Get your Regression out - 08/14/07 09:46 AM
Last week I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts by Vena Jones-Cox on WKNU Radio.  If you are interested in real estate investing, and haven't checked out the podcast, I highly recommend it.  Anyway, during the episode, a guy called up and was complaining about how, after spending a fortune fixing up his home, he still couldn't get it to appraise above a certain amount.  He was convinced there was a conspiracy between appraisers and banks to keep the value of homes low in his neighborhood.
Apparently, he lives in a very bad neighborhood somewhere in Cincinnati, Ohio.   It … (1 comments)

The Buyer Pays the Commission - Really! - 08/07/07 12:40 AM
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a friend of mine.  When my buddy had been younger, he'd worked with his father building spec homes.  He related to me that his father H-A-T-E-D Realtors, because they were just a bunch of blood suckers who came in and scooped up 6% of the home sale price, for very little work.  His poor dad was a victim of the whole rotten system.I love hearing stories like that, because it presents a great opportunity for me to present my theory about real estate commissions.  My theory is this:  the commission on the … (4 comments)

The Price Target CMA: what would it be worth? - 08/02/07 08:54 PM
Many Realtors are familiar with the CMA - the Comparative Market Analysis.  It's standard operating procedure:  when a home owner is interviewing a Realtor to potentially list their home for sale, most Realtors will provide a CMA that shows what the Realtor believes the property will sell for, given the condition of the property and the condition of the market.In addition to doing CMAs for my sellers here in Santa Cruz county, I also do a CMA for each and every property that a buyer is thinking about purchasing. My clients and I will use this as a guide to determine … (1 comments)