economylou barnesmonetary policymortgagemortgagesSelectstimulus
January 16, 2015

Lower mortgage rates, courtesy of the gnomes of Zurich

A policy change by the Swiss National Bank has addled markets and governments worldwide. How to explain that your lower mortgage rate is courtesy of the Gnomes of Zurich? The 10-year T-note has bottomed at 1.72 percent, down more than a half-percent since Christmas. But 10-year Ts have decoupled from…
Read More
ipoSelectTechnology
January 16, 2015

DocuSign may be next real estate IPO

If Redfin doesn’t beat it to the punch, DocuSign could be the next big real estate tech company to go public. A year ago, the e-signature and transaction management software provider made clear that it would rather go public than be acquired. And last fall, its chief financial officer, Mike…
Read More
overcomingproductivityreal estateRoss MalpereSelect
January 16, 2015

Overcoming fear of rejection in real estate

It’s a “truth” (almost) universally accepted in our industry that 20 percent of real estate agents will make 80 percent of the money — and you could make an argument that this number is valid. Is there some predetermining factor that dictates who is going to excel and who will be mediocre…
Read More
independent brokeragesnrtre/maxrealogySelectTechnologytruliaZillow
January 16, 2015

Regulators may be weighing impact of Zillow-Trulia merger on small brokers

Much of the discussion about the Federal Trade Commission’s review of the pending Zillow-Trulia merger has centered around the share of advertising dollars that the portal giants command and the percentage of consumer traffic they represent. But another factor may play into the FTC’s analysis on whether the merger might…
Read More
marijuanaMatt Chapdelainemedical marijuanapot dispensariesRegulationsSelect
January 16, 2015

Property search engine will serve budding pot industry

A new start-up has ambitions of becoming the Zillow of property search for marijuana growers and landlords who are willing to rent their properties to people in the budding industry. The new service, HerbFront, will offer zoning maps to identify areas that are legal for farming marijuana, warehousing and retail…
Read More
Brokerageinterviewreal estate leadersRealty One GroupSelect
January 16, 2015

Kuba Jewgieniew discusses his upstart startup and finding success

Kuba Jewgieniew, the founder and CEO of Realty ONE Group, is a leader in the real estate industry; he answered several questions from Inman about work, life and how he balances the two.  Age: 38 Degree, school: Bachelor of science in economics, University of California, San Diego Location: Irvine, California Describe…
Read More
Brokeragemarketreal estateSelecttrendupdate
January 16, 2015

Ingredients for a hot real estate market: lessons from Brooklyn

It’s that time of the year again, the time when Brooklyn brokers take a moment to reflect on the past 365 days and give a candid — if not long — shot at envisioning the 365 days ahead. And 2014 was a big year for this particular borough: Pricing ceilings were…
Read More
Marketingreal estateSelectselling
January 16, 2015

Is your real estate marketing meeting buyers’ desires?

In the 2013 National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, home sellers stated that what they wanted the most from real estate agents was help marketing their homes to potential buyers. This is home sellers’ absolute No. 1 desire from their agents. Here’s what you did to market…
Read More
Brokeragelong & foster real estaterick shargaSelectunited real estatewilliam & william
January 16, 2015

Regional brokerage offers to help clients put their homes up for auction

Clients of regional Mid-Atlantic brokerage Long & Foster Real Estate now have the option to sell their homes via an online or live auction. The new partnership between Long & Foster’s parent company and Williams & Williams Worldwide Real Estate Auction opens up the growing world of real estate auctions to the…
Read More
Mike HogannimbleSelectTechnology
January 16, 2015

CRM choices: a review of the latest tools to manage customers

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories examining how real estate professionals are using customer relationship management (CRM) applications to work more efficiently and grow their businesses. When real estate agent Mike Hogan wanted to grow his business, he found there was a bottleneck in how…
Read More