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Real estate's Web 2.0 science lesson

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, November 4, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyohm/2729475946/in/photostream/">mightyohm</a>.

An agent wrote recently on his blog, "If you are not ahead of the technology curve, you are behind and I mean WAY BEHIND!"

These words were penned by someone I know and respect -- a very smart dude -- so I have no doubt he intended to inspire and deliver us all unto 21st-century greatness. But, I also suspect that the vast majority of agents who happened to read these words have long since assumed the fetal position, fully prepared to let their licenses lapse.

I wanted to smack him (in a friendly sort of way, of course). What am I "behind" in? more...

Real estate can be a lonely place

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, October 28, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bionicteaching/2041278305/" target=blank>bionicteaching</a>.

My husband was talking to another agent about the latest drama in our little real estate neighborhood. It involved one more in the steady stream of personnel changes we have become accustomed to in this market.

"Did you hear that (Agent 'X') left (Company 'A') to team up with (Agent 'Y') at (Company 'B')?" he asked.

Agents change logos all the time; this is nothing new. more...

REO adventures in 'Lender Land'

By Kris Berg, Tuesday, October 20, 2009.

Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitchbuzz/3952689387/" target=blank>BitchBuzz</a>.

Talk about your unintended consequences. Two weeks ago, I was innocently watching Twitter when someone linked to a clever animated video spoof on social media. At the end of the video and to my surprise, I learned that I too could make a funny little video by visiting the site shown in the credits -- for free! Being me and all, I took the bait.

At the time, I happened to be in the depths of bank-owned despair. I had been wearing my buyer agent hat a lot lately, and it seemed like every home I encountered was owned by a bank. more...

The real cost of free

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, October 14, 2009.

The e-mail was titled, "What is your communication method to the customer?" That alone left me shaking my head. Did she say "to" the customer?

And communicate to me, she did, but it was the message to follow that I found most offensive.

"I spoke to the receptionist at your office and she said you were "unavailable" to speak with me. Perhaps you were out taking a listing or showing a home? more...

Leaving the real estate nest

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, October 7, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/3613154786/in/photostream/" target=blank>mikebaird</a>.

My daughter had a monumental crisis on her hands this week. It seems that a certain feline we call Fluffy (and who, for the record, isn't) had chewed through her iPod earphones again.

"Get me new ones!" my daughter wailed.

And in that moment, she's like a real estate agent working in the '90s.

Back in the '90s, her broker would have immediately shoved aside everything he was doing at that moment, like gazing smugly at the production board or interviewing a new daughter, and dutifully rushed to give her what she needed. more...

Real estate disconnect tips the scales

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, September 30, 2009.

Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/flikr/49989058/">flikr</a>.

I don't have a burning desire to draw pictures today, but if I did I think I would draw a lizard.

Admittedly, I haven't been thinking much lately about lizards. If I'm honest, reptiles have been the furthest thing from my mind (ignoring, of course, the bank's short-sale processor we were most recently assigned).

Until this morning, if you had asked me to draw something I might have whipped out a rendering of an appraiser driving a stake through the heart of my latest transaction, or even a quick sketch of me feeding a couple of offers into the shredder because they were missing zeroes. more...

The hybrid real estate agent

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeyw/3187214717/" target=blank>Michael R. Wolfe</a>.

I've been thinking about hybrids a lot lately, and not just because Daughter No. 2 rear-ended one this week. Rather, it was the combination of our recent office meeting and a video I saw mocking the value of technology in our business that sent me off on my latest tangent.

You're reading this online so, as my junior driving instructor would say, you are already "down" with the importance of technology. But much like telling my little one-girl destruction derby to stop running into people, telling an agent that technology is important is both painfully obvious and woefully vague, at least where the specifics of successful implementation are concerned. more...

Card-carrying real estate status-seekers

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, September 16, 2009.

Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/govert1970/3192634280">Michiel2005</a>.

I received an invitation in the mail yesterday to apply for a credit card. So, what's the big deal? Who doesn't get 47 of those every week? And at my house, these invitations are summarily hastened to a meeting with my other "important" mail in the big blue recycle bin.

Something about this one, though, caught my eye.

This offer was for the most prestigious and versatile credit card in the world, according to the very elegant and expensive-looking trifold. more...

Short sales with strings attached

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bredgur/2458165114/">bredgur</a>.

My costs of doing business are significant, particularly when I am representing the seller in a transaction. Staging, photographs, brochures and all those printer cartridges, not to mention my time, can be a drain on the old bottom line. That is why I am toying with the idea of tweaking my business model.

I am considering adding some language to our multiple listing service write-ups: "We are experienced listing agents; over 99.76 percent of our listings successfully close." more...

Executing the real estate hat trick

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/invisiblehour/3042421343/" target=blank>Invisible Hour</a>.

It has become one of my favorite lines of all time, and it was delivered in the epic movie, "Legally Blonde." When Elle's unrequited love remarks, "You got into Harvard Law?" she responds matter-of-factly. "What? Like, it's hard?"

That's the way I tend to look at most things these days. The fact is, when you take a step back, most of the things we do really aren't that hard. Or at least they shouldn't be. It's just that we make them seem that way. We obsess, we fret, we get overwhelmed, and then we find ourselves frozen wide-eyed in the headlights of oncoming traffic. more...

Sizing up real estate politics

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, August 26, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmatos/540688952/" target=blank>ThrasherDave</a>.

I managed to carve out a little time for a run yesterday. It's a ritual I used to perform three to four times a week. Now, I seem to look for excuses.

"Wait! Isn't this the day that we honor the union of Eastern Rumelia with the Bulgarian Principality? I'll run tomorrow." So, running for me has become more of a seasonal thing.

And while I was at an intersection hunched over a utility box, praying the signal would stay red just a little bit longer ... more...

A back-to-school real estate story

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, August 19, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/71486347" target=blank>Editor B</a>.

Back to school -- three little words that delight and at the same time take a few years off a poor parent's life expectancy.

Back when my children were young, before they thought they had rights or could even conceive of a day that they would see me -- not as a larger-than-life beacon of authority and truth, but as an unenlightened, not-so-bright, general poster child for all that is wrong with the world -- I at least felt in control of the back-to-school process. This is because they needed me. more...

A mashup of real estate takeaways

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, August 12, 2009.

Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyki_m/2818335224/" target=blank>nyki_m</a>.

Oh, what to write? Having spent the better part of last week tossing my few remaining brain cells carelessly about the halls of the Inman Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco, I feel like a horse that has run her race.

I mentioned to some of the heartier souls remaining on the final day, as we were discussing our big takeaways, that this was a repeat of past events for me, except on steroids. Here is how it goes:

Each semester, I swagger off the plane feeling a little too smug. more...

Lights, camera ... scripting

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, August 5, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasthailand/399756057/" target=blank>Thai Handicrafts</a>.

My computer is on its way out. This one lasted about a year, which is a record even for me, master of coffee-spillage. I'm not entirely sure what ails the poor fellow, but I suspect the recent incident involving a certain chicken taco or the fact that the hard drive is host to enough software to power a small orbiting satellite had something to do with it.

Alas, I know that a trip to a power-cord superstore, like Superior Purchase, is in my future. Let's imagine that when I arrive at the Pearly Gates I am greeted in the following fashion: more...

Enforcing real estate's law of scarcity

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, July 29, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bombardier/44428620/">Bombardier</a>.

This week, I once again found myself sitting in the hair stylist's chair covered with enough aluminum foil to safely reenter the earth's atmosphere. It's a ritual I perform reluctantly and only when I find that I am too often being mistaken for a Chia Pet or the fifth Beatle.

I dread these beautification outings because the outcome is so unpredictable. I am what you might call a hair-care orphan. The moment I establish a relationship with someone who demonstrates a modicum of competence, they suddenly relocate their practice to some foreign country -- like Texas -- and I am left to find and test the talents of a new salon professional. more...

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