r e n o . r e a l t y . b l o g

I don't often attend industry conferences, but this one was irresistible... Inman is all about that point where technology and real estate collide (I'm sorry, I mean, connect). And like it or not, technology is changing the real estate landscape. So, what have I learned?

A) Most Realtors still don't understand how to leverage the Internet. B) Some do, and they shall inherit the Earth. C) New business models are challenging an archaic system of doing business, creating serious opportunities for those with an open mind. D) Attention entrepreneurs: stop making listing search portals. Ho-hum, a dime-a-dozen, I don't have time to enter my listings on 50 different vertical search sites that reach fewer than 1 million users a month. Instead, please create an effective lead management system that helps me manage online client relationships, with input from real agents working the business (I know the engineers mean well, but...) This is the biggest problem every practitioner struggles with. If you succeed, you will go IPO and make millions.

But, the most important thing I learned? Realtors will buy almost ANYTHING that promises oodles of Internet leads. So, if I'm ever to fulfill my get-rich-and-retire-to-Incline Village plan, I need to think of a new way to sell online leads to Realtors.

PS: So, last night, I was invited to some swanky San Francisco home in the Presidio offered for $15,000,000 because I work for Chase International, and we're all about luxury. The hostess, a powerhouse in the luxury world, who I hear is, ahem, difficult at times, served wine, champagne and five-star hors d'oeuvres, so I immediately liked her. The place was packed to the gills, and a couple of them may have even been qualified buyers. (If I were a better networker, I'd have been working the room for the Google-riche.) But I must say, for that kind money, I would have expected a much better view of the Bay.

Then I met the guy who bought the Girls Gone Wild House in Incline. Apparently, he alternately gets checks in the mail and lawsuits for former resident, good ole Joe, pretty much on a daily basis. One day, a big guy from the Mandalay Bay named Guido showed up on his doorstep, and it was all he could do to convince the guy that he wasn't Joe and that Joe had moved to Puerto Vallarta. Small world, eh? Anyway, Magazine Guy gave us a ride in his stretch limo to our restaurant, four blocks away. Though I'd love to credit my amazing charm for scoring such a spiffy ride, all he really wanted was to pitch Shari Chase on a multi-page spread in his magazine, so I became one with role of accessory in the power broker entourage.

BTW, Shari Chase and Sue Lowe just listed a home for sale at the Lake for $100,000,000.00, making it the third most expensive residential property for sale in the US behind The Sheik's place in Aspen and The Donald's in Florida. If any of you happen to have that kind of money and want to buy it, please call me. I'm sure we could get it for less!

Yeah, so, she's a lefty. Big deal. Everybody has their own point of view. We're all still people, and our uniqueness is what keeps the whole world interesting. But holy schmoly... she gets 5000 unique visitors a month? For Reno, that's awesome. read it

Downtown Dude is awesome too. I'm glad someone else is focusing exclusively downtown. There's so much going on, it needs a dedicated resource. see it

And while I"m brown-nosing every blogger in town, let me just say that Yukon Sully rocks. All that higher education has truly turned him into a clever cleaver, even though he's burnt out beyond reason. Dude, enjoy your sabbatical. what?

So, when's the big Reno Blogger meet & greet? The big event where all is revealed and we unveil our true, sordid selves? (Warning, I look twenty years older than my promotional picture... it's realtor tradition to fake young and beautiful). Six months ago the RGJ ran an AP story on bloggers meeting in Chicago... why not us? Maybe the Minx will even get an interview!  ;)

Okay, so here I am at the Inman Connect conference in San Francisco, where real estate and technology meet. The content and characters are fascinating, but I'll get to that later. Just do this: take your cell phone and create the following text message: 2726 alpine creek reno nv 89509. Send it to: z@labs.zillow.com and wait 30 seconds (or less).

See what you get back? Totally instant gratification... I love it! And BTW, this home is competitively listed for sale (by me) at only $345,000 offering instant equity for the lucky buyer (according to Zillow anyway). Now if only I had a buy now button on my website...

Move over, girls. Manspace is making a comeback in interior design. Billiard rooms, cigar dens, garage workshops, hobby cabanas, mini-megaplex home theaters and all kinds of man-needs are sneaking their way back into the home, albeit in tucked away spaces. read it

Apparently, second home owners these days don't mind flying versus driving to get to their vacation abodes. As long as travel times are less than an hour, they're happy. And, as usual, Baby Boomers are driving this emerging trend. read it

The most expensive single-family home listed in America has just gone on the market for $135 million, stealing the title away from Donald Trump’s oceanfront estate in Palm Beach, Florida, which carries a $125 million price tag. The newly listed Aspen, Colorado, home is owned by Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who is selling the estate to pursue his new responsibilities as chairman of his nation’s new national Security Council.

Built in the late 1980’s, Starwood Ranch sits on 95 acres of land in Aspen. The 56,000 square foot home has more than 30 rooms, an indoor pool, trails, a snowmelt driveway, employee living quarters and stables. The main home has 16 bathrooms and 15 bedrooms and is larger than the White House. This home can't even be found on public MLS feeds. So forget about seeing it (unless you're Bill Gates, of course).

Here's an interesting new blog on the trials and tribulations of landlording. Very practical... check it out. But my favorite landlording site of all time is Mr Landlord. In addition to the usual tips and tricks of the trade, pick a state, any state, and they've got the statutes pertaining to landlording law verbatum. Standard forms, Q & A... you name it, you'll find it.

Pending status homes in the last 24 hours = 432 at an average $386K and a median $310K. Current number of single family homes offered for sale = 4805. Compare this to May's random pendings check at 486 for an average $414K and a median $325K with 4003 homes offered for sale. So in this moment, if these pendings close, we have an eleven-month supply of homes in our market, up from eight. Indeed this is the land of plenty.

These figures were pulled from the Northern Nevada MLS and do not include builder direct sales, for sale by owners or other private transfers. These are single family homes including condos, stick built and manufactured homes pulled from Area 100, the Reno-Sparks metro area. Active listings include actives, new, back on market, price raised and priced reduced. Pending classifications include pending no show, active pending call, active pending loan and active pending house. Pendings were pulled looking at a 24 hour period of time to provide a market snapshot of recent activity.

Some properties for sale in Reno-Sparks just don't move, and I guess the owners don't really care. Number one on our longevity list is a lovely custom home in Galena Forest, originally at $1.5M, now at $1.275M, on the market for 695 days! 1005 Yellow Pine

Number two is a fine little number in St James Village, a fully loaded lodge-style home with top-of-the-line everything, offered at its original price of $3.45M for 598 days. 255 Timbercreek

Number three is way the heck out of town in Rancho Haven, but far more affordable as a result. For your $556K, you get a nice new house on 2.5 acres, a pond, and a 25 minute commute to the freeway. On the market for 590 days. 14305 Rancho Drive

Not only is global warming bad for the planet, it's bad for insurance rates. Insurance companies tend to jack up prices or back away entirely from areas hard hit by extraordinary weather events. The government may fill in the gaps as the insurer of last resort, but what happens when the government becomes the only game in town? How many Katrinas can we afford to clean up? read it