I saw an interesting report on Christopher Columbus that basically described him as a great explorer who, though he did not land in America, has a national holiday celebrating him. Given his treatment of Native Americans and the fact that many explorers before him did land in America, there has been a small movement to rename Columbus Day Exploration Day in honor of all explorers. What do you think?
South Florida doesn’t have fall leaves to indicate our move into fall, but October is when we start getting occasional cool days. October is also Miami Attractions Month, which is offering Buy-One-Get-One-Free deals to many of our local attractions. There are also other free events going on throughout the month. So get out and enjoy South Florida!
HistoryMiami Wine Down Wednesdays
A green corridor comprised of Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami, Coral Gables, Miami and Miami Shores has been formed to assist in financing energy related improvements to property. Formaly named The Property Assessed Clean Energy District (PACE), this new corridor will enable businesses and residents to finance energy related improvements to their properties through a special assessment on their property. This program is strictly voluntary and provides a list of contractors as well as energy efficiency assessments. If you can save money on your electric bill, would you take advantage of this program?
I want to preface this blog with the statement that I did not wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. As a matter of fact, I had a perfect morning. Woke up before the sun was up, had coffee, read the paper, had a nice long walk with the dog, chatted with other neighborhood walkers and came back home to start work. While I was leafing through my daily Google alerts, I came across a listing in Pinecrest. I clicked on the link and was immediately familiar with one of Josie Wang’s listings. It happens to be a modern home in Pinecrest at 9500 SW 60 Ct., and is just around the corner from my house.
As I scrolled through the link, I did not see anything that mentioned Josie or AVATAR, her broker. I know that a lot of agents and brokers have a myriad of websites, blogs, and aggregators (such as Trulia and Zillow) in order to promote their listings and maximize a seller’s internet exposure. However, I also know that most agents and brokers clearly advertise themselves on these pages as well, so I immediately realized that this was someone hijacking Josie’s listing as their own. Sure enough, when I scrolled to the very bottom of the page, the last line read that the listing was AVATAR’s. I can assure you, I am going to be one of the few who reads that very last line. I immediately sent an e-mail to Josie and contacted leaders in the Miami Realtors Association. This is an increasingly common occurrence that needs to be stopped.
This exact thing happened to Carole Smith, a Realtor in my same EWM office. Carole took action on the hijacking of her listing and I applaud her and urge all Realtors and sellers do the same. Even though she is extremely busy, she took the time out to file a complaint, blog about the issue and post the blog on her Facebook page. The feedback and frustration she heard back from other agents and individuals shows how rapidly this unscrupulous practice is spreading.
Why should you care?
1) If you are a Realtor, it should be obvious. As a listing agent, we spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to develop a marketing strategy as unique as each property. This includes pictures, videos, and verbiage to highlight the property. We also take time to get to know other features about the property and the neighborhood it is in. When someone takes that information and passes it off as their own, it should be the same as plagiarism or copyright infringement.
2) If you are a seller, number one above applies to you as does the following: the listing agent has information that may need to be shared with a buyer or buyer’s agent but that isn’t specified in the marketing literature. If the hijacker is passing your property off as being their listing, you have no control over what they are saying to hook the buyer. The listing agent also has spent the time getting to know you, your home, neighborhood and the specific properties that make your home special. This added knowledge helps you get the most money for your home and allows for disclosure of issues that may affect the buyer upon their purchase, thereby avoiding potential problems after the sale.
3) If you are a buyer BEWARE. The main reason these agents/brokers hijack other agent/broker listings is to find you! Some of them may be new in the business, focus on buyer representation vs listings, or simply not have enough of their own listings. If they clearly acknowledge that this listing is another agent’s/broker’s, most agent’s have no problem with the practice of having their listings posted on another agent’s website or blog. Most of us want the maximum exposure for our listings and are happy to “share” (that is basically what IDX is about) our listings to get them sold faster and at market price, which is the price you and the seller agree to.
If these hijackers act unethically with their own peers, is this someone you want representing you in your purchase, when your money is on the line?
I want to preface this blog with the statement that I did not wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. As a matter of fact, I had a perfect morning. Woke up before the sun was up, had coffee, read the paper, had a nice long walk with the dog, chatted with other neighborhood walkers and came back home to start work. While I was leafing through my daily Google alerts, I came across a listing in Pinecrest. I clicked on the link and was immediately familiar with one of Josie Wang’s listings. It happens to be a modern home in Pinecrest at 9500 SW 60 Ct., and is just around the corner from my house.
As I scrolled through the link, I did not see anything that mentioned Josie or AVATAR, her broker. I know that a lot of agents and brokers have a myriad of websites, blogs, and aggregators (such as Trulia and Zillow) in order to promote their listings and maximize a seller’s internet exposure. However, I also know that most agents and brokers clearly advertise themselves on these pages as well, so I immediately realized that this was someone hijacking Josie’s listing as their own. Sure enough, when I scrolled to the very bottom of the page, the last line read that the listing was AVATAR’s. I can assure you, I am going to be one of the few who reads that very last line. I immediately sent an e-mail to Josie and contacted leaders in the Miami Realtors Association. This is an increasingly common occurrence that needs to be stopped.
This exact thing happened to Carole Smith, a Realtor in my same EWM office. Carole took action on the hijacking of her listing and I applaud her and urge all Realtors and sellers do the same. Even though she is extremely busy, she took the time out to file a complaint, blog about the issue and post the blog on her Facebook page. The feedback and frustration she heard back from other agents and individuals shows how rapidly this unscrupulous practice is spreading.
Why should you care?
1) If you are a Realtor, it should be obvious. As a listing agent, we spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to develop a marketing strategy as unique as each property. This includes pictures, videos, and verbiage to highlight the property. We also take time to get to know other features about the property and the neighborhood it is in. When someone takes that information and passes it off as their own, it should be the same as plagiarism or copyright infringement.
2) If you are a seller, number one above applies to you as does the following: the listing agent has information that may need to be shared with a buyer or buyer’s agent but that isn’t specified in the marketing literature. If the hijacker is passing your property off as being their listing, you have no control over what they are saying to hook the buyer. The listing agent also has spent the time getting to know you, your home, neighborhood and the specific properties that make your home special. This added knowledge helps you get the most money for your home and allows for disclosure of issues that may affect the buyer upon their purchase, thereby avoiding potential problems after the sale.
3) If you are a buyer BEWARE. The main reason these agents/brokers hijack other agent/broker listings is to find you! Some of them may be new in the business, focus on buyer representation vs listings, or simply not have enough of their own listings. If they clearly acknowledge that this listing is another agent’s/broker’s, most agent’s have no problem with the practice of having their listings posted on another agent’s website or blog. Most of us want the maximum exposure for our listings and are happy to “share” (that is basically what IDX is about) our listings to get them sold faster and at market price, which is the price you and the seller agree to.
If these hijackers act unethically with their own peers, is this someone you want representing you in your purchase, when your money is on the line?
Okay, this one is probably too easy!
Okay, this one is probably too easy!
The Smithsonian is sponsoring Museum Day Live on Saturday, September 29. You can get two free tickets to participating local museums.
With real estate sales increasing and decreasing inventories, many developers are starting to launch new condominium projects. Many, such as the Porsche Tower in Sunny Isles, are aimed at the uber luxury market. This building is going to have special elevators to bring the resident and their cars up to the actual condo unit.
The Bellini on Williams Island, another luxury building, is requiring that buyers be primary or secondary home owners, not investors.
Most of these developers are counting on cash buyers putting significant down payments on their purchase in order to fund the construction. Considering how low prices are in comparison to the peak and how many mortgages are under water, I wonder if the real estate industry isn’t feeling just a little too confident.
Okay, Miami’s art scene has grown up a lot since I moved here from San Francisco over 21 years ago. Now there are concerts, monthly art walks, symphonies and a variety of art programs year round. However, with the cool weather teasers that usually start in October, so does Miami’s main season of the arts. Here is a list of things to do in October to get you started.
The New World Symphony kicks off their WALLCAST Concert series on October 6 with The Russian Musical Soul. This popular series runs from October through April and is FREE!
UM’s Frost School of Music kicks of Festival Miami on October 2. This annual music festival runs through November 4 and consists of a wide range of music concerts.
Pinecrest Gardens kicks off their annual Jazz Series with South Florida Jazz Orchestra’s Great American Songbook on October 27. Prior to that, FIU’s Latin Jazz Ensemble starts their first of four concerts at gardens on October 10.
Pinecrest Gardens also kicks off their movie series with Chick Flick Wednesdays and Family Night Fridays.
The Miami City Ballet opens their 2012-2013 season on October 19.