What Type of Real Estate Listing Agent to Choose

On a regular basis, I see advertisements for real estate offices that say “discount broker – full service”. This is nonsense. A discount broker has consciously chosen a business model whose economics do not permit them to give the same service provided by a full service provider. Here’s the rundown. A discount broker’s listing agreement …

Not Becoming a Victim of Bad Real Estate Practice

This woman made herself a victim stayed in a hotel for 7 weeks looking for my “Dream Home.” And, when I found it, even though it wasn’t in my price range, I knew I would do anything I could to get it. I was vulnerable, emotional and became a victim. Actually, that is not quite …

Recording Errors and Title Insurance

I just got a google search where the question asked was “What if the mortgage is recorded in the wrong county?” I’ve never actually seen this (and San Diego County, once upon a time, included what is now Riverside, Imperial and San Bernardino counties), but if it’s the mortgage on your loan, no big deal. …

Production Metrics versus Consumer Metrics

When I originally wrote this, every day I was passing by another real estate office where the agent had a big banner outside “I SOLD 101 HOMES IN 2004!” This is what is called a production metric, and this one sounds fairly impressive at first glance, right? The question I want to ask is how …

Exclusive versus Non-Exclusive Buyer’s Agent Agreement

From an email: I was in the process of buying and selling the house when we saw a FSBO house we liked was for sale. But sale fell through, which is a good thing anyway because of contigency on our house. But I also suspected it failed ecause the seller refuses to pay commission to …

Getting Rich Quick in Real Estate

On a very regular basis these days, I’m running into people who took paid money for a get rich quick seminar and are looking to buy property for zero down and immediately sell it for a $50,000 profit. Somebody With A Testimonial Told Them How It Could Be Done. Sorry folks but the people with …

Real Estate – Third Party Service Providers

RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) prohibits an agent from requiring you to have other services performed by outside companies. RESPA also prohibits an agent from accepting payment (kickbacks) from third party service providers. Nonetheless, these are major problems in the real estate world. It is an unfortunate fact that many agents care far more …