I couldn’t even begin to count the number of articles or blog posts online that talk about how awful Zillow and Trulia are. Some agents complain about the inaccurate data, and other agents don’t like the fact that those sites are capitalizing by using your listings in order to make money for themselves. Here’s the thing: At the time of this writing, Zillow has an Alexa U.S. rank of 41 and Trulia has a rank of 98. ... Continue Reading
In speaking with my friend Bill Archambault several weeks ago, he pointed out to me his simple yet effective rules of real estate. I just love this guy. He has sage wisdom that comes from significant life experience. Here are Bill’s Rules of Real Estate: I. Thou shall protect thy license above all. II. Thou shall protect thy client above all, but thy license. III. Thou shall protect thy referral source above ... Continue Reading
I was at The Riviera in Vegas last Thursday for the Real Tech 2014 technology conference, and it occurred to me as I was looking at an autographed wall poster of Elvis and Engelbert Humperdinck that social proof has been around for as long as I can remember. As a child in the Los Angeles area, I remember going to restaurants and other local establishments where the walls were filled with autographed photos of ... Continue Reading
Have you ever been talking with someone and you knew—you just knew—that they were not actually listening? Maybe the other individual wasn’t looking at you or maybe that person was checking text messages while you were telling a story or sharing some information. It's a little bit frustrating when this happens. If you’re like me, you continue talking in hopes that the other person is really paying attention to you. ... Continue Reading
One of my great friends, who was an incredibly busy short sale listing agent at the height of the economic downturn, was irritated because his short sale taking what seemed like forever. He has closed tons of short sales, and his theory was that this specific deal shouldn’t take too long because there are fewer short sales than there were back in 2010. With fewer short sales, things should be moving more ... Continue Reading
I was recently involved in a very unpleasant situation. I hired a carpet and tile cleaning service to go into my home and clean things up a bit. Even though we had never used this particular company before, they came recommended. They come in. They quote cost. They begin. The project takes longer than they expect, and they will need to finish up the next day. However, since the company began applying their ... Continue Reading
At the beginning of the New Year, a significant population focuses heavily on meeting goals—particularly goals surrounding weight loss and exercise. In January and February, everyone is usually super pumped to meet their goals. Most people are still hitting the gym, and not eating an entire gallon of ice cream before bed. With all the temptation and distraction in our daily lives, no matter the month it is more ... Continue Reading
Have you ever had a client ask you about a program or a process that you haven’t heard about? Or, have you ever had a client ask you about an area within the field of housing and you didn’t know the answer? It's truly a horrible feeling when a prospect, a client, or a lead understands more about some real-estate related topic than you do. It might make you feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, there are a few simple ways ... Continue Reading