BloodhoundBlog week in review: Nothing exceeds like INTx . . .

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Surely BloodhoundBlog is not the nerdliest joint on the RE.net, but we’ve still got a lot of arrows in our quiver — er, pocket protector.

For a start, I pinned the tail on Redfin, arguing that nerdy INTx geeks are in fact their target market. (Sing along: “I’m fluent in JavaScript as well as Klingon.”) Kris Berg snagged an interview with Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, himself a palpably INTx specimen. We have to sit on her podcast until Thursday, but Kelman’s confirmation that the brokerage target markets techno-geeks is not an embargoed tidbit.

Kris had a great Redfin post of her own as did husband Steve Berg at The San Diego Home Blog.

And: I did geek-seeking missile duty by awarding the first Cheez Whiz Prize to a dead-pool destined circle jerk called my-currency.com. What did the starving mathematicians say when they stumbled onto a can of beans? “First we will postulate a can-opener…”

But just to establish my own hopeless geek bona fides, this week I became the first hopeless geek to write a song about real estate weblogging. “Cathy’s Clown” indeed!

But, Dave, I’m just a wave. I ain’t the water. So here’s what else has been going on in the BloodhoundBlog pond:

Investor Michael Cook took us along on his trip to Greensboro, NC, advising us that Time Really is Money and asking What makes a good investment? He follows up by naming some Watchouts for New Market Investing and then invites us to consider Bank Relationships vs. Mortgage Brokers.

In Googling for Pizza Kris Berg takes us on a very straightforward roundabout route through the SEO benefits of real estate weblogging.

Also on the theme of weblogging, Jeff Brown argues against the practice of allowing anonymous comments in It’s Time To Take The Lead — Let’s Turn The Lights On Now. Anonymous commenters are still permitted at BloodhoundBlog, but we’ve had to put everyone on a very short leash to avoid flaming, obscenity, etc. It’s common for people to argue that policing comments is “censorship.” This is incorrect. Censorship is something that is done by governments. The issue here is the right of private property owners to maintain the quality of life they desire on their own property. Each one of us retains the perfect right to behave however we want on our own property or on public property. But pseudonymous cretins have no right to behave badly on our property, at our expense. Civilization is not a suicide pact.

But don’t get the idea that we didn’t talk about real estate. Jeff also reminds us that The Retirement Clock Is Counting Down, and he tells us all about something he almost never does: Attending The Closing.

Brian Brady led off the week with A Selfish Case for National Originator Licensing. Brian was also observed Peeking into Bernanke’s Crystal Ball.

Jeff Turner, who apparently cannot hit the ball unless it’s out of the park, weighed in with Transparency And The Wizard Of Oz.

We had another Russell Shaw podcast Exploring the mind of a mega-producer. Best news: Interviewer Tim Harris promises us six more podcasts with top-producing Realtors.

We’re not all Realtors, but we have a lot of Realtors writing here. Russell Shaw might be the most conservative, and it’s arguable that I am the most radical — although that honor could easily go to Doug Quance. But we are all of us interested in reforms that will make the real estate industry more transparent, more efficient, and, one may hope, better respected.

Even so, we are insiders, and we cannot but see the real estate business as insiders. I went on a mild tear over a particularly difficult transaction I had close this week: Overcharging? A dedicated Realtor is a bargain. In the ensuing discussion, I amended this: Whatever it takes: A determined Realtor is a bargain.

Michael Cook riposted from an investor’s and consumer’s point of view with A Different Perspective on the Value of Realtors and If there is no Realtor monopoly — then what explains the commission structure?

I followed up with a fuller rendering of the story of my difficult transaction in A line in the sand: Gaius Popillius Laenas and getting the real estate transaction closed against all opposition. And, taking account of all of this and then some, long-ball hitter Jeff Turner followed up with Let Ideas Kill Themselves.

The posts themselves are interesting, of course, but so are the extended commentary threads. We have our geeky INTx side, but we are a range of personalities. The simple fact is, some of the most interesting real estate discussions on the RE.net take place every week on BloodhoundBlog. Give us your thoughtful attention and we’ll repay it with ours…

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