Real Estate, Vancouver Washington

My Social Networking Circle is Growing

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:44:00 -0500

I've been on vacation for the last two weeks. My brother and his family came in to visit from TN.

After they left I took some time to expand my social network. If you are a part of one of these then lets connect.

LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
MySpace

The number one question I get from clients, \"Which social network should I join?\" My answer is in two parts. First, if you are currrently a part of a social network begin working it. Second, if you are not a part of a social network...then find out which ones your clients are a part of and join it.

By the way, a great way to get one on one time with a client is to ask them if they can help you?

Clark County Report for May 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:06:00 -0500

Residential sales volume for May 2008 off 14% from April 2008

Residential sales volume: off 45% to $576 million
Residential transactions: down 42% to 1,984
Mobile home sales on land: off 46% to $7 million
Land sales: decreased 58% to $78 million
Commercial volume: off 25% to $140 million
Average residence: $291,515 off 5%

Download the full report

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Headlines for Real Estate Junkies

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:12:00 -0500

No opinion or new and original thoughts here, from me that is...but I did find these stories interesting and well I hope you do as well...

Housing Affordability Back to Pre-Bubble Levels
Housing Bubble Didn't Burst Everywhere in US: John F. Wasik
Housing Slump Hits Hispanic Workers, But Most Immigrants Remain in US
Mortgages With No Money Down Still Available
California Frets Fire's Early Start

and my favorite since I may actually be doing this myself later this week...

The Vegetable Patch Takes Root

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Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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June 12th - Another New Law for Real Estate

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:05:00 -0500

The Washington Association of REALTORS® has issued a Risk Management Alert to all of it's members. (Here's a copy of the alert) I originally got it as a .pdf and converted it to html so that you can access it.

What is it about?

Effective June 12th, Washington Law provides new legal authority for state regulators to take enforcement action against real estate agents and brokers who receive or accept inducements from title insurance companies unless those inducements are authorized by state agency administrative rules. To date, state agency administrative rules have not been adopted and therefore, for the time being, the only safe practice is to decline receipt of any offer of anything of value from any title company, agent or employee.

For years the State has gone after Title Companies and imposed huge fines for giving "Things of Value" to Real Estate Professionals. We in the industry have always found it curious that it was illegal to give it but it wasn't illegal to ask for it. We've actually been told by brokers that if we want access to their agents then we need to pay to be on their "preferred vendor list". Well it seems those days may be coming to an end.

I'm very interested to see how this law plays out, especially in regards to the Broker having a financial interest in a Title Company.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Distressed Property Law goes into practice on June 12th

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:40:00 -0500

On May 6th of 2008 I told you about

State of Washington just passed law on "Distressed Properties"

Since then I have learned that the Northwest MLS has Their Distressed Home Forms up on their site.

Distressed Home Forms
Form 1A-DH: NWMLS Distressed Home Listing Agreement
Form 1B-DH: NWMLS Distressed Home Agency Listing Agreement
Statewide Forms:
Form 1A-DH-SWF: SWF Distressed Home Listing Agreement
Form 1B-DH-SWF: SWF Distressed Home Agency Listing Agreement

We are certainly getting a lot of questions in regards to Agent Liability. I would suggest you first talk to your broker, that's what they are there for. I would also suggest that you visit the Washington Association of Realtors site.

By the way this goes into practice on June 12th, so you don't really have anytime to waste. Better get up to speed.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Top 30 Residential New Construction Markets for the 12 Months Ending April 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:09:00 -0500

Here is a spreadsheet that shows the Top 30 Residential New Construction Markets for the 12 Months Ending April 2008.

Here is the pdf version

Note:

Seattle is # 7 and Portland is #21, also note that they both show positive job growth (which is always a good thing)

What does E-P Ratio stand for?

The E-P Ratio is the ratio of Employment Growth to Housing Permits (Employment/Permit Ratio). The appropriate ratio for equilibrium varies by market, but it can range from 1.0 in an affordable housing market like Houston to 2.0 in a high-priced market like Los Angeles. On a national basis 1.5 is probably equilibrium.

In general, anything under 1.0 is not good since you are creating inventory; and a negative E-P Ratio is a mess since you are losing jobs while creating additional housing.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Are you kidding me? You "typically" respond to email within 24 - 48 hours? Just how important is my business to you?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:33:00 -0500

Just sent out our eNewsletter and as usual I get all of the out of office reply's. Normally, I just delete these. Today for some strange reason I actually read them. For the most part they were generic out of office reply's that basically stated when they would return and who to contact in their absence.

But a few stood out...Like this one.

If you have an urgent need please contact my cellular phone at 360-***-***. Otherwise, I will respond to your email typically within 24 hours.
Thanks for your understanding.

and then there was this one...

Thanks for your message!

We generally repsond (miss-spelling theirs not mine) to our messages within 24-48 hours. If this is urgent or an emergency, you may visit (website removed) and select 'Contact Us' and call us via our main phone number (number not listed, you have to go to the website and find it).

Are you kidding me? You typically respond to email within 24-48 hours? Don't you know this is an always on, always connected world? Don't you have a smart phone? Look, I'm not saying that you have to be available every second of everyday, but when you tell me that you will "typically" respond to my email within 24-48 hours you've just told me how valuable my business is to you.

They weren't all bad though, check out this one...

I will be out of the office 5/30/2008 and returning 6/3/2008. I will be checking e-mails periodically.

If this is urgent please call or text message me at 503.***.**** You can also email me at (their blackberry email address - Removed) for an immediate response.

Thank you!

You tell me, if you were a client or a potential client which auto-reply would you prefer to receive?

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Washington State Passes "The Domestic Partnership Expansion Act of 2008"

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:05:00 -0500

A new law goes into effect next month (Effective Date June 12, 2008) that will significanly impact the title and escrow business in the State of Washington. The law is titled "The domestic Parntership Expansion Act of 2008," and builds on earlier domestic partnership law passed last year that gave rather modest rights to registerd domestic partners. The new law essentially gives domestic partners the same rights (including community property rights) that married persons have under state law. The new law is 195 pages long and amends over 170 different sections of the Washington statues.

For information on the Registration Process and who qualifies visit http://www.secstate.wa.gov/corps/domesticpartnerships/.
For information from the Washington State Bar Association visit http://www.wsba.org/media/publications/barnews/jun08-greven.htm.

You can actually look up Domestic Partnership Information on the Secretary of State's website (Note: There are 4062 Domestic Partnership registrations as of 5/29/2008 2:50:46 PM.) Personally, I don't think listing that type of information (names and area of location of domestic partners) is such a good idea (from a personal information / security standpoint).

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Coming Next Week - "Find Me Some Buyers!" (a 10 day series)

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:14:00 -0500

You may or may not know that I manage a couple of other REBlogs

Starting Next Week over at Productivity Hints and Tips we will share with you a 10 day series called "Find Me Some Buyers!". It will be a guest Post from Joe Curtis of RightNow Consulting.

RightNow is a performance consulting company committed to partnering with clients to achieve specific results. With particular expertise in the title, mortgage, settlement and real estate industries, RightNow works with individuals and organizations to clearly define goals and implement a systematic, proven process to achieve greater success.

We believe that this series will be very beneficial to you and your business and hope you feel the same way.

We want to encourage you to pass these articles along to your friends and colleagues and to participate in the discussion by leaving comments, suggestions or questions.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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We have outsourced our Reconveyances and are saving our clients a ton of money

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:44:00 -0500

It's true. A few months ago we were charging our clients $150 per deed of trust as a Reconveyance Tracking Fee. All companies charge atleast that much, however, it's not a Junk Fee. Once a Deed of Trust is paid off it must be released (that's called a reconveyance). Usually the trustee of the Deed of Trust does this. Keyword "usually".

What typically happens is the Title Company that paid the Deed of Trust off has to track the document and make sure it gets released or they have to file a "Substitution of Trustee" and do it themselves. As you can imagine the paper work can be mind numbing.

Recently we switched to a third party solution and they only charge $50 per deed of trust. Now we could have been greedy and continued to charge our clients $150 but instead we have passed that savings on to our clients.

Why would I share this with you?

To toot our own horn
To let you know that there are other solutions that are not only efficient but cost effective

How to hook up with this company?

If you are a lender and currently do your own recon's give me a call and I'll arrange a meeting. Sorry title companies...we have an exclusive arrangement with them, however, if you are not in our area of business...give me a call. Maybe I can hook you up.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Some fees are...well, they're Junk Fees.

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:31:00 -0500

Junk Fees - fees that really serve no purpose other than to make more money (or rip you off, just because I can and because you don't know enough to call me on it)

Last week at the mechanic shop I had my car at they charged me for "shop supplies", anything they used other than parts and tools to do the work on my car. Call me crazy, but I think that's just a cost of doing business.

But mechanic's aren't the only ones that do this. Some Escrow Officers do and they are encouraged to do so by their company.

Why don't more people catch it? Because they don't know what they are looking for and they have bought the "We have the cheapest escrow fee in town." lie. Several companies I know boast a $250.00 flat escrow fee on Refi's, on the surface that looks great until you factor in the miscellaneous fees such as...

Doc Prep Fee (this varies) - hey...isn't an Escrow Officer is supposed to prepare docs? If so, what was you Escrow Fee for?
eDoc Fee (usually around $50 per set) - This is because we have to use our toner and paper to print the documents. Are you kidding me? Isn't that just a cost of doing business? Why do we charge them an Ink Pen Usage fee and an electrical surcharge fee as well.
Wire Fee - Look, due to the volume of money that most Title Companies send through their bank the bank doesn't charge them any wire fees. In fact sending the wire is more efficient and is actually cheaper on the company, especially if you buy the we have to use our paper and toner (which is more expensive than regular toner) to print the check argument.
Miscellaneous Fees - a company here in town used to charge $500.00 to close a foreclosure...they now show it on an addendum to the HUD-1 as a Miscellaneous fee

Personally, I am proud to say that I never charged any of these fees.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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How to Read a Note and Deed of Trust, or Trust Deed Or Mortgage (depends on where you are from)

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:22:00 -0500

Loan documents are very intimidating and as a result many people just don't read them. As a matter of fact the number 1 question I got as a closer (besides the "When's my first payment due?" question) was..."Does anybody ever read all of these documents?" To which I would always answer..."Yes, some people do. One of my very first closings was 3 hours long because he wanted to read everything". Since that experience, I always made an effort to assess the borrower...If I felt they were going to be that person I would suggest that they pick the docs up for review.

Here is how I take borrowers through the Note and Deed of Trust.

First the note - The Note is usually 2 to 3 pages long so this can be done fairly quickly. I explain that the Note is the agreement between them and the bank. The bank keeps the original copy and they will get a copy. I then point out.

Point out who the lender is
The loan amount
The interest rate
Their payment and the payment start date (I very careful to let them know that the amount listed here is does not include their taxes and insurance escrow payments)
The rest of the document is disclosures about late payments and defaults.

Next the Deed of Trust - I start this off by explaining that for the most part every Deed of Trust in the nation is exactly the same except for 5 things.

Who the lender is
Who the borrower is
What the loan amount is
The property location / legal description
Any Riders associated with the loan (ex. Condo Rider, Second Home Rider, Prepayment Rider etc.)

I then explain that the rest of the paragraphs in document are standard disclosures and they are on every Deed of Trust.

There you have it...now, that wasn't so scary was it.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Hey...I know that Hot Dog!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:46:00 -0500

Yep - It's Friday Eve and a holiday weekend to boot.

You should have no trouble finding something to do this weekend...as for me...I hope to do my favorite thing of all. Nothing!

Got and email last night that I had said on this blog had been quoted in The Title Report. I've not seen the quote yet (I'm not a subscriber but people where I work are...so I'm sure I'll see it soon) I just hope I didn't say anything stupid.

My daughter is starting her First paying job this weekend (besides babysitting and the like). She'll be working at the Gorge Amphitheater in George, Washington (and if you're not from here yes...that is the actual name of the town in Central Washington). This weekend is the Sasquatch Festival. She's very excited because not only can she put a little money in her pocket...she can also be around some great bands that she loves.

What's the deal with the Hot Dog?

That hot dog statue used to belong to the husband of an Agent here in Clark County. He had his own hot dog restaurant and that dog stood next to the cash register. A few years ago he sold the business and this last year the new owners closed shop.

This morning I was reading the Columbian and saw that picture...my first words...Hey! I know that Hot Dog! The Hot Dog Statue now stands on Main Street in Downtown Vancouver at a great Hot Dog Stand. If you're down there take your picture with the Hot Dog, send it to me and I'll post it here.

Also, you may have read a rant that I posted in regards to Oil Prices. I deleted that from the blog for two reasons.

Recent developments in my personal life have given me pause in regards to expressing my opinions and,
since that post was more a rant on my part and had little to do with what I usually write about I took it down.

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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I don't want to blog today...

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:39:00 -0500

It's true...I don't. I mean I read some great stuff and think, "WOW! That would be something worth sharing with my readers"...but, eh...I just don't feel like it. Also, I have some pretty good ideas...you know for marketing, some tried and true and others with a bit of spin on them. I especially like the idea of "Contrarian Marketing" but to spend anymore time on it would, well offend a few people who are watching my blog...Hmmmm, maybe I should start an anonymous blog?

As a blogger you often get this feeling that your blog isn't really making any huge impact. Which is one of the reasons many bloggers fail? For me, that's not the case. I've been blogging in one fashion or another since about 2003. Here are a couple of things I've learned.

For me blogging is therapeutic - At times it gives me a chance to get things off my chest or to clear my head. Often I find my mind running a 1000 miles an hour with ideas. Blogging allows me a chance to flesh those ideas out and better yet to have a record of it.
People don't always comment - Get used to it. Just because they don't comment doesn't mean they don't like it. As a matter of fact most of your comments will be from people who don't like what you said and most of them will be anonymous. So take that for what it's worth.
You need breaks - No one expects you to blog all day everyday and they don't mind if you take some time off. Plus you need the time. I don't buy into the idea that you need to write just to be writing. If you've got nothing to say...then don't.
Content, Content, Content - Golden rule "if you would not read it...don't publish it"

How can I or this blog better serve you?

Got and Idea? Shoot me an email scott[at]scottbridwell[dot com] or give me a call 360.216.1762

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Are People Walking Away From Their Mortgage? Yes, But Who??

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:10:00 -0500

Well, I've said it before (see related posts below) that for the most part homeowners will attempt to stay in their home. Speculators and investors...now, that's a different story. Well it seems that the Los Angeles Times thinks the same thing.

"...media reports and Internet postings are rife with stories about the trend and a supposed sea change in American attitudes toward debt. But there's a major problem with all this talk about the phenomenon of solvent homeowners "walking away": There doesn't appear to be any hard evidence that it's actually happening.
When pressed for the number of borrowers who could afford their mortgage payments, major banks and lender groups could not produce numbers figures.
Nor could the Mortgage Bankers Assn., the leading trade group for housing lenders. Spokesman John Mechem said he believed that walkaways by homeowners who could afford their payments were "becoming more prevalent." But he said that was based on "anecdotes we're hearing from our members and what we're reading in the newspapers."
Further down in the story it says...
"At Fannie Mae, the government-chartered company that owns or guarantees billions of dollars in home mortgages, Senior Vice President Marianne Sullivan conceded that there was growing "folklore" about residential walkaways but said that the phenomenon was more likely connected to investors than people who live in their homes, or "owner-occupants."" (read full story)

Yes, there are homeowners who are waking away. But is it an epidemic? No, I don't think so and it seems some pretty well informed people think that as well.

Banks could and should begin doing a better job of communicating and working with borrowers. A common story we hear is that the borrower gets in trouble (for whatever reason) calls the bank and gets pushed from cubicle monkey to cubicle monkey before finding someone who can make a decision. By that time several months have passed and fees have accumulated and the snowball just gets bigger.

(By the way - Banks if you want some ideas on things you could do better read my post "Borrowers Walk Away From Home, (Foreclosure, Short Sale, Credit Crisis)" you can also call me and for a small consulting fee I'd be happy to help you out.

Related Posts...

Hat Tip: The Mess That Greenspan Made: Is "walking away" a myth?

Got a question for Scott? Feel free to call him directly at 360.216.1762

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Customer Service 101 teaches us that when you are with someone

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:13:00 -0500

Be with them - They should feel that you value there time and for that moment in time you are their number one priority.

That rule being re-affirmed let me say this.

“Take the blue tooth out of your ear! Are you really that much more
important than the person you are with?”

Really? Because of all of the really important people I know in life, I have never seen them talking to someone face to face with a blue tooth in their ear.

It frustrates me to no end to see someone sitting at a table with a client or worse his family and there is a blinking blue light in his ear. "Hey Bluetooth boy!" You know what you just told them…They are important to you, but they might not be as important as that next phone call.

I get it if you're driving, I get it if your at your desk and need a hands free solution. But when you are meeting with someone? That's just RUDE!

Ahhh!!!! That feels better...no on to enjoy the rest of my Friday Eve!!!!

Got a question for Scott? Feel free to call him directly at 360.216.1762

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I'm Sad :o( I'm Selling my Motorcycle

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:58:00 -0500

UPDATE: SOLD!!!!!

This is a Great Bike and I'm going to Miss it! (here's the Craigslist ad)

It's Shaft Driven, Water Cooled and Fuel Injected. It has always been serviced at the dealership, as a matter of fact there are a few months left on the maintenance contract which includes a NEW set of tires.

There is a second seat that goes with the bike that is not pictured and I also have two helmets that I can sell you at $50.00 each.

As of the May 6th there are 7,797 original miles on the bike.

Is it a fair price? Well compare it with these Boulevard's.

As of the May 6th there are 7,797 original miles on the bike.

Got a question for Scott? Feel free to call him directly at 360.216.1762

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State of Washington just passed law on "Distressed Properties"

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:31:00 -0500

Nine Most feared words in the English Language

"I'm from the government and I'm hear to help" Ronald Regan

Bottom line - I have a bit of a libertarian streak within me and as a result I believe that there are very few things that the government can fix, as a matter of fact I believe that more often than not it tends to make things worse.

It seems that the State of Washington has proposed a new law that is intended to protect owners of homes that are considered "Distressed Properties"

The Washington Association of Realtors (WAR - I love that acronym) has some good information that they are passing to all of their agents.

What is the purpose of the law?
The Distressed Property Law was passed during the 2008 Legislative session and signed into law by the Governor on March 30 for the purpose of protecting vulnerable property owners from scam artists who seek to steal the property owner's equity.
What properties are considered to be “distressed homes?”
A distressed home is owned by a person who falls into any of the following categories:
the homeowner is at risk of losing the home due to nonpayment of taxes;

the homeowner is at least 30 days late on a mortgage payment;

the homeowner is in default of any mortgage term such that the lender could accelerate the balance owing; or

the homeowner believes they are likely to default on the mortgage within 4 months and tells this to, among others, a real estate agent.

A quick Google Search this morning found these related links:

Washington REALTORS®
The Distressed Property Law was passed during the 2008 Legislative session and ... The Washington REALTORS® is working with the Washington State Attorney ...www.warealtor.org/distressed_properties.asp - 23k
Real Estate Blog - Getting the word out of the classes gor new law ...
Distressed Property Law. A new law goes into effect June 12, ... The classes will be offered at no charge at locations across the state with the hope that ...activerain.com/blogsview/497518/Getting-the-word-out - 22 hours ago -
Real estate, mortgage and interest rate trends - UpDownRide.com
... short sales and distressed property in Washington State. The Distressed Property Law was passed during the 2008 Legislative session and signed into law ...updownride.com/feed.php?channel=72&iid=122074&y=2008&m=05&d=06 - 7 hours ago -

So, I'm curious...do you think this will help or hurt the process.

Got a question for Scott? Feel free to call him directly at 360.216.1762

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Multi-tasking is a Farce and a waste of precious time

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:55:00 -0500

One of my favorite subjects in the world to discuss is the "I told you so" subject. I'll admit it...I like being right.

KATU.com has a story today (actually saw part of it last night on the news) It's called "Think multi-tasking saves time? Think again"

Researchers, like Jonathan Spira with Basex based out of New York, have been studying the phenomenon that he calls 'information overload.'
With e-mails, instant messages and all the devices we have to keep track of it all, we are in constant contact and are constantly stopping and starting different jobs.
"We found out that the recovery time could be up to 20 times the amount of the interruption, which was a stunning revelation," said Spira.
In short, it is making people less productive.
"We've calculated just one component of information overload and it's over $650 billion," said Spira. "That just gives you an idea of how big a problem we are talking about." (read full story)

So, why "I Told You So" (again I might add)

Because, I've written about time management and multi-tasking here before...

Let me be clear - Multi-Tasking is a waste of time and should be avoided at all cost. One person told me that I feel this way because I'm a man and men aren't good at multi-tasking. Not true, I can multi-task with the best of them, however I have found it to be ripe with errors and very inefficient. Given a choice I'd prefer to work on one project at a time.

Being in my industry that isn't always possible, I understand that. But when possible - Avoid it. In addition find ways to assist you in avoiding it. (check out links above for a few hints)

Got a question for Scott? Feel free to call him directly at 360.216.1762

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Blog Consultants - an emerging trend?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Bridwell) — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:33:00 -0500

I have found that being a blogger within two very large organizations (one an International Non-Profit and one a large publicly traded company) isn't easy. They (da man) do not understand the medium. Why? Simply put, organizations are used to controlling their message and the idea that a consumer or a disgruntled employee could gather an audience and possibly re-define that message is troubling.

There are two strategies to dealing with this new paradigm in marketing.

Establish Policies Against Blogging - The two organizations I've been within have elected to establish policies against blogging (whether written or un-written). The view here is that we (the company) will discourage people from blogging, they won't blog and we won't have a problem. Well, as we become more and more a connected society their is no way companies are going to be able to stop blogging. Employees, in fear of losing their job, will simply begin blogging under pen names. However, employees are not your biggest threat. The disgruntled consumer or even your competitor...that's your biggest threat.
Begin Working with Blogs - Many companies are already monitoring their blog traffic and the really savvy ones have even gone so far as to establish their own blogs and or blog response teams. (see: WSJ - For All You Do, Bud, This Blog Is About You) [Update here is the beer blog]

UPDATE: Hat Tip to Joel Burslem for posting the WSJ story

In case you've not noticed it, real estate professionals in all areas have quickly become the latest whipping boy for the media and some very (in some cases justifiably) upset consumers. To counter this many individual professionals have began to interact with consumers and are helping to change that tide. Larger companies would do good to stop fighting this new reality and develop a forward looking plan that not only responds to blogs but utilizes them to promote their brand.

[hat tip - to Wade Burleson's post "If You Blog It's Best To Have a Response Plan" and for pointing me toward BusinessWeek.com's post "How do companies respond to blog attacks?"]

Got a question for Scott? Feel free to call him directly at 360.216.1762

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