August 2007
z57 was a joke…and so are most real estate web site developer service sites
These may be “fightin words…”, but it’s relatively true. O.K., maybe z57, the real estate web site developer service isn’t a total joke, but maybe the agents who buy the service are a joke? Well, regardless, they’re selling very basic services packaged in what appears to be great products or at least they would like you to believe they are. They’ll even admit it if you get them to honestly tell you what they’re selling. Then again, maybe it’s the fault of the agents who don’t figure out what they did a while back…
So, when I was in the real estate business, I didn’t really know who could help me with my website. After I did all my homework, I thought I would have to pay a web developer that would cost me $1000 or more and probably pay some search engine marketing service thousands of dollars to get (more…)
On site buyer’s agents…do they really represent the buyer’s interest?
Before I joined the business, I had no idea who was really behind the desk at two of the homes we bought. At the time we bought a condo in an exclusive neighborhood in Bellevue and another single family house in Issaquah, we were asked if we had an agent with us. Many consumers on a regular basis are asked the same question when visiting new construction homes. However, many don’t realize who is sitting behind the desk at those sites manning or rather “working the desk” that many prospective buyers may visit on their way to learning more about the new community. (more…)
The secret’s finally out: Seattle is one of the best places to live
I had a very hard time deciding to get back into real estate after a slimy one week of watching a broker tell me that people who bought $15,000 properties weren’t worth my time right out of college. However, one thing I trusted was that Seattle and the area surrounding it was some of the best real estate in the world. I’m biased since I grew up there.
Most of my life people I ran into from around the world in New York, California or Korea asked “You’re from where?” “I heard it rains a lot over there” and a bunch of other questions or comments showing how ignorant they were about Seattle. They didn’t know that Seattle was the home to the biggest software company in the world (Microsoft), the home to where they found the biggest commercial manufacturer of planes (Boeing), the biggest franchise of coffee shops (Starbucks), and (more…)
Real Estate Commissions are too high! Really…? It depends…
So, commissions are a funny thing in the Real Estate business. It’s the reason why there are thousands, if not millions of agents in the business and what makes the business honestly function. Without them, how would you motivate anyone to work 16-20 hour days to literally do what’s needed to find you the home you wish.
The going rate when I was in the business was 3% on both the selling and buying sides. So, a licensed agent (more…)