The Carnival of Real Estate Makes a Pit Stop At real/diaBlog

Welcome to the 58th edition of the Carnival of Real Estate! We're proud to host this edition of CoRE and select some of the entries submitted to highlight the Carnival of Real Estate. There were many good entries, but we narrowed it down to the top 7 we found most interesting, entertaining and useful to consumers and/or real estate professionals.

"...but I took my business to the companies that offered more and better. Do you think your customer might be doing the same?" Kris Berg of SanDiegoCastles.com and Bloodhoundblog wrote an excellent piece entitled "News You Can Use - Real Estate is a Business". The post serves as a reminder to all "veterans" that you have stay on top of your game at all times and not become complacent in order to remain successful. It also provides great advice for "newbies" that are just getting into the business - yes, you can take over market share if you put your mind to it, correctly use all the tools available to you and think ahead.
"During the first half of the year, Manhattan was selling strongly. Any real effect of the credit crisis has been unobserved, it's all perception so far. Is the glass that seemed half full at the beginning of summer, suddenly looking half empty now? Can Manhattan continue to be insulated from the market forces affecting the nation?" Peter Comitini of comitini.com took a close look at the NYC housing market, how it compares to the rest of the nation (say Las Vegas and parts of Arizona) and why. In his post, "Facing The Fall? Seasons Change in NYC Real Estate", Peter touches upon "hyperlocalism" and how important it is to take your own close look at your local market, not just the real estate market in general or what the media says.
"Some of the people that don’t speak English put so much trust in a loan officer from their own culture they get flat out rate raped." Larry Cragun of RealEstateUndressed touches upon a subject that is very much a part of subprime mortgage crisis discussions in his post "More Bi-Lingual Loan Officers Needed - Not Me Babe Thanks To Rate Rape". Whatever your personal views are when it comes to who's ulitmately responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis, this is a great read. (Make sure to read the comments as well)
"The RE.net has done a lot to poke fun at the weaknesses of bad MLS photos and cheesy copy lately. Perhaps the blogging community could come together to highlight some of the more exceptional listing marketing. Maybe together we can come up with a great community tool that sheds some light on the issue in a positive way." Michael Price of Mike's Corner starts off addressing an important marketing lesson, "tell a story, not just the facts", in his post "Help Right The Wrongs Of Writing". But he goes on to touch upon the inadequacies of current MLS's and puts it out there for the real estate community to come up with some ideas to help correct the situation. As agents ourselves, this discussion definitely hits close to home.
"Well, after months of thinking and market analysis I've discovered the EXACT time you should buy, down to the DAY!" In his usual 4-cups-of-coffee tone, Frank Llosa of the Frankly Realty Blog finally answers the question that all buyers have been asking agents and brokers for years - "When is the right time to buy?". Frank's post, "Attn. Market Timers! The EXACT Best Day To Buy!", should be forwarded on to all home buyers and to agents who don't already know the answer (sure hope you did though since you're the expert).
"With the Buyer’s market we’re currently working through, there are many homeowners who can’t sell their houses and for one reason or another are forced to become landlords." If you're involved in real estate in any way, you've probably heard or felt this yourself at some point recently. Pam Johnson of roofable wrote a great "How To" post entitled "Renting Tips" for anyone looking to become a landlord.
"It takes time and skill to build and maintain a good team, but that time and effort you invest will undoubtedly yield you greater confidence, better decisions and therefore better results." Stewart Hsu, a real estate investor himself, shares his insight into how to build a successful real estate team that acheives excellent results in his post "How To Build A Strong Real Estate Team". Whether you currently have your own team, are considering creating a team or are a member of a team, this post is a great read.

We would also like to give a special "LMAO" award to Alex Mather of Comeover.com - The Blog for his post entitled "Is a REALTOR Music Video a Bad Idea?". Turn on your sound, click "play" and enjoy (yes, it's office friendly). Thank you Alex!

Thank you to all of you who submitted posts to this edition of the Carnival of Real Estate. And thanks to CoRE for giving us the opportunity to host this edition.

The 59th edition of the Carnival of Real Estate will be hosted by EKDAY. To submit your blog article to the next edition, use the carnival submission form. To check out past posts and future hosts, go to the blog carnival index page.