Third-party listing syndicators, like Zillow and Trulia first appeared on the web just as the housing market hit its peak, and Realtors around the nation have been both happy and wary about sharing their listings with these national sites as a way to help sales. Today, there seems to be a growing backlash from Realtors who say that the service is neither helping their company nor their buyers and sellers, citing inaccuracy of data as a major complaint. In the video below, San Diego broker, Jim Abbott argues that inaccurate listing details, along with contact information for agents not associated with a particular property, often frustrate...

Coldwell Banker has just launched a series of new ad spots, featuring a strangely familiar voice-over. The ads are a bit nauseatingly cute with an excess of happy lifestyle footage, narrated by none other than…Tom Selleck. You may think he’s an odd choice for a real estate commercial, but in fact, Selleck’s father had served as a Coldwell Banker executive for nearly four decades (and his three siblings had also worked for the company). With his deep, grandfather-like voice, passing through the bristles of his magnificent mustache as he speaks, Tom Selleck reminds us how to view the value of a home: “You start by...

There are actually many Real Estate-related movies for any type of genre: dramas, thrillers, comedies, tear-jerkers, horrors, and even slasher films. Here’s a list — in no particular order — of some you’ve probably seen and some you might have not… 1. The Money Pit (1986), starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long A couple desperately tries to repair their newly purchased, rundown, disaster of a house. Renovation proves to be equally disaster-prone. 2. Duplex (2003), starring Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller A young couple has a chance to move into a gorgeous duplex in the perfect New York neighborhood. Unfortunately, a...

Home prices are affordable, mortgage rates are low, options are plentiful, and now there’s another reason for buyers to make the leap into home ownership: rent is on the rise. New data across the country shows that rental costs have been steadily increasing over the past few years. A new housing report from Hotpads.com has found that two-bedroom rental prices in 20 of the largest metro areas have increased 3.75 percent in 2011. Studio rentals have seen the highest increase at 7.12 percent over the past year. Prices are expected to continue to rise in 2012. After five years of falling prices and surging foreclosures, it’s hard to...

User engagement on the world’s largest social site continues to grow, and it’s all thanks to the ol’ ‘Like’ button. A whitepaper report from Efficient Frontier?shows that Facebook’s user engagement has increased by a remarkable 31% this past year, which outgrows the 24% increase in impressions per post. Because engagement of posts seems to be overreaching the number of impressions, more users are compelled to respond to content they have seen on Facebook. Thus, Facebook is becoming an even more important place for user interaction. The Facebook Like button is now a hugely successful feature, not just on...