Home Owner Robbed and Beat up Showing his Listed Home to a Stranger

 

It’s a lesson worth repeating: Do NOT let strangers into your home, no matter how nice they seem. Glendale, Arizona police are looking for suspects in robbery/assault where one man failed to remember this important instruction.

The incident occurred at a listing near Old Town Glendale. The homeowner was watering his front lawn, when a couple approached and asked to see his home. Initially, the homeowner did what all good agents teach their sellers to do: he referred the inquiry to the listing agent.

The couple, however, continued to chat with the homeowner, who eventually let his guard down and allowed the seemingly nice lady and man into his house. Once inside, they robbed him of his wallet and damaged his cell phone so he could not call the police. The assailants are described as white, late 30s to early 40s in age. The man is 5'8"; to 5'9"; and the woman slightly smaller, both with medium builds.

The homeowner was unable to provide any additional details. The suspects were driving a late model brown/dark gold 4-door Buick with a coat hanger as its antenna. If you see such a couple, please contact local police with a location and, if possible, a license plate number.

Agents, it if you’ve forgotten or let it slide, this is a GREAT reminder to reiterate to your sellers that they should NEVER allow anyone they do not know to access their home. They should refer any and all inquiries to the listing agent, no matter how nice the “prospective buyers” seem. This, as we’ve seen in this unfortunate incident, is for the homeowner’s own protection.

 

 

Thinking of buying or selling a home in the Phoenix Area?

We'd be happy to assist you in the buying or selling process. Feel free to contact me by phone 602-595-8900 or email at anna.banana@cox.net.

Search here for homes in the metro Phoenix area.

You can also visit our website for more information on the Phoenix and surrounding areas:

Phoenix Real Estate Information

 

 One of the largest mistakes that I see people make in this business, and in life in general in my opinion, is try to conform to the norm. I'm not sure why it is that so many people are hesitant to strike their own path and go against the grain.

 In the end I feel like you and your clients would be better served if you are willing to chart your own path. You have to be willing to take some risks and rise above the normal tone of mediocrity that's become the average. And in the end, who really wants to be known as average?

 Make a conscious to decide what it is that sets you apart from the crowd. The last thing you need to do is blend into the background and become like everyone else. Instead you need to turn heads and create a sense of excitement that surrounds you through your ability to try new things. See what the rest of the crowd is doing and add your own twist.

 If no one else in your area is really blogging, then capture the opportunity that they have presented to you. Blog your heart out to reap the rewards of better SEO and prove that you are not like the rest of the crowd. Maybe your background sets you apart. I was once a high end finisher that worked on $20,000 beds. When you charge that much for a bed, it has to be as close to perfect as one human can make it. Therefore, my background makes me very detailed and meticulous.

 Maybe you want to pass out boomerangs to your sphere and farm areas that say you'll keep coming back. Just make sure whatever you do it's memorable and it makes you stand out. You are not prey, so there is no reason to hide. You're not a spy, so secrecy has never been and never will be your friend. Bland may get you by, but it won't get you where you truly want to be. So make sure you're loud every chance you get, because you never know when the right person will be listening.

www.jlboney.com

DON'T !!

Plain and simple, just don’t do it. In California it’s illegal and has been since January 1, 2009.

Illegal, yet every single day I see numerous drivers willingly breaking the law. Yesterday it was a middle aged woman who had both arms thru the steering wheel, blackberry against the speedo, on the freeway!

The following video is part of an half hour long program being shown to new drivers in the U.K. It's graphic in nature and worth every single moment of it's 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

It’s a professionally made short movie using actors but that doesn’t diminish the message. If I had my way I’d make every teen driver and their texting parents watch this before they signed that contract for their new smartphone!

Watch the video then go hug your kid.

What do you think... too harsh?

    

 

 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Text drive film to 'shock' pupils (news.bbc.co.uk)

 

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This post brought to you courtesy of Mike Mueller.
Feel free to ReBlog or ReTweet as you like as long as you credit the source (him).
Did you know?  He's for hire! He builds Blogs, Graphic Images and Widgets and Facebook Pages and besides… He knows lots of really cool stuff.

Hire Mike (925) 456-4567

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY.  It could cost you your license. 

* * * *   HARD CORE REAL ESTATE TALK   * * * *

IF YOU ENGAGE IN LOSS MITIGATION CONSULTING, FORECLOSURE PREVENTION, MORTGAGE LOAN MODIFICATION. . . . . . 

Be afraid. . .  Be very afraid. 

THINKING OF OFFERING SERVICES AS A "MORTGAGE MODIFICATION EXPERT"?.  If you, as a Real Estate Broker, Real Estate Agent of a Real Estate Broker or Real Estate Salesperson, engage in any of the following in connection with a real estate listing or sale, you may be in violation of the law in some states and most certainly are in Maryland.  In Maryland, if one offers the services below, they are required to be licensed by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, CFR.

• RISK #1.  Advising home owners in connection with a mortgage loan modification, which would include the possibility of deferral of payment on a consumer' s mortgage loan, unless you are specifically licensed to do so.
• RISK #2.  Accepting an up-front fee in connection with offering mortgage modification advice.
• RISK #3.  Offering credit repair services.
• RISK #4.  Offering credit repair or mortgage modification services without a written contract. 

WHAT IS A FORECLOSURE CONSULTANT?  Any person who contacts a home owner who is at least sixty days in default, is likely to be deemed a "FORECLOSURE CONSULTANT".  The home owners need not be in foreclosure for a person providing financial advice to be considered a FINANCIAL CONSULTANT. 

If a licensee (real estate) solicits a homeowner in writing, in person, by phone, e-mail, postal mail and offers the following services, they are acting as a FORECLOSURE CONSULTANT:

• Stopping or postponing a foreclosure sale.  See article about.
• Obtaining forbearance from any trustee or mortgagee
• Assisting a home owner with reinstatement or or refinancing

FORECLOSURE CONSULTANTS are prohibited from the following: 

• Claiming, demanding, charging, collecting or receiving any compensation until after the foreclosure consultant has fully performed the services for which they were contracted to perform.
• Receiving compensation in connection with foreclosure consulting unless the fee is fully disclosed in writing, is clearly listed on any settlement documents.
• Receiving REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE FEES in excess of 8% of the sales price.
• Receiving any money to be held in escrow on on a contingent basis on behalf of the homeowner. 
• Assisting a home owner in obtaining any extensions, reinstatement, waivers or defaults, obtaining loans or advance of funds.
• Saving the homeowner's residence from foreclosure.
• Purchasing or obtaining an option on the residence under certain conditions.
• Arranging for the home owner to become a renter or otherwise continue to reside in the residence.

A MORTGAGE CONSULTANT systematically contacts owners of RESIDENCES in default to offer FORECLOSURE CONSULTING SERVICES. 

THERE'S MORE.  At a later date, I may expand on the risks to real estate brokers and agents.  There's a lot more risk involved for real estate agents who attempt to expand their businesses by offering services other than real estate brokerage, meaning * * * * LISTING AND SELLING REAL ESTATE.

THE WINDS OF CHANGE ARE COMING YOUR WAY.  The above applies specifically to the State of Maryland.  However, all states Attorneys General, Real Estate Commissions and legislatures are looking at these matters and either promulgating new laws to protect consumers or discussing actions.  HUD has a study ongoing which, if what I'm hearing is correct, will be far more DRACONIAN than the laws now on the books in Maryland. 

DON'T RISK YOUR REAL ESTATE LICENSE FOR A FEW $$$$.   It behooves all real estate brokers and agents to be cognizant of their words and deeds in connection with home owners in distress in connection with the mortgage mess which has now expanded into a serious economic recession and a housing depression. 

"Let's all be careful out there."

 

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988. 

Dear Charleston, SC Realtors,

If your client wants to purchase a condo you need to first find out what type of financing they have an approval for. If they are not yet approved encourage them to get approved quickly.

If they are approved for FHA, VA or FHA/SC State Housing then there are only 18 FHA approved condos in Charleston (you can check other Cities by searching here https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condo1.cfm )

 

Name/Alias	Condo ID	Manufactured Housing	City	State	Zip Code	Status	Field Office
ASHLEY TOWNE VILLAGE ASHLEY TOWNE VILLAGE	C19900005	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294140000	Approved	Columbia, SC
COLONY AT HERON RESERVE SEE REMARKS FOR CONDITIONS	08461C004	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294140000	Approved	Columbia, SC
DOVEFIELD CONDOMINIUM SEE REMARKS FOR CONDITIONS	C19900024	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294140000	Approved	Columbia, SC
ISLAND BLUFF TOWNHOUSES ISLAND BLUFF TOWNHOUSES	C19900049	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294120000	Approved	Columbia, SC
ISLAND CLUB TWO @ PENINSULA SEE REMARKS FOR APPRVE PHASES	05461C001	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294920000	Approved	Columbia, SC
LAKES OF NORTHWOOD ESTATES LAKES OF NORTHWOOD ESTATES	09461C001	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294060000	Approved	Columbia, SC
LORD ANSON ARMS LORD ANSON ARMS	C19900053	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294070000	Approved	Columbia, SC
MEPKIN PLACE SEE REMARKS FOR CONDITIONS	08461C005	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294070000	Approved	Columbia, SC
OTRANTO CLUB VILLAS III OTRANTO CLUB VILLAS III	C199000581-3	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294060000	Approved	Columbia, SC
PERRYCLEAR POINTE PERRYCLEAR POINTE	C19900062	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294070000	Approved	Columbia, SC
RICEFIELD VILLAS RICEFIELD VILLAS	C19900064	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294070000	Approved	Columbia, SC
RIVER`S BEND RIVER`S BEND	C19900068	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294120000	Approved	Columbia, SC
SEAGATE SEAGATE	C19900072	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294140000	Approved	Columbia, SC
SHAFTSBURY SHAFTSBURY	C19900073	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294120000	Approved	Columbia, SC
THE REGATTA ON JAMES ISLAND SEE REMARKS FOR CONDITION	08461C009	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294120000	Approved	Columbia, SC
THE RETREAT AT RIVERLAND WOODS THE RETREAT AT RIVERLAND WOODS	03461C001	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294120000	Approved	Columbia, SC
WATERWAY SOUTH, PH I,II,IV-A-V WATERWAY SOUTH, PH I,II,IV-A-V	C19900102	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294070000	Approved	Columbia, SC
WILLOW OAKS HORIZONTAL *** WILLOW OAKS HORIZONTAL ***	07461C001	No	CHARLESTON	SC	294140000	Approved	Columbia, SC

If they are approved for a Conventional Loan then they may be required to put down 10% depending on their credit scores and debt-to-income ratios. 99% of MI companies are no longer insuring condos for more that 90% LTV (which means 10% down is required).

AND the condominium complex/project must have 75% owner occupancy. The home owners association might have this information readily available... most likely they do not. Occupancy changes on a regular basis so the lender will send them a Form 25 which the HOA will complete. If owner occupancy is at 75% or higher you should be OK. The Form 25 also asks about pending litigation...if there is any pending litigation...then the project will not be approved with traditional Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae financing.   

Under some circumstances the owner occupancy rate can be lower depending on credit scores of the buyer and the amount of down payment.  Each situation is different based on characteristics of the buyer, the project and the investor.

At Your Service,

Melissa "The Mortgage Maven" Breeland

Residential Mortgage of SC

902 Savannah Hwy

Charleston, SC 29407

Best Phone: (843) 991-6532

Fax: (843) 725-2363

One of my favorite colleagues had one of those workday incidents that would have scared the crap out of any of us.

On Friday, she arrived at a listing a few minutes before a pre-settlement ritual: the walk-through.  Her sellers had a two-week post settlement occupancy agreement, so the house was not yet emptied out.  She started to turn on some lights on the first floor and ran into a man carrying a television set coming up the basement stairs.  And the conversation went something like:

Her: Hi, I'm the real estate agent.  Who are you?

Him:  I'm the burglar! 

Her:  Well, I'd suggest that you put that thing down and leave right now.

Him:  If I did that I might have to hurt you!

Her:  Well, that's not a good plan because in less than a minute, a colleague in much better shape than you are is going to be coming through the door!  And there will be even more people with him.

With that, Mr. Burglar put down the TV set, scurried to the back door, picked up a pillowcase with stuff in it and he left.  And, a few seconds later, the buyers showed up.  And about a minute after that, the police responded to her 911 call.

What was her first thought!  When I talked to her yesterday, she said she wasn't at all afraid while the confrontation was taking place.  She knew she wouldn't be hurt.  She was afraid that the buyers might be freaked out (they sort of were) and it could somehow interfere with settlement.  They did decide to put it off until Monday, but they were impressed that the DC police showed up so quickly.

But, she said, all she could think about was what a fabulous blog post this would make!  Since she doesn't blog (I've been trying to get her into it) she called me!  And I have to say that as she told me the details, she wasn't coming from a place of fear, or what a dangerous profession this is. 

Still, I had to wonder what I would have done if I'd walked in on a burglar in a listing.  Would I have had her bravado?  Would I have confronted the guy?  Would I have started some very quick preparations to meet my Maker?

As a little girl, I grew up in Tornado Alley in a house with no basement.  I really worried about sharing the fate of little Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.  And my father would comfort me by talking about the odds. 

Yeah, bad things can happen.  Yeah, you have to use common sense.  But you can't let the fear of something that probably won't happen run your life.

My dad was, however, a compulsive maniac about using his seat belt when he drove.  That's because the odds of being killed or injured in an automobile accident were far greater than those of being sucked into a funnel cloud or hit over the head by a burglar. 

So drive - and work - safely!

Effectively Posting Your Listings to Your Blog.

Posting your listings to your blog is something that any agent loves to do.  It provides exposure for the listing which makes the seller happy & also gives your blog an additional posting of content.  However over the past few months of being on staff I have encountered this question more times than I can count. "How do I post my listings on my blog?" Because of this I have written this post that will walk you through what you should & shouldn't be doing when posting your listings on your blog.

What Not to Do When Writing About Your Listing

Before I share how to effectively post your listings to your blog, I want to start with a few things not to do.  The biggest No No is to just copy & paste directly from your MLS.  Copying & pasting can cause coding issues to your blog where giant paragraphs of funny text shows up. Also, this a violation of our Community Guidelines.   The second way many post their listings is through using some sort of outside service where you input your listing information & are provided with a piece of html code that creates a pretty flyer like the one to the right.

While there are plenty of wonderful services available to place your listings on your blog, (postlets, vflyer, realbird, etc) they are not always the best way.  Before I go any further, let me make this statement:  There is nothing wrong with using those services!  They are a great for posting your listings to many social media platforms like craigslist, twitter, & facebook.  But in order to make your listings more attractive to consumers & also search engines, using those sites hold you back on your blog & here is why.

• Lack of content: Many times those services have a limit on the number of characters you can use in the description.  They also do not allow you include links in the flyer.  Since you can't link you are missing valuable opportunities for link juice.
  
• Lack of Creativity.  While they create really pretty looking flyers that can be visually appealing, they hinder you from using any type of creativity in the layout or added features to your listing because of the set template.  The ability to add extras to the flyers in out of the question.
• Layout Issues.  Have you ever placed one of these flyers on your blog & the entire layout of your blog goes haywire?  You know what I mean, your profile picture is at the bottom of the page, your post title runs over a picture, and text is going everywhere?  Well this is caused by the html coding you inserted having the incorrect dimensions.  Most everything you post on ActiveRain needs to remain under 550 pixels wide to keep from encountering this issue.  Unfortunately these flyers are normally set for wider dimensions that the maximum allowed on ActiveRain.
  

Tips to Writing an Effective Listing Post.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, the best way to write bout a listing is to write an original blog post about the home.  This way you are giving unique content about the property.  You are the creator & can make it look & feel however you want.  Here are 4 simple tips to increase the appeal of your listings for both consumers & also search engines:

1. Include Community Info.  Before you take the time to write about your listing, I would suggest taking time to write about some of the other local things in the community.  Write about local attractions, amenities in the neighborhood, restaurants, & anything else about the neighborhood.  By writing these hyper local posts before writing about your listing you will then be able to incorporate these things into your listing post.  This provides great ways to link posts together & build some major google juice.
2. Post plenty of Photographs.   Pictures help showcase your listing.  Adding these to the post bring things to life.  Remember the importance of labeling your photos when placing them into your post.
3. Don't be afraid of giving too much information! Many times agents fear that if they give you all the details of the listing that consumers will not contact them. Posts that include more content than the average listing posts will be the blogs that consumers come back to again & again.  Because of new technologies, consumers can find just about anything they want to know about a property online.  So if you do not give them the information they are needing, they will move onto someone else.
4. Try adding a slideshow or video for an extra wow factor.  Slideshows & videos give just an added dimension to the post.  It allows the consumer to take a break from reading & just watch.  Be careful though to not make the video too long or you can lost their interest.  I would suggest keeping both around 2-3 minutes max.
   
5. Title the post correctly.  One of the biggest problems I see when looking at a post that is for a listing is that the title is done all wrong.  It is so important to Address your listings properly for search engines.  If you just title the post "Reduced 3BR 2BA home to $389,000" you are definitely not helping the search engines to understand what your post is about. 
   

Add these 5 simple tips when writing your next post about a new listing & watch the difference in results.  Consumers will spend more time reading & learning as well as google will like it more.

When Bob Stewart ran the neighborhood challenge last week I discovered a lot of Active Rain members did not know about the challenge or found out about it on the last days of the challenge.

Bob is running a the Local Business challenge for the next 12 days.

Write a post about a local business in your area and receive 1000 points. Add the URL to your post on Bob's challenge post by clicking here. You can get up to 7,000 points for participating with one post every other day for 2 weeks. The challenge started on Thursday and I tried to get this post up by yesterday but stuff happens like closings:)

Since this challenge will really help you with your networking for word of mouth referrals I thought I could give you some pointers since this is one of my favorite type of posts to write.

Why write about local businesses in your area?

• To get referrals!

• To show the biz owner that you get their biz on page of Google= appreciation.

• To get to know people within your community.

• To pay it forward in a positive way.

• What goes around comes around- you will be blessed.

• Become the GoTo person in your town online.

• Showcase your favorite biz owners and they will think of you when someone brings up real estate.

• Givers gain.

We have our favorite little Cuban Restaurant, a mom and pop place that we frequent, Casa Santiago. We took some great photos, interviewed the owner which was a lot of fun and then put together a featured post. He is not into the internet and does not go online so we brought him back a CD. We also gave him the link to give to his daughter who then went on line to show him what we did for him. He was very thankful.

The immediate benefit was dinner was on the house. The long term benefit is that he loves us and whenever we go to his Cuban Cafe he treats us extra special, has a place where he puts our brochures and cards and tells his customers about us.

Here is the link to the Cuban Case Santiago post so you can study it and follow what I did to write your posts for your local restaurants. You will see why it was Localism featured. Study the layout of this post.

We are avid homeschoolers so I get the chance to highlight many local businesses that support and have programs for homeschoolers. The Gold Coast Christian Camp is one of those businesses that has generated a lot of activity from my post about them and their programs for private schools and homeschoolers. You can click here to read one of the posts I wrote about Gold Coast Christian Camp.

Here are some tips on how to write a Localism Business Post:

• Be yourself and add your personality to the post. I just had a buyer call us because she found our homes for sale post about a neighborhood that I did for the challenge and she said she liked me already before she met me. She said she felt like she knew me already. Our buyers agent is selling her a house already.

• Take interesting and lively photos. Look at the colors in this photo. Don't take the boring snapshot that any newspaper would take. Give it some personality.

• Take photos of the owners of the business with you. You can also use these later on for press releases. This is a huge opportunity that gets overlooked by most marketers. The owners most often LOVE to have photos taken of them in their businesses.

• Tell a story. "Facts tell, stories sell." Don't just state boring facts about a place, consumers can find that stuff on citydata and other sites. Tell a story- your story, the owners story, any story. That engages the reader and plants the information in their memories. 

• Tell me more... I love interesting people and history. So I ask a lot of questions when I am interviewing. Well, I ask a lot of questions all the time:) Nevertheless, this is a great way to connect and find some gems that they ordinarily might not recall to give you.
  

Have fun with the challenge, meet some business owners in your community and add some value to their businesses.

 

        

 

Active Rain Local Business Challenge- Get On Board!   by Coach Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

 

By TwitterButtons.com

 

 

5 Tools and Resources for Tracking and Monitoring Your Blog or sites Traffic and Statistics

Now that you are getting more traffic and results from your Blog posts, it's helpful and very informative to see where that traffic is coming from and what articles are getting you a variety of results.  I've put together this list of some tracking tools that are available on the web that will help you monitor your statistics and traffic results.  Hopefully these tools and resources will allow you to see what areas, topics, and Blog posts you can improve on based on the results of the information you can capture. 

Your "RainMaking" Stats

#1 - ActiveRain Statistics - Your Basic ActiveRain Traffic stats for Comments, Views & Clicks.  This is located on your ActiveRain "My Home" page and can be found in the lower left hand sidebar.  You can just click on "Statistics" to get your Blogs results.

The Global Overview

#2 - ClusterMaps - See where your traffic and visitors are coming from geographically.  Their Widget allows you to share with others on your site or Blog.  The interesting thing about ClusterMaps is that you'll see how many thousands of people are reading your stuff from all over the world. Sharing this information with others somehow seems to generate even more traffic and more visitors from other locations.

A FREE Parking Meter

#3 - SiteMeter - This one offers various reports and information regarding traffic and visitors to your Blog or website.  With their detailed reporting methods and tools, you'll have a clearer picture of who is visiting your site, how they found you, where they came from, and what interests them plus a ton more.  This was the first tracker I ever installed on my ActiveRain Blog.

An Active Measure of Results

#4 - ActiveMeter - Similar to Sitemeter, it works well on the ActiveRain network and offers some tools the others don't.  It is coincidentally called ActiveMeter but is NOT a product of ActiveRain.  Most web site analytics measure the number of web visits, unique visitors, pages viewed and returning visitors.  So does ActiveMeter, but with one difference; they do it in a "web visitor-centric manner", which means in many cases, you'll know who visited, and exactly where from. 

The Best Part of a "Click"

#5 - Get Clicky - A great tracker and real-time stat recorder for any Blog or website. The Free version is limited but works well.  Get Clicky gives real-time statistics to fine tune your Blog posts, sites and marketing campaigns to help you gain optimal performance.  This tracker tells you what is happening on your site right now.  It may be one of the easiest and fastest ways to keep a pulse on your Blog or websites activity.

                  

                  

Note: Google Analytics is another great tool but currently only works on ActiveRain Outside Blogs.

All of these tools are FREE and available on the web.  It's a matter of preference as to which ones (or all) will work best for you.  I have tried each of them and currently run all 5 on my ActiveRain Blog.  Each one offers different information, stats, and reports that I have found useful at one time or another.  The key is knowing how to use them to better your Blog.

The better your Blog and posts, the better your traffic and results will be.  These reports and analytics help you see your Blog posts and sites differently, more from a visitor or readers perspective.  Knowing what works and what may be falling short will help you to make quicker and more decisive decisions about changes, and the necessary improvements needed to your Blog posts.  They've helped me.

How do you install these trackers and widgets on your Blog?  Just Follow these instructions.

The "Building Better Blogs" Series

How To Create A Blog Post for Customers and Search Engines

Create Stickiness, Increase Traffic, Get Visitors Coming Back

How To Find Popular Search Terms, Keywords, Topics and Phrases

Google's SEO Starter Guide - Tips to Know about SEO