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Last week we spoke about the limited time left to get deals in that will close and get you paid this year. It is part of the overall business planning process I work my people through so they can close out the year strong and be building into the next year as they complete the current year. Last week we looked at where our opportunities have come from this year. We also were looking into how many files were completed, scheduled to close, under contract, as well as the total number of preapprovals we have in our queue, both active and dormant.

This week we need to take a good look at where those opportunities are coming from this past year, the past six months, and the past three months. Referral partners can ebb and flow with opportunities, sometimes it’s just the way things go, but other times there are real reasons they have increased or declined in those opportunities. We also want to look at our own activities from both consumer direct and the marketing efforts of our own databases. What have we done? When did we do it? What was the return for having done it? How long did it take to see a return?

This information may or may not be surprising, but likely there are a few things you can learn from this exercise that can lead making a push at those kinds of activities again before the year ends; or know that these things are valuable to our annual efforts, or maybe need to be replaced? The data is what the data is; you need to make choices based upon what you have done in your market, and to track the results to either keep, adjust, or replace that activity!

We also have seen the markets trying to digest the jobs report from last week, war in the Middle East, the inflation reports from both yesterday and this morning, along with this week’s initial jobless claims and continuing claims. All these things can cause reactions in the markets and impact mortgage rates both up and down. You need to be aware of these things as they happen so you can answer questions your clients and referral partners ask you.

Questions or comments: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Posted On Monday, 16 October 2023 00:00 Written by

We have all heard that the key to becoming a successful business is effective communication and collaboration, but do we really know what that means? Unfortunately for many business leaders, they believe they do. But the reality is they actually struggle with the concept.

Back in 2013, the CEO of Yahoo! announced via memo that employees would no longer be able to work remotely and must come back into the office from Monday through Friday. Revoking the remote environment was done under the assumption that getting employees back in the office would increase collaboration and company culture.

However, the plan backfired. Instead of it boosting morale, employees felt pressure to either quit if they wanted to continue working remotely or relocate if they wanted to keep their job. As a result, the entire company suffered due to its leadership’s poor communication technique.

The thing about communication and collaboration is that they are closely intertwined — you cannot have one without the other. To build a stronger team and an overall stronger company, business leaders need to begin with fostering a culture of effective communication. Once you have communication, you are more likely to build the trust that allows collaboration to thrive.

Benefit from Communication

There are many challenges that affect efficient teamwork: the absence of team identity, inability to resolve conflicts, lack of participation, lack of creativity, difficulty making decisions, and the unwillingness or inability to consider alternative ideas or approaches. When you break these challenges down to their building blocks, they all tend to stem from one core weakness: the inability to communicate and do so effectively.

Communicating involves far more than just informing others. This is a concept that many business leaders tend to misunderstand. To inform is to be static, where information is passed along from one person to another without much interaction. It is a one-way conversation.

On the other hand, effective communication flows in both directions as a dynamic, two-way conversation. It leads to enhanced engagement as you hear as much as you speak. Teams that foster a culture of effective communication receive different perspectives, gain alternative answers to obstacles, and can make better decisions that lead to better results.

As a team leader, it is your responsibility to ensure that all perspectives of your team are heard and considered. When you do this, your team will feel as though they have been listened to and be more inclined to offer up ideas. This creates a stronger and more engaged unit that can then build a bridge to a world of positive disruption from the inside out.

Communication Leads to Collaboration Instead of Cooperation

Many organizations fail to differentiate between collaboration and cooperation. These two things are drastically different.

Cooperation, whether it be by a business leader or an entry-level employee, is actually a principle based on scarcity. People cooperate because they have to, because they see themselves as a lone individual who needs to defend their share of the economic pie instead of as a part of a unified whole who all benefit from decisions made.

While cooperation is a lonely environment that lacks team identity, collaboration is a principle based in abundance. People collaborate because they want to, not because they have to, and because they see the opportunity a leader sees. They understand that by working together as a team, they can create a bigger economic pie that benefits all. To collaborate is to be inclusive and expansive.

Is putting the focus on collaboration as opposed to cooperation difficult? It can be, but it is all tied to effective communication. When you are simply informing, you are limiting interaction to being one-sided. Yahoo! telling employees to come back to the office “or else” without any alternative perspective is making them cooperate and thus leading them to believe there is no team mentality there.

But when you are communicating, you are encouraging a collaborative environment where everyone is working toward the same end that will lead to abundance for all. Yahoo! giving employees the option to stay remote if, based on research, their productivity was through the roof would only lead to innovation and progress for their department and the organization overall.

Going Beyond Internal: The Ripple Effect of External Communication and Collaboration

With effective communication that leads to collaboration, the benefits can and will go beyond the department, the organization, or even the industry. Believe it or not, you can and should collaborate with those whom you perceive to be your competition as well!

With powerful strategic alliances come pooled resources, shared skill, and creativity for either greater profit for all or for the greater good. This makes your organization move into a realm of significance rather than simple success, a mindset that gives you longevity.

We often see organizations and brands coming together to form new products and services to bring to the marketplace. Frito-Lay and Taco Bell formed the Doritos Locos Taco in 2012. Taco Bell hired 15,000 employees just to keep up with demand for that specific product! Even GM and Ford are currently collaborating to bring a new automated transmission for increased vehicle performance and fuel economy to the marketplace.

Rooted in more than just financial gain, collaboration efforts can also be focused on the greater good of society. During the coronavirus pandemic, Google and Apple joined forces to produce contact-tracing technology that notifies users when they have been in contact with someone who has been infected with COVID-19, in an effort to reduce exposure risk.

While typically, businesses are in fierce competition with others in their industry, protecting their vested interests, their customers, and their market share, it is important to evaluate them for not just how you can stay ahead of the game, but also for how you can benefit from strategic collaboration and working together.

Whether you are trying to better communicate and collaborate with team members internally or outside of your industry, it is always important to lead by example. Set your tone as an active listener. Use your body language, your tone of voice, and your words appropriately. Ask for input, ask for ideas, and encourage discussion. Also, do not be afraid to ask for contradictory opinions.

Once the communication channels are open, collaboration will inevitably follow, and there will be so much room for innovation with a united Futureview®!

Posted On Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:00 Written by
Posted On Tuesday, 17 October 2023 00:00 Written by
Posted On Monday, 16 October 2023 00:00 Written by

According to a recent Redfin report: New listings have inched up this fall, giving the buyers who remain in the market a few more homes to choose from. But many buyers are retreating as mortgage rates stay elevated.

New listings of U.S. homes for sale have ticked up 2% since the start of September, and listings haven’t fallen as much from summer to fall as they typically do. That’s according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage.

What home sellers are doing: A few more homeowners are putting their homes on the market, despite being locked into relatively low mortgage rates. The total number of homes for sale is down 14% from a year earlier during the four weeks ending October 8, but that’s the smallest decline since July.

Advice for sellers: Take advantage of still-rising prices; the median sale price is up 3% year over year despite low demand. But with the share of for-sale homes with a price drop at its highest level in nearly a year and high mortgage rates cutting into buyers’ budgets, be mindful of setting a fair price. Redfin agents in some parts of the country report that many move-in ready, fairly priced homes are selling quickly.

What homebuyers are doing: Retreating as mortgage rates sit near their highest level in more than two decades and the median U.S. monthly mortgage payment approaches $3,000. Mortgage-purchase applications inched up slightly this week, but they’re still near their lowest level in nearly 30 years, and Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index—which measures tour requests and other early-stage demand signals—dropped to its lowest level in nearly a year.

Advice for buyers: All hope is not lost for people who want to buy a home soon. Even though mortgage rates are likely to remain elevated, buyers on the fence may consider jumping into the market when there’s a small reprieve: Along with the small uptick in new listings to choose from, daily average rates have come down some from the peak they reached last week. “Despite last week’s hotter-than-expected jobs report, rates have fallen after the Fed signaled this week that it is unlikely to hike interest rates again and war broke out in Israel,” said Redfin Economic Research Lead Chen Zhao. “Buyers should also remember that the average mortgage rate in the news is just that: an average. Many buyers can secure a lower rate by shopping around; the difference between rates among lenders is bigger when rates are higher. Buying down a mortgage rate is always an option, too.”

Leading indicators

Indicators of homebuying demand and activity

 

Value (if applicable)

Recent change

Year-over-year change

Source

Daily average 30-year fixed mortgage rate

7.6% (Oct. 11)

Down from last week’s two-decade peak of 7.81%

Up from 7.1%

Mortgage News Daily

Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate

7.49% (week ending Oct. 5)

Highest level in over 2 decades

Up from 6.7%

Freddie Mac

Mortgage-purchase applications (seasonally adjusted)

 

Up 1% from a week earlier (as of week ending Oct. 6)

Down 19%

Mortgage Bankers Association

Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index (seasonally adjusted)

 

Down slightly from a month earlier (as of the 4 weeks ending Oct. 8) to its lowest level in nearly a year

Down 5%

Redfin Homebuyer Demand Index, a measure of requests for tours and other homebuying services from Redfin agents

Google searches for “home for sale”

 

Down 12% from a month earlier (as of Oct. 7)

Down 12%

Google Trends

Key housing-market data

U.S. highlights: Four weeks ending October 8, 2023

Redfin’s national metrics include data from 400+ U.S. metro areas, and is based on homes listed and/or sold during the period. Weekly housing-market data goes back through 2015. Subject to revision.

 

Four weeks ending October 8, 2023

Year-over-year change

Notes

Median sale price

$370,000

2.7%

Prices are up partly because elevated mortgage rates were hampering prices during this time last year

Median asking price

$388,223

5.2%

Biggest increase in a year

Median monthly mortgage payment

$2,736 at a 7.49% mortgage rate

10%

Just shy of the all-time high set a week earlier

Pending sales

73,943

-11.6%

 

New listings

81,964

-3.9%

Smallest decline since July 2022, in part because new listings fell rapidly at this time in 2022

Active listings

827,406

-14%

Tied with the previous week for smallest decline in four months

Months of supply

3.2 months

+0.2 pts.

4 to 5 months of supply is considered balanced, with a lower number indicating seller’s market conditions.

Share of homes off market in two weeks

39.5%

Up from 36%

 

Median days on market

32

-2 days

 

Share of homes sold above list price

30.7%

Up from 30%

 

Share of homes with a price drop

6.8%

+0.2 pts.

Highest level in a year

Average sale-to-list price ratio

99.3%

+0.3 pts.

 

Metro-level highlights: Four weeks ending October 8, 2023

Redfin’s metro-level data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Select metros may be excluded from time to time to ensure data accuracy.

 

Metros with biggest year-over-year increases

Metros with biggest year-over-year declines

Notes

Median sale price

Anaheim, CA (13.5%)

San Jose, CA (11%)

New Brunswick, NJ (10.5%)

Providence, RI (10.2%)

West Palm Beach, FL (9.9%)

Austin, TX (-4.1%)

San Antonio, TX (-2.5%)

Houston, TX (-2.1%)

Las Vegas (-0.9%)

Dallas, TX (-0.6%)

Fort Worth, TX (-0.5%)

Phoenix (-0.4%)

New York, NY (-0.4%)

Portland, OR (-0.4%)

Declined in 9 metros (in 6 of those metros, the decline was smaller that 1%)

Pending sales

West Palm Beach, FL (7.7%)

Orlando, FL (5.5%)

San Jose, CA (4.3%)

New Brunswick, NY (-32.9%)

New York (-32.9%)

Portland, OR (-24.6%)

Atlanta (-20.8%)

Providence, RI (-20.7%)

Declined in all but 3 metros

New listings

West Palm Beach, FL (17%)

Orlando, FL (16%)

Miami, FL (14.8%)

Jacksonville, FL (11.3%)

Fort Lauderdale, FL (10.2%)

Atlanta (-26.9%)

Anaheim, CA (-14.5%)

Portland, OR (-13.5%)

Newark, NJ (-13,4%)

Seattle (-12.8%)

Declined in all but 10 metros. 5 biggest increases all in Florida.

To view the full report, including charts, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/news/housing-market-update-new-listings-tick-up

 

Posted On Saturday, 14 October 2023 07:36 Written by
Posted On Friday, 13 October 2023 10:21

Joint proposal would reduce spread between mortgage rates, Treasury bonds

 

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), Community Home Lenders of America, and National Association of REALTORS today proposed a solution to reduce historically high long-term mortgage rates relative to long-term Treasury bonds. The groups’ plan would reduce the historically large spread between 30-year mortgage rates and 10-year Treasuries to promote homeownership affordability.

“With housing accounting for nearly 20% of the nation’s gross domestic product and affecting homeowners and renters nationwide, policymakers must act to promote housing affordability,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said today. “ICBA and the nation’s community banks call on the administration to implement our plan to address lending challenges and mortgage-servicing impediments, which could support demand for mortgage-backed securities and reduce mortgage rates by an estimated 100 to 150 basis points.”

With the combination of high mortgage rates and low housing construction leading to historically unaffordable housing and hampering mortgage lending, the groups issued a joint letter to the White House and Treasury Department urging:

  • The Federal Reserve to maintain its stock of mortgage-backed securities and to suspend further runoff until liquidity and the spread between the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and 10-year Treasury stabilize.
  • The Treasury Department to amend the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements to enable the enterprises to temporarily purchase their own and Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities.

ICBA will continue working with policymakers to help ease nationwide housing affordability challenges to promote affordable housing for American homebuyers.

Posted On Friday, 13 October 2023 09:33 Written by
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