Chris' Blog

I've been feeling like him for the last three weeks.  True stories below...                                                               1.  Last night I spoke to a friend of mine who just went "in-contract" on his home.  The sale price is $230,000 and the outstanding balance on the loan is $255...

We receive the question from franchise prospects, "the market is struggling, why should I franchise now vs. waiting for it to improve?"  The reality is that today's market is prime for someone to re-brand or open a franchise office.  When times are tough, agents get antsy and begin to scrutinize ...

I'm a huge T-Shirt fan!  Who isn't, right?  This is the shirt design ActiveRain needs to make for those exceeding a pre-determined point amount - I'm going to suggest 10,000 points (selfishly as I just got here).  It is a take-off on my pal Hoyt's...  "I'm famous in Flint" design.                ...

I've been in Active Rain for under two months and accumulated 10,000 points.  Not anywhere near Maureen (Active Rain Queen- as I call her), but figure I'll never catch her - even if she changed industries.  LeBron surpassed 10,000 points during the Cavs loss to Boston the other night - he has not...

Ever watch the cartoon, The Jetson's?  One of my personal favorites.  Elroy was the best... He coined the phrase, "same time, same sandbox," every time he was summoned home for dinner and dragged away by his trusty robot, Rosie.                                           Funny how now the sandbox ...

Many agents continue to enter the real estate business.   One of our owners, Tom Stravecky in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida told me a few months ago that he appreciated new agents in the business more than ever.  They watch the news, know it is not as easy as it once was, and despite those two facts, s...

Three chances for a dollar.  I'm not attending the Mid Year NAR conference this week however, I'll certainly miss the carnival/circus that is the conference's trade show.  Everyone has been there...  Agents are wooed by the newest and greatest products that promise to elevate the purchaser's game...

Trulia, Zillow, Cyberhomes, Frontdoor, and more, are now pretty firmly planted in our space.  Who let this happen and invited them?  We did.  Welcome... I think. Collectively, we as brokers, agents, owners empowered these firms to climb to the top of consumer minds and search engines and create r...

This is an interview with Steve Friedman. Steve hosted a 3 hour break-out session for recruiting today at Momentum. In this interview, Steve discusses the session, and thoughts about Real Living. He's been working with us for about 5 months and we're starting to see results at all levels of our c...

This is video interview #2 with our Chicago friend A-Mag aka Andrew Magliochetti. He is joined by one of his managers and top agents, Jim Buczynski. Jim's volume has increased exponentially in 2007 vs. 2006 - in a "down" market. Jim discusses the what to do to improve and how he did it in Chicago...