The Good

Here are a few of the reasons why now is a better time to buy a home than it has been at any point in the past few years:

Tax Credits

In the stimulus plan signed by President Obama, there is a first-time home buyer tax credit of $8,000, provided that you stay in the home for 36 months. This isn’t a tax deduction like your mortgage interest, which reduces your taxable income – a tax credit actually reduces your total income taxes owed. In addition, some states, such as California, are offering tax credits for home buyers that will further reduce your tax liability. Keep in mind that the federal program ends on December 1st of this year, and while it could easily end up being extended, it isn’t a given.

Rates last week dipped to an all-time low when the Fed announced that it would continue buying additional mortgage backed securities. Even though they ticked back up slightly in the past few days, with full income documentation and good credit, you can easily get down to 4.5% on a conventional 30 year fixed if you have 20% down, and if you want to get into an FHA loan, you can more typically get around 5.0% with a down payment of only 3.5%. Be careful when shopping for rates online, and think twice before giving out personal information. It is far better to ask friends and family for a strong personal recommendation, and use the information that you see on sites such as bankrate.com to approximate where your rate should be. Keep in mind that everyone’s scenario is different and there are a lot of new rate adjustments for conventional loans that didn’t exist in prior years, so you can easily end up paying 1 point (or percentage of the loan amount) for a loan that might cost your friend zero points for the same rate on the same day with the same lender.

Because You Don’t Absolutely Need to Buy

The best time to shop for a home is when you don’t need to. You can be as aggressive as you want to on your offer, and time is on your side because prices aren’t going to go back up overnight. If you are patient, you can find a home that you love, and just make sure that you can comfortably afford it and have a long-term plan to keep the property.

The Bad

These are factors that should not be driving your motivation to purchase a home right now:

Timing the Market Bottom

The same advice that applies to the stock market applies to the housing market. Don’t try to time it. If you have played around with the stock market in the past year and tried to catch a falling knife in the hopes of maximizing your return, you can probably look at the scars on your financial statements and let it serve as a reminder not to time the bottom. The turnaround in prices is gradual, and you are not going to miss out on an instant, overnight spike in real estate prices, no matter how fast the bank-owned properties are selling locally.

The Illusion of the Discount

Perhaps a new development popped up three years ago and was so shiny and perfect that you would have taken a third job to afford it. Now, the model that you love has popped up for $400,000 and all of the recent sales were at $450,000. In a stable market, that is great, but if you live in a declining market, you have now become the new comparable sale that any listings in the development in the near future will be measured against. So, if you buy this place for $400,000, and your new neighbor decides to move, they now will likely be advised by their real estate agent to price their property at or below your price in order to sell quickly. The same holds true for purchasing bank-owned properties. Bank-owned sales may be somewhat less frequent and given slightly less weight in determining the next sales prices in your neighborhood. However, if you buy in a neighborhood with a relatively high level of short sales and foreclosures, that great deal you just got on the bank-owned property just set the bar lower for the whole neighborhood.

The Ugly

If you don’t know what you are doing or have enough of a cash reserve to justify the risk, this real estate market can eat you alive, especially if you are short-sighted.

Fix It and Flip It

Unless you are lightning fast, experienced at managing renovation projects and holding plenty of cash that you are comfortable risking, that late night real estate fix-and-flip infomercial that was recorded in 2003 should not be considered your ticket to financial freedom. Of course there are gurus who have been waiting for this opportunity, and you are driving around listening to Robert Kiyosaki on iTunes with your Bluetooth intact looking for the bargain of the century. Just do your research, and don’t think that any particular property is the last opportunity you will ever have to get a great deal.

Until you see your local median price leveled off or even slightly increasing for a few months consecutively, you are dependent on sweat equity, which in many cases is wiped out by a few homes in the neighborhood going into foreclosure and further reducing home prices. Again, this market has become hyperlocal, down to the subdivision. In Orange County for example, prices for stronger neighborhoods may be down only 10% in the last year while properties less than a mile away have been cut in half or more in extreme cases.

Are you really ready?

How much are you paying now for rent? You should look at a good principal and interest calculator or talk to your lender to get the whole picture, including monthly amounts for taxes, insurance, any applicable homeowners association dues, and any applicable mortgage insurance. This is important even if you plan on paying taxes and insurance on your own (rather than impounding them and making monthly payments to the lender) because you will want to make sure to budget monthly to set aside for these expenses. So, if you are paying $1,500 currently for rent, and the new home will be $2,500, put your budget to the test and see how well your finances run when you put the amount of the increased housing expense (in this case $1,000) into your savings account. Take it out right when you pay your rent, and don’t touch it. This is a great test of how much you can really comfortably afford, and of course has the nice side effect of padding your savings for a few months before you start shopping for a home.

Of course, if you have a long-term plan to be in the home, the fluctuations and potential decrease in value in the near term doesn’t need to get you down, as the only price that matters is the price you are able to sell for when you need or want to move.

Info from http://www.mint.com/

We don’t recommend you try to time the housing market but, if you’re in the market for a new home, it helps to pay attention to its cyclical nature. When times are hard, prices drop and the market becomes more attractive. When more people get in, prices naturally rise. While there are still deals to be had, this map shows that some of the regions that were hit hardest by the housing crisis in 2007 and 2008 have begun to bounce back in early 2009 with increased sales numbers. With sale prices of homes plummeting as much as 50% in some regions, more people have been jumping into the market with hopes of getting a great deal, especially with 30 year fixed rates falling below 5% for the first time in recent memory. The metropolitan areas that are highlighted are those with the highest percentage of change in median sales prices, for better or worse. The highest percentage increases in home sales are in areas where prices have dropped the most over the past year, which is an encouraging sign as bargain hunters see new opportunities. Further, the decrease in prices and attractive housing credits have finally made it possible for many first-time homebuyers to afford a home in the once red-hot areas like Orange County, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. While there are only six states that have experienced increases in sales volume in the past year, most of those positive changes have been drastic. Arizona has seen a 50% jump, California over 80% and Nevada an impressive 117% increase from 2008. Depending on where you live, the housing market may be in either a boom or bust cycle. Let us know in the comments how real estate is looking in your hometown, whether it is on the map or not.

1. Little or No Appreciation as Market Bottoms

In parts of the country hardest hit by 2007 – 2008 foreclosures such as California, Michigan and Florida, prices will continue to soften. In scattered markets, the bottom will already have been reached by April but media won’t report it until late summer, after a trend has been established.

There will be no more dramatic price drops such as those 30% to 50% declines we saw between 2006 and 2008. But the market will not stabilize in 2009. Furthermore, consumer confidence will continue to fall, and more people will find themselves out of work.

On the bright side, employed home buyers with good credit will find 2009 is an excellent time to buy.

2. Housing Inventory Will Fall

Sellers will withhold listings from the market or cancel listings that don’t sell within 90 days. Although persistent demand will come from first-time home buyers and investors, inventory will fall. Falling inventory will not drive up the prices.

The number of homes for sale in states such as California will decrease by 45% or more from the same months in 2007. New home starts will fall by the wayside, and the construction industry will see at least another 10% in layoffs.

Although fewer homes will be available for sale, those sellers will be motivated to sell.

3. Bank Will Rent Out REOs

In an effort to drive up housing prices, banks will slowly release their REO inventory to the market and price those homes at 5% to 20% under comparable sales. Banks will be under great pressure to cut losses and increase revenue. Although state charters prohibit banks from renting out bank-owned homes, banks will find a way to work around this prohibition.

By transferring title from bank-owned homes into holding companies, banks may find a loophole that will allow them to rent out homes instead of putting them on the market. This maneuver will let banks receive income while waiting for the market to turnaround.

To rent the homes, banks will be forced to fix them up.

4. Buyers Will Compete in Multiple-Offer Situations

Due to limited inventory, coupled with pseudo pricing on short sales and foreclosures, more buyers will find themselves competing over the attractive listings. It will not be unusual for sellers to receive 20 or more offers on these listings.

Multiple offers may drive up the prices to market value but buyers will refuse to pay over market value. The stiff competition will cause frustration and confusion among buyers who will find themselves going head-to-head with investors. Cash buyers will win every time over buyers who need financing.

This means it will be more important than ever for home buyers to hire an excellent negotiator.

5. Rental Rates Will Increase as Demand Increases

Surging numbers of home owners will lose their homes in 2009, which will turn former home owners into tenants. Some home owners will walk away from their residences, deciding that home ownership is not worth the aggravation, and return to living in rentals.

Because new construction will be at a standstill, existing inventory will serve as shelter. There will be fewer rental homes available than the demand will dictate, which will put upward pressure on rental rates. Sellers who are unwilling to take a hit on their sales prices will put their homes on the market as rentals, but that won’t provide enough inventory to fulfill demand.

It’s a good time to be landlord.

Why Do Sellers Go Into Foreclosure?

Sellers stop making payments for a host of reasons. Few choose to go into foreclosure voluntarily. It’s often an unpredictable result from one of the following:

• Laid-off, fired or quit job
• Inability to continue working due to medical conditions
• Excessive debt and mounting bill obligations
• Squabbles with co-owner, divorce
• Job transfer to another state

Negotiating Directly with Sellers in Foreclosure

Investors who specialize in buying foreclosures often prefer to purchase these homes before the foreclosure proceedings are final. Before approaching a seller in distress, consider:

1. Foreclosure proceedings vary from state to state. In states where mortgages are used, home owners can end up staying in the property for almost a year; whereas, in states where trust deeds are used, a seller has less than four months before the trustee’s sale.
2. Almost every state provides for some period of redemption. This means the seller has an irrevocable right during a certain length of time to cure the default, including paying all foreclosure costs, back interest and missed principal payments, to regain control of the property. For more information, consult a real estate lawyer.

1. Many states also require that buyers give to sellers certain disclosures regarding equity purchases. Failure to provide those notices and to prepare offers on the required paperwork can result in fines, lawsuits or even revocation of sale.
3. Determine whether you’re the type of person who can easily take advantage of a seller’s misfortune under these circumstances and / or put a family out on the street. Oh, critics will argue it’s just business and sellers deserve what they get, even if it’s five cents on the dollar. Others will feign compassion and trick themselves into believing they are "helping" the home owners avoid further embarrassment, but deep inside yourself, you know that’s not true.

Buying a Home at the Trustee’s Sale

Check with your local county office to find out how sales in your area are handled, but common threads among those I see in Sacramento are:

• No loan contingency
• Sealed bids
• Proof of financial qualifications
• Sizeable earnest money deposits
• Purchase property "as is"

Sometimes buyers are not allowed to inspect the house before making an offer. The problem with buying a house sight unseen is you can’t calculate how much it will cost to improve the structure or bring it up to habitable standards. Nor do you know if the occupant will retaliate and destroy the interior. On top of that, you may need to evict the tenant or owner from the premises after you receive title, and eviction processes can be costly.

Because you might want to think twice about making an offer on a pre-foreclosure, short sale home. It’s not as simple as you may believe, and very few can close in 30 days or less.

Many of my Sacramento home buyers have waited 4 to 6 months to close on a short sale, sometimes longer.

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale means the seller’s lender is accepting a discounted payoff to release an existing mortgage. Just because a property is listed with short sale terms does not mean the lender will accept your offer, even if the seller accepts it.

Be aware that the seller need not be in default — to have stopped making mortgage payments — before a lender will consider a short sale. A lender may consider a short sale if the seller is current but the value has fallen. The seller may have over-encumbered, owe more than the home is worth, so a discounted price might bring the price in line with market value, not below it.

Check the Public Records

Do your research before making an offer to purchase. Your agent can find out who is in title, whether a foreclosure notice has been filed and how much is owed to the lender(s). This is important because it will help you to determine how much to offer.

If there are two loans, you could have a problem. The first mortgage lender’s position is protected by the second lender, unless the second lender does not want to foreclose. If a seller owes $160,000 on the first and $40,000 on the second, offering $160,000 leaves nothing for the second. The first will need to give something to the second to gain its cooperation.

Hire an Agent with Short Sale Experience

It’s one strike against you if the listing agent has never handled a short sale, but it’s even worse if your own agent has no experience in that arena. You need an experienced short sale agent.

An agent with experience in short sales will help to expedite your transaction and protect your interests. You don’t want to miss any important detail due to inexperience or find out your transaction is not going to close on time because no one has followed up in a timely manner.

Prepare the Seller for Lender Demands

A lender is not going to agree to a short sale unless the seller has no equity and is unable to repay the difference between your sales price and the existing loans. Sellers need to provide a hardship letter to the lender. Sellers may also owe taxes on the amount of debt that is forgiven.

A seller I know once demanded that the buyer slip the seller $1,000 to be given the right to purchase the seller’s property. We said no. This is fraud. The lender legally pursued that seller. Do not be lured by sellers who suggest this practice. In a short sale, the seller receives no money because the lender is losing money.

Submit Documentation & Purchase Offer to Lender

Once the seller has accepted your offer, send it to the lender for approval. You do not have a deal until the lender accepts. Also, send the lender a copy of your earnest money deposit. Do not be astonished if the lender asks you to increase it.

In addition, the lender will want to see that you have your own loan available and you are preapproved. Send a preapproval letter to the lender. It will help if your agent sends a list of comparable sales that support the price you are offering to pay for the home.

Give the Lender a Deadline

Make your offer contingent upon the lender’s acceptance. Give the lender a time frame in which to respond, after which, you will be free to cancel. If the lender is under no pressure to make a decision, the paperwork will sit on an underling’s desk.

Some lenders submit short sales to committee, but most can make a decision within two to three weeks, providing you have submitted the offer to the individual in decision-making capacity. Get a name and phone number for the appropriate contact at the lender. Don’t send an offer blindly to a department.

Expect Commission Negotiations

Regardless of the commission the seller has agreed to pay, the lender is actually the entity paying the commission. The reason is the seller is not receiving any money with which to pay a commission. Since the lender is losing money, the lender will likely negotiate the commission directly with the listing broker, who will then share the commission with your agent.

If you have signed a buyer’s broker agreement with your agent, ask if the agent will waive the difference due or you might have to pay it out of your pocket. Some brokers feel it is unfair to penalize the agent, but the lender is calling the shots.

Reserve the Right to Conduct Inspections

Generally, the lender will not pay for customary items that a seller would pay. These include home protection plans for the buyer, buyer credits of any kind and pest / termite inspections. A buyer will be asked to purchase the property "as is," which means no repairs.

It is extremely important that a buyer obtain a home inspection and pay for other types of inspections such as pest, roof, sewers, septic tanks, chimney or fireplace inspections. Do not waive your right to obtain these inspections and make your offer contingent on approving them.

However, they are also similar because without knowledge about handling foreclosures, short sales and REOs, you could find yourself in dangerous territory. For example, while most short sales are foreclosures, not all foreclosures are short sales. To further complicate matters, REOs are not short sales either, but some intended short sales can end up as an REO.

What is a Foreclosure Property?

A foreclosure property is a home in foreclosure — when a notice of default has been filed in the public records. It means the owner has stopped making mortgage payments and the lender has given notice that unless the payments are brought up to date, it will sell the property to the highest bidder.

Lenders can foreclose for other reasons, but the most common reason lenders file a notice of default is when a borrower is at least two payments in arrears.

If the home owner does not bring the loan current, the lender will take the property away from the owner. The final step the lender takes after a certain period has passed is to try to auction the property at a public sale.

Not all homes that fall into foreclosure go to public sale because owners have the right to make up back payments up to a point, the time which varies from state to state.

Real estate investors and home buyers see profit in buying foreclosures because they can often buy the property for the amount owed, picking up the home owner’s equity for free.

How California law Affects Foreclosure / Short Sale Investors

States have varying laws governing foreclosures and some follow California law. To completely understand your rights as a foreclosure buyer, contact a local real estate lawyer. However, realize that for a long time in California, a real estate agent could not represent a foreclosure investor if all of the following four statements were true:

• The home qualifies as the seller’s personal residence.
• The property is a single family home or 2 to 4 units.
• A Notice of Default has been filed in the public records against the property.
• The investor buyer will not occupy the property.

However, if any of those four statements were false, an agent in California would be allowed to represent buyers, especially if the buyer was going to occupy the home. But to represent an investor, CA law requires that a real estate agent post a bond. No such bond is available in the state of California. Therefore, as a pre-foreclosure investor in California, many buyers were forced to act on their own.

A California court ruled in 2007 that the bond requirement was unenforceable. The California Association of Realtors then made available a special package of forms that agents can use to represent investors. Realize, as an investor, you are required to comply with the Home Equity Sales Act. Among other requirements, sellers who are in foreclosure have the right to rescind (cancel) a transaction within five days. Investors must give the seller notice of that right, including a copy of the form that will let sellers cancel.

Failure to comply with the Home Equity Sales Act carries severe penalties, including a provision that gives the seller the right to cancel the sale up to two years after the sale to the investor has closed and get the property back. You read that correctly. Two years.

As an investor, before you decide to buy a home in foreclosure by making up the back payments to the lender, giving the seller a few dollars and recording a deed, call a real estate lawyer.

What is a Short Sale Property?

A short sale occurs when a home owner is in foreclosure but before the property goes to public auction. Under a short sale, a lender must agree to accept less than the amount that is owed on the property.

Unlike a foreclosure, investors typically buy the home for even less because investors are not paying off the existing loan nor making up the back payments. Investors are striking a deal with the existing lender to take less than what the lender has coming to avoid dealing with a foreclosure.

It’s a myth that lenders are not going to make a deal with an investor unless the seller has fallen behind on the seller’s obligation to make timely mortgage payments. Sellers don’t need to be in default for a short sale to occur. For a buyer who wants to occupy the home, buying a short sale makes financial sense.

What are REOs – Real Estate Owned?

• Buying an REO is similar to buying a short sale except the property is already owned by the lender.
• The property was acquired by the lender through a foreclosure action.
• Often lenders will sell repossessed homes for less than the past loan balance.
• Bank-owned properties are called REOs, meaning real estate owned by the lender.

Banks end up owning the property when nobody at the public auction bid enough to cover the amount owed against the property. REO homes are often considered the best way to buy a distressed property because the seller is already out of the picture. It’s just the investor, the investor’s agent, the bank and the bank’s agent who are negotiating the transaction. Some REOs can be purchased directly from the lender.

For more information, seek the advice of a real estate lawyer.

Some Home Buyers Should Buy Immediately

Well, here is why:

• If you are a seller who wants to move up to a more expensive home in a down market, now could be the best time. The longer you wait to sell, the lower the price of your home could fall.
• If you can arrange for alternate housing, a smart strategy is sell now, wait a few months, then buy your new home.
• If you sell and buy simultaneously, you’ll still be ahead of the game because the price reduction on the purchase is greater than the loss on the sale.

Consider the "Loss" on Selling Your Present Home

For example, say your present house is worth $300,000, but because of high inventory and few buyers, you must reduce your price by 10%. So, instead of receiving $300,000, you would get $270,000 and "lose" $30,000.

Consider Your Real Profit

Now, consider this. Say you bought this home 10 years ago and paid $100,000. You’re still ahead $170,000, less costs of sale, aren’t you? (This ignores monthly payments, but you would make those if you were renting, too.)

Consider the "Savings" on Buying Your New Home

If you are planning to move up to a $500,000 house, which is located in the same distressed market, you could probably buy that house at that same 10% discount or $450,000. This would mean you had saved $50,000.

Review of Selling and Buying Numbers

1. So you "lost" $30,000 on the sale of your home
2. But you "made" $50,000 on the purchase of your new home
3. Doesn’t that put you $20,000 ahead?

Don’t Forget the Impact of Interest Rates

Which way are interest rates moving? Are they moving up or moving down? If interest rates are near an all-time low and beginning to inch upwards, waiting could cost you more than you would think. You might not be able to afford to buy a home at any price.

FACT: Each 1/2 point increase in your interest rate gives you $25,000 less in purchasing power.

FACT: Each 1 point increase in your interest rate gives you $50,000 less in purchasing power.

FACT: Each 2 point increase in your interest rate gives you $100,000 less in purchasing power.

Look at the Differences Among Purchase Prices versus Interest Rates

If you put down 20% and qualify for an 80% loan, here are your principal and interest payments on the following purchase prices:

• $425,000 sales price, at 8.25% interest, your payment is $2,554.
• $450,000 sales price, at 7.75% interest, your payment is $2,579.
• $475,000 sales price, at 7.25% interest, your payment is $2,592.
• $500,000 sales price, at 6.75% interest, your payment is $2,594.
• $525,000 sales price, at 6.25% interest, your payment is $2,586.

The payments are almost identical. However, the home you can afford to buy a 8.25% is $100,000 less than the home you can afford to buy at 6.25%. If you wait for prices to further decline, the perceived value could be lost due to higher rates.

All other recessions since 1929 lasted a period of two years or less. Many of those recessions shared falling stock prices, high interest rates, high unemployment rates and a loss of consumer confidence, along with one other common trait: They were all good times to buy real estate.

Buying Homes in the Midst of a Housing Recession

When prices fall, the question is not really how low can they go but how much real estate can you buy before they go back up. If you are buying a home during a housing recession, getting a good price is just as important as being able to hold and ride out the housing recession.

Here are tips that can help you make a wise decision and capitalize on falling prices:

• Buying in a Down Market

  How to figure out if it makes financial sense for you to buy when prices are falling. If prices haven’t hit bottom yet, how to tell where the bottom is likely to rest, and why it might not really matter.

• Looking at Overpriced Homes

  In depressed markets, it’s not unusual for some sellers to price their home too high. If you spot a home that’s been languishing on the market, it might warrant a second look. Here’s how to tell.

• Buying Distressed Sales in a Housing Recession

  Foreclosures, short sales and REOs: differences. Buying distressed properties under market value. Which is more profitable for a buyer — short sales, foreclosures or real-estate-owned (REO’s)? How CA law affects foreclosure sales.

• Before Buying a Short Sale

  Before you buy a short sale, read about your rights. Why the seller’s lender needs to approve a short sale and how to understand what is involved in closing short sale transactions.

• Buying Post Foreclosures: REOS

  How to buy a foreclosures / REOs from the bank. Negotiating offers for bank owned homes. Difference between REO homes and short sales. Hiring an agent to buy REOs.

A story told by Erica Ferencik that deeply reflects the current situation and its roots.

All I wanted was a good job I couldn’t lose. I didn’t realize I’d end up bringing down the global economy…

It’s a terrible thing to come to terms with, but I am the reason the world is in an economic tailspin. Me, alone. All those foreclosures, short sales, bank failures, job losses, bailouts, plummeting stocks, the ripple effect into Europe, China, even Madoff: all my fault. Moi. That last house I sold at 253 Carrington Way? That was the tipping point, I’m convinced. I sold it for $657,500 in August 2005, and now Zillow is damning it at $537,000. I would weep to call the owners now and say, hey, want a market analysis? Sound like fun? I know, you’d rather shove shards of glass under your fingernails, I hear you.

In any case, I’m your neighborhood real estate agent, and I’m really, really sorry.

And to think it all began so innocently. Nine years ago, back in the early aughts, it felt like the right thing to do, getting that real estate license. Laid off from three (count ‘em, three) publishing jobs, I was looking for a job I couldn’t lose. I asked a couple of real-estate friends what they thought about their job security.

“Do they lay off real estate agents?” I asked.

There was a stifled guffaw. “You could murder a couple people, but if you had some good listings in the bag, you’re probably fine.”

It was between a real estate license ($200) and an MBA ($65,000). I did the math and, boom, I was a real estate agent.

Those early years were insane. I hit the ground running, holding on for dear life to a market taking off like a jet plane. You could send out a mailing — or an ad, or a flier, possibly just a phone number — and get 20 calls on it. My phone would not stop ringing. Countless e-mails burned my eyes night and day. People were crazed for houses, lusting after them, bidding up and up and up, clawing at each other just to get the house. It was a frenzy of nesting, a compulsion to cocoon, to own no matter what. Houses were hoarded like porn, lunged and pawed at like food dropped into villages at wartime.

And we as real estate agents were, what? Mindless spokes and wheels in a transaction? Pawns in some mad game? Satan’s evil linchpins? The instigators of the world’s demise? I’m still not sure. Regardless, we drove around like maniacs with our buyers to “just listed” properties — i.e., they came on the market half an hour previous — took a jog through some mediocre house, then sprinted back to the office to advise our clients not just how to write an offer, but how to write one that would be accepted. That is, teach them how to punt and feint: make the offer good for an hour only to force the sellers’ hand; show up at first light with the paperwork and a check to greet the sleepy homeowner getting his newspaper (à la “Sopranos”); strike all contingencies. Or last but not least: bid blind with an escalation clause. That is, bid $5,000 or $10,000 over the highest amount offered, whatever that happened to be. Basically: tie a cloth over your eyes and just throw money.

But those full price or 10K-over asking offers didn’t always cut the mustard, especially if there were four of them on the table. We’d suggest to our buyers to make it personal: to go for the Lifetime moment. To show up in person at the bidding table holding the hands of their adorable children; to pen missives such as: “The minute I crossed the threshold of your beautiful home, I knew this was the one. Your home is just like my grandmother’s. She died last week.” (This is where you well up, OK?) “But she would have loved to see me buy a house just like yours. Here’s $500,000 for your home assessed at $350,000, please take it, oh please, I’ll do anything.”

Houses of all kinds, in any shape at all, were selling instantly, even “psychologically impacted homes.” I’ll never forget one horrid slab ranch where there’d been a murder. The listing broker hadn’t even bothered to remove the police tape from around the house before offers began pouring in. In total, five bids rolled in on the home, each at least 5K over asking, with the winning bid striking the mortgage as well as the inspection contingencies. I heard the sellers threw in the ghost as well.

By 2002 my office was brimming with new, fresh-faced agents from every walk of life: software engineers, teachers, retail store owners, landscape architects, all manner of escapees from the corporate world, ready to learn on the fly and cash those commission checks as fast as possible. More seasoned agents cast them flinty glances as if to say: “Have you ever heard of a real estate cycle? Sure we’re flyin’ high, but strap on those seat belts, kids, this roller coaster is going down.”

But no one was paying attention then. We relative newbies thought this was just the way things were. Wake up, work, crash, repeat. There were lavish Christmas parties, over-the-top award ceremonies deifying top producers who were making truly crazy money, new cars in the lot, fresh duds on our backs, and no one really felt the sting of the check on all those dinners out. Let’s put it this way: The bon temps roo-layed. We had 10 phone lines, and at times they were all ringing at once.

Did we make money? Yes. Did we work for it? Yes. I worked seven days a week for months at a time. I lost 10 pounds, lived on PowerBars, filled my gas tank two, three, four times a week. I answered my phone in the bathroom, at weddings, funerals, my birthday surprise party, while eating my PowerBar, even at a wake. I worked on holidays, weekends, many times up at 6 and dropping by midnight. Once I lost a bid for my buyer clients, let’s call them the Smiths, because I had slipped home at noon to take a shower, having had no time in the morning because of a painfully early home inspection. I left the phone outside the shower stall, but I guess I never heard it. An hour later I saw the call, called them back and found them furious: Their dream home had come on the market, they were standing in the open house, and where was I? Showering? By the time I got there, breathless and wet-haired, the owners had already signed another offer, $18,000 over asking. Mrs. Smith wept, Mr. Smith cursed, then fired me. I felt sick. The guilt was actually worse than the lost commission. Their American dream shattered by me.

Predatory loans? We thought they were just “creative,” a term not at all pejorative back then. I don’t even think the term “predatory loan” existed until it was time to lay down some serious blame, as in 2007 and on. In any case, I had some lower-income clients who were part of this collective insanity. That is, everyone had drunk the same Kool-Aid, so they wanted a house as badly as everyone else. I actually rooted for them to get a loan, any kind of loan, to get them into the house they wanted. They had a 3-year-old daughter and one on the way, and both worked two jobs while trying to learn English, which they were picking up with astounding speed. We aggressively house-hunted, bid and got the house, and they were ecstatic and very grateful to me, even though the house, at just over 850 square feet, could barely contain them. There were tears and hugs at the closing, where my phone rang and rang and screamed some more.

So yes, back then it was a piece of cake to pay my bills and put something away, but my hair was falling out, I was so stressed. I was not a great partner to my husband. Most of my friends had given up on seeing me. Even my cats didn’t recognize me when I dragged myself home at night.

Now, my cats not only recognize me, they wish I would get a life, as does my husband. My hair is back in place on my head.

My office is filled with empty cubicles; phones are answered on the first ring. Papers flutter about on empty desks. Of course the economy is terrible, but something more is going on. It’s eerie. Even the top brokers are sleeping late, reading more, and wondering what the hell to do. Award ceremonies have been canceled. Holiday parties are ancient history. Just as for everyone else, the future is impossible to predict because the combination of elements in play is unique.

In the wee hours, the faces of my clients parade before my eyes. Sleepless, I get up and see what their home is worth now; pray that they still have their jobs. Then I Google “best paying jobs of the future” and read: dental hygienist, database administrator, systems analyst. I have a good cry and go back to bed.

I’ve checked in on my lower-income clients and thankfully they’ve both kept their jobs, but their home would be a short sale if we had to put it on the market now. They told me they’ve made ends meet by inviting a relative up from New York to stay and pay some rent by living in their already crowded home. I can’t imagine which room they’re putting him in.

The Smiths: They’d hired another agent to come to their rescue after I took that fateful shower, and had had no problem overbidding on another home. Now their home is one of the dozens of foreclosures in town. Days on market: 342. Price changes: five and counting. Just the other day I read that Mr. Smith’s company was slicing employees like cheese from a giant wheel.

What am I doing now? I take depressing classes on the labyrinthine procedure of conducting short sales, orchestrate foreclosures, show buyers countless homes before they confess they’d like to “maybe wait a year or two,” watch sellers break into tears as they sign a listing contract. Try to figure out how to market myself via social networking, which gags me, but what can you do? Lord knows, I live to Facebook, Twitter, tweet, blog, gather, LinkIn, YouTube, Gawk, Boing Boing, friend, Rain Actively, Digg, Xanga, Squidoo, Top Produce, and MySpace my way into the hearts of my buyers and sellers.

My phone has been, for all intents and purposes, silent for weeks now. I keep checking to make sure it’s on. Sometimes I’ll make a few calls just to use up those minutes I’ve already paid for. Today I ran into an agent from my office in our local drugstore whom I hadn’t seen for months. She told me she’d gotten a job at American Girl. She’d been a full-time real estate agent for 26 years. I asked her how she liked retail. “I love it,” she said unconvincingly. “People are so happy when they’re buying dolls.”

Huh?

Another real estate friend has gone back to doing trade shows for medical products.

A downtown agent got a job in a fancy French restaurant where he hasn’t worked since college (”when the aprons fit”). Now he says he’s one of those waiters standing in the corner staring out the window waiting for customers, the ones he felt sorry for walking by the restaurant on his way to show houses in 2004.

Other friends complain about getting pink slips. At least they’re getting a pink slip. (Unemployment, anyone? Maybe even COBRA? A pipe dream for us commission-based folks.) There’s something a tad respectful about a pink slip. It says: You had a job, now you don’t anymore. As opposed to crushing silence and empty in boxes, which mean, I guess it sure looks like/isn’t this a dead ringer for/heads up: you don’t have a job anymore.

Last week, my phone actually rang. I nearly had a heart attack. It was a real live potential seller. A neighbor from down the street with a horse property — not the most common thing in my hood but there are a few. She said that, “among others,” she would be interviewing me, a few high-end brokers from neighboring offices, and three horse property specialists. Can we say “disincentivized by the competition”?

I tried to rally. How can I get around the fact that I’ve never sold a horse property? I suppose I could show up in jodhpurs, compliment the seller on her tack barn (”Great saddle choice! I love this kind, don’t you? You know … leather“), put hay in my hair. Whatever it takes to get the job. After all, my last paycheck was in October. Holy deeded manure pile!

Desperation has become a familiar face; at times it even stares back at me in the mirror in the morning. But I don’t think I’m alone. As the orchestra plays, sliding down with all of us on the tilting deck of the Titanic, I can see it now: my fellow real estate agents and I wishing each other well as we call out, “Hey, see you at American Girl!” or, “I hear Orange Julius is hiring. You go, girl!”

So if you hear whinnying or see me cantering about town on a some fetching filly, not to worry. That’s just me trying to get the listing, along with everybody else.

1. The Pay Me First Scam

Some foreclosure rescue scammers ask customers to pay them fees in exchange for delaying a foreclosure. It’s actually illegal for foreclosure rescue companies to collect fees before performing a service. They should be paid after negotiating new loans or monthly payments.

Unfortunately, some homeowners find out the hard way that paying companies before they perform a service leaves them without money or a home. The Star-Telegram reports on one San Francisco-area mortgage broker advertised foreclosure avoidance workshops on Craigslist. For a $2,500 upfront fee plus a $2,000 monthly payment, Freedom Financial Solutions claimed it would halt foreclosures by finding legal violations in homeowners’ mortgage agreements.

Instead, Cheryl Ann Montero, owner of the company, took an ownership stake in her clients’ houses, then filed for bankruptcy, which suspended foreclosures. Montero, who ended up delivering nothing to her clients, made off with $52,000 before declaring bankruptcy herself.

2. The Title Transfer Scam

This scam involves transferring the title of your home to the foreclosure rescue company. This is a very, very bad idea. If your name is not on the title, guess who owns your home? Hint: It’s not you.

Rip-off Report reader Cheri had a scam like this happen to her. Facing foreclosure, she contacted a mortgage rescue company. The scammers executed a buyback scheme that would allow her to re-purchase her house at a different appraisal value. In order to finish the deal, they said they needed to put someone else’s name on the title of the home. Cheri would be a trustee, “guaranteeing” her that she would maintain control of the property while staying inside a renter.

It turned out Cheri’s name never made it to the title. She was paying down a mortgage on a home she no longer owned. The scammers made off with the title, possibly some equity, and the willingness to evict her from the house.

3. Sending Mortgage Payments to a Fake Address

Some scammers ask to receive your payment in place of the lender. They claim they have a special relationship with the lender, or can renegotiate your mortgage if you send them payments. This is sketchy, to say the least. One California scammer, for example, made $1.2 million by pretending to be a lender—then fled to his native Mexico.

If someone tells you to ignore your lender letters, or to send the payments somewhere else, run the other direction.

4. Fake Lender Letters

Some fraudsters have taken to forging major lenders’ letterhead and convincing homeowners to sign up for “official” loan modification services. Mail, envelopes, and letterhead may look exactly like the lender’s, but the content will be fraudulent.

The Lake County News reports that one Los Angeles ring even filed a fictitious business permit. The swindlers forged lender and government envelopes with “Final Notice” written on the outside. The letters inside told homeowners that if they sent in their mortgage information, they could apply for a home rescue program.

Once homeowners applied, they received a confirmation note and a set of forged lender documents. In the meantime, they were instructed to send their mortgage payments to a “Payment Processing Dept” located at a scammer’s PO box, where the money was stolen.

5. The Obama Rescue Plan Scam

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that some rescue companies are charging as much as $3,000 to modify customer loans under the new Obama relief plan. The truth is that you can find out about rescue plan yourself, either online at MakingHomeAffordable.gov, through the Homeownership Preservation Foundation at 995hope.org, or by calling 1-888-995-HOPE.

Just as stock investors console themselves in knowing that today’s troubled market doesn’t really matter if they don’t sell now, homebuyers who put down roots won’t worry about selling at a loss should real estate prices slide further.

But since you actually live in a home, life can get in the way of even the best-laid hold strategy. A job offer in another city, a marriage, a divorce, a new baby — all are life turns that can force a housing change.

Nevertheless, life goes on, and you may be contemplating a move. Indeed, the government is dangling an $8,000 tax credit to entice first-time buyers. Here, experts weigh in on how buyers should consider getting time on their side.

Although he now works as a fee-only financial planner, Richard Kahler spent 30 years as a real estate agent. During most of that time, "the standard rule of thumb was that you’d have to stay in a home at least two years to recoup the costs (of buying and selling)," he says.

Kahler’s hometown of Rapid City, S.D., had not seen dramatic upswings in prices, but modest, steady appreciation. Prices are now flat, says Kahler, who adds, "Today, I would be telling someone (to stay in their home for) three to five years, depending on the market."

Although the National Association of Realtors reports that historically, home prices rise 1.3 percent above the rate of inflation, there have been more dramatic down and up cycles.

A study published in 2001 from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that homeowners who are most likely to profit from a sale are those who buy at the trough of a cycle and hold at least one year through the next price upswing.

Right now, given the inventory of homes for sale and the spate of foreclosures around Sacramento, Calif., Kevin Young of Young Wealth Management in Davis, Calif., advises his clients to plan to stay for five to eight years. "I don’t know if we are at the bottom, and there’s tremendous uncertainty about the future," he says.

Foreclosures and price drops are a much greater problem in places like California, Florida and other select areas rather than in the nation as a whole, according to University of Virginia urban planning professor William Lucy.

Look at actual sale prices in the neighborhood you’re interested in, says Lucy, adding that such information is typically available from the county record or assessor. The future is never sure, but examining price movements can help buyers define their timeline, Lucy says.

Young buyers, especially, might find that the home they can buy now won’t fit their needs later.

According to 2007 U.S. Census abstract data, at age 18 a person could expect to move another 9.1 times in his or her remaining lifetime, compared with 2.7 expected moves for 45-year-olds.

Another old real estate rule, or oft-repeated maxim, is "buy the biggest and best you can." The idea is that if young buyers purchase a home that can accommodate them years later, they’ll save by not having to move again. While this advice dovetails with a theory experts endorse — holding a home and steadily paying off the mortgage is the surest route to housing wealth — financial planners generally frown on "stretching" to afford a more expensive home.

Barry Korb of Lighthouse Financial Planning in Potomac, Md., says he counseled one couple who wanted to spend about 55 percent of their income on housing. "I asked them how they’d handle their car loans and credit card debt," he says.

Lenders are now focusing more on those questions, says Bedda D’Angelo, president of Fiduciary Solutions in Durham, N.C. Even if borrowers want to borrow big, the new and more conservative lending standards probably wouldn’t allow it, she says.

To stimulate homebuying, the federal government is offering a tax credit worth up to $8,000 to first-time buyers who fall below certain incomes and who buy during 2009.

Young says this credit might spur some buyers to act before year-end. Still, if buyers don’t think they’ll be able to stay in an area long enough to avoid the risk of selling at a loss, it can be more prudent to rent.

Indeed, there’s a newfound, more deliberate approach to homebuying and home owning. "The world has changed," says Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

During the boom years earlier this decade, Retsinas says, there was a distorted emphasis on profit, and homes were "purely for buying and then selling." Now there is a "refocus on the consumption value of homes," he says, meaning that homes are to "consume" — or live in and enjoy — for as long as possible.

Mortgage rates rose modestly after falling to record lows the past two weeks.

The average 30-year fixed rate increased 7 basis points, to 5.2 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.

This week’s average 15-year fixed rate — a popular option for refinancing — rose 2 basis points, to 4.75 percent.

The average jumbo 30-year fixed moved up 8 basis points, to 6.76 percent.

Adjustable-rate mortgages also rose this week. The one-year adjustable-rate mortgage increased 5 basis points, to 5.26 percent. The popular 5/1 ARM moved up 4 basis points, to 5.27 percent.

Argentina: Centro, Buenos Aires

USD Price: $149,000

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 1

This place is fully remodeled and right in El Centro, 2 blocks from Teatro Colon.

Chile: Villarrica, Region 9

USD Price: $110,000

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 3

This house is in the town of Villarrica, and has world-class backcountry terrain all around.

Russia: Chystye Prudy Area, Moscow

USD Price: $152,000 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2

Right in the center of Moscow.

South Africa: Jeffrey’s Bay, Eastern Cape

USD Price: $152,200 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 3

This pad has a barbecue, garden, and you’re close to one of the sickest surf spots in the world.

Australia: Deniliquin, New South Wales

USD Price: $144,400 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 5 Bathrooms: 3

A full on 27-acre farm near thetown of Deniliquin. Extremely affordable Australian hom  loans are also available.

Portugal: Evora, Alentejo

USD Price: $150,500 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 1

Ыweet village of Viana do Alentejo.

Indonesia: Lovina, Bali

USD Price: $107,000 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 2

A straight-up private villa on Bali with mature palms / banana trees and some kind of ’split level swimming pool’. Ridiculous.

Croatia: Porec, Istria

USD Price: $150,700 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2

A 3-bedroom apartment with beach only 3 minutes away, along with the yacht marine of Cervar village.

Czech Republic: Prosek, Prague

USD Price: $144,000 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 1

A newly renovated apartment with 74 m2 of living space and a 6-minute commute via subway to the city center.

New Zealand: Foxton

USD Price: $125,500 (approx.)

Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 2

Funky designed4 bedroom home.

From recommending wall colors, repairs and decluttering, to careful arrangement of furniture, art and accessories; we guide you through the process to do it yourself, or we take care of all the details for you.

To get the most for your home, you need potential buyers (and their agents) to feel it’s a “hot property”.

These 10 low cost tips will get you started. Even if you’re not moving, you will find they make your home more relaxing and enjoyable to live in.

Get rid of clutter!

Pick one closet or area at a time so the task isn’t as daunting. Look at every item with a very critical eye and ask yourself why you’re keeping it.

Forget about hanging onto items for a garage sale. Pick your favorite charity and donate it. You paid for these things long ago, why not just give them away to others who REALLY need them?

You’ll probably have to edit the same closets a number of times to really whittle them down to the “essentials”. If rooms and closets still look cramped, rent a storage locker.

Watch where the eye goes

There are speedy and low cost solutions to many of the little problems that together make a home seem shabbier than it needs to.

Walk along each corridor and into every room and check where your eye is drawn (better yet, ask a critical friend or family member). If the eye is drawn to the chipped white paint on the door frame, take some “white out” and fill it in. If it’s those old nail holes in the wall, see if you can hang a picture to cover them.

Glue any peeling wallpaper. If it’s really horrible and you can’t afford the time or money to fix it properly, hang pictures and strategically place baskets. You won’t cover the problem entirely (which would be wrong anyway), but you will draw your audience’s attention away from the problem and onto something more visually pleasing to focus on.

Clean, clean and clean again

Most mortals can’t live in a spotless environment all the time. This can be one of the more stressful aspects of having your home on the market— but it’s worth the effort to sell your home for top dollar. You can hire a professional service to come in and deep clean everything; then take 20-30 minutes each day to maintain it.

Appliances should sparkle even if you’re not including them with the house. After all, you might throw them in later as a negotiating tool. Counter tops, taps, sinks and bathtubs should be shiny and free of water spots.

If you have a pedestal sink, don’t forget the dust that collects on top of the plumbing where it attaches to the wall. If the whole sink is spotless and the taps aren’t dripping, it will look new!

Dust shelves and vacuum or “Swiffer” the floors. Naturally, all beds should be made. At a recent open house for a home listed over $500,000 (and over 60 days on the market), they hadn’t even bothered with these two simple steps! It made you wonder what bigger things had been neglected.

Remember clean windows let in more light and look newer. Hire a service if you have to— it’s worth the investment.

Let in some air

Open some windows for at least 10 minutes. There is nothing worse than walking into a stuffy house or one that smells of smoke and pet odors.

Let in some light

It might be mood lighting to you, but if you’re trying to sell your home, keep it bright! Dimly lit rooms tend to look small and dingy— especially during the day.

If you have a particularly dark room, consider investing in a floor lamp that will bounce light off the ceiling.

If your walls are so dark that they’re sucking up all the light, consider repainting. You can even buy a small can of a lighter shade of your wall color, mix it with glaze and rub it onto the wall. It will reflect light and give the room a more open feeling. This approach saves much of the preparation and clean up involved in repainting.

Don’t forget fresh flowers.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to have fresh flowers throughout your home. Even a daisy in a bud vase brightens a bathroom counter. Ask your florist which blooms last a week. You can also use potted flowering plants that are in season for a low-cost solution.

Don’t use plastic or obviously fake flowers, especially in an expensive home!

Carefully consider music

Soft background music can help create a soothing environment and camouflage neighbor and traffic noise. But make sure the volume is very low. Blaring TVs are definitely a no-no, but you’d be surprised how many people leave them on for showings!

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… Cached: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

From recommending wall colors, repairs and decluttering, to careful arrangement of furniture, art and accessories; we guide you through the process to do it yourself, or we take care of all the details for you.

To get the most for your home, you need potential buyers (and their agents) to feel it’s a “hot property”.

These 10 low cost tips will get you started. Even if you’re not moving, you will find they make your home more relaxing and enjoyable to live in.

Get rid of clutter!

Pick one closet or area at a time so the task isn’t as daunting. Look at every item with a very critical eye and ask yourself why you’re keeping it.

Forget about hanging onto items for a garage sale. Pick your favorite charity and donate it. You paid for these things long ago, why not just give them away to others who REALLY need them?

You’ll probably have to edit the same closets a number of times to really whittle them down to the “essentials”. If rooms and closets still look cramped, rent a storage locker.

Watch where the eye goes

There are speedy and low cost solutions to many of the little problems that together make a home seem shabbier than it needs to.

Walk along each corridor and into every room and check where your eye is drawn (better yet, ask a critical friend or family member). If the eye is drawn to the chipped white paint on the door frame, take some “white out” and fill it in. If it’s those old nail holes in the wall, see if you can hang a picture to cover them.

Glue any peeling wallpaper. If it’s really horrible and you can’t afford the time or money to fix it properly, hang pictures and strategically place baskets. You won’t cover the problem entirely (which would be wrong anyway), but you will draw your audience’s attention away from the problem and onto something more visually pleasing to focus on.

Clean, clean and clean again

Most mortals can’t live in a spotless environment all the time. This can be one of the more stressful aspects of having your home on the market— but it’s worth the effort to sell your home for top dollar. You can hire a professional service to come in and deep clean everything; then take 20-30 minutes each day to maintain it.

Appliances should sparkle even if you’re not including them with the house. After all, you might throw them in later as a negotiating tool. Counter tops, taps, sinks and bathtubs should be shiny and free of water spots.

If you have a pedestal sink, don’t forget the dust that collects on top of the plumbing where it attaches to the wall. If the whole sink is spotless and the taps aren’t dripping, it will look new!

Dust shelves and vacuum or “Swiffer” the floors. Naturally, all beds should be made. At a recent open house for a home listed over $500,000 (and over 60 days on the market), they hadn’t even bothered with these two simple steps! It made you wonder what bigger things had been neglected.

Remember clean windows let in more light and look newer. Hire a service if you have to— it’s worth the investment.

Let in some air

Open some windows for at least 10 minutes. There is nothing worse than walking into a stuffy house or one that smells of smoke and pet odors.

Let in some light

It might be mood lighting to you, but if you’re trying to sell your home, keep it bright! Dimly lit rooms tend to look small and dingy— especially during the day.

If you have a particularly dark room, consider investing in a floor lamp that will bounce light off the ceiling.

If your walls are so dark that they’re sucking up all the light, consider repainting. You can even buy a small can of a lighter shade of your wall color, mix it with glaze and rub it onto the wall. It will reflect light and give the room a more open feeling. This approach saves much of the preparation and clean up involved in repainting.

Don’t forget fresh flowers.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to have fresh flowers throughout your home. Even a daisy in a bud vase brightens a bathroom counter. Ask your florist which blooms last a week. You can also use potted flowering plants that are in season for a low-cost solution.

Don’t use plastic or obviously fake flowers, especially in an expensive home!

Carefully consider music

Soft background music can help create a soothing environment and camouflage neighbor and traffic noise. But make sure the volume is very low. Blaring TVs are definitely a no-no, but you’d be surprised how many people leave them on for showings!

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… Cached: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

There’s no shortage of markets throughout the country that will sustain double-digit declines in housing vales in 2009 as the credit crisis widens to include many more areas of the U.S.

Hard hit by auto industry lay-offs, Detroit leads the Forecast of Worst 25 Market list for the year followed by Southern California’s Inland Empire, which includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The epidemic of foreclosures is projected to continue to impact the areas harshly through 2009.

Nearly two years ago, Housing Predictor forecast that home values would average total deflation from 50 to 70% depending on what markets. Especially hard hit metropolitan markets and areas close to major urban areas will sustain the worst deflation.

The Central Valley of California is experiencing huge drops in home values, which places third on the list with Stockton followed by Greater Los Angeles and Miami. The surplus of condos for sale on the market will put a drag on Miami through at least 2010. In all, nine California markets were named to the list, more than any other state.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… Cached: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

But how does one choose a real estate agent? Here are a few helpful hints:

1. Interview candidates from different agencies. Look into their qualifications. How many years have they been on the job and how competent are they? Have there been any complaints filed with the State Board of Realtors? Finally, how compatible are you? There’s no underestimating the importance of personality when choosing a real estate agent.

2. Do they know the neighborhood? Is the agent familiar with the housing market in the areas you’re looking to buy or sell? Agents with a history of transactions in neighborhoods that interest you will know what’s available and in what price range. If you’re listing your property, a good agent will know the market well enough to set an optimum asking price attractive to both seller and buyer.

3. Keep in mind when choosing a real estate agent that he or she has access to a powerful tool — the Multiple Listing Service (M.L.S.) that inventories all available properties by region. A skilled agent can use the MLS., plus their own experience, to locate homes in neighborhoods matching your property wish list — such as a quality school system, convenient shopping or close highway access. A great source for MLS. information is Fizber.com.

4. What level of customer care will you receive? A real estate agent is your business partner in a huge financial undertaking, so you’ll want to choose a real estate agent that is always ready, willing and available. Be sure that communication stays open and phone calls are returned. Some agents employ assistants to handle much of their legwork. If this is the case, be certain your agent is the one present and accounted for when it comes time to check the contracts and close the transaction.

5. Know what you’re signing. Take the time to read through all of the fine print if asked to sign a working contract with an agent.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… Cached: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Fizber.com, a real estate for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) website, announces the addition of a “City Profile” feature to each home listing page, providing buyers with all the information they need – about a specific house and its location – in one place.

City profiles aren’t new to FSBOs, but many websites unintentionally bury the information and require separate searches to find it. Fizber.com displays the city profile on the same page as the listing itself, allowing buyers to view the statistics immediately.

With statistics pulled from BestPlaces.net, Fizber.com’s city profile provides a detailed look at factors that could impact the quality of life for an area: demographics, economics, crime rates, education percentages, health indexes and climate data. Each topic is broken down into more specific information and compared against the national average. Any statistic that is worse than the national average is presented in a red font, so the buyer will see it right away.

“The old real estate adage about location is true in a wide variety of ways,” says Julia Aksinina, Fizber.com VP of marketing and sales. “Buyers want to live in a safe area, make sure their kids get a great education, be near good hospitals; they even want to make sure their commute won’t be too bad. All of these independent factors – along with the house itself, of course – contribute to the overall value of a home. And most people want to be confident that their property value will increase. Our city profiles are accessible as soon as a buyer views a listing, so weeding through the undesirable homes and finding the one that will be a home and an asset is that much easier.”

The new city profile feature works in conjunction with Fizber.com’s other home listing features (Bird’s Eye View, Blogs, Google Maps Integration and Fizber Video) to give buyers a comprehensive evaluation of the area.

Headquartered in Miami Beach, Fizber.com provides home listings throughout the U.S. To learn more about Fizber.com, visit http://www.fizber.com.