Carl Medford is one of the top real estate agents in the East Bay area of greater San Francisco – he’s a terrific writer and his recent post on Trulia Voices offers a nice list of fifteen “under-spoken” but downright necessary things that most Sellers never hear from their agents.

I spend quite a bit of quality time on Trulia Voices, almost every day, and Carl’s post, and some of the 40+ comments, inspired me to make a comment…here’s what I said:

Carl,

I can tell that you are a wise and seasoned sales professional-you have a matter of fact style that never goes out of style.

Writing a post on Trulia that generates this much buzz is pretty nifty, but doing what you and I do everyday is even niftier.

To the few haters who commented – look, you punks and pretenders are only as good as your NEXT sale – sellers and agents included. Every one of the 15 “things” is mega-valid.

There are nuances and there are subtleties to each and every one, but Carl put them out there in such an easy to digest and easy to comprehend way, and for that he is light years ahead of most agents.

Here’s my worldview – most agents in Atlanta suck.

Furthermore, most Atlanta sellers are grossly deceived.

Probably close to the same status everywhere else, but here’s Atlanta’s recent statistic to back up this “suction” – 70 out of 100 Atlanta listings fail to sell during their listing period. The number should come down a little this year and once we get the second quarter stats we will know for sure, but a large portion of that 70 is guilty of appointment only, pet odor, no lockbox, no virtual tour, etc. foolishness.

Price is of course the primary problem, and the primary reason that most listing agents suck.

It’s the agents who can’t even keep their signs erect who are usually my first clue that a house won’t sell…

Carl’s 15 statements are 15 ways to reduce agent suction!

As for the frustrated seller or two who longs for something other than the cold, hard reality of the real estate agency business today, just remember that hope is not a strategy.

Carl is a strategist and his long, hard work days are loaded with proactive and diligent client-focused sales tactics.

At the same time, he needs to generate and convert sales leads everyday-anyone who is in the agency business to stay must be a salesperson first and foremost.

Carl- you rock. I will remember you for Fremont referrals. Thanks for writing up the list!

Intown Insider readers – make sure that you are getting into the dialogue at Trulia Voices, and if you need a great agent in Fremont, CA, then Carl is the man!

In the Summer of 1979, in Greenville, S.C. this hot chick named Lauren and I listened to “Off The Wall” in her bedroom, and I heard “Don’t Stop ‘til you Get Enough” for the first time. It’s been in my top fifty ever since.

Michael has been Wacko Jacko since 1985 or so, but may he rest in peace…

This is my favorite song from the Michael Jackson body of work – “You Are My Lovely One.”

This woman was a frequent, prurient interest in my youth – I’m glad that her suffering is over.

Lets remember her for being smoking hot in the 70′s…

Last year, we featured a video mix with James Brown, Lynn Anderson and Eddy Arnold and Heart.

This year, here’s my favorite Father’s Day inspired Video … featuring the incredible Waylon Jennings, and a band of groovy cats, on Hee Haw, circa 1969…

The remarkable Nate Dorn joins me again, this time on a video trek into the wilds of 30316.

I report on the market stats through June 2009.

Nate films it, and this time we went green. Regardless of how we lighten the tone of modern day real estate agency videomaking, the market offers a heavy message.

Sellers – you are failing at a rate of 70% of all listings. No sale. Get your prices down to meet demand. The Rootdown Group would appreciate the opportunity to earn your business as your Listing Agent, if you need help with a sale in the coming months.

Buyers – $358,000 goes a long way today for a primary residence. FHA funding in Atlanta is helping to stabilize prices in the low price ranges. Expect submarket activity spikes later this year – expect a price spike with it. Expect sellers to improve their numbers and to gain balance in some submarkets. Expect to buy extra low in many markets, still. Just remember, you are making a primary residence choice and it’s more about lifestyle than real estate moneymaking. It’s more about being around good neighbors, most of the time. In 2010 and beyond, expect that real estate won’t bubble again, until the next technology wave – 2023-2030. Expect price stability. Stability alone is terrific isn’t it? Regardless, only expect this if you bought in the right neighborhood, on the right street, for the right price.

If you want to hire the right Realtor for Intown Atlanta and Decatur, then hire The Rootdown Group.

Here’s our greenest video yet…

Trulia has been good to me since December 2007, and I truly appreciate the featured blog distinction this week. Trulia, thank you for helping me and my real estate business.

It should make you feel terrific that Zillow really blew it today with one of my listings – bad data, mystery data, and confusing data never happen with my Trulia listings.

I’ve never liked Zillow’s GUI.

Now, I just think that their data is messy.

All joking aside, Trulia crushes Zillow at almost every touchpoint that matters to the real estate consumer, in my opinion.

I wanted to say something funny to lighten my mood, but now, I’ll just tell the same joke that I told back on January 7, 2008 on Trulia.

Did you hear the joke about the mathematician, the accountant and the economist ?

A mathematician, an accountant and an economist apply for the same job. The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks “What do two plus two equal?” The mathematician replies “Four.” The interviewer asks “Four, exactly?” The mathematician looks at the interviewer incredulously and says “Yes, four, exactly.”

Then the interviewer calls in the accountant and asks the same question “What do two plus two equal?” The accountant says “On average, four – give or take ten percent, but on average, four.”

Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question “What do two plus two equal?” The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shade, sits down next to the interviewer and says “What do you want it to equal?”

Zillow has two tech support tickets now, no 800 number that’s easy to find and no human response like Trulia, and their GUI still sucks.

All joking aside, Zillow vs. Trulia is a contest that we’ll be watching for a long time. I just believe that the quality of the community and creativity of the web architects at Trulia is way better, and has been for years.

Much love.

LT