The Opposite of “The Birthday Paradox” According to The Birthday Paradox, in a room of just 23 people, there’s a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday. In the world of residential real estate sales — at least in a bigger city — there seems to be something of an anti-Birthday...Read More
Victims of Success? How do Realtors get good at listing presentations? (job interviews for agents to represent a home seller). By doing lots of ’em. New agents have no choice: with no clients, track record, or reputation to speak of, that’s how they land business. Trappings of Success – Literally Now fast forward 5 —...Read More
Taking Advantage of a 1st-Time Buyer (Or Trying To) First-time Buyers may not know prevailing lender fees — but experienced Realtors do. In that vein, a colleague recently reported that, to his chagrin, he discovered that the lender he referred his client to quoted her lender fees (origination, underwriting, appraisal, etc.) easily double the industry...Read More
Politics isn’t the only field that has incumbents and challengers. Real estate does, too. The “incumbent Realtor” is the Realtor who helped the now-selling homeowner buy the home, however many years back; the challengers are all the other Realtors vying for the listing. Average Realtor “Career”: < 2 Years I’d guesstimate that something like one-third of...Read More
What’s That They Say About Messengers? The worst part of my job? (at least the last few years). Telling many would-be Sellers that they’re home is worth $20k — or $200k — less than they thought (and not infrequently, what they currently owe on it). Blunting the sting: the next home they want to purchase will...Read More