I’m about to commit real estate sacrilege. Oh, yeah, I do that regularly. Well, this might be perceived as worse than usual since I am going to bash the sacred CRS (Certified Residential Specialist) designation, which is positioned by the real estate industry as a very prestigious designation. You see, we keep our eyes open… Read more
A report published by the Chicago Tribune on Sunday based upon data provide by Zip Realty is totally bogus. In the report titled Near South Side homes selling, on average, for more than list price the Tribune states that “sales in the Near South Side have averaged 106.4 percent of their asking prices, amounting to… Read more
As I’ve written in the past, the real estate industry is full of really weird rules – or maybe they’re not that weird in light of the fact that the intention is often to undermine competition. One such set of rules pertains to the arcane world of IDX and VOW – two different ways for… Read more
It just doesn’t stop. The NAR (National Association of Realtors) has launched what they call a Surround Sound Campaign. The idea is to talk up the real estate market by making sure that consumers get the same message from all sides. We got an email explaining that: The key is for REALTORS® to say the… Read more
As I promised in part I of this series there is plenty to write about regarding how the real estate industry uses statistics to propagate lies and myths. Today I’d like to call your attention to an NAR sponsored Web site: www.housingmarketfacts.com, the goal of which is to talk up the real estate market. Nothing… Read more
