Home Buyer Tip: A 6-step plan for boosting credit score to buy home

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Question: I need some assistance in cleaning up my very poor credit score of 638 from Trans Union and 559 from Equifax. It's not the result of any credit cards but poor choices (which I admit) and a divorce with little to no child support of three girls. I'm in my mid-forties and all three girls are over the age of 18.

My question is how do I increase my FICO score within the next 6-10 months and is there a reputable agency that can work on my behalf? I would like to purchase a home early next year. I know there's a lot of work that needs to be done and would greatly appreciate any assistance you or an agency can provide.

List below.. View article for details..

1. Settle collections
2. Get rid of the 'black marks'
3. Clean up late pays
4. Get even
5. Remain open
6. Remain active

National: The end of the old MLS?

So you think that Silicon Valley won't have an effect on the real estate business? From today's San Francisco Chronicle, there is a new player in the home buyer's arsenal of online tools that works as an "aggregator" of information from the traditional MLS, craigslist, trulia, zillow, etc. in a netvibes type interface.

Terabitz.com, the brainchild of a near-child, will go live with its real estate "dashboard," where users can create a personal page from for-sale listings, valuation tools, maps, photos, crime statistics, weather and neighborhood cafes, banks and airports. Whereas other sites usually provide a few of those resources, Terabitz says its hub aggregates all the information a home shopper needs -- from a place to peruse four-bedroom colonials to where to find a baby crib.

The home buyer (and for that matter, any lender, investor or potential seller) can view current inventory for sale and for rent from multiple sources, giving the home buyer more resources than most agents may have in their standard MLS database (also, it is the agent that pays an annual fee to input their listings into the database). It also gives the agent's potential clients the information of recent sales comps, a common request from clients when they're interested in making an offer or signing a listing agreement.

Terabitz works like this: The visitor types in a city or ZIP code. Then under tabs such as "listings" or "education" or "financing", there are icons representing different items - or "bitz" in company parlance -- such as Google's home listings, nearby colleges, neighborhood photos and local mortgage rates. By dragging and dropping the icons into the "workspace," users can choose which information they want on their page. The data is available in list form, or, for certain data sources, a layered map. From there, the user can save those snapshots and e-mail them to their friends, family or mortgage broker.

As Terabitz (or other online resources like it) gain acceptance as an aggregator of information for the "masses", additional venture capital will flow in an effort to make the site a "one stop shop" for the home buyer and sellers. As it's been reported recently, 80% of home buyers use the internet to find their next big purchase.

Ashfaq Munshi, CEO of Terabitz and a Silicon Valley veteran who was the former chief executive officer of Level 5 Networks, said he has raised $10 million from Tudor Capital, part of the Tudor Hedge Fund. Munshi plans to charge vendors for Real estate site has all kinds of info and "Do-it-yourself" features allows users to add data they want placement -- for instance, Starbucks would pay a fee for always being first on a list of local cafes. Terabitz would also make available, for a fee, sites for real estate brokers and others.

A real estate agent's ability to adopt and adapt to these trends in technology is half the battle in this business. It is essential to stay current with the trends in "end user" access.

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Online: New Online Maps for Real Estate Users

Since Google made its maps available for customization last year, savvy programmers have created thriving businesses by adding layers of information.

So in May, Washington-based startup FortiusOne launched GeoCommons, a cartographic portal where users can easily create their own mashups.

The site has 2 billion pieces of localized data -- from census figures and school district budgets to water-contamination and traffic-congestion hot spots -- and it is rapidly adding more. Two examples are below offered by users that collected data through business and government sites:

1. Foreclosure Filing and the Subprime Collapse: Foreclosure filings are starting to hit hard. People all over the country are having trouble paying off their ARMs (Adjustable rate Mortgages) and houses are being foreclosed. This is having a ripple effect in the economy, Home Depot and Lowe's have already cut their earnings estimates and it looks likely that more trouble is on the way. Our map will show you the locations of foreclosures, auction notifications, and other housing indicators. this map shows the Top 500 Zipcodes ranked by number of foreclosures.

2. House Hunting Made Easy: I wanted to demonstrate how to speed up a home search by using Intersection Heat Maps. In my scenario, we are looking for a home in neighborhoods that have large numbers of kids, large numbers of tech workers, newer homes, low crime rates, and large number of parks. This data includes information on subsidized housing in the lower 48 states. The source of the data is HUD. A full description of the variables and coding used in the dataset is provided on the HUD website: http://www.huduser.org/picture2000/dictionary.pdf

Upcoming Week: What to expect the Fed to say about housing

While the Fed is expected to remain optimistic about inflation fears and semi-soft manufacturing growth, here's what Marketwatch anticipates for the Housing sector:

"Bernanke could also bring some depressing news on housing with him into the hearing room. The Commerce Department will report on housing starts and building permits for June earlier in the morning on Wednesday, at exactly the same time the CPI is released. The median forecast calls for a 1.6% decline in starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.45 million. Building permits are expected to fall 2.3% to 1.485 million.

Housing starts are down about 24% in the past year, while permits are down about 21%.

On Tuesday, the home builders will release their sentiment index for July. After falling to a 16-year low of 28 in June, another decrease is possible in July, our survey says.

"The housing market overall continues to be on the ropes, with another rash of credit quality problems in the subprime lending sector surfacing in recent weeks," wrote Gault and Bethune. The housing market "poses the greatest downside risk to the outlook for the second half of 2007."

Bernanke, like other Fed officials, has insisted that the housing slump won't drag down the rest of the economy into recession.

Bernanke will face some tough grilling from the House committee on Wednesday about the Fed's role in inflating the housing bubble. It's not so much the ultra low interest rates the Fed adopted in 2002 and 2003, but the ultra lax regulation over mortgage lenders that allowed the proliferation of exotic mortgage products that allowed buyers to overpay for homes.

With the inventory correction nearly complete, orders and production at U.S. manufacturers has picked up in recent months. The outlook calls for a 0.6% increase in industrial output in June. The industrial production numbers will be released on Tuesday."

Interesting items I found on the web today

Home buyers and home sellers alike can find more innovative and useful features than ever on real estate web sites, which are nimbly adapting to the U.S. housing slump. Residential agents are beginning to be wary of www.buysiderealty.com and www.iggyshouse.com – while investors, lenders and homeowners are using valuation tools like www.zillow.com, www.housefront.com and www.trulia.com

At market close today, Research in Motion (RIM)'s market cap of $42.3 billion edged out Motorola's $41.4 billion. This despite the fact that RIM's annual revenue of $3 billion is puny next to Motorola's nearly $43 billion. (Yes, you read that right; Motorola's market cap is less than its annual revenue.)

A new service called Ether (www.ether.com) provides an innovative and easy way to sell what you say to others that need or want your expertise.

CAP Rate Follies

Capitalization rates are often controversial and misunderstood variables in commercial real estate valuation equations. To value properties, most buyers and sellers prefer an income approach, which analyzes cash flows to determine debt service and investor return — typically the internal rate of return — so it's easy to see why cap rates are scrutinized.

In fact, no other valuation aspect is debated as heavily as cap rates because unsupported data often lead to inaccurate commercial property valuations. By understanding the fallacies that exist, real estate professionals can perform more thorough financial analyses for their clients.

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The Benefits of Cost-Segregation Studies

When a commercial property is purchased or constructed, a building asset is created and the dollars are entered into a fixed-asset system as 39- or 27.5-year property. Using the straight-line method, owners can take portions of the purchase as taxable income deductions each year of the schedule. Cost-segregation studies, which analyze the components that make up the building and assign these various components with recovery periods, can provide property owners with distinct tax advantages over the straight-line depreciation method.

Cost segregation is a process in which detailed entries are made in a fixed-asset system for all long- and short-life property. For instance, certain aspects of the property may be assigned a three-, five-, seven-, or 15-year tax life. These shorter lives are depreciated at an accelerated rate that dramatically increases taxpayers’ federal tax deductions. The impact of cost-segregation studies can be significant.

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FW: Real estate search engine launches

Feed: bizjournals.com Real Estate:Commercial headlines
Posted on: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 11:48 AM
Author: bizjournals.com Real Estate:Commercial headlines
Subject: Real estate search engine launches

Zooven Inc., which offers an online real estate database, has partnered with Austin 360 Realty to launch Zooven.com, a real estate brokerage services company.

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CCIM Podcasts - Free downloads

Finally, want to hear what’s going on in the industry? Visit the CCIM Podcast page -- http://podcast.ccim.com/. No User ID or password required.

Regards,

Edward M. Bury, APR
Director of Public Relations

CCIM Institute
www.ccim.com

Characteristics of Great Sales Negotiators

by Kelley Robertson
author of Stop, Ask, and Listen

Virtually everyone in sales is required to negotiate. After conducting hundreds of workshop and working with thousands of people during the last decade, I have discovered that most sales people are not as effective at negotiating as they could be.

However, I do come across great sales negotiators from time-to-time and have noticed that they typically have a few things in common. Here are the characteristics they usually possess.

Understanding of the negotiating process. Highly effective negotiators recognize that negotiating is a process, not just something that is done when discussing the terms and conditions of a solution. Negotiating is much more than haggling about price. It requires an understanding of the dynamics that affect the process and influence the behavior of people. Great negotiators invest time learning different tactics and strategies and how each technique contributes to the overall outcome.

Focus on win-win. Win-win means that both parties feel good about the outcome of the negotiating process. Some books that state win-win solutions are not possible in business negotiating; the authors write that someone usually gives away more than they should and the outcome becomes a win-lose situation. Great negotiators don't believe that. They help their customer try and solve problems and look for opportunities to give as much value as possible. They also know how and when to limit their concessions, give-aways, and discounts so they can work out an agreement that is equitable for both parties.

Patience. Too many people search for the quick fix try to close the sale as fast as possible so they can move on the next prospect. Great sales negotiators recognize that patience is a virtue and that rushing the process often leads to an undesirable outcome. They don't hurry to reach an agreement. Instead, they take time to gather the necessary information. They think carefully about possible solutions. They take their time during the entire process. This is critical because major mistakes are made when we try to reach an agreement too quickly. We rush through the process, not giving the other person's offer ample attention, and often end up with an outcome that is win-lose. Simply because we were in a hurry.

Creativity. Most great negotiators are also very creative. They use their problem-solving skills to determine the best solution and look for unique ways to achieve their goal. A friend of mine was once embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with a company and after months of negotiation, he came up with a solution that ended the suit. He stretched out beyond the normal answers and developed an alternative that was accepted by the other party. In other words, he got creative.

Willingness to experiment. Negotiating is a very dynamic process because no two people are alike. What works extremely well in one situation can backfire in another. That's why great negotiators practise using a variety of concepts and techniques. They experiment with different strategies, solutions, and tactics. And a small failure does not prevent them from experimenting with new ideas in the future.

Confidence. Great negotiators are confident when they enter a negotiation. They aren't arrogant or rude or cocky-they are simply confident. They have developed a high belief in their ability to reach an win-win agreement. They are confident that they can handle anything that comes their way in a negotiation and this confidence is developed through experience. Great negotiators evaluate themselves regularly. They learn from their mistakes and victories. They focus on improving their skill. They develop an internal confidence that is unshakable.

Keen listening skills. People will tell you virtually everything you need to know if you ask the right questions AND listen carefully to their answers. I personally believe that this one attribute is the most important skill in selling and negotiating. I remember my wife talking to a prospect on the telephone and at one point during the conversation she sensed that he had more to say. She waited patiently and listened carefully and the other person eventually gave her valuable information that helped her close the sale. Unfortunately, too many sales people simply wait for their turn to talk, or even worse, interrupt their prospect. This lack of listening means they often miss hearing key information that will assist them in the negotiations.

Negotiating is not a skill that is easily acquired. It takes time, effort and energy. If you want to improve your negotiating ability you must be ready to work at it. Invest the time learning the dynamics and science of negotiating. And be prepared to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

Copyright 2007 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.