Article #2, Connect SF: Things I Learned About What's New, Exciting and Different in Real Estate

Okay, so I am now back from Connect SF, Real Estate Connect, in San Francisco. It was pretty intense with long days, great speakers, and great information. I'm going to write a series of articles about what I learned while at the conference. First, I thought I'd tell you what Turn Here, Street Advisor, Sellsius, and Live Deal are all about, since I mentioned them in my first article. This is innovative stuff that will be available to all, if not already.

One of the key issues at this conference, all of which I will detail in another article, is the advent of videos on the internet. Turn Here is a company that produces videos for all kinds of venues, including real estate. Their videos of homes are professionally made, but with the home owners or Realtors speaking, not a professional. Their videos encompass views of the home for sale with shots of the surrounding neighborhood. Their video demonstration at the conference depicted a woman who was walking through her neighborhood with her dog, showing all the parks and restaurants, etc., that were located nearby her home. Videos are a great opportunity to showcase the area around homes. Buyers want to know what is available nearby and what the community is like.


What do your neighbors think about your street? Soon all of this will be on the web at Street Advisor. This website has been created by an Australian group who presented at the conference. Anyone who lives on a particular street can post reviews on the street, the neighborhood, you name it. People who live on the street can communicate with each other. This website represents another of the growing trend on the internet: to bring all information out on the table and give people an opportunity to connect, share, and have conversations. I truly liked this company as they must have been thinking of me when they created their logo and T-shirts. My favorite color scheme of black, red, with a dash of white!

Do you want to get to know your neighbors even better? Fat Door is coming to a neighborhood near you! One of the founders of this website is an ex-Microsoftie who moved down to Palo Alto to start this company. The company is out of beta and live in the Palo Alto area. The Seattle area of the site should be up and running in a few months. This site is an opportunity for you to get to know your neighbors even better. People who are neighbors will be able to introduce themselves to each other via email. I have a few ideas for these people based on my volunteer work for the Kirkland Senior Council in Kirkland. I have already talked with the founder and will be contacting him about some ideas.

Live Deal is a bit like Craig's List in that you can post all kinds of things for sale, including real estate.

By the way, Craig Newmark, the founder of Craig's List, was a featured speaker and winner of an Inman News innovative award. His site won for the Craig's List community as a whole for the spirit of community the website supports.

Last, but not least, is Sellsius, a real estate blog that has been around for a bit. The two writers of the blog, Joe Ferrara and Rudy Bachraty, III, did a road trip across the United States from NYC to the conference at in San Francisco, meeting bloggers along the way.


More on the latest trends and Connect SF in upcoming blogs....