Lessons Learned from the Olympics
August 21, 2008 – 9:47 am- You are never to old to conquer your dreams [youtube]V5bR2d7VKhg[/youtube] -Records are meant to be broken [youtube]Cw0e4pvPmRI[/youtube] - Never. Ever. Give Up
- You are never to old to conquer your dreams [youtube]V5bR2d7VKhg[/youtube] -Records are meant to be broken [youtube]Cw0e4pvPmRI[/youtube] - Never. Ever. Give Up
Regional Rental Site RentBlurb Looking to Sell
August 20, 2008 – 3:49 pmAaron Hassen, the owner of RentBlurb contacted me this morning letting me know he is looking to sell his 4 year old company RentBlurb.com. RentBlurb is a local rental site that has strong search engine rankings in the Florida market. From Compete.com, the top keywords that drive traffic to this site are: Top Keywords Driving Traffic: orlando homes for rent rental homes in orlando florida townhouse to rent in orlando area house for rent orlando florida houses for rent in orlando RentBlurb's business model is a subscription based model where advertisers pay $30 per month per property to advertise. RentBlurb has about 50 active listings a month. If you are interested in learning more please email Aaron directly via the RentBlurb contact us form.
TripAdvisor Now Getting into Vacation-Home Reviews
August 20, 2008 – 9:26 amSince yesterday, another large site is getting into the vacation rental market. This time it is TripAdvisor which is owned by Expedia.com. TripAdvisor has announced a majority investment in vacation property review site FlipKey.com. TripAdvisor plans to include FlipKey reviews on its site. "Vacation rentals is the hot emerging category in travel and FlipKey has a great foundation and a smart business approach," said Steve Kaufer, founder and CEO of TripAdvisor. "We believe we can help FlipKey become the leader in the space and, in turn, FlipKey content will satisfy a growing need for TripAdvisor users." Boston-based FlipKey.com launched in March 2008 and is led by TJ Mahony (founder of Compete.com), CEO, Jeremiah Gall (Brightcove CEO), COO, and Carl Query, CTO. FlipKey features 50,000 vacation homes, representing all 50 U.S. states. In addition to amassing vacation rental listings and consumer reviews of the featured properties, FlipKey has an exclusive relationship with Instant ...
Orbitz adds Vacation Rentals
August 19, 2008 – 4:17 pmThe vacation rental market is a multi-billion dollar industry. The market leader in this space has primarily been HomeAway with their acquisitions of VRBO.com, CyberRentals.com, GreatRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, TripHomes.com, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk, Holiday-Rentals.fr, FeWo-direkt.de, Abritel, and HomeAway.es. Home Away is now facing strong competition with the recent launch of vacation rentals by Orbitz.com. Through a partnership with Zonder.com, a Salt Lake City based company, Orbitz is now offering about 30,000 fully furnish vacation properties in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. As with the single family home rental market, the vacation market is extremely fragmented. For example, about 15% of the total number of single family rental homes on the market are managed by property managers. The remaining 85% are done by real estate investors or the property owners themselves. Zonder.com currently only offers access to around 30,000 homes, condos, townhomes, etc. that are professionally managed. This is compared to the ...
Here’s to the Crazy Ones
August 12, 2008 – 6:17 pm[youtube]USn5t5nQWU8[/youtube] “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, We see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, Are the ones who do.”
Rent.com Old School Radio Advertising - Hilarious
August 12, 2008 – 1:49 pmFor those of you who don't know the true roots of rent.com, below is a brief history of the company: Scott Ingaham and Allan Hunter created Viva.com in 1999, which was a cost per lease business model with the $100 reward to renters. Initially, it was a platform where renters would log in, create a profile to describe exactly what they were looking for and return later to review live lease offers from landlords and property managers (similar to Lending Tree). The tagline was "rent pain free." In March of 2000, Viva.com raised $12.5 million. In November, they raised an additional $17.3 million led by the Apartment REIT Consortium. In October of 2001, Viva.com changed their name and Rent.com was officially launched. In 2005, Rent.com sold to eBay.com for $415 Million. Now that you know the history, listen to these controversial radio advertisements from Viva.com that ran in 1999 (Hilarious): Proctologist Disgusto CoffeeHouse Spa
Can the Newspapers Be Saved?
August 12, 2008 – 12:29 pmI recently read that The LA Times has cut a section of their newspaper that is over 100 years old. The section, you guessed it, Real Estate! Why? Because the print classifieds model is broken. If things continue as they are, we will see other sections being axed as well. John Keister (cool name, it makes me laugh), the COO of Marchex, wrote a post called "Can Newspapers be Saved?" In it he offers some suggestions on what newspapers should do to recharge and begin to rebuild their advertiser and revenue base: 1. Defend your advertiser relationships! 2. Build an advertising package for your advertiser that includes targeted Google and Yahoo! traffic. 3. Make the phone ring! 4. Keep it simple! 5. Invest in training your sales team! 6. Incentivize your sales team to sell online! Greg Sterling of Screenwerk also adds: If newspapers were smart they would do a range of things: Agressively embrace (and monetize) mobile (See AP/Verve). Get out in front of ...
Rental Sites Timeline
August 11, 2008 – 12:35 pmWe started to categorize all of the rental sites we know of and add them to a timeline list. While doing so, we came to the conclusion that it would be impossible for one person to categorize all of the rental sites in the United States by themselves. This is where we need your help. Our goal is to have this timeline be the largest rental sites timeline in the world. If you know of rental sites, rental software sites or other rental related websites that operate in the US, please add them to this list by becoming an editor.
Insights for Rental Search
August 6, 2008 – 9:24 amGoogle just released Google Insights for Search and it allows users to compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames. I compared Apartments for Rent and Houses for rent and here is what I found: There is a cyclical nature to rental search. Florida has the highest concentration of renters searching with these words Top searches related to "Apartments for rent" apartment for rent apartment houses for rent homes for rent apartments for sale Top searches related to "Houses for rent" homes for rent homes apartments apartments for rent rental houses In regard to growth related to the real estate category, "houses for rent" far exceeds apartments for rent and the real estate category in terms of percentage growth of searches.
Oh Those Creative Googlers - Will You Marry Me?
August 5, 2008 – 4:01 pm1642 Charleston Way, Mt View, California - Google HQs View Larger Map
rentBits Rental Properties Now Over 400,000 Listings
August 5, 2008 – 10:53 amAt rentBits we are constantly crawling the web actively looking for available rental properties. We have hit yet another milestone and have surpassed the 400,000 active rental property mark. If you would like your site crawled, or if you want to supply us with a feed, please submit your ads here.
Rent Marketer, Inc. is Hiring
August 4, 2008 – 1:58 pmAt Rent Marketer, Inc, we are always looking for bright, hard working individuals who shine in a team environment. We are looking to fill the below positions for our sites rentmarketer.com, apartmentmarketer.com and rentbits.com. We have free sodas, chair massages, and snack goodies any time you want them. After all, we have to fuel our brains so we can develop more productivity enhancing products and services for the rental real estate market. If you are an internet junkie or real estate guru, come talk to us. We would love to hear from you. Rent Marketer (Sales Executive(s)) Responsibilities: Using a target list of National Account property managers, develop customer base through top down sales strategy Develop and maintain relationships at key national property manager accounts Sell-through digital advertising solutions to prominent property managers. Develop and implement sales strategies to increase revenue and sell-through Represent company at key industry events and trade shows Keep pace with trends in the rental ...
Our Friends at Hotpads.com on Fox Business
July 28, 2008 – 3:30 pmGreat job Douglas and Team! (video below):
Cuil.com - Houses for rent in Denver - No Results
July 28, 2008 – 1:18 pmCuil.com, pronounced "cool", is a new search engine started by a couple of Ex-Googlers, says they are the world's largest search engine in terms of pages crawled (120 billion web pages). The relevancy factor is quite not there yet but considering this is a day old search engine they have a lot of time to improve. I searched for "houses for rent" and received the below results: www.rentalhouses.com/find/AZ/ www.rentalhouses.com/find/NC/ www.rentalhouses.com/find/TN/ (with an Apartments.com Logo) www.sandnsea.com/ www.move.com/apartments/main.aspx www.brettglass.com/rentals/ www.arubarealestate.com/houses/ www.rentalhouses.com/find/ID/ www.rentlist.net/ www.rentalhouses.com/find/MT/ www.corporatehousing.com/ When I searched for "houses for rent in Denver," I received: We will see a lot of improvements within the next year and I hope Cuil becomes a huge success.
The Last Lecture - Dr. Randy Pausch Dies at Age 47
July 25, 2008 – 4:24 pmA remarkable man and a true inspiration to all of us died today after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. You may have seen or heard about Dr. Randy Pausch on 60 minutes and other sources. He recently wrote a book called The Last Lecture. He offers some important advice: Be good at something, it maks you valuable Work hard Brick walls let us show our dedication Get a feedback loop and listen to it Don't complain: work harder Focus on others, not yourself Apologize when you screw up You can't get there alone Show gratitude Be prepared: "luck" is where preparation meets opportunity Find the best in everybody [youtube]ji5_MqicxSo[/youtube]
Trump VS Rosie Real Estate Video Game
July 25, 2008 – 10:51 amFor those of you who are concerned about the fight that has been going on between Rosie and Donald Trump, you can now take sides in this interactive video game. Waste endless hours of your life. Go ahead, you know you want to....
Virgin Home Loan Financing - Be the Bank
July 22, 2008 – 5:32 pmThe Virgin Group, a conglomerate of separately owned companies that use the Virgin brand, is getting into the Peer 2 Peer lending market. They recently released a loan program that can help your loved one buy a home. Nothing like the awkward silence at Dinner. "Um, Jimmy, you are 6 months late on your mortgage, when do you think you can get that to us?"
10 Ways You Play Golf Can Kill or Improve your Business
July 19, 2008 – 12:55 pmI believe strongly in how we approach sports, especially golf, and the way we play it can help grow successful businesses or kill them. Tim Moynihan and I recently got back from 36 holes of golf in Rhode Island and then in Denver and it sparked a conversation on how we and others play golf, is also how we and others live our life and run our businesses. Over the years I have seen hundreds of ways people present themselves on the golf course as well as off the golf course. I wanted to write down the 10 ways I see how people play golf and use these techniques in growing a successful business. Note: In no way am I saying that you have to be good in golf to be in good in business. I know many people who hate and suck at golf but they have the most successful businesses ...
Zilok - Rent Anything Online
July 16, 2008 – 5:10 pmZilok is a company that offers a marketplace for renters to find and rent anything online. They entered into the US in 2007 and US traffic seems to be growing nicely. You can rent anything from a scruffy basketball to a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. More on Zilok below: [youtube]aLko8E-PEzs[/youtube]
Summize Acquired by Twitter for $15 million in Cash and Stock
July 15, 2008 – 4:51 pmSummize, the twitter search engine we recently wrote about was acquired by Twitter for $15 million in cash and stock. Summize raised $750,000 in June 07 and has been on a rocket ship trajectory ever since. It is rumored that summize was trying to outsource their twitter search to a large internet company. Google? Twitter decided to acquire and get to market faster. A great move as I think this search functionality will allow them to monetize at higher RPMs (Revenue Per Thousand Page Views).
RentPredict.com - Rental Credit History to Screen out DeadBeats
July 15, 2008 – 3:10 pmOne of the worst things for a real estate investor is getting a deadbeat tenant who doesn't pay their bills. There also tends to be a positive correlation between deadbeats and distruction of property. I wish I heard of this tool prior to my last tenant I had to evict. RentBureau has a credit history product called RentPredict. RentPredict takes available rental data and predicts the likelihood of a potential resident paying rent and fulfilling his or her lease obligations. Similar to a FICO credit score, RentPredict offers scores for each applicant. RentPredict.com Report score above 965 = Best RentPredict.com Report score 941-965 = Quality RentPredict.com Report score 906-940 = Good RentPredict.com Report score 851-905 = Fair RentPredict.com Report score below 850 = Risky For $9.95 you can run a search to find the potential residents previous leases and identify whether or not they are in collections. This is a great tool for investors who want to ...
1 Million More Rental Homes on the Market
July 14, 2008 – 5:17 pmGoldman Sachs’ U.S. Economic Research Group recently released data that says over the past 2 years there have been over 1 million for sale units that have been converted into rentals. This is one of the reasons why we are not seeing rent inflation because although demand is increasing for rentals, we are also seeing a large increase in supply.
GlassDoor.com Breaks Through the Glass Roof
July 11, 2008 – 12:36 pmA couple of months ago we wrote about a new start-up in stealth mode called GlassDoor. We originally thought this site was going to be something related to real estate because of the name and the fact that Rich Barton, the CEO of Zillow was on the board. We were very wrong in our assumptions. Glassdoor.com is a career and workplace community where anyone can find and anonymously share real-time reviews, ratings and salary details about specific jobs for specific employers — all for free. They have been around for a month and according to compete.com already have over 270,000 unique visitors per month. This site and product is destined to succeed and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets picked up by a large Job search site or search engine within the next year or 2.
Trulia Raises $15 million in Additional Funding
July 11, 2008 – 8:43 amInman wrote today that Trulia.com, the vertical search engine for real estate listings raised another $15 million in funding. Total raised capital so far totals $33 million. Some think Trulia is currently valued at $100 - $150 million. "The housing slump has permanently altered how people search for real estate and their thirst for information," said Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO of Trulia. "This additional capital will help us take advantage of this opportunity and continue our accelerated growth. …"
Landmark Communications to Sell Weather Channel to NBC
July 6, 2008 – 3:09 pmIn January we wrote that Landmark Communications was looking to sell their assets. Landmark owns The Weather Channel and runs Dominion Enterprises which owns sites like ForRent.com, Homes.com, CorporateHousing.com and many other sites. Landmark announced on Sunday that they will sell The Weather Channel Cos. to a consortium of NBC Universal and two private equity firms for an undisclosed amount. The Weather Channel Cos. is expected to do $550 Million in revenues this year. About 1/3rd of that is coming from WeatherChannel.com. It is said that NBC and its partners, Bain Capital and The Blackstone Group, offered about $3.5 billion. The weather channel Cos. accounted for about one-quarter of Landmark's 2007 Revenues. If Landmark sells their remaining assets including Dominion Enterprises this year, it should yield another $10 - $14 Billion.
10 Commandments of Fake Steve Jobs
July 3, 2008 – 7:10 pmWe have written how the iPhone and mobile applications will change the way we find and search for real estate. We wanted to show how Steve Job is able to develop such great products. Below are the 10 commandments from the fake Steve Jobs. This is hilarious: 10 Commandments of Fake Steve Jobs: 1. Never let people know where they stand. Keep them guessing. Keep them afraid. Otherwise they get complacent. Creativity springs from fear. Think of a painter… he’s going to starve to death if he doesn’t get his work done … Same goes for the people at Apple and Pixar. They come in every day knowing it could be their last … they work like hell; trust me. 2. You don’t have to hire the best people. You can hire anyone as long as you scare the shit out of them … Look at the crappy cars that get made in ...
Twitter me This, Twitter me That
July 3, 2008 – 10:49 amIf you think Twitter, (the communication platform for nerds), is simply a place to write about "what you are doing right now", you are missing the proverbial boat. NikNik of MyTechOpinion, wrote 22 reasons to use Twitter for business and Pleasure: FOR BUSINESS Gain exposure for my blogs… and gain potential readers Build my network with transparency and trust Market my work, products, services, etc. Answer questions/ ask questions Learn new things from other industry professionals Share tech tips & resources (baby blog post) & teach stuff Meet and talk with others (some business/some pleasure) Conference connecter (stay connected, share info, get social) Seek out industry colleagues for assistance w/ special projects Safety- Tweet unfamiliar meeting locations & while traveling Better understand social media FOR (MY) PLEASURE See a new side of your friends View/Share fitness tips and favorite motivational songs View/Share fun pictures (of self and others, or random stuff) View/Share fun links (great sites and other fun blogs) View/Share local news and events Exchange great recipes Tweet the wacky: ...
