Teach Me Something

There has been a lot of reference to how much can be learned if practitioners were to read industry blogs. However recently I’ve noticed that the RE.net has put more emphases on who’s blog is bigger…oops, I mean better. There is seemingly more in-fighting than valuable information in recent days. Therefore, I want to take a reprieve from that pattern.

As I’ve stated before, there are two books I think should be required reading for all practitioners. The first is the Swanepoel Report and the second is the NAR profile of Buyers and Sellers. I want to take a few points from those resources to get you thinking.

Why Such Concern?

Swanepoel’s Report said that “87% of Brokers (surveyed) feel that servicing smarter and more informed consumers are their largest concern.”

I have no idea why the industry fears such things. I don’t want information about the buying process, hidden from me as a consumer, why would we expect that the consumer wouldn’t want as much information as they could get? The consumer who has a good handle on the process, should be that much easier to work with. Having the knowledge doesn’t mean that they no longer have a need for an agent. To the contrary; the information is so overwhelming, they need to have someone to aggregate it for them. The fact that movie previews reveal the entire movie, doesn’t stop people from going to the theater to watch the entire movie.

Show Me The Numbers!

NAR’s 2007 report shows that when consumers (reported 87% use the internet in their search - I think that’s low) search the internet for real estate information, they found the following useful:

84% Photos (at least 6) - Yet the average number of listing photos are 2

82% Detailed Listing Information

60% Virtual Tours / Real Estate Shows / Videos

39% Maps of the area surrounding the property

37% Neighborhood Information

26% Agent Information

I think it’s easy to extract from this information exactly how an Agent should setup their webpages. I think it’s also easy to see why Blogs are such a powerful tool, currently. Most blogs that I visit have very basic information about the agent or author; they are generally full of real estate information. The blog writers talk about the area, how to search for homes, and why certain types of agency practices or benefits. Knowing what the consumer is looking for, should help decide what to write about.

What Is the Consumer Looking For?

Knowing what the consumer found useful is actually the second step, knowing what they started off looking for is also important.

95% were looking for Properties For Sale

21% were looking for Area Information

4% were looking for an agent

4% were looking for a particular Firm or Franchise

It’s interesting that almost all the static webpages I find, are page after page about the agent’s resume, yet only 4% of consumers are looking for such information. It’s an unfortunate truth that most consumes feel most agents are basically the same. We know that’s not true, but finding a clever way to correct that impression is a challenge for many.

Be Unique!

Statistics are only a guideline. They aren’t always reality, but it’s the best indication of what consumers maybe thinking. Each agent should take this information and work it into their own plan. It’s important to do what works well for you. A lot of practitioners are successful with their blogs, because they have created them and maintain them in a unique manner. That’s what’s working today, tomorrow there will be some new technique that some visionaries will create and adapt.

Whereas it’s good to know information, such as who consumers find you, it’s more important to know where the source is for that information. I’ve provided this information from the NAR Profile of Buyer’s and Sellers 2007. There is a considerable more that could help your business by reading such resources.

While you’re trying to explain to your sellers why you put so much effort into internet marketing, and so little in print media; it’s good to have these exact numbers and resources. This can help save you time and money with informed consumers who will trust a report more than your word.

Post by Matthew Rathbun

Photo Courtesy of Creative Commons

The Place

I was attending the Spring Meetings of REOMAC (The REO Manager’s Association of California) in Indian Wells California earlier this month. This event is one of two annual meetings of the Nation’s premier Default Management Organization. It attracts many members, and a number of wannabe REO specialists.

Many of these agents have determined that they are the next great thing to assist the mortgage industry in the liquidation of real property. So they come to these meetings to get face time with lenders who are frankly more concerned with dealing with the issues involved in asset disposition and loss mitigation then they are with meeting the “next new best thing”.

The Event

At the end of one panel I was talking to a long standing client when we were interrupted by a real estate professional who asked her if she knew that her agents in the San Diego market were stretched beyond their capacities and having difficulty handling their inventory. She politely replied that’s she was not hearing that from her agents. The agent then changed his comments stating that he had heard that from buyers and other agents. He then told her that there were missing lock-boxes, some properties without electricity, and that “her agents” weren’t returning calls from to her agents. She replied (with commendable restraint) that her firm monitored the work of their agents and the results of their efforts, firing any agents that didn’t meet their standards. He smiled at her and said, “That makes me feel much better, if you need more agents in that market, here is my card”.

A few minutes later, another agent introduced himself to her and told her about the bad agents in his market who didn’t return calls, and didn’t provide what he considered sufficient information in their MLS entries . He also complained that there often weren’t enough photos in the MLS, and a number of other whining criticisms. The lender’s representative explained that REO agents often limited the information they supplied to the MLS since they received very little information from the client, but had full liability for any information printed in the MLS. He nodded, smiled and asked if he could contact her in the future to see if he could list properties for her.

So This was a Strategy?

So let’s back up and figure out what the strategy was here.

These agents read articles about REO business. Since the market is slow and there are REO properties springing up in their area, they thought they should be listing them. Or maybe they paid for a course or bought an REO certification, and thought they were ready to find the clients.

They were spent some time and money advertising or prospecting or emailing mortgage companies, or attending REO functions. And then they finally met someone who actually assigns REO business to real estate agents. Their heart pounded furiously, their cheeks were red and flushed, the adrenaline is coursed through their veins as they stepped in past the throng of agents waving cards at their prey, and positioned themselves found face to face with a potential client. And each one did the same thing…

1. He handed his a card to the potential lender client, he told them the market he’s in, and that he had a question.
2. Then he asked a question framed to indicate to them that their hiring process is so flawed that they have employed incompetent, uncommunicative and irresponsible agents.
3. As a follow up to this master stroke, he asked questions and made statements to indicate that they (the potential client) had failed to monitor the actions of those agents.

Having shown them that they (the potential client) are failing at their job (to hire and monitor agents for their firm) he went on to show them that he’s smarter then they are! So he provided them with his opinion of their agent to demonstrate that they (the lender client) misunderstand the job of selling real estate.

The next step was to indicate to them that they are so uninformed they don’t realize that their current agent is failing. And finally,because this agent is not only smart but generous, the final strategic move was to tell them that he was prepared to forgive the faults of his potential client and allow them to hire him, thereby remedying all of the problems they face in their marketing strategy.

It does however raise the question of why he would want to be associated with such a moron… Doesn’t sound like much of a plan does it?

Ok, I get it…

I understand that foreclosure properties and short sales are seen as the best place for agents to go finding new business. There is a perception that it is easy to list bank owned properties, they require less maintenance on the part of the agent, you don’t have to deal with Mr. & Mrs. Seller, and the corporate client is an ongoing source of business which can make the successful REO broker financially more secure. The fact that these perceptions are only a small piece of the picture has little or no relevance to the burgeoning foreclosure specialist.

I’m not going to bore you with horror stories of checking occupancy and finding a hostile former mortgagor in possession of the property, or an outraged tenant who was clueless that there was a foreclosure in process. We don’t need to talk about trash filled, flea infested properties, urine soaked carpets, or the really tough, urban marketplaces where some of these properties are located. Those are part of the REO business, and if you weren’t aware that such things were part of the process, stop reading, find a post on something else, because this one isn’t directed at you (or read on to enter new territory and be dazzled by my wit and wisdom)

The truth is that REO business, while it has its own particular issues and needs is a good specialty in the real estate business, but getting started in it is not really different from doing any other piece of business. It requires a long list of tasks not included in a “regular” real estate listing, and financial commitments that some agents are unwilling or unable to make. But getting started in it requires a lot of cold calling and door knocking to meet corporate clients who are so busy handling their existing work load that increasing their circle of new friends is not real high on their”To Do” list. And with the current market, the competition for this business is even more intense then it is for “regular” real estate business. So it is understandable that when you meet an Asset manager you want to make the greatest impact possible in the short amount of time available to you. That however is not in itself any excuse for bad behavior.

So Here’s the Problem

You never make yourself look good, in either B2B or “regular” real estate by making someone else look bad. Your competition’s incompetence doesn’t make you more competent any more then their competence makes you an idiot.

Over many years as a trainer and as a company owner, I have shared an experience of mine that illustrates that point.

As an active agent, I called on FSBOs regularly. As part of that schedule I met on a particularly sharp retired electrician. Years before the Do Not Call List this man was so organized that he had a special unlisted phone line installed just so he could preserve his privacy while marketing his home. When this line rang, he knew it was an inquiry on his home and answered the phone appropriately.

I and two other agents were in the final consideration for listing the home when he decided to get professional help marketing the home. At the final interview, he asked me what I thought of the other two agents. I told him that I had nothing negative to say about either of them. I thought that they were fine agents, working for good companies, that would do almost as good a job as I would, but that in order for me to do my job, I had to believe that I would do the best job of any agent in the marketplace. I then asked him when he would be making his decision. He told me that he already had - he was giving me the listing.

Of the three agents he interviewed, the other two each one had something negative to say about the other, and I was the only person that had nothing negative to say about anyone. As a result, that night I listed his house,the next week I listed his daughter’s house and shortly after, sold his daughter another house (which I sold again for her several years later when I sold her the next home she bought).

I tell you this not because I was better then the other agents - they really were good agents, but we differed in one respect. I just never understood the idea of talking poorly about the competition. Maybe its an unconscious concern about Karma, or that what goes around really does come around, but the idea of promoting yourself by demoting others just doesn’t seem to me to be a good plan - long term or short term.

So What’s the Answer?

You’ve gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between

You’ve got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

From: AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Mister In-Between) by Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen

• Differentiate yourself from the competition in a positive manner.
• When you sell services, sell what you have or do, not what the competition does or does not do.
• Stay on the moral high ground, you don’t make yourself look better trying to make someone else look bad
• Answer the four simple questions that are in every potential client’s mind thoroughly -
  • Why should I use a real estate agent
  • Why should I use your brand?
  • Why Should I use your company
  • Why should I use you?

If you can do that, you really don’t need to trash the other person do you?

Post by Bill Lublin

Source

In an article for the New York State Realtor Association about real estate blogging (pdf is here, page 17) I wrote this in a sidebar:

If you don’t mind ceding all of your traffic and branding to another company, take a look at Active Rain.

The line has caused some consternation, as well as a great phone conversation with someone else. What was missing from line above was context. (and this is not a post about quality)

I like Active Rain for what it is, but I stand by the above statement for the simple reason that I, as a Realtor, want my brand to be me. My cell phone number is on my business cards, my blog URL is on my cards, my personal website is on my cards, and my brokerage’s name is only where it is required to be by applicable laws. I want my clients to remember my website, phone number, my name. This may sound selfish, but my business is me - my expertise, my relationships, my time.

One of the reasons I tell new Realtors that their primary domain should not be their name is this - what kind of viable exit strategy exists if the domain name is yourname.com?

The traffic that you generate when writing at AR (and the rest) is for Active Rain, while the traffic generated for one’s own blog is for you. The AR/author relationship is mutually beneficial. Think about the various brokerage models out there - some are designed for the Realtors to get a 50-50 split, some up to 100% to the agent. The point is, all agents make a choice. I choose to write at “Agent Genius” because I know the quality of the others who share the title of Author.

AR is a great tool for many of the agents out there - in the same vein that I choose to run my RSS feeds through FeedBurner. The tools provided by Wordpress are fine, but the features of FeedBurner work better for what I’m doing (and I am fully aware that by using Google’s tools, I am selling my soul and information to our overlords at Google).

So - the takeaway is this - we are all entrepreneurs, and we all make choices. Thankfully there seem to be enough options to go around.

Post by Jim Duncan

“Rain Storm, Union Square” by Childe Hassam. 1890.

In yesterday’s post, Trulia Voices: It Never Ceases to Amaze, I rambled about how “points” (more accurately the ranking based on number of entries) were impacting the quality of Voices answers.

In the comments of the post, Active Rain was mentioned more that once.

Our dearest Lani left this gem of a comment that summed things up nicely:

Any online venue that promotes a user based on how many times they stick their nose in (via Trulia voices or AR comments), there will be an endless sea of uselessness. Take away the points and you’ve got a more sincere system that is comprised of agents answering questions for the consumers’ sake, not for their profiles’ sake.

In a fluke of timing, apparently Active Rain had a little glitch yesterday and {GASP!} points were not being rewarded to members for making posts or comments.

It’s the end of the world as we know it.

I suspect there was a flurry of emails sent off to the boyz at AR. Likely a bunch of posts too. Here is one post that I found via Twitter. (It’s “Members Only” so you’ll have to have an AR account and be logged in to view).

Allow me to share a little of this AR beauty….

Truth it, my regular posting and commenting habits are directly related to the accumulation of points. I like seeing myself climb through the ranks. I had a lot of catching up to do, and I worked hard to get where I am. I have linked, invited, posted, and commented with fervor and dedication.

So now my biggest fear is this:

I am not accumulating any points,but am I the only one? Is my competition catching up on me while I’m locked into my current tally? Will I be awarded points retroactively?

Wowsa…. so much for “blogging” for things like learning, sharing, business, networking, friendship, personal and professional growth. Nope, it’s all for the points baby!

The author of the post is not alone. Here are a few comments:

• It is a bummer not to be getting points if it effects some and not everybody.

• And yet I wondered … if we do get them later … should I keep commenting? Quite a dilemma!
• I wasnt real concerned as I figured it was a glitch. Glad to hear it wasnt a glemlin in my box. A day off wasnt too bad either.
• Yep..pointless here too for Friday…what is life with a day without points?
• I know it! I am always watching my back, keeping an eye on those that are gaining on me!
• I was afraid of losing “retroactive” points so I kept plugging away!

And here is my personal favorite:

I had the same dilema yesterday, my end result was, if I’m not going to get points why spend any time here? (my emphasis)

For the record, I was one of the first members of Active Rain. Been there since before they even had blogs. There are some brilliant writers there. I’ve met some fantastic people there that I may not have otherwise met.

But I haven’t posted there in a long time. There’s just too much nonsense and “point grubbing” going on.

I write this post to point out (no pun intended) a living breathing example to drive home Lani’s observation:

Any online venue that promotes a user based on how many times they stick their nose in (via Trulia voices or AR comments), there will be an endless sea of uselessness. Take away the points and you’ve got a more sincere system that is comprised of agents answering questions for the consumers’ sake, not for their profiles’ sake.

While it would undoubtedly improve the quality of the content, I can’t see ActiveRain or Trulia Voices getting rid of their points/ranking system. It’s their bread and butter for having agents load up their servers with free content. Award points, make Top 10 lists, and sit back and watch people fall all over themselves to provide free content for your web site.

You think they are going to stop that for the sake of quality?

Post by Jay Thompson

Can BloodhoundBlog kick Inman’s ass?  I don’t know.  Maybe.  I suppose it depends on how one defines an ass kicking.  But given enough time.  Sure.  Why not?  I believe that just about anything is possible.  If I had not decided to leave BHB would I have been happy to attend Unchained?  Yes.  Do I believe there will be a lot of great content provided at Unchained?  Again, yes.  It is really alright for them to fabulously succeed. 

Regardless of me leaving I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Greg Swann.  I learned a lot while I was there and I will continue to read (and learn from)  many of the fine writers there.

Some specific examples of things I just recently learned were:

1.  I was able to figure out how to make all of my posts on Craigslist and Backpage look really cool because I read this post.  I used Front Page to do all the creation and then switch over to the code and copy and paste it. 

2.  One of the most important books one could read (for anyone marketing or selling anything) was something I found out about only due to this post .  Thanks, Richard Riccelli!  Fantastic book and easy to read.  I’ve already told at least a dozen people in person.  Now I am passing it along here.  Don’t miss it.  Really.

There is good where one finds it.  Same with bad.  Throwing the baby out with the bath water makes little sense to me.

What are my plans now?  What direction do I want to go?  I want to get more focused on the dissemination of what I am truly an expert on - getting and getting rid of listings.  I am also creating my own blog - it isn’t ready for a public viewing yet.  One of the primary purposes I have for that site will be an organized page linking to each of the relevant posts regarding taking listings(text, audio and video).  This will be a major project but once done there will be an organized list, on one page, of "required reading" for anyone wanting to learn more about getting and getting rid of listings.  If you want a sneak preview (well, you can see the header I made) pop over to number1homeagent.com. 

To everyone who had such kind words for me at Bloodhound and to everyone who made me feel so welcome here at AgentGenius - thank you.

Post by Russell Shaw

Inman has long been a whipping boy for Greg for reasons that never had been made clear. There was the discussion of Inman’s decision to have Glenn Kelman of Redfin as a keynote speaker … wait … let’s go to the tape.

To the extent that Glenn Kelman is a weblogger at all, he is a corporate weblogger. He doesn’t know anything about real estate weblogging, as he made plain in his sweet, charming, engaging keynote address at last summer’s Blogger’s Connect.

… Brad Inman seems to carefully identify and recruit coveted audiences so he can spit on them, but, in this case, I think the man simply doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

Come to the Blogger’s Connect keynote address and learn how to… what?

Truly stoopid…

So stoopid, in fact, that Glenn’s on the bill for the keynote address for the Bloodhound Unchained event in less than two weeks. What his topic will be, I have no idea … the site still is promoting the now non-occurring debate between Glenn and Russell Shaw.

(It must take a lot of time to update a blog page. But the PayPal links still work.)

Say what you will about Brad Inman’s seeming dislike for real estate agents, or at least the commissions some of us earn, but he understands the basics of putting together an event. You know, little details like an actual schedule - for the main conference and the Bloggers’ Connect event alike.

Brief aside: It should be able to kick Blogger Connect’s ass … I mean do any of the following folks really know anything at all about real estate blogging?

• Kris Berg
• Mike Simonsen
• Ben Martin
• Jeff Corbett
• AG’s own Benn Rosales
• Jay Thompson
• Linda Davis
• Laurie Manny (hope she does since she’s also at BHBU)
• Mary Pop-Handy
• Teresa Boardman
• Joel Burslem
• Pat Kitano
• The ever-present David G. from Zillow
• Rudy Bachraty
• Joseph Ferrara
• Todd Carpenter
• Ardell Della Loggia
• Jeff Turner
• Jim Cronin
• Dustin Luther
• Nicole Nicolay
• Daniel Rothamel

I didn’t think so either. (My apologies for not including links to all but it’s damn late.)

Try as I might, I can’t seem to find a comprehensive list of what exactly is being taught at BHBU … there’s one post with oblique references to the reportedly intense curricula, there are posts about prices going up for the conference and the DVD boxed set (maybe even with directors’ commentary and deleted scenes), but nothing on the main page where people are being pimped to sign up except for events that are not taking place.

Odd? Perhaps. But probably also par for the course. Chutzpah always has been part of the show, even though that self-proclaimed arrogance - the certitude of being right even when it’s not necessarily the case - has led to writers who helped build BHBU into what it was leave the kennel for more reasoned pastures.

Realizing the accusation of kicking a dog when he’s down could be applied, I go back to one of Greg’s own statements - that vendors are fair game. And in this instance, he is working as a vendor as evidenced by the mountain of self-promotion that has come to dominate BHB over the past several months.

I do give considerable credit to both he and Brian for having the audacity and fortitude to put together such an event. But if you’re going to do it, do it right. Post a schedule. Tell people where the value is in specific terms, not generalities about being feral or a guerilla or whatever the buzzword of the day happens to be.

And be honest in the advertising. Given Greg’s programming abilities, it shouldn’t be too difficult to change the script at the top right of the page to reflect whatever Glenn’s going to be talking about.

Hopefully, it’s a different speech than he gave at Inman Connect last summer. Otherwise, you’d almost have to be stoopid to listen to the same thing again. You know, since “he doesn’t know anything about real estate weblogging” - according to BHBU’s host.

Post by Jonathan Dalton

But let’s go back to the 90 hours of classroom education.

Because I have to sit there for 90 hours, even if it would only take me, say 30 hours to learn the stuff on my own.  We’re there 8 hours of the day, but with breaks and lunch, there’s only 6 hours of that time that counts.  Out of the 6 hours of class today, we’ll say there was:

• 1.5 hours devoted to quizzes and quiz reviews (that’s two 20 question multiple choices quizzes, by the way)
• 2 hours of actual teaching of the material
• 1 hour of tangentially related story-telling
• 45 minutes of answering questions about the math section of the state exam from folks who can’t calculate the area of a rectangle
• 30 minutes of Powerpoint presentations timed to Enya songs or to that Secret Agent Man song
• 15 minutes of bagel eating and general crowd control

So now, I’ve got Sail Away stuck in my head and have started referring to my clients as “appurtenance purchasers.”

Did I mention there’s no internet at the school?  I spend breaks during the first half of the day fiddling desperately with my phone, trying to reconnect the outside world, and during the breaks in the second half, enough life has been sucked out of me that I can only stare at the thermostat on the wall above me, which taunts me to my very soul with its “DO NOT TOUCH THE THERMOSTAT” sign.

There has got to be a better way of mandating education without having to mandate a specific number of hours of time spent in a classroom.

Post by Kelley Koehler

Come one come all

Get your rear out of the feed reader this weekend and check G-Love to verify your site is in our links section.  If it isn’t, simply submit your link in the comments and we’ll update next week. 

We’re only going to do this twice a year and probably not that often.  So here’s your chance to take advantage of our Rank/Traffic and get your share of the G-Love. 

Links I’d really love to see:

• Realtors/Blogs
• Real Estate Websites
• Real Estate Related Businesses (vendors)
• Tech Real Estate Related
• Just submit it, you never know… You don’t have to be a superstar blogger to get your share of the love.

All we need to make this happen is

• Name of business or blog, A Link and we’ll do the rest

Please take this opportunity to verify your link to agentgenius.com is accurate at this time.  Realtorgenius.com is not a good link, so our legal minds would really appreciate your update!

You may also see your comment go into moderation but that is because I have made the spam script sensitive to links just in case I get a bunch of 9r0n (nawty) links- but never fear, we’ll sort every link we get.  So bring on the G-LOVE!

Thanks for linking! and yes, thanks for getting out of the feed reader! 

Post by Benn Rosales

Yesterday, my cross-town friend and fellow Agent Genius contributor Jonathan Dalton posted a justified discourse on Trulia Voices gone wrong. 

Since its inception, Voices has had problems with agents jumping in and answering questions that, to be frank, they have no business answering. I’m talking about agents answering specific location based queries—for locations that lie thousands of miles outside their area of expertise.

Jonathan pointed to a question about an investor in Italy that was asking about opportunities in Tucson, Arizona.

Responses included:

“I sell Real Estate in Orange County California”

” Why just Tucson? Have you checked out the Western North Carolina area?”

“I am not familiar with the Toucson area but I can tell you that in the Northwest panhandle of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico your dollars could purchase a small beach side home or condominimum[sp]”

This morning, I was alerted to a Trulia Voices question from a resident of Chandler, Arizona. They were inquiring about removing an existing private pool.

Responses included:

“Even in Arizona, from a re-sale standpoint it is very rare that people are looking for a pool…” (This, which is completely wrong, from an agent located in…. Kansas.)

“Hi Rhonda: I live in Massachusetts. My home had an inground pool when we bought it….”

“You’ll recoup approx 30% of original cost” (from an agent in California).

Our friend from New England even adds, “On the other hand, having a cool pool to come home to in 90 degree + weather is wonderful.”

Yeah, add 25 degrees to that and it may be a matter of survival…

So why do agents from across the country feel compelled to answer a real estate question in a market they know absolutely nothing about?

I dunno. I can only assume it’s to add to their answer tally to get placed in the “Top Voices” page. Note that of this writing, it would take 905 answers to crack the Top 10 “Most Answers” category. Answer only 2,348 times, and you can claim the top spot.

And the value of being a “Top Voice”?

I dunno. Bragging rights? A shiny button? Your name in lights? Potential clients flocking to your site?

Does it really matter?

Don’t get me wrong, there are some excellent answers to real estate questions provided on Voices. But you’ve got to sift through mounds of dreck and shameless groveling for business to find them.

I like Trulia, have said so publicly many times. Every Trulian I’ve met has been a great person.

But Voices is just being polluted. Trulia gains mega, giga or terabytes of free content, so I understand from their perspective why they do it. I don’t get, at all, why agents are so quick to jump all over questions they know nothing about.

Can Trulia fix it? Sure. Questions are in effect “geo coded”, as are the profiles of those who contribute. Why not have your whiz-bang programmers (and they are very good) make it so out-of-area real estate professionals can’t answer those questions? Let the questioner tag if the question is local or general, and add the code that only lets local agents answer. Not perfect, but it’s a start.

How about this? Loose the “Top Whatever” lists. All they do is provide agents (who all tend to be ultra-competitive) incentive to post meaningless drivel.

Please don’t come back and spout the “it’s a self-policing community” mantra. That’s apparently not working.

Post by Jay Thompson

Okay, so it’s really the same warmed-over meat loaf that you’ve been enjoying for the last couple of years but my Dalton’s Arizona Homes Blog has a shiny new name as of today - AllPhoenixRealEstate.com.

What we don’t have at the moment are functioning backlinks. I’m told they may never come back to life though I’m always open to suggestions since there were so many thrilling things to which I’ve linked over time.

We now return you to life in progress …

Post by Jonathan Dalton