by Jim the Realtor | Jan 25, 2014 | Listing Agent Practices, Pocket Listings, Realtor, Realtor Training, Realtors Talking Shop |
Once lawsuits start flying over pocket listings (which limit exposure, and thus selling price), the practice should end quickly. Agents don’t think there is anything wrong with them because they see so many other realtors doing it – heck, there are websites devoted to pocket listings!
An excerpt from INews:
Their views on pocket listings were refreshing and unequivocal. Osher was particularly frank. The main takeaway: There is no place for “premarketing” or “coming soon” in an MLS-accessible market. If a home is being marketed in any way, it’s for sale. Limiting its exposure puts an agent’s personal financial gain at odds with a client’s financial return.
Possibly more striking was the conversation with Neil Garfinkel, a partner with the law firm AGMB in New York. In his personal opinion, those who engage in pocket listings are opening themselves up to potential litigation. A former client who felt they were led into a practice that didn’t maximize their financial return, and didn’t fulfill the agent’s standards of duty, will at some point be the bellwether for pocket listing litigation in the industry. Real estate licensee duties can be fiduciary or statutory depending on the state, but almost always call for a high standard of care for a client’s well-being.
While the liability discussion on that day centered on a single former client suing their personal agent, there are a number of much larger issues that seem to collide at this one point.
As real estate brokers and agents battle over opening large sets of agent production data to the public, the executives of most of the largest real estate companies seem to be signing on to the idea (Realogy’s and Re/Max’s CEOs concurred at Connect).
It’s becoming clear that the dissemination of agent sales data is becoming a question of “how” as opposed to “whether.”This new look into the practices of real estate agents and their brokerages will allow consumers to see everything their professional service providers do in a new light. Individual sales and practices will be boiled down into averages, probability and patterns.
Read full story here: http://www.inman.com/next/open-real-estate-agent-data-generates-vast-new-liability-for-pocket-listing-brokers-and-agents/2/
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 24, 2014 | Realtor, Realtors Talking Shop |
Just one more Colorado dope realtor story – from Slate.com:
Real estate agent Rona Hanson walks around a suburban home west of Denver that was recently put on the market by another realtor, liking what she sees. The 3,000-square-foot midcentury brick bungalow is in fine shape, with a picturesque horse farm across the street and front-porch views of the snow-topped Colorado foothills. But what most excites Hanson about it, why she’s eager to show it to her clients, is the 50-square-foot bedroom in the far corner of the basement, a bland space with small windows near the ceiling and a basic attached bathroom. Not your typical selling point for a house, but to Hanson, it’s perfect—a perfect grow room for a dozen recreational marijuana plants, the maximum Colorado residents are now allowed to cultivate per household.
The room offers high enough ceilings to accommodate grow lights, has easy access to water and drainage via the bathroom, and the small windows mean minimal aromas attracting nosy neighbors. This is the sort of stuff Hanson looks for. Since Colorado’s legalized marijuana rules went into effect on Jan. 1, Hanson has advertised her services on Craigslist and in the alt-weekly Westword as a marijuana-friendly realtor, helping people find the perfect property to grow marijuana for personal use, under the tag line “Need room to grow?”
“I think I found a niche,” says Hanson, who comes across more like a low-key grandmother than a high-pressure real estate agent or a pot-crazed zealot. “The last few weeks have been crazy. I’ve been getting 10 calls a day.”
To read full story, click here.
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 23, 2014 | Bubbleinfo TV, Real Estate Investing, Remodel Projects |
This appears to be the work of a disgruntled tenant (or former owner seeking revenge), because it looks like the water was turned to full volume upstairs, and flooded through three levels. Hat tip to daytrip!
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 23, 2014 | Local Flavor |
Click on image to enlarge:
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 23, 2014 | Local Flavor |
Hat tip to JT for sending this in from C&RB:
Shifts In San Diego’s Private Club Market Highlighted
More “forward-thinking, contemporary” management approaches that involve “running [clubs] with a little more business sense” reflect movement away from “your father’s country club,” notes a special report that includes insights from GMs of The Farms GC, La Jolla CC and The Santaluz Club.
While there are indications that business is beginning to turn for the better at many of the 20 private clubs in San Diego County, a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune noted, it has become clear that even the most established and stable clubs in the region are “remaking themselves by necessity to adapt to a complicated lifestyle” and a buyer’s market.
In a year that saw Escondido Country Club shutter its doors after 46 years and 51-year-old StoneRidge Country Club in Poway, Calif. get foreclosed upon and purchased off the auction block, other clubs in the county are still running on a razor-thin financial edge, the Union-Tribune reported, and those on the best footing are still taking note of how they need to change to succeed in the future.
(more…)
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 22, 2014 | Wednesday Rock Blogging |
From wiki:
The Jam were an English punk rock/new wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the “angry young men” outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped clothes, and they incorporated a number of mainstream 1960s rock and R&B influences rather than rejecting them, placing The Jam at the forefront of the mod revival movement.
They had 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1982, including four number one hits. As of 2007, “That’s Entertainment” and “Just Who Is the 5 O’Clock Hero?” remained the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK. They released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, The Gift, hit number one on the UK album charts. When the group split up, their first 15 singles were re-released and all placed within the top 100.
The band drew upon a variety of stylistic influences over the course of their career, including 1960s beat music, soul, rhythm and blues and psychedelic rock, as well as 1970s punk and new wave. The trio was known for its melodic pop songs, its distinctly English flavour and its mod image. The band launched the career of Paul Weller, who went on to form The Style Council and later had a successful solo career. Weller wrote and sang most of The Jam’s original compositions, and he played lead guitar, using a Rickenbacker. Bruce Foxton provided backing vocals and prominent basslines, which were the foundation of many of the band’s songs, including the hits “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”, “The Eton Rifles”, “Going Underground” and “Town Called Malice”.
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 22, 2014 | Actives/Pendings, North County Coastal, Sales and Price Check |
We’ve seen how our local market has been split, with the lower end being red hot, and the upper price range is, well, not hot. In talking to RSF agents yesterday, we agreed that the recent frenzy has yet to visit the Ranch.
Here are NSDCC active listings compared to those marked pending in the last 60 days (some of which have already sold).
| List Prices |
#Actives |
$$-per-sf |
#Pendings Last 60 Days |
$$-per-sf |
| Under $1.4M |
246 |
$430/sf |
225 |
$412/sf |
| Over $1.4M |
481 |
$874/sf |
109 |
$716/sf |
66% of the active listings are OVER $1,400,000, and 67% of the pendings are UNDER $1,400,000!
Statistically, the Under-$1.4 group looks very healthy, with almost 1:1 ratio of actives-to-pendings and only a 4% list-pricing gap between those pendings and not.
But the Over-$1.4 group is a mess, with almost 4x as many actives as pendings, and a 22% list-pricing gap between the actives and pendings!
They’re not going to give it away!
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 21, 2014 | Jim's Take on the Market, Sellers Waiting For Comeback, Spring Kick, Thinking of Selling?, Why You Should List With Jim
I removed the ‘Foreclosure’ and ‘Short Sale’ buttons at the top of this website.
The distressed market around NSDCC appears to be over, and while there will be some stragglers, there won’t be any distressed sellers unless, and until, the banks start up the foreclosure machine again.
Literally, there has been zero NSDCC detached homes listed as short sales this year, and only one bank-owned house (which we saw).
With distressed properties off the list, we are back to the Big Three list of serious sellers; death, divorce, and job transfer. These groups are a constant source of homes coming to market, and we know they aren’t just testing the waters.
Are there other serious sellers in play?
Others have said that the move-up market should be lively, and I poo-poo’d the idea just due to the difficulty of selling one to buy another.
But should the move-up-or-downers be considered as the new #4 on the list of motivated sellers? Here are four groups with reasons:
Committed to Long-Term – The primary driving force in today’s market seems to be families looking for a house raise a growing family, and stay forever. Even though I recommend that you should move every 6-12 months, nobody is taking me up on it any more! 🙂
Squeeze to Improve Quality – Anyone who finds themselves in an inferior situation – location, schools, etc. – will endure the inconveniences in order to upgrade. Anyone motivated enough will find a way – and all you need is money.
Inheritance – Those who receive a windfall amount of money will consider upgrading their lifesytle by purchasing a new residence. I’m convinced this has to be a segment of the demand, based on considerably-higher prices paid.
Combining Generations – With the folks getting older, it’s natural for them to consider sharing a residence with the kids to get extra support.
These four groups of potential buyers who need to sell theirs to buy the next house have the necessary motivation to endure the financing hurdles. They would add to both supply and demand, and help build some sales momentum (which could be off to a sticky start here in 2014).
If you are thinking of moving up or down, and want some advice on how to handle the particulars, get a hold of me! jim@jimklinge.com
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 20, 2014 | Sales and Price Check
No surprise that the new year has re-ignited the trend of sellers pushing higher on prices. But ever since mid-2013 when higher mortgage rates doused the buyers’ enthusiasm, the sold pricing has flat-lined:
They show +11.6% increase in December inventory Y-O-Y, but there has been an almost identical amount of new SD listings this month (1732 vs. 1728 through Jan 19).
Might we see a couple of months of suspense as both buyers and sellers stare each other down over higher pricing?
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 20, 2014 | Inventory
The new listings are starting to flow, but few are priced attractively. Of the 243 new listings this year in NSDCC, only 36 have gone pending.
North SD County’s Coastal Region (La Jolla-to-Carlsbad)
The UNDER-$800,000 Market:
| Date |
NSDCC Active Listings |
Avg. LP/sf |
DOM |
Avg SF |
| November 25 |
95 |
$376/sf |
47 |
1,988sf |
| December 2 |
79 |
$371/sf |
50 |
2,047sf |
| December 9 |
72 |
$383/sf |
43 |
1,954sf |
| December 16 |
81 |
$378/sf |
42 |
1,948sf |
| December 23 |
77 |
$374/sf |
49 |
1,937sf |
| December 30 |
76 |
$373/sf |
51 |
1,950sf |
| January 6 |
74 |
$370/sf |
49 |
1,995sf |
| January 13 |
71 |
$381/sf |
44 |
1,921sf |
| January 20 |
72 |
$384/sf |
41 |
1,877sf |
The $800,000 – $1,400,000 Market:
| Date |
NSDCC Active Listings |
Avg. LP/sf |
DOM |
Avg SF |
| November 25 |
245 |
$448/sf |
61 |
2,856sf |
| December 2 |
239 |
$448/sf |
64 |
2,851sf |
| December 9 |
226 |
$461/sf |
65 |
2,812sf |
| December 16 |
211 |
$464/sf |
66 |
2,794sf |
| December 23 |
197 |
$453/sf |
73 |
2,813sf |
| December 30 |
173 |
$450/sf |
78 |
2,821sf |
| January 6 |
170 |
$470/sf |
65 |
2,757sf |
| January 13 |
168 |
$463/sf |
59 |
2,764sf |
| January 20 |
174 |
$444/sf |
51 |
2,882sf |
(more…)
