Explaining Real Estate Listing Contracts Unlike what I suspect is the vast majority of Realtors, I actually look forward to walking clients through the particulars of a listing contract and the related addenda. It certainly helps that, as a former corporate attorney, I know the history, context, and purpose of the various clauses; too, I know what...Read More
Buyer Psychology Is the housing market in for a double dip? That seems to be the topic du jour, in the wake of the latest Case-Shiller numbers showing renewed market weakness virtually across the country. Personally, I don’t know if that’s in the cards. However, I do think there’s a self-fulfilling quality to the discussion. Namely,...Read More
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
Yields Down in Housing, Too Yield to a saver is how much interest they get on their savings. To an airline or hotel, it’s how much money they make from a given seat or room, respectively. So, what’s “yield” to a Realtor? It’s how many clients they need to be actively working with to net a prescribed number...Read More
“Don’t be a secret agent.” –Marketing advice to all new Realtors It’s drummed into your head from your first day as a Realtor (actually before, at pre-Realtor training classes): ‘Don’t be a secret agent” — invariably followed by, “identify and regularly communicate with your ‘sphere of influence'” (also referred to as your “farm”). It doesn’t have to be geographic —...Read More
(Over)identifying with Home Sellers “Stockholm Syndrome”: a paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express adulation and have positive feelings towards their captors that appear irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, essentially mistaking a lack of abuse from their captors as an act of kindness. –Wikipedia What’s potentially more harmful to...Read More
