Joe Sixpack

Well, this is certainly enlightening. And sad.

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Coding Question

Since there is a significant lack of decent content here lately, I thought I’d pose a question.

Any idea how this FSBO site gets those nifty in-page pop-up windows? I want them. I want them bad.

And I’m not even totally incompetant when it comes to coding. I took a peek at the source for the page, but wasn’t able to discover what site the website author may have gotten the code snippet for that neat effect. I’m pretty sure it’s probably something I can get free online, but I’m not even sure where to start looking.

So any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

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MLS 5.0

I first heard about the MLS 5.0 publication through an e-mail at work. It looked interesting, and as I’ve been doing with so many things lately, I printed it out and took it home to read.

First I would like to say that this is an incredibly intimidating e-book verses the ones I’ve found online lately that deal with marketing and customer service, such as Humanize It, by Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon. You know, just for what it’s worth.

So I’ve skipped over it when deciding what to read next. And when some of my regular blogs post about it, I don’t feel so bad about not getting around to it.

And now it’s been summed up for me by Tom and Greg from The Real Estate Bloggers and the Bloodhound Blog, respectively, and now I’ve got motivation to really give it a good read.

The MLS 5.0 Manifesto says:

The MLS of the future will bring a marketing service and benefit to the industry by being the single point of entry for listing data and then, based upon the election of the broker, distribute that information to web portals, newspapers, even radio and television, handheld devices and applications.

But the Bloodhound blog translates it:

It says that Klein’s idealized “MLS of the Future” will be a national monopoly system controlled by real estate brokers and the NAR — to the immediate and permanent detriment of independent MLS systems and vendors, Web 2.0 listings aggregators and — most especially — individual real estate agents.

Perhaps I don’t understand NAR as well as a REALTOR® might. Why is the assumption that NAR would abuse the control - or is it just that any monopoly is bad? I don’t know, and I admit, I’m confused. I’m going to have to read the original e-book, and research this some more.

I do wonder above anything else, though, what does our local Association of REALTORS® think about this?

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Home Manager, Escort Service, Po-TAY-to, Po-TAH-to

What a crazy world we live in these days, eh? In Georgia, having a Home Manager is growing in popularity. From what I understand, if you have a vacant home you’re trying to sell, you “hire” someone to live in your home, at a reduced rent, and to keep it “show ready”.

That means keeping the lawn trim and the landscaping clean. That means you keep the rooms furnished and tidy at all times, and the house impeccable. It’s really like a job in itself.

But a woman in Atlanta had a woman running an escort service (not illegal in Georgia, apparently) from her home that she was trying to sell!

Of course, the tenant/Home Manager denied the allegations, but my goodness, that was one persistent news station. They eventually caught her red-handed - watch the video to find out how.

It’s amazing what people think they can get away with. If nobody knows, it must be okay, right? If a tree falls in the woods and nobody’s around, they can’t prove you poached it, right?

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Extreme Foreclosure

I’m very disappointed with the owners of the Extreme Home Makeover home in Clayton County, Georgia. I don’t know what their motives were, and maybe there was a perfectly good intent behind taking out a $450,000 mortgage on their “gift home”, but the fact is they did it, and now their home is facing foreclosure.

The Real Estate Bloggers have been giving me updates on the situation. The family is getting a reprieve from the foreclosure for 30 days, but really…who is going to buy a house like that in the neighborhood it is in?

Which is why I’m also very disappointed with the whole show - which the longer it goes on, the more of a fiasco it seems to me to be.

I was a die-hard fan for quite some time. These homeowners are usually in need, and they get this great house that will solve a lot of their problems! And then they can’t keep up with the cost of living in such a home, and when the time comes to sell, it’s hard because the homes don’t fit the neighborhood. The highest priced home in the neighborhood is not the place you want to be as a seller.

Now, I just want the show to go away. I’m tired of Ty, I’m tired of the heart-wrenching stories and the inadequate solutions to their problems. Instead of spending $X in materials and time, why don’t they build a more moderate house that would fetch a good price when the time comes, and then support the family in more helpful ways?

• Set up a trust to be used only for the education of the children, if there are any present
• Pay off the existing mortgage, and start a trust to pay for utilities
• Assist with existing medial bills, if applicable
• Hire a housekeeper for life for those people who have to have a huge floor plan to accommodate their families

I have a feeling I’m being a bit extreme in my response, so I’ll stop while I’m ahead. If only the Extreme Home Makeover Producers could be so reserved.

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