“Realtor” vs. “Real Estate Agent” vs. “Executive Realtor” (Huh?!?) I know the term “Realtor®” — it’s actually a trademarked name that refers to someone who belongs to the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”). Then there are plain-old real estate agents — licensed professionals who don’t belong to NAR. Similarly, the terms “agent,” “sales associate,” “broker”...Read More
“You Know a Housing Market’s Hot When . . .” I’ll occasionally get marketing pieces from agents active in Scottsdale, Florida, or other warm spots Minnesotans are known to congregate, especially in the (very) cold winter months. But, I don’t recall getting a pitch from someone based in Denver, soliciting referrals, like the one I got...Read More
Housing Market Micro-Statistics [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced.] Yeah, yeah, I know all about the S&P/Case-Shiller index, the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index, the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors’ monthly sales statistics...Read More
The Ultimate Reality Test? Reality “And yet, it moves.” –What Galileo Galilei supposedly murmured on his death-bed, after being forced by the Church to recant his belief that the earth moves around the sun. What is the ultimate rebuttal to housing bears, who maintain that the housing market isn’t going up, but even if it is,...Read More
S&P Case-Shiller: ‘Home Prices Rose 1.3% in April’ It’s well-known that various housing market cheerleaders (the National Association of Realtors; your friendly local Realtor?) have a tendency to put a positive spin on housing sales statistics. But, prominent housing bears tend to do the opposite (would that qualify as “backspin??”). Exhibit A: Barry Ritholtz’s take...Read More
It’s been said “there are no atheists in foxholes.” Apparently, the economic equivalent is “there are no true Free Marketers during depressions,” either . . . –Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture Regular readers know I’m a big fan of blogger (and fellow former attorney) Barry Ritholtz (“The Big Picture”). Quotes like the one above are...Read More