From time to time we do check out the Real Estate Webmasters forum just to see if the former Canadian porn webmaster turned Real Estate sales evangelist is slamming UltimateIDX or PREN.

Today I forgot to turn my Fire Fox DoFollow link checker off before I went to the Real Estate Webmasters forum and low an behold I noticed a Member with over 500 posts had “nofollow” tags on all of his signature links. I remember hearing something about REW Members with less than 300 posts would have the “nofollow” tag on their signatures but had no idea that was implemented or substantially raised until today.

It now appears that the figure to achieve before REW Members get any credit for posting is over 650. Please don’t take my word on this. Check it out for yourself. Now that seems like one hellofalot of work on Morgan’s website BEFORE you get any link love.

My question is what will REW raise it to the next time 1,000 posts, 1,500 posts or??? And do New REW Members know about this?

The Rest of the Story

OK I admit my curiosity kicked in and I really needed to know “the rest of the strory”, so I started checking further. Right off the bat you can see that REW places a “nofollow” tag on any text links within a post and it is obvious that Google has substantially devalued REW Blogs and any inbound links from these blogs.

So then I wanted to know what kind of link juice the Real Estate Webmasters forum generated for the “Uber Real Estate Webmaster” Members (aka “Kool Aide Drinkers”). I targeted a Members website that primarily only had REW inbounds. This REW Member joined back in 2005 and had in excess of 1,100 posts and a multitude of blog posts. The Member’s website displays a dismal PR1 for all the hard work and effort.

Conclusion

Now if the same REW Member had posted over 1,100 blog comments on 1,100 different websites, posted to his/her own Blog the same amount as he/she posted to the REW Blog the Member’s PR would be significantly higher. This is a no brainer folks!

Now you can call me bias all you want (and yes I am). But do the research yourself. Please don’t take my word for it. Regardless or whether you are a new REW Member or a Kool-Aide drinking “Uber Real Estate Webmaster” the Real Estate Webmasters forum is nothing but a huge waste of your time.

What was most shocking is that Morgan Carey even applies the “nofollow” tag to REW Clients!

Admittedly, Morgan Carey is one of the BEST self promoters I have ever come across, however his loyalty is strictly to himself and enjoys the fruit of his Members labor to glorify and promote who? Not you!

I am constantly hit with questions about when I think the real estate market will rebound from Real Estate Agents all across our Nation. The short answer is “No Time Soon!”

Before the real estate industry can begin a recovery we must first hit bottom and unfortunately I feel we are far from that yet. The housing market is not only suffering from the subprime lending fiasco it is currently driven by nothing less than fear and lack of confidence.

Public perception of the real estate market as a solid investment is shaken daily by the news of record braking home foreclosures. This “cancer” is now spreading rapidly infecting neighborhoods across America with devaluation of homes that took no part in subprime lending.

Homeowners are experiencing their equity diminish weekly as homes are just not selling. While some buyers are waiting for the market to hit bottom before buying others that are normally qualified buyers are experiencing difficulty in obtaining home loans as the credit crunch continues to tighten.

Recovery

There will be no recovery anytime soon. On top of all the issues facing the real estate industry we have a Presidential Election right around the corner. While the main stream media has a true love affair with Sen. Obama, Wall Street reels over the prospect of an Obama Presidency. As well they should. Sen. Barrack Obama has demonstrated his distain for business and as made his intentions of raising taxes on business across the board well known. Legislative bills that Obama has co-sponsored shows a severe lack of knowledge when it comes to the real estate industry and the economy as a whole. If Sen. Obama is elected as president we can count on Wall Street and investors sitting on their hands for at least a year until they can assess how Obama handles key issues in the economy such as taxation.

In addition to the Obama wildcard there are still ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages) that have yet to mature. Some Subprime loans that were originated in 2005 will not mature until sometime in 2010. This means there will be many more foreclosures in months to come. So the immediate prospect for industry recovery is bleak to say the least.

Agent Survivability

It is clear that many real estate Agents will not survive these tough times. It is unfortunate but as in nature only the strong will survive. That is NOT a bad thing for the industry. Real estate has always and always will cycle. In bad times weak Agents will drop by the way side and while the quality of professionalism improves the competition becomes less intense. This is a win-win proposition for both the general public and the true real estate professional.

For real estate Agents to survive they must be good managers of their time and resources. Unnecessary expenditures and marketing expenses that do not work need to be pruned. To survive we must make every penny and every minute count. Those that do will survive to see better times.

I have spent a lot of time in other forums and blogs writing about the foreclosure crisis that everyone in the real estate industry is currently suffering from. I am beginning to truly believe that most American’s simply do not fully understand how severe the foreclosure crisis really is. Even long time colleagues of mine that have been in the industry for decades are under the impression there is a massive government bailout on the horizon.

The truth is there will be no bailout for the real estate and mortgage industries.

As opposed to listening to politicians and the news let us attempt to use some simple common sense. In order to bail out the homeowner that is in or about to go into foreclosure a bank or other financial institution would have to refinance their home with monthly payments the borrower could afford. Now keep in mind that due to prolonging this crisis home values have plummeted in many major markets. So what we are looking at is a lender refinancing a $300k home loan that is now worth $200k. No lender would do this unless the borrower could come up with at least the $100k difference. That being said, why would a borrower put that much money in a home currently worth $200k? And that is assuming the borrower would have the $100k on hand.

So the banks will NOT refinance and if they would the distressed borrower would not. It really is that simple.

Foreclosure Rate Increases

On this past Friday RealtyTrac posted alarming figures for the 2nd quarter of 2008 showing that almost three quarters of a million home owners received foreclosure notices in that period. The report claims that 1 in every 171 household in America is under some stage of foreclosure and “a nearly 14 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 121 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007”. The report goes on to rank states and major metro areas for foreclosures with Nevada coming in at #1 with foreclosure filings going out to one in every 43 Nevada households during the second quarter of 2008.

Looking Ahead

Looking ahead I see more of the same. There are still a significant number of ARMs that are yet to mature that will price sub-prime borrowers out of their homes. Foreclosure rates are proportionate to the ARM maturing rate so we are still a long way from seeing an end to this crisis or the bottom of this real estate slump. In coming months you will see more banks go under that are heavily vested in real estate loans. Unfortunately it will not be just the banks that made sub-prime loans. With properties devaluated you will see many borrowers forced to walk away from their real property.

Summary

By continuously attempting to artificially prop up lenders and borrowers that engaged in sub-prime loans our government is prolonging the inevitable and damaging property values of those not involved in the sub-prime lending debacle. In order to begin a true recovery we MUST hit bottom.

The Brokers Edge was intended to be a completely a different type of Real Estate Community and portal. Unfortunately, owners of UltimateIDX™ and The Brokers Edge formally split the Company into two distinct entities and completion of the real estate portal at TBE was halted.

This has not deterred UltimateIDX, Inc. CEO Rhonda McMillan from her aspirations to create a “one-stop” shop for REALTORS®. Rhonda plans on launching Agent Blogs and our Real Estate Forums in the spring of 2009.

The major difference in UltimateIDX.com and other Real Estate Communities is the owners and most of the administrators at UltimateIDX™ are veteran real estate professionals. We have been with you in the trenches so to speak; some of us for over two decades. We understand the “ins and out’s, “highs and lows” and what it takes to be successful in real estate sales.

Products and Services

In our quest for success we have developed products and services not because we want to, but because we had to. Most RETS and IDX services vendors that cater to the real estate industry on the Internet are webmasters, hosting companies or software engineers that attempt to solve problems they know nothing about in an effort to make sales. Old solutions and tools are revised and rehashed and then labeled for “the real estate industry” and sold over and over again at inflated prices. As a result, REALTORS® end up overpaying for outdated products that do not perform as promised let alone meet the everyday needs of the real estate professional. Our products and services are designed by REALTORS® for REALTORS®.

So yes we do offer products and IDX/RETS services but even more important we offer solutions. Unlike other Real Estate Communities we will not only allow vendors with competing products and services to cater to our Members; we will encourage it. Competition increases quality while reducing price.

Summary

Members at the UltimateIDX.com will be encouraged to visit our real estate forums and take advantage of our Member real estate blogs when launched in 2009.

We will strive to make this the best Real Estate Community on the net and to assist any real estate professional that genuinely wishes to succeed.