BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Month: January 2007 (page 2 of 9)

January 28, 2007

BloodhoundBlog week in review . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We had quite a week at BloodhoundBlog. If you haven’t had a chance to stay abreast of the trail we’re running, here’s a summary of the week’s most significant weblog entries.

We added three new contributors this week, starting with real estate investor Michael Cook, who brought us The Right Time to Buy: An Investor Perspective, Out of State Investing: All Sizzle, no Steak and A Different View of Diversification.

Our second new arrival, Jeff Turner, is an entrepreneur producing video tour commercials for listing agents. His inaugural post was Lessons Learned While Watching American Idol, followed by a post exploring issues facing Realtors in the age of Realty.bots like Zillow.com: Disintermediation? Not For Me. Not Yet.

Our third new contributor is Norma Newgent, a Realtor working out of Tampa Bay, Florida. Her first post to BloodhoundBlog is Pack Up Your Toys and Go Home.

But don’t get the idea that our tricks are all a matter of new dogs. Every member of the pack did exemplary work this week.

As her reward for having won the Carnival of Real Estate, Kris Berg is honorary Queen of the Pack. With typically regal comical rigor (try saying that out loud), she brings us A New Agent Guide to Getting the Listing… and Getting Over It.

Jeff Brown is completely disgusted with blog carnivals, but that doesn’t stop him from producing first-rate investment advice. This week, he brought forth Your Retirement — A Few Questions, Is There Any Diversifying Alternative To Real Estate Investing? and Ben Stein Says Real Estate Is Easily Inferior To The DOW.

Dan Green presents an object lesson in the destructive consequences of seemingly harmless weblogging practices: Anonymous Posters Can Be A Destructive Influence, or How Communication Is The Difference Between Good PR and Bad PR.

Doug Quance is on a tear: It’s High-Time To Do Away With Referral Fees! Kris Berg weighs in with her own thoughts on the subject from The San Diego Home Blog.

Brian Brady posted another of his excellent interviews, this one with The X Broker, Jeff Corbett. Brian also brought us Mortgage Origination Is A Contact Sport.

Mega-producing Realtor Russell Shaw was interviewed Read more

January 28, 2007

Disintermediation? Not For Me. Not Yet.

by

Real Estate Marketing Executive

Author website

I hated my last REALTOR?. Well, hate is a strong word. I don’t really know him well enough to hate him. But I’m sure if the sale had taken just one week longer, I would have known him just long enough to wish him all manner of ill will. I KNOW I hated the work he did. I hated even more the work he didn’t do. The story of my last home sale is a rant all in itself. (Yes, ARDELL, I will write about it one day.) But that day is not today.

Remember, I’m not a REALTOR? or a real estate agent. And before I got into the business I’m in now, I could NOT have told you the difference. I freely admit that I don’t know 1/100th of what the other writers on this blog know about real estate or title or lending. I probably know more than your average consumer, at least you’d hope so, but I’m still a consumer.

I just finished reading some of the writing on this blog and others about disintermediation. Greg Swann’s “Disintermediaton where? Oh, yeah…” set me on a bit of a reading tear. Thanks, Greg. Just when I thought I’d get to bed early.

Given how bad my last transaction was, you’d think I’d be the first to jump at the opportunity to sell my house on my own without the use of a “middleman” and use all the latest available technology to let me do that. You know, seller connecting directly with buyer. You’d be wrong.

Of course I’d be tempted. In many moments of passion, I’ve even said out loud that I would. But if I needed to sell my house tomorrow, I’d still call one of the extremely good REALTORS? or real estate agents I’ve met in the last three years and I’d have them do it for me. Why? Because I don’t know how to sell real estate? No. I would be willing to bet all the equity in the house that I could get as many buyers to visit my home as just about any real estate professionals I Read more

January 28, 2007

Mortgage Origination Is A Contact Sport

by

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

Author website

Mortgage origination is a contact sport. It’s retailing. It’s selling. Too many of us can get caught up in the irrelevant tasks that top producing originators simply refuse to do. Why do we fall into the task trap rather than be focused on dollar productive activities? We do it because it makes us FEEL productive and we want to appear to have value to our Realtor partners.

Let’s pretend that Russell Shaw was the National Sales Manager of the mythical Bloodhound Blog Mortgage. I listened to the three podcasts of Mr. Shaw’s interview and he didn’t say a damn thing (that you haven’t already heard). That is what was so inspiring about the interview. There is no magic pill that you need to swallow to become the next mega-producer in mortgage originations. You already know what you have to do; take lots of loan applications that have a high probability of funding. Listen to the podcasts and you’ll be as stoked as I am right now.

The first notable piece of advice I heard from Russell Shaw was to write down all the stuff you hate about the business…then…don’t do it. Pay someone else to do it. I laughed so hard at my utter stupidity. I was a superstar rookie originator because I refused to do the “paperwork”. I took good applications, gathered up documentation,, locked the rate, and said…NEXT. I let processors process, underwriters underwrite, and funders fund while I sold and looked for ways to sell more than the other guy.

How easy it is to forget all of the basics. Don’t like placing loans? Lay off this work on your wholesale lending reps. If they’re incompetent, don’t use them. I remember the day when they came to your office and actually competed for the business. You don’t like taking applications? Invest in a website with an online 1003 (about $50/month) and give away a free appraisal to applicants who use that function. Don’t like following the market daily? Read more

January 27, 2007

It’s High-Time To Do Away With Referral Fees!

by

Associate Broker

Author website

I submit to you – the time has come. In fact… it’s long overdue.

As someone who has received more referral money than I have paid out – it has been good for me on a personal level.

But I fear that is has become disastrous on an industry level. Relocation companies, REO Asset Management companies, and online entities like Yahoo! and HomeGain are draining a ton of money out of the system without adding much value to it.

In an era of transparency, perhaps we need to shed some light on this subject.

Is it not odd that no other business operates in such a fashion? Do you think other licensed professionals seek to refer their clients out to the highest bidder?

I think not.

Do you think our clients would appreciate knowing how we’ve “pimped them out”?

I think not.

Do you think a buyer or seller would think twice if – IN BIG PRINT – they were told that the agent that they were being referred to has agreed to pay 35% of his commission to the referring party… especially if it was some online entity like Yahoo! or HomeGain?

I bet some might.

And with the Yahoo! and their relationship with Prudential, the plot thickens. Prudential has a franchise fee of 8% on top of that referral fee… and with the split between broker and agent… you can see how the agent is getting squeezed here.
Some believe that it’s just an issue of disclosure. Disclose and everything is okay.

NONSENSE! Have you read some of these disclosures? They seem so innocent and innocuous… while obscuring the real meaning of what is going on.

Here’s a disclosure in our Georgia Purchase and Sale Agreement:

“Broker hereby discloses that Broker may receive a commission, rebate, or direct profit for procuring a mortgage loan, insurance, or other services on behalf of Buyer or Seller.”

That’s no disclosure! That’s a C-Y-A!

A disclosure would spell out what compensation the Broker received from what service provider – and would require that disclosure prior to the Broker referring the client to said provider… not at the last minute when they sign an offer.

I don’t accept fees such as Read more

January 27, 2007

More weblogs — and a mirror . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Today we added about twenty more weblogs to the potentially canonical list of real estate weblogs. Cameron also added code to permit you to mirror this list if you want to, although it’s not as much mirror as I want. I also want an OPML version of the list, along with a form on the page for suggesting missing weblogs, but Cameron gets mad at me when I pay him to do too much work in one day.

(Entre nous, right now he’s a Microsoft-style programmer. He believes it would be easier to engineer people than software. In essence, our plan is to engineer him to a Macintosh level of quality. Inches and hours.)

Anyway, look it over and let me know about any errors, duplications or omissions.

 
Further notice: Cameron has built a true live mirror link (for sites that have PHP available). See the list for details…

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January 27, 2007

Disintermediation where? Oh, yeah . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

HouseValues.com is laying off 60 employees. Why? Zillow.com.

Year-over-year, mainstream media job cuts are up by 88%. Why? Ahem…

The question I asked was: How much future is there in a job that millions of very smart people are willing to do for free?

But, but, but! Surely the work product of professional journalists is worth more than the random output of pajama-clad amateurs!

Worth more to whom?

An even better question, the first question I posted on BloodhoundBlog: If almost-as-good is free or nearly free, what is the market value of slightly-better?

Here’s an even better question: Taking account of the Russell Shaw podcasts — Parts I, II and III — and reflecting that there will be many more such podcasts, here and elsewhere, how much are you willing to pay for products like those sold by Nightingale Conant…?

January 27, 2007

Podcast with Russell Shaw, Part Three: A certain convocation of politic Realtors

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

And this is the third of our podcasts with mega-producing Realtor and BloodhoundBlog contributor Russell Shaw. This segment is a freeform colloquy between Russell, my wife and business partner, Cathleen Collins, and myself. We hit a vast array of topics, including Russell regaling us with a story about how he once confounded 18,000 “stoned hippies.”

The language in this podcast is significantly saltier than the other two, so a word to the wise should be sufficient.

This podcast tends to roam all over the internet, so here are some links you can use to roam with us:

Thanks again to Russell for sharing so much of his thinking and his experience with us. Cathy and I delight in his company, but the man is such a geyser of great ideas that no one can spend time with him and not come away enriched. If I might presume to offer advice to you as a listener, I think you might be profited by revisiting these podcasts again and again. I know we will…

Nota bene: Mike Price of Mike’s Corner taught us an easier way to subscribe to our podcasts, either directly (for faster results) or through the iTunes store.

The Russell Shaw podcasts: Parts I, II and III

January 26, 2007

Pack Up Your Toys and Go Home

by

Realtor

Author website

Well, well. My first day to howl and what perfect timing. This morning the Realty Times had an article called “Dog Blog 1.0“. I am the owner of two dogs that frequently order toys and other strange things on the internet, so of course, I read it.

Let me save you some time here and let you know that columnist David Reed is putting us all on notice that the blog is dead. Yep. It seems there are just too many of us. He has lots of numbers to suport this, of course. It seems David was the very first person to ever have a web page waaaayyy back in 1996 or so. Gee, so cutting edge.

It seems that there are 6.5 trillion people on Earth and 6.5 trillion blogs, so we are all lost. However will we find each other, Will Robinson?? David’s words of wisdom are “If someone tells you you need a blog, you are already too late.” We need to go back to actually shaking hands with people. (Eeeuuuwwww)

Well, David, it seems people are making connections all over the place, in spite of you being lost. Perhaps you need an internet GPS so you can make your way back home. Blogging is relaxing, fun, and a valuable source of interaction among like-minded folks. Communities. As a marketing tool, blogging allows for an informal way for an entire generation of people that really don’t want to shake hands, they just want a house. And they want to use someone they feel they can connect with.

Like it or not, David, most people start their home search on-line. Here in sunny Florida, a great deal of my clients are moving here because of the weather, cost of living, etc. On a local level, how can I reach that couple in Michigan with a static web site? If you are lost, don’t blame it on the internet.

But that’s just me.

January 26, 2007

Once more unto the dog pound: Introducing Norma Newgent

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Today we add another fine contributor, Norma Newgent, who works from The Dog That Bit Me:

Norma Newgent is a Realtor who lives and works in Tampa Bay, FL — and has never lived anywhere else. She has a degree in Public Relations, but prefers helping people buy and sell homes.

Norma has a dry wit and a very engaging style. Plus which, she’s a Florida Realtor, where agency laws go to take a vacation. It could be she can teach us what agency will look like everywhere fifteen years from now.

That makes eleven of us, which means we have enough for a football team. Lookout Bears, lookout Colts — the Bloodhounds are taking the field…

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January 26, 2007

Podcast with Russell Shaw, Part Two: Commitment to success

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Here is the second of our three podcasts with Phoenix-based mega-producing Realtor Russell Shaw. In this segment, Russell discusses the effect the StarPower training program had on him. He relates this to the outrageously high failure rate afflicting real estate licensees and offers ideas about how Realtors can better commit to their own success.

Russell mentions a number of web sites, some of which are linked here:

Nota bene: We’re under review by Apple to make these podcasts available for no cost from the iTunes store, but, for now, you can subscribe to our podcasts directly from iTunes by doing this:

  1. From iTunes, go to the “Advanced” menu
  2. Select “Subscribe to Podcast…”
  3. Paste in the link to our RSS2 feed, which is
    https://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?feed=rss2
  4. Click “OK”

We’ll have one more podcast from this interview tomorrow, a freewheeling colloquy, with Russell, Cathleen and me taking on everything from the enblogged globe to real life for Realtors.

 
The Russell Shaw podcasts: Parts I, II and III

January 26, 2007

Recent refinancing can make selling a house costly

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is me in this morning’s Arizona Republic (permanent link).

 
Recent refinancing can make selling a house costly

A buyer e-mailed me a question about a house she might be interested in.

At first glance, it looked promising: A newer west-side home in good condition. The price wasn’t awful, maybe $10,000 over what it should be, and it was well within what she could afford to pay.

The house has been on the market for more than two months. The seller was transferred and has moved out. These are harbingers of a motivated seller. The listing even says so: “Motivated seller.”

This is the prologue to a story that should have a happy ending, right?

Probably not.

The seller should have had plenty of equity in the home, which from our point of view means plenty of wiggle room on price. We know going in that homes like this are selling now for about the same prices we would have seen in June or July 2005.

Regardless of what the seller might want, the price the home will sell for will be set by the prevailing market — a buyer’s market.

So what’s the problem?

The seller refinanced the home in August 2005, taking out most or all of the accrued equity.

In principle, there’s nothing wrong with this. Homeowners can convert high-interest debt on taxed income into low-interest, tax-deductible debt.

But if the homeowner has to sell soon thereafter, particularly in a down market, we can hit an iceberg.

The seller borrowed $235,000 in the refinancing. That will have to be paid, along with the marketing costs of the home, plus closing costs. The absolute minimum the seller can accept for the house, without bringing his own money to the closing table, is at least $5,000 more than the home is worth.

In this circumstance, sellers are apt to say, “But where’s my equity?” The answer: You already spent it.

We may pursue this house anyway, but if we do, it will have to be as a “short sale,” with the seller paying the shortfall between the purchase price and what is owed on the home.

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January 25, 2007

BloodhoundBlog to host February 5th Carnival of Real Estate

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

So: We’re hitting all 12 cylinders, with two grand slam introductions this week. I should think we would be a slam dunk for next week’s Carnival of Real Estate.

Except…

We’re hosting it. Not this Monday, a week from Monday.

We offered a long time ago to pick up the slack if a hosting blog had to beg off at the last minute. It happened.

This is a cool opportunity for us: Group blog, group judging. We have Cameron working on software we can use to manage the judging process with multiple judges.

We’re also hosting the Carnival of Real Estate Investing on February 19th, with Jeff Brown, Michael Cook and Brian Brady doing the judging.

Plan ahead. Be ready for us. We’ll be ready for you…

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January 25, 2007

Ben Stein Says Real Estate Is Easily Inferior To The DOW

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

First, I wish to make it crystal clear up front that I’ve always looked up to Mr. Stein. I have the deepest respect for him not only because of the life he’s led, but because of the kind of person he is. He’s a brilliant, hard working man who generally has not a negative word to say about anyone. In many ways I’ve used him as a partial role model when it comes to how I deal with people. He’s simply one of the kindest most empathetic public figures in America today. And even though what he said Friday in A Home Truth About Real Estate Investing is mystifying to say the least, my opinion of him hasn’t changed.

He’d just finished recalling the condo he’d purchased many years ago, and that the almost identical condo now, though worth much more, had “not fully kept up with inflation.” He then went on to say the following:

On the other hand, if the same person had bought the Dow in 1982, he would’ve made roughly 10 times the money by now, not counting dividends, which would have meant he would’ve made close to 20 times the money.

In order to avoid any confusion here, Mr. Stein is saying if you’d invested $100,000 in real estate back in 1982 and the same amount in the Dow, the Dow would have outperformed real estate by close to 20 times.

I read the piece over just to insure I truly got his intended meaning. I had. I’ve come up with two potential explanatons for this astounding statement.

  • He’s so entrenched in ‘old school’ thinking that when he compares the two investment vehicles he is not allowing for any financing whatsoever on the real estate side.
  • He simply has so little experience outside Wall Street that he literally isn’t aware that 99% of real estate investors use leverage.

Neither explanation makes sense to me. He’s way too smart. Given the history of the two investment choices is there anyone out there who would make that claim so clearly?

His entire position relies on hindering the real estate investor to buying only property for 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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