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July 6, 2008

Friday is iPhone day: Do you know of anyone who is building a paperless real estate contracts-processing application for the iPhone?

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The headline asks the question. In Arizona, forms software is a monopoly controlled by the Arizona Association of Realtors, which simply means that the solution available to us is satisfactory to no one.

That much is very sad, since filling in the blanks on PDF files is about as easy as you can get in the world of dedicated applications. It’s built into the Acrobat API. Even so, ZipForms is an amazingly buggy, amazingly Window-centric piece of crap.

Do you know of anyone out there who is pushing the envelope? I suspect the AAR is planning to make a change, but I know it will just be another half-assed Windows kludge. Is there anyone, anywhere doing better work?

The iPhone is the perfect platform for writing contracts, since, with electronic signing, you could transmit an executed copy to your client, to the other agent, to title, to the lender, to the inspectors — to anyone, just like that. If paperless doesn’t also mean deskless, it doesn’t mean enough to suit me.

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July 5, 2008

You Just Don’t Get It — Get This! — There’s The Door

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Nothin’ big time here. A pet peeve. My intuition tells me I’m not the Lone Ranger.

To give credit where it’s due, this idea came from Mark Cuban, who takes a pretty tough stand against those using this phrase.

Ever been going back and forth with someone on the merits of a topic on which you disagree, when out of nowhere, the other guy says, “You just don’t get it”? Most of the time they say that for one of two reasons.

1. It’s absolutely, irrefutably true. They’ve tried every approach in explaining their position, including empirical evidence documented with multiple examples. Yet in the face of this overwhelming tsunami of evidential proof, you continue to maintain the earth is actually flat.

Example: The Dodgers were World Champs in 1963. A New Yorker complains bitterly I’m mistaken. My assertion is an historically provable position, which I proceed to do — to no avail. I’m justified in my refusal to waste more time with one who will not see — so I say to them, “You just don’t get it.”

2. They’ve run out of anything meritorious to say in support of their position. It’s at this point you’re supposed to realize how incredibly dense and/or stoopid you are, and that arguing with you is a worthless endeavor.

Here is an example of #1 and #2.

#1 — Newspapers just don’t get it.

Wouldn’t ever say this is universal, but at the rate they’re going down, one might conclude they really don’t get it.

#2 — Some blogging expert tells a blogger that because they’re disobeying some particular sacred cow of blogging, that they ‘just don’t get it’.

I disagree with one point Mark Cuban makes. He says using the offending phrase means the speaker is lazy. OK — maybe even most of the time. However, we all know examples where continued debate is time we’ll never redeem. Attention: Totally needless cheap shot coming. Just checked the NBA records listing league champions the last 20 years. The Mavericks don’t appear. It would seem that organization just doesn’t get it. 🙂 Disclosure: Author is Read more

July 5, 2008

Musical chairs: You can buy a home on leased land for a bargain price, but you must be prepared to sell before the music stops

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is my column for this week from the Arizona Republic (permanent link).

 
Musical chairs: You can buy a home on leased land for a bargain price, but you must be prepared to sell before the music stops

We’re preparing to list a condominium that sits on leased land. Land leases aren’t common in the Phoenix area, but they do exist.

The most common way to own real property in the Valley is in fee simple: You own the land and all the structures on it, plus any mineral, water and air rights that haven’t been alienated by legislation or previous sale.

A very distant second way of owning property is the condominium plat: You own the airspace described by your interior walls, and you and all of your neighbors own the land and structures in common. Most often you will also own the air conditioner, and possibly also the roof. These are expensive to replace, so crafty developers and their HOAs socialize the risk to you.

We have a few co-ops in the Phoenix area, but very few. In a cooperative, you and all of your neighbors own the land and the structures in common, and you have a right to occupy your living space.

In a land lease, the structures can be owned in any one of these three ways — by individuals, by a condominium HOA or by a cooperative corporation. The important difference is that the land is owned by a landlord, and the landlord will be taking that land back someday.

What happens to the structures? They revert to the landlord’s ownership, and the former owners of those structures are left owning nothing.

In essence, it’s a game of musical chairs. The structures on the leasehold pass from owner to owner, but, when the music stops, no one then on that land has a place to sit. This tends to depress property values on leased land.

But land leases are written for very long terms, and a lot can happen in that time. If the landlord gets a huge offer for the land, the people who own the structures could get bought out early at Read more

July 4, 2008

A suite in the Augustus Tower with a view of the South Strip, a bucket of ice and a bottle of Old Bushmills — and a gorgeous blonde I was lucky enough to marry… But if you take away everything except Cathleen, we’ll still have a wonderful anniversary

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

It’s our wedding anniversary today, and normally we would be in Sin City, swimming and playing. But Q4 2007 and Q1 2008 were lean enough that Cathy insists on wasting our money paying bills, rather than wasting it in Las Vegas, where money is meant to be wasted.

It’s funny to me that I get such a charge out of Vegas. I’m not quite abstemious, but inebriation appeals to me not at all. I have nothing but contempt for negative expectation games — gambling, that is. And the Cirque de Soleil has yet to put on an extravaganza that can’t put me to sleep.

But give me a high perch with a view and I could stand there in jaw-dropped awe all day long. Out of everything that Sin City can be, what it is to me, more than anything, is a commercial real estate ant farm, a diorama where there is so much activity to be seen that the scene is never boring.

Caesars’ Palace, seen above, was built by Jay Sarno, who also built the original Circus Circus. Sarno lived and died as Las Vegas intended, losing both properties to his excesses. But he saw first and best what Vegas could become, and Caesars’ is still the best expression of the idea of the themed resort.

As it works out, Q2 didn’t suck, and Q3, three days old, is off to an auspicious start. It could be we’ll have a turkey buffet at Thanksgiving to make up for missing this trip. We need to work when there’s work — and I’m showing in the morning — but my Best Beloved and I need to make time — to take time — to concentrate on each other, without the unceasing distractions that come from selling real estate from our home.

We’ll have a great anniversary, anyway. We’re good at getting things right. But Vegas is the place where you just can’t have too many long-legged blondes, so we’ll have to make good this debt when we can.

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July 3, 2008

Project Bloodhound: Opening Windows to Vent Some Steam

by

Realtor, Certified EcoBroker

Author website

I’m going to share a story with all of you first. Yes, it’s true, although I hate to admit it.

A few years ago I decided that I needed a website.  Not just a template website, but a website that was custom to me.  Branded.  One that I could call my own.  So, I contacted a company that was referred to me by another agent and started working with them.  All I can say is CA-CHING!  Lots of money.  At the end of the design process the designer said “I really think you should sign up for our SEO package”.  I’m thinking to myself, what the heck is SEO and why would I need it?  I declined the service.  I knew absolutely nothing about anything internet, just that I needed a website, right?  I was ok with using these designers for everything.  After all, I’m a Real Estate Agent not a web designer.  It didn’t hit me until I started blogging what SEO was.  I then went in to this almost livid state wondering why they didn’t explain it to me back then.  What’s the point of designing a site if it is not optimized in the least?  My AR blog showed up on Google in 2 days, surely it couldn’t be that hard.  LOL.

The popular question for PBII seems to be about platforms.  Which platform should I choose?  WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com, etc.  This post is really just to put my opinion out and share a little of my experience so far with my fellow litter mates that may still be deciding.

I have mentioned that a year ago I started my Blog on a GoDaddy Quickblog.  It was easy, showed up well in Google, that is what I wanted.  At the time, I felt that I did not know enough of the techie guru type anything to do WordPress.  Today, I’m wishing that I could have found some more confidence on that topic.  It has been much easier than expected to set up a WordPress.org site.  (Must note here the Queen of Kludge and DaBlogMother has helped out tremendously.  Along with Greg, Read more

July 3, 2008

Yankee Doodle Dog: This weekend only, tickets for the BloodhoundBlog Orlando Unchained Social Media Marketing event are only $99

by

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

Author website

“It’s deja-vu all over again,” said Yogi Berra.

Yogi was referring to the multiple World Series rings he collected as a Yankee. For me, deja-vu is the grassroots campaign to kick-off the next BloodhoundBlog Unchained Social Media Marketing Conference, on November 7, 2008, in Orlando, FL.

Like Yogi, I take particular delight in this challenge. Unchained Phoenix was our first World Series victory. Many Unchained graduates tell us it was a four-game sweep.   Our challenge now is to RETAIN the championship.   The road to victory starts tonight.

What might you expect from the BloodhoundBlog Unchained Social Media Marketing Conference in Orlando?   Ask our newly commissioned guerrillas, on the front lines, if  what they learned in Phoenix is working.

Here’s Christine Beaur-Mortezaie’s take:

For the last couple of months I’ve enjoyed being a BloodHoundBlog spectator. Just keeping up with these prolific and interesting writers is a job, rewarding, but quite a job. I still can’t figure out how to carve out time for web 2.o.   I have been way too busy harnessing time for deals  that are generating income now but BHB and all its talented contributors have brought a breath of fresh air to my stale world.

I’ve been in real estate for 5 years and no one, except for Laurie Manny, whom I had the good fortune to meet recently in the Long Beach office, has ever challenged me to think beyond the tip of my nose. So break the mold! What a far-fetched idea! The modus operandi had been “Do as I have ALWAYS done and YOU TOO will be successful” and YOU TOO will be at the same place… chained in 20 years…

I had to attend BHB Unchained in Phoenix. Lucky me! At Unchained was the most phenomenal group of people, with such diverse personalities, talents and experiences. What made the conference so fabulous, beyond the presentations, was the continual sharing and exchange between presenters and attendees, table partners and neighbors, lunch companions and the water cooler cohorts. There was no right or wrong, just opinions – sometimes strong, and opportunities to share and learn. Quite different from what I had Read more

July 3, 2008

Mortgage Market Week in Review

by

Mortgage Officer

Author website
Since it’s a long holiday weekend, I’m posting my week in review today rather than the usual Friday.   I hope you all have a chance to enjoy a lot of good family times, some good weather, some good fireworks and LOTS of good food!
How to best summarize this week?   Let’s put it this way, I could go on and on and on about the different economic reports that came out.   Car sales, employment numbers, stock prices, oil prices, bank stock values, earnings (or a lack of), writedowns, the list could go on and on and so would the length of this post!
Instead of doing that, I’m going to point you back to an update I wrote on June 11 that talks about the “battle” that is waging in the markets.   How’s the best way to say it?
A couple of weeks ago, the inflation fears were winning.
Now the credit fears and economic fears are winning the battle, quite decisively.
Have a good weekend!
Tom
July 2, 2008

Do you work like a Bloodhound? I have a no-fee referral in Cary, NC

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

One of our past clients is looking for aggressive representation in Cary, NC. He worked with us on the buying side and later as a seller, so he knows all about how we work. That’s what he wants in his new locale. He’s smart, he blogs and he could end up being a very good source of referrals for you in the Research Triangle area. If you over-deliver in everything you do, the referral from me is free. I want to help him, but I want to help hard-working dogs wherever and whenever I can.

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July 2, 2008

Project Bloodhound – a question from one of the pups….

by

Mortgage Officer

Author website

Okay, I need some collective wisdom.   Here’s my dilemma, I’ve been operating on blogger for quite some time and I thought it was doing me well, but I’ve learned I can do better.   So, I’ve got things set up at www.straighttalkaboutmortgages.com with wordpress.com and it’s 90% of the way I want it (I can get it there in a day or two).

My question is essentially this:   When you are ready to make the switch from one platform and domain name to another, what’s the best way to do that so that people can still find you etc?

Thanks in advance for the wisdom, you guys (all of you) are awesome!

Tom

July 2, 2008

Farewell Countrywide: How The Bank of America Merger Will Keep Wells Fargo As The Mortgage Origination Leader

by

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

Author website

WARNING!  Long commentary about the Bank of America/ Countrywide merger ahead:

Bank of America Press Release from July 1, 2008 (italicized) with my commentary:

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 1 /PRNewswire/ — Bank of America Corporation today completed its purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp. to create the nation’s leading mortgage originator and servicer.

Bank of America will focus on responsible home lending, serving as a reliable source of mortgages for the American consumer. Bank of America also will assist new and existing customers with selecting the right product to meet their needs.

Bank of America fires a proactive shot with this statement to exempt its originators from proposed national registration and licensing.  I think they’ll get the exemption.  I predicted that the merger/rescue of CFC would be brokered by Ben Bernanke and that BAC would call in its chit, one day.  Expect BAC to lead the borrower suitability trend.  By setting itself up as the “leader” they can effectively eliminate competition by crying that the “innovative mortgage products” just aren’t suitable for Ma and Pa.  This paternalistic approach will work for the next 2-3 years and BAC will have an unfair competitive advantage by fiat….but, they’ll blow it.

“Mortgages are one of the three main cornerstone consumer financial products along with deposits and credit cards,” said Bank of America Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis. “This purchase significantly increases Bank of America’s market share in consumer real estate, and as our companies combine, we believe Bank of America will benefit from excellent systems and a broad distribution network that will offer more ways to meet our customers’ credit needs.”

BA management are bankers, not mortgage bankers.  It helps that mortgage bankers are a profession akin to drug dealers and pimps today.    Public perception will be that the mortgage bankers blew up the economy and that the bankers can save it.  Wells Fargo (a mortgage banking firm DISGUISED as a bank) will quietly steal MORE market share in the retail and wholesale mortgage origination market.

As previously announced in April, Bank of America plans to offer the following types of first-lien mortgages: conforming loans underwritten to standard guidelines of Read more

July 2, 2008

Video from the BloodhoundBlog Unchained DVDs: Introduction to The Way of the Farmer

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We got the manufactured BloodhoundBlog Unchained DVDs on Monday. I’ve been watching them as I work at my desk in order to approve the manufacturing job. Believe it or not, this is first I have seen of this video. It was shot to tape at the event, we had it mastered into DVDs in Scottsdale, then I immediately shipped it off to Texas for manufacturing. All along, I was expecting it to be kindasorta disappointing, and, so far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. For a one-camera video shoot, it’s coming off okay.

There are tragedies, alas. In my convocation, I introduced all of the Bloodhounds who had come to Phoenix. For some reason, the videographer cut this off, so only Teri gets introduced. I’m sorry for everyone, but especially for Geno Petro, because I had pointed out for all posterity what an exceptionally fine writer the man is.

Appended below is about thirteen minutes from The Way of the Farmer, a presentation on hi-tech geographic farming.

If you’ve paid for DVDs, they’ll be shipping this week. If you have a real estate weblog, Brian Brady has a special offer coming up for you, but, if you don’t, you might want to click the button in the sidebar to get your own set of Unchained DVDs.

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July 2, 2008

FedSpeak July 1, 2008

by

Mortgage Officer

Author website

The following are excerpts of a speech made by David Lockhart, President of the Federal Reserve of Atlanta. My interpretations are in italics and bold.

Speech – July 1, 2008: “What’s ahead
I know you are most interested in the path from here—the path to recovery in the financial markets and, by my inclusion, the broader economy. My base case forecast for the economy involves a stronger-than-expected first half of 2008 with growth of 1 to 2 percent but not much pickup in the second half. That means that things are going to slow down from here to at least Christmas.

The drag of high energy costs, continuing financial market stress, and a still-declining housing sector may continue for a while with gradual improvement of growth in 2009. That means that we hope that by the end of 2009, we’ll see the economy start to show a little improvement. Not much, but a little.

There is much uncertainty surrounding this outlook. We really don’t know and we’re guessing almost as much as you are.

More adverse alternative scenarios are entirely possible. We’re probably being overly optimistic.

Self-reinforcing progressive deterioration Lower house prices will reduce the number of people who can refi out of bad loans which will bring increased defaults which will bring increased numbers of REO which will bring lower house prices (now repeat this again) could continue in the housing market, in turn affecting the financial markets the banks will take it in the shorts if that happens.. And neither the financial markets nor the overall domestic economy is protected from surprise events around the world.

Like many, I believe stabilization of the housing sector is required for recovery to proceed Really? Who would have thought? (Okay, sorry for the sarcasm). There are early and tentative signs that a bottom may be forming in some housing markets. Having said that, a sober approach to calling the future must allow for an additional period of house price decline, a slow housing sector recovery, and, as a result, a quite choppy progression to better markets and economy.” It’s going to be a Read more

July 2, 2008

We’re off to beat the Wizard…

by

IDX Search Entrepreneur

Author website

I found BloodHoundBlog by following a link from a comment Greg made on an Inman story that I had also commented on. It was pretty typical Inman fare — “Blog your way to a Fortune in Real Estate” was the implied headline. When I arrived here I felt like Dorothy waking up in her bed back in Kansas.

I am new to the Real Estate “industry”. I put that in quotes, because “industry” implies the production of something other than nausea when sellers see the commission they paid (BA DUM DUM – Crash! But I kid the Realtors…). I began working with brokers after building a career as an eCommerce consultant. That was in the real world, which for the purposes of the metaphor I will beat to death in this post, we will call “Kansas”.

That makes Real Estate “Oz” for all the many reasons that have been documented here over the past two years.

Full disclosure: I have spent the last two years trying to bring eCommerce Best Practices from Kansas to Oz. The centerpiece of that effort is a IDX Search platform called “Foyer” that is powered by Google Search Technology. I guess that makes me a vendor, but I am not a carny barker. So far, every gig we have is from a referral. Its been a slow way to grow, but its kept us honest. Its also the best marketing we can afford.

With that out of the way,  you want to know why you should bother to read what I have to say, so to give you an idea of where I am coming from, I will finish the beating of the metaphor.

If I’m Dorothy, then, in no particular order:

Lollipop Guild: Real Estate Agents. Obviously.

The Wizard: The NAR/Move Inc/Realtor.com cartel. Behind the scenes of an imposing edifice The Wiz is an old man pulling big levers (one is labeled “MLS”) that are no longer attached to anything. The Wizard’s power is derived from the size of the Lollipop Guild. The stature of the Guild members indicates the height of the barriers to entry set by the Wiz. When Bloodhounds Read more

July 2, 2008

Lead Generation — Quantity Or Quality? Whatever Works For You

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Turns out I learned about the whole lead generation thing painlessly and without knowing what I was learning. The best part was how it led to meeting so many cool folks of the estrogen persuasion. As a newly unattached 40-something guy in San Diego, I hadn’t dated since Nixon was in office. It was 1999 — I didn’t need a primer, I needed a new chip installed. Talk about clueless? I missed out on three very nice ladies ‘cuz I didn’t know ‘Why don’t we catch a cup of coffee some time’ was a clear sign of possible romantic interest. I just thought women these days were big time coffee fans. Thankfully the higher tech ladies in the office, when they stopped laughing and could breathe again, gave me the heads up on what was what.

It’s the same thing in lead generation. The goal is different. There’s not as much coffee or dancin’, but it’s the same thing.

Early on, it’s my opinion the agent/LO must decide with what kinda leads they wish to work. I see it as two well defined choices.

A. High quantity — must sift through for the quality lead — stellar system needed.

B. Few leads — very high quality — high conversion rate.

The initial requirement was to develop a viable Purposeful Plan. The first two questions you must answer — Where are you now? Where do you wanna be?

I was single — I didn’t wanna be single.

First thing the office ladies told me was to join some online dating services. (I’m not the bar type.) Within 24 hours I was the proud member of four sites. Then they all looked at my profile and said it simply wasn’t cuttin’ it. Had to talk more about my kids. And it wouldn’t hurt to mention I didn’t live in Mom’s basement, did have my own car, made more than $10/hr, and knew how to use real silverware. Done. By the way, I absolutely refused to say how much I liked long walks on the beach. I had my standards, and wanted to keep my 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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