AGBeat Columnist: Ken Montville
“Loves sunrise walks on the beach, quaint B & Bs, former Barbie® boyfriend..."
Ken is a sole practitioner and Realtor Extraordinaire in the beautiful MD Suburbs of DC.
When he's not spouting off on Agent Genius he holds court from his home office in Glenn Dale, MD or the office for RE/MAX Advantage Realty in Fulton, MD...and always on the MD Suburbs of DC Blog
How Much is *Too* Much Information?
In the current environment, a lot of us start to do cartwheels when an offer comes in on one of our listings. Wooooo! Hoooo! Let’s do it! Yet, we are duty bound to protect the interests of our clients, The Sellers, and we do want to make sure the deal gets all the way to the finish line. So, we ...
Wanted: passion in real estate – dead or alive
Disclaimer: This is not a blog post about social media. Although, I have to give a shout out to Benn Rosales for his eye catching headline: Why Real Estate Passion is Dead. It got me thinking about this new emphasis on passion. I think it used to be called liking what you do. “Gimme a ‘P’…Gimme an ‘A’… Everyone from ...
Do Realtors Really Need A Social Media Manager?
Heresy. Yeah. I know it. Depending on who you talk to Social Media is a source of tons of new business and a way to keep in touch with our sphere of influence — aka “fan base” — or it’s purely entertainment. Social Media is either the “must have” tool in our real estate tool box or a mammoth waste ...
New 2012 AGBeat media kit available now
- We know you want the most sophisticated audience, and here it is!
Fannie and Freddie – R.I.P. – what happens next?
The handwriting is on the wall. Fannie and Freddie failed as Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) and are now wards of the State. Talk about your socialism. It seems that when push comes to shove and the only people willing to take mortgages off the hands of private lenders (banks,etc.) are Government bureaucrats, well, I guess that’s OK. Unfortunately, even Congress — that bastion of ...
Digitized Real Estate – Outsourcing to the Internet
Remember when a social network was you local high school’s PTA meeting? Maybe it was running into a neighbor at the grocery store and doing a quick “catch up” about how Millie down the street is pregnant and what do you think of the new couple that just moved into 4912? The book club or meeting some friends at the ...
Engineering marvels: buying a home by spreadsheet
“People buy on emotion and justify with logic,” so the saying goes. Only, I have found this pearl of wisdom to be a little less than universal. Would that it be otherwise. Here’s a confession: I don’t really enjoy getting down into the weeds. Analyzing cost per square foot, running spreadsheets of the “must haves” and “would like to haves”. You know ...
Referrals, Facebook and the REALTOR trademark
It seems that there was a bit of a kerfuffle recently about a Facebook page that (gasp!) used the word REALTOR® in the URL. Evidently someone had set up a Facebook “Like” page for REALTORS® and, presumably, mere real estate agents to join in to give and receive referrals. So far, so good. It wasn’t until the registered trademark of the National Association ...
Negotiating the Deal. Is It Really What You Think?
When I was but a mere grasshopper at the feet of the real estate kung fu masters, I was led to believe that negotiating the real estate transaction took place between two professionals – a listing agent and buyer’s agent – working to promote the interests of the respective clients to achieve a “win-win” and move the transaction along to ...
The new GFE and HUD-1 six months in – has civilization ended?
Did GFE and HUD-1 changes end the world? In January, people from title companies and mortgage companies were fanning out across the land to spread the word far and wide that the new Good Faith Estimate and new HUD-1 were the harbinger of the fall of civilization. Confusing to the professionals, it would surely put home buyers at a major ...
(Yawn…) Is Web 2.0 Over Yet?
Something on the AG Facebook “Like” page got me to thinking about the pace of technology and it’s effect on real estate. I’m sure it wasn’t meant this way (ok, I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure) but I kinda took it as, maybe, a little bit of ADD. The question was: “Which company do you believe is the biggest ...
I Don’t Give A &%!@* What You Think, You ^#%$!
When I first started writing for AG, at the kind and generous invitation of Benn and Lani Rosales, I took up the liberal side on various political issues that might have some impact on real estate professionals. Predictably, that got a lot of, er, negative comments directed both at me and at AG. “We want real estate blogging” became the ...
The Kings of Real Estate Blogging
Surprise! The name you’re looking for may not be in this blog post. Hey, we all know that blogging is the way to go nowadays. The time when cold calling, door knocking and postcard sending are done. Over. Kaput. Now you need to write, write, write in order to connect. But what’s the right way? This is what I’ve heard: ...
Benn Rosales
Conal Campbell
Elijah May
Lani Rosales
Tara Steele
Marti Trewe
Charlene Jimenez