Translating 2010 predictions into Menu of RE Consumer Savings

Couldn't wait to read Pat Kitano's blog post, Media Predictions for 2010, and fired off the comment below just as quickly after reading his list bullet point list below:

1. Community Engagement will become the Driver of Local Media
2. Mobile + Local advertising = Penny Saver 2.0
3. Mobile + Advertising + Pubsubhubbub = Alert systems
4. Advertising as Content
5. Everybody becomes a marketer, and some will become sales closers
   1. Everybody can become a traveling sales person
6. Virtual socializing and Webinar ubiquity
7. The grass roots Web
8. The stream is more important than website
9. Curation is the new syndication
10. A new era of open social media (the adjective “social” will soon be redundant)

COMMENT:  Thanks for sharing your vision of new ways for consumers and professionals to collaborate on the creation of real-time content and money-saving coupons in the coming year.  Is a folksnomy of real estate related savings already beginning to emerge?  If so, is there an open directory already online.  The Real Estate Cafe is eager to experiment with some of the links you've suggested, and collaborate with other money-saving business models and innovators to deliver billions of dollars in savings annually to home buyers and sellers. (We're already begun experimenting with the hashtag #recoop hoping other discount / coupon publishers will do the same.)

Maybe we should set a common goal of delivering enough location specific coupons that any home buyer can save at least as much as the $8,000 tax credit after it phases out next Spring.  The Real Estate Cafe's own goal is to deliver three times that amount as we blogged / Twittered recently, and proposed in a TweetUp at #nar09 (with featured speaker Tara Hunt, @missrogue) entitled, "Is Real Estate ripe for VRM?"

Do you see a "Menu of RE Saving Coupons" emerging from within the industry or consumer-centric media companies and fourth parties, hyper-local or national, as some in the #VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) community predict?   I'd love to see a national network of locally organized homebuyer clubs to aggregate discounts that make sense for consumers AND vendors because they benefit by reduced marketing costs.

Ideas and feedback welcome! Anyone want to participate in an adhoc webinar to brainstorm?  Pat's already got one planned for Friday, December 18 at 10:00am PST / 1:00pm EST for anybody interested: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/267040507

Update on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 9:02PM by RealEstateCafe

As the first efforts to organize group buying sites for real estate begin to appear online, eager to use Quora to seed this discussion:

What is the best way to coauthor a folksonomy or tagging system of savings opportunities (not just coupons) for home buyers and sellers?

Your thoughts are welcome here or on the link above.

Preparing an offer soon? Use slides from RECafe's "Menu of Talking Points" to save money

Since it was posted yesterday, dozens of Boston Globe readers have been debating whether Demanding Boston sellers finally ready to deal? 

Some of our clients have presented similar arguments in slide presentations with their offers, resulting in saving over $1 million in 2006 and 2008 (includes discounts from original asking prices plus commission rebates).  The goal of our "Talking Offer" is to present evidence that helps sellers conclude they are better off accepting offers rather than waiting for housing prices to bottom out or rise.

In today's digital media world, it's possible to develop a "business case" for your offer based on data from multiple sources, including fellow DIY (do-it-yourself) homebuyers.  The tumbnail slides above show some of the best slides clients have prepared and submitted with their offers over the past four years. 

Access to our "Talking Offer" (http://TalkingOffer.com) slide library is normally limited to Real Estate Cafe clients, but this weekend we're offering table top demos at TweetUps in Boston.  Call 617-661-4046 to schedule an appointment or follow http://Twitter.com/RealEstateCafe for sample slides and TweetUp locations.  (If you're preparing an offer NOW, you can use this link to upload it for review.)

FINANCIAL REWARD:  To motivate other thoughtful DIY homebuyers to create and contribute slides to the Real Estate Cafe's "Menu of Talking Points," we need YOUR help to rethink the financial incentives offered through the Real Estate Cafe's original "Tipping Policy."  The biggest reward, however, isn't our 100% commission rebate, but the money you can save by sharing slides with other savvy-homebuyers, some who have already looked at 1,000's of MLS listings online, to build a hard-hitting, but diplomatic, business case to submit with your offer. 

BE PREPARED:  Even if it's weeks or months before you make an offer, it's not too early to begin collaborating with other buyers to build the case that houses are overpriced in your desired locations.  How can The Real Estate Cafe reward you, financially or otherwise, to help build that case?

Off-market listings outpace sales, represent opportunity to triple tax credit?

UPDATE:  See related blog post and video:  10,000+ MA Sellers "rebelling" on anniversary of Boston Tea Party

The housing market is entering the traditional "off-season" in New England, and as in past years, The Real Estate Cafe is monitoring expired, canceled, and withdrawn listings across Massachusetts. Over the past six and a half weeks, there have been approximately 10,700 expired, canceled and withdrawn listings across all price ranges and all residential property types (single family, condos, multi-family, and land.)

Surprisingly, 12% more listings have come OFF the market than have SOLD during the same period, a difference of 1,150 listings, DESPITE home buyer tax credits.  Could timing the housing market deliver savings three times the tax credit?  Let's explore that question (we invite your feedback): 

If the median asking price of expired and canceled listings is more than $300,000, prudent home buyers who did not get sucked into self-defeating "bidding wars" before the original $8,000 tax credit was extended, could potentially TRIPLE their savings if sellers discount their price by the amount of the brokerage fee they are no longer obligated to pay. (Here's what the math looks like: Deduct $15,000 to $18,000 from the $300,000 asking price ADD $8,000 tax credit = Total homebuyer savings of $23,000 to $26,000 or triple the $8,000 tax credit alone, right?)

Overall, how large a savings opportunity does timing the market represent?  Consider the following:  Approximately ten listings have expired, canceled, or been withdrawn from the MLS statewide EVERY HOUR over the past 45 days, or one listing off market every six minutes.

The 45 day total of 10,700 listings is three times more than the 10 day period surrounding the 4th of July, another traditional period when listing contracts expire. As documented in an earlier blog post, the RECafe forecasted 3,500 expired and canceled listings, or more than one every four minutes across MA!  As fee-for-service buyer agents, we don't take listings.  So we're glad to help you save money by identifying homes BEFORE they are listed on the MLS, or (2) AFTER they expire or are canceled.  Ready to take action?  (1) Preview our video, (2) Sign-up for daily email updates, and (3) Call 617-661-4046 to learn about our unique "proactive house hunting" strategies.