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Remembering 2006

A quick look back at some of the Real Estate happenings in 2006

In February – the launch of Zillow.com provided the public with resources for home buying and selling “free and on your own terms” - it’s particular gem being Zestimates, an online home valuation tool. Despite backlash from the real estate community, including a complaint filed to the Federal Trade Commission by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in October, Zillow continues to grow. In early December, Zillow introduced a new service that allows seller’s to post their listings on the Zillow website.

In February – Craigslist.org, the popular online forum, faced lawsuit charges by a Chicago fair housing group, claiming some of their ads to be discriminatory. The lawsuit was dismissed in November when courts ruled that services such as Craigslist could not be held liable for content posted by it’s users.

In June – real estate technology company ActiveRain “launched the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free networking resource for real estate professionals” which now boasts over 12,000 members!

In July – Jim Cronin launched his popular blog, The Real Estate Tomato, with amazing graphics, “juicy news for realtors” and “Outstanding Service, Knowledge and the Technology to Make Them More Successful.” His creativity adds a new and enjoyable twist to the world of real estate blogging!

In October - “Existing home sales climbed for the first time in 8 months…” It’s about time!

In November – “Christian Real Estate Network Now the Largest Faith-Based Real Estate Network in the World” – we’ve reached over 1,000 members!!

The Year has had it’s up and downs in the real estate market. With buyer and seller demographics shifting, the slowdown in the housing market and the growth of internet real estate marketing… who knows what surprises 2007 may hold. With a new year come new possibilities. Whatever trends the next year has in store, we pray that God will bless you in 2007!

We wish you a very

happy new year

Interested in Online Marketing? Join our group!

Posted by Justin Smith | SEO, SMO & Blogging Consultant on 01/02/2007 10:38 AM

Comments (29)

happy new year, year in review

29 Comments on Remembering 2006

JAN

2007

Justin, congratulations on growing CREN so successfully! I am sure 2008 will be even bigger for you.

Do I detect a theme for 2006? DIY real estate, perhaps. Rather than seeing Craig's List and Zillow as threats, I believe Realtors can embrace them and use them to our advantage.

Justin - Happy New Year! Thanks again for inviting me to the Rain thru your newsletter.

I thought you might like to see how one Realtor used our tool. It is the current featured post on our Showcase Blog.

2007 will definitely be even bigger and better for CREN! Congratulations on the stats so far!

Happy New Year!

I neglected to mention that this post was written by Katey Weaver. She handles customer service here at CREN.

She even got a gold star! Not bad for her first ever real estate related blog post!

This is a joke right? Your whole website is despicable! The fact that you imply that all "non-christian" agents are only interested in a commission is discriminatory!

The fact that you take a referral fee shows your BLATANT HYPOCRISY!

Religous affiliation has nothing to do with one's aptitude or ethics. Claiming that being a christian equals being a trustworthy professional is FALSE. People who use their faith as a professional designation or a qualification are NOT PROFESSIONAL!

I can't believe that a true real estate professional would sign up for this garbage. Your site is nothing but misdirection, lies, and promotes discrimination which from my understanding of the bible is the work of satan. You prey on the christian community and lead them to believe that working with "non-christian" professionals is not the "christian thing to do", and then you profit from it.

You are the textbook definition of "opportunism at it's worst"! Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, Ted Haggard, and Jimmy Swaggart are "saints" compared to you!

David - As a member of CREN, I'm a little confused by your comment. Where exactly does it imply on the website that all "non-christian" agents are only interested in a commission? You also mention that we "prey" on the christian community - In fact, the clients that have been referred to me by CREN are all very happy with the service that has been provided from start to finish. You may want to make sure your "Professional" hat is on and remember that the next time you make a comment on a Blog - the whole world can see it. May God Bless You in 2007 and I hope you realize that instead of "preying" on the christian community -we PRAY for them.

Great post, I am new to AR so this helped me quite a bit in getting caught up on 2006 activities that affect the real estate industry

Brian:

It implies it on the main page, here is a copy of the exact text:

Looking for a Real Estate Agent that answers to a Higher Authority? Wouldn't you rather have a christian agent that is more interested in YOU than in a commission?

The way it is phrased uses 2 of the typical fallacies of logic used by con-men for centuries. One is called "begging the question" the other is "confusion of correlation". Don't you want this really positive thing rather than this really negative thing that would happen if you don't choose the positive thing?

My professional hat is always on sir! I never said YOU preyed on your clients. I'm sure you are capable and have many clients that are satisfied. But you being a christian HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT!

The owner of this network is the predator. He is misleading people of faith by implying that faith is a factor for consideration in a business transaction. IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT! If you think it is, you are no better than someone who thinks gender or race is a consideration.

Kyle,

I'm sorry you feel that way. But as Brian said, I'm not sure where you are getting your implications... I think you are reading WAY too much into what we are trying to do. When it comes down to it, we are simply a national association of Christian agents and other real estate professionals. People contact us to work with one of our members and we refer them. It's pretty straightforward.

Why do you consider our referral fee structure hypocrisy? misdirection, lies, discrimination??? How so? When it comes down to it, in principal, we are just like any other affiliate networking group around the country. Is there a particular reason you singled us out with your inflammatory comments?

Our testimonials and 1,100+ happy members speak for themselves.

I disagree that the copy on the home page implies discrimination. I understand that it is a strong statement, but it is specifically speaking of the service that our members give. I'm sorry if you disagree with the phrasing.

I'm surprised that you would take one phrase and write off a whole company as a "con" (with flare I might add!)

BTW, I happen to believe that faith does play a role in every business transaction. Most of our clients believe that as well, and that is why they choose to work with a like minded Christian person. Doesn't the consumer have the right to choose what type of real estate agent they want to work with? And if being a Christian is a factor for some people, do you actually have a problem with that? If so, why?

It's funny, I never hear complaints about other affiliate real estate networks like GayRealEstate.com

Wow. First, congratulations on your accomplishment. I just went and read through different pages of you site. I saw no mention that the agents in your network would NOT do business with a "non-believer" or a person of a different faith, 'cause THAT would be a problem. SO, we're good there. But I would like to address Mr.Kyle's comments, if I may...

Although I DO agree that a person's faith is not necessarily a "designation" of competency - people DO like working with people that they have something in common with, and religion is a BIG factor.

Now, my office is just a couple blocks from New Life Church, and my house is just a few blocks from where Ted Haggard lived (moved to CA last month...). There are more churches per capita in my city than in most other cities in the nation. I have seen the true benefit of religious alliances as well as the seedy underbelly of those who "prey on the christian community" I know of several agnts who tout the fish on their car and ads as well as "go to church" and I would not trust them as far as I could throw them. I have DONE business with them in the past and cringe at the thought that they are representing people in the largest buy/sell transactions in their lives... It is awful. And they do it all with the Christian Hat on. Ick.

Flipside... Our faith plays a LARGE part in who we are and what we do (and don't do). People make decisions based on faith all the time. I know plenty of people who "do business" with people from their church - or from the Christian business directory. "I want to support our Christian Brethren" is what I hear from my Christian friends. There is nothing wrong with that, and I believe in most cases, the people who affiliate their businesses with their faith, do so because they believe it to be right, and that they DO have the best interests of their clients in mind.

So, what do I think, ultimately? I guess I do not care. I am Christian, but do not make my business decisions based on whether or not someone believes what I believe. If they are a good person, with good work ethics and competency and experience to support what I want done, then they will have my business. But, as I said earlier... people make decisions for different reasons. You are filling a niche. There is nothing wrong with that.

(*update: I was going to bring up GayRealEstate.com, as it runs on the same niche philosophy as you guys. They HAVE gotten the same type of negative response, along the very same lines as you guys got, here on this post. A close friend of mine is a member (of GRE) and has told me stories... ANY "niche" marketing that incorporates sensitive subjects like religion, sexual preference... will always come with harsh criticism.)

I felt my last response made things quite clear, but apparently not.

Im getting the implications directly off your site!!!!

Tell me how I am supposed to interpret "Wouldn't you rather have a christian agent that is more interested in you, rather than a commision?"

How would anyone interpret that any other way than: Christian real estate agents are better because they will "care" about you, someone who is non-christian only cares about the commission. You are insinuating that being a christian is a qualification that should supercede all others.

Your referral structure is hypocrisy due to the above statement. You are getting 25% of the commission! If christians don't care about commissions like you claim, why are you collecting them from the agents in your network? You are leading people to believe that you have a network of agents because you have verified they are good christians. You fail to mention the fact they are christians agreeing to give you 25%. Hypocrisy is saying one thing and doing the exact opposite, which is what YOU ARE DOING!

Lies, misdirection and discrimination. Again... you are leading people of faith to believe that they should only use professionals of there faith and will not be treated as well if they choose someone not of their faith. That is textbook discrimination. It's lies and misdirection because it is JUST NOT TRUE! One's religous affiliation has nothing to do with how one performs professionaly or how they conduct themselves. In my experience those who have a cross or fish on their business card are some of the most crooked people I have ever met!

What does 1100 happy members say exaclty? That they jumped on the bandwagon and were in need of leads? Hell the nazis and the KKK had a bunch of "happy members" at one time. Does that mean what they were doing was right. NO! Your use of logical fallacies will not fool me!

I chose to single you out because you deserved it, and you are not like other affiliate networks. You are discriminatory to religon and thats a fact. You cater to predjudice! If there were a White People's Real Estate Network, or an Over 40 Real Estate Network, I would be dropping them a line as well.

Hi Mariana,

I completely agree that there are people out there that use the fish and other "Christian" symbols and such in order to generate more business, and ultimately end up giving Christianity in general a bad name because of their lack of service. But I honestly don't know how to get around that... obviously everyone that says they're a Christian isn't going to act like it.

We have just been thankful that in 5 years of business, we have not had one serious complaint about the service of one of our members. So, I'd like to think that we're doing something right! :-)

Thank you for your post. The link didn't come through for the post on GRE. I'd like to read it if possible. Thank you for the FYI.

The whole Ted Haggard situation... just a disaster. My heart goes out to their fellowship.

Yes you are right! The customer does have the right to choose! I am all for that!

I never said anything on the site stated you will not work with non-christians.

My problem is that the average christian that sees your site, may feel obligated to find a agent that is christian, whereas they might not have cared before seeing your site. You use all kinds of quotes from the bible that alludes to the fact that people in your network will be doing god's work! Very arrogant in my opinion. I live in a city dominated by conservative christians, and many of its followers are VERY IMPRESSIONALBLE!

As for the gay affiliate network, thats a bit different. It doesn't make any claims on why someone needs a gay agent and what will happen if they don't use one, nor does it make any discriminatory remarks about agents who aren't gay. Seeing how gays are one of the last minorities where it is acceptable to discriminate against... it makes sense for there to be a network like this.

I think it makes sense for a network like YOURS to exist. The problem I have is the way you present it.

I didn't mean to turn this into some kind of battle, but when I read the first page of your site, I WAS OFFENDED! I hope you will consider phrasing things more objectively. I feel the way it is now, it's more of a propaganda type site that tells christians WHY they should be looking for a christian professional, and not a resource that offers the opportunity for those who ARE looking.

Pulling my politics out of this, I congratulate and commend you on what you have accomplished. I know it's not easy getting this type of internet business to be a success.

Again, I'm sorry, but I disagree with your evaluation of that phrase and our site. And I apologize to everyone on AR for this discussion. It's really irrelevant to the post. But it becomes personal when someone attacks your company and your character, and it's hard not to make some kind of response. But, I promise, this will be my last comment RE this subject.

We never say anything about "not caring" about a commission. As I said before, you are reading way too much into a simple phrase. If you were to imply anything from that phrase, it would be that we care more about people than about commissions, which is completely true!!!!! It is mentioned in multiple places on the site that the way we are able to stay in business is through referral fees from our members.

And again, you failed to explain why a person choosing to work with a particular agent they may have an affiliation with is some how "wrong". Can't a person choose whomever they want to work with?

Thanks for commenting. I'm sorry you disagree with that phrase on our website or what we are doing in general. Maybe it will encourage you to know that we have been able to help thousands of people, and they have all been very happy with the service. It has really been a blessing for us to be able to say that we've made such a big difference in so many people's lives.

We wish you the best in 2007.

I didn't fail to explain... my last statement started out agreeing with that point. There is nothing wrong with it. I'm all for property rights! Again my problem is with the presentation, not the concept.

Sorry for taking your comments off topic, feel free to nuke them if you like. I actually looked for a way to send you a "private message" but didn't see it.

Hi all, I am new to AR. I took a look at this Blog hoping to get some information and Learn, I was a little disappointed to read the bickering. I waded around it and did manage to learn something. Happy New Year to all :)

Monica - Take heart and don't look at this as a ommon occurrence. This is unusual, but when there are controversial subjects you do tend to get some heated discussion, adn people have a right to express their opinions. Boviously it is hoped that it does not become too personal. This is, though, perhaps the most extensive I have seen since I have been here. I am staying out of it :)

Your post looks good. Nice summary. Let's keep it at that.

Ken

I'm really sorry guys. I never intended the discussion with David to be strung out for so long. I just felt that I needed to defend myself and the network publicly as that is where the comments were made.

JAN

2007

aside from the religious debate that i won't comment on, i really like the post. it shows a trend that consumers are now taking a more active step toward their real estate transactions, as well as internet as becoming incredibly important in the game of real estate.

cheers,

cindy

i love staging and all things staging!

i stage to sell, live & work in san francisco bay area

www.staged4more.com

http://stagingtipsandmore.com

David Kyle - I have to say that I feel it's highly disappointing and unprofessional of you to fly off the handle so quickly about CREN and to disparage them with such an abrasive tone in a public forum. While you are certainly entitled to your own opinions, it accomplishes nothing to lash out so negatively and caustically. CREN is an organization with tremendous integrity. To lump it in with those who have clearly disgraced and defrauded others is completely unfair. You certainly have every right to disagree with someone's marketing, but you can communicate your thoughts without being so volatile. In the future, if you feel it necessary to be so confrontational, you can simply click on the writer's profile pic. From there, you will see a "Contact" link where you can send them a private message. Thanks!

P.S. I beg to differ with you on your statement, "Religous affiliation has nothing to do with one's aptitude or ethics"

My personal faith has absolutely EVERYTHING to do with my ethics. It is the primary and underlying basis for everything that I do.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, I realize that everyone is Human and not all will agree on every topic, I was I guess a little concerned seeing this. Good to know it does not happen alot...:) I am having fun on this site :)

I'm getting the NAHREP newsletters now. I wish the group was as strong as it is in California.

I'm just some goofy white dude that is fortunate enough to work for a company that understands there are niche markets out there ,basically untapped. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals do not seem to mind me one bit. If anything, I can provide services that others cannot. I can relate where others cannot, I can feel really good in networking with other cultural backgrounds, where others can not.

I thank Brian Brady http://activerain.com/azbrady (If I could actually take the time to learn how to change the link name....I would) for turning me on to this organization.

I have no problem with the Christian realtor nework, just as I would have no problem if there were an Irish Realtor network. (Hhhhmmmm...... maybe I should start one). While I get what Mr. Kyle is driving at (word interpretation), its importance in this case is negligible.

David - My being a Christian has everything to do with my profession. Serving God and serving others is my job - my profession just gives me another "vehicle" to do it in.

Again, I hope you know that every Christian is not against you -in fact I know at least one that is praying for you.

Monica - things are not typically this adverserial. Lively debate and healthy discussion are the cornerstones of good blogging. We can all respect each other's opinions and differences without resorting to such unwarranted attacks. Trust me, this is a wonderful platform to invest your time and energy into. It will repay significant benefits to your personal and professional life!

Rich,

Thanks, I plan to stick around. I have pretty think skin and I am learning so much here. :)

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