Arizona, of course.
Want proof? Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy really is the phoenix real estate guy. I’m getting him in sixth place in Google organic results for that keyword, with nowhere to go but up.
John L. Wake at Arizona Real Estate Notebook takes us through the five stages of grief for months-on-market home-sellers.
Wally Neal of Metro Phoenix Real Estate (watch out, Jay) gives Redfin a nice filleting.
Down in Tucson, Dave Smith at the Real Estate Blog Lab drops a dime on the Clean Archives plug-in, which I immediately installed. Now you can visit our new Archives page to discover just how hyper-loquacious we really are.
Finally, honorary Arizonan Brian Brady is threatening to put together another convocation of Phoenix-area real estate webloggers. Let him know by email if you want to come along.
Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona real estate, blogging, phoenix, phoenix real estate, real estate, real estate marketing
Joel says:
I love the clean archives – I’ve had them at FOREM for a while, though I use Clean Archives Reloaded which spices the plugin up with some AJAXy goodness. Check it out under my Archives tab, Greg. The Reloaded version allows you to dynamically expand/rollup months which makes it far more user friendly IMO.
May 18, 2007 — 3:32 pm
Robbie says:
Top 8 reasons why you are wrong
Dustin
Ardell
Marlow
Zillow
Redfin
ActiveRain
HouseValues
Seattle PI
Name one RE.net company/vendor in Pheonix that matters and blogs, and I might be willing to change my mind. Until then, the answer is Seattle.
May 18, 2007 — 5:07 pm
Jay Thompson says:
So it takes a company/vendor that “matters and blogs”? Individual RE bloggers mean nothing?
In that case, you need to remove the first three on your list. No question that they are all outstanding bloggers. But they aren’t re.net companies/vendors.
HouseValues? Last I looked, SOLD stock was sub $5, half the workforce had been laid off and the co-founder was stepping down. It’s a mere shell of its former self, closer to bankruptcy than solvency. And their blogging is pathetic, at best.
Don’t get me wrong. I think Seattle has a fabulous RE blogging “scene” and is arguably the “epicenter”. But you can’t dismiss Arizona. And note is was ARIZONA that Greg proclaimed the epi-center — not just Phoenix. With very active and respected individual bloggers from Tucson to Kingman, I think it is indeed the state with the most/best RE blogging presence. Aside from RainCity guide and Marlow, who are the other active individual bloggers in Washington state? (And I put Ardell squarely in the RainCity camp. Though her individual blog is no slouch, she’s clearly identified with RainCityGuide)
May 18, 2007 — 5:48 pm
Brian Brady says:
Robbie,
Your list proves my point when I say the Phoenix is the epicenter. Three out of those eight bloggers you cite are real estate practitioners. The other five are tech companies engaged in the real estate business.
FWIW, here’s my eight:
Jay Thompson
Jon Dalton
Greg Swan
Tony Marriott
Russell Shaw
Shailesh Ghimire
Cathleen Collins
Allen Butler
Am I biased? Of course. I lived in Phoenix for 12 years and have been lending there since 1994. 40% of my business comes from Maricopa County.
Seattle real estate webloggers will most likely dominate the awards from say, Wired Magazine. However, the AZ crew will slog and blog in the trenches, dominate their long tail, sell homes because they wrote about the demise of Vanilla coke, and actually change the practice of real estate brokerage.
Seattle is dominated by big thinkers, no doubt. The big ideas they have are incredible contributions. The Phoenix crew are lunch pail bringing, time card punching, content writing, house showing, loan funding, and life changing worker bees who dominate the RE.net.
Oh yeah, I forgot…they’re doing it in a crappy market under the microscope of HP.
Are we going to meet again? The first round is on me. I’ll have a time and date for you on Monday.
May 18, 2007 — 9:05 pm
Greg Swann says:
> Name one RE.net company/vendor in Pheonix that matters and blogs
Say what? Name one vendor weblog that matters. Commercial weblogging is a stretch, but corporate weblogging is melba toast — flavorless and indigestible. The idea that Phoenix is the epicenter of the RE.net was Brian Brady’s, not mine, but after Dustin, Ardell and Marlow, your list doesn’t move me.
May 18, 2007 — 10:10 pm
Robbie says:
Obviously, individual RE bloggers matter and mean a lot. Seattle also isn’t limited to Dustin, Ardell, and Marlow…
Issaquah Undressed
425 Realty
Red Brick Blog
Seattle Condo Review
Rhonda Porter
However, I’d argue shear numbers aren’t enough, because frankly if you play that game, California or the Bay Area always wins.
To be the epicenter I’d say you need to have quality and diversity. Because of that, I’d argue having vendors who blog in your neck of the woods adds to the diversity of the conversation.
For example, Redfin’s SweetDigs blog got fined $50K from the NWMLS. Love ’em or hate ’em, they are helping define the laws for the RE blogosphere.
Zillow, will be a major influence on the RE.net industry (if they aren’t already), and because of that, what they say and do will influence the direction of the industry.
ActiveRain poured gasoline on the RE.net blogging fire and is where many RE.net bloggers set up shop to find their voice.
Saying RE.net vendors don’t matter is as short sighted as saying individual RE bloggers don’t matter. Anybody who contributes a voice to the converstation should matter. Vendors (via the voices of their employees) do have a voice and a place in the blogosphere.
Pheonix & Arizona has a great blogging “scene”, no argument here. However, a community is made of individuals and businesses that live in the community. Excluding the vendor voices (esp. those who have something interesting to say) from the conversation makes the community poorer.
Then again, I am probably biased. You could be right, and I’d never admit to it. 😉
May 19, 2007 — 12:05 pm
Brian Brady says:
Well, Robbie. How you gonna argue with hometown pride? That you have. I’ll have to disagree with you on a few points:
Redfin won’t be here in 12 months; they’ll be bankrupt.
Zillow is losing the RE search war to Trulia. Participation of real estate professionals is vital to the game.
Active Rain may well be the most exciting piece of RE.net technology out there. Their Localism portal is bringing in consumers to the conversation with real estate professionals. Let’s look at the 516 King County bloggers on AR:
http://activerain.com/states/WA/King%20County
and now the 885 in Maricopa County, AZ:
http://activerain.com/states/AZ/Maricopa%20County
The real estate professionals in Phoenix are embracing the technology the vendors in Seattle create. Louisville is where baseball bats are made, but New York, baby, is the epicenter of baseball.
Does that make sense?
May 19, 2007 — 1:16 pm
Austin Realtor's Wife says:
Guys, I do find it strange (and correct) that the epicenter is in AZ… Austin is the new Silicon Valley and damn near everyone ages 10-70 owns a laptop- our city is one of the top wireless areas in the nation. Yet I would argue only 3 RE blogs in Austin are of any relevance… I would venture to guess that 99% of the RE industry here doesn’t have a blog and at least 50% don’t know what a blog is. I am disgustingly proud to be an Austinite, but if there was a blogging convention here, it would be mighty quiet. BIZARRE!!!
May 19, 2007 — 8:34 pm
Jay Thompson says:
“Louisville is where baseball bats are made, but New York, baby, is the epicenter of baseball.”
Well in the first “November Series” in 2001, Arizona dethroned New York as the epicenter of baseball too!
May 19, 2007 — 11:42 pm
Jay Thompson says:
FamousAgent and Incredible Agents are both based in Phoenix. Now I’m not saying they have the impact of a Zillow or AR, yet, but they are active in the re.net blogiverse.
It’s an argument that can’t really ever be won. Unless the Seattle folks and the Arizona folks take a tip to the Louisville Slugger factory and then meet on neutral ground… 🙂
May 20, 2007 — 12:03 am
Greg Swann says:
> It’s an argument that can’t really ever be won.
Take the Technorati Authority ranking for the top five weblogs in Arizona and Washington State.
May 20, 2007 — 12:07 am
Greg Swann says:
I can’t beleive I actually did this. That I’m waiting on work to hit my desk after midnight on a Saturday night is my only excuse.
Seattle
392 Rain City Guide
228 360 Digest
216 Real Estate Undressed
157 Issaquah Undressed
153 ARDELL’s Seattle Area Real Estate Blog
Total: 1146
Arizona
490 BloodhoundBlog
273 The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
200 Dalton’s Arizona Homes Blog
166 Tucson Real Estate In The News
47 MOCO Real Estate News
Total: 1176
I left out corporate weblogs, but I also left out Jonathan Dalton’s and Dave Smith’s multiple very strong hits.
May 20, 2007 — 12:36 am
Jim Gatos says:
How can I find out if there are any “Massachusetts” Blogs out there ?
I have a feeling we’re not the “epicenter”… LOL.
May 20, 2007 — 4:11 am
Dan Green says:
http://www.blogtourusa.com/
The epicenter is mobile, folks. 😉
May 20, 2007 — 8:39 am
Greg Swann says:
> The epicenter is mobile, folks.
No doubt.
May 20, 2007 — 8:54 am