Realty Freak

Does the IAR Hate Poor People?

The Illinois Association of Realtors claims it supports affordable housing measures; it just seems like they don't ever want them funded.  The IAR's opposition to Illinois SB 3001, sponsored by Senator Susan Garrett, is a case in point.  What is even viler than the IAR's opposition to an affordable housing trust is the disingenuous, fear mongering used to rally support to their opposition.  

In this email the IAR suggests that a $5 recording charge is going to increase the cost of housing.  This, simply put, is nonsense.  The IAR also warns that the fee could reach the astronomical sum of $10, but fails to point out that this outrageous increase couldn't go into effect until the year 2020. 

Huge spikes in housing costs from a $5 recording fee aside, the IAR brings out its’ tried and true anti everything it doesn't want argument, the dreaded slippery slope.  The Slippery Slope is a fallacy in which a person asserts that some event must inevitably follow from another without any argument for the inevitability of the event in question.  Allow a $5 recording fee and soon it will be $5,000 argues the IAR.  The slippery slope is the last refuge of the demagogue and reprobate and the IAR should abstain from its use. 

Tell your state representatives that you support affordable housing measures and SB 3001.

Your Agent Hates You

Okay, maybe he doesn't hate you but here is an example of an agent who clearly is not going to put his clients interests before his (the definition of a fiduciary.) 

I received this email the other day from an agent with a national franchise :

"Get the co-op commission to at least 2.5%, anything less in this market when I have a buyer with $175,000 down does not help the opinion I gave to them!"

He doesn't like the co-op commission being offered so he is going to give his client a negative opinion about the property regardless of the clients situation.  WOW!  That's about all I can say... WOW!

The really sad part is that this agents clients probably trust him.  They probably trust him to be looking out for their best interests.  Clearly he is not, and they will probably never know.

The only way to safeguard consumers from the despicable slime of this industry is to mandate by law that buyers pay for their own representation.  This is really as simple as allowing the buyers' agent commission to be appear on the buyers' side of the HUD.

Having buyers negotiate and pay their agents' commission will increase competition amongst buyer agents, increase transparency and reduce conflicts of interest; all good things for the consumer and the industry.

Look What You Made Me Do!

Stupid real estate agent!  Look what I had to do because you don't know the difference between a basement and a lower level!

=IF(BG2<>"Lower",BG2,IF(V2="1.5 Story",BG2,IF(V2="Split Level",BG2,IF(V2="Split Level w/ Sub",BG2,IF(V2="Raised Ranch",BG2,IF(V2="Hillside",BG2,"Basement"))))))

And RPR is going to be better than Zillow why?

Garbage In, Garbage Out

One reason the soon to come Realtors Property Resource (RPR) won't work  be any better than Zillow is because it will rely on real estate agents being accurate and consistent in how they define property characteristics.  I'm not just talking about calling a small house cute, but actually getting the factual details correct.

Chicago real estate agents will often list a property as having a garage space when the reality is there is a garage space for rent down the street.  Many agents don't know the difference between a level and a floor.  And what some agents label a "Bedroom"... don't even get me started.  All of these are examples of the kind of bad data that will cause havoc in an automatic valuation model.  MRED (the Chicago area MLS) relies on agents self policing the data for accuracy, but that's like the fox guarding the hen house.

Valuation models are great (I build my own), but if the people using them don't understand how and why they work , and real estate agents don't, they won't work.

Tax Credit a Bad Idea (Again)

I have to agree with Jack Hough and his WSJ article that the U.S. doesn't need more home-buyer perks.  The best way to get people into homes is to let the artificially inflated housing market continue to correct itself.  The $8,000 first time buyer tax credit and the new $6,500 tax credit for existing homeowners that purchase, though relatively ineffective,  slows the correction and robs the treasury of badly needed funds.  Let's hope this is the last NAR/banking housing "stimulus" scheme we see. 

Realtors Pucker Up for Kiss of Death

Why do agents insist on writing stupid things?  Don't they know that telling people to hurry (217 days on the market) is like a giving a triple dog dare to Fate?

In a quick and unscientific study I looked at the average market time for properties on the North Shore of Chicago (180 days) and compared that to properties that had "hurry" (267 days) or "won't last" (221 days) in the remarks.

Now I know that correlation does not necessarily equal causation, but a 48% increase in average market time would be enough for me to stop BS-ing people in a vain attempt to sell a property quickly.

The only way to sell a property quickly is to price it low enough that everyone with even the vaguest knowledge of  the market  will want to hurry, lest they loose the property.

Real Estate Ads Suck

My friend Andy Sernovitz had a great post today about creating content instead of ads.  

Real estate agents should take notice since there is hardly anything more full of cliches than the typical remarks of a real estate listing.    Here's an example.  "Newer", by the way, means it's not new.

Real estate agents also like to make shit up soften reality.  Take this example.  In my version of reality roofs, chimneys, furnaces, windows and foundations aren't upgrades, they are necessities that should be in good working order.

I am a big fan of telling it like it is, as I do with this Park Ridge home for sale or this Evanston condo.  It's an opportunity to be honest and funny at the same time.

From the Stupid Email Collection - What?!

Sellers are still interested in selling but they don't want to be on the MLS.  Really?  I can't even begin to fathom the logic behind this.  "We want to sell our house, but we don't want to use the most effective marketing channel." REALLY???

 

Someone please explain.

Dear Hip Real Estate Agent

Dear Hip Real Estate Agent,

It's really cool that you tweet, facebook, blog, text and email; but on occasion you still might need to use that thing called a telephone (don't worry, it can be your cell phone or even skype.)

This is still a people business and sometimes the best way to communicate with someone is to talk.

The Biggest Lie In Real Estate

I got another email from one of those staging companies today and no surprise it included a lie that has been repeated so many times it is accepted as truth.

I would like to introduce _____ who services the Lake County, North Shore and Northern Illinois areas.  Staging is a vital marketing tool that statistics reveal will sell homes 35% faster and for 6%-9% more money then homes that are not staged.

PLEASE someone show me these statistics as they appear in an actual scientific study or journal.