Author Archive

[Pre-emption of syndication flack:  I syndicate.  Most brokers do.  Many value the additional exposure in the current situation.  This isn't a blanket condemnation of syndication.  It's merely an analysis of the SEO byproduct of that action.] The real estate industry is buzzing about Edina Realty and ARG pulling their listings from syndicators.  The announcement, one strong view, and a different response. Most of the arguments about syndication are ignoring the elephant in the room. Real estate brokers and syndication sites are battling for SEO. 9 … Read More »

After the latest attempt at publishing MLS sales statistics for real estate agents in a public forum went down in an inglorious blaze, many people inside and outside the industry are still interested in the possibility of a second try.  It may be an outside 3rd party that creates such a service, but I’d be more inclined to believe that a push from within the industry would lead to the creation of a more comprehensive database.  That may or may not happen, but it makes sense to … Read More »

The real estate industry, slow to adapt to new technology, has been experiencing growing pains from outside startup technology companies pushing the boundaries of its comfortable digs.  The latest flavor of dust-up was well-documented by Drew Meyers of Geek Estate.  Redfin’s Agent Scouting Reports change the nature of how formerly-private sales statistics are displayed in a public forum. While most of the discussion has centered on the vast inaccuracies of the reports, the lack of adherence to MLS membership rules, and the lack of transparency in … Read More »

Automated home valuations are a growing trend on real estate websites.  While Zillow’s Zestimates are clearly the standout leaders in this field, there are plenty of others. Eppraisal.  Cyberhomes. Trulia has a one-city beta product in the works, while First American has had its own automated valuation model for quite some time.  Even our own Geek Estate Blogger, Justin Britt, has a new Hawaii Life Value Score, taking a different angle with more of a comparative score valuation. The vast majority of real estate professionals I encounter dismiss the value of these … Read More »

Creating your company’s own customized URL shortener is faster and easier than you might believe.  Why would a company need/want a custom URL shortener?  I’ll get to that, but if the geeks will please excuse me for a second, the basic premise of URL shorteners for those who might not be aware: URL shorteners are used to shrink a web link to a smaller size.  When users on Twitter, Facebook, and a number of other mobile/social media sites type or paste web links, they need … Read More »

I tried out AT&T’s new 3G MicroCell this week.  It’s basically a router-sized station that plugs into your internet connection and creates a mini cellular network  in your home or office. I’ll start by saying that I’m no fan of AT&T’s coverage.  I’m a real estate broker, and I take about half of my business calls from my home office.  I currently live in Wallingford, just about five miles North of downtown Seattle.  This should be a major metro area with great coverage, but it’s a dead zone.  I’ve been running my … Read More »

I’m relatively new to the SEO world, but I’m interested/excited to see what kind of competition Bing can bring to Google’s search dominance.  GOOG is no longer the cool, independent startup that we all loved a few years back, it’s now a cool, 800 lb gorilla.  At least maybe MSFT can add a 2nd gorilla to the mix and give us a little bit of variety. I registered for Bing Webmaster Tools to see what kind of new ideas/statistics that it could provide for our business.  So … Read More »

I was lucky enough to be one of the people with a Grand Central account when Google took over with its new Google Voice service (sometimes being a geek who signs up for every new service pays off, even if you had no idea what you’d use it for). This gave me access to test out the Google Voice functions for a few weeks before going live, and not having to wait for my “invitation” to come back from Google. My company just activated the … Read More »