I can tell from the comments that many regular readers of RCG have been checking out the what I’ve been doing on 4realz.net. It’s been fun to try out something a bit different as I do my best to summarize the news and gossip of the real estate technology and RE.net communities.

However, besides blogging on 4realz, I’m also committed to sending out a weekly email that summarizes the news and gossip that I think the typical real estate executive should know. Interestingly, I did something like this at Move and I know from feedback I got that the email was definitely appreciated since most executives don’t have the time to follow all the blogs and news sites that they wish they could. However, I do say “executive” pretty broadly since there are a lot of people who would appreciate a weekly summary of news and gossip from the online real estate community.

I’m extremely hesitant to republish the email on 4realz as a blog post each week (despite requests) because it feels like it would be repeating the same stories that would have already been covered on the blog earlier in the week. I still haven’t figured what I will do each week, but this week I thought I would post the email here on RCG!

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While I expected it to be a slow week thanks to the holiday season, there was more than enough action to keep a blogger busy with all the big names making news week:

• Al Roker, Redfin and the Today Show. The Redfin team continued
  their awesome PR run with Glenn making an appearance on the Today Show. Personally, I’m shocked
  the media picks their stuff up as science, but that is neither here nor there in the larger scheme of things.
• Zillow Smart Search is LIVE! Zillow announced the next generation of their search tool which features much better integration with neighborhood definitions. There’s some nifty mapping, but otherwise, most of the changes are likely to go unnoticed by the typical user.
• 4 IPOs to Watch for in 2008. The Fool is drooling over a potential Zillow IPO.
• Point2 Technologies Names Saul Klein CEO. Odd choice in my opinion and I got a bit of heat for saying so much. Also interesting that the Point2 team brings in an industry insider while the Move team (who oversee the competitor Top Producer) reach out to “internet” execs.
• Notable new feature on Estately. Galen just keeps adding features to his home search tool faster than anyone else. Someone needs to get this guy nationwide listings. 🙂
• Early holiday treats from Trulia – with new upgraded search experience. Based on consumer demand, Trulia shrinks the map and puts greater emphasis on the list view.
• LendingTree cuts work force a 3rd time within 8 months. Mortgage problems seem to be hitting LendingTree pretty hard.
• Lennar dumps properties for fraction of previous value. Is this deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars just the start
  of some massive deals between new home builders an wall street?
• Cops bust Realtor over raunchy dirty trick. So wrong… and yet so hard not to laugh.
• Some homes are better listed without photos, as… A picture can be worth a 1000 words.
• Move added a link to the new “alpha” versions of
  realtor.com and move.com on the home page of each site. Check them out at http://beta.realtor.com and http://beta.move.com.

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By the way, if you want to subscribe to my weekly email (similar to notes above), it is 100% free and 100% opt-in. To get on the list email me at thisweek@4realz.net with a request (a simple “please include me on your weekly emails