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real estate discussions: 2+2=? Wow! - 05/20/12 12:04 PM
Sometimes I would ask my assistant to check the units for sale in a particular condo-hotel, and she would give me the number, and then, I go on MLS and my number is different. It is because of the way we search. She goes by the name of the condo and checks “Condotel” in MLS. I search by the addresses. Half of the time the results are different. For example, today 6 out of 13 condo-hotels have each one listing, which is not showing up in a “condotel” search. Many agents mark them in MLS as “Condos”. So, if you search … (11 comments)
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real estate discussions: What Is Real Estate? - 12/13/11 10:48 PM
I often read in the descriptions that an agent is offering to work with investors.
Of course, I understand that “investors” is a very loosely defined term. Basically, because a home is often "the biggest investment in our lifetime", everybody buying real estate automatically is an “Investor”.
Well, in that case we all work with “investors”.
There is a category of people who get through the State test, and get a license… and then either never work in Real Estate, or enthusiastically start working on their first cool million and then fade out to the nearest Wal-Mart with guaranteed … (10 comments)
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real estate discussions: RealEstate.com Gold Rush - 12/09/11 10:13 PM
There is a lot of buzz on AR about RealEstate.com. The guys are actively selling the ownership of a whole city. Sounds enticing.
So, I am on RealEstate.com.
I type “Daytona Beach”. Then in property type I pick “Condo/ Townhouse”
18 results. 5 of those are condo-hotels, which is a very different animal.
4 are not in Daytona Beach, but in Daytona Beach Shores, and 1 in South Daytona, which is clearly stated in the address.
So far we have 8 out of 18, which are actually in Daytona Beach, and are condos/townhouses.
Daytona MLS shows 225 condos/townhouses in Daytona Beach … (16 comments)
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real estate discussions: What Is The Language Of Your Business? - 12/07/11 05:38 PM
Two Russians on Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The car stops and the driver asks for directions. Two Russians do not speak English, so frustrated driver leaves.
One Russian to another:
- Everybody say «English... English, you need to learn English...»... Did his perfect English help him?
I read a featured blog today, and remembered this story.
What is the language of our business? Do the parties speak the same business language?
The post is about the lockboxes, and the author's refusal to give the code to an investor, who was standing outside and wanted to see the property right away.
The … (8 comments)
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real estate discussions: I Will Never Pay Full Price… - 12/06/11 10:25 PM
I Will Never Pay Full Price…
I have known this guy for 5-6 years. He is a retired college professor. He and his wife have bought a unit in condo-hotel and live there since then.
Sufficient to say that I do not know of anyone in Daytona area, who has money and lives in the condo-hotel.
Time from time he would start talking about buying, and every time he smiles from ear to ear and tells me that this should be a deal.
And then a new listing pops up in St. Regis subdivision of Venetian Bay in New … (28 comments)
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real estate discussions: Real Estate is Local… Real Estate is Local….Real Estate is Local… - 12/05/11 10:44 PM
Working with a client looking for a house on the Ormond beachside. Inventory is very low, in the under $200K price range there are few houses, and they do not sit long.
We narrowed to 3 houses. A $179,000 house is showing the just value in the county as $151K. The Buyers are making an offer, which is low, but they are open to a counter.
There is no counter. The house goes under contract for way higher than our initial offer. The Buyers are both upset and surprised. Upset that they did not get the house, and surprised that this … (6 comments)
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real estate discussions: Joystick For AR - 11/28/11 11:57 PM
Why Are You So Frustrated With Me?
I posted about Featured Posts on AR, and some of the comments felt like people are frustrated that I spend so much time on it. It also happened with my some other posts. Whoever is frustrated, have all the right to feel this way, but if this is true, then they are wasting their time on commenting… It is simple arithmetic: if what I write is waste zero, then what you comment is waste zero…
I am also puzzled by the notion that there is the one and only way to spend time. For my … (21 comments)
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real estate discussions: Are You A Good REALTOR Or A Good AGENT? - 11/22/11 04:06 PM
A few days ago I ran into a rant about bad agents, which started with “I know I 'm good REALTOR” and a few sentences later “and I'm a real estate instructor myself!”
For someone, who 19 years in this business, and IS AN INSTRUCTOR using the term REALTOR as synonym of “agent” is wrong. But I did not write it to bash the broker, who wrote it. I am simply using this common (very common usage) for my own goals here.
"I am a good REALTOR" in the strict sense of the word only means “I am a member of … (14 comments)
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real estate discussions: We Will Be Old One Day - 11/18/11 09:51 PM
We are getting older, is that the news? Ha-ha… Everybody knows it.
Knows what? That every birthday you are getting one year older? Yes, we all know that. But getting older is not just more birthdays.
Real Estate agents tend not to understand it.
I am in the resort area, and like everywhere in Florida, we have our fair share of retirees moving to spend their silver years.
Showing them properties may pose a very specific problem. It is considered a taboo to use a restroom in the property they are viewing. Every agent would tell you that it is a … (32 comments)
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real estate discussions: Managing Expectations - 11/12/11 12:55 AM
I am following Trip Advisor, a site where you can find information on local hotels, entertainment, restaurants… I read reviews and it is shocking when you read how great the hotel is, and then the next comment is saying that it was plain terrible. You look at the dates, and it is practically the same.
Same thing with restaurants. One is raving about food, service and ambience and the other is about disappointment, mediocre food and poor service…
Were they really in the same hotel, had different level of service? No, it was the same. And the food and service … (24 comments)
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real estate discussions: Show Me the Money - 11/07/11 09:03 PM
Are You A Good Blogger?
Actually, in the context of real estate transactions closed, it is pretty much… irrelevant. Contrary to InmanNext evangelist Chris Smith’s statement that “Blogging is no longer optional”, it is quite optional. I posted Selling or Blogging talking more about what blogging is and isn't.
I guess this is the statement of fashion, as it is surprisingly far from being a statement of fact.
And what even more surprising, it is the contagiousness of something that is so far from reality. Popularity of this motto can only rival lack of common sense. It is not in the … (19 comments)
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real estate discussions: Why Not Take The Money? - 11/06/11 08:49 PM
A fellow Floridian Ron Bolton posted The government considering a new Senate bill designed solely to lure investors.
It is about the bill sponsored by Charles Schumer (d- N.Y.) and Republican Mike Lee from Utah. It would allow US visas to foreigners investing $500,000 cash in residential real estate in the United States.
For some reason Ron blocked comments, and did not allow reblogs, so I can only respond by writing my own blog.
Ron gives the statistics, which shows how much money foreigners invest in residential real estate in US, and it all sounds OK until the last sentence “I … (23 comments)
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real estate discussions: Do you use Virtual Tours? - 11/06/11 12:44 PM
I stopped using Virtual Tours probably 3 years ago. I did it because I noticed that I myself have little patience for them myself, and I am a pretty good sport: I am usually with 90% of the people in regard to tastes and preferences. So, if I do not like them, why should others?
I do not have the patience for these grossly distorted panoramas, boring music; I am no longer fascinated with this pseudo video effect, to me all that movement is annoying. It was cool at the beginning, like every new gadget, but it is not new anymore.
… (20 comments)
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real estate discussions: Smile… It Is a Wonderful Day - 10/30/11 04:04 AM
I posted A $450,000 HOTDOG about a buyer, who signed an offer and left a $10K deposit and a few hours later called from the airport asking to cancel citing that they do not have the money, while we both knew that it was not true.
I was writing it with a smile, but many comments were sympathetic and it was obvious that these situations are often coming not with a smile, but with anger and frustration.
There were rescissions, where I was not smiling at all, where I was mad like hell… Why in some cases we laugh and move … (12 comments)
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real estate discussions: Are You Listening? - 10/23/11 03:24 AM
I might have written about it some time ago, but hey, if I do not remember it, it is unlikely anybody else does.
So, here is the story.
A young (he was my student in school when I was a teacher in the cold Russian Arctic city of Vorkuta) friend of mine, called me a few years ago, and told me he was bringing his son to Orlando, and wanted to come and spend a day with us here in Daytona.
We often talk on the phone, and discuss what we do with our Internet. He told me that he would … (29 comments)
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real estate discussions: Hi! I am Looking For Professional... - 10/12/11 11:21 PM
I am a transaction broker in Florida, and I usually (except for a few short sales which are my listings) work with the Buyers. So, every day I exercise being in the Buyer's shoes. And that's how I usually read real estate blog posts on AR, wearing Buyer's shoes and Buyer's glasses.
So, when today I ran into a blog post which ended with a statement that so and so agent is all about INTEGRITY and ETHICS, I knew right away that this would not be my agent.
Am I against integrity and ethics? Nope. However, when I want to buy a … (16 comments)
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real estate discussions: Are You Stepping On My Toe? - 10/10/11 10:11 PM
There was recently a blog calling for stripping a non real estate content of points on AR. It was featured, and like everything on AR, had a sizable thread with “I agree” comments. I could not believe people would be taking it seriously, but then “I agree” comment in large quantity is rarely a sign of seriousness.
To be fair there were critical comments. And not just a few. The idea deserved much stronger words, than those that were used, but the author still did not like it very much, so he fired another blog post, also featured, this time with even more of … (30 comments)
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real estate discussions: A Wolf and A Sheep. A Real Estate Fable… - 10/09/11 11:58 PM
There was a discussion on AR about BBAs (How Tight Are Buyers' Shoes?), and quite a number of Wolves insisted that BBA is a benefit to the Sheep. I gave a very specific scenario (very real) where Sheep come to this resort area for 2 days very well prepared, having scheduled showings with different Wolves. Not always listing Wolves, but Wolves, whose name was on that webpage, where they saw a condo that they would like to see.
So, in this scenario they follow the schedule and whichever property they like most, they will go to the Wolf, who showed … (6 comments)
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real estate discussions: The Only Reciprocity I Know - 09/30/11 01:23 AM
Finally the stars lined up and closing was in 3 days. And then it stalled when the Buyer's Lender did not send the package to the Closing agent as promised. They got a bit deeper into Master Insurance policy for the Condo Association, and claimed that the replacement cost for the whole building was $400K more than what the association had insured it for. The lender wanted the Association to hike the insurance by 9%, and the association had no intention to increase the insurance per building (and the complex is 12 buildings) by $400K each just because some dude wanted … (14 comments)
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real estate discussions: Why Are You Talking To Me? - 09/29/11 03:26 AM
There was a blog post recently that suggested that we ask our customers/clients how they want to communicate with us. I assume it was about communicating during the transaction. I agree, it is a must.
However, real estate agents consider the client now in a long lasting relationship (usually without asking the client whether this is what they want), and the discussion is not whether it is appropriate to keep bugging the client, but how often is too often. So, the consensus here is that once a month maybe too often, but once every 3 months is cool.
Imagine a cancer … (23 comments)
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Jon Zolsky, your Daytona Beach, Florida connection
Daytona Beach,
FL
More about me…
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL. FunCoast Realty, 386-405-4408
Address: 313 S Atlantic Ave., Suite A, Daytona Beach, FL, 32118
Office Phone: (386) 255-5355
Cell Phone: (386) 405-4408
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