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Jun

10
2009

MLS is more than technology

By Inman News, Wednesday, June 10, 2009.

Editor's note: This guest piece, originally published at the FBS Blog (view here), is republished here with permission of the author. As a part of an essay competition, Inman News is seeking contributions from our readers about change, trends and important issues for multiple listing services. Click here for details.

By MICHAEL WURZER  more...

Jun

4
2009

Domo arigato, Animoto

By Inman News, Thursday, June 4, 2009.

Imagine doing listing presentations and telling every home seller your marketing plan includes making and distributing a video of their home. Do you think you would get more listings? You bet you would.

I know what you're thinking -- "Video costs too much money and takes too much time to make. Besides, how do I know the guy I hire knows what he's doing? I don't even know who to call. Plus, there's editing, copywriting … oh yeah, I'll have to talk into a camera (I hate my voice and the camera adds 10 pounds I can't afford) -- No way!"  more...

Just the beginning for appraisal 'mess'

By Inman News, Thursday, June 4, 2009.

Re: 'Appraising the new appraisal problem' (June 3)

Dear Editor:

It's a mess already and it only just begun. I am going through an appraisal right now on a property in the city of Brea in Orange County, Calif.

The lucky, random chance drawing for an appraiser brought me one from another county -- 28 miles and four cities away. He, not knowing the neighborhood, pulled in comparable and sold properties from another city -- one mile from the subject property. Well, guess what happened?  more...

New real estate agent law

By Curbed.com, Thursday, June 4, 2009.

It sounds like this is like when taxi drivers have to show off the ID number in their cab. There's a new law coming, reports the Real Estate Blog.

"California Senate Bill No. 1461 is effective as of July 1, 2009, and it has real estate agents scrambling to comply. This Bill amends Section 10140.6 of the Business and Professions Code. As of July 1st, it requires a real estate '... licensee to include his or her license identification number on specified solicitation materials, as defined, and on real property purchase agreements when acting as an agent in those transactions.' "  more...

Jun

3
2009

Property tax rates poised for increase?

By Curbed.com, Wednesday, June 3, 2009.

There's California's Prop 13, the (in)famous piece of legislation passed in 1978 that capped property taxes at 1 percent of their full cash value. And then there's San Francisco's very own assessor, who just started a "long-term, grass-roots campaign" to alter Prop 13's restrictions on property taxes.

The Close the Proposition 13 Loophole committee is supposed to one day help increase the amount of cash rolling into the state's bank account, but probably won't do much to ease California's fiscal hurting anytime soon.  more...

Jun

2
2009

No time to tweet? Tweetlater

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

One of the common concerns I hear when discussing Twitter is how to keep up. As if we all didn't already have full-time jobs, now we're supposed to be constantly updating the universe about what we're doing. Constant Twittering can disrupt a day and lead to lost productivity.

But there is a way to make use of Twitter while maintaining your sanity. Please keep in mind that this technique will not increase your direct engagement with your audience: There's not a lot of back and forth conversation. So you'll still need to log in now and then and interact with people if you want to get the full power of Twitter.  more...

Loan mods a lost cause

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 2, 2009.

Re: 'Mortgage crisis is crying "shonda" ' (June 2)

Dear Editor:

"Mazel tov" (Yiddish for "congratulations") on hitting the nail on the head. Another "shonda" is that federal, state, and local governments are trying to fool us into believing that they can modify loans to save homes from foreclosure. All of this delay is only causing false hopes and greater loss. It shouldn't happen.  more...

Jun

1
2009

Cyberhomes looks to the future for salvation

By , Monday, June 1, 2009.

Like it or not, Cyberhomes just really hasn't caught on like some of its other contemporaries. Technically it's a very competent site and one that I've always thought was definitely under-recognized. But even I'm guilty of forgetting it's out there some days.

Part of the problem may be the disjointed approach it has taken to its product over the years. Cyberhomes has had more home page redesigns than any other site I know, but it may also just be that it has never really found a good niche to corner. Property valuations: Zillow's got them licked. Likewise Trulia with search experience, Realtor.com with depth of listings. And FrontDoor's got them beat editorially.  more...

The move toward collaborative search online

By , Monday, June 1, 2009.

Tune out if you’ve had enough of all the Facebook talk.

Following on the previous posts about Frontdoor’s implementation of Facebook Connect, HotPads has rolled out a revamped homepage that also features Facebook integration prominently.

As with Frontdoor, you can now login to HotPads using only your Facebook account. The nice thing is Hotpads lets you dive right into into using all of its tools using only your FB credentials.

The upside?  more...

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