What happened to the IHB and some suggestions...

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
[quote author="FreedomCM"]
[quote author="IrvineRealtor"]If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
~ Mark Twain



You seem exceedingly unappreciative, Martin. MLS records show that you have a grand total of 5 transactions under your real estate belt out here in CA, and all of them, except the notable sale of your mother's home in Quail Hill, are from IHB members that you chronicled.

Maybe a better policy would be to simply say Thank You and move on?

-IR2[/quote]


Who is "Martin"?
[/quote]
That would be me.
 
[quote author="zubs"]While, I think USCtrojanman has over aggressive animosity towards IHB and its overlords, IR2 seems to have a lot of resentment toward him.

I always thought you two had a rivalry on who can get the most business from the IHB forums.....The funny thing is I get the feeling that USCTrojanman does it as a side business and more hobbylike while IR2 is in it full time.

Which brings me to ...who would I select if I were looking for a realtor in Irvine?....With IR2, I would feel some buying pressure. With USCtrojanman, there would be less pressure because it's just a side job and while he's trying to become a CPA.

But in reality, I couldn't pick any of you cause...u know..got relatives with RE licenses that I need to help feed.


[/quote]

Use me as agent
I write offers in haiku
Boo-yah house is yours
 
[quote author="zubs"]
Which brings me to ...who would I select if I were looking for a realtor in Irvine?....With IR2, I would feel some buying pressure. With USCtrojanman, there would be less pressure because it's just a side job and while he's trying to become a CPA.

[/quote]

Wow - not sure where the animosity from IR2 to Trojan is coming from. Im working with Trojan right now on looking for a place and i can personally attest that he asserts no pressure whatsoever on us to buy, while providing good insight/advice. He is always very receptive to showing us properties even though i tend to be somewhat of a bear (trying to get future pricing now) which diminishes his chances of earning a paycheck now - he will get it at some point.

When it came down to picking between Irvinerealtor and Trojan i chose trojan for the following reasons:

- Fellow USC alumni
- He is a fellow numbers guy so he would understand where i am coming from. My guess is most realtors would get frustrated with my number crunching/analysis.
- His mom cleans our house
- His dad does construction work
- Kind of like a one stop shop with his family
- Commission kickback - full service realtor benefits with the redfin kickback, hard to beat that combo.
 
I didn't get animosity from IR2 towards t-man. I just thought he was pointing out that t-man should be a little more grateful towards IHB and how much business he got from it. Five sales may not seem like a lot when you kick back some of the commission, but that is five more sales that t-man would have had without IHB. I for one, am grateful for everything that I learned from IHB, any business I may get from it, and the friends that I have from it. I think people need to move on, and look forward to what we have now. The past is past and the past is done. Quit b*tching and add something positive. Move forward, not backward.
 
[quote author="graphrix"]Move forward, not backward. [/quote]
Dang... I have to use this hour's precious Exalt on you. I almost gave it to Haiku... I'm a sucker for "Boo-yah"s.
 
[quote author="USCTrojanCPA"]
[quote author="irvinehomeowner"]In today's blog post, zovall answered someone about the closing of the forums:

Seems like we were discussing non-real estate topics too much? I dunno.[/quote]
Let me translate the IHB speak for you IHO...

The IHB forums were established to promote discussion of real estate related topics (to generate enough traffic to the point where we could monetize it). As the forums grew beyond real estate, it became a great deal of work, and conditions developed in the forums that were incompatible with having real estate related forums hosted by Ideal Home Brokers (Trojanman and IR2 were taking too much new potential business away from IHB Brokers so why keep the forum going for those free loaders). After exploring all options for changing the forums to a form compatible with our basic mission (including discussions with moderators and other interested parties), it was decided that closing them down was preferable to continuing in a format which was draining our resources and providing little recovery (We tried getting Trojanman and IR2 to join our ranks but since we were so greedy they weren't interest and as such we wanted to give them the big middle finger by shutting the forum down). If there had been an alternative that served our interests as well as the interests of the community at large, we would have pursued it (We just couldn't come up with a better way to monetize the forum despite the fact that we got several good suggestions on doing so from Trojanman). We may open the forums again in the future when we are certain we can focus the content and the conversation on real estate related matters; this will not happen soon (We won't open the forum until we know that our agents, including Shevy, get all the new business from the forum and we shut out Trojanman and IR2 from new business). We apologize to those who are upset over the loss of the forums (We could give a crap less about all of you people who liked the forums...sit and spin).

;D[/quote]

Trojan:

If they didn't give a crap about all of you, you wouldn't be on this site right now. They could have easily pulled the plug with no warning and not chosen to foster the continuation of the community. They did encourage us to move on to a new site, knowing full well that it may be at their expense as disparaging remarks could and would be made about them. Now that may not make for a sound business decision, but it certainly does take a big person. No matter what their reasons are for wanting to take a new direction, it is thanks to them that you even have this platform to speak from so I think they deserve some credit. And about their "business decision", I personally feel it's more than that. It may be hard to understand unless you are in their shoes, but it is draining to be constantly engaged in some type of conflict or stage of conflict-resolution among bloggers when they come to you for assistance. I give Zovall credit for lasting as long as he did. I certainly don't blame the guy for wanting to redirect his energy towards what he feels are more productive things and better uses of his time.
 
[quote author="SoCal78"]
[quote author="USCTrojanCPA"]
Let me translate the IHB speak for you IHO...

The IHB forums were established to promote discussion of real estate related topics (to generate enough traffic to the point where we could monetize it). As the forums grew beyond real estate, it became a great deal of work, and conditions developed in the forums that were incompatible with having real estate related forums hosted by Ideal Home Brokers (Trojanman and IR2 were taking too much new potential business away from IHB Brokers so why keep the forum going for those free loaders). After exploring all options for changing the forums to a form compatible with our basic mission (including discussions with moderators and other interested parties), it was decided that closing them down was preferable to continuing in a format which was draining our resources and providing little recovery (We tried getting Trojanman and IR2 to join our ranks but since we were so greedy they weren't interest and as such we wanted to give them the big middle finger by shutting the forum down). If there had been an alternative that served our interests as well as the interests of the community at large, we would have pursued it (We just couldn't come up with a better way to monetize the forum despite the fact that we got several good suggestions on doing so from Trojanman). We may open the forums again in the future when we are certain we can focus the content and the conversation on real estate related matters; this will not happen soon (We won't open the forum until we know that our agents, including Shevy, get all the new business from the forum and we shut out Trojanman and IR2 from new business). We apologize to those who are upset over the loss of the forums (We could give a crap less about all of you people who liked the forums...sit and spin).

;D[/quote]

Trojan:

If they didn't give a crap about all of you, you wouldn't be on this site right now. They could have easily pulled the plug with no warning and not chosen to foster the continuation of the community. They did encourage us to move on to a new site, knowing full well that it may be at their expense as disparaging remarks could and would be made about them. Now that may not make for a smart business decision, but it certainly does take a big person. No matter what their reasons are for wanting to take a new direction, it is thanks to them that you even have this platform to speak from so I think they deserve some credit. And about their "business decision", I personally feel it's more than that. It may be hard to understand unless you are in their shoes, but it is draining to be constantly engaged in some type of conflict or stage of conflict-resolution among bloggers when they come to you for assistance. I give Zovall credit for lasting as long as he did. I certainly don't blame the guy for wanting to redirect his energy towards what he feels are more productive things and better uses of his time. [/quote]
Very well put SoCal. I guess my take was a bit harsh, but the fact remains that the way things happened without warning felt a lot of us upset and scratching our heads. I'm sure running a blog/forum is not the easiest thing in the world to do but it was their approach that really bothered me. They were so much potential and I was willing to make my fair share contribution towards it and they looked the other way because they wanted more...that's really what bothers me...the greed and the delivery. It really is a shame that things played out the way they did. That being said, I am grateful that I was able to be a part of IHB and now Talk Irvine. <!-- s:D -->:D<!-- s:D -->
 
Back on the old board on IHB, IR2 started a subject on letting people do all the work, and he would do the finalization and charge a small fee depending on how much work he did. I don't remember what the title of it was.

Well someone asked a question in that thread where USCtrojanman answered it. IR2 then asked USCtrojanman not to answer questions in his thread.

That was where I got the resentment. I could look it up and post it here, but I'm too lazy.

By the way IR2, thank you for posting all that info of the RE closings every month. I send it to anyone I know who is looking to buy in Irvine.
 
[quote author="graphrix"]I didn't get animosity from IR2 towards t-man. I just thought he was pointing out that t-man should be a little more grateful towards IHB and how much business he got from it. Five sales may not seem like a lot when you kick back some of the commission, but that is five more sales that t-man would have had without IHB. I for one, am grateful for everything that I learned from IHB, any business I may get from it, and the friends that I have from it. I think people need to move on, and look forward to what we have now. The past is past and the past is done. Quit b*tching and add something positive. Move forward, not backward. [/quote]


Damn, I really hate that seeing that I can exalt I do and then find moments later that there's another place I would have used the scarce resource had I known.

Can we just get back on topic.... RE, Politics, Economy, WINE (did I mention Wine) and be a happy group again?
 
[quote author="steppingup"]Can we just get back on topic.... RE, Politics, Economy, WINE (did I mention Wine) and be a happy group again? [/quote]

I hope so. It's turned into DramaTalk. The only one here who should be butt-hurt is me, and only because I hurt my butt.

It's a long story, but I fell off a 18" slab flat on my tailbone last Saturday helping my dad remove a 600HP diesel pump engine.
 
[quote author="novaseline"]
[quote author="steppingup"]Can we just get back on topic.... RE, Politics, Economy, WINE (did I mention Wine) and be a happy group again? [/quote]

I hope so. It's turned into DramaTalk. The only one here who should be butt-hurt is me, and only because I hurt my butt.

It's a long story, but I fell off a 18" slab flat on my tailbone last Saturday helping my dad remove a 600HP diesel pump engine.[/quote]

Thank you No_Vas, I'm still laughing. You are a total hoot.
 
[quote author="SoCal78"]
Trojan:

If they didn't give a crap about all of you, you wouldn't be on this site right now. They could have easily pulled the plug with no warning and not chosen to foster the continuation of the community. They did encourage us to move on to a new site, knowing full well that it may be at their expense as disparaging remarks could and would be made about them. Now that may not make for a sound business decision, but it certainly does take a big person. No matter what their reasons are for wanting to take a new direction, it is thanks to them that you even have this platform to speak from so I think they deserve some credit. And about their "business decision", I personally feel it's more than that. It may be hard to understand unless you are in their shoes, but it is draining to be constantly engaged in some type of conflict or stage of conflict-resolution among bloggers when they come to you for assistance. I give Zovall credit for lasting as long as he did. I certainly don't blame the guy for wanting to redirect his energy towards what he feels are more productive things and better uses of his time. [/quote]

It's a shame that I gave IrvineRealtor my exalt for the hour before I saw this post. You deserve an exalt too.

The people who ran the old blog and forum are human. And just like all humans, they have positive points and flaws. But the fact is that they provided a free service that everyone here felt was worthwhile enough to spend a part of our lives on. For that, we should be grateful.

Instead, some people are upset at the way that the owners of IHB tried to monetize their site. Personally I think that IR puts enough time into his site that he deserves some level of compensation.

Other people are upset that the forum was closed. Well, I've run a busy forum before, and it is truly a thankless task. Regardless of what decision you make on anything, you catch grief. And people tend to view you as an unpaid servant.

And others are upset that they couldn't continue to monetize the investment that the owners made in creating a dynamic community. (On that note, I won't comment on anyone other than IR2. He proved himself to be a class act and deserves any rewards he gets for his tireless efforts to help the community)

I would hope that over time Zoval and IR would feel welcome to participate in this community. The community wouldn't exist without them, and they are due some respect.
 
Ok, at some point this thread should be closed and the many posts wishing zovall and IR well should remain the only remnants of thought. Let's move on now.
 
[quote author="zubs"]While, I think USCtrojanman has over aggressive animosity towards IHB and its overlords, IR2 seems to have a lot of resentment toward him.

I always thought you two had a rivalry on who can get the most business from the IHB forums.....The funny thing is I get the feeling that USCTrojanman does it as a side business and more hobbylike while IR2 is in it full time.

Which brings me to ...who would I select if I were looking for a realtor in Irvine?....With IR2, I would feel some buying pressure. With USCtrojanman, there would be less pressure because it's just a side job and while he's trying to become a CPA.

But in reality, I couldn't pick any of you cause...u know..got relatives with RE licenses that I need to help feed.
[/quote]
I don't want to turn this into a battle thread but USC and IR2 have different models and different people will prefer one over the other.

This is a side thing for USC and since he mostly does buy side transactions, he can do his research off-hours and can cater to buyers who are more knowledgeable and don't require constant service that a full-time realtor can provide. And because it's not his major source of income and how his broker relationship is structured, he has more leeway in what he does with his commission.

But at the same time, there are buyers who need that kind of service, which IR2 can provide. But, as he stated in the thread that you referred to, IR2 can also be flexible to a lower demand, lower commission model. And to be fair, you'll be surprised how anti-pressure IR2 is. As I've chronicled, not only did he take the time to look at my house to estimate what I could sell it for and also show me several rentals I was interested in... he didn't once push me to list with him or sign on for a rental despite all the time and information he gave me regarding them.

And if you're selling a home in this area, who would you list with? Sure, you can ask Uncle Fred to do it so he can give you a kickback and feed his kid... but will you get the type of service that someone with a high knowledge of Irvine/Tustin/OC and a proven track record can give you? This is where you diverge from that relative with an RE license and see where that commission is going.

Unfortunately, this is also where the IHB stops short, although we know how smart Larry is, being new to the business, there is that question of his "realtor smarts" (okay... oxymoron for most but you know where I'm going). Without any personal connection via at least some communication on the forums from Shevy... and since he's not related to any of us... it would be hard to give him your business.

Now, that doesn't mean that I (or many of us) want them to fail, but they should realize that running a successful brokerage is more than just "Integrity, Honesty, Bluntness"... and while I wish them all the best of luck (does anyone really know who zovall is?) I would hope they would take some of our suggestions and inspect their business model closer. It would be ironic for them to be the victims of Schadenfreude from their own actions (or inaction).

Oh... and it might be hard to represent a buyer who would be interested in a property they profiled in the blog. The listing agent would probably kick any offer they submitted to the curb (eh... who am I kidding... money forgives all).
 
[quote author="irvinehomeowner"]
[quote author="zubs"]While, I think USCtrojanman has over aggressive animosity towards IHB and its overlords, IR2 seems to have a lot of resentment toward him.

I always thought you two had a rivalry on who can get the most business from the IHB forums.....The funny thing is I get the feeling that USCTrojanman does it as a side business and more hobbylike while IR2 is in it full time.

Which brings me to ...who would I select if I were looking for a realtor in Irvine?....With IR2, I would feel some buying pressure. With USCtrojanman, there would be less pressure because it's just a side job and while he's trying to become a CPA.

But in reality, I couldn't pick any of you cause...u know..got relatives with RE licenses that I need to help feed.
[/quote]
I don't want to turn this into a battle thread but USC and IR2 have different models and different people will prefer one over the other.

This is a side thing for USC and since he mostly does buy side transactions, he can do his research off-hours and can cater to buyers who are more knowledgeable and don't require constant service that a full-time realtor can provide. And because it's not his major source of income and how his broker relationship is structured, he has more leeway in what he does with his commission.

But at the same time, there are buyers who need that kind of service, which IR2 can provide. But, as he stated in the thread that you referred to, IR2 can also be flexible to a lower demand, lower commission model. And to be fair, you'll be surprised how anti-pressure IR2 is. As I've chronicled, not only did he take the time to look at my house to estimate what I could sell it for and also show me several rentals I was interested in... he didn't once push me to list with him or sign on for a rental despite all the time and information he gave me regarding them.

And if you're selling a home in this area, who would you list with? Sure, you can ask Uncle Fred to do it so he can give you a kickback and feed his kid... but will you get the type of service that someone with a high knowledge of Irvine/Tustin/OC and a proven track record can give you? This is where you diverge from that relative with an RE license and see where that commission is going.

Unfortunately, this is also where the IHB stops short, although we know how smart Larry is, being new to the business, there is that question of his "realtor smarts" (okay... oxymoron for most but you know where I'm going). Without any personal connection via at least some communication on the forums from Shevy... and since he's not related to any of us... it would be hard to give him your business.

Now, that doesn't mean that I (or many of us) want them to fail, but they should realize that running a successful brokerage is more than just "Integrity, Honesty, Bluntness"... and while I wish them all the best of luck (does anyone really know who zovall is?) I would hope they would take some of our suggestions and inspect their business model closer. It would be ironic for them to be the victims of Schadenfreude from their own actions (or inaction).

Oh... and it might be hard to represent a buyer who would be interested in a property they profiled in the blog. The listing agent would probably kick any offer they submitted to the curb (eh... who am I kidding... money forgives all).[/quote]
Very well put IHO. The moral of the story is that the real estate market is big enough for everyone. There's no need for anyone to be resentful of good agents, I always wish the best luck to the good agents out there (yes, there are some out there). Good agents will get referral business which keeps them in the game and the bad ones will (hopefully) be weeded out.

Oh yeah, I do have a highly upgraded listing coming up in Newport Coast in mid-Jan. <!-- s;) -->;)<!-- s;) --> <!-- s8-) -->8-)<!-- s8-) -->
 
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