{"id":620,"date":"2006-11-08T23:25:40","date_gmt":"2006-11-09T06:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=620"},"modified":"2006-11-09T00:09:33","modified_gmt":"2006-11-09T07:09:33","slug":"whats-the-big-idea-the-good-the-true-and-the-beautiful-in-real-estate-weblogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/620\/whats-the-big-idea-the-good-the-true-and-the-beautiful-in-real-estate-weblogging\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s the big idea? The good, the true and the beautiful in real estate weblogging . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I really, really like ideas, and I sometimes feel like I should talk about them in a larger, more comprehensive way. Events intrude, always. Plus which, I think extended rumination is what god made retirement for. For now, we gallop on horseback through the museum of my mind, since this is what I have time for.<\/p>\n<p>I love having Russell Shaw with us, because he is serious, rigorous and thorough-going. But he sees the world from where he stands, and very few of us command similar heights. Russell says, in essence, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=615\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;I charge more because I&#8217;m worth more.&#8221;<\/a> This argument has unassailable <i>particular<\/i> merit, as do the similar arguments made by <a href=\"http:\/\/ardell.realtownblogs.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Our Lady Ardell<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/bawldguy.wordpress.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">the avuncular Jeff Brown<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the argument does not invert, as many wish it could: &#8220;I&#8217;m worth more because I charge more&#8221; is the fallacy <i>non sequitur<\/i>. How much commission should a Realtor charge? In fact &#8212; in actual, demonstrable, undeniable fact &#8212; some large fraction of the NAR membership is <i>earning<\/i> nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Surplus capacity argues either for lower prices, for liquidation of some of that capacity, or both. Ardell argues with some cogency that nothing will be done from the inside about prices &#8212; although she might be surprised at what can be done from the outside. Even so, the quantity of real estate transactions will not go up with a marginal reduction in transaction costs. We still sleep one pillow <i>per capita<\/i>. In any case, the problem of excess capacity can easily be solved by eliminating the real estate broker&#8217;s safe harbor from tax withholding laws.<\/p>\n<p>Brokers really don&#8217;t even have much reason to oppose this, if we presume that the quantity of real estate transactions is inelastic. In other words, if a broker can anticipate 1,000 transactions a year whether he has 1,000 agents or 100 agents, then the only real difference to his business is the marginal cost of tax-withholding itself &#8212; which that broker will surely find a way to socialize to the agents anyway.<\/p>\n<p>Privately, our own billionaire brain trust &#8212; god help us if they ever dun us! &#8212; has been reflecting on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/620\/whats-the-big-idea-the-good-the-true-and-the-beautiful-in-real-estate-weblogging\/#more-620\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I really, really like ideas, and I sometimes feel like I should talk about them in a larger, more comprehensive way. Events intrude, always. Plus which, I think extended rumination is what god made retirement for. For now, we gallop on horseback through the museum of my mind, since this is what I have time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-disintermediation","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-real-estate","11":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":655,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/655\/dual-agency-smack-down-dueling-angels-are-not-persuasive\/","url_meta":{"origin":620,"position":0},"title":"Dual Agency Smack-Down: Dueling angels are not persuasive . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not really a Jesuit, I just play one in the blogsward. My mother had had enough of the Church before she went to high school, and, in consequence, I was sent to public schools. Those were actually quite a bit better then than they are now, but, even so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Dual Agency&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Dual Agency","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/dual-agency\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1240,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1240\/success-is-contagious-russell-shaw-and-the-starpower-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":620,"position":1},"title":"Success is contagious: Russell Shaw and the StarPower experience","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 30, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Mega-producing Realtor and BloodhoundBlog contributor Russell Shaw insists that \"success is contagious.\" He backed up that argument at yesterday's StarPower seminar in Phoenix. Russell spent much of his day surrounded by Realtors eager to infect themselves with his 400-transaction-a-year mojo. As we have good cause to know, Russell is boundlessly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Marketing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":642,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/642\/john-l-wake-says-buy\/","url_meta":{"origin":620,"position":2},"title":"John L Wake says: Buy . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"From my email this morning, Phoenix-area Realtor and weblogger John L Wake offers this advice:I recommend that anyone who has been waiting to buy or who was considering buying with in the next 6 months, that they now seriously consider buying within the next 6 to 8 weeks.The argument is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Investment&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2937,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2937\/a-deeply-philosophical-discussion-of-the-flame-war-that-will-not-be-happening-at-bloodhoundblog\/","url_meta":{"origin":620,"position":3},"title":"A deeply philosophical discussion of the flame war that will not be happening at BloodhoundBlog","author":"Greg Swann","date":"April 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh, good grief... I can credit both sides of the rancorous dispute that is not going to happen. I agree with Russell Shaw that Barry Cunningham can run roughshod over opponents in debate, and I knew without having to be told that Russ was steaming over this. I agree with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":953,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/953\/podcast-with-russell-shaw-part-three-a-certain-convocation-of-politic-realtors\/","url_meta":{"origin":620,"position":4},"title":"Podcast with Russell Shaw, Part Three: A certain convocation of politic Realtors","author":"Greg Swann","date":"January 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogging&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":658,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/658\/dual-agency-smack-down-if-being-a-big-brokerage-is-an-inherent-agency-violation-its-not-the-clients-fault\/","url_meta":{"origin":620,"position":5},"title":"Dual Agency Smack-Down: If being a big brokerage is an inherent agency violation, it&#8217;s not the client&#8217;s fault . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"November 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Please. Recognize that everything I say or write is true and do not argue with me. Thanks!Hi! Welcome to BloodhoundBlog. My name is Greg Swann. I question everything. ;) From my point of view, we're still not getting any traction.But single agency is not a viable business model.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Dual Agency&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Dual Agency","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/dual-agency\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}