Real estate blog entries tagged with honesty by Lane Bailey, Realtor & Car Guy (Century 21 Results Realty)

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honesty: Gouging...? - 09/29/08 02:15 PM

If you are spending any time watching the news, there is agood chance you have seen that the southeast has been having some gas pains. Lines, shortages and lots of stations with no gas. It is a real pain in the tank...
And through it all, there is a "no gouging" law. And I think it is time to say... out loud... so people can hear it...
It is making matters worse.
Did you catch that? There likely wouldn't be a problem if not for the "anti-gouging" (pro-consumer?) laws. There is another component that makes it worse... EPA formulation requirements... but … (8 comments)

honesty: Get the good credit you deserve... - 09/27/08 03:19 PM

Driving home this afternoon I was behind a small SUV that had an advertisement for a "credit repair" firm on the back. And that was specifically what the sign said:
Get the "Good CREDIT" you DESERVE
And as I drove along, I was thinking about that... it brought up a point:
Do you DESERVE good credit?
Is good credit some sort of right? I know people with incredible credit. I know people with lousy credit. I have had both. I know that when I had lousy credit, I deserved it. When I had good credit, I earned it. And that is … (3 comments)

honesty: Leadership or Followship? - 09/25/08 03:38 AM

The events of the last 24 hours are pretty interesting.
If you have sworn off news because you don't want your optimism bubble popped, this is a little of what has happened... John McCain has suspended campaigning and fund-raising in order to concentrate on the financial crisis from the halls of the Senate. He also asked that Obama agree with him to delay the first debate for a couple of days so that both of them could be in DC rather than Mississippi prepping for a debate.
Obama and McCain also issues a joint release regarding the financial crisis and points … (2 comments)

honesty: Greed? - 09/21/08 06:49 AM

I think that I have heard three score and seven commentators use the word "greed" today. And honestly, I'm pretty tired of it. They all seem to have an idea of what they mean, but none of them seem to have a clue what it actually means.
The "accepted definition" is something like: excessive desire, especially for wealth or possessions.
But that leads to a GIANT problem.
Who decides what is too much?
I'm not defending greed. I'm saying that it is a vacuous term. Instead of worrying about greed, maybe we should worry about ethics. Maybe we should worry about … (43 comments)

honesty: Mechanics and Real Estate Agents... - 09/19/08 06:56 AM

I just got hoome from having some maintenance done on my wife's minivan. Makes me a little crazy...
I used to be a service writer for an Auto Center. I also worked in an auto resoration firm, auto parts store and auto body shop at various times... I even owned a 4x4 shop for a period of time. I know the auto service industry, if not completely, then at least much more than average.
There are good mechanics, crappy mechanics and incredible mechanics. I've worked with all of them.
I know that the majority of them are stand-up folks that do … (3 comments)

honesty: Is your bank selling real estate? - 09/16/08 04:36 PM

If you are in the loss mitigation department for one of the investment banks, banks or other institutions that have REO properties for sale, I would like to offer some tips and reminders that may help you get the job done...
While you are sitting there in the office with the stack of "files" (we call them homes out here in the rest of the world) remember that they represent more than a NPA (non-performing asset). These "files" represent a portion of the lives of your (future) customer. The people that are bidding on these are mostly investors now... they could … (8 comments)

honesty: Palin, McCain and the Democrat carnival ride... - 09/04/08 05:05 AM

This was a comment... I went here and saw this post, and decided that the answer was post worthy.
Amazing how the Democrat attack machine has fired up on Palin in such a big way.
She's inexperienced, and "only a heartbeat away from the Presidency." I guess it is better to get your inexperienced slot filled at the top of the ticket, where there isn't even a heartbeat seperating it from the President... Oddly, she HAS actually run things... business, a city and a state. Neither Obama nor Biden have run anything. And Obama saying that he ran a campaign is … (20 comments)

honesty: Is all real estate REALLY local? - 08/18/08 08:45 AM

The NAR has been rallying around a new battle cry since the real estate market went from rampage to challenge. Most everyone has heard it by now...
All Real Estate is Local...
Well, it is, right? Isn't it? Well, yes and no.
I used to be firmly in the "real estate is local" school... in fact, before the NAR thought it was cool. But, as the NAR has shifted positions, I felt the need to re-examine MY position. I don't like it when I agree with the NAR too much.
Are you fer it?
No, that isn't a typo... it's a … (6 comments)

honesty: Flat-Fee must be really flat... - 08/15/08 05:25 PM

For anyone not paying attention to Inman News, or some other source, you might have escaped noticing that Help-U-Sell's franchiser filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy recently (reported Friday, August 15th, 2008).
Since 2006, their franchise offices have shrunk from 820 to about 450.
Go read the story before it drops behind the Inman curtain... And then let's think about something.
Ready?
Those that are touting discount brokerage have been calling on the death of the "traditional" real estate brokerage for some time. When the market started to slide, they knew that discounters would prevail and full service brokers would fall by … (14 comments)

honesty: All real estate is local... or is it? - 07/26/08 04:46 PM

Let's hammer on the NAR some more.
All real estate is local
The NAR has been pounding this message in response to the perceived unfairness of media reporting. And while there is a case to be made that the media isn't presenting a balanced picture, I don't know if the current campaign is the answer...
And here is why...
There IS a national real estate market. Sure, you can't move a house from one place to another... ok, seldom can you... but, that isn't how the market is defined.
When "the stock market" moves one way or another, it is the … (9 comments)

honesty: Do agents think when inputting listings? - 06/28/08 04:23 AM

There are things that I find hilarious as I wander through the listings...
I'm working on a market whiff... kind of a pre-CMA to see if the property will be priced in the ball park... and I am looking through a bunch of listings. And I keep thinking that in some cases there are too many agents that went to the same school... and a few that just skipped all school.
Too many options to list. Ya' think? I bet that almost EVERY house on the market has too many options to list in the limited space we have... So, hit … (9 comments)

honesty: iTeam Investigates... at MY listing!?! - 06/27/08 05:05 PM

And it wasn't a bad thing.
The story won't air until next month (July), but they were filming in one of my listings. Specifically, they were showing a property that was staged with a live-in home manager. Showhomes of Atlanta is the vendor that is doing the job correctly in this story.
Somebody else didn't. And instead of saving the seller money and making their home more attractive and available. They did exactly the opposite.
I don't want to go into details, because the story isn't released yet, but I will say that it seemed Randy Travis (not the singer) was … (12 comments)

honesty: Incrementalism - 06/14/08 02:40 AM

Incrementalism is a concept that a lot of people in the automotive hobby are familiar with... in theory, if not the word itself. So, let me give a definition... Incrementalism refers to the practice of just changing things a little bit... over time... piece by piece.
This would be opposed to going "All In" or whole hog. In my past, when I built my Wrangler, I changed and tweaked and tuned and the re-did all of it. Several times. I probably spent the money and time that I achieved with the final incarnation 3 or 4 times over. I went through … (2 comments)

honesty: And the worst part is that it is... - 05/24/08 02:26 PM

... from REALTOR Magazine.
In the June 2008 issue, on page 42, there is the following statement.
Tip 3: Build in a preset price reduction. While all our practitioners agreed that arriving at the right price the first time is the goal, sometimes you have to be a little more flexible, especially if you are in a marketwhere prices are in decline.
It goes on to name an agent and deliver a quote.
But here is the thing... in a decling market, getting the price right the first time is imperative. If we wait 30 days or 60 days, not … (13 comments)

honesty: Customer Service? - 05/16/08 02:27 PM

I took a few minutes out of my busy blogging schedule today to do a brake job on my wife's van before she took the kids to the beach for a couple of days... I bought more than I needed to the other day, just to make sure that I didn't end up needing something I couldn't get my hands on after starting.
So, I finished the job and was taking back the items I didn't need.
Talk about disappointing!?!
There I stood with a bag of stuff that needed to be returned. There were five people at the counter all … (4 comments)

honesty: Bidding for listings? - 05/03/08 06:31 AM

Let me start by getting this out of the way.
Agents, this is a public post... on purpose.
If you are a seller, and you are doing your job right by interviewing a couple of different agents, you are going to run across agents that are bidding for your listing. What does that mean? It is simple. Some agents will aim high on the CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) in order to try have a better shot at listing your property. There are a couple of reasons... and none of them are good.
Inexperience. An agent might simply not have a … (8 comments)

honesty: Priorities - 04/30/08 04:31 PM

I wish I had the pictures.
I've been pretty lucky.
When I was growing up, we had exchange students... several. The first two came from Ecuador. We didn't have them at the same time, they were one after the other. But they were also best friends. Fernanda was the first one. He parents came to visit while she was staying with us. Our families became close. In fact, Fernanda's brother, Patricio, lived with us for a year a bit later. Gina was next. She was Fernanda's best friend. A couple of months after Gina went back to Ecuador, we went … (4 comments)

honesty: Is FSBO the way to go? - 04/30/08 02:52 PM

Maybe. Maybe not.
Let me draw a parallel.
I often hear from sellers that are choosing to go unrepresented that they can do just as good of a job as an agent. After all, it isn't that hard... and they can save a LOT of money. Right?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Since many of my readers are car people, I'll put it on those terms.
Anyone can run up to Home Depot and pick up a nice little 110v Lincoln Welder. Walking out of the store about $500 lighter with the welder, helmet, wire, gloves, grinder, and assorted consumables and other … (7 comments)

honesty: Unacceptable... - 04/26/08 07:48 AM

While coming home from ice skating with my son today, I drove by a listing. It looked kind of interesting. Pretty yard, nice area. It made me a bit curious...
So, when I got home and my son was taking his nap, I looked it up on the MLS. I'm not going to discuss the price because it is not material. I didn't run comps to see how well priced it was for the neighborhood, but my gut tells me it is close.
But what I saw was completely unacceptable. I sure hope there is a reason, but I really … (67 comments)

honesty: Monday, marketing Monday... - 04/14/08 03:48 PM

I think there is one thing that many real estate agents... and many sellers... forget when building a marketing plan for a house.

The intended audience has a population of one...
And that doesn't just mean the advertising and copy-writing. It can even mean the presentation of the home. Staging. Decor.
Street of Dreams v. Assimilation Acres
If you've ever been to the Street of Dreams or any of the other events where decorators have Carte Blanche to do as the wish in extravagant homes, you will notice that as the crowds wander through the homes, there is … (5 comments)

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