4realz.net

According to their press release, they are now commingling MLS, FSBO and Foreclosure listings on one map… and this has me scratching my head!
Are they allowed to do this? Isn’t this type of commingling of listings against MLS rules?

Notice the purple and pink icons… Those are REO (foreclosures) and FSBOs, respectively [...]

…wrong.  Website development is hard stuff, even when you know exactly what you want to build.

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…full-service.
And Mike is about halfway to meeting his predictions and it’s only April.

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I think I’ve recovered enough now to actually post about it!
Despite our best efforts to be prepared, the day started off a bit rough with a nearby mudslide taking out power in our building in the morning (meaning no hot coffee and no projector) and a 9-car pileup on a nearby freeway [...]

…I convinced my wife to hit publish on this article about Redfin.
I’m reminded of this today because Marlow just picked up on the fact that the founder of Redfin just started a new site with information/resources for people with mental health problems:  MindSite.
The connection between these stories is that despite the fact that David Eraker [...]

…disappointed (dare I say upset?) one of his biggest supporters.

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…enough that they can make money without disrupting the 6% tradition in such a way that their 2/3 refund looses appeal?

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Jim got me thinking about some of the acronyms that I use on 4realz and other common terms I’ve seen others use:

AG: AgentGenius.com
AR: ActiveRain
BR: BlueRoof
BHB: Bloodhound Blog
CB: Coldwell Banker
CH: Cyberhomes
CL: Craigslist
CMS: Content Management System
CRM: Customer Relationship Management
FBS: FBS Blog
FOREM: Future of Real Estate Marketing
FORET: Future of Real Estate Technology
FD: FrontDoor
G: Google
GDH: Garage with a Detached [...]

…in detail, so no need for me to repeat things.  But what stuck out for me the first time I read the press release was that they are now giving consumers the ability to export all of their saved listings to a spreadsheet for better off-line analysis.
That’s a beautiful idea.   And it pains me [...]

…and it stinks.

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…side of real estate with a somewhat flattering portrait of Redfin, Trulia and Zillow.
(h/t John Cook)

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…some cheeky predictions around Redfin (they go into the deadpool), Trulia (sell in 2nd quarter of 2009), Zillow (sell to Yahoo in 2 years), Craigslist (more happily paid fees on RE listings) and Bloodhound Unchained (attendees join the cult of Greg).
However, my favorite part of the entire post is Rudy’s comment: “i think 2.x is [...]

(some names left anonymous to protect the innocent)

There’s a hell of a lot of VC money floating around this industry. I was surprised at how many people there were with lots of VC funding. Joel seemed to notice the same thing: “a whole new crop of real [...]

Out of curiosity about a fellow panelist at the CB event, I did a google search on Jorritt Van der Muelen, it brought back a few blasts from the past… Anyone else remember when Rob McGarty (pre-Redfin days) was talking about Zillow’s application to patent an auction marketplace around real estate listings? [...]

Top 10 stories of 2007 from Inman News (see the article for details):

Subprime market implodes; housing downturn worsens.
Blogging runs deeper in real estate’s blood.
Foxtons closes shop.
Foreclosure problem worsens; Bush announces rescue plan.
Redfin and “60 Minutes” of fame.
Trulia and Zillow get booted from Prudential Real Estate convention.
Realogy goes private.

Well-known real estate writer dies.
NAR’s Gateway project announced.
FHA [...]

I’ll be bold myself and summarize, but definitely check out Mike’s post for the details on his 2008 predictions:

Zillow does not go IPO
Barton drops CEO title at Zillow
5 VPs leave Zillow
Redfin gives premium, full-price option
Trulia gets more traffic than Zillow

A big focus on Zillow and not a bad prediction in the bunch.  Nonetheless, here’s my [...]

Like Brian Brady, Jay Thompson, Greg Swann, and others, I’m shocked what people can pass off as science to the media. Just because someone uses statistics, doesn’t make it true… and any study based on the people visiting Redfin.com, or the people who use Redfin’s services, will NEVER be a valid sample for [...]

“…mastery of the PR game.”
Great PR is hard because it involves more than just a good product, but a great follow up on the PR message…. something Glenn consistently delivers.    Like him or hate him, I’m sure his appearance on the Today Show tomorrow will be memorable.

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