* Update - The new location of the event is located at 4490 Glidden Way, Fremont CA 94536

On Thursday November 5th, 2009, Trulia, along with Trulia Mayor Carl Medford and the home sellers, is hosting a free educational, social networking and wine tasting Open House event in Fremont, California. When it comes to social media, some people refer to it as an online cocktail party. Well, we’re bringing the online connections that have been made, offline for a little party of our own.

You see, the back story here is that the home seller of this fantastic Victorian home located in Fremont, California found his real estate agent, Carl Medford, on Trulia. As one of our first 5 Trulia Mayors, Carl’s idea was to host a Trulia Voices real estate networking event at the home of one of his Trulia clients. After a little brainstorming, we decided to incorporate some educational marketing material and Wine tasting into the open house as well. So if you are from Fremont or the surrounding areas and will be in Fremont on November 5th, please stop by, we’d love to meet you face to face.

Here are the details:

• Date: Thursday November 5th, 2009
• Time: 3-5 pm - Broker and Agent educational & networking session
• Time: 5-8 pm Networking event open to all - Home Buyers, Sellers, local businesses
• Address: *Updated - 4490 Glidden Way, Fremont CA 94536 i
• Meet some Trulians
• Meet Carl and the home sellers
• Learn some online marketing tips that can help you and your business
• Learn how being proactive on Trulia’s real estate social networking community can help you connect with home buyers and sellers
• Carl will share how blogging on Trulia has helped him create a significant online presence that has transformed his business.
• Meet other local Trulia Voices from Fremont and surrounding areas
• Network with Fremont area real estate agents, brokers and other professionals
  
• Enjoy the free Expresso Bar and hors devours
• Free Wente Wine tasting
  

If you plan on attending, please leave a comment here or register on our Facebook event page or on Eventbrite.

* The new location of the event is located at 4490 Glidden Way, Fremont CA 94536

In today’s economy and specifically at this time of the year, many companies are battening down the hatches, especially in terms of hiring. Today, we welcomed 6 new Trulians, a.k.a. newlians to the team. As a start-up, Trulia does it’s best to stay lean, nimble and innovative. So when the opportunity arises to add key pieces to our starting line up, we take advantage of it. Today is such a day.

At Trulia, we believe in BOFFI, so everybody’s voice counts. Each team member is encouraged to be  a DIY self-starter by sharing their thoughts and ideas for the betterment of the company. In the spirit of DIY, today’s newlians were presented with the challenge of putting together their own chairs. They did not disappoint. With passion and enthusiasm, they accomplished their first tasks at Trulia.

So a big welcome to everyone. Together, we can continue to bring our users the very best online real estate experience.

P.S. Trulia is still hiring so please visit our jobs page.

Fast Company Magazine mentioned Trulia’s Layar augmented reality application as one of the Top 5 to watch.

According to Fast Company:

Trulia for Android

The real-estate search site uses Layar’s Reality Browser to overlay listings on top of a Google phone’s camera view. Scan a neighborhood’s available properties and even connect to the realtors.

For those of you with an iPhone 3GS, it’s available for you to download in the Apple Itunes store.

*Note - If you don’t see home price reductions for your local market mentioned below, just leave a comment below with your City, County or zip code and we’ll provide it to you on demand. If you’re on Twitter, just ask me @trulia “How much were prices reduced in my area - City, County or Zip code? Cool?

Our September home price reduction report shows a fourth straight month of increases. 26% of U.S. homes as of September 1, 2009 have experienced at least 1 price cut of their original asking price. Since June, the percentage of price reductions has increased by 10%. The total amount slashed off of active for sale listings by home sellers is $28.5 billion. Fourteen of the largest 50 cities are seeing reduction rates that are significantly above the national average of 26%. The average percent off the original asking price remains 10% off compared to 10.6% in June. For the 4th straight month, Jacksonville, Florida leads the way with 37% of active listings seeing a price reduction.

Price Reduction Highlights

• 26% of U.S. homes as of September 1, 2009 have experienced at least 1 price cut of their original asking price
• $28.5 Billion in price reductions
• Average national price reduction remains 10% compared to 10.6 in June
• Jacksonville, Florida leads nation in price reductions for 4th straight month with 38%
• Sellers need to price aggressively to avoid price reductions
• Luxury homes priced $2 million plus seeing an average of 14% cut vs. the national average of 10%
• Luxury homes over $2,000,000 on Trulia = 2% but = 25% of the $28.5 billion in home price reductions
• New York City, New York = sellers cut 13% off original asking price
• Austin, Texas = sellers cut 8% off original asking price

According to Trulia’s Co-Founder & CEO Pete Flint,

“The steady rise in price reductions is a signal that sellers are still trying to adjust to the ever changing market conditions. “We expect the $8,000 federal tax incentive to extend the peak home purchasing season beyond the summer months, continuing to drive  competition amongst sellers and ultimately leading to more price reductions, giving consumers a great opportunity to find the home of their dreams.”

Several cities have seen four consecutive months where the percent of homes that have seen a price reduction has increased month-over-month, underscoring that sellers across the country might not be fully adjusting their home value expectations to the current real estate market:

Top 50 U.S. Cities for Price Reductions in September

Luxury Real Estate Market

Luxury homes that are priced $2 million and above are seeing an average of 14% cut vs. the national average of 10%. Approximately 2% of the homes on Trulia are luxury homes yet are responsible for 25% of the $28.5 billion in home price reductions.

For more info on Trulia’s national home price reduction report, please visit our press release in the Trulia News Room.

Heather Burns is a Mortgage Broker with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. I was reading a blog she wrote on Active Rain titled Why Should I care about Social Networking? where she mentions how she has benefited from being proactive on Trulia Voices - our real estate social networking community.

“Trulia offered me a forum in which I could respond to consumers and other real estate professional alike.  In fact, this past week, I responded to several questions with regards to Wells Fargo’s requirements for Jumbo mortgage down payments. Because I was able to respond in a manner that allowed multiple people to view, I was able to generate several leads, and a preapproval. Had I been working within more traditional methods, such as email or telephone with just one individual, I would not have had the opportunity to speak with others who were in need of my assistance.”

Thanks for helping real estate agents and consumers with their mortgage related questions! We wish you continued success.

Real estate is a relationship business that is built on trust. Multiple parties rely on each other to reach a common goal. To reach this goal, teamwork and a steady line of communication is essential. Failure to communicate can lead to confusion, delays, errors or missed opportunities. So what does this have to do with Trulia, Twitter and Customer service?

At Trulia, we proactively participate in social media in a variety of ways and on various social networks. Each network is slightly different as is the manner in which the community chooses to engage. Regardless of the network, one thing is for certain, we’re there to be a part of the conversation. That being said, one of the most important things we do is listen. We listen to what consumers and agents have to say - the good, the bad and the ugly.

Twitter is a social network that has become an important communication channel for us - especially for customer service. On any given day, I’ll have a conversation with someone about something Trulia related. Questions like -  How to submit a listing, What’s T.A.N, Can you fix my property address, How can I find an agent in my area, Can you help me sell our home faster, Is my MLS on Trulia to things like Can Trulia sponsor my REBARCAMP, Can you speak at our event and so forth. It’s a mixed bag really. All good stuff. In each instance, it brings us a little closer to our audience, customer and clients.

A couple of months ago, I met Erica Parpan - @realsupportva, a virtual assistant at RealSupport on Twitter. Initially, we exchanged a couple of casual hello tweets…sparked by my Trulia hat avatar of all things….

…and RT’s - re-tweets -  which helped build up our rapport…

Then, Erica had some questions re: one of her clients listing syndication feeds….

140 characters was not enough room to have this type of conversation so I asked her to email me the details. At that point, a customer service conversation that started on Twitter moved to email where we could exchange more details. After receiving the info, I relied on our great back end Customer Service and Engineering team to assist in fixing her clients issue. Together, with teamwork and an open line of communication we were able to resolve the issue expeditiously.

To read more details on how we helped Erica and her clients in this specific case and another via Twitter, you can read all about it from her perspective on her Active Rain blog titled - Twitter Tip - Building Invaluable Relationships on Twitter to Support Your Business.

I have many other stories like this but just wanted to highlight how a company like Trulia can use a non-real estate specific social network like Twitter for Customer Service. Are you using Twitter for customer service?

Here’s some homes that Brett might want to consider buying:

1. $5750,000 - 2505 E. Lake Of The Isles Pkwy Minneapolis-MN 55405

2. $5,495,000 2427 E. Lake Of The Isles Pkwy Minneapolis MN 55405

3.  $3,999,990 -  222 2nd St. SE. 1701 Minneapolis MN 55414

4. $3,995,000 - 2340 W. Lake Of The Isles Pkwy Minneapolis MN 55405

5. $3,295,000 - 301 Kenwood Pkwy 701 Minneapolis MN 55403

In case Brett doesn’t have a Realtor to help him, here are some local real estate agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota that can help him find his new home.

Good luck in your new city and with your new team Brett!

We released our August price reduction report today which shows that 25% of U.S. homes as of August 1, 2009 have experienced at least 1 price cut of their original asking price. In the last 3 months, the percentage of price reductions has continued to increase. The total amount slashed off of active for sale listings by home sellers is $27.8 billion. 66% of the top 50 metros have price reduction levels higher than the national average. Today, the average percent off the original asking price is approximately 10% off compared to 10.6% in June. For the 3rd straight month, Jacksonville, Florida leads the way with 38% of active listings seeing a price reduction.

Price Reduction Highlights

• 25% of U.S. homes as of August 1, 2009 have experienced at least 1 price cut of their original asking price
• $27.8 Billion in price reductions
• Average national price reduction is 10% compared to 10.6 in June
• Jacksonville, Florida leads nation in price reductions for 3rd straight month with 38%
• Sellers need to price aggressively to avoid price reductions
• Luxury homes priced $2 million plus seeing an average of 14% cut vs. the national average of 10%
• Luxury homes over $2,000,000 on Trulia = 2% but = 25% of the $27.8 billion in home price reductions
• Boston, Milwaukee & Minneapolis in top five w/ highest % of reductions for the 2nd straight month
• 66% of the top 50 metros have price reduction levels higher than the national average
• New York City, New York = sellers cut 13% off original asking price
• Austin, Texas = sellers cut 8% off original asking price

According to Trulia’s Co-Founder & CEO Pete Flint,

“We are excited to see industry reports showing positive signs in the real estate industry, but there is still a long way to go before we’ll see a real recovery for the U.S. as a whole. Even as the volume of sales are starting to rise nationally, the median home price continues to fall.” “The reality is, today’s sellers need to price aggressively to avoid reductions. Consumers are looking for value and when they find a good deal, they are taking advantage of market conditions.”

Cities experiencing significant increases in percentage of listings with price reductions from June 2009 to August 2009 include:

•    Fresno, CA – 67% increase in price reductions
•    Colorado Springs, CO – 27% increase in price reductions
•    Kansas City, MO – 25% increase in price reductions
•    Oklahoma City, OK – 24% increase in price reductions
•    Albuquerque, NM – 22% increase in price reductions

Cities showing signs of recovery with significant declines in percentage of listing with price reduction from June 2009 to August 2009 include:

•    Dallas, TX – 42% fewer price reductions
•    Las Vegas, NV – 33% fewer price reductions
•    Louisville, KY – 33% fewer price reductions
•    Los Angeles, CA – 19% fewer price reductions
•    Washington D.C. – 17% fewer price reductions

Top 50 U.S. Cities for Price Reductions in August

Luxury Real Estate Market

Luxury homes that are priced $2 million and above are seeing an average of 14% cut vs. the national average of 10%. Approximately 2% of the homes on Trulia are luxury homes yet are responsible for 25% of the $27.8 billion in home price reductions.

For more info on Trulia’s national home price reduction report, please visit our press release in the Trulia News Room

Last week we launched an update for our Trulia Voices profile pages. Based on consumer and agent feedback and testing, we streamlined your Trulia profile to create a better user experience. Take a look at the highlights below and please keep the fantastic feedback coming so we can make your Trulia experience even better.

Building your online identity:

Business Card 2.0 - contains all your key info including name, company, locations, Web sites, occupation, views, contributions and contact info

New listing module - provides higher visibility for your listings

Tabbed format - easy access to more information

Trulia activity stats - shows your contributions for Helpful Answers, Answers and Blogs

Real Estate Resume - Highlight your accomplishments and add your client testimonials - First impressions matter!

Trulia Voices Q&A - All your contributions appear on your profile to create a library of real estate content highlighting your knowledge, experience and opinions

Expanding your sphere of influence

Share - Use the Email, Facebook and Twitter social media tools to share your profile easily

Views - Active on Trulia? Now you can see how many of people have seen your profile

Scaling your business

Open “Contact Me” form - for even easier ability to be contacted by consumers and referral agents

Have you updated your new Trulia Profile today?

In CNET’S recent post, Sites that get your home ready to sell, columnist Don Resinger states that Trulia Voices Q&A real estate community is, “… one of the best advice pages for anyone looking to sell a house….” Selling a home is not a simple task, especially for first time home sellers. There are many steps involved. When they start to think about selling their home, naturally, they’ll have questions. So it makes sense for homeowners to do their homework. They may not know exactly where to start so looking for advice and opinions in online real estate communities like Trulia Voices is a natural fit.

Don Says:

“Although its competitors, like Realtor.com, focus on listing available properties, Trulia, which also lists properties, has one of the best advice pages on the Web for anyone looking to sell a house. So, while it might not seem like a site designed specifically for sellers, it does a great job of attracting them.

The first thing you’ll notice on Trulia’s “Advice” page is a handy question box, which allows you to ask real estate experts any question you might have on the subject of buying and selling real estate. You can also read blog entries made by other members of the Trulia community. If you’re still looking for a real estate agent, Trulia will match you up with one. Simply put, Trulia’s “Advice” page is full-featured. It’s worth trying out when you get ready to sell.”

Working with our Trulia Voices community on a daily basis, we are finding that both home sellers and home buyers are using Trulia Voices Q&A and Trulia Blogs for more than just research and advice. Consumers are also searching for their next real estate agent and are using our Find a Pro real estate directory to help them make a match. By reading the answers real estate professionals provide, reading their blog posts and by looking over their profile or real estate resume as I like to call it, consumers can get a better understanding of how certain agents think, how professional they are and whether or not the can trust them to help them with their home buying or selling needs. As our community continues to grow, so will the connections made between home sellers, home buyers and real estate professionals. Very exciting indeed.

Thanks Don and CNET for the support!

PC Mag names Trulia in their Top 100 Websites of 2009! It’s a great compliment to be mentioned along with so many other great companies such as Craigslist, Wikipedia, Yelp, TechCrunch, Engadget, Lifehacker, CNET, Amazon, DIGG, The New York Times and more. Kudos to the entire Trulia team for all your hard work, creativity and dedication.

According to PC Mag:

“Deciding upon our list of 100 sites is a months-long process. We solicited Web site nominations from every corner of the Web—PCMag and AppScout readers, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, our own staff, and more. A small committee of our own experts then evaluated each nominated site one by one, judging it according to its content quality, design and originality, to arrive at our two lists of 50 Web sites”

Thanks PC Mag!

Ok. I admit it. I am a big fan of ABC’S The Bachelor & The Bachelorette. I’m an even bigger fan this season because the show has a “Realtor” in the mix. Philadelphia Prudential Fox and Roach Realtor® Reid Rosenthal from The Rosenthal Group is in the final group of bachelors vowing for that final rose from Jillian Harris - The Bachelorette.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk to Reid on the phone about his real estate business and his experience on the Bachelorette.

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

Rudy: How did you get into real estate?

Reid: I was born into the business. My parents, Rhonda and Larry, have been in real estate for over 20 years and are still active and very productive. Together, our company, The Rosenthal Group is in the Prudential Top 100 nationwide.

Rudy: How many team members do you have in the Rosenthal Group?

Reid: We have 7 people on the team and work very closely together

Rudy: I hear you have an extensive marketing plan for your clients? Tell us about that.

Reid: We do everything. Traditional and non-traditional marketing including blogging, social networking, email blasts, postcards and Craigslist. We go the extra mile for our clients.

Rudy: Ok, let’s get into it now. How did you end up on the Bachelorette?

Reid: Well, I was on floor time in the office and one of the women I work with told me about the show and really wanted me to submit an application. She got a picture of me and blurb and sent it to the show. I didn’t think about much after that. Soon, I started getting calls like crazy from the producers. They liked my profile and really wanted me on the show. We had a few back and forth talks. With 2 days left before the start of filming, I signed the contract and made it on the show just in time.

Rudy: While you were filming, how did you family, company and clients handle you being away?

Reid: My mom and dad did a great job covering for me and I was lucky to have a great team, friends  and clients who supported me. The timing of the show couldn’t of happened at a better time. The market was dead due to traditional seasonality so it was in a work sense, a perfect time to take advantage of this opportunity to find love.

Rudy: How long were you gone?

Reid: Nice try Rudy. What I can say is that the show shot from approx March 23rd to the end of May. Sorry, but due to my contract, I can’t share any more details here

Rudy: Ok, I totally understand. Since you’ve been back, has the show gotten you and your company more business or recognition.

Reid: Oh absolutely. Again, it was the slow season when I left to do the show and now it’s the high season so to be fair it could be a combination of the show and season. However, people definitely recognize me more - everywhere I go. I tend to work more with buyers now whereas before it was more balanced - 50/50% for buyers and sellers. Traffic is up 3x on our site too which is great. I should be getting a couple more listings this week and have a number of active buyers I’m working with.

Rudy: Has social media/ social networking helped your business?

Reid: Yes! I’ve definitely gotten some business from social networking. Facebook was awesome for me before the show but I’ve since had to stop my ad campaigns there - again, due to my contractual obligations. I plan on being more active on social networks in the future including Trulia.

Rudy: Do you watch the show now?

Reid: Yes. It was very weird at first seeing myself on TV and hearing my voice but I got used to it. Even weirder was seeing myself and others kissing Jillian knowing how many people were watching. Strange. Weird. But I’m over it now

Rudy: Ok, so everyone wants to know, did you and Jillian live happilly ever after?

Reid: Um, I can’t get into that.

Thanks Reid for your time. You rock! I hope you were the last bachelor standing. See you on Trulia and #IRL soon

Did you watch Reid and Jillian on their last date on The Bachelor? - Aren’t they perfect for each other? So what do you think, will they end up together?

Update:

This is an interview I did with Reide Rosenthal on June 25th on Trulia Blog

Reid did not end up with Jillian but he put a fight in the finale by flying back to Hawaii to propose - gotta give him credit for putting himself on the line albeit too late.

Visionary HAR President & CEO Bob Hale and Rudy Bachraty

Last week I had the pleasure of participating in HAR’s first ever Digital Media Summer Camp in Houston, Texas. As a sponsor of the event, Trulia was happy to support the Houston Association of Realtors social media education efforts. They have a well organized social media program and lots of interest from their agent members = a good formula for becoming a tech savvy real estate agent.

The audience listening in on our Social Media Style panel.

@kenbrand, @trulia, @dannyfrank, @askozzie, @sarabonert, @respres, @amysmytheharris

Social Media Style panel: Ken Brand dropping some knowledge

250 attendees received Trulia notebooks and pens and Paul Chaney gave away some copies of his new social media book - The Digital Handshake

Name those feet….

Suzie Hale took some notes in her Trulia notebook - very cool.

Awesome finally meeting Stephanie Edwards-Mussa f2f.

Amy Smythe -Harris was an awesome moderator and Facebook presenter.

Bobby Bryant a.ka. Mr Scrubs…..

Jay Thompson the Phoenix Real Estate Guy caught Jaywalking

Quote of the Conference:

Nancy Furst - “I DESIRE to INSPIRE before I EXPIRE”

Many thanks to Danny Frank for asking us to be a part of the event and to everyone at HAR for being such gracious hosts. It was truly an amazing experience to be a part of.

Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone has put his cool little Berkeley Hills home located at 1409 Greenwood Terrace for sale priced at $575,000 - listed by Trulia Pro Melody Hultgren of McGuire Real Estate. He actually tweeted about selling his Wurster cottage over the weekend but did not specify why he was selling.

Generally speaking, it’s best for home sellers not to make their home selling motivations known to potential home buyers as they can lose some leverage during negotiations. But in Biz’s case, I don’t think it would matter as much. His home was designed by famous local Northern California architect William Wurster who used his signature style of openness and natural light when designing the home. That’s pretty cool all by itself. There is also something special about buying a famous persons home - Biz Stone + Twitter = kinda famous. Whoever purchases it will have bragging rights that they bought the home of the Twitter Co-Founder - pretty cool.

According to Gawker,

“Living in such a small place may have been a necessary sacrifice when Stone, a sometime writer, was churning out such literary achievements as “Who Let the Blogs Out?” and “Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content,” works in which he earned the right to call this a “poet’s cottage.”

But now that Stone has empowered the world to write beautiful poetry, 140 characters at a time, it’s time to move on. Aspiring artists/blog tool makers now have their chance to snatch up Stone’s tidy home base.”

According to the Sillicon Valley Insider,

“Why is Biz moving? Don’t know. But according to Google Maps, Biz’s commute to Twitter’s San Francisco office — a mere 10 mile drive — can take as long as an hour and 10 minutes in traffic.

Considering how dangerous it is to text and drive, that’s a long way!”

So, if you’re looking for a 2 bedroom 2 bath home in the Berkeley Hills, North Berkeley/ Kensington area under $600,000, this home may be perfect for you. Please let us know if you plan on seeing it or buying it. Good luck Biz!

The unique Miami Beach home known as the North Bay Road Castle located at 4462 North Bay Road in Miami, Beach Florida burned down today. The 10 bedroom, 7 1/2 bath, 9,935 sf castle is listed for sale on Trulia for $6,900,000 by Rafael Arias of Sotheby’s International Realty.

According to the Miami Herald,

” Firefighters battled a blaze Friday morning at an abandoned mansion in Miami Beach once owned by the Windjammer Barefoot Cruises family. Dispatch received a call at 8:09 a.m. about the fire at 4462 N. Bay Rd., north of Mount Sinai Hospital.

The house was once owned by the owners of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, a longtime family business born after a night of drinking in 1947. Michael Burke woke up the next morning and found himself the owner of a $600 sailboat he named the Hangover. Capt. Mike Burke’s six children were later involved in the business. ”

Source: AP - Youtube

Trulia Real Estate Blogger Ross Milroy blogged about Capt. Burke’s Miami Beach castle last October

In related Miami Beach Waterfront news:

According to Realtor® Kevin Tomlinson of the South Beach Real Estate Blog, Waterfront home sales are down 50% year over year.

Ok Bachelorette fans, are you looking to buy or sell real estate in Philadelphia? If so, please make sure to check out Prudential Fox and Roach Realtor Reid Rosenthal and Rosenthal Group which includes Reid’s parents - Rhonda and Larry Rosenthal. As Trulia Pro’s, all of their real estate listings are featured on Trulia making them easier for you the consumer to find.

Looking for a luxury 4 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath luxury home for your family in Upper Dublin Township? If so, they’ve got a great one located at 1440 Catlin Way in Dresher, PA priced at $829,900.

Or maybe you’re looking for a 3 bedroom townhome in the Gwynedd Point Community. They’ve got one priced at $284,900 located at 2602 Harvard Drive North Wales Pennsylvania.

So whether you’re looking in Philadelphia, Dresher, North Wales or Fort Washington - The Rosenthal Group has some great homes for sale.

Just make sure you mention that you found them on Trulia

Via Inman News:

“Trulia.com, which cracked the Hitwise Top 10 in December, was the ninth-ranked site in the real estate category by market share in April, and sixth in May. By displacing RE/MAX Real Estate from the fifth position, Trulia.com became the first newcomer in the top five since February.”

Thanks for highlighting our growth Inman!

This week, were highlighting Trulia Pro Ronda Allen, a realtor® with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs -The Keith Dobbs Team - from Prosper, Texas. She shared a great testimonial with us about her blogging experience on Trulia which we wanted to share with you.

Here’s a snippet of her Trulia Blog Post:

“Trulia.com has been such a powerful tool for my business since I started using it early in Summer, 2008.  Being in Texas, I wasn’t introduced to Trulia.com until last year.  Word of mouth from another agent got me curious about the site.”

“Agents who see my activity on trulia.com will contact me and ask if it’s generating any real business.  They seem surprised by how much I love this site.  I don’t do things over the course of my work day just to have busy work.  I work on trulia.com because it puts me in front of sellers, buyers, and renters from everywhere.”

In her Trulia blog post, Ronda shares 2 of her real life success stories with both home buyers and home sellers who she met on Trulia. It’s a good read - please check it out.

Many thanks for sharing your Trulia success story with us Ronda!

If you have a Trulia success story you’d like to share with us, please email me at rudy at trulia.com.

CNN Money just released it’s 2009 Best Places to Live report and Louisville, Colorado was ranked #1.

For the third year in a row, Trulia is happy to power the homes for sale information and property maps for the CNN Money Best Places to Live report. You can search by actively available homes, sold homes and price range. And new for this year is the ability to see price reductions as is illustrated above.

So if you’re looking for a new great place to live or just curious to see if your hometown made the 2009 list, please visit CNN Money to see the other 99 best places to live.

photo credit: russelljsmith

Today, we announce our July national home price reduction report. Nationally, home listing price cuts are on the rise while some of the hardest hit markets are seeing stabilization. As of July 1st, 2009, there have been $27.1 billion in price reductions for all current homes on the market compared to $27.4 Billion in June.

According to Pete Flint, Trulia Co-Founder and CEO, “All real estate is local and we’re seeing glimmers of hope as price stabilization occurs in major cities across the nation, including some of the earliest hit cities that have experienced huge declines in the past few years. On the flip side, perhaps sellers are pricing their homes more rationally to get them off the market as soon as possible.”

Trulia Price Reduction Report Highlights

• Hardest hit cities see biggest improvement from a month ago - Las Vegas 33% and Los Angeles 25%
• Average price reduction In Las vegas = 16%
• Average price reduction in Los Angeles = 12%
• 24.6% of all current homes on the market in the United States as of July 1st 2009 have experienced at least 1 price cut
• $27 Billion in price reductions
• National Average price reduced home = 10.4% list price reduction down from 10.6% last month
• Markets where sellers more drastically overpriced homes = Miami, New York City&Detroit = more drastic cuts
• Detroit, Michigan = sellers slashed 21% off original asking price
• Miami, Florida = sellers cut 15% off original asking price
• New York City, New York = sellers cut 13% off original asking price
• Month over month - 4 new cities in top 10 major priced reduced markets = Milwaukee, New York City, Chicago and Illinois
• Luxury market getting hit hard
• 25.8% of Homes over $1,000,000 seeing price reduction
• 24.5% of Homes under $1,000,000 seeing price reduction
• Luxury Homes over $1,000,000 seeing 13% cut of asking price
• Homes under $1,000,000 seeing 9% cut off asking price

Top 50 Cities - July Price Reductions

For more info on Trulia’s national home price reduction report, please visit our press release in the Trulia News room.

Today, thousands gathered and millions [billions?] watched the Micheal Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The King of Pop was an inspiration to many and a musical legend. He will be missed but his music will last forever.

Here’s a look at some of Micheal Jackson’s most famous homes:

1. Neverland Ranch - 5225 Figueroa Mountain Rd, Los Olivos, CA

Michael Jackson’s 2,676 acre Neverland Ranch - 1988 to 2005 - 5225 Figueroa Mountain Rd, Los Olivos, CA 93441

2. 2300 Jackson Street Gary, Indiana

Via Dailymail

Source: Youtube

Michael Jackson’s Childhood home  - 2300 Jackson Street Gary, Indiana 46407

3. 4641 Hayvenhurst Ave Encino, California

Michael Jackson’s Family 5 bedroom 7 bath  10,476 sf home in Encino, California - 4641 Hayvenhurst Ave Encino, Ca  91436-3251

R.I.P. MJ

Source: YouTube

Trulia has had great momentum in the first 6 months of 2009. We’ve seen a huge increase in consumer interest in real estate while setting new company records for site traffic, user engagement and revenue. Based on user behavior, consumer, agent and community feedback we’ve added lot’s of new site features and functionality making the user experience on Trulia better for all.

Here are the highlights:

• Visits to Trulia grew 40%
• Over 30 million unique visitors in the last 6 months
• Property views up more than 90%
• Page Views up 83% across home listings and Stats and Trends
• Trulia Voices contributions up 85% in 1st half of 2009 compared to same period in 2008
• Trulia recently climbs to #5 on Hitwise up from the 8th then 6th position
• Trulia rises to #5 on ComScore in the real estate category up from #6
• Trulia won the 2009 Webby Award for Best Real Estate Site
• New Price Reduction tool for home buyers, sellers, agents, investors and real estate junkies
• Compare It! - Consumers can compare up to 5 properties side-by-side
• New Property details pages - Upgraded with user friendly section tabs = easier to find related content
• Most Popular Trulia Voices Q&A and Blogs - New homepage highlighting most popular content rather than newest content
• New Open House management tool - easily add your open houses to Trulia
• New agent and listing synch system  - Automatically associates agent listings with their accounts
• New Client Listing Reports - Agents can send their sellers personalized weekly reports about consumer interest in their property
• Find a Pro - Search over 350,000 real estate professionals on Trulia. Find the right pro for you easier
• Trulia Mobile - V2 of our iPhone app - New search and filter functionality
• The Washington Post Co-Brand partnership

“Our focus on the consumer and adding in new features and functionality that they have been asking for has been the key to our growth in Q1 and Q2,” said Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder, Trulia.com.  “We’re seeing huge increases not only in visits, but also in consumers contacting agents and advertisers through Trulia.com.  This growth in leads gives us confidence about a stabilizing housing market and is attracting more advertisers and revenue on Trulia than ever before.”

Many thanks to everyone who proactively participates on Trulia and to those who provide us valuable feedback. You are a huge part of why Trulia continues to grow so rapidly.

Stay tuned for more great functionality and features in the second half of 2009.

For more details, please read our 1st Half of 2009 Momentum Press Release

Today, we have many Trulians volunteering their time and labor to help a Habitat for Humanity build project in the Bayview/ Hunters Point area in San Francisco. It feels great giving back to the community and helping out a good cause.

Many thanks to Habitat for the opportunity to help!

Now that Jillian has selected her final 4 bachelors, we thought we’d see what kind of bachelorette pads we’re on the market in each of the final 4’s home towns.

Here are our Top 4 Bachelorette Pad Picks:

1. Kiptyn from Encinitas, California

$1,375,000 - 805 Hermes Ave Encinitas, CA 92024

2. Ed from Chicago, Illinois

$1,349,900 - 2545 North Burling Street Chicago, Illinois

3. Wes from Austin, Texas

$1,100,000 -  5005 Red Bluff Road Austin, Texas 787702

4. Reid from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

$749,000 - 929 South 2nd Street Philadelphia, PA

Looking forward to next weeks episode…….

Did you know that Shaquille O’Neal, better know as Shaq, got traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers? Did you know Shaq found out via Twitter? The speed of breaking news via social media is amazing. Twiter is like a little fly on the wall that hears everything and then blasts it out to the whole world. Powerful.

Well now that Shaq is heading for Cleveland, we thought we’d search for some possible new homes for the big guy.

Here’s what we found:

1. $6,000.000 - 31214 Lake Road, Bay Village OH 44140

2. $5,200,000  - 35275 South Woodland Rd Chagrin Falls OH 44022

3. $2,900,000 - 23408 Lake Rd Bay Village OH 44140

4. $2,650,000 - 123 Meadow Ln Solon OH 44139

5. $1,999,000 - 10007 Lake Shore Blvd Bratenahl OH 44108

I’m sure Shaq has a Realtor that will help him find his new home. If not, Trulia has lots of awesome local Cleveland area real estate agents to choose from. Good luck with the move Shaq! I’m sure Lebron is pumped

You’re not alone. Many are thinking the same thing. With so many cool things to do on Trulia, it can be daunting trying to figure out where to start. So, we wanted to share a road map of sorts on where to begin and how to best participate. It’s just an outline so feel free to jump around and start with the things you’re most immediately comfortable with.

1. Complete your Trulia Voices Profile - Real Estate Resume

When a real estate agent or other real estate professional creates their profile on Trulia, they’re essentially creating their Real Estate Resume. It’s so important to all the pro’s reading this to make sure that you complete all the fields of your profile. You wouldn’t go into a job interview with a piece of paper that only had your name and contact information on it - would you? That just wouldn’t help you land that dream job you’ve been searching for - in this case, that dream client. The same holds true for your Trulia profile - please give consumers all the pertinent information about yourself as you can so they can make better informed decisions when picking their next real estate pro to work with.

Your Trulia Profile offers Personalization and great long term SEO Benefits:

• Your Name = Profile Page Title - Include your name and primary keywords that you would like to be found for within the search engines and on Trulia
• Headline Section - This is the meta description for your profile -  list some of your primary keywords there too
• Location - Add multiple primary geographic locations where you work or are an expert in such as City&State or Zip code. The 1st location in the list appears in your page Title so choose it wisely
• Website Links - You get to add 5 dofollow links with custom anchor text - point them to any site or blog of your choice. Controlling the anchor text allows you to have your link say “Miami Beach Real Estate” instead of “Website”
• Custom Profile Vanity URL -  Customize your URL so it looks like this - http://www.trulia.com/profile/social_media_guru/  -rather than this -  http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-12345-123456/ - It makes it easy to share and remember. See more details here
• About Me Section - People want to know who they are dealing with. Share some insight into who you are are, what you’re good at and what you have accomplished. Use your keywords here too - always in moderation.
• Client Testimonials - Add up to 10 testimonials from your past or current clients. Consumers want to work with someone who others trust - this can help give them a glimpse into who you are from someone else’s perspective. Again, in moderation, use your market keywords here like your City&State, Town, Neighborhood, Zip Code, Community, Building name etc…..
• Specialties - List what you are an expert in
• Experience - Share your past real estate and non-real estate work experience - maybe a potential client worked for the same company or industry in the past too - that can be the spark that can help you make a better connection.
• Certifications and Awards - It’s ok to share your designations and achievements - it shows that you are proactive and motivated
• Interests - Are you an avid golfer? Love to fly fish? Do you sail? Ski down double diamonds in Park City, Utah? If so, let people know this little bit of personal info. They may like what you do too which can once again, help you make a successful connection with a potential client.
• Claim your listings on Trulia - To claim your listing on Trulia, go to the "My Listing" link within your profile and search for your listings by - Property address, MLS ID, or your email address. After you do this, those claimed listings will display on your profile, your contact info and photo will appear on those listings and the listings on your profile will become dofollow links. If we get your listings via a feed, remember that your listings are associated with your corporate email address, so be sure to use that same email address for your Trulia profile. Then, your listings will automatically appear on Trulia.
• Grow your Google Page Rank - The more active you are within our Trulia Voices community, the more it will help your profile grow it’s page rank over time. We have seen some Trulia profiles as high as a PR4.
• Fresh Content - Your Own Real Estate Knowledge Base - All answers, questions and blog posts are displayed on your profile which helps in keeping your profile active with fresh content which search engines like Google love. It’s also easy for consumers to skim through all your content in one place.

2. Outline your Objectives

Now that you created your awesome detailed real estate resume, it’s time to sit back and outline some reasons you’re on Trulia Voices. Having a focus will help you become more successful.

Some reasons may be:

• To Sell your clients listings - Getting them maximum exposure in front of a targeted audience is a great reason to be on Trulia.
• To Market yourself and your business - Establish yourself as a local expert in our real estate community
• To Meet Home Buyers and Sellers - Establish trust and clients for life
• To learn - Gain knowledge and insight from others in the community
• To educate - Share your expertise and knowledge
• To make friends - Real estate is social by nature - our community is a great place to meet other like minded people
• To network and get/send Referrals - Build your pipeline and grow your sphere of influence locally and nationwide

3. Understand why Consumers are coming to Trulia

Trulia Voices is a very vibrant and powerful real estate social networking community. Consumers are coming to Trulia for a variety of reasons. Understanding things from their perspective can help you better communicate and connect with them.

• They’re doing market research - Stats, trends, heat maps, guides, demographics etc…Consumers want to know as much as they can about the properties, neighborhoods and communities as possible.
• They’re looking to find their dream home - Consumers can search over 3.5 Million homes for sale on Trulia and growing
• They’re looking for an Agent - With over 360,000 real estate professionals on Trulia, consumers have lot’s of great people to research
• Q&A - They’re asking Questions&looking for Answers from agents they can trust
• Personal Experiences - They’re sharing their stories both good and bad.

4. Observe - Be a Fly on the Wall and Read

Every community or group whether it’s online or offline has a unique culture. It’s best to observe and learn what those are before jumping into a conversation.

• Visit Trulia Voices Q&A and Trulia Blogs
• Find Questions&Blog posts in your Local area by City, State, Zip, Neighborhood or Keyword - see what’s happening in your neck of the woods. You may notice people who have either good or bad online etiquette -  Think about how you would ask or answer that question yourself and how others may perceive your answer.
• Sign Up for Email Alerts -   Select a category and location and then get notified every time a question is asked, and be the first to answer. Also, get notified when new real estate blog posts are published.

5. Become a Proactive Trulia Voices Community Contributor

Writing your thoughts and opinions online for the world to read can be a scary proposition. Don’t worry, I felt that way too. When you’re ready and feel comfortable, it’s time to dive in and become a participant rather than just a spectator or lurker as some like to call it.

• Answer Consumers Questions - Find Questions & Blog posts in your Local area by City, State, Zip, Neighborhood or Keyword and join the conversation. If you think you can add value to the conversation - go for it. Don’t just leave a comment to leave a comment. Remember, people are reading from all over. What you say today can effect you and your business today and years from now. Answer thoughtfully and within the law and your local code of ethics.
• Ask Your own Questions - Got a question yourself? Need help? Go for it. Ask away. It’s a two way street. The community is there to help.
• Blog - Blog about the real estate topics you know best. Talk about things that home buyers and sellers want to know about.
• Call or email other agents - Be proactive. Reach out to other agents in other markets within your state or nationwide. Build your referral network up. You never know when you’ll need or have a referral.
• Share your content - On Mybloglog, Share on Facebook, Twitter, Digg etc…
• Search Popular categories - See what’s hot on Trulia! This can help you learn about what people are talking about the most and can help you get ideas on what to write about yourself
• Top Trulia Contributors - See the Top Trulia Contributors of All Time, Last Week or by Last Month and see who has the Most Answers, Most Liked Answers and the Best Answers
• Get showcased on the Trulia Voices Homepage - Now that you’re being proactive on Trulia, we want you to stand out within the community. Learn how to do that here.
• Find a Pro Trulia Directory - Get Found by Consumers. The more details you add to your Trulia profile, the easier it will be for consumers to find you on Trulia
• See All Professionals on Trulia - Search by Best Match, Most Activity and Featured

So there you have it. We’re constantly adding new things to Trulia to better enhance your experience. So expect to see the site and all of it’s features get tweaked from time to time. Your feedback is invaluable in this process so please feel free to share your thoughts, comments, concerns and ideas with us at anytime. Leave a comment here or email me at rudy at trulia.com.

See you on Trulia Voices!

Today, we’re sharing a Trulia Testimonial blog post by Mark Wisterman, a real estate Broker/Owner of Realty World - Best Realty in Oroville, California. In his most recent Trulia blog, he talks about the recent success he and his office have had on Trulia.

According to Mark:

As a rule I am normally not a big ”endorsement” kind of guy. I am very protective of my reputation. I just feel that putting my reputation on the line to recommend a company that I do not have much experience with is not a good idea.

Today I am going to make an exception to my self imposed rule by telling you about my recent success with Trulia.

The top 5 takeaways are:

1. Featured listings showing up on the top of the first 6-7 pages for Oroville, California property results pages
2. Getting Quality Leads
3. Opened one escrow from a Trulia lead last week
4. One offer pending from a client who found Mark on Trulia
5. Mark’s office had 6 property inquires from Trulia in one day

Check out Mark’s entire - Thank You Trulia - blog post on his Trulia Voices Blog.

Thanks for sharing your Trulia experiences with us. We wish you and your entire company continued success.

If you’ve been following the Trulia Blog for the last couple of months, you probably remember that we showcased two 53 Hour Open House events by Trulia Pro Dan Polimino from Fuller Sotheby’s Realty in Denver, Colorado. In April, he got over 400 people in the door and over 1,500 unique visitors online and sold 1 of the 6 homes on the Open House tour - during a blizzard!

We followed up with Dan to see how the last 53 hour open house went:

So how did the last 53 Hour Open House go?

• 325 people came through over the three days - We were on track for more but we had tornadoes the last day
• Over 4,000 unique visitors came to 53HourOpenhouse.com to watch
• Two of the six homes on the Open House tour got offers and they are expecting another offer on house number three
• One home is under contract

How was your experience with Trulia?

• Very impressed with their willingness to help, be creative, break the mold and think out of the box.
• Appreciated very much their support via blogs, video blogs, sending coffee and pastries to the event.
• I worked with professionals that always responded on the spot and did what they said they would do when they said they were going to do it.
• Trulia provided me traffic to my web site

So How do you plan on topping the 53 Hour Open House?

We’re launching a unique First Time Home Buyer Program on July 1st.

• Educate the public that they have 6 months left to cash in on their tax credit
• First Time Home Buyers have lots of questions when it comes to buying their first home. It can be a confusing process. We built this site to answer those questions, eliminate fear and take them step by step through the process into their new home.
• We will give everyone visiting the site a chance to win their first home, up to $250,000 dollars brought to you Oakwood Homes. All they need to do is guess the correct seven numbers online and we’ll instantly tell them if they are a winner.
• We will be giving Free first time home buying seminars every month for the next six months to help people beat the deadline.

Wow! Did you hear that all you first time Colorado home buyers? On July 1st, visit the First Time Home Buyer Program website and take your 7 number guess for a chance to win a home up to $250,000.

So Do Open Houses Work?

Just like anything else, it takes a combination of things to make them successful including creativity, planning, marketing, staging, local buyer interest, awareness, demand and most of all - setting the right price from the start. Open houses have been the norm in New York City for both home buyers and listing agents but that may not be the case in Phoenix, Arizona. Local buyer and broker habits can play a key role in the success of your Open House. But above all, if you’re not doing something different and creative in your local market, something that makes you and your clients listings stand out and get noticed, your competion will.

We appreciated working with you Dan and wish you continued success in the future.

Pasadena Keller Williams Real Estate Broker and Trulia Pro, Irina Netchaev, wrote an great article in the Examiner titled - Nine stupid things buyers do to mess up their home purchase. The process of buying a home, especially for first time home buyers, can be a whirlwind of information overload. What to do? What not to do? What to know? So when I saw Irina’s post, it resonated with me and wanted to highlight her points her for our readers.

Here they are:

1. Do NOT, and I mean, absolutely do NOT, quit your job in the middle of escrow.
2. Home buyers – honestly – sometimes, you just talk too much.
3. You, the home buyer, didn’t meet with a lender for a complete consultation to get preapproved and did not set a budget for your home purchase.
4. Do not understand your mortgage choices.
5. You are not being represented by a real estate agent.
6. You saw the house, wrote the offer and never went back to check on the neighborhood.
7. You did not get the home inspected by a professional inspector.
8. You bought the most expensive house on the block
9. Review all offer terms carefully.

You can read the entire article on the Examiner.

• View most popular Questions and Blogs: On the NEW Advice and Opinions, Q&A and Blogs home pages you can now see the most popular content instead of the most recent content. This lets all visitors see, at a glance, what’s most interesting on Trulia Voices (as suggested by community behavior and feedback) and rewards high quality contributors by giving their articles and answers more prominence. If you want to see all content, just click on the links to View all Q&A or View all Blogs and you can see all recent activity as before.

• Enjoy highly localized experiences: On the top right hand side of the page you can see a list of cities. Currently this list displays the most popular locations on Trulia Voices and you can select your city, so you always have easy access to the most interesting discussions in your location.

• Easy category browsing: Categories now have a more prominent position allowing you to see what the most popular discussion topics are.

Mike Phillips, broker/owner of Century 21 All-Pro, was named the #1 real estate agent based on transaction sides in the country by the Wall Street Journal. In 2008, he accounted for an amazing 1,148 real estate transactions. For 2008, Mike is ranked #71 based on sales volume for a total of  $68.2 million - Serena Boardman from Sotheby’s International is #1 in sales volume with $255.2 million.  Many of Mike’s listings are foreclosures which accounts for the lower sales volume but nevertheless - fantastic results by anyones standards. When Mike first opened his business in 2002, he had his wife and a buyers agent helping him. Today, he has 140 agents working for his company. What a great success story - congrats Mike!

Mike on KMBC-TV via YouTube

According to the Kansas City Business Journal, “Phillips said his successful business model involves a division of labor. Phillips, who doesn’t deal with any buyers, immediately posts foreclosure listings with online bidding and multiple listing services. His agents, spread throughout the metro area and other parts of Kansas and Missouri, place signs and lockboxes at the new listings in exchange for getting their phone numbers on the signs. In addition, Phillips delegates to assistants tasks such as writing property descriptions, taking photographs and updating the listings that pour in at a rate of 40 a day.”

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike. Although he was extremely busy, he took a few minutes out of his day to talk with me which I greatly appreciated. I wanted to learn more about this thoughts on foreclosures, technology and Trulia. He didn’t dissapoint.

Rudy: How much of your business is based on foreclosures?

Mike: 1/2 of our company business is REO / foreclosures.  A few years ago it was only 1 or 2 REO / foreclosures a month.  Now it is over a hundred easy.

Rudy: What’s your #1 foreclosure tip for home buyers?

Mike: Home buyers need to be sure before going in that they are pre-approved or their deal may never even get taken seriously by the seller.

Rudy: What’s your #1 piece of advice to homeowners facing foreclosure?

Mike: Work with your mortgage holder to try and get a modification or “Short Re-Fi” done.  This is your best bet of making it all work out.

Rudy: Do you consider yourself a tech savvy Realtor®?

Mike: Technology made me what I am.  When I got started in 1999 almost no agents had a personal website.  I have at least 40 URL’s now that I use for various projects.  We use Twitter, Facebook, text messages and some specific online techniques to get our listings noticed.

Rudy: How important is marketing your listings online?

Mike: Without on-line marketing you are living in the Jurassic Age. I make sure that my listings get on dozens of websites. In multiple languages.  It is what sets you apart from the masses.

Rudy: How do your sellers feel about you marketing their listings online?

Mike: Our sellers know that we are #1 in online marketing.  The savvy sellers do their homework before they hire you. The interview is really a listing appointment for us, we have it wrapped up before we get to the house due to our heavy marketing presence.

Rudy: Has Trulia helped you sell homes?

Mike: Trulia is major asset to me. They send me qualified leads that I would not get anywhere else.

Rudy: Have you met any buyers and/or sellers via Trulia?

Mike: Trulia sends buyers my direction constantly, but because I only work with sellers, my buyers agents get the true benefit from Trulia.

Rudy: Do you use social media tools and sites such as Twitter or Facebook to connect with home buyers and sellers?

Mike: We use Twitter, Facebook, text messages and some specific online techniques to get our listings noticed.  Be careful not to become a listing troll on Facebook.  Save your posts for special properties. We like to twitter what houses are available for $100 down payments.

Rudy: As the #1 real estate agent in the country, what advice do you have for your fellow Realtors?

Mike: If you want to reach a high level of success and you are willing to do whatever is needed to reach that goal, do it in balance with your personal life.  Being #1 is no fun if you are alone.  Take your family, friends, co-workers and pets along for the ride.  They say success is a journey not a final destination, and I believe that.

Trulia Pro Dan Polimino and team from Fuller Sotheby’s Realty in Denver, Colorado is hosting the 53 Hour Open House home buying and selling marathon this weekend for the home located at 2309 South Columbine Street in Denver, Colorado and asking $1,649,000.

This weekend, we’re working with Dan and his creative team in Denver, Colorado to help them get the most quality home buyer eyeballs to their 53 Hour Open House event. Dan will be blogging on Trulia, have strategic banner ads on the site in key metros to help drive home buyers in this price range and location to the home and more. He’ll utilize a vast variety of new technology and social media tools to help spread the word and to talk w/ interested parties online and face to face. I’ll do my part as well by using various social media avenues and our Trulia iPhone Open House app.

Trulia is big on Open Houses. And so are many real estate agents, home buyers and sellers on Trulia. Our recent survey showed that home buyers are twice as likely to search for open houses online than in print. The popularity of open houses varies from market to market from both the agent and consumer side. Finding an area where there is a balance of interest and demand can help increase the success rate.

Trulia is big on creative agents and brokers who think outside the box. Last year we worked with a couple agents where we did some video in Brooklyn, New York and some open house live streaming in Healdsburg, California. If you’re interested in doing some out of the box real estate marketing, please reach out to me in the comment section here.

Big props to Dan and his team for taking the initiative to try to pull something like this off. It takes plenty of hard work, planning and dedication. Your sellers are lucky to have you represent them. Good luck this weekend finding the new home buyer!

PS. Did you know Dan had a successful “53 hour Open House” earlier this year in a blizzard?

Over the last two weeks, I had the pleasure representing Trulia at 2 real estate bar camps - #rebcden in Denver, Colorado and #rebcphl in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If you’re not sure what an rebarcamp is, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Essentially, it’s a gathering of like minded people who have a passion for real estate, marketing, technology, social media, blogging and more. Throughout the day via various breakout sessions, attendees share their knowledge, experiences, tips and strategies with each other. It’s about learning, teaching, listening, sharing, educating and gaining ideas that can help them in business and in life. It’s all about building quality relationships.

Kristal and Vali by @tboard

#rebcden

Rebarcamp Denver proved to be a huge success. Kristal Kraft, Vali Wimberly and their Denver team organized and set the stage for a smooth flowing, faced paced day of learning and sharing.

Jeff Turner wowed the crowd with his opening presentation - “I cut my own grass” - His metaphor for using what works for you in social media. There are many tools that can get the job done, but you have to decide which ones work best for you.

The wall #IRL - Wanna talk about something? Just add your topic and time to the wall

Lorelle VanFossen a.k.a. @lorelleonwp talks about blogging and Wordpress -  “Blog, Sweet Blog”

Had super conversations with Brad Hanks, a fantastic real estate and technology speaker/educator about Linkedin strategies and talked with Lorelleonwp about Woopra website analytics - already had an account and started using it more thanks to Lorelle’s class.

I talked about “The Art of Tru” - Tips and Strategies on how to best use Trulia

@tboard and @jerseydebmadey

To follow my activity at #rebcden, just click this Twitter Search  - Trulia #rebcden

#rebcphl

Kim Wood, John Lauber, Bill Lublin and the whole Philadelphia bar camp crew did a fantastic job bringing everyone together - congrats on a well done event guys!

Kim&John by Kim

The evolving day schedule….Photo by Kim Wood

#Twitterqueens on the scene

The opening ceremony presented by Kim and Bill

Always enjoy sharing great conversations w/ @julietjohnson

Candid Camera - @realtyman, @zipvogreg, @wolkia, @jamesshiner

Photo by @zipvogreg

I had a “presentconversation” where I shared real life examples and case studies of “How Trulia Uses Social Media”

Saying goodbye to friends at #rebcphl

To follow my activity at #rebcphl, just click this Twitter search - Trulia #rebcphl

I’m a fan of new technology and love testing new products and services. At #rebcphl, I tested Tweetmic, a new iPhone app that allows you to tweet your audio recordings directly from your iPhone. To put it through a real world test, I interviewed various attendees of bar camp and asked them to share one social media tip under 20 seconds or so. To listen to them all, click this twitter search link under the hashtag #trulia tweetmic - really great stuff!

It’s always great seeing old friends and making new friends. The ReBarCamp movement is something special and just seems to grow in interest and attendance with each one. If you haven’t attended one yet, go for it. The amount of information you can learn in one day is invaluable. At the end of the day, it’s about giving more than you receive. It’s all about relationships. Cherish the ones you have and nurture the new ones you make.

Hope to see you at the next one…… #rebcboston, here we come…..

P.S. - Trulia is helping host the 1st annual anniversary for #rebcsf on August 4th along with the innaugural San Francisco crew including Andy Kaufman, Brad Coy, Todd Carpenter and Ginger Wilcox.

Real Estate Newsflash:

According to Freddie Mac:

A report from the fourth quarter of 2008 shows that a growing number of homeowners are seeking lower mortgage payments through loan modification programs and mortgage refinancing.

In an effort to stabilize the housing market and help millions of American homeowners reduce their monthly mortgage payments, the federal government has launched “Making Home Affordable.” A new effort with Freddie Mac, this program offers some of the most aggressive refinancing and loan workout opportunities for financially strapped borrowers to date.

"Where the deep cuts are

Trulia Wins the 2009 Webby Award for Real Estate

Wow! After being nominated by our fans and winning the 2008 People’s Voice Webby Award last year, what a fantastic honor it is to be recognized by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for our work in the real estate space this year. We are truly humbled. Thank you!

Congrats to Hotpads for winning the 2009 People’s Voice Award and to all the other nominees in the real estate category. It was a pleasure to be in the running with you.

“The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities.

Reflecting the tremendous growth of the Internet as a tool for business and everyday lives, the 13th Annual Webby Awards expands the mission of the Webby by honoring excellence in over 100+ Website, Interactive Advertising, Online Film&Video, and Mobile Web categories.”

Team Trulia is dedicated and passionate about providing the best real estate experience to our community of home buyers, home sellers, partners and real estate professionals. Stay tuned as we launch more great user friendly features in 2009. A huge congrats to our team for a job well done. Woot!

Thanks for all your support Trulia Fans!

Trulia’s very own Pierre Calzadilla and Trulia Voice Luke Constantino recently appeared on NY1 talking about how home buyers, home sellers and real estate agents are using social networking sites like Trulia, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. Great job guys!

“What’s changed is the medium in which the consumers and the agents are connecting. And how consumers are finding information, and how agents are connecting to these consumers,” said Pierre Calzadilla of Trulia.com.”

“Facebook has become the online cocktail party. Great way to agents and consumers to connect, very light touching, not heavy selling,” said Calzadilla. “LinkedIn has become the online chamber of commerce, professional, a little more rules when you connect. Twitter is like riding the bus and hearing someone talk about real estate and can say, hey, I’m an agent and I can help you sell that home.”

“I believe less is more, it’s a social media, it’s like a lounge, they’re friends. If they want, they will contact you, they know you are in real estate,” said Constantino.”

Agents and consumers who have embraced social networking tools and sites are the ones reaping the benefits. Simply having a basic profile with you name and contact info on these sites is not enough. You need to add more details about yourself and complete your profiles as much as you can - the details matter. Most social networking sites allow you to add more details about yourself, your business, your accomplishments and your interests. Take advantage of it. Think of your profile as your resume. You wouldn’t want someone reading a blank resume now would you? On Trulia, think of your profile as your Real Estate Resume. If you’re looking to make a connection with someone, a good first impression can make all the difference in the world.

Consumers like DJ Waldow are finding their real estate agents, Michael Colvin, on Trulia Voices to help them buy and sell their homes. Some agents like Karen Fiddler, are doing extremely well on Trulia. Social networking on sites like Trulia does work!

Have you created your free Trulia Real Estate Resume yet?

When we launched our Client Listing Report feature back in March, we received rave reviews from agents. They loved being able to send their home seller clients a detailed and personalized report on how their home was doing on Trulia. It’s a great way to stay top of mind with the home seller. We also received some feedback from agents who wanted to automate the report. We listened to our real estate agent community and added automated weekly reporting.

After you log into your Trulia account, follow these steps to automate your sellers weekly reports:

Step 1: Click “Client Listing Reports” from the Quick links section

Step 2: Click the “Send now” button to send a report for your listings

Here you’ll be able to edit the recipients and frequency of the reports.

Step 3: Select the Email Weekly Check box

Enter the name and email address of your seller or sellers [you can add multiple recipients], copy yourself and select the “Email Weekly” check box.

Enter a personal message to your home seller.

See your Report:

and click “Send” when ready.

Step 4: You’ll receive a Thank You message.

Click the “Schedule Client Listing Report emails” link

Additionally:

We’ve made it very easy for any agents who have used the Client Listing Reports in the past to schedule it for all of their clients. With the click of a single link “Schedule reports for all”, they can now schedule their Client Listing Reports for all of their old contacts.

We hope you all like the new functionality. Please keep sending us your feature and product requests as we’re always looking for ways to improve your experience on Trulia.

Trulia is excited to announce that we have been nominated for the 2009 People’s Voice Webby Award. Last year, we won the 2008 People’s Voice Webby award and with your Vote, we can do it again! Trulia loves our fans and partners and sincerely thanks you for your support. Thanks to the entire Trulia team for your hard work, long hours, dedication and passion over the last year. Go team go!

According to the website, “With over 70 categories, Website entries make up the majority of Webby Awards Winners and Nominees. Some are beautiful to look at and interact with. Others are a testament to usability and functionality. And a handful excel across the board. To be selected among the best is an incredible achievement worthy of praise — and perhaps a little bragging. You will only be able to vote once in each category, so choose wisely and have fun.” You will only be able to vote once in each category, so choose wisely and have fun.

Step 1 - Visit the Webby Awards home page

Step 2 - Click Sign Up Now

Step 3 - Enter your Account Info

Step 4 - Click the confirmation link in your email to activate your account

Step 5 - Click on the Website Icon

Step 6 - Scroll down to the Services section and click Real Estate

Step 7 - Vote for Trulia by selecting the Vote radio button

Step 8 - Vote here today

Voting ends April 30th - Thanks for your Support!

Respond With Love is a Non-Profit who with the help of numerous local businesses helped build this Respond With Love Home. And now, 3 local real estate brokerages - Century 21 Select Group, Aim High Realty and The Bobhay.com Team of Better Homes&Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates - are offering assistance in selling the home. Century 21 Select is donating their services to help represent the seller - America Responds with Love while Aim High Realty will donate it’s services to help represent a handicapped person who purchases the home.

According to Maggie Flarety, Broker at Century 21 Select Group, ” We want to give back to those that have helped us. I want to give back to someone who has sacrificed and given to all who live in our country. We hopefully will be able to make his/her life a little easier.”

“We are proud to support America Responds With Love,” stated Mr. C. Dino Minervini, Chief Executive Officer of Aim High Realty of White Haven. Aim High Realty is willing to donate their services to represent a handicapped person buying this home.  “My wife and I have been involved in helping the ‘handi-capable’ in our community for a number of years. This is just another facet of what we feel the people of our country should be doing to honor those who gave so much for us to have the liberties that we enjoy. Every one of us has something that we can give or do to help a Veteran or any other handi-capable person also enjoy the freedom and pride of home ownership. It is the American Dream for EVERY American. We appreciate the opportunity to serve.”

Click here to find more information about the home.

If you have a real estate story to share with us, please email me at rudy at trulia dot com.

On my way to work today in our New York City office, I was listening to Bloomberg Surveillance on 1130 with Tom Keene and Ken Prewitt as I usually do. I got excited when I heard they would be having my friend, top NYC appraiser and all around great guy Jonathan Miller from Miller Samuel, the Matrix blog, Soapbox blog and the new Housing Helix podcast on the show. It was a great conversation about the nuances of the current state of the New York City housing market.

Listen to the entire Jonathan Miller Bloomberg Surveillance podcast here

Here are some screen shots from Twitter that I LIVE Tweeted [LIVE notes of what was being said]:

I tweeted that Jonathan Miller would be talking with Tom Keene on Bloomberg 1130 at 9am EST and Tom asked Jonathan if it was a good time to buy…..Sadly, I missed the 1st few minutes of the conversation as I just entered the Holland Tunnel

Jonathan said:

• A $1,000,000 property would be approx 25% less today than a year ago
• Inventory is up 25% in NYC

Tom asked:

What’s the lag in assessment?

Jonathan said:

At least 2-3 years

75% of housing is Co-op’s and 2/3rd’s of sales

Foreclosures less likely in Co-op’s - strict board guidelines

Jonathan said:

Market trying to find itself after September tipping point

Read Jonathan’s entire Q1 Manhattan market report here.

Co-op Fees on the Rise in Manhattan

According to the New York Times, “CO-OPS across the city have raised their maintenance charges by as much as 15 percent in recent months, and one of the main causes is rising property taxes.”

One reason is that the 7% homeowner tax cut was eliminated at the beginning of 2009. Another reason is that many multi-family properties have seen the assessed values of their properties go up. The rise in taxes means many Co-op building will pass those costs directly on to their shareholders in the form of assessments.

Traditionally, Co-op buildings have have numerous sources of revenue to help offset rises in operating costs such as direct revenue from commercial tenants in their building and from flip taxes paid by sellers or buyers. A flip tax is like a transfer tax where the seller or buyer [depends on the building] pays a % of the sales price or on the profit to the Co-op board. These funds are added to the buildings reserve fund which helps in building upkeep and operating costs. When either of these sources start to dry up, the reserve fund starts to deplete the Co-op board may implement what is known as an assessment to all of it’s shareholders to cover the costs.

“Retail tenants are all hurting,” said Richard Siegler, a lawyer who represents about 150 co-ops, “and they’re all coming to boards and asking for relief. If the economy improves, then a lot of this will go by the by, but if not, then boards will have to contemplate losing tenants, even though they’d rather not have a vacancy.”

In this economy, as sales slow and inventory rises, even some of Manhattan’s most prime Co-op buildings are starting to feel the pinch…….

Apthrop Condo Price Drop - Largest Since the Fall

The Real Deal reports that the Apthrop Condominium has slashed it’s prices per square foot from $3,000 to approximately $1,950 from last June……

“The price chop is the largest across-the-board reduction for a new condo or conversion project since the Wall Street meltdown this fall, said Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The closest contender was a recent price cut at Northside Piers in Williamsburg that averaged 20 percent.”

Click the image to see the Apthorp using Trulia’s ComprareIt!

390 West End Avenue #10A, New York NY 10024

390 West End Avenue #9DN, New York NY 10024

390 West End Avenue #10G, New York NY 10024

390 West End Avenue #9E, New York NY 10024

I would love to hear more about what New York City real estate agents and tenants are seeing and experiencing themselves…….

DJ Waldow is a homeowner and first time home seller from Durham, North Carolina who is selling his home at 11 Linganore Place, Durham NC 27707 by using Twitter and Trulia.com……

Here’s the back story:

I met DJ on Twitter back in February……

DJWaldow sent me a tweet on Twitter telling me that he found his real estate agent on Trulia Voices.

We later talked on the phone where I learned more about his story…..

DJ searched Google for real estate agents and saw Trulia for the 1st time. He liked the look of the site, did some searches and set up some alerts. He asked 4 questions on Trulia Voices, our real estate Q&A community and one local realtor, Michael Colvin,  answered 3 of them promptly and professionally – without the hard sell. DJ told me he liked the way the agent presented himself. This was what helped him make his decision when choosing his real estate agent. He emailed him through the agents profile. They set up a face to face meeting and hit it off.

He is also using Trulia to do his search for their new home in Salt Lake City.

Thus far, DJ has been using all his resources to help find a home buyer for his home. Local and mainstream media have also picked up the story as can be seen on MSNBC.

And by Anderson Cooper on CNN:

And by Durham MYNC:

DJ also shared his story on his Trulia Blog.

It’s been an amazing social media consumer experience thus far. DJ has leveraged today’s web 2.0 technology tools, Trulia’s real estate community and Twitter’s social networking platform and community to help him find his real estate agent and to spread the word about his home for sale. Let’s hope that a happy home buyer will find DJ’s home soon.

It’s been an absolute pleasure for Trulia to help DJ and his agent Michael get exposure for the home.

Thank you!

Or, just click on the CNET Webware image above to Vote for Trulia.

Thanks to our Trulia fans, last year we won the 2008 People’s Choice Webby Award….With your help, maybe we can add the CNET Webware 100 Commerce Award to our mantle

Thanks for all your support!

Here’s an excerpt from our press release:

New Innovative Tools and Features Available to Help Consumers Find Best Home Values in Time for Spring Open House Season

Building upon the company’s successes in 2008, Trulia experienced significant increases in Q1 2009 across all key traffic and user engagement metrics.  Comparing Q1 2008 to Q1 2009, visits increased by 40 percent, property views increased by close to 50 percent, and page views increased by 63 percent across home listings, stats&trends and Trulia Voices. The company’s online community, Trulia Voices, increased its registered user base by 61%, and the number of questions asked on the site was up by more than 160% from Q1 2008.

“This was by far our best quarter to date,” said Pete Flint, Trulia CEO and co-founder. “Consumers were more engaged than ever and we believe there is pent up demand as prices have reached new lows.  Everyone at Trulia is committed to providing consumers with innovative products and access to data and resources to help find the home of their dreams and to better understand the real estate values in their ideal neighborhoods as we spring into the open house season.”

As the spring buying season approaches, Trulia has rolled out several new innovative features across the site that will help consumers find the perfect home faster and ultimately be better informed before purchasing.  Trulia’s new tools focus on consumers’ individual needs, providing increased convenience and delivering unique local insight.

Specific Product Features:
Compare It! – Allows consumers to compare up to five different properties side-by-side. Users can see all the key attributes of each listing and then eliminate the properties they don’t like and save the ones they do like for future reference.  Comparing homes side-by-side is the best way to see all the key attributes from price per square foot to the size of the lot and then make an educated decision on what property suits you best and delivers the best value.  Compare It! is also a great way to determine how home values might be affected by comparables – both listings and recently sold properties – in specific neighborhoods.

Find a Pro – Makes finding a real estate professional much easier. Trulia currently has over 350,000 active real estate agents in its professional directory, as well as other real estate professionals such as brokers, lenders, appraisers, stagers and more. Users can easily find real estate agents based on location, profile, and local insight. The Find a Pro tool also allows consumers to see the contributions the professional has made to the Trulia Voices community to help determine if they are the right expert for them.

Trulia Mobile – Trulia’s iPhone application is the most downloaded real estate application on the iPhone.   Find an open house, email an agent, call an agent or get directions all with this simple easy to use application.  Trulia mobile is also available on multiple platforms for a number of devices including the BlackBerry and Nokia smart phones.

Foreclosure Center- Provides users with an easy way to find foreclosure bargains, recent news, trends and expert foreclosure advice. With rising foreclosures across the country, understanding the foreclosure crisis is key for both buyers and sellers.

In Q1 2009, Trulia also announced a partnership with The Washington Post to build a co-branded site that will enable users to easily refine their search results based on relevant criteria like open houses, neighborhood, price, property type, new listings and more. Users will be able to view detailed maps, local price trends, property descriptions and other useful information to help them make informed decisions about buying or selling a property. The co-branded site will launch in Q2 2009.  During Q1 2009, more than 170 websites offered their users co-branded real estate search via Trulia’s Publisher Platform.

Trulia is proud to be attending the 2009 Prudential Real Estate conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you’ll be in town, please visit our booth as we’d love to talk to some of our favorite clients.

You can also follow us - @trulia, @nypierre, @seanblack, @apurva212 -  and the conference on Twitter by entering #prulv on Twitter Search. If you’ll be tweeting, please use #prulv in your Twitter updates so we can follow you too.

Have a great show everyone!

1. Pick a subject or topic that you are an expert in and you think consumers want to learn more about - e.g. How to Buy a Foreclosure, How Do I Pick the Right Neighborhood for Me and My Family, How to Best Negotiate Home Prices, How to Renovate My Home to Double its Value, etc...... You get the idea!
2. Write the post on your Trulia Blog and select the "How To" category
3. Comment on THIS blog post and share the link to your blog post here too

According to BizJournals, the husband of Real Estate Broker Carol North of C.A. North Realty in Clifton Park, New York recently won $5 million from a scratch-off New York State Lottery game. Some asked her if she would close her real estate brokerage because of the winnings.

Carol said, “Some people seem to think we’re closing the business, but we’re not.”

Instead, she will close one of her two offices and support the 11 agents she has in her Malta office. She didn’t want to close up shop in these difficult times even though the agents all could go to another office. A good move as a principal broker which shows she cares about her agents.

After taxes, it’s not really all that much money anyways. Would that be enough to entice you to stop what you are doing, quit work, retire or take a new path with your new found wealth? Or would you still have the drive to continue doing what you’re doing?

It does beg the question of, What would you do if you won $5 million dollars today?

According to WCVB TV - thebostonchannel.com, starting in May, the town of Shirley, Massachusetts is thinking of charging real estate agents and others $25 for each “for sale” yard sign they display in the community. Shirley is trying to close the gap on a $1.17 Million deficit. Is this the best way to do it?

Watch the WCVB TV Coverage by clicking the image above or here

Local RE/MAX Colonial real estate agent and Trulia Pro Mark Tavenner says, “I may put up 15-20 signs every weekend. Every weekend I’ll write a check?”

Watch the WBZ TV Video Clip by clicking the image above or this Link

Traditionally, real estate agents and brokers have used their for sale signs as a way to help market their home sellers home, their company brand and themselves. It’s been a staple in many real estate bokers offline marketing budgets as it helps drive home buyers to the home or open house. Now, the ROI can be debated but from my experience and from speaking with a number of agents over the years, it’s one form of traditional offline marketing that I think is here to stay.

But, if a permanent fee were to be imposed for each for sale sign, would brokers and agents reconsider using the signs? I’m not so sure they would. Would they pass the cost along to their sellers or possibly include it as one of their marketing expenses?

As a real estate agent, would you pay your town $25 to display a “for sale” yard sign?

Are you a home buyer or home seller looking for a local real estate agent to help you buy or sell a home? Maybe you’re looking for a mortgage broker to help you get Pre-qualified for a mortgage. Today we announce some new Find a Pro functionality that will make finding a real estate professional on Trulia much easier.

Currently, we have over 350,000 real estate agents in our directory. We also have numerous other professionals such as brokers, lenders, appraisers, stagers, and more. These are the early stages of the directory and we look forward to seeing it grow in the months ahead.

Step 1. Visit the Trulia Voices Home Page and Click “Members”

Step 2. Click "Find a Real Estate Pro"

Step 3. You’ll See our new Real Estate Professional Search Directory

Step 3. You can enter your Location such as “New York, NY”, leave everything else default, click search and see all the pro’s we have in New York, NY

Or, for example, you can fine tune your search and Select only members who have classified themselves as “Brokers”

And get these New York, NY Broker results:

Looking for a Real Estate Agents in New York, NY who have experience with Co-op’s? Just enter the information as seen below and then click “Search”

To make sure we match you with the best person, you are able to sort the results by:

1. Best match: Prioritizes professionals with complete profiles, and high quality contributions on Trulia Voices

2. Most activity: Prioritizes the Trulia Voices enthousiasts who spend days and nights spreading their knowledge and offering advice to consumers in need (available on march 19th)

3. Featured: Prioritizes the professionals who are Trulia Pro subscribers and among other benefits they have ‘special’ promotion on their listings

Search by Type and Most Popular City

We’ve also prominently highlighted the both the Types of real estate professionals we have and the Most Popular Cities where are professionals are located.

But wait, there’s more. We’ve also highlighted the Top Contributors of the Week to give home buyers and home sellers a better idea of who has been the most active on Trulia. Additionally, we wanted to showcase our great community members prominently and thank them for their participation in the community. It’s great way for both consumers and for our professional members to meet.

Want to see which community members have been the Most Active of All Time on Trulia?

Here’s a sneak peek at the Top 5:

We at Trulia love seeing consumers and professionals connect. Consumers are not only looking for a home and information about real estate but in many instances, a real estate professional who can help them every step of the way. Home buyers and sellers ask questions on Trulia because they want a direct answer. From feedback we received, it’s pretty clear that consumers are looking for a local neighborhood expert who they Trust.

Consumers are Reading Your Trulia Real Estate Resume

When a real estate agent or other real estate professional creates their profile on Trulia, they’re essentially creating their Real Estate Resume. It’s so important to all the pro’s reading this to make sure that you complete all the fields of your profile as you wouldn’t go into a job interview with a piece of paper that only had your name and contact information on it. That just wouldn’t help you land that dream job you’ve been searching for. The same holds true for your Trulia profile - please give consumers all the pertinent information about yourself as you can so they can make better informed decisions when picking their next real estate pro to work with.

Cool new Feature: We highlight your contributions within search - It’s an easy way for a consumer to see who’s been active in a variety of ways on Trulia. See Arn Cenedella’s Trulia Real Estate Resume

Tip: Get Proactive - Every question you ask and answer and blog post you write on Trulia Voices appears on your profile. This creates a central repository of information and highlights your knowledge in one central location. Beleive me, consumers do read your questions, answers and blogs. So make sure to join the conversation within the community.

Find a Pro Your Way

As you can see, there are a wide variety of ways you can search for a real estate professional on Trulia.  The goal of the directory is to help you more easily find a real estate professional based on your wants and needs. So try different searches for the qualities you are looking for in your next real estate agent or mortgage broker.

Good luck to all!

Have you created your Trulia Real Estate Resume Yet?

Start yours here today

Now that you’re a Trulia Pro, it’s time to learn how to make the most of it.

1. Featuring your Listings - If you have active real estate listings, depending on your plan, you can feature them so they appear prominently in matching search results on Trulia. This will increase the traffic to you and your clients listings on Trulia approximately 4-7 times and get 3 times the leads.

Strategy: When meeting with a home seller during a home listing presentation, make sure to highlight that you are a Trulia Pro who will provide their home 4-7 times more exposure for their home  - a great selling point.

2. Custom Spotlight Ad - You get to create a custom Spotlight Ad which is like a Billboard Ad on the highway. This custom ad can be changed on the fly and an unlimited amount of times. You can place it in 20 unique locations on Trulia based on the specific geography you choose such as City and State, Zip Code or even down to the Neighborhood level.

Strategy: A. Create a unique eye catching Trulia Spotlight Ad - You only get a short window to get someones attention. The headline is the most important part of your ad. Some of the greatest results we’ve found is when agents promote their Listing or Open House.

If you just listed the home, use something like “Just Listed in SOHO” or “Open House 12-2pm Today”

If you’re a Buyers Agent, you could create an ad that says you’re the local buyers agent specialist - “Laguna Beach Buyers Agent” The key is to try different copy to see what works for you.

B. Search all of the Cities, Zip codes and Neighborhoods in your primary geographic area of expertise  on Trulia to see who already is a Trulia Pro. Check the featured listings and the Spotlight ads in the right rail/sidebar. If no one appears in either of the two allocated spotlight ads as seen below, it’s a great opportunity for you to get maximum exposure as the only person in that market. Then, select those top 5 locations/markets to showcase your spotlight ad.

C. Do you work with Relo’s or commuters? If so, use your Spotlight Ad to target these specific home buyers or sellers. If you’re home buyers are relocating from Los Angeles, California to Austin, Texas, you may want to place your ad in Los Angeles. Or if you’re home selling market is Hoboken, New Jeresey, you can target home buyers in Manhattan who may be looking to get more home for their dollar by commuting to work in NYC. Place your Spotlight Ad in strategic Zip codes and Neighborhoods in Manhattan. Some Westchester agents from Houlihan Lawerence are using this very strategy for their market….Can you find them in Manhattan?

3. Spotlight Stats - Track and Measure - Once you have selected the top locations in your area, you can now start to track and measure the results of your campaign across all the locations you have selected.

Strategy: Eliminate the locations that are not producing. Through trial and error, you should be able to narrow down the markets that produce results for your ads.

4. Personalized Client Listing Report - Each Trulia Pro can send their clients a personalized listing report for their listing showing how many clicks and views it has had on Trulia during the week and overall since it’s been on Trulia.

Strategy: Make sure you highlight this to your potential sellers and current seller clients. It’s a great way to keep them in the loop about how their home is doing doing on Trulia.

5. Select the Source of your Listing - Finally, as a Trulia Pro, if you have listings on Trulia, now you can select the destination URL of where we point consumers to - e.g. your listing on your broker site, your blog site, your personal website etc…. So if we receive your listing from multiple sources, now you choose and have control where the consumer will be directed. Sol, one of our fantastic Customer Service reps has a great post on it here called Real Estate Agents - Change the linked web site for your listings on Trulia

A. Select Change link on your listing

B. Choose the source

There you have it. We hope these strategies will help you become a better Trulia Pro.

If you have any tips or strategies that have worked for you, we’d love to hear about them.

Art Mullen, a real estate agent with Wilkinson&Associates Real Estate in Charlotte, North Carolina caught his former boss and fellow Realtor® Daniel LaFranca on video destroying his property For Sale signs. Art had numerous custom for sale sign made for his 500downproperties.com website. When he found most of them damaged or destroyed, he gathered some friends to help him set up video surveillance to help catch the perpetrator. Together, they did.

Video Courtesy of KSL

Real estate can be a very competitive business and some would even go as far to call it a bloodsport, but in today’s economy, some people are going overboard. Rather than badmouthing a competing agent or damaging their property, the best thing you can do is focus on you. Make yourself better first. Market smarter. Be social. Engage your community. Keep learning. Share your knowledge. The more you take control of your own personal and professional sitiuation the better results you’ll get.

“I think it’s a sign of the times,” said Mullen.

This case is a perfect example of what not to do in business and in life. Sadly, Daniel went a little too far because of his past bumpy relationship with Art and was trying to smear him and his business. In the end, Daniel is the one that got smeared. If you Google his name, Daniel LaFranca Jr. , the entire first page, last time I checked, shows all the negative news media stories about his thoughtless act of vengeance. What’s worse is that when reporters asked Daniel if he did it he said, “Not that I know of.” How do you think this will affect his real estate business today and in the future? Not good at all.

Remember, the internet never forgets. Virtually everything you say or do can be seen by millions with one simple search. This is something to think about for those who publicly chastize their competitors whether blatantly or subtly. Looking back at his actions, it’s something Daniel LaFranca might be thinking about.

If you have purchased a Maytag Refrigerator between January 2001 and January 2004 within the $350-$1,600 price range, your refrigerator may be one of the 1.6 million on the recall list.

According to CNN Money:

Maytag, which was bought by Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) in 2007, said the recall affected Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa and Crosley brand side-by-side and top-freezer refrigerators. Refrigerators with freezers on the bottom aren’t included in the recall.

The company said an electrical failure in the units’ relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator’s compressor, can cause overheating and a fire hazard. It said it has received 41 reports of relay ignitions, including 16 reports of property damage, including smoke damage.

Today on MSNBC reports the model and serial numbers in the recall list:

On side-by-side refrigerators, serial numbers ending in AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR, AT, AV, AX, CA, CC, CE, CG, CJ, CL, ZB, ZD, ZF, ZH, ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU, ZW, ZY and ZZ, and model numbers beginning with ARS, CS, JC, JS, MS, MZ and PS.

On top-freezer refrigerators, serial numbers ending in AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR, AT, AV, AX, ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU, ZW, ZY and ZZ, and model numbers beginning with AT, CT, MT and PT.

Nadya Suleman, A.K.A. Octo-Mom, looks like she’ll be closing on a new 4 Bedroom, 3 Bath Single Family home soon listed by Prudential California Realty agent Mahesh Mike Patel at $564,900 and located at 2051 Madonna Lane, La Habra CA 90631.

Property details for 2051 Madonna Lane as found on Trulia.com:

Cul De Sac home in the desirable area of La Habra. Main Floor Bedroom and bath. Well kept home with a large yard with a fence. Ample parking on the streets. This house also has a separate living room, dining room, family room and laundry room.Tile roof. The large master bedroom has a walk in closet. The large backyard has a patio and enough room to add a pool! The house also features high ceilings, tiles in the entry and other areas. House is in move in condition. This is a regular sale, no banks are involved in the sale. Price Reduced! Seller may provide help with closing costs and give other buyer incentives.

The newly famous mother of 14 has had some good fortune come her way from the announcement of the birth her precious octuplets. Reports have her getting deals left and right for her story. According to USNews.com, the home will be purchased in her fathers name and the down payment will be significant. The La Times Blog reports that Angels in Waiting will provide Nadya and all her kids with free child care worth approximately $135,000 per month.

See the YouTube Video below:

As a father of 3 precious children under 3 myself, I understand the joy and the challenges that come with raising them in a safe and happy environment. So when I saw the size of the home that Nadya was planning on buying my wife and I wondered how the heck they will manage in that space. Sure, it’s approximately 2,445 sf of living space but is that really enough to raise her 6 older kids, not to mention her 8 newborns? Time will tell. Even the Gosselin’s, known as John and Kate Plus 8, who have 8 children have a larger home according to Associated Content, “John and Kate’s new house was listed as a 5 bedroom home with 5 full baths and 2 half baths. It has 6200 square feet of living space and was built in 1998. It is Wernersville, PA.”

Via Youtube

According to The Huffington Post, her older children are already having a difficult time with the new situation. Nadya said her older children are “Externalizing their anger. Internalizing it. They become more withdrawn and get a little more sad.” Sure, the media spotlight and frenzy plays a large role in that but I can only imagine how claustrophobic they must feel. Personally, my wife and I both see how important it is to give each of our children quality time and attention. It’s crucial in these early stages of life to be there for each individual child to show them love. Some parents complain about the terrible two’s as that’s the age when most kids supposedly “act out” or become temperamental. We have found it to be the opposite. It’s a time when kids want to share their feelings or emotions but haven’t yet developed the ability to do so. So when I read about what her older kids are feeling, I understand - it’s a very tough situation all around.

Good luck to Octo-Mom Nadya and the whole Suleman family!

American Idol has a new Top 13 - Kris Allen, Megan Joy Corkrey, Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud, Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace, Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Scott MacIntyre, Jasmine Murray, Jorge Nuñez, Lil Rounds and Michael Sarver.

Who’s your favorite American Idol from the Top 13?

Did you know that each of the Top 13 American Idol’s has a Facebook fan page? Just click on their names above to see who’s the most popular today with the most fans. I wonder if in years past,whether the amount of fans each Idol had at this stage in the game was an early indicator of a front runner or potential winner?

In our recent Consumer Engagement post, we identified the Top 10 most searched cities on Trulia. In case the winner of American Idol wants to know what Cities other consumers are searching for the most on Trulia, well, here ya go. Just make sure that you don’t get over your head and buy too much home as one famous Idol has done in the past - Fantasia Barrino.

January 2009: Top 10 Most Popular Searched Cities

1.    Chicago, IL
2.    New York, NY
3.    Brooklyn, NY
4.    Los Angeles, CA
5.    San Francisco, CA
6.    San Diego, CA
7.    Philadelphia, PA
8.    Miami, FL
9.    Queens, NY
10.    Las Vegas, NV

Good luck Idols!!!

Last night, our CEO, Pete Flint was interviewed by CBS 5 News at our San Francisco Trulia home base for their evening report - Mortgage Help for Bay Area May be Small.  He talked about how homeowners can compare active and sold properties in their neighborhood on Trulia with our new property comparison tool - CompareIt!.

Thanks for the interview CBS 5 News!

Here’s how CompareIt! works:

1. Start your search by by entering a Zip Code or City and State and other search criteria

2. Select up to 5 properties to compare by selecting the check box next to each property

3. Click this Check box

4. As you add the properties, you will see them organized like this

5. When you're ready to compare real estate, click CompareIt!

6. Here you’ll find a side-by-side comparison of each properties key attributes to compare

7. Click “Save” to save the properties you like

8. Your saved properties will appear in your “My Saved Homes” section of your Trulia Profile for easy reference

Try CompareIt! today

Please let us know what you think. Happy searching…..

Update:

Compare Resale, New Construction, Foreclosures and Recently Sold Homes

Just select the Listing Type:

Thanks to Katherine Boehret for reviewing Trulia on the Wall Street Journal’s Mossberg Solution - A Go-To Web Site for Buyers. By listening to the wants and needs of consumers and real estate agents, the entire team at Trulia works extremely hard to incorporate their feedback into the site. It’s all about creating the best user experience possible. Something that we are very happy to see paying off.

Some of the features that Katherine got a lot out of included:

• Neighborhood Maps - A granular look at neighborhoods
• Asking questions on Trulia Voices - Questions were answered within 20 minutes
• Trulia’s iPhone app for Open House Search - GPS enabled mobile real estate search
• Trulia Newsfeed  - Your real estate property and information RSS feed
• Email Alerts - Get Property, Open Houses, Trulia Voices Q&A and Search alerts at your convenience
• CompareIt! - A brand New Trulia feature where you can compare up to 5 properties side-by-side - Blog post coming later today.

Katherine said:

"Another big plus to Trulia is Newsfeed, a list that shows up on the home page with content that’s automatically generated and personalized according to your past search locations. It is updated every day and spits out stats like the number of price reductions, open houses and new listings in an area. It shows an area’s average listing price, median sales price, number of foreclosures and average price per square foot, among other things. These data are a boon for people who don’t have the time or inclination to look this stuff up, and it aggregates the data into one intelligible, quick snapshot."

Many consumers on Trulia Voices asked us this question, and many real estate pros felt that such description is not quite specific enough...

So, in a true-lia fashion, we listened to your feedback and we added 10 real estate pro types that better demonstrate the area of expertise for the Real Estate Pro members of our community.

Choose the Profesisonal Type that describes you best:

• Agent
• Broker
• Mortgage Broker or Lender
• Appraiser
• Home Inspector
• Contractor
• Builder/Developer
• Stager
• Property Manager
• Other Pro

Once you specify the 'type of pro' that best describes you, it will appear on your profile. Progressively this info will be available throughout the site, everywhere where your photo appears, so consumers can easily understand what your area of expertise is when you answer a question, or post a blog.

How can you take advantage of this functionality?

1. Login to your Trulia Profile

2. Click edit personal info

3. Select what describes you the best from the 'Pro Type' drop down

Thanks again to everyone in the community who shared their feedback with us. As always, we're listening :)

Everyone's Voice Counts!

Source

Have you ever wanted to add your Trulia Profile URL on your business card? How about in your email signature? On a t-shirt? Did you find the url to be too long? If so, I think you’ll be happy because today we announce the new Trulia Vanity Url. Now you can customize your Trulia Profile any way you like. You can add your first name, full name, company, title or even a slogan. The choice is yours. We listened to your feedback and made your wish a reality.

1. Log in to your Trulia Profile

2. Click edit personal info

3. Create your unique and personalized Trulia Voices Url in the Public Profile section

4. Click Save

To be different, I used my title - Social Media Guru

Before, my Trulia Url looked like this - http://www.trulia.com/voices/profile/Real_Estate_Pro-12345-123456/

Now, it looks like this - so pretty - http://www.trulia.com/profile/social_media_guru/

Our CEO Pete Flint used his first name = short and memorable

http://www.trulia.com/profile/pete

So, how will you personalize your Trulia Profile Url? Please let us know by leaving a link here to your new profile and/or write a blog post announcing your new Vanity Url on your Trulia Blog and leave that link here.

Log in now to claim your Trulia Vanity URL

Update:

Thanks to Jeff Link for suggesting the option of using a keyword to personalize your Trulia Vanity URL.

Full Text of President Obama’s Speech Today - February 18 2009 - I’m here today to talk about a crisis unlike any we’ve ever known – but one that you know very well here in Mesa, and throughout the Valley. In Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs, the American Dream is being tested by a home mortgage crisis that not only threatens the stability of our economy but also the stability of families and neighborhoods. It is a crisis that strikes at the heart of the middle class: the homes in which we invest our savings, build our lives, raise our families, and plant roots in our communities.

So many Americans have shared with me their personal experiences of this crisis. Many have written letters or emails or shared their stories with me at rallies and along rope lines. Their hardship and heartbreak are a reminder that while this crisis is vast, it begins just one house – and one family – at a time.

It begins with a young family – maybe in Mesa, or Glendale, or Tempe – or just as likely in suburban Las Vegas, Cleveland, or Miami. They save up. They search. They choose a home that feels like the perfect place to start a life. They secure a fixed-rate mortgage at a reasonable rate, make a down payment, and make their mortgage payments each month. They are as responsible as anyone could ask them to be.

But then they learn that acting responsibly often isn’t enough to escape this crisis. Perhaps someone loses a job in the latest round of layoffs, one of more than three and a half million jobs lost since this recession began – or maybe a child gets sick, or a spouse has his or her hours cut.

In the past, if you found yourself in a situation like this, you could have sold your home and bought a smaller one with more affordable payments. Or you could have refinanced your home at a lower rate. But today, home values have fallen so sharply that even if you made a large down payment, the current value of your mortgage may still be higher than the current value of your house. So no bank will return your calls, and no sale will return your investment.

You can’t afford to leave and you can’t afford to stay. So you cut back on luxuries. Then you cut back on necessities. You spend down your savings to keep up with your payments. Then you open the retirement fund. Then you use the credit cards. And when you’ve gone through everything you have, and done everything you can, you have no choice but to default on your loan. And so your home joins the nearly six million others in foreclosure or at risk of foreclosure across the country, including roughly 150,000 right here in Arizona.

But the foreclosures which are uprooting families and upending lives across America are only one part of this housing crisis. For while there are millions of families who face foreclosure, there are millions more who are in no danger of losing their homes, but who have still seen their dreams endangered. They are families who see “For Sale” signs lining the streets. Who see neighbors leave, and homes standing vacant, and lawns slowly turning brown. They see their own homes – their largest single assets – plummeting in value. One study in Chicago found that a foreclosed home reduces the price of nearby homes by as much as 9 percent. Home prices in cities across the country have fallen by more than 25 percent since 2006; in Phoenix, they’ve fallen by 43 percent.

Even if your neighborhood hasn’t been hit by foreclosures, you’re likely feeling the effects of the crisis in other ways. Companies in your community that depend on the housing market – construction companies and home furnishing stores, painters and landscapers – they’re cutting back and laying people off. The number of residential construction jobs has fallen by more than a quarter million since mid-2006. As businesses lose revenue and people lose income, the tax base shrinks, which means less money for schools and police and fire departments. And on top of this, the costs to a local government associated with a single foreclosure can be as high as $20,000.

The effects of this crisis have also reverberated across the financial markets. When the housing market collapsed, so did the availability of credit on which our economy depends. As that credit has dried up, it has been harder for families to find affordable loans to purchase a car or pay tuition and harder for businesses to secure the capital they need to expand and create jobs.

In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen – a crisis which is unraveling homeownership, the middle class, and the American Dream itself. But if we act boldly and swiftly to arrest this downward spiral, every American will benefit. And that’s what I want to talk about today.

The plan I’m announcing focuses on rescuing families who have played by the rules and acted responsibly: by refinancing loans for millions of families in traditional mortgages who are underwater or close to it; by modifying loans for families stuck in sub-prime mortgages they can’t afford as a result of skyrocketing interest rates or personal misfortune; and by taking broader steps to keep mortgage rates low so that families can secure loans with affordable monthly payments.

At the same time, this plan must be viewed in a larger context. A lost home often begins with a lost job. Many businesses have laid off workers for a lack of revenue and available capital. Credit has become scarce as the markets have been overwhelmed by the collapse of securities backed by failing mortgages. In the end, the home mortgage crisis, the financial crisis, and this broader economic crisis are interconnected. We cannot successfully address any one of them without addressing them all.

Yesterday, in Denver, I signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which will create or save three and a half million jobs over the next two years – including 70,000 in Arizona – doing the work America needs done. We will also work to stabilize, repair, and reform our financial system to get credit flowing again to families and businesses. And we will pursue the housing plan I am outlining today.

Through this plan, we will help between seven and nine million families restructure or refinance their mortgages so they can avoid foreclosure. And we are not just helping homeowners at risk of falling over the edge, we are preventing their neighbors from being pulled over that edge too – as defaults and foreclosures contribute to sinking home values, failing local businesses, and lost jobs.

But I also want to be very clear about what this plan will not do: It will not rescue the unscrupulous or irresponsible by throwing good taxpayer money after bad loans. It will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell. It will not help dishonest lenders who acted irresponsibility, distorting the facts and dismissing the fine print at the expense of buyers who didn’t know better. And it will not reward folks who bought homes they knew from the beginning they would never be able to afford. In short, this plan will not save every home.

But it will give millions of families resigned to financial ruin a chance to rebuild. It will prevent the worst consequences of this crisis from wreaking even greater havoc on the economy. And by bringing down the foreclosure rate, it will help to shore up housing prices for everyone. According to estimates by the Treasury Department, this plan could stop the slide in home prices due to neighboring foreclosures by up to $6,000 per home.

Here is how my plan works:

First, we will make it possible for an estimated four to five million currently ineligible homeowners who receive their mortgages through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to refinance their mortgages at lower rates.

Today, as a result of declining home values, millions of families are “underwater,” which means they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. These families are unable to sell their homes, and unable to refinance them. So in the event of a job loss or another emergency, their options are limited.

Right now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the institutions that guarantee home loans for millions of middle class families – are generally not permitted to guarantee refinancing for mortgages valued at more than 80 percent of the home’s worth. So families who are underwater – or close to being underwater – cannot turn to these lending institutions for help.

My plan changes that by removing this restriction on Fannie and Freddie so that they can refinance mortgages they already own or guarantee. This will allow millions of families stuck with loans at a higher rate to refinance. And the estimated cost to taxpayers would be roughly zero; while Fannie and Freddie would receive less money in payments, this would be balanced out by a reduction in defaults and foreclosures.

I also want to point out that millions of other households could benefit from historically low interest rates if they refinance, though many don’t know that this opportunity is available to them – an opportunity that could save families hundreds of dollars each month. And the efforts we are taking to stabilize mortgage markets will help these borrowers to secure more affordable terms, too.

Second, we will create new incentives so that lenders work with borrowers to modify the terms of sub-prime loans at risk of default and foreclosure.

Sub-prime loans – loans with high rates and complex terms that often conceal their costs – make up only 12 percent of all mortgages, but account for roughly half of all foreclosures.

Right now, when families with these mortgages seek to modify a loan to avoid this fate, they often find themselves navigating a maze of rules and regulations but rarely finding answers. Some sub-prime lenders are willing to renegotiate; many aren’t. Your ability to restructure your loan depends on where you live, the company that owns or manages your loan, or even the agent who happens to answer the phone on the day you call.

My plan establishes clear guidelines for the entire mortgage industry that will encourage lenders to modify mortgages on primary residences. Any institution that wishes to receive financial assistance from the government, and to modify home mortgages, will have to do so according to these guidelines – which will be in place two weeks from today.

If lenders and homebuyers work together, and the lender agrees to offer rates that the borrower can afford, we’ll make up part of the gap between what the old payments were and what the new payments will be. And under this plan, lenders who participate will be required to reduce those payments to no more than 31 percent of a borrower’s income. This will enable as many as three to four million homeowners to modify the terms of their mortgages to avoid foreclosure.

So this part of the plan will require both buyers and lenders to step up and do their part. Lenders will need to lower interest rates and share in the costs of reduced monthly payments in order to prevent another wave of foreclosures. Borrowers will be required to make payments on time in return for this opportunity to reduce those payments.

I also want to be clear that there will be a cost associated with this plan. But by making these investments in foreclosure-prevention today, we will save ourselves the costs of foreclosure tomorrow – costs borne not just by families with troubled loans, but by their neighbors and communities and by our economy as a whole. Given the magnitude of these costs, it is a price well worth paying.

Third, we will take major steps to keep mortgage rates low for millions of middle class families looking to secure new mortgages.

Today, most new home loans are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which guarantee loans and set standards to keep mortgage rates low and to keep mortgage financing available and predictable for middle class families. This function is profoundly important, especially now as we grapple with a crisis that would only worsen if we were to allow further disruptions in our mortgage markets.

Therefore, using the funds already approved by Congress for this purpose, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve will continue to purchase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities so that there is stability and liquidity in the marketplace. Through its existing authority Treasury will provide up to $200 billion in capital to ensure that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can continue to stabilize markets and hold mortgage rates down.

We’re also going to work with Fannie and Freddie on other strategies to bolster the mortgage markets, like working with state housing finance agencies to increase their liquidity. And as we seek to ensure that these institutions continue to perform what is a vital function on behalf of middle class families, we also need to maintain transparency and strong oversight so that they do so in responsible and effective ways.

Fourth, we will pursue a wide range of reforms designed to help families stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure.

My administration will continue to support reforming our bankruptcy rules so that we allow judges to reduce home mortgages on primary residences to their fair market value – as long as borrowers pay their debts under a court-ordered plan. That’s the rule for investors who own two, three, and four homes. It should be the rule for ordinary homeowners too, as an alternative to foreclosure.

In addition, as part of the recovery plan I signed into law yesterday, we are going to award $2 billion in competitive grants to communities that are bringing together stakeholders and testing new and innovative ways to prevent foreclosures. Communities have shown a lot of initiative, taking responsibility for this crisis when many others have not. Supporting these neighborhood efforts is exactly what we should be doing.

Taken together, the provisions of this plan will help us end this crisis and preserve for millions of families their stake in the American Dream. But we must also acknowledge the limits of this plan.

Our housing crisis was born of eroding home values, but also of the erosion of our common values. It was brought about by big banks that traded in risky mortgages in return for profits that were literally too good to be true; by lenders who knowingly took advantage of homebuyers; by homebuyers who knowingly borrowed too much from lenders; by speculators who gambled on rising prices; and by leaders in our nation’s capital who failed to act amidst a deepening crisis.

So solving this crisis will require more than resources – it will require all of us to take responsibility. Government must take responsibility for setting rules of the road that are fair and fairly enforced. Banks and lenders must be held accountable for ending the practices that got us into this crisis in the first place. Individuals must take responsibility for their own actions. And all of us must learn to live within our means again.

These are the values that have defined this nation. These are values that have given substance to our faith in the American Dream. And these are the values that we must restore now at this defining moment.

It will not be easy. But if we move forward with purpose and resolve – with a deepened appreciation for how fundamental the American Dream is and how fragile it can be when we fail in our collective responsibilities – then I am confident we will overcome this crisis and once again secure that dream for ourselves and for generations to come.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God bless America.

- President Barack Obama

No, Michael Jackson is not having a garage sale, he’s having a personal property auction.

According to Julien’s Auctions:

“This monumental five-day auction to be conducted by Julien’s Auctions April 21st-25th, 2009 at 9900 Wilshire Boulevard adjacent to the legendary Beverly Hilton Hotel, offers an astounding array of Fine & Decorative Art items, paintings and life size bronze and marble sculptures to Memorabilia from the Life&Career of Michael Jackson. The auction also includes Amusements, Arcade Games & Disneyana, Entertainment Memorabilia and Garden Statuary Furniture from the personal collection of Michael Jackson with a portion of the proceeds benefiting MusiCares®, a charity of The Recording Academy®. Auction Network will broadcast the auction live on national television and stream video of the auction online providing fans all over the world a front row seat to watch and bid in real time on the items up for sale.”

I wonder who's going to get the white glove?

Valentine’s Day - Got Love? Our Trulia Voices real estate community sure does. We asked our Voices what features couples think are the most important to have in their home in order to maintain a happy, loving and passionate relationship. Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts with us.

Here’s what they had to say....

The Top 10 features to ensure love lasts, according to the Trulia Voices community include:

1. Dual sinks in the master bath
2. Jacuzzi tub made for two
3. His and Hers closets
4. A “man” room for his stuff
5. A large kitchen island
6. A bedroom big enough for a king size bed
7. Water views for sunrises and sunsets
8. Bright and airy spaces
9. Storage, storage, storage
10. Fireplace

Foreclosures are a popular subject on Trulia. Our Trulia Voices real estate community has many real estate experts who have a deep understanding about all aspects of the Foreclosure process. Some of you have written some great blog posts while others have provided excellent answers in the comment section. We want to make all your current and future content easily discoverable on Trulia by creating a Foreclosure Glossary.

Here’s the skinny:

• We’ve created some key foreclosure terms for the community to blog about
• Select the foreclosure terms that you are most knowledgeable in - one blog post per term
• Use one of the suggested terms as your subject line ex. ‘Absolute auction’
• We’ll review all the blog posts for each term and select the best post which will get featured in the glossary
• Best posts will be selected by a combination of Thumbs up and by our judges at Realty Trac
• First review will start on Feb 24th. More reviews will happen on a monthly basis, so the best posts will get the chance to be included on the glossary
• Each post in the Foreclosure Glossary will include the name of the author and a link to your profile

With the help of the community, we look forward to creating a go to source of foreclosure information for consumers and professionals. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, please share them with us.

Update: How to Contribute to the Trulia Foreclosure Glossary

• Select the term or terms you're most knowledgeable in
• Write a blog post on your Trulia Blog
• 1 term per post
• Use that Term and State for the Headline of your Blog Post - e.g. Absolute Auction - New Jersey
• Select the "Category" Foreclosure
• Select your "Location" - Tell us what State we should add your Blog post to
• If your State has a variation of a term we listed, use that for your Blog post title
• Did we miss a term? Please leave a comment here and we'll add it......

Trulia Foreclosure Glossary Terms:

Absolute auction
Absolute net lease
Abstract (abstract of title)
Acceleration clause
Adjustable rate mortgage
Amortization
Assessor
Awaiting Update
Bankruptcy
Beneficiary
Bid authorization letter
Breach
Debt service
Declaration of Default
Deed in lieu of foreclosure
Deed of Trust
Deferred payment mortgage
Delinquency
Equity build-up
Eviction
Extension agreement
Federal tax lien
Foreclosure
Foreclosure sale
Forfeiture
Full Reconveyance
Government Owned (GOV)
History of Notices
Important notice
Invalid
Junior Lien
Lien
Lien waiver
Listing Agreement
Negative amortization
Nonjudicial foreclosure
Nonmilitary affidavits
Note
Notice of Default (NOD)
Notice of rescission
Notice of sale (NTS or NFS)
Notice of Trustee’s Sale (NTS)
Novation
Postponement
Preliminary injunction
Pre-publication period
Publication Letter
Publication period
Ratification
Real Estate Owned (REO) or bank owned properties
Recession of Notice of Default
Reconveyance
Reinstatement
Reinstatement Period
Request for notice
Request to prepare notice of default
Return and account of sale by trustee
Short sale
Soldier’s and sailor’s relief act
Statement/Invoice
Temporary restraining order (TRO)
Toll
Trustee’s sale
Trustee’s sale guarantee
Trustee’s sale proceeding
Trustor
Lis Pendens (LIS)
Notice (Judgment) of Foreclosure Sale (NFS)
Promissory note
Quitclaim deed
Transmittal form (TS138)
Trustee’s deed upon sale

Update - Trulia Voices Community Suggested Terms:

• AS IS
• Subprime
• Cash For Keys
• Right of Redemption
• Foreclosure Timeline
• FAR9
• Notice of Election and Demand (NED)
• Cure Period
• Redemption period
• Redemption bond
• Power of Sale
• Relocation Asssistance
• Preliminary HUD
• Hardship Letter
• Power of Attorney
• HUD Homes
• Government Foreclosure
• Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act of 2007
• Form 982
• 1099-C
• Truth in Lending Act
• Buyer Beware
• Fixxer Upper
• Loan Modification
• Foreclosure Mediation Program
• Law Date
• Deficiency
• Corporate Addendum
• Life of Loan
• Authorization To Release Information (ATRI)
• Gross net lease
• Triple-net lease
• NNN lease
• Public Auction
• NOI
• DCR
• FDIC Owned Properties
• Assignment

Chicago, Manhattan and Brooklyn were the Most Searched Cities in January

San Francisco – Feb. 3, 2009 – Trulia.com, the best place to start a real estate search, experienced a record month in terms of consumer engagement across all key metrics for January 2009.  Consumers on Trulia viewed 40% more pages per visit compared to a year ago and participated in the Trulia Voices community more than ever before with a 115% year-over-year growth in real estate questions, answers and blog posts.

“Since Trulia launched, we’ve always seen a seasonal bump in consumer interest at the beginning of the year.  However, given the current state of the economy, we were not so sure if this year would follow the trend of the past,” said Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO of Trulia. “In reality, consumers were engaged more than ever and we believe the dramatic increased engagement in January is a good indication that consumer optimism is on the rise.  People are beginning to realize they can get more for their money and great opportunities exist if they can qualify for a loan.”

After showing strong momentum and growth in 2008, Trulia starts 2009 off with the best month in the company’s history.  With consumer engagement at an all-time high, the below lists provide a look at consumer search behavior and interest in today’s unpredictable real estate market.

January 2009:  Top 10 Most Popular Searched Cities
1.    Chicago, IL
2.    New York, NY
3.    Brooklyn, NY
4.    Los Angeles, CA
5.    San Francisco, CA
6.    San Diego, CA
7.    Philadelphia, PA
8.    Miami, FL
9.    Queens, NY
10.    Las Vegas, NV

January 2009:  Top 5 Most Popular Categories in Trulia Voices
1.    Home buying
2.    Foreclosure
3.    Market conditions
4.    Home selling
5.    Financing

Triple Play 2008 in Atlantic City, New Jersey – This week, Trulia was at the 2008 Real Estate Triple Play conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The annual event draws thousands of local agents from the Tri-State area including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

My colleague Apurva Sanghavi and I represented Trulia at the show. We had an amazing time meeting with numerous real estate agents, real estate brokers and vendors who currently use Trulia and with many who were just learning about or getting started with Trulia. Very exciting!

Real estate is all about building and fostering relationships. This year we attended many real estate events such as RETech South, 4RealzEd, Unchained, Inman Connect, ReBarcamp SF&Houston, RIS Media, MLSLI Tech Fair, Carolina One and NAR 2008. Attending industry events like this, gives us a special opportunity to get face to face with our Trulia Voices community members and helps us connect with them on a more personal level. Triple Play 2008 was no different – a big success!

Some of our most active and Trulia Voices Community members were in attendance. Principal broker John Sacktig from Orange Key Realty in East Brunswick, New Jersey and team stopped by our booth. They shared some of their Trulia success stories with us and others at the booth – sweet! John knows how to best use Trulia

Chris Pagli, Rudy and Joann Daly from RE/MAX Platinum Properties

Christopher Pagli from Legends Realty Group in Westchester, New York also shared his success with Trulia. When I was talking with Chris, the booth was really getting swamped. As Apurva and I spoke to and helped other agents, Chris took it upon himself to share his tips and advice with other Trulia Voices and soon to be Trulia Voices– awesome!

Congrats to Carolyn McCloskey of C21 Alliance in West Chester for getting a new lead from Trulia on her Blackberry at the show – nice!

Welcome to Patti Mortara of RE/MAX Results Realty from Flemington, New Jersey for becoming a Trulia Pro!

Greg Afarian from Zipvo - loved our chat.

Fred Di Teco of North Jersey Media Group - Love the Shirt!

Virtually all agents who stopped by previously heard about Trulia and already had their listings on Trulia via their broker but were unaware of all the other benefits we offer. So we walked them through many of our sites FREE features, helped them create FREE Trulia profiles and shared tips on how to best use each one. For those who wanted more we highlighted the benefits of being a Trulia Pro and helped many new Trulia Pro’s get set up.

Apurva and I had to leave the show early on day 2 to head to San Francisco for meetings. Luckily, we had one of our most prolific and most well respected community members in attendance. Deborah Madey, Principal broker of Peninsula Realty Group in Rumson, New Jersey and two of her team members offered to hold down the fort in our absence. They helped other agents learn more about Trulia and shared their experience on Trulia. How amazing is that?

We’re happy to have Deborah as part of our extended Trulia family – both online and offline ☺ Well done.

Many thanks to everyone else who we met at the show - happy holidays to all.

• If the home is accurately priced based on current market conditions
• What you should offer

Two weeks ago, Trulia attended the NAR 2008 Realtors’ Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. We had an amazing experience meeting hundreds of real estate agents, executives and vendors from around the nation. Thanks so much to all of you for sharing your ideas, thoughts and Trulia experiences with us. We’ll continue doing our very best to improve and enhance your experience on Trulia.

Check out some of the Sights and Sounds of our NAR experience:

Ann Cummings, Pete Flint and Rudy Bachraty

Joe Spake, Frances Flynn Thorsen and Jim Lee

See more NAR photos on Flickr

• Is properly Licensed to do the specific type of work in your area
• Is Insured
• Has workers compensation
• Has a recent list client references
• Has a recent Portfolio of similar completed projects
• Can show you active jobs in progress - Pictures, Video or a LIVE walk-through
• Is reputable - Check your local BBB Better Business Bureau
• Is a good listener and detailed oriented
• Is organized
• Will assign you a project manager that will keep you updated every step of the way
• Informs you whether they have an in-house crew or whether the use subcontractors
• Has some form of quality assurance program for the work they complete
• Provides a professional contract/agreement/scope of work to be signed by both parties

Trulia is a proud sponsor of the NAR 2008 Realtors® Conference and Expo.The real estate conference is being held at the Orange CountyConvention Center in Orlando, Florida from November 7-10. Pierre,Ninve, Mark, Sami, Pete, Frances and I will be at the conference andlook forward to meeting everyone.

Got questions on how to best use Trulia? Blogs?Social Media? Perfect, when we’re not speaking on a panel, in a meetingor giving a presentation, Frances and I will be running the Truliabooth, #4067, and will be happy to share our advice with you.Additionally, we will be offering a special Conference only opportunityfor those that visit our booth. So please stop by

On Friday, I will be speaking to a wonderful group of Cyberprofessionals. On Sunday 11/09, I will be presenting with Jeff Turner from Real Estate Shows and Dustin Luther from 4Realz. Our topic - Using Social Media to Engage Clients. This will be a very unique presentation so be sure not to miss it. The session runs from 11am -12:30 PM.

If you will be attending the conference and would like to meet up with a Trulian,  you can reach me at 646-248-7793.

This past October, our two Trulia founders, Pete Flint and Sami Inkinen were named to Inman’s 2008 Top 100 list of Most influential Real Estate Leaders.

Also in October, Frances Flynn Thorsen, our new Trulia Community Manager, was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Real Estate by Stefan Swanepoel of the Swanepoel Trends Report.

This month, I was selected to Inman’s 2008 25 Most Influential Bloggers list. What a great honor to represent Trulia. Thank you Brad and team Inman.

PC Magazine named Trulia as one of the Top 100 Classic Web Sites. Thanks to all Trulians for your hard work!

Congrats to all and thanks to everyone for supporting Trulia.

Part I: Social Media Strategies

The Top 3 Non-Real Estate Social Media Sites for Real estate agents is the first post in our series on social media marketing strategies for real estate agents.

As the resident Social Media Guru at Trulia, part of my job entails pounding the virtual pavement in the social media space everyday. Thusfar, my journeys have led me to various social networks in a vast variety of verticals. Besides being educational, it's lots of fun too.It's all about making connections and learning from others. So, with that in mind, I wanted to share some of my thoughts and strategies on how you, a real estate agent, can best use non - real estate specific social media sites and communities to your advantage.

With so many social media sites and communities to choose from, I wanted to narrow down the list to three of the most well known and vibrant online social networks - Facebook.com, Linkedin.com and Meetup.com. These communities all have something in common - lots of active users. You want to be where the people are. But that alone is not enough. You have to be proactive and find ways to make these sites work for you. Let's begin, shall we?

Facebook: Connect with your sphere on a deeper level

Whenever I meet with real estate agents in an educational or informational setting, one of my favorite examples for online social networking is Facebook. Actually, out of all the non-real estate specific social networking communities out there, I use Facebook themost. It's where I connect with the majority of my friends, business associates and networking contacts. Thus far, Facebook been very good to me.

If you have already created your profile on Facebook or are in the process, I have a great Facebook strategy to share with you. Under the education tab, you can select what schools you went to - high school and college. Find your school and the year you graduated. After saving your profile, you'll find links on the bottom of the education page to find your classmates. Find them. Send them a message. Friend them. It's a great way to reach out and re-connect. Besides rekindling a friendship or business relationship, they may be in the market to buyor sell real estate or know someone else in their sphere who is. Even if they are in another city or state, chances are, if you're active in the online real estate space, you'll be able to provide them with a solid referral to one of your real estate blogging friends. Ah, the power of social media networking.

Facebook Bonus: Get out your rolodex and go andfind your previous home buyer and home seller clients on Facebook.Then, find your former clients and associates from your previous job and reach out to them. It's a non-intrusive way to re-connect. Everyone has to live somewhere, right? You can be their trustworthy local and nationwide real estate source. Facebook.com worked for me and it can for you too.

Linkedin: Your online real estate resume

Linkedinis a fantastic business social network. As a real estate agent, there are numerous ways you can use it to your advantage. For starters, thinkof your profile on Linkedin as your online resume. Essentially, tha's what it is. The more details you provide, the better picture you can paint of yourself and your accomplishments. Employers and recruiters are always scouting Linkedin for prospects. You never know what opportunity might present itself to you. Enhance your profile today.

Have a business question or need some feedback, use Linkedin Answers. Think of it as your mini focus group for the topic of your choice. I recently asked a question on Linkedin whether Snail Mail was Dead for Communicationand have received 28 really insightful and genuine responses from professionals around the nation. How amazing is that? The key is to respond to each persons comment. Although I haven't had a chance to do it yet for this particular question, my bad, but I have done it in the past for other questions and the conversations were great. Follow up helps you connect with your readers on a deeper level and can open up new doors for you.  Linkedin.com worked for me and can for you too.

Linkedin Bonus:

If you're not ready to ask a public question on Linkedin, you can send a private question to your sphere. Plus, you can reply to each one privately. Some people are just not comfortable leaving public comments. Try both, see which one works for you and your sphere.

Meetup.com: Where real people meet online, then connect offline

Meetup.com is one of my favorites online sites for business and networking opportunities. Recently, they even added some cool updates and enhancementsto their site. Here's the real estate skinny. After you sign up for free, go and find a group that interests you in your neck of the woods.Make sure it's not a real estate group. Say what? Yes, I said it, not areal estate group. Pick a favorite hobby or something that interests you, e.g. Wine, tennis, parenting, technology, video, gardening, home improvement, a television show like Lost, - RSVP and then go to one. You can even bring some friends with youby adding them as guests. Get there early. Be happy and inviting. A smile does wonders in situations like this. Introduce yourself to as many people as you can and try to get to know them. Share some stories. Be a good listener. Then exchange cards. Don't worry, they wont bite. You're all there for the same reason, to connect and to help each other. It's an amazing feeling when you connect with a perfect stranger all because you share the same interest or passion for something.

The great part about going to a non-real estate group, is that you will most likely be the only real estate agent there. This was the case for me for virtually all the meetups I have ever gone too. Makes sense right? Make a lasting impression with someone and then follow up w/ a message on Meetup, via email, phone or even Snail Mail. Meetup.com worked for me and it can for you too.

Meetup.com Bonus:

If you don't find a group or meetup that interests you, create your own meetup. Creating your own group is not free, $19 for a month, $45 for 3 months or 6 months for $72. Not too bad. Try one month and go from there. As a real estate agent, you can create a neighborhood, community or building meetup group. For starters, make it a monthly event. Send and invite to your friends, neighbors and local businesses in your area. Find a venue that will host your group for free. There are countless ways to barter. It can be a town meeting of sorts sponsored by you. Even better, find some local sponsors to support the meetup. It can be a great way to discuss the local neighborhood issues and happenings with the people that live and work there. Plus, it's a great way to position yourself as someone who cares about the community.