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wikinvest

How many of you have gone to Wikipedia for "the gist" of a topic?

Raise your hands, people... ok that makes close to 85,000 of you.

Well... the "next big thing" in the web info arena (according to me) is, ready for it?

Data - more accurately... Smart Data. Raw numbers with contextual meaning.

The web is the battle field ... a tug of war over content.

The combatants in this war are: Free vs. For Profit

This includes us...Bloggers love Free. Real Estate Agents require commission.

So... the Blogger/Agent Math Formula is this:

freely available information + experience + "know how" = commission

There have been a myriad of articles posted in this social network regarding free stuff...

...I've posted a few myself... they include the topics of:

  • Free web hosting
  • Free stock photography
  • Free photo processing
  • Free blogging platforms

But where are the free data sources?

One of the obvious ones is wikipedia. It shows up high in every web search.

I've posted before about free government sources for data... problem is, these sites tend to look like something reported by the government. They tend to be sleep aids.

That's changing.

A new crop of web-smarties are creating mashups. They take public information ... mix in some smart database magic... and create, in essence, a wikipedia for data.

Here are a few of them:

  • Freebase : This is an open source (that means free) depository of public information. It's excellent.
  • Numbrary : This is like a library for people who love numbers. And you know who you are. I'm one of you.
  • Infochimps : I'm tempted to not describe it... it has "everything about something". It's awesome!

Each of these need to be visited to be appreciated.

I just want to leave you with one that I've been using lately: Wikinvest

Rather than send you to the front page, let's go to a link about the housing market.

Like Wikipedia, you'll be able to see a "neutral" explanation about a topic. It has the blogger math I spoke of earlier: With the application of know how and experience collaborators distill the vast amounts of information on the subject into something more easily digested. Contributors are also invited to take a "bearish" or "bullish" stand on the matter.

For the investment minded it's a real gem. 

---

Chuck Willman is the founder of AZvest ... a network of investment minded individuals with an interest in real estate. He can be reached at www.AZvest.com
 
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7 Comments on Very Cool Investment Information Resources- The Wikipedias of Data

Chuck, I just love all this Wiki stuff.  Thanks for providing some additional interesting links which I'll go check out.

04/27/2008 12:04 PM by Brian Block -- Northern Virginia & D.C. Real Estate (RE/MAX Allegiance)


Hi Chuck,  Three very tatsty sites indeed.  Got it flagged for later review.

04/27/2008 12:11 PM by Bill Gillhespy Fort Myers Beach Realtor (Century 21 Tripower Realty)


Awesome, I bookmarked it. And I love your formula "freely available information + experience + "know how" = commission"

04/27/2008 12:31 PM by Jon Zolsky (FunCoast Realty LLC)


Thanks Chuck I use the wikipedia a lot.  I certainly will give this a good look.

04/27/2008 02:20 PM by John Walters (Specialized Real Estate)


Brian- I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this from the web.

Bill- I might post a few more links of similar sites in the coming week.

Jon- Don't know if I missed anything in there. :-)

John- Enjoy!

04/27/2008 06:14 PM by Chuck Willman, Arizona Realtor®, ABR, TRC (Gentry Realty)


Of these, I think numbrary is the most usable.  There sure is a lot of data out there to try and decipher.  Or I could just go to work and make some money!

04/28/2008 12:51 AM by Robert Machado, CPM MPM Sacramento Area Property Manager and Property Management (HomePointe Property Management, CRMC)


Robert- There certainly is... and yes, at some point it's about work- not analysis. :-)

04/28/2008 10:15 AM by Chuck Willman, Arizona Realtor®, ABR, TRC (Gentry Realty)


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Real Estate Agent: Chuck Willman, Arizona Realtor®, ABR, TRC (Gentry Realty)
Chuck Willman, Arizona Realtor®, ABR, TRC
Phoenix, AZ
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