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!