• Go through your sphere of influence (list of contacts) and reach out to everyone who qualifies as a first time buyer and encourage them to contact you.  Consider sending a few of your favorite listings from different areas of your island, as well as in different price ranges to give them an idea of what’s out there.
• Closed in the past five to eight years with clients who qualify for the $6,500 credit?  Now is a perfect time to get back in touch, offer to answer any questions they may have about how to go about taking advantage of this credit.  Your continued assistance will go a long way, most of all to keep you top of mind as THE go-to agent when they are ready to buy or sell in the future.
• Educate your clients.  Send them to AlohaLiving.com where we have posted the following information for buyers to reference.

Happy selling!

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First-Time Buyers Have Until April 2010 for $8,000 Tax Credit

If you can afford to purchase a home, it’s always the right time to buy — regardless of the market. Now, however, home buyers actually have extra reason to consider home ownership: lower prices, anxious sellers, reasonable interest rates and best of all, the wildly successful $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers has recently been extended, and the program has been expanded to include existing homeowners. In addition, income limits and credit opportunities have been increased.

With the $8,000 tax credit for new buyers, and up to $6,500 available for current homeowners who have lived in their primary residence for at least five of the past eight years, there is something for everyone. But act now — these amazing opportunities are only good until April 30, 2010.

Homebuyer Tax Credits in Review

The tax credit creates a near-perfect opportunity for first-time home buyers and existing first home owners. Who qualifies? How does it work? Here are a few frequently asked questions and helpful sites with more information from the National Association of Home Builders:

* A “first time home buyer” is any person who has not owned a principal residence in the past 3 years prior to the purchase.
* To qualify the sale of the home must be purchased by April 30th, 2010 and must close by June 30th, 2010.
* In Hawaii, it will typically take 60 days to close a sale, if all goes right. Make sure to give yourself a good buffer, just in case things come up to push it back.
* The tax credit can be applied to your 2008 or 2009 tax returns.
* Any type of home qualifies for this program, even newly built ones!

The newly passed legislation (in effect Dec. 1, 2009) brings with it a few additional items of note:

* If you are a qualified first time home buyer who is currently in the process of purchasing, you do not need to worry about the previous Nov. 30th deadline.
* Buyers will have to purchase their home by April 30th, 2010, but will have an additional two months following that (until June 30th, 2010) to close.
* Existing homeowners who have lived in their primary residence for at least five of the prior eight years and whose homes are worth $800,000 or less are now eligible for up to a $6,500 credit.
* The income limit for qualifying buyers has also been increased. Limits for a single purchaser have gone from $75,000 to $125,000 and for couples, from $125,000 to $225,000. Don’t fit into these two groups? Credits are also available on a diminishing basis for those above these particular income limits.

For more in-depth information about the first-time buyer credits available, visit this NAHB sponsored site.

To begin your property search and/or find a real estate professional who can help determine what price range you qualify for CLICK HERE.

Appealing Short Sale Commissions

In February, Fannie Mae instructed its servicers (PDF) to honor the agent negotiated commission on a short sale, unless the commission exceeds 6%. This instruction is applicable to properties where Fannie Mae is the investor.

Important note: Servicers must continue to obtain any third-party approvals (i.e., private mortgage insurers) and those approvals may impact commissions.

If you are working on a short sale and believe a servicer is negotiating your commission outside the bounds of this Announcement, there is a new process for appealing the servicer’s decision.

1. Confirm that the loan is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae. With written permission from the homeowner (or in their presence), use the Fannie Mae Loan Lookup tool at www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup. Alternatively, the homeowner can call Fannie Mae’s Resource Center at 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 9pm Eastern Time).
2. If the loan is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, provide a copy of Announcement 09-03 (PDF) to the servicer and negotiate an appropriate commission based on the listing agreement (up to 6%).
3. If the dispute is not resolved, contact Fannie Mae at 1-800-7FANNIE. Be prepared to provide the property address, name of owner, and Fannie Mae loan number (if available).

Looking for new Fannie Mae REO in your area?

HomePath.com just launched an updated property alert system that notifies you of new listings in your choice of zip codes. Just click here or go to www.homepath.com and click “HomePath Property Alert” under Related Links at the bottom of the page.

Update courtesy HomePath Real Estate e-news. Subscribe here. 

Even though mortgage companies and banks have narrowed the field when it comes to approving loans, they are still lending to those who can meet their criteria – and I know you have clients who are perfect candidates.  So break out your client list, find those qualified first time home buyers and savvy investors, and let’s get crackin’.

The order of the day? Narrow your sphere to a specific list of people who are perfect home buying candidates right now. Target them via personal e-mails, e-blasts, phone calls and mailers spelling out why you think they are ready to buy NOW.

Here are a few good reasons to start with: home prices continue to drop, mortgage rates are also on their way down, and there are many sellers out there who are desperate and willing to negotiate to get the deal done.

And here are a few things you should include in your communication with them:

• Remind first time homebuyers and investors that they are in a unique situation in that they don’t have to sell something in order to buy – putting the market on their side.
• Provide first time home buyers a rent vs. buy chart to demonstrate the benefit of buying over renting for the next few years.
• Tell them WHY you think they are ready to make this move, despite the current conditions.
• Use REsearch to find and send them examples of homes that you feel can demonstrate that what they are looking for IS out there. It helps when people can visualize what you are suggesting when there is an actual home and price in front of them.

A wise person once told me that it is ALWAYS the right time to buy, regardless of the market or economy, if you are in the position to do so and you find the right opportunity.  Encourage your clients in this position to take advantage of what may be a chance of a lifetime.

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission issued its final rule on the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005.  The requirement to have had an Established Business Relationship (EBR) with the recipient still stands, but the clarification issued in October also covered fax numbers obtained on the web, from an advertisement, or in a business directory.

Key to the latest update is determining whether the recipient”voluntarily agreed” to make its fax number available. Generally, senders are in the clear if the fax number is published on the recipient’s official website, placed in an ad or other publication from the recipient, or included in a directory or database in which the recipient appears to have requested or authorize the listing.

The Junk Fax Prevention Act also requires that all facsimile advertisements include an opt-out notice that instructs recipients on howto notify senders that they do not wish to receive future facsimile advertisements.  You can invite recipients to opt out via a website, provided the mechanism is plainly visible on the main page.

For all the details (including petitions made by the Direct Marketing Association and other groups),  consult the full report in the Federal Register (PDF).

The Hawaii State Rental Report is a MUST HAVE subscription for any property manager, landlord, vacation rental owner, or vacation rental manager in the state of Hawaii. The Rental Report is broken down into two areas: Visitor Rentals and Residential Rentals. 

The report is updated and will be sent to you quarterly, so that you always have the most accurate and up to date information at your fingertips, helping you stay on top of an ever changing market! 

FOUR REPORTS WILL BE SENT TO YOU EACH YEAR! 
Take a look at what you’ll get delivered to you each quarter! And be sure to check out the SAMPLE DATA! 

Your Quarterly Report Will Include: 
OVER 80 PAGES of Up To Date Rental Information!

Visitor Rental Rates

• By Island
• By Zone
• By Number of Bedrooms
• Nightly Rates
• Weekly Rates
• Monthly Rates

Residential Rental Rates

• By Island
• By Zone
• By Subdivision
• By Project
• By Number of Bedrooms
• By Property Type (House or Apartment)
• Monthly Rates
• Quick Look Statistical Charts 
• Click here to view a DEMO Rental Vacation Report
• Click here to view a DEMO Rental Residential Report
   

The Rental Report is available as a digital download, and once your payment has been processed, you will have immediate access to download the PDF files that contain our comprehensive rental data. You will be sent a notification once a quarter letting you know that the latest version is available for download, and a link to where to go to get the latest report. 

The Rental Report is sold on an annual basis. When it is time for you to purchase the 2008 version of the rental report, you will be notified. 

The Rental Report is to be used by one individual, and is subject to our copyright terms and conditions. The Rental Report may not be copied, distributed, or shared with users other than the purchaser of the report. Thank you for your cooperation.

Local Jacksonville, FL Agent Hits the Streets to Drum Up New Business
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXbZDbCze8 (YouTube Video, Under 60 seconds)

Do You Twitter? If so, you can now prospect to other local Twitter users in your market area using TwitterLocal.net. Don’t even know what Twitter is? Read this article. It will get you started.

Creating a Killer Listing Presentation – Web 2.0 Style

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Blog Post by
Beth Berry
Director of Sales and Marketing
Hawaii Information Service
AlohaLiving.com
Beth@AlohaLiving.com

Interesting article from The Associated Press on why Real Estate TV is hot, even when the market is not. It all seems to center around how to increase a home’s value. Send a link to your sellers and prospects today, and maybe tonight when they’re channel surfing on cable, they’ll remember why they hired you to guide them through the transaction process. Enjoy!

HGTV had its highest prime-time ratings ever in January. Nine of its top 10 series deal with the housing market, including “House Hunters,” “My First Place,” “Hidden Potential,” “Buy Me” and “Design to Sell.” The network did a special Feb. 29 theme day of “taking the big leap,” or investing in that first house.

“What’s driving interest right now is that people are worried about it — `what’s the value of my home? How can I increase interest in my home?’” said Jim Samples, HGTV president. “And then there’s the `life goes on’ factor. People are still changing jobs, families are still getting bigger. If anything, they tend to nest in this environment.”

Read the Full Article Here
Copy & Past this Link into your E-mail: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iioXuTQw4TjzUXmrsEPvolyeV6iwD8VAB64O1

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Blog post by Beth Berry
Director of Sales and Marketing
Hawaii Information Service
Aloha Living Network
beth@alohaliving.com

Mortgage Rates Lowest Since 2005- Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped for a third straight week to the lowest level since the summer of 2005 as worries intensified about the current economic slowdown.

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.69 percent this week.

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Not your average housing bubble-Normally when analysts and economists talk about housing bubbles, they’re talking about price points: steep increases followed by steep declines.

A recent article published by the Journal of American Planning Association (hat tip to WSJ’s Development Blog) examines what it calls a “generational housing bubble” that the authors say could wreak havoc on the housing stock when baby boomers shift out of home buying mode and mainly into home selling mode.

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Anatomy of a Panic-The global financial markets have just begun to recover from a financial panic that has driven some 43 stock markets around the world down over 20 percent a piece from their most recent all-time highs. In the parlance of the financial world, that means that there are 43 “bear markets” in stocks occurring simultaneously around the planet, including a bear market that’s mauling Wall Street.

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Blog Update by Beth Berry
Director of Sales, Marketing, and Communications
beth@alohaliving.com