Click on the picture. Then, when you have lifted yourself off the floor, ask yourself this question: What the $&^%@# is going on here?…

About 2 years ago (before the blog), I thought it would be a good idea to use the Craigslist Housing forum as a place to pick up clients for Anna… (A bunch of people looking for local real estate information, why not???)

So I started by posting interesting articles on real estate (nothing even remotely “marketing” about it), but the comments I would receive on the articles shocked me time-and-time again… Because I wasn’t saying the whole industry was out to screw people with each and every comment, I quickly became enemy #1. Since then, I only observe from a distance. (A distance being whenever they link to a RCG story!)

So far I’m seeing typical August slowdown, which I can hoepfully use to the advantage of a buyer or two . On the listing side, just waiting for that spurt in September. Normal cyclical conditions.

Dustin, If Google does hire 1,000 people, that could put some upward pressure on the Eastside market. Think I’ll write something on Google vs. Microsoft from a real estate perspective this morning.

It’s great to have you back! Stick around… We’ve been having a lot of fun lately…

I’m with you in that a flame war never developed… However, I noticed the post on Craigslist when it was only a link to your name and I could tell that the author (flamer) wanted to start a big to-do over you (and agents in general)… I kept following the conversation all day and was glad to see so many people argue on your behalf.

PS. There is no bubble in Atlanta!!!

http://atlanta575realestate.com/2006/08/5-reasons-there-is-no-housing-bubble.html

keep up the good work!!

Giles Stevens

I can assure you that Firefox compatibility is very important to us for our release. We have a relatively small self funded development and design team – so we’ve been 100% focused on our launch pages rather than our temp pages. I’ll certainly agree with you that we could have done much better with our temp pages. Honestly, we were not expecting 5% of the level of interest *prior* to launch that we’ve had (especially given the lack of fanfare or real PR). The only mechanisms that we’ve used are blogs in three languages and a couple of links here/there to attract listings and videos of properties for launch – that’s about it. Hopefully, given the issues of a higher level of interest than expected and poor temp pages, a high level of interest will end up being the better problem of the two… . We’ll see….

Just to set everyone’s expectations correctly, like any newly launched service, we’ll also have a number of known work items to finish just after launch as well as respond to user feedback and suggestions for improvements. For me, we’re trying to build a sustainable business over time so, to me, we’ll be a success if people are thinking, “ok I see the possibilities” upon launch, “oh..they are getting better” after 4-6 weeks, and “good…really nice site” within 6 months, and “wow…among the best” within 12-18 months. As such, we’ll need to be constantly improving the service over time – look for these improvements and V2 information on our blog the week after we launch.

thanks again!

Tony

English: http://forsalebylocals.wordpress.com
Spanish: http://casacomprar.wordpress.com
Portuguese: http://repousos.wordpress.com

IBM had antitrust troubles in the ’70s. Microsoft had antitrust troubles in the ’90’s. If Google’s current lucky/winning streak continues, they very well could have antitrust troubles in the 2010s. You know you’ve made the big time when you’re subject to antitrust laws!

Perhaps Russ or Craig would have some interesting comments on the history of antitrust law and how it could shape the future of both the real estate and tech industries?

You guys should peek into a Realtor Forum some time if you think THAT is flaming. I was pretty sure one of them invited me on a cruise so he could throw me overboard I declined the invite.