First and foremost, I’ll be running the July numbers – how many houses came on the market, how many went under contract, how many sold and finally to throw a little wrench in the numbers – how many were either withdrawn or expired…. More on this by Wednesday.First, the home builders are still building too many housing units because that is the only way they can liquidate land and pay down debt. This overbuilding will extend the duration of the slump in new home construction.Second, there is way too much home building capacity in the U.S., and competition will be fierce until enough home builders exit the business.The answer to this reader question:…… is this good or bad for a family that owns land and has waited a few yrs to begin the construction and construction loan process?Real estate blogging’s accountability factor.Yet another story on the importance of pictures, in addition to story tentatively titled, “The MLS is the limitation to marketing homes.”
Date Archives August 2007
Saturday Links 08-04-2007
Why it will be hard to close the broadband divideRealtor.com Losing Ground Fast, Zillow.com is StuckVery, very cool way to visualize real estate searchReal Estate Video by – Real Estate BloggerThe Thayer System, or one of the reasons I went to VMI. There’s more to leadership than shiny shoes.The methodology is simple: a cadet will benefit more from a semester in Morocco or Egypt than a semester spent shining brass and marching parades.
What did I learn at Inman Connect that I couldn’t have learned if I hadn’t gone?
Real estate blogging can help to establish relationships with other real estate professionals, potential buyer and seller clients, etc. However, nothing completes a connection like a handshake. Real estate always has been, and always will be, a very personal business dependent on trust between humans. The coverage of the conference provided by the blogs is incomparable, so for those notable speeches I missed, I expect that I’ll be able to either watch them or read about the highlights. For those with whom I shared the panel – Erik, Greg, Matt and Lockhart- thank you; it was fun.Video highlights from Inman Connect.All posts about Connect in San FranciscoNote: this will be the last of the Inman posts.
Notes on Inman Connect Part 2
Perhaps one of the best presentations so far was that provided by Safa Rashtchy titled User Generated Content: You Are No Longer in Control. not so much because of the content, very little of which was groundbreaking news or information. What was interesting was how he put all of the pieces together:1 – Communitainment2 – Usites – Yelp, etc. 3 – The web is mainstream4 – Declining use of traditional media (hint: print is on its way out; the internet is the #1 form of media consumption at work, with people “wasting” two hours every day)5 – Fragmentation of content consumption6 – Evolution of user generated brandsA few thoughts on the above – Might communities such as Yelp, ActiveRain, RealTown, etc minimize the need and influence of the extortionist referral companies? If the web has passed all other forms of media for its reach, why do so many companies spend so much money on print?
Notes from Inman Connect Part 1
One of the most difficult parts of listening to the panelists is not being able to respond and participate in the conversation. A few thoughts of my own for beginning bloggers – – Be yourself- Focus on building long-term, loyal readers and commenters- Read, read, read, but be selective about whom you listen to and emulate.- Build off-line buzz. Become a part of the conversation.- Be the expert.- Be passionate.
Setting clients’ expectations is crucial
Preparing for the worst – knowing what the “worst” looks like and doing whatever is possible to avoid it – that is one of the key components of a successful Realtor. I’ve said many times before that mere MLS access is no longer a guarantee of success.Setting clients’ expectations at appropriate levels and preparing them for some of the “mights” is one of the most important aspects of a transaction – if you do this, then this will happen; if you don’t do this, then expect the other side to do this.My job is not to promise sunshine and happiness every day or that every transaction will be seamless (most of them are, to the clients’ eyes) – my job is to manage the transaction minutiae so that surprises are negligible factors – and this comes from experience.What would be worse as a buyer or seller – having the “worst” happen to you, or being surprised when the worst happens?