Category: Blog Carnivals (page 2 of 11)

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

As I said yesterday, I had already picked this week’s Odysseus Medal winner, so I didn’t include his posts among the Short List of nominees. Instead, I’ll present them here. The Odysseus Medal this week goes to Mike Farmer for his tour de force series of posts on Web 2.0 and the real estate practitioner. Mike had an astounding thirteen posts on the Long List last week, but the eight posts (!) cited here are a cut above everything I saw last week. These are Mike’s essays, in chronological order:

• Real Estate Web 2.0 Community part one
• Real Estate web 2.0 – community/groups
• Real Estate Web 2.0 — I just want to sell real estate
• Real estate Web 2.0 — A Personal Network
• Real Estate Web 2.0 — Google Is Watching
• Real Estate web 2.0 – Network Relationships
• Real estate Web 2.0 — Free Speech
• Real Estate web 2.0 — Brief Conclusion (whew)

If you didn’t read them — or didn’t read them all — making the time will repay your effort. Cathy and I were talking about thanking authors for the gifts they bear — not as fawning fan mail but as a simple expression of gratitude. I’ll thank Mike now for this compendium, and I hope you will take a second to do the same by email or in a comment on his weblog.

The Black Pearl Award this week goes to Set Godin for Advice for real estate agents (quit now!):

The second asset to build is permission. It turns out (according to the NAR) that 91% of all Realtors never contact the buyer or the seller of a home after the closing. Not once. Wow. Someone just spent a million dollars with you and you don’t bother to call or write?

The opportunity during the current pause (and yes, it’s a pause) is to find, one by one, the people who would benefit from hearing from you and then earn the right to talk to them. Earn the right to send them a newsletter or a regular update or a subscription to your blog. NOT to talk about what matters to you, but to give them information (real information, not just data) that matters to them. Visit Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We have 16 entries on the short list this week, out of an astoundingly long long list of 104 posts. I’ve already decided on the winner of the Odysseus Medal, so I’m not linking that way. Instead, this week I’m showing nothing but Black Pearls, practical hard-headed ideas for working better, faster and more profitably.

Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

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“Brian Brady — Gene Simmons: Originality is Overrated Gene Simmons: Originality is Overrated“,
“Brian Brady — Sins Writers Commit The Two Sins Writers Commit That Business Bloggers Can’t Afford“,
“Chad Smith — Starbucks Wi-Fi Starbucks Makes Decision That Could Save Real Estate Agents Money“,
“Cheryl Johnson — Static Page and Blog Page Coexist WordPress: Static Page and Blog Page Coexist“,
“Cheryl Johnson — Using FTP Using FTP“,
“Dan Green — The One-Day Change To Your Closing Date The One-Day Change To Your Closing Date That Will Save You Money“,
“Dave Smith — Hyper Local Blog Market Targeting Hyper Local Blog Market Targeting“,
“Jay Thompson — The Taxman Approacheth The Taxman Approacheth“,
“Jeff Brown — My Topic Wish List I Hope Unchained Considers My Topic Wish List“,
“Jim Cronin — Not Your Competition 7 Reasons Why Your Local Real Estate Blogging Peers Are Not Your Competition“,
“Jim Cronin — Website Working Against Your Career? Is Your Website Working Against Your Real Estate Career?“,
“Paul Chaney — Keyword-optimized blog posts Don’t tell me keyword-optimized blog posts don’t get Google’s attention, cause they do!“,
“Reggie Nicolay — ESignature Technology Is ESignature Technology Right For Your Real Estate Business?“,
“Sean Purcell — Think Cat Blog Want Hyper-Local Blogging? Think Cat Blog“,
“Seth Godin — Advice for real estate agents Advice for real estate agents (quit now!)“,
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by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Judging this contest, I get to read a lot of talented writers. But only one can connect Amy Winehouse to real estate and have it all make the most delightful kind of sense. The Odysseus Medal this week goes to Geno Petro for She tried to make me buy a rehab…:

Truth is; I can barely swing a hammer….Let me rephrase that; I can swing the hell out of a hammer but just not in a constructive way. I am not the fixer-upper type, in case we haven’t met. (See mug shot above for clarity.) I probably err to the side of demolition, if anything.

That being said, my lovely wife (and occasional muse) found a possible second home that in theory, could fulfill our retirement needs during those forthcoming platinum years that Dennis Hopper pitches on the Ameriprise commercials during prime time every night. All things equal, he’s my favorite corporate sell out so far this century, that Dennis Hopper.  Cool, quirky and rich beyond words, for sure.

“60 is the new 40,” exclaims my man, sharply dressed in black, The Spencer Davis Group blaring in the background, and looking unlike like any beshaded 72 year old cat I’ve ever met.  And I’m all over it. According to DH, I’ve got 40 more good ones ahead of me. According to his math and blueprint for living, I’m barely 34.  When he comes on the plasma in high def I get a sudden urge to run out and invest in something spectacular before I lose another precious second. I yearn to  join the expedition, or at the very least, embark on the journey to financial freedom.  After all, one man’s destination is another man’s starting point. Ask any truly wealthy person (9 figures+ by my definition) and I’m certain he will tell you as much. “It’s the journey, not the…” whatever.

But the ‘hidden gem’ my wife came across this past weekend, a shack on the Tennessee River, needs some serious attention; more attention than I’m prepared to pay for, quite frankly. She found it on the Film Location site our own house is registered with (unbeknownst to me until a few months ago). And in case you didn’t know, there is a market Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We have 18 entries on the short list this week, out of a long list of 74 posts.

Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

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“Brian Boero — Partial vision Partial vision“,
“Brian Brady — Are You Blogging For Speed? Are You Blogging For Speed?“,
“Dan Green — Ignoring Adjectives How Ignoring Adjectives Can Improve Your Understanding Of Mortgages“,
“Dan Green — Mortgage Rates Why Mortgage Rates Don’t Look Like They’re Coming Back Down Any Time Soon“,
“Geno Petro — She tried to make me buy a rehab She tried to make me buy a rehab…“,
“Harvey Edgecombe — Barack Obama versus the US Economy Barack Obama versus the US Economy“,
“Jay Thompson — Dale Stinton Stops By NARWisdom.com NAR CEO Dale Stinton Stops By NARWisdom.com“,
“Kris Berg — A lesson in push(y) marketing. A lesson in push(y) marketing.“,
“Kris Berg — In sickness or in health In sickness or in health – It’s viral.“,
“Mike Farmer — Due Diligence and Real Estate Due Diligence and Real Estate“,
“Mike Farmer — The Religion (Tyranny) of Niceness The Religion (Tyranny) of Niceness“,
“Mike Price — Armchair Quarterbacking Real Estate 2.0 Armchair Quarterbacking Real Estate 2.0“,
“Morgan Brown — McCain’s Mum on Mortgage Reform McCain’s Mum on Mortgage Reform“,
“Morgan Brown — New conforming limits New conforming limits – what will it do to jumbo loan rates?“,
“Nick Bostic — Save the World (and some money) Save the World (and some money)“,
“Teri Lussier — The training of the shrewd The training of the shrewd“,
“Todd Carpenter — Why Google Page Rank Matters Perception Is Reality, Why Google Page Rank Matters“,
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by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I’m not going to award an Odysseus Medal this week. The Short List candidates were very good, but nothing killed me, and I want for this award to celebrate work that is beyond excellent. But: I do want to cite two Honorable Mentions, two posts that I thought were very good, and which took us in directions we will need to travel as we come more and more to be our own sources of arcane information.

It’s funny actually: Our relationship as webloggers to the mainstream media is very much like our clients’ relationship to us. They want to take on more of the work that was once exclusively ours, just as we seek to take on more of the work that was once hidden behind the walls of print and broadcast outlets.

The two posts I am citing, The Proposed Solutions Are Going To Be Worse Than The Mortgage Crisis by Doug Quance and Barack Obama’s Mortgage Reform Policy by Morgan Brown, illustrate the kind of depth of understanding we can achieve when we apply ourselves. By now it seems likely that our presidential nominees have been chosen, and I look forward to this kind of thoughtful analysis of the real estate and economic implications of the candidates’ proposals.

Black Pearls we have, though, and more than just a few. Choosing one was a problem. The Black Pearl Award this week goes to Jim Cronin for Blogging Etiquette – The Blog Comment Policy – Do You Need One?:

Blogs are meant to be a two-way street.  We are blogging for an audience.  Engaging that audience to participate is a huge part of the the motivation and an element that can define a blog’s success.

So where do you draw the line?

What do you consider acceptable behavior by the audience, on your real estate blog?

For a lot of real estate bloggers, their blog is an extension of their business.  This means that their reputation, credibility, personality, works, message and even their career are potentially on the line with every article published.

What are you doing to protect the above?

The following are a number of items that range from mildly Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Late again. Sorry. I’ve had my Mac back since around Noon. Logic board this time, again no charge. In terms of replacement cost, I’ve got about 60% of a new computer for free. The back side is that I’ve never had to live with component failure — nor with the fear of data loss. Until Sunday, I had never backed up a Macintosh in my life. Today I made plans to buy a TimeCapsule.

Anyway, there are 12 entries on the short list this week, out of a long list of 78 posts.

Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 9 pm MST Wednesday this week. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

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“Doug Quance — Proposed Solutions Worse The Proposed Solutions Are Going To Be Worse Than The Mortgage Crisis“,
“Jay Thompson — NAR and Social Media Why the NAR Needs a \”Social Media Director\”“,
“Jim Cronin — Blogging Etiquette Blogging Etiquette – The Blog Comment Policy – Do You Need One?“,
“Jim Cronin — Worrying About SEO Why Worrying About SEO Is Detrimental to Your Real Estate Blog“,
“Kris Berg — I’m too sexy for my blog. I’m too sexy for my blog.“,
“Michael Creel — The Perils of Being a Realtor The Perils of Being a Realtor“,
“Mike Farmer — Fundamental Solutions Folk Music, Blame and Fundamental Solutions“,
“Morgan Brown — Barack Obama’s Mortgage Reform Policy Barack Obama’s Mortgage Reform Policy“,
“Paul Chaney — Becoming a social media leper Becoming a social media leper… many marketers are missing the whole point!“,
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by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Amended: The Odysseus Medal goes this week to… no one. The post I had picked as the winner turned out to be someone else’s work. I’ve elected not to award The Odysseus Medal this week and, instead, to gargle with Listerine to clear my palate and my mind of schmaltz.

The Black Pearl Award this week goes to Mike Farmer with Real Estate in A Brave New World:

Despite the rhetoric from politicians who claim we’re on the edge of ruin, there’s a lot of wealth in this country, and it’s congregated in metropolitan areas that have outgrown, or never had, an appeal for comfort, hominess and quality of living. Baby boomers (BB) will have second thoughts about retiring in areas where road rage and pollution are the nicest things you can say about them. These places are where the money’s at, but now a large chunk of it’s in the banking accounts of BBs and will transfer anywhere their hearts desire – North Carolina, Georgia, Utah, Colorado, Tennessee, Nevada.

Many of these BB buyers will want to live in places where they can golf and shop and exercise, walk the streets and smile rather than snarl, join clubs, start a mini second career doing something they love in communities where everyone knows their names and don’t give a fig what they’re worth on a financial sheet – the easy, slow, entertaining, friendly life. I’m talking myself into early retirement, here.

These BB buyers are already net-addicted and I receive emails each day from them asking me about the area, home prices, things to do, etc. – they’re gathering information and making plans. They aren’t in a hurry and they want good, reliable, spam-free information. This has been written about many times – but what many agents don’t realize is that it’s here, now. No one’s predicting the future anymore – they’re reporting. How many are ready?

Who better to service their needs, to be their wise guides, their comforting counsel, to make information gathering and analysis painless and useful, than the modern day, internet savvy, service-oriented, friendly and efficient local realtor?

Many agents will have to change Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Sorry to be late. I’ve worked with dozens of Macs, mine and other people’s, since 1985, and Iridium is the first one I’ve ever had fail to start up. I cleaned my desk today — idle hands — and fired up 96 Tears, a ten-year-old G3, for the first time in months, the second time in more than two years. No problem. Cameron had a IIci running on his desk for more than twelve years.

Anyway, there are 20 entries on the short list this week, out of a long list of 113 posts. News, yes, but some truly thoughtful think pieces, too.

Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Wednesday this week. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

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“Dan Green — Another Rate Cut With Another Rate Cut, The Federal Reserve May Be The Proverbial \”Fool In The Shower\”“,
“Dan Green — Database Marketing In The Business Of Personal Relationships, Database Marketing Is More Effective Than SEO Marketing“,
“Dustin Luther — dothomes DotHomes Launches US Home Search Tool“,
“Geno Petro — A Mastermind of Hucksters A Mastermind of Hucksters“,
“Jeff Brown — Getting Off the Ground Principles of Flight and Real Estate — Getting Off the Ground“,
“Jillayne Schlicke — Walk Away If You Walk Away, I’ll Walk Away“,
“Jim Duncan — I hear rumors all the time I hear rumors all the time“,
“Joel Burslem — dothomes International Real Estate Search Site Makes a Move into US“,
“Joel Burslem — The New MicroHoo Real Estate The New MicroHoo Real Estate“,
“Kevin Boer — dothomes Do We Really Need Yet Another Real Estate Search Site?“,
“Kris Berg — Going Green Going Green – finally!“,
“Kris Berg — Joe and Marge Joe and Marge“,
“Marc Grayson — Are Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Apart from the normal crush of business, I’ve been hammering away for the past few weeks on a huge project — which I’ll be announcing shortly. In the mean time, I’ve wanted to make a further elaboration on the Long List lister I made a few weeks ago. That tool will echo The Long List of Odysseus Medal Nominees as they come in, but I wanted something that could be subscribed to by feed reader, as well.

It occurred to me to push the data out as a feed on my own, but instead I decided to build a link blog. I did that tonight. You can see it by clicking here.

This is a pure link blog — no commentary and no comments. I’m just drawing attention to the 75-100 posts that are making The Long List every week. You can see what’s new by visiting the weblog, but the ideal way to use this tool is simply to subscribe to the feed.

The Long List is updated several times a day, so you’ll always be abreast of the very best writing in the RE.net.

The other end of the pipeline commands your attention, as well: If you see something you think is truly great, and if it’s not already on The Long List — nominate it.

Here’s a trick, if you’re interested. Go to this nomination form, then drag it into your browser’s tool bar or save it in your bookmarks. The when you see a post you like, open the form in a new tab, so you can swap back and forth to paste in the title and URL.

On my end, the nomination process is by now almost completely automated. I moderate for porn and spam, of course, but I can normally update both the The Long List list box and The Long List of Odysseus Medal Nominees weblog with one click.

One of the things that I like best about this new weblog is that, from today going forward, The Long List will endure, instead of evaporating every Monday.

Anyway, the new weblog is open for business. Visit the blog, subscribe to the feed Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

One of the benefits of The Odysseus Medal competition, for me, personally — especially since we started echoing the Long List of nominees — is that I don’t feel as much pressure to weigh in on every last thing. I’ve been writing software in my spare moments for the last two weeks, and, amazingly enough, the world spins on without me. Last week we had Roost.com launch, which I wrote about, but we also had a huge Fed rate cut and the extended coverage of the Ummel lawsuit, and I got to coast on both stories, on the strength of the great work done by other voices in the RE.net.

And, as it works out, this week is an all-Ummel Odysseus Medal Awards post.

We start with Glenn Kelmann, who wins The Odysseus Medal this week for “114 Pounds of Absolute Perserverance”:

Once a buyer’s agent begins making representations about price, it seems possible for him to make negligent representations about price. This doesn’t mean an agent can’t make representations about price, and can’t be wrong when he does. He just can’t be negligently wrong, by withholding material information that a reasonable person would want to see. If the Ummels’ agent did that, he should pay for it.

Of course, since we have no idea from our seat in the peanut gallery what really happened between Ms. Ummel and her agent, the whole debate is academic. The only undeniable fact is that the lawsuit that Ms. Ummel is pursuing, at greater cost than she is likely to recoup, must be like all other forms of revenge, a hopeless attempt to regain what she lost: her sense of trust and self-reliance.

In this respect, the case just illustrates the perils to both parties when a client outsources her brain to a real estate agent, or a stock-broker, or anyone else trying to sell something. It is why we dislike the paternalistic mindset occasionally used to justify brokerage fees, in which talk of “hand holding” is not seen as condescending, fears about “the single biggest purchase in your life” are stoked, and agent attempts to be persuasive during Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

There are 18 entries on the short list this week, out of a long list of 78 posts. A lot of news, so a longer short-list. Upside: A boatload of fascinating reading.

Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

< ?PHP $AltEntries = array ( "Ben Martin -- Realtors And Their Associations Realtors And Their Associations Share A Common Problem. What We Have Here Is Failure To Communicate.”,
“Brian Brady — Erin Brockovich Watch Out! Here Comes Erin Brockovich!“,
“Brian Brady — Guerilla Warfare Needed Housevalues.com Invades Activerain.com: Guerilla Warfare Needed“,
“Brian Brady — Ultimate Irony Activerain.com and HouseValues.com- The Ultimate Irony“,
“Brian Brady — Brokers/Lenders The Danger of Real Estate Brokers as Loan Advisors“,
“Charles Feldman — Litigious Clients Real Estate Agents: Are Litigious Clients Out to Get YOU?“,
“Dan Green — Mortgage Rates and the Fed Why Mortgage Rates Didn’t Fall More When The Fed Made A Surprise 0.750% Rate Cut“,
“Doug Quance — Self-Fufilling Prophecy And Now We Shall Witness The Economic Self-Fufilling Prophecy“,
“Dustin Luther — Roost.com Who gave Roost complete MLS listings?“,
“Galen Ward — Benefit versus Features Descriptive text as benefit, not feature“,
“Glenn Kelman — Absolute Perserverance “114 Pounds of Absolute Perserverance”“,
“Jay Thompson — Buyer suing realtor On Buyers Suing Agents“,
“Jay Thompson — Roost.com Roost.com: A New Player in Real Estate Search“,
“Jim Cronin — Slow-Loading 3 Reasons Your Real Estate Blog Loads So Darn Slow, and the Solutions“,
“Joel Burslem — Roost.com Roost.com Kicks over the RE Search Cart“,
“Kris Berg — The Fast Lane Real Estate in the Fast Lane“,
“Michael Wurzer — Branded or Unbranded Media Branded or Unbranded Media, A Video Conundrum“,
“Mike Price — Who Rules The Roost? Who Rules The Roost?“,
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by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The Odysseus Medal this week goes to Trevor Smith for Theology, Postmodernism, and a Different Kind of Buyer:

– Postmodernism places value on the journey. Many of my clients are very interested in learning about the process of real estate. They don’t want somebody to do it for them. They want to be part of the journey. They want to be an integral cog in the process, so that when they get the house they want, they can say “I took part, in buying this home.”  Contrast this to agent/client relationships of the past where the agent decided what homes to show their client, they drafted the paperwork and said “sign here,” and they moved their client through closing with directions rather than explanations.

– Postmodernism distrusts authority. At one time you may have been able to say, “This is a good value for this house,” and your buyer would simply trust your judgement. After all you are a professional. This is no longer the case. Now, multiple factors must go into making a decision: 1.) What does the data say? 2.) What does my agent say? 3.) What do my friends and spiritual advisor say? 4.) and lastly and most importantly, How do I feel about it?

– Truth is personal and it’s relative.There is market data, there are appraisals, there is the financial situation of the seller, and there are comparables; but none of this makes a bit of difference if the buyer doesn’t see the truth in them. Today’s buyer can’t be given the data and the data’s conclusion. They have to be given the data and make their own conclusion. To you the chicken farm next door might devalue the house by $10,000, but to the buyer it increases the value by $10,000. After all, they grew up on a chicken farm, and viewing one brings back fond memories.

– Postmodernism values community. It’s not just getting a good deal, but it’s meeting the seller of the house to learn about their kids and the experience they had in the home. It’s not just about advice from an agent, but its becoming friends with your agent. It’s not just about the lender, Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

There are 15 entries on the short list this week, out of a long list of 82 posts. Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

< ?PHP $AltEntries = array ( "Brian Brady -- Fishwrap Classifieds The Future of the Fishwrap Classifieds”,
“Connie Brzowski — Mortgage Crisis The Mortgage Crisis Has a Silver Lining (and other truths you won’t hear on cable news this week)“,
“Dan Green — Herd Mentality How Herd Mentality Determines The Direction Of Mortgage Rates“,
“Doug Quance — School Of Hard Knocks Tuition Is Expensive At The School Of Hard Knocks“,
“Drew Meyers — Neighborhood Boundary Files 7000+ Neighborhood Boundary Files in Shapefile Format“,
“Eric Blackwell — Network Solutions Network Solutions — I-CANN too hold your domain ideas hostage!“,
“Gary Elwood — Writing Why Writing Is the Most Important Thing You Can Learn“,
“Greg Tracy — Realtors are too Damn Old Realtors are Just too Damn Old“,
“Jim Cronin — Readers or Search Engines? Dichotomy of the Real Estate Blog – Do You Please the Readers or Search Engines?“,
“Kris Berg — Technology Hangover Technology Hangover – I’m a little fuzzy.“,
“Michael Wurzer — Seeking Clarity Seeking Clarity in Real Estate Data Standards“,
“Morgan Brown — A Fool’s Rally We’re looking at a fool’s rally – plain and simple.“,
“Chris Johnson — Economics of Wholesale Lending Some Economics of Wholesale Lending: Yet another Reason Why it’s a dead man walking.“,
“Stan Humphries — Zestimation What’s in a Number?“,
“Trevor Smith — Different Kind of Buyer Theology, Postmodernism, and a Different Kind of Buyer“,
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by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The Odysseus Medal this week goes to Kris Berg for Zillow news: Upside-down and dumb like a fox:

Transparency is not just a buzz word anymore but expected, even demanded, by the consumer. The consumer wants information, lots of it, and they want honesty and full-disclosure in its delivery.

In Zillow’s case, the consumer is both the real estate agent and the homeowner (which makes for one crazy-big target market), and Zillow needs two things to succeed. They need data, sales and “for-sale”, and they need eyeballs. You can’t have they latter without the former, but rather than build their reputation and their inventory by taking the more-traveled route, courting the big real estate brokerages, they have reached this point primarily by appealing to the individual agent. It is the individual agent who is online and socially connected – and blogging. Appealing to us makes us happy, which in turn inspires us to write nice things about Zillow.

And, instead of pushing the information to the customer, they have given them ownership. What Zillow has done is build a business model designed to work from the ground up, a MySpace for your home. Rather than cling to yesterday’s antiquated marketing practices wherein the customer was slapped silly with a message and expected to respond, they have recognized what so many are resisting. Zillow is recognizing and capitalizing on a new social culture. The conversation is no longer between the guy with something to sell and the guy who might be buying, top down, but between the buyers themselves, upside-down.

The Black Pearl Award this week goes to Krista Baker with Does Your Advertising Ask Prospects To Do Too Much?:

When you decided you may be interested in someone romantically, you don’t jump from first date to marriage. Instead, you take the time to get to know the other person – what are their likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, goals and fears. If both of you value the relationship, you may consider taking the relationship a step further – to engagement and then marriage – but likely, several months (or years) have passed before the relationship progresses to this Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

A total of 17 entries on the short list this week, out of a long list of 75 posts. Vote for the People’s Choice Award here. You can use the voting interface to see each nominated post, so comparison is easy.

Ahem: Please don’t spam all your friends to come and vote for you. First, what we’re interested in is what is popular among people who would have been voting anyway. And second, I’ll eliminate you for cheating. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Voting runs through to 12 Noon MST Monday. I’ll announce the winners of this week’s awards soon thereafter.

Here is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees:

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“Brian Brady — Buying Countrywide Buying Countrywide: Why Bank of America is the WRONG Buyer“,
“Dan Green — Loan Officer Attrition Homeowners With \”Orphaned Mortgages\” Pay More Money“,
“Dan Melson — Expert Consultants The Future of Real Estate Agency: Expert Consultants, Not Market Access“,
“Doug Quance — Zillow/NCI Finally – I Have Something To Blog About Zillow“,
“Geno Petro — The Blue Stained Dress The Blue Stained Dress“,
“Jillayne Schlicke — The Future of Countrywide The Future of Countrywide“,
“Jim Cronin — Strong Finish How A Strong Finish Has A Real Estate Blog Article Generating Leads“,
“Joel Burslem — Neighborhood Video Producing a Kick Ass Neighborhood Profile Video“,
“Kris Berg — Dumb like a fox Zillow news: Upside-down and dumb like a fox“,
“Krista Baker — Advertising Demands Does Your Advertising Ask Prospects To Do Too Much?“,
“Mike Mueller — It’s Humans that matter It doesn’t matter“,
“Morgan Brown — Our Conundrum Mortgage Interest Rates and Our Conundrum“,
“Paul Chaney — Data Portability Robert Scoble, data portability’s accidental hero“,
“Robbie Paplin — Trulia-nator Dear Zillow-meisters – Better start makin’ copies of the Trulia-nator“,
“Todd Carpenter — Countrywide Wholesale Will BOA cut Countrywide Wholesale? Good riddance.“,
“Tom Royce — Fear and Loathing Fear and Loathing in Business Media (Retail Real Estate Edition)“,
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