I’ve been writing about Divorcing the Commissions for quite some time now, not quite as eloquently as Greg, but vehement in my advocacy nonetheless.For the first time in the Charlottesville area, I saw this in the agent’s remarks in an MLS listing today: a Realtor is not offering a Buyer-Broker commission; the Buyer is responsible for paying their Buyer Agent, and the Seller is responsible for paying the Seller’s agent. Makes sense, no?This is the listing, but the link will expire in ten days; here’s a PDF.I can’t wait to hear what other (local) Realtors’ response to this news.Update 03/08/2008: Rather than poke anyone in the eye, I have edited this post from the original. In the original, I quoted from the “agents’ remarks.”
Date Archives March 2008
Notes on this morning’s presentation to Charlottesville Realtors
Matthew expressed great thoughts about AR last month.- A near majority of the audience read blogs.- This is a post I wrote last year that explains blogging- I was criticized for my opinion that having an “about page” is sufficient disclosure…. I respectfully disagree and am of the opinion that the Commonwealth is behind the times and that readers are generally intelligent enough to figure out who’s a Realtor and who’s not. As Realtors, we operate under at least two sets of rules – the NAR Code of Ethics which states:Standard of Practice 12-9REALTOR® firm websites shall disclose the firm’s name and state(s) of licensure in a reasonable and readily apparent manner.Websites of REALTORS® and non-member licensees affiliated with a REALTOR® firm shall disclose the firm’s name and that REALTOR®’s or non-member licensee’s state(s) of licensure in a reasonable and readily apparent manner. (Adopted 1/07) (bolding mine)The Commonwealth of Virginia says:For a web site, either the firm or the licensee must include disclosure of their status as a real estate licensee in a prominent place, or have an easily identified link to such a disclosure if the firm or licensee owns the webpage or controls its content.For emails, blogs, and bulletin boards, disclosure should be provided at the beginning or the end of the email.
Thank you, Ken Boyd
For bringing the annexation debate to the forefront.Bribing the City of Charlottesville clearly made sense when the agreement was made; it’s time to revisit the debate.The agreement ended Charlottesville’s annexation of County land and was approved by County voters in a referendum on May 18, 1982…. Charlottesville will receive $13.6 million in revenue sharing funds from the County in FY2009. …Slutzky encouraged his fellow Supervisors to stop discussing the legalities until a closed session could be held, but made the observation that revenue sharing means the County has an effective tax rate (this year) of 58 cents per $100 of assessed property…. For some background – The Daily Progress, Cville Tomorrow and Jennifer’s blog.We share many things now – merging would hopefully simplify the political process and remove some of the divisiveness that currently exists.
Latch on to any glimmer of confidence you can
Call it what you will – grasping at straws if you must…. When asked of their plans to buy a home, consumers’ expectations increased for the first time since August, rising from a reading of 2.5 to 2.7. This change is not large by any measure, but the change in direction is important if it becomes a trend. We will monitor this component carefully given that the current soft sales are heavily driven by the lack of confidence.
Seeing is believing
Why is this such a challenging concept?Thanks, Twitter.
Quick Charlottesville Inventory update
For the Charlottesville area* – There are currently 2191 properties on the market.235 have been on the market for more than one year.507 have been on the market for more than nine months.921 have been on the market for more than six months.1432 have been on the market for more than three months.1769 have been on the market for more than one month.While Days on Market is notoriously manipulated by Realtors it does provide a good guide to the market.
Cut mine in half, please
I wish I had written this:”Eliminating failure is the surest way to kill success.”Note to my mortgage-holder – As long as you’re thinking about cutting principal amounts, I’d like the principal on my mortgage cut in half, please…. Both types of modification involve a concession of payments, are susceptible to additional pressures to write down again, and result in the same payments to the lender if the mortgage pays to maturity…. Maybe I’ll start ordering the fancy coffees rather than brewing my own, or perhaps go buy a new expensive car and then ask for the principal to be “written down” as soon as I drive it off the lot. Apparently I’ve spouted the ethical and contractual obligations that borrowers have to repay their obligations for too long. More at Behind the Mortgage, the WSJ and make sure to read the comments at CR.Honor and personal responsibility should have a place in our society.