Rob Hahn My friend Matt Dollinger recently commented on a post by the longtime real estate expert Steve Harney. Both were commenting on the doom & gloom article from Time Magazine on how homeownership is overrated. Steve Harney rightfully takes Time to task: Again, they are simply arguing a miniscule point of an extensive research paper that … Read more
I’m in Austin, TX on personal business, and thought I would take advantage of the trip to visit with my friends Krisstina and Gary Wise, and Jack Miller, at the GoodLife Team. Well, it just so happened that Keller Williams was holding a huge conference in town the same week, bringing a number of people … Read more
I’m in Austin, TX on personal business, and thought I would take advantage of the trip to visit with my friends Krisstina and Gary Wise, and Jack Miller, at the GoodLife Team. Well, it just so happened that Keller Williams was holding a huge conference in town the same week, bringing a number of people … Read more
[Note: This is a longer version of the original, which was posted on AOL Housingwatch a few days ago. I’m crossposting it because Notorious ROB has no space constraints and my readers are used to 2,000 word posts, heh. :)] In Part 1 of this series, where I laid out why I believe the 30-year fixed … Read more
It’s a beautiful early fall day here in the New York City area. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, and the bright sunlight pouring down on my quiet suburban street seems exactly like the happy rays of sunshine that fell on a younger, more innocent version of me in New York City on September … Read more
Welcome to the first Carnival of Real Estate Policy. It seems impossible that the real estate blogosphere has gone so long without talking more about government policy given that real estate is a heavily regulated industry, and the more important organization in real estate is a industry lobby group (NAR). But for the most part, … Read more
In my earlier post on the New Normal in real estate, a commenter took issue with my predictions about the future of the 30-year fixed rate mortgage (among other claims). I thought I would expand on that aspect a bit. The specific mechanism that I think will be put in place is a change in … Read more
I’m honored to be asked to give the closing remarks at the Council of MLS conference in Chicago this year at the end of September/early October. Since I’m supposed to be wrapping up the discussions of those few days, I can’t actually prepare anything ahead of time. But I can sort of cheat by putting … Read more
Just got off the phone with a broker friend of mine who thinks I’m plainly nuts with all the fearmongering and paranoia about things that will never come to pass. My recent series on real estate policy has him alternatively dismissive and wanting not to get out of bed in the morning. So I’d like … Read more