Home

Shuttered firms put properties in play Premium Content

By The Real Deal, Thursday, September 3, 2009.

NEW YORK -- When a broker switches firms, mailing out glossy announcement cards is the easy part. What's not so simple is wresting listings away from the old firm to bring them to the new one. The armor-plated contracts that govern exclusive listings threaten sellers with punitive fees or lawsuits if they try to pick up and follow a relocating broker.

But the recent shuttering of several New York firms has shaken loose hundreds of listings, in a whirlwind that few have seen in years, brokers say.  more...

The new New Orleans Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, September 3, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/1215321562/" target=blank>Editor B</a>.

Sonya Becknel drew a flood zone map the size of her desk before buying a home in Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish, southeast of New Orleans.

St. Bernard was one of the hardest-hit areas of New Orleans after Katrina struck four years ago. The parish is rebounding, even though some returning residents did not receive restitution for their flooded homes after the storm.

"You can see the true grit of the people," said Cliff Reuther, Becknel's agent and Prudential Gardner broker and manager.  more...

MLSCloud growing fast

By Inman News, Thursday, September 3, 2009. MLSCloud.com, an interactive map-based directory of Realtor associations and multiple listing services, claims to represent more than half a million brokers and agents less than four months after its launch.

The collaborative network of public MLS Web sites was launched in May by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), and MLSListings.com. The site, which displays a Google-powered map that provides links to member Web sites, counts 52 Realtor associations and MLSs as members.  more...