Robert Worthington, Author at Real Estate Industry Watch

Strategic Default is the new mortgage payment

May 17, 2011 By Robert Worthington 2 Comments

In a recent survey by the Palm Beach Post in Palm Beach County Florida, strategic default is on the rise. A local reporter even had some feedback from an anomymos and willing individual who explained that when she bought her waterfront home in 2004 for $583,000 everything was fine. She later decided to strategically default even though she can continue making the $5,200 mortgage payment. This news should not come suprising to some of us.

75% of homeowner’s in Palm Beach County who are upside down in there home by 100% of there current value are strategically defaulting of the total 4,200 people surveyed. Homeowners are not even looking to short sale the property or even modify their mortgage. Upside down is upside explained another anonymos individual. Only time will tell what the net effect will be in Palm Beach County on strategic default. In your market area, has strategic default played a part in the real estate crisis?

Cash is King for Homes

March 25, 2011 By Robert Worthington 1 Comment

Financing is harder and harder to come by. Recently, February 2011 sets a new record, as 33.7% of homes were purcahsed with cash, nearly a 7% incrase from February 2010 according to NAR. Investors are responsible for purchasing 23.5% of homes sold in February, an indication that investors are coming back into the market. However, an a recent survey of 3,000 Realtors, the average sales per month for these agents went from 2.1 closings in January to 1.7 closings in February an indication that might look like a rough start spring. For more information on the full article click here.

Wisconsin Governor Walker warns possible mass layoffs

March 5, 2011 By Robert Worthington Leave a Comment

The heat is on! Wisconsin Replublicans and Democrats have not yet come to terms on a collective bargaining agreement for state workers. Republicans are only one vote away from passing the bill which takes away union bargaining rights. Governor Scott Walker warned of mass layouts to 1500 state union employees; since 20 democrats have fled south to Illinois. Wisconsin’s economy is caught in the heart of this mess. The state capital building has the same amount of protestors as the vietnam war did about 40 years ago.

If 1500 workers are permanently laid off, how many can keep their homes? Wisconsin is currently is a 3.6 billion budget shortfall this year. Something has to give. Should it be state union employees accounting for $30 million of the deficit or can others areas be trimmed down? All major news networks has been covering this story. As the nation watches Wisconsin, which could soon also be a turning point in our nation, how will our housing market remain? Do you see more shadow inventory (foreclosures & Short Sales) coming down the line?

Real Estate Webmasters announces new backend cms 4.0 – coming soon

February 27, 2011 By Robert Worthington Leave a Comment

Real Estate Webmasters has announced the pending release of their new backend cms 4.0 ., , according to an announcement on the company’s website and forum. One of the unique features of this announcement is that the new cms 4.0 is still in it’s beta form and current REW customers can be the first to test it, and have a say in it’s features and so on.

This will also be the first time that Real Estate Webmasters (a Canadian based company in Nanaimo British Columbia ) will be holding this kind of opportunity in United States. Previous conferences have all been held at the company’s headquaters. Click here to check out the details.

The company has a highly successful track record of providing websites that garner traffic, sites that convert that traffic to leads. This new latest version of the CMS is expected to continue to enhance their ability to track and convert leads into successful commissions.

QR Bar Code Scanner for Real Estate?

January 4, 2011 By Robert Worthington 1 Comment

I’ve become more intrigued lately by the number of agents putting the QR bar code scanner on the back on their business cards. I’ve decided to write this post for the need of an opinion. Should the square shaped QR bar code be on the back of a business card. Recently in South Florida, a large company accounced they are putting the QR bar code scan on all real estate sign riders so anyone who drives by a homes, can simply scan the QR bar code and access all the information of that property.

The great idea behind the QR bar code on the real estate signs or business cards is that it captures a lead. You receive the buyers information, including their name and telephone number. Although it does not capture an email address for dripping purposes. So the question must be asked. Is a QR bar code acceptable on a business card or only a real estate sign rider? My opinion stands, the QR bar code only has a place on sign riders. What is your stance on this topic?

New IDX rolls out

July 8, 2010 By Robert Worthington 4 Comments

Real Estate Webmasters for those of you who know is probably the best idx platform on the market. Real Estate Webmasters recently rolled out it’s new version ( IDX 3.0) which rivals Realtor.com. Also, one of the best features of all in that this idx is search engine spiderable! I personally own a Real Estate Webmasters site and have their idx of course and I rank for terms that I shouldn’t. For example when seller or buyers specifically types in their address, I rank on page 1 of G every single time.

Real Estate Webmasters is currently running a sale right now! Check out their website for yourself and place an order! Also be sure to check out the new map search which allows customers to search an area they outline on a map. The idx is custom and additional add on’s are available for purchase. For example, Google Directions, Get Local, Walk Score, plus more. Real Estate Webmasters have worked very well for me and it can for you as well.

Women pleads no contest to being an unlicensed real estate broker

March 21, 2010 By Robert Worthington Leave a Comment

A 43-year-old Miramar Beach woman was sentenced to five years in prison after she was caught running a property management firm without a license.

In July 2009, a couple hired Connie Jo Hludzik to rent out their condo, according to a Walton County Sheriff’s Office news release. Hludzik told the couple she ran a company called CJ’s Cleaning and Property Management LLC.

Hludzik rented out the condo, and turned over two checks to the owners totaling $1,746, the release said. The checks failed to clear the bank, and investigators learned that Hludzik did not have a real estate license.

Also in the summer of 2009, a man sent Hludzik a $400 check to reserve a condo in Destin for a week, the release said. The man was unable to make further contact with Hludzik.

Hludzik pleaded no contest Tuesday to grand theft and to being an unlicensed real estate broker. She was sentenced to five years in prison.

She remains a person of interest in a few similar fraud cases in Florida, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Source: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/woman-27108-management-firm.html

This is a huge scam that I am so disappointed to hear about. The women rightly deserves 5 years in prison. I do hope that other scam artists read this article. Realtors can all be aware and report any suspicious activity to their local boards as well.

No tilt; no fall real estate signs

March 16, 2010 By Robert Worthington 10 Comments

This blog post is an informative blog post for people who purchase their own real estate signs; other’s need not read any further. For years, Worthington Realty have put up with under engineered, cheaply made real estate signs. Looking high and low, nothing was on the market which needed to meet the following requirements.

1) Guaranteed not the lean, tilt, or fall over

2) Built to last

3) Fashionable looking

4) Easy to install

5) Light in weight

6) Reasonable cost

Fast forward two years and dozens of experiments, Worthington Realty has got it! The first real estate sign guaranteed to stand straight up tall just like the day you put in the ground. Worthington Realty consulted with visionary fabrication guru’s to create the ultimate in real estate sign technology. We’ve perfected the anchor which attaches the post to the ground. The anchor weighs approximately 20lbs which is extremely light compared to what was originally engineered.

Worthington Realty is looking for the industry public opinion. Is there a demand for a real estate sign guaranteed to stand tall like the day you put it in the ground? What would you pay for an item like this? Can you imagine putting a sign in the ground and knowing you’ll come back to it standing tall? What are your thoughts? Worthington Realty would greatly appreciate your input. In our office we are not perfectionist or genius by any means, however we shoot for the stars making every single day count, do you?

Are email drips equal in RIO to snail mail drips?

December 19, 2009 By Robert Worthington 4 Comments

When I established Worthington Realty about 1.5 years ago, I wanted to always be experimenting with what I could do to convert leads to closed sales. So I set out to have the best email drip campaigns as well as the best snail mail campaigns. I have had much more success from a snail mail campaign than I have had from an email drip campaign. I often question myself with what I am doing right, and what I am doing wrong!?!

The snail mail has a thick stock cotton style envelope. Inside is a high definition business card, high definition tri-fold resume & a typed letter about me on one side & how I can help on the other side. I feel the presentation even though I’m not in person and doing this by snail mail is so powerful that customers call; about 2 out of 100 mailers to be exact. Generally speaking, I usually list and sell the property. I ask myself the question, what if I implemented a follow up snail mail campaign after the initial mailing? I will report back with my results in a future post. Can I close more snail mail sales as opposed to just one mailer, why not 3 or 4 snail mailers, especially on quality listings?

The email drips seem to have less response than a snail mail campaign. Surely I have closed leads off of my website and then referred from those sales. BUT, my conversion rate is far less than 2% like the snail mail.

My take is simply this. Email drips do work, but are easily forgettable to consumers. Snail mails are more expensive but since the consumers are physically touching quality materials, they are not easily forgettable as apposed to emails. Your thoughts? So much for my quest to go paperless…

The quest to go paperless

October 28, 2009 By Robert Worthington Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered how can I or how can my office that I manage start the transition to go paperless or inch closer to paperless on the realtor end of the equation? Well, although tablet PCs have been out for quite a while, tablet PCs are just starting to come on strong in the real estate business, especially in the Midwest market. In short, a tablet PC allows users to digitally sign documents anywhere on the screen. Let me be clear, you can hand write a novel on the tablet pc using the writing utencil supplied with the computer, so it’s more than just getting signature, you can write whatever you want to write on your contracts, or you can write what you want to write on anything for that matter with your tablet pc. My 3 year old laptop finally puked last week. Literally the period key completely fell off of the keyboard, which is why I’m using so many commas in his post.

I originally became interested in a tablet pc about 3 months after a friend purchased one. His business has been more efficient, as well as more organized. I’m excited to wow buyers and seller alike as soon as the new pc comes in. I will do a follow up post as to what my buyers and sellers thought about signing contracts digitally instead of paper. As far as getting a copy of all signed documents to seller and buyers, I have an air card that will keep me connected to the interenet anywhere I go, so I plan on emailing the sign documents before I even leave the home. It’s a good idea in theory, however before I get to excited, I’ll try it out first, then report back.The Celestine Prophecy movie download