By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
QUICK SKIM
Do you have a female client who’s exceptionally chatty? Or a male client who zones out sometimes? It might be their gender that’s to blame. Men and women have different communication styles that often clash in the business world, according to Michael Gurian and Barbara Annis, authors of Leadership and the Sexes (Jossey-Bass, 2008). The authors set out to move beyond gender stereotypes and point to brain imaging studies that can offer you insight into how you can better communicate, lead, and negotiate with people of the opposite sex, so that gender communication blunders never cost you a deal. BUY THE BOOK
FROM THE BOOK: 5 WAYS MEN AND WOMEN COMMUNICATE DIFFERENTLY
At times, men and women may seem like they really are communicating from two different planets. Why is that? Blood flows differently to varying parts of the brain in males and females, making each gender better at processing certain types of information. The book outlines several of these differences and offers tips to account for these differences and deter misunderstandings.
Here are five differences presented in the book.
1. Women’s brains are always “on.” Females might appreciate this: “There is more neural activity in the female brain at any given time than in the male brain, as evidenced by 15 to 20 percent more blood flow, with more brain centers ‘lit up’ in a scan of a female brain than in one of a male brain,” according to the book. The female brain tends to be more constantly active, while the male brain is prone to “zoning out” or “blanking out” during conversations. To avoid a zone out, men might unconsciously start an activity, such as tapping their pencils, gazing out the window, or swiveling in a chair. Continue reading »
The following is excerpted from Sustainable Housing and Building Green (Dearborn, 2008) by Marie S. Spodek and Ken Deshaies.
Audits in the Real Estate Transaction
Energy audits are an excellent source of additional information to help sellers, builders, and buyers make quantifiable decisions when buying new appliances or a new home. Tenants also benefit because energy audits allow them to choose energy-efficient rentals. (VIDEO: Watch an energy audit in action.)
Role of the Real Estate Licensee
Essentially, licensees should be the “source of the resource, not the source of the information.” Real estate licensees should not hold themselves out as experts, and they should not promise savings or results from an energy audit. To avoid any hint of impropriety, agents should never accept a “referral fee” from any of these companies or sell any of the products without fully disclosing any relationship to the company. Even with full disclosure, licensees should avoid “requiring” the purchase of any product or service with which they are associated. Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
QUICK SKIM
It’s time for cities to get walking, not sprawling, writes Christopher B. Leinberger in his new book The Option of Urbanism: Investing in a New American Dream (Island Press, 2008). Not only are buyers demanding it, but cities need it to thrive. Walkable urbanism is when everyday needs—such as parks, shopping, work, and schools—all fall within walking distance (a quarter to a half mile) or are easily accessible by transit from your home. Properties in walkable communities tend to command the highest prices, anywhere from 40-200 percent more than drivable single-family housing. His book makes a solid case for why and how cities can make themselves more walkable. BUY THE BOOK
FROM THE BOOK: 5 WAYS CITIES CAN BECOME MORE WALKABLE
Walkable cities tend to have easy public transport and lots of shops, making for a highly desirable place to live. However, demand for housing in these places often outweighs the supply. Here’s what cities need to do to encourage more “walkable urbanism” developments.
1. Change zoning. True walkable urbanism requires high popular density, which often runs counter to zoning codes. Zoning laws also traditionally have set out to keep industrial and retail away from housing, which must coexist in a mixed-use development. Communities can adopt a new planning process that involves property owners, neighbors, retailers, developers, and planning and elected officials working together in bringing these often-complex developments to reality. Some cities are developing form-based codes that are not based on use (which is often the case with traditional zoning), but on the form of the building. These form-based codes are then implemented through an overlay district, which is placed on top of traditional zoning maps. Continue reading »
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey
Here are the latest top selling books in real estate from Amazon.com:
1. The Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It, By Robert J. Shiller
2. Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis, By Paul Muolo and Mathew Padilla
3. Financial Shock A 360º Look at the Subprime Mortgage Implosion, and How to Avoid the Next Financial Crisis, By Mark Zandi
4. Rich Dad’s Advisors®: The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss, By Ken McElroy
5. Real Estate Investing for Dummies , By Eric Tyson and Robert S. Griswold
6. The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor’s Kit: How to Make M Buying Distressed Real Estate — Before the Public Auction, By Thomas Lucier
7. Home Buying For Dummies, 3rd edition, By Eric Tyson and Ray Brown
8. SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times, By Gary Keller, Dave Jenks, and Jay Papasan
9. Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition, By Marc Reisner
10. Complete Guide to Real Estate Tax Liens and Foreclosure Deeds: Learn in 7 Days-Investing Without Losing Series , By Don Sausa
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