder of my mortgage), that the "making home affordable" program was just put into place. It was available for EVERYONE. Even those of us who were still paying our bills "on time".

I called the lender, and it was confirmed that it had just come out that day. I was told that it didn't matter whether we were on time or not, that this program was set forth to HELP everyone. I decided to gather my information, fill out the forms, and proceed with "trying to make things, a bit more affordable" in these trying times.

My package was submitted the end of February. After about 3 weeks, I placed a call to the department handling this program.

And here's what went down:

I was asked the SAME questions every time I called, "Why are you seeking a modification on your loan?"

The minute I said that my husband and I are Realtors, the comment was "OH, no need to explain any further". THIS INDICATES THAT OUR PROFESSION, AND/OR ANY PROFESSION HAVING TO DO WITH REAL ESTATE, IS AN OBVIOUS CASE OF "DROP IN INCOME".

Here's the kicker.......I was assigned a negotiator.....HOWEVER.......I would NEVER have access to this person. No phone number, email, or even a name. This person would update the computer systems at Wells Fargo, when anything happened with our file. I had to call the 1-800 number weekly for updates.

Sometime in April, I became frustrated and asked for a manager. Only to be told that there was no manager. Trying to maintain my frustration, I hung up and called back. This time I said that if a manager did not get on the phone, I would file a complaint with he banking commission. WELL, all of a sudden there was a manager on the phone. This person then said that she would put a "priority" on my file because it had been soooo long in process. However, there was a note in her computer that I was required to UPDATE my paperwork because it had been a few months. The note also said that I had 48 hours to do this or my file would be closed. They didn't call me with this, I just happened to place my weekly call and found this out. Had I NOT called (because their advice was to call every couple of weeks) my file would have just been closed. So I faxed the updates (which were basically none).

4 months had gone by and on June 7th I was told that my file was completed and sent to the investor. This being FREDDIE MAC............You know, the one who was BAILED OUT IN ORDER TO HELP "WE THE PEOPLE".

Well, here it is JULY. I called a few days ago, and was told that FREDDIE MAC denied any modification. Even though Wells Fargo confirmed a big drop in my income since the housing market declined. A comment was made (which I believe was not suppose to be) that none of my bills were late and I had always paid on time. However, the program specifies that this could not be a factor in this program.

So now I have been strung along for almost 5 months of aggravation!!! I most definitely qualify, especially since My mortgage is an adjustable..................however, my reward for paying on time is NOTHING BUT A BIG SLAP IN THE FACE!!!

SHAME ON FREDDIE MAC!!! SHAME ON WELLS FARGO AND ANY OTHER BANK THAT CAN NOT ORGANIZE AND SERVICE THE PEOPLE WITH THESE PROGRAMS THAT THE GOVERNMENT "thinks" IS HELPING US!

I realize that there are thousands of people out there that have fallen behind on their mortgages, but those of us who have OBVIOUSLY lost income in this market, and are still paying our bills need some help too. With this kind of behavior, we might as well join the ranks of the "unable to pay".

And just in case someone suggests "refinancing"...............I do not want to PAY closing costs or ANYTHING to refinance my mortgage..................I want what the government put out there for all of us to make things easier "A loan modification".

SO MAKE YOUR PAYMENTS ON TIME, AND EARN YOUR SLAP IN THE FACE!!!

Because I just suddenly see things happen without researching the WHYs and HOWs ..........Mostly because I'm just busy carrying on business and don't stop often enough to investigate the changes, here is something I thought you can all explain to me.

Years ago (and still to this day) we, as Realtors, learned that "steering" is not a practice we would want to take on.........we could lose our licenses, and worse, not be looking out for the BEST interest of our clients.

That being said......WHY do I suddenly notice with a LOT of listings the phrase "INTERESTED BUYERS MUST BE PRE APPROVED BY XYZ Mortgage company (BANK). Now I'm not referring to only foreclosure properties, because that I can understand if that particular bank owns the property. But, it appears that everyone is doing it now. It's obvious to me (and I'm sure to the public and real estate commission) that these real estate agents have some kind of relationship to this mortgage company or bank. Take certain Big name RE companies.........they even have their own (with the same name) Loan officers sitting there.

Recently, I had a buyer who wanted to put an offer on a house and who's credit, income, etc. was very good. They had done their own shopping for a mortgage and had settled on who they liked the best. They had a pre-approval (actually is was an actual approval - subject to appraisal). The listing agent told me that she would advise her seller's not to consider the offer without HER mortgage guy speaking to the buyers and running his own check on them. My buyer's refused to talk to him and were very mad about the way this was taking place.

I told the agent that because she was insisting on this, I wanted to meet and present the offer myself to her sellers (which she was not in favor of, and said that her seller's didn't want that). I told her that her seller's needed to be aware of the fact that my buyers are ready to move on to another house because of her insistence of forcing them to talk to her mortgage company. Since the buyer's were offering close to list price on a house that has been on the market for so long, AND were "financially" excellent buyers, with approval in hand..................she (and her companies policies) were not acting in the best interest of the sellers.

Her manager called me and told me that it was something that all their seller's felt good and secure about......making sure the prospective buyer was qualified by their XYZ mortgage company. And that because my buyer's were refusing to participate it sends up a red flag. I explained all of this to my buyer's and they said "They just want to see if they can swing us to their mortgage company. We have an approval, and they can call and verify with our current loan officer, anything they want to find out (even see a copy of our credit report).

At this point, the buyer's had become so mad about this, they decided to look elsewhere for a house. A week later the agent called me and said "OK, I'm sure my homeowners would accept the offer"........and I said "Too late"!!

I am well aware (as with my own listings) that we all want to MAKE SURE that a buyer with an offer is well qualified........it only makes sense in servicing our Sellers properly. However, where do you draw the line. And when is it obvious to the Real Estate Commission that this IS NOT the only reason some companies PUSH their own mortgage reps.

It appears that everytime a rule or law is put in place, everyone finds a way "around" it. I don't want to hear complaints about this from people who do this, I'm aware of why it is done (various reasons). I myself, when asked, give 4 names of banks/mortgage companies that I think do a GOOD job for the comsumer. I just get angry when it is thrust upon us in a forcefull way and we end up losing sales because of it.

Someone please explain how this has become SO OUT OF HAND!! What ever happened to the obvious "STEERING" rules?