Getting On the Cluetrain, No. 1

(Image from Flickr.com, by MarkyBon) There must be some sort of a zeitgeist (literally, “time spirit”) going around the RE.net, like some sort of a benign virus, on the topic of “Web 2.0” — what it is, what it is not. I just posted on Web 2.0, only to see Louis Cammarosano from HomeGain, and … Read more

Feel the Power of the Dark Side

With everyone focusing on the gloomy residential real estate market, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at what’s happening over on the Dark Side of the Force, aka, commercial real estate. CoStar released their Q4 financial results recently, and boy, are they impressive: BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — CoStar Group, … Read more

Competition, Web 2.0, and Cluetrain

I hate Web 2.0. I mean I hate the term. People throw it around all the time, and it even comes up in conversation at parties: “So, what’s your cute friend Sarah doing?” “Oh she’s doing publicity for this fabulous Web 2.0 company in the dress-swapping community.” “That’s so cool — can you give me … Read more

Bailing Out Banks: What's In It for US?

I don’t normally write much on financial matters connected to real estate, because I recognize it as an area where frankly, I have no real expertise. I know generally how mortgages, CDO’s, subprime and so forth work, but beyond the basics, I get lost. Tanta, over at Calculated Risk, however, does not get lost. In … Read more

Bailing Out Banks: What’s In It for US?

I don’t normally write much on financial matters connected to real estate, because I recognize it as an area where frankly, I have no real expertise. I know generally how mortgages, CDO’s, subprime and so forth work, but beyond the basics, I get lost. Tanta, over at Calculated Risk, however, does not get lost. In … Read more

SquidZipper, Trulia, and HomeDepot: Future Tense

Joel Burslem at FOREM (mildly) puts the hammer down on Seth Godin’s SquidZipper: I think he (and Squidoo) may just be a little late to the party on this one. I’m just not sure Agents really need yet another place to blog hyperlocally. And Squidoo, for all its promise as a destination for user generated … Read more

The Rise and Fall of the Suburbs

One of the more interesting articles I’ve read recently from a mainstream publication comes from The Atlantic.  Christopher Leinberger, a scholar and a real-estate developer (not sure I’ve ever seen those two terms together like that, but he is a professor of urban planning at UMich and a real-estate developer), writes about the possibility that … Read more

Freedom Isn't Free

A cautionary tale from the real estate world: The Fifth Amendment ends saying, “…nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” In the end, this is private, not public property. The same person that wants to dictate what can and cannot happen on private property, does not want anyone to tell … Read more