Franchise IDX Is Dead! Long Live Franchise IDX!

At first glance, the biggest change in the new IDX Policy to be proposed at NAR Anaheim is that it removes entirely the section allowing Franchise IDX. The entire section is struck. There will be much rejoicing in the anti-Franchise IDX partisans, and much gnashing of teeth in parts of New Jersey, Texas, Colorado, and … Read more

Things Go In Cycles: The Return of Walled Gardens?

It’s a hot Saturday morning here in Houston, and the sunlight is so strong you can almost feel the weight of it on your skin. Maybe it’s early onset of sunstroke, but I felt like musing on random things. Feel free to skip this post; it isn’t likely to be useful to anyone. But I’m … Read more

Curious Things Are Afoot, Part 3: Google Plus and the New Paradigm

In Part Two, we looked at how social might impact real estate, if it is in fact taken very seriously indeed.  All of it triggered by the acquisition of SocialBios.com by Move, signaling a major strategic move into social. In yet another display that the universe has a sense of humor, the announcement came at … Read more

Brief Thoughts on Google’s Retreat from Real Estate

As I’m sure you all have heard by now, Google has decided to beat a hasty retreat from real estate: In part due to low usage, the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real estate websites, and the infrastructure challenge posed by the impending retirement of the Google Base API (used by listing providers to submit … Read more

Brief Thoughts on Google's Retreat from Real Estate

As I’m sure you all have heard by now, Google has decided to beat a hasty retreat from real estate: In part due to low usage, the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real estate websites, and the infrastructure challenge posed by the impending retirement of the Google Base API (used by listing providers to submit … Read more

Very Slow Live-Blog of #HARREIS

I’m going to try to do a bit of a stream-of-consciousness “live-blog” here at Houston Association of REALTORS Real Estate Investment Symposium.  I put that in quotes because (a) I’m distracted often, and (b) the bandwidth isn’t the best off my little MiFi device. I’ve already missed a couple of the early presentations from Zillow, … Read more

On Google’s Latest Real Estate Foray: Implications & Speculations

From the Search Engine Land site comes news (h/t: Duke Long, @dukelong) that Google has built out what amounts to the start of a national real estate search website: The real estate listing place pages include property information, photos, map placement, Street View imagery and functionality, nearby public transit details, and even AdWords ads. Google … Read more

On Google's Latest Real Estate Foray: Implications & Speculations

From the Search Engine Land site comes news (h/t: Duke Long, @dukelong) that Google has built out what amounts to the start of a national real estate search website: The real estate listing place pages include property information, photos, map placement, Street View imagery and functionality, nearby public transit details, and even AdWords ads. Google … Read more