Slouching Towards DC, Part 2: A “Balanced” Policy

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

Slouching Towards DC, Part 2: A "Balanced" Policy

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

Slouching Towards DC: A New Era in Real Estate?

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

Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction Go Bye-Bye?

A while back, I wrote on Inman (subscription required) that the single greatest asset of realtors was political power, and got mixed comments about that position.  Well, the time to find out is upon us: The popular tax break for mortgage interest, once considered untouchable, is falling under the scrutiny of policymakers and economic experts … Read more

Very Slow Live-Blog of #HARREIS

I’m going to try to do a bit of a stream-of-consciousness “live-blog” here at Houston Association of REALTORS Real Estate Investment Symposium.  I put that in quotes because (a) I’m distracted often, and (b) the bandwidth isn’t the best off my little MiFi device. I’ve already missed a couple of the early presentations from Zillow, … Read more

I Don’t Pay Cowards and Assassins

So earlier today, I get an interesting email from our form on 7DSAssociates.com: First Name: NAR Last Name: Scandal Email Address: info@narscandal.com Company: NARscandal.com Title: Phone: Comments: Breaking News!  New Scandal at the NAR Exclusive from NARscandal.com A new scandal is brewing over at the National Association of Realtors and we at (www.NARscandal.com) have the … Read more

I Don't Pay Cowards and Assassins

So earlier today, I get an interesting email from our form on 7DSAssociates.com: First Name: NAR Last Name: Scandal Email Address: info@narscandal.com Company: NARscandal.com Title: Phone: Comments: Breaking News!  New Scandal at the NAR Exclusive from NARscandal.com A new scandal is brewing over at the National Association of Realtors and we at (www.NARscandal.com) have the … Read more

Missing the Forest for the Trees: the RPR License

Once again, I find myself in the curious position of praising the good folks at RPR while at the same time ending up on a negative note.  On the one hand, RPR’s posting their Content License Agreement (complete with redlined corrections) is by far the most transparent thing that I’ve seen a company do in … Read more

Reviewing RPR Demo, Part 2: Brokers and Agents

In part 1, I tried my level best to keep my opinions restricted to what RPR actually is, based on the demo.  And what RPR is is a fantastic piece of web engineering.  In this part, I get more into the opinionating and what Reggie Nicolay might term, “fearmongering”. 🙂 Let us examine the possible … Read more