Author: Lani Anglin (page 2 of 3)

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Your first question is probably “what will you pay me” followed by “wait, what?”  According to Mashable.com, a web developer short on cash has decided to auction off the rights to have his name legally changed to the name of the highest bidding company (most people sweat over providing a product or a service, but this guy is genius).  This process will land him in the Guinness Book of World Records along with the highest bidder- talk about exposure!  Leave it to a dude in cargo shorts and a wrinkled screen T to create a brilliant marketing plan- he’s pimpin’ out his own name! 

This leads me to ask three things:
(1) Do you have a way to market yourself, your product or your services that is more unique than your competitors (or more unique than ANYONE for that matter)?  Cargo shorts dude certainly did and his ingenuity will likely pay his bills while he’s chillin’ in the blogiverse (you know he’s got to be a blogger) in his La-Z-Boy!

(2) Here in Austin several Realtors have actually changed their names- not after their brokerages, but perhaps to look cute on a business card.  There are several ladies who have changed their names to the likes of Sunny Happy Day (who is really named this, is a friend of my mother’s, but not a Realtor).  Too cheap for lipo or implants?  Change your name!  Would YOU do this for business?  I’m thinking of changing mine to Snarky Chick Anglin…

(3) What’s your guess for his highest bidder?  Can you imagine meeting a guy at a party and him saying “Hi, my name is Cola.  Coca Cola.”  Or, “what’s up, I’m Banana Republic!”  “Thank you for calling, this is Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, how may I direct your call?”  Share your ideas for funny brand names that could end up simultaneously making this dude rich while scarring him. 

————
Comments are encouraged!

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Many of you are Mac geeks while some of us are Microsoft fans.  Look, the iPhone trumped any of Microsoft’s phone efforts, but their creativity surpasses any Mac product on the books with their Photosynth project.  In case you didn’t have enough videos to watch today, I thought I’d give you one more.  So, grab a cup of coffee, take 10 and watch the future brought to you by Microsoft.

When you’re done, tell us how you think this could change the face of Real Estate?  Comments are highly encouraged!

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Bernanke answers the call to lower rates. We’re already hearing mixed reactions ranging from “it’s not enough” to “he shouldn’t have made a cut.”

What’s your take? I’m no Realtor and I’m not a lender, so I’d love to hear what everyone thinks. Comments are encouraged.

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Don’t worry, my husband doesn’t need this service; I’ve got it covered! PingMe.com is a free reminder system that reminds me of an advancement on the Outlook calendar function. I typically set up Outlook “reminders” for everything ranging from “follow up on Lakeline listing” to “email April” but get irritated that I can’t direct it to my phone or to my Yahoo account.

So, if you don’t get nagged enough from your wife (or children if you are the wife), here’s how PingMe works:

1. Create a ping/ name your task. For example, “Clip Toenails.” Whatever, you know you forget. You’ll also note if this is a recurring task or not.

2. Determine the pestering function. This is how often you would like to ping yourself until you’ve told PingMe you’ve completed the task. “Clip Toenails” is important, but I would probably set the pester to go off every 30 minutes in case we’re on a date or something… I’ll get to it.

Come to think of it, this could be a great “oh I have to go” interrupter making your phone ring mid-meeting… just act important and walk away from the encyclopedia salesperson (you’ve got an important pretend call to tend to)!

3. Select a target. You can assign places for your reminder to go- your work email, your cell phone, wherever. For my reminder to “clip toenails,” I would probably have it remind my phone; it’s a pretty important task.

3. Assign a Tag. Like in blogging, this organization will help you to sort through your to do reminders in an orderly fashion.

4. Save, creating a sticky note. PingMe will email to your designated location your desired task reminder. But hey PingMe, just because I say you should remind me of something doesn’t make you the boss of me. Got it?

So, consider this your reminder to go sign up for PingMe. Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. >Ping complete.

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Recently, Realtor Genius was called naive for suggesting that actual solutions be provided for the small portion of the market that we call “sub prime.” So, I’ve had my ears/eyes perked for solutions to the sub prime mess that I could share with everyone here…

Yesterday, I read on Mark Cuban’s blog (he’s the Dallas Maverick’s owner, genius business man, billiionaire of Broadcast.com, Web 2.0 savvy, worked at DQ for one day, and is NOT a Realtor) about his idea for how to break the “Boom Bust” cycle of Real Estate. I’m not a Realtor, but I really want to hear everyone’s take on this inventive idea… to me, it’s scary outside of the box!

—–

Why can’t home owners sell some percentage of equity in their homes on a listed exchange ? Why can’t I “Take My House Public?”

Why not create a market or exchange where homeowners can sell equity in their homes ?

The rules could be very eimple
1. The house is appraised by a company approved by the exchange that lists the houses.
2. “Shares” are set with a Par Value of 10pct of the appraised value. For a 100k dollar house, there are 10 shares potentially available. However at no point in time can more than 40pct of the “shares” in a home be sold. We dont want the opportunity for “hostile takeovers”
3. The price of the shares will of course be set by the market. In a hot market it will be set above par, in a tough market like today, it will sell below Par.
4. All Proceeds from the sale of shares MUST be used to pay down any debt on the home.

This is the key element of this approach. By selling equity in a home, the buyer gets an asset based security that will move up and down with the market. If this market is big enough, there should be enough liquidity to move in and out of positions.

The seller receives cash that can be used to pay down the debt and thereby reduce his/her monthly payments. The seller loses a part of the upside if the market Read more

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Contrary to unpopular belief, Realtors in the Bloodhound Blog pool care about consumers. Oh, I know it’s hard to buy because YOU once had a Realtor not call you back or because you read one single article that got heated, or because the For Sale sign is still crooked in your neighbor’s yard. I am not a Realtor, so I write from a consumer’s point of view.

From the consumer perspective, I feel that I can safely say that no one at Bloodhound lacks passion- be it lenders, Realtors, brokers or regular Joes (or Sallys) like me. There are a few Realtors that are not well informed, far behind the curve and still regurgitating the “buy/sell now, the market is hot hot hot” crap from their Intro to Real Estate classes. None of those people are reading or writing for the BHB.

If you read the nearly 2,000 articles written on the Bloodhound Blog, you’ll note that almost all of them are consumer focused even if the analysis upsets the few old school “buy/sell now, the market is hot hot hot” stragglers by implying that the consumer comes first. The Bloodhound Blog stands for the consumer, not just in words printed on a screen but by perpetuating the idea that the industry should stay informed, and by that sharing of ideas creating a better informed Realtor or lender that in turn has protected their clients from the rare “buy/sell now, the market is hot hot hot” junk.

OF COURSE Realtors are also focused on their business (marketing, SEO, etc); without that task in the list of “To Dos” there would be no product to offer the clients that are supposed to be protected against an ignorant Realtor. Not focusing on business would, in essence, be not focusing on the consumer; therefore, the idea that an article about marketing as not consumer based is bunk.

I don’t care about those “hot hot hot” Realtors- they may be doing just fine. What is upsetting is that anyone could possibly come into the den of Bloodhound and opine that everyone in the industry Read more

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

After reading BENN‘s, Michael‘s and Greg‘s articles today, my ears were uber-perked regarding the current market conditions. In preparing to blog today, I had Fox News on in the background and loved Cavuto’s analysis of the current conditions so much that I cared enough to pause, play, pause, play and transcribe his “Common Sense” piece. Do you agree or disagree with the following?

“Sometimes, the toughest thing about freedom is recognizing that you are also free to screw up, to make mistakes, to not read mortgage fine print or to understand that adjustable rates can also adjust up. In a free society, you are also free not to learn these things; you are free to assume that when you make the biggest purchase in your life, you do not have to do the most amount of research on the purchase in your life. You are free to study everything, or study nothing. You are free to be duped. It is not fair, my friends, it is not right.

I think the President in his discussions with me today cut to the core of the problem in some mortgages today. Some didn’t know what they were getting into. Some buyers didn’t read, some did not care, some stories did not end well. Some presidential candidates say ‘make the government make them well. Help them out, bail them out.’

But, the President today offering me a not so politically correct answer- “no.” No bailouts, no gains, no money for the very same folks who some say created the mess in the first place. FORCE them to be transparent? Yes. Force them to write in English? Yes. Forcing them to do everything to help borrowers before dumping them on Uncle Sam? Yes. But, you don’t correct a problem by throwing more money at the problem. I think that what the President was saying is that in the end, it is up to US to know when we’re getting in too deep.”

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

After spending a lot of time this week following up on various ads, trying to track down Realtors to ask quick questions about their listings and spending time on “competitors'” websites and blogs, I have determined that there is a formula to how to SUCK as a Realtor. Part of my appeal as a contributor is that I’m not a Realtor. I don’t practice Real Estate, but I’m involved just enough to witness why people have a poor perception of the industry. If you want to SUCK as a Realtor, be sure to follow these tips in acronym form:

1.) Silence your phone so that you never have to answer it or get that pesky noise that the voicemail thingy makes when I leave a series of messages over several days. Even though I simply say, “I have a question about your advertisement, I’m interested in learning more,” and you can’t tell if I am a buyer or not, you should never answer that phone or return calls. Otherwise, someone might think that you are a good Realtor.

2.) Untimeliness with emails is key. If you really want to suck as a Realtor, make sure to check your email no more than once a week. That’s really pushing it… you should probably only check monthly. And then don’t respond. Even if someone is interested in submitting an offer and you’ve followed step 1 and plan on following step 5.

3.) Condescending anyone that crosses your path is crucial- other Realtors, buyers, sellers, the paper boy and kittens. You are clearly smarter and more established than anyone in the industry, never mind your ’85 Escort that just pooped emissions on our office driveway. Make sure in meetings to use the words “Top Realtor” and “better than” at least seven times.

4.) Competency is for suckas. If you are able to comprehend basic RE law, how to perform the dial function of a phone, or how to unlock a door with an eKey, you definitely don’t SUCK as a Realtor… you should try harder if you want to be the “Top Suckey Realtor.” I know how Read more

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Bear with me as I add this up…

Internet meltdown at Fry’s
+ Dalton’s print media article
+ Greg’s article about books
+ An Onion video parody
= We muggles (in honor of midnight’s Harry Potter release) are overly dependent on the Internet!

So first, I must note that while at Fry’s Electronics yesterday, we waited in a line that dwarfed the lines on December 24th. The holdup? The Internet was down and they couldn’t process any payments. Seriously. Of course even checks have to be scanned and Lord knows no one in a tech store has cash! So, we waited for nearly 45 minutes.

While in line, we started talking to the guy behind us about what the hell we would do in our own lives if we didn’t have the Internet…

What if your PDA/Treo/iPhone/Blackberry wouldn’t turn on in the morning? Do you know anyone’s numbers? I don’t even know my mom’s number!!! Would you know what appointments you were supposed to make that day?

How would you use the MLS? How would you know inventory? How would you effectively get your news? There is no “real estate channel.” How would you suddenly market to an audience used to clicking on Google an average 127.2 times a day?

What happens if you don’t know the definition of a word? How could you possibly explain to your children that before dictionary.com they actually published a print format containing definitions and they’ll have to dust off the book printed by dinosaurs and quit asking me what “vociferous” means.

Would you be able to live without texting? I know my kids would scratch their eyes out if they didn’t have their cell phones, MySpace, Facebook or email. Would you be able to go without a blog? Who would know about your thoughts, beliefs, rants or LOL Cats?

What if The Internet crashed? Who would restore The Internet? Is there a Ctrl + Alt + Delete (or a paper clip to the reset button if you’re a MacHipster) for The Internet?

This was the conversation at Fry’s yesterday, then today we stumbled upon the Onion Video parody Read more

by Lani Anglin

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

Traditionally, BHB is a blog where authors plant seeds of information in the minds of readers from all over the nation (and globe if you will). Today, rather than give advice, criticize something or tell you my thoughts about the RE industry, I pose a question based on a bizarre dream I had last night (and my own ignorance):

Have you ever worked with a blind, deaf or special needs client? What considerations were made? How does a blind person know the home is not in disrepair? If someone is disabled, how does that change your search to narrow down homes to purchase? Are closing documents available in braille? How long does a closing take in sign language?

Most of you know I’m not a Realtor (rather a Realtor sidekick), but I do spend most hours of my life focused on my husband’s clients and business. I think most people are scared to ask stupid questions… but not me!

So, tell me (and the readers) about your biggest challenge when representing buyers or sellers with special needs- knowing laws and how to handle special situations can prepare new agents and new readers for potential clients! Knowing how to catch a curveball (baseball allusion for Jeff) in advance of the pitch makes any batter more confident when it’s time to step up to plate!