I am usually on the tech edge.

What is Docusign?  It’s a program that facilitates the use of electronic signatures to sign documents online. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? I think I shied away from it because I wasn’t sure if it was legal. Or maybe – because the idea of e-signatures seemed radical to me!  For my first objection, “Is it legal?”, here is the FTC’s Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act of 2001 (also called ESIGN).  The ESIGN Act states that electronic signatures “may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form”.  In 2010, Congress re-affirmed the use of e-signatures by making June 30 “National ESIGN Day”.

My second objection – that Docusign seems “radical”, was quickly overcome by trying it out.  If you are at all computer savvy, and can fill in a form, you can figure out how to use Docusign.  Basically, you upload the PDF you want signed into the program, (for example, a real estate offer).  Then you drag icons from a menu to indicate where your customer will sign, initial, date, or even add terms.  After doing so, you email it to your customer.   He can pick an online signature image to use as his own after he agrees to do business electronically.  The software will guide him through the document, so all he does is “read and click”. When he has finished signing, you get an email notice, and can pick up the document online, or forward it to someone.  Docusign allows multiple signers, like husband and wife, or even “you” if you must sign a VA, FHA or lead paint addendum. You can even sign on an iPad or cell phone.

What was my customer response to Docusign? Cartwheels! One seller even requested Docusign after we “accidentally” sent him an addendum without using it.  He said, “Can’t you Docusign it to me?”  What does it do for the customer? Convenience. They don’t have to find a printer and fax machine.  They cannot miss an initial. The program brings them to the right spots! How many contracts have you had returned with missing signatures? This time, the only way it can mess up is if you do. 

What’s the cost?  Too cheap to pass up at $14.99 a month for unlimited emails. (No, I do not work for Docusign).  I am telling you all this because I am very excited about how this product has changed my business. My team loves it.  Everything is speeded up.  My customers love it. It’s convenient.  Most short sale lenders accept e-signatures, too. 

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t wait for ten years like I did to get with the program!

It’s Wendy!

The post Destin Realtor Finds Docusign – And Doesn’t Look Back first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

They laugh at me.  They shake their heads.  “Don’t ask Wendy for directions!”, they say. Why?  I am “directionally” challenged.  It happened again just this morning.  I had a meeting with a fellow Realtor and an attorney. The attorney’s office is located about a quarter mile from my Destin real estate office and near my house. I had no idea where it was.  I emailed the Realtor three times for directions.  “Is it on the south side of the road? Is there a sign on the building? What is near it?”  She told me the attorney’s office was in a former real estate company building. I never knew that had been there, either.

When someone asks me for directions, I tell them, “It’s just down the road about….. miles.” To me, that’s where it is.  That’s where everything is! Do I drive buyers around? No. I prefer listings.  Could the reason be that I panic when someone gets in my car because I don’t know where I am going?  Even with GPS?  Somehow, though, I always make it to a listing appointment on the dot.  I don’t know how.  And entering directions in the MLS?  I don’t. I let someone else on my team do it.  That’s because I’ve had a few agents tell me my directions are wrong.  Even if I use a map as a guide.

My parents knew something was amiss when I was a child. I tested high in all categories – except – you guessed it! Geography!

It’s Wendy!

The post Is There Hope for a Directionally Challenged Realtor? first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

In the past few weeks, I’ve received some crazy offers on my Destin Florida listings.For example, 30% lower than list price, or only allowing 10 days for short sale approval, or very low price plus all seller-paid closing costs.

To protect the innocent, those are only a few of the rash of offers I’ve received lately.My question is, “Why”?When I gently ask the buyer’s agent “Why? Why is the offer so low? Why is there no deposit? Why do you only have 10 days for short sale approval?”,I generally get answers like – “Just get me a counter offer” or “See what you can do”.

My impression is that some agents are from the camp of “Write any offer if you have a ‘live’ buyer.”Forget about counseling, coaching or educating.If you have a live one, just write it up!

Does this approach truly service the buyer?Is it in the buyer’s best interest to present any old offer “just” to get a counter offer?I think not.

What if the Destin Florida seller got a simultaneous offer, superior to yours?Chances are, the seller won’t counter your offer, he will eliminate it! Or maybe, if the offer were more rational to start with, the buyer might get a better response, instead of getting the seller’s hackles up. Then he would have a better chance of getting the home he wanted.After all, isn’t that the point?

It’s Wendy!

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Call toll-free 1-877-487-9639 or local 850-650-7883 ext 204

Email Wendy: [email protected]

Destin FL Real Estate

Destin Short Sales & Pre Foreclosure Help.

Read Wendy’s Destin Real Estate Blog

The post Do You Write Just Any Old Destin FL Offer To See If It Sticks? first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

The June 2009 issue of Florida Realtor Magazine references Wendy Rulnick, Destin FL Broker/Realtor of Rulnick Realty. Rulnick’s article “22 Questions to Ask the Short Sale Lender” is called “impressive” and will help “ensure your transaction goes smoothly”.

The post Destin Broker, Wendy Rulnick, in Florida Realtor Magazine re: Short Sales first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

1.  There were 34 condo sales in Destin for April 2009.  This figure is down from March, but there is no definite trend.  Monthly sales volume decreaseed, as well.

2. The average Destin condo list price is $420,397.  This is down from $711,000 one year ago! 

3. The average Destin condo sold price was $375,739.  This is down from $639,000 one year ago!  But the sale price is up from January and February, and less the the March average.

4. The price per square foot is down to $260, down from $346 one year ago.

5.  The median sold price for Destin condos is $297,500, the same as March.

6. The percent sold to list price is about 89%, fairly stable over the past year.

7.  There are 1977 condos for sale in Destin, a slighty lower inventory level than one year ago, but not showing a strong downward trend.

8.  There is a 58-month inventory of condos for sale.  That means, it would take almost five years to sell all the condos on the market at the current rate of sales.  A “normal” market is 6-7 months inventory.

The bottom line is that no clear trend is emerging in the Destin Florida condo market.  If you analyze the chart, some of the indicators have bounced around during the last few months.  One of the major problems affecting Destin condos is the severe Fannie Mae guidelines for Florida.  Condos with delinquency rates for homeowner assocation dues over 15% will be denied funding.  Condos cannot have daily check-ins, so called “condotels”.  All projects must be approved by Fannie Mae, which can delay sales a month or more.  Buyers must have 20-25% down.  And on and on.  The guidelines are shrinking the pool of buyers, and will no doubt have a continued negative affect on sales and prices, outside the normal market decline we have been experiencing.

Fore more information, email me at [email protected]

It’s Wendy!

Wendy Rulnick, Broker, CRP, CRS, GRI, ABR     Rulnick Realty, Inc.

Destin FL Real Estate

Destin Short Sales & Pre Foreclosure Help.

Read Destin Real Estate Blog

Call toll-free 1-877-ITS-WNDY (1-877-487-9639) or local 850-650-7883 ext 204

Call Wendy Rulnick, Destin real estate agent, to list and sell your home or condo or help you buy a home or rental property on the Emerald Coast of Florida in Walton, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa County-  Destin, Santa Rosa Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, Bluewater Bay, Navarre, Seagrove Beach, Watercolor, Sandestin, Seaside, Crestview, Rosemary Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field.   Wendy is a short sale and pre-foreclosure specialist and can help you sell or buy a short sale property in and around Destin

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The post Destin Florida Condos – Market Report first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

The post Destin Florida Short Sale – Approved in 7 Weeks first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

The Treasury Department has just announced the incentives for lenders to accept short sales.  Here is the excerpt from the updated Making Home Affordable plan that may help the Destin real estate market and Emerald Coast short sale properties sell better and perhaps faster:

Limiting the Impact of Foreclosure When Modification Doesn’t Work:

Servicers will receive incentives to take alternatives to foreclosures, like short sales or taking of deeds in lieu of foreclosure. For those borrowers unable to maintain homeownership, even under the affordable terms offered, the plan will provide incentives to encourage families and servicers to avoid the costly foreclosure process and minimize the damage that foreclosure imposes on financial institutions, borrowers and communities alike. Servicers will be eligible for a payment of $500 and can make reimbursable payments up to $1000 to extinguish other liens, and borrowers are eligible for a payment of $1500 in relocation expenses in order to effectuate short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. Such methods reduce vacancy, neighborhood decline, and overall costs for financial institutions, borrowers, and affected communities alike.

Summary and Analysis:

1. The plan may aid in disposing junior liens by a $1000 reimbursement to first mortgage holders.  This may make it easier to sell short sale properties with more than one mortgage.  There should be a dollar amount that is set to pay second mortage, such as $3000, with adjusted criteria for seller’s financial situation.  If a seller meets certain criteria, they might pay a promissory note or do a cash contribution.  This would help stem rejections by junior lienholders asking for outrageous amounts to release their liens.

2. It adds a very minimal incentive of $500 to offset some of the lenders expenses for approving a short sale.  Add up the 150,000 short sales currently in process at Countrywide, though, that would total $75,000,000. Not bad.

3. The borrower will receive a $1500 in relocation expenses.  $1500 is an overpayment in my estimation and/or unnecessary. Many short sale sellers are already out of their properties, and relocated for new employment purposes.  Or the properties might be investment properties. In  addition, short sale sellers usually have six months to two years “notice” they are moving, and have been “saving” by not making mortgage payments for that time period. The money could be used instead as a “bonus” for short sale lender approval in a timely manner, such as 30 days.  Or added to pay the second.  Or paid to the Realtor.  (Fannie Mae just changed guidelines to allow real estate agents to receive their pre-negotiated commission of 6% or less, instead of cutting it, which is long overdue).

The short sale process is lengthy, and depresses prices beyond the normal economic cycle.  Recognizing and correcting deficiencies in the process will help stabilize the Destin real estate market and decrease the foreclosure rate.

The post Destin Short Sales – Treasury Plan May Help Real Estate Market first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

The post Agent Recommends Destin Real Estate Blog first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Most of us have read the Treasury Department’s new Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan

After reading the plan, with details to be unveiled on March 4, I want to know- “How will the plan affect Short Sales? ” Most of the plan is focused on aiding homeowners whose primary residence is at risk of foreclosure.  Not everyone will be helped by this plan.  Some of those who won’t may include homeowners with loans not guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.  Many have lost jobs or have lost so much income they would not qualify. Other owners may have rental properties that cannot be sustained.  In my area on the Emerald Coast of Florida, military families from Eglin Air Force Base or Hurlburt Field are required to relocate to change bases.  These airmen often keep their past residence as a rental property.  Now they are losing tenants.  Why?  Many unsold homes go on the rental market.  Thus rental rates have declined significantly due to the oversupply of these properties.  They can no longer cover their mortgage payments. There are also investors who were not “flippers”.  They might have saved their whole lives to buy a condo in Destin, to find that the resort-rental market has declined by 35%.  There is no aid to them in the plan. Many areas in Florida and other parts of the country have economies that depend on tourism and the resort industry.  Those who will not be assisted by the plan will have to resort to their best alternative, a short sale, or worse, foreclosure.

The Treasury Department states the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan will be effective because it will, among other things, limit “the Impact of Foreclosure When Modification Doesn’t Work: Lenders will receive incentives to take alternatives to foreclosures, like short sales or taking of deeds in lieu of foreclosure. “

 In my opinion, to receive incentives to approve short sale, banks must be required to:

• Shorten approval time frames to 30 days
• Require second mortgage holders to accept a set amount, such as $3000, to release their lien
• Consider incentives for approving investment properties that meet certain criteria, as mentioned above
• NOT report a “charge off” or “settled for less” to credit reporting bureaus

Further, I believe all who have had short sales should have credit reports revamped to remove the negative impact of the event. If they don’t, perhaps only 10% of borrowers might qualify for a loan at the best rates! If the government is “intervening” at all, then do it right.  Thus far, the banks have done little to reduce the backlog of short sales and free up credit.  If they are just given an “incentive” without definitive guidelines, then we might expect to see more of the same.

The post Destin Real Estate and Homeowner Stability Plan first appeared on Rulnick Realty.

Are you enlisting me to help you sell your Short Sale?  I know you’ve been through a tough time of late.  I understand, and empathize.  I want to help you out of your situation with an upside-down mortgage, a need to sell your property, and a way to avoid foreclosure.  I will go “all out” to help you.  I will implement a 60-point checklist.  I will organize your documents.  I will call your lenders.  I will get you a written offer for your property, and prepare a package for approval that will be hard to deny.  During that time I will have made an average of 68 phone calls, sent dozens of emails, faxed a hundred pieces of paper and expended weeks of man-hours on your behalf.  I will do my part–  and if you are denied– it won’t be because of me.  But guess what?  YOU have to help.  I cannot do it alone.  So, before signing on the dotted line and hiring me to help you with your Short Sale, I need a commitment.  YOU, the Short Sale seller, promise and commit to the following:

You will return your listing paperwork to me within 3 business days.  That includes property disclosure, mold disclosure, condo disclosure, homeowners association or any other applicable disclosures.  I cannot represent your real estate properly without the same.

You will return your Short Sale documents to me within 3 business days.  This means your hardship letter, last two years tax returns, financial worksheet, letters of authorization, paystubs and bank statements as I require. If you don’t disclose your financial information, you are NOT going to get approved.  If I don’t have authorization to speak with your lender, I won’t be able to help you.

You will keep your house presentable to show.  Please move your truck for your photograph and close the garage door.  Please vacuum the dog hair.  Please pick up the clothes and dishes.

You will provide a key for access to your house.  I will install a lockbox. I cannot sell your home by “appointment” only.

You will not rent the property for one-year term, with no early termination.  I cannot get an investor to buy your property in this market with a one-year lease.

You will disclose any liens on your property.  You will not “forget” there is a second mortgage.  Or an IRS tax lien.  If you do, you are wasting your time, my time, your lenders’s time, the buyer’s time and the buyer’s agent’s time.

You will inform me of any paperwork you receive from your lender, especially a Motion for Summary Judgment.  I need to know how long we have to sell the property, or I cannot do my job.

You will not remove appliances.  You will not strip the oven, dishwasher, microwave and garage door opener.  This will lower your market value in such a way that your lender’s appraisal will not adequately reflect the damage, and your Short Sale may not be approved.

You will consult an attorney and/or accountant.  When I tell you that you need to consult a lawyer or tax specialist, you will not speculate.  When I tell you I am a licensed real estate agent and you have addressed an area outside my expertise, I mean it.

You will not “change your mind” in the middle of your short sale, or you will be prepared to pay a cancellation fee.  Changing your mind includes doing a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, trying to modify your loan or filing bankruptcy.  If you do, you cannot expect my forthright efforts will have been for free.

You will not “change your mind” after you have signed a contract.  In doing so, not only will you incur a cancellation fee, you may be sued by the buyer for performance, damages and maybe more.  Consult with your attorney on that one.

You will respond to my emails and phone calls.  Please don’t hide from me.  I cannot move forward when you are missing, in denial or don’t know what you need to do.

You will take the Short Sale process seriously. When your lender, through me, asks for documentation, they mean it, too.  They won’t forget.  If you don’t provide the required documentation, they will deny your Short Sale and your file will be closed.

In summary, if you want to hire me to help you- I will perform.  If you want to succeed, you must perform.

The post Destin Short Sale Sellers: Commit to Get Your Home Sold first appeared on Rulnick Realty.