General Real Estate Rants

Are You a Short Sale Expert?

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Broker Bryant Tutas of Tutas Towne Realty in Poinciana, Florida—he just cracks me up. I read this blog post that he authored a few weeks back in which he shares his thoughts on short sale certification programs. I’m not sure that I would call him certifiable. But then, he is quite a short sale maven [...]

June 16, 2011 2 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Hindsight Is Always Twenty-Twenty But Sometimes I Need Bifocals Anyway

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I had a great conversation with a lender friend of mine a few days back about a short sale negotiation run amok. He subscribes to the same theory as I do—the one where we are not real estate agents, we are merely problem solvers with a license to sell real estate. This particular short sale [...]

June 9, 2011 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Watch What You Say ‘Cause it May Come Back to Haunt You

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Perusing newspapers and magazines and even the Internet, I see lots and lots of agents who advertise that a short sale transaction can be closed at no cost to the seller. Please do not advertise in that way; mark my words, it will come back to haunt you. When you take a short sale listing, [...]

April 27, 2011 3 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Our Government Has an Aha Moment – Too Little, Too Late

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(Disclaimer: Not recommended for readers who do not like sarcasm.) I always wonder why Barack Obama and his minions do not just call me on the phone. I could probably shed light on many of the issues plaguing our nation and save all the mucky mucks a lot of time. After all, it we me [...]

January 30, 2011 3 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Should You Really Help Your Seller Pay Those Fees?

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Fellow blogger and real estate maven, Bill Archambault, Jr. recently wrote an article called “Discounted Fees Discount Integrity”. It’s a thought-provoking point, for sure. And, it has got me thinking a bit more about not only discounting commissions but the fact that agents are frequently asked to pay other fees as well. Since the tax [...]

January 14, 2011 1 comment CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Shut Up and Sell

I was surfing the Internet the other day and came across a blog post on Inman by Bernice Ross in which she had bold-faced the words Shut Up and Sell. In her post, she addressed Realtors® (and essentially all salespeople, I suppose) and discussed the importance of being a good listener. Salespeople, by nature, are [...]

November 28, 2010 2 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Can You Survive the Media Hype About the Real Estate Market?

Several of my blog posts have commented on the media and their spin on real estate related issues. It is interesting that they make drama on just about every subject. Lately, there has been too much about Lady Gaga’s meat dress, and the Florida pastor that wants to burn the Quran—neither of which are stories [...]

September 16, 2010 1 comment CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Professionalism in Real Estate and Beyond

There have been many blog posts written by both Realtors® and famous bloggers about civility and professionalism. I’ve seen posts by Realtors® that complain about their colleagues not returning phone calls or being too abrasive. I’ve also seen articles about bloggers posting rude comments on the blog posts of others. People often complain about comments [...]

September 12, 2010 2 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

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