A question for Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia - 07/25/07 06:43 AM
 
                                                      Pete, did you really do that?
Are you familiar with Trulia Voices? According to the information on the Trulia’s website it is a place for “real questions & answers from people like you”. For last few weeks I became a frequent visitor to this site. I am a fan of Trulia as you some of you possibly noticed from one of my posts, “Who started Real Estate Revolution”.I was browsing through new questions section on Trulia Voices earlier today and I came across the following question: … (12 comments)

A Secret of "Featured Posts" - 07/18/07 04:01 AM
As an eager student of Active Rain I asked AR Customer Service a few times regarding the rules guiding Featured Posts.  How are they selected, who selects them and who selects the selectors.  To my surprise, I have never received an answer. To my surprise - as Active Rain staff is usually very good and prompt about answering any other questions or problems I happened to send their way. Then, I have found out from a few fellow “Rainers” that they also asked also have never received answers. So what is this mystery about? I went to check Guiding Principles of … (41 comments)

GOOD and BAD about NAR: Can we fix NAR? - 07/15/07 05:50 AM
Reading Instructions: If you are a NAR member, please take your “NAR hat” off and read this post as an individual. This post does not intend to offend anyone. Many of you feel strongly on this subject on either side of the issue and I certainly respect it. I will tell you when it is time to put your NAR hat back.
Recently the he U.S. District Court in Chicago allowed the Department of Justice (DOJ) suit against NAR to proceed. The key point – DOJ alleges that NAR discriminates against brokers using non-traditional business models, “denying them the full benefits … (50 comments)

Should agents be ranked and if yes, by whom? - 07/13/07 06:08 AM
As I mentioned in my post “Can Zillow Annihilate Realtors?”, Zillow is planning to launch agent ranking system.  This is really what I wanted to talk about, but somehow I drifted to prospects of our annihilation by Zillow.
Do clients need to find out how agent ranks by accessing Zillow (or any other site for that matter) today? Aren’t market results (numbers of sold homes) transparent enough when we drive through neighborhood on Sunday afternoon and read agents signs? Before I answer this question, let me remind you how clients were finding agents in pre-Internet age and how agents were ranked … (20 comments)

Can Zillow annihilate Realtors? - 07/12/07 06:03 AM
I have just read the post by Greg Swann, BloodhoundRealty.com Zillow.com to launch Realtor rating system Greg is a superb writer, so it doesn’t matter how bad news he might be writing about, you will enjoy Greg’s rhetoric more than your will fear its possible meaning. Yes, I don’t see Zillow to be conscious benefactor of Realtors, however I don’t believe that it is in Zillow’s, Trulia’s or Redfin’s power to damage Realtors in a long run. Only we can achieve this! But joking on the side – as I pointed out in my recent post
Who Started the Real Estate … (16 comments)

Is it OK for real estate agents to coach clients on how to improve FICO score? - 07/08/07 04:42 AM
William Johnson published recently an excellent post: Out with the Old FICO Scoring System and In with the New. It triggered an excellent discussion on the FICO score itself, but also touched on many other issues, such as the role (and potential liability) of real estate agents evaluating credit report and providing clients with advice. I thought that this subject needs a further discussion.
But let me get back to the topic of this post. Is it OK for real estate agents to coach clients on how to improve FICO score? Let me start my reply with a question. Is … (47 comments)

Are you ready for the 4th of July? - 07/03/07 02:44 AM
Are you ready for the 4th of July? Residents of the Monserat Ave. house in Belmont, CA are:
Are you, your friends, clients, associates and family ready? Can you post a picture to show what did you or they do to prepare for celebration of the 4th of July? Let us know! 
 
… (2 comments)

The best time to post and featured listings - 07/01/07 05:05 AM
I usually post well after midnight PST. Do you have observations when is the best time to post?  Is it any particular time of the day, day of the week?  What is your experience? I would appreciate your comments.
My second questions is how are posts selected as featured? Who does it? Is it dependent on the number of points you collected? It would be nice to understand the process. Good night! 
… (14 comments)

Are you a single and moving to San Francisco? - 07/01/07 04:48 AM
You are a single and moving to San Francisco. You are 25 - 30 years old. After work you like to have fun. You are looking to buy a 1 bedroom/1bathroom condo or condo-loft. You heard about Tenancy in Common (TIC) apartments and are willing to give it a shot as well. You are looking for a recommendation of the area which additionally should offer all major life amenities within a walking distance:
Here is an answer for you, a list of places you might want to consider with reasons why and approximate price for 1 bedroom apartment. Please remember … (0 comments)

Who Started the Real Estate Revolution? - 07/01/07 03:26 AM
 
My vote goes to two companies, Zillow and Trulia. To be more precise, I believe that revolution started shortly after dot.com collapse (2001?). There were new efforts undertaken by a number of dot com companies, but other than spectacular collapse of a few over funded start ups, there is not much that can be attributed to the period before 2001. But the end of dot com era caused a tremendous influx of talented people, including large numbers of developers to real estate. Over last several years we are witnessing development of new technologies and process automation. Progressive MLSs embraced new capabilities, … (12 comments)

One-stop shop in real estate - 07/01/07 01:46 AM
A client asked if there is a single MLS to search listings at, as she is trying to find a “one stop shop” in real estate.
Here is my reply:
There is no real "one-stop shop" in residential real estate. Realtor.com comes close but, even they don't have all data as some local MLS' opted not to display their data via Realtor.  For your information, there are 900 MLS out there and until recently they didn’t see any advantage in sharing data. Your other option is to look to large brokers search engines, such as Coldwell Banker, Re-Max or Prudential. They … (6 comments)

 
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Artur Urbanski

Burlingame, CA

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Cimpler Real Estate, Inc.

Address: 533 Airport Blvd., 4th Fl., Burlingame, CA, 94010

Office Phone: (650) 401-2245

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MLS evolution, key driving factors, new companies providing innovative services and products, local news from Burlingame and the San Francisco Peninsula.


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