BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Author: Don Reedy, San Diego, CA (page 2 of 3)

Realtor, Renaissance Man

August 18, 2010

Lucha Libre Mortgage Reform

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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Last week there was some discussion about what was to have happened today in Washington. This discussion centered around whether the government would or would not take certain steps to protect the housing market through a mandated deficit funded mortgage bailout.

Today, we have some new information on what Tim Geitner and a host of invited banking executives chit chatted about.

Seems that much of the talk in a few of the posts here centered on whether we could expect the Obama administration and industry executives to continue along socialistic lines, (Wall Street still knows better than Main Street), or whether lightning would strike and we’d decide to take our lumps now.

The answer’s in.

Obama administration invited banking executives Tuesday to offer advice on changing the government’s role in the mortgage market. Their response: stay big.

While the executives disagreed on the exact level of support needed, the group overwhelmingly advocated the government should maintain a large role propping up the nearly $11 trillion market.

Bill Gross, managing director of bond giant Pimco, said the economic recovery required more government stimulus, particularly in the housing market. He suggested the administration push for the automatic refinancing of millions homes backed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac.

Refinancing those homes at the lowest mortgage rates in decades would give Americans more money each month. That would boost consumer spending by $50 billion to $60 billion and lift housing prices by as much as 10 percent, he said.

Without such stimulus in the next six months, Gross said, the economy will move at a “snails pace.”

Treasury officials have said they have no plans to enact such a plan, which has been the subject of intense rumors on Wall Street in recent weeks.

So it was just a rumor after all????? But wait….there was more…

Geithner did not offer a specific exit strategy for Fannie and Freddie. He agreed that the government could remain involved in the mortgage system by guaranteeing investors in mortgage-backed securities get paid, even when borrowers default.

There is a “strong case to be made” for such an arrangement, Geithner said.’

This is just like a professional Read more

August 13, 2010

The Basic Laws of Stupidity – No Explanation Needed

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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Greg often talks about self determination and splendor.  There is a raw courage that comes with saying that a bandit can put a gun in your face and demand what they want, but ultimately that bandit cannot take from you what you will not give him.

But what about stupidity?

Here’s an interesting read from an article published by Carlo Cipolla, and summarized briefly in this post.

THE BASIC LAWS OF HUMAN STUPIDITY

by Carlo M. Cipolla

1. The first basic law of human stupidity
2. The second basic law
3. The third (and golden) basic law
4. Frequency distribution
5. The power of stupidity
6. The fourth basic law
7. The fifth basic law

The first basic law of human stupidity

The first basic law of human stupidity asserts without ambiguity that:

Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

The second basic law

The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

The third (and golden) basic law

The Third Basic Law assumes, although it does not state it explicitly, that human beings fall into four basic categories: the helpless, the intelligent, the bandit and the stupid.

A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.

The fourth basic law

Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.

The Fifth Basic Law states that

A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

The corollary of the Law is that:

A stupid person is more dangerous than a bandit.

My premise? What I see as a pandemic is the unfettered law of stupidity threatening us in every arena of our lives. Professionally it’s NAR and financial reform. Sociologically it’s the “let’s all get along” mantra. Politically it’s the apparent dismembering and misinterpretation of our Constitution. Financially it’s our socialistic tendencies. Personally it’s the lack of decorum and respect.

Are there basic laws of stupidity? Read more

August 6, 2010

Radical Chic – Oh Baby How I’ve Missed Ya

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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Radical chic is a term coined by journalist Tom Wolfe[citation needed] to describe the pretentious and fashionable adoption of radical political causes by celebrities, socialites, and high society. The concept has been described as “an exercise in double-tracking one’s public image: on the one hand, defining oneself through committed allegiance to a radical cause, but on the other, vitally, demonstrating this allegiance because it is the fashionable, au courant way to be seen in moneyed, name-conscious Society.”[1] Unlike dedicated activists, revolutionaries, or dissenters, those who engage in radical chic remain frivolous political agitators. They are ideologically invested in their cause of choice only so far as it advances their social standing. – From Wikipedia

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated with much pomp and circumstance, and today, some year and a half later, remains (IMO) a polarizing figure in American politics. So, when I, as a member of the real estate community, read about the overt actions of the Federal Government under the leadership of Mr. Obama, and contemplate both the merits and missteps of his administration, I cannot but yearn for some few hours with the elite of American society who swept him into office with their own brand of ideological one-upsmanship.

Yesterday Brian Brady commented that he had not been invited to attend the reported meeting on August 17th of the Obama’s administration’s attempt to overhaul or repair Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

That got me thinking about an old essay by Tom Wolfe.

The essay, Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny’s “. . . It’s a tricky business, integrating new politics with tried and true social motifs . . .” from New York Magazine on June 8, 1970, got me wishing for a few hours of time with just about any of the elite of American society that ushered in and oversaw the coronation of their very own so chic, so hip, so nimble and enlightened leader. But the radical chic, those who helped elect this President, and with it the seemingly endless policy shifts away from accountability toward mediocrity and the continued Read more

June 29, 2010

Yogi Berra Wishes He Could Be This Good

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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From the Associated Press – This just in.

WASHINGTON — Homebuyers would get an extra three months to complete their purchases and qualify for a generous tax credit under a bill overwhelmingly passed by the House on Tuesday. The bill would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases. The extended deadline only applies to people who signed purchase agreements by April 30. The National Association of Realtors estimates that about 180,000 homebuyers who already signed purchase agreements are likely to miss the Wednesday deadline.

“We owe this to the people who have essentially followed the rules who are caught by a closing date,” said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The Realtors group says the tax credit has generated 1 million new home sales that wouldn’t have happened otherwise………..

Really?

Of course none of this comes as any real surprise for us.  But as Greg celebrates the inception and blossoming of Bloodhound Blog, and as I consider the many faceted Yogi Berra and what he would say concerning this about face in policy, I can only share the following video.  It’s a microcosm of Congress and NAR, much funnier, and certainly something Yogi would like.

June 10, 2010

What a Young Sailor Teaches Us About Life

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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This morning I woke up to read this article on Abby Sunderland, a young sailor, who is attempting an around the world sail singlehandedly. If you sail, then you know how dangerous this is, and as this article indicates, perhaps that danger has now placed Abby’s life in danger.

I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and never though much of sailing. While in college I read about a guy who had worked for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the largest newspaper in Cleveland, and who had managed to plan and sail the Atlantic Ocean in a boat that was just over 13 feet long…about the size of your car. His name was Robert Manry, and what he did influenced me to become a sailor when I found my way to San Diego some years later. Here’s a very short clip about his adventure.

But this story about Abby, a single day of which is recounted below from her blog, instructs us in the great adventure that awaits us every single day, doing the important, doing the mundane, living, longing, experiencing this opportunity to be the best we can be.

Thursday, May 27, 2010
A Tale from the Sea
Hey everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since I wrote. There were some problems with one of the Inmarsat satellites and so I wasn’t able to get online. That’s all sorted out now though and hopefully won’t happen again.

I have had a pretty busy past few days. Things went well getting out of Cape Town – everything was working well and I was having a lot of fun with my new auto pilot. I’ve been able to carry a lot more sail with the working auto pilot and making some pretty good speeds.

A few days ago (I’m sorry I don’t know exactly how long – the days started to blur together after awhile). I was sailing along nicely doing about 12-15 knots in perfect conditions. The wind started to pick up just as it was getting dark and was a bit too much for the sail I had up, so I went out to Read more

June 1, 2010

Field of Dreams – We Should Build It….They Will Come

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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Teri’s probably sick to death with sports analogies, and even I openly make fun of sportscasters, especially during NFL season. This, however, is the stuff real estate dreams are made of. This is how I view the Bloodhound way.

This isn’t about technology.  It is about a dream of having such a great team, in such a wondrous setting, with such a foundational underpinning that fans, real estate fans, will travel and watch, listen and learn, return season after season, to a place they knew in their innocence, and think they had lost forever to the bush league players who have stolen the rights and traditions of what we love about real estate, homes, communities and the “family practitioners” who sat with us as true purveyors of that dream.

Imagine with me.

May 26, 2010

Using Captcha to Capture Idiotic Real Estate Agents

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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A CAPTCHA is a challenge-response test most often placed within web forms to determine whether the user is human. The purpose of CAPTCHA is to block form submissions by spambots, which are automated scripts that post spam content everywhere they can.

Somebody’s Got to Stop the Stupid

Okay, a bit of a rant.  But I’ll bet you’ll want to jump on the proverbial bandwagon once I’m exhausted, spent and fallen down in subluxed joy after finishing this. The outlet for my frustration came courtesy of a Facebook comment by Mary McKnight. “Thanks, Mary.”

If there’s one theme that Bloodhound blog has perpetuated, promulgated and promoted, it’s excellence. A close second would probably be splendor. Tom Johnson perhaps put his arms around what I’m about to rant a little over tonight, and he did it with this post about a famous Greek historical event.  The Spartans were professional soldiers. They studied their craft. They studied their history. They studied their enemy. They sought fellowship with one another, coupled by a sense of duty to excellence and splendor.

Oh, how I would that my compatriots in the profession of real estate were to embrace the Spartan ethos. And if not, at least an ethos. My encounters of late with real estate agents have left me thinking they lack not only a distinctive character, not only fundamental values, but simply a lack of any character, training or professionalism whatsoever.  In short, I’ve had my fill recently with agents who have no common sense, no commitment to excellence, no knowledge commensurate with their duties, no bleeping right to be called a professional real estate agent, and certainly no right to practice the longstanding legal requirements of agency.

I’ve had agents not call me back.  Then, then don’t call me back.   They tell me to sign contracts that they know have errors in them.  They provide inaccurate information to me about contracts they represent. They cant’ find documents. They can’t find the time to do what needs to be done. They can’t find their own assholes, honest. What they can Read more

April 20, 2010

The Death and Birth of a Salesman

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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San Diego Equity Facts

Jeff Brown would think I’m long, long overdue.  Brian Brady, in his staccato voice, would let me know it’s all good.  Greg Swan would smile.  “He’s finally taking the step.”
 
All of you are in the business, both financially and personally, of real estate.  As the years go by you literally create a real estate family around yourself.  These family members include real people such as your TC, your title gal, your beloved escrow person, assorted very highly qualified lenders, associates with whom you like to exchange ideas and sometimes just BS with, and yes, even your web site(s). 
 
I can’t see or talk with Greg every day, or most all of you, so the Bloodhound Blog becomes an appendage to our relationship.  I see what’s on your mind.  I hear what concerns you.  I ponder your thoughts, your rationales, your pain and your ribaldry.   And if I’m fortunate enough, some of you will come to know me through what I write, or perhaps through my site.
 
So it may come as a surprise to have me admit, and for anyone who knows how hard it is to become a welcomed writer to the Bloodhound community, that during this past year I have had to slowly watch a death in the family.   Well, really two deaths as you’ll see later on. 
 
First, my father-in-law, Dave McGregor, an 84-year-old retired engineer, WWII veteran, and subsequent farmer who took up residence in Staunton, Virginia, came down with  Alzheimer’s disease this past year.  He became unable to drive, and he and mom moved out to San Diego to live with Beth and me.  That happened in September.  It was hard on them.  Although just in the mid stages of Alzheimer’s, Dave seemed to be doing well enough, and was adjusting to his new life here when on Christmas Eve he took ill and was admitted to the hospital.  Seven days later, on New Year’s Eve, we took him home to our place again, but this time with a diagnosis of CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia), and a need for immediate hospice.  Twenty-three days later, oxygen machines humming in the Read more
January 26, 2010

Finding versus Discovering

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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Take me home

Do you still buy magazines and books? Or are you hell bent on reading everything on the internet? Do you love statistics? Has Google Maps got you salivating for bigger and better satellites? Do you love good graphs better than sex? Is a bigger IDX better? Do you want to be completely plugged in, connected, always on line?

Well it turns out that I guess I’m more dog than human sometimes, especially when it comes to what makes a great web presence, and how best to graft a marketing strategy. I’ve spent some time today, you see, smelling other dogs beeeeehinds, and I think I’ve picked up the scent of something y’all might want to bury for a rainy day.

The scent I’ve picked up is either the Finding or the Discovering scent. I think it may be important to think about these two concepts as you put together your marketing, for your Web presence, and maybe more importantly, your belly to belly presence.

Turns out, you see, that people are still buying magazines. Though through the internet we can get all the information on who’s doing what to whom, how they’re doing it, why it shouldn’t be done, and where we can go to get more information on everything we just digested, people are still buying and reading magazines. Wonder why?

Turns out that people simply like to discover things, not just find them. Magazines, you see, lie around waiting for just the right moment to spring into our consciousness. Sure, you want the 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in Elevado Hills, with view, pool and lots of land, but sitting in front of an agent’s IDX (even the good ones) just isn’t the same as opening “San Diego Magazine” and seeing a home just like the one you imagine living in. Or you’ve been watching the statistics from a great blog site or newsletter from Brian or Scott or Mark or Tom on rates and terms and the market in general, and you’re educated and knowledgeable because of this. Read more

November 23, 2009

A World of Thanks…..Bloodhounds

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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As we approach the end of this year, celebrating and reminiscing, dining and partying, worshiping and contemplating, I wanted to simply say thanks to all of you. You’re now all part of my world, and thus what you give spills over into that which I, too, am able to give.

A very special thanks to Greg and Cathleen, who yoke us together, all of us, in our individual pursuits, foibles and moments of grandeur.

Enjoy a bit of celebration about the world you Bloodhounds have helped shape. Remember our singular bond, notwithstanding our differences, to be bold and fearless in all our endeavors, seeking a taste of Greg’s Greekness if only for just moments at a time.

Oh, in case you didn’t notice, I managed to sneak into the session around the 50 second mark to add a bit of my own musicality to the group. Happy Thanksgiving week to all of you!!

September 6, 2009

Queen for a Day

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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Stop whatever you’re doing (and in this case you’re reading my post), and make sure you’ve read Al Lorenz’s most recent Pulitzer Prize winning article. Well, technically it’s not a Pulitzer Prize winner, but when you consider this year’s actual Pulitzer winners, I think Al’s expose is as clear thinking, well reasoned and as well penned as some of these touted journalists.

An Al Lorenz and Geno Petro I am not, so what you’re going to get from me is a more visceral playing out of what Al so succinctly writes about in his article.

Greg Swann commented in Al’s post with:

“And: Where is the NAR on all this? Almost always on the side of the expropriation of property rights, of course.”

And now, Greg, Al, and everyone, here’s NAR’s response to this most important, intricate and far reaching debate. I’m calling it “Queen for a Day”, based on an old TV show that used to captivate American TV viewers because of its “Robin Hood” approach to the world around us. Got a problem? We’ll take care of you. Need a helping hand? If you get enough applause (i.e. demonstrate that you need, don’t have, and want), you win.

I couldn’t make this up. Here it is, straight from NAR:

NAR wants YOU to create propaganda for THEM, to use on YOU, to benefit THEM.

Al writes near the end of his article:

“The thing to fear is what is already happening every day in both my neighborhood and yours as our property rights are peeled away by each group of citizens wishing to take something away from the others. Remember the end game when you celebrate the tax credits for home buyers and lobby for more.” (My emphasis)

Will the 1.1 million NAR members play the PR game, or will this group of 1.1 million members rebuke NAR and celebrate, discuss and learn from Al Lorenz and his expose on the government takeover of real estate?

If you’re a NAR representative who was involved in the making and dissemination of the “Let’s Read more

September 3, 2009

Speaking of Liberty

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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For months now I have watched the political field of action, players, on-lookers, naysayers and pundits. Is there no clarity?

My highest regard for that clarity sometimes springs from this very site, its authors, contributors and readers. So today, I introduce again a contributing voice to the clarity that originates from reason, Ayn Rand.

Watch her eyes throughout this. She understands what is to come in the form and substance of the questions, and when given the opportunity, she is clear, resonant and reasoned. Oh, and she’s right by the way.

July 12, 2009

Sunday Morning Musings

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Realtor, Renaissance Man

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Try not to forget the simple – the majestic – the pure

My wife and I recently learned, though we had very strong suspicions before, that Beth’s dad has Alzheimer’s. He’s forgetting everything now. Not just things mundane, but things that I’m pretty sure he desperately would never want to forget.

David McGregor is his name. You’ll forget it, of course, in just a matter of hours. His life was exemplary up until now by most standards. Farm boy. World War II navigator in the Pacific. Shot at. Emotionally tried. Grown up before the full bloom of youth had passed. Husband. Father. Engineer. Farmer. Christian. Words that we only really come to know by watching men like him live their lives. Men we only come to know by watching them fail, sin, prosper, behave like saints and embrace life.

So I was musing this Sunday. Wondering what I’ve forgotten, who I’ve forgotten.

The disease we call Alzheimer’s will no longer be a stranger to either Beth or myself, just as other diseases are no longer strangers in your own homes, families and friends. Amongst the Bloodhound men and women are these very same quiet bearers of either a disease or the weight of sharing that disease with a loved one.

So I was musing today, this Sunday, and I wanted to stop for a short time to let all of you, anyone reading who loves and bears and carries a burden know….

I won’t forget. Not on this Sunday morning coming down…..

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Inventing Real Estate 2.0

Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

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