Archive for February, 2009

Blog the news

A post that Phoenix-based broker-owner Jay Thompson wrote for his blog, "The Phoenix Real Estate Guy," is turning up on page one of Google search results for "home buyers tax credit" — higher than the IRS, Realtor.org and mainstream news, he Tweets.

The tax credit is a hot topic right now because the new stimulus bill expands the existing $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers (anyone who hasn’t owned a primary residence in the last three years) to $8,000, eliminates a requirement to repay the credit, and extends the previous July 1 sunset to Dec. 1.

That’s not quite as much as the $15,000 credit for all homebuyers that was in the Senate version of the bill, but the news is generating lots of interest on the Net. Thompson demonstrates how to capitalize on such news events: with a thorough, accurate table comparing the existing tax break to the new one.

Thompson doesn’t rank as high if you use the more formal search term, "home buyer tax credit" (with no s after buyer — both searches conducted without quotation marks). Nevertheless, an impressive accomplishment for a blog to land on page 1 of Google search results.

Another facet of massive stimulus bill that you can capitalize on in your blog because it’s getting lost or buried in many news stories: The legislation reinstates the higher $729,750 loan limit in high-cost areas in place for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA during much of 2008 (see Inman News story).

Get more tips on blogging from Thompson and more than 380 other members of Inman.com Real Estate Bloggers group.

Originally by Matt_Carter from Inman Blog on February 16, 2009, 9:23am

The truth about real estate compensation

This month, Inman News is focusing coverage on the issue of percentage-based real estate commissions and other industry compensation practices.

We value your views and insight. Tell us about pressing problems in real estate compensation practices; what is working or isn’t working about commission-based services; compensation trends in your market area; and alternative compensation models — or pick your own topic related to compensation.

We are awarding one free pass to the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco to the author of every guest contribution that is published in full at Inman News.

We are looking for contributions in the range of 500 to 1,000 words, though we will consider entries with more or fewer words. Please do not use these essays as a marketing tool to promote your company or product — such entries will be disqualified.

Some questions to consider:

1. What, if anything, is broken or dysfunctional about compensation practices in the industry? What changes or fixes would you like to see in compensation practices? What are the major barriers to change?

2. What trends do you see in compensation splits between agents and brokers?

3.Are percentage-based commission rates rising, falling, or remaining steady in your market area, and what is driving these trends?

4. What should consumers know about industry compensation practices, and why? What do consumers think they know about compensation practices but are wrong about?

5. What have been the least successful alternative compensation models and why? What have been the most successful alternative compensation models and why?

6. Has technology had any impact on industry practices? Explain.

Please join in the discussion: Click here to share your views and insight with Inman News readers, or send us e-mail.

Originally by Inman_News from Inman Blog on February 10, 2009, 4:18pm

Winner of the Roadmap to Recovery Essay contest

Congratulations to Alisha Alway Braatz, a real estate professional in Bend, Oregon, who submitted the winning Roadmap to Recovery essay "Revolutionary thinking for real estate."

Alisha walks away with the $500 check for her efforts.

Licensed in 2006, Alisha Alway Braatz is a sales associate with Cushman & Tebbs Sotheby’s International Realty in Bend.

Formerly with Sun River Realty, Alway Braatz briefly worked for a small boutique real estate firm before joining Sotheby’s.

To read Alway Braatz’s essay along with the other nine finalists, download the Roadmap to Recovery Top 10 special report; which available for free to Inman News Premium Members.

If you’re not already an Inman News Premium Member, upgrade your account today!

Originally by jburslem from Inman Blog on February 9, 2009, 3:18pm

Lord of the REOs

In another casualty of the housing bust, The Shire, a Lord of the Rings-themed development in Bend, Oregon, has fallen into bank hands, according to the The Bend Bulletin.

The 6-acre property, which only has one-partially completed home and 14 vacant lots, is now on sale for $1.3 million. A public auction in December resulted in no bids which forced lender Umpqua Bank to foreclose in mid-January.

Umpqua had originally loaned developers $3.4 million in 2004 to build out their fantasy "village".

The Shire was conceived as a place where Lord of the Rings enthusiasts could congregate and, as such, the codes, covenants and restrictions of the project reflected this goal.

The CC&Rs promoted the use of English architecture, including unique stonework, artificial thatched roofs, terraced gardens and a network of streams and ponds with a pathway leading to what was called The Ring Bearer’s Court.

In all likelihood however, this vision will never be realized, according to the listing agent.

“The bank is trying to sell it to a single developer,” he said. “The CC&Rs could, in most probability, change.”

Say it ain’t so, Bilbo!

(h/t re: PDX)

Originally by jburslem from Inman Blog on February 6, 2009, 11:03am

Kicking off the real estate commission discussion

We are going to be taking a look at the real estate commission model all month long here at Inman News. You’ll find columns and guest perspectives about the future of real estate commissions, and Premium Members can look forward to receiving an Inman special report, "Is 6 Percent Dead." We will also offer for purchase a special Inman Research Report, "The Future of Real Estate Commissions" later in the month (Feb. 12th and 26th, respectively) - Inman Premium Members receive an exclusive discount off the purchase of this report.

The commission-based compensation model that dominates the real estate industry is something that always garners plenty of debate and discussion. We’ll be your source for much of that discussion and debate during February, but some of it has already started. . .

Real estate agent and AgentGenius contributor, Jonathan Dalton, wrote a post yesterday opening the debate on real estate commissions. The comment discussion that followed is spirited, and well worth a read. It is the perfect warm-up for what is to come here at Inman News.

Originally by RealEstateZebra from Inman Blog on February 4, 2009, 10:41am

Connect NYC 2009 videos are now available!

Videos of the general sessions from Inman Connect NYC 2009 are now available. The videos are available to Premium Members as a member benefit. If you’re not yet a Premium Member, now would be the perfect time to upgrade your membership.

If your experience at Connect NYC 2009 was anything like mine, you probably attended a whole lot of sessions, but couldn’t make it to all of them. These videos will help you fill those gaps. The vidoes are also great even if you did attend the sessions, because you can visit them as many times as you want to reinforce your knowledge and beef up your notes.

The videos include the keynote addresses by Robert Shiller and Gary Vaynerchuk, the very popular and informative "Bulls vs. Bears" panel, "25 Websites to help you find customers and save money in the downturn," and so much more! If you weren’t able to attend Connect NYC 2009, these videos are a great way to catch up on much of what you missed.

Another option for those who want to be able to revist the entire Connect NYC 2009 conference is to purchase a USB key loaded with the audio and video from ALL of Connect NYC 2009. That’s right, on one USB key, you’ll get all of the videos, PLUS all of the audio from the breakouts, workshops, and sponsored intensives. The entire conference, complete and portable! Check out the details and place your order today!

And if attending Connect NYC 2009 has you excited for San Francisco, I’ve got good news– early-bird registration for Connect SF 2009 is NOW OPEN!

Originally by RealEstateZebra from Inman Blog on January 29, 2009, 8:17am

Vaynerchuk, round two

Phoenix real estate broker Jay Thompson tweets that he’s getting a lot out of a podcast interview with WineLibrary.com’s Gary Vaynerchuk that Michael Price has posted to his MLPodcast.com blog. Vaynerchuk takes 30 minutes to expound on his Inman Connect NYC keynote speech.

"Don’t think he applies to real estate? Listen!" says Thompson, who’s PhxREguy on Twitter.

Connect NYC 2009 sessions are now available as MP3s, and videos of general sessions are being added to the site. Check out other Inman News podcasts here.

Originally by Matt_Carter from Inman Blog on January 27, 2009, 1:30pm

A little real estate birdie told me

Wonder what all the fuss about Twitter is about, but clueless about how to get started Tweeting? G. Dewald, director of web strategy at Union Street Media, has opened up two avenues for exploring the social networking tool.

For those who can never be bothered to read the user’s manual, first go get yourself a Twitter account and then check out Dewald’s list of real estate professionals who are using Twitter. The list has grown to several dozen names and is over in the Real Estate Marketing 2.0 group in the Inman.com Community section. Dewald’s made it simple for you to click on a link and start following any of these folks Tweets to learn how it’s done.

If you’d rather get a handle on what Twitter’s all about before diving in, Dewald’s rounded up a comprehensive set of posts on his company blog that explore using Twitter for lead generation, customer service, trend spotting and reputation management. There’s even a list of other Twitter user lists.

So it’s up to you — get schooled or learn on the fly. Oh you can pick up those Twitter icons (above) for your Web site or blog over here, at AODdesign.

Originally by Matt_Carter from Inman Blog on January 23, 2009, 5:46pm

Buffett: Obama best choice to face ‘economic Pearl Harbor’

President Barack Obama takes office today holding the power to unleash the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, and there’s also legislation in the works to provide an additional $825 billion jolt to the economy (see Inman News story).

Billionaire Warren Buffett thinks Obama is "the absolute right commander in chief" for tackling the financial crisis. Excerpts from a transcript of an interview with NBC’s Tom Brokaw posted by CNBC:

BROKAW: I’ve been describing this as the domestic equivalent of war. Is that an overstatement?

BUFFETT: Well, actually, in September I said …. this really is an economic Pearl Harbor. The country is facing something it hasn’t faced since World War II.

And they’re fearful about it. And they don’t know quite what to do about it. And the point is … temporarily it looks like we’re losing. It has that same aspect. Interestingly enough, we were losing for a while after Pearl Harbor. But the American people never doubted that we’d win. I mean, we had that attitude then. I think, right now, that they’re sort of paralyzed.

BROKAW: Is Barack Obama the right commander in chief for the economy?

BUFFETT: He’s the absolute right commander in chief … that’s another thing the American people seem to do, occasionally, is that we elect people that are right for the times. You know, whether it was Lincoln, Roosevelt. I would say Obama … you couldn’t have anybody better in charge.

BROKAW: But why is he right for the times?

BUFFETT: Well, he’s smart, he’s got the right values, but he also … understands economics very well. He’s cool. He’s analytical. But then, when he gets it all thought through, he’s fast — he can convey to the American people what needs to be done. Not to expect miracles. That it’s gonna take time. But that we’re gonna get to the other end.

…BROKAW: The stimulus program, that the new president wants to have, and that Congress is cobbling together, in your judgment is it sound? Are there some things they’re– they should be doing they’re not doing?

BUFFETT: Well, they’re … gonna turn the fire hose on this fire. I mean, it’s a blunt instrument to some extent … but it’s very, very big. We’re gonna have a medicine coming in a dosage we’ve never seen before. But it won’t have immediate impact. It should take time for it to hit the economy in real force. So people should not expect miracles in February or March or April. That isn’t gonna happen.

…BROKAW: Paul Krugman, among others, says we’re not doing enough. That we’ve got to … open the valves even greater than we have been. A lot of people are concerned about the deficit and what the consequences are gonna be down the stream. Are we doing enough?

BUFFETT: I don’t know the perfect answer. Nobody else does either. I mean, Paul Krugman doesn’t know it. And Barack Obama doesn’t know it. And (incoming Treasury Secretary) Tim Geithner doesn’t know it. All we know is we have to do something on a very major scale. And if we find out six months down the road … we’ve gone a little off course, left or right … that can be (adjusted) we do not want to sit around and debate for six months what the perfect solution is.

We wouldn’t know it if we found it. The important thing to do is do what we know we need to do now. And … there will always be critics on that. The important thing is, that the person that’s there takes the action that makes sense at the time. Did we handle the aftermath of Pearl Harbor the next month perfectly? I don’t know whether we did or not. But I would doubt that. You know, somebody now can come up with a better system. The important thing is, we got going.

…BROKAW: But how much money can we print? I mean, the people are already saying, in the latest NBC News Wall Street Journal poll they’re as concerned about the deficit as they are about almost anything else going on in their lives.

BUFFET: They should be concerned about the deficit. But they should be more concerned about getting the economy working right … there are consequences to printing money, and they’re not pleasant.

…BROKAW: (With) Democrats controlling both chambers now, there’s gonna be a big cry for more regulations on Wall Street. For the financial institutions to be more closely supervised. Is that a good idea?

BUFFET: Well, it’s probably a good idea. But I wouldn’t look at that as a panacea. What you have to do, to some extent, is you have to create the right incentives also for those that are running those institutions. And, you know, I’m not sure whether I would shoot the CEO of any bank that went broke or anything. But I would make it much tougher than it’s been in the past to run an institution into the ground. I think there are plenty of things to be done in the boardroom as well as in the rooms of the Senate or the House.