I have to say, my broker is pretty innovative… to the point where she’ll take a chance on some semi-tested new technology if she thinks it delivers value to the consumer. In that vein, we are please to announce Chase Nation, a vertical social network centered around the conversation about Reno-Tahoe real estate.
What the heck does that mean? Go to the site and find out. Here you can create a profile, ask questions, start a conversation and connect with others around the topic of Reno-Tahoe real estate. You can even start your own blog. We don’t mind as long as it’s on topic. So go on, check it out, and please let me know what you think.
Seriously, this is a total science project, and I was kind of the instigator… so I’m anxious to see how it plays out.
Reno Ignoramus
It may be a science project, but I got as far as the Chase agent who offers Leslie Appleton-Young as an expert. Uh, no. Ms. Appleton-Young is well known as the Chief Shill for the CAR. Any attempt to pass off Ms. Young’s spin as reliable information loses credibility instantly.
Just my .02, but it looks like just another realtor spinsite.
But for those who may have another opinion, and find the “information” there credible, then it appears that you better go out and buy today, before you get priced out forever.
DERRICK
off the topic but… March numbers anyone? tick tock tick tock ….
SmartMoney
Wow there are some real dummies on that site. Especially that lady who thinks real estate performs better than the stock market over the long-run. Here is the study of real estate versus stocks http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/real_estate/0704/gallery.stocks_v_realestate.moneymag/index.html
Sully
I agree with RI, the site is too commercial. No actual comments, just spin on real estate market in general and how well business is doing.
Sully
Guy, why didn’t you post the popcorn ceiling question here?
There are companies (drywall contractors) here that will remove and texture the ceilings.
I have been checking on them, as every house I look at seems to have it. Also, abestos is likely to be in it if the house is pre-1980’s.
If the house is vacant, it can be done for a reasonable price. Filled with furniture, well thats a different ballgame.
MIke Van H
Why is it every time a realty company tries to do something to market itself, it comes across as spin to everyone? Come on people, realtors need to network and make money too. Should they all just sit back and say ‘oh well the market sucks let’s not try to do anything to network or increase business for ourselves.’
I found comments on nearly every blog post on the site.
If you guys feel that site is so spinny, why don’t each of you start up your own blog on the site to voice your opinion? The technology is on the site to do that.
All spin aside, I found the site to be technically rich (that’s the web designer in me speaking), and despite what everyone says above, it IS pretty progressive for an agency to open up a blog community and allow ANYONE with an interest in real estate, not just realtors, to voice their opinion under the Chase name.
MIke Van H
Did you guys notice that anyone can sign up for a blog under the Chase name? That’s pretty ballsy IMO for a company to do. Sure, the first people to sign up are all the Chase agents so of course there’s an element of spin to it…but anyone can sign up and start a Chase blog, even I did…so if the site takes off and you get people like Reno Ignoramous or the Reno Bubble Blog guy participating, I would expect there would be some pretty lively debate.
Diane, I’m interested in seeing how far Chase will go with letting people post their opinions of the market; see how far Chase will go and truly lets people have counter-point blogs or Reno-bubble blogs under the Chase name. Great concept, spin or no spin!
NAS
IMO-too much to sort through and just a touch of “blah, blah, blah” Sorry.
At this stage of the R.E. market and our economy, I’ll stay with this site (renorealtyblog) because of the resources, reality, and ease of navigation. And,
once in awhile, some real entertainment by our venerable contributors.
smarten
To RI and BB [everyone else too] –
You’re NEEDED on ChaseNation!
Diane invited me to join and I took the bait. I INSTANTLY bucked the system of “feel gooders” and created controversy because I’m not an agent that needs to play footsie with these people.
Right now these agents are slapping each other on the back as being so clairvoyant when it comes to local real estate. Because they’re mostly [but not entirely] Chase agents, they have reasons to kiss up to comments posted by their brokers, and they do! As we’ve been saying here for well over a year, agents like these need a strong dose of reality [so they can start sharing it with their clients]. And who better to educate than us?
So I say join the fun [and I’m certain it will turn into fun if Chase doesn’t shut down the site]. Don’t be rude, but I say take no prisoners! I for one am so sick of this let’s ignore the negatives and paint the glass as being half full mentality, and it’s going to take outsiders to refocus attention where it should be.
GreenNV
Good for you, smarten! After reading a bunch of the blogs and comments, I want to take most of these agents out back and smack ’em upside the head. These ostriches are the ones we are supposed to be trusting with listing and purchasing decisions? They are delusional.
I can put together a list of over 50 real estate agent owned properties that have received Trustee’s Deeds down here on the flats. Maybe I should post that one with the agent names and property histories on ChaseNation as a reality check.
MILLER
Great Comments on the Chase (your tail) Nation Smarten!
Unfortunately I think you’re going to need a blow-torch to remove some of those permaglue blinders they have on…
Looks like one of them is perfectly satisfied with her “full” glass of Kool-Aid celebration!
You should figure out how you can make a ticker on your “member page” for each time you crack an agent and they admit to the poor conditions of the current market.
Ahh… Lunch reading well spent! Thank you once again Sir!
2sleepy
I got an email invite and the site didn’t appeal to me, the ‘featured’ posts looked mostly like disingenuous plugs for over-priced property and very silly overly optimistic forecasts.
Gina
I prefer this blog and commentary, even if some of y’all do fuss and fight like children and/or spazz off, I get good, real info here.
Reno Ignoramus
Smarten, I don’t really have the interest or the time in trying to wade through the Kool-Aid being sloshed around at Chase Nation. Realtor sites like that are a dime a dozen. Literally, there are hundreds of them all over the country. All have the same spin: “there’s never been a better time to buy.” “Buy now before prices take off again.” I think people can pretty well see through them for what they are. A bunch of agents preaching to their own choir yields little of value. The RRB yields far better, and far more accurate information.
BanteringBear
I just checked out the site. Looks like I could get into quite a bit of trouble over there. When I feel the urge to become their least favorite visitor, I’ll jump right in. I’m already picturing the stir.
Diane Cohn
Well, I knew I could count on all of you to give me your honest feedback, so thanks for that.
Most of the agents participating on Chase Nation have never blogged before, so we are training them, but it will take time. Time to find their voices, time to discover what audiences want, and time for them to become familiar and comfortable with the ruthless no-spin culture of the internet. Some will learn and succeed, and some may decide this isn’t for them. But the point is, at least we’re trying to reach out and have a conversation with the marketplace.
Shari herself actually loves that Smarten is in there rumbling with the Incline agents. And honestly, they like rumbling back. Maybe they need more practice, but they’ll get better in time.
We really do encourage your participation, but remember, you’re dealing with virgins here. I don’t ask you guys for much, but as a personal favor to me, I would ask that you please not storm the pearly gates with pitchforks and torches ablaze, hell-bent on burning Chase Nation at the stake.
But I do invite you to peck, peck, peck at Kool-Aid notions and throwaway feel-good statements based on nothing, if you have any interest at all, because if we as agents can learn as a group to have meaningful conversations with the public, we will all get smarter together.
We’re not stupid. Good agents know a lot of things that you don’t. Just because you think someone isn’t a good blogger doesn’t mean they don’t know how to negotiate the hell out of a deal on your behalf.
Likewise, you’re not stupid, either. You know all kinds of things that we don’t. Mike McGonagle with his obsessive-compulsive assessor data fetish is a perfect example. And so is Reno Ignoramus with his amazing ability to read the macroeconomic tea leaves years in advance.
I think I’ve said this before, but sometimes I learn more from reading the comments on this blog than I do when writing a regular post. Everyone who comments here adds something valuable (except when you’re all in yet another cat fight about your big-ass investment portfolios).
We on this blog are rarely surprised at yet another round of bad market news because we’ve all been discussing the tell-tale clues for months. And we’ll be the first ones to see the turnaround whenever that is.
Mike Van H is right, you can start your own blog on Chase Nation which is a bit risky, I agree. (That said, we have the power to delete and ban with a single keystroke, which does mitigate the risk.)
Again, this is a science project. The Meebo chat room lasted about three days. Once Sex Offender and Child Predator got together and started discussing my sex life… sorry, it had to go. (Okay, which one of YOU was it???)
We hope that people who aren’t Chase agents do join up and start conversations about Reno-Tahoe real estate and our local lifestyle. If we start talking to each other and engaging back and forth, we’ll all learn something from each other. I’ve learned that on this blog.
Okay, I’ll get off my soapbox now. I just wish you’d root for the effort rather than flushing it down the toilet right off the bat. No other real estate broker in the entire nation has tried such a thing. For our industry, this is big news. And we’re making it right here in little ‘ole podunk Reno.
Diane
PS: Thanks to everyone who plans to keep reading here. I originally thought I might be killing my own blog traffic by proposing this crazy Chase Nation idea, but now I realize there will be conversations here that may never happen there. So, thanks for sticking with us.
PSS: Sorry the March numbers are late. I’ll get to those next.
StJoe
Anyone know what is going on with the Riverwalk. I drove by it this evening at 9:45 PM and the building looked dark. At best I saw lights in three (!) units. Also there is an entry on the Downtown Reno blog that some of the homeowners are going to file suit. Anyone know what this about?
SJ
SkrapGuy
Chase Nation is going to have to get a lot more genuine and a lot more realistic for it to be taken seriously. And I suggest it better do it soon. Once it gets branded as just one more realtor site populated by carnival barkers trying to separate folks from their money, it will quickly fade into irrelevancy.
StJoe, I and others have commented here for many months about the obvious disconnect between the closings appearing in the county records with respect to these new downtown condo projects and what is plain to see to anybody who looks at night. The only conclusion that seems sensible is that the people who are buying them are not living in them. Nor is anybody living in them. Unless they are living, quite literally, in the dark.
As I said recently, this whole downtown condo thing continues to be a story yet unfolding. Just because the RGJ, ever loyal to its real estate advertisers, choses to do a story on multi-millionaires buying in the Palladio by no means suggests that the downtown condo experiment is going to turn out well.
MIke Van H
HI! I am the downtown Reno blog so I can answer that.
Regarding the lawsuit, it’s not that big of a deal, but Riverwalk’s Homeowner’s Association Board is filing a lawsuit with the property owner, Freeman Somethinrather (sorry dont know full name) over some bulding maintenance issues. I was told by residents of Riverwalk it does not have to do with the bottom floor retail not being completed, but other maintenance andcommons area related stuff. It seems like a common route to ‘get er done’ since Park Tower and Arlington Tower both at one point or another in the past threatened to file suit against the building owners, however in both those cases the issues were settled before it got nasty.
StJoe
As a side comment about dark condos downtown. The Palladio was much more lit up. So those units are occupied. My spouse and I are buying a unit in the Montage and we plan on living there. Plus the fact that Ruth Chris is going in must say something.
SJ
Reno Ignoramus
StJoe;
Do you have a closing date yet? When are you scheduled to take occupancy?
Just curious about the timeline. Thanks.
StJoe
No closing date. Supposedly the lower floors will start in mid June early July (my money is on later closings) and then builder will work the up on closing units. Since I am near the top, I expect to close in the fall. But then who knows.
SJ
StJoe
As still another side point, the WSJ has an article on condo-hotels. They have turned into one big bust.
——–
Rooms With a Bubble View
Condo-Hotel Buyers
See Investments Sour
As the Market Weakens
For many investors, the condo hotel may go down as the Pets.com of the real-estate bubble.
Many buyers purchased the hotel rooms from developers hoping to get paid every time the room was rented. But condo hotels, which account for as much as 10% of all hotel rooms under construction and a much greater percentage in resort markets such as Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas, are coming back to haunt many of the people who bought the units, the developers that constructed the buildings, and the operators hired to run the hotels.
Some projects also are being brought to the attention of regulators by investors. . . .
MIke Van H
I know at least 50 units in the Palladio are occupied full-time, I saw a roster sheet one time as everyone was moving in. It really depends on what part of the building you look at. Nearly all of the river-facing units have full time residents, and most of the north facing units are unsold or empty.
I love the Montage project, and while it may take longer for the units to be absorbed, this building is a world apart from Riverwalk Towers or even Palladio. For one it has 2 fully landscaped decks with trees, shrubs, grass for dogs, and more. It’s more desirable, and wouldn’t be surprised if it was getting most of the attention from anyone interested in buying a condo downtown…I know just from my blog, I get more inquiries about the Montage than any other project.
SkrapGuy
Condo-hotels?
You mean like the GSR?
But this is Reno. It’s different here. Condo-hotels may be going bust everywhere else, but Reno is special.
Maybe 50 units at the Palladio are occupied. Maybe. How many people occupy each unit? Two? So that’s another 100 people living downtown.
Gail
I read with interest the story yesterday in the RGJ about the panhandlers and the homeless in downtown Reno. It appears that there are far more people living on the streets in downtown Reno than there are living at the Palladio.
RGJ
I often complain about the largely ‘doom and gloom’ – ‘property will soon be worthless’ type of posts on this blog….. Although I believe that these posts are often wrong, the poster’s views of the current market are generally backed by analysis, research and data to support their view.
In contrast, I viewed this Chase Nation site and was sickened. This thing is just an advertising. For instance, the following link (http://www.chasenation.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2000642%3ABlogPost%3A3391#comments) has such substantiated comments such as :
* Just like those without listings may perish so will those who remain negative and refuse to look for the good
* Negative agents will get negative results
* the type of news we should all be passing on to our clients
* Buy now while to ball is in your court!
* “we” as in the market are bouncing off the bottom
* phone is ringing non stop
* great idea to turn off the news and turn up our literal receptors
* I feel great inside about the remainder of 08″
* This is a market of opportunity
Lets NEVER forget that Real Estate agents, Realtors or whatever they wish to be called generally have nothing to do with service, advice, loyalty or trustworthyness…. it is a business and they will say whatever they think will make you purchase….. it’s either ‘buy now or be priced out of the market forever’ or ‘this is a market of opportunity – never a better time to buy’.
My opinion is that prospective buyers that rely on their agent to do their research and formulate opinons about property and prices will get what they deserve! Sickening!
MikeZ
In contrast, I viewed this Chase Nation site and was sickened. This thing is just an advertising.
Marketing 101
Chapter 1: Deny deny deny. Never admit how bad business it.
Chapter 2: Cherry-picking the data.
smarten
RGJ wrote, “I viewed this Chase Nation site and was sickened. This thing is just…advertising.”
Although I too am sickened by many of the feel good remarks that abound, I disagree with you about the advertising observation. I don’t see this site as a vehicle that is going to attract the retail client. Rather, it seems to me to be a therapy support group for agents. Never mind what the rest of the world feels about you/your industry/your local marketplace. There are others like you here to feel your pain, listen to your frustrations and and support you to make it through the next day [parenthetically, I’ve always had a visceral reaction to industries that embrace motivational speakers].
So I look at the site as a means of challenging the backward thinking of these people directly. My impression is that the people on this blog are far more intelligent and up on various segments of the Reno/Sparks SFR market than many of the agents on ChaseNation. Furthermore [and unlike many of the agents], we’re neither blinded [we’re able to see the forest from the trees] nor beholden to a broker. Thus when confronted with the kind of data and arguments we share everyday right here, many of the ChaseNation agents don’t really know how to respond [so they take it as a personal attack].
So I say if we want to change the mentality of the industry [delusional agents], much the same as you’ve been able to accomplish with Diane and Guy, what better than to enter the lion’s den?
I think this is really what Diane hoped would come about by inviting the group to participate in ChaseNation.
SkrapGuy
It really isn’t a lions den. It’s more like a bake sale.
The Chase website lists 135 agents. The vast majority of them have no listings. I can’t imagine than more than half of them did even one deal last year. And this year, with sales down substantially YoY, I imagine this year will be even worse.
So Chase Nation gives them something to do. They can talk to each other about how things are looking up (I love the guy who says the market is turning around because the pace of the decline in sales is slowing down. You know, the decline in March was not as bad as it was in February. Forget the fact it was down 38% YoY).
Throw in a couple of mortgage brokers and a couple of title company types, and they have a realtor Potemkin Village. Not Incline Village. Potemkin Village.
Pat
StJoe and anyone else who may have a reservation in the Montage – why did you sign-up?
My wife and I thought about it and are still considering if we do not find something better. By better I mean views and value – the sqft cost in the Montage is steep and therefore seems to have a lot of downside price risk for the near/mid-term future. The entry point to buy there is the trifecta – currently anemic sales; fall-outs from those that for whatever reasons do not convert from reservations to sales contracts when occupancy occurs, and the builder starts paying their construction loans, once occupancy also occurs.
The palladio has had decent sales because they have dropped their prices on each unit by $100,000+, making their sqft cost closer to $300-$350.
I like the Montage because of the amenities that don’t exist yet, but their $400+ sqft cost and relative to other buildings, low HOA fees – makes me also nervous also in valuing this project.
Love to hear others’ reasons for already buying into this project.