Getting in the Spirit for Inman Connect SF

I must confess, Guy and I have become die-hard Inman groupies, and this year we’re dragging JoAnn along with us. Inman Connect San Francisco is one of the most cutting-edge conferences in our industry focused on the convergence between real estate and technology. All the best bleeding-edge solutions are launched there, and it’s a wonderful gathering of truly forward-thinking people looking to change real estate for the better.

Six months ago we attended Inman Connect in New York City, where Guy and our fabulous assistant Trudi whipped out the camera and started interviewing bloggers about their blogging habits. Die-hard local market junkies looking for the next hot deal in Reno, stop reading now. This kind of frivolity is not for you. Also, people with no sense of humor should not read any further, nor watch the video below.

Well-known bloggers including Kris Berg, Teresa Boardman, Jay Thompson, Dustin Luther, Lockhart Steele, and Frances Flynn Thorsen all make appearances in our little flick, along with corporate personalities Matt Heaton from Active Rain, Mike Simonsen of Altos Research (who, BTW, really needs to make one of those cool little median price widget charts for Reno), Christian Sterner from WellcomeMat, and our very own Shari Chase of Chase International. The video also features several interviews from folks new to real estate blogging. And of course, no bloggerati video would be complete without Joe Ferrara and Rudy Bachraty cameo appearances. So take a look, and see if you spot anyone else you know.

Remember, put your humor hat on. Be prepared to see Guy Johnson in a whole new light. And in the spirit of Where’s Waldo, bonus points to you if you spot Pat Kitano and Sherry Chris. Send your friends, links and love to this post… you know, just for fun!

22 comments

  1. Matt Heaton

    See you two down in SF, should be fun…

  2. Daniel Rothamel, Inman Community Manager

    Diane,

    Can’t wait to meet all of you in San Francisco!

    Maybe this time, I can get a video interview of you getting a video interview of me! 🙂

    Connect SF ’08 is going to be overflowing with useful information and the panels really are dynamite. It’s gonna rock!

    Oh, and you are going to love your RE Barcamp Surprise, too! 😉

  3. Jay Thompson

    Now that was funny (in a real estate blogging kinda way). Very nice editing. I saw Pat Kitano, I missed Sherry…

    You, Guy and Trudi all did a great job. Is Trudi coming to SF?

  4. DERRICK

    ummm guy.. Bro.. Whats up with the blogging in the nude?
    Rather whats up with asking men that question? lol..

    ahh well, you are going ot be in S.F .HA!

  5. Phil

    It is sad to think next year you may not have to travel to go to the conference. 🙁

    I wouldn’t be giving too much info on your home sale, but it would be interesting when you do sell it to give us some data in how many times it was shown during these trying times, how many rediculous low ball offers where made, and stuff like that.

  6. Diane Cohn

    Phil, I don’t mind sharing some of the details. Just lowered the price to $690K… so, we’ll see. Have had five showings since we listed, not bad for this market in this price range but not good overall. May have to revisit the renting idea. No offers so far. May be here for a little while. We don’t want to move without an escrow in place, too risky.

    Jay, yes, Miss Trudi will be joining us!

    Derrick, heh-heh-heh… 😉

  7. Mike Van H

    That video was great! Reminds me of a Jeanie Mosul piece on CNN.

  8. Derrick

    Hey guys, How come your not poking fun at my position in oil? Oh thats right, It must be because Oil is BELOW 130/barrel.

    Just goes to show you all like to talk sh*T but when the table is turned you run and hide. typical.

  9. MikeZ

    Hey guys, How come your not poking fun at my position in oil? Oh thats right, It must be because Oil is BELOW 130/barrel.

    You need to keep your story straight.

    May 8: “I will give you 1 for free.. short oil at 125-130 down to 90. ok?”

    Down to 90? How’s that working out?

  10. Derrick

    pay attn mikey boy. I made it perfectly clear that this was a Long term investment.. I alos made is perfectly clear my short position was at 130.50/barrel…

    where have all your funny attacks gone mike? when oil was still headed up you had plenty of [expletive deleted] remarks for me.. what about now ? Run along home now lil boy

  11. MikeZ

    That’s the problem with telling lies, Derrick, you forgot what you originally said.

    “Short oil … down to 90.” That’s a direct quote from you, May 8, 2008: http://tinyurl.com/5z7qrn

    You may have the last word on this; I believe I’ve made my point and have exposed you for what you are. I don’t intend to reply further on this matter.

    Have a nice day.

  12. BanteringBear

    You’re a phony, Derrick. You should go right ahead and get lost, because I don’t think anyone wants to listen to your white trash remarks anymore. The language is appalling, as is your lack of education, memory, and accountability. Total fraud.

  13. smarten

    How’s that stock market working out for you Derrick? Still think it’s not gambling?

    Let’s be clear – everytime before when you’ve made a stock market/equivalent prediction on this blog; suggested you actually took your own advice and acted upon it [which I sincerly doubt you did]; the market turned; and you were caught in the crossfires; your reply has been how smart you are because you protected your position with stop loss orders.

    Here if you would have taken your advice and shorted oil futures [which I don’t believe you did], it is absolutely unfathomable to me to believe you didn’t similarly protect your position with stop loss orders should the price increase. If that were the case, I would expect you would have been out of your position [with a nice little loss] once oil hit $133/BBL or so [and the last thing you’d be doing is reminding us all of your lack of acuman].

    Instead, you really expect us to be so stupid to believe you met margin call after margin call riding the price of oil all the way up to $146/BBL or so [kind of like riding the Spanish Springs SFR market down] only now to have gotten back down to your initial starting position where you’re again self-proclaiming yourself to be an oracle? I don’t think so.

    So let’s put the speculation to rest. I’d like to see your account statement which documents your initial oil futures purchase; each margin call you allegedly met; and your current position [which should mirror your initial one]. Without this evidence, you have zero credibility in my book [assuming you had any before]. So go ahead and post your written evidence online and provide us all with a link. Otherwise, do us all a favor and keep your stock/commodities market insight to yourself!

  14. shandra

    Hi Smarten…I read a post of yours from last year that said a deficiency judgment can only be seeked by a lender with a judicial foreclosure and cannot be seeked with a non-judicial foreclosure. Are you sure about that? What is/was your source? I have not read it anywhere else, but it would be welcomed news.

  15. smarten

    I Shandra –

    Generally my statement was and is accurate [confirmed by Tom the attorney in Southern California] – at least in California [but I believe equally in Nevada]. The theory goes back to basic real property law but in California it’s embodied in a series of statutes. The statute which permits deficiency judgments after foreclosure sales of real property is Code of Civil Procedure, 726. Basically it requires a lawsuit to be filed, and a decree of foreclosure [from a judge] to issue. Code of Civil Procedure, 580b prohibits a judgment to be rendered for any deficiency upon a note secured by a deed of trust or mortgage upon real property where the real property has been sold under power of sale contained in the mortgage or
    deed of trust.

    Even when a secured creditor seeks a deficiency judgment by electing to proceed along the judicial foreclosure path, at least in California certain types of mortgages simply cannot result in a deficiency [where the mortgage is given to a seller to secure payment of the balance of the purchase price of that real property, or under a mortgage on a dwelling for not more than four families to secure repayment of a purchase money loan, where the dwelling is occupied, in whole or in part, by the purchaser] see Code of Civil Procedure, 580b.

    Notwithstanding, there’s the catch.

    Sometimes a secured creditor can elect to disregard his/her security and bring direct action [a lawsuit] against the maker on the note itself. Sometimes that election can be made on the creditor’s behalf. Example: where his/her security becomes worthless.

    So let’s say you buy a home and secure a portion of the purchase price with a [purchase money] first mortgage. Let’s say that thereafter, you incur some other obligation and post your home as security [now a junior mortgage]. You then default on the first mortgage and the holder of the second elects not to bring the senior mortgage current. A foreclosure sale ensues and the proceeds of sale are only sufficient to retire the first mortgagee’s indebtedness. The holder of the second’s security gets wiped out as a matter of law [he’s/she’s now referred to as a sold out junior].

    Well although you’ve wiped out the junior mortgagee’s security, you HAVEN’T wiped out his/her debt. So at that point [since his/her security has been rendered “worthless”], he/she may bring an action against you directly on the note. Understand?

    Hope this helps.

  16. shandra

    So then if we had a first and a second (we do), and we default, the house is then auctioned, the first gets the proceeds, the second gets nothing since we are upside down, but they can come after a deficiency for the debt? Do I understand this correctly? Thank you…

  17. smarten

    Yes Shandra; but it’s not technically a “deficiency.” Rather, the holder of a sold out junior can come after you based upon what is then an unsecured promissory note. Good luck!

  18. DERRICK

    smarten (idiot) I mentioned QUITE clearly on this blog that my position in oil was a LONG TERM play, not SHORT TERM. What part of that do you not understand?

    As far as the other calls.. Pmi, and ori were both up over 35% the VERY NEXT day.. you would have to be a fool to not have SOLD!( Again you missed the point.).

    How about shorting the home builder stocks? Which TUMBLED to MULTI year lows AFTER I was recommended Shorting them.. (Again you missed the point)

    now we sit here with OIL down ANOTHER 5.00/today and over 20.00 in the last week+ (again you missed the point)

    I could really give a [expletive deleted] what you think of my investments smarten, I know my track record and it speaks quite clearly for itself.. ..

    Take care !

  19. BanteringBear

    Derrick:

    Your latest post is nothing more than the same old drivel we’ve been hearing from you, ad nauseum, since you blew onto this blog with your insecurities. You’re an empty suit. Your previous posts prove it. You’re nothing but a wannabe investor, the kind of mark that wall street prays upon. These sheep get fleeced in any market.

    Honestly, I don’t even believe you’ve made plays in oil or builder stocks. In fact, I’m not sure I believe you own a home. I think you’re one big phony. You yammered on about shorting oil down to $90, when it was at $130, and it shot up to $148. You were DEAD WRONG. You have ZERO credibility, and are completely irrelevant.

  20. smarten

    It’s MR. Smarten to you Derrick.

    So where are you account statements? I asked you post them online with a link so the rest of us could see you actually did what no prudent investor would ever do. Without the evidence, you have zero credibility.

    I know nothing about anything Derrick. So help me understand. How do you make a “long term” play in oil? Don’t you buy futures contracts? Do you pay 100 cents on the dollar for all the oil you are controlling, or just a very small fraction so you can leverage your relatively small investment? When the price goes in the opposite direction to which you’ve invested, aren’t there margin calls? And as each call occurs, aren’t you placed in the position of investing many times your initial purchase or losing your position altogether? If so, you’re digging a deeper and deeper hole for yourself, aren’t you?

    This ISN’T called investing Derrick. It’s gambling [or speculation (and by a novice no less)], and I don’t know too many gamblers who ride a sinking ship down. They cut their losses to live another day.

    So if what you’re claiming you did is true, you would have been wiped out of your position well before oil hit $140/BBL. Prove me wrong and show me the evidence. If you don’t, it never happened. In other words, the only “track record” you have is in your mind. Show me the tracks!

    When your PMI call went up 35% in one day and then dropped 20% the next, you were the one who said only a fool wouldn’t have protected him/herself by placing stop orders should your be go south. So you mean to tell us you were so protective with PMI, and so STUPID with oil?

    Here’s further evidence you don’t know didley. Why the four letter explicatives? Why not just post the written evidence – your track record – to shut me up? That’s because there ISN’T any!

  21. Royal Flush

    I think smarten, bantering and derrick are the same person.

  22. Diane Cohn

    New Comment Policy:

    1) Stay on topic
    2) No personal attacks
    3) No spam

    Any comment deviating from the policy may be deleted.

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