AGBeat Columnist: Jim Duncan
Dad, Husband, Charlottesville Realtor, real estate Blogger, occasional speaker - Inman Connects, NAR Conferences - based in Charlottesville, Virginia. A native Virginian, I graduated from VMI in 1998, am a third generation Realtor (since 2001) and have been "publishing" as a real estate blogger since January 2005. I've chosen to get involved in Realtor Associations on the local, state & national levels, having served on the NAR's RPR & MLS groups.
Find me in Charlottesville, Crozet and Twitter.
The Terrorists Have Won
We seem to be focusing on trees – the rare attempted act of terrorism on flights – rather than the forest – loss of freedoms, common sense and self-reliance .
…He believes that the country would be just as safe as it is today if airport security were rolled back to pre-9/11 levels.
…… passengers on international flights coming to the United States will apparently have to remain in their seats for the last hour of a flight without any personal items on their laps.
…I could write a story citing the Constitution and freedom but I’m going to speak the language of common sense , one our politicians do not seem to comprehend.
Government Creeps Further into Every Facet of American Life
The plans for a markup next week – still tentative as of late Friday – appeared to signal growing congressional support for the idea, which President Barack Obama also backed during the 2008 campaign. And here is part of the bill, HR 390: College Football Playoff Act of 2009 – Congress finds that — (1) college football games, including post-season football games, depend upon competition between college and university teams traveling in interstate commerce;?… (3) the total economic impact in the host cities from the 5 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) games in January 2008 was estimated at more than $1.2 billion;?… (6) the colleges and universities whose teams participate in the post-season football bowls experience significant financial windfall including increased applications for enrollment, recruiting advantages, increased alumni donations, and increased corporate sponsorship that provides a competitive advantage over universities whose teams are ineligible or statistically at a disadvantage from the BCS bowl competitions because of their conference affiliation.
Breaking News: NAR/RPR + Cyberhomes =
So much more … First impression: The National Association of Realtors have done something really, really good, pertinent and valuable for its members. Done well and right, the RPR (Realtor Property Resource) could be a tremendous value-add to Realtors, and could put a damper on ancillary real estate service companies – mapping, real estate data, IDX perhaps … There have ...
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Net Neutrality… Whom Do You Trust? – Politics
In the beginning … Today’s Internet embodies a legacy of openness and transparency that has been critical to the network’s success as an engine for creativity, innovation, and economic growth. Imagine an entrepreneur who wants to launch a new website or online service. She faces low barriers to entering the market, in part because broadband Internet access service providers today ...
Public Versus Private Conversations in Real Estate
Realtors are ethical, right? How do we know if we don’t talk about it? We know cities are safe because there are statistics. We know how politicians are motivated because we know (mostly) who gives them money. We know which local restaurants are good or bad. How do we know Realtors are ethical? Because we trust us? What Realtor discussions ...
The Nobel’s Irrelevance- Politics
- FHA Bailout – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell – ACORN – Health Care Reform – Commercial Real Estate’s coming troubles – Net Neutrality – Consumer Protection Agency What are we talking about this week? The Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize. Obama’s “winning” the Nobel Peace Prize has dominated much of the blog and even mainstream media conversations, but does it really ...
I Swear. I Was Only Looking at Realtor.com!
Yep, that’s a porn ad – provided by our very own Realtor.com – in an apparent ad-hijacking. The above salacious screenshot came from the NAR’s very own Realtor.com. From an extensive conversation at ActiveRain: Thoughts (as I’m beating a dead horse anyway) – 1. This is yet another example that demonstrates the NAR’s need to take Realtor.com back from Move. ...
Taking Government Transparency to the People- AG Politics
HR 554 – taking transparency and political responsibility to where they belong – to the people. ‘(1) It shall not be in order to consider a motion to dispose of a Senate amendment reported in disagreement by a conference committee until at least 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when the House is in session on such a ...
Will Realtor.com be Required to be a VOW? Should It?
Baseball and Real Estate I don’t particularly care for baseball, but I appreciate a level playing field. Doubtful due to their exclusive contract with the NAR, but one has to wonder … why does Realtor.com get to play by different rules than the Realtors supplying their most valuable content? This recent article from >Inman was striking, if only for its ...
If A Realtor is Unethical in the Woods
If a Realtor is found to be unethical in a vacuum, does it matter? Have a hypothetical: Realtor X has a listing that has been on the market for 180 days. When re-listing the property on the 181st day, Realtor changes the street name from “Main Street” to “Main St” – Days on Market reset – thereby making this a ...
But, We’re ALL Ethical!
The (NAR) doth protest too much, methinks. Did you see this? (not too many people have, apparently). 10 Things Your Real Estate Broker Won’t Say Many of the “10 Things” are arguably true. Some are laughably easy to dispute. Calling the article “dumb” is silly. 1 – “Your house is really just a networking party for me.“ True. In my ...
That’s Some Baaad Sausage!
How does this … … Become this??? With the caveats that: – Picking and choosing lines from an amendment is probably not fair, – I have not read the entire bill nor amendment (nor have any of our elected “representatives”), – Compromises and selling constituents’ best interests are accepted best practices and that, – I’m no politician … What in ...
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