What a contradiction!  Just as Facebook officially reached 500 million users, it also received an “abysmal” rating (64 out of 100) on the 2010 American Customer Survey Index, which measured 30 online companies. Respondents cited privacy, commercialization of the site and technology changes as the primary reasons causing discontent.  What score would you give the site?

Speaking of Facebook, Mashable published a list of fascinating facts on the social network. Among them, the average user has 130 friends and California is the most social state. Interesting!

It is no surprise that Gartner has a new report concluding that “the majority of consumers rely to some extent on social networks to guide them in their purchase decisions.” The well-respected research firm surveyed nearly 4,000 consumers in the last quarter of 2009.  Word of mouth has truly become “word of mouse.”

In the Internet age of buying a house, images certainly play a major role as buyers check out photos of homes and the surrounding community.  Google Image Search — which has one billion page views a day — recently underwent a transformation.  Images will now come up in context.  Try a search for your community and, if the results are not up to par, work with local businesses to update!  It could potentially lead to a sale.

How many times have you sent an e-mail or text in the workplace and had its tone misinterpreted?  ToneCheck, an email plug-in that scans the content of your emails and flags words or phrases that may be misunderstood or interpreted as particularly negative, is now available for Windows.  Give it a try (and I don’t mean that in a demanding or accusatory way).

Finally, are you following AJ, the Ford Fiesta that tweets?  By using the “Auto”matic Blog app, tweets sent from the car can combine real-time traffic notices regarding congestion, for example.  Or using GPS can alert friends when you are in the area.  A car that says “you’ve arrived” … literally!

Consider this, even if your numbers aren’t “Ga Ga” on Twitter, new data from social media consulting firm Sysomos found that it takes visiting just 3.32 friends of friends for users to find one of their own followers. Take that Kevin Bacon!

Last week, as technology savvy people in more than 90 countries celebrated Social Media Day, rumors started circulating that Google is launching a rival to Facebook.  According to reports in the blogosphere, Google Me may use some aspects of its social community, Orkut, popular in Brazil and India, which focuses on communities and discussion. Stay tuned…

Glued to your mobile phone?  You are in good company.  Burst Media found that 40 percent of people with mobile gadgets (smart phones, iPads etc) consider themselves as “always connected” heavy users.  To help people stay connected, Starbucks kicked off its Starbucks Digital Network, a no-charge, registration-less and limitation-free Wi-Fi initiative in all locations in the US and Canada. Great news for those of us who like to work over a latte every once in a while!

If you want to add music to your videos on YouTube without worrying about it being pulled for legal reasons, check out Rumblefish’s online store called Friendly Music. It is an inexpensive way (songs cost $1.99 each) to license music for your masterpiece.

Finally, if you have a blog on WordPress, check out the new “Post by Voice” feature that allows you to post audio from your phone to your blog.  Also, playing into the age of customization, Google released a “News for you” feature that will offer a stream of local, customized and socially edited content. This is a great way for you to stay on top of all news important to you in an efficient way!

In addition to generating one million new home sales that would not have happened otherwise, the tax credit also pushed home prices up in 20 of the largest cities (the biggest boosts were in cities hurt most during the downturn). The increase represents 3.8 percent growth year-over-year, the biggest rise since 2006.  But the news was overshadowed by reports that foreclosures accounted for 31 percent of all home sales in the first quarter of 2010. To put that in perspective, in a “normal” market, foreclosures account for less that 2 percent of sales.  The silver lining is this represents a 14 percent decrease from the prior quarter.

A sign that another government based assistance program is helping, borrowers with home loans modified under the federal government’s foreclosure prevention effort are less likely to miss a payment. In other mortgage news, the multi-decade low rates are encouraging more people to refinance rather than encouraging people to buy homes. I’m glad to hear people are taking steps to make their homes more affordable, now it is a matter of encouraging potential buyers to take advantage.

In a bit of sobering news, an estimated quarter of all residences with mortgages owe more than their home is worth.  According to CoreLogic, borrowers in the hardest hit areas may not be able to break even in a home sale until at least 2020.   I think I speak for most people in real estate when I say I hope that is a very conservative estimate.

If the season’s green grass is inspiring you (or your consumers) to green-ify your home, check out these tips!

Have a safe Fourth of July!  Check here to see if there are any celebrations happening in your area.

NAR estimates that as many of 180,000 buyers along with the thousands of agents who worked with them may not see the keys to their new home or a commission check. These buyers had an accepted offer in place prior to the April 30th deadline of the HomeBuyer Tax Credit but may not be able to close that transaction by the June 30th deadline. Despite the efforts of many people, lawmakers failed last week to vote for the bill that would extend the closing from June 30th to Sept 30th.

This combined with the discouraging economic news on new construction and mortgage applications have been a frank reminder that although the first part 2010 gave us hope, we still have a long road ahead. There is still a slim chance that an extension on the closing date for the tax credit may happen. We’ll know more as this week plays out.

My first broker used to tell all his agents “Don’t spend your commission checks until you have them in hand.” This latest turn of events has certainly reinforced that advice.

All of these drastic numbers and record lows have some arguing about the dependence of the housing market on government support. That argument may heat up, as the Senate voted down the bill which would have extended the closing deadline for the home buyer credit to September 30 from June 30.  It probably didn’t help that an audit found prisoners fraudulently receiving the tax credit.

In good news, pricing of homes rose for a second straight month. In California, prices rose 23 percent in May.  Speaking of California, state legislators are considering a bill that would redefine the obligations of many defaulting homeowners. Do you think other states will consider similar bills? What about on a national level?

Take a page out of Mortgage Bankers Association President Jim Pair’s book and counsel borrowers to not charge large purchases or change jobs as their applying for mortgages — if at all possible, they should wait until after closing. This will prove especially important as Fannie Mae’s introduced new requirements to recheck a borrower’s finances shortly before closing. In other advice for your consumers, Fannie Mae’s “unusual hardships” policy provides relief for homeowners with problem drywall. Pass it along!

Fannie Mae also announced this week that in an effort to deter the trend toward strategic defaulting, it will temporarily deny new loans to borrowers who deliberately default and walk away from their homes. Who would have thought a measure like this would have been necessary?

Live and work in one of America’s dirtiest cities? Perhaps you can help think of ways to get involved to clean it up!

My thought:  It doesn’t matter – Keep Selling.

It is important that we know what is happening in our industry and to remain aware of what others are saying to our potential customers – so continuing to read and educate oneself is always good.  But, don’t allow external forces determine your success.  I’ve know many sales professionals who have done well in down times and I’ve known many more sales people who have done poorly in good times.  The difference is always in the person and their attitude.

Long ago, I had a sales and training manager who broke my sales development into three areas: knowledge, techniques and attitude.  Knowledge included market conditions, competitors value props, trends, and products.  Techniques included communication skills, presentation skills, negotiation skills, and conflict resolution skills.  Both knowledge and techniques were tangible and easy to translate/teach/track. But attitude? How do you know if you have a good attitude or a bad attitude and who is to judge?

What I have witnessed in myself and others is that attitude, in sales, is simply the reflection of your work habits and work ethic.  Strong work habits and a productive work ethic is the reflection of a good attitude.  Poor habits and a lazy work ethic reflect a bad attitude.

My old manager use to say “your attitude will determine your altitude.”  Don’t worry about what the others say and just keep working hard – the results will show for themselves.

That advice seems as good to me today as it did then.

But, as we have learned by now, it’s never all good news these days. Even Warren Buffett underestimated the severity of the housing bubble. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported applications tied to home purchases are at the lowest level since April 1997. Other estimates out show real estate owned, or foreclosure, properties are on the rise, proving at least banks still have a long way to go. The two groups expected to be hurt the most long-term by the bubble burst are young first-time buyers and the so-called active-adult purchasers who downsize. How can we keep these two groups optimistic?

Dealing with any consumers trying to decide whether to rent or buy? This map may be helpful. Speaking of rentals, as the long-awaited summer vacation is upon us, Realogy launched HomeAwayRealEstate.com, a searchable database of vacation-home listings available to rent. This may even be useful for your family!

The Obama administration announced this week that its program to prevent foreclosures has continued to make steady progress, with the number of homeowners who have received permanently modified mortgages up about 13 percent. The number of people who are receiving permanent relief, however, is reportedly nearly equal to the number of people dropping out. Hopefully, Washington will continue to make strides to help these struggling people.

The American Dream in most cities is alive and well, but a reported 12 percent of mortgage defaults in February were strategic. We need to do our part and encourage people to see the value in owning a home. What can you do to inspire this sentiment?

In good news this week, the luxury market is reporting an uptick in buying. I am glad to see one group’s confidence has returned! Also on the good news front, people are beginning to invest in their homes again as comparable-store sales at Lowes were up 2.4 percent in its first quarter. There’s that home ownership pride we’re talking about!

You may remember that when it comes to bonds, prices and yields/rates of return move opposite one another.  When bond prices rise, their associated yields fall; and when bond prices fall, their associated yields rise.  Keeping this inverse relationship between prices and yields in your mind helps to explain why mortgage rates (based upon the Mortgage Backed Securities market) can change rapidly.  So, let’s look at a typical market change:  the US Stock Market falls (for example).

When the US Stock Market falls, what typically happens is that investors, who are nervous about owning risky stocks, allocate their money into much less risky US Treasuries that provide them the security and some degree of returns that they are comfortable with.  As US Treasuries become more popular, their price increases (remember the old supply and demand curve?)- thereby making their yield/rate of return lower (inverse relationship).  The Mortgage Backed Security market trades closely with the US Treasury market.  So, when MBS prices are up (trending with Treasuries,) the mortgage rates that banks can offer qualified customers can go down.

As with all other debt/bond investments, the inverse is also true, when the US Stock Market rally’s and investors move more money into the stock market, and away from investments like US Treasuries and Mortgage Backed Securities, prices of these type of investments go down (i.e. weaker demand).  The lower prices in the MBS market causes banks/lenders to increase (raise) consumer mortgage rates.

To demonstrate how rapidly prices and yields/rates can change, just consider the impact the European market had on our US market last week.

Monday: As investor sentiment changed from the past weeks European Union announcement to address the debt problems of certain EU members, the stock market rally forced US Treasury Yields higher and MBS yields higher as well (meaning higher consumer mortgage rates).

Tuesday: Stocks opened lower and then gained ground as the day progressed.  The net effect is that mortgage rates stayed predominantly the same as they ended on Monday.

Wednesday: The US Treasury Department auction of $24 billion of 10 year notes came and went as expected – a view that US debt remained healthy.  Since everything happened as expected, rates once again remained fairly consistent.

Thursday: Again, very little movement with mortgage rates.  The Treasury sold $16 billion of the 30 year bonds – just as was expected.

Friday: The US Stock market sold off quickly this day.  The reasons for the sell off were many, but the net effect was a large number of investors who moved out of the stock market and into the US Treasuries.  This increased demand increased prices for Treasuries and Mortgage Backed Securities to new highs for the year.  This price increase allowed banks and lenders to provide better mortgage rates – a few at 4.75%.  So, in the time frame of 5 business days, there were some very big swings in consumer mortgage rates.

There you have it – a quick review of mortgage rate drivers.  Mind you, I do not believe that our sales associates should provide any direction to their customers on decisions regarding mortgage rates; that should be left to the loan officer everyone feels is the best qualified.  However, I do believe that it’s important for our sales associates to understand the drivers of mortgage rates.  Today’s consumer is very desirous that our sales associates can answer the questions they have regarding their new home purchase.  And while you don’t want to be quoting rates, being in the position to understand the direction of mortgage rates clearly differentiates you from the rest of the crowd.

If you are interested in staying abreast of the direction of rates on a daily basis, I would recommend visiting the Mortgage News Daily website.  It’s chock full of great information and helped me verify some of the information you read above.

To me, it just doesn’t matter.  Having seen and lived through various markets (in various industries,) I have always found that there are those sales professionals who do well and those who do not.  Those who do well are always focused on what they have at their disposal to provide value to their current or potential clients.  Those sales associates who don’t do as well, are always focused on what used to be or what others have, that they do not.

So to help jump start some ‘value’ thinking, I have listed a few items that we currently have at our disposal, to benefit our customers today:

1) Mortgage rates are fantastic!  Mortgage rates continue to remain very low, and while there is always talk of volatility in the mortgage backed securities market and the impact that volatility will have on consumer rates, even 5.5% or the dreaded 6% rate threshold for a 30 year fixed is a really good rate.

2) Declining prices are an exciting opportunity for first time and move-up buyers.  Take for example, a family who lives in a market where prices have dropped 15% or more over the past year or two.  While their $285,000 home may now be worth $242,250, the home that was $400,000 is now down to $340,000 – or about a $17,000 savings above their perceived ‘lost equity’ (you can do your own math for your area.)

3) FHA Mortgages remain a very large portion of our entire lending landscape.  While the House Financial Services Committee defeated a proposal to increase the minimum down payment requirements (it’s remaining at 3.5%), the committee did agree to raise the FHA mortgage insurance premiums from its current level of 0.55 percent gradually to an annual premium of 1.5%.  Speak with your local preferred lender and have she or he notify you to find out when this will happen – but the cost will rise….soon.

4) Home prices in many markets are beginning to stabilize and, in fact, there are a few markets where home prices are beginning to increase from their lows (S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices www.homeprice.standardandpoors.com).  So, even with all the talk of ‘shadow inventory’ from forthcoming foreclosures (which I believe to be true), we may look back and see it as a time when inflation/price increases began to show again.  So, now is the time for a great deal!

When you combine these macro-level economics with the very real value that each and every one of our sales associates has at their disposal using our Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate tools in the Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Greenhouse (www.mybhggreenhouse.com), we have more to offer today than ever before.

So, if you or one of your fellow sales associates is ever thinking about something you don’t have, read our blogs and re-review our web site – we are constantly adding and working hard to help you grow and have what others do not.