I’ll be moderating a panel at Inman’s Blogger Connect in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 23. The topic is:

Case Study: How Four Bloggers Are Closing Sales
What’s tactics work for generating business?

Should be interesting…

Inman Connect is one of the largest real estate technology conferences (maybe the largest) in the country. I attended my first one last January in New York City and had a blast. Looking forward to seeing old friends, meeting new ones, learning and sharing.

The speakers line up is impressive, and growing daily. Mr. Dalton over on the west side will be speaking on the “Tapping the Global Real Estate Market” panel on Thursday. Sadly, that conflicts with the “Real Estate Brokerage of the Future” session. Looks like I’ll be bouncing between the two…

Inman is currently offering special “Blogger Pricing”. Hurry…

The day before Blogger Connect is the
“RE Bar Camp” – an “unconference”. It too should be most educational and entertaining.

If you are planning to attend Inman Connect, you have to come a day early for Bar Camp. And that evening, you can mosey over to Zillow’s “Beer with Blogger’s” Reception. Trust me, the Zillow people know how to throw a party…

Drop a comment if you’re planning to attend and we’ll Connect at Connect!

Here are some of my photos from Connect NYC in January.

Closer to home, some of us Phoenix real estate blogging / Twittering fools are planning to do lunch this Tuesday (May 6). Let me know if you’re interested. Seating is limited!

May 29 should bring around another session of the AZ Real Estate Blogging Network. Details forthcoming.

And on a yet to be determined exactly date in June, I’ll be conducting a real estate blogging workshop sponsored by First American Title.

And there’s a three-day to Rocky Point coming up too! Ahhh, Corona’s…
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If you use RSS feeds, you already know just how cool they are. RSS can save a TON of time, pulling web content to you, rather than you having to go look for it.

Our current MLS / IDX search provides RSS feed capability. And we are working on a Listings RSS Feed page to make it even easier. The page is up, and is currently pulling in feeds for all changed listings in Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa. (Follow the link, or click on “Listings RSS Feeds” under the header banner).

I’m working on the structure and it will be much better organized over the weekend.

Not familiar with RSS feeds? Here’s a great overview (3:44):

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Finally, a map-based Phoenix home search I can sink my teeth into. And more importantly, one that plays well with our MLS system.

For a long (long) time, the number of choices a Phoenix real estate agent had for implementing a map-based home search was woefully limited. Fortunately, the leadership at ARMLS (Arizona Multiple Listing Service) recently joined this century and new MLS/IDX search options are becoming available.

And we’re just tickled to be the first (of many, I’m sure) Phoenix area real estate web site to implement the search technology supplied by Diverse Solutions.

I’m still exploring, but this property search is wicked cool, and powerful.

From the user perspective, you can search to your hearts content, with no fear of being hounded by an agent. No calendars, no sports schedules, and no unwanted email will clog your mail box, fridge or in-box.

But, should you be so inclined, you can register and save searches, get notified of new listings on the market (daily or weekly — your choice) and more.

Want an RSS feed of listings? No problem.

Need specific info on the neighborhood, schools, or demographics? Check.

See a home you can’t live without? Make a PDF file of the listing, book mark the link, email it to yourself and your friends.

Need more info? Contact us directly from the listing page, initiate a chat, or schedule a showing. All just a click or two away.

Fully integrated Google Maps, including Google Street View (where Big G has filmed) allow you to search for and map right there with the home listings things like shopping, pizza joints, Starbucks, churches, schools and more.

It takes a little getting used to compared to our old home search solution. Chiefly because our old solution was lame. Some (OK, me) even said, “This sucks!”

Not any more. I’ve watched some folks go into the new search for the first time and swiftly search and locate homes that fit their criteria. The more you play with it, the more you find it can do, and the easier it gets. And hey, if it’s good enough for Kris and Steve Berg, it’s good enough for me.

Feel free to give it a whirl right here on the blog, or on our “traditional” site.

For the agents out there, the back end of this thing is slick. You can set up unlimited “filters” (WAY better than KillerIDX filters) and there are some cool tools you can use, like this:

Or this:

There’s more to come. Much more.

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I mentioned back in October that Google’s “Street View” was rolling out in Phoenix. Street View allows web users to “navigate” Google Maps and view 360–degree panoramic images.

In that post I briefly touched on the privacy concerns some folks have with Street View. Now The Smoking Gun reports a Pittsburgh couple has filed a lawsuit against Google alleging Street View of an “intentional and/or grossly reckless invasion” of their seclusion and privacy since they live on a street that is “clearly marked with a ‘Private Road’ sign.”

Huh. Somehow I think the Boring’s (the plaintiffs) have just done far more toward disturbing their privacy than Google’s fuzzy photos would ever accomplish.

They are seeking a judgment “in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars for compensatory, incidental and consequential damages, punitive damages, costs, all allowable attorneys’ fees and all other damages deemed to be just”. 

Who knows what will come out of this one…

Hat tip to WebProNews.

Tonight Zillow launched their “Mortgage Marketplace”.

Borrowers (and potential borrowers) be they looking to purchase real estate, refinance an existing loan or take out a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) can submit an anonymous request to multiple lenders by filling out a simple form.

I emphasize anonymous because if you’ve ever done any sort of “e loan” request for a mortgage quote, you know how relentless some of these folks can be. Trust me, I know. Your phone is likely to ring for months after you close of your loan.

Not so with Zillow’s Mortgage Marketplace.

Zillow’s system does not take your name, phone number, email or Social Security Number. Lenders get your request and respond with a detailed loan quote based on information you provide. You then log into Zillow and review the loan quote — which includes rate, APR, terms and cost. Then YOU decide if you want to contact the lender.

My first thought was how does a lender make a reasonable quote without a credit score? Simply enough, the potential borrower estimates a FICO score. I they don’t know, Zillow provides a credit score estimating tool.

I got a “sneak peak” of both the borrowers and the lenders side of the system this morning. Trust me, it’s anonymous. And it’s powerful.

Aside from the anonymous nature of the system, I thought one of the best features was that the lenders can see the other lenders quotes. This would seem to lead to a natural competition that would directly benefit the borrower.

This is information transparency at its best.

I can’t understand why any lender wouldn’t jump all over this. The one-time fee is $25 (to cover a background check / confirmation process). After that, the Mortgage Marketplace awaits you. Less than 25 minutes after launch, there were 41 user submitted quote requests.

And if you are in the market for a mortgage or a HELOC, it costs you absolutely nothing (other than 5 minutes of your time) to get multiple quotes from multiple lenders all competing to get you the best mortgage product — and they can’t hassle you. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain — multiple lenders, transparent information, anonymous quotes, complete control, contact who you want to, and don’t contact who you don’t.

Zillow hit a home run with this one.

More from Rich Barton, Zillow Founder, Chairman and CEO.

Others Opine:
Todd Carpenter
Drew Meyers
Kevin Boer
Greg Swann
Joel Burslem

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