real estate: LendingTree going solo! Who's going to be buying stock in LendingTree?
- 11/05/07 01:41 AM
IAC/Interactive announced this morning that it will be splitting into 5 independent publicly traded companies. The real estate end of the company, LendingTree, real estate.com, domainia, etc, will be organized under the LendingTree brand. I heard the fellers on CNBC, particularly Joe Kernan, saying it was overdue, and that the company had been too complex to understand for a long time. But I'm honestly ignorant of all the ramifications of the separation, or the viability of the individual company. I just tend to think of LendingTree as the mortgage site where folks can shop for a lender. So, as a real estate professional, how do you … (2 comments)
real estate: Cary NC Real Estate, "To Be Added Drive "
- 10/27/07 03:28 AM
The new Triangle MLS upgrades have been very positive, and gone seamlessly, at least to my eye. One thing I really like is the standardization of streets and subdivisions. When a listing is input, the agent will have to select a street from a database of streets. Likewise with subdivisions. This will eliminate duplicative search efforts. This week I searched for "Mildew Boulevard." (Fictitious name.) Got two listings in my results. Pulled into "Mildew Boulevard," and immediately spotted another home that was not on the list. Hmmmmm. How can THAT be? I mean, Mildew Boulevard is a short street. Picked up a flyer at the house that … (0 comments)
real estate: Cary and Raleigh, NC, Real Estate: Vender Referrals. Don't we owe it to our clients to take on some Liability?
- 10/23/07 11:26 PM
How can we claim to be professionals and fiduciaries and then tell our real estate clients to go to the Yellow Pages for venders when we know capable and ethical service providers we can recommend? I started to respond to Randy Prothero's post on this topic, and got long-winded enough to build a post of my own. I am reasonably risk-adverse. I know there are pitfalls in any business. I know that foolhardiness can have painful consequences. I also like Randy's position that handing over a list may well not reduce liability, only service. But, I don't know how one can take all the liability out … (13 comments)
real estate: Cary NC Real Estate, Do you do "Animal House" Real Estate?
- 10/18/07 02:42 PM
What should the relationship with a real estate agent feel like? Should a client or prospective client expect consultation... or manipulation? Pressure, or presentation of facts? Old school boiler room tactics, or the comfort of working with an agent who really cares? I prefer to work with clients on a personal basis, responding to their needs, and anticipating where that will take us. How compatible are pressing for the sale, "badgering" the client like an adversary, and working as a fiduciary? Badgering is aptly portrayed in the Johnson Auto "Tired of being Badgered?" advertising campaign that lampoons old school sales, and is currently in … (7 comments)
real estate: Wake County NC Real Estate: TMLS Update to allow 12 photos per listing
- 10/16/07 11:25 PM
Just got my TMLS newsletter yesterday. The North Carolina Triangle Multi-List System will soon allow the Listing Agent to upload 12 photographs for every listing. We have been limited to ten photos. This will be a boon to those of us who shoot 50 to 100 photos of each home and have a hard time narrowing them down to the ten best. I hope it puts a little pressure on those NC agents who do not believe in photography. The listings with 12 photos will stand out even more when compared to those with 1 or none. Add in a couple of Real Estate Shows, … (4 comments)
real estate: Cary NC Real Estate, Treo snaps vs. Kodak Photos. Talk on the phone. Take photos with a Camera!
- 10/11/07 01:18 PM
Anyone serious about selling their home might like their agent to be a little technically hooked up. I find my Treo 700WX to be priceless. I might even love my Treo. (I even put it on my desk before going to the rest room.) I like that my Treo has a camera, albeit a 1.3 megapixel snap shooter. If I see something cool, I can grab a quick shot. But, that camera doesn't qualify for real estate use. Most certainly NOT for shooting listing photos. And i'm no purist. When it comes to photography, I am a ham-and-egger with a camera in the car. I … (11 comments)
real estate: Active Rain Profiles: Are you "The Jimmy?" Third person profiles; what's up with that?
- 10/03/07 03:22 PM
Have you noticed? It would seem that many folks are having their profiles professionally written. Or something. There are a LOT of profiles written in the third person, a la, Seinfeld's "The Jimmy." They occur on AR, but also on other sites, including personal Realtor home pages. " Broker Mike Jaquish is faster than a speeding bullet, and Mike Jaquish is more powerful than a locomotive. Mike Jaquish leaps tall buildings in a single bound. Yadda yadda yadda." Does that sound more euphonious, more credible, more professional, more modest, than: "I'm faster than a speeding bullet. I'm more powerful than a locomotive. I leap tall buildings … (24 comments)
real estate: North Carolina Foreclosure Homes: Affordable Housing or Money Pit Nightmare? Or something in between?
- 09/14/07 12:17 AM
The message is made clear in "Agent Only" Remarks in the listings. No disclosure is the most common thread. "Caveat Emptor! We aren't going to tell you much, if anything about the property, but here it is if you want it." It is NOT my intent to say that ethics are violated here by foreclosure Sellers or Listing Agents. I really only want to hammer home a point to Buyers who put their credit and finances on the line chasing profits that can be quite elusive. The risk in buying these homes is great, and risk-adverse Buyers, or folks with fragile financial standing don't belong in … (14 comments)
real estate: Celebrity Death Match Real Estate Agency: Larry the Cable Guy or Voldemort? And why?
- 09/10/07 03:07 PM
So, you contact every agency in town for to engage a REALTOR and you find that everyone is off for the day. And you need an agent. Well, there are two brokers working today: Larry the Cable Guy and Voldemort, aka, Tom Marvolo Riddle. And, this won't wait. You need a real estate agent NOW. Who you gonna pick? Let me seeeee.... We have a few qualifying questions. It's interview time. On second thought, I don't think it's so wise to ask Voldemort very many questions. He seems to get a little moody when tested. And Larry the Cable Guy will surely have more fun answers anyway. I mean, YOU can ask … (0 comments)
real estate: Hey! Are we idiots? "All Real Estate is Local" vs. "I can get cards, or brochures, or stationery, or whatever cheaper online."
- 08/19/07 04:36 AM
Can we really afford the cheap print shops available on the internet? The vistaprints and overnightprints, etc? When is the last time some feller in a print shop ten states away called you and said, "I really like these business cards we printed for you. Do you have any nice 4/3/3's on a half acre available?" I'm willing to venture that it hasn't happened to most real estate agents. It is amazing to me, knowing that Real Estate is still a locally-based personal relationship business, to see so many agents refuse to support local businesses and vendors in pursuit of a few nickels of savings, or … (83 comments)
real estate: Cary NC Real Estate: Realtors: Is it time to re-balance your life?
- 07/30/07 12:18 AM
A few signs you are a little out of balance between work and that "Life Worth Living" when: 1. You go to the family reunion and reflect on everyone's housing needs. 'Hmmmm. She's 17. Probably ready for a condo in another 6 years." "Betcha Uncle Joe and Aunt Betty downsize within a couple of years." 2. Personal contacts are mentally filed as "3/2.5/2," or "2 acres or more," etc. 3. Your phone won't let you input any more contacts, and your home and family aren't entered in yet. 4. You can't find the milk and bread at your local grocery, but you can rattle off the 6 nearest subdivisions … (16 comments)
real estate: North Carolina Real Estate, Are you ready for some new rules?
- 07/17/07 02:06 PM
The NC Real Estate Commission is considering some rule changes. Are you ready? I like the proscription against shopping offers. Some people are so ham-handed and clumsy about it that it taints the flavor of the negotiations. And too often it feels like it is being done unevenly, so as to favor another Buyer. If you want to have an auction, well, by golly, have an durn auction! "Require that written agency agreements be signed?" Wow, what have I been missing? I've been sweating getting all those silly signatures when I didn't have to. I'm glad to work in a KW office with high standards … (2 comments)
real estate: Cary, NC Real Estate. Again: Fast growing and affordable! And Warm! But, "Carry, NC?"
- 07/12/07 12:51 AM
REALTOR Magazine Online yesterday mentioned a Christian Science Monitor story about population growth in "Affordable, Warm Cities." They reported the great population growth in many affordable suburban towns near larger Southern cities, similar to the BusinessWeek.com experience I enjoyed. We are right next door to Raleigh, North Carolina, so I think that suburban description fits. So they misspelled Cary as "Carry." More commonly we get "Carey." Whatever. We'll take it. Great to have escaped the brunt of the "housing slump." Glenkirk built out fast. As did Bishop's Gate and Weathersby.
And there are many others. I anticipate that Cole's Creek by Drees Homes will do quite well, and Governor's … (8 comments)
real estate: Cary, NC Real Estate: MacGregor Downs, Classic country club community, "near everything."
- 07/05/07 05:54 AM
MacGregor Downs was developed in the 1960's around the MacGregor Downs Country Club. MacGregor Downs is located in south central Cary, NC, and accessed from Kildaire Farms Road or from Tryon Road. Central to life in MacGregor Downs are the Golf Course and the community lake, along with a fabulous location that offers access to all the best of Cary, and easy access to Raleigh, North Carolina. Click here to view available Active Listings in MacGregor Downs.
Homes in MacGregor Downs were custom built. Some of the 40+ year old properties are being razed for new construction, a testimony … (2 comments)
real estate: July 4th, and a Real Estate gang gets together....Keller Williams Cary
- 07/04/07 04:18 PM
What else are you going to do when you can see the fireworks from the office? Why not pitch a tent, break out a grille, and get together to chat, celebrate the 4th of July, and watch the fireworks show? We did, at KW Market Center #377 in Cary, NC, complete with the KW spirit of sharing. (In other words, I ate...I mean 'shared'... a BUNCH of Jim ODonnell's too-good-to-be-true homemade brownies. I'm sure he has a secret recipe, protected and locked away.) I'm an "Eat dessert first" sort of guy, so my first photo was the pies, cakes and cookies that folks brought. … (2 comments)
real estate: Triangle Commercial Space report
- 05/31/07 11:06 PM
Recently the Triangle Business Journal released their quarterly insert: SPACE, their regular report on commercial real estate trends in the Raleigh-Durham area. For the first quarter of 2007, TBJ reports that the commercial sector took a slight breather after a torrid 2006 second half. Net Absorption dipped in all four classes, Office Space, Flex, Warehouse, and Retail. Leasable Square feet increased in three classes, with only Flex Space adding no new square feet from the end of Q4/2006 through Q1/2007. Vacancy Percentages were up in three classes, with only Office Vacancy declining slightly. The lower Office Vacancy was spurred by demand for Class C space, with a … (0 comments)
real estate: Flip This House!.......Or not? Fantasy TV sets ambitious viewers up for disaster.
- 05/29/07 12:37 AM
I have continuous opportunities to visit with folks who want to buy homes, do repairs, and sell them for a nice profit in a brief period of time. It is a common ambition now, with the popularity of television shows that show the process as a psycho-drama, with cigar puffing "investors" who strut around preening for the camera and never get dirty. We REALTORs who enjoy watching a little real estate-oriented TV have always known that House Flipping shows portray the real estate industry about as accurately as Star Trek portrayed NASA. Any semblance of reality is purely coincidental. There is a lot more to renovating a home than bellowing … (7 comments)
real estate: If Real Estate was NASCAR, which driver would YOU be?
- 05/22/07 01:36 PM
Imagine if real estate overnight became NASCAR and all agents assumed the identity of various NASCAR Drivers. I identify more with drivers from the past, like the King, Richard Petty, who managed to bump the back of a car on I-85 when the pace of traffic didn't suit him. And he was in a political campaign for statewide office in North Carolina! Then there was the late Intimidator, #3, Dale Earnhardt, who could pull up close and make a weaker driver surrender his spot. Or another favorite, Dick Trickle who was one of the last to circle the track while having a smoke. "What, … (3 comments)
real estate: Do you have language skills... Or language resources?
- 02/15/07 02:59 PM
I was talking to my friend Ahmed Ammar today about building business, and addressing niches today. We got into languages and I asked him, "What languages do you speak other than English?" He said, "Arabaic." Me, "Well, you should be blogging an English/Arabic blog. And an English/Arabic newsletter. There are many people in our community who would find comfort knowing a broker spoke Arabic, don't you think?" He agreed. Now I want to see if he follows through and takes the challenge. Ahmed laughed hard when I couldn't tell him what a major language in India is. "Jeeze, Ahmed, I was born in the USA. Don't you know … (12 comments)
real estate: Cary's..."Bad Taste for a Good Cause!"...
- 01/10/07 11:00 PM
How to raise some cash for a couple of hard-working non-profits? How to have fun doing it? How to get a bunch of Realtors in the same room and not talk Real Estate? What to do for a holiday party? The Cary, North Carolina office of Keller Williams Realty had chosen two local non-profits to support on an ongoing basis: 1. The Center for Volunteer Care-Giving provides services aimed at helping folks stay in their homes by offering support to them and their families. These are warm, generous people who voluntarily give of their time to offer respite care, transportation for errands or medical … (5 comments)
IAC/Interactive announced this morning that it will be splitting into 5 independent publicly traded companies.
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