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Category: Real Estate (page 118 of 266)

May 17, 2008

Number 1 Expert and Opt Out Web Template Widgets – Why put your website clients at risk?

by

The Real Estate Group, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA

Author website

I have been trying to think of a way to explain what has been going through my mind in plain english. Here’s my attempt:

When Galen first posted about Trulia’s aggressive no-following of listings links, it was a bit technical for many folks to follow, but it set off alarm bells everywhere. Then Eric Bramlett pointed out the SYSTEMIC, SECRETIVE, USE OF OPT OUT TRULIA WIDGETS ON NUMBER 1 EXPERT SITES.. (Also here.) Let me break it down so that it is more easy to grasp:

SYSTEMIC: Number One Expert applied them all at once (or very quickly) to a number of their templated real estate websites.

SECRETIVE: They put the widgets at the BOTTOM of an internal page (in most cases) BUT on one that usually gets GOOD authority from the front page of the site. This is secretive, because they will attract VERY little traffic and attention. Without checking their backlinks, we would not have known they were there. They are placed IMO where they will do VERY little good in keeping traffic and NO good in attracting traffic.

Also, they were secretive in that they did not let their clients know that they did this! They just took the prerogative and popped them on the templates. How do I know? I have asked several real estate agents who are their clients and NOT ONE of them knew that the widgets were there. PERIOD>

OPT OUT WIDGETS: This means that if you want to take these widgets off of your site you MUST call them and ask them to take them off of your site. This is the FIRST time (that I am aware of) of having a website provider slap THOUSANDS of widget links to another competiting site for the same LOCAL terms and MAKE YOU CALL TO GET IT REMOVED.

Why are MANY people saying that it looks like a paid link? It is because that is the ONLY thing we can think of why Number 1 Expert would do this! It puts their clients sites (In my opinon) at unneeded risk! They put TENS of THOUSANDS of links on their Read more

May 17, 2008

The Flip digital video camera makes illustrating real estate ideas fast, convenient and fun

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is my column for this week from the Arizona Republic (permanent link). Watch this space. There should be a lot of Flip video coming out of Unchained.

 
The Flip digital video camera makes illustrating real estate ideas fast, convenient and fun

I’m becoming a fan of digital video for marketing real estate.

I’ve always hated the video home tour: “This. Is. The. Living. Room. This. Is. The. Dining. Room. The. Family. Dines. In. This. Room.” The images will be small, dark and grainy. The motion will be either jerky, swooping or both. And the tour itself will do nothing that could not be done better with digital photos.

But just lately I got a Flip video camera, and I can’t seem to stop thinking of real estate uses for it.

The Flip uses solid state memory rather than tapes to store its video. It’s a tiny little thing, about the size of a digital still camera, and you can operate it with one hand. It’s really only good for certain kinds of work. It would be useless at a wedding or a basketball game. But for capturing interviews, it is the prefect video camera.

Even better, it comes with a built-in USB connection and software for emailing videos or pumping them directly into YouTube or MySpace. Shooting, storing, editing and sharing videos are all painlessly convenient.

The first real estate application I thought of for the Flip was to collect testimonials from clients. That’s kind of self-serving, but the next idea was all about selling houses. In the past we have done video interviews with sellers or neighbors, but the editing process for normal video is onerous. But with the Flip we can just shoot the interview, upload it to YouTube and then link it from the web site for that property.

If I want to make a quick video to show weather conditions or traffic around a house, it’s easily done. I had a home inspector deliver a short video summary of the repair issues on a home for out-of-town buyers.

The breakthrough for me was thinking of video in the same way I think of still photography, Read more

May 17, 2008

Real Estate Enlightenment

by

Real Estate Broker

Author website

The following is taken from The Intellectual Heritage Program of Temple.

“The Natural Rights philosophy that we study in Intellectual Heritage reflects the central ideals of the Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason (1660-1798). John Locke and Thomas Jefferson are just two of the many notable thinkers and writers who share Enlightenment values.

A basic list of these values would include the following:

  • a deep commitment to reason,
  • a trust in the emerging modern sciences to solve problems and provide control over nature,
  • a commitment to the idea of progress in material wealth and in human civility,
  • a belief in the essential goodness of human nature,
  • an emphasis upon the individual as master of his fate and fortune, and
  • an engagement with the public sphere of discussion and action.

In short, the Enlightenment thinkers believed in the powers of humankind and saw themselves as part of a revolutionary development in history that would replace superstition and tired rituals and corrupt traditions with reason and productive energy.”

In many ways, web 2.0 is akin to The Enlightenment, at least the concepts and promises. We have to tweak a bit because I’m not sure many people understand “reason” like the Enlightenment thinkers understood reason, and as for science controlling nature, well, maybe technology controlling cyber-nature . Yet, as an eternal optimist, I believe reason is making a comeback — merely because transparency forces an acceptance of “what is, is”, independent of  definitions proffered by presidents before grand juries. Nature is another story, but we learn about what “is” and “isn’t” as we go forward and allow all science to have a voice.

The internet gives voice to reason and presents scientific facts, so the answers are there for those who search, even if you have to wade  through  gobs of misinformation, which brings us to an “emphasis upon the individual as master of his fate and fortune”.

On a smaller, more mundane scale there is an enlightenment process going on in the real estate industry. I read yesterday where Gen Y (or was it X) is changing everything by questioning traditional methods. This is not particularly new — new generations have been questioning Read more

May 16, 2008

What to expect on Sunday at BloodhoundBlog Unchained

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From the shady courtyard of the Heard Museum, Brian Brady talks about what you can expect on Sunday at the BloodhoundBlog Unchained Social Media Marketing Conference.

Or, per the revised forecast, you could hang out at your hotel and play in the pool.

The air will be very dry, so 107 degrees will seem very pleasant. Even so, I’m thinking I should refer you to our relocation page, which details all the interesting ways there are to die in the desert heat.

The Cliff’s Notes: Drink water constantly and wear sunscreen. The weather will be truly perfect, but it’s not like what you’re used to back home.

We’re ready like firemen. Can’t wait to see you Sunday.

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May 16, 2008

UNCHAINED Agenda; It’s Gonna Be Hot…

by

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

Author website

All presentations to be held in the Steele Auditorium at the Heard Museum. This schedule for Unchained is subject to change:

Sunday, May 18, 2008:

8-10AM Registration. The conference starts at 10AM and ends at 4PM.

Zillow Workshop

The Power of E-mail Marketing by Ron Cates

Hyper Local Blogging UNPLUGGED by Laurie Manny

Sunday is “Bonus Day” so food will not be served. The Museum Coffee Shop will be open at 9:30AM- 3PM. The Heard Museum will be open until 5PM and admission is complimentary for conference attendees. Presentations on Sunday will not be included in the DVD set.

No evening events planned.

Monday, May 19, 2008

The conference starts at 8:30 AM and ends at 4PM:

Unchained Epiphany- Greg Swann

The Way of the Hunter Brian Brady

Working Lunch- Twitter- @BradCoy & @AndyKaufman

The Way of the Farmer- Greg Swann

Real Estate Website Makeover- Mary McKnight

6PM- No Host Happy Hour at the Radisson  Light Hors D’Oeuvres Complimentary

A Continental breakfast will be available at 8AM; coffee and water are complimetary throughout the day.   Lunch will be complimetary.The Museum Coffee Shop will be open at 9:30AM- 3PM. The Heard Museum will be open until 5PM and admission is complimentary for conference attendees.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Conference Starts at 8:30 AM and concludes at 4PM

Traditional Marketing For A Web 2.0 World- Steve Hundley, Louis Cammarosano, Jeff Brown

Blogging For Dollars- Laurie Manny, Theresa Lussier

Working Lunch- Zillow Mortgage MarketPlace for Real Estate Agents- David Gibbons

Keynote Presentation- Glenn Kelman

Online Reputation Management- David Gibbons

Black Pearls and Commencement

A Continental breakfast will be available at 8AM; coffee and water throughout the day. Lunch is complimentary. The Museum Coffee Shop will be open at 9:30AM- 3PM. The Heard Museum will be open until 5PM and admission is complimentary for conference attendees.

There is a morning and afternoon break for personal phone calls. This schedule is subject to change.

May 16, 2008

A link letter: Instead of a post by a man too scattered by the winds

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Colleen Kulikowski sent me a sweet card wishing us success with Unchained. Enclosed was a packet of Aster seeds. If I can get them to grow, I’ll take pictures.

Tom Royce sent an email note telling us to break a leg.

Kevin Warmath needs a roommate for Unchained. If you haven’t bunked up and want to split costs with a man who swears he’s not a Neanderthal, give him a call (678-438-3041) and work something out.

My post on transparency was picked up by my long-time friend and client, Richard Nikoley. Richard runs Provanta, a debt-reduction company. Partly owing to my influence, they’ve just switched their on-line presence over to a WordPress blogsite, putting them squarely in the warts-and-all Web 2.0 world.

I said this in email to Richard, an Unchained epiphany all its own:

What’s interesting is that everyone in our world shops this way: Full research, full knowledge of the pros and cons of everything. We might be at the right edge of the learning curve, but it’s all the same curve. Everyone is on it, and everyone is moving our way on that curve. Why would we market any way but as a reflection of how we shop?

Think about it, and I mean think about it a lot: Why would we market any way but as a reflection of how we shop?

That post was also picked up by The Innkeeper’s Resource, a blog for Bed ‘n’ Breakfast innkeepers. Their take: Anonymous reviews are a reality of their business. Get used to it. I offered this in a comment:

Brilliant.

Here’s an idea that can work in any industry that can be hit with an off-site review:

“When Mark and Marie Olson complained about our threadbare linens on TripReports.com, we saw red. Not because the charge was false. It was true, alas. We had let ourselves become so distracted by the big picture of providing a great experience for our guests that we forgot that big things are made up of little things. Not only did we add a quality control procedure to our laundry, we built quality control into every aspect of our business. And we gave the Read more

May 15, 2008

No-fee referral: I need a Bloodhound-style listing agent in Boston

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We list homes for sale like nobody’s business. I mean that: No one’s business is built like ours. That’s something I’m doing everything I can to change, by every means I can think of. It’s why I take such pains to describe the things we do, in the hopes that I can induce other Realtors to do those things, or others like them. I don’t think my job is to be a lead-producing machine. I think my job is to be a real estate marketing machine. I think that’s your job, too.

In any case, I have a no-fee referral in Boston (the South End, south and east of Berkeley and Tremont, near Peters Park). It’s yours if you can demonstrate to me that you deliver the goods for your sellers. We’ll even help on our end with a web site and hosting.

The seller sold his last house with us. We’re stronger now than we were then, but he knows how strong we were then. If you can come through for him, I’ll come through for you. That’s a better-than-decent trade, I think.

I should start thinking this way, anyway — compiling a list of listers and buyer’s agents who I think earn and deserve every penny of their commissions.

In any case, if you’re the lister I’m looking for — or if you know that lister — speak up. The seller is smart, experienced and very real estate savvy. He’ll keep the place in showroom condition, and he can help out with the marketing, too.

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May 15, 2008

It’s a 42 Game Season

by

Chicago Broker Owner Realtor | RE 2.0 Blogger

Author website

It’s a game of beauty 

I would imagine that most writers in this country,  urban and rural alike, have at least one good baseball story they like to tell. It is, after all, a near perfect game worthy of a passing glance if not downright close examination by anyone with a penchant for detail and statistics. Sportsman, spectator, or otherwise, there’s got to be one decent yarn in all of us when it comes to this beloved pastime. 

Baseball. It’s a beautiful woman walking down the sidewalk in a summer dress. It’s first love at first sight in May, the smell of  freshly cut grass in June and puppies in a box for a dollar–‘free’ of course, to a good home, anytime. It is watermelon in July and root beer in August. It’s the September State Fair when you’re eight and knowing God when you’re eighty.  It is a million square miles of America. 

My first Chicago apartment was three blocks east and 52 stories above the left-center alley bleachers of historic Wrigley Field. Alone and new to the city, there were many evenings during that 1996 season when I would simply gaze out above the cityscape of streets and gangways, elevated rail tracks and brown brick walk-ups that separated my high-rise dwelling from the Friendly Confines, and mentally recreate my own destiny, repairing my past with fantasy and grandeur. I’d stare westward into the lights listening to the bellows of the stadium, imagining the thrill of playing at such a level, in such a venue—that near perfect game of summer. From my soft-lofted perch I’d mentally motor around the base paths like a finely tuned sportscar and fire clothesline ropes from center to home with my rocket gun; above the cutoff man, without a bounce, and just before the collided tag out at the plate…I’d drink til the next morning with the catchers and ignore the pitchers and rookies. I’d negotiate my own contracts and wear my pants down low and hardly ever shave my jaw. 

Chicago Cubs pitching coach and veteran Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins lived in the same building that summer as did a handful of players who were always coming up and down from the Minors throughout the roller coaster season. The Fergie I observed was a quiet man; a towering figure, usually in a cowboy hat, jeans and boots who kept a tight smile on his face and a U-Haul trailer in the parking space next to mine Read more

May 14, 2008

Mike Wallace interviews Number1Expert and Trulia?

by

The Real Estate Group, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake VA

Author website

Things have been busy around here lately. This controversy over Trulia’s widget baiting tactics rages on in the internet world. Now Sherry Chris has chimed in as well. (Kudos to you for entering the arena…others should follow). Bottomline is this: Trulia calls us partners. (REALTORS and them) Before someone calls ME partner, there is a fair amount of due diligence needed.

Right now there are FAR more questions than answers. The research that has been going on has been productive, but what we NEED is honesty and transparency. It is what everybody wants from US, now why don’t we get that same transparency from the people raising so much hell about it.

The facts on the table seem very disturbing.

Perhaps Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes could help us get to the bottom of the issue?

This is totally hypothetical, but it would go something like this…

MW: Welcome gentlemen. There has been quite a controversy lately, Trulia, about your aggressive SEO practices.

Trulia:

MW: It seems that according to some bloggers and some search engine marketing professionals out there that you have pulled off quite a feat. You have managed to get tens of thousands of REALTORS to voluntarily ALL use your widgets all at once? How did you do it?

Trulia:

MW: That is how it happened, right? I mean your tools were SO cool that many people just decided that they HAD to use them and put them on their blogs and websites, right?

Trulia:

MW: From the research that a few of these folks have done MANY of these widgets appear at exactly the same place on the same exact pages over and over again on THOUSANDS of Number1Expert Sites all across the country…is that because each of these folks decided to put them there?

Trulia & Number1Expert:

MW: It seems pretty hard to believe that this was not done by Number1Expert… are we to beleive that? How did this come about? Since (according to reports) you have 2 and 3 links on EVERY one of the widgets pointed back to Trulia, it would seem that this is a great benefit to you. In fact, it has been reported Read more

May 14, 2008

Going Postal — From The ‘You Can’t Make This Up’ File

by

Real Estate Investments Broker

Author website

Here’s a hot button for real estate agents and mortgage brokers. You’ll recognize this immediately. Your’re dealing with a problem, searching for a solution with a service provider or a vendor. The person on the other end of the phone says something which clearly and expertly outlines the solution that isn’t a solution. In fact it’s so not the solution, you begin wondering if you’ve missed something. It’s at that precise moment your mind conjures up a vivid picture of the Captain Obvious who just offered this Solomonic pearl of wisdom bursting into flames.

What possesses people to list all the ways something can’t be done? Not being a graduate of PCU (Politically Correct University), I apologize in advance for the following. My intention is not to hurt feelings, but to understand. No really — stop giggling.

In all my years in the real estate business I’ve only used a handful of escrow officers, title companies, lenders, etc. What they share is the ability to look for ways to get things done, instead of replaying the video, looped to the scene explaining how it absolutely can’t be accomplished. Why do people in service industries do this? More to the point — why are they kept on the job after their bosses figure this out?

Here’s an example. I Pinky-Swear this is true. (Brian Brady will back me up.) In fact you’ll know it’s true as nobody would make up something so clearly stolen from the classic Abbot and Costello routine, Who’s On First.

I’m hoping Brian Brady posts on this, as he was the initial mortgage guy victimized by the appraiser’s laziness and incompetence. Countless times I was amazed Brian didn’t resort to asking the appraiser if he was stoopid. Looking back, it was probably ‘cuz he wasn’t sure the guy would understand the question.

A couple clients contracted to buy multiple investment properties in Texas. We began the loan process which of course necessitated appraisals. Apparently the appraiser made a mistake by checking the box stating the subject property was part of a P.U.D. — Planned Unit Development. Bottom line, this Read more

May 14, 2008

TruliaTracking.php: Keeping track of the Trulia.com nofollow controversy with a widget for the rest of us

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Using Eric Bramlett’s green ribbon and a little bit of PHP, I have built a small widget to keep track of the accumulating body of weblog posts on Trulia.com policy of adding the “nofollow” tag to links back to its listing partners. Shown below is an image of the widget; you can see the real thing in the sidebar.

You can read the articles linked in the widget for clarification, but the issue in its essence is this: Trulia is using the listings you give it to enhance its own search engine performance on long tail search keywords even at is not sharing any search engine authority with you on the link back to your listing. Another way of saying the same thing: You’re buying Trulia.com dinner and it is scarfing down your dessert while you’re away from the table.

If you’ve written a post on this topic, let me know and I’ll add your link to the widget.

If you care about this issue, you should echo this widget. It’s easy to do. The widget itself is not complicated, and I built it to be shared. It’s designed to work flexibly in your sidebar without clashing with your look and feel. In other words, it should take on the characteristics of your Cascading Style Sheet, not mine. If you want to echo this widget, it’s dread simple. Copy this line of code:

<?php
include ("https://bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/TruliaTracking.php");
?>

and paste it on a line of its own in your “sidebar.php” file for your currently active theme. FTP that into the appropriate folder on your file server and you’re done. (Note: These instructions presume WordPress and an FTP connection. If you know how to deploy this code in another blogging platform, or if you know how to edit theme files from within WordPress, speak up in the comments.)

Will BloodhoundBlog get Google “juice” for doing this? Yes, but we don’t need it. Instead, I’m using my code and my hot-rod file server to host this widget for anyone who wants to echo it.

Will the posts linked in the widget get Google “juice” for being there. Big time. Riding on BloodhoundBlog’s sidebar Read more

May 14, 2008

Are You So Successful And Busy That You Are Pushing Business Away?

by

Associate Broker

Author website

If You’re That Busy – Then Move Along – There’s Nothing To See Here

One thing is for sure – no matter how good your marketing or your prospecting might be… if you don’t strike while the iron is hot, you’re probably going to shoot yourself in the foot.

I have a friend who lives in another state. She has a good job, and earns a good salary – and is currently renting month-to-month. She found a home near her place of employment that seems to meet all of her needs – so she told me that she sent the listing agent an email inquiring about it… as she is interested in taking a look.

Of course, I told her NOT to go see the property – as she might have a difficult time obtaining representation after-the-fact as a result of procuring cause. I encouraged her to get a buyer’s agent to assist her. I also explained what could happen when someone buys a home without representation.

Well she didn’t know where to find an agent, so I told her I would make a few calls and see what I could do. I wanted to find her an experienced agent – preferably a broker – who could demonstrate their ability to be a shrewd negotiator in this market.

I was able to find a couple of brokers to consider, and a few minutes ago I picked up the phone to call the one I felt might be the best one to represent her.

The agent told me she was getting ready to leave, and didn’t have much time to talk. I told her that I had a referral that I wanted to talk to her about – to which she replied, “Well, you can always send me an email.”

Of course, I was shocked. She is a broker with over thirty years of experience – with seven current listings ( I didn’t want an agent with too many listings). She has her husband and daughter working with her, both licensed ( I checked). I am trying to hand her a ready, willing and able buyer who Read more

May 14, 2008

Number1Expert/Trulia Widget Link Count Correction

by

Real Estate

Author website

Earlier this week, I posted a mock story about Number1Expert rebranding as Number2Expert due to their decision to automatically include Trulia widgets on their template sites, and thus give Trulia over 11k links.

11k-links.JPG

Well, I never claimed to be perfect (only close,) and ummmmm, I screwed up. Number2Expert is actually providing Trulia with 36,400 links.

Let me explain…

I first checked the total # of links to Trulia from N2E sites. Because N2E currently tags every site w/ the text “Number1Expert” at the top of each page, it was pretty easy to find. I ran this link analysis.

But jogging through some of the link pages, I realized that many of the webmasters linking out were doing so on their own. Sites like this guy were putting the widgets on their home page, and I’m only concerned about the links that N2E is placing on the sites through corporate policy.

So this meant that we needed to find the template pages where N2E is automatically placing the widgets. N2E uses the same page naming structure on all of their templates, so again, it wasn’t that difficult. We already knew they place the widgets on all of the “myhomes.asp” pages, and are providing them 11,200 links on these. I dugg a little more, and found a TON of dynamically generated pages that all have “myhomedtl” in the URL.

I ran this link analysis, and found an additional 25,200 links coming from N2E sites. Add that to the 11,200 links coming from the myhomes.asp pages, and we’re at a total of 36,400 links that are automatically placed on Number2Expert sites.

To put it in perspective, BloodhoundRealty.com has a total of 48,600 incoming links. Activerain has a total of 13,500 incoming links.

Trulia has a total of 164k backlinks. Number2Expert sites make up over 22% of their link profile.

Do you guys think this might be partially responsible for Trulia’s rankings?

Here’s a basic resource on how to check backlinks using yahoo.

More in the blogosphere:

May 13, 2008

To Z or Not To Z?

by

CEO, PA Association of Realtors

Author website

That is the question. 

Whether ‘tis noble in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by not opposing them?  To die:to sleep;

No more; and by a sleep to say we end. 

I started this post with what I thought was a cute title, but then I looked at the actual Shakespeare soliloquy and saw that it was quite appropriate to this post.  The “Z” in the title is for Zillow – the latest in a long list of challengers to Realtor.com for supremacy in Internet traffic for real estate eyeballs.  There are other relatively new sites – Trulia, etc. – but Zillow seems to have captured the imagination of both the public and REALTORS®.  Maybe it’s the cute name or the even cuter play on words with “Zestimates,” but the one site everyone seems to remember is Zillow.  It has almost become a cliché term for Internet listing aggregators.  Not bad for a site that has only been around for a year and a half.

But this post is not about Zillow; rather I wanted to explore the question of whether it make sense for local MLS systems to send their listing data to Zillow (or any other aggregator).  A recent New York Times article provides a good framework of the discussion, but leaves out most of the “slings and arrows” that need to be considered before we willy nilly send MLS data to any site that wants it.  Before you draw any conclusions as to my opinion on sending listing data to Zillow, let me say I could argue either “To Z, or Not To Z.”  This post will focus a bit more on the slings and arrows, but Times article does a good job of making the other side of the argument.  Frankly, I am undecided on this question and I encourage you to approach this discussion with an open mind.

We recently had this discussion in the Technology Group of the Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® (CAAR).  There were strong opinions stated on both sides of the debate.  Advocates Read more

May 13, 2008

One-hand solid-state video cameras like the Flip are a fantastic resource for both real estate documentation and video podcasting

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I’m completely sold on the Flip camera. Unchained bought a second one for Brian the other day. We’ll use both of them at the conference, then each of us will take one home. We’re going to buy another one out of our own money for Cathleen. I wrote my Republic column for next week about all the real estate marketing uses I’m coming up with for this little video camera.

Why am I so sweet on the Flip?

  • It’s second only to my digital still camera as an on-hand resource for recording and communicating real estate ideas
  • It fits on my hip — just like my still camera — and that’s where it rides
  • Because it’s so easy to carry and so easy to use, there is no aversion or impediment to using it
  • It’s eminently useful for documenting traffic conditions around a house — or weather, as I did earlier today
  • It’s simply excellent for doing interviews, whether those are testimonials, vendor reports for clients or video podcasts

The video shared below is a brief summary by Mike Elsberry, my all time favorite home inspector, documenting the repair issues in the home we looked at today. The buyers are out-of-state, but they get to see Mike’s face, hear the confidence and expertise in his voice and judge his level of concern with the issues he raises. This simply rocks, a completely different way of dealing with a remote-control inspection.

I want for Brain and I to both have Flip cameras with us all the time because of the ease of making video podcasts. Whenever we find ourselves talking to anyone with something interesting to say, we can turn the conversation into a podcast, a permanent addition to our library of Black Pearls.

Until now I have shouted down real estate video with my volume knob set to eleven. I still feel the same way about what I call the Lurch video, the painfully boring home tour with swooping and jerking camera movement and a voiceover narration punctuated by way… too… much… punctuation… Cathy shot an interview on Sunday with the seller of our listing on Lookout Mountain in Phoenix, Read more

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Inventing Real Estate 2.0

Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

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