Phoenix Real Estate — Anything and everything about it. Plus random musings… Now with Phoenix area MLS Listings Search!

Jamie Geiger at the Real Estate Cactus tagged me to play in the latest meme running around the real estate blog community.

What’s a meme? Think a list of questions, usually somewhat personal, that propagate “virally” across the net. 

These things are sort of goofy. But I have to admit, I enjoy reading them as they are a great way to learn a little bit more about the people that write them. And I for one, like to learn more about people.

So here are my responses….

1. Who is your favorite musical artist? (post a youtube video)

This question is almost impossible for me to answer. I like a lot of different types of music. Rock, country, jazz, blues, classical. Just about anything is fair game. I suppose my favorite genre is “classic rock” (“old stuff” according to my teenagers).

I’m partial to those who compose compelling lyrics — the “pure song writers” for lack of a better term. Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Lennon/McCartney to name but a few of the best. Jimmy Buffett will always hold a special place in my heart.

I can’t post just one YouTube video. Partly because I can’t pick one artist, and partly because this free WiFi spot I’m currently at blocks YouTube.

2. Who is your favorite artist.

“Artist” could really be anything, could it not? it appears most answering this question are picking a “visual artist”. But is that a painter, a sculptor, a photographer?

I’ll go with Michael Atkinson. His use of colors and white space has always been interesting to me and I’ve never seen anything by him I didn’t like.

Having been in the Sistine Chapel, it’s also hard to go wrong with Michelangelo…

3. Who is your favorite blogger?

Please. I’ve currently got 619 blogs in my feed reader — ranging from politics to news to tech to humor to of course real estate, and everything in between. I don’t think I can pick a favorite — they are all written by very different people on very different subjects. 

4. If you could meet anyone (alive or dead), who would it be and what is the most interesting thing about them?

My initial reaction to this was I’d like to “meet” Osama Bin Laden. But I don’t think that’s what this question is really looking for…

I enjoy talking to really intelligent people. To that end, it would be cool to have a sit-down with the likes of DaVinci, Hawking, Einstein, Socrates, Franklin, Madison, Jefferson, Mozart, Newton….

Ronald Reagan would have to be in my Top 10 list. Curiously to some, I’m sure, is I’d put Jack Nicklaus in that Top 10 as well.

But I guess if I had the choice to meet anyone, it would be Roscoe Thompson — my grandfather that passed away when my Father was just a child.  

5. What did you want to be when you grew up?

I was a kid in the 60s. Didn’t we all want to be an astronaut? (which to this day would be a wicked cool job)

6. What is the most interesting piece of trivia you know?

I should defer this one to Francy. I love trivia games and she frequently reminds me that my mind is full of useless information (but I’ll have trouble telling you what I had for lunch yesterday).

How about this — 98% of people think Thomas Edison invented the first light bulb. And they are wrong. Edison patented the first commercially practical incandescent light. Sir Joseph Swan is generally attributed with inventing the first light bulb. Swan demonstrated a working light bulb 19 years before Edison received his patent. 

Did you know Alaska could hold the 21 smallest states?

7. If you could live in any point in history what would it be and why?

There are a ton of historical events I’d love to have witnessed (top of the list would be the Constitutional Convention — can you imagine watching the Founding Fathers draft the Constitution?!).

But to live in? Why the here and now.

8. What is the most interesting job you have ever held?

Being a father. Sometimes I think I do an OK job, other times I fail miserably. These kids came with no instruction manual. It’s a job that changes every day and I learn something new every day. What could be more interesting than raising two kids in today’s world?

I’m supposed to “tag” eight people to answer these questions…

I struggle with this. I know some people hate these things. They are no fun if you feel forced to comply. I’m also WAY behind in my reader, so I don’t know who has already been tagged.

So let’s play this way. If you are reading this, there is one thing that is certain — I’d love to know more about you. Therefore, anyone that reads this is hereby “tagged”. If you want to post, please do so. If you don’t, then don’t.

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Back in 2005, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The two have apparently slugged it out long enough to reach a settlement.

No real point in rehashing it all. To be honest, it’s really quite a snoozer — and basically meaningless in today’s world. VOWs (Virtual Office Website — the subject of much of the contention) are all but dead. IDX’s (the type of “MLS Search” you can do on most real estate sites, including this blog) aren’t affected from what I can tell in my first cut through the releases.

I would be curious to know just how many tax dollars (and NAR dues dollars) were spent on this nonsense…

On second thought, I’d probably rather not know….

If you are interested in the specifics:

Here is the proposed final judgment in its entirety.

Michael Wurzer has a fabulous first-pass take on the FBS blog. As an “insider” on how MLS’s live and breathe, his opinion is (in my opinion) the one most worth listening to.

Some great comments (for the most part) on the Agent Genius post.

The NAR of course, has their spin.

As does the DOJ.

And if you believe the spin, befitting of two bloated bureaucracies, both sides “won”.

Whatever. I don’t see how it’s going to really effect my business, or real estate in general. I don’t run a VOW (and honestly, can’t understand why anyone would). I’ve been able to freely compete on costs, as has everyone else in my market that I’m aware of. Consumers have a wide variety of choices when it comes to real estate services — from flat fee, MLS only houses to “full service” brokerages and everything in between.

Apparently the DOJ enjoys nosing around in private industry and free enterprise, spending boatloads of taxpayer dollars. Now that they should have more free time on their hands, maybe they can mount a frontal assault on the oil companies. When was the last time you saw competition in gas prices? The only competition there seems to be in the race for who can raise their prices fastest. 

Others Opine:
Jonathan Dalton
Sellsius
Bloodhound
Inman Blog
Redfin

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If you are Canadian and considering purchasing real estate in the US, you should love this chart:

That would be a graphic representation of the value of the Loonie compared to the US Dollar. The more the line goes up, the more buying power in the U.S. you have. Right now, exchange rates are near historic highs (well, at least since the 1950s, which is as far back as I’ve been able to find on the Internet)

If you are a Canadian buyer of US real estate, at some point you are going to have to convert your hard-earned Canadian dollars into US dollars.

To exchange money, there are several options. You can go to your bank. You could in theory, do it with a credit card (you’ll need quite a credit limit to purchase a home – and the interest rate would suck), I suppose you could also turn to the black market, though I can’t recommend it.

A bank is the first (and often only) option most people consider. Yes, it’s safe, and you’ll likely get a reasonable exchange rate.

But banks are not in the business of exchanging foreign currency. Banks make their living by lending money.

Why not exchange your currency using the services of a company that makes their living by exchanging currency?

Enter the “foreign currency exchange broker”. These types of companies do little more than exchange various currencies. As such, they tend to get very good exchange rates. 2 – 4% better than banks in fact.

EDITED TO CLARIFY - whoops, I’ve been told that the currency broker doesn’t really get better rates than the banks, but that banks typically “mark up” the rates — ie: charge a premium — and the currency broker does not.

“2 – 4%, big deal”, you might be saying.

Well, when you’re talking tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars required to purchase real estate, it IS a big deal!

Here’s an actual example a currency broker emailed me on May 9:

As an example, based on rates at this very moment, on a $300K USD home:
- going through Bank of Montreal or TD Canada Trust, it will cost you $311,400.00 CAD (based on 0.9620 US)
- going through Globex, it will only cost you $305,400.00 CAD (based on 0.9820

This is a savings of $6,000.00 CAD.

Over the past several months, I’ve received numerous calls from currency brokers. To be perfectly honest, some seemed a little shady, and many were far too “hard sell” for my taste.

But Globex Foreign Exchange, based in Edmonton, Alberta was different. I like their attitude, and I like their customer service based philosophy. None of our Canadian clients have used their services, yet, but we are going to be providing them with the contact info for a Globex “Private Client Specialist” and suggesting they contact her. It certainly can’t hurt to explore this option. I’ve done my due diligence and feel comfortable recommending our clients contact Globex.

Globex does not make their money on commissions and fees. They make their money on the natural buy/sell spread in exchange rates. They trade money all day, every day, and pass their great rates on to people like you and me. They’ve been in business for 10 years and all client funds are guaranteed and insured for up to $2 million.

Since I didn’t ask her permission, I don’t want to post the specific contact info I have for the Globex rep for all the world to see. But I’ll gladly pass it on to anyone who would like it.

EDITED TO ADD: Permission granted! See contact info at the bottom of the post… She’s willing to talk to anyone, even if you’re just curious about how the process works. Be nice!

If you are a Canadian buyer, you should call these folks — even if you aren’t our client (though really, what were you thinking? )

If you are an agent working with Canadian buyers, you should call these folks. I’m telling you, they will not hassle you for referrals, but they’ll help you understand what they can do for your clients.

For the record, I’ve got no affiliation with Globex, nor am I compensated in any fashion for suggesting people call them. As I stated, I simply like the way they approach business, and if I can save my Canadian clients a little money, that’s a great thing…

If you’ve ever used Globex (or any currency broker) I’d love to hear about your experience.

Globex Contact Info:

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“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”

         — Norman Schwarzkopf

“The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage.”

         — Thucydides

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