Monday, July 31, 2006
Forbes Richest Fictional Characters
Ok, there is no educational reason for this post. But if you ever wondered who was richer Bruce Wayne or Thurston Howell III, the financial writers at Forbes worked it out a few years back. I suspect with the real estate boom, you can up these numbers. If the links work, you can see how they arrived at the estimates. Where's Donald Trump on that list -- no way that character is a real person.
Rank
Name
Net Worth
1.
Santa Claus
$ ∞
2.
Richie Rich
24.7 billion
3.
Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks
10 billion
4.
Scrooge McDuck
8.2 billion
5.
Thurston Howell III
8 billion
6.
Willie Wonka
8 billion
7.
Bruce Wayne
6.3 billion
8.
Lex Luthor
4.7 billion
9.
J.R. Ewing
2.8 billion
10.
Auric Goldfinger
1.2 billion
11.
C. Montgomery Burns
1 billion
12.
Charles Foster Kane
1 billion
13.
Cruella De Vil
875 million
14.
Gordon Gekko
650 million
15.
Jay Gatsby
600 million
Rank
Name
Net Worth
1.
Santa Claus
$ ∞
2.
Richie Rich
24.7 billion
3.
Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks
10 billion
4.
Scrooge McDuck
8.2 billion
5.
Thurston Howell III
8 billion
6.
Willie Wonka
8 billion
7.
Bruce Wayne
6.3 billion
8.
Lex Luthor
4.7 billion
9.
J.R. Ewing
2.8 billion
10.
Auric Goldfinger
1.2 billion
11.
C. Montgomery Burns
1 billion
12.
Charles Foster Kane
1 billion
13.
Cruella De Vil
875 million
14.
Gordon Gekko
650 million
15.
Jay Gatsby
600 million
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Realtors are not Travel Agents
In some states, every real estate agent and broker must take continuing education classes.
Because I maintain real estate brokers licenses in a few states, in Pennsylvania for example, every 2 years I attend a 15 hour class.
This year I took a class on the new real estate sales agreement used in Pennsylvania.
The instructor is very active in the Pennsylvania (PAR) and National Association of Realtors (NAR), and was a key person involved in creating the 10 page Agreement of Sale. If you ever bought a house, you have probably witnessed a similar pre-printed 'standard' form.
In each state they want the Realtors using a pre-printed form, because they are not trained as attorneys.
Did you know which page of the form leads to the most lawsuits?
The blank page --- where the Realtor fills in language for some particular thing needed by the buyer and/or seller to do the deal! Whatever a Realtor writes in there is subject to interpretation.
The instructor opened the class talking about why they make the form so complicated -- so Realtors won't go the way of travel agents! I almost fell off my seat.
Funny, as you can imagine, in this class of 40 or so, no one really knew all the ins and outs of the form - scarry, as all these folks fill it out all the time.
The instructors main point about the form is that most Realtors think their job is to connect buyers and sellers. If that is true then they have about as much value as travel agents - he said.
However, if you know the ins and out of real estate law, you can keep your buyers and sellers out of a lot of trouble! And he is right about that. Worth way more than the 4-7% commission if you have a great agent. Just learning the nuances of that form was worth 1000's of dollars. Like in PA, did you know if your Realtor fills out the name of a mortgage company in the mortgage contingency and you use someone else, without notifying the seller by amendment, the Seller can cancel the deal and keep your deposit. Me either! One guy in that class who sells his own real estate did that 18 times as he gets pissed when people can't close on time because they are having trouble getting a mortgage. Buyer beware if you have a dumbass agent I guess.
I have to tell you it's a pain in the ass to give up 2 days to take these education requirements, but I always learn something and enjoy them - even though I never take anyone out looking for homes. I can fill out a mean PA form now, thanks Dominic!
The test was to fill out the 10 page form, I got a 97 on my test as my transcript came in the mail last week-- I was too lazy to stick around (you could have had him grade it in front of you). I wonder what I got wrong -- that could cost me if a buy a house in PA, I hope I use a good agent (I will it will be a Smarter Agent partner!). No worries.
Because I maintain real estate brokers licenses in a few states, in Pennsylvania for example, every 2 years I attend a 15 hour class.
This year I took a class on the new real estate sales agreement used in Pennsylvania.
The instructor is very active in the Pennsylvania (PAR) and National Association of Realtors (NAR), and was a key person involved in creating the 10 page Agreement of Sale. If you ever bought a house, you have probably witnessed a similar pre-printed 'standard' form.
In each state they want the Realtors using a pre-printed form, because they are not trained as attorneys.
Did you know which page of the form leads to the most lawsuits?
The blank page --- where the Realtor fills in language for some particular thing needed by the buyer and/or seller to do the deal! Whatever a Realtor writes in there is subject to interpretation.
The instructor opened the class talking about why they make the form so complicated -- so Realtors won't go the way of travel agents! I almost fell off my seat.
Funny, as you can imagine, in this class of 40 or so, no one really knew all the ins and outs of the form - scarry, as all these folks fill it out all the time.
The instructors main point about the form is that most Realtors think their job is to connect buyers and sellers. If that is true then they have about as much value as travel agents - he said.
However, if you know the ins and out of real estate law, you can keep your buyers and sellers out of a lot of trouble! And he is right about that. Worth way more than the 4-7% commission if you have a great agent. Just learning the nuances of that form was worth 1000's of dollars. Like in PA, did you know if your Realtor fills out the name of a mortgage company in the mortgage contingency and you use someone else, without notifying the seller by amendment, the Seller can cancel the deal and keep your deposit. Me either! One guy in that class who sells his own real estate did that 18 times as he gets pissed when people can't close on time because they are having trouble getting a mortgage. Buyer beware if you have a dumbass agent I guess.
I have to tell you it's a pain in the ass to give up 2 days to take these education requirements, but I always learn something and enjoy them - even though I never take anyone out looking for homes. I can fill out a mean PA form now, thanks Dominic!
The test was to fill out the 10 page form, I got a 97 on my test as my transcript came in the mail last week-- I was too lazy to stick around (you could have had him grade it in front of you). I wonder what I got wrong -- that could cost me if a buy a house in PA, I hope I use a good agent (I will it will be a Smarter Agent partner!). No worries.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Mobile Leads, you bet...
While we did a very short announcement we were granted a third patent, the only place we have told folks (for the moment) that Smarter Agent is now live (on Sprint and Nextel phones) is in this blog.
Nonetheless, we will shortly hit the 100 mark for users that have apparantly stumbled upon the application on their cell phone.
And we have already received requests from folks to find them homes similar to the ones that have recently sold in the neighborhoods they are looking.
This is significant.
This means the first leads ever sent to Realtors via consumers searching for real estate on their LBS cell phones has occured.
Maybe not the same as taking the first steps on the moon, but very, very exciting.
A new channel is born.
Nonetheless, we will shortly hit the 100 mark for users that have apparantly stumbled upon the application on their cell phone.
And we have already received requests from folks to find them homes similar to the ones that have recently sold in the neighborhoods they are looking.
This is significant.
This means the first leads ever sent to Realtors via consumers searching for real estate on their LBS cell phones has occured.
Maybe not the same as taking the first steps on the moon, but very, very exciting.
A new channel is born.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Mobile LBS patent issues on an appropriate day.
REVOLUTION expands mobile searching, commerce, and marketing. Starting with real estate....
On the 4th of July, the United States patent office granted a patent for mobile location-based services (LBS) that includes location-activated advertising in front of buildings.
The United States Patent Office issued patent number 7,072,665 to Brad and Eric Blumberg, the founders of Smarter Agent® (see http://www.smarteragent.com/).
This further strengthens the patent portfolio of the entrepreneur brother-duo as they now hold three patents relating to mobile LBS and global positioning system (GPS) triggered real estate and place-based searching, commerce and advertising.
Patents 6,385,541 and 6,496,776 were issued to the Blumbergs in 2002 and cover LBS triggered searching for property-centric information/commerce.
On the 4th of July, the United States patent office granted a patent for mobile location-based services (LBS) that includes location-activated advertising in front of buildings.
The United States Patent Office issued patent number 7,072,665 to Brad and Eric Blumberg, the founders of Smarter Agent® (see http://www.smarteragent.com/).
This further strengthens the patent portfolio of the entrepreneur brother-duo as they now hold three patents relating to mobile LBS and global positioning system (GPS) triggered real estate and place-based searching, commerce and advertising.
Patents 6,385,541 and 6,496,776 were issued to the Blumbergs in 2002 and cover LBS triggered searching for property-centric information/commerce.
