Part of being a good realtor is to negotiate well on behalf of clients. That, after all, is supposed to be the reason we exist as a profession -- to look out for what is best for those clients when they're buying or selling real estate. But being a good negotiator is more than just the ability to be cagey or slick. It's about understanding human nature and knowing what kind of behavior or "tactics" are appropriate in a given situation. Case ... Read More

You've probably seen the "We Buy Ugly Houses" billboards around Denver. They're done by a company called Home Vestors, which buys houses for below market rates, for cash, with quick closing times. It's a set-up that appeals to people who are so desperate to get out of a house quickly that they're willing to take less than what they could get if they took the time to list and sell the house on the open market. I've never had ... Read More

So Realtor magazine is confirming today what I already knew -- open houses are not particularly helpful in selling a house. In today's Daily News, they're reporting that while 80% of home buyers use the internet to search for homes, only 42% even visited a single open house in the past year. They didn't give the percentage of those buyers who wound up buying the open house they visited, but I suspect that number is very, very small. When I was going ... Read More

They say all real estate is local. And it's really true. Forbes magazine recently did an analysis of estimated 2008 housing inventory, sales rates and turnovers to determine where there is most likely to be an increase in sales in the near future. Guess what city came in at #5? The article, called Best Places for Real Estate Deals, said that a pure "buyer's market" is one where there are far more sellers than buyers. That creates a drop in demand, which ... Read More