If the uber-elite believe they need the privacy and are willing to leave mega-money on the table, then fine - pocket all you want. But the typical seller is better served by open-market exposure. All brokerages are getting into the game, and before long, pocket...
Hat tip to Eddie89 for sending in this article on the prospects of Zillow's ibuyer program, which looked a little sketchy to me too until it was divulged that these ibuyers are primarily in it to make the fee income, and if they can make a profit by selling the houses...
The discussion about affiliating with Compass included trying to predict the future of the market, and realtors in general. Historically, there has been a lack of widespread advertising because the realtor business was mostly mom-and-pop operations. But now that big...
When I first started selling homes, most brokerages were mom & pop offices on the local corner. Man, how times have changed. Now, venture capital is flooding the industry, and some outsiders flush with cash are trying to convince you that cheaper is better -...
Here are examples of some of the wacky stuff that happens in this business, and why it's important to get good help: We represented the buyers of House B, whose sellers were buying their listing agent's personal residence (House A). They had included in their listing...
The idea of disrupting realtors has been around for years, but now several companies, backed with mega-millions in VC money, are making a dent. They may not be taking a lot of the business away (yet), but they are being noticed. It appears some of the big...
People question how big of a problem it is that listing agents withhold their listings and sell them before inputting them onto the MLS - which denies their own sellers the benefit of open-market exposure, and potentially a better offer. Above is a sample from today's...
The State of California doesn't have a Code of Ethics..... This article is Part Two of a series arguing for the reinstatement of the Department of Real Estate (DRE)’s code of ethics. If you haven’t already, take a look at Part One, which provides context for the...
The way to sell houses is turning into a jumbo bowl of jambalaya now, and this version toes the fiduciary-duty line by gathering investor offers, instead of making cash offers themselves. Reprinted with permission from the author Mike: A Keller Williams team in...
The thing that got me fired up was Glenn insisting that portals include a mandatory HTML link back to the listing agent (in fact, Redfin authored the new verbiage to be approved by N.A.R.). The current rule is that the listing agent has to be mentioned, and Redfin...
