Real Estate 101: Agency
Real estate is full of words people use every day without really knowing what they mean. Agency is one of them. Buyers hear it and assume it means “my agent is on my side.” Sellers hear it and assume it means “someone is handling this for me.” Agents hear it and sometimes assume everybody knows the rules [...]
Let me preface this by saying there will always be all cash $300k above asking price in two day offers to talk about, but those are now the exception and not the norm. Real estate is cyclical with each new market cycle bringing some fresh new hell for agents, buyers and sellers. And the fresh new hell for a lot of newer agents is the [...]
There is a lot of real estate topics agents don't talk about because, A) no one really knows anything about the topic, and B) it isn't "sexy." There are no glossy photos, no vanity videos, pod casts, bidding wars, and no closing day champagne. But basis is what keeps the tax man from taking a bigger slice of your pie than he's legally [...]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FOR @REALTYTIMES.COM MARCH 2026
That scene in Glengarry Glen Ross. Alec Baldwin’s Blake, the “always be closing” diatribe—coffees for closers, second prize is steak knives, third prize is you’re fired. It’s the cinematic shorthand for aggressive, high-pressure sales. It’s great cinema. It’s [...]
Real Estate 101: Dedicated Lands Explainer
I write these explainers to help me stay fresh on real estate areas I don’t get a chance to consistently work on but find fascinating. This explainer deals with how cities get parks and green [...]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FOR REALTYTIMES.COM FEBRUARY 2026
Every week at brokerages, agents—both new and experienced—ask questions that get answered in varying degrees of correctness. The questioners usually grab on to this answer and charge directly back into [...]
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN Real Estate Agent Magazine (realesateagentmagazine.com) NOV 2025
The Golden Age of the "No-No" VA Loan Is Over—Here’s What Changed
For years, veterans and active-duty military personnel enjoyed one of the best deals in real estate: the "No-No" VA loan—no down payment, no private mortgage insurance (PMI), and, until [...]
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Real Estate 101: Right of Way Explainer
If I’m perfectly frank (not Frank), I write these explainers because I need a refresher. As a residential agent, you may never close a municipal property deal—but understanding how infrastructure is built, land acquired, and titles change matters. Real estate has moving parts and specialties few of [...]
One of the reasons I became a real estate agent, besides a tiny push from my dad, was because I felt too intimidated to ask a simple question, “How much is this going to cost?” My first time out of the gate I had been completely blindsided by the extra costs of closing. No one had warned me about the hidden fees, the last-minute expenses, [...]
The Significance of Infrastructure
As some of you may remember Piedmont, an Aquarius, just had its 119th birthday last month and the department of public works (DPW) has been quietly “glowing up” the infrastructure throughout 2025 for the celebration—like Rome in the lead up to Jubilee year but in Alameda [...]
