HGTV’s House Hunters is Calling

I mentioned the other day in one of my entries, “You won’t believe this”, that another reality television show had contacted me. Yes, this is in addition to our continuing interviewing with “Wife Swap.” According to the producer of House Hunters they found my website, jalone.com, and based on it and my blog, “Keep it Real in Sacramento” thought I would make a good realtor to work with a featured buyer in the Sacramento area.

House Hunters takes viewers behind the scenes to learn what others look for in deciding to purchase a home. The show focuses on the emotional experience of finding and buying a new home. Each episode shows the progress as buyers working with their Realtor search for a home.

Since someone apparently wants me on television I have decided to pursue this opportunity and now need to find a “TV friendly buyer.” If you or someone you know is looking to buy a house and wants to share the experience on the nationally televised show, House Hunters, please let me know and I can provide additional information.

Produce or Leave

Word on the street is, several large national brand name brokers have sent messages to their troops saying agents need to produce or find another place to hang out. Make me money or be gone may be another way of saying it.

Real estate is a difficult business to begin with and is not as easy as it looks or even should be. One of the reasons agents go through dry spells is because they get very little support from their offices. Getting a single transaction completed can be a full time job and when an agent is working to get a purchase or sale closed they don’t have time to do much marketing. So many agents working in large brokerages find they are too busy or very slow. Now that they are slow and have time to market they get a message from “upstairs” to produce or else.

A team approach to real estate enables each individual to accomplish more than he or she could do alone and is why we formed MagnumOne Realty. It is by choice, not chance or necessity that professionals go into business together. If you are an agent who is feeling the pressure to produce or leave come talk with us about joining our team where we celebrate your success and let you enjoy your down time.

"Wife Swap" and more!

Over the years we have learned we need a day to get ready to fly home from Alaska and today’s it! This is a wonderful place to visit and with everything we try to accomplish by the end our stay we have clothes and gear in every imaginable place. Today we will get it all in one place, maybe even do a load of laundry and get packed up for our return to summer.

While we are here, we have had a number of emails and a few calls asking about what has happened with “Wife Swap” the reality TV series. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, they contacted me after finding me at our www.jalone.com website. They said they were interested in having a Realtor on the show and liked my site. Okay, we have talked to them a few times; filled out an application that asked all sorts of interesting questions, and now we have a scheduled phone interview with them next later this week. If that goes well I we were told we would then meet with a casting producer. If nothing else it has been an interesting experience and a fun topic in conversations.

The MagnumOne Realty team has been busy while we have been gone and it will be fun to see everyone and get a caught up. Sounds like we have a few more great listings and a couple of escrows going that could use some help.

Out of Town Lenders

Not all out of town lenders are bad, just the ones I seem to have to deal with! Twice in the past month I have had great clients who both were using lenders I had never heard of and were located out of the Sacramento area. Both were quick to provide pre-qualification letters when we needed them. One went so far as to say he could close the deal in 14-days when we told him the seller was requesting a 21-day close.

There was more talk than anything coming from these two loan originators. In the first case after six extensions we moved the loan to a local lender who now has it in the final stages and we are expecting a close next week. The second lender experience has been the worst I have ever witnessed. This particular lender has made promise after promise with never any follow through. How can someone say the documents are being sent to the title company five times and are never received? We actually had another lender look at the loan request and were told the clients “just didn’t qualify for the requested amount” but the out of towner continues to promise documents that will never come.

Both of these lenders work on commission, if they don’t make a loan they don’t make any money. On first blush, this sounds good; they should work hard to get the loan done so they can make a living. What I think happens, is when the lender finds out the loan may be difficult, require extra work or they think it might not be approved they “cut and run.” Why spend more time on something you may not get paid for. I know this is what happened on at least one if not both of my most recent bad experiences.

If you are considering a mortgage loan please talk to your friends, family or even your Realtor and find a lender who one of them has successfully worked with. I never push my clients to use one of my lender contacts but I will tell you a lender who has relationship with a good agent has an additional incentive to meet your needs.

Foreclosure Buying Tips

Since the Sacramento real estate market is comprised of so many foreclosures I thought it might be a good idea to provide some tips on buying lender owned properties. Although there are some bargains to be had they are not always easy and there are some things you should know if you are interested in buying one. Check out my latest article, Buying Bank Owned Properties, on my Real Estate News page at www.jalone.com.

Back in Anchorage

We returned to Anchorage from our favorite Alaska city, Homer. Anchorage has and has not changed much from when we lived here. There are new buildings here and there and plenty of road construction. The downtown area is a mess as a enormous parking garage is being built and the traffic is as bad as we remember.

Unlike California, everyone we talk to up here is excited about the economy and the future for the State of Alaska. Yes, gas prices are high, we paid 4.74 per gallon of unleaded on our trip back from Homer but if you live here you may be getting a $1,000 check from the State soon to help with the higher fuel costs. Seems the oil revenues are coming is so fast there is a multibillion dollar surplus. If you are interested in reading more about what is happening in the “Last Frontier” check out my column, “There is more to Alaska than summer,” over at Rocklin & Roseville Today.

Homer, Alaska

At the end of the road is Homer. You drive as far south as you can from Anchorage along the Kenai Peninsula and you end up in this wonderful Alaska village. It is also known as the Halibut fishing capital of the world but it is so much more and if you are ever in Alaska well worth the time to visit.

Nestled on the shore of Kachemak Bay there is breathtaking views of glaciers, mountains and wildlife. In addition to the fishing there is an active art community, quaint café’s and a few very nice restaurants. Whether it is fishing, kayaking, bear viewing, shopping, dining or site seeing Homer has it all and then some. For a community this small it has a very cosmopolitan feeling.

This is one place where the local real estate market appears to being doing just fine. In the past few years there as been large increase in the population as the town has been discovered as a great vacation spot and, interestingly, a growth in retired people moving to Homer.There is no doubt in my mind, if we ever return to Alaska to live, it will be to Homer!

Homer,

At the end of the road is Homer. You drive as far south as you can from Anchorage along the Kenai Peninsula and you end up in this wonderful Alaska village. It is also known as the Halibut fishing capital of the world but it is so much more and if you are ever in Alaska well worth the time to visit.

Nestled on the shore of Kachemak Bay there is breathtaking views of glaciers, mountains and wildlife. In addition to the fishing there is an active art community, quaint café’s and a few very nice restaurants. Whether it is fishing, kayaking, bear viewing, shopping, dining or site seeing Homer has it all and then some. For a community this small it has a very cosmopolitan feeling.

This is one place where the local real estate market appears to being doing just fine. In the past few years there as been large increase in the population as the town has been discovered as a great vacation spot and, interestingly, a growth in retired people moving to Homer.There is no doubt in my mind, if we ever return to Alaska to live, it will be to Homer!

So long summer!

We left summer behind yesterday and arrived in Anchorage where they have been experiencing a wet and cool summer. At least it is nice to get away from the smoke for a few days. We are here for a family wedding and a trip to Homer to visit Michael’s daughter Kevyn and her husband Dave.

We have a good team to cover for me while we are away and I have my phone and email so hopefully we can get some work done and have some fun with family here too.