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Aug

17
2009

Put 'professional' in real estate title

By Inman News, Monday, August 17, 2009.

Re: 'Real estate consultants, not salespeople' (Aug. 12)

Dear Editor:

A salesperson, to the general public, often brings to mind car salesmen, retail, etc.

Consultants are presumed to be professional businesspeople with a professional attitude -- many owning their business. I have been on both sides of the table and there is a difference in how you are treated by the public and your colleagues.  more...

Aug

14
2009

New plugin: Zillow, Walk Score, more

By , Friday, August 14, 2009.

Great news for those of you who are building your Web sites in WordPress: Zillow has announced the release of the new Local Market Explorer WP Plugin.

The LME plugin, which was built by Jonathan Mabe and Andrew Mattie, developers with Diverse Solutions, automatically creates rich pages on your blog that incorporate data from Zillow, Education.com, Flickr, Walk Score and Yelp.

   more...

When appraisals defy explanation

By Inman News, Friday, August 14, 2009.

Re: 'The numbers game in real estate values' (Aug. 13)

Dear Editor:

Getting appraisals for properties continues to be an exhausting process that neither the buyer nor the seller can be adequately prepared for (though I continue to try).

A recent example was a property that is tucked away in a lovely but tiny little subdivision isolated from the surrounding homes. This subdivision has one or two sales per year, with homes ranging in size from 1,500 square feet to 8,000 square feet.  more...

Aug

12
2009

A new way to do business

By Inman News, Wednesday, August 12, 2009.

Re: 'Realogy losses narrow to $15 million' (Aug. 11)

Dear Editor:

There is hope that we will survive this slowdown and all come out stronger. What Realogy is doing on a corporate level, we are all doing on a personal level. Losing nonperforming print advertising, making each contact have value, and really stepping up service is what it takes to survive.

Certainly our numbers have dropped and will continue to do so for a while -- until the number of Realtors with licenses somewhat resembles the number of Realtors who can afford to buy a meal. We have found little trouble getting what we consider to be a full commission on transactions over the past 18 months.  more...

Real estate consultants, not salespeople

By Inman News, Wednesday, August 12, 2009.

Re: 'The big change in real estate' (Aug. 12)

Dear Editor:

I was very intrigued, but not totally surprised, to read Robert Hahn's observation that social media does not seem to have brought about a big change in the real estate business after all the buzz over the last year. He goes on to note that there does seem to be a collective anticipation that the industry is poised for a huge, fundamental change.

My first career was over three decades in engineering and technology. I spent the first two decades in electronic product and system design, and the third in software and information technology. I have seen all sorts of technologies and paradigms come and go.  more...

Aug

11
2009

Investing in a short sale

By Inman News, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

Re: 'Short sales don't come cheap' (Aug. 6)

Dear Editor:

The question was about not being able to pay back the promissory note. I am discouraged you are not informing homeowners with ALL of their options regarding a short sale. Another HUGE option and the BEST option in any short sale (in my opinion) is to work with an investor ... I noticed that you didn't say anything about asking the Realtor to discount the commission as added payment to the lender for a waived promissory note.  more...

Good while it lasted

By Curbed.com, Tuesday, August 11, 2009.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Beverly Hills real estate agent Kyle Grasso and appraiser Lila Rizk have been convicted of conspiracy and bank fraud.

Via the paper: "From 2000 to 2003, the group pumped up home appraisals and arranged straw purchases of houses in Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and other neighborhoods. After obtaining seven-figure mortgages on many of the properties, the agents and co-conspirators defaulted on the loans, taking millions with them and leaving the banks with houses worth far less than their inflated purchase prices."  more...

Aug

10
2009

A new litmus test for mortgage brokers

By Inman News, Monday, August 10, 2009.

Re: 'Why single out mortgage brokers?' (July 31)

Dear Editor:

This is the first time I have ever heard anyone speak up for the brokers. Since the housing market crash, everyone has been blaming the mortgage brokers. Not one broker drew up those guidelines that were made available to the public.

We were given tools to work with that not only did we have to learn to use but we had to teach clients and other professionals who wanted only the end results (closing the deal).  more...

Property portals: Expect casualties

By Global Edge, Monday, August 10, 2009.

When the boom years return to the overseas property market, the Internet landscape will have changed drastically. Nobody will mourn the death of the one-man-band overseas property portal. Scale always wins and history never remembers who came second.

Consolidation is inevitable and the overseas property portal market of the future will be dominated by a smaller number of larger sites and lead-generation networks. Only the biggest brands will be able to charge monthly fees, and their pricing power will be chipped away at by Google real estate as it seeks to eat their lunch.

The overseas property portal as we know it today may soon be dead. In its place, there are likely to be four groups:  more...

Aug

7
2009

Throw away the cue cards

By Inman News, Friday, August 7, 2009.

Re: 'Lights, camera ... scripting' (Aug. 5)

Dear Editor:

Kris Berg hits the apple clearly on the point of how we refer to ourselves within the real estate industry, and thus how our collective mindset translates to the image our clients and prospects perceive. I recently told my broker-in-charge that the No. 1 problem with the real estate profession is that we are all referred to as "salespeople."

Industry training still revolves too much around scripts, handling objections, listening for closing signals, etc. This industry will never be considered truly professional as long as that remains the case.  more...

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