Where is relief for responsibility?

There is a conspicuous absence in policy discussions about mortgage and foreclosures: Relief for responsibility.

Before the housing crisis, homeowners frequently bought houses with no money down and, in some cases, even walked away with a cash rebate. When they later faced foreclosure – a process that frequently takes two years or even longer – the homeowners continued to live in their homes without making ANY payments during this procedure therefore living for free for many, many months. Yet, most of the national focus has been on providing relief to these foreclosed former homeowners who most will admit that should never have been qualified to borrow these funds.

Meanwhile, responsible homeowners whose values have decreased, in part to the huge numbers of foreclosures reducing these values are struggling to make their payments because they can’t get qualified for the current lower interest rates– are footing the bill. We are rewarding the cause of the problem and doing nothing to aid those who are paying their mortgages responsibly even though their rates are frequently double the current rates available.

In the real estate industry, like most businesses, we understand the importance of return on investment. Buyers and sellers expect their investment in a realtor to produce the best deal possible. Likewise, when marketing a property, our bottom line depends on investing in tools that efficiently produce the best results.

Taxpayers, like business owners, should measure the return on their investment and ask for relief for responsible homeowners who are struggling. To me, that’s a much safer investment.

Be Picky!

Now that prices are down 30 percent and transactions are half of what they were at their peak, there are a huge number of agents – thousands on the west side of Los Angeles – working a much smaller pool of listings. The good news for buyers and sellers: You can be a lot pickier than in the past.

When you consider that the commission rate is uniform throughout most of the industry, then you don’t retain an agent based on price. It’s important that you do your homework to ensure you’re getting the most for your sales commission.

The top 5 questions I would ask before hiring an agent are:

1. How much experience do you have with properties such as mine?

2. How much attention can you pay to my property? In other words, is it one 1-of-10 or 1-of-50 that you current have listed?

3. Will you handle the showings yourself or pass them off to an assistant?

4. How familiar are you with the neighborhood where my property is located?

5. Since the real estate industry has become much more tech savvy, how will you market my property using new technologies and techniques? How many websites will my property be available on, and in what countries? Is your agency website easily negotiated and easy to find? Does it perform well in search results?

WEA's use of new technology to sell real estate can be seen in this clip from CBS-Los Angeles:


By comparing the answers you receive, you will begin to get a sense of the level of commitment an agent has to your listing, as well as how innovative he/she is as a salesperson.