Daily Archives: June 6, 2011

Bedford Hills Realtor working for an Hourly rate: The solution to low real estate commission? | Inman News for Bedford Hills NY real estate market

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Hourly rate: The solution to low real estate commission?

Letter to the Editor

How much is your time worth? Perhaps it’s time to include an hourly rate in the buyer broker agreement. It’s not too hard to keep track of the time you spend for a particular client performing transaction-related real estate services (not marketing, prospecting, networking, or reading articles about real estate compensation).

The agreement can provide that the client shall pay the greater of the hourly rate calculation and the commission paid to the buyer’s broker. If the hourly rate calculation is greater than the (commission paid to the buyer’s broker), then the buyer will bring cash to closing.

The trick, of course, is recording your time. It’s not too much trouble for a lawyer, but may take some getting used to for Realtors.

Jon Cohen
Real estate broker
Portland, Ore.


via inman.com

Chappaqua NY Real Estate asks Why Google Android Is Just Less Secure than Apple | Search Engine Journal for the Chappaqua NY real estate market

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Why Google Android Is Just Less Secure than Apple

Every so often I get the pleasure of announcing more malicious software being found in the Android market, or a gaping security hole being revealed, or Google’s Android systems in some other way demonstrating that they are about as trustworthy as your average Dish TV salesperson. But studies, security groups, and other sources of analysis are continuing to teach us a clear lesson: Android has some security problems and the number of attacks faced by Android are only likely to increase over time.

But why are we picking on Android? Is Apple really the better option when it comes to security? No offense to Google, but yeah, basically, iOS is just more secure. That’s because of a few key difference between Android and iOS:

  • Apple controls both their hardware and their operating systems, which lets them push out security updates and patches immediately to all devices. Google, meanwhile, struggles with a variety of hardware types and every carrier in the known universe, meaning that it can take monthsor even years to get an update to the newest OS version.
  • While Apple vetts and curates their market heavily, Google goes off of a “let the market decide” mentality. This means that Apple finds insecure or malicious programs for you. Google lets you figure out when a program is trying to leech your personal information or light your handset on fire (metaphorically or internally).
  • Android is an open source system. While that’s great in many ways, both for developers and for spreading the system, it also means that hackers and cyber-ninjas have a deeper understanding of the code they need to overcome. It’s kind of like giving the enemy army a guard shift schedule and city blueprint.

That’s not to say iOS is perfect. The Apple App Store has also had some malicious programs discovered and removed. However, Android has had (according to Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure, an anti-virus firm) “several dozen cases targeting Android over the past 12 months” that were visible enough to be worth monitoring. Better yet, thanks to the explosion of smartphoen and tablet use, you can count on mobile cyber-attacks becoming exponentially more common in the coming years.

[via USA Today]

via searchenginejournal.com

Home clearance sale coming from ‘desperate’ sellers

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Home prices are already a third off their highs, but this summer could bring the real discounts.

Buyers are still cautious, and anxious sellers will have to price aggressively to get them off the fence.

That could result in a “summer clearance sale,” predicts Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia, the real estate web site.

“We don’t imagine a stampede of buyers, like outside of Macy’s on Black Friday,” he said. “We see this more akin to January sales where retailers are trying to get rid of stock before it gets stale.”

Several factors, he said, will lead to blow-out prices:

Accelerating price drops: Home prices have already reached their lowest level since the housing bubble burst, and are now at 2002 levels. Sellers will feel the pressure to make deals before their homes lose even more value.

Bloated inventory: There are boatloads of homes on the market, more than eight months worth at the current rate of sales. Many are distressed properties — short sales and bank repossessions. Such homes are selling at discounts up to 50%.

Tight credit: Some homebuyers still can’t obtain mortgages, limiting demand.

Unemployment: While the job picture has brightened, unemployment is still around 9%. People without jobs don’t buy homes, obviously, but high unemployment also rattles working people. Lacking the confidence that their jobs are secure, they may not look to buy.

These forces could all come to a head this summer, according to Flint, because of the cyclical nature of homebuying. Buying takes off in spring as many young families hope to make their moves before the new school year.

“By the end of the homebuying season, sellers will become increasingly desperate,” said Flint.

Full Story CNN Money