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Feb

25
2009

Links, lawsuits and privacy in the age of real estate 2.0

By Joel Burslem, Wednesday, February 25, 2009.

In an important case for bloggers and real estate sites in general, real estate aggregator Blockshopper got its hand slapped heavily this week for doing what many of us do... that is, publishing and linking to publicly available sources on the Internet.  more...

Feb

24
2009

VOWs empower industry, consumers

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 24, 2009.

As a result of a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors, brokers now have a powerful new marketing tool at their fingertips.

Brokers who are members of a multiple listing service can now provide more comprehensive information to their customers than any non-MLS-member Web site can feature. They can now offer a data feed of all MLS listing information to their clients via a Virtual Office Web site (VOW).

Consumers are hungry for more and more real estate information. They are not only looking for active data, but any information that will help them get a better gauge on the local real estate market and neighborhoods they are interested in. They are looking for as much accurate, comprehensive and current information as available.  more...

Feb

23
2009

Give incentives to all homebuyers

By Inman News, Monday, February 23, 2009.

Re: 'New tax credit gives fence-sitters hope' (Feb. 18)

Dear Editor:

I think that it is very doubtful that this very minimal effort to boost our housing market will have enough effect to make a difference. It does nothing to entice anyone other than first-time buyers, who are a small percentage of buyers in the marketplace. And I just learned from your article that they must also remain in the house for three years! Is our government stupid?

This will be a negative condition as it will mean that all those homes will not resell for at least three years. What does this do to stimulate the real estate/housing market?  more...

Market sets compensation practices

By Inman News, Monday, February 23, 2009.

Re: 'The truth about real estate compensation' (Feb. 10)

Dear Editor:

Why try to determine what "the compensation practices" should be in the industry?

We have a very dynamic industry in which the success or failure of a real estate practice is dependent on the "compensation practice" that agency creates or uses.

Each area has unique needs that the broker can adapt to as he or she sees fit. If the broker chooses wrong, the broker fails. End result: a stronger base for the remaining agents in that location. If the broker chooses right, more agents will seek to emulate or join that successful brokerage.  more...

MLS security: the rhythm of typing

By Inman News, Monday, February 23, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/ninjanoodles/1963678404/" target=blank>NightRPStar</a>.

Think no one is watching you when you share passwords or security tokens to allow others to access your multiple listing service? Think again.

While many real estate companies are monitoring online clicks and cursor time as helpful metrics tools to gauge which listings are most popular or which neighborhoods might be taking off, some technologies are taking aim at unauthorized use of MLS accounts.  more...

Little help here? California extra hard up for housing plan

By Curbed.com, Monday, February 23, 2009.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The president's $75 billion plan to keeping the housing market from eating it (see SF Gate story) is said to have special significance in California, the "epicenter of boom-and-bust real estate."  more...

Feb

20
2009

'Offer of compensation' must go Premium Content

By Inman News, Friday, February 20, 2009.

Real estate compensation structures are wrought with problems, which could be effectively eliminated if the multiple listing service-mandated offer of compensation were done away with.

Agent compensation is set by office policies that support a specific company's fee philosophy and income. But the system doesn't take into account how it affects consumers' opinion of value received or how it can clash with other companies' compensation policies. These policies can also contribute to uneducated agents blacklisting certain properties -- either intentionally or unintentionally.

One major contributing factor to the compensation problem is that a buyer's agent is paid according to the selling broker's office policy. This totally disregards the buy-side broker's office policy on compensation, the buyer's contract with an agent, and the seller's best interests, which are to remove any barriers that may keep potential buyers from seeing their home.  more...

Conveyor-belt real estate

By Inman News, Friday, February 20, 2009.

Re: 'The Commission Butcher Shop' (Feb. 18)

Dear Editor:

Will it ever end? Probably not. Always the proverbial question: the COMMISSION!

Just as in REOs (bank-owned properties), there will always be those whose business plan is to suck up as much as possible. Sometimes it works out for the sellers, like when they are first on the "I Love Lucy" chocolate conveyor belt. But other times, the seller is left with continuous reductions before selling.

It sucks when you are one of the last "chocolates" in a long line of listings!  more...

Feb

19
2009

'Full-service' should live up to the name

By Inman News, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

Re: 'A fee-for-service future' (Feb. 18)

Dear Editor:

The problem today arises that you have a lot of folks calling themselves real estate agents, yet they don't provide all the services that we expect of a full-service agent.

In other words, there is a lot of incompetence. The public has come to realize this and they are going with discount brokers rather than full-service because they don't want to pay for services they are not getting.  more...

Brokers: Commission rates holding up in Florida Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, February 19, 2009.

Whether they've had to take a cut in their commission percentage rate with the sale of a foreclosed home or saw a decrease in commission dollars per sale due to plummeting prices, many brokers throughout Florida have seen their income drop precipitously with weakened market conditions.

"People are trying to close sales any way they can," said Ellie Trahan, a broker with Golden Rule Real Estate in Ocala. "One of the first things that gets cut is the commission."  more...

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