According to MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni, “led by a 5.4 percent decline in the South, the drop in existing-home sales in September was likely somewhat related to the impact from Hurricane Florence. Beyond that, housing demand still remains strong, and is bolstered by an incredibly healthy job market. The lack of overall supply, at only 4.4 months at the current sales pace, continues to be the housing market’s primary constraint.”
The Data Advocate
Next Generation Ideas and Insights for the Residential Real Estate IndustryThe Future of the Internet…
“If Security is not integral to an information technology architecture, that structure must be replaced.
The original distributed Internet architecture sufficed when everything was “free,” as the Internet was not a vehicle for transactions.”
George Gilder – “Life After Google., The Fall of Big Data And the Rise of the Blockchain Economy”
Note:
For those who remember the early Internet, you recall that there was absolutely no marketing or advertising allowed. One was “flamed” into oblivion if they tried it.
The Internet was built for communication in the event of a nuclear holocaust, and not for commerce. Dot Com was about COMmunication, and not COMmerce.
CMLS 2018 – Council Of Multiple Listing Services
We have all of the video and interviews we recorded while in Orlando. If you are interested in MLS (and what real estate professional is not), check out these interviews.
Thanks to Denee Evans, CEO of CMLS for making our job reporting on the event so easy.
Everything is right here:
https://www.realtown.com/cmls2018
Buildings of the Day
Long Island Board of REALTORS and MLSLI. Best bagels in the world!
I hear Joe Mottola, long time CEO of the Long Island Board is retiring.
Buildings are part of the culture of our REALTOR Organizations, which is only right, since we are all about the real estate 
Brunswick – Glynn County Board of REALTORS (GA)
The last time I was at this Board of REALTORS was in April of 2004.
Notice too that some of our local REALTOR organizations refer to themselves as “Boards.” Many changed to “Associations” over the last 30 years or so, but I often still refer to my local association as “the Board.”
Do you own your REALTOR Building, or is your Association leasing?
Awhile back, Kathleen Allardyce, a member of our RealTalk Community asked:
“I’m wondering if anyone has a formula they use for estimating expenses or overhead to calculate:
Gross Annual Commissions – Expenses = Net Annual Commission. Is there a percent of commissions you can use for estimating?
A dollar figure per side? Can you use an estimating figure, or do you need to use hard dollars for desk fees, etc, then add a dollar figure for selling a listing and working with a buyer?”
Ardell DellaLoggia, a successful real estate veteran from the Northwest responded:
“I use an estimate based on my own reality. I take all of last year’s “Buyer Agent” fees actually received, deducting expenses directly related to that sale. An example would be if you paid for a home warranty or gave them a closing gift. Add up the total “net” commission and divide by the number of
Buyer Agent Transactions. Do the same on the listing side deducting that house’s specific expenses. Example would be sign up/sign down fees, advertising costs, not the lockox as that is an overhead/inventory item.
Only deduct the specific cost of advertising this house, not personal promotion advertising or other houses grouped into the ad. Take the total net commission and divide by the number of listings.
I do my plan based on half of my transactions/sides being Buyer Agent and the other half being Listings Sold. YMMV I round down the final number to account for buyers who don’t buy and listings that don’t sell. If my buyer agent $ is $4,450 I count that as $4,000 for planning. If the listing side is $3,450, I count that as $3,000 for planning.
Then I take the total number of sides from last year and up it to wherever I want it to be next year. Say that is 40 total transactions. 20 X $3,000 plus 20 X $4,000 equals my annual goal.
Then I do the plan, strategy, action list to meet the goals, etc into two separate plans. One, for achieving the listing goals; and then a second for achieving the buyer agent goals. They overlap a bit where I count on meeting buyers from my listings.
General overhead like buying enough lockboxes to keep a stocked inventory, I do not count at all when doing my business plan as eventually that becomes a constant. If you are a newer agent, these things are one time “start up”
costs.
I have taken some classes lately on planning, but the “new ideas” didn’t fit my business model. This one still works for me.”
Since the average term of homeownership can be somewhere between 5 to 8 years, realize that everyday is a marketing day and the easiest people to reach (and those most inclined to listen to your message) are those you already know.
Go through your personal address book. Call, mail, or e-mail everyone in your personal address book to let them know that you are now in the real estate business and that you would love to hear their advice and of course, if they know anyone who is interested in buying or selling, that you would appreciate if they mention your name. Don’t be shy about this. Don’t feel like you can’t “impose” on your friends. If your friends won’t help you, who will? Ask if it is ok for you to give them an update on your progress after your first year.
Learn the art and science of sales. There have been many good books written on the subject.
Understand persuasion and how it fits into your business.
Think of yourself as a “helper” (no one wants to be “sold” something). After all, you are helping people with what is usually their most valuable asset, their home.
To be effective in sales, you need the following:
Product Knowledge
Sales and Communication Skills
Access to Potential Clients
Integrity
Perseverance and Commitment
And let’s not forget….
Enough money (capital) to get you through start up and the lean times.
Pay attention to the future…as someone once told me…”that is where you will spend the rest of your life.”
And keep the flyer box full 🙂
If you are interested in the true story from someone who was there and part of the conversation and the execution…
The REAL Realtor Dot Com and Rin Story…
From the beginning…before listing appeared on the Internet in any quantity.
It was June of 1995 and there was no REALTOR Dot com and REALTORS were the first industry to place their inventory online for public display. It didn’t happen all by itself…there was an “Advance Team.”
There is a long story behind the makings of REALTOR DOt Com and all of the money, politics, and even some wrong doing. I had a front row seat to the entire affair as the only REALTOR Consultant on the RIN Team.
This is a “Marketing Thoughts” piece I wrote to the RIN Team for placing Listings on The Internet in June of 1995. I called it National Advertising and this was the first document created for NAR on this subject.
I don’t think that Bob Goldberg had yet joined the RIN Team. When he arrived, he was my responsibility to train.
San Francisco, CA – July 17, 2018 – Glide, a provider of real estate software solutions that empowers agents with easy-to-use, secure, and convenient new ways to complete real estate transactions online, today announced a partnership with the Oakland Berkeley Association of REALTORS® that immediately enables Association members to use the company’s popular Glide Forms application. Glide Forms is distributed through a partnership with zipLogix™ and is embedded within the zipForm® Plus transaction management system. Beginning today, agents who are Oakland Berkeley Association of REALTORS® members can access Glide Forms free of charge via zipForm Plus.
When a real estate agent’s client sells their home, the owner is required to accurately complete and submit a number of deal-critical disclosure forms. As agents know, this means that sellers are presented with forms containing complex legal language that often proves confusing and challenging to complete. As a result, these documents are commonly submitted with incomplete or inaccurate information, causing frustration and needless delays in the transaction process.
Glide Forms addresses these legacy issues through its TurboTax-style wizard that home sellers can use to accurately, quickly, and painlessly complete required paperwork – such as the
Transfer Disclosure Statement and other California disclosure forms – through an intuitive all-digital interface. The wizard asks home sellers questions about their properties in plain language, making it clear how to disclose important details through user-friendly, conversational interactions. In addition to eliminating the frustration of often-confusing forms and delays due to missed questions, unreadable handwriting, and other common issues, Glide Forms allows agents to track their clients’ progress and digitally receive the finished forms as soon as they are completed. The purpose-built solution is also optimized for mobile use.
“Our members lives are in constant motion from the moment their feet hit the ground and as their Association it’s important that we continually strive to bring them tools that will help them be more efficient. Glide is a tool that will do just that for our members and with no additional cost. Our members will be able to save time which in turn will benefit their business.” said DaVina Lara, CEO, Oakland Berkeley Association of REALTORS®.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with OBAR to offer Glide Forms free of charge to its more than 2,200 members.” said Sebastian Tonkin, CEO, Glide. “The East Bay is already a complex market for residential transactions, and so we’re excited to simplify this critical step of disclosure preparation for OBAR members.”
About Glide
Glide provides software solutions that helps real estate agents simplify their transaction process, reduce risk, and close more deals with less effort. The company’s first release, Glide Forms, is integrated into zipForm® Plus and allows California home sellers to complete required disclosure forms electronically for the first time ever.
For those of us who know Jim Harrison, the Op Ed that ran on Inman was a very odd piece.
https://www.inman.com/2018/05/09/its-time-to-stop-ignoring-the-crisis-at-nar/
The sequence of events:
Op-Ed piece critical of NAR published on Inman
NAR response
Jim Harrison Retraction
Below reposted from FaceBook, response from a broker leader in California, Jeff Barnett.
(I am curious to know who the consultant was, so I know never to hire him/her).
>>
Good morning. Sharing this message from Jeff Barnett with his permission and at his request:
“You may have seen an Op Ed piece this week on Inman News from Jim Harrison of MLSListings regarding NAR. It was not written by Jim or approved by Jim. It was written by an outside consultant hired to write an issues paper for our visit to NAR next week.
“Obviously this outside consultant expressed his own vindictive views of NAR. It was leaked to Inman News and Inman News is aware of this.You will soon see retractions coming out across the blogosphere.
“We are Embarrassed for all the trouble this has caused Bob Goldberg and our great leadership team and we apologize. Please Share this message!”
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