Passion and Technique: A Response to Matthew Shadbolt

I started writing a response to this amazing comment by Matthew Shadbolt of Corcoran, and thought… it’s too long to go into the comments. It deserves a post of its own. Basically, Matthew’s challenge poses the question of passion on the one hand and technique on the other: So, just as we disagreed yesterday with … Read more

Buyer Diaries: The Pregame

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

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

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

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

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

Millenials and Real Estate, Part 2: Leading vs. Managing

In my first blog conversation post, I wrote about Millenial family formation. That was fun stuff, and Travis Robertson, my dialogue partner, has posted his response. Go check it out; it’s worth a read, and the discussion is fun. But I thought I’d move onto some of the real meat. Travis claims in the video … Read more

Alison Krauss, Blogging, and Truth

I don’t often write anymore about blogging and social media. There are too many people out there who do nothing else, and the topic seems sort of beaten to death to me. But I’m going to today, because I’m inspired from an unexpected source. Regulars know that I think Alison Krauss and Union Station is … Read more

Pecunia Loquitur

One of my favorite writers/bloggers, Brian Boero of 1000watt, has another gem up on his blog, in which he excoriates an unnamed “large regional company” for recruiting “dual-career agents”. It’s worth a read, and it’s short. In it, he makes this claim: Companies with strong organizations, a discriminating approach to recruiting, and standards around service … Read more

Millenials and Family Formation

Travis Robertson is one of my new friends from RETech South. He’s one of the brightest, most thoughtful young men I’ve met in recent years, and I think the world of him. And of course, when I can debate significant issues with intelligent people I genuinely like, that’s pretty close to nirvana for me. Well, … Read more