Consumer Focused Real Estate Blog Carnival

Taking the Journey With This Week's Carnival

2007-07-10T00:35:00.002-04:00

"Don't Stop Believing" is a classic soft-rock anthem by Journey that has experienced a recent rejuvination after appearing in the finale of The Sopranos and before that appearances on Family Guy and Laguna Beach in the same week, that actually had the song in the iTunes most-downloaded for the following week.

However, for consumers considering purchasing a home it can be seen as the motto of all the REALTORS out there.

"Some will win, some will lose," Steve Perry sings in the original 1981 lyrics. "Some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on ... "

I'm a geek and I admit it. However, for some reason, I've never really been a fan of flow-charts. However, Silicon Valley Blogger presents "The American Nightmare: An Illustration Of The Subprime Lending Mess and Borrowing Bust" posted at The Digerati Life, and does an amazing job. He says, "This post shows a flowchart I made that demonstrates how the subprime lending process affects consumers," and it does exactly that. It was a little older than I would have liked for the winning entry, however for many consumer this is still the world in which they are living. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, this flow chart is worth 1 million.

Jay Thompson presents "Ask the Agents: Where are the Good Neighborhoods?" posted at The Phoenix Real Estate Guy. There is a fine line between "serving" your clients and "steering" them and it is one that every practicing agent walks every single day. As a consumer, Jay does a great job of explaining why your agent is "elusive" on answering your questions.

Kristen Munson presents "Selling Your Home? How Good is Your Listing Agent?" posted at LoanShak, saying, "How to choose the right listing agent if you want to sell your home." She has some good points, this topic is obviously on my mind this week as well, and she does a good job of supporting other ideas.

Dan Melson presents "The Division of Labor Between Buyers and Their Agents" posted at Searchlight Crusade. Often buyers neglect to "interview" agents but rather simply chooe one, Dan gives them a great "how to" guide for working with a successful agent.

Oliver Muoto presents "How the iPhone can Revolutionize Real Estate" posted at vFlyer Blog, saying, "The Apple iPhone has the potential to revolutionize how consumers interact with real estate services." I think the logic is a little flawed as I think iPod revolutionized what had been an industry that was stuck in the 20th century; however I don't know that iPhone is having the same impact. Also, Apple's marketing strategy is exclusivity - hence only one carrier - which will limit the ability of this product to revolutionize the world.

The best of the rest:

Dan Melson, "Real Estate is More Local Than Most People Think", Searchlight Crusade;

Ant, "10 Biggest Mistakes Everyone Makes When Buying/ Selling Real Estate", The Beef Jerky Blog;

Matthew Paulson, "Business News: Who Not To Listen To", Getting Green; and

Tushar Mathur, "How much should your Monthly Mortgage Payment be?", Life of a Resident Alien...

That concludes this week's Carnival. Be sure to submit your entries for the July 24th Carnival which will be hosted by Kevin Boer's 3 Oceans Real Estate

"Some will win, some will lose," Steve Perry sings in the original 1981 lyrics. "Some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on ... "

We had a little technical difficulty when I originally posted this last night, and I apologize to anyone that was looking for this last night.

Getting By With My Friends at This Week's Carnival

2007-06-25T23:39:00.002-04:00

What would you do if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key.Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends

"A Little Help From My Friends" is a great tune originally performed by the Beatles and by Joe Cocker and used as the theme song for the classic show "Wonder Years".

Cocker has an amazing voice and his performance of this song at Woodstock is legendary, however it was lost for years to a younger audience that knew his voice as the "Wonder Years" guy. But a search on YouTube and you'll find his performance re-emerging.

So what does this have to do with the Consumer-Oriented Real Estate Carnival?

When Toby entered into the real estate world it was one of the toughest markets anyone had seen in 15-20 years. He knew he couldn't do it alone. He counted on his broker to help and he did. However, Toby wanted to be a little different and he found Active Rain and the network of amazing agents and brokers changed how he viewed real estate, and via the consumer-focused real estate carnival he is hoping to provide consumers insight into the minds of these amazing agents.

Don't settle for mediocrity when you are paying for the best.

We had a lot of great entries for this edition, considering it had been a couple of weeks, so I'm limiting it to the top five submissions.

Larry Cragun's Real Estate Undressed provided us with this edition's winner "Should You Lock Today? Usually Yes. Maybe No. It's a Crapshoot." Why is this the winner? If you are buying a house you need to read it, study it, and read it, yet one more time. Mr. Cragun has captured the roller-coaster ride that is interest rates.

Dan Melson's Searchlight Crusade offers the consumer a great-view into the world of real estate and the value a true professional can - and will - provide you and that the cost of this can be invaluable in his article "The Best Ways to Create Problems in Real Estate"

"6 Questions to Ask At An Auction on Lake Martin" is a focused post to the Lake Martin community, but the rules that John Coley, of Lake Martin Voice, outlines can - and should - be used everywhere. Luck is very rarely truly luck, but rather where education meets opportunity and an auction is a great opportunity to find a nice piece of property, or over-pay, just like any other transaction.

"Shoot What Buyers Want to See" is the 11th part in a series on good real estate photographs being published on REagent in Connecticut by Athol Kay. On the surface this post doesn't seem to fit the "consumer-oriented" model of the carnival, however it is a special submission from Cecilia Hutchings that really takes this entry to the next level. And I'm sure there are a lot of consumers out there that agree with Cecilia.

Zillow Blog's Matt Johnson takes on the idea of paying down your mortgage in "To Pay, Or Not To Pay". The idea is interesting, basically according to outside research, the idea is that you can make more money by having your money in other areas than paying down the debt on your home. I was dissapointed that Matt didn't advance the discussion but rather filled the post with caveats -- however the concept warrants inclusion.

Thanks for visiting this edition of the Carnival and be sure to submit your entry to the next issue of the Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival. If you are interested in hosting an issue, please drop us a line.

Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends

2007-06-25T23:39:00.001-04:00

A little music to go with this week's Consumer-Focused Carnival of Real Estate.

A New Carnival of Consumer Real Estate

2007-06-05T21:48:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the June 5, 2007 edition of consumer-focused real estate carnival. A few days late, but we are back on track. Hopefully, the world of consumer-oriented real estate agents are working hard with consumers.

Consumer Information/News

plus6 presents Selecting a Home Warranty posted at Plus6 Personal Finance, saying, "When I bought my house about four years ago the REALTOR included a home warranty with the house. So for the first year I had a home warranty through Old Republic. I live in an older home (built in the 50’s) so I figured the warranty would be of some use."
Dan Melson presents Refinancing When You're Upside Down on the Mortgage posted at Searchlight Crusade.
Joshua Dorkin presents What’s the difference between ROI and CAP Rate? posted at Real Estate Investing For Real.
Nigel Swaby presents Condo Questions You Shouldn't Forget To Ask posted at Salt Lake Real Estate Blog.
Maureen Francis presents Do you want to be sold as a “lead?” posted at MiOaklandCounty.com.
Larry Cragun presents What Turns A Buyers Market Into A Sellers Market? (With A Minnesota Twist) posted at Teresa Boardman.
Jennifer Kirby presents To Basement or Not to Basement... posted at Minneapolis Real Estate Blog.
Teresa Boardman presents Web sites confuse home buyers posted at Teresa Boardman.

Market Trends

Teresa Boardman presents Don't let the big one get away posted at Teresa Boardman.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of consumer-focused real estate carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.Technorati tags: consumer-focused real estate carnival, blog carnival.

Researcing This Week's Carnival

2007-05-23T16:17:00.000-04:00

This week's Consumer-Focused Real Estate Carnival was hosted by Mike Simonsen's Atlos Real Estate Research Insights.

Mike did a great job this week and gave the top nod to Jay Thompson from Phoenix with "What the heck is a buyer's market" and runner-up went to Toby and Sadie's entry "Nobody likes foreclosures in Delaware Ohio".

Head on over to Atlos to see the great honorable mention entries.

Want to host a Carnival? Contact Toby!
Want to submit your Entry? Send it Today!

NOTE: With summer upon us, most placebloggers are spending more time selling than writing. So we'll head to a bi-monthly schedule until Labor Day. Thanks!

Going Back to School With this Week's Carnival

2007-05-16T22:55:00.000-04:00

Minnesota Luxury Real Estate's Jennifer Kirby hosted the Consumer Focused Real Estate Carnival this week and took us all back to school.

She did a great job and took our Carnival to a new level. Check out her entry and get your assignment.

Infants & Teens Dominate This Week's Carnival or Real Estate

2007-05-08T23:03:00.000-04:00

In honor of my new niece, we are going this week's Consumer-Focused Real Estate Carnival will focus on those that haven't been regular contributors to the Carnival party.

The Infants

Colleen Corgan presents Renting in the Real World posted at HotPads Daily :: The Official Blog of HotPads.com, saying, "With graduation right around the corner, many soon-to-be college alumni are facing a new experience: renting in the real world. While many college students rent off-campus houses or live in apartments near campus, renting in the real world is a whole different game... and there are different rules that dictate how that game is played."

Maureen McCabe presents I like home inspectors with small shoulders posted at columbusbestblog.com. Maureen is a favorite of mine and she's joined us this week with a great entry on the inspectors that buyer's hire.

Jennifer Kirby presents Want instant Value in Your Home? posted at Minneapolis Real Estate Blog. Trees, Money. What else do you need?

Kristen Munson presents Great Places to Live posted at Shak & Jill. A very interesting collection on the best places to live from Kristen.

Steve Faber presents 4 Steps to Get a Better Mortgage posted at DebtBlog. Steve looks at the key thing in today's lending market: Credit Score.

Darius presents How much worse can housing get? posted at Related to Mortgage. Very interesting article that doesn't answer any questions, and that's why I like it.

Brian Brady presents What's my rate? It looks like I gotta WACC you! posted at The Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker. Brian took me on a trip back to Dr. Patricia Matthews' class at Mt. Union College and he'll do the same for you. And his point is basic: Know who you are working with and their level of expertise.

The Teenage Years -- Now, it wouldn't be fair to leave our veterans out in the cold this week.

Diane Tuman presents Why Pre- and Post-Possession is a No-No posted at Zillow Blog. An interesting comment for the reason for not moving into that new home - before you actually own it!

Dan Melson presents Property Cash Flow Versus Balance Sheet Accounting posted at Searchlight Crusade. Real Estate investing infants would do very well to read Dan's entry.

Steve Leung presents Emotions in Real Estate: From Fear to Elation posted at 1SiliconValley.com, saying, ""It's yours!" And after those two words, the only thing on the line was stunned silence! A combination of elation, shock and achievement. You could feel the excitement echoing through the airwaves but the quiet could have put out a candle. How great would it be to come home every night to something that makes you feel just as good? And what are reasons people are afraid of it?"

Nigel Swaby presents Don't Make This Mortgage Refinance Mistake posted at Salt Lake Real Estate Blog. Another horror story about financing and being scammed.

Don't worry about the spit-up and be sure to submit your entry for next week's carnival which will be hosted by Jennifer Kirby's Minneapolis Luxury Real Estate.

We are looking for hosts, if you are interested contact Toby for more information!

This Week's Consumer-Focused Real Estate Carnival is Growing!

2007-05-01T10:16:00.000-04:00

We have to thank Zillow Blog and Diane Truman for hosting this week's consumer-focused real estate carnial.
With May 1 being the traditional beginning of the spring planting season, she went after a wonderful flowery theme.

Read her posting

Blue Violet Award (Blue Violet means "Watchfulness and Faithfulness") goes to Stewart Hsu's "How to Analyze Real Estate: Single Family Homes (SFH)," which is posted at Stewart Hsu.
Allium Award (Allium means "humility and patience") goes to Dan Melson's "Buying Real Estate Without A Source of Income Or When You Are Changing Careers" on Searchlight Crusade.
Iris Award (Iris means "faith, hope and wisdom") goes to Athol Kay's "Real Estate Listing Contract Length" article posted at REagent in CT.
Oleander Award (Oleander means "caution") goes to Barry Mahfood's "Latest Hot Sheet: Searching for the Bottom," which is posted at Barry's Real Estate News.
Cactus Award (Cactus means "bravery and endurance") is awarded to Nigel Swaby's "The Challenges of Doing It Yourself" posted at Salt Lake Real Estate Blog.
Camellia Award (Camellia means "perfection") goes to Steve Leung's "Why the Perfect House Wasn't So Perfect" at 1SiliconValley.com.
This concludes this edition of the Consumer-Focused Real Estate Carnival. Submit your blog article to the next edition of consumer-focused real estate blog carnival using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Again a special thanks to Diane for hosting this week's Carnival.

General Wiggles Takes Over This Week's Consumer-Focused Real Estate Carnival

2007-04-24T08:25:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Greene's Real Opionated stepped up to be a last-minute host of this week's Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival and Sadie and I are much appreciated.

The Carnival was presided over by General Wiggles and read Real Opionated's take on the Carnival.

He did a great job honoring several Active Rainers and those that should be :-)

Our privates for this week are Nigel Swaby with his post entitled “Deadlines in Real Estate You Can’t Afford to Miss,” and Dan Melson who writes “Misplaced Improvements in Real Estate.“

Our hard-charging Sergeant First Class is Brian Brady, guest writing on the Long Beach Real Estate Blog. His post entitled “How to Get the Best Home Loan: Neatness Counts” was truly promotion worthy.

Maureen Francis weighs in with her post named “Ten Tips For First Time Michigan Home Sellers” and gets Commissioned as a Lieutenant in this man’s Army.

And, last but not least, our company commander for the day: the Silicon Valley Blogger writes a fantastic post entitled “Proof that Buying A House is Impossible In Some Local Real Estate Markets.”

Join us next week when the Carnival is hosted by Diane Tuman's at Zillow Blog. You can submit your entry today using this form!

We are always looking for hosts for this Carnival, if interested please contact Toby.

Turning in This Week's Consumer Oriented Blog Carnival Line-up Card

2007-04-17T00:21:00.000-04:00

Sadie from Sadie's Take on Delaware Ohio took a trip to the ballpark and provided us with her favorites on the line-up card for this week:

John Coley, Second Base. “Why I Give the Milk Away for Free” from Lake Martin Voice is a great double-play partner with Jonathan Greene on the benefits of hiring a Realtor.
Jonathan Greene, Shortstop. “Why Do You Need a Buyers Agent” from Real Opionated reminds buyers that they can do it alone, but do you really want to? It is sort of like putting Albert Pujols at shortstop.
Joshua Dorkin, Designated Hitter. In “Meet the Investor: Real Estate Investing Interview with Rehabber Richard Warren” Dorkin appears as the mouth-piece for Warren, so only logical that Dorkin and his Bigger Pockets blog would DH for us this week.
Jennifer Kirby, First Base. Batting clean-up i our line-up and playing the same position as Julio Franco (who is about the same age as the homes in Jennifer’s post) is “Is This Your Money Pit?” on Minneapolis Luxury Real Estate Blog.
Jonathan & Tobey Dalton, Catcher. “Why Title Insurance” from Phoenix Area Real Estate is a great example of how title insurance - just like a great back-stop - can save the pitcher.
Michael Cook, Right Field. When it comes to buying a home or business, credit scores say more than any advertisement could ever and in “Manage Your Credit Score” on Suite 101, Michael looks at this “new” currency.
Craig Holden, Third Base. Firing BBs acriss the diamond for investors and their credit is “Credit and its impact on Investment Loans” on The Investment Property Resource.
Shelly, Centerfield. Shelly takes on the myth of how much better things were built in the old days in “New Home” at her blog Heart, Soul and Body.
Graham Doran, Left Field. Batting ninth is often referred to as the second-leafoff hitter and with “The True War Within” from the Zillow Blog we have to be a little nervous about where Graham is leading us.

Sadie's Take on Delaware Ohio will be host of next week's carnival. Submit your story this week for next week's issue, or volunteer to host an issue.

Hole in One for Consumer Oriented Blog Carnival!

2007-04-11T10:19:00.000-04:00

Nigel Swaby's Salt Lake Real Estate Blog was the wonderful host of this week's Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival and he did a great job with "Consumer Oriented Carnival of Real Estate -- Putt, Putt, Putt."

A hole in one for Craig Higdon presenting Commercial Real Estate Investment Decisions posted at Investment Property Insider. Craig has an excellent assessment on things to consider before investing in commercial real estate.
Making birdie with two strokes around the castle are Maureen and Theresa. Maureen Francis presents Peeing Dogs Do Not Sell Homes posted at miOaklandCounty - The Scoop on Michigan Real Estate. This article discusses the risks of selling a home while occupied by a tenant.
Teresa Boardman presents The Truth about Real Estate Companies posted at St. Paul Real Estate. Teresa discusses how to evaluate choosing a real estate agent. She says focus on the agent, not the company they work for.
Jonathan and Josh made par this week. Jonathan Greene presents Top 5 Ways To Protect Yourself When Buying New Homes posted at Real Opinionated. Another article about risk in real estate. Are you seeing a theme develop? Maybe I should have chosen a riskier activity as my theme?
Joshua Dorkin presents Establishing a Partnership for a Real Estate Deal posted at Real Estate Investing For Real. The risks of real estate partnerships and how to avoid them.
Bogeying the hole is Leah. She presents The Mortgage Implosion: Episode 3, The Finale posted at Real Opinionated. A bit shallow, but good nonetheless.
Failing to make it past the windmill are Amy and Silicon Valley Blogger. Both of their posts lacked detail and Amy's was inaccurate in spots, but they both bring up good subject matter to think about and research further.
Amy L. Fontinelle presents An Introduction To Closing Costs posted at Personal Finance Advice.
Silicon Valley Blogger presents How To Kill Your Credit Instantly With Mortgage Fraud And Subprime Borrowing posted at The Digerati Life.

Special thanks to Nigel for hosting and be sure to submit your entry for next week's Carnival hosted by Sadie's Take on Delaware Ohio and if you are interested in hosting, contact Toby.

Complete List of Entries, April 4th Edition

2007-04-04T08:25:00.000-04:00

This week was another great edition of the Carnival, gratefully hosted by Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog.

We had a great compilation of entries this week, the entire list of entries:

Dan Melson presents How to Effectively Shop For A Listing Agent (Part I) posted at Searchlight Crusade.
John presents Did Your Real Estate Agent and Mortgage Company Dupe You Into Committing Loan Fraud? posted at OhCash.com, saying, "Have you ever wondered if your agent and loan officer are doing something that could get you into trouble? Buying a house is a complicated process and many times your lack of insider knowledge can get you in hot water."
Steven Green presents Myroof.co.za posted at South African Property - Mortgages, Bonds and Homeloans, saying, "A great property site/blog focusing on property related issues and mortgage related issues in the south african property market"
larry cragun presents Lead Lead Lead Lead posted at RealEstateUndressed.
Maureen Francis presents 10 Things You Can’t Do If You Want to SELL Your Michigan Home posted at MiOaklandCounty.com.
Jonathan Greene presents Sellers: 5 Ways to Be Awesomely Awesome (And Get it Sold) posted at Real Opinionated.
Kevin Boer presents Bob and Betty Buy a Home (Part 2): We See Some Homes, But Bob and Betty Get Spooked posted at Three Oceans Real Estate.
Nigel Swaby presents Real Estate Questions and Answers - All About Purchases posted at Salt Lake Real Estate Blog.
Morgan Brown presents Surprise and Delight Us posted at BloodhoundBlog, saying, "There are opportunities everywhere in your business right now, easy ones, which can elevate you from good, to great, to remarkable."
John presents OhCash.com » How to Buy Property in Chile: The Legal Issues posted at OhCash.com, saying, "There is more than a little confusion on the Internet about how to buy property in Chile as a foreigner. There are many articles dealing with all the great deals in Chile, which often include a few fuzzy details about the legal requirements, but a surprising few that really dig into the detailed legal issues involved."
Jennifer Kirby presents You Might Want to Add This New Trend posted at Minneapolis Luxury Real Estate Blog.
Jonathan Dalton presents It's Just So Easy! Phoenix Arizona Real Estate - Dalton's Arizona Homes Blog posted at Phoenix Arizona Real Estate.
Ybother presents 10 Reasons Why Smart Homes Can't Get Into Your Home posted at TodaysTen.com: Daily Top Ten List to jumpstart your knowledge, saying, "Smart Homes have been touted as the Next Big Thing. However they have been around for decades and any futuristic movie is sure to showcase their potential. But why ain't our homes like those in Minority Report? Read on to find out."
Silicon Valley Blogger presents How People Get Pressured Into Buying A House With No Money Down posted at The Digerati Life.
Gold Medallion presents Are Utah Home Builders Desperate? posted at New Homes in Utah.
Toby Boyce presents What Does an Experienced REALTOR Provide You? posted at Sadie's Take, saying, "Every real estate writer tells sellers to choose an experienced agent. Why? I don't know and the numbers don't support their suggestion."
Michael Cook presents Investing in Your Home posted at Suite101: Buying/Selling a Home articles.
Joshua Dorkin presents Why Pets Are Better Tenants than Children posted at Real Estate Investing For Real, saying, "Consumer real estate humor"
Diane Tuman presents Do You Have a Neighbor from Hell? posted at Zillow Blog, saying, "This topic might touch a lot of nerves since at some point, one of us has either had a neighbor-from-hell or been one themselves."
Athol Kay presents How To Make Your Zillow Ad Better In Six Easy Steps posted at REagent in CT.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
consumer-focused real estate blog carnival using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Join Nigel Swaby's Salt Lake Real Estate Blog for next week's Carnival.

Want to host a Carnival? Contact Toby!

Monopoly Money For This Week's Carnival

2007-04-03T08:12:00.000-04:00

It seems that a lot of sub-prime lenders were playing with Monopoly money the past few years.
But, don't worry Steve at Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog is using real Monopoly money for this week's Consumer-Oriented Carnival of Real Estate.

With 24 entries, he selected winners from:

Fifth place, Maureen Francis and her 10 Things You Can't Do If You Want to Sell Your Home and Jonathan Greene covers this ground from a different perspective in his 5 Ways to Be Awesomely Awesome (and Get It Sold).
Fourth, Nigel Swaby and his Real Estate Questions and Answers - All About Purchases.
Third, Toby Boyce and his What Does an Experienced Realtor Provide for You?
Second place goes to YBother's techie post on 10 Reasons Why Smart Homes Can't Get Into Your Home. [ed. Geek alert.]
And this week's winner is Dan Melson and his How to Effectively Shop for a Listing Agent.

Thanks to all that entered and for making this a wonderful Carnival!
Please submit your entry today for next week's carnival which will be hosted by the Nigel Swaby and the Salt Lake Real Estate Blog.

Interested in hosting a Carnival? Contact Toby!

Bronze, Silver, Gold: The Carnival Heads to the Olympics

2007-03-27T09:38:00.000-04:00

Larry Cragun's Mortgage Undressed is the host of this week's Carnival and took us on an Olympic tour!

Gold: Athol Kay's "A Dumpster is Cheaper Than Selling the House"

Silver: Amy L. Fontinelle's "Home Inspection Do You Really Need One?"

Bronze: Ann O’Connell's "What Can A Stager Do For Me - It’s Gorgeous Outside"

Submit your nominations for next week's Carnival, which will be hosted by the Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog.

Interested in hosting a Carnival? Contact Toby for more information or to volunteer.

7th Edition of Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival: Ninja Style

2007-03-20T16:42:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Greene's Real Opinonated hosted this week's Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival and he had to defend it from ninja attack.

Order of the sword:

Nigel Swaby of the Salt Lake Real Estate Blog tells us how First Time Home Buyers Can Still Get a Mortgage.

Dan Melson from Searchlight Crusade helps the consumer Find A Good Buyers Agent.

Larry Cragun gives his readers a sharp ninja style kick in the jollies with his post entitled “It’s Time To Grow Up.” Kee-Yah!

Order of the Staff:

Steve Leung at 1SiliconValley tells us what NFL Free Agency and Buying a Home have in common.

Curly Tree over at The Digerati Life writes a ninja-quality post about Selling Your Home Via Online Auction.

Order of the Shuriken:

Athol Kay, with the very, very sneaky redesigned blog, proves his ninja virtue by blogging about What to Do When Preparing to Sell Your Home.

Michael Cook from Suite101 tells us how to Influence the Outcome of an Appraisal. Real Opinionated would have suggested a different method involving my band of killer Real Estate ninjas, but Michael’s advice is also good.

Special thanks to Jonathan for hosting this week's carnival.

Submit your entries for the 8th edition which will be hosted by one of the "Top 10 Good Guys" at Mortgage Undressed, the deadline is Monday at Noon and it will be posted next Tuesday.

No More Themes, Hey Isn't That a Song?

2007-03-13T16:27:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Dalton's Phoenix Area Real Estate Blog has left the building. But, not before providing us a wonderful no-frills sixth-edition of the Consumer-Oriented Real Estate Blog Carnival.

This week's issue was done sans-theme in a retro move to a simpler time. And we here at the CoRE Carnival think it is grand ... just like classic wall paper.

Nigel Swaby on his Salt Lake City Blog discussed the One Thing that will Prevent You From Getting a Mortgage.
Moving onward, Dan Melson at Searchlight Crusade gives an insightful (and lengthy) look into the fees lenders charge, both legit and junk.
The semi-anonymous Silicon Valley Blogger provides an excellent reference work on the different types of mortgage fraud and how to protect yourself.
Speaking of loans … Greg Higdon, owner of Excelsion Mortgage, lets us know the same hijinks used in the residential market, particularly 100 percent financing, won’t fly in commercial real estate.
Lastly in the loan arena, Michael Emilio discusses 8 Steps to Getting Your Finances in Order. Not attending your company’s convention should have been on the list. I skipped Century 21’s this week. Did Michael? We want to know these things at 11:33 p.m.
Jonathan Greene tells sellers of Five Bone-Headed Moves that Will Cost You Thousands.
Steve Leung writes about Games Agents Play with Buyers.
And finally, the winner Sadie and Toby Boyce provide us their look at the best small towns in Delaware County Ohio.

Submit your articles for next week's Carnival which will be hosted by Jonathan Greene's Real Opinonated.

We're Being Featured ...

2007-03-11T09:17:00.000-04:00

Just found out from the folks at Blog Carnival that we will be the featured blog on Monday! So we'll be on their front-page all day.

Sounds cool. Now being the math geek I am, I'll have to see if impacts the number of submissions we receive.

Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival on Narcotics

2007-03-06T17:25:00.000-04:00

Jonathan Dalton's Phoenix Arizona Real Estate hosts this week's Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnvial and he chose to ... against Doctor's orders of coure ... mix it with NyQuil.

And we receive, Tobey's top 5:

Teresa Boardman from St. Paul Real Estate checks in with the sad stories surrounding foreclosures.

Amy Fontinelle leaps onto an soapbox of mine and tells us everything an online MLS listing will not tell you about a home.

Athol Kay at The Real Estate Guide discusses the need to find a good real estate attorney to handle your closing, for those in states where attorneys are needed (Arizona is not one of those states.)

Matthew Paulsen at Getting Green has an interesting post about reverse mortgages, made even more interesting by a couple of comments after the point.

(TIE) Steve Leung’s Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog discusses smells that make you go hmmm when showing a house and Jennifer Kirby hits the same issue in her Minneapolis Real Estate Blog.

Well another great blog and it is even better under the influence of narcotics. Hopefully the Phoenix duo are feeling better next week, because they volunteered to host the Carnival on back-to-back weeks.

Submit your posts for next week! (deadline is noon on MONDAY).

Want to host a future edition? Contact Toby!

Mr. Frogcat Takes Over the 4th Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival

2007-02-27T13:03:00.000-04:00

The fourth installment of the Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival took a dark spin this week as it was hijacked by Mr. Frogcat from Athol Kay's The Real Estate Guide.

Mr. Frogcat provided Gold Awards to:

Nigel Swaby presents Help! I’ve been priced out of the market by house flippers, low interest rates and Casey Serin posted at Salt Lake Real Estate Blog.

Dan Melson presents When to Get A Buyer's Agent and Start Looking posted at Searhlight Crusade.

Silver went to:

David Williams presents Biloxi and Ocean Springs MS "For Sale By Owner" Tips. posted at Sergeant Real Estates Opinion... It matters to me!!.

Joshua Dorkin presents Vacant Rental Property or Bad Tenants? posted at Real Estate Investing For Real.

Jonathan Greene presents The Tale of the Terrible F Bomb posted at Real Opinionated.

Peter Comitini presents It's official, the Manhattan market is hot again posted at Peter Comitini

Larry Cragun presents I Am Not A Cat - I Am A Frog posted at MortgagesUndressed.

Keep clapping for Bronze

Jennifer Kirby presents What is a Realtor to the Public? posted at Minneapolis Real Estate Blog.

Steve Leung presents Why You Need Real Estate Agents and Why You Don't Trust Them posted at 1SiliconValley.com

Maureen Francis presents Does Your Realtor Have A Lasso? posted at MiOaklandCounty.com.

Greg Swann presents Ask the Broker: What makes property values rise? posted at BloodhoundBlog.

Matthew Paulson presents Roommates: Can’t Live With Out Them posted at Getting Green.

Wenchypoo presents Social Security Alternatives posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket

Interested in hosting a future edition? Contact Toby!

Submit your article to next week's Carnival today!

Consumer-Focused Real Estate Blog Carnival -- Third Edition!

2007-02-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

Teresa Boardman's St. Paul Real Estate Blog hosts this week's Consumer-Focused Real Estate Blog Carnival!

Jonathan Greene of Tampa Area Real Estate Blog: Real Opinonated claimed the victory with his post "How to Hone Your Ninja Skills".

Best of the rest included ...

Ana Hays, of 3 Oceans -San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate, weighs is with Shopping for houses Isn't Like Shopping at Nordstrom's. Ana teaches us how to choose and agent, and the importance of choosing a good one.

Next we have an excellent post by Steve Leung How Home Buyers and Sellers Get Trapped in Straw Scams of Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog – 1SiliconValley.com, Steve explains straw buyer scams, and how they hurt regular folks.

Jonathan Dalton, of Phoenix Arizona Real Estate, encourages us to have a Clue by explaining Clue reports in Clue? You better get one . These reports are generated by the insurance industry and show us insurance claim histories on homes.

Leanne Paynter, of South Florida Real Estate Voice demonstrates that a great Realtor®, can save her clients some money by educating them and she does this with her Top 10 ways to save money when buying or selling real estate. Florida is a popular retirement destination for those of us who live in the frozen North land, when we get ready to spend our winters in Florida, Leanne will be our Realtor®.

From Athol Kay of The Real Estate Guide we give honorable mention to: Death-by-days on the market. I think his post spoke to me with the dialog between the excited buyer and tired Realtor®

Our thanks to Teresa for hosting this week's carnival, she did a wonderful job!

Submit your entries for next week's carnival, which will be hosted by Athol Kay's The Real Estate Guide.

The Best of the Rest: Failed to Qualify for This Week's Race ...

2007-02-14T00:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we posted the winners of the second Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival well today we take a look at those that failed to qualify.

And just like normal NASCAR qualifying, the difference was merely thousands of a second from first to tenth.

Matthew Paulson presents "The Lesster of Two Evils: PMI or a Piggyback Mortgage posted on Getting Green. Matthew brings out a great point and points out the importance of evaluating all the options. However, I would have loved to seen more analysis rather than just "assumptions" to qualify for the Carnival.

"Hapless Home Buyer's Guide" was submitted by Madeleine Begun Kane from Mad Kane's Humor Blog. This would have been an intersting post to watch if it hadn't attempted to qualify last August.

Rod Thomas Blog written by - surprise - Rod Thomas submitted "Property Investment Terms". Sure this information is needed ... but a dictionary list isn't going to make it into this Carnival field.

And that's the checker-flag on this week's edition of the Consumer-Oriented Real Estate Blog! Submit your entries for next week's race, which will be hosted by St. Paul Real Estate's Teresa Boardman.

The Race is on at the Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival

2007-02-13T12:33:00.000-04:00

Sadie's Take on Delaware Ohio has posted the second consumer-oriented blog carnival winners!

The Winner

Jonathan Dalton and Tobey presented Why What You Want to Hear Isn’t What You Need to Hear” from Phoenix Real Estate Blog. When you sell your home - especially in this market - price is one of the most important variables and Tobey (with Jonathan’s help) shares the need to realize this for consumers.

Rest of the Field
miOaklandCounty’s Maureen Francis presents “Metro Detroit’s Most Expensive Home”. Do you have $14.5 million lying around? Well then there is a house in Michigan ready for you … and Maureen would love to help you get it done.

“A House is a Tool to Live the Life You Want”, submitted by The Real Estate Guide’s . Purchasing a house is a complete mix of emotions - and often you don’t know what you want. Athol points out that the final product is more important than whether it meets your initial criteria.

Jonathan Greene’s Tampa Area Real Estate Blog: Real Opinionated presented “One Man’s Cliche is Another Man’s Curb Appeal”. Jonathan is an agent in the “pink flamingo” capital of America — and he’s finally telling sellers the truth. Those plastic flamingos are not selling your house …

What is That Offer Really Worth? is presented by Bill Byrnes from Maine Coast Properties Blog. Bill does a great job of explaining to sellers the potential cost of over-pricing their home — which goes beyond just losing a sale.

Every NASCAR fan hopes for a great run from Kirk Shelmerdine or Derrike Cope in one of the sport’s under-funded teams. Well our surprise entry was “Why I’d Hire This Real Estate Agent” from Silicon Valley Blogger’s The Digerati Life. Does your agent know what you want? Well the Silicon Valley Blogger knows what he wants and if you don’t meet his criteria — he’ll Donald Trump you. A great post for agents to keep in mind what the consumer - and they are all different - wants.

“Demands Listing Agents Make That Aren’t in Their Clients Best Interest”, submitted by Dan Melson’s Searchlight Crusade. Dan makes a great discussion of agents that are still stuck in the seller’s market — with demands that have no place in today’s buyer’s market. A wonderfully informative post.

And that’s the checker-flag on this week’s edition of the Consumer-Oriented Real Estate Blog! Submit your entries for next week’s race, which will be hosted by St. Paul Real Estate’s Teresa Boardman.

Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival - 1st Edition

2007-02-06T00:22:00.000-04:00

It is a special day around the world. Whether you are celebrating Chama Cha Mapinduzi Day in Tanzania, Constitution Day in Mexico, Unity Day in Burundi, or the first-ever Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival it would only be fitting that we enjoy a parade.

Leading our parade is the Queen of Consumer-Oriented content Teresa Boardman and her St. Paul Real Estate Blog. In “Sellers, May We Talk?” Boardman highlights the importance of making it as easy as possible for the potential buyers to find your house – especially in winter when it gets dark earlier.

We move to the northeast for today’s first-runner up in today’s parade. Muffy Myles presented “Maine in Winter” on Newcastle Square Realty Blog and it was a leisurely trip during a “quiet off-season day” in Maine. Muffy had better be careful or those summer visitors might just stay.

Second-runner up takes us to the desert southwest and Jay Thompson’s “Donkeys in the Desert!” from his blog, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy. The post takes us on a sandy journey through the Whispering Ranch and even includes photos of Jay taking his Jeep off-road!

That concludes the first Consumer-Oriented Blog Carnival. The next issue will be published on Tuesday February 13, at Sadie’s Take on Delaware, Ohio. Submission deadline is Monday at noon, you can submit your article with this easy form.

Interested in hosting an issue? Contact Toby and enjoy reading a lot of great blog posts (and get some free traffic to boot!)

Till next time, enjoy your Chama Cha Mapinduzi Day!

MVN Blog Carnival

2007-01-31T09:01:00.000-04:00

This is the final posting of the MVN Sports Carnival. I started this before deciding to leave MVN and and am using this platform to give these people the credit they deserve.

basketball

Alvaro Fernandez presents IntelliGym for basketball: ESPN video with the Memphis Tigers posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, "A cool video on a cognitive training program used by the Memphis Tigers. The science behind it was based on research with fighter pilots."

football

Carlos Figueroa presents Can We Blame Childress for the New Gopher Coach? posted at Kick Ass Offense.

Joshua Galligan presents 10 Reasons I'm a Moron posted at SPORT CRACK, saying, "I'd previously made a '10 Reasons the Patriots will win' post.. and since they lost, I took a second look at each reason I listed, then talked about why it didn't work and/or why I was retarded for believing it would happen."

Kathy Maister presents Superbowl Chili posted at Kathy Maister's startcooking.com, saying, "If you're counting the days till the Superbowl, get ready for your Superbowl party with this crowd-pleasing chili recipe."

other

Alvaro Fernandez presents Freeze-Framer for Golf: emotional management for peak performance « Brain Fitness Revolution at SharpBrains posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, "This is a golf-related post, but the concept of peak performance under pressure applies to any competitive sport."

Vahid Chaychi presents Doping and Cancer Kill Athletes Cruelly posted at Healthoma.com.

eduardomanu presents Roger Federer vs Andy Roddick posted at Videos de Deporte, saying, "Federer gives a lesson to Roddick in Australian Open 2007."

That concludes this edition and this carnival. Thanks to all that have participated.

Technorati tags: mvn's carnival, blog carnival.

Introduction to the Consumer Focused Real Estate Blog Carnival

2007-01-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

I've been having a discussion with Bigger Pockets' Josh Dorkin about this and after reading Teresa Boardman's 10 Good Men Bloggers for 2007, I realized something needed to be done.

The Real Estate Carnival and the Real Estate Investors Carnival are great, but they tend to be more about "blogging about real estate". And as I've evolved as a real estate agent that blogs, I'm realizing that isn't the best direction for my career. PlaceBlogger.com is aggregating the content of placebloggers, and now I'm adding a carnival that will focus on those that write for consumers, as opposed to other real estate agents.

So, welcome to the information page on the Consumer Focused Real Estate Blog Carnival.

The Basics:

Home Page: I've set-up a blog to serve as the "home page" for this Carnival.

Hosting: I will host the first one at Sadie's Take on Delaware Ohio, but anyone that is interested in hosting is more than welcome too.

Frequency: I would like to make this a weekly carnival with a deadline of Noon (EDT) on Monday and being posted on Tuesday.

Submission Deadline: Noon on Monday. Late entries will automatically be forwarded to the next host.

Submission Guidelines: One entry per blog per week. For more information visit the Blog Carnival page.

Mess with the Devil: This is a carnival for CONSUMERS based real estate agents. It will be up to the host to manage this, however those that continually "spam" entries that are not geared towards the consumer will be banned from the competition.

If you have anything that can and will make this better, please don't hesitate to let me know.