Our friends at roost.com are in beta testing with a new Facebook app, and, being a charter Roost IDX user in Memphis, I am testing it on my Memphis Facebook Real Estate page.

The app will show up on the Real Estate wall tab, and presents a Memphis real estate market snapshot, with map, homes for sale, market stats and trend information from Altos, as well as WalkScore and school information.  One stop shopping for a Memphis Real estate Snapshot.

Be sure and check out Roost.com’s comprehensive search engines (MLS listings, FSBOS, and Foreclosures) at my Roost Site.

While you are on Facebook, why not check out a new Memphis Fan Page I am sponsoring

Joe Spake is a Memphis, Tennessee based Consultant, Real Estate Broker, and Blogger. Call 901.214.5563 for a consultation or click to make a social connection.
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Joe Spake is a Memphis, Tennessee based Consultant, Real Estate Broker, and Blogger. Call 901.214.5563 for a consultation or click to make a social connection.
If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to the RSS Feed. 

If you use Google+, I have just started a brand new business page. Visit it HERE.

In these days of openness and transparency, Web 2.0, and social media,  it’s  fun to stop ever once in a while and have a look at folks who are still doing business the old fashioned way. Renee Porsia  pokes fun at some Realtors with her post Do You Need a Trophy Case For Your Meaningless Accolades?  on the Agent Genius Blog.  The title is attention grabbing, but the post is in good fun.   How many agents are still using terms like  Top 1%,  Top Producer, and Million Dollar Producer?   Do those terms make you want to trust them as your representative in a major financial transaction?  Are you willing to accept those credentials?  Have you ever wondered what a Million Dollar Producer makes? 

How about all those letters appended to Realtors’ names whenever you see them in print?  Quick:  What’s the difference between CRS and CRB?  ABR and SRES?  Did a Realtor ever explain those designations, or more importantly, what was involved in their being allowed to put them after their name?   Do an agent’s list of designations give you, as a real estate consumer, more confience in the professionalism and trustworthiness of the agent?

How about a flashy new Lexus?  A suit that would be out of your price range?  Exquistely coiffed hair? A glamour photo?  Any trust builders there?  Or can you just depend on  your nephew, who just got his license,  to fully service and negotiate your $750K transaction?

What goes into the formula for choosing your real estate agent?   How do you pick your agent?  Who do you trust?

I would really like to see your comments.

Joe Spake is a Memphis, Tennessee based Consultant, Real Estate Broker, and Blogger. Call 901.214.5563 for a consultation or click to make a social connection.
If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to the RSS Feed. 

If you use Google+, I have just started a brand new business page. Visit it HERE.

” ……. Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.”  – John Lennon

The year-end and decade-end lists have been written.  The predictions are posted.  The resolutions have been drafted.

I am thinking about a lot of things as this first day of 2010 comes to a close.  I spent the day hosting some of my best friends with a quiet day of  food and good conversation.

Here are some things I plan to do in 2010:

Spend more time appreciating my wife Katy
Get more client focused
Roll with the punches
Stop sweating the small stuff
Decide if my level of engagement in social media is worth the effort
Embrace the chaos (h/t Tara Hunt)
Learn more about VRM
Say “thank you”  much, much more.

I wish you a healthy, prosperous, connected, and fearless 2010!

Joe Spake is a Memphis, Tennessee based Consultant, Real Estate Broker, and Blogger. Call 901.214.5563 for a consultation or click to make a social connection.
If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to the RSS Feed. 

If you use Google+, I have just started a brand new business page. Visit it HERE.

I can always depend on my friend Bill Wendel to have a new and radical perspective on anything that has to do with the real estate consumer.  His post on expired listings made me wonder why expired and withdrawn listng numbers are not reported in the media.  If stats like pending sales (vs. actual sales, I guess) can make real estate headlines, why not also use expired, canceled and withdrawn listings, let’s call them FAILED listings as Ardell Of Rain City Guide does in her posts on the impact of failed listings on the overall real estate market.

The graph above shows the number of sold listings vs. the number of failed listings for the entire Memphis area  for 2009 up through 12/29.

But where do the failed listings g0? Looking at the graph, the number of failed sales, equaled or exceeded the number of completed sales in the above $200,000 price range.  Sure, some of these owners renewed their listings,  re-listed with another agent, or maybe even tried the for sale by owner route.  This may look normal under static conditions, but new listings are being added to the mix every day.  If the failed listings just went away, everything would look dandy for the market, but they are out there somewhere.

Here are the numbers that generated the graph:

Let’s look at the at the $300,000-500,ooo price range.   853 properties sold, 844 current listings, and 1104 Fails.  Even if all those completed sales had, at one time- which seems highly unlikely, been classified as Fails, that still leaves 251 properties unaccounted for, unless we roll that figure to current listings.  So we know we have the shadow market of  the properties that the banks have already foreclosed but are not putting on the market, but what’s to be said of the failed listings, and how do we know what their status is in the overall market?

Also,  the spreadsheet shows the absorption rate, based on months supply.  6 and below indicates a strong seller’s market.  Above 6 months favors buyers.  Since there are so many more properties priced below $200,000 the average rate for the overall market would be skewed downward, but, bottom line, if you are on the market with $Million property, there is a 3.5 year supply to compete with.  Prediction for 2010:   The shadow market will lead to continued decreasing sales prices in most areas.

Once again as I always say, all markets are micro.  Drill the stats down for your area and price range to the smallest, closest, and most comparable areas to see where you really stand in this market.

For an interview to anlyze your Memphis property’s marketability, and to review my Web 2.0 marketing tools call for an interview at 901-214-5563.  Sometimes listing your property is not to best course of action.  Let’s talk.

Joe Spake is a Memphis, Tennessee based Consultant, Real Estate Broker, and Blogger. Call 901.214.5563 for a consultation or click to make a social connection.
If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to the RSS Feed. 

If you use Google+, I have just started a brand new business page. Visit it HERE.