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It's time for that obligatory year end wrap up post. And yes, I know we're already almost done with January but I was traveling and then subsequently dealing with the gnarliest case of jet lag I've ever had for a week. Anyway, now I'm feeling well enough for some reflection on the past year.
This was the year, of course, when SYED ended and I quit my job. Adjusting to a new lifestyle was difficult as I mentioned here.
I took one more shot at love with Clara and it ended painfully but permanently. There will be no more on again off again romance. Someday I might talk about what happened. But for now, just know that it's all for the best in the long the run.
I realized my parents are getting older. My father broke his pelvis when they were on vacation. Luckily, he recovered pretty quickly and when I went home a month after it happened, he was able to walk again. Still, I don't know how much longer they'll be around and that scares the shit out of me.
Speaking of work, I've had to learn how to be poor again. Ok, maybe not poor. But I made a comfortable living at my job before and I had to adjust. No more going out for dinner and drinks whenever I wanted. Do I really need to buy that shirt or video game? What's the cheaper brand of beans? Maybe I should get Veuve Clicquot instead of Cristal. You know. Stuff I haven't had to think about in years.
But thankfully, my former coworkers and friends have been looking out for me. They've thrown me work when it's come up and it's what's carried me through the year. I'm eternally grateful for them and also that I have the skills to pay my bills.
I discovered that I'm more resilient than I thought I was. After the book proposal didn't sell, I went back to my literary agent with a new take: a self-help book instead of a memoir. She loved the idea so I'm reworking the proposal and hopefully we'll get another shot at selling it.
I'm also working on making SYED into a movie. That's been a wild ride that I haven't written about until now. Read about it here.
I've realized that I need to put SYED behind me in some ways. Of course I'm still working on projects about it, but I came to the decision that I need to close this website down. I already turned off comments on the original blog. But I want to shut down this new blog as well.
I'll still be blogging and I hope you will read at GregoryTung.com. It will be more like a regular blog. I don't want to work within the SYED framework any more. Sure, I'll still write about interesting scary things I do, but I want the freedom to write other, more experimental things.
Something that sort of goes along with that is the status of Go Scare Yourself. While it'll always be something I want to do, I just don't know if it's in my near future. I have other things I want to accomplish first. Maybe if someone wanted to work with me it might happen. But for now it's on hold indefinitely. Thanks to all who were interested in and supported the concept.
2012 started out amazing, got really, really bad and started getting better. 2013 is looking pretty bright. I'm not sure if it's bright enough I gotta wear shades. Maybe use my hand to cover my eyes. Or at least squint a little.


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A woman has died after being hit by a vehicle that failed to stop at a red signal on Scottsdale Road, police said.
Sgt. Mark Clark with the Scottsdale Police Department said the victim, Vivian Roth-Sacks, 69, was driving at the intersection of Scottsdale Road and Mescal Street when she was T-boned by a Jeep Liberty, driven by 25-year-old Maren Christensen, about 9:15 a.m.
Roth-Sacks was taken to the hospital where she passed away. Christensen has serious injuries but is expected to survive, according to police.
Clark said the investigation is ongoing.
Scottsdale Road was closed between Shea Boulevard north to Cholla Street while police investigated and was reopened about 1 p.m., according to Bruce Dressel of the Scottsdale Traffic Management Center.
Stay with cbs5az.com and CBS 5 News as this story develops.
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Talk triumphs over protecting kids
The many damning reports from Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond to the B.C. legislature on the issue of child abuse prove that some things never change.
Turpel-Lafond is the Representative for Children and Youth for British Columbia. She is not an employee of any government ministry, but reports independently to the legislature. She has never shied away from carrying out her duties in an intelligent and forthright manner.
I have never met her, but I sense an intelligent, tough, dedicated and knowledgeable person and we are lucky to have her in her current post. Without her, there might not even be a glimmer of hope that there can ever be an end to several decades of ongoing provincial government systemic incompetence in dealing with child abuse.
Turpel-Lafond has investigated and reported on many child abuse cases and the deaths of several children who were wards of the province or various aboriginal agencies. Her findings have usually outlined what she sees as serious shortcomings in the protection of children who are wards of the various systems.
In the mid 1980s, I won an award for a series I wrote on adoption procedures and foster homes in British Columbia. The several cases I investigated led me to the conclusion that many of the people who were then in power and in a position to effect significant changes simply didn't really care.
It appears that nothing much has changed except the letterheads of the various ministries who have overlapping jurisdictions in child abuse and foster home issues.
Although it was many years ago, during my investigation I found one of the major obstacles to initiating any positive change was the ongoing and constant turf wars between competing ministries and agencies that pervaded the system.
That multi-jurisdictional mess continues to place young lives in jeopardy. It involves aboriginal groups, and various federal and provincial ministries.,
In short, the bureaucrats have shown through their lack of effective action that they couldn't care less,
As a result, needless child abuse and deaths continue unabated.
In one of her latest reports, Turpel-Lafond referred to a case where provincial child care workers investigating a report of child abuse would not enter a native reserve because they were told they weren't welcome. They subsequently turned around at the entrance to the reserve and left without taking any action.
Some time later, the 11-year old child in question was Tasered by police in an incident where the child apparently raged out of control.
Turpel-Lafond's review of the background details revealed that there had been 30 separate occasions over the years when the ineffective or total lack of action of provincial child care workers resulted in needless chaos and continuing abuse for the child.
She has also reviewed other cases where such bureaucratic failure has led to tragic deaths.
In one report to the legislature, Turpel-Lafond stated that, over a 12-year period, the province had spent $66 million to supposedly improve the system dealing with child abuse and other related matters, but she could not find a single instance where anything had actually improved over that period of time.
She concluded that talk had triumphed over action in the failing system of child protection in British Columbia.
It would be easy to conclude that the blame for the systemic failure of the province to protect children from unthinkable abuses could be fairly dumped in the lap of Christy Clark's Liberals, but the terrible wrongs have continued unabated throughout several administrations, including Gordon Campbell, Glen Clark and Mike Harcourt.
There is no point in expecting our local MLAs, Doug Bing and Marc Dalton, to do anything constructive about the government's abandonment of its responsibilities for the protection of children. They're both too busy waving flags on the Christy Clark bandwagon as it rolls along the paths of ignorance.
Sandy Macdougall is a retired journalist and former district councillor.


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HB 118 / HB 180 / HB 332 / HB 377 – Sunshine Law. Changes the laws regarding the Open
Meetings and Records Law to allow certain meetings and records regarding
policies, security systems, and structural plans regarding any terrorist or
public safety or health incident to be closed.
HCS HBs 256, 33 & 305 – Sunshine Law. Extends the expiration date of certain provisions of the
Open Meetings and Records Law. Includes provisions similar to HB 118 and HB
180, and also specifies that any records or flight logs pertaining to a flight
or request for a flight, after the flight has occurred, by an elected member of
the Executive or Legislative branch, must be an open public record.
HB 330 / SB 273 – Crime scene photographs. Requires specified crime scene photographs and video
recordings to be considered closed records and not subject to disclosure under
the Open Meetings and Records Law.
HB 492 – Sunshine Law. Changes
the laws regarding the Open Meetings and Records Law, commonly known as the
Sunshine Law, on records or documents involving law enforcement officers,
including allowing the closing of any records regarding internal investigations
by law enforcement agencies into the fitness and conduct of a law enforcement
officer or any record regarding a law enforcement officer's employment status;
allows the closing of any record regarding a police shooting if it contains the
name of the officer who did the shooting, unless the officer has been charged
with a crime as a result of a shooting; prohibits any law enforcement agency
from disclosing the name of any officer who was the shooter or one of the
shooters involved in a police shooting unless the officer has been charged with
a crime as a result of the shooting.
HB 600 / SB 122 / SB 139 / SB 170 – Sunshine Law. Extends the expiration date for the
closure of certain records, meetings and votes relating to operational
guidelines and security systems to December 31, 2017. Among other provisions,
requires a public governmental body to have received evidence that a lawsuit
has been filed or have correspondence from a party stating that litigation will
be filed under certain circumstances before it closes meetings, records and
votes due to "a cause of action"; requires that only members of a public
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|Set in the future with a bunch of gangs. If anyone has a suggestion for the title I'd love you forever.
Clown Story?
Chapter One
Fear. Her heart was pounding as she ran, ran away from the apartment. He wouldnt find her this time. He had left, gone, went to a meeting at school. She would escape him this time, this time it would be different. She would run as far as possible to lose him. She ran through the darkened alleyway, the sound of rats scratching through garbage followed her everywhere. She was heading towards the highway, and at last she reached it. Panting, she extended her thumb, indicating she wanted to be picked up. An enormous semi pulled over, and she climbed in next to the driver. A stench of stale tobacco and sweat reached her nose, and she looked over to see a man in his late thirties. He wore a dirty white wife beater shirt, with yellow stains around his armpit and as he smiled at her a gold tooth sparkled suggestively.
Hey Sweetie, He said in a rough voice, Where you heading? She gritted her teeth. She would do anything, anything, to get away from the man who had kept her prisoner.
I dunno, how far are you going? She smiled cutely and bit the inside of her cheek as he reached his hand over and rested it on her thigh.
At last she reached her destination, as far as possible from the apartment and man from before. As she slammed the door of the semi and gave a last sweet smile at the disgusting driver, she was hit with the smell of the ocean. It was fresh, symbolic of a new beginning. A breeze hit her face and she smiled, this time, a real one.
God dammit Rachel! Keep your point up! Rachel winced as a blade came through the space she had left unguarded and opened a wound on her arm. As she stopped in shock and looked down at it her opponent came up with his sword, and stopped just in front of her throat.
Do you surrender? He asked. She nodded in reply and offered her wrist up. It looked like she was going to get another scar there.
Persia, we need another fighter, Rachel just isnt skilled enough. Malady approached Persia after the fight she had just ended with her opponent, her forehead moist with sweat. She had won her fight, of course.
I know, well get a replacement soon enough if thats what fate wishes for us. This wasnt good. Their last couple of fights had barely been won, none of them thanks to Rachel. In fact, Rachel had lost all of her battles. If the rest of Persias fighters werent as good as they were, the gang wouldn't have had a chance. As it was they couldnt risk fighting for second. Rachel made the team weak, and that couldnt be left alone. The lower gangs had heard of the loss of one of their fighters, replaced with a bad one, and had been swarming the place like mad. Fights had been instigated almost everyday for the past week. If only Christie hadnt left. Persia shook her head at the thought; it was good she got away. It was hard to get out of the slums, and Christie had been smart enough to get a scholarship, and Persia had made sure she made use of it. Replacing Christie with Rachel was the only option left open to Persia at the time.
Arianna approached the school with cheerful thoughts in her head. She still hadnt found any sufficient shelter, or gotten enough food last night, but she was optimistic. Anything was possible with him out of her way. Arriving at the main office, she smiled at the secretary and filled out an application form. She was now an official student at the school.
Welcome to Point High School, the secretary said, Ive put you in some classes that sound like theyre about right for you. Heres your sheet with all the room numbers and your classes. If you have any problems with any of your classes, just come back here and well see what we can arrange for you. Second hour should be starting right about now. Your class is right down the hall and then to the left.
Thank you very much. Arianna skipped off to her class. She looked down at the sheet the secretary had given her. A128 it said for her second class. Opening the door of the classroom, she walked in quietly and took a seat.
Persia watched as the new girl came into the room. She was short and innocent looking with a soft smile on her face, but she knew right away this was the girl that would take Rachels place. Taking out a piece of paper, she scribbled a quick note to Malady, watching for the teacher to turn his back, and threw it on Maladys desk. Malady opened it and looked questionably back at Persia.
Her? She mouthed, pointing to the new girl. Persia nodded in response.
Malady began writing a note back as Persia waited patiently, feigning interest at what the teacher was saying. This was her third time taking the class, and she already knew it all. Her grades were good, but she wasnt college material. No colleges would accept her because she was in a gang. Although no scars marred her wrist, and no weapons showed on her person, the college committee had somehow gained wind of her involvement with gangs. With Malady it was even more obvious. The girl was just wicked looking, but she had a fierce loyalty to the gang. Malady was her second in charge; respected and feared by most, and fawned over by the boys.
Finally a crumpled paper landed on her desk, shattering her thoughts. She opened it as quietly as possible and read it silently.
Are you crazy?! That girl doesnt look like she could hurt a bug, much less fight with weapons.
Persia wrote a reply on the same sheet, under what Malady had wrote.
Look at her eyes. Theres something there, shes strong, I know it. Its fate.
She once again threw the paper to Malady and received back another reply.
Enough of this fate bull crap. I trust you though, so I guess if you think shes it, than shes it.
Persia smiled. Her belief in fate annoyed Malady to no end sometimes, but they shared a special bond with each other. Although most people at the school would never have guessed that Persia was actually of a higher rank than Malady, when it came down to it Malady really was just a follower, beneath her scarier exterior.
The bell rang and the students exited class. Persia watched the new girl, and was disappointed to see her next class was almost all the way across the school from hers. Off to history class she walked. The teacher in this class was her favorite. Although she wasnt a very big fan of history, Mr. Polenn made it come to life.
Today, we have to do a bit of review. I know most of you have heard this thousands of times, and that this is no new news for anyone, but its required curriculum. So open your text books to page 105 and read until 108. Tomorrow well have a fun day if you guys do good today.
Students groaned with the reading they had to do, but Persia complied willingly. It was about WWIII. True, everyone knew about it. Ah, well. With a sigh she started to read.
In 2035, WWIII had begun. It started with tensions between the Middle East and the U.S. but it ended with almost all the countries involved. Peaceful negotiations were trying to be made between the U.S. and the Middle East countries, but the leaders were stubborn and suspicious of the westerners, and for good reasons. Throughout the ages, the U.S. had passively been against them, and things had just intensified in 2001 when the World Trade Centers in New York had been destroyed by terrorists. Finally, the terrorists had become too powerful, and began to take control of the Middle East countries. They began to drop nuclear bombs on the U.S. in 2037, and the U.S. had retaliated. Many innocents were killed during the tragic war. The world population was cut down by almost half. Dozens of orphanages were filled up, most in very poor conditions.
Persia stopped reading. WWIII had only ended five years ago. In fact, Persia had come from one of the orphanages. Most of her gang members had come from orphanages too. The bell that signaled the end of third hour finally rang.
Persia headed off to the last class of the day, and was surprised to see the new girl enter it as well. During class, Persia studied her. She was quiet, and intelligent. Boys gazes wondered over to her long red hair, to her iridescent gray eyes, to her chest, and further down. Persia smiled and thought about the competition that would develop between the girl and Malady. Their appearances were completely opposites, which struck Persia as amusing. While the girl gave off a sort of innocent, harmless vibe, Malady was aggressive and sexy. The last bell of the day rang and her classmates anxiously left the classroom, a few giving the new girl lingering last glances before exiting into the hallway.
Arianna was as happy as she could ever remember being, and so free. She had never really been free before, except for the few weeks between her time at the orphanage, and when her teacher had invited her home. Although no outward expression change, inwardly Arianna cringed at the thought of him. She was only twelve when she had first met him. After running away from the orphanage she had been in, she had slept in alleyways and ate out of garbage cans.
She went to school anyway though, because without education there was no where she would be able to go. He had been her English teacher, and had pulled her aside after class. He told her he knew she was living on the streets, and had kindly offered to let her sleep on his couch. What a fool she had been. He kept her basically as his prisoner for three years. She had tried numerous times to escape, but he always seemed one step ahead of her. Arianna was convinced he must have had people watching her, because wherever she ended up, there he would be. Finally she had worked up enough courage to go to another city. And here she was, free at last. She was again homeless, but it didnt matter, as long as he was far away.
She was so caught up in her thinking that when he passed her in the hallway and gave her a smile, she though it was just in her mind. But when he spoke, her thoughts and hopes were shattered.
Hello. He said; with that one word bringing back all of her fears and hatred. She would never be kept by him again, she would kill herself if need be.
Persia was walking behind the new teacher when she saw Ariannas visage change so visibly. First a look of complete horror crossed her face that was quickly replaced with burning rage. The look Arianna gave the teacher was so full of hatred it made Persias spine tingle. The teacher gave a chuckle and kept walking.
Arianna saw Persia looking and her poisonous expression quickly turned back to shy smile. Persia wasnt fooled, and smiled back, knowing that Arianna was indeed the one her gang needed. Her spirit was beyond any she had met before, and her feelings were easily hidden.
Arianna was panicking inside her mind. He had followed her somehow. She had to get away again. It was all beginning to seem so useless. The city that had seemed so fresh and energetic when she first arrived now seemed violent and foreign. She should have stayed in the old city, where she knew her way through the streets.
On her way down the stairs that led down from the school she was stopped by a girl.
Whatever he did to you, I can help you get revenge. She whispered into her ear and slipped a note into her hand, walking off.
Arianna opened the note to see an address. At the bottom was a three pointed Jokers hat. Suspicious that the girl had been sent by him, Arianna crumpled the note, but at the last minute shoved it into her pocket. A car pulled up beside her as she made her way onto the street.
Arianna, a familiar voice inside said, Arianna, come back with me.
Never! She screamed, throwing her backpack in his face and taking off. Without realizing it she ran to the deserted warehouse district. Her feet came to a stop, and she looked up to see the number 3 plastered onto the side of one of the warehouses. Taking out the note she had cramped into her pocket, she looked back at the 3. It was the same address as on the paper.
She opened the door cautiously and was taken off guard by the commotion inside. Girls were sprawled all around the empty warehouse, except, it wasnt quite so empty. There were couches and tables and sleeping mats rolled up in a corner with a pile of blankets and sleeping bags nearby. What took her aback the most was the way the girls were dressed though. All of them wore clown suits. Face paint was seen everywhere, and everyone had a round, red clown nose. They all turned to face her as she walked in, staring in complete surprise.
Come in and close the door. Said a voice within the crowd. The voice disentangled itself from a card game and came towards her. It was the same girl who had given her the address. Arianna obeyed, closing the door behind her and stepping in.
Who are you? She asked suspiciously.
My names Persia, The girl replied.
Was it really wise to already give her your name? A very pretty girl with short brown hair, and a scar over her eyebrow asked, glaring at Arianna with even more suspicion that Arianna had. We dont even know if she wants to join us, or, more important, whether we want her.
Arianna was approached by a girl around the age of seven. The girl handed her a long weapon.
With no warning whatsoever Persia drew a thin sword and attacked her. Persias sword was a flurry of motion and Arianna blocked desperately, refusing to lose ground. Surprisingly, her weapon seemed to fit her perfectly, and she was able to block all of the blows. With just as little warning as the fight was started, it was stopped.
What the Hell was that about? Arianna asked frustrated and panting.
You wouldnt have stood a chance if Persia was really trying. Said the clown with the short hair. She wore a red painters hat and revealing skin tight clown suit with a frilly clown collar around her neck, and matching frills at her wrists. Her boots were black and military style that came up to her knees. Again Ariannas gaze traveled to her face. A blue tear was painted on her cheek, her face dominated by the red nose. Her scar seemed to add character and mystery to her, rather than looking like something that didnt belong. All in all she was very intimidating.
Thats Malady. The little girl who had given her the weapon appeared again. Well, actually, her real names Melody, but she fights so fiercely that people began to call her Malady.
Plus, it sounds cool. Malady added laughing.
Im Popcorn, said the small clown, the weapons expert. The weapon youre holding is called a glaive.
Arianna took the time to take notice of her weapon. It was like a bow with a blade on top.
Its good for keeping distance when fighting, but its not very good if your opponent tries to close in. The blade on top is exactly eighteen inches in length and the whole thing is perfectly balanced. If you ever have any problems with it, come to me. And with that the little girl backed off, her big red clown shoes squeaking. She was only about four feet tall with blond hair in pigtails. She wore a white tank top and a big puffy polka dot skirt. A yellow sun was painted on her left cheek, and of course she had the distinguishing nose.
Thats nice and all, but will somebody please tell me whats going on? Arianna didnt know whether to be irritated or excited, she settled with confusion.
Alright, Im going to explain this to you. Persia said. But, once I tell you, youre obligated to join, but once you do you get free food and shelter, plus the support of everyone here, basically like a family. And she added softer, in a serious tone, revenge. Its up to you.
And if I join, what do I have to do? Arianna asked slowly.
Youll have to fight. Was the simple reply.
Arianna stood in thought. Shelter, revenge, food, support, and the ever need family, what more could she ask for? What did she have to lose? Absolutely nothing. She came to her decision quickly but firmly.
Alright, Ill join. Now explain away.
|Flower of Fire (Chapter 2)
|Flower of Fire (Chapter 3)
|Flower of Fire
|A Night with the Faeries
|Flower of Fire (Chapter 4)
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Writing Romance Fiction Is A Feminist Act by Danielle Summers. (via therumpus)
"I believe that the lack of respect for the industry has much more to do with pure sexism than anything else. What could be more frightening to the establishment than an organized group of women with the intelligence and the financial leverage to say what they think? And they think that love wins. How dare they? How terrifying. We must subject them to ridicule."
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Tuesday, 02. September 2014
:: Home > General News > Glock Pays High Price In Hope Of Olympic Gold
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Austrian gun magnate Gaston Glock and his horse mad wife Kathrin have spent 11 million EUR (9 million GBP) on buying up an Olympic silver medal-winning show jumping horse in an online auction.
Gaston Glock, 84, who had a stroke in 2008 had married his former nurse Kathrin Tschikof, 31, after he divorced his previous wife Helga Glock, 71, in 2011. He then backed his new wife in setting up the Glock Horse Performance Centre close to their home in the state of Carinthia.
The couple often stage high-profile events linked to the centre which include a star line-up of VIP guests but the purchase of the horse, called London, is part of their ambition of winning an Olympic medal for their stables at the next Olympic Games taking place in Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, in 2016.
The 12-year-old horse competed at London 2012 with Dutch rider Gerco Schroeder, 35, and was among a group of 32 show jumpers for sale in an online auction after a Dutch court ruled last month (5 March) that the financial services company Rabobank had a right to collect assets from the bankrupt owner, Eurocommerce Stables.
It is expected that the Glocks will be asking Schroeder to once again ride the horse at Rio de Janeiro and the sale price reportedly includes a contract with the rider.
Although the total price for all the horses was 11,126,151 EUR (9,172,009 GBP), which is thought to be slightly less than expected, the Glock's had made a final bid of 8.6 million EUR (7 million GBP) for London which was more than twice what the animal had been expected to fetch. Together with taxes and fees, the amount the Glocks paid added up to 11 million EUR.
The sale of the horse is one of the most expensive ever and follows a similar sale made last September when Dutch horse breeder Jan Tops, founder of the Global Champions Tour, also paid a Swiss man 11 million EUR for the 10-year-old horse Palloubet d'Halong.
Austrian Times
(will be approved by an editor before going online)
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text:
Attention Brad Inman: I don't want your dipshit "most influential" citation again this year, either, but it is beyond obvious that I am by far the most influential voice in the on-line world of real estate.
Let's start with some music, just to set the mood:
So: If you run in the wrong circles, these are the kind of "arguments" you can expect to hear about me:
- Greg Swann is mean.
- Greg Swann is rude.
- Greg Swann is vulgar.
- Greg Swann is angry.
- Greg Swann is cynical.
Here is an argument you won't hear anywhere, except possibly at BloodhoundBlog:
- Greg Swann is wrong, and here's why…
You won't hear the latter argument for two reasons: I don't take positions I can't defend with an impervious impenetrable invulnerability. And: If I should happen to discover that I have been wrong, generally I will be the first person to figure that out and I will announce my error to the world immediately.
What explains all the ad hominem arguments cited among the first set? You figure it out.
These are the kinds of games that some folks are running while making these persuasively useless claims about my character:
- They piss and moan to each other about me behind my back.
- They campaign with each other to try to damage my interests.
- They pester contributors here to try get them to abandon BloodhoundBlog.
In each of these cases, I think they're doing me favors — which assertion will probably just piss them off more. People who run in mobs don't like me, and I don't like them. Anything dominating personalities can do to recruit those folks to their own side of the table can only save me time in the long run.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this song summarizes my position on this kind of behavior — along with every other kind of behavior:
Recent events have made it more than obvious that I am by far the most influential person in the wired world of real estate. People are wasting irreplaceable hours and days of their lives obsessing over me, topping each other with tales of how ardently they don't pay any attention to me.
Why would this be so? Again, you have to figure this out on your own, but my take is that they know I'm right and yet they don't want to be right.
- Greg Swann is right about the National Association of Realtors. It is a vicious conspiracy against consumers by real estate brokers. By drafting and lobbying for legislation promoting "churn" in the real estate market, the NAR was the sine qua non culprit in the collapse of the global economy.
- Greg Swann is right about real estate licensing laws — and about occupational licensing laws in general. They serve to enshrine mediocrity, to ossify bad business models and to provide camouflage for crooks and incompetents — all to the net detriment of consumers.
- Greg Swann is right about dual agency. There can be circumstances where it cannot be avoided, but there cannot be any circumstance where it is fair to both parties.
- Greg Swann is right about the cooperative brokerage commission. It is nothing more than camouflaged sub-agency — every agent, even the putative buyer's agent, works for the seller — and the buyer is effectively unrepresented in real estate transactions.
- Greg Swann is right about the TwitBook time-wasting fad among real estate professionals. It is nothing short of a perfectly-rusted irony that people are bitching about me behind my back by wasting their time on TwitBook.
What does hating Greg Swann pay? It pays just as much as every other form of TwitBook time-wasting, as it happens, but it may turn out to be even less beneficial in the long run. There's no destruction like self-destruction.
Just so you know: All of this means this much to me: It is instructive and eye-opening to me to watch these displays of mass cowardice, and commenting in this way affords me an opportunity to help other people learn how to resist what they might think would be an intolerable social pressure but which is, in fact, about as interesting and threatening as a cloud of gnats. To that extent, at least someone is getting something out of this mishegoss.
Meanwhile, the bald-headed big baby of real estate, Brad Inman, is putting together another list of "real estate's most influential people," a list I have been cited on before — which citation I always renounce.
How much more rust can collect on the irony? This year's "most influential" will consist mainly of TwitBook time-wasters — self-anointed, self-promoting "leaders" of the TwitBook time-wasting fad. In consequence, Brad Inman will be just that much closer to destroying real estate representation. This may not be his goal — what conscious goals do big babies have? — but this is the end of his road, even so.
Which is just that much more reason to denounce the list now, and to renounce any mention of me made on it later.
What does it actually mean to be "influential" in an endeavor run by a criminal cartel? Ask Frank Serpico. Ask Galileo. Ask Socrates.
Am I claiming a false grandeur for myself by comparison? Perhaps so. But it sure looks to me like I'm earning it.
But don't ever forget the Unchained Manifesto: You never have to take shit from morons.
And just so there's no doubt, let's get Tom Petty to remind us, once again, what it means to be Unchained:Related posts:
53 comments
53 Comments so far
Chris Johnson November 9th, 2010 10:42 pm
I love you being you, about 85% of the time.
I believe you're mentally ill 15% of the time.
I don't mean these as insults.
I'll post a soaring melody in a bit. A song that's been playing all day through the tedious motion graphics edits that I've been stumbling through.
Tweets that mention BloodhoundBlog.com | Attention Brad Inman: I don't want your dipshit "most influential" citation again this year, either, but it is beyond obvious that I am by far the most influential voice in the on-line world of real estate. | November 9th, 2010 11:02 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Real Estate Feeds, My REALTY. My REALTY said: Attention Brad Inman: I don't want your dipshit "most influential" citation again this year, either, but it is b… http://bit.ly/95jpn2 [...]
Greg Swann November 9th, 2010 11:16 pm
> I believe you're mentally ill 15% of the time.
Simply another fallacious ad hominem argument. You've offered no rational dispute to the claims I've made, but you've added another entry to the lexicon of mob mindlesssness: Another irrational justification for people to pretend to themselves they are rejecting arguments they can't get out of their heads.
This post is simply an expression of the exposition of exuberance and indomitability I made Sunday. If you plan to argue with me, you should argue with me at the fundamentals.
Chris Johnson November 10th, 2010 12:14 am
Oh, sure. The basic arguments are sound. Those you generally get right, or almost right.
My argument was that by picking on Jay Thompson et. all about things that don't matter…you diffuse your effectiveness.
I'm not sticking up for Jay, I skimmed his post, and it didn't seem like he was "crowing," but perhaps he edited it after the fact. Picking on him and acting like a sandlot bully makes it tough for people to approach you.
It has never done me much good to let on that I think I'm smarter than the people I encounter.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 12:26 am
> It has never done me much good to let on that I think I'm smarter than the people I encounter.
Good grief. Well, they'll never guess it now.
Your speech comes straight from the mouth of Peter Keating. You can't shout me down in your head. That's the problem.
Doesn't matter. I'm right, and I'm winning. The more they act up, the more they prove my case.
In any case: I'm going to keep my own counsel, thanks and then some.
Chris Johnson November 10th, 2010 12:55 am
It's hilarity that you falsely ascribe ad hominem to me and then retort with an untrue analogy/straw-man combo.
I don't dispute most of your ideas (I'll prove with case studies that being on TwitBook has bankable value, and that the methods taught by the twit book crowd are indeed worthless).
Greg Fleischaker November 10th, 2010 5:06 am
Isn't it possible to be both right and wrong at the same time? And just because you may be right on one subject, does that automatically mean you are correct on every subject? Perhaps it is your tone that is off and not your reasoning.
As I write this comment, I see the note above my comment box: "Leave A Civil Reply". I believe my reply is quite civil, not at all in keeping with many of the posts I read here. You don't have to curse to be uncivil.
Teri Lussier November 10th, 2010 5:49 am
I would never in a million years write a post like this. I find it shocking. It makes me very uncomfortable. I'm not sure I agree with it but I don't know what I disagree with because this post is almost too disturbing to read.
I often find what you say shocking, and disturbing, too. Sometimes you write the most beautiful, inspirational, glorious words. Sometimes you write absolutely hilarious essays. Always you make me think but I don't know that any of that matters. I love you for never censoring yourself due to my (or anyone's) unique sensibilities and I love you even more for never wanting me to censor myself for you, this place, or anyone else. Speak your mind. Own your words. Take your hits. But always, always, be yourself.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 7:35 am
I said:
>> They piss and moan to each other about me behind my back.
>> They campaign with each other to try to damage my interests.
>> They pester contributors here to try get them to abandon BloodhoundBlog.
You said:
> Perhaps it is your tone that is off and not your reasoning.
Is it your argument that a mob of angry people is morally justified in trying to censor me and to damage my business interests because they don't like my tone?
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 7:41 am
> Speak your mind. Own your words. Take your hits. But always, always, be yourself.
I love it. Those words should be enscribed on mirrors.
This was a very fun post for me to write, but we had a huge day all around yesterday. I showed with three parties, wrote a contract fro the third, unsnaggled an appraisal issue to get a house set to close next Wednesday, and Cathy closed a monster, one we've been worrying at for months. It wouldn't matter to me if I had to dig soda cans out of dumpsters to earn my living, but the reality of my life is that I work only with people I like, respect and admire — quite a few of them millionaires. I'm sorry so many people are angry at me, angry enough to behave atrociously, but none of it makes any difference to me. I press on regardless, and I get where I'm going.
Jessica Horton November 10th, 2010 7:44 am
Not that you really care, but do you know what I see when I read this post?
I see a person who deeply loves the real estate industry. I see a person who believes very strongly in freedom, property, privacy and doing things right. I see a person who longs to help people escape from the prison of their own thinking.
I also see a lot of frustration. I sense some real pain too.
Greg, very few are willing to see what you see–even when it is right in front of them. Very few are willing to swallow the truth that you often pour…a persons hypocrisy burns going down (esp. when you're drinking a double, like me!)
Now, I'm the last person who has the right to throw any stones, but I would like to say this: A deluge of arrogance begins with a small drop of self-importance in our own minds. Don't place yourself in a position of weakness by overestimating your own strengths.
Quod me nutrit me destruit.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 9:17 am
> I also see a lot of frustration. I sense some real pain too.
Untrue. I'm having a great time, always. If you have a question about me, feel free to ask. I conceal nothing.
> Don't place yourself in a position of weakness by overestimating your own strengths.
I have nothing to gain or lose. I hate to see people behaving in this way, but, as destructive as it might be to their own egos, it impacts me not at all. That much is funny to me, and we've been through this exact same dumbshow — what? — five or more times now. People who can learn from experience will do better. Everyone else will be right back in this same place ten or fifteen months from now.
Jim Klein November 10th, 2010 10:13 am
>>>How much more rust can collect on the irony?
Take it from a lifelong Michigander—even you can't imagine.
Jessica offered…
>>>Don't place yourself in a position of weakness by overestimating your own strengths.
A person may overestimate his instantiated strengths, but it is impossible to overestimate his potential strength on any matter relevant to the Splendor he lives. We are each Atlas in this regard.
Personally, I think that next to those stupid signs the fed put up in Arizona, they should add one about Greg…
"Warning! Human on the loose!"
Brian Brady November 10th, 2010 10:13 am
I figured out which version of that song influenced you when you wrote this, Greg. It wasn't Pearl Jam. Their melodic cover, by a band uncomfortable in the limelight, just doesn't feel like you.
I love the Cash cover but it sounds lonely and unsure; I don't sense either in this post
Clearly, you're soaring (which has nothing to do with the delusions of the mentally ill) when you wrote this so it has to be the original. You picked the Superbowl 42 version, which is significant because Tom Petty performed,(at the event which is THE fusion of culture, sport, and entertainment) the same way he wrote it (clean and decisive).
If you're an investor, home buyer, or home seller, Greg Swann may be the most influential real estate broker you'll ever meet. If you read his linked proof, he explains that the game is rigged against you, exposes two flaws in the compensation model, and disproves the theory that FourSquare is somehow gonna sell your property. Oh, he offers practical solutions, to tilt the field to your advantage, when hiring a broker. Those solutions will be the most influential factor, about the way you transact real estate, for the rest of your life.
If you're an industry reader, consider this:
There are about five influential companies in the online RE game- HomeGain, Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and CraigsList. Two of those companies have partnered in a business venture with Greg Swann. 3 of those 5 companies sent executives to Phoenix, to speak at a Greg Swann conference. 4 of those 5 companies' CEOs have commented on Greg Swann posts, soliciting honest feedback about the product or service they offer.
To those of you who bray about Greg Swann's "mean-spirited" presentation, pointed at the results of an NAR-sanctioned instructor, I ask where your objections were when a similar question was directed at Greg Swann, in the Spring of 2008 (then wondering if he was "qualified" to teach at Unchained).
Greg Swann is a discomfiting man because he challenges you, what you've been taught, and what you are (or aren't) doing. He does so directly which exposes the lies you've told yourself. Rather than embrace that shortcoming, you subordinate your self-loathing to the comradery of the mediocre, aligned in the certitude that "Greg Swann MUST be wrong because, well…he's not syrupy".
THAT makes Greg Swann incredibly influential.
Greg, I think you owe Brad Inman an apology. He's been the only guy who consistently recognizes that you are one of the most influential people in this space- and he has the guts to say the unpopular to the mediocre.
Jim Klein November 10th, 2010 10:32 am
Ditto Brian on the RE biz. This is like watching a Rand novel come to life. She surely had this much right—people despise the good for being the good.
If some computer programmer would write, "Greg, you're an idiot because line 352 in your code should read…" well, that might carry some value. Instead the disagreements are all about the principles Greg's got perfectly correct. Not much value there, I'd say.
When a person spits on Greg for the grandeur of his ego, they are spitting upon the fact that an ego can be so grand. IOW, they are spitting upon themselves.
No wonder there's so much hate in the world. Who could stand such a view of himself?
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 10:32 am
> Greg, I think you owe Brad Inman an apology. He's been the only guy who consistently recognizes that you are one of the most influential people in this space- and he has the guts to say the unpopular to the mediocre.
Now this I agree with, not so much for your reason, but simply because I use Brad Inman as an punching-bag for everything I think is evil and wrong in the real estate industry, which is not entirely fair to him. If we got rid of the NAR, Brad Inman would just be around, that's all.
Here's a unifying theme, something I should develop in a post:
When Inman News attacks real estate representation, the implication is that buyers and sellers actually have nothing to gain from an agent. This is the same argument made by the bubbleheads, and by the Realty.bots, at bottom.
When the NAR promotes churn in the real estate market, the implication is that buyers and sellers actually have nothing to gain from working with a real estate agent. Churn is simply a jobs program for Realtors the NAR itself views as being useless in a free market.
When the TwitBook librarians tout wasting time online, their official argument is that TwitBook is the new Sphere of Influence. But the Sphere of Influence argument itself implies that buyers and sellers actually have nothing to gain from working with a skilled real estate agent. A nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse, and a good TwitBook buddy is all you need to guard your interests.
These are all insanely stupid arguments, but it's hard to fault people for making them. Realtors are willing to talk about anything except getting good at this job — not just good at marketing or prospecting, but good at delivering the goods — finding the right house, negotiating the right deal, nursing the transaction to get it to close — delivering full satisfaction every step of the way.
Real estate representation is an immensely valuable service — but who would know that when all anyone can talk about is how useless Realtors are?
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 10:38 am
> You picked the Superbowl 42 version, which is significant because Tom Petty performed,(at the event which is THE fusion of culture, sport, and entertainment) the same way he wrote it (clean and decisive).
I'm sure I've told you this: Tom Petty has hundreds of letters from people who, when being pressured into making an intolerable choice, found the strength to stand firm in the words of that song. That is what art is for.
Brian Summerfield November 10th, 2010 11:49 am
> Greg Swann is right about the National Association of Realtors. It is a vicious conspiracy against consumers by real estate brokers. By drafting and lobbying for legislation promoting "churn" in the real estate market, the NAR was the sine qua non culprit in the collapse of the global economy.
OK, I'll bite. Do you really want to argue that NAR was the central culprit of the global economic collapse?
Let's say we fulfilled your wildest dreams, and made NAR vanish from 2000 to the present day. Do you really believe that opportunistic politicians, clueless ratings agencies, mismanaged GSEs and, perhaps most importantly, Wall Street institutions that were trying to manufacture dizzying profits via fantasy finance could not have managed to create a housing bubble without us?
On a totally unrelated note, Tom Petty sucks. I only listen to his brand of middle-of-the-road dad rock when I really need to get some shuteye.
(Full disclosure: I am an employee of "the NAR," but all of this is my personal opinion. Especially that bit about Tom Petty. I'm sure many people who work here like him.)
Brian Summerfield
Online Editor
REALTOR Magazine
Keith Dobbs November 10th, 2010 11:52 am
Greg, several years ago your posts were filled with hope and excitement. Today, you become less and less relevant to our industry with every flame post and comment you make. Some arrogance and anger showed through in your writing back then, but at least you were relevant.
It may be difficult for you to see the change, but here is at least one way: Look above the comment input box. It says "Leave a civil reply. (Flame comments and all keyword spam will be deleted.)" That was written by the same man who just called somebody a dipshit in the title of this blog post. Surely you can see the amazing hypocrisy there right?
I miss the old Greg.
Greg Jarvis November 10th, 2010 12:10 pm
Attracting eyeballs doesn't make you influential. The reason you're seeing a spike in page views is not because you are debating some issue of importance, rather, we are entertained by you. We come to this blog for the same reason we would watch Jerry Springer, except here we can at least feel like we're working.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 12:29 pm
> Do you really want to argue that NAR was the central culprit of the global economic collapse?
The NAR cannot simultaneously insist that it is the most powerful lobbying group in real estate and then escape the blame for the mess it made in the economy. From the CRA to the GSEs to the Fed, the NAR was the sine qua non factor in the destruction of trillions of dollars of wealth.
> Let's say we fulfilled your wildest dreams, and made NAR vanish from 2000 to the present day. Do you really believe that opportunistic politicians, clueless ratings agencies, mismanaged GSEs and, perhaps most importantly, Wall Street institutions that were trying to manufacture dizzying profits via fantasy finance could not have managed to create a housing bubble without us?
You're guilty of two specious arguments:
The first is kind of a convoluted tu quoque: If the NAR hadn't mugged the world for the temporary benefit of real estate brokers, someone else would have. As with all logical fallacies, stipulating the claim does zero damage to the original argument. Whatever might have happened in the imagination, what did happen was that the NAR wrote and lobbied for a vast array of legislation that, taken together, caused the housing boom, which in turn resulted in the current housing bust.
Second, you assume that if the NAR did not exist, nothing else would. The NAR's crimes did not originate in the year 2000, but in 1914 and before, when it undermined the right to work — via occupational licensing laws — on its path to undermining property rights. It is certainly true that Rotarian Socialism is a villainy created by many villains. But the NAR led the way to catastrophe then, as now. Had a true defender of property rights risen up to resist the Rotarian Socialists of the Progressive era, things would be very different now.
When you say, "Yeah, but," by the time you get to the comma you have already conceded the entire argument you are affecting to dispute.
There is no possible doubt that the greatest agent of evil in our body politic today is the National Association of Realtors.
I salute you, though, for having the guts to take on the question in public. If the Grand Poohbahs of the NAR had your kind of courage — and assuming they're just ordinary good-hearted babbits and not knowing exponents of the kleptocracy — I could set them straight in no time flat. The longer they wait to correct the defects in their thinking, the worse things will be for all of us.
John Kalinowski November 10th, 2010 1:20 pm
Is it most influential, or most confrontational?
My comments on your posts have never had anything to do with whether you are right or wrong. I think you have very good ideas that could change our industry, and perhaps the world. My point is that your method of delivery is difficult for most anyone to swallow, which is where you're missing the chance to be influential.
Challenging ideas and concepts, and even individuals is one thing. But to personally attack an individual like Jay, a guy who hasn't even mentioned you, seems a bit much. To also go after his individual agents, calling them names when you really know nothing about each person is again offensive to most. Yes, that may be the way you function and you may not care what people like me think, but it is also why your excellent ideas may never become truly influential.
Are you really influencing the industry in any great way, or do you just have a bunch of curious onlookers who enjoy the show? Outside of the few members of the Bloodhound pack, is anyone really doing anything to change or implement your concepts? If not, how is that influential? Your ideas are valid, and most would make sense, but if you really want to change the world and have real influence, you need to work on the people-skills component of the presentation (my opinion, of course).
Confidence, exuberance, bravado, and a general state of indomitability may be positive traits, but constantly rubbing it in your readers' faces is a turn-off to most, even those who may generally like you and agree with your concepts. At some point, they will just change the dial and go on with their lives and you'll miss your chance at being any sort of influence in their lives. You're trying to be influential, but at the same time you're coming across as the dominating personality you dislike so much.
If you follow two of the world's most famous investors, Warren Buffett and his partner, Charlie Munger, you'll know what I mean. If Charlie had been the front man all these years, most people would have ignored the two and they likely wouldn't have made the influence they have on the investment community. There's a reason Warren is out front. It's because people enjoy reading and hearing what he has to say, and the way he presents their ideas and concepts. If Charlie wrote it, I can imagine most of it would go nowhere.
The truly influential people in today's world didn't get there by putting down others and constantly saying how superior they are to the rest of the world. You won't see Steve Jobs or Bill Gates writing a 20 paragraph manifesto about how incredibly influential they are. Nor will they write blog posts about those who criticize them and their ideas. They do one thing; they show up and perform. And what happens? In true Seth Godin style, people join their tribes and change the world.
You my have the best ideas in the world, and be completely right in your concepts, but if you stand in your underwear every day on a busy street corner in New York City, and shout your ideas as loud as you can, making fun of those who walk by and telling them how great you are, will you really influence anyone? I'm sure lots and lots of people will appear every day to enjoy the show. A few may debate your points, and a small percentage may join you, but most will just shake their heads and go on with their lives.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 1:42 pm
> A few may debate your points, and a small percentage may join you, but most will just shake their heads and go on with their lives.
Did you read the post, John? So far we have two sorts of arguments against me:
1. Still more ad hominem characterizations.
2. The implication that people are morally-justified in trying to censor me and to damage my business interests because they don't like my tone.
What evil actions will the mob be allegedly morally-justified in taking if I should piss them off even more?
Are these positions you actually want to take? Is the world that results from that kind of thinking one you want to live in? What will you do when the mob turns on you?
John Kalinowski November 10th, 2010 1:48 pm
Honestly, just trying to help. If your goal is to be truly influential, I don't see you getting there with your current tone. It's obviously your blog, and your choice, and in that regard I guess ultimately my opinion doesn't really matter. Unless you want it to.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 2:08 pm
> If your goal is to be truly influential
It's not my goal, it's a statement of fact. That's the point: I have gotten inside the heads of a lot of dominating personalities and their hangers-on in the RE.net, and they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to shout me down inside their own minds — and from there trying to silence me in reality.
I don't consider this a positive outcome, but it is so nevertheless. As I said, I'm interested for two reasons: To watch how it plays out, and to teach other people how to resist that kind of social pressure.
As I pointed out on Sunday, you have never met anyone like me before. Instead of telling me again and again how wrong I am, you might pause to reflect on what I'm getting right: With nothing other than my own solitary voice, I have taken on the world: The entire online philosophical conversation about real estate is a reaction to my positions.
This is not happening in an open, honest, straight-forward way, but it's hard to see how it could: The other side, writ large, is a criminal cartel. In order to agree with me — thus relieving the awful pressure they feel inside their own skulls — the people campaigning against me behind my back would have to renounce crime.
Jim Klein November 10th, 2010 2:14 pm
FWIW John, I thought that was a very good comment, particularly on the point of how to influence people. Of course, I don't know if being influential is really Greg's goal, so I don't know how relevant it is to him. Frankly speaking, I don't really care. That's Greg's business, not mine…I have more than enough goals myself, to keep me busy.
The one thing you've got wrong IMO is that Greg is trying to say "how superior [he is] to the rest of the world." I read him as exactly the opposite, and I think that's obvious. Just to take the recent point of indomitability, I don't think he was trying to express that he's indomitable and everyone else isn't. The point is rather that ANY person is indomitable in this fashion and that if Greg is unusual, it's because he recognizes this truth.
And he's right about that, period. Everything else about domination, whether emotional or physical, follows from that. And so do our social interactions, whether in a business sense or a political sense.
That's the substance and everything else is style. You can argue about what style produces better results but considering that the fundamental principles are evaded by nearly everyone, and have been for thousands of years, I'd say that it's clearly not a question of style but rather a stubborn and habitual refusal to integrate the substance.
Further, I'd say that using the style as an excuse to evade the substance is nothing but exactly that—an excuse. And in the end, it's a huge disservice to the person using that excuse, since he is denying himself the value of such important truths. If there's anything more important to an individual than knowing the facts about himself–his nature–then I for one can't imagine what it is.
John Kalinowski November 10th, 2010 2:28 pm
Greg & Jim – You're both missing the point. I'm not arguing the message or the substance, just the delivery.
Like Greg Jarvis said above; It's all just Jerry Springer if people miss the substance because of the attacking and demeaning style. Lots of eyeballs, but no real change.
Brian Brady November 10th, 2010 2:32 pm
"You're both missing the point. I'm not arguing the message or the substance, just the delivery"
With much respect John, I suggest that you may be missing the point. If you measure influence in throngs of back-slapping fans at the AAR convention, then Greg ain't got it. If you measure it by the organic growth of consumer-friendly business practices, practiced by people who digest it here, its unparalleled online.
Jim Klein November 10th, 2010 2:43 pm
>>>Greg & Jim – You're both missing the point. I'm not arguing the message or the substance, just the delivery.
I missed that point? I wonder what not missing it would look like!
>>>Like Greg Jarvis said above; It's all just Jerry Springer if people miss the substance because of the attacking and demeaning style.
Oops…slight misstatement. They don't miss the substance because of the style. They miss it because they choose to use the style as an excuse to miss the substance. That would be on them, of course.
>>>Lots of eyeballs, but no real change.
Yeah well, a lot of this isn't new. Epicurus had as gentle a style as one could have, and people have been evading his truths for thousands of years now. Rand was no piker and to this day, even most self-proclaimed Objectivists choose to evade her messages.
A person can use whatever excuses he chooses not to see a fact, but the fact still doesn't change.
Brian Brady November 10th, 2010 2:44 pm
"I think you owe Brad Inman an apology."
I was more goofing than not. It is pretty cool that he won't take you off that list, though.
"Real estate representation is an immensely valuable service — but who would know that when all anyone can talk about is how useless Realtors are?"
True. This is the overarching theme of BHB. We do valuable work, for what is perceived as high pay. If Greg's post about the other Phoenix broker proved anything, it's that 97% of the Phoenix real estate brokerages are on the thin ice of profitability.
Worthy customer questions to answer: How much? Why? Can I get it cheaper? Why shouldn't I get it cheaper?
Those answers are what we've been spending time answering here (better than the industry hacks do), for four years.
Less agents (who read BHB) are having problems answering those questions. In fact, I think they're charging more than they did 4 years ago. That's influence.
John Kalinowski November 10th, 2010 2:47 pm
Where is the "organic growth"? That's my point. If only a tiny percentage pay attention to the delivery style enough to benefit, then aren't they the actual back-slappers, in the irritating locker-room-jock-with-a-snap-towel way? If the message irritates the majority and doesn't make it's mark, are you really "the most influential voice in the on-line world of real estate"?
Again, I'm not attacking Greg, I'm trying to help, but I guess it will continue to fall on deaf, and stubborn, ears. His message would reach many more and the "organic growth" would be exponential, if he didn't speak in a tone that makes most people squirm. Again, his choice.
Brian Brady November 10th, 2010 2:58 pm
Summerfield: "Do you really want to argue that NAR was the central culprit of the global economic collapse?"
Swann: "The NAR cannot simultaneously insist that it is the most powerful lobbying group in real estate and then escape the blame for the mess it made in the economy. From the CRA to the GSEs to the Fed, the NAR was the sine qua non factor in the destruction of trillions of dollars of wealth."
Me: WTF? Y'all are at it again!
Jim Klein November 10th, 2010 3:04 pm
This is getting afield, but it's one of my favorite topics and so I'll indulge.
>>>If the message irritates the majority and doesn't make it's mark, are you really "the most influential voice in the on-line world of real estate"?
Greg already explained this. His memes get stuck in people's minds and they have to actually do things to evade them. Once again, what they do is not on him; it's on them. This is the meaning of "influential," and you are confusing it with "accomplishing particular results."
>>>I'm trying to help…
This is not a soup kitchen and there are no starving children here. If you take nothing else from Egoism, take this…there is only one person on Earth that you can help in this fashion.
John Kalinowski November 10th, 2010 3:09 pm
@Jim – You can keep your Egoism.
And why don't you include a link with your name?
Brian Summerfield November 10th, 2010 4:02 pm
Greg: While I really enjoy your writing and agree with you about a lot of things, I believe your characterization of NAR as a vast, all-powerful conspiracy is hyperbole (although I don't dispute that we have an effective lobby).
And the "trillions of dollars" of wealth destruction was not caused by NAR, but rather by financial "innovations" dreamed up on Wall Street — such as CDOs and CDSs — that attracted way too much capital to risky, opaque, overvalued and ultimately unsustainable investments. I wrote about this in more detail in a review of Michael Lewis' The Big Short:
Don't get me wrong: I'm not out to blame the collapse on the free market. If anything, the big investment banks should have been allowed to fail (again, my personal view) for their poor management of risk and capital.
Jim Klein November 10th, 2010 4:10 pm
>>>@Jim – You can keep your Egoism.
Duh. And you, yours. Like it or not, you're an egoist every time you lift a forkful of food to your lips. I just extrapolate, that's all.
When you manage to ingest something and nourish another person, please get back to me. I promise to be impressed.
>>>And why don't you include a link with your name?
Because currently, being influential is not a priority of mine. But I've got a thousand score of posts and comments out there, if you're really that interested. Don't misunderstand…I enjoy helping others; I've just got much higher priorities right now. Plus, I only want to help those who want my help; the others can go crazy all on their own!
Did you have anything else?
Jim Whatley November 10th, 2010 5:17 pm
"Never explain — your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway."
Elbert Hubbard quotes (American editor, publisher and writer, 1856-1915)
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 6:32 pm
> "Never explain — your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway."
Love it.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 6:46 pm
> I believe your characterization of NAR as a vast, all-powerful conspiracy is hyperbole
I didn't say that. I said the NAR was the sine qua non (without which not) cause of the debacle. I strive to be very precise in my word choices.
Primus: Do you dispute that the NAR was the pioneer in using legislation to manipulate the residential real estate market?
Secundus: Do you dispute that the NAR was complicit either in drafting or lobbying for the legislation — for example, to loosen the reins on the GSEs — that made the financial manipulations you quite properly decry possible?
Tertius: Do you seek to claim that those financial manipulations could have happened in the absence of the legislation drafted or lobbied for by the NAR?
I don't think you can answer "yes" to any of those questions. Ergo, we have demonstrated that the NAR was the sine qua non cause of the global economic collapse. Wall Street is not to be trusted, I agree, but it was the NAR that created the weapons we used to destroy our wealth.
It is possible that the same sorts of things might have happened without the NAR's intrusions into the quasi-free markets, but the legislation that ultimately led to the collapse of the housing market — and thus to the collapse of the global economy — originated either with the NAR or with its pet congresscreeps.
What's worse, frankly, is that, whether its Grand Poohbahs are evil or stupid, the NAR has learned nothing from the devastation it has caused.
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 7:02 pm
> His message would reach many more and the "organic growth" would be exponential, if he didn't speak in a tone that makes most people squirm.
I've been doing this for 30 years, John. I know how to make very sound arguments, and I know how to make them in such a way that people who will not accept them can't get me out of their heads. They have to try to shout me down all the time, and yet my arguments won't ever stop calling themselves to their memories. I don't know that driving people crazy advances any objective of mine — or grows anything any which way — but it does seem like a very appropriate flavor of justice to me. Meanwhile, folks in the middle pick one side or the other. To the extent that I'm interested in growth in numbers in my side of these debates, I'm only interested in people like me — people of independent mind. I don't like or trust people who need to be led, but, even then, people who need to be led are easily led astray.
Sean Purcell November 10th, 2010 7:06 pm
We come to this blog for the same reason we would watch Jerry Springer…
I watch Jerry Springer for the girl-on-girl cat fights. Greg, will you be imposing on Teri to actually make your site like Jerry Springer? (He asked with 'bated breath…)
Greg Swann November 10th, 2010 7:30 pm
> Greg, will you be imposing on Teri to actually make your site like Jerry Springer?
Frankly, I would rather seen an exhibition of feminine marksmanship. I'm thinking you might not enjoy that as much, though.
Teri Lussier November 11th, 2010 4:28 am
Oh my lawz.
Primus: You do know I can read, right?
>Greg, will you be imposing on Teri to …
Congratulations. You just discovered the second reason I would yank the cord and get off this bus so fast it'll give you whiplash.
Tertius: … Happy?
Sean Purcell November 11th, 2010 9:26 am
Mea Culpa
I apologize for the confusion in my last comment, I should have broken it into two paragraphs.
The first stated my puerile and prurient interest in Jerry Springer.
The second asked if Greg would be imposing on Teri to take her commentary down a notch from its customary level of erudition, as it makes me jealous and at times drives me to bad television.
The one had absolutely nothing to do with the other. I hope this puts to rest any inference to the contrary…
Sean Purcell November 11th, 2010 9:29 am
On a more serious note: I read the commentary here critiquing Greg's tone and wonder how so many people can ignore? miss? the context. When Greg writes about the dozens of innovative ideas he has for agents, he does so with clarity, selflessness and what I perceive to be a genuine interest in giving to whomever wishes to take. On the other hand, when he writes about enslavement, systemic larceny, and the heinous act of self-destruction, he is also… what? Passionate? Pleaful? Strident? Good grief, what should it be: measured?
"Ahhh, excuse me, Greg; when you point out that the house is on fire, would you mind not being so loud? Oh, and by the way, I'd like a more dulcet tone as you decry the institutionalized raping and pillaging going on around us."
What nonsense…
Maybe what offends is his lack of any willingness to provide cover for compromise; to leave a little "wiggle room" around the edges; to make allowance for any view other than that found in a full length mirror. Whatever it is, try not to get lost missing the forest for the trees.
Al Lorenz November 11th, 2010 12:04 pm
Greg doesn't massage his messages to be "politically correct" to the sensibilities or the Realtor community or anybody else. Thanks for that!
Brian Summerfield November 11th, 2010 1:23 pm
OK, this is going to have to be my final comment on the matter. (Greg, if you're ever in Chicago, we can discuss this further over drinks of your choice. I'll buy.)
There are a few points of disagreement here, but my main problem with your argument is that you claim that NAR is the central (or "sine qua non") culprit in the economic collapse. Here are a few relevant facts:
1. NAR did not slice and dice mortgage bonds in a way that exposed investors to levels of risk they weren't aware of.
2. NAR did not rate mortgage bonds with lots of garbage loans in them as AAA.
3. NAR did not swirl up dizzying amounts of artificial capital through derivatives around these investments.
4. NAR did not perpetuate fraud throughout the lending system.
I'm definitely not conceding the point, but for fun, let's say NAR did have as much influence over the housing market as you claim. A housing collapse in and of itself did not have to be nearly as economically destructive as it was. My main argument is that Wall Street, not NAR, inflated and expanded this bubble to a point where a downturn in housing could knock over other parts of the global economy like a row of dominoes.
Also, FWIW, I have no problem whatsoever with your tone.
Todd Carpenter November 11th, 2010 1:31 pm
I'm not one who's generally offended by your tone. The only time you've ever made me angry is when you accused me of buying my suits at JC Penny.
Teri Lussier November 11th, 2010 4:45 pm
Nice try.
It's a good thing I'm so fond of you otherwise I'd have to use my feminine marksmanship.
Greg Swann November 12th, 2010 6:19 am
> The only time you've ever made me angry is when you accused me of buying my suits at JC Penny.
More Greg Swann hypocrisy: I love the menswear department at Pennys. I don't wear suits, but for slacks and dress shirts, they offer a terrific value for the money.
Greg Swann November 12th, 2010 6:42 am
> my main problem with your argument is that you claim that NAR is the central (or "sine qua non") culprit in the economic collapse
I understand everything you're saying, and I agree that all of that stuff was bad. But consider this:
You're 16 again, back home with the folks. Straight-A student, Ivy-bound, Eagle Scout, part-time job — a model youth. Your parents are going out of town for the weekend, and they decide that they can trust you home alone.
Bad idea. You invite a few friends over for a little get-together, no big deal, mom and dad will never know. Except your friends invite a few more friends, and one of them invites some bikers, who in turn practice their off-road racing skills inside your parents' house. Disaster ensues.
Who did the most damage? The bikers.
Who is the sine qua non cause of that damage? That would be you. Without which not.
I don't think the NAR is anywhere nearly as innocent as you would have been, in that scenario, but it remains that the disastrous policy of Rotarian Socialism in the housing market was initiated, nourished, cultivated and celebrated by the NAR — and still is.
Again, I salute you for coming here and taking this on. My wish, if we're going to have the NAR at all, would be for it to discover and champion true free-market capitalism.
Confession: I'm Not Writing that Many Real Estate Contracts | All Phoenix Real Estate.Com November 14th, 2010 2:40 pm
[...] and I nod knowingly, or at least try my best to nod without giving away my hidden truth. Hell, even the most influential voice in the wired real estate world is writing multiple contracts all in an effort to secure a single property for his [...]
BloodhoundBlog.com | Looking for a Realtor designation that really means something? How about this? "Too Outspoken For Redfin." | National real estate marketing and technology blog | Realtors and real estate, mortgage and investment news November 16th, 2010 11:54 am
[...] known this was going to happen since last Tuesday. It's what I was writing about in my most influential voice in the on-line world of real estate [...]


text:
Style Map
Daily Dispatches From The Global Scene
The reign of Georgia May Jagger continues. The pouty-lipped, doe-eyed model—who, at this rate, we'll have to start calling "super" soon—has nabbed Chanel's Cruise campaign, if the leaked shots that have hit the Web are to be believed. [Fashin via Refinery29]
Cathy Horyn weighs in on Christopher Kane's unlikely partnership with Donatella Versace, "an odd mix that works." She also floats the speculation that Versace will invest in Kane's namesake line, which Kane doesn't deny. Embroidered flowers on patent leather for everyone! [NYT]
Williamsburg's favorite hipster eatery, Marlow & Sons, is leaving no scrap unused: The restaurant is now making bags from skins of animals it uses for meat. This is both slightly gross and slightly amazing—in other words, echt Williamsburg. [NY Mag]
We know what Daphne Guinness wears to the movies, but London's Times asks the tough questions: What does she wear to the gym? The answer—Rick Owens tees and leggings, apparently—and more choice Daphne-isms make the article well worth a read this morning. [Times Online]
And brace yourself for Lady Gaga, the book. LADY GAGA: Critical Mass Fashion hits stores this September. [Daily Front Row]
one should be wary of "models" who skip the runway phase – "all" that ms. jagger did in milan was dolce & gabbana and d&g (well, ok, that's a lot), but i am not sure paris was vastly better (price tag?) – among the newest-to-very-newest crop of runway models, i am more interested in ms. caroline brasch nielsen (who debuted in paris, and swept the (runways of the) city), ramona chmura, ming xi, hyper-chic amanda norgaard, ylonka verheul, daphne groenveld, mia temirova, kirsi pyrhonen, and (not quite brand-new) keke lindgard (many key slots), rasa zukauskaite, sharon kavjian, kate kosuchkina (too young! but arriving at last), kristy kaurova, vanessa hegelmaier, fascinating tati cotliar, and coveted julija steponaviciute, and that's barely delving into the enormous nearly-brand-new group….. \,,/ twitter
I think that one of the great trends for Spring and Summer fashion this year is flowers: Floral prints and bright, summery shades of local flora.


text:
The active winter weather isn't going anywhere, and with more ice and snow comes more dangerous driving conditions. That's keeping local collision repair centers very busy these days.
"Everybody's been working harder every day because of all of the cars that are in here right now," said David Vickroy, general manager at the Collision Repair Center in East Moline.
"We took a head count ten days ago and we had 55 cars on the lot," he said, adding that the business usually handles 25 to 30 cars in an average week.
All of the extra cars are in the shop because of winter-weather related crashes.
"I'm seeing a lot of big hits, suspensions being knocked off, hitting the curbs," Vickroy said.
The boost in customers is a big turn around, after the mild weather the last few winters made for some pretty slow business.
This winter, the cars keep coming in, one after another after another.
"People don't even stop for an estimate, they just drop the car off and say 'I'll have my insurance company contact you, let's get it fixed'," Vickroy explained.
Kertesha Riley, a Davenport resident who crashed her car at the beginning of the month, says it took four days for the insurance company to be able to come check out her car.
"I talked to my adjuster and he was saying he had 25 to do that week alone, so it was pretty backed up," she said.
Riley is driving a rental car now because her car was totaled when she lost control on the I-280 bridge when the roads were slick.
"The back of my car hit the guard rail first, and then I swerved back into traffic, and then I hit the front of my car on the guardrail," she recalled.
"Even the tow truck guy, he had said he had responded to about ten before me and still had six more after," she added, saying she was not surprised by the number of car crashes that day considering the road conditions.
With so many cars to take care of, the pros have to prioritize, to try to make sure as many people as possible are able to get around.
"The people who are driving around there with a bent fender or a dent in their door, we hope that they understand that the people without a car come first," Vickroy said.
In the meantime, as the winter weather continues and business continues to boom, all customers are asked to be patient.
805 Brady Street, Davenport, IA 52803
Telephone: 563.383.7000
Fax: 563.383.7131
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
The Year
What was 2012 like in the Greater Vancouver real estate market? Well, nothing like 2011. But not nearly as bad as the bubble watchers predicted.
The balanced market slid into a buyer's market as the sales-to-listings ratio fell below 12 per cent.
Luxury home sales dropped by about 40 per cent, so mega-priced homes had less effect on average prices.
First-time buyers became scarce in Greater Vancouver after the government tightened requirements for buyers with less than a 20 per cent down payment. New buyers and buyers looking for affordability buoyed the Fraser Valley and Chilliwack housing markets.
Sales went into suspended animation as both sellers and buyers perceived a falling market. Buyers waited for prices to fall. Sellers removed their homes from the market because there was so little action from buyers.
As you can see from the chart, 2012 sales were consistently well below 2011 sales. A total of 25,032 homes sold in 2012, a decrease of 22.7 per cent from 2011′s 32,387. This was 25.7 per cent below the ten-year average, and the lowest level since 2000.
Listings dropped off in the latter part of 2012. Home owners who didn't have to sell didn't list at all, knowing they wouldn't get the high prices that prevailed until May. But even with all the pessimism (or optimism, depending on whether you're selling or buying), 2012 Greater Vancouver home listings were down only 2 per cent from 2011—which had the second-highest listings in 10 years. In fact, listings were actually up 0.6 per cent from 2010.
Benchmark prices—based on the price for a typical home in a given neighbourhood—dropped somewhat. Instead of 2011′s 7.6 per cent benchmark price increase, the 2012 MLS® overall benchmark price is down 2.3 per cent year over year. This prompted BC Real Estate Association economist Cameron Muir to respond: "I don't think that's going to institute any panic selling in the Vancouver real estate market. For all intents and purposes for most forecasts that's around a zero gain."
On the ground, price reductions became more common. Homes priced by the wishful-thinking method either had their prices reduced to come more into line with current values or stayed on the market for months on end. Or both.
So far, the more conservative forecasters have proven right. The Greater Vancouver real estate market seems to be experiencing a "soft landing" rather than a wholesale collapse. Last year was a much-needed normalization after a period of frantic buying and spiralling prices. That period ended in spring when Greater Vancouver benchmark prices hit their all-time peak. Since then, single-family house prices have retreated by 6.5 per cent ($62,237), townhouse prices have dipped by 4.4 per cent ($21,441) and benchmark prices for condos have gone down 12.8 per cent ($48,601).
Reuters news agency did a recent poll of 15 real estate market forecasters, including economists from banks, government and the real estate industry. The median prediction for Vancouver prices in 2013 was a drop of 3.8 per cent, with an eventual total decline of 12.5 per cent.
Why bother?
That seemed to be the attitude of sellers in the Greater Vancouver market in December. It's the slowest month for real estate sales anyway, sales and prices were starting to decline and there just didn't seem to be a lot of action. It was a continuation of the standoff between buyers and sellers that's been happening since October.
Sales and Listings
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reports that new listings fell by 50 per cent from November's numbers. Only 1,380 homes were listed on the MLS® for resale in December. Compared to December 2011, new listings were down 13.8 per cent.
December was the slowest month for sales in 2012. A total of 1,142 homes sold, 31.1 per cent fewer than the 1,658 in December of 2011. The 10-year average for December is 1,855, and last year's sales were 38.4 per cent off that mark.
It will be interesting to see whether listings remain low or the market sees the usual surge of listings anticipating the spring market.
|Dec/Nov 2012
|Dec: 2012/ Dec 2011
|Overall Sales
|- Detached
|- Attached
|- Apartment
|New Listings
|Current Listings
Benchmark Price (MLS® Home Price Index)
The MLS Home Price Index, which traces the movement of benchmark prices, tells the story. Prices for all home types are dropping, but more gently than they did after the previous peak in 2008:
REBGV's detailed statistics show only a few areas where m/m benchmark price changes are signficantly higher or lower than the average. Month over month, single-family detached house prices dropped by 2.1 per cent or more in Bowen Island, Burnaby South, North Vancouver, Port Moody and the Sunshine Coast, but were up by 1.5 per cent in Whistler (where prices are up 4.9 per cent over 2011.) Other places where prices went up year over year were Burnaby South, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Vancouver East and Maple Ridge.
Benchmark prices for townhouses were very stable compared to November and compared to December 2011. The Sea-to-Sky region saw some impressive price gains, though. Squamish prices were up 11 per cent y/y and 2.3 per cent over November; Whistler townhouses fetched 12.7 per cent more over the year and 1.5 per cent over November.
A few standouts in condo prices: Burnaby East, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows condos all made impressive price gains, from both November and last December.
That said, there were more drops than pops in benchmark prices in December.
|Dec 2012
|Nov 2012
|Dec 2012
|- Detached
|- Attached
|- Apartment
You can read the full stats package here.
You can watch the video update here.