The messages may be mixed, but the intent seems to be focused: “Total Global Domination”.What do you do online that’s not touched by Google?(this post not related to the local real estate market, other than at some point Google may have all the data)But hey, if they can bring transparency to the health care racket, more power to them. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – why is there no coordinated effort to shake up the health care industry? The real estate world is changing and adapting every day.By the way, I love their “free” 411 service; I’ve used it for over a month and it’s great.
Date Archives May 2007
Real estate will always be local
Forsalebylocals notes the value of local content, coincidentally on the same day that I received a heads-up about a new data mashup startup, Fortius One, which looks quite interesting. Ideally, FortiusOne will provide the ability to localize their content on websites (like my blog or real estate search site, for example), assuming they provide an API and I can figure out how to use it…. * Choosing your ideal neighborhood using crime, population and commute data * Identifying your target markets using age, income and occupation data * Educating yourself and others using pollution and environmental impact dataA map of the USA for those relocating is useless. A map with the same data, only drilled down to specific neighborhoods would be extraordinarily valuable.As Pat Kitano said:On just one map however, the obvious value is in identifying niche neighborhoods across a variety of variables…
Priced below assessment
It’s amazing how times have changed. Before the market shift, properties in Charlottesville and Albemarle and surrounding areas would sell for prices wildly over their assessed values. Now properties are being marketed (with and without Realtors) as being priced “well below the assessed value!”With regard to fair market value – Assessed values are as irrelevant today as they were before the shift.Update 5/23/2007: I was just interviewed by The HooK, so watch for a follow-up post to clarify things, should it be necessary.
Charlottesville Green Carnival
This is the first in what I hope will be the occasional yet frequent Charlottesville Green Carnival – a place to highlight, ever-so-briefly green happenings.Green Matters – now advertising information clinics in the C-Ville WeeklySunbiosis – A Charlottesville green architect that popped up in my feedreader.Lithic Construction – another green builder that popped upEco-Friendly homes a moneymaker for ‘green’ firmsOfficials examine sustainable local food supplyDo you have a green cause? What other local green stories have you seen?Green “stuff,” and green building/real estate is a trend that is not going away. I told a developer the other day that he should consider changing his plans now because by 2009, I believe that green building will be a de facto requirement of buyers. Barely a day goes by that there is not a major story or initiative in the national press about green innovations, and every week brings a new development in the Charlottesville area – real estate or otherwise.I wrote my first story on this blog in November of 2005; the momentum of this movement has certainly picked up since then.
A call for an end Cooperative Compensation
As a profession, we need to rid ourselves of Cooperative Compensation and the practice of the listing broker paying the Buyer’s Agent.Cooperation between Brokers need not go away…. That is always a fun conversation with first-time homebuyers as well as more-savvy ones.Buyer: So, how do you get paid?Buyer’s Agent: Well, the Seller pays me.B: What?BA: Well, not really, you are paying for the house, and you are getting the mortgage, but the Seller has agreed to compensate my company for my services.B: What do you mean?BA: It’s complicated.B: Well, am I bringing the check to closing?BA: Yes.B: Then how and why is the Seller paying you?BA: Because that’s the way it’s always been, and the laws have not changed sufficiently to allow for buyers to finance their representations’ commissions into the mortgage, Realtors have not adapted to the new realities and they are stuck in the mindset from when all agents represented the Sellers.B: But why is the Seller paying you?It’s easier for the Buyer’s Agent to just take whatever the Seller is offering – there is no negotiation with the Buyer about the Realtor’s compensation, so much so that often times the answer to the “How much is your fee” question is “It’s free to you – the Seller pays me!”I went around and around with some of my clients for several hours one time, agreeing with them the entire time how convoluted, antiquated and archaic the Buyer’s Agent’s compensation arrangement is, but there was nothing we could do to change it…. If Realtors want to equate themselves with other professionals, we need to be paid that way, heck we could lead the charge towards transparency in fees.Attorneys are paid by their clients, except when they lose, and do we really want to equate ourselves with that side of the legal profession?… The time may be right, and beneficial to everybody – consumers, Realtors, regulators – to change how we do business to a more transparent, ethical and professional way of working and compensating.Maybe we can rid ourselves of Dual Agency while we’re at it.
Monday Links 05-21-2007
Google’s doing neighborhood searches now More cities are going green FICO scores soon to be upgraded The Green Trend continues its momentum in Charlottesville A sound attorney’s point of view on “Seller Privacy vs. the…
A new theme
A series of comedic errors led me to upgrade to Wordpress 2.2, and every decision has a consequence. I saw that the sideblog plugin was updated, so I upgraded it, Wordpress and all of my other plugins …… The upgrade broke my theme, irreparably. So here I am, after several hours of searching for a new theme, I settle on this one, yet I can’t get the sideblog to work.