TheREALTYgram Blogger

Trulia Jumps on Foreclosure BandwagonThat Disenfranchises Distressed Homeowners

Distressed homeowners who want to KEEP their homes are a forgotten class. Real estate search giant Trulia is the latest mediatainment player that sees the distressed home market as a pool of buyers and sellers and panders to the hungry investor. Never mind the hundreds of thousands, maybe 2 million, homeowners who would prefer a choice to remain in their homes!

From Trulia press release:

" ... we scoured Trulia Voices to find a panel of foreclosure specialists across the country to provide some advice."

Sadly, there is no advice for homeowners facing foreclosure.  The distressed homeowner is the invisible man in terms of real estate industry outreach and support.

Relevant links:

Let's Learn How to Help Americans KEEP Their Homes

Podcast: How REALTORS Can Help Americans KEEP Their Homes

Voices of Foreclosure - Homeowners Sing a Victorious Tune    Homeowners around the country are successfully staving off foreclosure with consumer advocates at Ac...

10 Tips to Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure  Keep all of your loan and sale documents, consult competent help, and avoid foreclosure rescue scams...

Hack Moderators at ABC Should be Ashamed!

If you missed the Democratic presidential debate on ABC last night, Editor & Publisher called it "perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years."

I Twittered the debate proceedings yesterday (Twitter is a microblogging platform: http://www.Twitter.com/FrancesFlynnTho

Moderators George Stephanopolous and Charlie Gibson spent the first 50 minutes obsessed with distractions that only political insiders care about--gaffes, polling numbers, the stale Rev. Wright story, and the old-news Bosnia story. And, channelling Karl Rove, they directed a video question to Barack Obama asking if he loves the American flag or not. Seriously!

I just signed a petition to ABC and other media that says: "Debate moderators abuse the public trust every time they ask trivial questions about gaffes and 'gotchas' that only political insiders care about. Enough with the distractions--ABC and other networks must focus on issues that affect people's daily lives."

Want to sign it to? We need a bunch of signers for ABC to take this concern seriously.
Click here to sign.

Thanks!

Going to San Francisco to Real Estate Connect;Special Foreclosure Workshop to Help Homeowners

I am heading to the top real estate conference of the year in July, Real Estate Connect, in San Francisco in July. I will be speaking at a pre-conference Foreclosure Workshop titled, "Relationships 2.0: How to Help Homeowners While Closing Business" on July 23, 2008.

The Real Estate Connect Conference is sponsored by Inman News. The confab assembles real estate industry leaders to share thoughts and ideas in one of the most highly charged and provocative meetings in the industry.

Foreclosure Fair in Tucson Smashing Success!

Almost 500 homeowners facing foreclosure met in the Tucson (AZ) Convention Center yesterday and attended workshops and one-on-one counseling sessions with loss mitigators and lenders. Many of these people will keep their homes. Sadly, there was no REALTOR participation at the event.  The event was sponsored by Pima County, with partners that include Freddie Mac, HUD, state regulatory agencies, lenders, ACORN, The Urban League, and Legal Aid.

Additional workshops are being planned for Tucson and other locations throughout Arizona.

Craig Newmark Weighs In On ObamaAt Inman Real Estate Connect Confab

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.

Welcome to Tucson! A Cyclist's Nightmare

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!

Web Women Giving Circle Gets BloggyFollowing Philanthropic Sojourn to Andes

Peru. The Andes. Triumph of the human spirit. Humanitarian outreach. CARE. More Magazine. Women empowering women.

In my wildest dreams I never imagined that I would get so close to heaven. That in this age of war and terror that there is so much reason to be hopeful and optimistic about the fate of humankind.

I was in Peru last week with the Web Women Giving Circle. We are publishing a chronicle  of events on our blog there ... you are welcome to visit as we share our experiences there in the days ahead.

Maybe If I Can Master An Artful Demi-PliéI Can Call Myself A Real Estate 'Consultant'

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!

Lee Harvey Oswald and Craig NewmarkSharing 'Assassinator' Label in Press? Ouch!!

Will Bunch is advancing a new conspiracy theory in his  Attytood: 

"The American newspaper is being assassinated by 'a lone nut.' And we're going to tell you the name of that lone nut: Craig Newmark of Craigslist -- a man whose altruistic vision of running a business to NOT maximize profits is now threatening the livelyhood of thousands of working men and women across this country, your neighbors who work at and publish your local newspaper, jobs that were once supported by the classified ads that have migrated to the most free (or low-cost) Craigslist.

"Last week, Newmark's co-conspirator (OK, he's not a totally 'lone' nut) -- his CEO Jim Buckmaster -- told stunned Wall Street analysts how they're happy to forego profits to save you a couple of bucks on a classified ad, and put some of my best friends on the unemployment line in the process. They even leave on the table money in ways that wouldn't come directly from their customers."

It's downright unAmerican. Imagine suggesting a marketing approach that lets consumers keep their money to spend as they please. Downright communist!

Greg Thomas Sweeps NAREE Awards;Writer Will Chronicle Life After Katrina

NEW ORLEANS -- Greg Thomas, real estate writer for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, receives the National Assn. of Real Estate Editors' President's Citation from NAREE president Al Heavens (The Philadelphia Inquirer) at the group's annual summit in New Orleans. Thomas was also the winner of the fifth Annual NAREE Bivins Fellowship.  (Thomas is shown at right in photo.)

Thomas will use the $5,000 Fellowship to study the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on the real estate market.

The NAREE Bivins Fellowship entries are judged by George Harmon, head of the Business Writing Program at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

"This writer is in the midst of covering the biggest housing story ever to hit this country," Harmon said. "To decipher the destroyed market for single-family homes in New Orleans, he will work for a week alongside a real estate consultant and then visit manufacturers. The objective is to inform consumers about new codes and about prices in areas where rebuilding is partial."

Thomas, a past president of NAREE, created the clearest and most detailed Fellowship proposal among several outstanding entries, Harmon said. The award is named for NAREE past president Ralph Bivins to honor his decades of leadership to the NAREE group (shown with Thomas in photo at right; Columnist Ken Harney is seated).  Bivins, an award-winning, Houston-based journalist, is editor of The Realty News Report and a NAREE honorary life member.

Greg Thomas is the hope that is the City of New Orleans.

... and the heart that is NAREE.

Related Links:

Plans To Build Prefab Housing: Stackable Units To Be Built in New Orleans
New Orleans Real Estate Surged After Katrina
New Orleans Called a Good Place to Move
Trump Could Power New Orleans Revival
Trump Bullish on New Orleans
Cocktails, Trombones, and a City Reborn