Articles from BlueRoof Blog

BlueRoof on HouseHunters This Week
2007-12-18 01:12:47
Trisha, my wife and business partner will be featured on HGTV’s HouseHunters later this week. She’s the only Utah Realtor to ever be on the show, and most certainly the most beautiful to ever appear on network television. The show is titled, “To Be or Not to B&B” From the HGTV website, “In Salt Lake City, a young couple searches for a place to hang their hats and their shingle.” Shows times are: € December 20, 2007 10:00 PM ET/PT € December 21, 2007 2:00 AM ET/PT € December 22, 2007 5:30 PM Mountain Time ...

Most “Vain” Cities in the Nation
2007-12-17 23:21:39
Those guys at Forbes, they really do know how to pick ‘em. They just released their list of the Top Ten Most Vain cities in the country, based mostly on the number of plastic surgeons per capita. Apparently, over 11,000,000 cosmetic procedures were performed in the US in 2006, a 48% increase over the previous year. From the article, “As the number of cosmetic procedures nationwide continues to surge, we looked at which cities have most embraced market demand for taut faces, lush lips and flat abs. There were predictable entries like New York, Miami and Los Angeles, but also surprising ones like Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn. Most shocking of all was the town that ranked first: Salt Lake City. “ Yes, you read that correctly- the city at the top, rated as the “Most Vain” was my very own hometown of Salt Lake City. Forbes offers this disclaimer; “Unexpected entries like Salt Lake City, Nashville and Louisville might rise to the top, given sma ...

Point2 Agent Shaken Up- Good For Consumers and Agents
2007-12-15 00:40:14
I don’t know as much about Point2 Agent as a company as many agents do, but I am a member and have used the system. It seems to me to be an entry-level type service with a template website given and then you pay for add-ons and additional services. One thing I do know is that the company, as far the real estate piece of what they do, is centered around template websites. I think it’s important for our industry to evolve and maybe it’s time to begin to step-up to a higher level of website than templates offer. There are better options than templates. For most agents, a template website is their only on-line presence- either a template or an “agent page” on their broker’s website. So consumer’s see all these template sites and it affirms to them that agents don’t know much about technology. Often the consumer ends up going to the better websites (clean user-interface, enjoyable search experience, etc) that they can find, and in most ...

The Six-Word Story
2007-12-08 23:20:32
Came across this really cool post about Steve Jones, a teacher at the North Carolina School of Science and Math, and his assignment to his students. The assignment: to write a compelling, six-word story. As the legend goes, Ernest Hemingway once did this—some say he wrote it to settle a tab, while others think it was a bet. His story: “For sale: baby shoes, never used.” He claims it was the best writing of his life. Here are some of mine… Hello… (heart beats fast)…I’m sorry. Never again! Unless… well, maybe someday Get in, sit down, hang on… Here kitty kitty… Here kitty- Ouch! Once in a lifetime, once again. Real estate template websites suck, sorry. From the contest- these are incredible; Spoon shopping, needs shine. A smile? You took my hand; hello, future. A call: action scene, explosion out. Jailed, “murdered,” became the world’s superhero Found a heart. Wasn’t broken. Weird. Wrote story. It sucked. Started over. Sixt ...

Salt Lake Real Estate Market Still on Top for 2007
2007-12-07 14:10:28
I know, I know…. the market is supposed to be horrible and everything bad and the sky should be falling. But even so, average prices aren’t dropping in Salt Lake County and the local economy is soaring. All factors indicate that our local real estate market will continue to move toward a flat sales rate for a while with the seasonal slowdown and the high inventory levels, but we have no bubble in Salt Lake and real estate will continue to be a solid financial investment. In fact, we’re still the #1 market in the country for appreciation in 2007. (update) According to the latest MSN report on 12-28-07, Salt lake was #3 in the nation, Provo and Ogden were also in the top 5 in the country. Utah has the nations fifth-lowest foreclosure rate. Salt Lake’s real estate market has appreciated 12.9% year-over-year for third quarter 2007. And job growth is still booming (Utah remains far and away the best economically performing state in the nation, said Mark Knold, s ...

The Media Says Now is a Good Time to Buy
2007-12-01 12:17:42
That wacky media, and it’s incredible contradiction… From the Deseret Morning News come this article talking about how Salt Lake’s stellar economy and job growth are shielding it from the same harm some other markets are facing (sound familiar?) From MSN Money comes this article about buying real estate now, and this one saying now is a good time to invest in builder stocks because the market is collecting a strong pent-up demand from homebuyers. From the Article, “Employment is still strong and plenty of folks who have the desire and the means to buy aren’t doing it. Why? For most of us, buying a home is the biggest investment we’ll ever make. Would you buy a house when everyone is telling you that home prices are headed down? Me neither. But the demand isn’t going away. The ready and willing buyers are waiting for a signal that home prices have stabilized. Everybody wants a bargain, and many will rush to buy if they think that prices ...

Salt Lake Market Ranked #5 in Nation for Appreciation
2007-11-30 01:14:39
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) released it’s report about real estate appreciation today and Salt Lake ranks fifth in the nation with a third quarter appreciation of +2.44%, a year-over-year increase of +13.37% and a 5 year appreciation of +60.17%. Some people think since we aren’t breaking records right now the market must be bad, but in Salt Lake City we’re back to a normal market- other than having so much frickin’ inventory on the market. But good news- the number of active listings on the market actually started to go down a few weeks ago and has continued- finally! Provo ranks #2, Logan ranks #11, Ogden ranks #4, and Salt Lake City ranks #5 in the report. From the MSN report: Prices are still rising in many areas. Texas, North Carolina, Washington and Utah put four cities from each state making the 20 best-performers list. City rankings are listed by metropolitan areas. The OFHEO’s House Price Index is publish ...

Speaking at NYC Inman Connect Jan 9th-11th
2007-11-28 18:41:39
The annual New York InMan Connect Conference will be January 9th through the 11th, hosted at the The Marriott Marquis in Times Square. I’ll be speaking at the event in a session titled, “Tapping New Methods for Finding Buyers.” From the InMan Speakers page; Real Estate Connect provides the highest quality content and speakers to create an unparalleled learning and interactive experience. Speakers include prominent executives, entrepreneurs and innovators from real estate, mortgage, finance and technology’s leading companies. In addition, you’ll find the celebrated and controversial, including key journalists, authors, influential bloggers, and visionaries who track industry trends. Featured speakers at Real Estate Connect NYC 2008 include: Rudy Bachraty, Co-Founder, Sellsius & Founder, Kiosk Realty Simon Baker, CEO & Managing Director, REA Group Jeffrey Bastress, President, Startpoint Realty Kris Berg, Broker Associate, Prudential California ...

Why Do People Move?
2007-11-27 15:44:56
According to the 2006 Census Bureau American Housing Survey, more than 19.3 million Americans moved last year. 3,051,000 moved to establish their own residence (1.2 million changed from renter to owner) 2,869,000 needed a bigger place 2,308,000 moved for a new job or job transfer 2,330,000 wanted to be closer to work or school 2,792,000 wanted a better place 476,000 moved because they got married 588,000 moved because they got divorced 53% had their expenses go up when they moved 23% had their expenses go down 24% stayed the same 5,335,000 say they chose the neighborhood based on it’s convenience to work 4,375,000 chose the neighborhood because it was close to friends or relatives 4,916,000 liked the look of the neighborhood Factors in selecting the home they moved to were; 6,733,000 Financial reasons 5,819,000 Room layout/design 1,264,000 Kitchen 5,013,000 Size 2,463,000 Exterior appearance 2,614,000 Yard/trees/view 1,926,000 Quality of c ...

My Thanksgiving Feast
2007-11-20 23:49:31
(originally posted Nov.22, 2006) Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. It’s all about family and friends and just being thankful for everything that we have. I don’t really care about the pilgrims and indians or any of that- for me it’s simply a time to take pause and remember our blessings. Most holidays have become so commercialized they’ve taken on new meanings for people. I like all of the holidays, but Thanksgiving is just special. Christmas becomes about the gifts and the tree, Easter is about the hunt or the dress or the basket of goodies, Halloween is about the costumes and decorations, New Year’s about the party, St Patrick’s about the bar, Valentines about the gift, The Fourth of July is about the fireworks, but Thanksgiving… it’s about the feast. The gathering of family and friends. Where we sit down together, watch a football game or play family games and experience life together, even if ...

Healthiest States in the Nation
2007-11-05 12:39:16
According to a report launched today by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association (APHA) and Partnership for Prevention(TM), the overall health of the nation is down .03% from last year, but has remained relatively the same for the past six years. The report shows there have been modest gains in reducing the rates of cancer and cardiovascular mortality, however other factors have stayed the same or risen, including increased obesity rates, increasing numbers of uninsured people, children in poverty and the persistence of risky health behaviors, such as tobacco use and violent crime. All of these factors contribute to the overall healthiness of the nation and are all determining factors in the rankings. Other factors include smoking, violent crime, binge drinking, infectious disease, health status and several measures of mortality. Utah ranks sixth in the nation for the second straight year and Vermont takes the top spot from Minnesota, which falls from fir ...

What’s Right with Real Estate
2007-10-29 01:56:54
It’s interesting to me to read all the conflicting opinions about real estate and Realtors. Public opinion of Realtors is rising in studies, yet I read about how all the new companies are trying to fix the broken system. Technology geeks are telling buyers and sellers to use their services instead of agents because they can do it better, news reports offer conflicting accounts about Realtors, and FSBO’s have their opinions. But what’s really interesting to me is that the people slamming Realtors most are…. Realtors! It seems to be the thing for agents with blogs- Become the consumer’s advocate- not by giving them value and education (or a better value proposition), but by slamming the industry so they can say, “See, I’m pointing out bad stuff so I must be on your side”. I’ve definitely given my share of criticism toward things in the business I disagree with, but I balance it with pointing out the good that agents are doing and t ...

BlueRoof on InMan TV
2007-10-19 13:41:51
Real Estate Video by - Real Estate Blogger The interview was filmed in San Francisco during InMan connect a couple months ago where I was also a panelist discussing blogging and had other interviews and a lot of people to meet and things going on. Before the interview we were joking around, having a few drinks and having some fun, and I remember telling myself to slow it down and relax so I wasn’t going too fast or being silly. I may have taken it a bit too far because I seem tired or slow or something. But no worries- I’m grateful to have the support and respect of people in the real estate industry. As I’ve said before, this is an exciting time to be in real estate. Thanks to InMan and Jessica- the whole crew was really great to work with. ...

BlueRoof.com Wins W3 Award
2007-10-16 11:11:00
The W3 Awards were announced today and BlueRoof.com was awarded a silver award, which is probably much more exciting to me than to you, but I thought I’d share it with you anyway. A Gold award went to Zillow, and then they have a ”Best in Show” award, but that always goes to a new home development website with flash tours of the floorplans and stuff (they’ve never had a home search website win that award). I feel good knowing that BlueRoof is the only local home-search site to win an award, and it’s always nice to get some recognition for your work and effort (and expense). BlueRoof.com is still very unfinished. We have a lot of cool ideas to make the site much better, but it’s expensive and time-consuming developing new ideas (especially the ones I have) so I’ll take it a step at a time. For now, thanks to the W3 organization for the award… ...

New Oquirrhs Ski Resort Proposed
2007-10-09 20:57:02
Kennecott Land, owner of the largest metropolitan landholding by a single owner in the country (75,000 acres) unveiled it’s master plan showing what it has coming in the next couple decades along the west side of Salt Lake county. It includes 41,000 acres of hillside neighborhoods and businesses, a “transit spine” which would run along the west side Kennecott developments (south to Daybreak) at approximately 8400 West, an urban center north off I-80, and over 10,000 homes (in addition to the 13,500 at Daybreak) broken up into “town centers”, “village centers”, and “neighborhood centers.” And a Ski Resort. The new ski facility and Deer Valley-style resort would be in an area called Soldier Flats southwest of Magna and would be the closest ski resort to an international airport in the world (just 18 miles from Salt Lake International). The resort would begin at a base elevation of 6200 feet and rise to 9350 feet. By comparison, Park ...

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