Realtor.com Adds Home Valuation. Apparently Blows It.
Dustin Luther on 4Realz.net has an analysis of Realtor.com’s “Home Values” — the latest in Automated Valuations for home prices.
Looks like they pooched it.
Pooched: adj. (slang) made unusable; broken; buggered (British)
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New Poll on NAR Wisdom
See the top of the center sidebar. Over there —>
Please take a moment to vote in the poll, “Does the NAR Need a Social Media Director?”
Don’t know what a Social Media Director is? See this post.
Hey Lawrence Yun and NAR! Thanks for the $200!
Well, they haven’t actually given me the $200…. yet 
Yesterday’s post lamented the fact that the NAR sent an email asking people to take a survey. In said email, they promised you’d be entered for a drawing for $200. Alas, no such thing happened….
But this just came into the inbox:
Dear Survey Participant,
It has been brought to our attention that in the Market Assessment Survey sent on June 3, 2008 an error occurred and unfortunately survey participants were not given a link to be included in the prize drawing. We apologize for this unanticipated error. In order to give all participants the opportunity to be included in the drawing, we have provided a new link where you can enter your email address for the drawing.
Please click on the link below to input your email address only if you have participated in the survey.
Link redacted.
Huh. “It has been brought to our attention”. Wonder who brought it to their attention?
I also wonder how many people are going to click away and enter the drawing even if they didn’t take the survey….
Do the right thing people. You’re all sworn to uphold that Realtor Code of Ethics ya know… More importantly, you should be upholding the higher standard of the Human Code of Ethics.
Now if I had written this follow up email, I’d have re-included the link to the survey. That would make it much easier for people that didn’t take it yesterday to jump in there and complete the survey today. Doing such probably would have increased their response rate and decreased the probability of people blindly stuffing their name into the hat for the drawing. But since the NAR has apparently ignored my offer to be their social media director, I didn’t write the email.
Good on the NAR for making it right. Sort of.
And where is that job offer?
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Hey Lawrence Yun and NAR! Where’s my $200?
From the email inbox:
Dear Member,
In recent months there has been extensive coverage and discussion of foreclosures, auction sales, and short sales. Actual data on these subjects, however, is somewhat limited.
We need your feedback and observations on these topics. We are interested in your opinion regarding housing condition in your market. We would appreciate your taking about 10 minutes of your time to fill out the survey we have prepared. To access the survey click the following link or copy and paste the link into your browser;
Link Redacted
The survey will remain open until Friday June 6, 2008.
At the end of the survey you will be given the opportunity to enter a drawing for 3 prizes of $200 each.
Your participation in this survey is confidential. Results of this study are analyzed at the aggregate, not individual, level. We appreciate your time and thank you in advance for your input.
Lawrence Yun
Senior Vice President, Chief Economist, Research
The National Association of REALTORS®
My emphasis in the bold italics..
No, I didn’t take the survey just for a remote shot at winning $200.
But I’d like to at least have had the opportunity, as promised!
But nooooo…. I took the survey, and was promptly led to a Zoomerang splash screen thanking me and offering a free survey.
But no way to enter the drawing…
Don’t you guys test these things before hitting “send”?
You’ve got my address, feel free to mail the check. Or just apply it to my dues.
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The Real Estate Blog Community on the NAR/DOJ Settlement
I suspect by now anyone that reads this blog has already heard the news about the proposed settlement in the NAR/DOJ lawsuit.
Here is the proposed settlement in its entirety.
Opinions from the real estate side seem to be mostly summed up in a few words like — so what, yawn, and no longer truly relevant.
Some bubbleheads are ecstatic, apparently not reading any of the actual settlement and jumping to the conclusion that the DOJ is shutting down all the hated Realtors. How many of them really understand what a VOW is, or the ILD policy? Methinks none.
Rather than rehash all that’s been said, I’ll attempt to link to as many posts and main-stream media articles on the matter as I can find. This list will likely grow over time, so stay tuned in!
Notorious ROB:
The NAR-DOJ Settlement: Journey from Chaos to Confusion
I Think Jeff Jarvis Is in for a Shock (in response to, Take that, 6 percenters!)
Phoenix Real Estate Guy:
The NAR and DOJ Come to Terms. Yawn.
All Phoenix Real Estate
:NAR, DOJ Reach Settlement
The Real Estate Bloggers:
DOJ and NAR Reach Settlement in Suit After Technology Has Moved Forward
AgentGenius:
NAR & DOJ Finally Make Friends
1000 Watt Blog:
Estately, DOJ, and other weirdness
Redfin:
No One’s Going to Take Away Our Data, But What Can We Do With It?
Real Central VA:
What the DOJ-NAR settlement means for me
FlexMLS:
Analysis of NAR/DOJ Settlement of VOW Litigation
New York Times:
Realtors Agree to Stop Blocking Web Listings
Wall Street Journal:
Realtors Agree to Open Listings To Online Discounters
Washington Post:
Online Realtors Win Rights to Housing Database
Associated Press:
Settlement reached for online real estate agents
Las Vegas Real Estate:
Realtors and DOJ finally Realize it’s Irrelevant
Blanche Evans Hammers the “Benefits” of Realtor.com
Blanch Evans, the Senior Editor of Realty Times, unloaded on the new “benefits” Realtor.com is offering agents.
And I for one, think her opinion is spot on.
Wow, now we get a whopping FOUR photos for free! Puhlease.
Evans ends her editorial with:
Realtor.com isn’t bringing any game. They need to come up with something better than four free photos, and quick.
No doubt… an upcoming revamped interface on R.com may be good for consumers. But as the “Official site of the National Association of Realtors” is seems like there should be something of value for ….. Realtors…….
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NAR on Health Care
The vast majority of Realtors are independent contractors. As such, they typically have to foot the (ridiculous) cost of health insurance on their own.
Ever priced health insurance?
Many (myself included) have wondered why the NAR doesn’t throw its political weight and 1.4ish million member strong organization into helping Realtors get affordable health care.
Well, apparently they are working on it. Sort of.
From the NAR’s “Speaking of Real Estate” blog comes this article — Taking Another Stab at Health Care.
These concerns are why I’ve always intently followed NAR’s efforts to get a small-business health plan bill through Congress. I hadn’t heard much about the initiative lately — at least not until I sat in on the Business Issues Committee meeting today at the NAR Midyear Meetings.
That’s where I heard that NAR has been keeping up the fight and has now played a key role in shaping the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, a bill introduced in Senate last month. (my emphasis)
A key role? What key role? What exactly is the NAR doing in this arena? This article tells us basically nothing — no specifics, nothing about what we the membership can do to help.
Maybe the NARs activities on health care are described somewhere else. But darned if I can find it.
Do we just sit back and wait for the NAR’s “key role” to produce something?
If I’ve missed the details, I’d love for someone to point them out. Working to secure affordable health care for its memberships should be a primary point of focus for the NAR. In my humble opinion….
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Jonathan Miller on NAR Spin
There truly are not enough superlatives in the lexicon to adequately describe Jonathan Miller’s Matrix blog. If you don’t read it, well, you’re nuts.
Jonathan is a chartologist. And he’s come up with a great one in his post:
Yeah, I know, it’s a couple of weeks old. I’ve been busy! But it’s a chart / post that will stand the test of time.
Go forth and absorb.
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Yun to the Slaughterhouse: Not this time…
NAR Chief Economists are frequently blog fodder. I’ve done it, and almost every other real estate blogger that touches on national real estate news has done it. The bubble blogs regularly eviscerate NAR economists and forecasts.
It’s time to move past the previous NAR econ disaster David Lereah. He’s gone (thankfully) and Lawrence Yun has moved into the top spot.
And dare I say it, but Dr. Yun does seem to be coming out with a dose of reality regarding housing, and the piles of real estate statistics the NAR generates. One just has to read many of his “Economists Commentaries” to see he does inject reality into many of his musings on the state of the housing market.
The latest from Yun is in a USA Today article, “Experts, consumers share home market views”. (H/T to Jim Duncan via one of his clients)
In this article Yun states things like:
Consumers need to find out what is going on at the local level and not necessarily take national headline numbers as a point of reference. Sellers tend to be more stubborn in facing the reality of the market, so people who really need to sell need to come down on prices, given the high inventory and seller competition.
And:
2008 is a year of clean-up. Afterwards, better conditions.
It’s honest, real and I find it refreshing.
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Center for Realtor Technology Rolls Out “Realtor Confidential”
Those propeller heads (and I use that term with the utmost respect) at the Center for Realtor Technology have rolled out Realtor Confidential - a nifty video heavy website that promises to be chocked full of interesting real estate technology stuff.
From the “About” page:
About REALTOR® Confidential:
This new online video series, created by CRT, in conjunction with NAR’s Information Central and Public Affairs divisions, is designed to educate our membership about technology-related topics and investigate how NAR can best use Web-based technology to communicate with members.
In the first season, we follow 2007 NAR President Pat V. Combs, as she and her staff implement new technologies. The viewing audience will see what works for Pat and her staff, what doesn’t, and why — and apply many of those insights to their own businesses.
Throughout the season, the series also will include supplemental episodes that explore specific technology topics of interest to REALTORS®. Following the CRT mission, we will share the knowledge we gain in the production process with members and the real estate community.
New episodes will debut once each month, and we’ll be posting other great content along the way, so stay tuned!
Go ahead, give it a whirl!
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