Mike Hughes' Blog

  It's an interesting internet world these days.  To say the times are changing is a reality that's understated.  To say that moments are changing each and every day is closer to the truth.  Illusions are becoming echos of the past.  Illusions have been the reality of real estate for over a decad...

ActiveRain moves fast.  So fast that I know of only a few people who really have a clear picture of everything that ActiveRain has to offer.  AR is now averaging a site upgrade at least once a week.  To put that in proper context, most software companies are on a quarterly or 1/2 yearly deploymen...

A client said yesterday that he was tired of shopping mortgage brokers. "All their rates are the same," he said. He had called a bunch of brokers and their good faith estimates were all very similar. Having been through several horror-story closings due to working with inexperienced mortgage brok...

Look around & take note from the Top Producing Agents.  What is it that makes them stand out, capture the business?  Reputation is a huge factor but more importantly is to be Recognized in the market.  The importance of Branding your image is huge when it comes to results.    Branding can make e...

A short sale occurs when the current value of a home is less than the amount owed on the property.  The homeowner has suffered a hardship, making it difficult or impossible to pay for the home.  These hardships can be many, most of the time it is a job loss, relocation or divorce (at least in the...

Yesterday ended in extreme disappointment for me regarding some information on changes to a particular Real Estate Designation.  I don't even want to go in to it as I am still sending emails back and forth in hopes to get some questions answered... But it brings up a question that I would like to...

Wandering through my semi-weekly Twitter additions I came across one I hadn't noticed.  Aside from the real estate people that decided to follow me, there was a tech company called MyFrontSteps.com.  They have a product in beta called MyStepRep.  It is a "Reputation Management" tool.  Basically, ...

Today I was all over the net...looking for sources of statistics on the housing market...not just in my area but across the nation. In truth it seems anywhere you turn...housing market stat's are readily available! As I read...I noticed something very common... Many blogs offered real estate mar...

Many traditional real estate companies dictate the marketing plans for the homes they list at the corporate level, allowing for very little flexibility by the agent. This means that they market each and every property identically.  As a consumer, you may think that this is a good thing. Why shou...

Today, more than ever, we (agents) are being bombarded with silver bullet lead generation tools and snake oil campaigns that do little more than drain bank accounts and annoy prospects.  As the market has become more challenging, have you bought into some of these quick fixes?  I have!  Over the ...