Author Archives: Doug Heddings

Trends in Real Estate Innovation

Posted on August 2, 2006 by Doug Heddings

Zillow Blog’s Spencer Rascoff reports an interesting tidbit from last week’s Inman Connect conference, involving Glenn Cohen, CEO of Expert Realty. Glenn made what I think was one of the most interesting comments of the conference: most of the innovation … Continue reading →

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Every Agent’s Favorite Statistic

Posted on August 2, 2006 by Doug Heddings

You know they always say Real Estate has never had year over year declines? Jonathan Miller explains that’s not strictly true, especially when you look at local markets.

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Toni Schlesinger Reading! Free Wine!

Posted on August 1, 2006 by Doug Heddings

As one of the foremost writers on New York Real Estate, Toni Schlesinger has come up several times on TrueGotham before. On the evening of Wednesday, August 2, you can meet her in the flesh at a reading at the … Continue reading →

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Rosy Forecast Gets Hammered

Posted on August 1, 2006 by Doug Heddings

Last Friday, in a roundup of real estate news, TrueGotham linked to a Business Week story about a Virginia-based numbers cruncher named Michael Youngblood with a new model for predicting housing prices. Rather than depending on traditional measurements like interest … Continue reading →

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Problems with Open MLS, and My Idea for a Healthier Industry

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Doug Heddings

We don’t have a multiple listing service here in Manhattan, so I’m not terribly familiar with it. But with the recent talk here of an open-source MLS, I thought it was only fair to pass along this insightful comment from … Continue reading →

Posted in A Broker's Job, Market Insight, Tips & Advice | 2 Comments

Friday’s Mixed Bag

Posted on July 28, 2006 by Doug Heddings

Doug’s boss, Prudential Douglas Elliman honcho Dottie Herman is talking about transparency in the industry. She talked about similar stuff a few years ago. Doug swears he has nothing to gain by raving about her, says this: "The primary reason … Continue reading →

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The Open MLS Institute

Posted on July 27, 2006 by Doug Heddings

I learned about this the Open MLS Institute the other day from the Inman Blog. Here’s what they do: The Open MLS Institute aims to bring competition to real estate markets in the United States by opening multiple listing services … Continue reading →

Posted in A Broker's Job, Market Insight | 1 Comment

How Not to Buy a New York Apartment

Posted on July 26, 2006 by Doug Heddings

Just got a disturbing email from a client. We have an exclusive agreement for me to sell her apartment. Last week, I showed the property to an attorney. He is representing his family, and by law attorneys are licensed real … Continue reading →

Posted in A Broker's Job, Dirty Real Estate Tricks, Tips & Advice | 3 Comments

New York City to the Middle Class: See You Later

Posted on July 25, 2006 by Doug Heddings

Did you see the Janny Scott article in Sunday’s New York Times Week In Review about the dwindling middle class in New York? The whole article is well worth reading, and here’s one paragraph that especially jumped out at me: … Continue reading →

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Pete Hamill on Rent Nostalgia

Posted on July 24, 2006 by Doug Heddings

Have you ever read Pate Hamill’s book Downtown? It has a lot of great stuff about life in New York City. "New York," he writes on the first page, "is a city of daily irritations, occasional horrors, hourly tests of … Continue reading →

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