BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Category: Marketing (page 158 of 191)

November 27, 2006

New tricks: Just how much noise can a pack of big dogs can make . . . ?

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

With this post, this little puppy is making sounds like a grown-up hound dog…

BloodhoundBlog began five months ago as a Phoenix-area brokerage-oriented real estate weblog. We became a sort of hybrid group-blog when we added mega-producing Phoenix-area Realtor Russell Shaw. We stuck another paw in the water when we invited San Diego-based investment broker Jeff Brown to come play with us in the Dual Agency Smack-Down. And that went so well that we decided to grow BloodhoundBlog into a true group-blog.

We’ve always been national in the scope of our interests, but now we are truly national (or at least bi-coastal) in our reach. Moreover, the webloggers we are adding will continue the BloodhoundBlog tradition of rigorous real estate analysis — thoughtful without being dour, informative without being pedantic, disagreeing, where we must, without being disagreeable.

These are our contributors:

Jeff Brown is a San Diego-based real estate investments broker. He makes millionaires of his ordinary-investor clients. If that’s not enough to make you smile, his sage, folksy wit should do the job.

Cathleen Collins is a Phoenix-area Realtor. With a background in hi-tech project-management and a deft hand in customer service, she is building a respectable listing practice in the Historic Districts of Downtown Phoenix.

Tony Fredericks is a San Francisco-area roofing contractor who is using his surplus income to build a real estate investment empire. Tony is a wine aficionado who brings a fine discrimination to everything he does.

Richard Riccelli is a Boston-based direct marketing guru. His advertising agency specializes in magazine circulation, but here Richard will deploy his vast expertise and rapier wit to real estate marketing issues.

Russell Shaw is a mega-producing Realtor working in Metropolitan Phoenix. He and his team close approximately 400 transactions a year, consistently putting Russell among the top 30 Realtors nationwide.

Greg Swann is a Phoenix-area Realtor and real estate broker. The most prolific of our contributors, Greg is not completely happy with anything until he has picked it apart and put it back together in his own way.

Room for one more? We are interested, now and always, in considering new contributors. If you can write with style, grace Read more

November 27, 2006

Jay Reifert Is Tired Of NAR Hiding The Truth

by

Mega-Producing Realtor

Author website

Good news, Jay, I’ll take this one for $200.00. I doubt that Laurie Janik is going to respond to you (as – per you – they have “something to hide”):

You’re a riot, Steve. My contract is a proprietary document, built out of years worth of my research, experience and fine tuning. Why don’t you ask Coca Cola to post their secret recipe here? I have no intention of putting it out here for you, and your kind, to copy.

Why don’t you call Laurie Janik, General Counsel of the National Association of Realtors? over at NAR headquarters in Chicago and ask Laurie to do something about me? I am just spoiling to
get this fight into the public eye, so that the abuses endemic with Procuring Cause, the silent theft of home buyer rights,will come to the forefront of consumer consciousness.

I have no qualms, whatsoever, about the truth of this situation getting out. Unlike NAR…I have nothing to hide.

The buyer agent document you use is a SECRET that you won’t share with other agents? And you think that you are being ignored by Laurie Janik because “NAR has something to hide”? What a self-important gas bag you are. Please allow me to let a little of the air out. And to answer your burning question, yes Jay, I did Google “procuring cause””reifert”. Anyone who cares to can just hit the hyperlink.

I found your views and attitudes so self centered and oblivious of how the world works (the one everybody else lives in) that – before I reply – I am including your comments on Bloodhound Blog here in their entirety.

Thank you for the kind words, Trevor. The Procuring Cause that is of importance, here, is Realtor? Procuring Cause, hereafter–in this post–PC. Although there is a legal doctrine of procuring cause, that isn’t the breed of which any of us speak, when talking about PC. NAR hands down the guidelines on PC arbitrations, but it is up to each panel–very often composed of hard core PC trappers–to interpret the events which will determine who is actually PC in any given transaction.When Read more

November 26, 2006

Sunday real estate news: There may, in fact, truly be a day beyond tomorrow . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The Arizona Republic is positively ripe with real estate stories today.

First up, the amazingly ugly Chateaux on Central condominium development is being forced into bankruptcy. The homes were to sell for $2- to $4-million for apartments as many as six-stories tall — not a misprint. Freddy Krueger and Damien from The Omen took a pass on choice units, thus exhausting the entire market for this giant gargoyle of a structure.

In that same column, ace real estate reporter Catherine Reagor suggests that there might be a connection between lower interest rates and increased buyer activity. Jeepers! Who’d ‘a thunk it?!

Economist Elliott Pollack says nice things about the Valley’s growth prospects, so he must be making it all up. Cliff’s Notes: Fundamentals strong, new housing over-built, possibly still as long as two years to shake out.

One of the things I love about this place is that people are audacious. We all know about the giant fake lake in Tempe, but did you know that we have not one but two airstrip-based subdivisions? Garage in front, hangar in back with accessways leading to a private airstrip. In Gilbert, there is a boat-racing subdivision — a long, skinny lake surrounded by houses with docks. They run nationally-televised boat races there. Comes news today that we are about to get our own micro-winery. Modeled on the idea of a micro-brewery, a vintner plans to set up business in Downtown Tempe.

Finally, there is a fun story on the development problems posed by hundreds of old military bombing sites in Pinal County. The explosive charges used in the practice bombs were very small — but still plenty enough to burn down a house. The interesting thing is that we’re talking about Pinal County — too much, too soon, too often declared DOA in the housing downturn. It could be there are people in the real estate business who have heard there really was a day before yesterday, and there may, in fact, truly be a day beyond tomorrow…

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November 26, 2006

Furious fusillades of blistering BubbleHead flatulence: Foghorn Leghorn declares “WAR!”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Well.

That was even more lame than I expected. Foghorn Leghorn–er, Keith at HousingPanic has declared war by commanding his troops to… read.

And to read BloodhoundBlog of all things!

Yeah, that’ll work…

The specific marching orders are pretty stupid, but that’s hardly a surprise.

The troops are supposed to prove that the Phoenix housing market has crashed, which has proved to be a problem, given that it hasn’t.

They are supposed to “flame away, and hard,” with the objective of chasing away future clients. Do your best, boys. Anyone who will listen to you — I don’t want.

This one I love:

Dig up postings, articles and quotes from Greg Swann for all to see. Where he admits having unlicensed or out of work realtors working for him.

The specific post cited says nothing of the sort, but, of course, Keith can’t read. But most BubbleHeads are much smarter than their “leader,” so do please read all you can here. This is one of the most serious real estate weblogs on the net. If you open your minds, you’ll learn a lot.

There is more — for example, a repetition of the false charge that I have posted comments at HP — but the whole call to action is pretty pitiful.

How’s the war going? I think this comment says it all:

What a pile of excrement is here in this blog.

It’s a waste of time to try to read blood whatever.

You better go anywhere else on the web.

This site is brain dead.

In other words, the poster is fighting out of his class and he knows it.

To our BubbleHead visitors: Even if you can’t stand on your own, surely you can do better than this moron you follow so slavishly…

And to our regular readers: This will be all heat, no substance. You do not have to respond to every comment — nor to any of them. They are not paying you for your time. I tend to choose comments by people who are better-behaved and who are raising points I want to talk about.

Ultimately, this has nothing to do with real estate. This is about the wounded vanity of a vile, ignorant Read more

November 25, 2006

Keith at Housing Panic is for sale . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Who didn’t know?

Here is Keith from Housing Panic volunteering to “go easy on me”, to “pull his punches” — essentially to “take a dive”.

Why? Because he can’t bear up to the ridicule his ridiculous behavior incites.

Responding to this post, days late, Keith sent me this email (click here for full source — provided to prevent the wanker from trying to deny it):

From: housingpanic@yahoo.com
Subject: your choice
Date: November 25, 2006 11:18:34 AM MST
To: GregSwann@BloodhoundRealty.com

I’ll give you a choice.

1) A war with the thousands of HP’ers so harsh and loud your practice and reputation in Arizona likely wouldn’t survive (beyond the damage you’re doing yourself)

2) A truce

Here’s your post that is way beyond the pale, and made you look like some unprofessional weirdo. I’d suggest this be pulled by the weekend.

Your choice

Keith

Here is the specific language Keith is objecting to:

Finally, it might be nice if everyone would chip in to buy Keith at Housing Panic some lubricant. The poor sod has been Masturbating to Armageddon for months now, to no discernible result. It’s gotta chafe…

Here is a post, one of hundreds, in which you can witness Keith Masturbating to Armageddon.

It’s easy to make jokes about him, because the man is such an outsized fool, but, in fact, he is completely beyond parody. I used to think he might be dangerous, not so much anymore. Months ago, someone asked me to write a few words about him, and this is what I came up with:

We speak of trolls casually, but the Norse idea of the troll is a much more serious thing. A troll seeks chaos, another fine word ruined by overuse. I wrote once that a troll is “a spark of hell’s fire seeking ready tinder on the earth.”

This is what Keith is, a true troll. He has the gift of finding the evil bone in men with no will to evil. He tickles it until they become their worst possible selves.

The only true capital is human capital, which is not just mental but also moral power — not just the skill but also the will to do Read more

November 25, 2006

Be careful what you sign with broker . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is me from yesterday’s Arizona Republic (permanent link):

 
Be careful what you sign with broker

When you sign a buyer-broker agreement with a Realtor, is there some law that says you must thereafter include that Realtor in the purchase of any home he or she showed you? Once you’ve “married” your agent, are you ever really “divorced”?

No such law.

Feeling relieved? You can stop that right now.

While there is no law binding you to your someday-to-be-former buyer’s agent, you may well have signed a contract that says that someday never comes. Or at least not soon.

Consider this, from the Arizona Association of Realtors Buyer Broker Agreement:

“e. Buyer agrees to pay such compensation if Buyer, within ____ calendar days after the termination of this Agreement, enters into an agreement to purchase, exchange, option or lease any Property shown to or negotiated on behalf of the Buyer by Broker during the term of this Agreement, unless Buyer enters into a subsequent buyer-broker exclusive employment agreement with another broker.”

The blank is filled in with a number, often 30, sometimes 90, although it could be anything. If you and your agent mutually agreed to 1,001 days, it would be two and three-quarter years before you are divorced.

Unless you sign another buyer-broker agreement.

This kind of holdover language is common in real estate employment contracts. It’s there to frustrate betrayal. If you make a whispering deal with the listing agent to cut your buyer’s agent out of the deal, that language cuts him right back in.

So how long is long enough to protect the buyer’s agent without unduly hamstringing the buyer? How about 15 days?

Or how about zero?

My attitude is, if you’re done with me, I’m done with you. Whatever you do after we’re divorced is your business.

But different agents will see this issue differently, and this is why buyers and sellers need to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the contracts they are asked to sign. Very probably, the form you are looking at is not filled out to your advantage.

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November 25, 2006

Amazingly low foreclosure rate at a two year high . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

It’s Saturday, the Arizona Republic‘s favorite day to piss on the real estate market. Today ace reporter Catherine Reagor informs us that foreclosures are up. “By how much?” you ask. You don’t read the Republic much, do you?

Instead of actual numbers we get all manner of obfuscation, scary anecdotes, out-of-context statistics and quotations from authorities of dubious authority.

But if you wade your way to the eleventh paragraph, you get to the real numbers. How many foreclosure auctions last month? One-hundred-thirty-three. An additional 1,186 homeowners got trustee notices, which means that if they don’t sell, refinance or catch up on their payments quickly, their homes will be auctioned.

I cannot tell you with certainly how many owned domiciles there are in Maricopa County. A million, at least. I feel bad for the 133 families who lost their homes in foreclosure auction, but I expect more homes than that burned down last month.

In other words, the change in the rate of foreclosures is interesting only because our foreclosure rate has been outrageously low over the last two years.

Why are newspapers dying? How about because they refuse to tell the whole truth…?

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November 25, 2006

Content piracy on the RE.net . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

An aggregator weblog called Real Estate Chatter is resyndicating the feeds of these 25 real estate weblogs:

My presumption is that this is being done without permission — it was in the case of BloodhoundBlog. In other words, this seems to me to be a case of RSS feed piracy.

Good news: The site is run by an actual human being, Ian Holsman, who says he will remove feeds upon request — which he has done with BloodhoundBlog.

Why these dinks can’t just ask permission in the first place, I don’t know.

Lorelle on WordPress has much, much more on dealing with content theft — and her advice is not-for-WordPress-only.

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November 24, 2006

What IS Marketing Anyway?

by

Mega-Producing Realtor

Author website

In early 2006, the former president of Realtor.com, Steve Ozonian was appointed Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Realty Information Systems, Inc. dba Help-U-Sell Real Estate. Just prior to this time, he was living in Laguna Niguel, California, where he had a home to sell. Would it have seemed “logical” or “right” for him to list his home with a Help U Sell agent? Probably, but that isn’t who he called. He first called, top selling Re/Max agent, Bob Wolff. Bob wouldn’t reduce his commission and Steve listed with someone else (I believe it was a Coldwell Banker agent who actually took and sold the listing). It was NOT a Help U Sell agent or a Help U Sell office. The closest Help U Sell office to Steve’s home was in Corona Del Mar, 21.8 miles away – a bit of distance, but not that far.

It says right there on that particular office’s landing page, “Full Service, BIG Savings! Licensed Professionals at a low set-fee” – and yet, Steve didn’t call them. Why? Was it the distance from Corona Del Mar to Dana Point? I don’t think so, I believe there was another more significant factor involved – marketing position.

What is successful marking? Is it “running an ad”? Is it sending a postcard? Wearing a nice suit and smiling? How about a “PR campaign”? Is that marketing?

Marketing is the “shelf space” you (or the product, or both) occupy in the mind of the prospect. Any product or person is thought of in “a certain way”. This may or may not be based on advertising – usually not. Think of someone you really trust. That person has a “position” in YOUR mind that says that they – and what they have to say – can be trusted. It can be depended upon. The most significant breakthrough on this subject (and still one of the most important books on this subject ever written) is “Positioning, The Battle For Your Mind” by Ries & Trout. The more recent, “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” by Al Ries and Jack Trout is Read more

November 23, 2006

How not to take it in the shorts . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I had a confidential Ask the Broker question this morning, believe it or not. Glossing over the whole thing, the listing agent could have avoided the entire problem with this language in a counter-offer:

Buyer is aware that seller reserves the right to cancel this contract unilaterally and without recourse within ten days of acceptance, with earnest deposit refunded in full to the buyer, if the projected net proceeds to the seller from this transaction will not satisfy seller’s entire costs.

In other words, if it’s a short-sale, it’s a no-sale. I don’t know if this sort of contingency is common in other states. It’s not in Arizona, but it should be right now. Our contract is written with almost no outs for the seller, which I like, but it is entirely possible right now that sellers could be ham-strung by a deal they can’t afford to honor. Agency is looking out for the disasters no one else foresaw…

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November 22, 2006

Growth news: A big shoe drops in Goodyear . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Growth news abounds in today’s Arizona Republic. A new shopping center along the northern frontier of Phoenix. Accelerated improvements along the route of the SR-303 freeway in Surprise. And, in Goodyear, plans for a massive expansion of the city, along with a big told-ya-so for Greg.

The map at the right illustrates Goodyear’s plan. (If you click it it will open as a PDF.)

The yellow region is the current City of Goodyear.

The purple border is the Goodyear Planning Area — the regions Goodyear currently has plans to annex.

The region within the solid black border is the proposed planning area discussed in the newspaper article, 95 square miles of new Goodyear.

The region within the dashed black border is future expansion, the Goodyear of good years yet to come.

The red dashed line is a proposed route for the SR-303 freeway running south from the I-10 to the I-8. I have known for years that this would happen, but this is the first time this shoe has dropped in an official document.

You might look at that meandering freeway route and think, “Are they drunk? Did sage Euclid live and die in vain?” But remember that the purpose of that freeway is not to move traffic but to enrich the current and future owners of the land.

The ideal freeway route is through the Federally-owned desert preserve to the west. But the freeway isn’t being built to solve a traffic problem but to create one. No one lives there now. There is no need for a freeway. But all of that privately-owned land will become developable because of the proposed freeway route — and that is what the freeway is intended to do.

That’s as may be. It’s corrupt and demented, but it’s the way things are done here — and pretty much everywhere, in one sleazy way or another. What’s interesting to me is that the West Valley map I made last week is already dated. And: It would seem that the Phoenix real estate market is quite a bit healthier than some people are willing to allow…

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November 22, 2006

Will real estate sell for higher prices in the company of a stunningly beautiful super model? And: What should you do about the drool . . . ?

by

Realtor, Staging Consultant

Author website

Our dear friend and marketing guru, Richard Riccelli, shared this marketing idea. Brilliant.

The brokerage knows its target market, and my mom wouldn’t be in it. But Paramount Group wouldn’t want to sell her a home… and she couldn’t afford the houses they represent anyway.

I don’t think we have enough super models in Phoenix for anyone here to steal the idea. Wonder if Phoenix prospects would settle for our own stunningly beautiful supermodel, Odysseus…

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November 21, 2006

A pre-Thanksgiving thought-feast: Blogtalk, techtalk, Zillowtalk — and the mysterious allure of ephemeral catastrophe . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Jeff Brown has come out from Behind the Curtain. His new weblog (blogrolled, of course) is BawldGuy Talking.

The Hamptons Real Estate Blog (blogrolled) has also moved to a new WordPress platform. One less Blogger weblog out there. The speed at which people can abandon software platforms should give every Google investor pause.

On that subject, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy has news about a new Point 2 Agent weblogging platform.

The Landlord Blog has started a Carnival of Real Estate Investing. I like the specialization. There are some very smart people in that corner of the RE.net.

Kevin Boer at Three Oceans Realty has maps! I am ambivalent about whether map searching actually does anything to sell houses, but it’s slicker than whale snot anyway. Kevin also has a real estate office in two boxes.

RSS Pieces has a great article on choosing the right domain name.

Rent or buy? Ask Todd Tarson at MOCO Real Estate News. I’m on the bubble on this question, and, not to bust any bubblehead bubbles, but I’m selling more houses than I expected to at this time of year.

Greg Tracy at BlueRoof.com Blog argues that Zillow is relevant, accuracy be damned. I agree from a different direction. Zillow is the elephant in the room right now. Its relevance is a given. As the BalwdGuy says, Zillow might be Pong, ultimately just a blip on technology’s radar. Okayfine. But: Pong was big news for its time.

Send a prayer out, if you can, for Jonathan Dalton’s father. Pneumonia, the worst of house guests — shows up unexpectedly and takes forever to clear out. Take good care of your own selves, too, as the weather cools. Pneumonia is what you get when you tell yourself you can ignore a chest cold.

Hey! Where is Kris Berg? I hope some San Diego newspaper is paying her big bucks for her sprightly sense of humor. If not that, I hope her absence is explained by a big stack of new contracts.

Finally, it might be nice if everyone would chip in to buy Keith at Housing Panic some lubricant. The poor sod has been Masturbating to Read more

November 21, 2006

Dual Agency Smack-Down: The RE.net smacks back . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Here are some weblogs addressing the Dual Agency Smack-Down from their own points of view:

Whenever we talk about Dual Agency, the most fascinating remarks to me come from Christine Forgione at NY Houses 4 Sale. Because they’re still working from sub-agency, we look like aliens to each other.

More from New York from Douglas Heddings at True Gotham.

Daniel Rothamel at The Real Estate Zebra explains the industry’s ambivalence about Dual Agency with a sports metaphor.

And Ardell weighs in with two posts. I like to see her picking up Dustin’s link-a-bration slack…

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November 21, 2006

The Zillow.com shake-down: Deconstructing the NCRC complaint . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The NCRC complaint against Zillow.com was filed 26 days ago. Today we have the first detailing in the public prints of the bogus nature of the charges (subscription required):

Absent specific instances of harm, the complaint looks more like a scheme to grab some of Zillow’s publicity than a legitimate beef. The fact that the coalition didn’t contact the company about its concerns before it filed the complaint also looks suspiciously like grandstanding or a fishing expedition.

Worse yet, the Center for Responsible Appraisals and Valuations, an offshoot of the coalition, reportedly has hired a third party to offer an automated valuation model and site-visited appraisal services through one of the coalition’s own Web sites. That makes Zillow a competitor of the coalition.

The complaint also fails to explain why Zillow would be at fault if its inaccurate estimates were used to mislead low-income or minority buyers as the coalition contends. That’s important because it isn’t bad data, but rather, bad actors who should be held responsible for harm to the public. And thus it’s not Zillow, but rather, unethical realty and mortgage brokers who should be prosecuted when fraud or other crimes occur. And that’s true regardless of whether or not the victim happens to be of a low-income or minority group.

Moreover, where is the evidence that any other estimates of home values are more accurate than Zillow’s? After all, homes are sold every day for substantially more or less than the asking price due to multiple offers, price reductions and negotiation between buyers and sellers after homes are put on the market. Are sellers’ asking prices harmful to the public because they don’t necessarily present an accurate representation of a home’s value? Any estimate of value is by definition an opinion.

In the best of all possible worlds, inaccurate data wouldn’t exist or be tolerated. And yes, Zillow would be a better service if its estimates were more reliable. Yet, no one is obligated to use Zillow for any purpose whatsoever, and if the service offers little or no real benefit, so what? Until the coalition comes forward with specific instances of actual Read more

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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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