The new Carnival of Real Estate is now up at the Real Estate Tomato. We’re not in there this week (we were busy with our relaunch), but there are some fantastic links that everyone should check out. Thanks Tomato, great pics for the top 12!

Since we’ve been busy with the relaunch of our site this week, I haven’t been able to keep up with my posting as much as I wanted to, so you’ll all just have to be satisfied with these wonderful links instead.

Simplifying the Buying Process - (Rain City Guide) - A great list of seven questions to ask if you’re looking for (or representing someone who’s looking for) a new home.
Zillow Poll Results: Agent’s Labor Still Needed - (Sellsius Blog) - An interesting poll conducted by Sellsius tells us in black and white why Zillow won’t run traditional agent’s out of business.
Freedom’s Friends: The Curbed Instant Guide - (Curbed) - The Freedom Tower’s gonna have 3 little brothers, making Greenwich Street the home to a whole Freedom Family! The New York based bloggers I read have covered this one to death, but here’s one post that pretty much sums it up.
The Brits, the Aussies, and the Price of Your House - (Hot Property) - An interesting analysis of how the behavior of British and Australian real estate markets may foreshadow our own fate.
Real Estate Advertising Moving to Internet from Newspapers - (The Real Estate Bloggers) - It’s not the first time we’ve heard it, but this sums up the concept quite well.
Are you in an “untraditional” relationship? You can still buy a home - (Boston Real Estate Blog) - Some option for ‘untraditional’ couples seeking home ownership.

about this article in the New York Times, that is. The article has stirred up quite the hornet’s nest of activity in the real estate blogging community, and since everyone seems to be talking about it, now I’m gonna get my two cents in.

Getting straight to the point, I definitely don’t think that internet based companies like Redfin will kill off traditional real estate agents, or even degrade their commission significantly. At least not any time soon. For starters, according to the article, they’ve closed 89 transactions since they went into business. This doesn’t seem like an earth-shattering number to me, considering how many homes are bought and sold here in the US each year, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they aren’t the final word in real estate.

What Redfin, and sites like it, are doing is filling a niche. It’s obviously not the lion’s share of the market right now, but there are people out there who feel that they are competent enough to find or sell a home without professional assistance. For people like this, a service that allows you to save money by doing most of the leg work yourself may be just what the doctor ordered. There is, however, still a huge demand for real estate professionals and their services, and I don’t see that changing in the forseeable future.

Why? Two reasons: Time and expertise.

Sure, with the internet, everything is becoming so easy to just do-it-yourself. Everything from trading stocks to booking flights to (gasp!) real estate searches! But real estate is a bit more complicated than finding discount airfare, and dealing in it can be very hard work, especially if you’re not familiar with it. In terms of buyers, not everyone has the time to do all that work that a realtor does to find a home that’s right for them. Furthermore, many people value the expertise of a good agent who can take on the burden of sniffing out appropriate homes, do it quickly and efficiently, and maybe even find a gem which they wouldn’t have looked at otherwise. And for Sellers, the potential time saved, coupled with the financial benefits that can be gained from hiring a real estate professional are tremendous, even moreso than for a buyer.

So the long and the short of it is, traditional real estate agents shouldn’t fret. Just keep doing what you do best and make the buying and selling process as smooth and advantageous to your clients as possible. People vote with their wallets, and right now, they seem to be saying that they will pay for that kind of professional service. And if they need help finding one of these professionals, we’re more than happy to lend a hand!

-Tony Floriani

David Lerah, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, is usually one of the more optimistic forecasters of residential real estate. “I’m hoping for prices to drop” and “sellers are not bringing prices down fast enough” are two statements that home owners would prefer weren’t uttered by Lerah. But those are two quotes from a Wall Street Journal interview he did in relation to the July housing statistics that recently came out.

An increasing numbers of homes are coming onto the market, while the number of homes selling declines as compared to a year ago. That means there is a virtual stalemate, where sellers aren’t budging while buyers are being spoiled for choice and feel that there isn’t a need to offer the list price.

Lerah, traditionally the optimist, may have dealt another card to buyers, particularly in California and Florida.

The newest carnival of real estate is up at Nubricks.com. There are a lot of good articles in there, so go ahead and check them out!

-Tony Floriani

While I was looking for a new sublet on Craigslist last night (my current one runs out sept. 29th if anyone wants to pitch me an offer) I saw something that made me feel nervous, confused, irritated, and just generally icky. The listing is for an apartment in Williamsburg, reasonable rent, decent looking interior, good location (if you don’t mind dealing with the L train)…and I would have sprung for it instantly if not for one shady detail. The guy subletting this place wants the entire amount, $2,575, up front, non-refundable, half a month before the move-in date.

So the question is, is this guy crazy? Or am I crazy for thinking he’s crazy? Or is it just a straight up scam? I realize that real estate in New York is shifty business, but that is an awful lot of money to just plop down in this price range, I don’t care how many “leases” he writes. And yet I still feel the urge to call this guy up and see the place!

This is a classic case of how the rental and temporary (because not all of us are in a place where we can get a real lease) market in New York is getting very uncomfortable for renters. I see this deal, know that it makes me uncomfortable, and am still considering ways to make it feasible in my mind. I’ll probably chalk this one up as a lost cause, since I know from experience that past the third or fourth day, if not sooner, all bets are off anyway, but if you have any thoughts about whether this is reasonable or not, I’d love to hear them.

-Tony Floriani

My mom always used to tell me that her generation expected to fly airplanes out of their garages to go to work in the morning. I, of course, always laughed and chided her about how ridiculous those childhood fantasies were. Naturally, most of us are still caught up in the same old morning commute that our parents were, filled with buses, subways, and gridlock traffic. Right?

Well as it turns out, not everyone thought the idea of an airplane in every garage was so crazy after all. Certainly not the residents of Rosamond Skypark, a subdivision of Kern County, California, where, according to the LA Times, a community of airplane enthusiasts has congregated to create an aviator’s paradise.

Built around what used to be Rosamond Airport, the entire community has access to an airstrip where private plane owners can come and go as they please. Additionally, every home has a taxiway built onto the property, so home owners can take off right from their own backyards. Some use this rather unusual perk purely for recreation, while others really do fly to work in the morning! Now I guess it’s my mom’s turn to laugh…

-Tony Floriani

Things just keep on getting better for buyers, while sellers groan, as major news sources continue to harp on housing downturns. Reading articles like this one from CNN Money, the beginnings of sellers’ desperation are being seen and buyers are reaping the rewards. With almost 75% of sellers now offering incentives in order to close the deal, and experts anticipating a continuing decline in the market, due in part to overbuilding, buyers can start to expect added bonuses when they consider purchasing a home.

-Tony Floriani

There has been a wave of discussion over the ‘bubble’ in US residential real estate. Prices have not yet fallen substantially - with only a few canary markets showing a decline - but inventory is rising fast and the number of transactions are down (but keep in mind off record highs in the last few years).

What does that mean? Buyers are not biting at these price levels, and sellers are currently unwilling to accept a lower price causing the housing stalemate we now have.

For a great analysis, see Mike’s post over at Altos Research. He raises a very interesting point, in that condos, which watchers of real estate obsessed over condo sales last year as they were said to be the first to fall in a down market, actually rose year over year. That suggests some uneveness in the theory of a popping of the housing bubble.

Whatever the case, as a seller, you have to work smarter and harder in these conditions.

I read an article in the Washington Post earlier that I just had to link to. Are you a little fed up with the rules rules rules of your local Home Owners’ Association? Ever want to kayak to work? If so, Broad Run Farms is the place for you! Just don’t be too surprised if you find a goat grazing in your flower garden…

- Tony Floriani