By Don Dunning | July 17, 2011
Sometimes, the idea for an article comes from unexpected places. I just received a phone call from a veteran agent who I have known in real estate for over 25 years. She asked if I would write about how poorly people sometimes treat those of us in the business and how we deserve better. What follows is my response to her request.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | March 31, 2011
Surprises in an escrow almost always turn out badly. This was true for the buyer, seller and agents in a recent, local purchase. In the end, the sale went through, but only after all involved endured much grief.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | March 3, 2011
Part of marketing a real estate listing is posting exterior and/or interior photos of the property online along with other details of the home, including the address, on the Multiple Listing Service, virtual tours, agent and real estate company web sites. Problem is… everything that goes online, stays online… sometimes forever. Not many agents and […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | December 12, 2010
“Syndicating” means receiving listings from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), or the listing broker, then transmitting them to a myriad of accessible sites. The problem is not in finding real estate data, but in locating accurate, reliable sites.
A 2008 study of third-party real estate sites found a range of incomplete and/or inaccurate data from 20 to 92 per cent. This includes the largest and most well known ones and is creating some negative consequences for consumers and real estate practitioners.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | August 24, 2010
Years ago, my wife and I had serious issues with our sewer line and had to totally replace it. One of our considerations at the time was to use the latest, trenchless technology. We ended up using traditional methods because a section of our pipes went through concrete and this does not work with trenchless. […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | August 22, 2010
If you are making payments on a house that is worth substantially less than your loan, you may have thought about how to get out from under this burden. Financial, legal, tax and credit ramifications are all important in deciding which route to take.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | August 14, 2010
My latest article, “The Changing World of Choosing an Agent,” must have struck a resonant chord because I have received numerous phone calls about it. Those who responded shared their experiences of both buying and selling real estate in this area and their disappointment with one or more of their agents. These agents had not […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | August 10, 2010
Two recent news bits reinforced my observation that people behave in ways that often can be considered irrational. Item 1: An online story I read last week about a real estate survey that indicated, in today’s market, buyers have a significantly higher opinion of the agent who represents them than sellers have of their agent. […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | July 20, 2010
According to an online real estate article, the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), with 23,000 members, recently “pulled the plug” on a web-based application that allowed consumers to view which agents had the greatest number of listings and/or transactions in a given neighborhood or Zip code. This happened shortly after it was introduced because HAR was overwhelmed by angry communications from its members.
Reading this, you may be thinking that the mediocre or weak agents were trying to prevent progress. Why else would there be such an outcry over a new system designed to provide useful information to the public?
After over 30 years in the business, I understand what is behind the uproar and it gives me an opportunity to revisit this topic.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | June 6, 2010
Would you read every word in the new, tightly printed, eight-page California Association of Realtor’s (C.A.R) residential contract? Probably not.
This contract, used by most real estate agents, has recently undergone its most extensive revision in the past eight years. Changes to this standard real estate purchase agreement can have a significant impact on the quality of your representation in a home sale transaction.
Some licensees have familiarized themselves with the additions and deletions; others may be clueless. To avoid potentially serious mistakes, make sure your real estate representative is in the know about these modifications.
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