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Month: November 2009 (page 3 of 4)

November 14, 2009

David Harsanyi: “C’mon, admit it. Twitter is useless”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is good writing, and the man takes it down in 500 words. From The Denver Post:

Twitter’s popularity and usefulness are a mystery to me. Pressed by personal, professional and cultural forces, I sporadically deploy short missives for fear of becoming one of those cantankerous technophobes who is too dense to recognize the miracle of letting “followers” know I hate raisins or that I loved the finale of “Mad Men.”

Now, not only am I expected to transmit this minutiae mere seconds after I think it, some 20-year-old in California has decreed that I must do it within the brevity of 140 characters. This need for conciseness, in fact, induces normally articulate friends of mine to write in Prince lyrics — recklessly using “2” and “4” and “U” as words.

To this point, I’ve found Twitter so aggressively worthless that I was forced to research exactly what I was missing. In the process, I stumbled across a useful New York Times tech column penned by David Pogue that clarified all. The headline read, “Twitter? It’s What You Make It.”

In summation, like your beloved pet rock, Twitter is useful only in your imagination.

Despite this, I can’t begin to add up how many times, as a member of the media, I’ve been instructed that I need to Twitter by people who have absolutely no clue what Twittering means. How Twitter helps journalism is yet to be determined.

But the deepest mystery of Twitter is why celebrities and elected officials take part. After all, we all know they can’t write their own lines.

Now, admittedly, Twitter can be entertaining on occasion, as it turns out that 140 characters offers a great chance to be misunderstood — and an even greater chance one will expose his inner troglodyte.

In these past few weeks alone, a clueless Colorado State Sen. Dave Schultheis tweeted, “Don’t for a second, think Obama wants what is best for U.S. He is flying the U.S. Plane right into the ground at full speed. Let’s Roll.” NFL running back Larry Johnson took time out from his busy day of sucking at his job to ridicule his coach Read more

November 13, 2009

Embrace the Homebuyer Tax Credit: Solution to the Problem

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

The $8000 first time home buyer tax credit is a mistake.  Congress should have enacted the original idea: a $15,000 tax credit.  This goes for the repeat home buyer tax credit as well.  As a matter of fact, I would like to have seen both tax credits even higher.  If you’ll maintain an open mind for the next few minutes, I hope to show you how embracing these tax credits actually creates a “win-win” situation that benefits you and this great nation.

The inherent spirit of humankind is individualistic, creative and inclined toward action.  The heart of man is inexorably drawn toward freedom: freedom to live, freedom to express and freedom to choose.  No matter what short-term damage is effected by an oppressor or institutionalized by a government, men and women will devise ways to rebuild and overcome.  Even in countries where the idea of freedom has been systematically driven out by force, we witness people taking action toward freedom.  It is a natural state that can be delayed, but not denied.  We are DOERs.  This country, the United States of America, is the poster child for taking action toward freedom.  We are a nation made up of DOERs.

So what does this have to do with the tax credit?  It empowers us with a “win-win” opportunity.  The immoral bribes to home buyers, the unconstitutional mandate for health insurance, the socialistic bail-outs, even the very destruction wrought by stimulus packages:  embrace them all!  These are all opportunities to make that “win-win” choice.  Embrace the home buyer’s credit and ACT on it!  Be a DOER.  It’s the DOERs who create the success of our society.  A nation of DOERs – of independent, entrepreneurial, action-based DOERs – will always bring about the necessary changes to save this republic.  If you desire your own success, then you desire to become a DOER.

More specifically: every action you take to help another person receive the tax credit strengthens you as a DOER while at the same time weakening the architects – the very architecture – that imposes itself upon a free people with that tax credit.  Eventually, Read more

November 12, 2009

The #1 Obstacle in Real Estate

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

Would you like to know what the #1 obstacle is to achieving success in the real estate profession?  If you did know, would you create a marketing campaign around it and start knocking the ball out of the park?  I love marketing campaigns.  I love creating them and prodding them into action; I even love writing about successful real estate marketing campaigns.  But the truth is, the biggest obstacle to our success isn’t a lack of good marketing ideas.  It’s not the economy or interest rates or the inventory.  It’s actually nothing “out there.”  That’s because there’s nothing “out there” nearly so scary or powerful or destructive to our success as we are to ourselves.  That’s right: our #1 obstacle in Real Estate… is us.  We all carry around a few self-doubts, maybe even a few “I can’ts.”  If asked, I bet you could list five things you don’t like about yourself without even putting much thought into it.  It’s as if we’ve gone on a date with ourselves and halfway through dinner decided we’re not good enough for the other person at the table… and the other person is us!

Knowledge is power and knowing that we are our own biggest obstacle is very powerful. Yes, you have to have goals.  Yes, you need a marketing plan to achieve them.  But I guarantee you that plan will be much more successful if its very first step, is to fall back in love… with yourself.  Sound a little corny?  Maybe easier said than done?  Fear not: I’m going to leave you with a small, powerful two-word phrase for that all-important first step.  Not long ago I was talking to my 7 year old son and I was congratulating him on figuring something out for himself.  He immediately threw his arms into the air and said “Yeah Me!”  No pretense.  No guilt.  Only genuine admiration.  Imagine that: “Yeah Me!”

Go ahead, try it yourself.  Stop reading for a moment, put your arms in the air and say “Yeah Me!”  Come on… say it with feeling – really mean it.  “Yeah Me!”  Does it feel Read more

November 12, 2009

When the cash-for-clunkers “logic” comes to the real estate market, it’s time for every homeowner with equity to cash in big

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

It’s cash-for-clunkers time in the real estate market.

Last week, in addition to extending the $8,000 first-time home-buyers tax credit for another six months, Congress added a new $6,500 tax-credit for move-up buyers.

The credit can be applied for homes selling for as much as $800,000, and the income limits exclude almost nobody.

You have to have lived in your home for more than five years out of the last eight, but that’s hardly an onerous restriction. And homeowners who have put down roots have equity.

Remember that capital gains on your primary residence are excluded from taxation if you have lived in your home for the past five years. But the way the government is spending money, that exclusion cannot last.

But, but, but… Your home isn’t worth what it was in December of 2005. That’s true, but it doesn’t change anything. The home that you can buy now was also selling for more four years ago.

Here’s the way things really shake out: If you have equity in your home, you can take that equity as a tax-free profit — for now. At the same time, you can snag the $6,500 tax credit. And you can do all of this at historic low interest rates.

If your house is worth $400,000 and you only paid $300,000 for it, you could reap a gain of $100,000 — which would save you thousands of dollars in taxes. If you wait for prices to go higher, you may wait a long time for a much smaller return. And the house you buy then will have appreciated, also.

I think we’re looking at a perfect storm for homeowners with equity: You can move now, take a tax-free gain, get a lot more house than you could have bought a few years ago, all financed with a low-interest mortgage. And then, next April, Uncle Sam will write you a big fat check for your trouble.

On second thought, this is less cash-for-clunkers than the taxpayer’s revenge…

 
Sell this idea! Feel free to share this idea with your clients and prospects — in your blog, by email, on the phone. This is big, and the Read more

November 11, 2009

A Veteran’s Journey Home

by

Las Vegas Mortgage Blogger

Author website

It was Christmas Eve December 24, 1967, and he stood in front of his parents house for the first time in 21 months since he had left to serve his country in Vietnam.

The cool San Francisco fog was a pleasant change from the sticky Mekong Delta heat that he had endured less than 28 hours earlier.

While pleasant and welcoming, the faint background sounds of traffic and sea gulls confused his heightened sense of awareness.

Trying to gain a perspective of his new surreal, yet familiar surroundings, this 23 year-old kid paused at the bottom of the long steps that led up to his front door….

Can I look my own mother in the eyes without letting her see right through to the pain and fear that is hidden just beyond this external shell of a man?

It had only been weeks, or days, or maybe even minutes since he raced to stop the bleeding and save another brother’s life.

As a Field Medic, he had been trained to maintain composure while holding a dying man’s hand, yet the Army never prepared him for when he returned to the real world.

His mind drifted back to the day his father dropped him off at the bus station when he was heading off to boot camp.

A solid man, who fought back tears as he explained to his son that he joined the fight in World War II so his children wouldn’t have to.

Will his return open up wounds that his father spent years healing? Does he even have to share his story with his Veteran dad, or will he already know the ending?

He took the first three steps…. only 8 more to go before he has to face his future.

A soft bed, secure behind locked doors was motivating him to gently move up a few more steps, only stopping for a brief moment as he cringed with the thought of his prior sleeping conditions.

Nights were either spent in a foxhole infested with fire ants, or on moonlit missions into the jungle rooting out ambushes. Either way, the thought of a full 12 hours of sleep Read more

November 10, 2009

Reach Out, Connect, Be Careful and Other Worthless Advice

by

Instigator, anthill kicker.

Author website

There roughly 50 days left this year, depending on when I get this post done.  About 14% of the year left.  And, really, truly, a lot of people take it down a notch after Halloween.  Or three notches.  Because the presumption is that nobody buys in the winter.

Look at the NAR monthly numbers: every year, December and January are only 8% off from August and September in the housing industry.  2008 is an outlier. Probably still time to do one of 2 things: crank 2 transactions out of this year or have an amazing January, or both.  But “shutting it down,” and waiting, and coming into the office in the role of listless mope in adult failure spiral.  If you are going to fail, stay home and don’t infect the office.

But that’s not really the point of this post.  The point comes from a tawlk with Bawld Guy I had last night.  He pointed out that a blog was well intentioned but had vague unactionable advice.  I see it too.  Because being told to “work harder, and be careful” is the sole substance of most of the Social Media, or Investing advice you see these days.   “Connect more, be authentic and transparent, and use common frolicking sense.”  And then wait and you’ll get to join the Twitterati.  Buncha crap.

That’s the rub, nobody gets really specific about what “works” and what doesn’t work.   A lot of this you have to learn on your own.  What works for Brian Brady may not work for Greg Swann.  You have to create your own system.  Try things  and go to what you are good at. The key part of the equation.  From Always Be Testing (my new Scriptures):

  1. It’s OK To Not Know.
  2. It’s Not OK to Assume
  3. What Works For Them Doesn’t (necessarily) work for me.
  4. There’s always room to improve
  5. There are no sacred cows.

This Stuff Works For Me

OK, so we’ve got a little direction.  Try a bunch of stuff.  Real good.  Well, let’s get more specific:  have you tried one new, scary and risky idea this week? Write that down.  Make it a commandment.  I call Read more

November 9, 2009

Goldman Sachs and God’s Work

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

I guess I haven’t reached that point in my life yet when I’m so jaded (or is it cynical) that nothing will surprise me.  I say this after reading an interesting little article in the London TimesOnline.  They had the chance to interview Lloyd Blankfein, the Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs.  It seems he’s convinced – or at least he’s convinced he can convince us – that Goldman serves “a social purpose.”  As a matter of fact, Mr. Blankfein is so enamored with the self-importance of Goldman that he proudly proclaims he’s “Doing God’s Work.”  Wow…

Just to refresh our memory:

  • Goldman received $10 Billion in Tarp Money
  • Goldman received $12.9 Billion of government money through AIG
  • Goldman received $20.9 Billion in FDIC debt guarantees
  • Goldman, restructured as a “bank holding company” borrows at the Fed Window (at basically no cost)

Oh, and one more thing: Goldman will be paying $21.9 Billion in bonuses for 2009.  I don’t begrudge them bonuses, after all: they’ve had a helluva year.  Although some of that might be due to their oligarchical position within the federal government.  It would be nice – every once in a while – if Goldman would send a little thank you nod our way; maybe a quick wave or even a wink.  I guess I’m saying that when you’re screwing me this bad, a little dinner wouldn’t hurt.

John Lennon stirred up quite a spot of bother when he said: “We’re more popular than Jesus now.”  Have to admit though, that seems like such a trifle compared to the CEO of Goldman Sachs.  I mean, who cares if you’re more popular than Jesus?  Mr. Blankfein is angling to BE Jesus.

November 9, 2009

Google Voice Redux

by

Raleigh Criminal Lawyer

Author website

Back in September I gave a lukewarm review of Google Voice.  Since September, it’s been working much better.  Much less lag, much better transcription quality.  I use it now on my business cards, website, and so forth, and it’s a great tool to help screen calls that come in.

Google Voice is a free, invitation-only service.  They recently gave me two invitations that I can give to the first two people who contact me at bhb@chetson.com.  I believe you need to use GMail as your webmail provider in order to take full advantage of Google Voice.  The two services work together.

November 9, 2009

Youtube Embed “Dump”

by

Retechulous...

Author website

Ok… so I try to stay away from being too blatant about the self promotion here at BHB. But screw it. Here we go…

🙂

Easy Reference Youtube Embed Codes and Tweaks For Your Website

Using Youtube’s standard embeds you end up with something like this:

Notice the White “Brainstorming Domain Names” in the header? Ugly, right?

Well strip them out by adding “&showinfo=0” to the url. And you’ll end up with something like this:

Or maybe you want to make the vid bigger? Just change the dimensions in the embed code and you’ll end up with something like this:

Or, maybe you’d like to start the video at a certain point? Use “&start=(insert seconds here)”.

Or, maybe you want to “loop” the video so it keeps replaying? Just use “&loop=1” in the embed code. Trust me, this, coupled with “&autoplay=1” can come in very handy, especially if you’re trying to have some fun with a friend. I’ll spare you the demo on this one, because the Bloodhoundblog home page would end up streaming my “toilet humor” over and over again until this post gets buried in the archives by newer posts.

Or…maybe not? Which leads me to my favorite trick. Coupling all of the above with a minimized 1 x 1 pixel vid featuring some unsavory audio. (If you pull out a magnifiying glass maybe you can see the video below this line?

[Note- Little pixelated fart was just removed. I felt bad because people were starting to blame the dog. Sorry Odysseus… rh, a few days later]

Excuse Me!

Practical applications for real estate? Well, stripping the white title line could make your site look a lot cleaner and more professional? Or maybe you want to take a real long video of a home tour, then link directly to different rooms by using the “&start” thing. Or maybe you’re confident a little “silent but deadly” offer could help your conversion ratio. Example: You could embed a tiny 1×1 and say something like “pssst… give me a call, I have an opening this Saturday morning at 10.”

Freak em out a little, they’ll either love you Read more

November 9, 2009

Why Are Most Goals Never Achieved? What Makes Goal Achievement Inevitable?

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Note: By writing this post don’t get the idea I think I’m a goal expert, cuz I’m far from it. I do know however, what’s worked for me and a few others time after time. I offer this merely as food for thought, and a possible insight to your own goal setting history.

It’s about that time of year again. The kids have just gotten through their annual Halloween candy coma, Thanksgiving plans are either being made, debated, or negotiated, and signs of Christmas are beginning to show up in the cultural background. If you’re in real estate or a related field, it’s also about the time you see the office population begin to thin out a bit. While we sit somewhere, unawares, that little voice with whom we have a love/hate relationship begins whispering less than subtle hints about sitting down to review the year’s production vs the goals you so enthusiastically and meticulously set.

You sigh. Not just cuz you know this year’s production will probably make you look like a slug who came to work late and left early every day, but also due to all those other goals you simply gave up on, hoping they wouldn’t come back to taunt you at the end of the year. I especially like the physical goals like ‘lose 30 pounds’, knowing that even if you go on a juice-only diet ’till New Year’s Eve you’ll still weigh more than when you wrote the damn goal down. 🙂

Why do millions of us set so many goals and fail so miserably so often? Is there a common denominator? I think there is, and have been making use of the principle since the 1980’s.

I’d just become a father for the first time, and was visiting Grandma and Grandpa who lived just an hour or so up highway 15. Grandma had spent her alloted time with her new grandson (Um, alloted time is code for as long as she dang well felt like.) and found me sitting alone in her old school country sized kitchen. I’d grabbed the still warm raisin bran muffins she Read more

November 7, 2009

Looking for peace and prosperity? Nothing gets good things done like a do-nothing federal government

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This from my Arizona Republic real estate column:

The elections this past Tuesday were not a referendum on President Barrack Obama or his plans and policies. How do we know that? Because everyone associated with the Obama administration loudly insists that this cannot be so. They ought to know, right?

Senators and Representatives from states and districts that supported John McCain in the last election might have second thoughts, though, and this is very far from being a bad thing.

Americans insist to each other that they want a government that gets things done — except when they happen to be suffering under a government that is getting things done. If this election was not a referendum on Obama, it was a loud, angry shout about what the government has been doing lately.

The last time voters repudiated an over-ambitious president — the last six years of the Clinton administration — the nation experienced a period of tremendous growth and prosperity. The American people recoiled in horror from socialized medicine, and the resulting government — liberal president, conservative congress — was amazingly beneficial for the American people.

How? By getting nothing done, that’s how.

For free markets to work at their best, entrepreneurs need to be able to plan for the future. If they can surmise that prices and credit terms will not swing wildly over the next few years, they can plan their investments with a sense of security.

And if not? Not.

The Obama administration’s herky-jerky dance of currency inflation, stimulus programs, emergency bailouts and tax credits not only cannot stabilize the economy, they do exactly the opposite: They convince entrepreneurs that now is not a safe time to make plans for the future.

This goes for the real estate market, too. Buyers sit on the sidelines waiting for new tax credits. Sellers live in dread of future interest rate hikes. The Cap and Trade bill promises to complicate life for every homeowner.

So how might these elections have helped us all? It’s simple. If Senators and Representatives are afraid to act, nothing will change. And when nothing changes in Washington, everything changes, usually for the better, for everyone Read more

November 6, 2009

The Deeds for Lease Program Coming Soon to a Slum Near You (Also Coming Soon: the Slum)

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

Fannie Mae announced today it’s implementation of the Deeds for Lease Program (which name, interestingly, they have trademarked). I cannot begin to count the problems with this latest attempt by the government to sober up an alcoholic nation by supplying enough booze to drown a water hippo.

You can read the press release and imagine the nightmare yourself so I’m not going to recount it here, but I will point out one of the less reported aspects of this program that has the potential to cause a whole lot of those pesky unintended consequences our political leaders are so loathe to anticipate:

… (the borrowers or tenants) lease back the house at a market rate… Borrowers or tenants interested in a lease must be able to document that the new market rental rate is no more than 31% of their gross income.

Interesting wording there at the end.  It’s not clear at first glance, but what this means is that if the borrower – who has generally endured a financial hardship to begin with – doesn’t make enough money, they’re still eligible… the rent will just have to drop to below market.  Well what could go wrong with a government/landlord artificially lowering rents throughout the nation… That shouldn’t bother anyone who works with real estate investors should it?  Anyone here, reading BHB, work with real estate investors?  I didn’t think so.  Sorry to have brought it up.  I’m sure the people who paid $70,000 for $30,000 trailers that are STILL housing people post Katrina know exactly what they’re doing.

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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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