Message to Google (See Above*) Don’t be evil. –Google corporate motto I suppose it’s the blogging equivalent of losing an election to a deceased opponent, or “none of the above” on a ballot. What am I talking about? Routinely being buried on Google’s search engine rankings by dozens of other Twin Cities real estate blogs....Read More
McDonald’s, iTunes — and Real Estate Signs In economics, the term “inferior goods” means anything that you consume more of as you have less money. Historically, foods like hamburger (vs. steak), potato’s, rice and the like qualified; today, that would be fast-food chains like McDonald’s, and all the Dollar store chains that appear to be...Read More
Googling (Facebooking? Zillow-ing?) Your Buyer/Seller Financial institutions are subject to something called the “Know Your Customer” rule, to prevent identity theft fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. I’m starting to think that real estate has something equivalent, called the “Know Your Buyer (or Seller)” rule. By that, I mean that I’m increasingly seeing clients “Google”...Read More
A Realtor’s Investing Primer In addition to advising clients on real estate transactions, I occasionally get asked what I think about stocks (that’s what you get for following the market for 40 years — in my case, literally since I was 10 years old). Unfortunately, I don’t get paid for the latter, which allows me...Read More
“What’s Sauce for the Goose . . .” Is it my imagination, or did Google’s home search page just become a Bing look-alike? The latter — Microsoft’s entrant in the all-important “search category” — has famously showcased spectacular natural settings and other arresting scenery on its home page. And now Google does, too. My copyright...Read More
“Rich in Time,” or, Making Lemonade Out of Un(der)employment No, they don’t have a lot of disposable income — that’s kind of the whole point, actually. But it turns out that the nation’s 20 million-plus un/underemployed represent a huge, untapped market — and companies with a recreational and/or social networking angle are catching on. Apple...Read More
