Sticks in the Ground

Aggregators or Aggravators?

Change, if it concerns important matters, is usually seen as an opportunity by some, met with resistance by others and ignored by still others until its too late. There’s no master plan that everyone buys into at the start. It’s “messy”. There are significant changes taking place in the real estate industry, and it’s definitely “messy”.

At its root is the continuously growing influence the internet has on our daily lives. Access to and usability of the internet gets better every day. More and more of us have high speed access, either at home or at work. Our computers are powerful and generally easy to use. We are connected and we are empowered. Now what?

In real estate we have seen the emergence of numerous businesses who seek to use the power of the internet be “matchmakers”. They seek to facilitate the union of home buyers or home sellers with “all the experts they need to satisfy their real estate dreams”. You’ve seen their TV ads …. pick a lender from our tree to compete for your business …. let us figure your house value ….. sell your house by owner … etc.,etc.,etc.

The universal promise of these outfits is low transaction costs. Minimizing cost is a good thing, as long as all that needs to be done … gets done. However, many “matchmakers” lower costs by eliminating essential services from the mix, leaving their “clients” to fend for themselves.

The other thing these “matchmakers” count on to “control costs” is using information from “other sources” to meet their clients’ needs. If the information is inaccurate or incomplete … well they tried.

The inside secret most of these aggregators don’t want you to know is how they end up “recommending” a service provider to their “client”.  As I understand it … the lead goes to the highest bidder. That’s correct, the buyer’s or seller’s contact information is sold to a lender, realtor, mover, inspector, repair man, whatever… either for a flat fee or a large percentage of whatever the final transaction cost ultimately ends up being.

I’m instantly reminded of that old adage ‘You get what you pay for’, and how about ‘buyer beware’. In a current TV commercial the patient is being instructed over the phone by his surgeon on how the patient should make a three inch incision and the patient says in response …  “shouldn’t you be doing this?”. That kind of sums up my take on the situation. 

Real estate transactions can be very complex, are often emotional for the parties and are greatly influenced by local conditions. In matters of such importance I want the best talent available, not the cheapest. The great service providers are well worth it. 

So how come its messy in the real estate industry you ask.  Well, because the road to change is paved with lawsuits.

The National Association of Realtors, with a membership 1.2 million strong, is being sued by the U. S. Department of Justice which contends that its policies for the sharing of on-line property listings are too restrictive.

Additionally, In order to protect consumer interests several states, including Texas, have legislation which defines the MINIMUM service a licensed real estate agent must provide his client.  Claiming restraint of competition, both DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission have expressed opposition to such minimum service requirements. 

It will be years before these legal actions are resolved. However, change, and hopefully progress, will continue uninterrupted, no matter how “messy” the steps along the way. The goal is to maintain a strong housing market while providing competent, high quality, high value services for home buyers and home sellers. 

... blogging from Kingwood, TX

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New WEB Address

I almost said its finished, but I know better. We do have a new web site. It is full of interesting information. And, if you are expecting to be involved in a Houston Tx real estate transaction in the next several months, its a must see! But, its not finished.

KingwoodTxHomesForSale.com is designed to be THE source of real estate information for buyers ans sellers in Kingwood, Tx. But much of the information is useful outside the Kingwood, Tx real estate market. I actually think this site is the most comprehensive real estate site for our market. And there are no gimmicks or tricks designed to get visitors to contact us. All the information is available on the website itself, and its free.

But its not finished. There is so much we would like to share about real estate and about Kingwood, so we will be adding to the site often.

Visit KingwoodTxHomesForSale.com and let us know what you think. There is a convenient comment form for your use on the site. Who knows, maybe we will be able to take your suggestions and make the site even better.

.... blogging from Kingwood, TX

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Housing for Seniors

Senior citizens are precious resources we need to cherish and protect. They are not only ambassadors to our past, but they give us a good glimpse of what the future has in store for us. Never has the old adage about treating others as you would like to be treated been truer. 

Lorraine's mom, Emma, after more than ten years of living on her own in a two bedroom apartment here in Kingwood, has decided to accept the family's suggestion to relocate to a local Senior Living facility.

There are many factors that lead to such a decision. Concern for personal security is always present. The need for assistance in providing basic daily needs, such as meals, is another. But, it seems an overriding variable that finally drives this type of relocation decision is a strong need for companionship, a sense of community and the opportunity to socializing with peers, people who are experiencing similar circumstances.

As the details for Emma's move were being finalized, Lorraine and I had an opportunity to visit with one of the current residents. Mrs. B is 93 years young. Along with her husband of 71 years she was one of the first to move in, about four years ago. She was very glad to meet us and she was truly joyful to hear that Emma would soon be joining their ranks. Her mission, as she defined it, was to make sure that we knew that she thought living there was a great thing. As an unofficial representative for the facility she pledged to us that she would do all she could to make Emma welcome when she arrived.

She explained that she and a group of about 12 residents, strategically located throughout the building,  made it their business to look out for those who might need support of one kind or another. For example, Mrs. W has a tendency to loose her keys, Mr. S doesn't hear so well anymore and Mrs. P sometimes needs help making Doctor appointments. All were receiving the caring concern of Mrs. B and her cohorts.

Put that attitude of camaraderie by the residents together with the efforts of a well trained and dedicated professional staff and I think we may have a formula for success. 

Mrs. B reports that the food is good, not great, but good. That’s ok because there is always Sunday dinner at Bob and Lorraine's house.

.... blogging from Kingwood, TX

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Proud of HAR

Houston is a great city for many reasons. We are home to the world renown Houston Medical Center, we have the Johnson Space Center, a thriving bio-technology research environment and  several major energy companies call Houston home.

A common theme shared by each of these enterprises is performance excellence. For that same reason we are proud to be members of The Houston Association of Realtors®. We communicate daily with Realtors® from around the country so we know first hand how progressive and consumer oriented our association is.

Through HAR we are able to offer our clients unprecedented access to information, the lifeblood of good real estate decisions. First of all, with web access you are able to search Houston’s entire inventory of available resale homes from the comfort of your living room. This is the most up to date source available. Other tools allow a comparable analysis of schools, an important variable in selecting a home. In addition consumers can access neighborhood price trends, view data about recently sold properties and access several selling and buying tips.

One of the most powerful tools available is our ability to keep clients up to date about changes in the market through our early warning search engine. For example, as soon as a new listing which meets our client’s criteria comes on the market, our clients are among the first to know. They are notified by e-mail. Clients can also be notified about changes in the asking price of properties they may have some interest in. It’s a powerful tool for managing both the buying and the selling process for our clients.

We are glad to say that the Houston Association of Realtors® gives us many of the leading edge tools we need. We strongly believe that good, timely information and professional consultancy leads to great real estate decisions by our clients.

Take a look at our web site to see how some of these tools can work for you.

.... blogging from Kingwood, TX

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Switching Brokers

Last February we took another leap forward in our business life and haven't looked back since. We joined Hunter Real Estate Group in Houston and left the world of big national real estate franchise behind.

We were thrilled with the opportunity to join the new firm. After a lot of thought and consideration about how to approach the future, we decided to shed the protective cloak of the corporate giants and survive more directly as a result of applying our wits and skills.

Working with a national franchise was a mutually beneficial experience. We learned a lot about the legal and practical elements of the business. We made a good number of professional contacts. It definitely helped prepare us for the future. But the time had come when the balance of benefits given to and derived from the organization dramatically shifted in favor of the organization.

The bottom line from our point of view is that being a member of a large national organization can be wasteful. Wasteful for us and wasteful for our clients. To sustain and expand its presence (the goal of any competitive business) many overhead dollars end up being spent on things that bring no benefit to us, our business or our clients interests.

The one item that makes the point best is the national advertising campaign. Huge budget with what is said being decided by a few. Not a lot you can do when it's not relevant to your business or even when it's not reflective of your business style or approach. More and more the focus became recruitment of new agents. That's not a numbers game with the CLIENT's interest at its core.

There are so many creative things we want to do (we think they are creative anyway) but we couldn't. Our resources were committed to maintaining the "organization". Our new business structure has given us an opportunity to increase the level of innovative service approaches we offer to our market. Success or failure is squarely on our shoulders, exactly where it belongs.

Everything we do in our business is motivated by wanting to improve our service to our current, past and future clients. You become top real estate agents by providing quality real estate service to members of the community long before they sign on the dotted line and "officially" become your client and long after you've cashed that commission check. We will never advertise the phrase "top agent" but we will perform in a manner that earns us a reputation within the community as top agents.

This is the first post on our real estate "blog". We don't know the full potential of this technology but, we hope it becomes a great two way communications vehicle. As we go forward with our "blog", our goal is to provide information of value to our clients and the community and to respond to input received in a meaningful way.

.... blogging from Kingwood, TX

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