DISQUS

Hi Eric -

I met you at REBarCampLA this week, but (unfortunately) missed your presentation.

I totally agree with you about the long term direction of the real estate industry. The big brokers move too slowly to have leading edge technology - by the time they have tested and approved it, the more nimble independents have implemented and capitalized on it. The best future for large brokerages is to create high quality training that few independents have time to do right. They should probably charge tuition to the new agents who could be trained and supervised by experienced brokers, and generate lowish commissions to pay their overhead. (This could be modeled after some of the beauty colleges where you can get your hair cut, colored, etc for a low price while the trainees gain experience.)

The old justification for the big brokers was providing a known reputation (branding that supposedly stood for something), office space & equipment, and lead generation created by company signs, direct mail and print ads. These benefits are no longer out of reach for the small brokers as prices for equipment have fallen to the point that economies of scale no longer apply, and lead generation is done more effectively through individual marketing using online sources, word-of-mouth, and hyper-local visibility.

I guess my answer is "C" because there are too many other factors to consider.

Depending on the long term viability of an area, the distressed inventory can create opportunities for buyers to get more leverage but you always have to analyze the numbers for each individual home and circumstance.

They're all great! Let's see how many actually come true.

I think that more analytical people will round UP from $5.99 to $6.00, at least that is what I do. But I know from experience that when my husband buys wine for $8.99 (and gets 3 because it's such a good deal) he'll later tell me he "spent less than $25" for the 3 of them, because he remembers the $8 part! (Then I throw cold water on his party when I dig the receipt out of the trash and show him that it was really $29.06 after paying the tax.)

With homes, I usually recommend pricing under any major price-range cutoff points (in $25K or $50K increments). I don't really see much difference in pricing at $455K, $467K, or $474K because they would land on the same list of $450K - $475K priced homes.

When I first started participating in real estate forums on line (back in the mid 1990s) Carlton Sheets was the subject line of many of the discussions. I find it amusing that he's back again.

Hi Lane -
I saw that post, and considered commenting, but couldn't think of anything nice to say. I would not want that over priced turkey showing up in my stats for average days on market, and I would also advise the seller that the 365+ days on the market will hurt the eventual price as well. There is no point in cluttering up the MLS with properties that aren't really for sale and it doesn't make any sense for the seller or the agent to pretend that it will sell.

Hi Joe -

Has this settled in court yet? I think the original language was pretty sloppy - how can it be "on or before" and then "no later than" ? It reminds me of advertisements that say "save UP TO $$$, or more."

In this market, most sellers are doing what ever it takes to get to closing, and many buyers are taking advantage, and dawdling about their close dates. Back in 2005, when it was a seller's market, the buyers knew there were several back-up buyers waiting to pay a higher price, so there were very few late closings. They also knew that the next house they found would be more expensive.

I'm guessing that the seller would win on this, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he didn't!

It really depends on the house. If you have a really unique listing with lots of details, I think you can provide lots of photos, but they should be set in a logical order so the first 10 - 15 should show the basics : exterior, kitchen, entertaining areas, master bed & bath, etc. Then for those who are really interested in the property, or just fascinated with it, they can get all the details in subsequent photos.

In many ways, real estate agents are already working for FREE! Take a listing, and if it doesn't sell, you just worked for free. Work with buyers, drive them around, and if they buy at an open house, or decide to not buy at all, you just worked for free.

I guess if we worked with a contract that just says "Pay me what you think I was worth in the end...." that would be a closer model.

I don't expect that idea to go mainstream with agents!

I think any time one agent has a new "trick" that other agents don't offer, it will give them "an edge." If the question were phrased as "Do you prefer watching video tours?" you might get a different response.

Personally, I don't like video tours nearly as well as traditional virtual tours because you have to wait for it to go in the order that the producer recorded it. Sometimes you want to look at something longer, and other times you want to skip through, and you don't have that kind of control with video.

I'll probably add video anyway to my marketing selections, just because I don't want to be edged out by something that I can easily provide.

Merry Christmas Guys!

I love your expression: "Can’t we all just blog along?"

I really hope you are no longer at that office where the broker stole your listing client! I'm not so sure about the broker's cousin you were working with - was that a referral that he took back?

Office managers who also sell or list, except in the very smallest of companies, make it look like the company isn't successful enough to pay their broker to stay inside and recruit, train, and manage.

Ardell is successful enough that I can understand why she wouldn't want to give up her real estate clients to simply manage, but I wonder if they should really make someone else the "managing broker" and make her the "office mentor."

Great list of ladies! I've read most of them and partied with a few too! Congratulations everyone!