For 12/12/12, our list of Favorite Posts from 2012 - including Henry Harrison, Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn and Carla Cross

So, you have a Bottom Feeding Buyer (BFB) who is bound and determined to get a killer deal on some real estate, huh? He’s heard-tell of this here “buyer’s market” and wants to get himself a piece of that action. Even if it takes all year…sigh.

We’ve all been there. Including our guest author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn (who incidentally also made our favorites list in 2011) wrote a piece for us titled "How to Talk Your Bottom-Feeding Buyer Out of Low-Balling". The response to this post was fantastic, and it remains a timely article almost a full year later.

http://vaned.typepad.com/newslog/2012/01/how-to-talk-your-bottom-feeding-buyer-out-of-low-balling.html 

In March there were two posts that caught our eye. Teller (yes, of Penn & Teller) Reveals His Secrets and discussed seven steps to.... well.... manipulating us! He also revealed that it took 18 months to create one trick, which amazed us. After revisiting this post we suggest you take a look too. (incidentally, someone in our office might be trying to use these tactics on me as revenge for eating that last holiday cookie)  http://bit.ly/ymk0ew

That same week we were all reminded how we normally hush rowdy library patrons - and told there might be a better way on the horizon. Right now we use the tried and true "shhhhh" method, but we all want a better way to get our library neighbors to be quiet. Enter a team that worked to develop a solution (not to mention that this is now on the top of my office mates wish list), a new Japanese SpeechJammer Ray Gun! http://bit.ly/wN2b4B Yep. #shhh 

 

On October 1st, 2012 the Federal Reserve released a speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke given at the Economic Club of Indiana where he asked and then answered five key questions related to QI, or Qualitative Easing. Read the answer to the first question to get a hint of what the Fed is planning on doing in the coming year: "What are the Fed's Objectives and How is it trying to meet them"

http://vaned.typepad.com/newslog/2012/10/fed-chairman-bernanke-what-are-the-feds-objecives-and-how-is-it-trying-to-meet-them.html

 

 

Henry Harrison wrote about the Residential Real Estate Recession

Real Estate Valuation Magazine published a commentary this past summer from Henry Harrison. The article includes ideas on how to help, and also notes that "...A robust housing market is the greatest primer for the American economy."

The bubble did not burst all at once, as in a stock market crash, but rather, values fell more gradually in some markets and much faster in others, proving once again that there is no "national" real estate market in the country, but rather many different markets, each highly dependent upon location (location, location, location). Find this commentary online at http://www.revmag.com/files/6_3_12.html.

 

The Appraisal Standards Board put out some good advise with the release of APB Valuation Advisory #3: Residential Appraisal in a Declining Market (review this here http://bit.ly/IYWP1I ). At least one appraiser noted that with many markets showing improvement or at least a leveling off, perhaps it's time to consider an advisory statement on appraising in an increasing market.

In case you missed it, Executive Director Anne M. Woody of the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission (OREC) recently announced her retirement. She has been the Executive Director since 2001 and has been a mainstay at OREC since she was in her teens. Read more online at NewsOK. Best wishes to Mrs. Woody from all of us! Her assistance and guidance has been invaluable.

And we would be remiss if we didn't point out that when the Fall 2012 issue of REVMAG was delivered online (click here to view) it marked the final edition for longtime editor Ruth Lambert. Ruth has helped to publish more than 100 issues of the popular and informative appraisal magazine, and has been a longtime friend and colleague of those of us here. We wish you the best on your next adventure, Ruth!

From Carla Cross comes the amazing story of Ihtzak Perlman - read what he said and realize how relevant this is to each of us. Some in our everyday lives, and others in those rare, genuinely awesome moments when we are given to rise up and do what we thought we couldn't do. Couldn't have a post on favorite things without this uplifting and courageous story. Worth every second to read this article.

http://carla-cross.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Perlman.pdf

And Finally: "The easiest way to describe it is it's a bit like wrestling but with a lot of contact below the knees,..." Yep. We're talking the British Shin-Kicking championships. With what has to be the tallest trophy presentation stand ever assembled, citizens in Gloucestershire got to see firsthand how difficult it is to kick the shin out of the competition. (Video is available) Read more of our favorite post of the year online -

http://bit.ly/MsWKme

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