Category: Realty Reality (page 10 of 16)

February 29, 2008

Modernism, or post-modernism, has little use for philosophy . Pragmatism is most people’s mind bent. Tough-minded pragmatism has a lot going for it, but when it denigrates philosophy it might be acting a little too tough. Isn’t philosopy that old-timey pursuit back when intellectuals talked endlessly and abstrusely about whether we really exist or just a bundle of impressions. What good did any of that talk do? It doesn’t pay the rent, by God, and it doesn’t bring the bacon (tofu?) home.

Others are more mystical about life, therefore philosophy is an illusory construct created by dead white European males to rule by reason and logic, or to confuse the issues with consistency — there is nothing consistently true for mystics, and all the intellectualizing in the world won’t reveal the mystical flow of The Great Unknown to the puny mind of reason — it’s intuitive, soft and open in spirit — felt by those connected to the universal spirit.

One looks at “what works” as the only marker for value, and the other goes by “what feels right”, what can be intuited as the marker of value. There are many variations of these two types of believers. And there are many who are mostly social, who don’t think much at all about the larger issues of life; they want to belong and be accepted, and merely being a part of a group is fine with them. They might take a stand if it’s to protect a friend or if they feel like their group is being threatened, but mostly they just want social comfort.

The second definition of philosophy from The Free Dictionary is — 2. Investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality, knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than empirical methods.

The first definition is — 1. Love and pursuit of wisdom by intellectual means and moral self-discipline.

Very few people live by, or hold ideas to the test of, a set of principles that they’ve forged through a consistent philosophy. They usually go by antecdotal evidence, snapshots of reality taken out of context, as their measure to make decisions. “I have a cousin who did this and got this result, and it seems to be Read more

February 26, 2008

Rock Stars Aside (Please, Lord?) My Take On What Matters

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

You’re a real estate agent? You wanna be a rock star? Be my guest, as there’s room for everyone and every approach. Frankly, as a graduate (with honors) from The Old School, I’d prefer a somewhat different approach, one that has survived the last several thousand years. I’ll get to that later.

First I’ll use a present day example of a different approach.

The example I’ve chosen is not a rock star but a sports figure. I think talking about real estate agents as rock stars has been, at least temporarily turned into the third rail. 🙂

For those not into football, specifically the NFL, there’s a running back in the league named LaDainian Tomlinson. (Known universally as LT) As luck would have it he plays for the San Diego Chargers. Simply put, he’s the best running back of his generation.

One must go into the archives of the 1960’s NFL highlight films to find a football player scoring a touchdown and reacting as if maybe he’s been there and done that a few times before. No dancing, no ‘look at me’ gyrations, no asking the crowd to cheer more loudly. When LaDanian scores, he finds the nearest referee and respectfully hands him the ball. On the way back to his teammates on the sideline he humbly accepts their heartfelt congratulations, then finds the bench and sits down until called on to do his job once again.

LT let’s his on-field performances speak for him.

Back to the different approach. I wrote a post last night…What Really Matters?… approaching this from a slightly different angle.

It’s known as The Old School.

The Old School teaches so many principles which these days are under attack. I’ll deal with just one here, one of my all time favorites.

RESULTS

Nothing trumps results. Let the glitzy agents do their thing as it won’t matter unless in the end they produce results. Same goes with vendors — those who offer a service or product consistently producing the promised results are still around. They are the ones who love BloodhoundBlog too. 🙂

BloodhoundBlog is all about results. It’s what drives the bus here. In fact Read more

February 26, 2008

The Network — No Easy Duality

by Mike Farmer

Real Estate Broker

To clarify my little vision yesterday it will be helpful to explain what I see happening. I see demands for online RE companies such as Zillow and Trulia to do two things: one a demand from investors to make a profit and another demand from consumers for better, more comprehensive information. When I speak of monetization it’s because it’s a reality for them. I think RE companies will be forced to create alliances with local brokers so that good, contextual information is available for consumers to go along with pictures of homes and out of context estimates and partial information.

I’m not really overly concerned about this, it’s just interesting to think about how they will survive and change. I understand the “free” experience of searching for homes without being badgered or spammed by RE agents and vendors of all sorts.

But if they don’t make money, they won’t survive. I hear Homegain is making money and it will be interesting to see how their model evolves.

However, the Network I’m talking about is more in line with with what Greg writes about here.

The Network will not be web 1.5, it’ll be more like web 2.5 and it won’t be designed to feel good about doing good, it’ll be about being excellent and benefitting consumers. The Network will be about individuals connected to other individuals with no power or control over one another, just a recognition of excellence. I say the Network will be 2.5 because personalization and context won’t be mastered for some time.

So it’s not an easy duality of those who are greedy looking to make a buck and those who are enlightened and open and good, it will be a complex variation of efforts that I think will coalesce along several different lines. The RE companies will compete for consumers, and many will compete mainly for traffic in order to advertise. They will have to offer value and someone will need to be charged. If they don’t offer value, there will be no one to charge. I suppose the value of the Listing Sites will be to show listings in more creative, informational ways. This can be done locally much better, once consumers fully Read more

February 25, 2008

The Network — Excellent Real Estate Agents Wanted

by Mike Farmer

Real Estate Broker

Dead or alive. Just kidding.

How many excellent agents are there in your area? Well, first let’s define “excellent” so that it meets my purposes. There are successful agents who were born in the right family and have “excellent” connections. There are sucessful agents who are excellent in the old way of doing things and they will die successful doing the same things — I’ll exclude them from “excellent” because I am developing my definition of excellent as I look forward. There are agents who are successful because they tapped into a big local builder and will be successful as long the builder is building — maybe beyond if they can transfer what they have going on. But how many agents are excellent at providing service, wired to web 2.0, good salespeople (great at marketing listings), proficient at information management, have excellent verbal skills, have comprehensive knowledge of real estate, have comprehensive knowledge of the area, have great people skills, have the energy to incubate prospects and follow up, have the willingness to work with and represent buyers and have the experience to be called an expert? How many are excellent in these ways?

I don’t know, but I can’t think of many. (Of course, I fit all these requirements for excellence, but modesty prevents me from broadcasting it).

The consensus when talking to the public about agents is that so many are inexperienced, don’t follow up, are pushy salespeople, etc. — but then they go on to say that there ARE good agents and they are useful, helpful, worth their weight in gold, on and on with different levels of kudos or positive evaluation. Except for the diehard agent-haters, I think most people would say a good agent adds value to the process. (While here I’m talking about agents, in regards to the real estate process, please keep in mind all types of professionals providing RE services such as lawyers, inspectors, lenders and mortgage brokers.)

This morning in my mind’s eye a vision formed out of disparate bits of thoughts that had been floating around in my brain for about a year. A group of brave souls Read more

February 22, 2008

Like a Dog With a Bone — Vindicated By a Super Star — Hyper-Local Blogs Rock

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

No less than Seth Godin has now come out and said it’s the only way to go. Even went as far as telling agents to quit otherwise. 🙂

Seriously, take a look at what I’m talking about. Yeah, yeah — I know Greg already beat me to it. So what?

Maybe it’d be better if you read (Reread without scoffing?) something from the archives

I feel so vindicated. 🙂 What cracked me up most? He used high school sports as an example to include in your blog, or ongoing conversation. Go figure. Seems like I’ve read that somewhere before.

The folks doing this best? Our own Eric and Teri. Eric is showing agents how, while Teri is an agent doing it in real time.

Life is good.

February 21, 2008

I Hope Unchained Considers My Topic Wish List

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

This is the year I’ve thrown down the gauntlet to myself. By the end of the year I’m gonna have my feet firmly planted, technologically speaking, in the 21st century. This may require leapfrogging most of the decade of the 1990’s, but I’m approaching this venture fearlessly. (Or at least without noticeably trembling.)

Numero Uno on the A-List is my database. It sucks so much Dyson wants to know my secret. Seriously, we’re organized, but we’re only slightly ahead of Willie Loman.

I’d love someone to tell me how I can get things done seamlessly, without either writing a check with a comma not appearing ’till after the second digit, or buying something at Databases R Us that promises me the moon but delivering something akin to Willie’s Roladex with a prompter.

Here’s what I need. I’m hoping against hope these needs will resonate with others out there, ‘cuz being the Lone Ranger would mean my checkbook is the only plausible remedy. So please, pretty please with a real estate recovery on top, chime in with anything you can add, or recommend. I’m officially lobbying for a database expert to get some face time at Unchained. (I hope that’s subtle enough for Greg and Brian.)

If it helps, here’s what we’re up against. We not only work with folks in San Diego, but in many states. We must deal with staffs or teams in each state, along with our clients and their property portfolios — all of which must be at our grubby little fingertips. (In my case of the Flintstone variety.) We’ll also have moderately large sub-databases in each region we really like. These are composed of investment property owners to which we’d like to market some day, or already have. Each one of these sports around 20-80,000 names/properties. These need to offer the capability to be kept separate or meshed together — at our whim, over and over again.

My new database would be perfect IF

I could break it up into various segments without giving up the ability to blend everything together if it suits my purpose.

I could email from it Read more

February 20, 2008

Is There Actually A Sky Up There Anymore?

by Allen Butler

Realtor, Audio Engineer

I listen to misery and woe almost daily. There are plenty of Chicken Littles out there reporting that the sky is falling. And it is! There’s no doubt that the real estate market is in the tank in many places in the country. It certainly is in my neck of the woods. The question needs to be not, “Why is the sky falling?” or “Is the sky actually going to touch the ground?” or even “Is there a sky any more?” but “What do I do with this new reality?”

In my market, equity is a very rare thing. The area that I service primarily is a relatively new area of metro-Phoenix. So new, in fact, that there are very few people who have any equity left. Unfortunately, many of them are throwing up their collective hands, and thinking something like this:

“My house in not worth anywhere near what I paid for it. It will not be worth what I paid for it for a very long time. There are tremendous houses out there that are much better, much bigger, and more upgraded than mine, that are offered for sale for way, way less than I owe on my house. Let’s see. . .I’m paying $2500 per month on my mortgage. The market is glutted with rental properties that are better than mine, and I can rent them for about $1,000 per month. Think of the money I’ll save! It makes financial sense for me to kick my house to the curb, go rent a better one for half-price, let the market continue to go into the tank, then buy a better one a few years down the road. What will I lose? My credit? Credit comes back. My mortgage interest deduction? Pah. . .a measly sum compaired to what I’ll save each month on payments. Sounds like a plan to me. . .”

An unethical plan? Sure, but one that is ultimately appealing. Who said unethical was synonymous with unappealing? This is just the people who are manufacturing a crisis to get out of an unfavorable position. There are plenty who are facing a real Read more

February 18, 2008

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is Really An Oncoming Train

by Doug Quance

Associate Broker

Snowball Effect Continues To Negatively Affect The Housing Market

We might be in for a bumpier ride than previously thought. I believe in optimism – but I am a realist, first. As I look closer at the stats, talk to other brokers and agents, and peruse the news and blogs – it’s getting downright scary.

Last week here in Atlanta, Century 21 Dwellings closed five of its six offices. Dwellings President Chris Ballard said, “It was a financial decision. I was losing money at every location.” With red ink flowing at the rate of $75K a month – you can appreciate his decision.

I recently discovered that a few of Atlanta’s top agents were getting killed, as well. Agents that had done hundreds of sales per year no longer able to hit a hundred sales in the last 12 months.

Speaking with a few builders has been interesting, too. My first inclination is that the availability of labor must be plentiful and cheap – but that’s not necessarily the case. Many of the illegal aliens have returned to Mexico. One Mexican contractor – with six trucks – now only has one in service at any given time… and even that one isn’t always in service.

The dirty little secret is that many of these illegal aliens were able to purchase homes – but with no work, they are simply leaving the house behind as they go back to Mexico. It’s not like they are out a lot of money, either. Many of them were financed with “no money down” mortgage products, including option ARM’s.

Atlanta has seen an average of 3000+ foreclosures per month for several years now – but last month we had just under 7000 foreclosures… and the storm is still coming.

Foreclosures are the lion’s share of the Atlanta resale residential market right now, and with the onslaught that is coming – that fact won’t be changing anytime soon in this writer’s mind.

So I am into the bunker mentality right now. I haven’t taken on any clients that I am not convinced that I have a better than 50-50 chance of earning my Read more

February 7, 2008

Folk Music, Blame and Fundamental Solutions

by Mike Farmer

Real Estate Broker

A block from my office on one of the squares there’s this guitar player and singer sitting on a bench providing folk music for the passersby. It’s not music I’d actually go out and buy (probably why he’s playing from a bench in the square), but its good in its environment. It’s down to earth, raw, natural and centering. When I’m half bonkers from all the hubbub, I’ll drop by and listen – it helps to get centered.

At the center there’s a clearer, more peaceful world that’s difficult to access among the daily nabob nattering (see Spiro Agnew) and incessant activity. Yesterday, after completing my centering ritual by listening to “Old Mountain Dew”, —

Well they call it that good old mountain dew

And them that refuse it are few

I’ll hush up my mug, if you’ll fill up my jug

With that good old mountain dew

— back at the office I started thinking about blame while reading some comments regarding the ongoing real estate bog. Blame has little meaning at the center. Some are blaming the media while others blame lenders, foolish buyers making foolish choices, greedy sellers, Greenspan’s years at the helm of the Fed, on and on it goes.

Here’s what Peter Senge writes about blame in his book, The Fifth Discipline:

We tend to blame outside circumstances for our problems. “Someone else” — the competitors, the press, the changing mood of the marketplace, the government — did it to us. Systems thinking shows there is no outside; that you and the cause of your problems are part of a single system. The cure lies in your reationship with your “enemy.”

Senge goes on to talk about putting pieces of the puzzle together to gain an understanding of the whole, how to look for leverage in the midst of fundamental problems in order to create fundamental solutions, rather than get mired in symptomatic problems and tinkering with symptomatic, short-sighted solutions.

Blame tends to lead the mind in wrong directions and use up energy better spent on fundamental solutions. Every day I’m given what is, and I can recognize it and work with it or complain about it and Read more

January 28, 2008

Principles of Flight and Real Estate — Getting Off the Ground

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

I’ve seen in the real estate business the rough equivalent of what my grandma saw in her lifetime with flight. Born in 1909 she saw in real time the embryonic stage of flight. The first successful flight was only six years before her birth. 60 short years later she watched, on a ‘machine’ not in existence until she’d been married and had four children (three on her front porch), American men land on the moon and come back safely.

Think of where real estate brokerage was 40 years ago. I’d compare it to the planes used in World War I. The MLS existed, but was in book/magazine form delivered by truck, supplemented thrice weekly on paper held together by staples. The establishment of farms for Heaven’s sake, was a huge break through! Knock on the same doors every month? Why would anyone do that on purpose?

There were no teams, not even the biggest thinkers created teams, even in the ’70’s. (at least that I can recall) The team itself was another development thought by most as staggeringly forward thinking. My father didn’t use for sale signs and he was thought of as a maverick. 🙂 We’ve seen the rise of franchises which came like a herd of buffaloes in the ’70’s. Some still exist, most don’t, but the franchise has remained as a significant player.

The first time i heard of an agent being paid a 70% commission split by their broker I thought it was a joke. It was real. It was the beginning of what we see today. 100% commission offices with ‘desk’ fees. In-house service companies — title, lenders, escrow, etc. The shift from the broker/owner being the god of all things to the producing agent should have been predictable. The tail wagging the dog is at least in part why we’re here today. Most high producing agents would fall flat on their faces if they’d been forced to open their own companies. But that’s another post altogether.

Where exactly is here?

It’s business models we’d of laughed at 40 years ago. Marketing not hinted at on TV shows Read more

January 22, 2008

UNZIPPED?

by Russell Shaw

Mega-Producing Realtor

Because this thread on Bloodhoundblog has served as a sort of clearinghouse for ex and present ZIP Realty agents, I am passing this along. Additional data can also be found here.

Unzipped

Subject: IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE RE: CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT – Please read as this affects your rights.

This email provides you with a complete copy of the Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement that was mailed to you with a personalized claim form (“Notice Packet”) on January 15, 2008 to your address that is on record with ZipRealty. If you do not receive the mailed Notice Packet within five days of receipt of this email and would like to request another personalized copy be mailed to you, please call 1-800-918-4296 or visit www.lubockiclassaction.com.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT

TO: ALL INDIVIDUALS (A) WHO ARE CURRENT OR FORMER REAL ESTATE SALES AGENTS WORKING FOR ZIPREALTY OUTSIDE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND FROM WHOM ZIPREALTY DEDUCTED A CUSTOMER ACQUISITION OFFSET (“CAO”) FROM MAY 4, 2003 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2005; AND (B) WHO ARE FORMER ZIPREALTY REAL ESTATE SALES AGENTS WHOSE EMPLOYMENT TERMINATED IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN MAY 4, 2003 AND AUGUST 31, 2007 AND WHO HAD A PENDING TRANSACTION AT THE TIME THEIR EMPLOYMENT TERMINATED THAT SUBSEQUENTLY CLOSED, BUT WHO WERE NOT PAID THE SAME COMMISSION ON THAT PENDING TRANSACTION AS THEY WOULD HAVE RECEIVED HAD THEY REMAINED EMPLOYED AT THE TIME THE PENDING TRANSACTION CLOSED.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY, AS IT MAY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS.

YOU ARE NOT BEING SUED.

This Notice is to inform you of a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by four former real estate sales agents against ZipRealty, Inc (“ZipRealty”). This Notice is being sent to you because ZipRealty’s records indicate that you are a member of the class (“Class Member”) affected by this lawsuit.

THIS NOTICE SUMMARIZES THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AND ADVISES YOU OF:

1. A DESCRIPTION OF THE LAWSUIT;

2. THE BENEFITS YOU ARE ENTITLED TO UNDER THE SETTLEMENT AND YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A CLAIM FORM IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SETTLEMENT;

3. YOUR RIGHT TO OPT OUT OF THE SETTLEMENT; AND

4. YOUR RIGHT TO FILE AN OBJECTION TO Read more

January 15, 2008

40 Tips for a Powerful New Year

by Russell Shaw

Mega-Producing Realtor

In late 2001 when I had cancer one of the most interesting things I learned was while I was talking to the other people in the chemo room. It was just a room in Making Happy the doctor’s office where we were all sitting in comfortable chairs while our particular poison (mine were Gemzar and cisplatin) was going into our bodies via a tube into our arms. We would talk. One of the remarkable benefits I had, that they didn’t, I was was in Los Angeles, three days a week, receiving Scientology Spiritual Counseling to get rid of all of the grief, fear and “deathfullness” I had. The one thing I found that each and every one of the other patients had was an upset on one particular thing: they didn’t know when they were doing to die. When they found out that they had cancer they then knew that they might (or might not) die. And they didn’t know when. I was in exactly the same boat. I didn’t know if I would be dead in six weeks, six months or six years. It was interesting that I could cheer them up by just by asking, “When was it that you did know when you were going to die?” I could get them all laughing on this point, as they would eventually realize that there never was a time when they knew. What had happened is, as a result of knowing they had cancer, they had discovered that they didn’t know. It was step up in awareness.

I considered myself very very fortunate at the time. If indeed, I was close to the end, I had been given the most wonderful opportunity to do all the things that mattered most. Even with the chemo and the surgeries I still had time. I could call the people who mattered most and tell them I loved them. I could go and see them. And I did too. Each day, every day was another wonderful gift that I was grateful for. That was six years ago. I had over 200 people praying for me every week. Read more

January 13, 2008

Realtors — 2008 Is The Year Technology May Leave You Behind — Pay Attention

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Seth Godin has struck again. Today his words hit home to me big time. They should with agents for whom hi-tech has been merely a nuisance. Taking this post to heart may be the best decision you make this year. Though I’ve already vowed to enter the 21st century this year, I’m now on a mission.

A word to the wise. Or is it better late than never? 🙂

December 28, 2007

Thank You Seth: “Why not be great?”

by Morgan Brown

Mortgage Banker

In his last post of the year, Seth Godin visits the archives to pull out a piece of encouragement that has never rang more true in our industry until this year. Read his whole post and get excited about 2008.

From Seth’s post on Why not be great?

Are these crazy times? You bet they are. But so were the days when we were doing duck-and-cover air-raid drills in school, or going through the scares of Three Mile Island and Love Canal. There will always be crazy times.

So stop thinking about how crazy the times are, and start thinking about what the crazy times demand. There has never been a worse time for business as usual. Business as usual is sure to fail, sure to disappoint, sure to numb our dreams. That’s why there has never been a better time for the new. Your competitors are too afraid to spend money on new productivity tools. Your bankers have no idea where they can safely invest. Your potential employees are desperately looking for something exciting, something they feel passionate about, something they can genuinely engage in and engage with.

You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It’s never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment — just one second — to decide.

Before you finish this paragraph, you have the power to change everything that’s to come. And you can do that by asking yourself (and your colleagues) the one question that every organization and every individual needs to ask today: Why not be great?

December 27, 2007

Do Others Think Of You As An Expert? You Must Be Getting Results

by Jeff Brown

Real Estate Investments Broker

Ever noticed nobody wants to know how you skinned the cat until they ascertain the cat was actually skinned? In baseball, they ask you if you won. Or if you got any hits. They ask about the details after they find out what matters — results.

These days so many in real estate tell whoever will listen what experts they are. Think Babe Ruth ever had to tell folks he was an expert home run hitter? Don’t answer, it’s a rhetorical question, and silly on its face.

In baseball the first pitch of any particular plate appearance has been analyzed to death. Ricky Henderson made a career of hitting first pitches. Ted Williams, arguably the best pure hitter every to hold a piece of wood in a batter’s box — watched first pitches go right by him about 95% of the time. Pitchers knew this, yet still threw an amazing amount of balls, not strikes on all those thousands of first pitches.

Was Ted Williams an expert? You bet. Were the pitchers he faced for more years than 99% of major league players experts? Some. Probably way less than half. Did most pitchers realize Ricky Henderson was literally hoping for a fat first pitch for immediate deposit into the left field bleachers? Absolutely.

Both Ted and Ricky were real life experts. They knew what folks thought they knew — and knew it better than anyone in their day. Ted was the last hitter to bat .400 for a season, hitting .406 in 1946. Ricky was, no debate, don’t even embarrass yourself, the best leadoff hitter of all time. I’m not sure there’s a #2. That’s how good he was.

He was an expert. Experts actually know what they’re doing, and better yet, know why they’re doing what they’re doing. They know what situations they’re in while it’s happening in real time. Sometimes they have to analyze more or less, but their expertise is what makes the difference.

Today there’s been an explosion of experts in every possible discipline. Real estate is no exception. In fact in real estate there seems to be an Read more

Category: Realty Reality (page 10 of 16)

A Season To Be Objective

by Mike Farmer

Rock Stars Aside (Please, Lord?) My Take On What Matters

by Jeff Brown

The Network — No Easy Duality

by Mike Farmer

The Network — Excellent Real Estate Agents Wanted

by Mike Farmer

Like a Dog With a Bone — Vindicated By a Super Star — Hyper-Local Blogs Rock

by Jeff Brown

I Hope Unchained Considers My Topic Wish List

by Jeff Brown

Is There Actually A Sky Up There Anymore?

by Allen Butler

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel Is Really An Oncoming Train

by Doug Quance

Folk Music, Blame and Fundamental Solutions

by Mike Farmer

Principles of Flight and Real Estate — Getting Off the Ground

by Jeff Brown

UNZIPPED?

by Russell Shaw

40 Tips for a Powerful New Year

by Russell Shaw

Realtors — 2008 Is The Year Technology May Leave You Behind — Pay Attention

by Jeff Brown

Thank You Seth: “Why not be great?”

by Morgan Brown

Do Others Think Of You As An Expert? You Must Be Getting Results

by Jeff Brown

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