To build a real estate portal, the standard strategy is collect lots of listing data. Or you could try the “AVM abroad” strategy (Zillow for country X). I’ve written about data sources before (MLS listing data, public property data, and other free datasets). Unfortunately, virtually no country in the world has the required…

I get a bunch of calls and emails every week asking for information about the RealGeeks website system we use.  I’m happy to discuss it, but I figured if I just wrote a review of our experience, it might save me a little bit of time…

We’ve had a lot of discussion in the GeekEstate community about Placester’s recent deal with NAR to provide IDX-fed websites to Realtors for $5/mo. I asked Seth Price, VP of Marketing at Placester, to answer a few of your questions.  We speak fairly frankly on…

I’m sure many of you read about the Hacker News for real estate idea. Duke Long has executed on it, for the commercial real estate (CRE) space. For those interested in the commercial side of the industry, take a look here: http://cre.buzz/

There is a new iOS real estate app you’ll probably hear about soon. Houseline (iOS download) It’s Jon Washburn’s (one of ActiveRain co-founders) new startup. Take a look. And yes, I think this is a good idea as witnessed by this.

I saw a sponsored post on GeekWire today, titled America’s Best Communities. I clicked, since COMMUNITY is what I think about all day, everyday (building Horizon) — and community in a real estate context is something I have a fair amount of experience with. (I’m sure…

There is a fast-growing demand for socially responsible products and services that offer some sort of “give” or way to help someone in need, and research shows consumers not only want them, but they are willing to seek them out and pay more for them. For…

Of all the challenges in emerging real estate markets, quality content may be the hardest. Without an MLS, brokers and agents have no protection on their listings, so they are hesitant to include specifics such as unit address in fear of their listings being stolen….

Via Seth Godin: One reason people who spend a lot of time thinking about and working on a problem or a craft seem to find breakthroughs more often than everyone else is that they’ve failed more often than everyone else. What problem do you care…

I’m not going to write an essay, but I wanted to briefly follow up to Joel’s post, and Matthew’s response about the future of IDX. From Matthew: Agents need to own their success online, not rent it. To do that, they’ll need mobile technology that’s widely…