shelleydraper.com

Seems our Realtor-only tool for accessing the NEG MLS database has been hit by the early Spring forward bug. The full reports show the proper time, but when you update, the “Last updated” time is an hour behind.

Closed on this gorgeous prow front cabin Monday as a buyer’s agent. Black Ankle Mountain subdivision, super mountain views, furnished, 3 bed, 3 bath, on 3 acres. Asking price was $339,500; I negotiated the deal for my clients at $320K:

MLS report | photo gallery

Closed on this one today as a buyer’s agent. Great views of Lake Blue Ridge & the mtns, brokered them an awesome price for a priced-right, furnished cabin. Asking price was $314K, sold for $300K, furnished, two bed, two bath, on 1.44 acres:

MLS report | photo gallery

I don’t think half the agents up here have a clue about IDX and broker reciprocity. If agents just have to help themselves to using our Company website(we know, it rocks) as their free MLS searching resource, they should at least educate themselves on the published rules and regulations before they pick up the phone or flame us from the website.

I got a call (preceded by several nasty emails) last Friday night from an irate local agent (that I’d never heard of) wondering why her listings were on my website and demanding that I remove them immediately. I tried to nicely explain “broker reciprocity” (circa 2000) to her, to which she proceeded to cuss me out, told me I would be hearing from other Realtors, and hung up on me. She then had several of her agent friends email from our website, asking why their listings were on our site. Read the rules & regs or ask your broker ladies. Frankly, it’s not my responsibility to educate you, especially when you conduct yourselves in such an unprofessional manner.

Then Tuesday morning, I was on the receiving end of another good ol’ Southern cussout and hang up call from a competing agent (that I know) for not having his listings on OUR Company website. He claimed one of his listers could not find their listing on a Google search >> our website. Um, first it sounds like you need to focus on your own website if your clients are using ours, and secondly, we filter all kinds of spammy listings (mobile homes, less than 3 photos, misleading/false data, missing/lazy/illegal descriptions, etc.) to make it a better browsing experience for our target audience. We also listen to user feedback on their buying and selling experiences and apply that data to our filters on an ongoing basis. What makes it on to our website is our business.

To summarize: In a period of less than a week, I was cussed out and hung up on by one agent FOR having her listings on our website, then by another for NOT having his listings on our Company website.

• Do we need a broker reciprocity class? Yes.
• Are there too many agents with too much time on their hands? Obviously, 400+ did not renew w/ our board for ‘07—we were due for a purge though.
• Why are other agents so concerned or threatened by our lil’ ol’ mom-&-pop, non-corporate website? Well, I just don’t know.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, is looking for a steady rise in existing-home sales. “After reaching what appears to be the bottom in the fourth quarter of 2006, we expect existing-home sales to gradually rise all this year and well into 2008,” he said. “New-home sales should continue to slide, but we look for that sector to turn around later in the year. When you put it all together, home sales may appear weak in comparison with the record surge in 2005, but they will be sustained at historically high levels that are in line with long-term demand.”

from the NAR - Existing-Home Sales To Improve, With Later Recovery For New Homes