Category: Technology (page 60 of 60)

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From Google Blogoscoped:

Google released the Google Base Data API. This allows you to programmatically create new items, and edit or delete existing ones. You can also query for items with specific attributes.

I read this as Google looking for open source or proprietary apps to extend the power of the Google Base DB to end-users. Those applications will be the skunk works for a more consumer-friendly Google Base.

Technorati Tags: blogging, disintermediation, real estate, real estate marketing

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Those are the Swann Boys in April of 2001. My father, James Swann, is to my right, my younger brothers, Matthew and Michael, are to my left, and my son, Cameron, is the little kid in front of me who is being so lovingly coerced. I use a thumbnail of me from that photo in all of our marketing stuff for four good reasons: I’m always going to look like Fred Flintstone no matter which photo I use, we don’t do personality marketing, so it doesn’t matter, Cathy and Odysseus are the cute ones anyway, and that was a very happy day for me.

Cameron is almost 15 by now. That’s him to the right — an astoundingly large specimen, considering that I used to hold him in the crook of my elbow.

He just got back from spending six weeks with his mother in Seattle. When he left, I was just putting BloodhoundBlog together in WordPress, so he came home to a lot of changes. Cameron is our better, smarter programmer. He wrote the current versions of most the software we use to drive our web sites. But while he was away, I discovered dozens of new projects I want him to undertake, starting with this.

I’m curious to see how all this works out. When I was Cameron’s age, I was a teenage photo geek, so I always made good money on the side. But my son is a web programmer growing up in an environment where he has plenty of opportunities to make a whole lot of money (for his age) doing really interesting projects. I can’t do the same quality work he can do, but I can design, manage and test the work he does, and I can direct his efforts toward the best profits for all of us.

It’s kind of a mash-up of disparate skill-sets, and I’m interested to see where he can take it.

Further notice: If you sneak over here, you’ll see the work in progress. As I write, when you zoom in, you’ll end up right over our house. We’re the brown roof, three homes in from Read more

by Greg Swann

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The software specification shown hear harkens back to this weblog post in reaction to The Future of Real Estate Marketing‘s remarks on ShackYack.com, a particulary robust real estate seach tool using a Google Maps mash-up for its interface. Cathy and I designed this as a futher elaboration on the ShackYack.com model. Given that maps are now free (shudder!), there’s is no reason to hoard this design, and every good reason to throw it out to the world in the hopes that someone will implement these ideas.

PROBLEM: MLS search systems (at least ours) are inadequate. The programmers aim for easy-to-use interfaces with no SQL-like access to the data.

PROBLEM: End-user search systems (like IDX) are inadequate, too dumbed down and unsatisfying.

PROBLEM: Neither sort of search is comprehensive; only MLS listings are shown.

PROBLEM: Either sort of search leaves too many unanswered questions.

OPPORTUNITY: A search system like ShackYack.com is very satisfying, even if it is still inadequate and limited.

SOLUTION: Mash it all even more: A ShackYack-like interface to a high-octane search engine (extensible on the fly so as not to be too daunting) of both MLS and XML-fed or user-entered FSBO listings, with on-line shopping-like features, side-by-side comparison features, user selection and exclusion, and, finally Zillowish comping of the short list against active and sold listings — all of this still and always reflected on the ShackYack-like interface.

I. Search. Full SQL/RDBMS, reflected in the user-interface.

II. Database. Full local MLS plus any acquirable XML feeds of FSBOs, with a form for do-it-yourself one-off FSBOs. ShackYack is using shades of gray to reflect relative price, but it would make more sense to me to use separate colors and shades of those colors to reflect types and relationships of listings.

III. Search interface. Basic search always visible, with pop-outs to add or remove more robust types of search categories. If some MLS data is limited to members, as it is now, certain search categories would be available only to logged-in MLS members. The trouble with a ShackYack-like search is that too many pertinent criteria are missing. It’s fun to play with, but for a true home search, you’d be Read more