Fee-for-service real estate, not fee-for-research (yet)

admin July 31, 2007

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We’re a bit embarrassed about asking our clients and others to ChipIn
to pay for our attendance at a real estate technology conference, but
as one of nation’s first and leading fee-for-service real estate
consulting firms the slow housing market has reduced cash flow at The Real Estate Cafe. We
haven’t charged for access to cutting edge market research in the past,
but we may be forced to experiment with "fee-for-research" in the
future.

To date, we’ve done the opposite — we’ve paid clients to add content to our Real Estate Bubble Map! Their collective efforts helped us earn Platial.com’s "Best Real Estate Map" Award for 2006, and the map was featured in an international conference on the future of journalism.

Visit our map of homes selling for below assessed value in Greater Boston to learn more about our "Tipping policy."

TRAVEL ALERT: Our plane to San Francisco leaves in three hours, so we’re offering new and existing clients a variety of financial incentives — like signing bonuses and reduced hourly rates from our normal menu of fees & rebates — to help pay for travel expenses. Call 617-661-4046 for more details.

Categories: "We" companies, Fee-for-service, Inside The Real Estate Cafe, Mapping, Savings & Rebates, Tech Trends

If airlines have fare sales, should real estate agents?

If airlines have fare sales, should real estate agents? We think so. We understand buyers are waiting for prices to fall, but candidly, that’s translated into a cash flow crisis for The Real Estate Cafe. Still, as one of the nation’s first fee-for-service real estate concepts we’ve had the experience to develop a menu of fees and rebates to get through slow times. The key is offering compelling saving opportunities for clients — so compelling, we hope at least one new or existing client decides to select one of our "flat fee" options the next three days. So, if you think you’ll be buying a home in the next six months and want to "buy down" your hourly consulting fee, we’d be glad to explain how you to save up to $75 per hour. (Current client case study available upon request or just read what the Wall Street Journal said about our 100% rebate options.). If our $3,000 to $5,000 flat fee options are beyond your budget, consider these SPECIAL OFFERS:

Prepay for 5 hours of consulting service ($500), get one hour FREE ($100 savings).
Prepay for 10 hours of consulting service ($1,000), get three hours FREE ($300 savings).

Limited to the first three existing or new clients to respond.

admin November 10, 2007

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Real time “comps”

Link to recent press post Inman re "real time real estate."

Instead of developing a "CMA" type of report that describes sold data, I’ve
been using the "pending date" instead of the sold date.

Reason? The market is changing so much on a daily or monthly basis,
that considering "comps" may not be as accurate if the sold date is used, as
much as using the "pending date." If you develop a list of 6 houses that
sold in August to compare those sales with an offer you’re making today, then
what if the market has been in a decline since March? How much of a value
difference may there be from properties that went pending in the spring,
compared to a property on the market now?

Some, if not all of those 6 "comps" could have sold last spring. As
we know, listing agents and appraisers will often use the "comps" that best fit
the subject being appraised rather than an objective assessment of the sales
data.

So, next time you structure some type of analysis, why not use "pending
dates" instead of "sold dates" to make any comparison to a subject property
you’re trying to negotiate for on behalf of your buyer clients?

I suggested this to one of the "honest" appraises we typically use
here…he said he’s only using month old "comps" because there is an ongoing
decline in values here.

admin September 2, 2007

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Leaking results of savings survey

For nearly a decade, one of my passions has been chasing the cutting edge of new business models online in real estate, identifying "best of breed" savings opportunities for home buyers and sellers.

Over the past six months that pursuit has led to hundreds of tradeshow booths at the Mass. Association of Realtors conference in September; the New England Mortage Brokers Association in October; the National Association of Realtors convention in November; Connect 2005, a real estate technology conference in January; and finally the International Homebuilders Association in January. Now after five more weeks of updating a database of savings opportunities in 2000 vs 2005, it’s time to begin leaking those results of that comprehensive study of approximately 175 companies to current and potential clients through this blog.

Maintaining an industry wide "menu of savings" is an ongoing challenge. We need your feedback so we don’t overlook a "best of breed" company or misunderstand someone’s "value proposition." Beyond tracking those savings opportunities, our goal is to help seed a new generation of "embedded real estate
reporters" or citizen journalists. To do that, we will pay you to contribute in this experimental blog. If you are a client, we’ll reduce your fee by $25 for each comment and $50 each comment that includes a photo or video clip. For more details, call 617-661-4046 and ask about The Real Estate Cafe’s "tipping policy."

admin February 11, 2005

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http://4realz.wordpress.com/2006/08/01/43/

Exactly one year ago today, the Real Estate Cafe participated in a radio broadcast entitled, "The Beginning of the End of the Bubble" which featured some of our recorded interviews. Today, we celebrated that anniversary with more good news: the leading real estate technology news service featured our real estate bubble maps as an example of "Real Estate 2.0." Our interactive maps are getting attention because they allow users to post their own examples of a falling prices, particularly homes selling for below assessed value in Greater Boston. We created the bubble maps because news reports, including one this evening, continue to point to modest declines in median prices as evidence of a "soft landing for the housing market.

admin

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Sweetest Deals of 2006

The countdown to Valentine’s Day has begun, and over the next 20 days, The Real Estate Cafe will review some of the sweetest deals in real estate in Greater Boston during 2006. When we addressed the same topic three years ago, we focused primarily on "Million Dollar Markdowns" in ten of the most expensive communities in Greater Boston. (Copy of report or web movie available to clients.)

Over the past year, we expanded that process to document homes selling for below assessed value. Our original research inspired a major story in the Boston Globe as well as an impressive regional map. Our own online, interactive "Real Estate Bubble Map" was awarded the "Best real estate map" by Platial.com. Contact us for preview of data from the past five months.

During the next 20 days, we’ll also identify some of the best savings opportunities in 2007 from sellers, lenders, brokers, as well as product and service vendors. And if all works out, invite you to meet with some of them in person and preview other opportunities before they are released to the general public. Contact us at 617-661-4046 if you’d like more information on our innovative menu of fee options and rebates. We’re in the process of expanding choices and need your feedback!

admin January 25, 2007

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