My friend Matthew Shadbolt alerted me to this editorial by Ken Harney, a columnist for the Washington Post, that was published on The Real Deal. Harney believes that the not-yet-fully-formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can’t get here fast enough, and that the days of wine and roses will soon dawn upon us: The financial reform bill … Read more
In part 1, I laid out some hints of what the Obama Administration has in mind for a new federal housing policy that would “reset the rules of the market” and engage in a “fundamental rethink” not just of the mechanics of housing finance, but of the objectives of housing policy themselves. The Treasury now … Read more
In part 1, I laid out some hints of what the Obama Administration has in mind for a new federal housing policy that would “reset the rules of the market” and engage in a “fundamental rethink” not just of the mechanics of housing finance, but of the objectives of housing policy themselves. The Treasury now … Read more
There was, apparently, an earthquake in Washington DC not too long ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and no serious property damage occurred as the 3.6 magnitude tremor rolled through. Mere days later, however, I learned that another tremor — this one not registered on any geological survey — centered around Washington DC occurred. From … Read more
Joel Burslem over at 1000watt has proclaimed July 9, 2010 as the day that the real estate blog died, and given the thoughtfulness and intelligence of the author, it’s difficult to disagree with his conclusion. Given how Joel defines “real estate blog”, the conclusions he draws are somewhat difficult to escape: For every Phoenix Real Estate … Read more
If you’re feeling optimistic right now, thinking that the real estate market will be rebounding soon based on the past couple of months of strong performance, well, I urge you to skip this post. No need to spoil a perfectly good mood with gloom, especially on such a beautiful summer day as today. As I’m not an … Read more
Recently, I ran across a hilarious little parody website called ReallyRottenRealty.com. The site exposes some of the more compellingly awful business practices of some brokers and agents out there. Check it out, and be prepared to laugh while grimacing. Turns out, the website is a marketing vehicle for a company called AgentHarvest, based in Dallas, … Read more
If you’re responsible for real estate brokerage operations, you owe it to yourself and to your company to read this post by Glenn Kelman at Redfin. I have said for a while now that I believe Redfin to be one of few viable models for real estate brokerage of the future, and this post helps … Read more
The incredibly smart, sometimes bearded, Gahlord Dewald has a post up on Inman (will go behind paywall in 24 hours) in which he counsels brokers and agents to “break free from cookie-cutter real estate” by paying more attention to categories of information and data: Think your brand is different from your competition? Go look at … Read more