BloodhoundBlog

There’s always something to howl about.

Category: Blog Carnivals (page 9 of 11)

March 19, 2007

The Carnival of Real Estate . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

…is up at Mike’s Corner. Mike Price expresses this week’s winners in win-place-show format. Our own Brian Brady came in second, with BAD LOANS: Buried In The Back Of The BreadBox, his excellent explication of the practical, long-term consequences of the sub-prime lending implosion.

The Carnival of Real Estate Investing is at the new homes weblog. Brian took first prize there.

Why did I enter Brian’s post in both competitions? Because it’s that good. See so for yourself, then go take a look at all the other great posts…

Technorati Tags: , ,

March 13, 2007

The Carnival of Real Estate Investing…

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

…is up at RE Agent in Connecticut. This week’s winner? Our own Michael Cook with Real Estate Investment Theories that can Actually Help You Make Money.

Michael has been an outstanding addition the the BloodhoundBlog roster. This is his second win at the Carnival of Real Estate Investing. If you missed it, take a look at Jeff Brown’s encomium to Michael’s brilliance. Brian Brady also wrote a sweet tribute at Active Rain.

Michael Cook is birthing an investment book before your eyes — strong on academic theory, stronger on hard-won first-hand experience. And you get to watch as it emerges from his brain, topic-by-topic, chapter-by-chapter, innovation-by-innovation…

Technorati Tags: , ,

March 5, 2007

The Carnival of Real Estate . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

…is up at Salt Lake Real Estate Blog. Host Nigel Swaby invokes a March Madness format. We entered Brian Brady’s interview with Lenn Harley. Brian made it to the Elite Eight, but not to the Final Four. Next week’s Carnival: The Phoenix Real Estate Guy.

The Carnival of Real Estate Investing is also up at The Landlord Blog. We entered Jeff Brown’s article on accelerated depreciation. This is the best investment article I have ever read anywhere, by the only standard that matters: Money. When it appeared here, I immediately sent it to every one of my investor clients. If you didn’t do the same, amend that omission immediately. In any case, it didn’t win. Go figure…

We had a lot of great stuff last week, but The Carnival of BloodhoundBlog award goes to Jeff’s essay. When a sweet and thoughtful man shows us how to make thousands more per year from our investments, a tip of the hat doesn’t even begin to pay the debt we owe him…

Technorati Tags: , ,

February 26, 2007

The Carnival of Real Estate . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

…is up at The Real Estate Zebra. Host Daniel Rothamel is one of our favorite real estate webloggers, so it’s a double honor to have our own Kris Berg win yet again for The ABC’s of Agent Hiring – Oops, They Did it Again. This is Kris’ second win and the fourth for BloodhoundBlog.

This week’s Carnival of Real Estate Investing is at TheMillionairesBlog. We entered Michael Cook‘s Negotiation 201: Don’t Just Think about the Best Price, but it didn’t take first place, alas.

There is much good reading at both weblogs. Go take a look…

Technorati Tags: ,

February 19, 2007

Real Estate Carnivals: Nigel Swaby wins Carnival of Real Estate Investing, our own Allen Butler wins Carnival of Real Estate . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

BloodhoundBlog was this week’s host of the Carnival of Real Estate Investing. Nigel Swaby from the Salt Lake Real Estate Blog was this week’s winner, with Creative Financing – Conversion to Traditional Mortgages.

We had a total of seven entries and four judges: Michael Cook, Cathleen Collins, Jeff Brown and Brian Brady.

This week’s Carnival of Real Estate was hosted by Pittsburgh Homes Daily. Our own Allen Butler won, with his SPAC Disease Reaches Pandemic Proportions.

This marks the third time BloodhoundBlog has won the Carnival of Real Estate. Past Winners are Kris Berg and me, Greg Swann. Michael Cook is a past winner of the Carnival of Real Estate Investing.

Technorati Tags: , ,

February 12, 2007

The Carnival of Real Estate . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

…is up at ReyEstate. This week’s winner is a fanzine article about Emmitt Smith, who is Dancing With The Real Estate Stars.

We entered Kris Berg’s podcast interview with Redfin.com CEO Glenn Kelman. I have an inkling the podcast went unaudited at ReyEstate:

The “Kissing Booth” was in full operation this week and Redfin’s CEO Glenn Kelman was charming the crowd. You can find the fluff slappy happy write-up on BloodHoundBlog…

That sounds just like us.

We have actually listened to the podcast, so we know why Kris deserves to win this week’s Carnival of BloodhoundBlog.

As a reminder, we’re hosting next week’s Carnival of Real Estate Investing.

Technorati Tags: , ,

February 5, 2007

Super Bowl? But there’s a Carnival of Real Estate going on . . . !

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

On second thought, maybe we are the nerdliest joint on the RE.net. I actually watched much of the Super Bowl yesterday, but it was only because it was coming between me and the judging for the Carnival of Real Estate. BloodhoundBlog is host to the 28th edition of the Carnival, and, geek that I am, that was far more interesting to me than watching the Colts stampede the Bears.

And, yes, we are geeks with pride. Snotty sardonic surly teenaged web-programmer god Cameron built us a little bot that would permit multiple judges to view and score each article “blind,” with no knowledge of either the author or weblog. And wise winsome willowy spreadsheet goddess Cathleen Collins built an Excel bot that combined all the results into a one-page report.

These were our judges, six out of the eleven of us: Kris Berg, Brian Brady, Cathleen Collins, Michael Cook, Greg Swann and Jeff Turner. Of the judges, only I saw the articles in their original form. Everyone else saw the versions that I had anonymized.

So: Who won?

Rank Has Its Privileges, and I’m asserting one here. The winner by a significant margin was David Gibbons from Zillow Blog with Attracting a Conversation: Blog Comment Tips. But — I hope without diluting David’s glory — I would like to craft mini-laurels for all of the authors of Zillow Blog’s series on real estate weblogging. Here are the other articles in the series:

And, yes, we’re weblogging about weblogging. But that’s beside the point. The Carnival of Real Estate should celebrate uncontested excellence in real estate weblogging, and David’s post — and the entire Zillow Blog series — are particularly good examples of how to handle this work wisely and well.

But now the pre-game show is over. Here are the top ten winners of the Carnival of Real Estate:

  1. David Gibbons outruns the Colts with Attracting a Conversation: Blog Comment Tips – Zillow Blog posted at Zillow Blog.
  2. REBlogGirl comes in second with Long tail, short tail and coat tail searches posted at Read more
February 2, 2007

Pump up the Carnivolume: RE.net blog carnivals proliferate

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

There was big news in last week’s Carnival of Real Estate, but we were delicate enough not to take notice.

A kinder, gentler BloodhoundBlog? Don’t hold your breath.

There is other RE.net blog carnival news, though:

We know about the Carnival of Real Estate Investing, of course, which was started by Real Estate Investing for Real. (BloodhoundBlog will be hosting this blog carnival on February 19th.)

Now comes news of the Consumer Focused Real Estate Blog Carnival, founded by Sadie’s Take on Delaware, Ohio. The idea is to reward locally-focused weblog posts.

From the other direction, David Gibbons of Zillow.com phoned this afternoon to talk about an idea he has proposed for the Carnival of Real Estate. The idea is to make a five- or ten-minute podcast with each week’s CoRE host, discussing the judging process, the decisive qualities of that week’s winning choice, and, also, offering the host a moment to discuss his or her local real estate market.

I like this idea, although I can never talk about anything for ten minutes. Our phone call to talk about a ten-minute podcast ran for 32 minutes. But I do like the thought that there will be some oversight over the hosts, if only to prevent — or at least draw ignominy to — the kind of news we delicately ignored this week.

I am also concerned about this proliferation of RE.net blog carnivals. I understand the impetus to create niche carnivals, but each new addition tends to dilute the impact of the others. I like the Carnival of Real Estate being “The Oscars,” as it were, of real estate weblogging carnivals. An idea I suggested to David is to split out CoRE awards by category: Best Investing Post, Best Local-Interest Post, Best Feature Post, Best News/Commentary Post, with one overall Best Post picked from among all the entries.

Another idea I have been toying with is to create a weekly Odysseus Medal to be awarded to what I think is the best RE.net weblog post of the week. Why me? Because I had the idea. Because I’m a presumptuous-enough insufferable bastard to trumpet my own opinions with a Read more

January 29, 2007

Derek Burress hits a grand slam with the Carnival of Real Estate Investing

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Would you like to see a grand slam blog carnival presentation? Take yourself to Real Estate Perspectives for The Carnival of Real Estate Investing. Our own Michael Cook came in first place with The Right Time to Buy: An Investor Perspective, but I would rave about this carnival even if we hadn’t won. Host Derek Burress took the job seriously. He put in a lot of thought and effort to produce a carnival that is fun, funny and informative. Bravo!

My wife and business partner Cathleen Collins judges the Carnival of BloodhoundBlog, our own weekly in-house celebration of quality weblogging. Her pick this week is the Russell Shaw podcasts (Parts I, II and III). Cathleen and I both worked on those (for instance, she dug out all the links), but the real credit goes to Russell, who simply exudes wealth-building power.

As a reminder, BloodhoundBlog will be hosting next week’s Carnival of Real Estate and the February 19th Carnival or Real Estate Investing.

Technorati Tags: , ,

January 25, 2007

BloodhoundBlog to host February 5th Carnival of Real Estate

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

So: We’re hitting all 12 cylinders, with two grand slam introductions this week. I should think we would be a slam dunk for next week’s Carnival of Real Estate.

Except…

We’re hosting it. Not this Monday, a week from Monday.

We offered a long time ago to pick up the slack if a hosting blog had to beg off at the last minute. It happened.

This is a cool opportunity for us: Group blog, group judging. We have Cameron working on software we can use to manage the judging process with multiple judges.

We’re also hosting the Carnival of Real Estate Investing on February 19th, with Jeff Brown, Michael Cook and Brian Brady doing the judging.

Plan ahead. Be ready for us. We’ll be ready for you…

Technorati Tags: , ,

January 22, 2007

The Carnival of Real Estate . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

…is up at Minneapolis Real Estate Market Update.

And the winner is… our own Kris Berg with The Plastic Pig (and How to Pick Your Agent).

Kris also wins The Carnival of BloodhoundBlog, a testament to her excellence amidst the stiff competition around here.

The Carnival of Real Estate Investing is up at Real Estate Investing For Real. We entered Jeff Brown’s Compounding, Return On Investment, & What Matters To Investors — Invest $1 Get $2 Back, but, alas, it didn’t win.

But: There is more to life than BloodhoundBlog. There are lots of great articles at both carnivals. Check ’em out…

Technorati Tags: , ,

January 22, 2007

The Right Time to Buy: An Investor Perspective

by

Real Estate Investor

Author website

As we considered when to restart Cook Squared Enterprises, one question we had to ask ourselves was if it was the right time to buy. With interest rates creeping up and home values creeping down, is now the time to make a large purchase? Additionally, in my spare time I dabble in a little econometrics. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, it is essentially taking a lot of past factors and trying to predict something in the future. In this case, I look at past real estate value indicators and trying to predict future trends in real estate. For those of you who think this is getting ready to get technical, don’t worry, it is definitely not (sorry to those of you who thought it was). I only do this to see if there are clear markets I should avoid, markets like Las Vegas and Florida that have shown obvious signs of over building and over investing.

Back to the topic at hand, when should you enter the market? First and foremost, it is always a great time to start investing. There is always value in the market, though some times it is harder to find that value than other times. There is always a house or building that has not been taken care of properly, with motivated sellers. These are great properties to buy, just about anytime. More importantly, the real estate market is cyclical. Predicting cycles can some times be like predicting the weather. Since many of the greatest economists cannot seem to do either, it is not worth trying to jump in at the trough and get out at the peak. If anyone tells you differently, ask them if they have any swamp land they can sell you as well.

Buy and hold investors almost always make money because of the nature of real estate price increases. Even if you get in at a peak and hold, real estate typically comes back to bail the hold investor out. Established investors who only work in certain markets have even more of an advantage because they have seen Read more

January 15, 2007

It turns out we ain’t nothin’ but a hound dawg . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

If you bet on Brian Brady’s “Predatory Lending” post to take the real estate blog carnival trifecta, you could be sleeping in the dog house tonight — or perhaps “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Brian won the BloodhoundBlog Carnival by a unanimous vote.

He placed in The Carnival of Real Estate Investing, held this week at Sadie’s Take on Delaware Ohio.

But Elvis left the building without taking note of Brian’s effort at The Carnival of Real Estate at Marlow Harris’ 360 Digest.

Oh, well. By now we know the formula at Marlow’s places: A little more bite and a little less bark, a little less fight and a little more spark. We’ll do better next time…

Technorati Tags: , ,

January 15, 2007

The Plastic Pig (and How to Pick Your Agent)

by

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

A million years ago, my mother won the office football pool. It was a Pick the Winners contest, and she did it with a plastic pig. Now, keep in mind that this is the same woman that found herself relegated to her bed for a week after losing the rubber match of “Who Can Jump Over the Most Boxes in the Backyard” to my then 14-year-old brother. Evel Knievel she wasn’t.

Anyway, she had this hysterically funny wind-up pig that, when activated, would spin furiously on its base, squealing all the while. Her scientific winner-picking method, the envy of any Vegas sports book, involved circling the team name which resided in the ultimate landing vector of the pig’s tail. When she collected the booty this particular weekend, a guy at the office replied in disgust, “I can’t believe I was beat by a plastic pig”.

Certain events of the past week have led me to believe that too many people are relying on the plastic pig method in selecting their real estate agent. Now, an agent plays many roles, but marketing and exposure of your home is first and foremost. Without an interested buyer and without an offer, an agent’s professed superiority in negotiations and contract management will be meaningless and in fact go untested. The listings without photos or well-written text, the agent voice mail messages declaring that “all calls received after 5:00 PM will be returned the next business day” (or on the Autumnal Equinox, whichever occurs last), the show instructions which involve 24-hour notice, a silent prayer to the East and the winning lotto ticket are all things I have encountered. All, unfortunately, serve only to keep agents and their buyers away.

My latest reminder that all agents are not deserving of the listings with which they have been entrusted came in the form of a phone call from a frustrated shopper. Three messages to the agent’s number in the ad and 48 hours later, she was still trying to make an appointment to see a property. Ultimately, she pulled my number off of another sign in the neighborhood in a Read more

« Older posts Newer posts »

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.

Media Contacts