The Perils of a Part Time Agent

June 14, 2009 40 comments

Above is an actual notification we received yesterday (contact info redacted and emphasis mine).
This post isn’t a rant about part-time real estate agents. Let’s face it, the Phoenix real estate market – along with much of the country – has been pretty rough of late. Many agents have left the business altogether. Others have [...]

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Friday Funny. And Learning!

June 12, 2009 20 comments
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I got this in a fortune cookie today.
Blogger humor resulted in me thinking it was hilarious, and I laughed out loud right there in the middle of the Chinese buffet.
People looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
For whatever reason this got me to wondering just how they get these things inside the [...]

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Joining First American Title’s Eagle University

June 11, 2009 21 comments
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Here’s something that is a little different…
I recently got approved by the Arizona Department of Real Estate to teach Continuing Education hours. In and of itself, that’s not so different. There are a gazillion people certified to teach real estate classes.
What is a little different is the fine folks at First American Title’s Eagle University [...]

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ARMLS Takes a Stand on “Scraping” and “Indexing”

June 10, 2009 22 comments
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I love my MLS (Multiple Listing Service).
They do the right things for their members. And for the general public.
Recently the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALORS (MIBOR) sent one of their own members, Paula Henry, a cease & desist letter basically forcing her to de-index her web site’s home search. This caused much consternation among the [...]

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Phoenix Area Police Arrest Homeowner for Stripping Foreclosed Home

June 10, 2009 27 comments
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From AZCentral.com:
Surprise (Arizona) police Tuesday arrested a man they say stripped his foreclosed home of fixtures and other equipment.
. . .
A grand jury indicted Garcia on charges of criminal damage and defrauding a secure creditor, giving police probable cause to arrest the former Surprise resident at about 1:25 p.m. on Tuesday.

My reaction?
It’s about time.
Don’t [...]

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How the Government can Fix the “Foreclosure Crisis”

June 6, 2009 61 comments
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TARP, bailouts, cram downs, loan modifications. Grants, workshops, faster short sale responses. The list of ideas and thoughts on how to fix “the foreclosure problem” are almost as endless as they are bureaucratic, and expensive.
Here is a thought…
What if we did nothing?
Blasphemy! DO NOTHING? “Are you insane? We have to do something… why we [...]

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Get a huge discount to Inman Real Estate Connect San Francisco 2009!

June 5, 2009 18 comments
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Thinking about going to the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco in August? (If you’re not, and you are in real estate, you should be.)
Want to save over 50% on the conference registration?
Well of course you do.
Here’s your chance. Just click on the graphic in this post (or click here) and sign [...]

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CrimeReports.com: Cool Site of the Week

June 3, 2009 23 comments
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We get lots of questions on crime statistics.
There are a plethora of sites across the web to find information on crime, but recently I discovered CrimeReports.com, which seems to be one of the better sites around for gleaning all sorts of information related to crime, traffic accidents, pedestrian stops, you name it – whatever [...]

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Using the $8,000 First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit as a Down Payment. Sort of.

June 2, 2009 22 comments
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I was going to write about the recent changes announced by the FHA that allow the $8,000 first time homebuyers tax credit to be used to offset some costs in a home purchase (as opposed to waiting to get the $8K at tax refund time).
But Heather Barr, agent and blogger extraordinaire, beat me to it.
Might [...]

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From the I don’t get it files: I need more info on your listing

May 31, 2009 71 comments
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Here is how a phone call goes that we get multiple times a week:
Caller: Yeah, I need some information on your listing at 123 Main Street.
Me: We don’t have a listing at 123 Main Street.
Caller: Sure you do, I’m looking at a print out from your web site.
Me: Our site shows ALL the homes [...]

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Joining the NAR’s Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee. Lord help me. Or them…

May 27, 2009 65 comments
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I don’t know who is crazier, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for asking me to serve on the Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee, or me for accepting their offer…
Someone out there is reading this and thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
At least that’s what I initially thought. But it’s true. Last week [...]

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