November 2008

The Difference Between a Functionary Agent and a Fiduciary Realtor

November 29, 2008

Every now and then I wander into some online Realtor Forums to share and trade ideas, see how markets are doing in other places, and see if I can answer questions or learn something new. The most disturbing thing I come across regularly is the misguided mindset of so many Realtors about their role as [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Mortgage Rates Plunge Below 5% – But Does it Help Investors?

November 26, 2008

From my Daily Realtor news feed: Mortgage rates declined Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said it would spend $600 billion to support the mortgage securities market. Rates fell to 4 7/8 percent, a 1 1/8 percentage point decline. David Beadle, president of BestInfo, said it was the sharpest one-day decline since 1988. “I hope that [...]

13 comments Read the full article →

Using Twitter as a Focusing and Productivity Tool

November 21, 2008

I wrote recently about Social Media tools and whether they can aid and assist Realtors in selling homes and acquiring leads. I am skeptical of whether these tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, provide a sufficient return relative to the time invested in using them. Well, I had enough feedback and counter-points offered to me in [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Austin Rental Market Update – Oct 2008

November 19, 2008

At my monthly Property Manager’s luncheon yesterday in Austin, the general consensus among the 30+ property managers in attendence was that the leasing market has taken a nose dive since September. The number of renter calls has really slowed down. One manager remarked “I keep calling my own phone to make sure it’s working”. Indeed, the [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Austin Real Estate Market Update – Oct 2008 Sales

November 17, 2008

The number of residential single family home sales in Austin took a 28% dip for Oct 2008 compared to a year ago. The number of “Not Solds” (expired or withdrawn) took a big jump also, to 59% of all listings that departed the Austin MLS in October. These are grim numbers, but the remaining metrics [...]

20 comments Read the full article →

Redfin Abandoning Failed Model and Moving Toward Traditional Services

November 15, 2008

The discount Broker Redfin, which I follow with interest even though it doesn’t serve Austin, looks like it’s making yet another move toward traditional real estate services. Rather than facilitating the wholesale disintermediation of the traditional Realtor, Redfin instead continues to adopt more and more of the traditional Realtor approach and offer smaller rebates to [...]

22 comments Read the full article →

Social Media and the Real Estate Business

November 5, 2008

I was surpised this morning to see “Steve and Linda Crossland” featured as “Blogging Agents” on the Business front page of today’s Austin American Statesman. I’ll be calling Sylvia “Linda” for the next few days, until she has enough of it and threatens me with disaffection. We were not contacted for the article, which is [...]

8 comments Read the full article →