If my daughter wants to watch Movie A, my stepson always will want to watch Movie B.

If my stepson wants Chick-Fil-A for dinner, my daughter always will want to go to McDonald’s.

If my daughter were to say it’s raining, my stepson would say flaming ash is falling from the sky.

If my stepson were to say the sky is blue, my daughter would say it’s a shade of green.

If you write a prominent real estate blog but act like my daughter and my stepson, it might be worth taking a step back … call it a virtual time out.

Thus end’s tonight’s real estate detante session.

Technorati Tags: real estate blogging

Popularity: 5% [?]

Share This

Tags: Real Estate Blogging by Jonathan Dalton
5 Comments »

Earlier this month I wrote about a presentation Dr. Jay Butler made to the Arizona Real Estate Educators Association. Dr. Butler covered a wide variety of topics but spent a bit of time discussing the real estate markets in Maricopa, Queen Creek and the rest of Pinal County.

Apparently, an intrepid reporter at the Casa Grande Dispatch took notice of my article via a Google alert for Maricopa real estate. She took my post, sent it to Dr. Butler in whole for verification and then “expanded the story from there,” as she told me today.

What she didn’t do, however, was attribute my original post. I was at the meeting. She was not. And verifying the information with Dr. Butler doesn’t make him the primary source for the article. The source still was my post.

I was mentioned in the article (and thanks to John Wake for the link), but only in as much as my comments being mischaracterized to say Dr. Butler was a cheerleader for the real estate industry. That isn’t what I actually wrote. Such views usually are the purview of the real estate bubbleheads, subject to whether he agrees with their views on any given day.

Though I’m a little miffed at the liberally borrowed content (three paragraphs were re-used nearly verbatim), I find the genesis of the story to be more interesting, especially for those who still hold the ink-splashed grey ladies of print to be the paragon of journalism in America.

The reporter didn’t cover a speech. The reporter covered a blog post about a speech that I, a simple real estate agent in the Phoenix area, covered myself. If news happens and no one is around to report it, is it still news? Historically, no.

Thanks to the blogs, it’s increasingly likely someone will be there to write the report.

Technorati Tags: real estate reporting, real estate marketing, Phoenix real estate

Popularity: 10% [?]

Share This

Tags: Phoenix Market, Marketing, Technology by Jonathan Dalton
9 Comments »

The Federal Reserve cut both the discount rate and federal funds rate a full .5% yesterday. This surprised us because we thought Ben Bernanke would be more judicious in his approach to easing money.

I guess you can’t please everybody. Pundits pleaded with Gentle Ben to aggressively cut to avoid a recession. Ben gave them what they wanted and now they think he overreached. Today, in a 180 degree turn, the markets are concerned about the prospect of inflation. Treasury yields rose over .5% this morning while mortgage bonds seem to be flat. It won’t be long before the effect of this cut is seen in higher mortgage rates. This conundrum is what we’ve been concerned about so we are maintaining our recommendation to lock-in all loans at application.

Are you confused? How can the Fed cut rates and mortgage rates rise? Markets are discounting mechanisms, continually taking into account the possibility of future events. Bond traders have turned into riverboat gamblers, constantly trying to outguess the Fed. We believe that the risk of higher rates outweighs the reward of waiting to see if you can get JUST A LITTLE lower rate.

In more positive news, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy more loans. This may pave the way for higher lending limits next year. We think that the conforming loan limits may be increased to a level that is closer to the $500,000 mark for 2008. This would be a welcome move in states like California and New York where jumbo loans are the rule rather than the exception.

Rates for Wednesday, September 17, 2007:

Program Rate APR

Annual ARM 5.625% 5.693%

3/1 ARM  6.000% 6.070%

5/1 ARM  6.125% 6.217%

30 Year Fixed 6.125% 6.217%

Rates subject to qualification and market conditions. Equal Opportunity Lender.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Share This

Tags: Real Estate Financing by Brian Brady
No Comments »