Talkin’ ‘Bout the Media– Friday 1-2pm EST on ZebraTalk
January 30, 2008 | 1 Comment
The next episode of ZebraTalk will be this Friday Feb. 1st, from 1-2 pm EST.
The topic of choice for the show will be, “What role does the media play in the real estate market?”
Let’s face it, the real estate market gets tons of attention from media outlets, both news and entertainment related. I want to discuss the effect this attention has on the real estate market, and how it is affecting the role of REALTORS and agents around the country.
If you want more information about the show, you can visit the ZebraTalk home page.
A Lesson in Honesty (In Black and White)
January 24, 2008 | 5 Comments
It has been 1 month since Episode #1 of Real Estate in Black & White. That episode generated some discussion. I took all of the comments and suggestions and let them ruminate for a while. Now, I am happy to share with you. . .
Real Estate in Black & White Episode #2– A Lesson in Honesty (or Why I Love my Dad):
Now for the rest of the story. . .
The game footage in the video was taken early in December at a game I worked at Fork Union Military Academy (that explains the attire of the crowd). During the game, Kari was taking footage of me so that I could review the tape after the game for evaluation (another reason I love her). She took the impromptu footage of my parents.
What You Should Know About my Dad
My Dad is a REALTOR, too. He is a property manager here in Charlottesville. So, when I use my Dad as an example of what a REALTOR should be, you can rest assured that he is representing the profession well.
My Dad is a good man. Part of that is because, above all things, my dad is an honest man. For as long as I have known him, I have never known him to tell a half-truth or spin anything. That’s not to say he can’t be diplomatic, but he never does anything at the expense of truth and honesty. This is true in everything he does, be it professional or otherwise, as the video clearly shows.
If you ask my Dad a question, you can rest assured that you are going to get an honest, straightforward answer. Hence the reason why you now know that my Dad believes the best referee is Norm Drucker, whether or not his son is wearing stripes.
You gotta love Dad.
REALTORS Could Learn a lot From My Dad
Honesty is a lesson that REALTORS would do well to learn and practice. This is more true than ever, given all the questions that our clients and the public have about the state and future of the real estate market. We have a duty to our clients to be honest and forthright with our answers, regardless of whether or not the truth is pretty.
Sometimes, I think honesty suffers in our profession because of the desire of REALTORS to please people. Look, nobody wants to hear bad news. Sometimes, however, bad news is exactly what people need to hear when it is the honest truth. As REALTORS, we have a duty to our clients and the public to be open and honest. Being honest on the individual, personal, level will do more to enhance the public perception of our profession than any PR campaign could hope to achieve.
Honestly, REALTORS should be more like my Dad.
8 Things You Didn’t Know About Me
January 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I’m not big on memes. So when Lee Aase tagged me a while back, I almost ignored it. ALMOST. The deciding factor was that Lee Aase tagged me. Lee is an awesome guy. Besides being one of the first people I met through Facebook, he is a manager of national media relations and new media at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Mayo Clinic has been so good to me that I can’t ignore one of their own. Since I like Lee so much, and since it has been almost two weeks since he tagged me, I figure that now is as good a time as any for you to learn 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Me:
1. I am a member of a Historically Black Fraternity: In college, I became a proud member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc., one of the nation’s largest historically black fraternities. Kari was a sweetheart. Being a white member of a historically black fraternity has been an interesting experience and provided me with experiences most will never have. I wrote about it once, and the New York Times published it as “letter to the editor.” Here are some pictures of me and Kari with some of the brothers and sweethearts. I love all my brothers and sweethearts. OW! OW!
2. I am missing two front teeth: I lost them when I was about 9 or 10. To be honest, I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but I do vividly remember that VERY hot day on a local little league field. My dad passed out on the same day from heat exhaustion. We each had our very first ambulance ride together. Isn’t that special? The moral of the story: catch a baseball with your glove, NOT with your mouth.
3. In high school, my nickname was “Chico”: Being that I am about 1/4 Filipino, my complexion is a bit on the darker side of the spectrum. When I was in 8th grade, there was a kid on the JV baseball team that thought I was Mexican. He called me, “chico.” Some thought it was derogatory. I disagree. Either way, the nickname stuck. I still have friends from high school that will jokingly call me “Chico” from time to time.
4. I LOVE ICE CREAM: I’m serious. It’s a weakness. I think I inherited it from my Grandma on my Dad’s side. She had quite the sweet tooth. When I was a little kid, my parents actually made a rule that I couldn’t have ice cream before 10am. What do you think I did every day during summer vacation at 10:01am? That’s right- 4 big scoops of chocolate chip. After that, they had to add an additional rule that I could only have ice cream TWICE a day.
5. I LOVE MILK: While we are on the subject of dairy products, I love milk, too. Most adults I know don’t drink a lot of milk. I drink about 1 1/2 gallons a week by myself. This is actually down. Up until I went to college, I drank about 2-3 gallons a week. When I was first going through my colitis difficulties, they thought it might be a lactose intolerance. I had to give up milk for two weeks to test it out. It almost killed me. Luckily, I found out I’m not lactose intolerant.
6. My favorite French word is “Aubergine”: (pronounced– O-bear-gene) I took 4 years of French in high school. I can still read a little, and speak even less. My favorite word in the language has always been “aubergine.” It means eggplant. I don’t know why I like it, I just always have. In fact, I like it so much, that we named our first Miniature Pinscher “Aubergine.” We call her “Aubie” for short. Here she is, appearing on Seesmic:
7. My favorite candy is “sour patch kids”: I can eat a whole big bag in one sitting. I never eat the green ones, though. When we go to the movies, I always have them finished off by the time we get to through the previews.
8. My first car was an El Camino: Technically, my parents owned the El Camino. It was, however, the first car that I had exclusive use of. It was of the 1980 white variety. It still had a manual choke. It was a car AND a truck. It couldn’t go 150 miles on a full tank of gas. It had way more torque and horsepower than it needed. I loved it and hated it all at the same time.
So there you have it, 8 things that you didn’t know about me, and now you do. For the record, I think that makes 13 things, so don’t tag me any more, I’m having trouble coming up with this stuff. 
An Inside Look at Inman Bloggers Connect NYC ‘08
January 22, 2008 | 2 Comments
Boy, it took me too long to get to this one. . .
In case you forgot, Inman RE Connect NYC ‘08 ended, oh, almost 2 weeks ago. No matter, I still have things I want to talk about from it, and videos I want to share. First and foremost among that content are the interviews that I was able to gather while taking video of the event for Inman News. Joel Burslem provided the Flip video camera and license to do pretty much whatever I wanted. I decided to get reactions from conference attendees while the event was going on.
In this montage of interviews, gathered during the 1st day of Inman Connect, you will hear from the following (very cool) people:
Brian Copeland from Village Real Estate in Nashville, TN
Alistair Haim who runs the largest real estate website in New Zealand
Maggie McDonald & Gahlord Dewald from Union Street Media Real Estate Website Developers
Also making an appearance, although not an interview, is a favorite “guy” of mine. . .
Jay Thompson, the Phoenix Real Estate Guy
I had a lot of fun getting to meet people, and everyone I met was very willing to go on camera and talk about their experience. Unfortunately, I lost some of the videos due to downloading errors (nothing is perfect), but I have a few more I will share later in the week.
ZebraTalk– An Enlightening Conversation
January 19, 2008 | 6 Comments
The latest episode of ZebraTalk was a success, if i do say so myself. This despite the fact that I made a major error that lead to about 4 minutes of silence to open the broadcast (after the Sinatra intro).
My original intent was to talk about InmanConnect NYC, but I had so many great guests that the conversation took us in all kinds of interesting directions.
On the show with me were:
Andy Kaufman, who promoted his RE.net BarCamp effort that will lead into Inman Connect San Francisco.
Michael Price, who offered his stellar insight on all things real estate and tech related.
Brad Coy, who kept the conversation going with his insights about Twitter and its potential applications.
Jeremy Hart, who talked about a very cool video he created showcasing a valuable feature of one of his listings.
The topics ranged from un-conferences, to twitter, to the state of the market. The show was an hour long, so you are sure to find something valuable in there. Just click below to play, or visit the ZebraTalk homepage.
I am indebted to all these fine gentleman for their impromptu participation, and for making this the best episode of ZebraTalk yet; and while this one was good, I will be striving to make the next one even better, so keep on the lookout for announcements of upcoming episodes and guests. Then, listen-in; and most importantly, PARTICIPATE!
ZebraTalk Today at 1PM EST
January 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Remember to tune in to the show. Andy Kaufman will be joining me, and we hope there will be plenty of callers. . .
In Case You Were One of the Many Who Missed the Last ZebraTalk
January 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The episode of ZebraTalk that I did live from Inman Connect NYC ‘08 didn’t quite go the way I planned. In fact, until very recently, I didn’t even know that the show had been recorded. In case you wanted to catch the show and didn’t, you can click on the player below to hear me in all my glory for half-an-hour. The show wasn’t quite as clean as I would have liked, as I was trying to record the audio from my cell phone while simultaneously working to reconnect my computer to the internet. It was a bit frenetic.
The next show will be much better.
ZebraTalk Disects Inman Connect NYC ‘08
January 17, 2008 | 2 Comments
The last episode I did of ZebraTalk, from Inman Connect ‘08, had some technical issues. Specifically, the internet connection at the Marriott Marquis Times Square is pathetic. This meant that my connection to my show host, BlogTalkRadio.com, was wonky- at best. Apparently, some people heard the show, some people didn’t, one person tried to call-in. . .
I’m hoping for a much better result this time around. . .
I’ll be doing the show again this Friday, January 18th, from 1-2pm EST. You can view the home page for more details.
Why an hour-long show, you ask? For starters, I did a half-hour show totally solo after just one day of Inman Connect. This time, I plan to have some callers, and there was a lot that went on at Inman that I think is worth covering, so it should be an eventful hour.
The thing that would make it most eventful is for people like YOU to call into the show and ask questions, offer insights, whatever. You can do that by calling: 718-664-6944. You can also use the chat function from the homepage to send me questions or comments while you listen.
Whatever you do, remember to visit www.BlogTalkRadio.com/RealEstateZebra at 1pm EST on Friday to listen in. Join the conversation!
EVERY REALTOR Should Take an Hour to Watch This Video
January 16, 2008 | 1 Comment
I’m serious.
The video is of the Bulls vs. Bears debate about the state of the housing market in the US, and where it might be headed. If you are practicing real estate, you owe it to yourself and your clients to take an hour out of your day and watch, note, and digest what you see here.
You can agree, you can disagree, but whatever you do, don’t dismiss it. . .
Lessons Learned From Inman Connect NYC ‘08
January 15, 2008 | 7 Comments
My trip to Inman Real Estate Connect NYC ‘08 stretched my brain in all kinds of unexpected ways. The first day was filled mostly with the BloggersConnect panel sessions (one of which featured yours truly). After day 1, my head was filled with all kinds of thoughts about technology and how it intersects with the practice of real estate. I was also struck by the difference between Inman Connect and the NAR conference and expo. The overall feel of the two conferences was noticeably different.
With all of this banging around in my brain, I decided to take a minute (in Times Square, of all places) and put it to video. This is what I came up with:
Almost a week later, my opinion hasn’t changed. In fact, after attending the rest of Inman Connect, and having some time to think about it all, my opinion is even stronger than before. The two main points that I took away from day 1, and two of the most important points of the whole experience are:
1) You don’t have to implement every new technology in order to be effective. The Web 2.0 world can be a confusing, and even overwhelming, one. There are so many different tools and technologies out there from which to choose, that sometimes you can be paralyzed and choose to do nothing. That is not the right choice. Neither, however, is choosing to do them all. The point is to pick-and-choose. Give at least a look to whatever you can. You will know pretty quickly if it is something that you can use to your benefit. If it isn’t, let it go. Just because I’m doing something doesn’t mean you have to do it, too. There is also the issue of varying the use of these tools. The way I might implement a tool or technology might not be the same way you would do it, and that’s okay.
2) If you are going to go to a conference like Inman, don’t get too caught up in the sessions at the expense of ignoring other opportunities for learning. Some of the most valuable insights I gained came from stopping to talk with people either after the sessions or at the informal gatherings that take place throughout the conference. The amount of time that you have to learn during the sessions is strictly limited by the conference schedule. Why not take the opportunity to increase your learning by engaging with others. Collaborative learning can be a lot of fun, and you never know who you might meet.
All in all, Inman was a very valuable experience for a number of reasons, many of which I will talk about over the next few posts. The two that I talked about in the video happen to be the ones that I kept coming back to throughout the week.
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
