These are all valid questions, but there are other concerns that would have a severe impact on several people and their families should the government fail to reach an agreement (like military personnel having to work while not getting paid until a budget is passed). I am going to focus on one specific repercussion: the housing market.

The Data

According to DataQuick, the percentage of homes purchased by borrowers using federally insured FHA loans in the month of February was, on average, over 33%. In some major markets, as indicated to the right, some markets saw 43% percent of their inventory purchased through FHA loans in the month of February.

In peak months, i.e. the Spring Market, FHA purchases account for well over 50% of the market activity. What does this mean for you as an Agent or Broker/Owner?

The Consequence

Depending on how long the “government shutdown” lasts, it could mean that half of the business you are expecting to close might- quite suddenly- disappear. Consider the following: In New York (my market), a Broker may have 25 deals in the pipe ready to close within the next 8 weeks. If trends are any indication, 8 of these transactions will not close in the event of a shutdown that spans two weeks or more. In a market where the average commission is >$10,000 per side, that’s $80,000 in GCI minimum. And we haven’t even taken into account VA loans, another federally staffed body, which accounted for 6.4% of all home purchases.

The Verdict

The good news? Government shutdowns rarely occur, and the majority of them last a few hours. Our most vividly (and referenced) government closure in 1995 lasted six days.

Earlier today, President Obama was quoted as saying, ““It may turn out that somebody who was trying to get a mortgage can’t have their paperwork processed by the FHA and now the person who was going to sell the house, what they were counting on, they can’t get it.”

As the saying goes, especially with government, I suppose all we can do is hurry up and wait.

For the record: I’m all about vertical search engines, especially the ones related to real estate.

If “Zestimates” are the only Zannoyances you’ve had to deal with in your real estate career, count yourself lucky. Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with Zillow’s customer service.

Approximately a week and a half ago, we noticed a peculiar charge on our bill. Upon investigation, we found that the same charge had been placed against our corporate credit card every month since April.  Since I had no recollection of ever authorizing anything that had to do with ad sales (the description on the bill), I decided to call the toll free number provided on the billing statement.

The first call was pleasant enough. I spoke to an outsourced call center rep and inquired. He told me that he saw no charges being billed to our company, but that he would look into it if I faxed the credit card statement to him. After constant assurances that I would be called back within 24 hours, I faxed over the paperwork and waited.

Zillow's customer service staff

48 hours later, I called again. A different rep informed me that there were no charges being placed against the account attached to my email address. I asked him if there was a possibility that the charges were being made with a different e-mail address. After learning that there was, indeed, such a possibility, I proceeded to give him the 5 e-mail addresses of the people that have access to the card number in question. Still, no dice.

After hearing, “You are not being charged anything” several times in a row, I asked to speak to the billing department. His reponse? There is no number to reach the billing department. At this point in the conversation, I begin to lose my patience.

“Is there any possible way you can find out why we’re being charged this amount on a monthly basis?” I asked.

“Yes, sir, please fax over the credit card statement with the charge in question.” I bit my tongue and faxed over the statement again, but not before I asked how long it would take for the issue to be resolved. “24 hours,” I was assured.

48 more hours passed and I was on the verge of driving to Seattle myself. I called the 800-number once more and was greeted by a soothing, pleasant, female voice:

“Thank you for calling Zillow, how may I help you?”

“I apologize in advance if I sound a bit brash, ma’am, but I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of a very curious charge that no one can seem to tell me anything about.”

“What is your e-mail address, sir?” I told her my e-mail address, along with the fact that I was having the same conversation with her that I’ve had with two previous people.

“I’m sorry, sir, but there are no charges associated with that e-mail address.” I turned my thumb and index finger into a gun and pointed it at my temple, pulling the trigger.

“I would like to speak to the billing department, please”

“There is no number to the billing department, sir.”

“There has to be a way to get in touch with your billing department to find out why we’re getting charged the amount we’re getting charged.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but the billing department is completely different from

Zillow customer service = crap

customer service, and there is no number where you can reach them. I can’t even reach them. All I can do is put your inquiry into the system. If you could fax over the-”

“I already faxed over the bill. Twice. You have to be able to tell me why we’re getting charged. Are you telling me that you have a billing department that is not only inaccessible, but also charges companies monthly fees and has no idea why they are charging the amount they are?”

“That is correct, sir.” That is correct? I was in disbelief. I had to ask the question again.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you have an entire billing department that has no idea what it’s doing?”

“That is correct, sir.” It was the first thing that made sense since I began this tiresome quest. “Perhaps if you emailed the credit card statement to me?”

“I am going to email this to you, and I want you stay on the phone with me and tell me when you get it, ok?”

“Ok.”

And so we sat on the phone in awkward silence as I waited for her to receive the email. Finally, she told me that it arrived. I asked how long it would take for someone to get back to me. “24 hours,” I was assured.

56 hours later, I received a phone call from a Zillow employee. The issue still remains unresolved, and we will probably be charged again next month.

The moral of the story? Stick with Trulia.

When I caught wind of the fact that Facebook was going to start offering vanity URLs, I knew that my Friday night was going to be spent right in front of my computer. As soon as the clock struck midnight, I quickly grabbed the name I wanted.

Earlier today, at a manager’s meeting for my company, I told everyone about this event. Afterward, I was innundated with the same question: Why is this important??

As some of you may or may not know, I have developed a web-nemesis of sorts. He shares my name, and when you google it, HIS Twitter account shows up above a couple of my results. Why? Because the URL to find him on Twitter is twitter.com/zaneburnett. So, to me, it was not a question of whether or not I was going to get this, but rather a question of when. In case you’re wondering, it was Saturday, 13 June 2009 at 12:01:01. I was one of an estimated 500,000 users who grabbed their vanity URL within the first 15 minutes.

For Realtors, you now have the opportunity to tell your clients to look you up on Facebook in a very simple manner… provided someone else didn’t get your name first. More importantly, if the URL you chose matches your first and last name, it’s almost a given that you will now gain one more spot on the first page of Google.

Many people are just now learning about Twitter, so it comes as no surprise that there are a relative few who truly understand it. Especially in the Real Estate community, people are asking what the point of it all is. They want to know: Should I be on Twitter? Can I make money using Twitter? Does anyone care if I Tweet?

The answer to all of these questions is a very resounding “Yes”.

[I will] explain why.

On the map of Social Media Land, Twitter falls under the “microblogging” category. At its core, it’s very simple: say something in 140 characters or less, publish it, and you’re done!

Unfortunately, many people are at a loss when it comes to finding the utility in such a program. Some have said to me, “I got on Twitter, but now all I see is how my niece is eating a hamburger for dinner, how she’ s about to brush her teeth, how she’s about to shower, and how she’s about to go to sleep… I DON’T GET IT!!”

What I have to say is this: forget about your niece. The confusion over her constant tweets is worth enduring if you can, because Twitter offers yet another invaluable tool in the realm of Passive Marketing.

Twitter allows you to give constant updates to a group of people who have elected to “Follow” you, that is, they think what you have to say is worth hearing. Use that opportunity to establish yourself as an expert not only within the industry, but within your local marketplace as well. Do you think you know more about Downtown Brooklyn than the average Joe? Prove it! Follow this plan to effectively utilize Twitter for your Real Estate career:

1. It’s important not to be obnoxious with your Tweets, as people will generally come to disregard them. Think about it; have you ever met someone who always says they’re working on “something big”, but you’ve yet to see what it is? Constant Tweets follow that same mode of thought. Provide valuable insight to the Real Estate market via thoughts, observations, and links.

2. Start following people. You’ll never reach a large audience to influence if you’re not following anyone. Sometimes, people will follow you just because you’re following them. Also, there are plenty of national experts and organizations that use Twitter- this is an opportunity to hear what they have to say. Remember, your goal is to gather a large following. There are several ways to do this, all of which I’ll discuss in an upcoming article.

3. Tweet your open houses. Do this only after you’ve followed the first two steps! If you come out of the gate with a deluge of listing information, people are going to think you’re just another Realtor trying to advertise their listings. Remember: Twitter is effective in it’s ability to passively market. Involve yourself with the twitter community you belong to, follow people you find interesting, and gain the interest of others. Nobody wants to follow an Agent who does nothing but tweet their listings. After you’ve established a reputation for providing quality information, people will want to hear about your inventory.

**This is a repost of an article I wrote on my company’s blog**

Granted, he wasn’t looking directly at me when he said it. And, to be fair, the distance between the stage upon which his podium rested and my seat was about 30 feet. And in the spirit of disclosure, he was addressing about 500 people. So, it is actually quite possible that he wasn’t really talking to me, per se, but for the sake of my ego and imagination, I will pretend like he was.

The opening session of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s annual conference in Scottsdale, Arizona was an inspiring one to Realtors, Brokers, and any one else who is in any way connected to the Real Estate industry. I will detail some of the key points that I took from this conference, but I’m going to do it when my laptop screen is fixed and I don’t have to pay 40 cents a minute to gift the world with my words of genius brilliance.

For now, however, I will touch upon one of the best moments for me personally. John Reinhardt, President and CEO of Fillmore Real Estate, the largest independent Real Estate Broker in the state of New York (he also happens to be my boss), really pumped up the crowd at the opening session. He talked about the “GREAT recession”, as opposed to the standard and ultimately overused “great recession”, and how it was probably the most opportune moments of time for him in his real estate career. Because of the economic duress we are all finding ourselves in, agents, managers, and department heads alike are more willing to universally come together and explore ideas that would have otherwise been scoffed at. As he so aptly said, we can’t tell agents we’re saving money, but rather that we are redirecting company resources towards more proftiable forms of marketing. The substance of his speech was in the specific examples of strategies implemented that led  Fillmore Real Estate to have over a 6% increase in sales transactions in February 2009 over the same month 2008.

I will leave you with the YouTube footage of his speech that was captured by an anonymous spectator (who was sitting about 30 feet from the stage upon which John’s podium rested). In his speech, he graciously dropped my name for all the world to hear. And that means more than any shout out from a media exec, imaginary or otherwise.

The first official entry will be outlining my experience at the 2009 annual Leading Real Estate Companies of the World conference in Scottsdale, Az.

I will also be announcing the first of many many monthly contests, so get ready for the fun to begin!