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Blog Details for "Blue Collar Agents"
Blue Collar AgentsBlue Collar AgentsA blog about discount real estate brokers and agents. 
Articles
Dang it. I meant to hit forward, not reply all
2008-06-07 17:55:00 Angelo Mozillo, chairman of Countrywide, called a customer seeking loan modification “disgusting,” when he accidentally replied to his email rather than forwarding it to his staff. The customer had gotten Mozillo’s email address off of Loan Safe (a forum I blogged about earlier), and then used one of the Forum’s templates to request the modification. View the entire ... More About: Foreclosures , Mortgages , Forward
Hands down the best thing I?ve downloaded all year
2008-05-29 21:57:00 If you do not have Xobni, you must get it. I could give an elaborate dissertation on how amazing it is; however downloading it says it all. Your email will never be the same. More About: Cool Tech , Hands , Thing , Year
Las Vegas Discount Realtors
2008-05-27 01:39:00 This quoted paragraph was part of an article I recently read from a Las Vegas Real Estate Agent and the following was my response: ?Many Las Vegas Discount Realtors , not all of them, just place their listings in Multiple Listing Service and wait for another Las Vegas Real Estate Agent to bring them a buyer.? Let the games begin! Most ...
An overdue welcome
2008-05-08 05:06:00 I want to extend an overdue welcome to Blue Collar Agent’s new friend and co-author Richard Brain. Richard joins us from the steaming hot Las Vegas real estate market (or is that a steaming hot foreclosure market? I sometimes get those mixed up. wink. wink.). He is the founder and owner of exposemyhome.com Richard first caught ...
Alliance is key!
2008-05-04 04:00:00 This is my debut article on BCA. I’m very happy to be here and I’d like to thank Trevor Smith for accepting my offer to be an author. I was recently asked what I would consider a strong Internet presence. The following was my response: I remember reading in Napoleon Hills classic, Think and Grow Rich, ... More About: Alliance
How to offer full price on a listing, have a 6 month escrow period, spend $
2008-05-03 19:58:00 Recently Redfin limited the types of short sales they service. To some this may seem “anti-consumer” in that we are limiting the choices of what our customers can make an offer on. However, I believe this is the most pro-consumer thing Redfin has done since rebating 2/3rds of its Buyer’s Agent Commission. Here’s why: By making an ... More About: Foreclosures , Price , Mortgages , Listing
The Loss Mitigation Smack Down, How to get the Email Address for Countrywid
2008-05-02 00:52:00 For real estate agents negotiating a short sale, or assisting someone with a forbearance or loan modification, I have found the website of all websites for info on cutting through the red tape and getting things done at a Bank’s Loss Mitigation Department. The website’s name is LoanSafe.org and the people there don’t mess around. For instance: Not getting help ... More About: Email , Foreclosures , Mortgages
The Appraiser from Hell, the subprime mortgage crisis, and how upgraded kit
2008-04-07 18:37:00 My wife and I are refinancing our house. Wait. That isn’t quite right. Let me try again. My wife and I are making a valiant attempt at refinancing our house. However there has been some…. ummmm….. hiccups. Last week a friendly elderly gentleman pulled up to our house in a 1995 Ford Taurus. He seemed innocent enough ... More About: Foreclosures , Mortgage , Hell , Subprime , Crisis
Consumer Tip of the Week: Don?t treat buying a house like your Divorce Proc
2008-03-24 16:14:00 One of my favorite country songs is “Going through the big D and I don’t meet Dallas.” Its a man telling his sob story about all the things he lost in his bitter divorce with his wife. Here’s a sample: Six short months we went together Decided it should be forever Two paychecks are better than one A diamond ... More About: Divorce , House , Buying , Consumer , Week
Eating Humble Pie
2008-03-22 01:31:00 In my post about acknowledgements and apologies, Mark Daugherty left this comment: Perhaps one of the reasons you conflict with other agents is your ?holier than though attitude?. When you repeatedly post that agents who work on commission have less integrity that those who are paid a salary, you should expect some ruffled feathers. You have ... More About: Eating , Humble , Humble Pie
Sorry
2008-03-21 03:43:00 As Easter approaches and I sit and listen to my Johnny Cash gospel songs, the topic of forgiveness enters my mind. How much we need it - from God, from people, from my pet hampster I forgot to feed in 5th grade, and how much we need to give it to those who have hurt us. Forgiveness ... More About: Real Estate
Quaint Hobbit Furniture or Fraud?
2008-03-15 06:56:00 I recently had a client complain to me that a builder was using fake twin beds (about 3/4th the size of real twin beds) to make an incredibly small bedroom appear larger. What do you think? Mildly tacky staging technique or full blown fraud? More About: Fraud , Hobbit , Furniture , Staging
Ten Reasons Agents should be salaried
2008-03-10 04:21:00 1.) Agents could give clients objective advice without the fear of losing their paycheck if the deal doesn’t close. 2.) The responsibility of MLS dues, NAR fees, and other fees would likely move from the Agent to the Broker. 3.) Agents would have an easier time obtaining health insurance. 4.) Agents wouldn’t have to use stated income mortgage programs ... More About: Real Estate , Reasons
If you live in the Rain City, like beer (or mexican food), and are curious
2008-03-10 03:09:00 ….then this event’s for you. More About: Food , Mexican , Curious , Beer , Rain
Consumer Tip of the Week: Buying a Short Sale
2008-03-09 22:15:00 A short sale is a property that is being sold for less than the seller owes on their mortgage. Selling a home as a short sale is generally the first step a homeowner takes when they are given foreclosure notice. With the high rate of foreclosures in the United States, short sales are on the rise. Short sales tend to ... More About: Buying , Foreclosures , Consumer , Sale , Week
An SEO Experiment
2008-03-09 18:20:00 Last week I decided to shut down Blue Collar Agents root website. It was a directory for discount real estate agents. All I did was go to my hosting dashboard and forward www.bluecollaragents.com to www.bluecollaragents.com/wordpress. This was more of a housekeeping mission than anything. What I didn’t realize though was how this move would effect my ... More About: Google , Experiment
A great discussion is going on at Bloodhound Blog?
2008-03-09 04:16:00 ….about the merits of eliminating state licensing laws. Though I disagree with her point, Teri Lussier has orchestrated a superbly written post on the subject…. More About: Blog , Great , Discussion
Something is just not right here
2008-03-08 05:44:00 With the revamp of the BCA template, I began displaying photos from real estate photographers on Flickr. I love these photos. 99.9% of them make me pine for a national MLS so that I could look up every listing and daydream about the possibility of making them mine. However, there are a few that I say to myself, ...
Why clients need the Power of the Donald
2008-03-08 05:12:00 Greg Swann in his interview with Real Estate Radio today reminded me about something that I hadn’t thought about it in a while: The firing clause. I believe the firing clause is an essential practice for any agent who desires to be consumer friendly. Essentially, the firing clause is just that, a clause that allows a client to fire ... More About: Power , Clients , Redfin , Donald
No Cold Calling and Free Lunch?. Redfin is Hiring
2008-03-07 02:27:00 Redfin is in the process of taking resumes and interviewing Agents in Seattle (and likely San Francisco, SoCal, Boston, DC, and Chicago, but I am not in the loop with those markets). We recently had a contest to write a job posting that realistically represents what we do at Redfin. Here is what I came up ... More About: Lunch , Free , Cold , Redfin , Hiring
Shut er Down
2008-03-05 18:44:00 Believe it or not Blue Collar Agents didn’t begin as a blog, it began as a directory of discount real estate agents. Today I decided to allow this directory to die the natural death it deserves. From now on if you go to www.bluecollaragents.com you will be re-directed here (www.bluecollaragents.com/wordpress). If you never got a chance ... More About: Shut
Why Sergey and Larry would have a hard time with Trulia and Realtor.com
2008-03-05 01:28:00 From Google Corporate Information: From its inception, Google has focused on providing the best user experience possible. While many companies claim to put their customers first, few are able to resist the temptation to make small sacrifices to increase shareholder value. Google has steadfastly refused to make any change that does not offer a benefit to ... More About: Time , Larry , Hard , Realtor
Defining Online Real Estate
2008-03-04 22:29:00 One of Redfin ’s biggest criticisms is that we are simply a discounter in Web 2.0 clothing. All along Redfin has come back and said - we’re not a discounter, we’re an online real estate brokerage. Unfortunately, this was like telling someone from Christoper Columbus’ time that you’re a race car driver or an astronaut - it sounds ... More About: Estate , Real Estate , Online , Real
You Walk Away: Foreclosure with Sunshine and Puppy Dogs
2008-03-04 03:50:00 You Walk Away, LLC, has been gaining national media attention for their rosy approach to foreclosure. So far, they have been on Nightline, NPR, CNN Money and a host of other local California TV and radio stations. So, I guess I have three thoughts on You Walk Away, or as Ira Glass would say, Three Acts: Act One: Genius I have ... More About: Dogs , Foreclosures , Foreclosure , Sunshine , Puppy
Consumer Tip of the Week: The Do?s and Don?t?s of Marketing Remarks
2008-03-02 21:10:00 If you are selling your home For Sale by Owner, or even if you are using an Agent, great marketing remarks are second only to photos for bringing potential buyers to your home. Here are some do’s and don’t’s of great marketing remarks: DO: Include price, bedrooms, baths, square footage, and perhaps lot size if you are writing marketing ... More About: Marketing , Consumer , Week
Inman gets a Makeover
2008-03-01 19:47:00 I love it - Absolutely love it. More About: Makeover , Inman
What I have against conferences?. I?ll give you a hint? Ronco
2008-03-01 06:07:00 Brian Brady ended his very light hearted comment on my post about Zillow losing its virginity to the real estate industry with this question: Are you coming to Unchained? The question was innocent enough. So I faked an innocent enough answer: So, I wasn?t planning on coming to Unchained unless Glenn will let me off work. Glenn? but I have ... More About: Real Estate , Conferences , Give , Ronco
My Side of the Mountain: A Photojournal, Part 2
2008-03-01 02:42:00 My side of the Mountain is a photojournal of developments being built near my home at the base of Mt. Rainier. These photos illustrate my struggle of being involved in an industry that backhandedly supports urban sprawl. Before being washed away by the rain, this public notice gave detailed plans for hundreds of homes which will be built on ... More About: Builders , Part , Side
Coldwell Banker?s (Dead) Founders write a blog
2008-02-28 00:23:00 hmmmm. Hat Tip to Joel More About: Write , Blog , Dead , Banker , Founders
Innocence Lost
More articles from this author:2008-02-27 20:56:00 Despite their zillions of dollars in venture capital (really millions, but I couldn’t help myself), their well known founders, and having slightly better digs than Redfin’s humble abode, I have always thought of Zillow as a bright eyed, innocent start up. Now trust me, I know this is not a reasonable feeling given the fact that they ... More About: Lost , Innocence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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