real estate opinion: Is Stupidity The Only Reason?
- 05/07/13 07:30 AM
We know that real estate is local, and yet reading blogs on AR we run into statements, which are very general and often are very judgmental.
Often times reading comments, you see that we judge as if we have the exclusive on the truth….
And, of course, this truth is convenient for the agent or reflects his or her beliefs. It may be about lockboxes (of course, it is the only way to go), or use of Buyer Broker Agreements (you are crazy if you do not use them), or bonuses to selling agents (it is unethical and they will … (51 comments)
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real estate opinion: Free Real Estate Advice. Yes...No…Maybe?
- 05/13/10 05:44 PM
Mini Samuel posted FREE REAL ESTATE ADVICE? NOT!
It is about the situation when you get call asking for advice about a real estate transaction while you do not work with the caller.
I do get such calls and it depends on the situation. I can be from my friend, who is not in this area, and calls me about a sale or purchase in some other state, and I am usually torn between trying to help them and the feeling that they should not have asked me as I do not know how things should be done there. For … (10 comments)
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real estate opinion: Staying In The Way Of Tsunami
- 07/12/09 04:09 PM
Just wanted to say that we are unrealistic, when we are demanding that people act honorably in this economic crisis.
Yes, lenders were pressed to start serving those who were, let's say, risky borrowers, but once started, then whoever joined, were getting loans right and left.
When we open the floodgates, the water rushes through and it takes everything with it. You may try to resist, but the mighty power of the flow will suck everyone into it. It is like staying in the way of a tsunami...
I think we opened the floodgates without any exit strategy, any idea how it might affect us … (12 comments)
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real estate opinion: To Pay Or Not To Pay...Why Are We Angry?
- 07/11/09 04:08 PM
The discussion about walking away from paying what we promised to pay did not leave us indifferent, absolutely not.
I think there is some unity in treating it the way that if you can pay, you have to pay, but if you can't pay, than family is more important, and you can walk away from the financial obligations. If this was business only, take the calculator, but than it does not matter whether you can or can't pay. It is what your calculator tells you.
And if we agree to use calculator in one scenario, but not in another, then this is a moral issue … (11 comments)
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real estate opinion: Show Me The Soul...
- 07/08/09 11:30 AM
It is an interesting journey, started with Richard Zaretsky's blog "WALK AWAY FROM THE PROPERTY - STRATEGIC MORTGAGE DEFAULTS GROW TO 26%", then Bryant Tutas accelerated it to a fascinating discussion with his Morally Wrong....OR...Financially Sound? . I bounced of it with Painfully Adjusting to the World.
Some great comments. Like this one below made by Lenn Harley. It is a strong and unforgiving account of the mess we are in. Lenn's position, often seen in bits and pieces in other comments, is spelled here clearly and with conviction. For those of you, who did not read the blog and comments, here is Lenn's comment :
Show … (48 comments)
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real estate opinion: Keeping Your Mouth Shut Is Not Always A Virtue
- 06/20/09 06:52 AM
I noticed Heather Oberhau when she got into a heater exchage on one of my controversial (oh, well...) blogs. Not only it was flattering that she one of very few people who agreed with me, but she showed a very independent mind and strong conviction.
So, I ventured to read her blog, and it happened to be Ew! Dahling, you don't want to live THERE! I was reading it, and felt like a rush of cold air was creeping up my spine, and a sudden emptiness in the stomach. How on earth could I be so dangerously wrong all the time?
Comments … (7 comments)
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real estate opinion: Show Me The Money... Or No Showing
- 06/01/09 11:11 PM
Lynn A. Crosby published a blog Real estate agents across the country can we ALL WORK IN CONCERT say NO I will not show a property unless as the buyer can show "proof of funding"
As you can figure from the title, it is a call to all of us to be unified and demand the proof of funds from the buyer before showing them the properties. And the comments came as no surprise, all in unison. And I usually do not like unisons that much,
I felt that it was a pity they were not in my home town as I could … (73 comments)
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real estate opinion: Does The Buyer Need To Know How We Operate?
- 04/15/09 06:32 PM
Amy McAllister in a post Some buyers just don't get it wrote about the frustration with the buyers who hop from one agent to another and even look at houses with several agents.
We all have these frustrations on a daily basis, and it is easy to get upset with the buyers. Why is it so difficult for them to do it the RIGHT WAY?
So what is the right way? We already know the answer from the agent's point of view. But we are not the ones who open the checkbooks. So what is their point of view? All we need … (33 comments)
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real estate opinion: What to Blog About...And How
- 03/18/09 07:50 AM
Disclaimer: If I knew the right answer, my name would be Lenn Harley. But I don't, and my name is Jon Zoslky. However it was me, and not Lenn, who was asked "How does anyone know what exactly to blog about, that's what I'd like to know, and how do we keep from repeating the same information over and over?" in a comment to my blog How To Decipher AR Statistics about Missy Caulk's milestone achievement.
William Walton, Sr. asked me that question. What to write about is the question that nobody can answer. It something that you know, passionate about and feel that … (82 comments)
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real estate opinion: How To Decipher AR Statistics
- 03/17/09 05:08 PM
Regularly I see blogs, when members reach some milestone. 10,000 points, 100,000 points, or 400,000 points. We all know that AR points are not more than signs of persistence, achievement, abilities, experience on AR and, well, sort of worthiness. But points is only one item in Member's statistics. Let's look at the latest example and see how to read the stats.
Missy Caulk reached an important milestone. She surpassed 400,000 AR points.
400,000 points is a huge number, and she deserves every good word she is getting. I am glad to be one of those who is happy for her.
However, the points are not everything. … (28 comments)
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real estate opinion: Are We In Real Or Unreal State Of Mind?
- 03/06/09 03:34 PM
Lenn Harley wrote a blog THE BANKRUPTCY CRAMDOWN MORTGAGE MODIFICATION JUST MIGHT. . . . .
I must admit that I am not a big fan of this idea that bankruptcy judge can now bring the balance of the loan closer to its market value. Well, if we think that judges are G-ds, you are entitled to your opinion. Reading comments made me believe that everyone (except one comment) is in agreement. Nice. We are so compassionate. Just change the laws so that "ordinary" folks get some relief. Excuse me, are these the same folks that took the loan and promised … (27 comments)
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real estate opinion: Looking For Logic? Wrong Place
- 02/24/09 10:59 PM
For several years after immigrating to US we were loyal AT&T customers. One of the problems was an extremely high rate for the calls to Russia, I think $2.25 a min, and we had to call, even though these calls were so expensive.
Because of technical problems on the Russian side, you had to keep dialing until you get through. On the bill these attempts were shown as one minute, the smallest time frame by AT&T at that time. AT&T always credited us back fr those calls that did not go through, until once, however, the customer service rep refused to credit … (20 comments)
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real estate opinion: Mistaken Democracy
- 02/21/09 03:01 PM
A lot of folks are scared and frustrated with the crisis but they fail to understand that everything is affordable. If they are scared that the night never ends and the day never comes, that's their mental problem. The rates are low, the properties are so affordable, that I have to pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming. In reality, we will all start screaming when the crisis will be over. The prices will skyrocket and buying something on the ocean would become just a dream for many.
So, what is our idea of the future? Every time there is … (3 comments)
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real estate opinion: The Pace of Change: Who Stays, Who Goes...
- 02/15/09 10:11 PM
There are a lot of posts on AR about the agents slow to embrace the change. The notion is that if you do not change and embrace the new reality, you will not survive the slow period.
With some value to this way of thinking, the slow time is looked upon as a gap between good times, and it is like if you get to the good one, then it is OK.
The ugly truth is that these hopes are far from the reality. We are all facing the challenge of staying on top of changes. The agents who are slow to embrace … (45 comments)
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real estate opinion: Why Choose An Agent
- 01/04/09 02:25 PM
I am not good at sequels, and this may be a failing attempt, we'll see. I wrote Choose An Agent...Why? where I used the comparison between training of the agents to training of pilots and doctors.
Several good comments made me look closer at comparisons, hence this sequel. I am not going to retract, as for me there is no comparison whatsoever. I, however, would like to stop on WHY here.
And let me take a better comparison, as I was told that we do look at pilots, and do interview doctors. Take a pharmacist. You get the prescription and go the … (7 comments)
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real estate opinion: You Want to Show? Do You Have An Offer?
- 12/27/08 04:09 PM
That's pretty much what happened to me today. I had a couple from New Jersey. They are visiting their son and his family here in Orlando. Very nice people, very punctual.
They have time, they are just in the beginning of their search. The husband is still working and is retiring in a year, so they started looking for a place close to the ocean and not far from their son.
They found me on Active Rain, read my blogs, and decided that we would be the right people to represent them.
Next day after Christmas is not the best day for … (29 comments)
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real estate opinion: To Lockbox or Not To Lockbox?
- 12/26/08 02:33 PM
Matthew Ferrara wrote a very interesting blog Are you Cheating your Sellers by using a Lockbox?
It is a well written blog with tons of good points. But what it fails to do is to see beyond the considerations of the Seller. It is all about why Seller should do this and that. However, in real life there are also considerations of the Buyer, and the agent representing the Buyer.
I strongly disagree with Matthew. He is showing only one side of the coin. As a buyer representative, when I am showing properties, I have an idea of what I want to … (20 comments)
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real estate opinion: When Money Ends...
- 12/25/08 05:18 PM
Huiting Zhuang wrote a blog who is Isaac Robert Toussie?
Well, the best answer will be that Isaac Robert Toussie is the man, whose pardon by President Bush, was reversed. If President Bush would not have pardoned him in the first place, we simply would most probably never hear that name. "Isaac Toussie is a small fish in a very big polluted pond of real estate corruption". Huiting hopes that by holding people like Isaac accountable "... we may be able to save the real estate industry..."
How do we expect the guy that overwhelming majority of us never heard of, can save … (8 comments)
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real estate opinion: Avoid Hernia
- 12/16/08 03:52 PM
In the times of crisis our weary souls want action, anything just to get over with.
We are a nation of instant gratification. If it is a war, it only should take a week, we win, hang the dictator and come back leaving behind a fully functional democratic government.
When the trees were tall, we knew that wars and economic downturns take longer. But this is not our style. We can't let things run their course, we have to be in charge. We need it fast, we need it now.
There are different easy fixes on our mind, all geared toward pushing the economy the way we … (9 comments)
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real estate opinion: Treat or Die vs Treat Or Not To Treat
- 12/13/08 06:30 AM
It was right after my wife and I graduated from the University, and were sent to work in the North Ural City of Berezniki. As young professionals, we got a small room in a hostel (that's the closest term I can find), where we had a bed on one side and two bookshelves on the other. The restroom was in the middle of a long hallway on each floor, as well as a kitchen, and the shower or bathtub were not in this 4-story brand new building, which was normal for that time.
Half of the hostel was filled with young teachers (us included), … (10 comments)
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We know that real estate is local, and yet reading blogs on AR we run into statements, which are very general and often are very judgmental.
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