There’s always something to howl about.

Author: Thomas Hall (page 2 of 3)

Realtor, Rabble-Rouser

Should We Be A Good Society?

lunt new construction

Every morning – even in near zero degree weather – I walk my two dogs around my neighborhood – the jaunt is roughly 4 miles with a brief but necessary Starbucks break. While I’d like to admit the motivation is to remain healthy, the reality is the required expresso jolt is what gets me up in the morning.

A little over halfway through my walk, I pass by the sign I have posted – proudly identifying the Neighbors for Responsible Zoning’s (the Zoners) disdain for profiteering Realtors, developers et al. Evidenced now by the presence of two mediocre-ly constructed mini-mansions, the realtors and developers undoubtedly profited.

My neighborhood may be one of the most ethically and socioeconomically diverse neighborhoods in the city of Chicago. Short of bucolic, it is an established neighborhood with mature trees that canopy the cross streets lined with woodframe victorians, brick Prairie-inspired architectural gems and classic Chicago courtyard buildings. Many of the residents have lived in the area their entire lives, having watched the tide of transients transform the neighborhood. In the frenzy of the condo boom, affordable housing became in short supply. There is definitely a strong sense of community. People care about preserving the past as well as the semblance of community.

While the Zoners may not have had success in staving off the wave of new development, they have acted in the interest of preserving what they value.

This sign has really had an impact on me lately. In light of the many recent discussions regarding the impact of the current stimulus package – the implications on the housing industry – so much of the focus has been on the financial impact.

Ideology has drawn the line – we can’t interfere with the market for fear of socialism – government intervention simply prolongs the inevitable.

Admittedly, I have subscribed to that line of thinking, however, recently I struggle with the lack of balance to the enormous social costs – many yet unseen – to this financial mess. It is difficult to have sympathy for many people that Read more

Are We In Trouble?

We are in trouble …

The population of this country is 300 million.

160 million are retired.

That leaves 140 million to do the work.

There are 85 million in school.

Which leaves 55 million to do the work.

Of this there are 35 million employed by the federal government.

Leaving 15 million to do the work.

2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Osama Bin-Laden

Which leaves 12.2 million to do the work.

Take from that total the 10.8 million people who work for state and city Governments.
and that leaves 1.4 million to do the work.

At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals.

Leaving 1,212,000 to do the work.

Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons.

That leaves just two people to do the work.

You and me.

And there you are, sitting on your ass at your computer, reading jokes.

Nice. Real nice.

Are You an Innie or an Outie? The Answer May Be an Ancient Chinese Secret

I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, The Story of Success.  I found it a facinating read.  If you have not yet read his book, or any of his others, I strongly suggest it.  The premise of Outliers discusses the contributing factors, opportunities and cultural legacies that help shape the outcomes of individuals whom we recognized as highly successful.

One of the most enlightening discussions in the book provides perhaps a new perspective as to why people of Asian decent traditionally outperform people of Western cultures in math.  We often believe that academic achievement is attributed to IQ and intellect, yet Gladwell’s explanation is more basic.  It may very well relate to how Asians count and the character length of the actual numeric characters allowing them to retain more information in a smaller period of time.  Again, I found the author’s insight facinating.

Success is not solely a factor of intellect.  At a certain point, cultural influences/rules and situational circumstances contribute more to why an individual or individuals are successful.  Even more at the core of real success are the long hours of dedicated hard work.

I began thinking about how this all relates to the nature of real estate, both as a professional as well as the profession itself.

No doubt, we are currently experiencing a significant confluence of events both culturally and economically.  The theory that real estate was a fairly sure bet, rarely if ever losing value has been more than proven wrong.  Business models which leverage technology are not offering transformational change in how value is created in the real estate transaction.

Why did Rockerfeller become wealthy?  Gladwell surmizes that he became wealthy due primarily to his time of birth, coupled with America’s dynamic economic transformation.  Along with his hard work, his fate collided with enormous opportunity.  It seems Bill Gates too collided with good timing – he came of age during the era of the birth of the personal computer.

It takes more than just smarts to make it to the top.

I sense we are again at a cross roads of transformational change, both culturally and economically today with even farther reaching Read more

Your Child Is Ugly

My conversation with my client earlier today started off rather pleasant, really.

Our talk was lighthearted – what were the plans for Superbowl Sunday, the latest buzz about work – the winter weather in Chicago and the prospects of warmer weather arriving soon – hopefully.  It wasn’t the reason for my call, but the banter was really my attempt to put off the inevitable.  I needed to have “the talk.”

“Your child is ugly.”

No segway – no transition – I just came out and said it.

“Your child is ugly.”

Again – silence.  I inhaled deeply expecting the click and then the drone of the dial tone, but I could still hear the background noise of the TV on the other end of the line.

“Excuse me?”  my client asked?

“Everyone thinks your child is ugly.  Especially me.”

How many times have you run into an acquaintance – maybe at the mall – where their little infant or toddler was with them in-tow.  You’re introduced to the little one – and perhaps you are taken off guard – a little.  Let’s face it – sometimes some people have ugly kids.  You wouldn’t say anything out loud or to the parents – usually – you’d smile – but in the back of your mind, you think  – “geeshh – that’s one damn ugly kid.”

Okay – I really didn’t tell my client that her child was ugly – but in a round about way, I sorta did.

Last year, at the end of October, I again sorta initiated the talk – it wasn’t as harsh as “your child is ugly” – more like – “your child may not have everything going for him, but at least he has a nice personality”.

I’ve had my client’s listing on the market now for eleven months.  We’d renewed once and reduced the price as well.  Traffic came to an absolute standstill in October – miraculously, I showed it three times this week – but with no feedback.  Just buyers starting their search – they’re testing the market.  But time has finally run out – the listing was about to expire.

Rather than continue the masquerade, I Read more

A Tale of Two Paradigms

Glenn Kelman’s recent Call to Arms brought to light for me the two  paradigms that exist within the realm of transacting real estate – the traditional broker/agent-centric view and the evolving consumer-centric view.  Ultimately both paradigms attempt to better serve the consumer, however, the perspectives are very different.

Glenn’s post queries why traditional brokers, i.e agent-centric business model, don’t embrace the consistent measure of customer satisfaction on an agent by agent basis after the completion of a transaction.   The question is extremely valid – measuring customer satisfaction is a way to preserve the integrity of the broker and/or agents’ brand.

I question the validity of the metric – customer satisfaction – what is the criteria?  In fact Glenn asked, “how do you measure customer satisfaction?”   Defining the criteria is critical to measuring the ultimate value of the outcome – is 9 out of 10 a valid measure?  What does 9 mean?

I’ve held the QSC – Quality Service Certified – Certification for almost 6 years.  After each transaction, a third party administers a survey to measure how satisfied my clients were with the service level I provide.  Interestingly, never once in 6 years have I had a potential client or prospect contact me because of my rating.   In an agent-centric model, I measure customer sat by referral and repeat clients.  I get measured on a scale from 1 to 5 and have been able to maintain a high level of satisfaction, but ultimately my clients have spoken more effectively about my skills and knowledge rather than my score.

While it may be important to know whether or not a particular consumer may recommend or even use the services of an agent and/or broker, I believe I need to know the “why?”.

The question has been asked many different times – what do consumers want?  Again, Glenn asserts that consumers are seeking more metrics on agents.  Depending upon whether or not a client is buying or selling, their wants have remained fairly consistent.

Buyers want assistance finding the the right home.  They also want help negotiating the sales terms and price.

Sellers want to price their homes competively Read more

Filters Aren’t Just for Coffee

As I take stock of 2008 and move into 2009, I’ve decided to  develop and implement a strategy for transforming my business moving forward.  I’ve settled on a theme for this year – creating, delivering and leveraging knowledge.

My goal for 2009 is to become a better filter.

I want to become an expert filter – more importantly, be recognized as an expert filter – transforming information into knowledge.  I had a very interesting conversation this morning with a client regarding the state of the current real estate market in Chicago.  After three attempts of getting several properties under contract, my client and I finally succeeded in getting a deal together.  We visited the unit again this morning.  After seeing the unit, I sensed his apprehension when talking about next steps.

He wants to renegotiate the price now after having the property under contract.  He’s been actively reading on the blogs that prices are continuing to fall in the US – he cited Case Shiller’s recent price decline of 18% as the reason why he should pay even less than our negotiated price.

This became a real example of why information is not knowledge.

I became a filter – he was not really aware that the indicator, often touted in daily news sound bites about the ailing US real estate market, was actually an aggregated statistic for 20 metro areas in the US – Chicago faring slightly better at alittle over 10% decline since the same period last year.  To drill even deeper, the indicator measures single family home prices, not condos .  The decline hasn’t impacted every neighborhood equally.  Perhaps more importantly, we have spent the past 5 months searching for properties in four different neighborhoods within the city.  The process was an eye-opening experience for him – he learned that while inventory was plentiful, there were only a handful of properties actually worth buying.

While I am not keen on resolutions, I have decided to spend less time listening to the 24 hour, continuous coverage of catastrophe that our news has become.   Without the proper context and filtering, consumers are simply mis-educated and misinformed regarding Read more

How Much Does Knowledge Cost?

We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.”  quoted by John Naisbitt.

As RE Web 2.0 has evolved, there has been so much emphasis on the data, yet as we sit and evaluate the present solutions, consumers are still unclear how to interpret the information.

“Information is not knowledge.”  quoted by Albert Einstein.

Buying and selling real estate isn’t all about the data – it’s about knowledge and expertise.

If knowledge is not information, what is knowledge?

According to Merriam-Webster online, knowledge is defined as the following:

Knowledge (1): the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association (2): acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique b (1): the fact or condition of being aware of something (2): the range of one’s information or understanding <answered to the best of my knowledge> c: the circumstance or condition of apprehending truth or fact through reasoning : cognition d: the fact or condition of having information or of being learned <a person of unusual knowledge>
If consumers are to gain value from technology in the real estate arena, the solutions must be focused on the interpretation of the information.  Interpretation of information is knowledge.
Who possesses knowledge in the real estate arena?  Experienced Realtors, brokers, mortgage professionals, attorneys, title/escrow agents, property inspectors, experienced investors and others involved in the transaction.  Experience gained over time, after executing a number of transactions.
The prevalent mindset is to reduce the cost of the transaction by reducing the commission paid to the real estate agent because technology delivers information more openly to the consumer – but what value has been created?  Has true value been really created if more information has become available?
Reduced fee business models often focus on reducing the most value aspect of the transaction – the knowledge and expertise of the real estate professional.  Granted, if the knowledge and expertise is not readily identifiable, it makes sense to pay less.  I believe reduced fee models address the barrier to entry for new agents who may lack Read more

In Detroit, Idle is a Four Letter Word

In a prior life, before becoming a licensed real estate professional, I was responsible for implementing supply chain technology in the discrete manufacturing arena – more specifically – the auto industry.

Over a 7 month period, between 1998 and 1999, I made a temporary home in Sterling Heights, Michigan – 16 mile and Mound Road to be exact – home to Ford Motor Company’s largest real axle and transmission manufacturing and assembly facility – one million square feet of real estate, generating roughly $1.7B of product.  The plant was as vertical an operation as I have seen, short of a foundry.  From raw forged metal, UAW workers machined gears and assembled rear wheel drive transmissions for Ford’s cars and trucks – the Mustang, Lincoln Town Car, Explorer and the Ranger pickup – at the time, some of Ford’s hottest products – the Explorer was selling like crazy.

Before setting foot in Sterling Heights, I was tasked with creating a new sales methodology, tools and implementation plan that calculated the ROI of our supply chain technology solution once implemented.  The sales methodology walked a senior executive through the hard dollar, tangible savings and return to bottom-line profit contribution our technology solution would deliver.

Process created – tools developed – mission accomplished.

Or so I thought.  Now go prove that it actually works.

My first – and my team’s feat was to sell our solution to the VP of Operations.  We walked through the process and learned from our discussions that the VP of Operations was given the directive to reduce Work In Process inventory – WIP had grown disproportionately to end-unit assembled transmissions.  This particular problem was a no-brainer – our sweet spot.  Our solution optimized the flow of WIP and synchronized the flow of raw material to end-unit assembled transmissions via planning and scheduling algorithms.  Cake.

Unique to our solution was our commitment to reduce WIP over a 12 month period.  Our proposition – Ford would pay our travel expenses and small overhead expenses for our 12 month assignment – nothing more UNLESS we delivered results over and above the $20M goal.  Any additional savings above and Read more

Death, Taxes and Real Estate 3.0

What do death, taxes and real estate all have in common?

Technology.

I’ve blogged on several occasions about Real Estate Web 2.0 and my belief that in the myriad of solutions that have been developed, deployed and adopted, there has yet to be a “real estate agent killer” app.

Not long ago, innovators wanted to develop technology solutions that unleashed the knowledge within the MLS – that is where the perceived value of the real estate transaction was hidden.  Enhanced property search and data analytics was the way to break the current commission based business model, drive down the cost of the transaction and essentially eliminate the middleman – the agent and/or broker.

I was often confused when I read comparisons between the real estate industry and the travel industry.  Again, technology innovators wanted to do to the real estate business what Expedia, Orbitz or Hotwire have done to the travel industry – put the consumer in the driver’s seat and eliminate the middleman – the travel agent.

Not to belittle the travel agent, but clearly much has been learned about the real estate transaction process to determine that real estate is not like the travel industry.  Unlocking the MLS and aggregating data alone does not address the complexity of the real estate transaction, nor does enhanced search engines that exploit mapping technologies.

Real estate is a knowledge-based business.  In creating true innovation, my question is why aren’t technology innovators drawing parallels to other professions that are knowledge-based?    I can’t help to think that there can be a significant disconnect between our current business model, i.e our compensation, and the knowledge and expertise that experienced agents have developed over time.

To better understand the disconnect is to understand how the Pareto principle applies to a real estate transaction.  Could a knowledge management solution address 80% of the process-related issues to buying and selling real estate, leaving the 20% of the really tough, unexpected issues and problems to be addressed and managed by a licensed real estate professional?

I have my business degree in accounting – I never practiced accounting, however, when it comes to tax time, I feel obligated Read more

Not All Dinosaurs Are Extinct

I know an agent with big hair – she used to drive a Cadillac – she traded it in for a Lexus.

She likes to lunch – alot – with friends, clients and colleagues.  She started selling real estate when I started high school – basically ALONG time ago.

She’s not on Facebook.  She twitters only in the office – face to face – with friends, clients and colleagues.  She’s not on MySpace – Her space is the desk in the office – overwhelmed with a prodigous Rolodex with cards falling out.  She emails, but her assistant does the typing.  Funny thing is – she seems to always be on the phone.  Talking.  Offering well-wishes on birthdays, engagements, job promotions, new children arrivals and even new grandchildren arrivals.

I think she may be working on the third generation of her first clients.

I’ve never heard her ask for business – often times the phone calls are incoming, not outgoing.  She’s busy, but not overwhelmed.  During a casual conversation regarding a recent property showing, she shared some very valuable insight regarding the unit – you see, she’s sold it twice before.

When she tells me she knows everyone in the business, I believe her.

She’s social – but not of the media type.

In comparison, I believe I am more social, but perhaps too much of the media type.  I like technology.  I believe that technology can and will transform how real estate is transacted.  Through observation, however, I have learned that even in the absence of technology, real estate is transacted – quite successfully.

Rethinking Real Estate Web 2.0

What do consumers want? I believe this question has been asked ten times to Sunday as it relates to real estate.

I recently read Marc Davison’s recent blog post at 1000Watt Blog summarizing the results of that exact question, What do Consumers Want?.  The report, commissioned by Keller Williams, was developed and written by an impressive list of MBAs and PhDs.  With that amount of intellectual firepower, it is often difficult to question its credibility.

In addition to the report commissioned by Keller Williams, MBA and PhD’s et al, I read a synopsis of NAR’s buyer and seller’s survey, essentially providing the statistics behind today’s buyers and sellers as well as their needs.   I honed in a three key points in NAR’s report:

1.  “Home buyers are consistent in their expectations of real estate agents. Buyers thought the most important agent services are helping find the right house, and negotiating sales terms and price. Because agents often are chosen based on a referral, or were used in a previous transaction, two-thirds of buyers contacted only one real estate agent in the search process.”

2.  “Primarily, sellers want agents to price their home competitively, market the property, find a buyer and sell within a specific timeframe.”

3.  “The most difficult tasks reported by unrepresented sellers are selling within the planned length of time, getting the right price, preparing the home for sale, and understanding and performing paperwork.”

What I found interesting about the Keller William’s report was its premise –  How do you go about the process of selecting an agent?  What I found interesting about the NAR report was that the premise was more consumer centric, not agent centric.

The question I pose is how many of the current RE Web 2.0 solutions have truly “blue sky” functionality?  What if the premise assumed that there was no real estate agent?   What if a solution existed that allowed the consumer to buy and sell real estate at will without the use of a professional?

Ok – now don’t excommunicate me.  I think from a technology perspective, I believe it is a very valid question.  All too often, solutions are Read more

How Will the Party End?

Growing up as a kid, I remember my mom and dad throwing a lot of parties. They were the kind of folks who liked to “entertain”. It seems nobody entertains like my parents these days. It was usually on a Friday or Saturday night – my mom would order pizza – her hair in rollers – and my brothers and sisters and I would eat before 6. Immediately after dinner, it was bath time. Once upstairs we’d be relegated to the master bedroom and forced to watch The Brady Bunch on the black and white TV set.

Unless we were dying, we were not to set foot on the stairs – God help us if we ever set foot on the first floor.

Sometimes we’d sit at the top of the stairs and listen in on the festivities. I knew when mom had one too many Manhattans because she’d whoop it up – her laugh was the loudest. You knew things were getting good – the noise level would increase and the laughter became louder and more frequent. It wasn’t a real party unless the cigarette smoke began to linger in the upstair’s hallway.

Everybody liked my parent’s parties.

I remember one party in particular – it was a family party – a rare event – the kids were included. My mom was the consummate hostess – she used to use the “good stuff” – silver-plated footed bowls for snacks, sterling silver cutlery and china for dinner. Back then when people entertained, it was more of a production. Mom could have won an Oscar – everything was just so.

Even at a young age, I was a rabble rouser. My younger brother Mark and I concocted a plan to replace the mixed nuts in one of the silver bowls with a spicer snack – something with more kick – one that would really add some zest and zing to the cocktail hour.

Our secret? Why Gravy Train dog kibbles of course.

Mark was instructed to nonchalantly remove the bowl from the Read more

Introducing RE.net’s Hottest Bloggers Contest

In an effort to increase subscriptions and ad revenue, I have devised an ingenious new contest to identify the hottest bloggers on the real estate net. If there is one thing we can learn from People Magazine and the Republican Party – substance is secondary – most important: there is nothing that a “hot” headshot and $150,000 or so bucks can’t do to increase popularity and a list of the sexiest “insert your own category”.

Let’s put those bloglogs to good use! Start scanning your Twitter followers – clearly there are some hotties in the mix. Why not nominate a few – heck, why not nominate yourself?

Content you ask? What content? Kids – this ain’t about what you say or think, it’s all about how you look – and Billy Crystal nailed it – “it’s not how you feel, it’s how you look – and you look marvelous!”

You want to drive ad revenue to you site? Listen – sex sells. Adorning your blog with the “Hottest Blogger in the RE.net” will drive the kind of subscription traffic you’ve been longing.

Oops – gotta run – my stylist just called. She’s bringing over Armani for my photo shoot. I’m doing a series of new headshots for my avatar. We’re going to shoot a few – you know – the “too hot to handle” look – the “come hither” look. I’m banking on the “I’m too sexy for my content” look.

Money in the bank.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

I have been thinking alot lately about RE Web 2.0, particularly in light of the recent news regarding Redfin and Zillow’s current layoffs.  Greg also recently posted regarding the current state of the Realty.bots.

“Indeed. We have seen the future of real estate marketing — and it is us.*”

I am not entirely convinced it has to be all us.

I am a process guy.  Prior to delving into the real estate business, I developed sales and marketing strategies for technology firms – many of which targeted supply chain solutions.  When I approach a process, I try to focus on the inherent value a particular set of activities delivers.

Perhaps the double edged sword in the real estate industry is that we are all independent contractors – we approach our businesses in differing ways.  On one hand, we have the ability to run our businesses in a way that capitalizes on our strengths.  Some of us use a consistent process to bring a deal together, some of us don’t.  I suggest that many consumers approach the purchase and sale of real estate apprehensively.  Many simply don’t know what the correct process is for purchasing or selling a property and they look to a professional to provide the knowledge and expertise to consistently deliver a successful closing.  Unfortunately, not all agents are created equal, therefore mileage varies – alot.

I believe that the myth to the core of the business of buying and selling property lies within the MLS.  This process is not all about the data.  While the data is key, it certainly does not provide a consistent process for facilitating a transaction – there is a natural progression to a transaction.

Up to this point, if not the most successful, at the least the most recognized RE Web 2.0 search solutions have focused their solutions surrounding the myth of the real estate transaction – it is all about the data.  Again, the data is important, however, it is only part of the process.

My frustration with the current search solutions is that it does not address the natural progression of the real estate transaction.  While extremely powerful, Read more

Greed is Good: How the Rich Get Rich

I think Gordon Gecko was on to something, greed is good. In fact, the combination of greed and fear are even better, or at least they are telltale signs, it seems – for when to enter or exit the market.

Amidst the financial turmoil, Charlie Rose recently interviewed Warren Buffett regarding his thoughts regarding the financial crisis we’re facing as well as to discuss his $3 Billion investment in GE.

A Conversation with Warren Buffet courtesy of Charlie Rose

I happen to like Warren Buffett a great deal. He’s smart yet humble. Sometimes it is difficult to believe that this folksy cornhusker is a billionaire. When Warren pulls the trigger on an investment – and they are generally not small in size – people stand up and take notice. Clearly, you don’t become the wealthiest American by shooting from the hip.

Headlines today indicated that Warren is telling everyone to buy US stocks. Perhaps you’ve heard his quote – I’ll paraphrase:

When people get greedy he gets fearful, when people get fearful, he gets greedy.

I was left with a certain level of confidence despite the current financial and housing crisis – Warren is investing – again, not alittle – but alot. He’s not waiting on the sidelines, he’s investing now. Our stock and housing markets are ripe with opportunity.

Granted we’re all not blessed with billions – but interestingly enough, those who do have the resources should be investing – not in the future – but now. There is and will continue to be turmoil, however, as Warren stated, it is best to be approximately right rather than precisely wrong.

My take and my advice to my investor clients as well as those who are holding out for “the deal of a lifetime”. I think we’re approximately there.

Could prices fall further? Yep, I think they might – but would you rather buy with an approximate risk or some further loss or miss the opportunity all together?

Perhaps this is the most simple example of exactly how the rich get rich. When the majority sit Read more