BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Month: September 2006 (page 2 of 15)

September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #99: Integrating a forum with WordPress . . . ?

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From the Problogger ‘How To…’ Group Writing Project, blogHelper offers great help on the subject of “Integrating a forum with WordPress”:

One of the most popular questions I’m e-mailed with is usually along the lines of: How do I integrate a forum with my WordPress (WP) blog?. Often, this is with reference to using WP as a more web site-ish CMS, e.g. a community site. So, I thought I’d kill three birds with this post. One: Write a (hopefully) brief guide answering the abovementioned question. Two: Before writing a how-to on using WP for a community site, prepare for it by tackling the forum integration issue first. Three: Participate in ProBlogger’s latest group writing project (which will be my first ever participation BTW).

Now, let’s get to work. I’ll list each option I know of, along with instructions or more likely, links to those elsewhere on how to integrate it with WordPress – both backend, e.g. user accounts, and layout/design-wise.

We’re not ready for this at BloodhoundBlog, but this is an eminently doable next step of blogevolution. The forum software discussed is available to you as a part of your hosting package if you host your own domain. And where a weblog can serve hundreds of active members, a forum can serve thousands…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #98: First-timers’ search gives good lesson for buyers/sellers . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is one of my all-time favorites from my Arizona Republic column:

I was out showing with first-time home buyers Saturday. This is my favorite job as a Realtor. Buying a home is never easy, but it gets easier with experience.

We looked at 14 houses, all in the same area. The buyers were smart, focused and well-prepared, which is not always the case.

They were able to distinguish their rational wants and needs from their visceral emotional reactions, so they were not swept away by homes that were beautifully appointed but a poor fit for their lives.

Out of the 14, they narrowed their choices to three, one of which was truly sub-optimal but happened to be selling at a great price. We revisited the top two choices and ended up settling on the second. The third choice didn’t even rate a second look.

Here are some interesting facts from this fairly typical home search:

  • Three sellers made it difficult for us to get in to see their homes, and one refused to let us come at all. You can be pretty certain your house will never sell if you won’t let buyers see it.
  • Many of the 14 candidates were poorly maintained, to put it mildly. Pet odors, food odors, yapping dogs and aggressive dogs — many of the houses were a long way from being show-ready.
  • The home my buyers picked was one of four with the exact same floor plan for sale in the same subdivision. We actually looked at three of the four.

They chose the best, of course, in terms of condition and location. They had no need and no reason to settle for less.

What can you take away from this? “If your home is not the best choice, either in presentation or price — or both — it’s not going to sell in this market.”

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #97: Weblog Review: ARDELL’s Seattle Area Real Estate Blog . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Although probably more people know her from Rain City Guide, ARDELL’s Seattle Area Real Estate Blog is the home weblog of my intrepid oppenent in the Sellsius° 101 Blogoff Challenge.

The site runs on the Realtown blogging system, owned by InternetCrusade, which gamely manages to make Blogger.com look good. It’s a travesty that such a large-calibre weblogger is shooting with such a small-calibre weapon.

But Ardell is so good that she couldn’t miss with a pea-shooter. She’s been one of my favorite writers in the real estate blogosphere since I knew there was a real estate blogosphere.

I entered this contest with a hard game plan. If you track my posts, you’ll see they run in regular cycles of five posts each, 20 laps of circuit-training.

I think I’m ahead right now, but I want to cross the finish line with Ardell. To that end, I have two notions.

One is that she do as Dustin suggests and pile up a few dozens one-liners.

And the other is that I will hold off on Blogoff Post #101 until nearly midnight.

I want to finish this race — and I intend to be an Insufferable Bastard on my Victory Lap. But I know already that we’re both winners in this contest, so I have no need to beat anyone.

Godspeed, Ardell. You’ve always been way ahead of me in every way that matters — and it’s all downhill from here…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #96: Ask the Broker: Are you glad you did this . . . ?

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Here’s a question with a following, judging by the 300 unread emails in my inbox:

Are you glad you took the Sellsius° 101 Blogoff Challenge?

Emphatically, yes. BloodhoundBlog is going to end up with dozens of new, worthy posts as a result of this — call it by its right name — dumb stunt.

I normally work from around 6 am to around 10 pm, a 16-hour day. I’ve been at this since last night at midnight, so I’ll finish in a little over 18 hours. My arms are tired and my brain is slightly mushy, but other than that I’m in good form. I could do a listing appointment right now and no one would guess that I’m toast.

On the other hand, I really thought this would go faster than it has. At my best — which ain’t now — I was averaging about nine-minutes a post. The Leggy Blonde has been reading behind me, and she has been gracious enough not to tell me what kind of typos I’m making.

But: This is proof enough that this is possible. My whole life, I have argued that the secret to getting anything done is to not stop doing it, so I could probably throw another 35 posts up against the wall between now and midnight.

But I won’t…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #95: Ten reasons why you should never get a job . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

In addition to teaching you how to be self-employed, Steven Pavlina offers you ten reasons why you should never get a job:

In our household it’s a running joke for one of us to say to the other, “Maybe you should get a job, derelict!”

It’s like the scene in The Three Stooges where Moe tells Curly to get a job, and Curly backs away, saying, “No, please… not that!  Anything but that!”

It’s funny that when people reach a certain age, such as after graduating college, they assume it’s time to go out and get a job.  But like many things the masses do, just because everyone does it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.  In fact, if you’re reasonably intelligent, getting a job is one of the worst things you can do to support yourself.  There are far better ways to make a living than selling yourself into indentured servitude.

I’ve been self-employed since 1993, and I know that, by now, I would truly hate to have a job. Pavlina speaks for me throughout this essay as he delineates all the disadvantages that accrue to the employed…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #94: How to manage your manager . . . ?

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From the Problogger ‘How To…’ Group Writing Project, From flippingHECK: How to manage your manager:

Why should you manage your manager?

There have been several companies I’ve worked for in the past that, whilst having a good “social” relationship with my manager(s), I have felt un-wanted and un-rewarded by what I would class as bad management.

When I say “bad”, I don’t mean evil in a Freddie Kruger way, it can come in a variety of styles and disguises. Not only can they drive you to a nervous breakdown with their ineffectual management styles, they can also make you look exceptionally stupid and kill any chance of a pay rise/promotion/parking place that you may once had.

Bad managers are everywhere – you may even be one yourself and not even know it! Whilst some of this article takes a rather lighthearted (even tongue in cheek) look at managing a manager, I think there are some important points here that you’ll hopefully be able to use on your own boss (or indeed yourself).

Lucky me, I don’t have to worry about this. But — who knows — maybe The Leggy Blonde will want to look it over. If you’re unlucky enough to have a boss — or a sales manager, which might actually be worse — this article offers some sound advice for surmounting that obstacle…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #93: A few tips on avoiding unexpected fees, penalties on rental homes . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is from my Arizona Republic column:

With regard to my recent advice to a young landlord, a reader phoned to leave this sage counsel:

Don’t forget about the rental tax. The worst way to find out about unpaid taxes is by getting a bill for three years’ worth of arrears. If you’re aware of the issue, you can write the tax into your lease and have the tenant pay it.

You should exercise a similar forethought when it comes to municipal and homeowners association fines. If you don’t specify in the lease that the tenant will pay for any infractions, then you will be left holding the bag.

The same goes for utilities. You will need to restore the utility accounts to your name every time the property goes vacant. You should specify in the lease who pays the charges and deposits for restoration of interrupted service.

If you should ever have to evict a tenant, pay particular attention to the utilities, because you could end up parking a big chunk of money as a deposit for your former tenant’s bad payment history.

There’s more to it than this, of course:

Here’s a money-saving tip for a vacant house: Throw the main breaker so that anyone showing the property can’t turn the air-conditioning down to 60 degrees and then forget to turn it off. When you’re working on the property, you can turn on the power for the time you need it. The rest of the time, your bill is zero. (A refrigerator without power must have its doors propped open or the stench will be outrageous.)

Good grief! Who needs Realtors? Everybody knows this stuff, right?

Here’s my best advice for any landlord: Befriend the neighbors. Their fear is that your tenants will pull down their home values. Let them know that that’s your fear as well and that you need them to phone you when your tenants are over the line. You will have addressed their concerns and turned them into an informal espionage network.

And: If the neighbors come through for you in a big way, which can happen, buy ’em dinner. They’ve earned it…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #92: Weblog Review: TransparentRE . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Pat Kitano’s TransparentRE.com weblog is a profoundly unapologetic disturber of the peace. Pat’s background is technology, rather than real estate, so he devotes his days to asking questions no one in the San Francisco real estate industry wants answered.

As with Kevin Boer, with whom he has a loose alliance of like minds, Pat’s work is highly analytical — although less reliant on graphs and charts.

In all honesty, I don’t know where TransparentRE fits into the real estate food chain. I’m inclined to think that Pat is an incipient technology vendor.

The weblogging platform is WebSite Tonight, which I believe is offered by hosting vendors such as Godaddy.com. Looks and feels like WordPress.

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #91: Ask the Broker: How dangerous is life in Arizona . . . ?

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We disclose the answer to this question all the time:

How dangerous is life in Arizona?

That’s kind of a tricky question. Ignoring the things that can happen to you anywhere, we have hardly any injuries — except for the fatal ones…

Seriously, this is a bright-line disclosure issue on our website. We do an enormous amount of relocation work, and we never, ever want for one of our clients to get hurt because we failed to warn them of the kinds of things that can happen here that don’t happen anywhere else.

So: here’s the Cliff’s notes:

In Arizona, especially in the Phoenix/Scottsdale-area, you are at an inordinate risk from:

  • The sun
  • Extreme heat
  • Dehydration
  • Dangerous desert life
  • Fierce storms

The Sonoran Desert is a place of extremes. It can change from heavenly to deadly in a second’s time.

If you’re planning a move here, please read all of our disclosures — and use that as your jumping off point for serious reading about how to survive here.

Metropolitan Phoenix is a heaven on earth, each day another perfect day in paradise. But you have to learn how to live here…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #90: Stupid mistakes of the newly self-employed . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Pat Kitano from TranparentRE sent a nice note about Steven Pavlina so I went looking for more. This is from his article “10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed”:

1. Selling to the wrong people.
2. Spending too much money.
3. Spending too little money.
4. Putting on a fake front.
5. Assuming a signed contract will be honored.
6. Going against your intuition.
7. Being too formal.
8. Sacrificing your personality quirks.
9. Failing to focus on value creation.
10. Failing to optimize.

One point I might add is learning to master your own time. The only benefit I can think of to having a job is that there’s always someone to tell you to get busy. Not so for the self-employed. If you don’t learn to monitor and manage the hours of your days, you’ll be back on the clock in no time.

This is a very long article, and an outline-like summary does it little justice. Read the whole thing — particularly if you’re self-employed or want to be…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #89: How to get promoted when you work from home . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From the Problogger ‘How To…’ Group Writing Project, Home Office Blues offers thoughts on “How to get promoted when you work from home”:

One of the dangers of working from home is that it is more difficult to move your career forward. “Out of sight, Out of mind” often applies to telecommuters. What options are available to the upwardly mobile teleworker? How do you set yourself up for promotion when the odds are stacked against you?

I’m glad you asked. It turns out that the steps that are necessary to get promoted when you work from home are the same as those that are necessary to get promoted when you work in an office. Like everything else however, the telecommuter must work smarter.

Here are the 3 steps to getting promoted:

1. Be valuable.
This is obvious. You must do good work, have a good work ethic, and be a real value to your company. Most people stop here assuming that their work speaks for itself. Don’t make that mistake. You must proceed to step two.

2. Be visible.
You must market yourself and your work. You must make your presence felt by making sure you are working on visible projects. And finally, you must network and build relationships across the organization (and beyond). Know what other people are working on and be sure they know what you are doing.

3. Ask for the promotion.
You are doing good work; people know it and you have paid your dues. Don’t stop there. If you want to be promoted, you have to ask for it. This is where most people drop the ball. For some reason people are afraid to ask for what they want.

Even though this is about the world of corporate advancement, I found it valuable for two reasons: Realtors working from home suffer the same kind of invisibility from the Mother Ship. And, in essence, our true employers, home sellers and buyers, only see us working when we’re working directly with them. We need to make the same kinds of efforts to make our efforts known…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #88: Rental house smart opportunity if set up as business . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is one of my personal favorites from my Arizona Republic column:

I’m helping a young friend buy his first home. I’ve known him since he was in high school. I admired his decision to defer college for an arduous tour of duty in Iraq. He’s back in school now and he and his mother are buying a three-bedroom home to use as his staging ground for his assault on ASU.

I think this is very smart by itself, but here is the stroke of genius: He is going to rent his two spare bedrooms to other students, using their rent to help amortize the property. The house will be his starter home, but it will also be his first foray into real estate investment.

This is my young friend Andy. Here is the advice I gave him:

1. Form a limited liability corporation to own the property. God forbid something tragic should happen in the home, but, if it does, you want to limit your liability to the home itself, not the rest of your assets.

2. A verbal agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. In Arizona, a lease of less than 12 months does not have to be in writing, but if you take your verbal lease before a judge, he will treat you to equally verbal laughter. A written lease protects both parties, the landlord and the tenant.

3. The past is prologue. If a prospective tenant cheated his last three landlords, he’ll cheat you, too. Credit and rental history matter, and the most important part of being a happy landlord is mastering tenant selection.

4. Pay your own rent. Since the home will be owned by an LLC, pay the corporation the same rent your tenants are paying. If there is a surplus on costs, you’ll be able to use it for maintenance and improvements – or as capital for future investments.

The bottom line: “Owning a rental home is the smallest of small businesses – but it is a business. Treat it that way and it will enrich you now and for years to come.”

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #87: Weblog Review: RealBlogging.com and RealtyBlogging.com . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I am at a complete loss to explain RealBlogging.com and RealtyBlogging.com. I will stipulate the idea of weblogging to a purpose, as against ars gratia artis, but even then I can’t figure out what the purpose is. I gather the sites are composed of re-syndicated content, but I don’t understand to what end.

Just as a guess, I’d say the objective is consulting and speaking gigs for the contributors, but I have no confidence in that answer.

It may not matter, in any case. I take the RSS feed on both of these weblog, but I never find myself clicking on the “More” tag. Whatever point there may be to all this activity, I think both weblogs must stand proudly beside it.

Looks like a proprietary weblogging platform, who cares what.

I may find better use for these two weblogs in the future. I haven’t so far…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #86: Ask the Broker: What does pre-qualification mean…?

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is a question I’m hearing every day right now:

What does pre-qualification mean?

Why am I hearing that question? Because I’m representing the seller in a house that is not closing, day after day.

So what does pre-qualification mean? Nothing.

What does loan qualification mean? It means the buyer has paid the loan application fee.

What does final underwriting mean? Hide and watch…

Seriously, pre-qualification often doesn’t mean very much. The buyer may have had a phone conversation with the lender. They may have discussed income and debt. The buyer’s credit may have been run. But other than the credit report, there probably has not been any tangible demonstration of the basis of the pre-qualification.

Lenders pre-qualify buyers because buyer’s agents ask for it.

Buyer’s agents ask for it because listing agents ask for it.

Listing agents ask for it because sellers ask for it.

Sellers ask for it because they think it means something.

Everyone else knows better…

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September 26, 2006

Blogoff Post #85: How to build a high traffic weblog . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From Steve Pavlina.com, excellent advice on building a high-traffic weblog:

Here are 10 of my best suggestions for building a high traffic web site:

1. Create valuable content.
2. Create original content.
3. Create timeless content.
4. Write for human beings first, computers second.
5. Know why you want a high-traffic site.
6. Let your audience see the real you.
7. Write what is true for you, and learn to live with the consequences.
8. Treat your visitors like real human beings.
9. Keep money in its proper place.
10. If you forget the first nine suggestions, just focus on genuinely helping people, and the rest will take care of itself.

The article is very long and very detailed. Read it all. I think this is remarkably good advice…

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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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