Washington Post’s LoudounExtra.com “Experiment” Is Over

The Washington Post just announced that it’s shutting down LoudounExtra.com this week. The Post said that the “experiment with LoudounExtra.com as a separate site was not a sustainable model” and that it would move all of the content to the Loudoun community page on WashingtonPost.com.

LoudounExtra.com was the Washington Post’s attempt at hyperlocal journalism. The site provided some great, relevant content with great editors, writers and contributors on staff and in the field. But the site never quite found its niche.

It almost seems like LoudounExtra.com was trying to be everything to everyone. It wasn’t quite an online newspaper web site nor was it quite a hyperlocal blog site. It talked about “this”, which had to do with Loudoun, but it talked about “that” and everything that had to do with Loudoun. That, I believe, was its downfall.

With the fall of LoudounExtra.com, other online news sites and local newspapers, hyperlocal blogs, forums and good old  fashioned word-of-mouth will grow as the way local information is processed, shared and discussed.

The thing about blogs, forums and word-of-mouth is that they allow for a two-way conversation/discussion between 2 (or 200) people rather than a one-way “here is today’s news – read it and come back tomorrow for tomorrow’s news” style. And those two-way conversations and discussions take a “one or two topic only” approach rather than a “here’s something about everything” approach.

Nothing against newspapers and their online sites (I read a lot of them daily), but, at the local level, focused conversation and discussion is where it’s at. But maybe that’s just me…

It was a good run for LoudounExtra.com and sorry it had to come to an end for all those involved. I hope that the new platform provides different (and hopefully better) opportunities for the staff and contributors.

Two Fellow Realtors, Friends Receive Inman Innovator Awards

A big “shout out” to fellow Realtors and friends Frank Llosa, founder of FranklyMLS.com and Jim Duncan, co-founder of Nest Realty Group in Charlotesville, VA. Frank received the 2009 Inman News Innovator of the Year Award. Nest Realty Group received the Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise Award.

Frank and FranklyMLS.com

If you’ve never checked out FranklyMLS.com is, you should. It’s the most up to date and user friendly real estate search site for consumers in the DC metro area (and beyond). FranklyMLS.com is constantly updated directly from the MLS – more so than any other site including Realtor.com (Realtor.com and others can be up to 2 weeks out of date).

The coolest thing about the site is that it allows Buyer’s Agent to post reviews and photos of properties they’ve previewed or shown to clients. In a down housing market where Listing Agents sometimes stretch the truth or Photoshop photos (or not take any photos at all), it’s great to read objective reviews and see real photos.

Other cool things about the site are its cell phone mode, it loads quickly, you can search for homes by keywords, you can easily search for short-sales or foreclosure/bank-owned properties…the list goes on.

And if you don’t know Frank, check out his blog – blog.franklyrealty.com – or on YouTube. You’ll quickly find out that he’s definitely not your typical real estate broker.

Jim and Nest Realty Group

Nest Realty Group joins a small group of non-related brokerage firms across the U.S. that is raising the bar in real estate. From Nest’s “About Us” web page,

Nest Realty is changing the way real estate is transacted in Central Virginia. With the best interest of our clients in mind, Nest is built on a client-centric business model. We believe in engaging the consumer, not selling them. Nest agents are technologically savvy, up-to-date on all real estate trends, and committed to informing clients of every detail of the selling or buying process. This ensures an enhanced experience for buyers, sellers, and agents.

Jim and I have talked many times about how many brokerage firms are stuck doing things the way “they’ve always been done” despite it not being the way it should be done today. I’m fortunate to work with a brokerage firm that already “gets it” and is raising the bar – Market Advantage Real Estate – while Jim and Jonathan Kauffman (the main person behind Nest) started their own brokerage firm that built on a similar premise.

For more about Jim, check out his real estate blog – RealCentralVA.com.

Congrats once again to Frank, Jim and Nest Realty Group!

Welcome to the new Loudoun Scene!

The new (and hopefully, improved) version of Loudoun Scene is officially live! Check out this video for more (click here if you don’t see the video)…

Let me know what you think – good and bad. Your feedback is invaluable and will help me tweak the site to make it better for you.

Help Nominate FranklyMLS.com for 2009 Inman Innovator Awards

It's that time of year again – time for the Inman Innovator Awards. And this year, I believe that FranklyMLS.com is due the recognition it deserves. That is why I nominated FranklyMLS.com for the "Most Innovative Web Service" category.

If you haven't checked out FranklyMLS.com, here's a brief overview of why it's so innovative (and why you should use it)…

• Loads faster than any other residential real estate search site in the area
• Updates to listings on FranklyMLS.com show up faster than on 99% of other listing sites
• Cell-phone/PDA mode is faster and better configured for cell-phones/PDAs than any other site
• Only listing site around that allows Buyer's Agents to review properties and add photos so that consumers can get a better idea of what the property looks like without having to call an agent
• Only listing site around that has links from the listing to hyper-local blog posts so that buyers can get more information about the specific neighborhood/town the property is located within
• Only listing site around that has a live chat feature so that consumers can chat directly (and anonymously) with quality agents in the area they're looking in
• First (and still the best) listing site to offer keyword searches (granite, 2 car garage, bank-owned, Broadlands, etc)
• Only listing site around that allows consumers to filter their search results to only foreclosure/bank-owned and/or short-sale properties (or vice cersa)
• Only listing site around to allow for sorting by total views
• Only listing site around that has the listing's price history in plain view
• Direct link from the listing to the county tax records (Fairfax County only, but expanding)
• Hide a listing from your search forever by simply clicking an "X"
• "Walk-Score" on every listing
• Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth available on every listing
• Only listing site around that also has For-Sale-By-Owner homes on it
• Branded IDX for agents/brokers
• All this plus "Favorites", email alerts including price changes, "Sold Alerts" and much more…

No other listing site around here (nor the US probably) has as many innovative and forward-thinking features. This site is not only great for consumers, but it's great for agents/brokers. In fact, I use FranklyMLS.com just as much as the regional agent/broker-facing MLS site, especially on my BlackBerry when out in the field working.

If you couldn't tell, I'm a big fan of FranklyMLS.com. That's why I nominated FranklyMLS.com for the "Most Innovative Web Service" award and am asking you to consider doing the same (if you feel its deserved).

RE BarCamp Virginia “Big Announcement” Gets Leaked Ahead of Time

One of the highlights of RE BarCamp Virginia was supposed to be a big announcement as to who was hired as NAR's Social Media Manager. Many of us, including local and state Realtor associations, were told that RE BarCamp Virginia had the honor of making the announcement and we all acted upon what was told to us.

Unfortunately, the announcement was intentionally made ahead of time – for what reason, I don't know. For details, check out this post over at VAR buzz.

Nevertheless, RE BarCamp Virginia will still be packed with lots of hands on training, labs, tips and tricks, peer-to-peer learning and networking. I'll be there on Monday, 3/2 for the group dinner and happy hour starting at 5:00pm as well as the actual event on Tuesday, 3/3. See you there!

RE BarCamp Virginia Brings Lots of Knowledge, Big Annoucements

RE BarCamp Virginia, a peer-to-peer event for Realtors who want to hone their social media skills, is almost here! It's being held at the Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors on March 3, 2009. The seats have all been RSVP'd and there's a waiting list - and for good reasons.

Why all the fuss?

Since RE BarCamp Virginia is a peer-to-peer event, the more experienced and more knowledgeable your peers in attendance are, the more everyone gets out of it. The list of attendees this year is bigger than ever - the knowledge being shared, the lessons that will be learned and the announcements being made are all huge!

There are folks flying in from all parts of the country (even as far as California) and include successful Realtors, Realtor Association execs/staff, social media heavy-hitters and reps from companies such as Altos Research, Onboard Informatics and ML Broadcast.

The amount of talent and information that will be together at one time is amazing. Everyone should walk out of RE BarCamp Virginia better at what they do than before they walked in.

As for one of the announcements…

NAR has hired a social media director and will be making the announcement as to who it is at RE BarCamp Virginia. Since Daniel Rothamel and Ben Martin are currently stable and happy at their jobs, it won't be either of them (sad yet, happy at the same time). But I do hope that it's someone at least remotely as capable and independent-thinking as either of them or the others coming to RE BarCamp Virginia.

Looking forward to seeing old and new faces at RE BarCamp Virginia next month!

P.S. If you're on Facebook, check out the RE Bar Camp Virginia Facebook event page.

 

FranklyMLS.com Versus the New HomesDataBase.com

HomesDataBase.com just announced that they have revamped and launched a new and improved version of their search site (in beta). But how does it stack up against one of my favorite search sites, FranklyMLS.com?

FranklyMLS.com

FranklyMLS.com has been blowing away the competition in terms of speed, ease-of-use and practicality. The list of features is awesome and continues to grow weekly. It was one of the first search sites to come out with keyword search function (think "granite countertops" or "bank owned").

You can also quickly see whether a property is a short-sale or not thanks to a " * " next to the price. This is great so you don't waste your time looking through the remarks section of each and every listing to determine whether it's a short-sale or not.

It also has a "cell-phone feature" which allows you to easily browse listings on your PDA while on the go or while sitting in front of a home for sale. The site loads quickly on your PDA and the thumbnails are a perfect size for most screens.

HomesDataBase.com

The new HomesDataBase.com allows to customize your search pretty well. You can also subscribe to an RSS feed which makes it easy to keep up with new listings and information from the site. One thing that HomesDatabase.com has that FranklyMLS.com does not is a map feature. Personally, I don't use mapping features on listing sites so I'm impartial, but others may love it.

It took a hint from FranklyMLS.com and created a keyword search feature of their own. But it's not as accurate or effective. The site isn't as quick as FranklyMLS.com, but it does just fine on my home high-speed connection. As for looking at it on your cell phone, you can. But it's by no means as easy as FrankyMLS.com

Overall, HomesDataBase.com has done a good job with its' new and improved site and many consumers and agents will find it very useful in searching for homes and communicating with their clients.

The winner is…

In my humble opinion, FranklyMLS.com still holds the top spot. Why? Because being able to efectively filter through all the "noise" using a superior keyword feature and differentiate between traditional resales, short-sales and bank-owned foreclosure properties is more important to me than than any "cool maps" or way-too-in-depth search criteria most of which doesn't apply to 99 percent of buyers anyway. And I'm on the road a lot so I need instantaneous access to listings and property information using my Blackberry. 

If you haven't yet, check out both sites and come to your own conclusion.

LoudounScene.com Is Now Mobile-Friendly

If you've ever pulled up LoudounScene.com on your PDA/cell web browser, you've probably said to yourself "Man, this looks like crap and isn't very functional!" Well, no longer. As of today, you can get a PDA/cell web browser friendly version of LoudounScene.com (and LoudounForeclosures.com) via MoFuse.

Mofuse is a service that takes web site and blogs and creates a PDA/cell web browser-friendly version that is simple, functional and loads very quickly. And no, it's not just for iPhones (I have a Blackberry and it works great). The posts come up only as headlines hyperlinked to the full post. The posts are formatted to fit within your particular screen for easy viewing, pictures and all.

MoFuse even integrates "Email", "Bookmark on del.icio.us" and "Share On Twitter" buttons at the bottom of each post. The navigation is simple with a "Next" as well as a "See full HTML" button at the bottom of each post.

There is absolutely no software for you to download nor do you need to register for the service. All you need to have is the url of the mobile version of the site.

To get the url to the mobile version of LoudounScene.com, click on this button:

(You can also find this button at the top of the first right-hand column on each page of LoudounScene.com)

And if you'd like to get the url to the mobile version of LoudounForeclosures.com, click on this button:

If you run into any issues or concerns while using the mobile version, please let me know so I can contact MoFuse about it.

Post Article on Consumers and Agents Connecting Online Features Danilo Bogdanovic

The Washington Post ran an article in their Real Estate section today entitled "Making Connections – Web 2.0 Creates New Ways For Agents, Home Shoppers To Find Each Other." The article on "Real Estate Agent Hunting 2.0" talks about how more and more home buyers and sellers are using the internet and social media/social networking to help find and connect with a real estate agent that works best for them.

With the rise in use of "Web 2.0," platforms such as personal real estate blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Trulia and others are becoming a valuable tool in helping consumers find and learn about agents. Consumers are "interviewing" agents online prior to interviewing them in person to determine whether the agent is a good fit for them or not.

Blogs and social networks help determine things such as an agent's credibility, real estate knowledge, track record and personality. These are all key components in the decision making process a consumer goes through when choosing an agent to work with.

Here's what Bob Carney's client had to say in the article:

"I'd been told to never pick a Realtor out of a hat, but I feel like Bob was recommended to us out of the comments on the Internet," she said. "I just remember reading Bob and going 'Oh, yeah. He's the one.' "

And here's what my clients had to say:

"It came down to these other two agents. I didn't know anything about them," Shields said. Bogdanovic "was the only one you could get a personality from."

Helping consumers get a better idea of an agent's professional as well as personal experience and personality is why there are widgets for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Trulia and others on the side of many blogs and profiles (including this blog and my profiles). Another useful tool is an agent's About Page on their blog(s).

Though there is no substitute for interviewing an agent in person, consumers can get a good idea of an agent's track record, experience, skill set and personality through their online presence and what search results come from "googling" their name. This will help determine whether they even want to take the time to interview them in person in the first place.

The article features people such as Bob Carney, an agent and blogger in Frederick; Steve Schultz, senior director of product and business development for Yahoo Real Estate; Jonathan Washburn, CEO of ActiveRain, Frank Borges Llosa of Frankly Realty and FranklyMLS.com and myself. It's flattering and an honor to be included in the same article as them, all of which are very respected and have "been around the block" when it comes to real estate and social media.

–

Links to my profiles/about page:

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

Trulia

FranklyMLS.com

Inman

About Page

The Carnival of Real Estate – Resources And Info About Real Estate From Top Real Estate Bloggers Across The World

The Carnival of Real Estate (CoRE) was created in order to bring together the best real estate bloggers from around the country (and world) to share information about what we’re all passionate about: real estate. Each week, a different blog hosts the latest edition of CoRE and highlights the best posts submitted that week. The posts cover everything from market reviews and buyer/seller tips for consumers to web 2.0 tools and blogging advice for industry professionals.

The current (58th) edition of CoRE is being hosted by real/diaBlog (one of our other blogs also written by Tony and I) and the verdict is out on the best posts for this week. There were some really good posts for us to choose from – check them out when you have a chance.

If you’re a real estate blogger or write about real estate in general and would like to submit a post to future CoRE editions, there are links to the submission form at the bottom of the post on real/diaBlog as well as on CoRE’s blog.

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