The big picture. The tour. The Phoenix event.
Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing
Category: Real Estate (page 194 of 266)
In general, newspapers influence people who are paying attention, a small but inordinately important minority. Today the East Valley Tribune, clarion of the populous suburbs east of Phoenix, came out strong for Zillow.com and other consumer-oriented Automated Valuation Models:
Arizona home buyers and property speculators are fortunate the state Board of Appraisers did something against their interests while the Legislature is still in session, so lawmakers can act immediately to put a stop to it.
The Board of Appraisers is going after Zillow.com, a year-old Web site that offers free estimates of market values for an estimated 70 million houses across the country. The state agency contends the site is offering property appraisals without an Arizona license, and has ordered it to remove these “zestimates” or face formal sanctions and a possible lawsuit.
But Zillow.com makes no claim that its estimates are based on actual visits to individual properties or research of their histories. Instead, the Web site gathers sale details about other homes in the same neighborhood that have recently changed hands, government tax valuations and other publicly available information, and then provides a rough prediction about a house’s value under current market conditions.
More:
Given recent reports about widespread mortgage fraud and foreclosures resulting from inflated purchase appraisals, the state Board of Appraisers should be working to increase the amount of information available to consumers rather than shuttering potential sources of knowledge.
At least the Legislature appears to see the wisdom of this. On Monday, Rep. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, introduced an amendment to SB1291 that was endorsed by her House colleagues to protect free opinions about property values as long as the provider doesn’t claim or imply that they are formal appraisals.
Putting Reagan’s amendment into law would be a nice endorsement of free speech and the consumer’s right to multiple sources of information.
None of this is news to people following the story here, and, in fact, the most-recent events are not covered. But this is the kind of public outcry that can swing the balance against this silly stunt by the Board of Appraisal.
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Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, disintermediation, phoenix, Read more
I have news, but some of it is getting a little stale. My apologies. I have been buried, not that this is unusual.
As Kris Berg reports in her inimitable way, Redfin has relaunched, rebranded and all but reinvented itself, establishing a beachhead in Boston in the process. As far as I can tell, the big news is the company’s new logo, which features an image of Eve acting on the bad advice of a snake. Every picture tells a story, don’t it?
Sellsius has also launched its product offering, a kind of searchable, semi-permanent, for-pay Craigslist. This looks to me like a Red Ocean, but what do I know?
That much has been reported elsewhere. This hasn’t: Territory Real Estate has launched its flat-fee buyer-brokerage in Boston and greater Massachusetts. Proving the appeal if not the merit of the Red Ocean strategy (first explained to me by Zillow.com’s David Gibbons), Territory immediately goes on the attack — against Redfin.
But: Screw all that. There are matters of greater moment.
For instance, is weblogging headed for an icy, entropic death? TransparentRE says not, at least not for real estate weblogs. This much is obvious: Weblogging is a fad, like CB radio in the seventies. Anyone who didn’t expect it to fall off dramatically was self-deluded. But there are two important differences between weblogging and the ordinary Rubik’s Cube style of fad: First, viral blogging is a new communications medium, the backbone of the alternative media. And second, owners of commercially-motivated weblogs have an enduring interest in persistence beyond fad appeal. The number of weblogs doesn’t really matter, nor does the number of putatively “active” weblogs. Sites that draw a decent number of evanescent eyes from search traffic may generate income for their owners. But, in the long run, the only weblogs that matter are the ones that can attract a stable population of repeat visitors.
Two more and I’m out of time: A WordPress Theme Generator, so you can express yourself with unborrowed tastes. And the irrepressible, irreplaceable Dave Smith with a strategy to suss the Google Sandbox with a Trustbox instead.
To close, here’s a quote for Read more
This is me in today’s Arizona Republic (permanent link). This goofy little column often “breaks news” in the sense that I cover facts that have not yet been reported by the Republic‘s real estate reporters. Normally I keep this to myself, because I don’t want to frighten the people who were kind enough to give me the column. This week I told my editor that were were “scooping” the newspaper, and gave him resources for vetting the facts presented below. The consequence? At the top of the story is says, “Special to the Republic.” Top that, Hildy Johnson.
(Just between us, I’m pretty sure I’m mangling the citation of the standing law. It’s Chapter 32, not 36, but even then I don’t know how it should be properly cited. Newspapers have style books for stuff like this. This will do: ARS 32-3601 et seq.)
State vs. Zillow.com will be a lengthy bout
The ongoing saga of Arizona vs. Zillow.com will not end.
When the state Board of Appraisal recently revealed that it had sent cease-and-desist letters to the Seattle Web-based real estate start-up in July and November, it failed to disclose that it had language pending in the Arizona Legislature that would have conclusively outlawed Zillow.com and other consumer-oriented Automated Valuation Methods.
That legislation, Senate Bill 1291, seemed to be on an under-the-radar track to easy passage until its existence was discovered by the LittlePinkHouses.com real estate blog.
The proposed language would have substantially revised Arizona Revised Statutes Chapter 36, among other things defining an appraisal as “an opinion of value.”
Does that mean that two neighbors, talking about the price of the house for sale up the street, would be in violation of appraisal law?
What Zillow.com and other AVMs do is so far removed from what an appraiser does that in order to outlaw Zillow, the drafters of the legislation apparently found it necessary to outlaw ordinary free speech altogether.
Importantly, there have been no consumer lawsuits or Board of Appraisal complaints in Arizona against Zillow.com, nor has the Board of Appraisal moved against other consumer-oriented AVMs operating in the state.
A compromise was sought by Rep. Michele Read more
What do you do when faced with windfall earnings? Reinvest in your business, of course.
Thanks to Cynthia Pang, Redfin’s Senior Communications Manager, for the links to the latest, exciting news. This has been a big week for Redfin! Not only did they roll out a new logo and invade Beantown, but (assuming they have fulfilled their contractual obligations) their San Diego client has removed contingencies and is one step closer to an approximate $13,000 windfall. As the new logo suggests, houses really do grow on trees.
You heard right: Redin is in escrow in San Diego. Taking our beach city by storm since their February 8th arrival in San Diego with much hoopla, this brings the total Redfin “represented” pending and closed sales in the San Diego market to (let’s see, add the column, carry the one) – One. Not being one to brag, this puts my total production during the same period at exactly 1000% more than Redfin’s, but then, I did have a head start. I’m thinking of expanding into the Greater Punxsutawney region next month.
by Brian Brady
Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL
Loan originators who have based their business on subprime mortgage products have been feeling the pinch in 2007. Private mortgages or hard money lending may be the solution to your problem.
Four originators gathered with three hard money lenders in our podcast.
The Lenders:
Mitch Zeichner (310) 948-2622 Mitch represents a wealthy family’s portfolio and funds real estate loans for residential properties in California, Arizona, and Nevada.
Dean Huntley (858) 759-9090 Dean is a true “trust deeds broker” and private mortgage lender. Dean represents 70 investors and funds residential and commercial real estate loans in California and Arizona.
We were joined by originators Robb Lejuwaan , Marc Brinitzer , and investor Jon Morrow.
Some important links:
HARD MONEY: Life as a Legal Loan Shark
HARD MONEY: Beware of the Brokerage Daisy Chain
HARD MONEY: Seven Tips For Borrowers
California Mortgage Association
The podcast lasts some 58 minutes and has some static at 35:10 that lasts for 30 seconds. If you are a mortgage originator who is looking for a way to get some business, listen in! It works. I received a report today that an originator and lender on the call are working to fund a loan next week.
Linked below is the fifth of five podcasts from the First Russell Shaw Sales Success Seminar. This event was held on March 13, 2007, and lasted for about four hours. That seminar, along with another held on April 17, 2007, are precursors to the forthcoming Russell Shaw Sales Success FAQ files. Russell will take questions from these podcasts, along with others you send to him by email, and answer them in a series of FAQ-like video and audio podcasts. His plan is to end up with a complete real estate sales training course in podcast form.
This podcast is available in audio format only.
Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing
In all the excitement, I missed this precious little bit of news.
Nota bene:
A concern has been raised that real estate brokers and salespersons are providing opinions of value unrelated to the prospective listing or sale of property.
The horror!
My home is worth $475,000. I have no intention of selling. Come and get me, Coppers!
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Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, disintermediation, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing
Recently I posted on the subject of how to most effectively answer a client’s or prospect’s questions. Then, as the universe sometimes does, I was asked a question by a brand new client that is pretty common. On its surface the question might seem facetious, but trust me, its been asked so many times in my office, I know that’s not the case. It usually goes something like this:
We’ve now banked the $100K from the refinance on our home. But Jeff, we were thinking. How much could it hurt to take just $20K out in order to get (fill in the blank) a new boat, truck, home landscaping?
These days, since I’ve heard variations of that question so many times, I begin by answering with a question, hoping to inject a little humor. I might ask — Will you be able to sell that (fill in the blank) for a million bucks 15-20 years from now?
When I pause to enjoy the RCA Dog look on their faces, I then begin to give them a very complete and substantive answer in rich detail. Though I posted it on my blog today, I’ll give you the short answer here.
In 15-20 years that $20K will likely be directly responsible for an extra $80,000 a year or so in retirement income. If you retire at 60 and live another 20 years, that’s $1,600,000 of retirement income — over and above what the rest of your initial investment capital produced over that same period.
Less than half of my clients will ever earn $80K a year on their job. And now they can have that much extra every year in retirement.
Unless of course, 20 years earlier they decided their new boat was worth $1.6Mil in extra retirement income.
Final note — I sent the link to my blog’s post to the client who most recently asked that question. His response? One word — Awesome!
And that’s how you answer questions.
Linked below is the fourth of five podcasts from the First Russell Shaw Sales Success Seminar. This event was held on March 13, 2007, and lasted for about four hours. That seminar, along with another held on April 17, 2007, are precursors to the forthcoming Russell Shaw Sales Success FAQ files. Russell will take questions from these podcasts, along with others you send to him by email, and answer them in a series of FAQ-like video and audio podcasts. His plan is to end up with a complete real estate sales training course in podcast form.
This podcast is available in audio format only.
Technorati Tags: real estate, real estate marketing
The news is simple enough: “Representative Stump moved that the House reconsider SB 1291 on Monday, March 30, 2007. Motion passed v/v.” That last little bit says the motion passed on a voice vote.
This again would be the Third Reading. If the amended bill passes by a two-thirds majority, it would have to go back to the State Senate for reconsideration, where it would also have to pass by a two-thirds majority.
Of course, Arizona has always drawn huge guffaws in the monologues of late-night talk show hosts, so we may just want to wait for Leno or Letterman to pick up the story…
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Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, disintermediation, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing
Okay, here’s the videotape we made of our little escapade this morning. It’s about 21 minutes long, and it’s mostly just the tedium of real life, true video verit&233;.
Cathy does a de facto interview with me about the Reagan amendments, so it ends up being not just painfully dull but also mildly informative.
As is discussed at the end, we got a huge spike in traffic at BloodhoundRealty.com. This resulted in a whole bunch of people filling out our form to get a CMA, presumably thinking that we were Zillow.com.
In consequence, I am HouseValues.com for a day. If you are a real estate licensee working in one of the cities listed below, email me and I will front you the lead. Probably useless, but you never can tell. The price is right, anyway.
- Greensboro, NC
- Toronto, OH
- Staten Island, NY
- West Bloomfield, MI
- Staten Island, NY
- Oconomowoc, WI
- Woodlawn, VA
- Germantown, MD
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Oswego, IL
- Greenwood Village, CO
- Woodland Park, CO
- Wildwood, MO
- East Hampton, NY
- Canton, GA
- Alexandria, KY
- Riverside, CA
- Ojai, CA
- Riverside, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Sherman Oaks, CA
- Des Moines, IA
- Grand Rapids, MI
- Hernando beach, FL
- East Rockaway, NY
- Gaylordsville, CT
- Ft. Tgomas, KY
- Hidden Hills, CA
- Cataula, GA
- Beavercreek, OH
- Pringle, PA
- Orlando, FL
- Shreveport, LA
- Martinsville, VA
- Lafayette, LA
They’re continuing to come in. There may be more if they re-run the segment.
And because all true art films should end in a way that leaves you wondering if you really got it, I’ll conclude with a link to the Jewel lyric I quote just before the TV broadcast starts.
Roll the credits…
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Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, disintermediation, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing
Here is an email I recently sent to our sales team in regards to the leads that they receive and work on a daily basis. My company uses internet leads to generate new business on top of our referral and repeat business (which makes up about 1/3 of our monthly volume). I received some good response to it from our folks so I thought I’d pass it along here to any new originators who read this blog for advice.
My email:
I love baseball and used to play it (poorly) for the better part of my youth. I was watching some highlights last night and it got me thinking about what we do here.
When I used to play I would really look forward to the 3 or 4 at-bats I would get each game. I knew that I would only have 3 or 4 chances to get a hit and improve my average. In baseball before you are “up” you are “on deck. I remember vividly being on deck going through the following checklist:
Who’s pitching and what have they been throwing lately? What pitches are their favorite? How have they gotten people out before me? What did people who already have hits against this guy do to be successful against him? How many outs are there? What’s the game situation? Who’s on base?
The big question I was asking myself was “What am I trying to do in this at bat?” Was it move a runner over? Was it get on base no matter what? Was it try to get in scoring position? And so on. I KNEW the answer every time I stepped in the batter’s box.
Here you may only get 3 or 4 at bats a day with your leads. Sometimes you’ll get less than that. Do you know what you’re trying to do with each and every at bat you get? What did you think about on deck before you picked up the phone? What were you trying to specifically accomplish with each at bat?
Hint: the answer is not “get a hit/take an app” That is the generic Read more
Appended below is the Fox New Channel footage from this morning. Later today I’ll have our own video verit&233; version of the extravaganza.
I think I’ve said before that this sort of thing is akin to being a piece of waxed fruit in a centerpiece: You’re there not because there is some inherent worth to you or to what you have to say, but, rather, because you fit just right in the overall composition.
I’m not griping. If you want to talk on someone else’s dime, you do it on their terms. But, as will be clear as you watch, I was a totally fungible commodity in this broadcast, the nod who was every bit as good as a wink.
Our tape is more fun, I think, but conversion to iPod format takes time, so you have to wait.
My takeaways, conferred upon me mere moments after the taping was done: “Smile and stare deeply into the camera.”
I’ll do better next time.
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Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, disintermediation, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing
I have been busy lately, so busy that while my back was turned I missed about 47 Russell Shaw Podcasts. Sorry, Russell. I fully intend to listen in, uninterrupted, when I have a sufficient block of time (say, the month of May?), but I have been too busy with business to learn how to do more business. I have been reading Inman like I read the daily print rag – Headlines only. And only a teaser along the lines of “Greg Swann to Speak at Annual Humility Conference” would have tempted me to get side-tracked.
So, what I have been doing all week is a lot of mechanical real estate stuff (prepare for the listing, take the listing, market the listing, manage the escrow). What I have been doing a lot more of, however, is listening. By Friday, my husband Steve (or, my wacky sidekick, as he often calls himself) may be threatening to have the phone surgically removed from my ear.
What I have learned can be generally categorized as follows:
- A bunch of well-intended people are knee-deep in bad loan doo-doo in my area, far more than I knew.
- Steve and I are finding that Pro Bono work is taking a considerable amount of our time these days, and we don’t mind.
- Lenders and loan brokers are making us look good.
Steve and I, in the past week alone, have met or spoken repeatedly and at length with three different couples in trouble. The situations have ranged from the sad to the tragic. In each case, we have felt it was our obligation and duty to meet with the parties to pencil out scenarios and discuss the implications of the various options. In each case, we knew that we would not be paid for our time, now or in the future. Call it social responsibility.
My “tragic” example involved a military family with three properties totaling approximately $1.7 million in value, all acquired within the past two years, the most recent having closed escrow just a couple of months ago. Each was purchased with or refinanced into a 100% interest only loan with negative amortization. Due Read more