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Feb

18
2009

The commission butcher shop

By Inman News, Wednesday, February 18, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/phototram/2384956353/" target=blank>phototram</a>.

With all apologies to vegans and commission surgeons, I love going into full-service butcher shops.

To begin with, the butcher is a seasoned professional who is able to discuss not only all cuts of meat, but how to prepare them. If I want a piece of meat cut a certain way, the butcher obliges. And if only a half pound of ground meat or two sausages are needed, he'll gladly ring it up. It's also nice to find choice and prime cuts of meat (as well as free-range poultry) that are rarely available in the supermarkets.  more...

A fee-for-service future

By Inman News, Wednesday, February 18, 2009.

In 1995 I was taking retainer fees from buyers who wanted to work with me. Those fees either went toward their deposit on a home or it went into my pocket if they didn't purchase.

Over the course of the next three years, that fee went from $100 to $250 to $500 to finally $1,000 as I had to retain the deposit from each person who walked away.  more...

Don't devalue real estate services

By Inman News, Wednesday, February 18, 2009.

Re: '6 percent is dead' (Feb. 16)

Dear Editor:

I agree that charging a flat fee for some services would be a big step forward. However, let's keep in mind that some professionals are always worth more.

Why do some certified public accountants, doctors and attorneys charge more than others for the same service? Because they are worth it.

In a $1 million real estate transaction, the buyer and seller are exposed to significantly more risk than the buyer and seller (and agents) in a $300,000 transaction.  more...

Feb

17
2009

Fannie Mae rescinds 4-property limit for investors

By The Mortgage Reports, Tuesday, February 17, 2009.

If you turn down Pandora and listen closely, you can hear real estate investors in Chicago cheering all the way from Cincinnati.

Read the Fannie Mae official announcement -- you get the sense that the nationalized group is getting with the program. This excerpt comes from the lead paragraph: "Fannie Mae is committed to providing financing opportunities for high-credit quality, bona fide investors. Experienced investors play a key role in the housing recovery."  more...

Is competition-bashing fair game?

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 17, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/anniewong/26473169/" target=blank>headexplodie</a>.

Throughout my career I have always prided myself in acknowledging the competition. After all, this is an industry where we coexist in a very unique way.

Through years spent recruiting agents and building teams I've found that agents are motivated and inspired by positive attributes, such as the strength of a company, its market share, the tools and training they will be exposed to, and most importantly the overall culture. I have never witnessed an agent lean toward an opportunity based solely on negative recruitment tactics that include exaggerating a competitor's weaknesses or criticizing their products or services.  more...

Give choice a chance

By Inman News, Tuesday, February 17, 2009.

Imagine being a spectator watching a real estate compensation reality show, witnessing brokers and sales associates walking thin tightropes stretched between two ravages: the ravage of raising overhead and the ravage of shrinking compensation levels.

While watching long lines of contestants slip and fall, failing in feeble attempts to navigate this tightrope challenge, you notice an occasional contestant successfully navigating across the wire.  more...

Feb

16
2009

The Countdown Starts

By Curbed.com, Monday, February 16, 2009.

The Financial Times first reported on that delegation of Chinese buyers coming to pick over the bones of our real estate market, and now ChinaDaily.com follows up, announcing the group will arrive March 24 in Los Angeles.

A 40-something Beijing lawyer tells ChinaDaily, "I plan to buy an apartment in Los Angeles or New York, with the total price hovering around $1 million."  more...

It isn't easy being a buyer's agent

By Inman News, Monday, February 16, 2009.

Re: '6 percent is dead' (Feb. 16)

Dear Editor:

I agreed with the author's premise that things many be changing in our industry. However, I feel compelled to say he did not fairly represent the work of a buyer's agent.

As an agent who has assisted both buyers and sellers for the past nine years, I can tell you that many times it is the buyer you work hardest for. I have shown properties to buyers for several months on many occasions, and even a few over a period of more than a year. I have spent hours e-mailing new listings and getting information from listing agents about properties buyers may be interested in like copies of seller's disclosures for their review.  more...

6 percent is dead

By Inman News, Monday, February 16, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/thunderpants/3190287208/" target=blank>DairDair</a>.

Yes, the day of the standardization of 6 percent commission is dead. How long will it take for the industry to realize this? That is the new question.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not attacking the industry, commission dollar amounts or high-paid all-star agents (many who are worth every penny). I am simply talking about the "percentage-based commission structure."

If a top real estate broker in New York City is on average making $50,000 per transaction, I am not staking the claim that they should not be making $50,000 per transaction -- they may, in fact, be worth it -- possibly even worth more.  more...

Feb

13
2009

Bail out the real estate investors

By Inman News, Friday, February 13, 2009.

If we are to believe the "experts," the economic condition we find ourselves in is a direct result of housing prices and foreclosures. The entire recession is being blamed on housing and foreclosures and financial woes stemming from bad loans. These facts are why the "experts" are declaring that since housing led us into this mess, housing must lead us out of it. Sounds nice, but it obviously isn't that easy.

There's a massive pork-laden bill of "change" being touted as stimulus that is supposed to take us one step closer to solving this financial and housing crisis. President Obama and his fellow experts have somehow lost sight of what they've already told us the problem is. The problem is with housing. We don't need to build roads and re-sod the National Mall -- we need to stem the tide of foreclosures, more specifically, we need to get the foreclosed property, REO property, off the open market so prices will stabilize.  more...

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