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Agents websites - ugh -
2007-01-26 05:48:02
A search online for real estate agents websites provides dismal results. Not only do most agents not even have a website, but as a whole they seem not to understand the overall significance of the power a website has. To make matters worse the vast majority who do simply buy into these agent template services never really get any results from them and therefore assume that websites are a wasted time and money. These are such a host of problems with these types of websites that I can not go into that here, that’s for another post. However one big problem I would like to mention is a major lack of design. Research shows that a new visitor to a website takes about 4 seconds or less to decide if they are going to stay on that website for any length of time. Now if your website looks like this one you will not have any visitors stay and read through any content you are advertising. Some agents might think that they are selling homes without an online presence so why get one now?, b...
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Buyers / Sellers seizing power
2007-01-26 05:48:02
High tech hitting real estate again in an article from cnnmoney.com Home buyers and sellers have already seized much of the power once in the hands of exclusively of real estate professionals. But they’re about to get stronger still. The changes to the real estate industry have come fast, with listings and valuations tools widely available for free on the Internet. “The rules have fundamentally changed,” said Brad Inman, the host of Real Estate Connect and publisher of Inman News. “Social networking is lifting real estate and in the next 12 months it’s going to overwhelm real estate. It’s been happening since Craig’s List started but it’s only now coming to a head.” In the past, the real estate industry always had a gate-keeper mentality. “Brokers prospered by not giving out information,” says Dottie Herman, CEO of New York based broker, Prudential Douglas Elliman. “Clients came to them for information. This ta...
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Real Estate Logic blog now on Outside.In
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Now find us talking about Reno real estate on the neighborhood website outside.in Also check out homethinking.com 
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Blog , State , Real

2007: A time of widgets and Web redesigns
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Nice article from Glen Roberts of Inman news, The real estate industry, said Conway, “is frankly about Web presence — and anybody who hasn’t figured that out is probably not going to have a business in the next couple of years.” The emergence of faster wireless Internet access will assist agents with work in the field, Borland said. “As time goes on there is more and more of a demand from our agents to having universal access to our data. We’re seeing that becoming more and more prevalent,” he said. Wireless broadband Internet access, he said, “is going to revolutionize the workflow for a lot of agents.” While Zephyr already is partnering to place its property listings information on other sites — including Google’s Google Base classified listings site and Trulia, a real estate-specific search site — Borland said the company is so far undecided on whether to also post for-sale listings information on the Zillow....
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What happened to all the bubble talk?
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Seems that for whatever reason the bubble talk has either significantly slowed or stopped altogether. Looking back I believe that happened sometime mid- December. It is quite possible that most people have finally checked in with reality and realized a real estate correction is not a real estate bubble. They may also have realized the factors to actually create a bubble were never there and it was in fact a 24hr cable news fear story. The bloggers who jumped on that bandwagon have gained what they were after, mostly physcological Schadenfreude to make themselves feel better. I believe there were several levels at work with this fear scam, one of which had to be a ploy so some heavy real estate investors could buy many properties cheap. Very similar to a manipulation of a stock price. Looking back to my blog regarding number of homes in the reno market you can see back in November we were pretty much at normal levels of available stock. Interestingly enough looking at bar graphs goin...
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Double Diamond to Steamboat connector
2007-01-26 05:48:02
For those of you who have not noticed, there is a new connector road being built to connect approximately the middle of Double Diamond Rd at Carat Rd back around to Steamboat Pkwy and exits right behind R.C Wiley. Not that Double Diamond is that busy at all (besides morning school traffic), but this will really reduce the current amount of cars using Double Diamond to access Double R rd. There will also be a second road running from South Meadows east to the edge of the foothills and then south around to the back end of Steamboat Pkwy.
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Real estate agents - technology forcing improvements in customer service
2007-01-26 05:48:02
It is still quite amazing how many real estate agents believe in the business as usual model. Even after the daily onslaught of high tech real estate articles making them aware that they are no longer the sole keepers of real estate data and information. And that they must improve their customer service due to customers awareness of that data and information. Customers demand more, smart agents will improve and change with the times and those who don’t will thankfully put themselves out of business. Real Trends publisher Steve Murray; “Consumers do not, and will not, rely on sales professionals solely for their housing information,” Murray said. “Consumers will increasingly rely on the Internet for their information. Sales professionals who deliver information to consumers via the Web and then provide rapid response to consumer requirements will win the day. “How can the housing industry get better? Murray believes that sales agents can improve their ef...
More About: Technology , Agent , Estate , Real Estate , Techno

Real estate agent deception - code of ethics ?
2007-01-26 05:48:02
This has to be one of the worse displays of a lack of ethics displayed by a real estate agent. This is the kind of thing that gives all the agents bad reputations. A vacant house in Double Diamond had been listed by a Coldwell Banker agent first, the listing then expired. Soon after, sometime in early November a sign came up for a new agent, Bill Custer. That sign had stayed up for a couple of months, interesting enough the sign had been blown very crooked from some high winds, and as a sure sign that the agent could not be bothered to come by to check on his listing, it stayed crooked for approx 30 days. Sometime early January Bill Custer’s sign came down and something else was fastened to the front of the porch. It was a “Public Sale” black and white sign. Now again his personal sign was now gone. At first glance this sign looked like some sort of City of Reno or Washoe County sign that declared this property was going to be sold off as some sort of auction or ci...
More About: Agent , Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Agent , Ethics

Desperation setting in for NAR / Brokers status quo
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Article by Glen Roberts Jr, Inman news: The National Association of Realtors is offering sample contracts that are designed to enhance copyright protection for property information created and collected by its members. The documents include sample agreements between multiple listing services and participants, brokers and agents, and MLSs with vendors and other third parties. John Rees, a lawyer who worked with the association this year to hold workshops, gather input and produce the sample contracts, said he believes there is some urgency for industry participants to better protect copyrighted information associated with property listings, as Internet technologies can spawn a wide array of business models. “The biggest threat is probably what hasn’t been developed yet,” said Rees, a lawyer with the Callister Nebeker & McCullough law firm in Salt Lake City. “The only limit on the Internet pretty much is creativity.” There are many third parties that...
More About: Desperation , Brokers , Tatu , Status , Broker

Excellent resource for real estate consumers
2007-01-26 05:48:02
As the real estate industry continues to be forced to change, here is another valuable source for consumers to use in evaluating a real estate agent. I still wonder how long the real estate profession will try to do things “business as usual” when these powerful online sources keep pushing hard to change the industry for the better.  “what is most important is not how many homes someone has sold, but rather how well service was provided and the level of satisfaction in each service experience.” This is so true, how many agents sell themselves on how many homes they have sold? Check out Quality Service
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Some McAgents and buyers mad at sellers
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Well a quick online search of agent websites and blogs shows some agent and buyers resentment towards sellers. Hey don’t you sellers get it, you need to lower your prices so lazy McAgent s can make a quick buck selling your home. And hey the buyers were told by the McAgents and media that your house is supposed to be 10-20-30-40% less. Well guess what the vast majority of sellers are not desperate in any way, and will not be coerced into selling their homes for an artifical low price, because McAgents and buyers want them to.
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Online real estate
2007-01-26 05:48:02
The online real estate revolution is coming fast and furious. Many agents will be left in the dust. The power that brokers / agents had because they “owned” a listing is fast coming to an end. It will be very interesting to watch how this all unfolds, but you can bet it will be a very different game. From Tribune News: Internet searches multiplyThe Real tors’ Multiple Listing Service, once a closely guarded list of homes for sale by professionals, is widely available at many Web sites. And new online services launch almost weekly. The National Association of Realtors estimates that three of every four home buyers use the Internet to search for a house; every month, about 16 million people browse the group’s property listings online.Almost eight of every 10 real-estate firms have a Web site, half of which have been up and running for more than five years.“We’re moving down the Internet highway, and now we’re moving a lot faster,” said H...
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1.2% is not 15% or 20%
2007-01-26 05:48:02
From NAR: Home prices also dropped: The realtors’ survey showed that the midpoint price for an existing home sold during the summer dipped 1.2 percent year over year to $224,900. Wait we were all told that prices dropped by at least 15%. Those pesky facts getting in the way of agendas again.

WSJ says worst is over - hard to actually call it worst
2007-01-26 05:48:02
The Wall Street Journal released its housing market survey today. And the economists they surveyed said the worst is already over in the housing market by a margin of 2 to 1. But I am sure that buyers are still waiting for a sellers market to buy.
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Mountain Gate - right homes wrong location
2007-01-26 05:48:02
I had a chance to visit the new Ryder homes development of Mountain Gate in Reno NV. While I am a fan of Ryder homes, they are a cut above of new home builders. Typically the models were well designed and had features that many new home buyers require. I especially loved that the homes were built using a subfloor with crawlspace above the concrete slab. This enabled them to place all the ductwork under the floor and have the heat exchanges also in the floor. This way the heat will normally rise up instead of attempting to blow it down, and provide a more comfortable floor. The homes are also on the McMansion large size with the smallest at approx 2800 sq/ft. Now the downside, while these are nice homes the location is horrible. They are pearched on land that is completely a field out in the open. There is really no protection at all from the winds that scream east down from the mountains. The wind has an un-obstucted path right to the homes. Ryder has attempted to minimize this by c...
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Curti Ranch post again
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Seems that many people are still not aware what is going on down there. So I am re-posting a couple of important links. Latest RGJ article mentioning 225ft high casino tower O.K’d by city council  Website by concerned citizens A great link for new home buyers
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The disconnect between favorable homebuying conditions and buyer paralysis
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Another great article by realtytimes columnist Blanche Evans. She is usually right on target, and is again with this article. I started to suspect the same collusion between the mainstream media and stock brokers last year. Ask yourself, when do they ever say “now is not a good time to buy stocks”? Nope, never, apparently its always a good time to buy a worthless IOU piece of paper from them. “After scaring homeowners, buyers and sellers witless for the last three years, the financial press and stock analyst economists contributed mightily to the decline of housing in 2006, where homes have lost value recently for the first time since the National Association of Realtors began keeping records back in 1968. Now these same self-serving analysts, who would like to see day-trading home investors pour their money back into stocks, are saying the worst is over, according to a new Wall Street Journal Online survey.” Read the whole great fact filled article here, (fa...
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London England blogger tells you about Reno real estate
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Searching through some top visited blog sites brings up some interesting information. One blog (that shall remain nameless) that really irritates me is from a blogger located in London U.K. Apparently he knows more than those of us living in Reno. He has posted a few times “informing” us in Reno what our current real estate market conditions are. In reality he is just regurgitating the agenda driven mainstream media negativity AND then using it to cash in on. Be aware you are being used by people like this. I guess they did a good job ruining their own country, now they want to try and ruin ours.
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Online real estate again
2007-01-26 05:48:02
RISMEDIA, November 28, 2006? Not long ago, real estate broker Rudy Mayer got a call from a man in Paris who saw a $650,000 Concord Street (Nashua, NH) home listed on Mayer’s Web site. “He flew in on Saturday and bought it on Saturday afternoon,” said Mayer, of the ERA Masiello Group in Nashua. That would have never happened if it wasn’t for Mayer’s Web site, www.rudymayer.com, which went up seven years ago. “I probably get 75 percent of my customers from the Web site,” Mayer said at a recent open house. “You don’t get any walk-ins anymore. That’s gone.? “If I didn’t have my Web site, I’d probably be dead in the water.” Real estate has gone from days of paper listings to virtual Web sites, and industry professionals are adopting the latest technology. While Rudy’s website is an example of what not to do in website design, he is on the right track.
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Online , State

Top 10 scams from Clark Howards website
2007-01-26 05:48:02
If you don’t know who Clark Howard is, then you should check him out at his website. What I find interesting about his scam list is the number of financial broker type schemes. These seem to be very closely related to the “its always a good time to buy stocks (worthless IOUs)” crowd, the same analysts who like to beat up the real estate market to persuade you to buy into their scams. Looks like buying real estate for investment or to just plain live in, is still the best and safest investment you can make. Top 10 list of scams, schemes and scandals, provided by the state regulators who watch over financial analysts and brokers. Drum roll please?. The No. 10 scam is variable annuities. If you don?t know what these are and you don?t have any, good. If you do, you don?t want to put any more money into these plans. They have massive commissions and are absolutely horrible for your wallet. No. 9 are scandalous mutual fund companies. No. 8 is Internet fraud. No. 7 are ?h...
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Ironies of the bubble blogs
2007-01-26 05:48:02
I really enjoyed reading this blog post on Mediashift by Mark Glaser. It defines exactly what is going on, and what I have been also trying to enlighten readers about. Schadenfreude is exactly what is happening with the bubblistas. It is in especially poor taste when the McAgents are trying to caplitalize using it. “One of the ironies of the bubble blogs is that some of the money they make is from Google ads for realtors or mortgage brokers who want to sell, sell, sell! In other words, while the bubble bloggers are warning people against buying properties, their ads are promoting buying properties.” ?The bubble blogs feed the intense desire many people have ? including those who got burned investing in real estate, and first-time home buyers who feel they?ve been priced out of the market ? to see housing prices crash,? Carter told me via email. ?As was the case during the dot-com bust, people who got left behind want those who were riding high during the boom years to fe...
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Sorry bubblistas, facts in your way again
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Just released From the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO): Ranking House price index for 275 cities, Reno/Sparks comes in at #180 with 1 year price appreciation @ +4.12%, 3rd quarter down (hold on) a whopping -0.73% AND a 5 year price appreciation of +100.08%. Again another fact flying in the face of the bubblistas and their friends the McAgents. How can you possible spin this to a negative. Well I guess if you are a “financial analyst” you can spin this around to try and sound bad, of course this would be outstanding news in their eyes if it were about their stocks.  You see the bubbistas jump on the case of a few people that had to sell cheap. They purposely and fraudulently report this as the mainstream event. Probably because of that Schadenfreude thing again. They can’t come to grips as far as Reno goes, that prices are not ever going to fall 20-30% or in some wishful thinking, 50%. Unfortunately for a lot of buyers they will have missed th...
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Great interest rates - will buyers notice?
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Long-term mortgage interest rates fell further Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield edged up to 4.44 percent. The 30-year fixed-rate average dipped to 5.58 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate sank to 5.34 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.28 percent. Overall mortgage application volume increased 8.1 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, inspired by a significant drop in interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.
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What does a proper real estate agent website look like
2007-01-26 05:48:02
If you were to search for a real estate agent online, you would be confronted with some very poor, messy, linkmania templated junk. Most are templates from a few businesses that sell a pre-packaged deal. Others are attempts at a custom website but unfortunately fall short. Both versions give the agents an un- professional look. I am not knocking these agents, I don’t know them at all. Just commenting on their websites as a what not to do. Compare maureen loeb’s and bill custer’s websites. They both give me a headache, where do you begin with these? Now have a look at a agent from Chase International. This is a proper web2.0 css type website. If you knew nothing at all about the agent and started to narrow down your search for one, which agent would you most likely contact? This post ties in with a previous one here
More About: Website , Agent , Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Agent

Real estate technology and buyers
2007-01-26 05:48:02
Nice article shedding much light on where the real estate market is heading. From AP, NASHUA, N.H. –John Sobecky found his condominium on the Internet, financed the sale over the phone and spent only three hours on the walkthrough, inspection and closing. A recent National Association of Realtors survey showed that 80 percent of home buyers used the Internet to search for a home in 2006 compared with 2 percent a decade earlier. Web sites are replacing paper listings, and in the newest technological twist, some real estate agents offer podcasts of their properties as well. Read the whole article here  
More About: Technology , Estate , Real Estate , Techno , Tech