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Zillow’s Giving Up Inventory, What’s a buyer To Do
Zillow’s New Policy Could Limit Listings for Florida Buyers and Sellers Zillow’s new listing access standards, rolling out in summer 2025, require listings marketed publicly to be on the MLS within one business day, or they’ll be blocked from Zillow and Trulia after an agent’s third violation. Aimed at promoting transparency, the policy ensures broad…
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The Legendary Toll House Recipe (Circa 1939)
America’s Favorite Cookie: The Legendary Toll House Recipe (Circa 1939) By Katrina Smith As a collector of vintage cookbooks, I love recreating recipes from bygone eras. The original Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe, straight from my treasured 1939 cookbook, is a true gem—distinctly different from the modern version on today’s chocolate chip packages. I’m sharing…
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Venice Real Estate Update: Unpacking the $$$ Surge
Venice Real Estate Update: Unpacking the April 2025 Surge in 34285 Posted on May 26, 2025 By Steve Martin Smith On May 14, 2025, I reported that average sold prices in Venice rose 8% after a four-month decline of nearly 18%. Since then, I’ve dug deeper into each Venice ZIP code individually to understand the…
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How To Tame the Buyer Agreement Madness
Navigating Buyer-Broker Agreements: What Florida Homebuyers Need to Know Here is a summary of this episode of the Real Estate Agent Man Podcast If you’re house hunting in Sarasota, Charlotte, or Manatee counties, you’ve likely encountered confusion about buyer-broker agreements. Recent changes from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement have reshaped how real estate…
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Agent Obligations for Florida Buyers
What You Need to Know About Your Real Estate Agent’s Obligations When Buying a Home When you’re searching for your dream home, you likely expect your real estate agent to guide you through the process by showing you properties that match your criteria—price, location, size, and all your must-haves. But did you know that without…
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Navigating the New Commission Era
The Truth About Real Estate Commissions: Why the System Wasn’t Broken, Yet They Tried to Fix It Anyway. What Is the Path Forward? Since 1913, when the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges (now the National Association of Realtors) standardized real estate commissions based on a home’s purchase price, countless Americans have achieved the dream…
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Is $17,000 a year what these agents had in mind?
Thinking of Striking it Rich Selling Homes in Sarasota County? You may want to think again. While the idea of selling homes in sunny Florida might sound like a lucrative venture, the reality might surprise you. The Numbers Don’t Lie From 2020 to 2023, more than 10,000 licensed real estate agents in Sarasota County grossed…
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Decoding Real Estate: Licenses vs. NAR Membership
Decoding Real Estate: Licenses vs. REALTOR® Membership – What Everyone Should Know Have you ever heard someone mention a “REALTOR® license”? If so, you’re not alone! It’s a common misconception, and it’s time to set the record straight. Spoiler alert: there’s no such thing as a specific REALTOR® license. Even more surprising, only about 52%…
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10 Year High – This is not a Cheech & Chong skit
How did we get to the point of having a ten year high of inventory in Venice real estate? Beyond the interest rates being higher than they were a few years ago, something very specific occurred last year. Keep in mind that a single hurricane will certainly cool down the buyer pool. Now consider what…
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A problem with the “No-Coming-Soon” Marketing Rule
You may have heard that REALTORS are not allowed to market listings as “coming soon”. I’ve known that this is not always in the best interest of the seller, but had to comply as long as I was part of the National Association of REALTORS ( NAR ). Since I now own and operator…
