Yesterday I was bored, this happens to me when there’s no more football games on, so I took a walk to our local convenient store to pick up the newspaper, as my luck we have it, the only one left was the New York Post (I didn’t think so many people still purchased the local newspapers the old fashion way.)

Anyway, here’s some interesting triva from the Post, some of it pertaining to Massachusetts:

Top Amercan family travel destinations

1. Times Square – 37 million

2. Las Vegas – 29 million

3. National Mall DC – 25 million

4. Boston Massachusetts Faneuil Hall – 19 million

Education top states with college degrees

1. Massachusetts – 49.6%

2. Connecticut – 46.6%

3. New Hampshire – 46%

Interesting the top three were all in New England.

Of the 1.5 million students who took the SAT last year, only 297 obtained a perfect score of 2400.

Other interesting items non-Massachusetts related.

The average woman is 5′4″ and weighs 164 pounds. The average man is 5′9″ and weighs 191 pounds.

In 1960, both men and women were an inch shorter and 25 pounds lighter.

The average work week in 2010 was 34 hours.

The median income in 2009 was $49,777.00. In the Northeast the average income was $53,073.00.

If your interested in reading the full article most of it regarding dating and other items in that type of category click here

First, let me state that I know of many top-notch discount real estate agencies, such as CondoDomain.com, that have ads that are very trustworthy. However, some discount agencies, I’m beginning to question their real estate advertisements. Here’s one that comes to mind:

ISoldMyHouse.com MA real estate ad:

“With no real estate commission to pay, the money you save can go into the purchase of your next house…We offer real estate for sale by owner placement on our website, yard signs, MLS entry for our Massachusetts sellers, virtual tours, and much more.”

The way I interpret this ad from ISoldMyHouse.com is that they can list your property for sale on MLS for the seller, “with no real estate commission to pay.” However, according to MLS rules and regulations, with any property listed on MLS, the listing office must compensate the buyer’s agent a commission. If ISoldMyHouse.com co-brokes their MLS listing with a buyer’s agent, they will be required to pay the buyer’s agent a commission. Guess whose pocket that’s coming from?

Second point, I checked MLS to see how many properties are listed for sale in Boston with ISoldMyHouse.com. The answer: zero. To the best of my knowledge, the company ISoldMyHouse.com isn’t even a member of MLS. So this begs the question: Is the above link to ISoldMyHouse.com a misleading advertisement?

Your thoughts?

After reading this story, I get it. Why people hate real estate agents?

From the Hartford Courant, the theme of the story is this: list your condo below asking price, start a bidding war, if you (the seller) are offered asking price you want, tell the buyer, NO! Here’s how it works:

When David Chzaszcz put his family’s four-bedroom Tolland house up for sale in September, he took his real estate agent’s advice and listed it at $449,000, even though he was hoping it would sell for a higher price.

It goes on to say:

Chzaszcz’s agent, Rob Giuffria of Prudential Premier Homes, tells clients that pricing slightly below market value will generate the kind of traffic that creates a flurry of interest among buyers in the crucial early days that the house is on the market … Most sellers are under the mistaken belief that if someone offers them list price, they have to sell their home,” Giuffria says. “You can just say, ‘I don’t accept your offer”

Err … is this legal or ethical? Well, perhaps not ethical, but it is legal.

If it seems like a risky strategy, it’s not, according to several real estate agents who have used it recently. What people forget, agents say, is that a seller isn’t required to accept an offer, even if it’s for the full asking price

What are your thoughts?

File Under: If it sounds too good to be true … well you know the rest.

PS – I’m happy to report, I don’t know of any Boston broker using the above practice. If you do, let me know.