BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Month: June 2007 (page 1 of 8)

June 30, 2007

Moscow on the Delaware: Who, precisely, are the thugs wielding the guns in the New Jersey rebate debate?

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Independence Day is upon us, and Cathy Jager reminds us what it is we seek independence from. The little question: Can a sleazy anti-rebate law be repealed? The big question: Is the NAR arming the opposition?

A happier note: Linked below is a clip from Moscow on the Hudson. There are better films about Communism, but perhaps no better film about the idea of Independence Day. You have time to pick it up over the weekend so you can spin it up Wednesday night after the kids have gone to bed (things were different in the 80s).

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June 29, 2007

Three-Hundred-and-Sixty-Five Days of the Dog: Happy birthday, Baby…

by

Realtor, Staging Consultant

Author website

During all my running around today, I had meant to buy a silly little party hat for Odysseus to wear to celebrate BloodhoundBlog’s first birthday… but I never got around to it. And by the time I had picked up Ophelia from doggy-day-care, I’d missed my opportunity… can’t leave a dog in a 110&176; car. So on the way home I thought of the balloons Kris and Steve had sent us to commemorate the occasion (and show off their slick marketing swag… oops shouldn’t have said “show off”… didn’t I read that showing off is bad?). Anyway, when I got home, Greg voiced what I was already thinking, but he in a much more practical way, “Don’t be silly! Don’t go out any more tonight! Use Kris’ balloons, take your picture, write your post, then let’s raise a couple of glasses of Bushmills!” You see, I needed some sort of prop to take a photo of Odysseus because I love photos of my pets, and didn’t I read somewhere that you should always use photos on your blog posts? ‘Course neither hat nor balloon could guarantee a good picture, not when we’re talking about getting one dog to look into the camera long enough without other dogs and cats breaking his concentration or outright getting in the way. Anyway, here’s the best we could get:

(Sorry Kris and Steve, we couldn’t get one that shows your phone number, but you can see “erg” and the castle.)

All this just to illustrate (poorly I fear) my pure joy with being a part of this wonderful site and fabulous group, as we enter Year Two. If you’ve put up with me this far, I ask you to stay awhile longer as I share my favorite moments during the pup’s first year.

Yesterday, Greg wrote about our humble beginnings, so I’ll fast forward from there to my first honor here… being featured in Zillow’s inaugural edition of the Carnival of Real Estate. During the next few months Greg wrote a lot, I wrote a little, and Greg incorporated posts from an earlier failed blog by attributing them Read more

June 29, 2007

Seven Days of the Dog: Old Bushmills on the rocks . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Today’s the day, the first day of the second year of BloodhoundBlog. We’re at 1,473 posts (which tells you that Jeff Brown killed 127 posts in draft mode), with 9,144 comments. Right at this moment we have a Technorati authority of 526, with 4,443 links from other weblogs. Yahoo is showing us with 36,243 total inbound links. We have served over 150 gigabytes of content this month, with 30 hours left in the month.

Please understand, I’m not bragging. I’m just amazed at what we’ve managed to do in a year’s time.

I did a lot of the work here, and it’s not in my nature to pretend I didn’t. But I could not possibly be more proud of the amazing people who set their shoulders beside mine and Cathleen’s to build this thing. We are each of us very strong of mind, but we are stronger because we are here together.

I had thought to write a post about past BloodhoundBlog controversies, but, honestly, who doesn’t know that this is the kennel of controversy in the RE.net?

Instead, I will do something I don’t often do: I will admit to being a man and not a machine. I’m tired, and I want to have a drink. Kris Berg sent us a birthday card with balloons, but we weren’t able to schedule a time when we could get the Phoenix-area Bloodhounds together. Even so, I’ll blow up a balloon and pour myself a tumbler of Old Bushmills on the rocks.

Here’s to Cathleen Collins, Cameron Swann and Odysseus the TV Spokesmodel Bloodhound; to Kris Berg, Russell Shaw, Jeff Brown, Doug Quance and Jeff Kempe, our real estate brokers; to Brian Brady, Dan Green and Morgan Brown, our lenders; to Michael Cook, our investment guru; to Allen Butler, James Hsu, Jeff Turner, Lani Anglin and Norma Newgent; to Teri Lussier, aghast no more; and to Richard Riccelli, our gadfly genius.

And here’s to you, too, for being here with us through it all.

Cheers!

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June 29, 2007

iPhone may herald a whole new way to shop for homes

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is me in today’s Arizona Republic (permanent link).

 
iPhone may herald a whole new way to shop for homes

Could Apple’s new iPhone have been more hyped? Maybe not, but a feature of the mobile phone announced last week could have an enduring impact on real estate marketing.

Technology vendors have talked for a decade, at least, about the idea of convergence. Some day, the telephone, television and personal computer will merge into one device through which we will pursue networked “edutainment.” TV set-top boxes get more sophisticated with each new generation, but we’re a lot closer to true convergence on our mobile phones.

Like many Realtors, I use a Treo 650 mobile phone. In addition to being able to make calls, it has Internet access and email capability onboard. Underneath all that is a Palm-OS-based personal digital assistant, a small but very powerful computer that “syncs” with my desktop computer back in the office.

It’s long been my belief that a sufficiently powerful mobile phone could replace my laptop computer. Even now, my Treo 650 is only missing one mission-critical function: I cannot directly access the MLS system through my phone.

The iPhone may be the laptop-killer for Realtors. The new version of Apple’s Safari Internet browser, to be included on the iPhone, successfully navigates the MLS system. The contract-writing software Phoenix-area Realtors use can be run through a Web-based service. Between portable, battery-powered printers, emailed PDF documents and the onset of digital signatures, a hi-tech Realtor could have a fully functioning office in his pocket or her purse.

And Apple also announced last week that the iPhone would implement the YouTube.com video standard. Because of the company’s marketing clout, we can expect other phone and software vendors to follow suit.

What this means in that someday soon, you will be able to drive from house to house in a neighborhood, visiting each home’s Web site and taking video virtual tours, all without getting out of the car.

When you find a home you want to see in person, your means of making contact with your Realtor will be right there in your hand.

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June 29, 2007

Google’s reciprocal link penalty for real estate sites explained

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Who will be affected by Google’s real estate reciprocal link penalty? The answer in words and in pictures.

Cliff’s Notes: If you aren’t part of one of those goofy link exchanges to your static web site (we get spam for these every frolicking day), you’re not the target. Likewise your weblog. If you’re linking out like a normal web site, within and without the real estate industry, you don’t have a problem.

On the other hand, if you’re linking to hundreds of other Realtors’ static web sites, which are also linking to hundreds of Realtors’ static web sites, you could be screwed for a good long time.

Here’s a general principle: When you’re confronted with an idea that will “fool” Google — don’t do it.

Here’s an even better general principle: SEO is Plan B at best. The kind of community building we’ve been talking about here and at Real Estate Weblogging 101 is the way to grow your business on-line.

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June 28, 2007

Seven Days of the Dog: That’s no Bloodhound, that’s just a mangy old mutt!

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We write a lot about real estate weblogging. We have categories on Blogging, on Blog Carnivals, on the Carnival of Real Estate and on Weblogging 101, with much of what we’ve written on real estate weblogging having been repurposed into a blog-book on the subject, RealEstateWeblogging101.com.

Truly, weblogging is a self-referential medium, but there is so much on the subject here that I am going to add only two items to that mass.

First, if you are graced with the opportunity to speak about real estate weblogging at your company sales meeting or whatever, if you like you can print out some of the bookmarks I made for the Southwest Real Estate Blogging Conference. They’re built to print four-up on a letter-sized sheet, with faint gray lines where they should be cut apart. The book is a very thorough introduction to the art of real estate weblogging, so your colleagues might get themselves off to a better, faster, less-costly start.

Second, I thought I would take a moment to show you where we came from. This pitiful mess, not a Bloodhound but simply a mangy old mutt, was the second of our failed attempts to start a real estate weblog. The first failure — even worse — was incinerated long ago. The posts you see there were sucked into BloodhoundBlog by WordPress, giving us a history before we had one. The first BloodhoundBlog post was People power, categorized under Blogging and Disintermediation and establishing a number of themes to which we have returned again and again. I wrote about the pre-history of BloodhoundBlog about a month after we started. The point of this is, if we’ve come this far in a year, you can, too.

Thanks for being here with us.

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June 28, 2007

The big iDea: iPhone could spawn a host of new products

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This was written by my friend Mike Arst, a very clever man whom I’ve entreated for years to start a weblog.

iStatements

In honor of the release of Apple’s new iPhone, which I just can’t seem to want (even though I know I should want it), today several new product names occurred to me. Having decided that I probably can’t sell them for a small fortune on eBay (iBay?), I have decided to pass them along to you instead. No charge, even.

This for someone who drops his little MP3 player: the iBroke

For folks who enjoy listening to music while they’re eating their favorite Vietnamese soup: the iPho

For workshops that are all about one’s self-esteem: the iMe

(If they’re conducted in French: the iMoi)

For people who developed a bit too much self-esteem at the workshops (and/or for people who love odd-looking little jungle prosimians): the iI

For people like me who are just plain slow, and proud of it: the iPlod

For people who hate settling for less: the iMore

Then again, for folks in the simpler-living movement: the iLess [contributed by co-worker]

For people who loved “Young Frankenstein”: the iGor

For the lonely fisherman in his boat: the iCod

For the local crows who wake us up every morning: the iCawed

For our infamous bad-tempered cat, of whom many people are justifiably terrified: the iClawed [also contributed by co-worker]

For guys who had too much to drink and got rude at a party: the iPawed

(The individual who behaves this way is the iClod)

For the ladies who had to put up (but only briefly) with such rudeness: the iSlap

(Could substitute the iClawed there)

And last but not least, a product for the marketing people who have managed with great success to persuade us [I plead guilty] that we need all this electronic stuff:

The iCon

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June 28, 2007

New Homes Sales, Market Slowdowns, and Investor Irrationality: Looks like its Time to Face a Correction

by

Real Estate Investor

Author website

Tanking new homes sells should have real estate flippers and small investors worried. Today KB Homes reported a loss of $149 Million. Additionally, CEO Jeffrey Mezger remarked in the Wall Street Journal, “We can’t predict when market conditions will improve,” essentially ensuring investors conditions will not improve next quarter. Homebuilders have been feeling the pinch for over a year now, but it is finally getting serious.

Surface level analysis of the problems with homebuilders points to signs of a tanking real estate market and excess supply of new homes in some markets. Given the choice between a new home and a “used” home, most consumers will choose the new one. Additionally, homebuilders have the power to offer incentives like upgrades, favorable financing, and lower prices to move their inventory. Investors in hot markets that are cooling will find it hard to compete with institutions like KB Homes, Toll Brothers, Lennar, etc. This will make it tough to move, even the nicest flip.

Furthermore, this situation definitely signals a slowing in the real estate market. Despite what many have been saying on the Realtor/NAR front, investors and agents alike should be preparing for a real estate slow down. KB Homes sites access to capital as one of the mitigating factors affecting home buyers among other factors. This access issue will affect buyers, as well as more aggressive investors, who opted for no money down loans.

The deeper analysis suggests all of the negative news will eventually affect the market sentiment on real estate. Over the past six months the real estate market has seen the collapse of the subprime real estate market, issues with commercial and investment banks, mortgage rates rise, and issues with homebuilders. At some point investor and consumer confidence in real estate has to be affected by all of this news. While this news may not be the tipping point, investors should be asking how much more can the market take?

Investing is part fundamental and part irrational. At times the market seems to go 90/10 one way, and at times those proportions flip. As more negative real estate news emerges Read more

June 28, 2007

ShackPrices.com a tear-down? Innovative map-search portal reconstructed as Estately.com

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The most-innovative little map-search in Seattle, ShackPrices.com, today relaunches as Estately.com, a name perhaps more fitting for a town where you can still get a decent fixer for less than a million dollars.

The site is also launching its monetization model with this release: A fee-based referral system for users who ask to be introduced to an agent, paid by the agent. From company co-founder Galen Ward:

Agent Match lets consumers get personalized recommendations for the best real estate agents in their area, hear personal introductions from the recommended agents, and see feedback from previous clients. Where most brokerages assign potential clients in a haphazard fashion, Estately recommends three prescreened, high quality agents from local brokerages to consumers.[…] [W]e already have a few happy beta-testers and a “rock-star” team of agents from a bunch of local brokerages.

We’re selective and we’re keeping the referral fee low enough (12%) that we have been able to recruit great agents who do most of their business from referrals.

Under the name ShackPrices.com, the company pioneered a number of great ideas in map-search technology, including showing nearby parks, schools, restaurants, access to public transportation, etc. The AgentMatch idea is also an innovation, sort of an eHarmony for Realtors:

Estately’s Agent Match algorithm uses consumer answers from a brief questionnaire to match them with highly qualified, individually recruited agents who meet their needs. Consumers and agents are matched geographically, based on consumer’s needs and based on agent feedback from past clients. Consumers are shown all the feedback for each agent recommended to them. Home buyers and sellers can choose to remain anonymous until they are ready to work with an agent.

This is smart enough to be truly scary.

More coverage: The Real Estate Bloggers, John Cook’s Venture Blog.

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June 27, 2007

Jeff Brown hits the big time: Copyblogger praises Brown and Brown’s give-to-get white-paper strategy

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From Brian Clark’s Copyblogger.com, guest contributer Mike Stelzner writes:

Mistake #2: On the flip side, how often do you see a white paper that is instantly displayed with the click of a link? While this provides immediate access to a reader, it fails to capture any information or make it easy for readers to sign up for your newsletter.

The Solution: What I am about to propose is a strategy that appeals equally to readers and businesses. Revisit my earlier premise, when you provide value, you gain respect.

Consider real estate investment specialists Brown & Brown. A few pages of their white paper, Achieving Early Retirement With Real Estate: Rethinking Traditional Retirement Planning, are presented before the registration form appears.

With this example, readers are given plenty of sample content before they are asked to trade their personal contact information for access.

This idea flows from the video game market. Remember playing video game demos that provided you access to the first two levels? By providing a good sample taste of the product, the hope is that people will act and want the full game. The same strategy can be applied to white papers.

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June 27, 2007

Seven Days of the Dog: The regal, indomitable arrogance of a healthy, normal Bloodhound

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This came in as a comment last night.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be competitive and wanting to win, but, reading your posts the last few weeks, you ego is a little bit too big at times. Yes, you are a heck of a writer and you have one heck of a blog and you have assembled a heck of a team of contributors, but your ego is getting a bit cocky.

This is ad hominem, so it violates our comments policy, but I’m not averse to discussing the issue it raises in a general way.

Just not yet.

First, let’s address some general beefs I have with the world of real estate weblogging. You can regard this as an impromptu staff meeting of the RE.net, or, if you’d rather, as a Pompeii-like graffito.

Here’s one: I’m seeing more and more truncated feeds, and I am unthrilled about it. My entire purpose in using a feed reader is to aggregate everything I might want to see in one place. If I’m interested in what you have to say, I might click through to your site, but I don’t appreciate being forced to do so. I understand that you may be trying to boost your hard clicks, possibly to placate your advertisers, or you might be trying to frustrate sploggers. I don’t care. If you don’t capture my attention completely in the forty or fifty words you deign to show me, there is zero chance that I will click through to see if I might be missing something good. I can’t be that different from your target reader. You got ’em to subscribe. Now deliver the goods. Hoarding — for whatever reason — is the economics of the past.

(Near the subject, I had mentioned a long time ago (in a comment or somewhere) that I almost never do trackbacks. If for no other reason than that it offers automatic trackbacks and pingbacks, WordPress should be your CMS of choice for any weblogs you build (or migrate to) in the future.)

Here’s another beef: This came in as a comment to Real Estate Weblogging 101:

I think you Read more

June 27, 2007

A contrary point of view: “Apple iPhone debut to flop, product to crash in flames”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Surely fifty million Frenchmen can be as wrong as one, but just try getting them to admit it! David Platt makes an interesting argument about why the iPhone will fail, but, even stipulating his entire case, it seems reasonable to suppose that most early-adopters will be stout fans for at least two years — the length of the service contract with AT&T.

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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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