Featured news & tips — posted October 12, 2004
A dash of Flash on your website can mean cash in your pocket later

Your website needs to say who you are and what you can do for your customers in an instant. When prospective customers browse the Web, they need to be reeled in by a visual, interactive experience. Your website needs to tell them that you take technology seriously, and that the "face" you put on the Internet reflects you as a mortgage professional: sophisticated and knowledgeable.

But you also have a very limited amount of time to grab their attention to convey those messages, which is where the concept of Flash animation comes into play. Flash animation gives you the opportunity to wow visitors to your website and inform at the same time.

For years Flash was hamstrung by the size of Flash files — which resulted in much slower downloads — and the fact that you needed a special software program on your computer to see and hear Flash files.

Further, using Flash animation on a website has been regarded by many web gurus as ostentatious, a waste of bandwidth and time, something that kept the web visitor from getting to the important parts of the site. And not too many years ago, the use of digital pictures on the Web was discouraged because producing them was too complicated, they added too much download time and a were poor substitute for good old text.

Those web gurus have spent so much time convincing their customers and themselves that Flash is bad and not enough time figuring out how to make it good. In fact, there are many benefits of adding a dash of Flash to your website:

• Flash is an unparalleled way to enhance visitor experience, and to provide elements such as animation, sound and interactivity that just cannot be easily achieved with an HTML website.
• Flash design software provides designers with a great deal of control over the final product, and enables the creation of features and environments that are difficult or impossible to reproduce in a static web site.
• All the major web browsers now ship with a flash plug-in already installed, and so a growing number of computers are equipped to view these files. No more hiding behind the excuse that many visitors won't be able to experience Flash.
• And Flash websites today can be built and optimized to have small file sizes and fast download times.

And while many website providers may charge thousands of dollars to incorporate a Flash intro on your website, it’s included with every Mortgage XSite for no additional charge. In fact, with the new version of Mortgage XSites you can create a custom Flash site intro with your own text, photos, logos and design elements. XSite's custom Flash intro builder is a free feature update for all Mortgage XSites' owners. 

Not taking advantage of Flash on your agent website is like not using digital pictures because the file size and download time is too big and the technology for creating and storing them too complicated. Would you buy that if a web design company told you that today, as opposed to five years ago? If not, you shouldn't accept old, discarded excuses for not having a Flash enhanced website. Most web browsers today have the ability to view Flash, and if your website isn't giving it to them, you could be missing out on some major cash.

Fannie may OK 40-year loans

With home prices soaring across the U.S., more and more lenders are allowing homebuyers to take an extra 10 years to pay off their home loan.

For the past few years, low interest rates have made the traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage appealing for many home buyers. But some lenders have found a growing niche of buyers who want a 40-year mortgage, especially in the Western U.S. where home sale prices are setting records.

The 40-year mortgage concept is nothing new and each lender structures these types of loans differently. Many lenders, such as Washington Mutual, advise consumers to consider 40-year loans if they want to minimize their monthly payment; if they plan to be in the house five years or less and home values in their area are appreciating; or if they want to minimize cash expenses on an investment property.

Those lower monthly payments could also turn more Americans into home owners — the big draw for Fannie Mae, who is currently testing a new 40-year, fixed-rate loan.

Sixteen credit unions nationwide have partnered with Fannie Mae to offer the 40-year fixed-rate loan program. If it's a success, Fannie will decide next year whether to roll out the loans on a broad scale.

"For first-time borrowers, it lowers a monthly payment and makes a home more affordable," said Fannie Mae spokeswoman Sandy Cutts. "It also could be helpful in general for borrowers who are challenged by affordability issues, those who live in high-cost areas," because the longer term means they can borrow more.

A stamp of approval from Fannie Mae could standardize 40-year loans. However, critics say the loan program could be detrimental to the home buyer in the long run. The interest rates on 40-years loans are generally one-quarter to one-half point higher than those of 30-year loans. And the home buyer eventually pays thousands more in interest on the loan.

Robert Manning, a professor of finance at the Rochester Institute of Technology, told the Chicago Tribune putting more cash into the hands of first-time buyers enables them to drive up prices.

"You're bringing more people into the market who shouldn't be there," he told the Tribune. "It makes it more unaffordable for those who want to do the right thing and save for a down payment and get a mortgage that's a realistic length."

But the 40-year loans could become a more palatable alternative to adjustable-rate and interest-only loans, which often take homeowners by surprise when the loan's principal kicks and their monthly payment goes up. Plus, the borrower builds equity with 40-year loans.
 

"Today's customers have more information at their fingertips than ever before. More information has led to more sophisticated buyers, buyers that in turn have become more knowledgeable. More knowledge allows a person to become more demanding, which in turn leads to increased choice. And choice creates power," according to the white paper authored by Stefan Swanepoel, a real estate industry trend analyst and Janet Branton, vice president of the National Association of REALTORS'® (NAR) Business Specialties Area, and executive director of the Real Estate Buyer's Agent Council (REBAC).  

"Customer acquisition in the real estate industry has for a long time been associated with the acquisition of inventory; the listing, the home and the seller. The logic has always been, list the property and the customer comes with it. Everyone knows that he who controls the listings controls the market. Until the early 1990s that might have been true, but during the last decade, a whole new way of looking at customers has developed," the report says.
 

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