Facebook Application Helps Buyers Decide Where To Buy Property

I just discovered a new Facebook application which could help change the way people buy property. The name of the application is Facebook Neighborhoods and the basic gist of it is that users are able to meet and interact with their neighbors. The tool is pretty far-reaching; it covers many countries and neighborhoods already and is growing rapidly. I believe the tool is originally intended for neighbors to communicate with one another and stay updated, but I think it could also be used as a great tool for potential homebuyers and investors alike.

Once you are in the Facebook Neighborhood tool you are able to browse through neighborhoods, see what is going on in the particular neighborhoods and also see the names of other people living in the neighborhood. Typically, unless you are friends with these people, you won’t be able to view their full profiles--in case you were wondering what type of people are in the neighborhood--but you can send them messages.

For real estate investors, talking to neighbors can be one of the more beneficial due diligence tasks they can undertake. Neighbors are going to know whether there is a drug house in the area, or a neighborhood thief or numerous other helpful things. They might even know things about the particular house in question. Many times I’ve found that the neighbors know about damage the house has suffered (which homeowners are supposed to disclose, but sometimes things magically slip their minds), or specifics about the sellers such as why they are selling and so on, which can be helpful in negotiation. You might be surprised at what types of things can come up when you talk to neighbors.

Obviously not all the neighbors are going to be part of the Facebook Neighborhood, so prospective homebuyers are probably still better off at least attempting to knock on the neighbor's door (especially for the property-specific information), but for those who are too shy for face to face confrontation--or maybe just don’t have the time--this could be another way to conduct due diligence.

I would use this tool to accomplish a wider neighborhood survey of sorts. I would craft a message that asks a few questions about the neighborhood, send it out and then see what type of responses I get. I wouldn’t ask anything specific about the house, but would start the message by saying I’m thinking about buying a certain property in the neighborhood and just wanted to get a little more info about the area. By throwing out the address--even though I don’t ask directly for property information--if they have some juicy information they just might share it. Mainly I’m looking for information regarding the neighborhood. What do they think of the schools? How is the homeowners association (depending on how wide the neighborhood is; there may be different HOAs)? Any problems with crime? How do they like living there? Things like that. People like to share this type of information, and it will be useful whether you plan on living in the home or renting it out. This initial communication could also serve as a spring board for further relationships with the neighbors so that you can ask them for help in the future for things such as checking on how your tenant is maintaining the property (helpful for out of area investors) and so on.

Questions are your friend when conducting property due diligence and this tool just provides homebuyers an easy way to connect with people who might have the answers they are looking for.

HomeGain Launches Agent Blog Platform

Last month, HomeGain, an online real estate marketing company, announced the launch of their new blogging platform for customers of real estate agents.

HomeGain’s Source4Sellers marketing system allows agents to sign up as bloggers on the network and to post their contact information and profiles for consumers seeking real estate.

Users searching for homes in a particular neighborhood will see a display of blogs related to that neighborhood or area from agents working there. Consumers then have the option to contact agents directly from the website through their blog.

Since HomeGain is known in the industry as a lead-generation and sales tool, the blog provides an identifiable way out of that niche by allowing agents to receive some of the web traffic that would otherwise be reserved for HomeGain’s site.

Many other service provider blog programs allow agents to communicate only with other agents, but this tool, designed for the consumers use, is intended to allow direct interaction between agent and consumer, giving agents another way to market themselves and gain exposure to the right buyers.

Trulia And Topix

Trulia is watching you.

This week they announced the development of a widget that will promote listings from neighborhoods based on localized information about the user, capturing the ever-evasive longtail markets.

One site of the 50,000 odd sites that Trulia is seeking to partner with in installing the widget is Topix, a Web-based news community that allows users to post and browse articles relevant to their topics of interest.

Today’s widget launch on Topix will show Topix users a grouping of listings in close proximity to them, and clicks on the listings will send them to Trulia to read further.

"We're really excited about this," Trulia CEO Pete Flint said of the new partnership with Topix. "We've seen the best results when we've gotten down to the hyperlocal level. The great thing about Topix is they have a huge national reach as well as local content."

Topix is the fourth most-popular stand-alone newspaper site on the internet, as well as the seventh-ranked Web site within the newspaper subcategory of news and information sites, according to comScore. Clearly, this partnership will be a great coup for Trulia.

This is not just another widget. Service providers in the real estate industry should see this as a worthwhile tool to promote their businesses online. Topix CEO Chris Tolles says that because the newsfeed is localized, it offers a great opportunity for users to differentiate themselves from other sites. This looks to be another way for service providers to find free exposure on the Web, and they’d be smart to use it.

Franklymls.com: The First Wiki MLS

Franklymls.com, the first wiki MLS, officially launched in early April promising enhanced searchability, more user-friendly tools and—most importantly—the ability to communally modify postings.

Founder Frank Llosa of Frankly Realty in Virginia says on his blog, “The goal is to add information, and not opinions…competing agents come together to give what the customer wants...more info and photos.”

The site also has a point system to reward agents with outbound links to their sites. One point is awarded for posting a comment, and ten points are awarded for adding a photo album. The user with the most points for a given property gets a link back to their website, and most likely, any business from buyers who view that property through Franklymls.

Two very important things are happening with this site: First, buyers and agents alike now have an all-in-one MLS that focuses on the details of properties, and someday may compete with larger brokerages who have built extensive MLS search pages on their sites. Secondly, the site is an excellent source for buyers agents to market themselves through the properties they show. It’s an easy algorithm: The more properties you comment on and photograph, the more outbound links the site publishes back to you. A marketing no-brainer for any service provider in the real estate market.

MyMarketware.com: The FSBO'S Answer to Marketing Real Estate

Marketing was once the FSBO’s biggest obstacle, but one company, MyMarketware, has developed MarketSites to help sellers overcome this obstacle by creating individual home listing web pages for a property.

Whereas other sites list several properties in particular cities, neighborhoods or even streets, MarketSites allows the seller to send buyers directly to their property. View a sample MyMarketware page here. Sellers can upload up to 100 photos of their property, embed audio and video podcasts, change SEO settings with Meta descriptions and keywords and add RSS functionality to their page. Users can also customize links to their page, and modify their link dashboard within their user accounts, allowing them to be reused for future listings:

After paying the flat $39 fee, sellers can create a URL using the physical address of the property, which is a helpful tool for out-of-town buyers who may not know the area in which they are looking to buy.

Listings are syndicated by some of the bigger seller sites like

Trulia, Craigslist, Yahoo and Google Base.
For more information and updates on the site, visit the MyMarketware blog.

Real Estate Agent Review Website Launches: IncredibleAgents.com

Choosing a real estate agent can be a daunting task, but this week two new sites have launched that may help buyers and sellers discern the good agents from the bad.

The first, Incredible Agents (sister company of Incredible Agent), is a real estate agent review site that allows buyers and sellers to rate their agent to help other buyers and sellers find the right agent for them. One of the cooler features on this site is the ability to directly interact with agents that you’ve reviewed: When you write a review, the agent can comment back on it.

The site also features agent interviews, whereby users can anonymously ask a variety of questions to a series of agents. This is a feature that I haven’t seen on any other site, and it should gain some traction among consumers.

I especially like Incredible Agents’ logo because it reminds me of The Incredibles, which is one of my favorite Pixar movies.

The second site, AgentRank is still in beta form, but will allow users to search for agents and reviews by city and endorsements by other users. What makes the functionality of this site unique is the access users have to an entire database from a single location–pretty sweet.

Let me know what you think about these sites once you use them. I’m curious to see what kind of traction they get.

(Via Dustin at 4Realz.net)

Goodbye, RSS: A Breakup Letter

Dear RSS,

I must confess: After our long and tumultuous love affair, I’ve had just about enough of you and your constant nagging. You pop up to bother me with stories and news that doesn’t matter to me when you know that I’m busy, and if I don’t stop by to check in on you at least once an hour, you somehow find a way to nag me with unread articles and blog posts around dinnertime.

I’ve had enough of your laundry list of headlines. You never let me rest long enough to enjoy you for what you really are: a snapshot of my daily news. Instead, you make perusing the Internet a chore and burden my time with irrelevant headlines that make me ask, “Do you even know me?”

So, I’m leaving you for a better program.

Persai (pronounced per-SIGH) not only filters through my unique and personal search habits to ascertain what’s really important to me based on my interests, it will turn each of my individual interests into a custom page, much like our old friend Google News. And what’s more, when it suggests an article I don’t like, all I have to do is click the little red "X" that means "reject" (you know this term well, RSS) and it will be filtered right out of my system.

Though they are outside of an official launch and still in private beta testing, Persai promises to provide me with a personalized search experience. Sure, it comes with its fair share of problems: all-too-specific searches that don’t provide me with enough material to keep me satisfied, not to mention that most searches rank material based on what’s published most recently rather than what is relevant to my personal interests. Still, I’m a busy girl, and Persai is far and away a better option for me than you ever were, RSS.

Persai won’t eliminate the stream of information being thrown at me from the Web, but it will help me sort through what’s most important: Britney’s latest court appearance or Lindsay Lohan’s most recent stint in rehab. And for that, I am grateful.

Goodbye, RSS. It's been real.

Love,
Marie

NuWire Investor's Top 20 Real Estate Blogs

NuWire has just published the first installment of their top 20 real estate blogs. Some Brink Tank favorites made the list including 4realz and RCG.

Stay tuned next week for the second installment. Did you make the cut?

Real Estate Websites ActiveRain And Move Inc. Set Trial Date For December

A lawsuit filed by ActiveRain against Move Inc. has finally received clearance for a court date and jury trial that will take place in December.

Move Inc. (formerly Homestore) is a public company that operates move.com and Realtor.com through a contract with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) trade group. ActiveRain is a social networking online community with close to 75,000 members who use the site for interest groups, blogging and online networking.

Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that Move Inc. approached ActiveRain in hopes of purchasing their website, and then intentionally fell into breach of contract by engaging in fraudulent activity and unfair competition during the failed acquisition. Move has countered that they believe their actions were without malicious intent, and conducted in fairness.

The lawsuit further alleges that officials at ActiveRain were misled when they were told that the acquisition was nearly complete. They believe this is further proof that Move was trying to acquire “highly sensitive material about its members and its network or platform in electronic format, in anticipation of the supposed impending closing.”

Both parties are currently in the process of gathering data and depositions.

Technology Update: Investors And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Socks

As concerns about dwindling energy supplies grow, scientists are continuing on the quest for alternative sources of energy. Someday, just by wearing your shirt, you may be able to power your cell phone, iPod or PDA from the power within your pants. Err, shirt. Socks?

Reports out of the journal Nature suggest that scientists are close to creating a way to make our clothes work for us, beyond keeping us fashionable and warm. By using the piezoelectric effect, by which electricity is generated when normal amounts of pressure are applied to certain materials, scientists claim that simple friction of fabric can create energy in the amount of 80 milliwats (enough to charge your iPod). We’re talking about normal wear and tear, folks.

The Seattle Times explains it much better than I:

While the piezoelectric effect has been understood at least as far back as the 19th century, it is getting creative new looks, as concerns about energy supplies are inspiring quests for alternative power sources.

For example, a Japanese railway has experimented with mats, placed under turnstiles, that translate the pressure from thousands of commuters' footfalls into usable power. French scientists have proposed capturing energy from raindrops hitting a structure with piezoelectric properties.

For the research described in Nature, Zhong Lin Wang and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology covered individual fibers of fabric with nanowires made of zinc oxide. These wires are 50 nanometers in diameter, 1,800 times thinner than a human hair.

Alternating fibers are coated with gold. As one strand of the fabric is stretched against another, the nanowires on one fiber rub against the gold-coated ones on the other, like the teeth of two bottle brushes. The resulting tension and pressure generate a piezoelectric charge that is captured by the gold and can be fed into a circuit.

Now that is an investment I could support.

OpenHouse: The Investor's Timesaver

Some advice for all of you potential homebuyers: OpenHouse.com is a website that may save some precious few hours of your weekend.

It enables users to search for open houses by zip code or state, giving buyers the ability to plan and schedule around the times of the open houses they’d like to attend.

Buyers are able to browse pictures, virtual open houses and videos of properties. Even better is the feature that lets users plan a route of open houses–optimal for the investor looking out of state.

After trying a few searches, I learned that searches for properties are optimized by searching by city rather than zip code. While this could be a useful tool in the future, the site is just too new to list a concentrated number of properties in one zip code.

A search for Las Vegas, Nevada brings up 37 listings, all showing this weekend.

I also quite appreciate the site’s simplicity. It’s refreshing to see a site do one thing, and do it well. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.

Real Estate Technology Boom: SecondSpace.com

Seattle has birthed yet another real estate tech start-up. This one, SecondSpace, seeks to make home ownership easier for those with pockets deep enough to own second homes. Considering some 40 million Americans own a second home, it sounds like they’ve tapped into a solid market.

The issue for those buying second homes is not usually affordability–more likely it is the challenge of finding the right property to fit their needs. Do they want a house on the water or in the mountains? Overseas or within easy travel distance? Maybe they simply want raw land to build their second (or third or fourth) home on. All tough questions for the discerning buyer.

Through ResortScape, a user is able to go in and survey properties based on price range, type of property and physical location. A simple search for a property in an "ocean/seaside" lifestyle, for $400 to $800K in an unspecified location quickly brings up 63 listings varying from condotels to single family vacation homes–all for purchase.

Even tougher, some may argue, is what to do once the property is purchased. Many require renovations, maintenance and upkeep. SecondSpace claims to easily connect buyers with service providers able to assist them with their needs while they are away from their homes.

SecondSpace is aiming to establish itself as the preferred site for those looking to buy second homes worldwide. In partnership with their two other sites, ResortScape and LandWatch, SecondSpace recorded well over $1M in revenue in 2007.

Backed with $6.6M from Ignition Partners, the company employs people from Seattle-area companies such as Microsoft, RealNetworks and Amazon.

Keep your eyes out for more from SecondSpace–while they aren’t the only ones catering to consumer lifestyle needs, they appear to have the resources and partnerships to do it right.

Pssst - A Little Secret

In theory, this blog is supposed to discuss interesting people doing exciting things within the world of real estate and other alternative investments as well as highlight new technology and interesting news.

Today’s post, however, is going to be a little different. I suppose you could categorize it into "interesting things."

In my position at NuWire, I’m always looking for ways to engage investors, service providers and people who just want to learn about alternative investments. It’s a bonus if I get to do it in a way that’s exciting and new and helpful. That being said, I’m always looking around for the next best thing. I’m always looking for ways to educate readers.

I’m about to scoop you on something (sense the buildup).

One of my top informants for the past year has been the Rain City Guide, a contributor-run blog out of Seattle. Not all of the contributors write about Seattle-related topics; in fact, some of the most compelling information about the newest and biggest and best within real estate is in this blog. Many of the contributors have their own websites and blogs, which I also enjoy keeping up with. Dustin, who also writes 4realz, is a favorite of mine to read.

I think aside from Top Pot Doughnuts and my favourite guilty pleasures, Impulse and Lambs Ear, Rain City Guide is one of the best-kept secrets in Seattle. (And you thought I was going to say Starbucks).

I’d encourage you to check it out. Multiple posts are made daily, and I bet that soon you, too, will be adding RCG to your blog roll.

Now, go tell all of your friends my little secret.

Estately: A Real Estate Website After This Forgetful Girl’s Own Heart

There’s always talk in the blogosphere about the elimination of the MLS. While no one can say for certain that it’s going to happen, there are several websites stepping up and launching platforms to provide many of the same resources as the MLS–some even bigger and better.

One such site, Seattle-based Estately offers functionality that users may be accustomed to: area comps, saved searches, listing details, neighborhood specs (including school information) and maps.

But pay attention. Estately's unique features could play a small part in the eventual wave of sites that may eventually overtake the MLS.

One such feature caught my eye: the ability for (forgetful) users to tag properties for the future. “Keeper,” “watch this one” and “no way--stinky cat pee” are all terms that one may find useful in remembering specific details about properties. Users can then search Estately’s database of homes as well as their own archived lists by using these tags. This is useful for people who like sticky notes and strings on fingers and things of that nature (ahem).

Additional search functionality allows users to search by selling term. For example, the search term "short sale" will bring up several Seattle short sale listings. Try the same for the term "motivated seller" and you’ll see 10 times the amount of listings. Pretty cool for the niche investor.

Agent match is a great tool that they are developing for buyers to be matched with the right type of agent for their needs.

Another two reasons I like Estately:

1. One of the owners (and resident blogger) and I share an affinity for the best bar in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood.


2. No ads. How refreshing.

A New Kind Of House Hunt: Real Estate v.2.0

I’ve noticed something in my metropolitan Seattle neighborhood recently: red and white signs popping up where John L. Scott, Windermere and Coldwell Banker signs formerly snuggled comfortably into the ground.

With home sales slowing, sellers are trying to find more creative ways to list their properties and save on selling costs. One of those ways? Getting rid of the middleman.

2006 and 2007 brought an onslaught of online real estate companies designed to automate the buying and selling process as a broker, saving both the buyer and the seller money.

Four of the most well-known companies in this category are Trulia, Zillow, Terabitz and Redfin. Despite the slump in the real estate market, all four have received great amounts of funding from large VCs within the last two years.

All of this got me thinking...

The idea that a product could sell even in a market slump is an interesting one. And even though real estate has cooled off in most parts of the world, these companies are still trending upwards, though not as quickly as first anticipated. They provide a cheap alternative to selling and marketing in an otherwise deteriorating market.

The clear benefit that buyers and sellers alike see in these companies is the elimination of the middleman. And some of these sites, specifically Trulia, are becoming more and more user-friendly.

Case in point?

Trulia launched their new Trulia Publisher Platform in January, allowing publishers use their search technology, with listings, under the umbrella of a publisher’s co-branding, all at no cost to the publisher. This is essentially the real estate world’s equivalent of using Google AdSense to advertise properties, but in a much more cost- efficient way.

It’s a win-win. Publishers get real estate-related traffic back from Trulia, and users get the benefit of co-branding with larger publishers. Mark my word, this will change the game of web marketing and advertising for real estate.

Zillow’s answer to Trulia’s Publisher Platform is a new feed format that will work in conjunction with Trulia – but stay tuned -- more on that tomorrow.

DeedQuest: Easing The Burden Of Due-Diligence (And Lack Of Math Skills) From the Shoulders Of Investors

Real estate investors know one thing all too well in the everyday rat race of the world of investments – the familiar challenge of finding credible information sources to turn to when considering a new investment.

In my position at NuWire, I always have my eyes and ears open for interesting people doing interesting things. Amy Phillips, CEO of DeedQuest is just that – she’s not only a female entrepreneur, she’s also developed a company that provides a tool that will be, in coming months, quite helpful to investors looking for a practical way to evaluate deals, strategies, and ideas.

The purpose of DeedQuest is to streamline the process of real estate investing by creating a platform of people, resources, data and tools that’s accessible to all investors, or would-be investors. I decided to hop on and register to see what kinds of tools are available, and scope out the user interface.

Now, a disclaimer:

Bar-none, the most common complaint that I hear is that the biggest frustration investors have with the real estate market today is the lack of accountability among service providers and so-called ‘experts’. It’s hard to know who to trust. And who to pay for advice. And really, should you have to pay for advice, especially when said advice comes under the guise of five DVDs and a handbook? Frankly, that’s one of the reasons that NuWire exists, and one of the reasons I so enjoy being a part of the team here – we have taken on the duty and obligation of due diligence and education in an industry that makes a lot of empty claims. But I digress. I get excited about companies that exist for the same purpose that we do – this industry is in need of some strict accountability – and fast.

So, I registered.

Here’s what I learned: members of DeedQuest have the option of searching different markets for deals, statistics and data, news and are provided links for other resources that pertain to the area they are interested in. They also are able to analyze properties they are interested in using the built-in property analysis tool, which allows them to calculate potential return on investment and cap rates for different properties. Members can also participate in forums, search properties and save their searches and listings within their profile.

All in all? Quite impressed. This is a tool that investors would be wise to take advantage of.
I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised with the functionality and ease that DeedQuest offers investors to analyze deals and learn about new investment strategies.

Okay, okay. That, and I’m excited to poke around and learn more about other members.