The Carnival of Real Estate at BlueRoof Blog

Ladies and Gentleman, step right up. Thirty two submissions were sent in to this week’s Carnival of Real Estate and now it’s time for the show to begin.

It was interesting reading through the posts and seeing the different ways that people blog. Some take a conversational approach to blogging, telling a story, other blogs are more informative, and some are more of a summary of someone else’s postings.

Looking through the submissions and choosing the top picks for the week I put three criteria on my judging. I looked at the value, or whether they taught something, how interesting, or readable, they were, and I looked at how well-written they were, because let’s face it- some people are simply better writers than others.

This week’s Pick Of The Week is:

I am not a philosopher.. by MOCO Real Estate News

Todd Tarson discusses the differing opinions about MLS data and has a unique perspective, being the Director of his area’s association. He hears from a lot of people who are afraid of letting go of the information and wanting to “protect” it. But as Todd asks, is that what’s best for the consumer?

Six Other Top Picks:

Census Data Trends– By ZillowBlog

The guys at Zillow took census data and created heat maps for them showing population growth, median age and median household income for every county in the nation. Zillow doesn’t do anything small. I liked this post so much I wrote about it (copied it) for my blog two days ago.

The Real Estate 2.0 Party By Mike’s Corner

Michael Price sees that RE 2.0 has already begun and what it will take to be successful in the future. My favorite quote from his post reads, “Want to go to the Real Estate 2.0 soiree? If you’re spending all of your time thinking up ways to defend why and how much you charge for your services, you’re not on the list.”

Habitat for Humanity took my house away! By Maureen Francis & Dmitry Koublitsky on ActiveRain

Maureen discusses how Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore program will come and take doors, windows, and other materials that would otherwise go to the dump, and use them for future homes they are building. It’s free, it saves investors dump fees, and watched as they took material from her childhood home for the program before it was demolished.

Caesar’s wife on the witness stand: The moral, the practical, the marketable and the defensible approach to forbidding dual agency… By Bloodhound Blog

Greg Swann explains how he sees dual agency and why it creates a conflict of interest and, ultimately, is not good for the consumer.

Eleven Commandments of Highly Effective Real Estate Bloggers By Web Home USA Blog

Some good (relative) information about blogging effectively. There are some good points, and not only for beginning bloggers.

Web Marketing 101: Keeping Track of Your Visitors By Future of Real Estate Marketing

Joel Burslem gives his insight into different site-tracking tools and the advantages of each. Joel writes well and has good insight on his blog, and this post is no exception.

Other submissions in no particular order:

What planet are you on? Affording to get soft on housing By Matrix

Different regions need to correct more than others.

Redfin Will Flop Like a Fish Out of Water By Real Estate 2.0

Redfin’s site is not good, their mapping takes too long to load and their margins are not enough to sustain profit.

DIY Decorating: Dollar Deals By Home Decorating Bargains

Finding decorative items at dollar stores

5 Steps to avoid foreclosure on your home By PaceSetter

Meet the Fizzbows By Homethinking

Why do more people in Michigan sell FSBO than in California?

More Bubble Hype By The Phoenix Real Estate Guy

The Arizona market has not imploded, as some in the media would have you believe- it’s just returning to normal

Charts on US Housing Markets and US Economy By My 1st Million At 33

Didn’t follow exactly where he was going with this, but if you’re an analytical personality you’ll love his thoughts

What Does MLS Stand For? By Uberator

MLS isn’t only an acronym for Multiple Listing Service

Over the Home Décor Horizon By Frugal Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Warehouse

Corporate-sponsored home decor- HGTV’s I Want That! as an example

Should You Have a Mortgage In Retirement? By My Simple Trading System

Reduce your debt as you age so you can live without the burden of mortgage debt

Racial Discrimination in Mortgage Lending By My Money Forest

Study shows there are pricing and denial differences across racial lines

Now that consumers have control, the curtain doesn’t cut the mustard By Laguna Niguel Real Estate Blog

Real estate agents shouldn’t use MLS info as a reason for people to use their services because everyone has access to that information now

Being Selective By Real Central VA

We should get rid of dual agency and always explain our agency relationship and duties to people we work with, with or without a written agreement

Running Into Oncoming Traffic By Real Estate Tomato

Get your blog in order then get out and participate with the biggest and best blogs to get yourself noticed

Flipping vs Fixing vs Investing By Searchlight Crusade

Flippers buy down desperate sellers, fixers add value to a home and sell, and investors rent properties

Mining the Elusive UnZillowable By Sellsius Blog (One of my favorite blogs)

Technology cannot determine value like a person can because technology uses stagnant data and lacks human experience and knowledge

Emily Aklan joins NuBricks overseas property podcast series By Nubricks

Emily Aklan gives a podcast overview of North Cyprus and Turkey markets

The Seven Deadly Sins…The What…Seven Deadly Sins…Roar! By “The Lovely Wife” In Florida….Kum La Ka Lakka! at ActiveRain

The seven deadly sins and how they describe some Realtors

Freeze! And drop your weapon! By Bryant Tutas at ActiveRain

An example of a conversation to disarm a potentially bad dialogue. Lesson- be a calming influence and not defensive or argumentative.

You Wouldn’t Really Beer Smack Me…Would You?…Meow By”The Lovely Wife” In Florida….Kum La Ka Lakka! at ActiveRain

Story about collecting rent from a tenant who has been drinking

5 reasons a real estate blogger should submit to ProBlogger By Pittsburgh Homes Daily

Submit blogs to ProBlogger Group

Are they really pre-construction prices if it’s a down market? By The Property Monger

Good Question

All Real Estate is Local By TruliaBlog

Dissecting different neighborhoods within the San Jose market illustrating that real estate appreciation rates fluctuate at different rates at the neighborhood level

Lenders and Their Credit Pulls By The LandLord Blog

Lenders, especially those who work for builders are sometimes sloppy- and pull your credit unnecessarily, which can result in credit score penalties