Issaquah Undressed

A Trip to Real Estate Connect in San Francisco-A Pacific NW Perspective

Larry and Kathleen just returned from the Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. It was two and one half days jammed packed with information and ideas. At times conflicting ideas. Real Estate Connect is a place where the real world of traditional real estate meets head on with new ideas, new technology, new marketing, innovations and discussion of where real estate is going from the here and now into the future. Currant trends and troubles are addressed, such as the decline in the housing market, the subprime mortgage crisis and of course what all these things mean to agents and to our clients.

Just a few of the companies represented at the conference by their top excutives were, HomeGain, Chase International, Prudential, Coldwell Banker, John L.Scott, Homes.com, Imprev, Oodle, Trulia, Zillow, House Values, Active Rain, epraisal.com, Point 2 Technologies, Google, National Assoc. of Realtors, IAC, Zip Realty, OpenMLS, Move,Inc, Mapquest, Bank of America, Microsoft, craigslist.org, Yahoo, Redfin, etc.etc.

One thing is clear, things are changing. More and more the driving force in many things is the consumer or I should say YOU, the home buyers. The ease with which the real estate world is at your fingertips is paramount. Agents who know their community, how to embrace new technology to help you and understand what is happening in the real world of real estate will be best at serving their clients. At the conference there was an entire day of sessions devoted to real estate bloggers. This makes our heart go pitter patter, as you may have noticed we are bloggers! We have been developing a network of blogs about towns and cities across the nation all connected to each other and to the consumer in each area. Each town will have its own sponser and voice. We blog with the purpose that was espoused at Inman New’s Real Estate Connect, to educate our readers and clients about real estate and mortgage ins and outs. providing them with a better experience when they are shopping for a home. Info about the community they are thinking about living in is a major theme. All of our blogs are 2.0, allowing you to comment or ask questions, which we will answer. Please Ask! Blogs were often touted as the best method of marketing in the future.

Even Larry’s national blog www.RealEstateUndressed.com is written for the consumer not other real estate people. There you will find helpful information on real estate issues and mortgages that will help you navigate your home purchase with more knowledge,

The Palace Hotel, as usual was where the conference was held, It is a old, beautiful hotel. Below are some picture taken at the event. 1700 people attended. It was one busy place. We got to meet people we had met only via the internet. Opinions and facts from all over the US were discussed in panel discussions. Most were considered top in their field of expertise.

Below: Rudy Bachraty and Joseph Ferrera present Brad Inman with his own personal a blog log!

Below: Craig Newmark of craigslist.org receives an award for “Inovator of the Year” from Brad Inman

We believe technology not only empowers agents like us, but empowers you the consumer. Let us know if you have ideas on how we can make this local blog more meaningful to you. It is a labor of love for us. We also believe that serious blog research is a habit good shoppers will develop. For example, many enjoy hunting for homes on line, but we believe the smart shopper will also research the mortgage world. They can do that on many sites, inlcuding Larry’s RealEstateUndressed.com.

Posted by Larry and Kathleen Cragun