As a real estate blogger have you been offered something of value, then blogged about it?

Or have you been paid to blog about something? 

I have my mea culpas (and disclosures) below, after my wish list.

Kris Chris Wales wrote:

"FTC says if we're blogging we better be honest about any freebies!"

Chris wrote about reading about it in the Detroit News.  It must have been on the AP or similar because I saw stories about it yesterday online....

My wish list 

Consumer electronics top the list just in case anyone, anywhere is listening (and I will post this to ColumbusBestBlog.com since it gets traffic)

A Palm Pre from Palm or Sprint...  It might make me actually like Sprint

A netbook... brand?  Whatever...

Heck I'd take a laptop too....

I could easily disclose...

Real Estate

Real estate wise if a local home builder would like to give me a free home I will say nice things and disclose, disclose, disclose....

Hmmm makes me wonder about some of the blogs about real estate tools we use on ActiveRain....  Market Leader, etc....  free trial periods?

Free food

Free food... I have blogged and blogged about Columbus food and no one has given me any of it free.... in fact one PR company used a contact form on one of my blogs recently asking me to run across town, eat a burger and blog about it. Not a free burger mind you....   I said "Thanks but no thanks" or maybe I was not that polite about it.

Food is different than consumer electronics....  I am not sure I would want free food because then if I gagged on it would I blog about it? Not that I have blogged bad things about food or local restaurants.  Watch my tweets if you want to see snotty comments not so much about the food but about being seated in a section with no air conditioning... or seated in a section with no waitress at the same place a week earlier.... I am @MoInColumbusOH on Twitter

I've never been paid to blog about anything...

My disclosures  (Mea Culpa)

As a member of the "New Media" I got invited to a Media and VIP event the day before the Lost Egypt exhibit opened at COSI.

COSI it's the Real Thing

Columbus Discover Lost Egypt at COSI

Wonder if I have written about COSI previously....

The food at the event was unbelievable, of course you have to have real good food for the VIPs...

I got a ticket to the Columbus City Hop from the sponsor the Columbus Landmarks Foundation and I feel totally awful that all I have been able to muster is a couple of Silent Sunday posts of the views from two of the Downtown Columbus Condos I got to see....

Columbus View City Hop 2009

Downtown Columbus City Hop 2009

Thank you to Columbus Landmarks for the free ticket.  What a great opportunity to see Downtown Columbus Condos.  I live and work on the far north-side of Columbus, I have been on downtown condo tours put on by my brokerage, Real Living HER (I believe I paid for those.....) and I know the Columbus Board of Realtors has done downtown Columbus tours... as a real estate agent I have access to the properties, free of charge... well except all the expenses of the business...   I wanted to see and listen to peoples reaction to the downtown condos.

I have written about the Columbus Landmarks Foundations events since I started blogging and have paid for tours and been a member on and off...

Are events different than getting things?

What have you received for free and then blogged about?  Do you have affiliate programs on your blog?