Next Stage: Integration + Ubiquity I have a few words of encouragement for Realtors walking around shell-shocked by the (accelerating) pace of technological change in general, and in the housing market in particular: It’s going to get better from here. And easier. That’s because the next stage(s) of evolution likely won’t involve qualitatively new or different technology....Read More
The Human Factor When do you list that duplex? It’s not after the city inspection is done. It’s not when the thermostat finally turns up. If you’re an especially decent landlord/owner (who also happens to be a client of mine), it’s a month from now, when your tenant has recovered from a health problem that...Read More
Make that *200 Mercedes Benzes, at $100k a pop Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? –Janis Joplin; lyrics, “Mercedes Benz” It’s hard...Read More
Pointing Fingers When a politician leaves office under a cloud, they invariably trot out the explanation that they’re “leaving to spend more time with their family.” What’s the equivalent for a retail business? That the landlord’s rent demands are unreasonable. Of course, sometimes that’s actually true. However, especially in a market awash with vacant space,...Read More
Dear MLS: ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ For the record, I was not one of the agents whose “calls, emails, and feedback forms” prompted the local MLS to dramatically overhaul the look and feel of its site. In my — and many other Twin Cities Realtors’ opinion — the old system worked just fine, and the...Read More
What is Your City Telling YOU? I had to chuckle reading a piece titled “”Chicago: The Cost of Clout,” in which the author laments that the reason Chicago’s economy is apparently now lagging is because it exalts the acquisition and wielding of clout above all else. By contrast, other cities focus more on . . . well,...Read More
