How do you feel about giving our tax money to New Orleans when their elected “leader” makes comments like this?During the “60 minutes” interview, a correspondent pointed out flood-damaged cars still on the streets of New Orleans’ devastated Ninth Ward. Nagin replied, “You guys in New York can’t get a hole in the ground fixed, and it’s five years later. So let’s be fair,” according to CBS.I am tempted to agree wholeheartedly with Greg.
Date Archives August 2006
That’s a lot of Realtors
Based on this number – 173,323 (population of the Charlottesville MSA)And this number – ~1300 (number of Realtors in the CAAR)There is one Realtor for about every 133 people living the Charlottesville Area.Only 315 Realtors have had more than five “sides” (transactions, either a closed listing or buyer-represented sale) since January of this year. 447 have had between one and four “sides.” Hmmmm … with any economic upward trend, people will flock and flee when the curve starts to fade … Hat tip to the Freakonomics guys.
Define Discount
Regarding “Discount” Brokerages:Definition: To deduct or subtract from a cost or priceDiscount from what? Simply using the term “discount” implies a “fixed” rate, no?
A new website and unintended consequences
As a follow-up to my “What I want in a website” – I am testing out a new website that very well may become my main real estate site…. Ubertor are innovative and easy to work with so far.They are doing things that no other site is yet doing (that I have seen) – craigslist integration, Google Base, geocoding of listings, Feedburner, Google SiteMaps for traffic analysis, all email goes through Gmail, framing of my blog …As I write some of the features, something is becoming more and more clear – all of these features are chipping away at the chinks in the MLS’ armor and fortifying the position of the search engines. How else will buyers find properties if the MLS’ lead deteriorates further? Google. Yahoo…. al.As a testament to how fast things move – I have been putting this post together over the past three days. In that time, I came across this post at the Real Estate Tomato about Google Base’s continuing advance into the real estate world. Most of the features are clearly targeted to both the cutting-edge Realtor as well as the tech-savvy clientele.
Wow. All you have to do is sit.
Walt Mossberg tests out a truly high-tech toilet. How lazy does one have to be?For example, push the “For Her” front button and a pink wand releases a gentle spray. Each wand is rinsed before you use it, and after you arise from the seat, whether or not you used it.Using the remote, you can adjust the force and temperature of the water, and the temperature of the heated seat. You must manually decide when to stop the water or air.We found that the heated seat, which can be set to automatically turn off or on at certain times of the day, was a great feature. And the warm water — once we got the temperature right — was also a luxurious twist on the normal bathroom experience.Seriously – is this necessary? Temporary free link. I can almost hear the crotchety conversations now in 2025 – “When I was a kid, we had to wipe ourselves! Not some confounded machine!”
Are ethics stronger today?
I disagreed somewhat in class, but vehemently inside.In a very-unscientific analysis, I turn to Google Trends to see what trend, if any exists – perhaps a slight downward curve across the board.I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the most simple business practice is to be honest in all that one does – at the very least a track record will be there to call upon in the future.When the “The University” starts negotiating various degrees of honor with regards to the “seriousness clause,” something is terribly wrong.Why bother with an honor system at all? This story, from the UVA Magazine, is a fascinating read.“I think a lot of people are unwilling to hold someone accountable for an honor offense unless it’s a serious one,†one juror told the Cavalier Daily…. Why so much reluctance to nip it in the bud?Realtors are held to a high standard and deservedly so. The transactions we manage and consult on frequently represent the single-largest transaction an individual or family will ever do. The Realtor Code of Ethics is eight pages long.The perception of the deterioration of ethics is not endemic in any one industry – be it real estate or the corporate world. It’s just that we seem to have lost our way.A Google search reveals very few posts that discuss Realtor ethics in a positive light…. Real estate is just like any profession – there are good Realtors and not-so-good ones…. Best to be one of the “good ones.”Greg makes some good points about the Realtor Code of Ethics at Blue Roof.
Tuesday Links – 22 August 2006
Is it a blog? Or not?What’s your Mac “killer app”? I am waiting on the 2nd Gen Macbooks – each time I buy a new iPod, a better one seems to come out less than a month later … Just a start in the MLS discussion – a whole lot more to come.10 things Every Company Should Monitor – set up an RSS feed in Yahoo, Google, or any other site that covers your industry. The blog world has changed the impact one voice can have.