We covered in my four-part series that there is a vicious undercurrent of fraud and deceit being imposed upon buyers and sellers alike, and that drastic action is needed to stop it. But such action is unlikely to happen - at least until the district attorney has a...
This is the fourth installment of my essay on the future of real estate sales. I'll send this along to Brad Inman, who is gathering thoughts for a leadership conference at the end of March, so they have my perspective from the street. In summary: The unconscious...
When I first started this blog on a Saturday morning in September, 2005, I thought I needed to hurry up before every agent was blogging. Wouldn't this be a great vehicle to educate consumers and demonstrate our expertise? Certainly, every agent will be doing it!...
Redfin publishes their commission rate on their website, and it makes sense. All brokerages should make it easier for the consumer to evaluate the choices. Here are my commission plans for home sellers: Full Service - Expert (2% to 2.5%) I handle all of the critical...
Typically, if you want to know what a realtor does to sell your house, you have them over to make a listing presentation in person. Because of antitrust laws that 'promote fair competition for the benefit of consumers', the commission rates charged by realtors are...
A reader sent these in: Jim – I have two questions. Do you think that technology has helped the more successful agents to the detriment of the lower half of the agent pool who have less $ to invest in things like Zillow’s premier agency and what not. And if the haves...
Somebody needs to say something, so I guess it will be me. Though I'm still shocked that realtors and their management are willing to stay this quiet, for this long - their silence is deafening. The disrupters are the only ones doing the talking, and because no...
We see agents take great delight in pushing 'off-market' deals as a vehicle to double-end commissions, while industry bosses look the other way. Might these two congressmen stumble upon it, and decide to do something? Seen at I-News: NAR general counsel Katie Johnson...
Real estate films are getting better and better, and the length here is perfect - just enough to wet your whistle:
Yesterday I sent a note to the C.E.O. of the National Association of Realtors to counter the idea that home values will be going down 8% to 12% this year. I've been asking for two months - show us your math. Here it is - see link below. They commissioned a study by...
