Jim Minkey's (jminkey) Blog

OK, it's time again for a small rant. I signed up for a web based leads system whereby potential buyers and sellers request services from local Realtors. The vast majority of these leads aren't worth the time to respond to. Prospective buyers wanting 5 bedroom houses in Hillsborough for under $1...

For several years it's been a common event in this area for a seller to initiate home inspections (pest inspections too) prior to listing their place on the market. The rationale for that is to avoid any surprises in an escrow, via a buyers home inspection, that could place a seller at a negotia...

Nine years ago our daughter Christina was born with an extremely rare genetic skin disorder called Epidermolysis Bullosa , or EB for short. EB essentially is a condition whereby these kids are born without a protein that all the rest of us have that allows us to absorb friction. Because of this ...

I sure have been hearing alot of comments, both on my blog and elsewhere that expresses the position that our "bubble" here on the Mid Peninsula has burst. Actually there's been some degree of gloating by some folks who have been predicting it for awhile now. My opinion? It's too early to tell. ...

 I have no doubt this'll date me...oh well. Once upon a time I was a huge Supertramp fan. I got introduced to them my sophomore year in High School and I thought they were cool. Naturally, I thought I was cool too because I liked them and they seemed a cut above all of the sappy pop music the ot...

So, I went out for lunch today and dropped off a movie I had rented at Blockbuster and in spite of the fact that it's been in the mid 80's around here, and I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt, it sure feels cold to me. I'll bet it does to you too. Icy actually. That cold that we all feel is fear, b...

Buying or selling a home can tend to be a pretty stressful experience. In fact, it can be a hair pulling,relationship threatening, ulcer creating kind of stressful experience. It often seems to me that the hairiest part of a transaction occurs around the close of escrow. My goal in every transac...

 I got a call the other day from a saleswoman working for Realtor.com who pitched me on the idea of advertising on that site. She, of course, had multiple reasons why I would be a complete idiot not to do so. Two things crossed my mind during the pitch, 1) At any of the Real Estate conventions I...

My coach told me today that Brian is only going to do a 1 day retreat next year. Will that matter to anybody? I typically go to at least one out of town per year...that won't happen if it's only for a day. I actually like staying in a Hotel for a night and meeting club netters at the mixers they ...

 On May 15 I wrote a post called Technology For Real Estate in which I announced that I had just started a new website provided by a local company that had a product who's property valuation technology was state of the art and was supposedly far superior to all of the others. Several other agent...