Mark Rienzie's Blog

When starting my real estate career in back in the 80's, it was not uncommon for buyers to assume or take over existing financing. Just about every sale involved a wraparound financing and It was a perfect solution to sell a home in a rough market. There were no loan origination fees or points, a...

Over the weekend, I had a listing appointment for a home that had been on the market twice before and did not sell. About 90% of my listings come from expired listings. The appointment and presentation went great. The home was in an area of Cleveland, OH that has seen many foreclosures. However, ...

When I closed my first short sale in 1998 I had no idea that 10 years later I'd be doing them with any regularity. At that time, short sales were uncommon; they remained uncommon through 2006. Even in 2007, other agents needed to be educated about what a short sale was, how long it took to close...

Everyone talks about the importance of building your brand. Some companies achieve this with their logo, can you say Coca-Cola - red, silver, swirly letters and you know who it is without even reading what it says. Or their spokesman - you see the young face of the Mac guy (the 7-Up guy or the De...

Long tail keywords are the fuel that powers hyper local content for your real estate website—so why aren’t you taking advantage of it to its fullest? Long tail keywords mean hyper relevant content, which can get you more buyers/sellers and more income, read on to learn more. So what are long tai...

Here are 10 ways you can find yourself out of business within 12 months. There are many others, but these are on my mind as of today, Sunday.   1. Use your commission as a tool to get more clients. When you buy your clients you send the message that you may not be as valuable as the competitors. ...

This paper scared me very badly, so as a form of therapy I figured I’d share it with you. Misery loves company, after all. Governments around the world are already drowning in debt, and many countries face a high certainty of debt levels that will exceed their GDP (100 in the graphs below means t...

I know many Realtors, (on AR and outside, as well!), feel that open houses are a waste of their time.  I have read a number of blogs over my time here on AR offering some really excellent ideas on hosting successful open houses, and no doubt some of them have been tried and been met with limited ...

ARE YOU A RESOURCE FOR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA?  I am sure that many of you are already well connected with your local media however, I thought it might be a good idea to share the great experience that I have with a local newspaper The Conroe Courier.  The Conroe Courier is a division of Houston Commu...