Four years ago today, Francy and I opened the doors to Thompson’s Realty. The grand plan then included hiring one other agent and making a go at what at that time was a horrific national real estate meltdown in one of the hardest hit marketplaces on the planet.

Fast forward four years and here we sit with thirty-two agents and 47 straight months of profitability.

It’s been a pretty wild ride!

A wild ride that wouldn’t be possible without three distinct groups of people…

Our Clients

Without clients, there would be no home sales. Our clients are our lifeblood, and we can not thank them enough for entrusting us to help them buy, sell or manage their properties. You have our undying gratitude.

Our Agents

Obviously I am rather biased, but biased or not there is one simple fact: we have not only great agents, but terrific human beings working at Thompson’s Realty. It is a pleasure to work with such a dedicated group of professionals. I often say we won’t hire anyone with just a license and a pulse, and that is true. But it truly is the pulse, the heartbeat, of these fantastic people that make our brokerage work.

My Wife

Ask any Thompson’s Realty agent that has been around for longer than a week or so who really runs the show and they will immediately say, “Francy”. And they are right. I may be the “face” of the brokerage, but Francy is the brains, brawn, heart and soul of Thompson’s Realty. Without all she does we would be an utter and complete failure. I love her with all me heart and truly marvel at all she does. She is, in a word, amazing.

What’s Next?

Who knows! We’ll keep doing what we do — serving clients, working with the best damn group of real estate agents on the planet, and see what happens!

Photo Credit: the.serial.chiller on Flickr. CC Licensed.

• This could be the beginning of the end for small brokerages
• Thompson’s Realty Welcomes Angela Higgins!
• Thompson’s Realty Welcomes Josh and Dawn McKinley!
• Thompson’s Realty Welcomes Stacey Valada!
• Thompson’s Realty Welcomes Marty Boardman!

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

As promised, here is my presentation, “Top 10 WordPress Best Practices for Realtors & Real Estate Websites.”

Of course any presentation looses a lot when all you have are the slides and not the actual presentation, but you’ll get the gist of it.

Thanks to all the organizers, sponsors, volunteers, speakers and attendee’s that made WordCamp Phoenix a resounding success!

Entering Shameless Self-promotional Area…

When you’re delivering a presentation, especially to an audience with a wide range of skills and experience, it’s always difficult to know if what you are presenting is worthwhile. Thanks to all who attended my session, and thanks for all the terrific questions. Here’s a sample of the feedback, which I greatly appreciate!

I survived #wcphx… My brain is a bubbling cauldron of WordPress knowledge. Big thanks to all of the speakers especially @PhxREguy

— Jenna Meeker (@JennaMeeker) February 26, 2012

@phxreguy ‘s presentation was awesome. Seriously – great advice for real estate agents … and normal folk #wcphx

— Emmy (@EmmyBasch) February 25, 2012

.@PhxREguy sharing great tips to generate leads. Tons of good info packed in his session.#WCPHX twitter.com/JoeManna/statu…

— Joseph Manna (Joe) (@JoeManna) February 25, 2012

Speaking of Joe Manna, he delivered a fantastic presentation at WordCamp. Check out How to Create Engaging Content for Marketers. Great stuff!

• On Dashter
• RE Tech South Presentation: Conversion Optimization
• LiveFyre Comments Added to TPREG
• Thinking about using Genesis / AgentPress? Now is the time to buy!
• Hacked. Or, how I spent the last 60 hours

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

I won’t show your listing until your seller justifies the price!

Interesting tactic, particularly in what is the current seller’s market in Phoenix.

Here is my take:

1) It’s not the sellers job to justify the price to your buyer. That’s your job as their agent.

2) If you or your client feels the price is too high, you have a couple of options:

1. Don’t look at the home. There are plenty of other homes out there. Oh, wait. That’s not really true any more. But still, you don’t have to look at the home if you think it’s priced too high.
2. Take a gander, and if you like the home, submit an offer at what you feel it is worth and what you are willing to pay for it.

Should you decide on option 2.2 and want to submit an offer, just keep in mind that this is an “equity sale” (not a short sale or foreclosure), in a well-regarded area, priced right in the sweet spot of homes that are flying off the shelf, and the home is in perfect condition. Given that, you the buyers agent are surely aware that in the current Phoenix market such a home will quite likely receive multiple offers very quickly.

This particular home has been listed for 24 hours. It has been shown several times, and agents have already indicated that their buyers will likely be submitting offers.

So if you are a buyers agent who thinks calling and making demands of the seller to justify their list price is a good idea, you are in for a whole lot of frustration.

Imagine how your clients are going to feel…

Phoenix home buyers – forget what you read in much of the mainstream media. Many segments of the Phoenix home market are on fire. Take a peek at this chart:

The green line represents the number of current homes listed for sale. It is at half of what it was in November 2010. At this moment in time there are currently 24,251 homes in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a status of either “Active” or “Active with Contingencies” (AWC). “AWC” indicates a home that has had an offer placed on it but something (a “contingency”) needs to be completed before the listing is moved to a “Pending” sale state. Most often the contingency is bank approval on a short sale. Some of those move on to Pending and then Sold status, some do not.

Removing the AWC listings leaves us with 16,534 homes available and actively for sale.

That may sound like a lot of homes, but in a city the size of Phoenix, and given a current monthly sales rate of roughly 7,000 homes sold per month, that is less than a 2.5 month supply of homes. Generally speaking, a market crosses over from a buyers market to a sellers market when there is less than a six month supply of available homes.

We’re at less than half of that.

The bars on the chart represent months of available inventory. As you can see, we have been below that six month mark since this time last year.

It is a sellers market folks.

Of note, the numbers in the chart represent the entire Arizona Regional Multiple Listing service, which includes all of Maricopa County and part of Pinal county. That is a BIG area, and lumping numbers together from a market that large and varied can be problematic. What we really have in Phoenix is a bifurcated market (oooh, fancy word!)

Adj.

1.

bifurcated - divided into or made up of two parts; “socially bifurcated populations”

In less fancy words, we have a market that is divided into two parts. We see from the chart that overall Phoenix is in a sellers market condition. But if you were to look at higher end homes (say $500K-ish and up) you would see those homes are not selling nearly as quickly as low and middle range homes. That’s bifurcation. But because there are not nearly as many homes either listed or sold, that high end data tends to get drowned out by the low and mid range homes.

(I could probably make a reasonable argument that we’re actually in a trifurcated market — the low end, medium and high end home markets all behave differently, but you get the idea.)

The lesson here is pretty simple. If you are looking to buy a home in Phoenix priced at under $500K, expect stiff competition from other buyers and investors, and be prepared to pay list price, if not more. No, that’s not the case for every single home in that price range, but there is zero question the mid/low end market is Phoenix is generally speaking hot and getting hotter by the day.

UPDATE: The listing this agent insisted on having the seller justify the price on is now under contract. After less than 24 hours in the MLS. The offer is for over list price. And no, the seller didn’t justify anything. I can only assume the agent in question and their client are still looking for a home…

Data / Chart from ARMLS. Data believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed.

• Real Estate Charts of the Day: Phoenix Listing Inventory Dropping, Sales Rising
• Phoenix Area Housing Vacancy Rates (U.S. Census Data)
• Chapter Closed: The last transaction I’ll have with a home buyer
• Tucson Metro Market Stats
• West Valley Listings & Stats

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

Or not.

The quote comes from a comment in the Inman News story published yesterday, Howard Hanna invests $1M-plus to enhance real estate listings.

That commenter is not alone.

Notorious Rob Hahn wrote this piece, Some Thoughts on Zillow’s 2011 Results and Howard Hanna (In Which I Declare Peace In Our Time). As always, Rob writes thought-provoking copy. In his piece he announces “The Next Battle Line”…

So that announcement by Howard Hanna, together with Zillow’s quarterly report, delineates the next battle line: the big dogs vs. the little independents.

On Howard Hanna (the fourth largest real estate brokerage in the country) paying Zillow $1M for a “partnership”, Rob went on to say in a Facebook Group:

Trick is, try getting that rate if you only have 50 agents or so.
Get big people. That era is upon us.

An aside to Rob and the many others quoting this $1 million dollar deal, please note that Inman reported the price was “$1M-plus” and went on to quote the President of Howard Hanna saying:

… the Pittsburgh-based brokerage is making a “seven-figure investment” in separate agreements with the two national portals… (my emphasis).

“Seven figures” could mean $1,000,000 or a penny under $10 million. So let’s not be calling the deal closed at $1M… But, I get the point. The big dogs can write seven-figure checks.

Thompson’s Realty is clearly not a “big dog”. We are a “little independent”. And while I could physically write a seven figure check, it wouldn’t be worth the paper it was printed on.

Is the small broker doomed?

Granted, I am quite biased, but I think the answer is a resounding NO.

Here’s why…

Take a look around the real estate brokerage landscape. There is carnage everywhere. Realogy (think Century 21, Coldwell-Banker, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Sotheby’s, et al) lost $28 million in Q3 2011. That’s over $300 grand a day, every day, for three months. The Phoenix franchise of Realty Executives filed Chapter 11 reorganization in May 2011 (and successfully emerged from that in Oct 2011). Way back in December 2007 RE/MAX 2000 closed 13 offices in the Phoenix area. In February 2009, Century 21 Town & Country (10 offices in Michigan) filed Chapter 11. Yesterday, Grubb & Ellis Company, a large commercial real estate services firm, announced they were selling most of their assets in bankruptcy proceedings.

Many brokerages, big and small alike, are and have been struggling. Some, of various flavors and size, are flourishing.

I suspect it has been this way since time immemorial.

Here is my response to Rob’s, “Get big people. That era is upon us.” comment:

I am also far from convinced that “getting big” is the answer. My brokerage will be 4 years old next week. And we’ve been profitable for 47 of the 48 months we’ve been open. I’d ask my old C21 broker what he thought of that, but he had to shut his office down. Maybe I should ask Realty Execs? Oh, wait, they filed bankruptcy. I know, the big Re/Max office in town! No, gosh darn it, they shuttered their doors too…

Big might get you better deals with certain service providers, but it certainly doesn’t ensure profitability….

(Nota bene: Realty Exec’s did not shutter their doors. They filed (and emerged from) Chapter 11 reorganization. My FB comment might read they closed along with my old C21 office and the RE/MAX offices. Apologies as that wasn’t the case and was poor writing on my part.)

Rob then asked me, “… so going Big is not the answer. What is your strategy for surviving and dominating?” “Dominating” was later clarified to mean, “annual growth of 10% or more”.

A fair question. How have we managed to survive and grow? Francy and I opened a real estate brokerage in the middle of the worst real estate market downturn in recent memory in one of the hardest hit markets on the planet. And we’ve been profitable and are growing. I’m rather proud of that; but it’s not because I am some genius business wizard. There is no secret sauce, the formula is actually pretty simple:

1. Hire kick-ass agents.
2. Ruthlessly cut overhead costs.

It’s business 101 folks. Profit = Revenue – Cost. (Yes, I know you learned in Accounting class that it’s more complicated than that. I took 6 hours of college accounting too. This is the gist of it however.)

From that simplified formula, if you want more profit, you increase your revenue and/or reduce your cost.

Want to increase your real estate brokerage revenue? Hire agents that sell homes. Sure, you could sock your agents with all sorts of fees too — that will increase revenue to the brokerage. Desk fees + transaction fees + E&O fees + technology fees + whatever fee you desire or think you can get away with = more revenue. It also = annoyed agents who spend more time looking for a new brokerage than they do selling homes.

Yep, you can lower your agent’s commission splits too. Or raise your cap. That will raise your revenue but also tends to lead to agent dissent.

Here’s a thought… Try making your agents happy. Happy workers are productive workers.

Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at Warwick Business School and a leading authority on the relationship between economics and mental health, led a team of economists that did a study confirming that happy workers are more productive. Why it takes a study to discover something fundamentally obvious is a story for another day.

“We find that human happiness has large and positive causal effects on productivity,” the team said. “Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings, while negative emotions have the opposite effect.”

Well duh. But thanks for the verification.

We do what we can to keep Thompson’s Realty agents happy. We let our agents run their business like the entrepreneurs they are. We don’t impose a bunch of polices, procedures and additional forms on them. We pay them immediately as opposed to holding their checks while they “complete a file” that requires some ridiculous broker-mandated form to be submitted in triplicate. We give them leads at no additional cost. We have aggressive splits and low caps. In short, we treat them like human beings — like we would want to be treated — not like pieces of property.

Again, it’s not rocket science.

The other half of the profit formula is cost. Lower cost = increased profit. Want to lower your cost in a real estate brokerage? Lose the fancy office with flat screen monitors, Corinthian leather couches and an espresso machine. Your agents are going to be in the field anyway, selling houses. Provide oversight, be available, help them grow their business. Remember, when their business grows, so does your profit.

So there you have our “strategy for surviving and dominating.” Is it scalable? Could I grow Thompson’s Realty to 500 agents? Maybe, maybe not. Personally I have zero desire to run a 500+ agent brokerage. That’s mostly because I’m selfish. I want to know all my agents. I want to be available for them all the time. I want a “family atmosphere” where our agents cooperate with each other, not compete against each other. I think we’d lose all of that if we grew too large. I am not convinced that size matters…

I say the little independent can go toe-to-toe with the big dogs.

And win.

Photo Credit: Jeff Moss on Flickr. CC Licensed.

Hat Tip to Michael McClure for the C21 Town & Country link

• Thompson’s Realty is 4 Today!
• Sandicor Fires Another Round in the Listing Syndication War
• ARG Abbott Realty Group Pulls Listings from Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com
• An Interview with Bob Bemis. Yesterday CEO of ARMLS, today Zillow VP
• ARMLS CEO Bob Bemis Resigns, Joins Zillow…

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

(Well, actually the phone ringtone is “The Eyes of Texas”, but it feels silly to type, “‘The eyes of Texas are upon you‘ goes the cell phone”…)

“Hi, I’m calling about your listing at blah blah blah.”

“Well, that’s not our listing, but let me look it up real quick for you.”

“It’s your listing, it’s on your web site…”

“Our site has all the homes listed for sale in Phoenix, hang on just a second…” (We’ve been there, done this before.)

“While you are looking it up, can you tell me what “Owner Agent” means in the listing?”

“Sure, that means the seller is a licensed real estate agent. In Arizona that is required to be disclosed up front. OK, I have the listing information up now, how can I help you?”

“I just want to talk to the listing agent, I have a couple of questions.”

“I understand, there is a lot of info here, I can probably help you…”

“Look, let’s just cut to the chase. I am a cash buyer. You and I both know I can get a better deal working with directly with the listing agent. Can you give me their name and number?”

I make an attempt to tell the caller that the listing agent works for the seller (or themselves in this case) and has their seller / self’s best interest at heart, not you the buyer. But it’s swiftly apparent the caller won’t listen and only wants the listing agents contact info.

Now I could be all douchey and tell the guy to find it on his own. But he seems nice, albeit misguided. We chit-chat a little more while I’m looking through the listing info in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). I tell him, “Look, I’m seeing some things here that I seriously doubt the listing agent will tell you…”

“Listen, I know you just want to sell me the house. And I’ll call you if I can’t reach the listing agent…”

[No you won't, I think to myself.]

“So can you give me their number or not?”

“Sure, here it is. Good luck!”

What Did I See?

This particular home was listed for around $280K. The caller knew that. What the caller didn’t know was that the home was previously purchased in November 2011 for about $185K, by an LLC that is in the business of buying foreclosures, fixing / remodeling them, and “flipping” them — reselling them quickly for a profit.

Nothing wrong with flipping for fun and profit.

But do you think the agent / owner is going to tell this buyer that he bought the home three months ago, put $30 – $40K into it and is now trying to get $55 – $65,000 in profit?

My guess is no.

Will the lister / seller “waive” the buyer’s agent commission of $7,000?

Probably. They will at least reduce it, and pocket what’s left.

Is the buyer “getting a better deal” working directly with the listing agent?

Maybe, maybe not.

Personally, and professionally, I think that armed with the following information — that the buyer will never get — they could quite likely save more than the $7K in buyer agent commissions:

1. The home is overpriced by at least $10K.
2. The home is “over upgraded”. It has been upgraded above and beyond what is typical for this neighborhood. It looks nice from the photos, but over upgraded homes can be difficult to resell, and they rarely will garner what the upgrades cost.
3. There is a $55,000 – $65,000 profit margin built into this home.
4. Some of the neighborhoods surrounding this property are pretty hot right now. An unseasoned buyer (and through the brief conversation I had with this buyer, it was readily apparent they are not very experienced) could easily be lead down the wrong path by a less than scrupulous agent/owner. I’m not saying this particular agent/owner would take advantage of an unseasoned buyer, but I assure you some would. In other words, there is a distinct possibility the agent/owner could produce data showing the buyer there is a hot sellers market and use that misinformation to lead the buyer to believe they don’t have a lot of negotiation room.

But, the buyer wanted nothing to do with having their own representation. They are convinced that they can get a commission reduction and a “great deal” working directly with the listing agent. What they don’t even know is they are working with a relatively high volume flipper who is out for one thing — to maximize their profit.

The buyer may well “save” $7K in commissions, and think they’ve gotten a great deal.

Hopefully for their own piece of mind they’ll never come to the realization that by using a good buyers agent, one who represents THEM and their interests, they may very well have saved ten or twenty thousand dollars. Or more.

Think about it folks. Why would an investor disclose details (that they aren’t required to disclose) in order to get you the lowest possible price on a property that they are trying to maximize their profit on?

Find a good buyers agent. They will work for you, not against you. Don’t plunk down $280,000 and let yourself be represented by the other side. This owner/agent makes their living selling homes for profit. You don’t. Why would you voluntarily go into battle with such a disadvantage right out of the gate?

Photo Credit: Louis Docker, aussiegall on Flickr. CC Licensed.

• Edina Realty pulling listings from Trulia and Realtor.com?
• On Open Houses
• ReviewOurAgents.com – Yet another website project.
• Stop the Insanity! Ridiculous Bank Practices on Short Sales
• Hi, I’m calling about your listing at… (insert random address here)

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

I need to complete the remaining 18 hours of my mandated 24 hour Continuing Education (CE) classes by February 28.

As real estate agents are prone to do, I’ve been putting this off until the last minute. I did take six hours of outstanding live CE classes earlier this year, but as I sipped my cup of java this morning and looked through upcoming available classes, I quickly realized my procrastination meant I was going to have to finish my CE hours online. As much as I believe in education, there simply isn’t enough time left in the month for me to sit in a classroom for 18 hours.

Ms. Lowe, I know you are well aware that the daily maximum limit of completing CE is nine hours. That makes perfect sense, as it would not be conducive to have a “student” sitting in class for more than nine hours in any given day. That’s a good rule, whether classes are attended in person, or virtually on the world wide web.

Want to guess how long it took me to actually complete my three classes today, giving me a total of nine hours of CE credit?

Go ahead, guess…

34 minutes.

Yep, I spent 34 minutes today online, and got credit for 9 hours of CE classes — three hours each in Disclosure Law, Agency Law, and Fair Housing.

Thirty-four minutes. The first class took 13 minutes to complete, the second took 12 minutes, and the last took 9 minutes. That nine minutes was on Fair Housing, arguably the most important of the three courses.

A few months ago, I took Defensive Driving online because… well because I tend to drive too fast and needed traffic school to take a speeding ticket off my record.

That class required me to sit in front of a computer for six or eight hours. I don’t remember exactly how long, although it felt like a week.

Nine minutes of my time to get three hours of credit in Fair Housing.

Appalling, isn’t it?

I know Arizona used to require online CE classes be “timed” — so that you couldn’t advance screens of text until enough time had lapsed for you to actually read the text. At least that is the theory behind timed sessions. That’s what the defensive driving class did to force me to sit at a computer for hours on end. (Just between you and me, I didn’t read much of that material either. I worked on my second monitor and advanced the traffic school material when it would let me).

These real estate CE classes presented a screen of text, but there was nothing that prevented me from clicking immediately to the “quiz” for that section. There I was presented with four to seven questions. If I got any questions wrong, I could just guess until I got them right. Then I’d skip the text of the next section, and take the next “quiz”. Once I got through all those modules, I was presented with the course “exam”. That consisted of one “essay question” (and I use the term “essay” VERY liberally) and then I was presented with multiple choice questions. Those were word-for-word, in order even, to the “quizzes” I’d already completed.

While the system did prevent me from going back and reviewing the quizzes, it didn’t prevent me from taking a screen shot of all the correct answers.

But to be honest, I didn’t really need the screen shots very much. Here is a sample question from the Fair Housing class:

I asked my daughter if she knew the answer to this question. She’s a senior in high school and wicked smart, but I did get “the eye roll” and she replied, “Dad, I learned that in second grade.”

How exactly does “learning” this protect the public?

(Of note, I actually did learn something in the Fair Housing class. I learned that Mississippi was the last state to ratify the 13th amendment that outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude. Mississippi ratified the 13th amendment in 1995, some 130 years after it was first proposed. I found that trivia quite interesting, though again how the answer to that trivia question helps protect the public is beyond me. Now if I ever wind up on Jeopardy!, that’s a different story.)

Do I Feel Guilty for Completing 9 Hours of CE in 34 Minutes?

No, not really. As I already stated, I am a proponent of continuing education. We in the real estate industry need to continuously learn, to stay on top of all sorts of developments, rules, practices and law in our field. But you see, I actually spend hundreds of hours every year learning, “continuing my education”, developing my skills and knowledge. I attend conferences. I attend sessions at my local, state and nationals associations that educate me. Heck, I once paid for and took an in-person CE class when I didn’t “need the hours” just to hear AAR’s Legal Counsel Michelle Lind speak on current legal issues. The proctors in that class were stunned when I waived off my CE certificate. “You mean you took this class when you didn’t have to?”

Of course I did.

So no, I don’t feel guilty about blowing through Fair Housing in nine minutes. I simply took advantage of the system.

A deeply flawed system.

I passed the quizzes. I passed that hellish “essay question” of “Why were Fair Housing laws created?”. Seriously? I’ve been in real estate for over seven years. I’m a Designated Broker. If I can’t answer that question in my sleep, I shouldn’t be in real estate.

(Incidentally, my “essay” answer, that is supposedly reviewed by the school before I am awarded my CE certificate, was along the lines of, “Fair Housing laws were created to prevent discrimination against certain ‘classes’ of people. The law has been amended and the classes expanded several times.” Whew, that was a brutal question! But at least the “reviewer” was on the ball as I had my certificate in my email within five minutes of completing the “exam”.)

Are Online Classes Evil?

No, not inherently. I once took an online graduate course as part of my (never completed) MBA program and it was one of the most difficult, challenging and rewarding classes I’ve ever taken. Online learning can work. “Seat time” in a physical class does not ensure learning takes place. I’m certified to teach a Continuing Ed class and even though it consistently gets rave reviews I can assure you that some are there only to “get their hours” and they learn nothing. You can’t force someone to learn. All you can do is offer good material in an environment that is conducive to learning, with good instructors (or developers and systems in the case of online delivery) and provide an opportunity for learning.

The current online system doesn’t really do that. Maybe the material is good, but the delivery system practically begs for “cheating”. Humans being humans, and agents being busy, the vast majority of time we are going to take the shortest, most efficient route to getting something like required CE hours out of the way.

I don’t know the solution to this problem. Timing systems help. In my traffic school class I actually found myself reading some of the material because I could not advance the screens quickly. A complete revamp of the presented text might help. Let’s face it, the history lesson that was Fair Housing, while I enjoy studying history, does absolutely zero to protect the consumer or help the real estate agent.

I have a hunch the answer is going to be, “No more online CE hours,” and that will be a band-aid to a more systemic issue. Adult education is a complex field, and it requires trained instructors and professionally developed course material. Banishing online courses to the ether isn’t the solution. Developing effective training material, holding “train the trainer” sessions, a more stringent course approval process, increased auditing of existing courses — all that (and more) needs to be done.

Education is critical. The classes I took today are ludicrous. Something needs to be done.

• An Email from “SEO Consultant” Guy
• The Two Hardest Things to Tell a Client
• What I learned from National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
• Short Sale Seminar to be held in Phoenix on Thursday
• November is National Novel Writing Month. Taking the plunge.

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

(And yes, it really was in blue text on a light blue background…)

Here’s my response:

Very interesting!

“1. Social profile is not available in top Social Media websites.“

Silly me. Here I thought having 11,799 Twitter followers, 3,452 Facebook friends and being “circled” by 2,836 people on Google+ put me in the “top Social Media websites”. I do need to work on MySpace, I only have three friends there. I think they are all 14 years old.

“2. Your SEO score is 54%. We can bring it to 100% by implementing on and off-page factors which will fetch better results in major search engines.“

SEO score? Is 54% like an “F”? That 54% has me on Page 1 of Google results for the search term “Phoenix Real Estate” which is a pretty competitive search term. Yesterday, 3,946 people visited my site from organic searches on Google. But yesterday was Valentine’s Day, and you know how holidays affect site traffic. 91 people visited from Bing. Stupid Bing.

“3. Your site has 15 Google back links, this can be improved further.“

Is this according to the same site that gave me an F in “SEO score”? According to Google’s Webmater Tools, I have 91,889 back links.

“There are many additional improvements that could be made to your website…“

No doubt! It’s a constant freaking battle, isn’t it?

“PS2: I found your site from online advertising but did not click.“

I’d love to know where that “online advertising” is, as I’ve never spent a dime on online advertising. I’d like to thank whoever is paying for my ads.

“PS:1: This is onetime email and you may ask us to “REMOVE” you from our mailing list.“

Uhm, if this is a onetime email, then there shouldn’t be a list to be removed from…

Jay Thompson
Broker / Co-owner
Thompson’s Realty

480-235-4447
Phoenix Real Estate Guy <– You know, the crappy SEO’d site.

• Open Letter to the Arizona Real Estate Commissioner: Online CE Classes
• The Two Hardest Things to Tell a Client
• What I learned from National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
• November is National Novel Writing Month. Taking the plunge.
• God Bless the USA

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

The announcement on Monday that Bob Bemis had tendered his resignation as CEO of ARMLS and will be joining Zillow as Vice President of Partner Relations caused many in the industry to say, “Hmmmm…”

Almost immediately the speculation and buzz began. Some were convinced the recent hubbub over ARMLS’s switch in tax data providers from iMapp to Realist was the reason. Then of course others chimed in that the failure of the statewide MLS initiative was the main contributing factor.

In concert with all the “Why?” questions came the prognostications of what this all means for ARMLS, Zillow and the real estate industry as a whole. Rob Hahn chimed in with his typical solid analysis sprinkled with a dash of paranoia.

Rather than sit back and speculate, churn rumors and scratch my head, I figured who better to answer a few questions about Bob Bemis leaving ARMLS and joining Zillow than Mr. Bob Bemis himself? So I asked Bob if he would answer a few questions “on the record” and he graciously agreed.

This isn’t a 60 Minutes expose, there are not any startling game-changing moments. I’m not a journalist, I’m a real estate broker and quasi-writer. But I think Bob’s open and honest answers to these questions at least provides some insight into this news.

Straight cut & paste of Bob’s answers here, no editing…

Q: There is already some buzz out there that your decision to leave ARMLS was based entirely or in part on the recent dissent voiced by many about ARMLS’s switch from iMapp to CoreLogic’s Realist tax system product. Did the switch to Realist or the subsequent dust-up influence your decision to leave ARMLS?

I have been talking to Zillow since the NAR convention in Anaheim. It started as a casual conversation about business challenges in the real estate industry between me and Spencer Rascoff on November 12. We met again in January at the Inman Connect conference in New York when Zillow invited me to join them for the Ring the Closing Bell ceremony at the NASDAQ stock exchange (Zillow trades under ticker symbol “Z”), on January 12.

The problems with the tax data conversion and the subsequent explosion of social media driven backlash not only did NOT play a factor on my decision to leave, it actually made me want to delay the announcement until we could resolve the problems. I hate leaving unfinished business. And I realized that, given the volume of the uproar and demands by some for my head on a platter, my resignation now would have been interpreted by the blogosphere as a victory of social media over a tyrannical CEO who was arbitrarily ruining the lives of agents everywhere. Nothing could be further from the truth. The timing of both was coincidental but they were in no way related.

Q: Same question as above, but insert “Statewide MLS” in place of iMapp / Realist. Did the fallout surrounding the statewide MLS influence your decision to leave ARMLS?

I was really disappointed that we were not able to move the statewide project forward. I was psyched to work on that project and if it had happened, I probably wouldn’t have considered another offer even if it came in. But it wasn’t to be and as I told my board on Monday I didn’t see any way that this project was going to be resuscitated without some significant pressure from the stakeholders who have the most to gain = the brokers.

Q: Let’s be honest, Zillow does not have the greatest reputation among some in the real estate industry. “Zillow bashing” is a relatively popular sport. What do you say to the Zillow critics?

There is a tendency to lump the big three real estate sites – Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com – into one large overlapping group. Some jokingly call them collectively “Zuliator.com.” At times, they can be similar despite distinct differences in their business models. It’s easy to paint the entire group with a wide brush and label them the bad guys, the common enemy. In fact, each has its own plusses and minuses, each offers distinct solutions to industry needs. I would ask that the detractors give each site a fair hearing, judge the value of the service on its merits and don’t convict by association. That’s the kind of dialog I want to open.

Q: Some have simply wondered, why Zillow?

Underneath the business plan of any company, which can change over time, there are people that don’t. For me having a good match not only business philosophy but also business personality is as important as what the business does. I have met the principals at Zillow, some on multiple occasions, and I felt comfortable with all of them right from the first meeting. There is also what I would call the Goldilocks Protocol – finding a company that is just the right size. Of the big three, Realtor.com is much larger than I would consider and Trulia is a bit smaller than I would like. Zillow just felt like the right size, right fit, and a comfortable match.

Q: What will be your primary responsibilities as Zillow’s Vice President of Partner Relations?

Pretty much what the title implies. I will be developing closer relations with all quarters of the industry – brokers, agents, MLSs, associations, NAR – to find ways to work together for the common good, rather than wasting a lot of resources pointing fingers and name calling.

Q: The announcement of your leaving also included this statement, “Under Board direction, Bob Bemis will remain at ARMLS to negotiate with IMAPP, as an ad supported tax system, to run alongside the Realist system within MLS.” Can you give us an idea of how long those negotiations might take and what do you feel are the odds of successfully bringing iMapp back into ARMLS?

The answer to this question changed at least three times today. Those who read the blogs and follow the protest page on Facebook know what a difficult time our subscribers are going through with the new tax data system. We are trying very hard to solve those problems from a number of directions and evaluating multiple options. Bringing back iMapp sounds easy, just plug it in again, right? Well it’s not that easy when you’re dealing with contractual issues. We have no agreement with iMapp because it expired. We do have an agreement with CoreLogic, but the Realist product isn’t working. There are other options open to us as well. The quickest and cheapest solution may not be the best solution in the long run. So I can’t give you a time table, nor would I be comfortable quoting odds on this being the solution. This is a dynamic situation with fluid issues so the answers are not solid.

Q: You actively participate on NAR Committees and sub-committees. Is it safe to assume that your position with Zillow will prevent you from being able to continue that participation?

Yes. Most NAR committee appointments are made by NAR with people drawn from its membership. I would no longer qualify. There may be a task force or work group created from time to time that could invite industry, but not REALTOR, participants. I would welcome the chance to serve on one of those if the opportunity were presented.

Q: Will you be involved in the search for your replacement? Can you explain how that process will work?

One option is to hire a consultant, define the job, ask the consultant to do the search, produce candidates, do the interviews and make the offer. It can take anywhere from two to six months. Another option is to hire from within, promoting a senior manager or COO to the position. Yet another is to appoint an interim CEO as caretaker while a more protracted process of redefining the job, the company mission, or the governance model plays out. The board of directors has not had the needed discussions to be able to answer those tough questions. When they do and when they have a solid plan on the direction and goals of the company, then they can define the job and start interviewing.

Q: What will you miss most about ARMLS?

The Staff. I have been fortunate to be able to hire a boatload of quality people who have worked their behinds off to grow ARMLS into what it is today. When I arrived, there were 14 boxes on the org chart, and two of them were vacant. Today we have 55 people on staff, serving agents through a main campus and four satellite training and support centers. These are dedicated, hard working, quality people without whom we could never have accomplished what we have at ARMLS. I wish I could take them all with me, but in my new position I have no direct reports, so to all those agents out there who have been sending me resumes, please stop. I can’t hire you anyway.

Q: What do you most look forward to at Zillow?

Zillow, as a pure business, and particularly as a publicly held business, is not hampered by political infighting and competing agendas the way many non-profit organizations are. There is one goal – make money to increase the share price. You do that in the open and fair competitive market. You win based on the products or services you offer that people want to buy. There are constraints on behavior, but they are legal constraints not self-imposed hoops or self-inflicted obstacles. I will look forward to being involved in business decisions for business reasons without having to play the political games that are rampant in those areas of our industry that are not managed like businesses.

Q: When will you be relocating to Seattle? And do you have a real estate agent, here or in Seattle? (you don’t have to answer that second part. But if you need to list your home, I know people…

I’ll answer it anyway. It took six months after I started at ARMLS to get my family moved from Maryland to Arizona. Fortunately, this time we don’t have a house to sell, so it should be quicker. I will start working in Seattle in April and hope to have the move completed before the summer heat hits in Arizona. As far as an agent, that’s a really tough question. How does one pick from among tens of thousands of candidates, many of whom are friends, clients, customers, or in some cases relatives? We will be renting for the first year in Seattle, so my needs for an agent will be minimal. Besides, Zillow has a killer iPad app so I can do my own research and pick the neighborhood we want before I call an agent who has experience in that area of town. And Zillow has agent ratings online from previous clients. I’ll take a look at those and interview a couple of the higher rated agents before we pick. Much like the company selection, I like an agent who is compatible with Jenny and me – a good fit makes for a better transaction. But thanks for the offer.

Closing Thoughts

First, thanks to Bob for taking time out of his incredibly busy schedule to answer a few questions.

We are in the midst of some very interesting times in the real estate space. Selfishly, as a member of ARMLS, I don’t want to see Bob leave. He has helped build ARMLS into a nationally recognized progressive MLS. Personally and professionally, I have a great deal of respect for the man. That certainly doesn’t change because of the logo and title on his business card.

I think this is a brilliant move on Zillow’s part as they now employ a person that is widely respected in the industry and that is capable of affecting real change. Anyone that has read here regularly knows I am no Zillow hater and I am a proponent of listing syndication. But I’d have to have my head buried in the sand to not realize that there is a love-hate relationship between Zillow and the real estate industrial complex. That relationship needs to be improved upon, not just for Zillow, but for the real estate industry. And Bob Bemis will certainly help that endeavor.

So kudos to Zillow, and kudos to Bob Bemis. I wish them both well.

And to the ARMLS Board of Directors, get cracking. You have a very important task ahead of you. I have confidence you will hire the right person for the CEO spot. But I’ll admit it, I’m nervous. Don’t screw this up. Not because a lot of people are watching you (they are), but because you now have the opportunity to set the future direction of my MLS.

• ARMLS CEO Bob Bemis Resigns, Joins Zillow…
• This could be the beginning of the end for small brokerages
• Sandicor Fires Another Round in the Listing Syndication War
• ARG Abbott Realty Group Pulls Listings from Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com
• An Interview With Justin LaJoie on the Zillow Acquisition of Diverse Solutions

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

This email was just sent to ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service) subscribers:

(Also posted on the ARMLS Blog)

Personally and professionally, I’ll miss Bob Bemis. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Bob on the ARMLS Tech Committee, on the NAR Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee, and various NAR MLS work groups.

Bob is a consummate professional, and a good guy. His visionary leadership has allowed ARMLS to become nationally recognized as one of the most progressive MLS’s in the country.

No one is irreplaceable, but Bob Bemis comes close.

I wish him the best of luck in his new endeavor at Zillow.

One might also note in the announcement that Bob is staying on to negotiate with iMapp, which was recently replaced by Realist as the tax system for ARMLS. To say there has been a bit of a brouhaha over that switch would be an understatement. A Facebook Group, Bring iMapp back to ARMLS, was formed on February 6 and at the time of this writing has 1,197 members and hundred of posts and comments. Let’s just say the discussion has been… spirited.

We are in some interesting times…

Zillow Announcement of Bob Bemis appointment as VP of Partner Relations

• An Interview with Bob Bemis. Yesterday CEO of ARMLS, today Zillow VP
• This could be the beginning of the end for small brokerages
• Sandicor Fires Another Round in the Listing Syndication War
• ARG Abbott Realty Group Pulls Listings from Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com
• An Interview With Justin LaJoie on the Zillow Acquisition of Diverse Solutions

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.

Exactly two months ago today, Clint lost his gallant fight against that insidious disease.

Ever the good guy, Clint reminded us frequently over the last months of his life to “check your balls fellas”.

It can save your life.

Testicular self exams can usually squash the evil cancer before it can carry out its horrific mission.

Do it guys. Check your junk.

Do it in memory of Clint.

Do it for yourself.

Do it for the ones you love, and those who love you.

Every male over the age of 14 needs to do a monthly self examination.

Here’s how.

Rest in peace Clint, I miss you buddy.

#WeLoveClint

I hate cancer. I fucking hate it. Watch the video below, created “to honor the courage of all those who are fighting and who look forward to every tomorrow that may bring some progress. It is a tribute to friends, families and strangers alike. For all those, taken away from us too young, those fighting for their lives and those who fought and survived.”

Clint and his son Aaron are shown at 2:24. “…and that’s how heroes are made” are the lyrics being sung at the time Clint’s picture is on the screen.

How fitting.

• Everyone Can Use Karma Points. RIP Clint Miller
• What Clint Miller Taught Me About Life
• Think Twitter is Stupid? This 24 second video may change your mind.
• Dear Clint and Angela
• A life-altering moment. Putting things in perspective

Originally posted on Phoenix Real Estate Guy. If you are reading this anywhere but inside your RSS feed reader or your email client, the site you are on is guilty of stealing content.

(c) Copyright Jay Thompson. All Rights Reserved.