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.

LoudounExtra.com and ABC 7 News Now On Twitter

When Twitter first came out, it seemed to just be a "tech geek" communication platform with no practical business applications. Well, that's changing. Mass media such as LoudounExtra.com (Washington Post) and ABC 7 News have all gotten on Twitter and are using it to connect with those in the community. 

Feel free to follow LoudounExtra.com and/or ABC 7 News to keep up with what's going on in the area as it happens. And feel free to also follow me on Twitter if you'd like.

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Dulles Area Association Of Realtors September Loudoun County Homes Sales Data Dismal

According to the Dulles Area Association of Realtors housing numbers (and everyone you ask for that matter), Loudoun County home sales volume and median prices were down in September. And not just by a little – by 30 percent from the previous month. Loudoun County had 411 homes sell in August compared to 288 in September. This is a 24 percent decrease from September 2006 in which Loudoun County had 383 homes sell.

Some other statistics:

• September saw a sales-price-to-list price of 92 percent, the second lowest all year (February was the lowest at 91.38%)
• average Days On Market increased to 111, though it was still not as high as Januray at 138
• median price decreased to $425,500, but still not as low as January at $419,500
• inventory has remained about the same since June hovering inbetween 3700 and 3800

With all this talk about slowing sales, lower prices, interest rates and the "mortgage crisis", it’s interesting to see what people’s reactions are. To share your reactions with us and see what other’s reactions are to all this, check out this poll about the future of Loudoun County home prices and this poll about the Fed’s rate cut we have going on here at Loudoun Stats, as well as this poll over at The Washington Post’s LoudounExtra.com regarding the effect on consumers.

Washingtonpost.com Launches LoudounExtra.com

Washingtonpost.com has launched a new website called LoudounExtra.com that is dedicated to coverage of Loudoun County.  It is a visually appealing site with 7 main categories that include news, sports and one our favorites, blogs.

The Living in LoCo blog written by Tammi Marcoullier is now prominantly displayed on the site.  We wrote about the Living in Loco blog in a previous post and now it seems even more people in Loudoun County will be turned on to the timely and pertinent posts that Tammi writes.

For anyone living in Loudoun County, we recommend bookmarking the new LoudounExtra.com.

We are proud and honored to have Loudoun Stats included in the LoudounExtra.com blogroll of hyperlocal content pertaining to Loudoun County, Virginia. As Loudoun Stats, the Ashburn, Virginia Community Blog, other local blogs and LoudounExtra.com continue to grow, we hope that you will have everything you need concerning Loudoun County at your fingertips.

And we’re always looking for suggestions and feedback so if you have something you would like to see a specific topic discussed or have something to share regarding Loudoun County real estate or one of ours posts, please let us know.