BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Month: December 2007 (page 5 of 9)

December 17, 2007

Science versus Religion

by

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

My Big Bang Theory is about science colliding with religion, and a lot of noise.

My strike has been temporarily suspended. I got the same advance notice that so many others did of the BIG NEWS this week, but press releases are rarely conveniently timed around my real estate business schedule, so I will chime in late and with benefit of time to contemplate.

Redfin’s latest BIG NEWS was of course about the Second Coming, the first having occurred on 60 Minutes long, long ago. From their blog:

We only worry that the name we’ve given this initiative, “The Real Estate Scientist,” will open us to being mocked. And too, we hesitated to give consumers simple answers due to the complexity of the underlying data… We strove for conclusive answers because we have houses to sell every week, and customers who need straightforward guidance.

I am not in the business of mocking, as you have a pretty solid corner on that market. And that is precisely my objection, my only objection, to your business model – that it is predicated and dependent on convincing a public that your “different” approach is enlightened and studied where mine is one of fly by the seat of my pants, tell the consumer what they want to hear, and hit the streets with nothing but an opinion and a smile.

It is indeed troubling to give simple answers when the data is so complex, but it is much more convenient I suppose. Delivering and interpreting data to support your ongoing argument that every other real estate agent since the beginning of time is too uninformed, addle minded, lazy, or greedy to achieve your level of enlightenment would be so exhausting. That darn science can be just so confusing. Better to just suggest as much, over and over again. Preach long and loud enough, and the congregation will surely take it on faith.

Consumers who have read early drafts of the report overwhelmingly found our recommendations useful and effective. The industry reaction will likely be different. Some will argue that the report substantiates already well-understood tactics, while others will take the exact opposite position, refuting our points Read more

December 17, 2007

Excellence Unchained

by

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

I joined the Lake Grove Presbyterian Church choir about nine years ago.  (Geno, chill.  This is a story about excellence, not Bible Boy!)  There was an interim director who led about twenty singers. The assumption of the director, and most of the elder hierarchy in a still dying denomination, was (is) that choirs and classical music are essentially passé, that contemporary music, a rock and roll praise band and ‘Jesus is my girlfriend’ anthems are necessary to put people in the pews. Armed with that assumption, the director aspired to mediocrity and almost succeeded; why put effort into something that’s dying?

I was on the search committee to find a permanent director.  I had concerns about the person we picked – Wendy Bamonte, a wisp of a thirty-something with a terrific cv in instrumental music, but less so in choral.  She was hired, but I took my concerns to the pastor anyway, who took them to Wendy, who called me and said: ‘Let’s talk.’  We did.  It turned out she’s every bit as direct as I am, and out of that, um, lively discussion, developed a friendship that I’ve had with her and her husband since.

Wendy isn’t one who accepts conventional wisdom simply because it’s conventional.  She had (has) a vision:  provided excellence both in the choice of music and its preparation, choirs and classical music aren’t only not dead, but on the cutting edge of the future. No one believed it, of course, but it was nice to have someone passionate about something, as quaint as it seemed.

But she’s been driven from the first year eight years ago.  Interested less in genre than in the excellence of the music, we’ve done everything from baroque to gospel.  She’ll spend two weeks picking exactly the right music for a twelve week sermon series. She has the personality, drive and tact to get the most in the least amount of time out of unauditioned amateurs.  Unlike those who protect themselves from anyone better, she brings in world-class directors for choral workshops.  She’s very, very good at what she does, but still takes the time Read more

December 16, 2007

The Odysseus Medal competition — Voting for the People’s Choice Award is open

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Some news first:

The first of the BloodhoundBlog Unchained lapel pins sold for $20.50. The second auction closes in about 24 hours.

Todd Carpenter is hosting a contest for the funniest RE.net blog post for 2007. I am badly eclipsed in a contest like this — where’s the award for Exotic Quixotism? — but I expect a number of posts from BloodhoundBlog to make the short list. (Nominate yourselves, y’all; nothing ever makes if off my to-list.)

Now then: The Odysseus Medal nominees: A dozen entries on the short list this week, and, again, a lot of Deep Think stuff. Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

< ?PHP $AltEntries = array ( "Kevin Boer -- Redfin The Lessons Of Redfin, Part I: The Marketing Value Of The Obvious”,
“Joel Burslem — Scripps Scripps Cracks Open the Door“,
“Kris Berg — Concurrent closings Newton’s Umpteenth Law – Concurrent Closings“,
“Dan Green — Foreclosures Why Healthy Bodies and Healthy Marriages May Be More Relevant To Slowing Foreclosures Than Interest Rate Adjustments“,
“Brian Boero — Blurred vision Blurred vision“,
“Krista Baker — Emotional needs Do You Address Your Clients’ Emotional Needs?“,
“Kris Berg — RESPA What’s my real estate license worth? More than a hundred bucks.“,
“Rhonda Porter — Closing procedures Major Proposed Changes for Residential Closings in 2008“,
“Gary Elwood — Online marketing The 3 Commandments of Online Marketing You Must Obey“,
“Chris McKeever — Listings portals A [HAR]d Lesson“,
“Bill Leider — What is a brand? What Is A Brand?“,
“Brian Brady — Sub-prime oil We’re All Sub-Prime Borrowers (Who Consume Oil)”
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    Deadline for next week’s competition is Sunday at 12 Noon MST. You can nominate your own weblog entry or Read more

    • December 16, 2007

    Unchained melodies: Bloodhounds that kneel? Why must everybody bow?

    by

    Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

    Author website

    There must be fifty ways to come unchained in rock ‘n’ roll. Here are three of them.

    1. She’s free of him, whether he likes it or not. It’s Pure Prairie League with Falling in and out of love/Amie. This is one of the most incredible country-rock medleys ever committed to vinyl, but I can’t show you the studio version. The rights police want to make sure that nobody buys any old PPL albums this Christmas. Good thinking.

    2. He’s free of her, and he’s not quite dancing in the streets. I’ve know about this version of Bob Dylan’s She’s your lover know, but I had never heard it until tonight. It was recorded at about the same time as Like a rolling stone, when Dylan was convinced he could become a singles act like the Beatles. Here is an abortive studio take. This raw piano version is better, I think, because there’s still room for regret, even if the singer knows he’s better off.

    3. Why chain yourself to him when you can chain yourself to me instead? This is Jim Hendrix covering Bob Dylan on Baby can you please crawl out your window? This again was written at the same time, and the Hendrix version is clearly cribbed directly from Dylan’s Columbia single.

    None of these are very good as videos, but do make an effort to disabuse yourself of the image of “bloodhounds that kneel.” No such thing.

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    December 15, 2007

    Closing Early?

    by

    Mega-Producing Realtor

    Author website

    Saturday afternoon, about 2:30 I stopped by the Quiznos at Tatum & Thunderbird, it is in a little strip center right by my house. For those who like details, I had a Diet Pepsi and the regular size prime rib cheesesteak sandwich. Right next door to the Quiznos I saw this sign on the door:

    Close up of door sign

    I zoomed in so you could read it. Zooming back and stepping back just a bit it looks like this:

    window and door photo

    I suppose the advantage and the disadvantage of being in shopping center is foot traffic.

    December 15, 2007

    Styx and Stones and Bobby Jones

    by

    Chicago Broker Owner Realtor | RE 2.0 Blogger

    Author website

    The Updikes are here…

    Like many Boomers from my generation I enjoy the somewhat breezy entertainment of people watching–especially while on vacation or dining out in restaurants. (Actually, hotel lobbies are sans pareil for this pastime, I’ve found.) The challenge however, is not to be judgemental and this, quite frankly, is difficult for me.

    Several years ago I contrived a harmless little game I informally dubbed ‘The Updikes,’ to accompany this casual diversion. It embraces the human characteristics of onomatopoeia–the description of an individual by some physical or idiosyncratic trait or sound, famous celebrity resemblances, or a combination of both. I like to play this with my wife whenever we are out together and grow tired of talking about ourselves.

    “Mona, look….the Updikes are here.” She glances over to the door….

    In walks a very erect couple with thinnish lips and proper attire. They appear quite Protestant as they chat it up with the maitre d’. The husband may even resemble my favorite bang coiffed, gray haired author. The name seems perfect. My wife lets out a hushed chortle…”Up-Dikes.”

    “We should send the gentleman over a Pulitzer, vintage 1982,” I add, nudging the game into the obscure, “It pairs well with Rabbit.” My lovely partner doesn’t get the reference. She doesn’t know who John Updike is. She just thinks the name is funny. She scopes the room. It’s her turn.

    “Britney Spears,” she whispers, motioning with her eyes toward a plump, blond haired toddler rolling around on the floor with her sundress over her head. Now that’s funny.

    Like I said, I came up with this game a long time ago and have, over the years, excogitated it into a spin-off diversion I refer to as, ’Nickname.’  And while I obviously can’t take any credit for that age-old practice, I do my best to elevate this exercise to an art form whenever possible. Understand that I’ve always been big on alternate monikers. My dog, Elvis for example, has at least a couple dozen alone; Stump, Mookie, Snout and Chops, being but a few. This is also how I describe clients to my wife (most of whom she’ll never meet) as it provides her with a reference or, at the very least, a mental picture of the odd personalities I have to deal with on Read more

    December 15, 2007

    Government interference will prolong housing woes

    by

    Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

    Author website

    This is my column for this week from the Arizona Republic (permanent link):

     
    Government interference will prolong housing woes

    Want to make an economic problem worse? Interfere with it.

    As I write this, the Federal Reserve Bank just cut the Federal Funds Rate by another quarter-point. Why? To try to stimulate the housing market.

    Last week President Bush put together an attestedly voluntary agreement among lenders to freeze interest rates on certain adjustable rate mortgages for five years. The plan is voluntary in the same way that your rowdy Uncle Sid volunteered for the Marines instead of serving 90 days in the clink. Even so, Congress is still rumbling about involuntary solutions to the housing crisis.

    So what’s the beef? Everybody’s just tying to help, right?

    The problem is that all investment is based on planning. Before I risk my capital, I need a reasonable assurance that it will be returned to me — ideally with a healthy profit. There is always some risk in investing, but if the government can change the rules of the game at any moment, then the risk of investing soars. Doing anything else becomes much more attractive.

    Consider: If I plant the right seeds and cultivate them properly, I can expect a bountiful harvest. But if the government were able to control the weather, and if it announced that it might or might not schedule a hard freeze for mid-July, I would be better off doing almost anything other than farming.

    If I have capital available to lend, should I lend it where I know for sure I’ll get five percent interest, or should I lend it to a borrower who will promise to pay me eight percent — until Big Mother cuts that back to four percent as an act of mercy. If it were your money — and in many cases it is, in the form of insurance and pension funds — what would you do?

    It’s plausible that we’ll go through the same amount of economic pain, with or without government involvement. But free markets self-correct quickly, liquidating bad investments and getting back to business. Government interference will almost certainly prolong Read more

    December 14, 2007

    Redfin.com: Bodett-ing Real Estate Brokerage

    by

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

    Author website

    Glenn Kelman appeared on NBC. This time, he wasn’t the smartest kid in the class; he imitated Tom Bodett. Greg points out the “Duh” factor in the most recent Redfin Revelation:

    Here’s real justice: Someday, an actual reporter is going turn to Kelman and say, “Glenn, you’re the expert. How do you set up a lease-purchase so the buyer doesn’t get screwed? What’s the best way to do seller financing — a contract-for-deed or a carryback? Under what circumstances should a buyer consider waiving inspections?” Just keep on smiling, Glenn. You’re asking for it, and you’re going to get it.

    Here’s the problem (to quote Jeff Brown):

    They don’t know what they don’t know (the public).

    Kelmann is taking the Bodett approach to selling the Redfin USP. Instead of appearing as the bright boy with a rebel streak, he’s approaching this with a folksy twist. The message he’s sending the consumer is compelling:

    “Aw Shucks! You don’t need no high fallutin’ REALTOR to sell your house. Just list it on craigslist.org…and leave the light on fer me. A professional REALTOR is a luxury; who can afford that?”

    Right or wrong, dangerous advice or not, that message resonates with folks, who are facing the wrath of Countrywide, when they short sell their home. Why pay for sumthin’ that you don’t really need?

    Even more astonishing is the trade union’s endorsement of his message. It’s like the Ritz Carlton endorsing Motel 6. (Hat tip to Jeff Kempe)

    Redfin will fail. We all know that you can’t exist by selling widgets below the manufacturing cost of a widget. There are only so many investors who will fall for the internet start-up math before A Wall Street analyst cries foul. Their demise, however, should serve as a case study for how NOT to respond to the Trojan Horse.

    December 14, 2007

    Unchained melodies: Tonight will be fine

    by

    Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

    Author website

    Country-rock romance, great covers of great song-writers. Start with Leonard Cohen’s Tonight will be fine covered by Teddy Thompson:

    Next, a buried treasure. Bobby Darin was an amazing talent who couldn’t manage to fit in anywhere. This is his cover of Tim Hardin’s If I were a carpenter:

    Finally, Glenn Frey and Don Henley bring those incredible Eagles’ harmonies to Tom Waits’ Ol’ 55:


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    December 14, 2007

    What Is A Brand?

    by

    CEO of Real Estate Shows

    Author website

    Yesterday morning I read the lead article in RISMEDIA’s enews entitled: “Nine Things Consumers Won’t Care About in the New Year.” The list was developed by Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller, two “marketing experts” who blah blah blah.

    Item 7 on the list of things consumers won’t care about was: “Your Brand. They only care that the experience of doing business with you is sensational.”

    Are they kidding? Did they really mean that? If so, they hit the nail on the head regarding one monumental marketing misconception: that Brand means Name Recognition. Name recognition is only one part of your Brand. It’s the foot in the door part. It’s the part that matters most if you only want to do business with someone once. Thinking that name recognition is your Brand is like thinking that you are your makeup, or the car you drive. Those things might impress but they don’t define. Unless, of course, you live in L.A.

    Name recognition is the part of your Brand that the ad agencies love most because name awareness campaigns are easy to sell (for lots of money), hard to connect to your bottom line results and thereby make the agencies unaccountable for tangible results. For ad agencies, it’s a gig made in heaven.

    Here’s a fact. The kind of experience people have in doing business with you IS an integral piece of your Brand. To believe that your Brand is about name recognition alone is a costly and dangerous misstep. It could cause you to spend lots of money, tons of time and get no return on your investment.

    If we define Brand solely as the strength of your name, consider some people and entities with great name recognition: Osama bin Laden; Enron; O.J. Simpson; Blackwater. Would you want the expectation of the experience of dealing with them as the motivator for doing business with you?

    I believe your Brand is a widely held set of beliefs and expectations about what you deliver and how you deliver it.     That applies whether you’re an individual or a multi-national organization. Your Brand is strengthened or weakened by every person in Read more

    December 14, 2007

    Moody’s Says NO “U” For Phoenix – We’re Getting a “V”

    by

    Mega-Producing Realtor

    Author website

    Want to buy some predictions for $4,000.00. Actually, $3,995 to be exact. And the predictions are too. The ones I’ve examined are also unfounded, stupid and won’t be true. But as you can see here, you get two copies for your 4k. Then for only $500 more per copy you can get up to ten (10) additional copies. That’s really reasonable. It makes your average cost per copy a low low $749.58 (10 X 500 + 3995 = 8995). Who can’t afford that?

    Of course the data is pretty much useless but that won’t stop it from being spewed all across the planet.aftershock_banner_payment_form  Most print and electronic media are just determined to endlessly establish that they have no real knowledge of anything they are writing or talking about – they just print and rebroadcast “news releases” that are really little more than poorly disguised PR to sell some book or seminar.

    Here is a sample forecast for Phoenix:

    In September 2007, in spite of all the problems in our real estate market listed above, Moody’s predicts the Phoenix real estate market will bottom out in 2Q/2008 and react like a “V” with a quick increase of 7.7% in the first year because 1.) we have so many people moving into Arizona and 2.) Phoenix leads the nation in job growth. Other areas of the country are not as fortunate as we and they will see a protracted “U” shaped real estate market recovery because those areas have a net outflow of residents and lots of job losses.

    Good news. Prices will be actually going up next year. Isn’t that great? I’m excited. Now I can tell all my customers to just wait until the 3rd quarter and sell then. Yea!!

    This is the same Moody’s who was giving the sub-prime backed crap paper the equivalent of a “triple A” rating. Oh yea, that Moody’s. It is astounding that no economist (read that as NONE) predicted the run up in prices until after the run up was occurring. Then they could chat about it at great length. This would be sort of like the weatherman waiting until Read more

    December 13, 2007

    Unchained melodies: Popsicle toes

    by

    Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

    Author website

    Cathy’s birthday. Here’s Michael Franks with Popsicle toes in commemoration.

    A genuine, actual genetic difference between male and female homo sapiens is blood-flow to the extremities. Men can deftly work a bow or a knife or a snare in weather that leaves women with frostbite. We were talking about this at dinner the other night with Pirate DJ Russell Shaw. Another topic of conversation was the idea of the epicene, the sexual ambiguity in art upon which Camille Paglia built her early career. Here is Bryan Ferry as a post-modern epicene performing These foolish things.

    And while I would rate both of those tunes as good jazz, they’re both really very clean jazz. Here’s something a little grungier, piano bar jazz for for Zillow’s dive bar, Tom Waits with On the nickel.


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    December 13, 2007

    Want to get on the Today show? First, get yourself a death grip on the obvious, then pimp it in a snazzy press release

    by

    Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

    Author website

    I don’t want to be mean to Redfin.com. It’s Christmas, for one thing. Plus which, Cynthia Pang, Redfin’s PR Queen, is even nicer than David Gibbons. And, all things considered, Redfin’s latest bold PR thrust is not all that awful. But still, it is funny…

    The fact is, these Dilberts don’t actually work in real estate, or they never have until now. Not just Redfin.com, but all the venture-funded Realty.bot mechanics. I think there were people at Zillow who really did believe that real estate could be sold without intermediaries. And Redfin beams with an infant’s delight every time it discovers something actual working professional Realtors have known for years — had to learn in order to survive as actual working professional Realtors.

    But, take just a moment to consider this idiocy, which was on BusinessWeek’s Hot Property weblog earlier today. What is it? Fake news generated by a Realty.bot and spoon fed to a mainstream media outlet. The “story” itself is stoopid, but the transaction is atrocious, exactly the kind of media whoring that all of us should rebel against — exactly what the mainstream media has always been and what the world of weblogging should never be.

    In this light, Redfin’s press release is not so bad. The advice it proffers is actually good, even if it is comically obvious to anyone who has gotten good at getting paid for doing this job. It is going to form the core of Redfin’s agent-training program, and that really is funny — though maybe not so much if you’ve sold a home with a Redfin agent who didn’t know this stuff.

    In any case, it is in that light that I am going to cover it, albeit briefly. It’s funny to me. It should be funny to anyone reading this here. But it’s not as bad — all things taken together — as it might be.

    So here we go, with a death grip on the obvious: “Seven tactics for selling a home.”

    1. Don’t overprice your property. You just can’t make this stuff up, kids.
    2. Set your price to show up in web searches. That means pricing in Read more
    December 13, 2007

    My Esteemed Social Network

    by

    Realtor, Associate Broker

    Author website

    Dear Internal Revenue Service:

    I am responding to your challenge of my business expense write-off of $160 to Dick’s Last Resort on December 12, 2007. While I recognize that you necessarily take a hard line where entertainment expenses are concerned, we really did talk about real estate!

    You see, we bloggers have this thing called a Social Network. It is important that, when presented with the opportunity, we connect with this network to improve our business skills and cultivate future referral business. This is what professionals do!

    Granted, you alluded to Steve’s Smoking Gun, which you say suggests that the atmosphere lacked professionalism.

    dicksgroup.jpg

    Let me just say for the record that Steve was in fact present, sitting opposite Brian Brady in this photo and, while he may deny this or even suggest he was eclipsed by Jonathan Dalton in the foreground, I will tell you that he was hiding under the table.

    As for the others in attendance, Jeff “Bawld Guy” Brown is a highly regarded investment advisor. This much should be all too evident.

    daltonbawldguy.jpg

    Brian Brady, of course, is a Mortgage Specialist Extraordinaire. Again, I state the obvious.

    daltonbrian.jpg

    As for me, I discovered two things that will help my business in the coming year: I am not a “hat person”, and I really shouldn’t wear my hair pulled back in a clip, as it is simply not a good look for me.

    daltonmenjon.jpg

    Regarding the bill, I readily admit that my esteemed Social Network did toss random currency on the table at the conclusion of our Business Meeting. But, you know men. They have no concept of what anything actually costs. Trust me when I say that your assertion that I did not pay the entire bill is splitting hairs.

    Might I suggest you look into the expense records on Jonathan Dalton’s tax return, as he was in town to attend a convention, or at least that is the story. And, if you see him taking any deductions for dinner at Dick’s Last Resort, you might want to question him on it.

    daltonjonathan.jpg

    Sincerely,

    Kris Berg

    P.S. Josh, Son of Bawld Guy, didn’t do anything wrong. Go easy on him.

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