The Carnival of Real Estate
ARDELL on 07 23, 2007
[photopress:dunkgirlcrop.jpg,thumb,alignright]Before picking the winners for the 51st Carnival of Real Estate, I established some firm criteria for judging. I’m not going to give you the name of The Biggest Loser who got popped into the Dunk Tank, but I will say that someone actually received ZERO POINTS out of a possible 100. Who woulda thought it possible? This post was a direct cut and paste of an entire article from Yahoo Finance, with NO LINK! Can you believe it? We’ve all seen people cut and paste other people’s writings and use them as posts on their blogs.
But who would have the audacity to submit a cut and pasted article as a Carnival entry? Well all I can say is NO POINTS FOR YOU! Into the water you go!
This week’s winners should feel very, very proud because one person got zero points, 4 people got less than 20 points, and a full 2/3rds of the entries received 60 points or less.
These stellar entries made it to 90 points or better:
99 points – The Incomparable Brian Brady – “Selling Like a Catholic School Girl”
97 points – Corcoran Group’s Peter Comitini – “Co-ops Losing Clout”
95 points – The Phoenix Real Estate Guy – Jay Thompson on “…Half-Assed Service”
92 points – Frank Llosa of Frankly Realty - “…Do it RIGHT; not RIGHT NOW!”
The Below Entries were judged based on a second set of criteria, with a max possible score of 10.
10 points – Brian Brady, Peter Comitini, Jay Thompson and Frank Llosa – articles above
9 points – Brande Bradford - “Top Ten Tidbits for Success” If Brande had gone straight to 1, skipping the intro and photos, it likely would have been my Number One choice…so be sure to give this one a read.
9 points – Silicon Valley Blogger - “Expected Rate of Decline of Home Prices Next Year”
8 points – Greg Swann - “Divorcing the Real Estate Commissions…”
8 points – Richard Kruse - “It’s a Bloodbath and Time to Swim with the Sharks”
I really liked some of the meat in this post by Leslie Pandey, “Buying or Selling, Better Check That Calendar“, but the intro seemed to suggest that the part I liked most was actually written by Greg Swann and not Leslie. It’s good stuff, so give it a read. My guess is that the parts I liked best were Greg’s.
Rhonda Porter’s post had some awesome content, and actually received more total points at 84, than some of the posts listed in the second tier, even though it didn’t make the top cut based on specific criteria. Once you get past the library book and a few other things, the material in this post is gut wrenchingly important to read and know. “How An Overdue Library Book Declined a Mortgage Loan”
Tim Abbott’s post did an excellent job of highlighting a Boston Globe story “…State To Refinance Troubled Mortgages” Seemed to me the State of Massachusetts should really get the prize for that one. I particularly liked Tim’s offer in the final portion of the post, to help people maneuver through the rules and red tape of this program.
Jim Duncan’s “Is Real Estate Blogging Advertising” is clearly worth a read. I took a lot of points off for interrupting us for a commercial to subscribe to his blog between the post title and the beginning of the post. I wasn’t quite sure how he wound up talking about email signatures, but if you make this into two or three posts…each would be well worth reading. Jim got most of his points for the Title. If you extract only the portions that clearly relate to that title…you have a winning post.
Christoper Smith hit on a Great Topic with “Will Short Selling Be The New Flipping?” but his crystal ball was on the blink, and he promises to revisit this topic in a couple of months, to give us the answer to the question he raised.
Chris Iverson had a great topic…but the best part is promised in a “to be continued…” Aaargh!!!
Don’t see your post mentioned? I didn’t take off points for people who had Google Ads tucked neatly in their sidebar. But if I had to peek around the Google Ads, SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR POST, to read the post…you likely didn’t make the cut.
That’s Carnival #51. I hope I not only gave you some interesting reading for the next week, but also some pointers on what NOT to do, like: cut and paste, blatantly advertise or tease us with a great title that leads us to nowhere.
About the Author: Ardell DellaLoggia
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41 Responses to “The Carnival of Real Estate”
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Good job with the Carnival ARDELL. Very thorough:) I actually like the time and effort you spent on this. Well done.
ARDELL…Great job with the Carnival. Your time and effort shows through. Thank you for the advice and I will definitely work on my blog with your thoughts in mind.
Now I have to find some time to read these – I have to get a hand on these Carnivals.
Thanks, Ardell! This was my first stab at a Carnival and I’m happy that my post was mentioned…especially with such great company.
Now what are you going to do with all of your free time…hmmm…How about whipping up a home cooked meal for BLOG TOUR USA when they reach Seattle? No sweat!
[...] The 51st edition of the Carnival of Real Estate is live over at Rain City Guide!! Ardell was a very thorough with her scoring criteria — she used two sets of criteria to determine the winners. The 1st scoring criteria was a 0-20 point scale for the following 5 categories; Title, Overall Presentation, Opening Sentence/Paragraph, Closing Sentence/Paragraph, the The Meat of the Content — 4 posts scored a combined 90 points or higher. 5 posts scored higher than 8 points based on the 2nd criteria, which focused on whether the post was a “WANT to read or HAVE to read.” Ardell also graciously declined to name the “Biggest Loser,” who received zero out of 100 points. Anyways, I did my best to not spill the beans — take a look to see the results! [...]
[...] The colorful and tell-it-like-it-is Ardell DellaLoggia, who is an active contributor on the Rain City Guide — this, in addition to writing her own blog – took the reins as guest host of the 51st edition of the Carnival of Real Estate. Ardell did not disappoint as she opened up the awards by first reprimanding a blogger who submitted a post that was a complete and direct cut ‘n paste from an article in Yahoo! Finance. She was respectful enough not to name the offender, but did send the blogger to a virtual dunk tank with the title, “The Biggest Loser.” Onto the winners, led by the “incomparable Brian Brady” who wrote a funny post on “Selling Like a Catholic School Girl.” Brian recalled his days in Catholic grade school where the sisters taught the kids the fine art of selling candy. Both Brian’s post & Ardell’s carnival are excellent and highly recommended! [...]
Ardell – thanks for taking the CoRE judging so seriously. I’ve “hosted” twice, and it is not an easy task. You’re to be commended on your meticulous criteria! (and really, it’s not surprising at all…). Appreciate your making the effort, and thanks for the nod!
FYI, You forgot to close a bold tag somewhere in there. Now everything else on the front page after your post is bold…
[...] Ardell (one name–think Madonna, Cher, Oprah, or The Queen) has the results for Carnival #51 posted at Rain City Guide. Not suprisingly, Ardell applied some strict judging criteria (transparently shared with all) and has found some great posts. Our submission on the "combo agent/lender and half-assed service" garnered 95 points, coming in just behind stellar posts by Brian Brady and Peter Comitni. [...]
Sorry about the pingback. Apparently the WWSD plugin prefaces pingbacks as well. Hmmm …
Great job on the Carnival.
Thanks Tim! I don’t write in code and I don’t see “everything else on the page” being bold. But I reduced the bold portions and gave Robbie a shout out for a helping hand.
Ines,
There is only ONE Carnival…this is it.
Cut and Paste?!??! Well, I’d say that really was worth a dunk in the pool of zero points and ridicule!! I am amazed….
Ardell, I will check these out before I come over for secretarial and meatball roller duties this afterenoon…see ya!
Jim – there is an option to put the WWSD text at the end of the post vs. the beginning. That would fix the pingback issue, I think. Also makes it less “in your face” (and thus, probably less effective in its purpose..)
I wrote an offer in the middle of all this, which was just accepted. Great view property down in Redondo (WA-Des Moines). After I set up the home inspection for before we leave for Inman next Tuesday, I’ll be ready for tiny meatball duty.
Jim,
I like seeing pingbacks. Didn’t seem to bother Drew.
Thanks Ardell for doing such an outstanding job and explaining exactly how you did it. I found that very enlightening.
And a shout out to Brian Brady, loved your piece. I went to Catholic School too, but never saw the connection. Anybody wanna buy a Pagan baby! (okay, maybe you had to be there
Anybody wanna buy a Pagan baby?
An Elmore Leonard book. Funny stuff.
Thanks for the hard work, Ardell. I couldn’t have lucked out any better than to get you as a judge for this entry; you understood the message. Great work on the carnival; lots of great posts.
Great articles chosen, thanks Ardell for all the links, intros and hard work winnowing the chaff from the wholesome grain!
Brian,
I subtracted 1 point because I wanted he nun to be Sister Mary Edna, and not a china doll. Any real non would have done just as well. Even the Flying Nun. Good work.
I actually had Kim, with no religious ties ever, go over my top 4 without telling him which I had picked for the #1 spot. Then he picked it too. So that was the clincher.
Peter,
I almost knocked you back for putting the name of your Company too close to the top of the post. Just noting it for what it’s worth. But it seemed to be relevant and in context…so I let you slide.
“I subtracted 1 point because …”
Do you realize that you’re sounding like the nuns? Ahhh…deja-vu, all over again.
Brian,
No one has every suggested I resembled a nun, in any way shape or form. LOL I agree thought that nuns rarely liked to give someone a 100. Had to take off 1 point for a smudge on the paper or a t not crossed, didn’t they?
Ardell, you resemble a nun (just joking). By the way, it’s “ever” not “every,” so you have to subtract a few points on your own comment!
That would be 10 points off Derek, maybe more. Love how your site is shaping up, BTW.
[...] The 51st Carnival of Real Estate is hosted this week at Rain City Guide and judged by Ardell DellaLoggia. Top entries include: [...]
ARDELL,
Great job. I would have love to have submitted. I have my reading for tonight.
Kev,
Stop whining in public
As I was reading the list last night, I was actually wondering if Kevin had submitted anything due to the post you wrote explaining to him and others what the Carnival was about and how you told him not to submit any of his work this week as it would mean so much more if he waited and won after you were no longer the week’s judge.
Ardell: Glad you like the way the site is coming along. I am trying to do in a different direction that most real estate bloggers so we’ll see how this project turns out. It’s a lot of fun working with others blogging and I have learned a lot in the last week or so… More so than I have learned in over a year of blogging on my own.
Derek,
Kevin and I are just playing. He couldn’t submit it because it had to be written “during the 51st week” and he had written it the day before. So it wouldn’t have been eligible anyway. Besides, I’m not his mother. Had he submitted it, I would have judged it along with all the others. He can’t ever submit “it” because entries must be written during the week of the Carnival, unless he deletes it and “writes” it over
hint-hint.
As to your site, do whatever you want back and forth between real estate and recipes and whatever you want in the moment. Don’t limit yourself in any way. Just blog! DON’T change the url…just the title of the blog. Replace “Derek Sterling Burress” to “Derek’s Place” or “Derek & Friends”.
There aren’t that many Derek’s in the Blogosphere. You can be “Derek” the same way that I am “ARDELL”. In fact…make that DEREK
“nuns rarely liked to give someone a 100″
Yep. That was part of the bigger picture ( no human is perfect).
We’ll be laughing about this one next week in SF.
Wow! Thanks for the carnival and the scoring process! Very inventive
. Thanks also for including my post — I will link back shortly. Funny comments too….
Ardell, I know I’m a bit late here, but did you see an entry from me in the list? Just curious…
Hi Justin,
I held everything for a few days in case people had questions, but I don’t have any of it now. If you email me the post, I can tell you if I saw it before.
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Can we please stop all of the doom and gloom?
As you have probably have seen in the news, the real estate market has been going through some big changes, good and bad. Our local market had years of double digit growth that became unsustainable. At the same time as the slow down, lenders were getting hit hard with record foreclosure rates. The driving force behind the problem was a meltdown of the sub prime mortgage market that had been making risky loans.
While many other areas of the country are reeling from all of this, Washington State has held strong with low unemployment and economic growth. Although, the pool of real estate buyers in our area has dried up, buyers from California with all cash offers and high risk loans for buyers with questionable credit scores have gone away the home values are NOT in a free fall as has been reported in some of our local papers. The high inventory is a direct result of the scarcity of buyers due to the stricter lender guidelines, seller’s high expectations and public opinion. Recently a story was printed that the average sales price in Pierce County had slipped twelve thousand dollars yet, in reality, last summer and fall, it was difficult to find a jumbo loan. A jumbo loan is a purchase price over $417,000 . The average reported on did not include many of the upper end properties we normally see selling in the late summer, thus pushing down the average. I believe that the average prices on homes under $417,000. have been steady increasing, though not at the double digit rate that sellers have come to expect.
On a positive note, this situation has created new opportunities for investors looking to purchase rental properties that can cash flow now. The rental market is hotter than it’s been in years and the reality is people are working and everyone needs somewhere to live.
Buyers looking to move up from a starter home to a jumbo type property have lots of good properties out there to choose from. Mortgage interest rates have remained low and available for those with good credit and the jumbo programs have started to make a comeback. Analysts are saying that the market is poised to come storming back this spring.
Remember when the high tech stocks crashed, I still scratch my head and wonder why I didn’t buy, buy, buy!
Gregory Loe
Better Properties North Proctor
2609 North Proctor
Tacoma , WA 98407
253-906-4563
gregloe@hotmail.com
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