Is RE.Net becoming RE.org?

In the past three years, we’ve seen plenty of new entrants, lots of Venture Capital money and endless blog posts extolling the benefits of the new transparency that Web 2.0 brings to the real estate industry.

Recently, Realtor Magazine also jumped on the Real Estate 2.0 bandwagon.

Despite the hype, so far I have not seen any empirical evidence that it is working. This may be because the appearance of Web 2.0 technologies coincided horribly with the collapse of the general real estate market.

Or, maybe not.

Perhaps, it may be time to start calling “Dot Bomb” on Real Estate 2.0.

Here’s why Web 2.0 for Real Estate isn’t working: Continue reading this post

Bloggers often universally praise their craft and encourage others to do so with evangelical zeal.

Is blogging a good thing? I’d say it depends on why you blog. There are a lot of good reasons to blog. For example, Mitch Ribak advocates blogging as a means of staying in touch with existing customers.

There are many reasons, however, NOT to blog.

This is the case against blogging for business:

I know that blogging against blogging is a bit like dancing against architecture but here are some questions to ask before you start blogging:

1. Are you a Realtor or a writer?

The concept of Realtors as bloggers reminds me of the cliché of waiters as actors. “I don’t really sell houses; I am working on my screen play.” Unless you like writing, don’t bother.

2. Who cares?

Potential customers want to see listings, find out what their homes are worth, know how many houses you sold in the last year and what your commission rate might be. Of less interest to consumers when selecting a Realtor probably is Continue reading this post