Active Rainers Manny ,Boardman, McKnight, and Kitano quoted in Inman News - 03/29/07 06:07 PM
Yesterday, Localism expert and recognized Queen of Long Beach , Laurie Manny, was quoted in an Inman news article along with Teresa Boardman of St Paul Real Estate Blog.
The full content of the article can be found on Inman News but was republished here for those without a subscription. 
Real estate blogging expert, Mary McKnight, lauded Active Rain for it's meteoric rise to the forefront of social networking in the RE.net.
Laurie Manny's SEO accomplishments are astounding :
1- 8th in organic results for "Long beach, CA real estate" 
2- 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th in "Downtown Long Beach Real Estate" 
3- 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th … (27 comments)

STOP SCREAMING ABOUT SUBPRIME - 03/15/07 12:37 AM
I wrote a post about the loss of jobs due to the subprime collapse and was pleased to see it featured.  I had written about this problem a few weeks before the mainstream press picked up on it because I have contacts at both securities firms (from a former life) and sub-prime lenders (from my existing life).
Some good comments followed along with a request from my buddy Carole Cohen about WHO was really going to LOSE from the collapse of the subprime mortgage market.  Laurie Manny and I discussed this tonight and she convinced me to go public with my theory.
Let … (31 comments)

Lenders Say "These Jobs Are Going Boys...and They Ain't Coming Back" - 03/14/07 01:48 AM
Orange County, CA may be in trouble. The OC is home to the subprime lenders of America. The subprime mortgage market is collapsing like a bluff on a beach in a tsunami. Bubble bloggers dance on the graves of the fallen.  What I find amusing is that nobody feels bad for a collapsed lender.  I mean, come on, everyone knows that it's just a bunch of rich people playing with the Wall Street's money, right?
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more They're closing down the textile mill … (47 comments)

Investment Advice for the Perpetually Moronic - 03/09/07 01:11 PM
I haven't been hiding my out and out admiration for my co-contributor on Bloodhound Blog, and new Active Rainer, Michael Cook.  He writes amazing things about investing and draws from his studies as a graduate business student at Cornell and his practical experience as an investor.
He's young and polite.  He knows more than you but never flaunts it.  Here's a kid who wears his education like his watch; for use and not for show.  Jeff Brown complimented him by saying he was a "rare breed- a highly intelligent young man who doesn't know it all".
Today, Michael slid a great article in … (12 comments)

Lenn Harley Interview on Bloodhound Blog - 03/03/07 09:42 PM
Lenn on her "new" business strategy:
So, it worked?
Brian, I just “love it when a plan comes together”
Were there fears or trepidations or were you confident in your strategy?
There was never any doubt.  I never had any fear or trepidations because I was NOT “trying” anything.
Lenn on business through social networking websites: 
No.  I would not refer a home buyer to any lender simply because of a friendship or relationship developed on a blog.
...I just settled on Wednesday with a buyer who had been pre-qualified with an Internet lender.  He had been taking advice from an online mortgage transparency “guru“.  It was a … (28 comments)

WINNER: The Carnival of The Economics of Real Estate - 03/01/07 09:41 PM
Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry to the Carnival of The Economics of Real Estate.  We had over fifteen entries:
All of the entries have a star next to then and can be read here.
Notable entries from newcomers to the group include: 
Greg Swann with The Math of Real Estate Sales... 
Michael Cook with How to Value Options in Real Estate 
Karen George with Know Your Home Loan Basics Zero Down  Loans and Who Can Afford My Home?
Irene Potter with 1st True Encounter With a Redfin Buyer 
Keith Gill posted MMA Type mortgage Accelerator programs and Negative Amort Option arms
Old … (25 comments)

Please Welcome Michael Cook to Active Rain - 03/01/07 12:05 AM
Michael Cook is a multi-family investor and graduate student at the Johnson School of Business at Cornell University.
He is a co-author at Bloodhound Blog and a serial winner of the Carnival of Real Estate Investing.  Greg Swann found him writing his stuff on myspace and quickly recruited him to write at Bloodhound.
Michael read my post about the "Carnival of the Economics of Real Estate" and joined Active Rain.  While I wouldn't expect him to post for points, he is a knowledgeable man with the gifted ability to communicate economic theories into everyday practice.  His entries are short enough to digest and … (13 comments)