Housing News
Does NAR’s Social Media Attempt Get a Passing Grade? The Honeymoon’s Over
Co-opting of a voice
I labored over how to write such a post, a sort-of review of NAR’s first real engagement after the honeymoon of NAR’s SMM hire, but how does one even engage such as task when they are folks you respect? The beauty of snagging a well known foot soldier of the world you want to engage is the wide willingness to accept what the foot soldier has to say as golden rather than rising up and boiling over. The co-opting of a voice limits the response of peers where feelings and personal friendships are on the line- it’s brilliant really, so long as that foot soldier can build a connection with the mass audience they’ve enjoyed with a few.
So, I waited and wondered, might someone take on this task for us? Might someone find a delicate way of saying what many of us felt welling up inside of us without it turning into some referendum on the NAR SMM personally? The answer is yes.
Rob Hahn breaks it down
As I see it, Todd’s connection to the community, his stature within the community, and his credibility with the community are all assets to be used by the organization. In fact, those reasons contributed to why Todd was hired in the first place to be the Social Media Manager.
Putting Todd’s standing at risk in the community, therefore, is counterproductive for NAR. It decreases the value of Todd Carpenter to NAR, and prevents him from being able to fulfill his core mission of bringing the organization closer to its stakeholders.
In the instant case, I think NAR made two mistakes. read it all
Austin
Austin tops the list of best places to buy a home
When looking to buy a home, taking the long view is important before making such a huge investment – where are the best places to make that commitment?
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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Ken Brand
May 11, 2009 at 8:04 pm
I left this comment on Rob’s site. Don’t know if it’s bad form to post it here too…if it is , my bad….better to ask for forgiveness than permission?
Yeah Brilliant reads right.
It’s all fascinating and it’s all uncharted. Everyone is learning on the fly.
Social Media for some like a Zappos is a bit different than an ginormous trade association. If you don’t like Zappos products, service or conversation, you can vent and vote by buying from someone else. If you don’t like your trade association, you can’t just join another, you have to fight, persuade, rally, protest, influence, lobby, etc. With NAR most issues, because they involve money and livelihood, are emotionally charged and there isn’t the same pressure release of competition and voting with your wallet.
I would say, that at least NAR hired an SM person. I’ve never spoken to Todd, but I’ve read him and I believe he’s smart, he knew it would be a challenging and he accepted. I believe he and NAR hope to influence positive things for NAR and the membership. In my opinion, we’re (membership) better off now and in the future with Todd in his role. But it’s a rocky road for everyone, cool heads, candid conversation, resolve and open minds will mold the future…which nobody’s crystal ball can predict around the corner pitfalls, waterfalls and landfalls.
Now my comment reads like War and Peace too. Bottom line, it’s all new, keep cool, be firm, learn and push-pull-firmly forward.
Todd Carpenter
May 12, 2009 at 8:52 am
I would encourage you to post comments in Rob’s thread, I’m not subscribing to this one. As I said there, you won’t see me working in this capacity in the future. I specifically told NAR that would be a mistake when I interviewed for the job. But it’s all about baby steps.
Missy Caulk
May 14, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Benn, I read Rob’s blog today, I think I left a comment…can’t remember but I did read it.