Infotube.net: Homes for Sale - For Sale By Owner (FSBO) - Real Estate Listings

If you have a property to sell, we have 5 proven marketing idea’s that you should consider.   In addition to our guarantee of more buyer attention for your property, these tips are FREE and EASY to do. 

5 Surefire, Guerilla Real Estate Marketing Tips for Sellers

1. Use an InfoTube or InfoBox and keep them FULL at all times.  Buyers love the convenience of curbside home info, which is the reason your brochures disappear so quickly.  Nothing is more disappointing than an empty InfoTube, and it leaves the impression that you could care less about selling.   Print plenty of brochures and be vigilant about keeping your tubes and boxes filled.    There is no better advertising, and the price is literally a piece of paper.
2. Place a listing for your home on every website that provides free home classified’s.   90 percent of home shoppers begin their search on the web and multiple site listings increase the odds of your property being seen.  3 MUST’s for your real estate listings are InfoTube.net, zillow and craigslist.
3. Network- Place your home listing information on your myspace or facebook page.  If you Twitter…Tweet your house
4. Post on Real Estate Forums.  Contribute to real estate forums and include the link to your home listing in your signature.
5. Do a Video Tour.  Video is a great way to show off your property and surrounding neighborhood ammenities.   Highlight scenes that enhance your still photo slideshow.  For example, if your area has a park, new school, nice shopping or great view, grab your digital camera, shoot and show us.  Sites like InfoTube.net feature home video tours on their home page and they upload them to youtube automatically.

If you have a few bucks to spend, nothing increases your exposure to home buyers like an MLS listing.   For $399 you can buy a showcase listing on Realtor.com for 6 months, and still sell your home yourself.  The combined traffic to the MLS real estate hubs is around 8 million visitors per month.  6 months times 8 million shoppers=48 million prospective home buyers.  

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for visiting InfoTube.net.

object width=”425″ height=”344″>

Thanks for visiting InfoTube.net

It looks like we may all be home for Christmas after all.  

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance companies seized by the U.S. government, will suspend foreclosures and evictions over the holidays.

The six-week pause will begin Nov. 26, a day before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, and last through Jan. 9, the companies said in separate statements today.  The much needed reprieve is designed to give servicer’s more time to implement a streamlined loan modification program for struggling borrowers.

Happy Holidays and thanks for visiting InfoTube.net homes for sale website.

When it comes to making or losing money in housing, the main question to consider is often whether it makes better financial sense to rent or buy.  

While a lot of formula’s exist to determine the answer, I stumbled across a great tool for calculating your strategies that doesn’t involve math.

Check out the New York Times slide calculator.  This slick tool instantly reveals the answer to all rent vs buy dilemia’s.   Just enter in some basic information about your housing or investment idea, and the chart reveals how much time, if ever, it will take for your investment to pay off.

Thanks for visiting InfoTube.net, a great website for discovering unknown properties seen no where else on the web.

Real estate contracts are legally binding, and often, complex documents.  Whether you are selling by owner, with an agent, or are preparing to sign a contract to purchase, hiring a lawyer can prevent disputes or surprises later on.

What will an Attorney Charge?

1. The typical fee for reviewing a real estate contract is $250.00 for an average residential sale.  
2. Attorney’s can also perform a title search, procure title insurance and close the sale, for as little as $500, or as much as $1500, if the sale is more complicated.

What Legal Services Should Be Included?

1. An attorney will review the contact and terms to ensure that they are clear, legal and enforceable.
2. They will explain all technical terms and may suggest improvements, if necessary.
3. An attorney will look for clauses that are problematic and will make suggestions to correct the situation, before a problem occurs.
4. A lawyer will outline the rights and responsiblities of all parties to the contract.
5. They will explain who pays for what, and what will happen if something goes wrong.
6. In most states, your attorney can hold escrow monies and disburse funds at closing.

Tip:  Whether buying or selling, you should have a lawyer review any legally binding documents BEFORE you sign them.   If you find yourself in a situation where you must sign a contract before you consult an attorney, write the following phrase into the special provision section.  Have all parties initial the change, then, see a lawyer as soon as possible.

“Contract is subject to approval by buyer’s/seller’s attorney.”

In conclusion, a lawyer can be an invaluable asset when buying or selling a home.  Their expertise can go a long way to ensure a legal, smooth sales transaction.   

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net.  Please let us know if we can answer any questions for you.

InfoTube homes for sale

An InfoTube customer writes: 

“Can you settle a debate for us?  We have decided to sell our home, and want your opinion about hiring an agent.  Is hiring an agent to handle our sale really worth it  ?”

Dear InfoTube customer,

Thank you for writing to me.  The answer is Yes and No.  A lot of people would never sell a home without using an agent.  Yet, a lot of other people successfully sell their property by owner every day.   The answer to your question is one of lifestyle and budget.  Let me give you an example about myself.

When I sold my second home, I was working full-time, while caring for someone who was ill.  In addition, I was planning and coordinating our move to a different city.  I was very busy, and didn’t have the time or energy to dedicate to selling my home.   I found an experienced agent, who agreed to handle the sale for a 4.5 percent commission.   She did a great job in pricing and marketing the home.  We sold the property at near the list price and felt the commission we paid was more than fair.   In my case, hiring a Realtor was more than worth it.  It made financial sense and it made my move possible.

At another point in my life, my circumstances were different.  So, I opted to sell my home and save some money.  At the time, I had a flexible job that allowed me to market and show the property.  I felt comfortable showing my home and negotiating with buyers, because I had experience with prior sales and purchases.  In this case, I sold my home for near the asking price and received a hefty profit, because I didn’t need to use an agent.  I was in a position to do the work myself, so I made more money.  In this case, it didn’t make financial sense to hire an agent.

In conclusion, if you have the time and energy to sell your home, it doesn’t make sense to pay an agent.  If on the other hand, you don’t have the time or energy, hiring a professional to handle the sale is the smart decision and well worth the money.   When trying to decide, simply, do what works best for you.  Then, enjoy your profits.  You will have earned them, either way.

Thank you, as always for visiting InfoTube.net.   If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.  Others may be wondering about the same thing, too.

Although the logic escapes me, many Realtors do not provide sales prices, when advertising homes for sale.    They operate on the old, tired business practice of printing teaser ad’s or brochures, that force customers to call or email a sales person.  This annoying ”game” is a disservice to buyer and seller, alike.  But, many agent’s still hide basic property information, attempting to latch onto an unwitting customer they can flip into some type of sale.

The new Google Base website for home listings circumvents this questionable and irritating practice, by revealing the hidden sales prices for listed homes. 

Tip for Buyers:  If you are house hunting and resent the phone tag game, go to Google Base to find the hidden asking prices.  Refuse to track down any sales agent to get basic information.  Unfortunately, for the innocent home seller, I always eliminate properties from my candidate list, when I discover the listing agent is a game player.  I simply move on to the next listing that is represented by someone who values my time and intellegence.  Life is too short to put up with a listing agent who plays hide and seek with the home seller’s information.

Tip for Sellers:  If your home is listed with an agent, have them acknowlege in writing, that they will provide easy access to all information about your home, including the price.  Make sure they use an InfoTube or InfoBox to ensure that home information is readily available to drive by traffic.  Seller’s, you don’t profit from missed buyer inquiries, nor do you benefit from an agent flipping potential buyers to other listings. A good agent will give your home as much exposure, to as many people as possible. And, they will utilize all means, low and high tech, to provide instant information when the customer wants it…even while they are sitting in front of your home.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net.  Please let us know if we can assist you in the sale of your home or help you with an MLS listing.

Prediction:  2009 will be a good year to be a landlord, as five factors collide to make rents rise in 2009.  

1. 1.  An estimated 1.9 million homes will be foreclosed upon in 2009, which will tranform these former homeowners into tenants.
2. New construction will grind to a halt, which means fewer rental properties will be available.
3. As credit remains tight, potential buyer’s will be forced to renew their current leases after they are turned down for a mortgage.
4. Consumer fear and an uncertain employment picture will keep would-be, credit worthy buyer’s on the sidelines, meaning less turnover in rental housing.
5. Thousands of Americans who have been burned by recent homeownership will decide that ownership is not worth the risk and trouble.  They will sign a lease for the ease and flexibility, and happily return to rental living.

Investors and Landlords Take Note:  This convergence can be summed up in two words.   Higher Rents.  As the demand for rental units outstrips the supply, the upward pressure on rental rates will occur naturally.

To view great deals on homes for sale by owner, visit InfoTube.net.  Click the link to Search anonymously for the freshest listings on the web, without pesky ad’s or dead listings.

 A new loan modification program was just unveiled that may help thousands of homeowners, that are facing foreclosure.  The loan modification program is the latest attempt by the federal government to stabilize the real estate market.  Thr program will not provide direct financial help, but it does provide assistance to those at risk of losing their homes.

The program will benefit borrowers who are at least 3 months behind on their mortgage payments, if they live in the home and have not filed for bankruptcy.

Borrower’s who fit the criteria would be offered a mortgage loan that would bring the payment to no more than 38 percent of their monthly household income.   Loan payments would be adjusted downward through interest rate cuts and longer terms of repayment.  Borrower’s would be allowed up to 40 years to repay the debt versus the traditional 30 year mortgage most of us are familiar with.

Borrower’s who are in danger of foreclosure should immediately contact the lender who services their loan.  The loan modification program was designed to be swift and efficient in stopping foreclosures.  It is expected that 1.6 million Americans will lose their homes this year, and another 1.9 million are projected to lose their homes in 2009.

Efforts by the government to work with borrowers and homeowners and keep them in their homes is good news for neighborhoods and communities.   The program is also good news for lenders and taxpayers as foreclosures typically cost the lender 50 percent of the loan value.  Ouch!

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net, the place to buy and sell houses.   Please feel free to leave an anonymous comment or suggestion by clicking the link shown below.

Directors for the National Association Realtors (N.A.R.) formally agree on a real estate stimulus proposal.

The proposal calls on congress to use a portion of the $700 billion dollar bailout package to provide a temporary $7,500 first-time home buyer tax credit that does not have to be repaid.  In addition, they advised that the fed, should temporarily buy-down mortgage rates to 4.5 percent or less.

NAR, CEO Dale Stinton, said the  proposal would cost an estimated $100 billion per year and recommended that the temporary relief  remain in place for two years.

Stinton said NAR arrived at the 4.5 percent or lower interest-rate buy-down level as “a result of some surveys and focus groups and talking to some brokers around the country,” and the research indicates that a buying down  interest rates to 3 percent to 4.5 percent would get the market rolling again. 

“We think in a couple years things will come back to where they should be,” Stinton said.  “It’s a small price to pay, in my opinion, to stop the hemorrhaging,” he said, as much longer real estate slump could prove far more costly.  ”We have to find a bottom to this market, from the real estate point of view and from an economic point of view,” he said.

Realogy Corp., which owns Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and other household franchise names, recommended the idea of government financed interest rate buy downs in October, saying the buy downs would unleash consumer demand for housing.  

Buy downs are not a new idea for increasing buyer activity.   Buy downs have been used successfully for years as an incentive.   To buy down a rate, sellers pay lenders extra points up front to obtain a reduced interest rate for a buyer, often for the first two or three years of a loan.

The NAR plan also stressed that the federal government should permanently increase in FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits to $729,750 in high-cost areas. Effect January 1, 2009, the limits are scheduled to roll back to $625,000.

The proposal from the NAR is on target in terms of what is needed to get things moving on Main Street.  And hopefully, when Congress is back in session, they will seriously heed the advise of the real estate community before more damage is done to homeowners.

Thank you for checking in with InfoTube.net.

How long does it take to sell a home in your town or city? 

**Thanks to Linda DeVlieg for alerting us to the error of our ways, darn it…The Average Days on the Market for Albuquerque, NM is around 72, not 32 ):

To view listings of homes for sale, click HERE.

Selling Tip:  If your home has been on the market for a lot longer than the average days for your area, it signals that something may be wrong with your price, property condition, location or marketing exposure.   

To increase your exposure to buyer’s looking for homes, consider an MLS listing.   The MLS reaches more than 8 million buyer’s per month.  Hand’s down the best advertising you can do for the money.  Seller’s can post a free home listing at InfoTube.net, increasing your internet exposure for FREE.

 High energy costs, the stock market crash and the dismal housing market have converged to make 2008 one of the scariest economies in over 70 years.  Many people fear that they can not meet their monthly expenses this winter.  Further, many feel trapped, living in houses that they can not afford  and can not sell.   One answer for those over the age of 62, may be a Reverse Mortgage.

What is a Reverse Mortgage?

A reverse mortgage is a program for Seniors age 62 and older.  The program enables homeowner’s to receive part of their home equity as tax-free income without having to sell their home, give up title or pay a mortgage payment.

How Does a Reverse Mortgage Work?

The homeowner pledges the home as collateral for the loan, but does not make any mortgage payments on the amount borrowed.  The borrower receives their equity as a lump sum, a monthly payment, a line of credit, or a combination of the three.   The amount owed to the lender can never exceed the value of the home

No money needs to be repaid to the lender until the borrower no longer occupies the property as a principal residence.   If the borrower dies, sells the home or moves, the lender will sell the property to pay back the loan.   If the amount owed is less than the sales price, the excess money is returned to you or your estate.

What Can I Use the Money For?

The money you receive can be used for anything.  You can use the funds to supplement your retirement income, repair or remodel your home, pay for health care, living expenses, pay off debt, buy a new car, take a vacation or prevent a foreclosure.

Why Should You Avoid a Reverse Mortgage?

If you intend to leave your home within 2-3 years, there are less expensive options you may want to consider.  Because of the upfront costs associated with a reverse mortgage (approximately 2-3 percent), home equity loans or a tax deferral program may save you money on borrowing costs.

If you want to leave your home to your heirs, you should also consider other options.   In most cases, the home will have to be sold in order to pay back the reverse mortgage.  A better option would be to sell the home to your heir’s now, and rent it back from them for your lifetime use.

How Did Reverse Mortgage Get Its Name?  

It is called a reverse mortgage because the typical flow of money is reversed.  Instead of the borrower making monthly payments to the lender, as is customary, the lender makes payments to you.

How Do I Find Out More About Reverse Mortgages?

The non-profit site Reverse Mortgage has all the facts and information you need to make a decision.  Topics on the site include the rates charged by different lenders, info about the effects of reverse mortgages on social security, medicare and medicaid benefits, special requirements and a whole lot more.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net.  You can anonymously post questions or comments for us by clicking the Comments link below.

This short video clip from Forbes is of interest to seller’s, buyer’s and those who are watching the real estate market. 

Click on this link to learn which US cities will bounce back the quickest and pick up some tips about why they will.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net.  We appreciate you

The Standard and Poor’s/Case Shiller Home Price Index Shows the Housing Market continues to Correct.

Sales of homes in August were UP, which is good news.  The bad news is, sales were a result of falling home prices.  The report also revealed that one-third of homes sales in August were foreclosures.

Home Prices, by Metro Area

As the owner of a small, woman-owned business for the last 25 years, I have experienced a lot of market up’s and down’s.  And, while the 2008 market is unique to itself, it does have similar traits with other declines in the real estate, financial and equity markets that we can draw from.

So, what does my experience tell me about predictions for equities and housing in 2009?

1. Housing has further to fall in 2009.    Housing has a bit further to fall as inventories remain at historical highs, and new inventory is being added daily.   We are currently foreclosing on 10,0000 homes per month on average, and the end is no where in sight.  The numbers of loan deliquencies and defaults are increasing, keeping downward pressure on home prices and upward pressure on unsold inventory.  
2. More Trouble Finding or Keeping A Job in 2009.   The U.S. unemployment rate is growing along with the national debt.    As business continues to slow, we will see more layoff’s and company closings in industries such as building and contruction, financial’s, auto’s, airlines, travel and retail.
3. Credit Problems in 2009.   Lenders will be very cautious about loaning money, even to their best customer’s, until they divest themselves of unperforming assets.  The spread’s on mortgage rates will remain high in 2009, increasing the costs to borrow.
4. Wall Street in 2009.   The stock market looks forward, not backward.  The recent sell off was not caused by horrific events which occurred in 2008 or earlier.  The recent, unprecedented stock market decline, tells us that Wall Street expects and has priced in, that 2009 will be one of the worst ecomonic periods in U.S. history.   If the street thinks the economy will improve in 2010, then 2009 should be an up year for equities.  But, sit on cash for now, as it is really too early to tell.

For all the reasons above, I do not see a rosy 2009.  But, that being said, I do see the opportunities that will present themselves.   With regard to housing, I think we are nearing the bottom and price declines indicate that a lot of the risk is off the table.  For those that are investing in real estate for the long term or for a place to live, I don’t see prices getting remarkably cheaper from here.  Buyer’s planning to hold for five years would probably do well to take advantage of today’s interest rates.  I see higher lending costs in the future, due to government borrowing, earning slowdown’s and regretable past mistakes.

Thank you for visiting InfoTube.net.   Please feel free to post an anonymous comment by clicking the link below.