BloodhoundBlog

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Category: General (page 3 of 23)

August 4, 2010

Joe Ferrara, Real Estate Attorney & Founder of Sellsius Real Estate Passes

by

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

Author website

Joe Ferrara, Manhattan real estate attorney and founder of Sellsius Real Estate, passed away from an aggressive brain tumor yesterday.  Joe, often credited as one of the pioneers of the online real estate community, explained and lampooned our industry from his home site.  A ubiquitous presence, Joe offered advice to real estate agents, about online marketing, for Home Gain and Inman News.

Joe had a vision of an online marketplace; a Craig’s List of sorts for the real estate industry.  While the RE.bots expended their energy and capital to aggregate listings, Joe thought his site might provide transparency for the NYC rental market, mostly dominated by the two, closed-system real estate boards.  Ultimately, Joe thought Sellsius might encompass products and services for the dwelling and all that was in it.

Joe was an accomplished real estate attorney, practicing in Manhattan.  He had a creative eye towards marketing and was a fountain of new ideas.  His presentation of the inane, zany, and funny, real estate-related topics were addicting and his coverage of the technology sector, and how it might aid the real estate professional, was comprehensive.  Joe had the gift of detachment and could present ideas to the layman with the knowledge only an industry insider might have.

Joe had a sense of justice.  He willingly acted when he believed that the equilibrium of fair play had been imbalanced, regardless of the personal consequences.

Joe Ferrara had a paradoxical understanding that, amidst the rush to introduce technology to real estate solicitation, personal relationships would play an increased role in the industry.   Consumer introductions however, would be atypical with our past marketing efforts.  Joe believed that the broad reach and deep content, a real estate blog might have, would attract more quality customers to the best and brightest in the real estate industry.  He felt, like I feel, that real estate agents should develop a worldwide, professional referral network..  Joe acted on that belief with then partner, Rudy Bachraty (now of Trulia.com), to organize Blog Tour USA.  The “Sellsius Boys” set out to personally meet as many industry professionals as they could, in the summer of 2007.

The Read more

July 27, 2010

Get them [not] to sign on the line that is dotted…

by

Raleigh Criminal Lawyer

Author website

Here are a few questions.

We all know that there are clients who will cost us – either in the short or long runs – more than they’re worth in terms of value to us. What steps do you take to account for potentially needy/troublesome clients? Do you factor that into a price you charge? Do you refuse to take them? Do you take them on a contingency basis, meaning that they must do XYZ before you will be hired by them?

I’ve recently turned away several clients who I knew could pay me, but who I suspected would be too much trouble in the long run. I think one of the benefits of running your own business is that you get to decide who you want to interact with.

I’m trying to develop a graceful way to reject clients, since I don’t want to damage my reputation. And the sometimes the kind of people I reject are the kind of people who, if they had a mind to do it, could damage my reputation.

June 29, 2010

Yogi Berra Wishes He Could Be This Good

by

Realtor, Renaissance Man

Author website

From the Associated Press – This just in.

WASHINGTON — Homebuyers would get an extra three months to complete their purchases and qualify for a generous tax credit under a bill overwhelmingly passed by the House on Tuesday. The bill would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases. The extended deadline only applies to people who signed purchase agreements by April 30. The National Association of Realtors estimates that about 180,000 homebuyers who already signed purchase agreements are likely to miss the Wednesday deadline.

“We owe this to the people who have essentially followed the rules who are caught by a closing date,” said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The Realtors group says the tax credit has generated 1 million new home sales that wouldn’t have happened otherwise………..

Really?

Of course none of this comes as any real surprise for us.  But as Greg celebrates the inception and blossoming of Bloodhound Blog, and as I consider the many faceted Yogi Berra and what he would say concerning this about face in policy, I can only share the following video.  It’s a microcosm of Congress and NAR, much funnier, and certainly something Yogi would like.

June 10, 2010

What a Young Sailor Teaches Us About Life

by

Realtor, Renaissance Man

Author website

This morning I woke up to read this article on Abby Sunderland, a young sailor, who is attempting an around the world sail singlehandedly. If you sail, then you know how dangerous this is, and as this article indicates, perhaps that danger has now placed Abby’s life in danger.

I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and never though much of sailing. While in college I read about a guy who had worked for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the largest newspaper in Cleveland, and who had managed to plan and sail the Atlantic Ocean in a boat that was just over 13 feet long…about the size of your car. His name was Robert Manry, and what he did influenced me to become a sailor when I found my way to San Diego some years later. Here’s a very short clip about his adventure.

But this story about Abby, a single day of which is recounted below from her blog, instructs us in the great adventure that awaits us every single day, doing the important, doing the mundane, living, longing, experiencing this opportunity to be the best we can be.

Thursday, May 27, 2010
A Tale from the Sea
Hey everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since I wrote. There were some problems with one of the Inmarsat satellites and so I wasn’t able to get online. That’s all sorted out now though and hopefully won’t happen again.

I have had a pretty busy past few days. Things went well getting out of Cape Town – everything was working well and I was having a lot of fun with my new auto pilot. I’ve been able to carry a lot more sail with the working auto pilot and making some pretty good speeds.

A few days ago (I’m sorry I don’t know exactly how long – the days started to blur together after awhile). I was sailing along nicely doing about 12-15 knots in perfect conditions. The wind started to pick up just as it was getting dark and was a bit too much for the sail I had up, so I went out to Read more

June 1, 2010

Field of Dreams – We Should Build It….They Will Come

by

Realtor, Renaissance Man

Author website

Teri’s probably sick to death with sports analogies, and even I openly make fun of sportscasters, especially during NFL season. This, however, is the stuff real estate dreams are made of. This is how I view the Bloodhound way.

This isn’t about technology.  It is about a dream of having such a great team, in such a wondrous setting, with such a foundational underpinning that fans, real estate fans, will travel and watch, listen and learn, return season after season, to a place they knew in their innocence, and think they had lost forever to the bush league players who have stolen the rights and traditions of what we love about real estate, homes, communities and the “family practitioners” who sat with us as true purveyors of that dream.

Imagine with me.

May 8, 2010

Mastering the Art of Active Listening

by

Realtor, Surfer-in-Training

Author website

Yesterday I was in a meeting in which relevant information was disseminated yet some people just refused to LISTEN.  I know they could hear what was being said, but for whatever reason they either chose to ignore it or don’t have the mental ability to understand (I really hope that it was the former of the two).  This is not meant as a rant, a diatribe, a denunciation (or whatever other label can be attached), but rather as a reminder to those who hear what others say but still don’t listen.

It takes much more to be a participant in a discussion than to just spout off opinions.  To some, being a good communicator means being able to speak in public or BS’ing your way through a conversation.  Well, actively listening is becoming a lost art.  And let’s make clear the difference between “listening” and “hearing”.  Hearing, in a nutshell, is having the ability to perceive sound.  Listening, on the other hand, is understanding, interpreting, and assessing what is being said.  Sometimes you can even see when a person stops listening, you can see the wheels turning in their head as they prepare a rebuttal and just wait for their turn to speak.

Well, for those people, I have a few suggestions:

*  Start out with blank, neutral slate and let the speaker have their say;  it might even be something that you agree with or new ideas/information that could benefit you.  In doing so, give them your undivided attention (yeah, that means no doodling or daydreaming, at least not for now).

*  Use non-verbal communication, it will let the speaker know that you are listening.  Maintain eye contact (no, not in a creepy stalker way), nod and gesture as appropriately, and use body language.  And this is much less disruptive than interrupting.

*  When appropriate, ask relevant questions.  This allows the speaker to explain their points further (in case they were not clear in their Read more

March 29, 2010

I Bet Many of the Cool Kids Are On the Verge of Greatness

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

I’ve always loved the Cool Kids (CKs). I’ve never been a cool kid, but the kinda sorta quasi-cool guy who seemed to think differently, while simultaneously remaining under most folks’ radar. I’ve been the poster boy for Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours principle, which says we don’t become excellent at something ’till we’ve logged that many hours doing it. The CKs in the ethereal world of 2.0 real estate come and go, but the ones who’ve remained, some hangin’ by their fingernails, are the ones still puttin’ in those first 10,000 hours in the fields. That’s hopefully a diplomatic way of sayin’ they’re still mostly theoretically based and not so much empirically experienced — but gettin’ there.

A few of these CKs are gonna rise one morning realizing they’ve figured out where that last piece to their particular puzzle goes. When that happens we’ll all benefit wildly. ‘Till then? Let’s stop fallin’ in love with all the ‘can’t miss’ marketing ideas tossed at us as if they’re just as reliable as gravity and Grandma’s raisin-bran muffins. It just ain’t the case. If so, most of these kids would be livin’ the life of Steve Jobs, a CK himself, who actually put in the 10,000 hours and leveraged it to the max. Then he kept adding more 10,000 hour blocks to ensure the excellence of results.

What I’m tryin’ to say, and poorly at that, is that the CKs need to keep plowin’ their fields without ceasing. It’s like gettin’ in shape. You begin with a jelly belly and become discouraged after a week cuz you don’t look like Adonis yet. Rely on the universal principles at work — the most important of which is putting in your time. There’s simply no substitute for that part of the process. When working out consistently for a year, our jelly bellied friend is now slim ‘n trim, and wearin’ tank tops whenever possible. 🙂 Meanwhile, the others who haven’t unambiguously logged the hours, day in and day out, failed — but they’re still CKs, right? Maybe. Maybe not.

I’m about to complete my eighth 10,000 Read more

March 8, 2010

Socialist need not read –> Like Big Oil –> Big Expired Program; windfall profits

by

Realtor, Guerilla Technologist

Author website

I’m greedy!  I’m an extremist!  I am conservative!  I am a capitalist!  Haha.  I love money!  2010 marks the years (not Karl Marx silly)  I mean marks the calendar for the 2010 to become the listing king.  Between website registrations, referrals, & and windfall expired letters I set out to fundamentally transform Worthington Realty from small hometown broker, to completely dominating the local market.  Below I will share the expired program statistics I am using that has fundamentally transformed Worthington Realty from nay to yay; or should I say mediocure to maybe Russell Shaw like (in the next hundred years).

So here are the expired numbers!

I have sent out 92 mailings

I have received 8 call back

I have listed 5 priced to sell quickly

I have 1 closing in the pipeline from expireds

92 mailings / 8 call backs = 11.5% Wow!  I mail out 100 and 11.5 will call back!  Sweet!

8 call backs / 5 listings = 62.5% of call back I am listing.  1 listing I turned down because of price, 1 listing I didn’t make the cut, and 1 call back canceled the listing appointment plans to keep for home for now.

92 mailings / 1 closing in the pipeline = 1.08% are closings  Average closing say $4k – $8k on the listing side.

92 mailings / 5 listings = 18.4 letters to get a listing.

My data is only 92 mailings that I have selectively sent expired letters to.  My initial mailing costs $1.52.  If no phone call, I then send out a post card every week for 12 weeks.  If still no phone call I leave it alone.  Each post card is $0.55  Most leads call within the first 4 – 6 weeks.  I have no idea why I am sending all the way out to week 12 (smirk)

I will update with more statistics in June, 2010 which will better quantify the data.

Do you currently have an expired program?

What are you thoughts on what works and what doesn’t?

Thank you taking time to read this capitalist post!  Big Expired Program; Windfall profits!



February 5, 2010

Deflationary Or Inflationary? Laying Economists End To End

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

The last half of the title came to me as I recalled one of Johnny Carson’s most memorable lines. He was talking about how economists are supposed to be the smartest kids in the room, but at the same time can’t agree with each other what day it is. He said, “If we laid all the economists end to end around the world…it would be a good idea.” (Insert rimshot here.)

There are two basic schools of economic theory — Those who believe economies can be centrally controlled, engineered if you will — And those who believe economies should be as free as prudently possible, with regulation in place to abort fraud etc., i.e. they avoid central control as much as possible.

The engineers think they know better what ‘needs’ to be done, while consciously eschewing human responsive behavior as part of their equation. They believe if you raise/lower taxes the result will be arithmetic in nature, and that you and I won’t modify our behavior in either circumstance. That’s surely an oversimplification, but accurate.

The free market crowd says if you raise taxes you slow economies down, and if taxes are lowered more jobs are created due to more capital venturing into the market because of the lowered cost (taxes).

Then there are the folks who think they’re smarter than both schools. They try to blend what they think are the best ideas from both theories. Good luck. 🙂

We’ve all seen the argument between the two camps rage since we learned to spell economics.

I bring this up only to illustrate the current example of how the smart kids in at least one of the schools just doesn’t get it. I’ll leave it to you to decide which school that might be.

The argument today is, Are we in a deflationary cycle or are we about to enter what could be a hyper-inflationary cycle?

I lean toward deflation. Every single time an economy, any economy in the last eight centuries, has gone through a massive deleveraging, it’s been deflationary in nature. There have been no exceptions found in the research, Read more

January 26, 2010

Finding versus Discovering

by

Realtor, Renaissance Man

Author website

Take me home

Do you still buy magazines and books? Or are you hell bent on reading everything on the internet? Do you love statistics? Has Google Maps got you salivating for bigger and better satellites? Do you love good graphs better than sex? Is a bigger IDX better? Do you want to be completely plugged in, connected, always on line?

Well it turns out that I guess I’m more dog than human sometimes, especially when it comes to what makes a great web presence, and how best to graft a marketing strategy. I’ve spent some time today, you see, smelling other dogs beeeeehinds, and I think I’ve picked up the scent of something y’all might want to bury for a rainy day.

The scent I’ve picked up is either the Finding or the Discovering scent. I think it may be important to think about these two concepts as you put together your marketing, for your Web presence, and maybe more importantly, your belly to belly presence.

Turns out, you see, that people are still buying magazines. Though through the internet we can get all the information on who’s doing what to whom, how they’re doing it, why it shouldn’t be done, and where we can go to get more information on everything we just digested, people are still buying and reading magazines. Wonder why?

Turns out that people simply like to discover things, not just find them. Magazines, you see, lie around waiting for just the right moment to spring into our consciousness. Sure, you want the 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in Elevado Hills, with view, pool and lots of land, but sitting in front of an agent’s IDX (even the good ones) just isn’t the same as opening “San Diego Magazine” and seeing a home just like the one you imagine living in. Or you’ve been watching the statistics from a great blog site or newsletter from Brian or Scott or Mark or Tom on rates and terms and the market in general, and you’re educated and knowledgeable because of this. Read more

January 23, 2010

My Tried and True Rules For Political Debate

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

I love talkin’ with people. My heroin if you will, is the first couple conversations I have with a prospect or new client. It’s a fix I need often, and greedily seek. Political discussions also interest me. I love the rational give and take of a spirited political debate. What I can’t stand though, is the emotional claptrap, the avoidance of facing tough questions head-on, and the favorite technique of empty headed smart-asses, answering a question with a question.

Obviously, liberals and conservatives are both guilty. My experience however is with libs, who sometimes seem literally incapable of addressing simple questions asked in plain, one to two syllable words. I’m to the right of Atilla the Hun, and make no bones about it. The only reason I twice voted for Reagan was cuz Goldwater didn’t run. And HE wasn’t conservative enough. 🙂

Back to political debate.

I’ve developed some hard and fast rules. If ya wanna play with me, you abide by them, or we don’t talk politics. It tends to get libs’ panties in a bind, but it works well. Those who agree to them, usually end up admitting it made for a much calmer, more honest, and certainly friendlier give and take.

The Rules

1. If I ask you a question, you must answer THAT question — nothing more. Take as long as you need, but you must limit your response to the specific question. It works both ways.

2. Without exception — NO answering a question with a question. It’s almost always the way out when you have nothing to say. Either give the other guy the point, or make your case.

3. No personal attacks. The discussion ends there, without warning. You’ve obviously shown your gun is loaded with blanks. You’ve embarrassed yourself. Quit while you’re behind.

4. Don’t dress up your opinion as fact. You look foolish, and it’s an insult to my intelligence. It’s either fact or not. The intensity of your belief doesn’t make it so.

Here’s a recent example of a talk I had with a lib in Starbucks the other day. It was a great 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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