News for the ‘Economic Recovery’ Category
The new Key is here! (Repeat)
Today I stepped into the future…ish.
As Realtors here in AZ, my wife Kathy and I depend on our MLS access to show homes, list homes, and to track who has seen our listings. In the old days, everyone had an actual key, and someone losing their key was a major problem…all the lockboxes would have to be manually re-keyed, every time!
Recently, we’ve been using the GE Supra e-key. This system depends on the key itself connecting to the network, and telling everyone where that key was during that day. The listing agents would get notice of buyers viewing the house, and they can request feedback from the buyer’s agents. It was a great system, but there was a weak link. The only way the key could connect to the network was through a phone line…not a digital line like Vonage or Magic Jack, but a real live copper wire landline like Qwest. Since we had long since moved our Fax services to MyFax, the $100 a month Qwest bill was being paid just to keep our keys updated.
I had been hearing rumors about a new wireless key that was being rolled out in other states, and when Qwest had another outage (4th this year!) I started scrambling to find a way to update our keys that did not involve borrowing access to someone’s copper wire phone for 10 minutes. While Googling AZ MLS Keys, I came across a note on another broker’s website that one of their agents had gotten the newest version of the key, the GE Activekey, and that all their agents should upgrade. The ARMLS website doesn’t mention the upgrade, or the fact that their offices have moved. Flexmls, our Web tool for ARMLS, had a link to a pdf doc “explaining” the transition. Unfortunately it was only a flier that said the upgrade was coming soon!
I called ARMLS support, and they gave me the number for new ARMLS service center…at the Mesa location of the South East Valley Regional Association of REALTORS (SEVRAR). (Wow, I hadn’t thought to check their website! They had a link to the same PDF document about the pending upgrade.) The numbers I was given for the ARMLS center were wrong, so I called SEVRAR and asked about the new ActiveKeys. They let me know that the key exchange was going on, and had been for some time! All I needed was to bring in the old key and exchange it for the new one. Considering the state of the saga so far, I made it to Mesa within the hour and exchanged the key.
Incidentally, the ladies at the ARMLS center let me know that volume is very low so far, ( ya think?!) and that they are just letting word get out to avoid setting up a schedule to roll the new keys out. A sloppy but effective way to limit traffic, I guess!
If you’re involved in real estate, you should get out and get your new key ASAP, it’s a big improvement over the old model, despite the fact that it seems to be the exact same device, in a different case. The new key connects via cellular tower every few minutes and uploads your information to the same network as the old key. No more land-lines!!
That brings me to the only issues I have with the new device…its appearance! I guess they got a lot of feedback that the old style was too small and was easy to lose, and the numbers were too hard to read, anyway, it’s now much larger, white with giant blue buttons. Giant backlighting and a flashlight make it even cheesier, and around our office we call them “the Jitterbug keys”, after that phone that’s designed for seniors? The one with the TV commercials?
The ActiveKey… or the Jitterbug?
Jim Allyn
Broker
Allyn and Associates
480-296-4304
Edited: July 28th, 2010
Arizona Attorney General on Loan Modification
AZ Attorney General Terry Goddard had the following to say regarding mortgages and loan modification. This quote shows that he has a better picture of what is happening in our economy than most, and it makes me hope that he’ll try a run for governor soon. On his Facebook page, Goddard says:
“It is in the best interests of all concerned parties – borrowers, investors in mortgage-backed securities, servicers, communities and the nation’s economy – to, whenever possible, avoid foreclosures by modifying loan terms to make them affordable for borrowers”
Thank you Mr. Goddard!
Edited: December 16th, 2009
10 Ways to Make Your House Greener
Everybody’s talking about the importance of eco-friendly living. We found some of the coolest and smartest products - at every price point - to help home owners do their part for the environment.
By Wendy Cole | February 2009
Smokefree Fireplace
As chic as it is eco-friendly, the EcoSmart Fire system gives you the pleasure of a fireplace without the pollutants. The self-contained unit is fueled by clean-burning denatured ethanol, a renewable resource. These portable fire boxes can be placed anywhere inside or outside a home since they require neither a utility connection nor a chimney. To make this green product even greener, the company will plant two trees on the buyer’s behalf for every unit purchased. Cost: Models range from $2,100 to $11,500. www.ecosmartfire.com
Vintage Year for Wall Tiles
Old wine bottles and other recycled glass get a new life as exquisite, glossy tiles suitable for kitchens and bathrooms. Glass donated by the public is sorted by color, ground into granules, and turned into tile by high-temperature fusion. Bedrock Industries introduces no colorants or oxides to the production process, which has saved hundreds of tons of material otherwise destined for landfills. Also, 100 percent recyclable material is used for shipping. Cost: Tiles start at $36 per square foot. www.bedrockindustries.com
Composting for the Masses
Instead of tossing food scraps in the garbage, NatureMill’s fully automatic and odor-free composter will recycle up to 120 pounds of kitchen waste, including paper, per month. A built-in computer on the 17-pound unit (20 by 20 by 12 inches) controls the mixing, heating, and aeration process. After two weeks, a red light pops on as a reminder that your composted fertilizer is ready for immediate use on your garden or lawn. Compost can also be piled outdoors until you need it. A NatureMill composter can recycle its weight in waste every 10 days, diverting more than two tons of waste from landfills over its life. Energy use is just 5 kilowatt-hours per month. Cost: Prices start at $299. www.naturemill.com
Your Plants (and Lawn) Have Your Number
You’ll never overwater another houseplant with the Botanicalls system. Digital sensors in the soil let your African violet or potted palm text message you when it needs water or light. The unit will also send a texted “thank you” after the plants’ needs have been met. The do-it-yourself kit offers a connection to your leafy green pal via Twitter. You can view status updates online or have them routed to your mobile phone. Botanicalls comes with all necessary parts to set up a soil moisture sensor communication system, even a leaf-shaped circuit board. While human intervention is necessary for the actual watering, the reminders are a novel means of keeping houseplants healthy so they can help reduce levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Cost: $99. www.botanicalls.com
A bigger water savings may come from Cyber-Rain XC, which lets you hand over the chore of watering your lawn to your Windows PC. Here’s how it works: Your sprinkler system receives information wirelessly from (more…)
Edited: February 16th, 2009
Homes Sales to Increase in 2009
We all know the first half of 2009 will be challenging, to say the least. But how are we going to look by the end of 2009? Well, the National Association of REALTORS announced their projected sales numbers for 2009 and for the first time in years the projections aren’t all bad, in fact by the end of 2009 most housing numbers are expected to increase.
The good news, after 2 years of falling home sales, the NAR estimates a 6% increase in existing home sales in 2009. They also project a slight increase in the median home price from $198,600 in 2008 to $200,800 in 2009. It may be a small increase (1.1%) but it’s a major improvement from the previous years -9.3% drop.
The NAR also has a number they refer to as the affordability index, which relates the median price of a home to the median income of buyers. Right now it’s at 131, which means that a buyer making the median income has 131% of the income necessary to buy a home priced at the median price.
That’s a mouthful, but what it means is that homes are more affordable now than in a long time, and home sales are expected to be up 6 or more percent in 2009!
If you would like more information about investing in Arizona real estate or Phoenix foreclosures and REOs contact Jim and Kathy at jimandkathy@allynassociates.com.
Source: January 2009 issue of REALTOR magazine
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Edited: February 4th, 2009