Craig Newmark is sporting a new Obama lapel pin at the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in New York City. He waxed melancholy about the days when there was a rule of law and Bill of Rights in the United States. Some of us are old enough to remember those days.
We have just moved to Tucson, Arizona ... GREAT climate (albeit a little warm this time of year), terrific people, and some great culture. It is NOT the place to be, however, if you are hit by a truck on your bicycle. It appears the Tucson police do not care for cyclists. Police Department and local EMTs left this man bleeding and confused following a collision with a truck on Friday. Head wounds, massive bleeding, and confusion evidently do not add up to an injury serious enough to merit an ambulance. They left him ALONE, standing there, for his wife to pick up. (I'm Wifey, BTW.) We spent a fair amount of time becoming aquainted with the University Hospital, where medical care was excellent. More on this in future posts. Blogger Wifey is not a happy camper!
I am getting ready to take a class in real estate consultancy. There is growing consumer demand for real estate services that are "unbundled" and consultancy is clearly an option that we need to review and develop as a business model. There's only one small problem. In Pennsylvania it is ILLEGAL for a real estate agent who is not a broker to use the dirty "C" word. Seems the PA State Real Estate Commission says real estate consultancy is an "art", according to attorney Ray J. Michalowski, Esq:
"The Commission recently ruled on whether licensed real estate salespersons may refer to themselves as real estate 'consultants' in an advertisement. Although there is little doubt that salespersons routinely provide services to their clients that constitute 'consulting' as that word is defined in plain English, the Commission has held that 'consultant' is a term of art in real estate and may only be used by licensed real estate brokers.
"The Commission’s view is based on the definition of 'Broker' found in the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (RELRA), which defines a 'Broker' as someone who 'represents himself to be a real estate consultant, counselor, agent or finder.' An important question is raised by this definition; does this also mean that salespersons can no longer refer to themselves as 'agents'?
"Don’t panic, because while the terms 'consultant,' 'counselor' and 'finder' are off limits for salesperson advertising, the term agent is probably still safe to use.
"This is because the definition of 'Broker' is repeated in the Commission’s regulations and contains a minor, but significant difference stating that a 'Broker' is someone who 'represents himself or itself as a real estate consultant, counsellor or finder.' The word “agent” is absent from this version of the definition of “Broker”. In addition, the common use of the term “agent” to identify both brokers and salespersons in the real estate industry, and if fact throughout RELRA itself, make it very unlikely that any salespersons will be prosecuted for calling themselves 'agents'."
Well, it's resassuring to know we're not headed to the hoosegow if we call ourselves agents!
Language is a powerful tool. We often underestimate its might and we are careless about word choices. I recently assessed my own word choices and decided to make a conscious shift in vocabulary. I started here earlier this year by avoiding some of the more inflammatory tidbits I was prone to use in earlier blogging posts.
Last year Web Women Giving Circle Founder and Master Coach Joeann Fossland introduced me to the concept of The Law of Attraction. I read Michael Lozier's Law of Attraction book and started to work with the principle in many areas of my life. I recently saw The Secret movie and had another thought about how to apply LOA to our philanthropic blog. We have added the words Love, Hope, and Abundance to our Categories and we have chosen more positive words to describe the prospect of improving the human condition.
I'm watching the development of a new real estate lexicon by some of the mighty new web sites like Zillow. Zillow refers to REALTORS as "real estate service providers." That is a misuse of the English language. We need to work on that. We will! Stay tuned.
Why are the blog search engines delivering so much junk these days? A University of Maryland study claims that 56% of English language blogs are spam (SPam + bLOG = SPLOG). Excessive spam is rendering most blog search engine almost useless for users who search using wide parameters (i.e. Bethlehem PA real estate).
Blogging guru Steve Rubel talked about spam blogs earlier this week. Splogs are everywhere, there's Pennsylvania real estate sblog, Arizona splog. and splog everywhere you search! I am particularly offended by the Pennsylvania splog, which uses my posts as its content. The owner of the site is unidentified except as "Real Estate Pro".
Some of the splogs are simply vehicles that carry advertising. Others are used as pointer sites to other web addresses. Who's to blame? There are three culprits: web publishers who do nothing to police splog (Blogger.com is reported to have over 100,000 splogs), advertising venues (Google has not done a good job monitoring its AdSense applicants), and the authors of the splogs.
If web publishers and advertisers want the search engines to function with better results, they would be wise to step up to the plate with a plan to fix the problem!
The new blog NAR in the News published by The National Assn. of REALTORS® is off to a good start.
"News coverage shapes perceptions of people, organizations and entire industries. Yet few of us understand what goes into the making of a news story. “NAR in the News” will give its readers a peek behind the scenes into how journalists cover the nation’s largest trade association and the 1.2 million REALTORS® it represents.
"This blog is also a place for REALTORS® and others to express their opinions and ask questions that we will try to answer. “NAR in the News” is produced by NAR’s Public Affairs Division."
A recent post about FSBO sales vs.REALTOR® assisted sales contains a series of comments that reflect a high degree of skepticism about the information gathering process at NAR. It invites a healthy exchange of dialogue. Let's hope this policy endures.
Revenues are up at large real estate offices that offer a menu of services including mortgages, home warranties, title insurance, and homeowner's insurance, according to a report by the National Assn. of REALTORS®. The report pointed to Howard Hanna Smythe Cramer of Pittsburgh, which posted a total sales sales volume in 2005 of 53,649 transactions, and income derived from ancillary services that accounted for some 43% of the firm's income.
NAR's stance against banks in real estate remains the same. The group continues to demonstrate a colossal HQ (hubris quotient) in this regard.
Mr. Tom Early. A leading rabble rouser in the real estate industry. In person. In the flesh.
One of the treats of attending the NAREE conference in Charlotte was having the chance to meet Tom Early, Master CEBA president of the National Assn. of Exclusive Buyer Agents, and broker of Buyers Brokerage in Columbus, OH. Tom is a frequent contributor to the RealTalk list serv He is a strong proponent of single agency real estate practice and champions the cause frequently.
Here are some nuggets from the RealTalk archives:
On understanding fiduciary: "The days of listing brokers ruling REALTORDOM are over, big time, never to be seen again. It is time to wake up and understand that their are TWO parties to the sale and there are TWO brokers doing business, legally, trying to land the buyer. Let the big boys have there way and there will be nothing but big boys doing business."
On banks in real estate: "I say it is hypocritical for Realtors to be in the lending business, title business, inspection business, home warranty business, etc. etc., and tell everyone else that they can't be in the Real Estate Business. It's called guarding your own turf, folks."
On giving back: "Spent last night unloading trucks ( I can handle a fork lift) for our local down town food shelter and will be dishing out food on Christmas day at the same facility. NOTHING, not even a good sharp discussion on AGENCY, makes me feel better than helping those who either can not or will not help themselves. That feeling is the REAL feeling of Christmas and or Happy Holidays. Give till it feels good."
On the matter of contracts: "While your board has a right to make any rule it wishes, I would challenge any rule which told a buyer what they could or could not negotiate in THEIR contract with the seller...While NAR through it's state association and then trickled down to the local level tried very hard to put EBA out of business many years ago with tactics like this it did not work.
"The seller has every right to tell this buyer to go take a hike and if I were advising the seller that is the advice they would get from me...If a buyer wants to ask the seller to pay toward their buyer broker fee the buyer has EVERY right to do so and [the local] board has NOTHING to say about it. Now there may be a few listing agents who are stupid enough to advise their seller not to do so based only on the fact that the listing agents doesn't like to see things done that way, but what the hell, stupid people are either born that way or they take pills. When I see listing brokers attempt to tell me that I am worth only what they offer in the MLS and I have nothing to say about it methinks they were either born stupid, take pills, or forgot to take their pills."
How does it happen that a bill that puts to many Americans at risk of diminished health care can get so close to approval? National Assn. of REALTORS® president Thomas Stevens has issued another Call to Action for passage of Bill S.1955, known as the "Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act." State REALTORS® presidents, including Pennsylvania Assn. of president Len Ferber, have been visiting Senators and urging support of the bill. The REALTOR® position gives members the impression that the bill will expand coverage to those who need it most. It does not tell the truth about the onerous effects of the bill.
"Not so," says AARP:
"Many states require health insurers to cover specific diseases or treatments and forbid them from refusing to cover older or sicker people or from charging them higher premiums. Health plans sold under this bill would not have to follow those rules.
"Certain states have adopted laws designed to prevent older or sicker people from being priced out of the insurance market or from being charged unaffordable premiums...allowing insurers to charge higher premiums for older people would create an incentive for employers not to hire older workers, who tend to use more healthcare services. He suggested that the bill would sacrifice older workers in the service of helping younger small-business employees.""
"Not so," says the American Optometric Assn.:
"S. 1955 would render useless state-enacted patient protections for eye and vision care, any-willing provider and insurance equality laws intended to protect health care providers and consumers. If enacted, S. 1955 would preempt all state-mandated benefit legislation, not just those that are specific to eye and vision care. "
"Not so," says the American Diabetes Assn.:
"...a bill that could leave millions of Americans with diabetes without insurance coverage for their diabetes needs. The bill, S. 1955, will pre-empt the 46 state laws, passed over the last decade with bi-partisan support, that require state-regulated health plans to cover diabetes education, equipment, and supplies. As American Diabetes Association volunteers, this legislation directly impacts our mission. We must join together and stop it.
"Today the organization is asking for your help in our efforts to lobby Senators and secure their opposition to S. 1955 in its current state as it fails to protect state diabetes coverage regulations."
A recent article in Inman News, parroted yesterday by REALTOR® Magazine Online, points to a 25% national increase in foreclosure rates from the first quarter to the last quarter of the year. RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio points out that the number of properties entering foreclosure represents fewer than one percent of American households. He offers the following comments:
"Over the past few years, we've seen historically low mortgage rates, consistently escalating home prices, and steady, strong employment. This has translated into relatively low levels of foreclosure properties, particularly bank-owned properties. With interest rates rising and an apparent slowing of property valuations in most markets, we'll be watching closely to see if there's a material effect on the number of foreclosures in 2006."
Instead of watching interest rates, I suggest that that we watch what happens in bankruptcy courts this year. Congress delivered a bankruptcy bill last year that will make it very hard to consumers to pay their credit card debt and attorneys in the trenches expect that foreclosure rates will escalate as a consequence.
I track the foreclosures in the Lehigh Valley through the multiple listing service. (There is a link in the right column titled Bank Properties that is a link to bank properties available through the Lehigh Valley Multiple Listing Service.) Today there are 88 bank properties available for sale. The number has almost doubled since September:
Sept. 30, 2005 there were 46 bank properties on the market
Oct. 21, 2005 there were 52 properties for sale
Nov. 25, 2005 there were 73 bank properties for sale
Dec. 30, 2005 there were 81 bank properties on the market
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