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economics: @ $170,000 per Sq/Ft.....You Better be Pre-Approved! - 08/25/09 04:13 PM
Another buyer backs out of a deal.
The deal seemed like a dream, 20 competitive bids in a 10 day span, a posh address, and a who's who of neighbors.  In a story right out of the front pages of today's economic reality the seller needed the money to pay the mortgage, not quite a short sale but maybe a distressed property.
I'm not sure of all the particulars but the winning bidder simply canceled with a simple written statement "I am awfully sorry but I need to cancel this because of the paying problem".
Even the dead are victims of the economy.  … (0 comments)

economics: The Lord Loveth the Cheerful Giver...He Must Hate the Taxpayer! - 08/01/09 09:44 PM
This afternoon as I was talking to a friend the subject of taxes came up.  In case you haven't heard Chicago and Cook County, IL have the highest sales tax rates in the country.  I like most people don't pay much attention to the sales taxes most of us pay.  However after today's conversation I decided to look at the reciept for my purchases this afternoon.
A quick trip to CVS to purchase a 2 Liter of Diet Coke, some Bud Light (it is the weekend), a bag of chips, and a smaller bag of chips for my buddy is resulted in … (3 comments)

economics: Yo Cupcake!........Are you a Stalker or Just Kinda Creepy! - 06/25/09 07:35 AM
The other day a buddy of mine sent me one of the best blog posts in the history real estate blogging http://www.1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2008/01/i-am-not-a-lead.html (Thanks Marc for helping me find the post).  In my opinion it sums up the Realtor/Client relationship in the web 2.0 environment we are now living in now, and quite frankly leaving quickly.
It wasn't long ago that we thought our fancy auto responders and drip campaigns where the silver bullet of customer acquisition (Guilty as charged your Honor).  Auto responders, drip campaigns, pictures of our dogs, and an alphabet soup of letters that would make a scrabble champion cry, … (36 comments)

economics: Splits vs. Leads - 05/22/09 02:11 PM
This morning I was discussing the concept of what do real estate agents really need or want from their respective companies, is it tools and systems to generate and capture leads or is it all about the commission split.
Most companies promise some sort of lead generation.  The national brands talk about the consumers predisposition to go with well know brands.  The smaller more boutique offices talk about their brand presence in a certain market segment.  Both of these arguments suggest the agent is willing to give up a portion of the commission for these lead generation tools.  On the other … (4 comments)

economics: Your Tax Dollars & NAR Dues @ Work......Or Not - 04/23/09 01:15 AM
Just what I needed before bed....I get a tweet saying here is a list and map of TARP recipients, http://ow.ly/1YfN . Being the skeptic that I often am I do a Google search for "Firms that received TARP funds" low and behold here is the list http://www.bailout.propublica.org/main/list/index.
The numbers are staggering. 
Not being an economist, I start looking for who do we have to blame.  A quick Google search of "who is to blame for the economic mess" yields the following results:
http://www.moneyunder30.com/who%E2%80%99s-to-blame-for-this-economic-mess
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350,00.html
As I read the Time Magazine article I notice David Lereah the former economist for the National … (2 comments)

 

Jeff Castner

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