Jeff Castner's (jeffcastner) Blog

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 d...

Just as I was thinking, I haven't written a Blog in a while, my trusty Blackberry gives me the familiar chirp of a text message.  Much too my surprise it is a message from a friend...."Can I buy you a drink or several tomorrow night or the next".  Heck we are in the midst of a recession and I hav...

  Back in the Appalachian region of Eastern Ohio any of the above words would be cause for a playground fight. Dude you are such a Twit!  Tweet, Tweet, Tweet.....shout your mouth!  Quit being such a peep, buckle it up and hit somebody! Boy how 20 years has changed the landscape.  Now if you twit ...

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...

I have recently been doing a lot of thinking about web sites. As a Realtor and more importantly a real estate practitioner, I am starting to wonder the strategy of putting so much time, effort, and money into my web site.  The facts say that I/We need to have a web presence.  But why?  What is th...

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 tal...

I recently came across the term "Disruptive Innovation".  The term was coined by Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen, and describes a process in which a new concept, idea, product, or service takes root at the low end of a market or industry and then relentlessly moves up the preverbal food cha...

To sign or not to sign?  That seems to be the latest controversy within the Chicago Real Estate Community.  Apparently the City of Chicago has had on its books an ordinance that prohibits advertising signs on public property.  Public property certainly includes sidewalks and the like.  As Spring ...

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 n...

Spending the last 10 years in a non residential sales capacity I have forgotten the subtle joys of prospecting on what I like to call a retail level.  Prospecting, cold calling, and knocking on doors at any level is not for the faint of heart.  Being a true believer in the power of the internet I...