(sidenote: I love that word. I once used it on a brother of a friend of mine. He was telling stories about his life that nobody believed. I said respectfully that what he was saying was awesome, but so awesome that it was Un-Believe-able to my mind. Beyond my ability to

comprehend. But in a “if it is true, you are a God” complimentary way.)

This buyer trick is like that. Maybe this will start to explain to you what a great thinking agent can do for you.  Give you that leg up. None of this comparing agents by the length of their bullet point list of offerings. (see video on not picking a listing agent by comparing bullet point lists)

What if I told you, you could get systematically alerts for new listings BEFORE THEY HIT THE MLS/MARKET!

And you thought FranklyMLS.com’s every 20 minutes was the fastest out there (One investor told me FranklyMLS new listing alerts are his secret to winning deals. Nope! THIS IS FASTER.

FranklyRealty.com is on fire, adding 5 full time agents (noticed I didn’t say “new,” we don’t take new agents) in the Va, DC and MD areas.

But also the agents are on fire.

I periodically do a search on the search bar of FranklyMLS.com for our company name: FranklyRealty.com. This lets you see in 1 click all of our Active and Under Contract (crossed out= UC) listings. Just one measure of how we are doing.

And this is what I was delighted to see:

• - 7 out of 8 Under Contract. (it only shows Listings, not our UC as a buyer’s agent)
• - The Days on the market was tiny for each one of them.
• - Every listing had 30 photos. Seems obvious to put 30 photos, but do a FranklyMLS.com search for any company (or agent) and see if EACH (or any) have that track record.
• What you can’t see in this screenshot is that most have a full motion walking video tour (some went UC too fast). Under 0.1% of agents do this, but here where “Excellence Comes Standard” ™ we do it all the time. (sorry for the cheese).

For those that like to poo on my parade by saying the “well they sell fast since you under price them“, you have no idea how many appraisal problems we have. (general blog post on appraisals sucking). And that is a good thing.

One agent from another firm told me “Why do extra like staging to get more? I just won’t appraise.” implying that she just knocks down her price if it doesn’t appraise. Poof., There goes $15,000, just cuz I guess we gotta match some random appraisers price and opinion. Not. Sure that is easier, but no thanks.

Instead of just acquiescing (nice word!) we pre-negotiate it into our counters or fight it if the issue comes up later.

FranklyMLS invites competing firms to join the site. Why?

(post upgraded from the franklymls blog)

Update 12-13-2011: Just to be clear this is not a data feed to Realtors of any kind. That would be against MRIS’s terms.

I offer several free services for Realtors from “competing” local firms. Easy to convince them because it is free? Nope, I spend a lot of time easing their fears & untrustingness (is that a word?). If you have an agent already (hey not everyone finds us first or is related to you), send them to read this.

I knew there must be a better way. There is too much technology and crowd collaboration to be the only person that wanted a better way to bid and beat the system. Now I have found it!  Here is a Video.

While I can’t reexplain everything I learned in one post, I can give you the highlights.

1) Databases of previous bids. There are sites like www.biddingtraveler.com and others that will show you what other people have bid and won. Also these sites will show you which are “secret” hotels.

2) “Re-bids” (that is the lingo) for Priceline Hotels. Normally Priceline only lets you bid once per 24 hours, unless you change something in your bid. For example changing the dates, star rating or location within the city. I finally found a trick that lets you rebid in $5-10 increments, sometimes 10-20 times. The way you do it is you pick the area you

want and the star rating. When you lose you then pick an area with no hotels with that star rating. That lets you rebid since you added a zone (with no risk of getting a place in that new zone).  And rinse and repeat. And if you travel with somebody else, you can rebid several time again with their account. Read more about rebidding here. And you can get $20 added to your bid if you have an Entertainment Card.

3) Bonus: While I don’t use Priceline for flights, I wish I did. I just found out that you can rebid an unlimited amount of times (like $1 increments) by changing your search like: DCA > Houston to: Alexandria Va > Houston. Priceline will recommend DCA… yet it still counts as a new search. So you just keep changing the city name endlessly until the price hits their secret reserve. Result… MONEY in your pocket!

Is this illegal? (disclaimer, I am not a lawyer… yet) Nope. Priceline acknowledges these techniques but says that currently only a tiny fraction of their users use this. I call that a green light for people willing to make the extra effort.

So how does this relate to buying homes? The point is:

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.

I’m sure millions of people think they can just head over to Kayak.com or Hotels.com and get “50% off” on hotels, when in fact they are paying within $5 what other people are paying. You probably didn’t know that there was a better way on Priceline to secure a $135/night for a 5 star that retails for $500+ and is “discounted” for $330 on Hotels.com (true example of my winning bid). And sure it isn’t for everyone, but for many people it can be extremely useful.

Just like real estate. I hear people say all the time “Well I just used the agent at the open house. Heck I knew what I wanted to pay so why not just get it done.” Why not? (as I pull out my hair (see photo of me)). Not only are you either using:

1) the listing agent whose sole responsibility is to their selling client (ie a stupid move in my opinion) or

2) the listing agent’s friend or newbie agent that has nothing better to do than sit in an open house waiting for a sucker (aka you). Most open houses are done NOT for selling the house, but for finding new buyers that don’t know any better (aka, didn’t read this blog).

Why not have an agent that advocates for you? They are called “Buyer agents.” (which is technically paid for by the seller, but we won’t get into that part now). While it might sound risky to eventually signing an Exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement (#1 on google for that phrase by the way, in case you want to be impressed by SEO), it can actually HELP you get a lower net. Also working with an agent that has done several dozen deals before…. maybe just maybe they know a thing or two. It isn’t just a big Madoff Ponzi Scheme. Stuff you don’t even know to ask. Stuff that will make the transaction go more smoothly and help you get a lower net. While many of your think rebating (see blog posts on Rebates, our motto is “I used to Rebate, but then I got good) is the best way to do that, I think the super educated see beyond that.

And for those that think “Well I have done it before, I’m too smart for using a buyer’s agent”… you must think I’m an Idiot.

Why? Well many reasons, but for one, I hired a buyer agent when I bought my house on Lake Barcroft. Negotiations 101 says you shouldn’t negotiate for yourself. But that is for another blog post, so make sure to subscribe in the upper right corner of this blog.

If you learned anything here, you will learn a TON by taking some time and reading more posts on this blog. Use the right side to find the category that interests you the most. And don’t miss the older stuff too.

Never too busy for your business and referrals (proof I’m not too busy for you [Video]).

Frank LLosa J.D.

Broker FranklyRealty.com

Owner FranklyMLS.com

FPP stands for Frankly Price Predictor and it is the coolest new feature on FranklyMLS.com. So cool, it is patent pending.

The goal of FPP is to predict a home’s closing price, IF IT SOLD TODAY.  Disclaimer: Please do NOT take it seriously. Consider it more like a TOY (at least for now).

FPP uses historic listing data (see below) to predict the price. It  is NOT an AVM (which uses tax data and home data). Try a search for Arlington Condos.

An “AVM” is an Automated Valuation Model. The focus is on “value,” and it is for every home, listed or not.

Tools like Zillow’s Zestimate and Cyberhomes, use public data and recent sales. Many consider them wildly inaccurate. But heck, it makes for GREAT marketing! (Hats off to the Zillow team!). How “accurate” are they? In a Zillow report, the DC area is one of their most “accurate” areas, yet not even 50% of homes close within 5% of the Zestimate. So over 50% of $500k homes are off by over $25k!

Are Zestimates better than tax data, sure! Will we still show Zestimates on FranklyMLS? Sure. The more data the better, right? Is it better than a Realtor combing through comps, heck no (and they disclose that it is not a Realtor replacement).

How is FPP different than all those other “AVMs” or Automated Valuation Models are “value” estimators?

FPP quantifies what agents and homebuyers do today, use their GUT FEELING. It looks at the listing and based on multiple variables, it gives a prediction for what the home might sell for IF IT SOLD TODAY. (not if it sat for another 90 days).

What listing data might go into a FPP?

• Days on the Market (obviously a biggy)
• Number of price drops
• Listing completeness (ie fewer photo homes sell for less See Photoless? Save $15k post)
• Listing agent’s past performance (see FranklyCRA.com)
• Brokerage performance
• Short sale, vs regular sale, foreclosures, new home
• User data, ie. how you save and watch homes.
• And much more listing data including location (some places drop faster than others), price range (certain price points drop more than others) etc.

How will FPP be displayed in Spreadsheet mode? Can I turn it off?

Searches will now default to be sorted by the FPP price! Why? Because who wants to see a home listed at $538,000 with no price drops after 132 days, next to a new listing at $540,000? We all know the 132 home will sell for much less (if it sells), so why not put it lower on the list with the $480k group? Also for those searching up to $500k, they might never have seen the home. Until now.

Also for simplicity sake, I rounded the FPP number to the nearest $1,000. I have always hated talking in terms of $538,283. So now that I built my own pricing model, I can do it my way. Clear and easy so digesting 100 homes on a page is a breeze.

Yes. You can turn off the FPP sort by picking a sort option by List Price. Then it will remember your settings for future searches.

How will FPP be displayed in the full listing mode?

By the penny!

Yep, a real time dropping price$$$. Heck, the longer a home sits, the lower the price,

so why not reflect it in real time? Remember, this is a toy, and NOT to be taken so seriously as to effect how you offer on a home. That would be silly.

So what do you think? Useful? Wasteful?

Are you down with FPP?

Frank LLosa

Owner FranklyMLS.com and Broker FranklyRealty.com

Crystal ball Photo by katerha, gut photo by sundaykofax, toy photo by doegox

p.s. Up next… soon you can enter in your work address and get real time distances to your work from each home for sale.

I called it in 2007 when I said that those $60-90 “processing fees” were illegal “kickbacks” that Realtors and Brokers got for pushing Home Warranty companies. (see 2007 post).

My exact words in 2007 in case you missed it: “I wouldn’t be surprised if soon there is a class action lawsuit that will come after these firms and the Realtors that are colluding to the detriment of their client.”

Well it finally happened. Of course the defendant doesn’t agree with or accept any responsibility. Here is the website announcing the class action settlement. It is against AHS, the #1 home warranty company. The period is from May 2007 to Dec 2010. AHS was selling home warranties for $400 and giving the recommending broker $60 to $90 in “admin fees.”

Why does this matter? Kickbacks are illegal under RESPA (google it).

And in case you missed it, our “Excellence Comes Standard” ™ client bill of rights #4 has always been, “No Home Warranty Kickbacks.” I know many might say “Duh, of course my agent should not be getting bribed,” but your Duh is not reality and yes agents get excited over $60. And yes it is only $60, but I think it signals a deeper problem of disclosure and fiduciary duty.

“Are you working on my behalf of not!” $60 here and… $10,000 there when your agent throws you under the bus, without authorization, and tells the other agent you are willing to pay more. And don’t think I don’t see this a fair amount. (ie sucky agents)

(Focus Frank, focus) The settlement calls for about a $45 to $60 refund.

Here is the tricky part. The settlement says those that qualify are “settlement class member’s purchase of the home service contract.” [sic] And supposedly people are getting letters from AHS telling them that they may qualify. But where are those letters likely to go to? To the home being warrantied! Who most likely bought the warranty? The seller! Ha. The seller’s contact information is usually nowhere on the application to purchase the warranty. So how do THEY get paid. I know, kinda boring and academic, but interesting to me.

What now? What is the latest trick or workaround?

Now the warranty firms (some stopped the practice) actually have the agent “do something” so it won’t be considered an illegal kickback. Not sure exactly what is done (if you know, add it to the comments). Probably it will entail having the agent walk around the house and check off boxes.

What a mess.

Should have just followed my advice in 2007.

Frank Borges LLosa J.D.

Broker FranklyRealty.com

Owner FranklyMLS.com

P.S. Hartly is almost one. (pic by AbbyKellyPhoto)

I had a great time with TJ and Stephanie. Thank you guys for being a great sport.

It took 9 months to find their home, and it was well worth the wait!

Part 1:

Part 2:

During that 9 months I also took some “behind the scenes” video with a point and shoot video camera. And since the show is supposed to be a behind the scenes view of buying a house, I called my own video a “behind the scenes, of behind the scenes.” (insert 3rd party laugh if you didn’t find that funny).

I hope to compile 9 months of outings and live negotiations into a mini webisode. It will be raw and informal, but hopefully you can really see more about how I work.

Apart from the full show I want to put on, here is one iPhone video that I posted on Twitter on their closing day. (Follow me at @FranklyRealty.)

and a funny little video here.

Dying for more reality real estate? Watch some oldies but goodies, with the D0UBLE AGENTS show from 5 years ago.

Don’t forget to subscribe for future postings.

Frank Borges LL0SA
Owner/Broker FranklyRealty.com

Why does it matter? Because on a $500,000 home each percent is $5,000! Any ignorance about commissions may lead to a royal ripoff. The trick is that less commission isn’t always more “savings”, but the flipside is also true, because a higher commission isn’t always followed with better performance. Knowledge is power.

Background: Ever wonder why there are nearly no Realtor blogs discussing commission structures openly? (probably not, but for the other 3 of you…) It all has to do with an AntiTrust price fixing case against a few Realtor brokers decades ago. (I just covered it in my AntiTrust Law class, this is my last semester at AU! for those that are curious followers.)

These brokers got together for a dinner at Congressional County Club in MD. The organizer was F0LEY, the then President of the Local Board of Realtors. He got up and said he was changing his firms rates to 7% from 6%. (insert tons of details here). 

His excuse was the market was horrible and tons of homes were listing, but nothing was selling, so they were in dire straits. Ultimately, several were found guilty of conspiracy to raise commission rates in violation of the Sherman Act, an Antitrust law.

Fast forward 30 years, the Realtor community is still terrorized and instructed to NOT TALK ABOUT COMMISSIONS publicly with other agents. And to even get up and leave a room if somebody talks commissions. I have seen it, it is pretty funny when the word commission is mentioned and everyone freaks out and becomes a lawyer “You can’t talk about that!”

It got so bad that the Virginia Assoc. of Realtors’ legal counsel didn’t want to say “6% commissions” when teaching agents, so he referenced a number of hypothetical “chickens” instead of using actual percentages. He happened to use the number 600 chickens. Hum, if that isn’t a wink wink to the number 6, then I don’t know what is. (see Blog post on topic or video see minute 11:20) Gimme a break.

In my opinion, in the end, this chill effect & gag order has the opposite result. Instead of colluding to increase prices, the new silence solidifies what the consumers (and press) think is the “Normal” Realtor Commission. And the press make it worse with headlines like: “Chipping Away At Realtors’ Six Percent” (link). Or Wikipedia’s “The median real estate commission charged…  6%”. This is WRONG. With misinformation like this, what is the consumer to think? Keep them in the dark, and they are worse off. So I’m gonna spill the beans on what is “normal.”

First a break down of the total commission charged.

This is VERY confusing to newcomers and consumers (remember confusion can be profitable). The listing agent (actually their respective brokerage firm) charges… lets just say 100 jelly beans (instead of using “chickens“). Of which some of that goes to the cooperating buyer agent. Sometimes it will be half (50 beans), sometimes much more, but rarely is it much less (ie. Statistically it is rare for the listing portion to be higher than the buyer agent portion).

ACTUAL STATS on the Buyer Agent offered Commission!

Example 1: In Arlington Virginia, looking at 100 active  regular (non bank, non short sale) listings from $400k-600k, they are offering (this data is only shown on the Realtor MLS and not public sites):

• * 3% commission to the buyer agent. 95% of the time!
• * 2.7% once
• * 2.5% for four of the listings

While that is consistent with what I have seen, there are variations in many areas and price points.

Example 2: Washington DC $400k-$500k, 200 active homes.

• * 3% commission to the buyer agent 62% of the time
• * 2.5-2.7% offered 37% of the time
• * Three listings had 3.5-4% (see video about “bonuses” below)

Example 3: SHORT SALES in Manassas. 35 actives

• * 2.5% commission in twenty listings (55% of the listings), plus four homes at 2% commission. Total= 66% of homes between 2-2.5% commission
• * 3% commission on eight listings or 26%

(In other words, short sales tend to offer only 2.5%. Buyer alert: Make sure the 20% lower buyer agent commission is NOT the reason your buyer agent is discouraging Short Sales. Only the buyer agent, not the buyer, knows the offered buyer agent commission before visiting the home. See also the benefits of an exclusive buyer agency agreement, see blog post)

So now that you understand how the buyer agent is paid, then you have the ammo to catch some trickery some listing agents pull. Because the commissions are bundled into one number, ie 100 jelly beans, they can offer less to the buyer agent to make the total number look lower.

Just last week there was a non-Redfin Realtor on Redfin’s forum advertising/discussing his new promotion of 3.5% total commission for a full service listing. I called him out on not disclosing the break down of that total (ie how much to the buyer agent). But since his actual last 2 deals offered 3% ($150k listings), I gave him the benefit of the doubt. But he responded that the 3.5% “deal” was with 2.5% to the buyer agent. Ok, no problem, but do you see how that can be confusing to the consumer?

Sidebar:  sometimes over 3% is offered to the buyer agent or a “Realtor bonus”. Here is a video of my talking on CNBC about this practice.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So now that you get the Buyer Agent “typical” commission, let us move to the key question:

“What is a Normal Realtor Commission?”

I’m splitting hairs here, but the word “Prevailing” or “normal” is confusing. Shouldn’t the question be “What is the AVERAGE Realtor commission?” The first questions is manipulated by the press and the silence on the topic. The second is fact (kinda).

Well thank goodness for REAL Trends! A non-NAR organization (NAR can’t track commissions in fear of AntiTrust laws, see page 14) that tracks the average. Well it was as low as 5% in 2005 (see Inman post) and in 2010 it was 5.4% (see story).

HOW HARD WAS THAT?

THE AVERAGE COMMISSION IN 2010 was 5.4%!

Finally, some real stats right?

Well kinda. That 5.4% average isn’t broken down. People like to assume it is half and half, but that is not likely. So if 5.4% was the average in Arlington, it would be 2.4% to the listing agent and 3% to the buyer agent. But the study is nationwide. And I don’t know what the rest of the USA charges or if they include FSBOs (see post on Saving $20k going FSBO).

And it isn’t clear if that amount covers the new trend toward charging what I consider bogus “Admin Fees.” (See my Admin Fee post and Ken Harney’s article. Or watch my video.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Regardless, the MOST I have seen is 3% (listing side) plus a $400 admin fee. However, I did hear one funny story. A large local brokerage firm was training their newer agents to go to a listing presentation with 7% prefilled into the contract. And then dramatically slash the 7% as if it was a “limited time only” discount or car promotion. Come on, give me a break.

Well does one “GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!”… ?

NO! (but I have many thoughts on realtor rebating, see post). Wow, do I hate that line and sooooo many Realtors use it when trying to defend their commission (google it). Why do I hate this pitch? Because I’ve seen a ton of “6%” agents that suck (blog post), or at least not do everything they should be doing.  Most agents don’t even do what I consider the basics. Stuff you would be like: “Duh, why don’t you use 30 photos?” This stuff is what we at FranklyRealty.com call (warning, upcoming link could be seen as a self promoting comment) “Excellence Comes Standard” in our Bill of Rights. Also when I started 7 years ago (I feel old now), I did a $1 commission on $3Million home. It launched my career and my first of four Wall Street Journal features, and I was worth much more than a buck!

YEP! 80-90% of listings don’t have the maximum 30 photos!

Don’t believe me? Do a FranklyMLS search for Arlington Condos from $400-$800k and sort by the # of photos column. Only 16 of 163, or 10% of agents posted 30 photos! This is embarrassing (Attn Agents: I have an online free 2hr photo class for agents, email me).

Why don’t they post 30 when it is free? Maybe because it can take 60 minutes with our antiquated MLS system. Expecting the “average” agent to wait an hour? Fat chance. And sure, maybe you read this post, and you stand up to your listing agent and say “give me 30 photos” and they say “SURE!”, but what else will they cut corners on? Those are the things that sell homes. Not the bogus checklist (see my spinning car video) including  and bogus pitch: “We will list your property on 650 websites.” (Disclaimer: I am not saying that an agent that takes 10 or 25 photos “sucks” and every agent using 30 photos is perfect,  but I’m saying why take that short cut?).

Under 0.1% of Listing Agent use Walking Video Tours, posted on the MLS. Even though it is FREE to them!

Few agents even know that there is only 1 service in the DC, Virginia, MD area MLS that will allow an agent to post an unbranded walking video tour of their listing, on the MLS. Why does this matter? I agree large super wide angle photos are the more important, but buyers also care about the flow of the house from room to room. A walking video tour (not those silly “flying photos” to jazz music virtual tours) gives that Sunday Open House feeling everyday. (see Frankly Agent Megan’s listing, and walking video example).

Also note that the rare listing agent that uses Youtube videos doesn’t count since the MLS doesn’t let you link to Youtube.

So sellers, tell your listing agent to upload a video for free at VideosByAddress.com or watch the 20 min How-to Video on making real estate walking video tours.

————-

Anyhow, I’ll stop rambling. Hopefully you learned something and this blog.FranklyRealty.com (don’t forget to sign up for new posts) will help you sift through the pitches and help you NET the most (see more posts on Listing Advice or Buying advice).  Because in the end, isn’t your NET (and hassle factor/convenience) what really matters? On the one hand you might get ripped off with one agent charging 100 jelly beans (metaphor for commission percentage, see above), but then you never see them after the initial pitch, and 3 newbie assistants run the show. Or you might find a great eager agent willing to do it for 20 Jelly Beans and still be “full service,” and do a great job.

Conclusion: Consumers deserve to fully understand what all of their options are and how the confusing Realtor commission system works. With this information they can make the best decision for their needs. Whether it be “flat fee” or “Discounted” full service, “average” full service,  or regular “full service,” but hopefully avoiding “crappy” full service.

Best of luck selling your home!

Written by Frank Borges LLosa- Broker/Owner FranklyRealty.com and FranklyMLS.com

p.s. Did you catch me on HGTV’s My 1st Place this month? p.s.s. Did you see FranklyMLS.com now has Zip Code boundaries?

And a photo of my son Hartly, now 8 months.

Photo Credit: Chicken & Jelly Beans

Please report typos.

For those of you that might be thinking “What or who is Frankly Realty?” and are

scared to pick a firm that only uses experienced full-time agents (go ahead, crank call any firm and say you want to start in a week as a part-timer and see how excited they get!”), this testimonial is a must read.

Background: This seller had experience selling several properties using “long standing, reputable firms.” But her latest home was listed unsuccessfully by 2 big brand agents for over 300 days.

Then Frankly Realty agent Cathy Poungmalai got the listing. Cathy suggested and helped with light rehab, staged it, used amazing photos (with a main photo collage) and several other techniques leading to “never a shortage of buyers,” 4 offers and this unsolicited testimonial.

Here are the testimonial highlights:
• “We’[v]e always used long standing, reputable firms”
• “Your statistics were remarkable”
• “[T]o tell you the truth, the fact that I had never heard of Frankly Realty scared me.”
• “The risk certainly paid off.”
• “4 contracts bidding against each other”
• “I am certain Frankly Realty will become an exceptionally recognizable brand in the near future”

You can see a copy of the SOLD listing here: www.franklymls.com/AR7390069

Thank you Ms. Araujo for trusting in us and Cathy, and for sending this unsolicited testimonial (anybody can ask somebody to say something great about them right?).

And great job Cathy! The best part is that this letter truly represents your typical client experience. You constantly keep the mantra of

helping your clients get the most value out of their home, while balancing speed and a smooth transaction.

So fence sitters, I hope this helps. Don’t think that bigger is always better.

Frank Borges LL0SA- Broker FranklyRealty.com and Owner FranklyMLS.com

Fence photo by LancerE

• P.S. Full disclosure back story: So as you might know, I hate it when agents manipulate stuff (like how almost every agent says they are “Number 1″)
  
  So I’m going to preemptively argue what you might be thinking regarding this listing and testimonial (heck, even if you weren’t thinking it). First of all, the two other attempts to sell this home were for a MUCH higher price.  One might easily try to blame it on price for not selling and not give credit to Cathy, who ultimately sold it. Sure price is very important, but those listings were not staged (at least what I call staging), and had horrible photos (albeit 30).

  Secondly, one might say that Cathy still had it for 60+ days on the market AND it didn’t get 100% of list price. Well, you can look up Cathy’s track record with listings here (did you know with FranklyMLS.com you can look up ANY agent’s listing record, also known as a FranklyCRA?) and see that 90% of her listings sold faster, with the median being 13 days! The real amazing part was how she got 4 offers that all started in the low $600’s to come up to $657,000. That takes effort and skill and that is what really leads to satisfied customers.

  Remember, at FranklyRealty.com, Excellence Comes Standard (tm) and this is typical of all Frankly agents.

  P.P.S. Cody, sorry for the delay since my last post, I had to step away to feed Hartly.

Also I have been posting a weekly video column for INMAN news called the Wheel Estate Cam. The video blog is mainly broker to agent focused advice.

This is video #30 on the Fiduciary Duty of Realtors and it is particularly relevant to consumers buying real estate in Virginia, DC and Maryland. Also it gives you a glimpse into how we work.

American U. Law School Update: Just two light semesters left! (I overloaded the courses pre-baby)

Our House Update: We bought a house on Lake Barcroft in Falls Church, Virginia.



While it has had major money pit-type problems (see my 10 favorite upgrades), I absolutely love living on a 135 acre LAKE only 8 miles from DC. If you are considering buying on or near this secret gem (Lake Barcroft), let me know and I can take you on a private boat ride of the homes for sale (requires lender pre-qual letter).

More information (including Youtube videos & Twitter posts) on the LAKE… at what better domain than my new and raw LakeBarcroft.com

Cliche closing statement: I’m not posting as frequently here, but I am posting on Twitter @franklyrealty and Inman (above). And of course, you can still contact me for your Virginia, DC or MD real estate needs, and no.. I’m not too busy for you, see here!

Frank Borges LL0SA

Broker/Owner FranklyRealty.com (new design!)