Category: Real Estate (page 120 of 266)

May 8, 2008

Two BloodhoundBlog Unchained warm-up events Friday in Phoenix

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Flat out and miles to go before I sleep. I’ve told Cathy to make my excuses this way: Greg is wearing three hats, and none of them is a nightcap. This is a reminder to you from me from last week:

If you’re in Phoenix on Friday, May 9th, Brian and I will be doing two 2.5 hour Unchained previews at the Mesquite Branch of the Phoenix Public Library (4525 Paradise Village Parkway North, Phoenix, AZ 85032). We’ll be talking to Realtors from 9:30 am to 12 Noon, and to Lenders from 1 pm to 3:30 pm. These two events are free — provided you pay attention — sponsored by Chicago Title and Mortgage Solutions of Arizona. RSVP with Lisa Capes at Chicago Title — 480-695-3136 — if you want to come.

Brian Brady is here in Phoenix, which is a real treat for me. I will tell you that he is itching to raise the price on Unchained tickets, so tonight may be your last chance to lock down the $199 price for all three days of the conference.

We may shoot some just-for-fun videos tomorrow. If we do, I’ll post them tomorrow night.

Technorati Tags: blogging, BloodhoundBlog Unchained, real estate, real estate marketing, real estate training, technology

May 8, 2008

Twitter – as good as bail money?

by Eric Blackwell

The Real Estate Group, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA

This is going to be a really short post. I keep on promising Teri Lussier that I am going to get some serious Twittering going on in our brokerage. Truthfully, I have been too busy on all of my projects like the contest and the industry newspaper to get there.

This news item might change my mind though! (grin)

Teri and Brian, I promise I will do a better job of Twittering, just in case!

May 7, 2008

What would it look like if home buyers actually shopped for value? An illustration of my kind of internet lead

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

This came in over the transom, and I think it is a thing of beauty. The ludicrous notion that buyers don’t pay for real estate representation induces too many buyers to be lax in choosing their Realtor. Everything we do is based on delivering value, so we do best with people who are sharp enough to shop for value. When I read this in my email inbox, I sat and marveled at all that it portends.

Like this: Most internet leads stink. Suzy with no last name (aka SuZQ1983@hotmail.com) might be cute and spunky, but she’s probably not motivated, and it’s good odds she’s not financially qualified.

But: The internet enables serious people to shop until they find exactly what they want, even as it teaches them how to want wisely and in exacting detail.

And: People who shop that way will not care that a Realtor was a high school tennis star or the immediate past president of the Junior League. Everything that chummy, clubby Realtors have used forever to get by has gone by the wayside. When people finally learn to shop for value, they shop for nothing but value.

With that, permit me to introduce you to my kind of clients. The specifics have been fictionalized, but the underlying email is real:

Currently we are email interviewing several Realtors in our area of interest in Arizona. We would like your response as to whether you would be interested in having us as your clients. We have created this document introducing ourselves.

Summary:

We are a couple in our forties who are moving from the state of Washington to the state of Arizona. We have specific requirements for a house, and we have a short period to purchase it. Our current house should close at the end of June. In the event we can not purchase a house in with a close date near then, we will either rent or lease a home.

We are looking in the Glendale to Scottsdale area, and we are looking at the $360K to $460K price range.

Who we are…
Carl Halverson, government statistician working in the US treasury department. Carl’s hobby is Read more

May 6, 2008

Trulia Widgets: Truliamazing Trojan Horse(s)

by Eric Bramlett

Real Estate

Much ado about Galen Ward’s Truliamazing Tricks of the Trade! Greg has already written a fantastic post about the reaction, so I won’t spend any time rehashing. An interesting side note that has been brought up by a few commentators is why Trulia is really kicking butt in the SERPs. It’s their Truliamazing Trojan Horse(s)!

Linkbait is one of the most powerful tools a white hat SEO can come up with. It can come in the form of interesting content (ahem, BHB,) controversial content, and neat tools that include a link back to the creator. Linkbait is by no means a bad thing. It’s part of what makes interesting/cool sites rank highly in the search engines. Google like-a-da-linkbait!

However, linkbait can definitely be a bad thing to you – in your market. If one of your local competitors cooks up some tasty linkbait, and you happen to repost it, and link to them, you’re helping your competitor rank higher than you in the search engines.

Trulia is truly kicking butt in the SERPs (for big time terms, and for long tails) because they’ve cooked up some solid linkbait in the form of widgets.

Let’s focus on one widget, and why it works – the “Trulia Stats” widget. (Oh, let’s also completely ignore how terribly inaccurate this widget is.)

Take a look at the bottom links that are included on the Trulia stat – “Austin Real Estate” which links to their Austin page, and “Trulia” which links to their main page. When you post this widget, you effectively tell Google that Trulia is the authority for your market, and then you give them another vote to their index page, which helps them kill it in the longtails.

So….what to do?

I would recommend not using the widgets at all (did I mention they’re really inaccurate?) However, if you want to be a “Truliamazing Agent” and act just like Trulia, then you can go ahead and post the widget, and either delete the link, or add the rel=”nofollow” tag. After all, you just trust their data – you Read more

May 6, 2008

The War Against The MLS Continues | The MLS Must Fall!

by Barry Cunningham

Real Estate Broadcaster and Investor

As the real estate industry awaits the long anticipated trial pitting the Department of Justice vs. The National Association of Realtors, another Multiple Listing Service has been targeted by the DOJ.

On May 2, 2008, the DOJ filed suit against the Consolidated Multiple Listing Service (CMLS) of Columbia, South Carolina. The suit challenges the manner in which the CMLS operates and governs its members.

The lawsuit states that CMLS rules unreasonably restricts competition among real estate brokers and has caused consumers in the Columbia area to pay more for the services of real estate agents and brokers.

The lawsuit alleges in part that the CMLS mandates that real estate agents and brokers perform a myriad of obligatory services, which provides for a reduced level of customer service and limits consumer choice.

The suit also states that these mandatory services provides for an exclusion of competitors who might offer innovative options that could provide better services to consumers in that area.

“Buying or selling a home is one of the most significant financial transactions in the lives of most Americans. The kinds of rules CMLS imposes stifle competition to the advantage of its members and the disadvantage of home buyers and sellers,” said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division.

“Today’s lawsuit seeks to remove unlawful impediments to competition for real estate brokerage services in the Columbia area, so that consumers will benefit from the additional options and reduced fees that competition can bring.”

The MLS in most areas allows for the free exchange of information by and between its members regarding available homes on the market. The efficiency of the CMLS, or any MLS for that matter, can be a benefit to the consumer.

The DOJ contends that certain practices by the CMLS negatively impacts how the real estate industry members can choose to operate their businesses and accordingly adversely influences competition.

Specifically cited are rules imposed by the CMLS wherein its members are not allowed to offer a home sellers the opportunity to avoid paying a broker’s commission if the seller locates a buyer on his or her own.

CMLS rules require brokers to Read more

May 5, 2008

The Realty.bot shuffle: Trulia.com’s response to complaints about nofollow tags on partner-supplied content seems truly atrocious

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Galen Ward’s post on Trulia.com’s policy of adding “nofollow” tags to links back to its own listings partners has elicited quite a bit of controversy.

The original post itself excited a great deal of commentary, and this is explored in encyclopedic detail in a fascinating post by Union Street Media’s Gahlord Dewald.

Trulia.com’s Rudy Bachraty participated for a while in that comment thread, then elected to take the respondent’s side of the debate back to Trulia’s home weblog, where head honcho Pete Flint made an effort to put out the fire. Comments there have been noticeably light, which made me wonder if Trulia has learned ahead of the curve why video commenting is a stoopid idea.

The story was picked up by Inman News today.

I am in the perhaps unique position of being just barely smart enough to explain what’s going on within what might well seem to others to be a blizzard of jargon.

Start here: I observed that Trulia is achieving truly amazing long-tail search results.

Galen pointed out that an ancillary reason for this is that Trulia is not allowing search engines to “follow” its links to its listing partners.

In other words, you — or your broker or your brokerage chain — feed Trulia.com a real estate listing, the primary content it uses to sell advertising. That listing will link back to its source (in hierarchical order: brokerage chain, broker, then lowly you if neither of the others is coming between you and your listing). But that link will include a “nofollow” tag, which means that when search engines see that listing page on Trulia, they will not queue your own page for spidering, nor will they in any other way regard that link as lending any strength to your page.

In still other words, Trulia is happy to feast on your crackers, but it’s not about to share any of its Google juice with you.

Trulia’s claims about why it is not doing this are specious and bogus, in my opinion, but you can read their side of the story at their weblog.

Does this actually matter? I think so, for two reasons. First, the Read more

May 5, 2008

Do You Have Faith? — Belief? — Or Do You KNOW?

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Take it from someone who for years did what he thought would produce, but in reality experienced haphazard results. There’s a huge difference in the quality of results (read: success/failure) when the actions taken to produce said results were proceeded by an easily defined thought — followed by a slamdunk belief in said thought — which generates behaviors, followed closely by expectations of successful results. It really comes down to this: We know what we know, and we tend to act on what we know. Not what we hope. Not what we theorize. What we know. If you say you believe something to be true, and you can honestly substitute the word ‘know’ for believe, you’ll succeed.

Make sense?

I understand for most readers, it’s certainly not a new concept. Most of us have heard various versions of this since somewhere in our childhood. Years ago, I experienced a spontaneous breakthrough of clarity. I was talking one day with someone who knew me too well. She compared the difference between my behavior when I strongly believed something to when she felt I knew something to be true. I demurred with much volume and histrionics until she smiled and gave me a few recent and inarguably concrete examples. I hung my head in shame.

She then asked me one of the most important questions I’ve ever had to answer. What methods of acquiring new business was I using knowing it would produce results?

Substitute the word ‘know’ for ‘believe’ and tell me what you think about your goals for this year, if you have them. Do you believe the methods you’re employing to attain them will work, or do you know? And for the record? This isn’t some Kumbaya, rah-rah, ‘ya gotta believe’ crappola for the soft headed out there who need to feel good for an hour or so.

The Point?

What we think of most of the time is what we become. (Paraphrased — hat tip to King Solomon)

If we’re consistently wondering if what we’re doing will produce the results we’re pursuing, we’re on the doubt train headed to who knows where. It’s Read more

May 5, 2008

How Do You Spell MLS?

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

Once, many years ago, I spelled CRB wrong and offended a bunch of brokers who held that designation. I spelled it “CRS.” Easy mistake for someone new to the REALTOR® business. Heck, I hardly knew the difference between an agent and a broker back then, so how was I to understand what a big deal it was to confuse a couple of designations? Of course, back then there were only a handful of designations – presently we have around 70 designations that are recognized in the industry. It must be really tough for a newbie to understand all the alphabet soup today.

It is probably also tough for a newbie to understand what MLS means. Sure, the easy answer is Multiple Listing Service, but what is the purpose of the MLS? I think many REALTORS®, and surely most of the general public, believe that the primary purpose of MLS is for collecting property data so it can be efficiently searched/distributed. Even Wikipedia agrees with this common description of MLS. Over the years, I have often been asked by sellers why they cannot enter their own listing in the MLS so it can be distributed like other listings. This post details what I try to explain to these sellers.

Data distribution is certainly an important side function of MLS, but I argue that it is NOT the most important function. If it were, then we should open up MLS to anyone who wants to enter a listing. After all, if we had more data (including FSBOs, bank properties and government seizures) it would make data distribution even better.

mls To understand what MLS’s primary function is, you need to go back to the beginning. The first MLS predates the founding of NAR by more than 20 years. It goes all the way back to 1887 in San Diego. Needless to say, that original system was not computer based. The first computerized MLS came about in 1975. The public display of listings did not occur until the Internet explosion in the early 1990’s, and REALTOR.com was founded in 1997.

Okay, that’s more background than you probably wanted, Read more

May 5, 2008

Oh yeah?

by Geno Petro

Chicago Broker Owner Realtor | RE 2.0 Blogger

I DON’T THINK SO (at least I’m not bringing my leash). See you all at the paragon.

May 4, 2008

Do you want to make sure your home will sell? Little things matter

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

This is my column for this week from the Arizona Republic (permanent link). (Incidentally, this kind of previewing is one of the reasons I developed the ideas that led to engenu. You can organize photos and details for a lot of houses into one web site, then you can easily reorganize them by conceptual categories (A-list, possibilities, rejects) as you go along.)

Do you want to make sure your home will sell? Little things matter

I tend to do a lot of previewing. I will go into houses alone to take photographs. My buyers and I then use those photos to draft a short-list of homes to view when they’re ready to see for themselves.

Because of this, I get to spend a lot of time alone in homes, looking at absolutely everything, with no distractions.

Here’s what I’ve learned from looking at thousands of homes for sale: Little things matter.

Is the home picked up, or are there clothes, toys and magazines scattered everywhere? Are there dirty breakfast dishes on the kitchen table? Dried up orange juice splotches? Toast crumbs? Are last night’s dirty dishes piled up in the sink?

Is the house clean? Does it look and smell like the cleaning crew just left? If I look for dirt, I can find it. But can I find it easily without having to look?

Is every room of the house packed to the walls with furniture? Are there pictures of every member of the family for three generations tacked all over the walls? Do the kids like dark blue, dark purple, dark black paint?

I can probably guess your religion by the stuff you own and the other stuff you don’t own, but my buyers should never, ever see symbols of your religion in the house. Why? Because it can be subtly off-putting to them without their even knowing why at a conscious level.

Likewise, if they can smell your cat — or the fish you fried for dinner last week — you’ve probably already alienated potential buyers before they have even given your house half a chance. Odors kill sales, so kill those odors now.

Fix any obvious defects. Read more

May 3, 2008

HR 5830: Here Comes The Bailout Act of 2008

by Brian Brady

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

The best thing about being suspicious of politicians is that you learn how they think. I actually think this is a GOOD idea. Libertarians will hate it but I think this bill has merit.

Remember my Bailout Post, in March?

I have a little idea about how to save the American real estate market.

Let’s start with the premise that lenders are taking 20-30% hits on short sales. Then, let’s have the US Treasury loan 30% of the balance, of the aggregate debt, to homeowners whom request it, in order to pay down the first mortgage (or second mortgage). If I have $200,000, in aggregate liens against the property, the US Treasury will lend me $60,000, to pay down those aggregate liens, to $140,000. This reduces the lenders exposure.

What type of loan will the Treasury make to homeowners?

The term can be for the lesser of:

1- the remaining term of the first mortgage

2- 65 less the age of the primary borrower.

The interest rate can be the corresponding term treasury rate, plus .5% (for administrative costs). Maybe we can use some of that “yield spread” to coerce a few mortgage brokers to “originate” this government debt (okay, that was completely self-serving). For a 42 year old, with a 27 year term on his first mortgage, the term of this new government loan (in second position) would be 23 years (65-42=23). If a 23 year treasury bond yields 4.1%, than the note rate for the new loan will be 4.6%.

Well, maybe the Members of Congress are reading Bloodhound Blog; it wouldn’t be the first time that happened. Bryant Tutas reports on HR 5830, on Active Rain:

From what I’ve read, and understand, this Bill will give distressed Homeowners an opportunity to refinance with FHA at 90% of value IF their current Lender will agree to a short payment.

One of the caveats is that the FHA will own a piece of the action. When the borrower sells they will either pay, from any profits, a 3% exit fee (a percentage of the original loan amount) to the FHA or a declining percentage of any net proceeds, attributed to appreciation, Read more

May 2, 2008

Unchained, unplugged and off the clock…

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

I can’t think of any better way to make the real estate business rebound than having way too much other work to do. I’ve been writing Unchained content, juggling Unchained details, responding to a bunch of Unchained mail — all while negotiating and planning listings and working with buyers. Next week promises to be enriched with about three weeks’ worth of work, and we top it off with two Unchained preview shows on Friday.

Thus: If you’re in Phoenix on Friday, May 9th, Brian and I will be doing two 2.5 hour Unchained previews at the Mesquite Branch of the Phoenix Public Library (4525 Paradise Village Parkway North, Phoenix, AZ 85032). We’ll be talking to Realtors from 9:30 am to 12 Noon, and to Lenders from 1 pm to 3:30 pm. These two events are free — provided you pay attention — sponsored by Chicago Title and Mortgage Solutions of Arizona. RSVP with Lisa Capes at Chicago Title — 480-695-3136 — if you want to come.

Brian has been flat-out, too, which means he’s been too busy to raise the price for Unchained tickets. We’re still at $199 for all three days, so if you’re coming, you probably ought to commit yourself. Cathy has all the food taken care of, so your lunch and coffee and cookie breaks are on us. She and Brian have a Happy Hour event planned for Monday night, so everyone will have a chance to pick everyone else’s brains. The Radisson Phoenix City Center has a $69/night rack rate for Unchained students, although The Fairfield Inn is the hotel closest to The Heard Museum. Do you crave more details of a practical nature? Click and ye shall find.

Galen Ward owned our minds this week, for good reason, but, if I can, I’d like to turn your attention back to the idea of the unchained epiphany. This has nothing to do with the conference and everything to do with why we’re doing it. Chris Johnson and his wife had a little baby girl named Ruby. I’m sure he’s not busy enough, so I would point him back more than Read more

May 2, 2008

REALTOR.com to Provide Upgrades for All

by Dave Phillips

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

Later this month, REALTOR.com will be announcing that many of the Premium Services for agents (services that Premium Subscribers pay for) will soon be available to all REALTORS®. Services like multiple pictures, for instance, will be available on all listings. This will provide sellers with better exposure of their property.

This change is actually a major philosophical shift for the largest, most popular real estate site on the web. Essentially, they will be turning premium services into the new standard services and then developing new premium services. If successful, the pace of innovation at REALTOR.com should pick up and the site may be morphed from a member nuisance, to a member service. It is too soon to tell if this change will help REALTOR.com keep up with newer sites like Zillow and Trulia, but this is a positive start to a much needed change.

May 2, 2008

Want to be the greatest real estate agent in the world? You’ll need a solid plan, a lot of hard work, a little luck — and a web site. For the latter, you can compete for the site Eric Blackwell won in the “Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World” SEO contest.

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Eric Blackwell is holding a raffle for the Real Estate Webmasters we site he won in the “Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World” SEO contest.

Tickets are $35 each, four for $100. Proceeds go to the Eco Preservation Society in Costa Rica.

Click over to Eric’s site for all the details.

Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing, technology

May 1, 2008

Is The Growth Of Media Good For Realtors?

by Doug Quance

Associate Broker

New Avenues Of Marketing Exposure Are Exploding In Growth And Cost

Remember when there were only three broadcast television channels? Well, I know some of you – like me – remember. It was a simpler time, back then.

If you wanted to bring a product or service to market, there were limited channels to advertise – and because of this dynamic, the costs to exposure a large part of your audience to your ad was relatively cheap.

Not so, anymore.

Now, when a product or service is brought to market, it almost always has to be targeted to a specific audience – as few entities can afford the blanket coverage of yesteryear. Just take a look at what it costs to market a presidential candidate.

We see this happening in real estate, as well. The avenues where listings can be shown has grown to a visual cacophony. There are virtually thousands of places where buyers can find listings.

Somehow, I don’t see this as a great benefit to Realtors – or the public, in general.

Don’t get me wrong – I do believe that competition is good… and that having more than one way to market listings is good – but at what point does it become more of a hassle than it’s worth?

Would online auctions be better if there were a few dozen Ebay-like sites to buy and sell on? And if so, how would it benefit the people who were trying to buy or sell?

For some reason, I think not.

Category: Real Estate (page 120 of 266)

Two BloodhoundBlog Unchained warm-up events Friday in Phoenix

by Greg Swann

Twitter – as good as bail money?

by Eric Blackwell

What would it look like if home buyers actually shopped for value? An illustration of my kind of internet lead

by Greg Swann

Trulia Widgets: Truliamazing Trojan Horse(s)

by Eric Bramlett

The War Against The MLS Continues | The MLS Must Fall!

by Barry Cunningham

The Realty.bot shuffle: Trulia.com’s response to complaints about nofollow tags on partner-supplied content seems truly atrocious

by Greg Swann

Do You Have Faith? — Belief? — Or Do You KNOW?

by Jeff Brown

How Do You Spell MLS?

by Dave Phillips

Oh yeah?

by Geno Petro

Do you want to make sure your home will sell? Little things matter

by Greg Swann

HR 5830: Here Comes The Bailout Act of 2008

by Brian Brady

Unchained, unplugged and off the clock…

by Greg Swann

REALTOR.com to Provide Upgrades for All

by Dave Phillips

Want to be the greatest real estate agent in the world? You’ll need a solid plan, a lot of hard work, a little luck — and a web site. For the latter, you can compete for the site Eric Blackwell won in the “Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World” SEO contest.

by Greg Swann

Is The Growth Of Media Good For Realtors?

by Doug Quance

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