Real Estate

Mid-Year Series: Syndication Showdown at CMLS Corral, Presented by Zillow

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This post, and this series of reports and opinions from NAR Mid-Year 2011, brought to you by: [kml_flashembed publishmethod=”static” fversion=”8.0.0″ movie=”http://7dsassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/zillow_yahoo_ad.swf” width=”600″ height=”300″ targetclass=”flashmovie”][/kml_flashembed] First, as you noticed with the sponsorship banner above, Zillow won the Ebay auction for sponsoring this series. So thank you Zillow. Make them look good for sponsoring this series by … Read more

Buyer Diaries: The Pregame

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As some of you know, I’ve recently moved from New Jersey to Texas, because my wife got one of them “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunities to join a fledgling company at the ground level. I’ve been thinking and writing about real estate for a few years now, but haven’t really had the chance to look at the experience … Read more

Realogy Numbers Look Pretty Good To Me

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A couple of days ago, Realogy (my old employer) released its Q1/2011 report. Quite a few people emailed and messaged me suggesting that Realogy was staring ruin in the face, since I have defended Realogy in the past. Not surprising, really, considering how the media reported the numbers. For example, Inman News had this headline … Read more

Do REALTORS Have A Duty to Report A Client's Fraud?

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Had a most interesting discussion with a REALTOR friend last night over dinner about professional ethics, and came across an interesting question. We didn’t know the answer, so I figured I’d blog about it and ask you all. The question is whether a REALTOR has a duty to disclose bad acts by a client, or … Read more

A TED Talk, and an Experiment

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I’ve watched the above video three times now. It’s Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker who made a number of documentaries, the most widely known of which is Supersize Me, talking about his new project: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. It’s a look at the world of sponsorship, branding, and advertising. Watch the whole video. The TED … Read more

Turns Out, the iPhone IS the Perfect Phone for REALTORS

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Well, at least if you’re the manager of an office, or the broker in charge. It appears the iPhone doubles as a time-stamped tracking device: Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden, a pair of security researchers, recently discovered that iPhones — as well as 3G-enabled iPads — running iOS 4 constantly record and store their users’ locations in unencrypted files. These files are … Read more

Why NAR Is Not Likely to Win the QRM Battle

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I have to imagine, given the focused readership this blog has, that most of you already know that NAR has been fighting a war against homeownership on multiple fronts in recent months. I’ve been doing the Chicken Little dance about these Federal issues for quite some time, after all. One of those fronts is the … Read more