I don’t get a penny out of this and don’t typically endorse things - but this may have some real merit for some of you out there that have been locked out of home ownership because of credit problems, the loss of a job or an increasing stringent lending environment.

Matt Carter and Andrea V. Brambila have done an Inman News Special Report on rebuilding homeownership.

This report, “Rebuilding Homeownership,” details the depleted pool of borrowers and the financial challenges ahead for some consumers to buy back in to the American Dream of homeownership.

Part 1 of this “Rebuilding Homeownership” series explores the scope of bankruptcies and foreclosures and the impact to would-be homeowners. Part 2 explores the assistance that real estate agents can and cannot offer in helping consumers get back on firm financial footing, and Part 3 explores whether lenders will make allowances for borrowers with checkered credit histories.

You can find out more about it here:

http://www.inman.com/products/downloads/rebuilding-homeownership

This was developed as a one page checklist for interviewing Realtors. More complete explanations of the questions and the criteria we use for Realtor selection is available on our web site: www.ColoradoLifestyleRealEstate.com. If you are going to do the selection yourself, we suggest you interview 3 or 4 Realtors.

All agents will say they have the most experience, knowledge, professionalism and integrity. These questions are intended to get some insight into those areas and provide a more objective way to select the best Realtor for your needs. We use 22 criteria in our Realtor vetting process. The following 10 are some of the best.

1. How many years have you been practicing in the real estate profession?

2. What is your “geographic area of expertise?” And, how many years have you been in this local market?

3. Could you describe your Real Estate education? (Excluding required continuing education).

4. What professional designations do you have? Some of the better ones are:
GRI – Graduate of Real Estate Institute
CRS – Certified Residential Specialist
CRB – Certified Residential Broker
CLHMS – Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist
ABR – Accredited Buyer Representative
CCIM – Certified Commercial Investment Member (for commercial real estate)
RSPS – Resort and Second Home Property (for second homes)
RLI – Realtor Land Institute (for ranches and land)

5. Describe your professional achievements.

6. Describe your local market research capability.

7. Will I be working directly with you or primarily with your assistant?

8. How many transactions (in your desired area) have you completed in the last 12 months?

9. What connections do you have to related real estate service providers? (Examples could be home stagers, real estate attorneys, home inspectors, etc.)

10. What do you consider your best 3 professional skills to be? This question could give you some insight into the competency and chemistry of the agent.

You may also want to discuss performance guarantees, cancelation options and references.

We rely heavily on the reputation of the individual. Reputation of the company seems to be much less important these days.

What would you think of a baseball team that only won 19 games last season?

What would you think of a major university where only 15% of its students graduated? Would you want to send your kids there?

What would you think of a brand of automobile if 9 out of every 10 sold broke down beyond repair in the first two years? You probably wouldn’t rush right out and buy one, would you?

So how do you choose a real estate agent when 85% of all the people entering that industry — smart people, college-educated, mature adults — fail miserably in their first two years, in spite of investing thousands of dollars in their education, skills training, and tools?

Those are the odds for success of new agents entering into real estate brokerage.

And given the current state of the economy and many real estate markets, even seasoned professionals are getting out of the business.

Combine that with the fact that 63% of people select the first agent that they talk to and only 19% even interview 2 agents, and you have a recipe for disaster.

The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors in its SIOR Commercial Real Estate Index, a survey of more than 700 local market experts, suggests a flattening level of business activity in upcoming quarters with 55 percent of members expecting the market to improve in the second quarter.

The SIOR index rose 0.2 percentage point to 35.5 in the fourth quarter, compared with a level of 100 that represents a balanced marketplace. This is the first gain following 11 consecutive quarterly declines. Although some indicators show that a decline in commercial property values is beginning to flatten, 86 percent of respondents report prices are below replacement costs.”

Many of us have been waiting for the “other shoe” to drop (problems with refinancing commercial properties) in CRE. For now, it seems, the on-going problems in this sector are already broadly known and recognized, and fully discounted in financial markets. The second half of this year will be critical.