Thanks to Lani by way of Daniel via Jeremy Hart, I've developed a little problem with an on-line game called "Mansion Impossible".  At first glance, it's mindnumbingly simple. The graphics certainly don't rival Halo. But it's addicting as hell.

Play it once and you're likely to think, "this is stoopid". But I bet you'll play it again. And again. 

Last I heard, Lani was at 11 years, 4 months. I've made it to 11 years, 6 months. In a comment on Lani's blog, Rebekah says her four year old hit 4 years, 10 months. I want a screen shot for proof!

I used to really like Lani and Daniel…. I don't know Jeremy, but I think I hate him.

Technorati Tags: Mansion Impossible, online gaming

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I've seen a lot of buyer's incentives in this wacky Phoenix real estate market.  Builders throwing in swimming pools and 80 grand in upgrades. Resale sellers leaving behind the plasma TV, pool tables, even the car in the garage.

But this morning I found an email flyer in my spam folder that had a most interesting buyer incentive…

Yep, buy a home and get yourself two tickets to Superbowl XLII — happening right here in Glendale, Arizona on February 3, 2008

This is an interesting incentive. How the seller has managed to procure tickets, I'm not sure as to my knowledge they aren't on sale yet. Something to ask if you find yourself involved in an incentive such as this…

The value of such an incentive is pretty much up to what the buyer considers it worth. Of course there is a face value to the tickets, but for a football fan the intrinsic value could be more than face value. And of course if the Broncos make it to the Superbowl, this incentive will certainly increase in value…

Technorati Tags: buyer incentives, Superbowl XLII, Broncos rock!

Here I sit at the Jobbing.com office building, waiting for Steven Groves to begin his “Realtor Blogging Workshop”…

Joining him will be Dave Barnhart, from Business Blogging Pros.

I happen to be sitting next to Chris Butterworth, from The Butterworth Group Blog. Chris and his team have an *excellent* blog - you must check it out. And my trip has now been worth it, as one of the things I enjoy the most is meeting fellow bloggers…

And Shailesh Ghimire, THE Arizona Mortgage Guru just walked in the door.

More when the show starts, stay tuned.

And we’re off….

There are 14 people here — apparently all from Dan Schwartz Realty… (2500+ were notified…. Hmmmmm…. doesn’t everyone want to get in on the blogging craze?)

• What do people want to learn?
  Tips, tricks and concepts
  The very basics
  How does it work, and what is it?
  Is it worth my energy to even be here?
  Why blog?

Steve’s discussing his “Agent 2.0″ model and how social media fits into real estate. I’ll link to it as soon as I can. Post about it here.

On to “social media” — tools used to share content, profiles, opinions, insights, experiences etc. It’s all about connecting to people, and them connecting to you. Tools include blgos, websites, podcasts, microblogs, communiites, wikis and vlogs.

Steve presents a pretty compelling argument for blogging and using social media in real estate.

Good question here — with the availability of data to the general public, what is the agent’s role?
Helpers, experts, negotiators, data managers
Much discussion, I feel a blog post coming on……

Steve is moving on to “What is a Blog?” and the big question for many new to real estate weblogging… why? The why’s and how’s are pretty typical (but *really* important), exposure, knowledge, demonstrating expertise.

Search engines and web presence are up now… the Long Tail, content, blah blah (not trying to minimize things here, I just can’t type fast enough….)

The “B” word — interesting comparison of what “blog” used to mean, and what it means now. Used to be: disparaged, diary, MySpace, political. Now: CEOs are doing it, respected, mainstream.

Lots of discussion on how and why blog posts typically rank well.

And the wireless connection here is beginning to flake out…

Dave Barnhart is up now. Dave is a “business blogging consultant”. He says, “Blogging isn’t what works. It’s conversation that makes it work.” I like that…

Dave’s discussing frequency of posting… if you’re trying to “climb to the top of the Google mountain” on a widely used search term, then you need to post frequently. For a long tail type term, you don’t need to post as frequently.

Lots of great discussion happening, that I’m going to jump in on. More to follow later.

Dave’s a TypePad fan. He’s discussing how to get started on TypePad. I still prefer WordPress. Dave’s though it TypePad is easier for the “less technical”. He may be right. I have no TypePad experience (other than their trackbacks seem to fail to function frequently).

Dave says, “I have been programming since Fortran was only Twotran” THAT is really bad geek humor…

Dave held a drawing for one attendee to get a free TypePad blog. Signed him up and he’s blogging right now! Follow his progress over the next few months at http://dougingersoll.typepad.com/

I have to admit, TypePad does seem quite easy to set up and get going…

UPDATE: Sorry about the abrupt ending there folks. I got to talking and, well, sometimes I can’t shut up. Steve has a post up on his blog about the event.

Technorati Tags: Steven Groves, Dave Barnhardt, Phoenix Blogging Workshop

Greg Swann at the Bloodhound Blog has announced this week's winners in the recently minted Odysseus Medal competition. 

In just its third week of existence, this competition is already bringing out the best in some very strong real estate bloggers. The "short list" is jammed packed with some quality posts.

Mastermind Russell Shaw won the People's Choice Award. If you've never read Russell, do so. Now. And if you ever get the chance to hear him speak, you'd be a fool not to take advantage of it. The man is an incredible wealth of information.

Mortgage Planner Dan Green was this week's Black Pearl Award winner. His post titled "What to Do If Your Home Is Losing Value and You Aren't Planning to Sell" is a must read.

Our post, The Sacrosanct 6% Commission — How About 12%?!, was awarded the Odysseus Medal. Considering the competition level, I'm deeply humbled and honored. Many thanks to whoever submitted it! 

The Odysseus Medal competition is held weekly. Details and submission form can be found here. The rules are minimal, the judging strict and consistent. The thing I like about it (other than the overall quality) is you can submit any post you deem worthy — whether you write it, or someone else does. If you read nothing else in the real estate blogiverse, read the weekly short list. It will provide much thought and insight.

Technorati Tags: Odysseus Medal, real estate blogging

Drew Meyers, our fearless leader at GeekEstateBlog, has posted the results of the 56th Carnival of Real Estate.  There is some excellent reading to be had, both geekish and not.

I suspect Greg will have the Odysseus Medal results up soon as well.

Technorati Tags: Carnival of Real Estate, Odysseus Medal