 RadarOnline reports on an all too familiar conversation us realtors have had with underwater sellers: "The house had been taken off the market last year after years of just languishing on the market. It became apparent that the house was going to be a total financial loss for Britney as she bought the mansion at the height of the real estate market and simply overpaid"And the gut-wrenching solution we propose to sellers: "Britney and her dad realized that they were going to have to drastically slash the price and just unload the house at a loss."Originally listed for under $7.5M, Britney bought it $6.75M, and just sold it for $4.25M. It has been sitting empty since 2007 when she went thru her infamous breakdown(s). It's a bloodbath for Britney, but she has learned to move on and move in with her fiancé. It's a hard pill to swallow for many sellers but take it from Brit, life does go on. Hang tight!
Congrats to Zoritha Thompson who won the iPad drawing!
| After my smash hit appearance at the Sacramento Association of Realtors for AREAA, the self proclaimed "real estate diva deal-maker" Dao Tran & I dish about real estate. (We met one year ago! Dao, where's my anniversary ring??) During my presentation, I searched on twitter for SF Realtor, and amazingly, I found a tweet from a guy who needed help relocating to SF. I live tweeted him on stage, and by end of my chat, he tweeted me back to contact him. Awesome new lead!
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 Murder by HOA! A federal investigation into a Las Vegas HOA corruption scheme has taken the lives of 3 people. Defense attorney was found dead by hanging on Sunday. A construction defect lawyer was found dead in her bathtub. And police officer shot himself to death when his name came up in the scandal. Charges include rigging elections, using "straw buyers" & steering contracts to preferred firms. How scandalous! I guess they don't call it Sin City for nothing... Somebody call Columbo stat!
 2 hot men walking in SF. Surprise, surprise Walkability is the hottest trend in real estate! Unlike prior generations, the new crop of buyers driving the business is Gen X, Y, Millenials who don't wanna drive 20 minutes to get a latte! Homes located close to things to do, shops, cafes (aka LIFE) sell faster and for more than those homes where you need to hop in a car. Who wants to commute to buy groceries!? If you are shopping for a house, try to stick to properties that have a high walk score. It will be better for re-sale value, less harm for mother nature and most importantly, you'll burn more calories walking to cool stuff to do. Is your city on the list of the nation's most walkable cities? If not, check out WalkScore which ranks how walkable your property is!
 "grab collar" pose! classy! My friend Scott Schang thinks Supernatural on the CW Network made a few jabs at real estate agents on their episode last week. Bottom left clip is a snippet example. Jab or not, it is so true! It's practically a cliché to have a headshot that's 15 yrs old! As I have videoblogged before, from a consumer stand point, an "outdated headshot = outdated agent"!
BTW, if you seen any other media representations of realtors, please forward!
 LA Times spotlights 4 people who are digging themselves out of debt! And of course the 1st couple they profile are 2 ex-successful realtors from the boom years. This is a common story I hear from agents. They were living the high life, wining & dining 24/7, dressed to the nines, over leveraging themselves..& wound up $680k in debt. Read how Southern California agents Dan & Cheree Griffith got out of this doozy. Great lesson! Less is more.
 An older agent asked me for advice: should he get iPhone or stick to his flip phone? I cracked up hysterically, until I realized he was serious (D'oh!). Feeling guilty, I put on my teacher hat & for next hour showed him the wonders of internet, email and apps all in the palm of his 65 yr old hand. The next day he bought a simple flip phone.I screamed, "Why oh why?! Haven't you heard of Nomophobia?" He said, "What's your sexuality got to do with it?"I retorted, "Not Homophobia. Nomophobia: the fear of being without a mobile phone"
Huffington Post reports consumers are addicted to their phones which spells opportunity. Double down on your mobile strategy, identify ways to incorporate Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other social media.....You need a smart phone for all this! If you show up to a showing with brick cell phone, clients will crack up hysterically at you!
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