patrick.net

I think the NAR is ripe for disintermediation

Disintermediation is one of the areas in which I do a lot of strategy and modeling work. Are the primary barriers to tunneling under NAR legal (copyright, patton, etc?), or are there also regulatory barriers? Like you said, scarcity of info. is not a sustainable barrier to entry. Putting together a strategy to take out NAR would be so fun I'm not sure I'd even need to get paid (well, ok...maybe I would...)

"I think prefabricated elements could be a trend, given the price-effectiveness and quality control."

Also, homes that are more energy efficient and design for good air flow to decrease the need for heating and cooling should be a popular trend.

"Imagine neighborhoods someday that contain a variety of building styles and floorplans vs. the customary 3-6 tract options we see today? It would be a refreshing contrast to the “orwellian community” feel to many developments built nowadays. "

I would love to see much greater variety of architecture in neighborhoods. My parents live in a neighborhood in the South where every house is completely different--everything from a weird half-sub-terranean house to English Tudor, to Modern, to cottage--because people just bought plots and built whatever they wanted. I've always thought that was the most interesting kind of subdivision. Some of the houses end up being clunkers, but that only makes the attractive ones look that much better. But they're also on very large lots so that they don't look so jarring next to each other.

But I will shut up now so I'll have something left to say if this becomes a thread topic.

New thread: Future housing trends

ScottC and I don't always agree, but he's definitely correct about MLS. It contains a great deal of information that can't be found in other sources. DataQuick has some of the same information, but not all..not even most. County records contain the least information, but are the most authoritative (though still sometimes incorrect).

These databases all have separate purposes, and separate "customers", so it should be no surprise that they contain different data. Realtor®s have the greatest monetary incentive to gather voluminous data, so it should be no surprise that MLS has the most information.

But yeah, the general snarkiness is getting a little out of control, isn't it? Maybe we need to bring back the visible enemy of productive conversation...where the Myopic Pretender when you need him?

My husband brought home a memo he got at the office today. It was written by the Global Securities Research & Economics Group ( so those who don't believe in economics should disregard this). Anyway this is what it said.

Will Home Prices Follow NASDAQ or the '87 Crash?

With the Fed continuing to tighten, the housing market looks increasingly unstable to us. We are underweight both Consumer Discretionary and Financial stocks.

@Randy: Putting together a strategy to take out NAR would be so fun I’m not sure I’d even need to get paid (well, ok…maybe I would…)

I'm with you 110% here. What I wouldn't give for a crack at that hegemony... I know a small group of guys who tried, back in the late 90's, but they ran out of money ($15MM) before coming up with a viable plan.

I can think of disintermediation strategies, but (and this is my recurrent failure) I can't think of any ways to intermediate myself meaningfully into the value chain. Striking down big industries to create small (appropriately sized) ones isn't a good sell at an investor meeting, in my experience. :-)

Chihuly must really stick in your craw because he is the hometown boy from up north, right?

Jack--
Yeah, Chihuly is interesting for about 2 minutes, then the soulessness really comes through. That sticks in my craw more than anything...faux artists knocking out empty objects, while speaking up the "depth" of their vision. Though, I give them credit to selling their goods for consumption; I suppose that could be called an "art". Clyfford Still has that knack, but certainly more visual style.

The guy I really dislike is Kinkaide--on so many levels. A few years back, I had a printing vendor who had one of his accounts. After seeing the process, I realized it's quite the scam. His "paintings" are run off a press at ~$3 unit cost, glued to canvas backing, with a few flecks of paint applied in assembly-line fashion, then framed.
Hung in Kinkaide's franchises, they're priced for thousands, touted by sales staff as "great investments; they can only go up" (deja vú). At least Chihuly has some craft, but Kikaide is completely execrable, fraudulent crap. Then there's his arrogant sermonizing on how "god has blessed him with great talent," "better than Picasso", etc. He's just a grifter with a commercial art degree. I'm just pissed I have family friends who spent $10K on his "art" that will someday fetch $5 at a garage sale...

Context is everything. The sad thing was, the steaming blob was SO hideous and bad that it was at LEAST interesting.

Hahaha...classic! Yes, there's a place in the world for utter dreck, less so for Kinkade...
Btw, ever seen "Museum of Bad Art"? Kinkade is not worthy.
http://tinyurl.com/2fcau

Hey dude, is that freedom rock? T-U-R-N IT UP!

Jack Jack Jack, upset over the recent news that boomer fueled OD's are on the rise :) Painter of Light? Now that hurts, comparing me to the ultimate asshat, Kincade

What drug is it that they are all OD’ing on?

I think the boomers don't really care, "lets get high and arrrggggg my chest, I think I've dropped the bong and I can't get up"