Jan 19, 2010

Good Bye 2009

Like so many others, 2009 wasn't a very good year for me. If you know me very well, you've got a pretty good idea of the endless stream of life challenges the year brought right up until the very end. I'm glad it's over and I'm beginning to feel rejuvenated in a way that brings a clarity of purpose I've never had before. Bottom line. Life is short, make what you can of every new day and realize that the sun's set upon it is the only horizon that matters.

I am going to be working hard to put ideas into action with regard to MLBroadcast and I have just joined Zillow.Com as a blog editor for Mortgages Unzipped. My wife Laurie is working hard taking photos and VT's of hotels and my immediate family is close by to hold, hug and cherish.

Life is good and getting better.

I hope to bring this blog back to life as part of the process. Stay tuned.

Jan 11, 2010

Carnival Real Estate #171

This week's CORE brought 24 submissions that ran the usual gamut of self-promotion wrapped up in the absurdly obvious to insightful posts with fresh perspectives and topics. The following are the 3 picks I've selected from the submissions. There were some great hyper-local topics as well. I'll get them all posted to the CORE site soon.

#3. 10 Myths About Reverse Mortgages - James Staine
I would imagine the average person's knowledge of reverse mortgages starts and ends at a 30 second commercial with a geriatric t.v. personality. James Staine of the Oregon Mortgage blog does a great job of summing up what most people probably misconstrue as the process and reasoning behind them.

#2 HUD offering mortgage relief to homeowners with Chinese Drywall problems- Sam Nash
Sam Nash of the Real Estate Dispatch blog writes about an issue that could have a potential impact on a large and growing number of homeowners.

#1 Winner CORE #171 - The Future Of Your Future Is Psychographic. Read All About It. - Ken Brand
I almost didn't select this post as the winner for 2 reasons. One being the fact that everyone knows what a good friend Ken is and I didn't want it to appear it was selected due to that fact (it was not). The second was due to the usage of so many acronyms and terminology that seem to frustrate so many real estate professionals. In the final analysis, it is still the most timely and best information of all the posts submitted as it relates to the contemporary real estate professional. It's worth taking the time to read and understand if you're involved with social media as part of your overall strategy.

If you would like to see your real estate blog content featured in the Carnival of Real Estate, submit your best post of the week. You can also get involved by being a Carnival Host and much more! It's a great way to bring attention and traffic to your real estate blog!

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Jan 7, 2010

Carnival of Real Estate

Nov 9, 2009

Carnival of Real Estate #165

This week's edition of CORE had 17 submissions. Here are my picks.

Honorable Mention - Matt Swanson - GeekEstate Blog
While I personally think there are many more intracacies and nuances of establishing a winning web presence, Matthew does a great job of exposing readers to some fantastic analytic tools and links to other posts that, when combined, create a tremendous resource for understanding what does and doesn't work in your real estate web presence.

Honorable Mention - Erion Shehaj - ErionShehaj.com
If you've never had a chance to read Erion's posts on his blog and over at AgentGenius, you're missing out on one of the best voices in contemporary real estate. Erion is someone I classify as one of the good guys. Not only is he one of the more pleasant people you will encounter in this industry, he says what he means and means what he says - without reservation.

Erion gives us what I look for in a great blog post. It's concise, to the point and leaves you with something to ponder. In this case it's simple, "Show me that it works". I agree completely.

3rd. Place - Cindy Jones - VARealestateTalk Blog
One of the newer and lesser known options for those facing foreclosure is the "Deed For Lease" program that essentially offers someone the ability to turn over their Deeds in exchange for a 1 year lease in their homes. Cindy does a good job of explaining the program and its potential impact on the Real Estate industry.

2nd. Place - Stan Humphries - Zillow Blog
There were several posts regarding the Tax Credit extension. I think Stan's information and analysis was the best of these posts. Like so many things being established via legislation, the long term impact of this program is going to have a huge detrimental impact if it is not coupled with a strong and concerted effort to create jobs and programs designed to TRULY support small businesses.

The banks that gobbled up the stimulus coin need to start lending it to the engine that really keeps our economy thriving. To me that engine is defined as the sole proprietors and entrepreneurs with a handful of employees that put passion and endless energy into the dreams they have built for themselves. One of my big fears is that the current administration doesn't really understand the definition of small business. So many things are happening now that could have many of them throwing in the towel because it just doesn't make fiscal sense to even try. Stan says "...so they can start hiring now that the economy is officially growing again." There are a lot of reports surfacing that the "official" numbers were left to bake in the oven a little while. It will be official when your conversations with friends and family are about how well everyone is doing, not about who got laid off or had to shutter their business.

1st. Place - YOU!
I've intentionally left the winning spot open. I want to take an opportunity to use it to help breathe some life back into core and draw attention to what a tremendous resource it can be for any real estate blogger.

The Carnival of Real Estate was established by Zillow to allow the RE.net to take advantage of the popular concept of exposing the best blog posts in a particular vertical. The weekly hosts of CORE receive great exposure and the highlighted posts receive traffic they may not have otherwise received. As the folks at Zillow become busier, they don't have the resources to do as much promotion for CORE as they once were able to do. It's up to the RE.net community to take ownership and breathe some new life back into a tremendous resource. I know when I first started blogging almost 4 years ago, I turned to CORE as a tremendous way to help me find the best content to engage with. If you have ideas, want to be a host or just forgot that the CORE was out there as place to promote your best writing - get involved again. I'll have more to say in future posts on CORE and GeekEstate. Until then, let us know what you think and get involved.


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Aug 19, 2009

UPDATED: Podcast: Paul Chaney Discusses His Upcoming Social Media Book, The Digital Handshake


In the latest episode of Mike's Mic, Paul Chaney takes time to discuss his forthcoming book, The Digital Handshake. The book covers proven strategies geared toward small businesses interested in exploring how social media can be used productively and proactively. With the shelves stuffed full of tomes on how to become an expert in the still nascent world of social media, I asked Paul why his would stand out. If the book stands up to his answers, I think it will do very well. As always, I will be doing a follow up book report once the final version is released. If you're a real estate professional or small business person just entering into a social media strategy, or if you want to find out about the best tools for the job - mark September 22nd on your calendar. That's the date the book is scheduled to start shipping.

You can now listen to any episode of Mike's Mic directly from the site with the new widget in the sidebar. Let me know if you have any issues with it. Click the graphic below to get a free subscription of Mike's Mic via iTunes.
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Update 08/21/09. Want a chance to win a signed copy of "The Digital Handshake"? Just subscribe to the podcast and listen to Paul's interview. Leave a comment or a question here regarding the episode and you'll be entered into a drawing to receive one of the first copies of the book personally signed by Paul (there will be two winners). How cool is that?

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Aug 5, 2009

Yahoo Launches New Real Estate Resource

I didn't make it to Inman Connect this year in SF but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying the steady stream of announcements and information coming from the event. I have been tracking and following some of the live Qik streaming that a few people are doing (thanks Rudy ) and it helps ease the pain of being in Houston in this sweltering weather instead of wearing a sweater out by the bay.

One of the more interesting things I saw come across the Twitter stream was an announcement by Yahoo that they have launched a new real estate resource entitled . When you have the benefit of being able to track so much information and data you also have the ability to package an deliver it in a meaningful way, and at first blush this looks like an awesome resource for consumers and real estate professionals alike. At the top of the interface you will find a pane that allows you to scroll right and left through topics and expand the topic to get a bit of the information that you might possibly link out to. It's an efficient way to preview the info. The other categories include "Trend Surfing", "Know It All?", "Industry Buzz", "Industry Search" and "By The Numbers". What I found somewhat surprising was that the top search topic was "manufactured housing".

I haven't had a chance to put it completely through its paces yet, however, Yahoo's "In The Know" resource for real estate just might be a daily bookmarked visit for me. What do you think?