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Category: Casual Friday (page 16 of 25)

October 31, 2008

I’m Voting for Senator O’Cain

by

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

Author website

Greetings from the battleground state of Virginia.  I was 4 years old the last time Virginia was up for grabs.  Back then you could only vote once and you had to use your real name.  My how things have changed. 

I have lived in Virginia my whole life and grew up in a very conservative/Republican area that considered Ronald Reagan a liberal.  For the past 10 years I have lived in the very liberal/Democratic town of Charlottesville. I guess you could say I’ve seen both sides of aisle.  Amazingly, neither of these distorted perspectives (or perhaps both) have rubbed off on me. 

I’ve always said that no matter what, 30% of the people will vote Republican, 30% will vote Democratic, and the reaming 40% will generally vote for the lesser of the two evils.  I generally agree with Sean’s recent post about voters often voting against a candidate or a party, but I see something different in this election.  Perhaps it is just the battleground state status that has brought energy to the local campaigns, but I sense something else – a genuine excitement about the candidates.

Locally, all the excitement has been about Senator Obama, but that is to be expected.  Around the state, according to my family and friends, there is just as much excitement for Senator McCain and especially Governor Palin.  Sorry, Joe the Politician, but no one seems to care much about Senator Biden.

Until this year, I’ve always fallen into the 40% that votes for the lessor of evils.  This year, I have things I like about both candidates that outweigh the things I dislike about both candidates.  In fact, if I had a magic wand that could combine the two, I’d have my guy.  He’d be an articulate speaker, a war hero, and have a long history of bucking both his party and Washington politics.  He’d be the guy with great international experience and fresh ideas that gives this nation hope once again.  He’d be capable of rallying the youth of America and of leading our troops to victory.

If he existed, I’d Read more

October 30, 2008

NYMag: “NYC Real-Estate Developer Offers ‘Obama Contingency'”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

New York Magazine:

Holy election tie-in: Erik Ekstein, who’s developing +aRT, an 88-unit Chelsea condo that just began sales last week, says he’s including an “Obama Contingency Clause” in all contracts that go into effect between now and Election Day. If Obama wins, the contract goes through, but if John McCain prevails, buyers can back out — and presumably move to Canada — “with no questions asked.” (He says he came up with the idea after talking to potential buyers, who seemed to be holding off until the election.) Ekstein, a big supporter of the Democratic candidate, says he’s not worried he’ll lose business. “It’s a very narrow window, and we’re fairly confident he’ll win,” he says.

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October 24, 2008

Media bias as seen from the inside: “Nothing I’ve seen has matched the media bias on display in the current Presidential campaign”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Reporter Michael Malone writing at Pajamas Media:

The traditional media is playing a very, very dangerous game. With its readers, with the Constitution, and with its own fate.

The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I’ve found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer.

But worst of all, for the last couple weeks, I’ve begun — for the first time in my adult life — to be embarrassed to admit what I do for a living. A few days ago, when asked by a new acquaintance what I did for a living, I replied that I was “a writer”, because I couldn’t bring myself to admit to a stranger that I’m a journalist.

You need to understand how painful this is for me. I am one of those people who truly bleeds ink when I’m cut. I am a fourth generation newspaperman. As family history tells it, my great-grandfather was a newspaper editor in Abilene, Kansas during the last of the cowboy days, then moved to Oregon to help start the Oregon Journal (now the Oregonian). My hard-living – and when I knew her, scary – grandmother was one of the first women reporters for the Los Angeles Times. And my father, though profoundly dyslexic, followed a long career in intelligence to finish his life (thanks to word processors and spellcheckers) as a very successful freelance writer. I’ve spent thirty years in every part of journalism, from beat reporter to magazine editor. And my oldest son, following in the family business, so to speak, earned his first national by-line before he earned his drivers license.

So, when I say I’m deeply ashamed right now to be called a “journalist”, you can imagine just how deep that cuts into my soul.

Now, of course, there’s always been bias in the media. Human beings are biased, so the work they do, including reporting, is inevitably colored. Hell, I can show you ten different ways to Read more

October 24, 2008

Tiger the Caddie?

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

Last Monday Tiger Woods returned to Torrey Pines in beautiful San Diego, but not to golf.  Instead he caddied for John Abel, winner of the “Tee Off With Tiger” online sweepstakes sponsored by Buick.  This is such a great picture that I can’t help but fill in some dialogue.  Mine is below.  What do you hear them saying?

AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

Abel: “This looks like a tough one Tiger.  What would you do here?”

Tiger: “Well, I would push this putt along a path eleven inches left of the true line, with just enough touch to clear the fringe but still allow the natural slope of the green to pull the ball back and down, dropping into the hole dead center… I have no idea what you are going to do.”

AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

October 18, 2008

Mark Steyn writes about Joe the Plumber — while it’s still legal

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Looking forward to the day when he won’t have to go to Canada to be persecuted for being an insanely great writer, Mark Steyn takes on the Joe the Plumber investigation:

Joe the Plumber expressed his misgivings about the President-in-waiting’s tax inclinations, and the O-Man smoothly reassured him: “It’s not that I want to punish your success,” he told the bloated plutocrat corporate toilet executive. “I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success too. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

In that sentence about you spreading the wealth around, there’s another typing error: that “you” should read “I, Barack.” “You” will have no say in it. Joe the Plumber might think he himself can spread it around just fine, but everyone knows “trickle-down economics” don’t work. So President-presumptive Obama kindly explained the new exquisitely condescending “talking-down economics:” Put that in your pipe and solder it.

Evidently the O-Mighty One was not happy after his encounter with Joe. He’s still willing to talk to Ahmadinejad without preconditions. But never again will he talk to Joe the Plumber without preconditions. Outraged at the way the right-wing whackos were talking up Joe the Plumber as if he were an authentic regular Joe like Joe Biden, the O-Bots of the media swung into action. Vast regiments of investigate reporters were redeployed from the Wasilla Holiday Inn back to the Lower 48.

“We need you down here checking out this Joe the Plumber,” editors barked to journalists.

“But I’m this close to wrapping up the Wasilla Town Library banned-book investigation!”

“Forget it! The Atlantic Monthly is claiming Joe the Plumber is Trig’s real father. We can’t get behind on this. Get to Minneapolis Airport. Joe the Plumber was seen in the bathroom with Senator Larry Craig.”

“Yes, but he was installing a stopcock…”

“Look, you went to Columbia School of Journalism. This is what we bold courageous journalists do. We’re the conscience of the nation. We speak truth to plumber.”

“Er, shouldn’t that be ‘Speak truth to power’?”

“That’s the old edition of the handbook. Now we speak truth Read more

October 17, 2008

A Song and A Smile

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

A week or so ago I was out for an early morning run through Balboa Park.  This is one of San Diego’s gems and part of what makes living here worth the cost.  It was daybreak and quiet; mostly the sound of my own footsteps echoing across the Spanish style buildings that house the many museums and exhibits.  Occasionally I would see another runner or a young couple up early for a walk (or maybe they were still out, ending their evening with a walk).  Mostly though, it was a wonderful run of solitude.  As I came up on the little art village I turned in to its plaza.  Here, in a few hours time, there would be artists selling paintings and sculptures and all forms of creativity.  I still don’t know why I veered in, the plaza does not go anywhere.  It is just a cul-de-sac of stone pavers lined by small, decoratively painted arts and crafts buildings used during the regular business hours of the park.

There was one other person on the street that early, unloading paintings from his van and arranging them just so.  He looked to be in his late fifties and he looked to be happy, but more than that he looked interesting.  I found myself slowing down as I made the turn to go back by him; I guess I wanted to connect somehow… there was something about this guy.  So I stopped and said hi.  We talked a bit about his paintings and we talked a bit about my run and pretty soon we were just talking.  The kind of talk that is comfortable, like you already know each other.  His name was Steve and he was almost 74 years old, yet we had a lot in common.  He had been a shot-putter and football player just as I had.  We knew the same names, although he knew them as the guys that came along after him and I knew them as the guys I tried to emulate while growing up.  Our philosophies were similar and our backgrounds too.  It was a rewarding conversation Read more

September 19, 2008

How Wall Street’s Meltdown Helps Main Street’s Housing

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

Just for fun, let’s imagine a possible silver lining to the complete melt down on Wall Street.  In this scenario, the next big shoe to drop will be access to consumer debt.  No one is going to extend car loans, credit card debt, retail debt and so on.  But this may not be all bad for our industry.

Imagine John & Mary Homeowner talking about their day.  John says gas prices are up and his long commute is killing them.  They need to buy a different car.  “But no one is lending money for new cars,” Mary replies.  John decides that if he can not have a better ride, he will have a better destination.  “Let’s add on a nice deck for me to enjoy after my long commute.”  Mary smiles pleasantly and reminds John that no one will extend an equity line for home improvement.  Exasperated, John suggests they just buy a jacuzzi and settle for some easy relaxation.  But Mary points out that no store is offering credit, so large purchases are largely impossible.

What do you suppose John and Mary do?  What about next Sunday, out for a drive, when they see a nicer home, closer to work, with more square footage – and they realize they can own it for the same payments they are making now.  What happens when the only money available is purchase money? Thanks to Fannie & Freddie (and FHA, VA) home loans will be plentiful while every other kind of debt will disappear for a while.

Supply and demand… the meltdown might be just what we needed.

September 18, 2008

I’m off to see the wizards, the wonderful wizards of blogs

by

Rust Belt Realtor

Author website

Oz is calling. My aversion to conferences has been pushed aside, and in the middle of the night I’ll be boarding a plane for Blog World in Vegas– possible only with the help of Dramamine and Pepto Bismol. It means that Friday morning I will land in Las Vegas loopy and stoopid, with drool stains on my shirt, but I was assured that I’d fit in just fine.

Eric Blackwell says that relationships are at the heart of these things, so I’m embracing my inner warm and fuzzy person and plan on saying Howdy to quite a few RE.net peeps that I’ve never met. Well worth the trip. At Blog World there will be plenty of self-proclaimed gurus with which I can mix and mingle. Me, being the eternal optimistic cynic, am wary of anyone who willingly takes on the title of Social Media Guru, but I understand that it’s Blog World, so I’m bound to run into a few.

BloodhoundBlog is the house: Dan Green is speaking, Brad Coy is speaking, Bawld Guy is marking territory on a dance floor somewhere. There is a gross of squirt guns winging their way to a Vegas pool party and, as if that wasn’t enough, someone has promised to wear a kilt and pull a mooning, a la Braveheart. See what you miss if you aren’t Twittering?

That’s fun! But still. The not so warm and fuzzy part of my brain keeps reminding me that I paid good money for this and I’m taking time away from income producing work. Friday is REBlogWorld, and Saturday and Sunday is the BlogWorld conference. I’m going to go and soak up the atmosphere, the information, the guruliciousness and hopefully learn a couple hundred dollars worth of bloggy goodness.

How do I do that? I’m suspending my disbelief, but I’m clueless. If you were going to BlogWorld, what would be the one don’t miss ticket for you? What would you want to see and why? I’m going, I want to learn, but I’ve not yet made any plans to hear anything specific. I was thinking of going where the wind takes me, but Read more

September 13, 2008

A Bloodhound’s arrogance stumblin’ on the heart of Saturday night

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Cross your fingers, Cathy may have brought home a $600,000 listing today. As my contribution to our household finances, I lassoed a $50,000 prize of my own. Mine will be fun for the whole family though: We’re going to discuss it here as a unique marketing problem. Why unique? It’s a vacant lot with a structure on it. It’s a tear-down that can’t be torn down. It’s a certified antiquity with no discernible historic value. In short: It’s a challenge.

Why did I take the listing? Because I’m committed to the idea that marketing real estate is not fundamentally different from marketing anything else. I believe I can target-market this outrageously anomalous property and get it sold. I think this will be a fun exercise, a chance to explore radically different ideas about selling real property.

I linked today to a post I wrote more than a year ago. Like this post, it has that strangely disorganized cohesion of a weblog entry — part essay, part letter to a beloved friend — but I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written here. I reread it today, and Teri tells us in a comment that she did, too.

Here’s the best of it:

A Bloodhound’s virtues are genetic accidents, but that doesn’t make them less than perfectly admirable, whether evidenced in the dog or anthropomorphized and expressed in thoroughly conscious human behavior. Brought up right, a Bloodhound is a natural alpha, regal and indomitable. The dog will move with a lanky, un-self-conscious arrogance that is simply heart-breakingly beautiful to look upon: This what a thriving organism looks like.

I am steadfastly, philosophically opposed to the idea of humility. I think it is one of many evil ideas foisted off on us by malefactors who love us best at our absolute worst. To say to me, “You’re arrogant,” or, “you have a big ego,” is no reproach. On the one hand, it is a statement of obvious fact. But on the other, it puts me on my guard against you. A healthy, normal human being moves and acts and thinks and speaks with the lanky Read more

September 12, 2008

“Success” Sung in a High C

by

Real Estate Renaissance Man

Author website

In the discussions over how much a real estate agent gets paid, there is one aspect often left out: stress.  There is a lot of stress being a real estate agent.  It is probably the least definable aspect of a deal, yet I believe it justifies a large percentage of what an agent earns.  The problem for me is this: stress is hugely unhealthy.  My passion is health; lowering my stress level and the stress level of the agents I do mortgages for is of paramount interest to me and I am always on the lookout for new ways to do so.

The following is an excerpt from a book about a young man on a journey and the guide he meets along the way.  It reveals an interesting way of dealing with stress.

… I had been short-tempered and I was unhappy.  “I’m under a lot of stress” I offered by way of excuse, “and this trip isn’t reducing it any!”  The Guide turned and asked me if I knew the four C’s of diamonds.  A little confused, I nodded yes and began to recite “cut, color…”  “Understand” he interrupted with an impatient wave of his left hand, “people are twice as brilliant as any diamond and require half as many C’s to be happy.”  He sat down across from me with a sigh and rested his hands in his lap.  He reminded me of Sister Christine, my fourth grade teacher, who often gave the exhausted impression of someone sharing something obvious to her, yet so obviously new to me.  “You have only these: Congruence and Continuity.  Congruence is how well your inner vision of yourself matches the outer world you witness every day.  Continuity is when your thoughts and your actions and your interactions align.  Which is just another way of saying ‘Keep your word’ especially to yourself.”

The story continues on a bit about something called The Mirror Effect which, while interesting, would require too much space to cover in this post.

“Your unhappiness is a product of your stress and stays with you because you do not recognize the power of Read more

August 23, 2008

Is it sink, swim, or just taking a deep breath to find buoyancy?

by

Realtor, Urban Jedi

Author website

It’s Saturday, which means it’s my Sunday, which means it’s my one day off if I’m lucky.  This last month has been the busiest I have seen this year.  The choices of my clients, both on the buying and listing side have seemed more challenging now than I have ever seen.  Well, that’s not entirely true, many buyers have had no problem sitting on the fence.  On top of that, the opportunities that have been presented to me have be overly scrutinized this week.  I was out to dinner last night with some guests from out of town when it hit me.  The stress and lack of sleep has had me going around acting somewhat zombie like,  I literally responded to the Maitre d‘s question of “how are you this evening?” with a “nnnnyaeh”.  The obviousness of my failing condition was now as apparent as the gibberish expelled from my throat.

Now before this comes across an absolute whining session for me to vent off the frustrations of my life at the moment, let me tell you that I have the tools to navigate rough waters.  I’ve been here before, as we all have.  The bumps along the way keep it interesting if nothing else, right?   The unpredictable events the follow poor decision making are ones that can be reversed or taken into a more positive direction given the awareness of the direction of said bonehead moves.  I’ve never thought that it was helpful to beat one’s self up over what could be a mistake.  What I do feel is negligible is witnessing someone (or yourself) having the awareness of a mistake and keeping that action on the same path.  This, a good friend of mine would say is like sticking your head in the oven only to find that it’s too hot for a head, and then going  back again the next day to try it again and still find it’s still too warm…. though I could never figure out why somebody wanted stick their head the oven, the lesson was not lost on me.

Simplicity is always my best fix.  Making Read more

August 22, 2008

One for the dogs, one for my baby and one more for the road

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

In the weeks before Unchained in Phoenix. I stopped reading my feed reader. I was wall-to-wall with Unchained work and wall-to-wall with money work and something had to give. I’ve read this and that since then, but I’m over 16,000 posts behind in my reading. Oh, well…

When I knew for sure that we would be getting iPhones this Summer, I switched from Vienna to NetNewsWire as my feed reader, this because the desktop and iPhone clients will sync to each other. Same subscriptions on both, but what I’ve read on the iPhone won’t show up on my Mac and vice versa.

So I added the feeds I really wanted to NetNewsWire, but I also kept the old set running on Vienna. Interestingly to me, since I made the switch BloodhoundBlog has added over 200 posts, an astounding accomplishment. Something in WordPress or a plug-in is wasting post numbers, but we are over 3,000 posts, total, on the blog in just a couple of years. Even more impressive is the depth of our posts. If your goal is to understand the world of hi-tech real estate, reading here will be more beneficial than reading everything else put together.

So let’s hear it for the dogs: The best, the brightest and by far the loudest voices in the RE.net. It’s an honor for me to write in such a company.

So far, 2008 has been very, very good to our tiny little real estate brokerage, but it certainly didn’t start that way. Q4 ’07 and Q1 ’08 were plenty scary for anyone in real estate, and I’m sure they contributed to putting a lot of people out of the real estate business. We normally go to Las Vegas at Independence Day for our wedding anniversary, but this year we did not. We were busy with money work, which was most welcome, but we were also gun-shy about spending money.

July rocked, August rocked, and we’re picking up buyers if not listings with alacrity. It’s time for Greg and Cathy to have some alone time. Even so, we’re still more than spooked about money, and we both have Read more

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Inventing Real Estate 2.0

Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

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