Opinion
Ways Agents Can Stop Paying for Leads
By Bernice Ross | Special To Commercial Record | September 21, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock Link
Before forking over 40 percent of your commission, try working with a few of these ideas to obtain high-quality leads at a fraction of the price you’re currently paying for leads.
Real Estate Still Proves Fertile for Fraud
By Lew Sichelman | May 4, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkI hate to keep beating a dead horse – but then, real estate fraud is far from a dead horse. In fact, people are being taken in by crooks more than ever.
Common Real Estate Questions that ChatGPT Gets Very Wrong
By Bernice Ross | Special To Commercial Record | May 4, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkSome in the real estate industry are arguing that AI answers to lead-qualifying and simple questions from buyers and sellers are a far more accurate, dependable and inexpensive than dedicated phone staff. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Money Does Grow on Trees, After All
By Lew Sichelman | April 27, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkEvery parent, myself included, who has uttered the immortal words “money doesn’t grow on trees” was dead wrong, at least when it comes to residential real estate.
Tenants Face Numerous ‘Junk Fees’
By Lew Sichelman | April 20, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkWhen it comes to junk fees, nobody can hold a candle to landlords. Not even mortgage lenders. Now, the Biden administration is pushing landlords to cut back these charges.
Home Prices Rose Little, But Made Big Contribution to Inflation
By Lew Sichelman | April 13, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkIn February, overall house prices registered their smallest year-over-year gain since September 2021. Even so, housing’s share of the Consumer Price Index rose at an accelerated pace.
Home Warranties Called ‘Lousy Deals’
By Lew Sichelman | April 6, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkIn a recent – and unusually puffy – puff piece in a pay-to-play real estate publication, two agents sang the praises of home warranties. But in truth, home warranties are not warranties at all. They’re service contracts.
Fraud, Fraud, Everywhere Fraud
By Lew Sichelman | March 30, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkWhile late-night TV scams and robocall schemes are coming under increased scrutiny by state and federal officials, new real estate-related swindles continue to come to light.
Remodeling ROI Not Always Great
By Lew Sichelman | March 24, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkHopefully, owners who chose to remodel their bathrooms are enjoying their new spa-like retreats. If they were hoping to sell their homes for more, they likely won’t come out ahead.
Loan Comparison Sites Not All Fair
By Lew Sichelman | March 2, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkUncle Sam’s chief financial watchdog agency has fired a warning shot across the bow of consumer-facing comparison sites and mobile apps that steer consumers to the lenders that pay the sites the most.
How to Prep a Home for the All-Electric Future
By Lew Sichelman | February 23, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThe shift toward all-electric living is underway. But if you are a buyer in today’s new home market, how do you navigate the transition to make sure your house is not outdated before you’ve hardly settled in?
New Home Search Portal Set to Launch
By Lew Sichelman | February 16, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkHomebuyers and agents alike could soon benefit from a new listing portal with all the online bells and whistles they’ve come to expect – but with better service on the ground and no-fee leads.
Buyers: Know Your Share
By Lew Sichelman | February 1, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkMany of the nation’s largest real estate firms still do not publish the share of the commission paid to agents who work with homebuyers, leaving buyers to fend for themselves.
Tax Appeal May Bring Big Savings
By Lew Sichelman | January 26, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkProperty taxes are rising right along with the cost of food, gas and other necessities. One main difference: You won’t have to wait for inflation to come down to lower your property taxes.
Sellers Should Consider a Buydown to Snag a Buyer
By Lew Sichelman | January 19, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkWith the inventory of unsold houses rising on a daily basis, it’s time for sellers to consider taking a page out of the homebuilders’ playbook – especially when it comes to financing.
Taking Buying, Selling to New Heights
By Lew Sichelman | January 12, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkTwo hot new trends in real estate – designing and buying a custom home sight-unseen, and having your home renovations paid for by someone else – could become forces in 2023’s housing market.
Higher Credit Report Fees Hit Homebuyers
By Lew Sichelman | January 5, 2023 | Reprints | Unlock LinkAs if rising mortgage rates and high house prices aren’t enough, some homebuyers are going to have to contend with credit reports that will cost 400 percent more in 2023 than it did in 2022.
Buyer’s Remorse in Store for ’23?
By Lew Sichelman | December 29, 2022 | Reprints | Unlock LinkBuyer’s remorse is likely to take on a more sinister turn in the coming months, as people who purchased their houses at the top of the market take out their frustrations on their real estate agents.
War Stories: Selling During a Divorce
By Lew Sichelman | December 22, 2022 | Reprints | Unlock LinkIn a perfect world, a couple in the midst of a divorce would sit down together and calmly figure out what to do with their house. But, of course, this is not a perfect world.
Selling Need Not Be a Divorce Issue
By Lew Sichelman | December 15, 2022 | Reprints | Unlock LinkThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to real estate. Each deal is different, and rarely does one go off without a hitch. But when it comes to divorce, selling a house becomes that much more complicated.
