An Open House Get's Punked

Well its Halloween~! So I thought I'd go with a haunting article today - and found an Open House prank that's a tad scary. If you're not scared than surf over to AVF's site and read about the prank they pulled on the Landlord and Realtor as they worked to market and sell a multi-unit dwelling in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. If you've heard em' all than go get a scare here!Selling a rental property and having it occupied by a prankster tenant like the two in this stressful story is a nightmare. If you are selling a multi-unit dwelling its best if one unit is kept empty and used as a 24/7 "showroom" to prospective investors and/or homebuyers. With an empty unit - no rent money will be coming in but it allows access to an example of the current dwellings, without having to worry about a current tenants availability and privacy in their rental unit.

NCRC Files FTC Complaint Against Zillow.com

The following press release was issued from the NCRC website. In summary the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) filed a consumer protection complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging Zillow.com is misleading consumers, real estate professionals and financial service providers in on-line home valuations.

Zillow is placing the American dream of homeownership at risk for countless working families,” says John Taylor, NCRC President and CEO. “For a company that represents to consumers that they are the ‘Kelley Blue Book of Homes,’ this is a very dangerous situation. We call upon the FTC to intervene and ensure that Americans receive accurate appraisals and valuation information to protect the single most important investment of their lives: their home.

From my understanding about Zillow's home valuations tool called "The Zestimate" it is a starting point to help a consumer figure out the true value of a home. The company explains that the vast majority of Zestimates are within 10 percent of the selling price of the home. Not an exact value - more of a range. For more information about the Zestimate Accuracy check out how Zillow explains the process to price a homes valuation.

Also note the article posted that brings attention to comments made by Lloyd Frink, Zillow's CEO when he was at a recent Realtor conference in Long Beach, CA. According to Maria Patterson - Frink’s comments did not sit well with the audience.

"Zillow is a Web site that’s trying to empower consumers with tools and information,” explains Frink. “We have been fortunate to date that what we’ve done is popular with consumers, which is to provide them with a starting point to figure out what homes are selling for in their market. I thought it was worth making it clear to everyone in the audience that our model is one of a media company, and we would like the people in the audience to buy ads from Zillow. I think that part of the apprehensiveness on the part of Realtors comes from our history at Expedia where we were part of the transaction and that’s not what we’re doing here. We think that we can add a lot of value in terms of information and tools and service that will be complementary to the expert advice and guidance that Realtors give to their clients." Source: RISMEDIA

Real Estate Router

Surf over and take a look at RealEstateRouter.com. The site aims help the Sell-Side market homes for sale & help homebuyers organize their route to tour open houses. This website is just out of the gate and looks to have succeded at offering a value-add application to marketing a house online. Bravo~!

A similar article posted on July 28, 2006.

MLS stops sending listing to Realtor.com

Northwest Multiple Listing Service to pull feed to realtor.com at the end of their contract. Im not sure about this move - it limits the marketing of the inventory of homes For Sale at a website that has an established and valuable Brand Name.

With Realtor.com the homebuyer was able to know what website to goto when starting a real estate search... Are homebuyers in the Northwest going to find NWrealestate.com easier than Realtor.com?

Real Estate Investment Trusts

investinreits.com! This site has been designed to provide visitors with all the tools to learn about real estate investment trusts (REITs) and publicly traded real estate companies. The website is by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT).

NAREIT is the trade association for REITs and publicly traded real estate companies.

Realtor Conference Hot Topic

Maria Patterson from RISMEDIA writes an interresting article that centers the debated hot topic of the 'Realtor and Consumer' relationship.

The news article contains quotes from the California Association of Realtors Conference in Long Beach, California from President and Co-founder of Zillow, Lloyd Frink. Also former CEO of REALTOR.com Allan Dalton, now President of Move.com's real estate division. Dalton, explains that sites like Zillow’s are undermining the Realtor’s true value proposition by classifying them as “service providers.”

“Zillow cannot marginalize Realtors ... and their value proposition,” Dalton added. “... If the industry allows the collective advocation of a company like Zillow to commoditize real estate to the degree that consumers believe the value of a home can actually be preordained before the value that a Realtor can add (in terms of marketing, negotiating, staging and networking), then what we will be left with is an injured consumer who believes that..."

A business relationship of service in my opinion should be customer-centric and recognize that the balance of power is toward the customer paying for representation. As a result, the Realtor and the Consumer needs to identify what is of value to them.

Vendors Gain Market Share - Ignore FSBO

I've visited a few Virtual Tour sites on the web recently and they do not make their products and services available to For Sale By Owner home sellers to purchase. This trend of only offering marketing tools to licensed Realtors is nothing new but not much has been said about this market-share/safe business practice of having a strong customer focus towards Realtors while turning away business from FSBO home sellers. I call these companies Non-For-Sale-By-Owner (NFSBO) sites.

For example I visited a company website that has been in business since 1996 called TourFactory. The site states: “(Listing) Agents have been using the TourFactory Internet Marketing System for 10 years - as a cornerstone in their marketing program."


I agree, TourFactory sells products that would make a house stand out online from the overcrowded inventories of properties For Sale. Also check out TourFactory's HomeDebut that allows homebuyers to search virtual tours ordered by participating Real Estate Agents.


Moreover I also visited Obeo that states "(our) solutions help the Real Estate professional thrive." I saw great products here also with 100+ tons of online marketing tools available that would capture the attention of home-buyers searching for Real Estate online. Yet, these companies still decide to stay market-share/safe and only offer services to licensed Real Estate Agents.

Just to double check that I wasn’t making a mistake with my comments - I called TourFactory at (888) 458-3943 and made a request. "I'd like to order a Virtual Tour." The operator on the phone started to set up an account for me and took my first and last name. Then she asked if I was a licensed Real Estate Agent. I said “no” that I was selling my property For Sale By Owner. Her response was "I'm sorry we only sell tours to Real Estate Agents." Of course, I asked why and was told that "We're exclusive to licensed Real Estate Agents it's the company policy." I then contacted Obeo through its LivePerson chat and received the same answer.


My feeling is that the Internet hasn't created a new real estate consumer; it just formed a more educated one. We should all know this – it’s old news. But, still some vendors/transaction service partners in the Real Estate Industry will take the route of the slow box turtle towards adopting the Internet in full. While the traditional real estate consumers continue to hop onto the Internet taking full advantage of the many online resources available with the speed of a European Brown Hare.

Trump-Style Negotiation

George Ross in his new book talks about how he closed deals by simply using human nature and time to his advantage. Ross believes in keeping a good rapport with communication when talking to the other side in the deal. He reminds the reader to accept a fair price and don't negotiate for a few more dollars, find a common ground for the deal and secure future business with you the next time.

From the Publisher:

Trump became the world's most famous negotiator with the publication of his million-copy seller, The Art of the Deal. That book told great stories, but it didn't explain how to negotiate like Trump. In Trump-Style Negotiation, George Ross explains how anyone can implement the tactics and strategies Trump used to rise to the top of the business world. It's full of stories from Trump's biggest deals, as well as lessons from other top New York real estate titans such as Helmsley, Zeckendorf, and Sol Goldman. Trump-Style Negotiation is not a book of stories, but a practical playbook that can be easily used by the average person effectively in all types of business and personal situations. Ross demonstrates the proven Trump style business tactics for negotiation success in an easy-to-follow and easy-to-read format. Importantly, he offers his own strategic insights, real world cases, and savvy personal advice, arising from the breadth of 50-years of his sharply defined negotiation skills.

The Cats Out Of The Bag

As the saying goes - once you let the cat out of the bag, it goes wherever it wants. To this point, click over to read Greg Swann's blog about "the home-buyer’s place at the table". The essay details ideas for homebuyers and Realtors to adopt when working together as a team. The basic theme is telling the homebuyer to be aware of costs in a transaction and always ask “How much do you charge?”.

Among other suggestions and ideas Greg makes mention of a “secret” field displayed in some MLS systems. Telling his readers that "listings you find on Realtor web sites or on Realtor.com" do not detail the co-broke / commision field — it is kept concealed.

Why is the co-broke field kept concealed from the homebuyer view in MLS systems? Overly restrictive? Pro-competitive? Anticompetitive?

What would change if the homebuyer was able to view the "secret" fields that some MLS systems keep concealed?

compensation for buyer representation

NAR TV Public Awareness Campaign

Check out the Television Ads for NAR Public Awareness Campaign. NAR states that they have three new communications components. I wonder if NAR will start to post the 2007 ads on You Tube?

The first addition to the campaign, "Someone You Can Trust", promotes the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and highlights the honesty and integrity that REALTORS® bring to every transaction.

The second addition, "Don't Try This At Home", targets unrepresented sellers (the FSBO market). The commercial features a hard-hitting message: REALTORS® have the experience to price your home effectively, so it can sell for up to 16% more than selling it yourself. (From NAR's 2005 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers Study.)

The third component, "Entrepreneur at Heart", features REALTORS® talking about what it's like to be out on their own, every day, in an increasingly competitive marketplace. They also discuss the pride they feel in helping people achieve the American dream of homeownership.

When Rust Grows In The Front Yard

The real estate market has slowed, creating opportunity for homebuyers, builders and investors to negotiate an even better deal on your neighborhood "teardown" property (lot). In fact a common theme in most neighborhoods today is a "For Sale" sign in the front yard with "New Price" or "Price Reduction” added to the metal frame - starting to develop rust.

What happens after the sale and the house is demolished to dust for new construction? Does the buyer build another single-family home on the lot(s) or decide to replace it with a multi-unit dwelling? If the answer is a new multi-unit dwelling, then your neighborhood teardowns or price-reduced houses might be the targets for Infill Development (ie: Smart Growth).

This is a hot topic for the industry and is both the solution and problem for the parties involved. It concerns neighborhoods from the smallest towns to the world’s largest cities. Buyers should always review the lot zoning rules that regulate the kinds of activities and densities, which will be acceptable on a particular parcel of land. Homebuyers should be aware of what can be built next door. Moreover the multi-unit buildings built most often have limited space. The new family or owner that moves into the townhouse or condo might discover in a short time that "we found affordability but need more space." In turn, selling the home and not becoming a long-term resident of the community.

In parallel, some developers have switched from building, commute heavy - residential subdivisions in far out and rural areas. Aiming more towards parcels of land closer to suburbs with densely populated communities. This way the builder can expect a faster sale and lower the cost cycle to carry the land acquired.

New York Times Walked Out

It's been a while since I last checked out the New York Times Walk-Through Real Estate Blog. I just read that they have decided to turn away its focus and concentrate on Real Estate News.

It might be a good idea for the NY-Times to stop "telling it like it is at the street level" and just report the news.