Housing News
I Don’t Give A &%!@* What You Think, You ^#%$!
When I first started writing for AG, at the kind and generous invitation of Benn and Lani Rosales, I took up the liberal side on various political issues that might have some impact on real estate professionals. Predictably, that got a lot of, er, negative comments directed both at me and at AG. “We want real estate blogging” became the mantra.
So I switched up and started writing a little about what it’s like to be a non-geek in the new(ish) Web 2.0 world of Facebook, Twitter and the rest. After all, not all of us spend endless hours pouring over code, the latest and greatest WordPress Theme, squeeze pages, stealth sites and the meaning of “engagement”.
The Power of Selective Memory
To the credit of most of the AG readers some highly substantive and helpful comments were posted. Technical help from some. Anecdotal evidence gleaned from personal experience from others. There was also the smattering of “Yeah. I don’t know WTF is going on, either.”
Still there are those who, like the home seller who remembers their neighbor’s house sold for [insert price $200,000 over market value here], seem to want continue the pointless invective. It seems some folks still think I’m writing about stuff they can call me names about (note: I stopped writing about any type of politics – left, right or center – over a month ago.) and continue to get their jollies doing so.
Get Over It
Back when Dr. Phil’s star was rising he used to have this great therapeutic advice — “Get over it.”
How true.
Sure. I know the economy is bad, business isn’t as much fun as it used to be, there are family stresses. Hey, we all have bad hair days.
More to the point, though, is that all this ad hominen scolding just doesn’t do anything for me. If you want to get down and dirty, go ahead and pick a fight with the agent on the other side of your next real estate transaction. Go to the Huffington Post if you want to get your energy up and find someone who’ll piss back on your lawn.
Or you can keep bashing my posts.
Austin
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
Click here to continue reading this story…
Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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Joe
May 17, 2010 at 10:40 am
“We want real estate blogging” became the mantra.
Can you blame them? This is a real estate blog, isn’t it?
Justin Boland
May 17, 2010 at 10:43 am
Joe, considering the US Federal Government, for all intents and purposes, IS the real estate market in 2010, I never felt that political discussions were out of line here. AG’s willingness to take chances is part of what makes it such a worthy read.
Benn Rosales
May 17, 2010 at 11:08 am
Loud noises! #anchorman #ilovelamp