SpencerBarron.com

 Out of curiosity, I had to check to see what people were reading outside of my main page and feed.  Essentially what posts attracted the most hits from search engines and links from other blogs.  Here’s how they show up in order of popularity.  

1. Why Johnny Can’t Code and How to Help Him. by Curtis Barron  - What!  I find it hard to believe that my Dad’s post is the most popular post on my blog.  It’s actually kind of painful.  I wonder how much this speaks to the fact that niche expertise is the real strength of a search engine.  Thanks for the contribution Dad.
2. Money Magazine – Buyer’s agents Co-op and how to get a better deal buying or selling a home.  Ah yes, the outcome of my complaint about Money printing misleading  information about the Denver real estate market.
3. Thanks to Blogs. My only guess here is that this is the intersection of people searching my general interest and personal categories.  And of course, this post seems to have a penchant for automated spam.
4. What should be in a Comparative Market Analysis and how long will it be accurate?   This was my take on how to evaluate the value of a property, seems to be popular with investors and appraisers.
5. Apple’s New iphone, up to the hype?  Nothing like mentioning some pop culture to turn up the heat.
6. The Top Ten Most Common Complaints about Homes for Sale – Useful Feedback.  This is my take on the feedback you get, if any when selling a house.
7. Most Brokerage Business models don’t benefit the Agent.  It’s true!
8. Zillow Returns Power to the People with Site updates.  I still love Zillow.  I don’t think they’re going to make any real money for a long time but they’re headed in the right direction.   Oh, and I love the fact that if you mention Zillow in any post, there is a high likelihood that the hard working Drew Meyers will stop by. 
9. Where to spend my marketing budget?  This has become a lot more popular over the last 2 months.  I think agents are rethinking were they’re putting their money.
10. Blizzard of 2006 – Buried in Snow and loving it.  What I love most about Denver is that the sun comes out after it snows.  As long as the suns out, you probably don’t even need a coat.  It’s just when the sun goes down…. Brrrr…

And a few honorable mentions.

• Most Denver homes are overpriced.  I attempted to illustrate the difference between the list price and the sale price and drive home the importance of some due diligence on the part of the buyer. 
• Buying a home? Think before making your first offer. My opinion on what a buyer needs to think about before making an offer on a home.I truly hope people find my writing useful, informative and perhaps even entertaining on some level.   Thanks for reading.

My apologies to those that may enjoy my take on real estate and Denver. I took a short break. What started as writer’s block turned into just not having any time. If I’ve learned anything about maintaining a blog, it would be that it’s harder than it looks. It’s difficult to maintain a high quality of content while maintaining volume.

I will be instituting a few new practices and features to this site over the next 6 months so check back to see what develops.

I’ll be keeping my posts as short and to the point as possible. For longer explanations, I’m sure there are lots of other great blogs that use big words and lengthy long-winded arguments to communicate simple ideas. If possible, I’ll link you through to them.

If I’m too short, start a discussion. I’ll certainly discuss.

Hope everyone is having as great a year as I am.

It’s quite tempting to want to write about everything that’s going on. I mean, isn’t that where the majority of good blog fodder comes from? But to be fair, I realized that if the agents that were on the other side of the table were anything like me, I would want to watch what I say. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be tipping my ‘hand’.

I’ll admit it. I love to research. I don’t like surprises. I want to know everything I could possibly find out about the agent I’m dealing with and his or her client. How much business do they do? Is the agent busy or just faking it? What’s their style, what’s their office like? Do they need the money? How long have they been in the business? Do they have any listings? What have they sold? What’s their target market, if any? What does the buyer currently own? Are they selling anything? Where does the buyer work?…oh it goes on and on. Anything on Google?

I love to encourage conversation. Even aimless banter. I like the agents to like me and feel comfortable and confident dealing with me. They should; I wouldn’t do anything shady, illegal or even underhanded. But that doesn’t mean I’m not working for my client. If my client wants a certain goal to be achieved, that’s my aim and I work very hard to gain any ground I can.

Everyone gives up little clues about their motivations, but they don’t always know they’re doing it. That’s why I don’t want my sellers having any sort of contact with the other agents or their clients. It’s also why I don’t want my buyers being too interested in the site of the homeowners. Any sort of contact is compromising my power to negotiate. An agent should be insulation from these situations.

I think of real estate business like a high stakes game of poker. I can’t see the cards but I can read the signals. There are sharks out there while others are just minnows. I’m not a shark but I play one on TV. Which one are you?