Huiting's Blog

yesterday, I was meeting a TV guy for some business that we will do together. He is a TV host and has his own production team.

After our formal business discussion, we began some casual talking. He mentioned that he is usually reading newspapers around 3am. You know what I would ask. He then said, he only sleeps about 3 hours day.

Amazed, I am totally amazed. I feel so bad that I need to sleep 7 to 8 hours a day.

The last time that I heard about a guy who sleeps 3 hours a day was 7 years ago. One of my colleage. He sleeps 3 hours because he wants to finish the graduate study soon but he feels very sleepy during the day.

The very last time that I heard about a guy who sleeps less 3 hours a day is when I was in college. A law teacher said he sleeps about 3 hours a day to prepare for the law exam and after the exam, he was hospitalized.

 

Now, this gentleman, he sleeps 3 hours ever since he was in middle school.

 

I am seriously considering a night shift job somewhere.

Here in this tiny state, I see lots of listing agent cut buyer's agent' commission if not present during the show. I am defending for the no-show buyer's agent but I do think this statement in the listing makes this listing look ugly.

I am not a dedicated residential real estate broker, but I do go to some caravan tours, check MLS listings by and often. I rarely hear complaints that buyer's agents are not present. So I assume these would be rare as well.

What do your folks think about this?

I have been thinking about designing a mobile office gear for me and all salespeople, especially our realtors and brokers.

I saw this couple months ago.

http://www.mobilegear.com/

I do not know the above company and do not how many units they can sell. But anyway, their products are not exactly what I am looking for.

I have been thinking a product that will offer the following features;

1. Will hold a laptop firmly and fold up when needed (so that a buyer can sit in the front).
2. Will have a built-in DC-AC converter so that we can plug in our laptop using our normal AC chargers.
3. Will stay firm and seperate from the passenger's seat. I do not like the idea that it uses the safebelt.
4. Does not use too much space. So I will put all files in the backseat or hang them over the back of the passenger side's seat.
5. Cheap.

So far, I do not see anything that meet my needs. I have been thinking of designing this product and bundle it with Version wireless high speed internet so that I can mass market it thus Verizon can sell more of their service and realtors (salespeople) can get cheap service.

 

Any thought?

This might be a controversial topic but do you think a majority of the realtors are worth the commision?

I joined this industry because I hate this industry. I joined this industry because I love this industry.

I hate it because when I need something. few agents understand/care about my needs. What they do is just to show me something that does not meet my needs or simply try to screw me out because I was a first time buyer. Do not ask me I didnot meet the right one. I met over 11 agents. All are like these.

I love this industry because I think this industry got lots of potential.

Now, the question is, I think many agents are simply not worth the commission they earn. This might mean they are not good people. They might be good people but might not be qualified for a good agent. of course, some of them are just not good people.

 

Well, I do not mean that this industry should not exist. I think those qualified agents, they should actually get more commison and those unqualified, they should get less or nothing.

 

What do you guys think?

I know this has been discussed many times. But here is my version about this free software. For me, I think most realtors should use it.

First, links to openoffice:

1. Home page:
2. download page: for downloading, OpenOffice.org does not host it now. So we have to download from other pages. This link is from Download.com

Now. A brief induction:

Openoffice is very similar to Microsoft Office suite. The big difference is OpenOffice is free and MS Office is charging your arms and legs.

Here is a table comparing MS office to Open :

MS Office	Open Office	Description
Word	Writer	Word processing
Excel	Calc	Spreadsheet software.
Powerpoint	Impress	Presentation software
Access	Base	Database
	Math	Math Equation typing, just like Word Equation plugin.
	Draw	Flow chart software. MS office suite does not have this. This is also a vector graphic editor.
	Chart	this is a seperate module and is in beta version now.

Now Advantages and advantages of OpenOffice vs MS Office.
Advantages:
1, free.
2, pretty can do almost everything that MS Office can do. And even more.
3, You can even save some files in MS Office format (not the newest one though as of now).

Disadvantages;
1, It is powered by Java. From my personal experience. It is kind of slow to boot and a little bit slow in performance. But if you have modern machine, it should not a big problem.
2, You may not be able to open your friends' newest MS Office files. you have to ask them to send you a PDF or convert the files to a lower Office version. This may be a challenging task for many.
3, This looks like a different software for many people. So it takes a while to get used to it.

But in all, I think it is worth it.

I am pretty tech savvy. If anybody needs some help on Openoffice, I will be glad to offer my help.

By the way, for very simple word file, I would suggest use a plain text editor. I will write a seperate blog on that.

Another alternative is google docs. I use it very often. A few of my clients are also using it.

Displaimer: I do not know the author at least for now. I am not getting paid for writing this article. I am not responsible for damages to your car due to usage of this software.

Realtors have a bad reputation for time management. Do not ask me. I heard this all the time but I do not have any research to backup this claim.

I myself use computer to manage everything but there is one time management feature most of my softwares either cannot offer or cannot offer it in a effective way. That is a timer.

Yes, a timer is very cheap but it is still very convenient to have one in our own own computer. I have using this software for over two years and I love it so much. It is called Ytimer.

 

http://www.spacejock.com/yTimer.html

Features that I like about this software:

1, it is free, small, simple and fast.

2, many usages: I use it to alarm me for important calls, important meetings, etc. Especially for calls that I need to return within 30 minutes or something similar, for example, baking.

3, I can use a specific music as the alarm sound.

4, I can have over 50 alarms setup. Tell me which physical alarm gadget can do this.

5, I use it to alarm me when I need to find excuse to leave a conversation that is boring.

 

Check it out, I am sure you will like.

 

Displaimer: I do not know the author at least for now. I am not getting paid for writing this article. I am not responsible for damages to your car due to usage of this software.

 

 

I use computer to manager almost everything. I use both paid and free softwares while I use free softwares whenever possible. I also write some softwares if no software will satisfy my needs.

There is one software among all others that I use daily. This software is free. It is called Stickies.

Here is a description from the author's website:

Stickies is a PC utility I wrote to try to cut down on the number of Post-It® notes I was leaving stuck to my monitor. It is a computerised version of those notes.

The design goal behind Stickies is that the program is small and simple. Stickies will not mess with your system files, or write to the registry. Stickies stores information in a single text-based ini file.

 

You can download the software from the author's website:

Here are a list of the features that I like:

1, free, fast and simple. No mess with registry table. No mess with other softwares.2, I use it as simple text editor.

3, It is better to organize than Post IT. You can get back all our deleted Stickes if you want. They all exist in one text file.

4, No other good alternatives exist in the windows computer world. We do have one in Mac though. It is also called Stickies.

Check this software out. I am sure you will like it.

 

Disclaimer: I am not an affiliate with the author. I am not getting paid for writing this article. I am not responsible if your car is broken due to the usage of this software.

Everybody experiences a moment when people do not want to answer phone calls. I experience a lot. Sometime, I know the other end is with the phone but simply choose to ignore the phone.

So I compile a list of uncommon, not-typical, inconvenient reasons that people, espeically realtors do not answer the phone. Common reasons

1, The house is sold or the item is not available. One lady in Sams** realty inc in Providence RI is like this. Sorry, Sams** Realty, I will never do business with you guys.

 

2, Hate the other realtor and choose to ignore it.

 

3, Have never used any cellphone and do not know how to answer a phone call.

 

4, Cooking lobster and forgot to bring the phone in th kitchen.

 

5, Bought a battery from eBay for cheap and it only lasts 3 minutes.

 

6, The dog has biten the cellphone while you are eating.

 

Do you have any other reasons that you wanto share? let me know.

Just curious. How much our fellow realtors spend on marketing.

 

These are real but I want to hide their identity as I am not sure if they want this information public. I know one agent spend well over 40k/year on various advertisement media. Another guy just spend 10K to put him on TV.

 

Many other agents spend at around 120/month for a company to host their website (I think it is a ripoff).

 

so how much other agents on marketing?

Below is a handwritten signature that I use for email and other occaions.

 

 

The picture is in PNG (png8) format and transparent. Which means it will "hang over" any background.

A handwritten looks very professional.

 How to get a signature like that? For many Photoshop users, it is easy. But for non-veteran users, here is a tutorial I write for you.

 

Tools needed:

1, a picture editing software. Either Photoshop (pricey) or gimp (free) or inkscape (free, vector software).

2, a scanner. Any scanner will work.

3, any hosting place to host your signature file. You can use picassa or whatever you like. Ideally, you own hosting space.

Here is step by step tutorial:

1. get a very bright white piece paper. Use a mark pen or whatever pen you like to write your signature.

2, use your scanner to scan it. Here is the scanned picture.

3, Open this picture in photoshop (or GIMP). Use Magic wand to select the background. (this scann is not good as the background is kind of grainy. A good scan will render the background all white).

Then click the delete button. This will delete background.

Or you can choose select inverse and copy it to a new picture.

 

Ideally, this will leave only the hand strokes left. Otherwise, you will have to hand erase the background.

 

4, now, click "save for the web" under photoshop. or something similar in gimp. Choose PNG-8 as a compression method. Select "transparent" box.

 

In the image size dialogue, you can also choose to resize the picture. I choose a width of 150px.

 

Then click save.

 

You now have a signature like the one in the beginning.

 

Upload it to a web host of your like and you now have a signature that you can use any time.

 

 

 

 

 

There are many free picture viewing softwares that people can use. But not anyone can beat this one: IrfanView:

http://irfanview.com/

I have been using digital camera since 2001 and used many picture viewing softwars. Including ACDSee, Adobe album, etc. But nothign beats this one. Features that I like:

1, Super lightweight and fast.

These days, many softwares try to help you do everything in one package. Just like microsoft and peoplesoft (I hate peoplesoft). But everybody knows you are good at a few things.

This software only does what it can do. Nothing more, nothing less. In my IBM X60s laptop, everytime I click the icon, it opens up right away. In my old ibm X24. The same thing.

2, quick resize,  rotate and crop.

You can quickly resize and crop your pictures in lighting speed.

3, the best part: you can automate your tasks.

I sometime have lots of pictures and want to uplod them to my website. They are big. I have to resize each of them and then create a thumbnail for each of them.

I just create a batch action on a whole folder. This software will do the job automatically on each Picture in MY WHOLE FOLDER.

You want to try with Photoshop? Best of luck. Not only it is slow, but it may crash your machine if your folder is hugh.

4, this software is very small.

Softwares have become big and big. Windows Vista is now a big dvd. But this software is only barely over 1Meg.

There are many good things about this software. Try it out. You will like it.

I have been using text editor for all my web development need. Mainly because it is easy to work with and I know what I am doing. It is not because I do not know how to use dreamweaver or frontpage. Simply because those editors are either two big, two slow or add too many junk codes.

 

The free alternatives to dreamweaver usually are small but lack of stability. From last month, I began to use Kompozer (http://kompozer.net/). What a difference!

 

I have been an opensource advocates for years but sometime I do not to use opensource softwares mainly because of stability problems. Now, as far as free WYSIWYG web page editors are concened, I change my mind. Kompozer is easy to work with, very stable in windows platform.

 

I suggest my fellow real estate agents to use this software.

While the world was watching the openning and closing ceremony, we the people in this great country had to wait 12 hours for the show. Before the closing ceremony, I thought NBC might show something because today is Sunday. But I am wrong again.

 

When you do not have options, the result is usually not that good. Same for real estate. More options usually mean better result. Never rely on one real estate agent to help you make a deal. Talk around and listen to different opinions.

Now the olympics in Beijing has called to its end.

 

Before the olympics, many economists predicts that the olympics will help boost the real estate market in China quoting a heavy demand plus high consumer confidence index.

 

Now the olympics is over and the olympics didnot affect the real estate market at all, at least not in a very apparent way.

 

That is one reason why people should never trust those economists that do not do the homework. Many of these economists only do research based on existing theory and very rarely do the logic thinking. The market in China is just part of the global economy. When US is suffering big of the subprime, China will not be different.

I have been doing research on internet marketing since 2002. Both in a pure academic style as well as in a casual entertainment style.From last month, I begin to explore the effectiveness of Craigslist marketing.

Many fellow agents use Craiglist to market their inventory. It is free if you do not count the time you spend in posting those ads.

Last month, I begin to wonder how and when each ad is clicked. Where those clicks might come from.

Apparrently, craigslist does not have this kind of tracking system. Actually, few people even know they can log this. So I designed a program using Php and Sqlite database to log all those clicks.

I put three kinds of  ads out: one is a business for sale, one is a pure real estate advertisement and the other is a computer item for sale.

Clicks	Business for sale	Real Estate ads	Computer item
1 day	35	68	90
1 week	55	80	202
1 month	65	92	357

 
The above are the responses I received.

During this tracking period, there are lots of clicks from robots. So I put a filter to filter all those robots out. during the deleting of those robots results, there might be some clicks that are missing. But it does not affect the general results.

Of all these clicks, only about two requests on the Real Estate ads and about 6 from the business for sale and 9 are from the computer item (excludes 3 spam requests from Nigeria and London).

Most of the computer requests are received during the 24 hours. The Real Estate are recived during the first week. The business for sale requests are around 3 days but I do receive requests after around 10 days.

The conclusion? It seems that for physical items, it is better to post it very often. ideally, on a 3 day basis. For business for sale ads, I would do maybe 10 days. Real Estate Ads, I would repost after around 1 week.

Next, I will do a test on ads with/without pictures.

One interesting finding: among all the clics, about a little bit less than 1/3 are using Firefox browsers and a little bit less than 2/3 are using IE. Very few people use browsers othen than those two. The rests include: cell browsers, Mac Safari, PDA browsers. They are rare but they exist.

For realtors, if you would like to do the same kind of tracking, please contact me.

Disclaimer: This research result is for entertainment purpose only. It is not to be used as a research result as the sample are not big enough.

In general economic theory, there is a theory called herding or information cascade. It is a popular research subject among finance people, marketing people and economists.

During our daily life, it is very costly to make lots of decisions. Take real estate for example, people need to do lots of research before a decison is finally made.

1. First, people need to decide when to make a purchase;
2. Then decide which town to go with, including how long to commute daily, which school to send kids to, etc;
3. Choose to buy with a real agent or work on your own;
4. If agents, which agent to go with. There are many agents in this industry but like any other industry, good agents are very rare;
5. Then, among all all possible houses, people need to shrink them to a size that is easy to work wity, say less than 10 houses;
6. Among those 10 houses, pick one. This is the most difficult and costly decison.

In one word, most economic decisions are costly decisions. We human being are very smart. When making such decisons, some people find a much "cheaper" way. We look around people like us and then just "copy and paste" what they do.Thus,

A makes a decison;
B follows A;
C follows B;
and so on.

Finallly, a group of people might make very similar decisions.

A good thing? Bad thing?

Hard to say. But it is an economic phenomena that has been studied by many people.

Now back to real estate. Specifically, houses.

When people talk about cities, usually, we immediately have an image of houses that dense and lack of maintenance.Providence is just among one of them. Most areas are like this. Friday, I was at East Side of Providence, RI. We realtors are allowed to judge a community. So I would not say it is good or bad. But this community is so different. Yards are green and clean. Roofs are like new. Walls are sharp. Everything is just so good.

There are many reasons that make East Side is what is today. Close to Brown. near the water, etc. But Herding must be one of the reasons. When people think about better places to live in Providence, all they hear is East Side.

This is a perfect example of Herding.

Now how about herding with a good agent? I need to see a good example of a residential agent as well as a commercial agent.

Today, I went to check a rental property out.

Called the owner (or agent) yesterday and we scheduled to meet today around 9:30. The guy said just call him this morning.

I called around 9. The guy said that he is just about 15 minutes away. I said, Ok, please make sure you got there by 9:35 (I give him 5 minutes grace time).

Around 9:30. I was at the property. I called the guy. He said. Ok, I am leaving right now. Will be there within 15 minutes.

Around 9:55am. no show. I called the guy that I need to leave. He said. I will be there. I hanged up. Around 10:00. He called "are you still in the area?".

I turned back and met this guy. Checked the house out and left after 10 minutes.

The guy claimed that he owned about 18 properties. Sounds like a professional investor.

But he just lost me as a client. I will not work with him no matter what.

Being professional might not keep a client but being not professional will surely lose a client.

I am meeting with a fellow commercial real estate broker today. We were discussing about a deal.

 

There was a piece of land that sits a discarded mill house. Right near the mill house, there was a small pond. The place was zoned for commercial use (of course). More specifically, it is zoned for waste water processing. The property was priced at 400K by one commercial Real estate agent. No takers.

 

Finally, this fellow agent took it over. He did some homework on this property. He found that it is very diffuclt to have a piece of land for waste water processing. Further, he found that one local company is desperately looking for a piece of land like this to process the waste water from the powerplant.

 

Holy cow. Perfect match. So he contacted this potential buyer and the company immediately said yes.

 

The property was finally sold for over 2Milllion.

 

What a deal.

 

I think every agent should do the right homework for every property, be it commercial or residential or a business.

Today, I went to see a house for rent. The house is right facing a road. According to Fengshui, this house is not suitable for living as it may may bring bad luck.

Fengshui is an very interesting thing.

Out of curiosity, I check the history of this house in MLS. Ironically, this house has been foreclosed multiple times.

-------||HOUSE||------

..............||...............

..............||...............

..............||...............

In Fengshui, House like above, with the house directly faces a road, is called T-house and usually means bad luck or health problem to who ever live there.

It is hard to prove this works. But most often the time, it happens.

Today I drove by downtown Providence, pawtucket, central falls and cumberland. Being a South Kingstown resident, I am suprised that we have corners like this in Rhode Island. Other than East side of Providence, I see distress properties everywhere. Boarding windows. broken doors. beat-up walls. poky roofs.

Rather than simply using a comment that some area are tough, I think our downtown real estate got a problem. Who caused the problem? hard to say.

I heard that Douglas Av in Providence got a project. Fellow real estate agents must know this term. Yes, it means subsidized dwelling. The goverment encourage people to live that so that to keep all property occupied.

Here is a thought. I think the goverment really should design a program to claim some areas so that to rebuild a whole community. It is to everyone's benefit. Back in China, there are many govermental "projects". The goverment will destroy a whole community and rebuild a new community. Initially dwellers will got imbursed, usually a house of the same area, but brand new. Everybody is happy. Many poor dwellers choose to sell the house and buy a house elsewhere cheaper. Overtime, the distressed community become a good community. Developers got paid because he can put more houses there (usually comdos) by putting more storeys.

In Providence today, it is even difficult to find a distressed house that has all the tubes.

 

Somebody really needs to do sth.