In part 1, we explored the controversies and the issues surrounding what a Real Estate BarCamp should or should not be, and explored the rules and principles of the original tech-focused BarCamp. At the end of that, I asked three questions: What goals are we trying to achieve with REBarCamps? Who benefits from REBarCamps? Who … Read more
Although I wanted to post this sooner, other commitments prevented getting to it before now. And quite a few of these ideas have been hashed out, particularly in the TQ Radio Show yesterday, but there is something to putting ideas and questions into words. So here we go. But first, a disclaimer: Many of you … Read more
An incredibly busy week of planning and preparation for REBarCamp NY as well as actual paying work piling up prevented me from getting to this Part 2 earlier. Sorry! But in Part 1 of this series, I asked real estate agents who they would use to sell their own homes if they could not do … Read more
One of the wonderful things about being part of networked conversations is that you often end up having awesome discussions with people many thousands of miles away. This post is the result of such a conversation — thank you Kelley Kohler. You rock. This part is short, and requires your participation: Realtors almost universally represent … Read more
One of the most interesting threads of 2009 sort of blew up this past week over at Marc Davison’s place when he posted a heartfelt mea culpa about his past cynicism about social media. Various heavy-hitter commenters came by and a full blown debate erupted. Oh, it’s good stuff! But there was one topic within … Read more
In my latest Inman column (link is for subscribers only, unless you made it in before the paywall dropped), I took issue with mobile for real estate, and called it the “eternal next big thing” for real estate. I didn’t have the space really to address what I do think is the future of mobile … Read more
Coldwell Banker just released its beta site (beta.coldwellbanker.com) this week, and on the whole, it’s a nice update. Here’s the current homepage: And here’s the beta homepage: Frankly, they’re both very nice; the beta page strikes me as being a bit more ‘unified’ and more contemporary in look and feel. The new search interface that … Read more
Almost a year ago, at a time when various folks in finance and real estate were ready to write eulogies for Realogy, I spent a few posts arguing that the rumors of Realogy’s demise were ahh… premature. My basic point then was that the bondholders of Realogy have very little incentive to push Realogy into … Read more
Original posted on The Notorious R.O.B by Rob Hahn. Agent ratings are back in the conversation, thanks to this scintillating op/ed by Kris Berg (link is for Inman premium subscribers only) who is one of the best writers in real estate today. I have written about this topic before (here and here) and it continues to fascinate and puzzle me … Read more