The Phoenix Real Estate Guy

This could be the beginning of the end for small brokerages

by Jay Thompson on February 22, 2012 42 Comments

"This could be the beginning of the end for small brokerages." Or not. The quote comes from a comment in the Inman News story published yesterday, Howard Hanna invests $1M-plus to enhance real estate listings. That commenter is not alone. Notorious Rob Hahn wrote this piece, Some Thoughts on Zillow’s 2011 Results and Howard Hanna (In Which I Declare Peace In Our Time). As always, Rob writes thought-provoking copy. In his piece he announces "The Next Battle Line"... So that announcement by Howard Hanna, together with Zillow’s quarterly report, delineates the next battle line: … Continue Reading →

I know I can get a better deal working with the listing agent!

by Jay Thompson on February 21, 2012 9 Comments

RING RING goes the cell phone. (Well, actually the phone ringtone is "The Eyes of Texas", but it feels silly to type, "'The eyes of Texas are upon you' goes the cell phone"...) "Hi, I'm calling about your listing at blah blah blah." "Well, that's not our listing, but let me look it up real quick for you." "It's your listing, it's on your web site..." "Our site has all the homes listed for sale in Phoenix, hang on just a second..." (We've been there, done this before.) "While you are looking it up, can you tell me what "Owner Agent" means in the listing?" "Sure, that means … Continue Reading →

Open Letter to the Arizona Real Estate Commissioner: Online CE Classes

by Jay Thompson on February 19, 2012 11 Comments

Dear Commissioner Lowe – I need to complete the remaining 18 hours of my mandated 24 hour Continuing Education (CE) classes by February 28. As real estate agents are prone to do, I’ve been putting this off until the last minute. I did take six hours of outstanding live CE classes earlier this year, but as [...]

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An Email from “SEO Consultant” Guy

by Jay Thompson on February 15, 2012 25 Comments

I get email’s like this almost every day. Most get funneled straight to the cyber trash can. For whatever reason, I read this one and felt compelled to respond… (And yes, it really was in blue text on a light blue background…) Here’s my response: Very interesting! “1. Social profile is not available in top [...]

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An Interview with Bob Bemis. Yesterday CEO of ARMLS, today Zillow VP

by Jay Thompson on February 15, 2012 7 Comments

The announcement on Monday that Bob Bemis had tendered his resignation as CEO of ARMLS and will be joining Zillow as Vice President of Partner Relations caused many in the industry to say, “Hmmmm…” Almost immediately the speculation and buzz began. Some were convinced the recent hubbub over ARMLS’s switch in tax data providers from [...]

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ARMLS CEO Bob Bemis Resigns, Joins Zillow…

by Jay Thompson on February 13, 2012 5 Comments

This should be interesting… This email was just sent to ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service) subscribers: (Also posted on the ARMLS Blog) Personally and professionally, I’ll miss Bob Bemis. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Bob on the ARMLS Tech Committee, on the NAR Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee, and various NAR [...]

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One year ago today…

by Jay Thompson on February 11, 2012 2 Comments

Exactly one year ago today, my friend Clint Miller was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Exactly two months ago today, Clint lost his gallant fight against that insidious disease. Ever the good guy, Clint reminded us frequently over the last months of his life to “check your balls fellas”. It can save your life. Testicular self exams can [...]

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FHA Streamline Refinance: This is a big deal…

by Jay Thompson on February 9, 2012 8 Comments

Dan Green, a mortgage originator with Waterstone Mortage and author of the fabulous blog, The Mortgage Reports, wrote a terrific (and truly important) piece, FHA Streamline Refinance Changes : Banks To Stop Verifying Income, Job, And Credit. Go. Read it. In a nutshell, if you have an FHA mortgage, you can refinance it. Even if you [...]

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Sandicor Fires Another Round in the Listing Syndication War

by Jay Thompson on February 7, 2012 101 Comments

OK, maybe “Listing Syndication War” is a little too sensationalistic. Maybe. There’s no question though that news about real estate listing syndication is now coming at a fast and furious pace. Back in November, Edina Realty lobbed the first round when they announced they were pulling their listings from Trulia and Realtor.com Then a couple [...]

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Mortgage Tech Summit Comes to Scottsdale Feb 9 & 10!

by Jay Thompson on February 6, 2012 Leave a Comment

If you are in the mortgage business and near Scottsdale, AZ then you should already be registered and have this on your calendar. Why? Because where else are you going to get two days jam-packed with info to help your business? If you are a real estate agent or broker, you should strongly consider attending [...]

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