Why Follow-Up is Everything By Craig Proctor In past articles, I've explained how to easily and inexpensively generate an ongoing pipeline of excellent leads - prospects who have raised their hands and told you that they were moving. If you fail to follow-up promptly, professionally and systematically with these people, you will lose them, and for this reason, follow-up is an extremely critical step to get right. Full Story

Can You Find the Needle in the Haystack? By Bill Shue I remember watching an interesting episode of Mythbusters sometime ago and they were trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack – it took them forever. Likewise, it can be a true challenge for brokers and agents to find and use a great business plan - sometimes harder than trying to find that needle. Full Story

Yes Change is Coming - But Not Just in Washington By Thomas M. Mitchell In the months ahead you are going to be hearing an emerging message in our industry and it will be coming from a lot of different sources. It isn't a message that's new as the subject has been brought up many times over the past few years. The difference now is that "its" time has arrived and the survival of the real estate professional may well be hanging in the balance. Full Story

Mortgage Rates Down For Second Week Running Thursday, November 13, 2008 Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.14 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending November 13, 2008. Full Story

One-Third of Home Sellers in the Past Year Lost Money Home values in the United States posted their seventh consecutive quarterly decline, falling 9.7 percent year-over-year, according to a independent third quarter Report, which encompassed 163 metropolitan areas. The continued declines in value are causing more homeowners to sell their homes for less than the home's original purchase price. Full Story

Buyer and Seller Survey Shows Rise in First-Time Buyers According to the latest NAR survey of home buyers and sellers, first-time home buyers have risen in market share. However, with the dwindling availability of low down payment loans NAR cautions that larger down-payments may be necessary moving forward. Full Story

U.S. Foreclosures Index Shows More Than 107,500 Homes Lost in September Foreclosures have left nearly three-quarters of a million people out of their homes nationwide so far this year—including more than 107,500 in September alone, according to a recent survey. Full Story

HUD Issues New Mortgage Rules to Help Consumers Shop for Lower Cost Home Loans The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued long-anticipated mortgage reforms that will help consumers to shop for the lowest cost mortgage and avoid costly and potentially harmful loan offers. Full Story

HUD Announces New, Permanent FHA Mortgage Loan Limits U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston announced the new 2009 Federal Housing Administration mortgage loan limits for single-family homes. Full Story

Real Estate Agent Charged in $12.6 Million Fraud Scheme A real estate agent and two former loan officers are among 17 defendants indicted for their roles in a $12.6 million mortgage fraud scheme. Full Story

Realtors Help Buyers, Sellers, With Short Sales Solutions Monday, November 10, 2008 National Association of Realtors When families lose their homes to foreclosure, communities, the housing market, and the economy all suffer. Short sales are one way that some troubled homeowners can avoid foreclosure. Full Story

A ‘Down’ Market? Tell That to the Winners of ‘The Real Estate Top 200 Sunday, November 9, 2008 Siler & Company Apparently, someone forgot to send Suzanne Perkins, Mary Berry, the John McMonigle Group and Tony Isbell the memo about there being a down real estate market the past year and a half. Full Story

Realtors Against GSE Privatization Sunday, November 9, 2008 National Association of Realtors The National Association of Realtors has adopted principles that recommend continued government involvement in the secondary mortgage market. Full Story

Realtors Use Technology to Transform Business and Client Relationships Saturday, November 8, 2008 National Association of Realtors Realtors attending Business Technology and Information Systems Forum at the 2008 Realtors Conference & Expo gained insights into how real estate technologies are transforming the industry. Full Story

NAR Installs 2009 Officers Friday, November 7, 2008 National Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors announced the new officers for 2009 at the Realtors Conference and Expo in Orlando, FL. Full Story

NAR Selects New Bilateral Partners Friday, November 7, 2008 National Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors has been expanding its network of business partnerships around the world and has recently established new bilateral agreements with seven national partners. Full Story

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