Housing News
B-Iggy’s House Makes an Appearance – Will Tupac?
Peek-a-Boo
Iggy’s website has made an appearance and it seems somewhat ghostly over there, but it should be at least enough to satisfy Iggy fanatics. The Buyside link leads you to an email update page where eager buyers, sellers, and bloggers alike can wait in anticipation for future announcements from “BIGGY.”
B-IGGY’s Next Hit?
I’m not really quite sure what enhancements are being made or what type of restructuring is going on, but a press release would have dazzled the natives to expect something BIGGY STYLE (geeze, people invest damn good money for missed opportunities like those- hrmm). I don’t say this because we have some right to know, but from conversations I’ve had offline, many fans of Iggy felt really left out to dry.
In a market with such a lack of confidence, consumers (investors, believers) need to be able to count on the tech companies that say they’re here to “Change Real Estate for Good.” …again. Sarcasm? Not really.
I’m just sayin’… Maybe Tupac really is alive after all.
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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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Maureen Francis
July 18, 2008 at 5:26 pm
not so long ago, frustrated Iggy sellers were looking for help on Trulia Voices. The company stopped answering its phones and the sellers could not get their listings withdrawn from their local mls’s without written authorization from Iggy. What a mess.
Jennifer in Louisville
July 18, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Given their track record of abandoning their customers, maybe they should adjust their slogan to say:
Changing real estate for good – just not necessarily for the better.
Daniel
July 18, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Totally agree with Jennifer over this one, reputation is much easily lost than gained.
Mark Eibner
July 18, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Iggy? I think the first time I ever saw this I wondered how serious this could ever be. Iggy, Red Fin, all of the rebaters will be dead in the water when we move to a world of NO COOPS. 75% of zero will be Zero.
Eric Blackwell
July 19, 2008 at 2:50 am
Spot on Jennifer.
for Good = permanent
for Good = better
In this case, permanent.
Failure IS an option for them IMO. I think this latest attempt will end the same as the last one…but they are always free to go for it….
Matthew Rathbun
July 19, 2008 at 7:06 am
“Changing real estate for good – just not necessarily for the better” from Jennifer was my first LOL for the morning! But a lot of RE companies can claim that slogan….
Everyone is trying to change RE for the “better”, however IMHO the change that needs to be made is on a local level with customer service. Providing LESS service, just to cater to the already low expectations isn’t going to work.
The problem is that the consumer has expected less, because they’ve gotten less and now there are company predicating on that fact. Because you cater to the lowest common denominator does not mean you’re positively changing the industry.
BTW: Yes Two-pack is dead; but that noise… (whoops I mean music) will live forever!
Glenn fm Naples
July 19, 2008 at 7:10 am
I have to plead ignorance – never saw this site or heard of it. But I did get a good laugh from Jennifer’s revision to their slogan. 🙂
Mack in Atlanta
July 19, 2008 at 8:17 am
Tupac and Elvis are alive and living in Iggy’s House.
Ken Smith
July 19, 2008 at 10:51 am
Stupid Domain Name – $7
Cheesy Website – $250
The perfect slogan “Changing real estate for good – just not necessarily for the better” – Priceless