Condo Blog - A Non-Corporate Blog From CondoDomain HQ

Although we have been slowing updating the Atlanta Condo Blog, we are prepping to launch our search site hopefully this week.  CondoDomain has been in Atlanta, GA since early 2006 with our old ‘advertisement based” business model.  We are estatic to be launch our brand new web-based, flat fee buyers brokerage model in the Atlanta Condo market!  Searching for Atlanta Condos?  there is only one place to go now: www.Atlanta.CondoDomain.com - your source for everything Atlanta Condos!

As always we are partnering with the Best.  It Atlanta we have partnered with one of Buckheads top Real Estate Brokers - Ursula Henry from Harry Norman.   Ursula will be our City Vice President in the Atlanta Metro region promoting luxury condominium sales and our innovative web-based flat fee buyers brokerage business model.  Check in later this week for the grand opening of CondoDomain Atlanta.

Search:  Atlanta Condos

We hope that all of you have enjoyed a wonderful summer and we thought that we would send you a quick note with FIVE very exciting ‘things’ about our company!

1.    Hook up your friends and family! We are entering condo-buying season and we want to make sure we get the word out and remind you about our business model.  Here @ CondoDomain.com we work on a flat fee commission, so regardless of what you buy, we are compensated the same and refund the remainder of our commission to you.  On average our clients receive more than $13,000 back from us at the closing. So, be a good friend or family member and refer them to us so they can too save thousands of dollars and thank YOU for it!  Here is how it works.

2.    Breaking News! CondoDomain.com is pumping the Boston economy with its buyer broker commission refund.   At the end of August, the company has given back more than $300,000 to its clients in Boston.  Mr. Greenspan would be so proud of us!  Our clients have used their refund to purchase new furniture, electronics, paid down condo fee’s and mortgage payments and one even bought a new car!  Help us get to $1M and refer our company and our team members to your friends and family.  Check out our team.

3.    Commission Refunds are NOT taxable! Whooohooo.  How did I miss this one?  Via one of our most favorite clients (we love you all), we got some scoop that our commission refunds to our clients are NOT considered taxable income!  So no matter if we are giving you back $5,000, $10,000 or our record breaking $35,000 cash refund - it is not considered taxable income!!!  More here on our blog.

4.    Developers & Marketing Personal Give It To Us! Our clients are thirsty for updated information on your new development.  Got news?  New details?  Cool updates?  Send it our way and we will post to our online audience.  Contact Jessica.

5.    Keith Smith, Gary Tole & Dallas, TX. We are ecstatic to announce the opening of our second market - Dallas, TX!  Local brokers Keith Smith & Gary Tole have helped us launch our flat fee buyers brokerage model in the Lone Star state.  Welcome to the team Keith & Gary and we look forward to building Dallas with you!  Visit the new Dallas website.

As always, we want to personally thank all of your for your referrals, help and support in making CondoDomain.com what it is today.

Sincerely,

The Entire CondoDomain Team
Boston & Now Dallas!
www.CondoDomain.com

PS - Facebook junkies.  Join our Facebook groups.
Boston Real Estate Exposed
Dallas Real Estate Exposed
CondoDomain Main Group

CondoDomain.com takes second place in the 2008 Real Estate Pacesetters contest which ran last week highlighting the best of the best in real estate and technology, web 2.0 and innovative real estate companies.  See the results here

Obeo took the gold in first place.

CondoDomain.com took silver

Roost.com took the bronze

Thank you all for you support and your votes.  This was a fun event and we were estatic to just make it to the final…forget about winning a silver medal!  See you guys all next year….and Stearns…your going down! 

Candy Spelling, widow of the television producer Aaron Spelling, is downsizing.

After nearly 20 years in The Manor, a 56,500-square-foot French chateau-style home known for its size and extravagance — it includes a wine-tasting room, a bowling alley, a silver room, a china room and a well-known gift-wrapping room — she says she is ready for the next trophy property: a condominium.

“People say, How can you move from The Manor? There’s no place like it,” Mrs. Spelling said, sitting in the library with leatherbound scripts of every episode of Mr. Spelling’s shows, from “Charlie’s Angels” to “7th Heaven.”

But a condo, she said, “is no different than a house, maybe even better.”

Mrs. Spelling is the most conspicuous buyer in an ultraluxury condo market that is new in the sprawl of Los Angeles, where wealth and fame have usually spelled out “estate,” not apartment living. But real estate experts say a New York-style luxury high-rise lifestyle is creeping into the wealthiest echelons, fed by trends like people looking to own more than one home, foreigners drawn by the weak dollar to invest in Los Angeles, and new residential buildings being designed by celebrity architects like Robert A. M. Stern, Richard Meier and Jean Nouvel.

Mr. Stern designed The Century, the 140-unit building under construction where Mrs. Spelling recently bought the top two penthouse floors — 16,500 square feet — for $47 million.

That’s $2,848 a square foot, if you’re counting.  CONTINUED>>>

Source:  NYTimes

Coming Soon our LA Condo website.

Credit crunch, mortgage fallout, rising rates -  don’t really effect the nations wealthiest all too much.  In this recent article which highlights some top U.S. markest including Boston, NYC, San Francisco and even Miami, the High End Condo Market contiues to be white hot!

The article…

We are a finalist in the Real Estate Pacesetter 2008 put on by Inman News and their Real Estate Olympics for most innovative, web 2.0 real estate company.

If your a member of Inman News please Join the Real Estate Trends Group

And

Vote for us Here

“This week, till Friday 6PM Pacific, the Trends Community Blog will accept nominations of Companies that you consider to be one of the industry premier Pacesetters in our industry. Companies that are creating and leading our industry towards change. Then over the coming weekend I will select among all the nominations the Top 8 finalists that will be posted next Monday the 18th. Next week all members of the Inman Trends Community will each have one vote to help determine which three companies are our medal winners for the title: Real Estate Pacesetter 2008.”

What are you voting for? Well at the core of this Olympic Race for innovation in the real estate vertical are these 4 attributes:

1. Innovative Web 2.0 company or user of Web 2.0 technology

2. The size, need and demand for the companies/services

3. The quality or uniqueness of their services

4. The potential impact of their services on the industry We belive we served these line items better than anyone else…read our presentation below.

We here at CondoDomain.com (http://condodomain.com – Boston is currently live @ http://boston.condodomain.com) believe we are not only at the cutting edge of the transformation that is occurring in real estate, we are also helping to reshape the entire industry. Headquartered in Boston, we operate as a web-based buyer’s brokerage company and offer full, buy-side services for a flat fee. After all, why should a buyer’s broker be compensated more if their buyer spends more? That’s backwards in our opinion!

I believe we are at the commencement of the decoupling of the ‘traditional’ real estate model. The old model of full, ‘bundled’ services of showings, negotiating, listing, etc. etc. etc. are beginning to be offered in an a la carte fashion to provide the ever increasingly web-savvy real estate consumer with CHOICES. While I do not believe the full service brokerage model will ever fully go away, I do believe that within the next 2-5 years, brokerages will begin to offer buyers a wide array of options in order to accommodate the various demographic and generational behavior patterns that are already emerging in the marketplace.

1. As an innovative and forward thinking company, CondoDomain.com continually implements the latest technologies. For instance, within a week of Google releasing their ‘Street View’, we implemented it into our site and our buyers and fans love it. One of the main components of our platform is to bring all data, without exception, to the surface so our clients can get a transparent and complete view of each property.

We are also finding and engaging customers through the various social aspects of web 2.0 - Facebook, LinkedIn, Trulia among several others - and we communicate with everyone through all means: IMing, Emailing, Video conferencing, Txting, mobile phoning (of course!) and yes even, believe or not, regular mailing! We make ourselves accessible however our buyers want us to be accessible.

2. As a web-based (virtual office) business, CondoDomain.com targets high-density cities because they attract a high population of young savvy professionals, middle-aged single and/ or divorced buyers, and empty nesters. We focus on these individuals because, on average, they make more money, they move more frequently, they are heavy Internet users, they are more educated and they are one of the fastest growing and highest spending groups in the industry. Focusing on this vertical, CondoDomain.com taps into the new construction condominium market, which has a much higher profit margin than the traditional re-sale market.

One of the biggest advantages of our company’s business model is the timing. With a rising inventory, condominium developers are now (finally!) marketing to the real estate brokerage community. The need to access buyers has become more important than ever. Evidence of this is shown by the increase of cash bonus incentives and commission structures marketed towards the local brokerage communities and their agents.

In 2006, there were over 1,000,000 sales of condominiums and co-ops. Many developers saw opportunity in the surge and began large-scale projects. Since then, the market has slowed, with pre-construction sales dropping in numbers and inventory increasing.

Experts expect buyers to take advantage of the over-saturated market, which developers are desperate to dispose of. Large condominium developers & marketing firms, like Florida’s largest private real estate firm, Fortune International, have created accelerated marketing programs with cash bonuses and commission fees up to 10%. Many of CondoDomain.com’s other clients - The Carlyle Group, MCZ/Centrum Properties, Draper & Kramer, Inc. and Crescent Heights - have all initiated incentive marketing programs to increase sales, which will supplement our company’s gross revenues.

The current economic conditions support our business model even further. What buyer is going to walk away from a $13,000 check at closing (our average client refund)? Refunds this size or more pay for years of condo fees, new furniture or closing and moving costs - it is a lot of money! The demand for our service is steadily growing because buyers realize that they can save a ton of money doing a lot of the initial research themselves; this is, of course, work that they are ALREADY doing.

3. Quality and uniqueness is at the core of our business model. Our website, which is our #1 sales agent, is one of the most up-to-date pieces of web technology in our industry and we know it is one of the best for condominiums and for real estate in general. We are a niche player and we only work with buyers making us just that much better at it. We know urban markets, we know condos!

4. Being an urban player, we play a significant role in the future of real estate. Most innovation and concepts start in city centers - in high density populations and then they spread out. In the not too distant future, we anticipate seeing suburban players taking our successful model and replicating it in their local markets.

We look forward to your feedback and brokers/agents interested in joining us in the next revolution of real estate should get in touch immediately!!

Brian-Logan Reid
National Director of Real Estate
http://boston.condodomain.com

Like what we have to say….please do vote and help us win this award! Thank you!!!

Existing-home sales rose from the first quarter in 13 states, largely from buyers responding to discounted home prices, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Nearly one-quarter of metropolitan areas showed rising home prices in the second quarter from a year ago, with greatly mixed conditions continuing around the country.

In the condo sector, metro area condominium and co-operative prices, covering changes in 54 metro areas, showed the national median existing-condo price was $220,000 in the second quarter, down 3.0 percent from $226,900 in the second quarter of 2007. Seventeen metros showed annual increases in the median condo price and 37 areas had price declines.

“The price changes have probably as much to do with supply and demand fundamentals, as anything else,” Paul Bishop, NAR senior economist and managing director of research, tells MHN. “The markets that saw the biggest decreases in condo prices are the ones that has seen a condo boom in the last several years and the prices are now coming down. Many of these markets have also weakened due to rising foreclosures in the single-family sector.”

Meanwhile, Bishop explains that the biggest performers did not see the big run-up in prices between 2001-2005, the way some of the other markets like Las Vegas, Miami, etc. did. “Neither did the stronger performers experience excess inventory,” says Bishop.

The strongest condo price increases were in the Syracuse, N.Y. area, where the second-quarter price of $144,900 rose 17.8 percent from a year earlier, followed by the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner area of Louisiana, at $192,100, up 15.9 percent, and the Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land area of Texas, where the median condo price of $141,100 rose 9.9 percent from the second-quarter of 2007.

Metro area median existing-condo prices in the second quarter ranged from $107,500 in the Wichita, Kan. area to $523,500 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area. The second most expensive condo market reported was Honolulu at $330,000, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana at $327,800.

Other affordable condo markets include Greensboro-High Point, N.C., at $109,600 in the second quarter, and the Indianapolis area at $113,500.

“There are substantial variations in the condo market depending on the regions and quarters, but some of the smaller and mid-size markets reflect the underlying strength and stability of the economy,” Bishop explains.

Source: Multi-Housing News

CondoDomain.com appoints Director of Real Estate in efforts to expand their new web-based buyers brokerage real estate model nationwide into its 33 pre-existing markets.  Now operating in Boston (since January ‘08) CondoDomain.com is now ready to expand into its 3 year old network across the U.S.

Brian-Logan (”B-L”) will lead these efforts as the Director of Real Estate.  He will oversee the initiation and launch of satellite offices across the country for CondoDomain.com. Working alongside CEO Tony Longo, B-L is responsible for recruiting and managing all new brokers nationwide as well as advising on the strategic, long-term business model of CondoDomain.

Prior to joining CondoDomain, Brian-Logan worked in the resort destination of Nantucket as a real estate broker, coordinating high end sales and luxury rentals.

B-L received his diploma from The Loomis Chaffee School and his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Middlebury College. He was a member of the two-time national championship lacrosse teams in 2001 and 2000 while simultaneously running a moving and storage company for three years. B-L’s business acumen in addition to his broad range of skill sets makes him an invaluable member of the CondoDomain corporate team.

B-L - WELCOME TO THE TEAM….WE ARE ESTATIC THAT YOU ARE HERE!!!

Check on Brian on CondoDomain | Facebook | LinkedIn

A Boston restaurateur who banked on the allure of Donald Trump’s name in deciding to buy a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., condominium-hotel unit alleges in a lawsuit that he is the victim of misleading marketing.

In the lawsuit filed Monday in Broward Circuit Court, John Taglieri also contends the developer of the project violated state securities and condo laws.

SB Hotel Associates LLC failed to register Taglieri’s unit at the beachfront Trump International Hotel & Tower as a security, though it was marketed as an investment opportunity, and wrongly promoted the project as a Trump development, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims marketing material indicated the units would be worth 36 percent more with the Trump name.

Trump is not the developer and does not have any agreement to indicate the project will operate under the Trump name when it is completed, according to the suit.

Taglieri put down $146,000 in December 2005 for a $730,000 unit in the 298-unit tower under construction at 551 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. (A1A). He was told the 24-story development would be complete in 2007.

“The impetus for the lawsuit is frustration with purchasing a product he thought he was getting that was heavily promoted in a certain way by the developer and realizing that’s not the project that will be delivered,” said Taglieri’s attorney, Jared Beck of Beck & Lee in Miami.

“In this market, misrepresentation and failure to deliver what’s promised are things a developer cannot afford to get away with,” he said.  Continued…

Source: Law.com

More Blogs on:  Condo-Hotel | Trump

Search Boston Condos in style now! CondoDomain.com has updated its search page! Now even more through, and faster than ever! Search by Open Houses Only, Search New Listings within 5 days, Search by Map Only or Quick List Only…the list goes on.

Other website upgrades include “My Matches” which automatically saves all properties that match your “Email Alerts” in our system and “Show Me Everything” which allows you to see every piece of MLS information right on our website including: Building Information, Heating/Cooling, Price Changes, Water/Sewer to tax information….we have it all now!

Logon and Search Today

PRESS RELEASE

CondoDomain.com Launches New Website

Boston, MA– CondoDomain.com announced today that they have launched the newest version of their website featuring enhanced state-of-the-art technology, exceeding customer demands by allowing registered users even more transparent data from MLS listings and expanded options to view properties online.

The new site not only follows new MLS rules and regulations, but also aims to enhance the experience of potential buyers through expanded, user-friendly search capabilities. New technology implemented into the website includes dual use mapping with Google Maps & Microsoft Virtual Earth, both offering unique imaging from aerial and street level views. Other features include a brand-new search interface and more property details. These new features will make it even easier for users to view property in more detail, making the search and compare process even more time and cost effective for both the company and users of the website.

“As a web-based real estate company, our website is always #1 on our list. The need to stay on top and provide the most thorough set of data in an easy-to-use interface and do it with speed is our #1 goal,” noted Anthony Longo, Founder & CEO of CondoDomain.com. “Consumers want to see everything, they want to be able to parse through it, and they want it fast. Our updated site will allow them to do just that.”

For over three years, CondoDomain.com has been online trying and testing different web techniques to interact with buyers of real estate online. Utilizing the innovative search platform, registered site users are able to browse the entire website for Boston condos and luxury Boston real estate. Here they will find every MLS listing, every new development and existing condo building, foreclosure listings, FSBO (for sale by owner) properties and even upcoming auctions.

CondoDomain.com aims to open its second market this month, in effort to expand to their pre-existing 33 U.S. markets.

About CondoDomain.com

CondoDomain.com is a web-based real estate brokerage based in Boston, MA. The company is expanding nationwide to offer its buyers’ brokerage services in more than 30 cities around the U.S. Currently operating in Boston, CondoDomain offers an innovative flat-fee business model allowing the majority of the commission to be refunded to the buyer. By combining up-to-date MLS feeds, new construction buildings, FSBO, Foreclosures, Lofts and Auction listings all on one site, CondoDomain has become one of the most popular and user friendly real estate websites available. CondoDomain.com offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee to all of its clients, ensuring a professional, efficient, and pleasant transaction. Visit www.CondoDomain.com for more information or feel free to dive into our blogs at www.CondoDomain.com/blog.

For more information, please contact Erica Farthing at (877) 852-6636.

25 Bond is The Ultra Luxury!  Check out these pics on one of NYC’s best tastes…

Oh…and there is still one unit left for a cool $8M if you got it!  Interested?

Past Posts on 25 Bond: See them all here

I am sorry everyone for bringing my bad energy to the blog-o-sphere but like last week, I have to vent on this one too!

I intercepted a copy of this Offer to Purchase which looks like a 2-year-old wrote it up. I had to suck it up for this one, but I did cut out the real estate agents name and company name as I don’t want to be responsible for someone loosing their job....BUT COME ON. Who does this? How embarrassing is this to the profession of real estate brokerage? Who could ask their client to sign this piece of garbage document. (Remember this agent is making $9,000 on this deal). Jeaseeeeeeeee
This is the grossest document I have ever seen. Lazy Lazy Lazy. Shame on this broker!

Online real estate broker Redfin Corporation today relaunched its popular Sweet Digs blog with a new analytical format designed to give consumers insights on prices, inventory levels, bargains and open houses in San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Seattle neighborhoods. Redfin plans to launch Sweet Digs for Southern.

California and Boston later this summer.

The new format is the result of a ruling from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS), a broker-owned database of Seattle-area listings, which closed Sweet Digs on May 15; the NWMLS ruled that Sweet Digs’ in-person property reviews violated rules against advertising another broker’s listing.
According to a Redfin survey of more than 300 Sweet Digs subscribers on what data would be “very interesting,” 63 percent chose price reductions, 62 percent past sales, 61 percent inventory levels; in the same survey, 61 percent said the open house reviews were “very interesting.” Continued on Press Release of visit Redfin Corp Blog

Sign up for Sweet Digs Here (Boston, LA, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle)

Speaking of “SWEET DIGS,” Mr. Zilbert still has the Sweetest Digs of them all way down in South Beach! The branded “Beachhouse” is a voluptous $6M Il Villagio Miami Beach Condo from Heaven!

It sounds like the setup for a dull economist’s joke. Who gets the better deal: the cautious economist who sells his house through a real estate agent, or his risk-taking colleague who finds a buyer on his own?

But the question — debated by two Northwestern University economists who chose different methods to sell their homes — and the research it helped prompt are serious. And the answer will be of interest to anyone who has paused to consider whether paying a real estate agent’s commission, typically 5 to 6 percent of the sale price, is worth it.

The conclusion, in a study to be released today based on home-sales data from 1998 to 2004 in Madison, Wis., is that people in that city who sold their homes through real estate agents typically did not get a higher sale price than people who sold their homes themselves. When the agent’s commission is factored in, the for-sale-by-owner people came out ahead financially.

The study is to be made public on Northwestern’s Web site.  Continued…

Source:  New York Times

The latest technical advance out of MIT could dramatically change the drudgery of recharging portable devices: An MIT research team has figured out how to wirelessly illuminate an unplugged light bulb from seven feet away.

Details about WiTricity, or wireless electricity, are scheduled to be reported today in Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.

In a December story in the Globe, MIT physicist Marin Soljacic sketched out a vision of how everything from iPods to laptops could be wirelessly recharged by using a carefully designed magnetic field to deliver power to such devices from a range of 10 to 15 feet.

Now, MIT said, Soljacic and a research team he works with have some data to begin validating his theory - namely, the successful experiment to light a 60-watt light bulb from a power source two meters away, with no physical connection between the power source and the light bulb.

If Soljacic’s idea bears fruit, consumers could be truly unplugged, their rechargers replaced by single device that transmits power wirelessly.

Source:  Boston Globe by way of MIT

Today I did the impossible. I fooled Starbucks nation! As my day normally goes:

5:11 a.m. Up and out of the building
5:12 a.m. Stroll down Newbury turn right @ Dartmouth
5:30 a.m. Enter the Gym @ Equinox Boston
7:00 a.m. Stop by Starbucks on way to the office

…..

So I stopped in and ordered my “large” black dark-roast iced coffee and the woman screemed to the Starbucks barista, “Large Iced Dark Roast!” I smiled and stared at the woman and she said what are you smiling at (I think she thought I was hitting on her), anyway, I noted to her, “I gotcha.” She instantly knew what she had done wrong and smiled back. A minute later my coffee came up and she said, “Venti! Iced Dark Roast!” smiled and said have a good day….

So today is the day I fooled Starbucks nation!

Starbucks Gossip 

Coffee & Caffeine 

Hip, ultra lux, condo developments with on-site sales and marketing programs are getting rid of the typical “Sales Center” or “Presentation Center”…. they are now called “Sales Lounge’s,” well only if its an ultra cool building with an attitude ofcourse.

One of the newest Sales Lounges to hit the market is the Sales Lounge for the all new Condo Hotel project in New York - The Setai (Yes the same as the one in Miami).

The Setai Group and Zamir Equities, co-developers of The Setai, New York, have opened the New York City luxury condo building’s on-site sales lounge. The firms have also announced the sale of over 35 percent of its units after two months of pre-sales.

Kanessa Tixe, project spokesperson, tells MHN that The Setai, New York is being developed in an old commercial building. The project should be completed within eight months, and occupancy is slated for early 2008.

Located at 40 Broad Street in Manhattan’s Financial District, the 34-unit building will include 167 studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 475 to 3,424 square feet and from about $700,000 to $6.75 million. Continued…

Although condoDomain.com, our marketing platform, was born on October 1, 2005 - The Condo Blog was actually born this time last year, June 1, 2006. So yay, we are 1 Today!  828 Posts later (thats 2.27 posts per day, 7 days a week, were dedicated!)
13 more days and its my birthday….so June is a big month around here.

Other recent Blogging Birthday’s

MiOaklandCounty Turn’s 2

StPaulRealEstateBlog Turn’s 1

and…

umm, thats all we know. How old is your blog?

Haute Living, the one-of-a-kind true luxury living lifestyle magazine gets new skins today. Operating out of Miami and New York, this “High Gloss” read uncovers the ultimate in the highest end amenities that money can buy. (Maybe the guys from Haute will read my blog post and send me a free subscription: condoDomain.com LLC, 81 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116)

Anyway check out their new site @ www.HAUTELIVING.com (blog to follow shortly).

Also feel free to browse celebrity status estates on their search page: Haute Portfolio .

From Dubai to New York and LA to Beijing, the hottest of hot in luxury living products, homes, condos & styles are always found @ Haute Living. Check it out….its Ballinnnn!

$2000 per square foot and you can’t even live in it year round!  Gotta love NY!

Now that the long-awaited plans for Trump SoHo have finally been approved by the city, the next question is: How much are these suckers going to cost? Although the sales office has yet to open (the offering plan will be ready “imminently,” we’re told) and our requests for specific pricing information have been unsuccessful, the parties involved predict the numbers will be unprecedented below 14th Street.

“The demand is going to create a price point that will set the benchmark for pricing downtown,” says Shaun Osher of Core Group Marketing, which will be selling the hotel-condo units. “It will be well in excess of $2,000 a square foot.”

Though Donald Trump Jr. notes that “$2,000 a square foot doesn’t have the shock factor it used to” (especially to foreign buyers taking advantage of the weak dollar), that price point is still high compared to the new Hudson Square buildings a stone’s throw west of Trump SoHo.  Continued…

Source: New York Post

For the same money of one of their high-end units, you could visit our SOHO fav - 25 Bond (with only one unit left).  Also, visit other NY Condos and condo-hotels here.

The past 2 weeks we have been flying around a lot of topics surrounding the “so called” discount brokerage model (and the 60/16 Minutes Piece that aired recently) and since then there have been some heated blog posts on it here @ the Condo Blog, Barbara Corcoran’s Blog, Inman’s Blog among others.

Well, in my own writings I thought to myself who has a unique place in this market, thats been through the thin & thick of it, an expert and yet can honestly open up and give a great opinion — The Queen of Real Estate herself — Barbara Corcoran of course! Below is her response posted on the Barbara Corcoran blog today.

The way I see it, the only thing wrong with discount brokerages is the word “discount”. Most people associate discount with poor quality, and that’s just not true of the many discount firms that have sprung up in the last 5 years.

There’s room for lots of different ways for sellers to sell real estate. And thanks to the Internet much control has been put into the hands of the consumer. Sellers today can employ any of the exceptional full-service firms to appraise, stage, negotiate, advertise and show their home. Many sellers are very happy to pay a full 5 or 6 percent commission for the full service; not everyone is a born salesperson. Some sellers are eager to do a portion of the work and they like to choose from the a la carte menu of services offered by the discount brokerage firms. I expect that more full service firms will begin to offer a la carte menus.

And that’s what always makes the Real Estate business so exciting. There’s lots of houses to sell and many commissions to earn. There’s one thing you can count on. The business as we know it today, will continue to change tomorrow. And that, for me, is what always keeps me interested.”

With all the great weather recently our guys are back at it again filming up one of Boston’s newest neighborhoods. Still no one has guessed what our next Condo Movie is going to be. We showed you a quick video out of the helicopter last week….any takers?

Well here are a few more photos. First one who gets it right, ummm….we will give a $25 Starbucks Gift Card. (hey we are a bootstrapped start-up, thats all we can afford)

Dave & Peter filming in HD w/ HD viewbox.

Cool Real Estate Video Links:

CondoCasts (Our movies of course)

WellcomeMat

TurnHere

YouTube

A 27-year-old man described as one of the world’s most prolific spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer users across the Web could notice a decrease in the amount of junk e-mail.

Robert Alan Soloway is accused of using networks of compromised “zombie” computers to send out millions upon millions of spam e-mails.

“He’s one of the top 10 spammers in the world,” said Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company’s Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. “He’s a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day.” Continued…

Source: Fox News

(Above - Google Street @ 110 Greene Street, New York (Our pals at Goldman Properties HQ)

Well, just closer to the ground!
Today at the Where 2.0 conference, Google announced it has rolled out city level street view in several metropolitan areas, including San Francisco (e.g., a search for “94111“).

Unlike Microsoft Virtual Earth’s Birds Eye photos, which are shot from low flying aircraft, Google’s imagery gives you an immediate on-the-ground perspective and using a nifty Flash interface actually allows you to navigate the streets in a nearly 3D environment.

This is the most awesome Google tool ever in my opinion! Can’t wait to see the API on this (if they ever let us get our hands on it!)

Check it out at www.maps.google.com (remember they are only live in San Francisco & New York) and click on STREET VIEW in the map header.
Source: Inman News

My response to “16 Minutes” on Inman Blog today (I don’t know what got into me) as it took me 20 minutes to post a comment.
This is great. To answer your questions it is all of the above: Sour Grapes, Low Blow, Etc. I love the video, love the message and love the exposure that this flick will get, just because of the insult to the American people who watch it.

Do you think an educated couple in real estate (who owns a home) combined with a highly educated trained professional, VC backed, tech savvy startup could possibly make a comp mistake like that? If anyone was do make a mistake like that, it would probably be a ‘traditional broker’ with the extreme lack of tech/data skills.

At the end of the day I am one of the biggest Redfin supporters as well as one of the biggest full-service brokerage supporters. I support all real estate professionals at all levels and love working closely with the people who try to be the best (much like Kelman is doing.)

The only downside I have with traditional brokers right now is that I still have yet to hear is a true, well communicated message “against” discount real estate services / Redfin. We listened to Dalton fumble @ NY Connect and even with these video spoofs there still isn’t a well thought out, clear anti-discount message out there.

Video’s like this are just bringing more exposure and ultimately more success to the ‘discount’ world. I forsee the word “discount brokerage” to slowly disappear over time as all agents & brokers will work at their own rate & perceived value, Redfin just gets all the press because the are spearheading this thing to the ‘fast lane’.

I have not personally met any of the Redfin real estate agents, however, any one of them could be better than any other agent out there. In Boston we have a very ‘thin’ talent pool of real estate agents meaning a small number of brokers who truly control the market, however, a small team of star’s could emerge with the right technology creating profitable efficiencies and turn the controlling brokerage community over quite easily.

It will be interesting to see how all of this pans out, and the way things are going, I don’t think it will be a long time at all. Good luck to all agents at any level & commissionable income! I stuck a small post on Barbara Corcoran’s blog last week (hopefully she returns form vacation this week) and we can get her input in this arena.
What are your thoughts?