Not long ago, I was asked by my friend Mike Price to host the "Carnival of Real Estate", which is essentially a gathering of blog posts each week about our industry. Sounds like fun to me, so I said a hearty "Yes!". Since I've held lots of contests during my blogging career, I have a little experience in this arena. :)
First of all, if you took the time to submit something this past week, I thank you all for your submissions. We all take pride and a great sense of ownership of our writing, and I know firsthand that it can be a personal thing. With that in mind, I appreciate you all giving me a chanc
e to review your hard work. This is my first time judging this particular competition, and I consider it an honor.
There were just over 20 submissions, and there were six that I felt really stood out:
First Place - Searching for Real Estate Made Easy: Geo-Fences Plus Mobile Phones by Chris Thorman of SoftwareAdvice.com. This is simply an awesome blog post. It has many solid elements: it’s informative, current, and well-written. It has helpful graphics and good organization. The anecdote at the beginning makes the post more interesting and draws the reader in. Everyone loves technology, and the internet is certainly the best place to come up with new ways to use it. Kudos.
In Second Place, I would put this rant (if I may call it that): Can I get proof of a competing offer? The answer may surprise you by Jay Thompson, the Phoenix Real Estate Guy. For those of you who know Jay already, it should come as no surprise that he wrote a terrific post on a compelling topic. If you haven't had the situation Jay describes come up yet in your real estate career, you will! I myself have written/ranted on the same subject, and I think it’s a topic most of us have some opinion on. That fact, and the opener mentioning “slam my head into a wall” draw the reader into the story. Jay also expresses some strong opinions in his post, which makes it more interesting and comment-worthy. His structure and grammar are clear and accurate, and he makes good use of the medium with his tone and subject.
Third Place: What are Mortgage Accelerator Programs? by Jim Wang
This is an article-type
post that is truly informative. It’s conversationally written and Jim doesn't talk down to the reader. It seems well-researched, and the advice it gives seems wise. It's also well-structured and well laid out.
Fourth place goes to 10 Most Common Mistakes of 1st Time Home Buyers by Robert Buchholz. This is a very informative post that could actually help some new buyers, if they follow the advice therein. If I were a rookie Realtor, I might print this out to give to my buyers, and Robert Buchholz’ name would be there, too, which can only help Robert’s business. That’s part of the “big idea” of blogging!
Honorable mentions: Hey You Pessimists (Yes you, homeowners): It’s Not Quite That Bad… by Amy Bohutinsky and Investors: Should You Get Your Real Estate License? by J. Scott. Both of these are well-written and informative posts. “Not Quite That Bad” has some very interesting & encouraging research with a “killer” graphic. Which of us could not do with a little good news these days? “Investors: Should You Get Your Real Estate License?” attempts to give a brief yet through review of the issue, and seems very helpful.
All in all, there some terrific posts for the carnival, and it made my decisions difficult. In fact, I had to call in some help (my wife read them, too). I applaud you all. Keep on making the RE.net a more informative, interesting, and helpful place.
Photo credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fleur-design/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelzimmer
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If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. If you're interested in social media training, visit 210 Consulting. Thanks!
Jason, these look like great posts... I go a reading now... Thanks!
Well...Dang, I missed this one all together but look forward to reading the winners posts!
These are very intersting posts.. just ready of a couple of them and I am finding them very thought provoking. Thanks for taking the time to judge these posts.
Wow I only read 2 of them and can see why you picked them...I am off to read more!
Hi Jason... I love carnivals! How did I miss this one? BTW, great pics on this post! I love the YoYo!
It's been a couple of years since I've heard about the Real Estate Carnival. I would encourage all Rainers to take a look at these posts, to see that there is a lot of great talent and a wide audience of new readers outside the Rain.
I missed out on this too....but will read the posts....and appreciate the hard work of the bloggers!
I've already read a couple of these, but your other choices some interesting. I see I have some more reading to do =)
Thanks for the mention and the kind words Jason! Hard to believe the Carnival of Real Estate has been going on for 176 weeks!
Jason - I think the Top 10 Mistakes First Time Home Buyers Make was great!!!
Jason, looks like I have alot of reading to catch up on, thanks for putting these together, I will definately be checking them all out...
Sorry I missed this, Jason.
I will go read the posts and the titles are very enticing. I love that Phoenix Real Estate Guy so I know that will be a great post. He is in my feedreader but darn haven't been there in 2 weeks either.
Hi Jason -- I missed these so I'm off for some reading! Thanks. I wanted to attend the webinar yesterday abut something came up, too bad AR doesn't screen/audio record it for playback.
Jason, was this something sponsored by RE.net? No wonder why many of us Rainers missed it. Perhaps the next time they have a contest you can announce it here, so you can get more participants.
Now, off to read what you've picked as the winners...
i have started reading them, they are excellent! BTW-thanks for a great webinar on Monday.
Jason,
Just read them all. They were fantastic. We have a lot of amazing voices here. Thanks for bringing them to our attention.
All the best, Michelle
Lots of great info. Thank you for the time that you spent. Do you have a posting of the webinar replay??
Chris - Sorry about that. I think I will be teaching the webinar "live" again at some point soon. :)
Robert - I'm not sure I know which webinar you're referring to. I've already had two this week. Which one were you interested in?
Hi Jason,
Really good posts, great information......talented writers.
Thank You
Hey Jason, Thanks for bringing these good postings to my attention. I'll be sure to read them tonight. In the meantime, thanks for hosting the webinar Monday. Very informative!
Jason, thank you for taking the time to review these posts. I will be reading many of them in the next few minutes.
Interesting reading, thanks for posting.
Jason:
Those are excellent posts you featured. DO you have any knowledge about all the technical issues we're having on AR right now? It takes my outside blog 30 seconds or more to load -- when it loads, which is only about 25% of the time.
Great topics, and thanks for sharing them.
I just bookmarked this to come back and read these. They look very interesting!
The first one was fascinating. I am unclear what this carnival includes. Are these AR Bloggers submitting stuff from their outside blogs or AR Bloggers submitting cool blog posts they have read about our industry? Not sure I get it yet.
Sounds interesting, wish I'll have to check it out...thanks
Cool posts!
It looks like I am going to be off doing some additional reading tonight. Thanks for the compilation.
I missed a few of these... but re=blogged the others! A good balance, I guess. Keep on doing what you do- I am a fan! Kathy
How do we find out when you're having another carnival? Can you do a Carnival cruise giveaway as a prize? I really need a vacation.
Aaron - I really don't know anything about the technical issues you described. Sorry.
Cheryl - Actually, it's neither. These people aren't necessarily AR members at all, but rather members of the real estate blogosphere at large. :)
Keith - You can visit http://carnivalofrealestate.com to see announcements about each one.
Jason,
This is the first I have seen of this, but I have been away from my blog for a while so no wonder. I will read the rest of these, it is good work
Thanks for the post.
So these are non-ActiveRain blog posts. There's so much good stuff out there that I'll never be able to read it all, so gatherings like this are very helpful.
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Jason
Amazing the talent here; everyone of those posts were a great read and super information.
Thanks for the post. I will read them soon. Good luck.
Jason, I'm sorry I missed this one but I'm not going to miss reading the winners' posts. Thanks so much - love the photos too!
Jason - I didn't hear of this, but thanks for sharing some of the top posts. I especially look forward to reading the post by Jay Thompson.