Selling expired listings may not be for everyone, but Realty Times' Dirk Zeller offers some great advice on how to prospect expired listings, saying it can be the core of any real estate professional's business.

Everyday, there are new expired listings, a streaming source of leads that are easy to find. While some of the sellers of these listings may be tired from trying to sell, they still ultimately want to sell, and a great majority of these are looking for or need an agent--you!

The key to sealing the deal on expired listings is the CAP method: consistency, attitude, and most critically, persistence. By focusing on the CAP system daily, you can follow up effectively to prospect these leads.

Read more at Realty Times.

Posted in Marketing, Seller Resources

The FHA is tightening its belt when it comes to mortgage loans, on the heels of an investigation into 15 FHA lenders whose FHA mortgage insurance claims were markedly high.

Myriad notices and comments about the impending qualification changes have been announced, but will take effect this spring, including raising mortgage insurance fees that borrowers must pay, capping the amount of cash that sellers can contribute for closing costs and requiring higher down payments for borrowers with poor credit scores.

With foreclosure rates tapering off in February compared to January, there is hope on the horizon, albeit rates are still higher than that of the previous year. The FHA is insuring as many as 50% of all purchase loans, as compared to 3% before the collapse of the subprime market.

With the tighter restrictions on FHA loans, the options for seeking other financing simply don't exist, making some wonder if this will add fuel to the fire to the weakened housing market.

Read more at Realty Times.

Posted in Education And Training, MBI News, Buyer Resources, Seller Resources

DocuSign has announced the release of DocuSign REALTOR Edition, specifically tailored for and available to members of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

The announcement followed an earlier statement from NAR declaring DocuSign the official and exclusive ESIGN provider for their 1.1 million REALTOR Benefits® Program member, late last year.

DocuSign Realtor Edition's enhancements and features include special NAR member-only branded signature and templates, an online dashboard, mobile signing, workflow optimization, and integration with real estate tools.

Read more at RISMedia and sign up for a free trial at DocuSign.

Posted in Technology And You, Seller Resources, Online Education

The use of smartphone apps to find real estate information is booming with home buyers.

Realtors and brokerages are using free apps to help their current and potential customers find listings and data about homes on the market or just sold, as well as geo-mapping information, as GPS is used more and more on mobile platforms.

Zillow's free app has been downloaded 970,000 times, with users looking up two million homes a month. With so much useage, it's no wonder why more and more companies are building apps for home buyers.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal online.

photo credit: Nimbuzz

Posted in Technology And You, Buyer Resources, Seller Resources

In this video from REALTOR® Magazine, we gain insight about how the National Association of Realtor's (NAR) new neighborhood stabilization project works.

The program is targeted at helping communities whose foreclosures could cause neighborhoods to become barren. The video shows two of the approximately two dozen neighborhoods at risk in Chicago, courtesy of Mabel Guzman, ABR, president-elect of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®.

Chicago's association has been aggressive in making sure it got its share of the money for the program and offers hope for all communities facing foreclosure issues. NAR also hopes others can find success through the program.

View the original blog post and commentary by Robert Freedman, senior editor of REALTOR® Magazine.

Posted in Seller Resources