Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that allows you to answer the question "What are you doing?" online in 140 characters or less.

Over the last few months it has been adopted by thousands of users worldwide to let their friends know what they are up to. Check out Twittervision to see just some of the activity that is happening on the network right now.

Twitter is also a great way for you to keep in touch with colleagues, business contacts and friends at a conference like Connect.

Using your mobile phone you can SMS (text message) your location (iPhone users can use the fantastic application PocketTweets), so people can locate you in the Palace. Using Twitter, you can narrowcast your location to followers and friends so they will always be able to find you.

If you want to follow me at Connect, check out my profile (jburslem) and add me as a friend. You can also stay in touch with important conference updates from the ConnectSF account.

Just one more way you'll never be out of the loop.

Technorati Tags: ConnectSF, Real Estate Connect, real estate

Five bedroom, five bathroom, 142-foot motor yacht. Sleeps 10, plus crew of nine.  All new appliances in galley-- eight-burner Vulcan range, Thermidor double oven with Salamander broiler, custom hood with inlet blower, two dishwashers, two microwaves, Delfield double refrigerator, freezer, trash compactor, Whirlpool icemaker, garbage disposal, Nespresso expresso machine. Owner's personal property, wines, CDs and DVDs, silver flatware and miscellaneous items excluded.

Twin 2,250 HP Caterpillar diesels power this 500 ton vessel to a top speed 19 knots. Fuel capacity 10,300 gallons -- perfect for globe-trotting fun. Currently berthed in Miami, but buyer can relocate to marina of choice. Hedge fund investments in subprime mortgage derivatives force sale. Asking $23.5 million.

Also have 16-bedroom second home in Aspen with nation's tallest living Christmas tree if you're interested. Contact John Devaney, United Capital Markets.

Morgan Brown has been covering a developing story concerning new legal action from Loan Center of California against the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter. According to the site's press release:

"The complaint is in response to an email posted on the Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter website on April 18th, 2007. LCC alleges that as a result of that posting, nearly $4 million of funding was withdrawn by Credit Suisse and Washington Mutual (along with a variety of other business injuries)."

My personal opinion is: The argument that Credit Suisse is actually using a site called the "Implode-O-Meter" as a primary resource to get creditworthiness-investment data is tortured to say the least.

--Todd Carpenter - lenderama

The influx of technology entrepreneurs who are building new real estate 2.0 applications will take off. The recent launches of SecondSpace and Terabitz demonstrate a new appetite by VC-backed techies to conquer a vertical that has massive revenue appeal. Last week, I participated in the Meshwalk, a Silicon Valley networking forum for startup entrepreneurs, and more than a few of the Web 2.0 startup leaders I spoke with mentioned that the real estate industry was one possible target for their new applications.

Real estate has been down this route before. The industry historically looked at the Internet suspiciously as a provider of free real estate data that threatens to disintermediate its practitioners. The initial appearance of Real Estate 1.0 lead generation companies like HomeGain and even NAR-affiliated Realtor.com are manifestations of the brokerages' lack of foresight in developing applications that would connect its agents with the consumer.

SecondSpace is a good example of a company that is developing a search engine-based technology that aims to deliver fine-tuned search results based on compiling users' lifestyle queries. Real estate happens to be one of the best verticals in which to launch their first sites because real estate purchases are all about lifestyle... the grand plan is to develop lifestyle Web sites for other verticals such as travel or even fishing that would complement each other in a portfolio. It's an original model.

The tech world as a whole still doesn't understand the arcane world of real estate (*see footnote below). To bridge the two worlds, I'll be writing a series of articles explaining search engine marketing as it relates to real estate over at Search Engine Journal. The first is up today... all about why real estate blogging is the first manifestation of Real Estate 2.0  and how the agent and the consumer will begin to make their direct connections online.

(*Pardon the plug, but this week's Inman Connect San Francisco is where all the techies come to learn about real estate, ask my friends Pete Flint and Oliver Muoto).

--Pat Kitano, Transparent Real Estate

By Cayusa

There's still time to get in on the fun. Our Connect SF Facebook group is up to 192 members, and we're waiting for you. It's easy to join, just click on the link and your profile will be added. The best part is you can dive right into the discussions, share some pictures and even record a video introduction of yourself! That way you'll show up to Connect and people will already know who you are.

The Connect group on LinkedIn is also still open and accepting requests to join - but not for much longer. There are already over 240 members signed up, making it a great way to grow your professional network.

And hey, if you're looking for a creative way to stand out at Connect, try handing some Web 2.0 business cards that have your Facebook and LinkedIn identity on them so you can stay in touch after the show.


Technorati Tags: ConnectSF, Networking, real estate, Facebook, LinkedIn

Here's some Web food for real estate bargain hunters:

ZipRealty just announced on their blog that they've added a button on their Web site that enables consumers to search for "short sales". Users can create searches that enable them to either include, exclude or only search for short-sale property listings.

Side note: I haven't seen a lot of short sales in the areas where I've been searching for homes (entry-level San Francisco 'hoods), but what I have seen is a lot of price reductions on ZipRealty. About 8 in 10 listings within my search criteria carry this label. This is in step with what many of the experts have been saying, that the entry-level markets have slowed the most due to a dry up of available credit to first-time buyers who are normally strapped for cash.

At the same time, though, I have one friend who's been repeatedly outbid on homes in San Francisco over the last couple of months. Not only is real estate local, it's entirely unique and subjective.

Here's a roundup of some new online services and applications for real estate released this week:

1. Scotty, give me info on 123 Main St.: Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, the folks who brought you Cyberhomes, today launched Hi-Fi VoiceSearch for MLSs that use the company's Paragon system. What this does is enable real estate agents to search the MLS database using simple voice commands from any phone. So in practice, agents would drive by a property, call a number and say either the property's address or MLS# to get more details.

2. Estately pushes further with real estate search: Estately, the Seattle-based home search site formerly known as Shackprices, on Wednesday released a tool that enables its site users to search beyond traditional boundaries or search parameters. Users create either an area outline of where they want to show available homes or they can use it to search for homes within a mile or so from an area or address. Why? Because people wouldn't necessarily rule out a house that is one block beyond a particular ZIP code or neighborhood definition.

Here's an example of what this looks like on Estately for Ballard in Seattle.

We saw John L. Scott do something similar recently, where site users can basically redefine their search by drawing a line around the area they want to look in, rather than relying on neighborhood definitions or ZIP codes.

Estately co-founder Galen Ward says that some people have told him they think real estate search is done, but he disagrees, saying "it's really just beginning."

3. Realtor.com goes mobile: The official NAR home listings site has released a free downloadable application for Realtors and consumers, enabling them to perform property searches from their cell phones or handheld devices.

Get Realtor.com Mobile here.

Mobile MLS applications have been around for ages, but they still appear to be rare in use by the rank-and-file agents. Will this ever catch on? Maybe the spread of the iPhone will define a tipping point.

4. More companies jump on text messaging: Following CellSigns' lead, a number of companies have launched text messaging services for real estate properties. They all operate along the same premise: Home shopper sees house while driving by, texts a specified number from the for-sale sign and either enters property address or a different number (again from the sign). Shopper then gets some info via text message about price and property basics and how to contact the agent. In some cases the agent gets a message alerting them that someone is checking out the listing.

Text messaging services that have launched recently include HouseFront, which has expanded its coverage area this month and says it now has home value information on more than 100 million homes; CellularRE; and Text to Rent, a new text messaging and SMS service from Primedia for renters.

Rudy and Joe's "Blog Tour USA" rolled into Seattle yesterday to great fanfare and a gathering of the local blogging masses, including Galen from Estately, Caleb and Matt from Active Rain, The Tim from Seattle Bubble and other local luminaries and riff-raff.

Hosted by Ardell DellaLoggia at her lovely home in Kirkland, Joe and Rudy regaled the fawning crowds with tales of their travels and travails and those in attendance were treated to a tour of the inner sanctum, the rolling Rudy/Joe-Mobile, a slightly ratty RV of undistinguished vintage.  Exhausted, yet smiling after their whirlwind tour of Seattle, including a stop at the Pike Place Market, a ride on the Duck and a tour of Zillow headquarters, R&J still had enough energy to scarf down pasta and Italian Wedding Soup prepared by Ardell.

Most of the folks in attendance were headed down to Bloggers Connect and Real Estate Connect, so as we bid each other adieu and swore eternal friendship (and promised not to write anything bad about each other), and we wished the Sellsius team a safe journey on their way to San Francisco. We promised to meet up when we arrived to hear all about the last leg of their cross-country journey.

Fare-thee-well, ye hardy men of the RV!

--Marlow Harris, 360 Digest

by Mike Rohde

Real Estate Connect is just around the corner. If you're looking ahead to to plan your days in San Francisco, just click on this button to import the conference schedule into Google Calendar.

Mac OSX iCal and Windows Outlook users can also click on this link to download an .ics file and have the events automatically entered for you, or you can click to view an HTML version.

You can also download a printable copy of the full program here. (PDF 12.1MB)