As the news poured in from all angles this week — tech player partnerships, fresh startups on the scene, research from industry giants on consumer data and the luxury market — so did comments from our keen readership. Here, the editorial team compiled some of the standouts from articles site-wide.
Jim Whatley · Commented on Opendoor is a bigger deal than Zillow — here’s why
The best way to make a small fortune in real estate is to start with a large one.
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Greg Hague · Commented on Real estate startup Reali wants to use technology to double-end deals
Don’t ignore this. The future leaders in real estate will think like Amazon if it were in real estate. How can I streamline the process to charge less and earn more? Those who think like that and execute well will prosper. Those who don’t will struggle or perish.
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Kim Carty · Commented on Real estate startup Reali wants to use technology to double-end deals
We need to get over the idea that everything can be automated and should be done in minutes. Purchasing a home is the biggest investment that most people make. The process deserves more attention than this app appears to promote. Double-ending is a bad idea and this platform is ripe for lawsuits. I hope you have good insurance, especially if you are providing the inspection reports.
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Rebecca Haas · Commented on What the top 1% of homebuyers want in real estate
I’m pleased to see the environmentally conscious elements of buying in this high end demographic. Working in the Seattle and Bellevue, WA markets, we often experience our local population being very ecologically friendly, but it’s nice to see it’s more universal now.
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We’ve definitely seen the upper end on the forefront of adding in home servers to cover data needs, entertainment and making smart homes possible.
Jim Hamilton · Commented on When pets are dealmakers — or breakers
I was a workaholic and single could do as I pleased and then one day I got married but always said i’d never have a pet . However, one night a three month old puppy showed up at my door and everything changes from that moment . It’s amazing how pets make business decisions by reacting to people or property and usually they are always right therefore having a pet as a partner may not be a bad idea.
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Rachael San Miguel · Commented on 7 top real estate agent lead generation sources
I have to say that 85% of the business I do is internet leads. The key to being successful in my opinion is like you say, “relationship”. I have a 10 to 20% turn over rate. I give most of that credit to following up with the responsive clients. Try to initiate a meeting, and build the relationship from there. Internet leads work, if you know how to work the leads. As far as it not being effective, I must be one of those 10% agents, that internet leads do work.
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Matthew Jerry · Commented on Rank your neighbors (on their homes) with new Yelp-like app
This should be synced with MLS and could be used to help get feedback. It then, of course, could be used to to get the seller to realize the “true value” of their home.
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Editor’s note: Some comments have been lightly edited for clarity.