Comments on: It may be broken, but here’s a plan to fix it!

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:41:33 +0000

Looking for Eileen from Seattle that came to Australia in 2000 ?????

By: Broken But Fixable

Broken But Fixable — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:20:54 +0000

[...] Wow, Eileen captures my feelings perfecly in her most recent article regarding the current brokerage business model.Â It is broken but can be fixed.Â Â I am often left wondering just what does my brokerage do for me? [...]

By: I Wonder How They Practice Real Estate in China! | Rain City Guide | A Seattle Real Estate Blog...

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 23:13:19 +0000

[...] I Wonder How They Practice Real Estate in China! April 1, 2007 Before I tell you why I’m blogging on this subject, I first want to tell you what I’ve been doing over the last months (instead of blogging). So I have an announcement to make. As I was building LTD Real Estate I studied several business models and I knew I didn’t want to build any of the traditional models like those I’d previously been associated with (the big 3). Along the way, I studied the RE/MAX model and liked it so well and the RE/MAX agents liked it so well, I decided to join the RE/MAX family. So today, I am officially RE/MAX Connected, Connected meaning not only developing internet marketing but especially here in the Pacific NW, where we do so much business with other Pacific Rim Countries and we all have so many European and Asian clients, too, so Connected also means connected to the world. [...]

By: Labor Day Linkathon: Catching up with real estate topics raised here and elsewhere . . . | BloodhoundBlog | The weblog of BloodhoundRealty.com in Phoenix, Arizona

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 18:29:09 +0000

[...] Ardell has ideas on training agents to negotiate commissions equitably. In contrast to Redzilla, a matinee monster at best, Ardell’s ideas combined with the innovations outlined by Eileen Tefft at Rain City Guide suggest a truly new business model for real estate brokerage. [...]

By: Rethinking absolutely everything in real estate . . . | BloodhoundBlog | The weblog of BloodhoundRealty.com in Phoenix, Arizona

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:34:03 +0000

[...] Jim Cronin is on the verge of something big at The Real Estate Tomato. So is, Eileen Tefft at Rain City Guide, working from a completely different direction. PressReal.com anticipates the demise of the MLS system within months, which seems unlikely to me. But: It remains: These are exciting times to be in real estate. In another post, The Real Estate Tomato solicits testimony on blogging success. I think the best success of real estate weblogging is in this unfiltered, unimpeded exchange of new, better ideas. I come to this banquet every day with my nickel, sometimes just four scuffed pennies. I leave every day stuffed to the gills from a millionaire’s feast. Everything after that is — you guessed it — dessert… [...]

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 18:16:04 +0000

Eileen,

How long does it take you to do a blog article? For me the only “time” involved is choosing photos. Usually pretty quick, except those “10 for Galen” which I did while walking for exercise and listening to an old Janis Ian CD. Again…blogging is my “break from work”…not my work. Same with Real Talk.

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 17:54:15 +0000

Eileen,

I can process 500 or more emails, by using Outlook, in about 7 minutes. I recently used Real Talk to poll the Country about market conditions. It’s a TOOL, a very useful one. Once you know how to use it quickly and to YOUR purpose, you will find it much easier to navigate. Too many use it as a hobby.

As to blogging, one of my most “famous” pieces on “good enough” took about 45 seconds from beginning to publish stage. One of the benefits of “Stream of Consciousness” blogging.

I’m hiring as well, two new agents this afternoon, one has been in the business even longer than I have…should be short work. I’m firing even more than I’m hiring at present, gearing towards the spinoff.

I have to be “online” monitoring new listings as they come on market fairly constantly. As soon as a property comes on market for one of my clients, I evaluate it quickly and jump up to go see it if it passes my smell test. Any agent who isn’t sitting at a computer these days is working harder and not smarter.

We use the computer to get feedback on our listings, to seek out new listings for our current buyers. We are on the computer…so sideshifting for 3 minutes to do a blog entry is a “break”, not a job.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:45:33 +0000

I gotta ask, how do you find the time? I picture you sitting in that robe at 1am blogging away and I know you’re very hands on. You’re also still on Realtalk, though I have noticed they’re getting shorter there:)

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 04:34:20 +0000

Eileen,

Actually I never work alone. I just blog alone

By: Greg Swann

Greg Swann — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 03:33:15 +0000

This is a great post. I think that what you’re describing would have happened a long time ago — in infinite variations — were it not for the real estate broker’s safe harbor in the income tax laws. In other words, if agents were subject to withholding taxes, instead of being independent contractors, brokers would work more like business owners and less like pimps. Kudos to you for trying something different. This kind of model — a controlled and predictable level of quality — is what will compete successfully with the RealtyBots. My hat is off to you.