The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and US Department of Justice (DOJ) have different opinions on how home listings should be owned, managed and displayed. Supposedly at the core of this debate is consumer rights, and benefits to the public. But which consumers? And what part of the public?

From the very beginning, NAR and its Realtor Association members have primarily supported the interests of listing brokers, the real estate agents and their companies that serve home sellers by marketing their homes. Historically, all brokers truly represented only the sellers in a real estate transaction. It has only been in the last couple of decades that the issues of home buyer rights, especially their right to equal and independent representation in the… Read Full Post

This question is often discussed in local and national news articles, but I never see a "grass roots" explanation of why creating such an "all inclusive" database and allowing consumer access to it is such an issue. I hope this information will help people understand why this is so.

First, it must be realized that a property listing is legally just like any other written creation. It has an author, and that author owns the publication rights to their creation. In the case of a property listing, the author is the listing broker. In turn, the listing broker must have a valid listing contract with the seller, in which, and during the limited term of the contract, the seller grants the listing broker the authority to disclose certain non-public information… Read Full Post

You look at a prospect's profile in your CRM database and see 40 properties saved. Wow! That's a lot. I have had this happen a few times, especially with out of town buyers relocating to our area. One buyer had saved 56 properties they thought they wanted to see! It is a good reason and time to let the relocation buyers know that they need to go through their saved properties list carefully, and narrow it down to the top 20-24 properties max., for 2-3 days of showings at 8 properties in a 6 hour showing day, plus one more half day to see the top 3-4 a second time for a final decision before writing an offer.

Assuming they will be in town for a full week, which is what I strongly suggest to them, here is the time line I propose to them, by phone if… Read Full Post

While a home is listed for sale and strangers are constantly entering the home, all jewelry, true silverware, silver plate, valuable art works, and any other valuables and collectibles, should be placed in safe storage, and all prescription medicines should be kept with you or locked away. This is not paranoia, but simple prudence.

While most agents are careful to know and pre-screen their buyers, others may not, or they may become distracted during a showing, giving casual thieves an opportunity to pick up small items unobserved. Listing agents doing one time "sign call" showings for prospective buyers they don't know or work with on a regular basis may be particularly susceptible to thieves posing as buyers.

For cameras, watches, portable… Read Full Post

Re: SEOMoz blog post in Related Links below

(And also check out the other related links at the bottom of the same blog post!)

With a few exceptions, this pretty much what others and I have said before, but all in one post. However, as noted in some of the blog comments, there are exceptions for the real estate industry.

Re #2: IMHO - Being #1 or #2 in sponsored results in our business, for all searches, is pretty critical. I have had many ads where average position was 3-4, and they got no clicks at all. There is just too much other competition on the results page. See more on this below.

Re: #5: Don't ever allow your real estate AdWords ads to run in the "Content" network. Use the "Search" network only. That way, you don't have to worry about… Read Full Post

Denver Home Buyer FAQ - Part 1

How much does a single family home cost in Denver?

Of course this varies quite a bit, based on location, lot size, square footage of the home, basement type and finish, age, condition and other amenities of the home and in the community.

Most of the time, it helps to put this in perspective. The Denver area real estate market is generally more affordable than many large metro areas on either coast of the US, but also more expensive than many metro areas in the South and Midwest.

A basic, older, 3/2 starter home in average condition generally starts in the $150k range. Newer 3/2 starter homes in some of the more desirable communities start at $200k and up.

Median single family home prices are about $300k. What… Read Full Post