Author: Jeff Brown (page 15 of 15)

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

First of all Greg, my wife’s cat now officially hates you. Today it was hazelnut. Reintroducing yourself to Russell was perfection. 🙂

But on to persuading the unpersuadable. Galileo faced down the most powerful institution outside of government that insisted the earth was the center of the universe. The church was terrified of the perception that what Galileo said seemed to contradict the Bible, which of course it did not. The church just recently apologized for its actions – and only centuries after schools first began teaching fourth graders that Galileo was 100% correct.

Principle – Perception may be ‘reality’ to a thirsty man in the desert, but the water still isn’t there.
Principle – False logic will always eventually be proven as such. Thirsty man discovers this by way of a mouth full of sand.
Principle – When the universe in which you operate disagrees with you – it’s possible you might be mistaken.

Gravity, when applied, works every time. However, much like dual agency, the consequences of applied gravity are not always desired. If I jump from a two foot ledge I’ll probably survive. If I fall or am pushed from the balcony of a 10th floor office window I probably won’t. Gravity is ruthlessly consistent. The consequences of its use are universally predictable. The apple, no matter how many times it falls from the tree, will never fall up.

The ‘angelic’ school of dual agency has its foundation in a false premise. The man who either accidently fell, or was pushed from that window either accidentally caused his own death, or was murdered. Gravity, like dual agency, has no will of its own. There are infinite examples available illustrating this. I’ll use just one.

You may use a gun for target practice. Or to acquire food through hunting. Or to avoid your wife getting half of your net worth. The gun didn’t do any of those things. The person shooting the gun did them. That’s a principle, and the gun doesn’t have an opinion. Even when my wife kills me accidentally while cleaning her gun, am I not just as dead as the murder victim?

Greg Read more

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Thanks to Greg Swann for his gracious invitation. Posting on the 900 pound gorilla known as Bloodhound is a feather in anyone’s cap. I’m not sure there’s more than five sites in the country creating more ripples than he does. You set the bar pretty high Greg.

Before I begin – God bless Russell Shaw. Until he came along I almost always felt like the Lone Ranger on most subjects the real estate blog-world considered earth shatteringly important. I’ve enjoyed his posts on various subjects, and have found myself wondering if my dad had another son he never told me about. Anyone who has ever read my comments on blogs discussing the latest ‘hot topics’ will easily discern how much he and I agree with each other.

Buyer representation? National MLS? Dual agency? NAR for heaven’s sake? Give me a break. Until I became a blogger I was both ignorant and apathetic about what opinions were held by others in the industry on those subjects. The only thing that has changed is the entertainment I sometimes enjoy while reading about them.

I read Russell’s dual agency post and laughed so hard I spewed my morning coffee all over my wife’s cat. He absolutely nailed it to the wall. Remember the Clint Eastwood movie, Suddent Impact? That was Russell’s way of saying, “Go ahead, make my day.” But, I was invited to post my take on dual agency, and I’ll do that now.

In the 1960’s I worked for a real estate firm that had six offices and give or take 40 agents. About 75% of the agents were full time. In the two years I was the janitor, and printer (mimeograph) of new listings, they closed over 1,000 transactions – 100% of which were dual agency sales. (Quick, get Greg a chair, he’s looking a little pale.) That same firm also escrowed the sales. And if an agent was caught showing another broker’s listings, he was fired on the spot. The company’s broker/owner didn’t cooperate with outside brokers – as policy. How could that work you ask? His company always had more listings under $20,000 Read more