Friday Flash: Trulia’s IPO, a new neighborhood play and the agent phone booth
Trulia rocked its IPO. I don’t know how you interpret this, but the “this is a vote of confidence for the housing recovery” line works for me.
And call me soft, but whatever the politics, whomever you like or don’t like, seeing years of will-testing, marriage-straining, sleep-depriving work pay off big always gets me:
Congratulations.
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I present to you, without comment, the new ad for RPR in RIS Media Magazine…
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Block Avenue launched this week. It’s a site that assigns a letter grade to neighborhoods based on analyses of crime stats, school data, sex offender density and other factors. User generated reviews round things out.
It’s nicely done:
StreetAdvisor, Walkscore and Nabewise play in this space as well, and I think there’s a lot of opportunity here. While the big online real estate sites have plenty of neighborhood data (and in some cases reviews), I do think sites/applications dedicated to finding a place to live will catch on in time.
The tricky thing here is that data driven solutions often feel random and unsatisfying (e.g., my neighborhood gets a “C” on Block Avenue without explanation) and user generated content presents a chicken/egg dilemma (building an audience requires content; generating user content requires an audience).
I wish them success. I still believe the neighborhood is online real estate’s final frontier.
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I went to an office opening for Red Oak Realty in Oakland last night. They’re one of my favorite little brokerage companies.
Two smart things:
First, no land lines for agents, just a cloud-based system that routes calls to mobiles. Love this.
A friend of mine who works in a brokerage of about 500 agents told me recently that his company spends over $150,000 per year on its office phone systems: PBX, T1, service tech calls, “phone boxes” that hang in the “server rooms” that always need rebooting… it’s like an extravagant museum installation.
Second, this new office featured two “Phone booths,” small quiet rooms with a counter and no chair. A smart bit of design in an office that’s largely open and has no private offices for agents. It also ties nicely to the stand-up desk craze.
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Forget the iPhone 5. This was some revolutionary stuff:
(h/t to AdAge)
Enjoy the weekend.
[Disclosure: StreetAdvisor is a 1000watt Client]
OMG that Radio Shack commercial was too much!
Brian B.,
Agree with your thoughts on TRLA – the more successes, the better, certainly a positive for the industry (today).
As far as (niche) businesses gathering data on specific communities….I just don’t understand the problem being solved…….are there that many people moving to locations they are unfamiliar with? I’m pretty sure the stats don’t back that up.
But hey, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m looking to contribute to something; and you’re the only guy (in my world) offering up something good to talk about
The neighborhood focus is awesome – unfortunately it also needs to come with major indemnification when brokers and agents are accused of redlining.
And thanks for the radio shack commercial.
You’re welcome. They guy in the boat is my favorite.
man – I think I’m psyched with my new 5 today – but just think what it must have felt like to go mobile in 1989!! Thanks for sharing Brian.
And – thrilled for Trulia and our industry. Love some good news
Wanting to do something similar to red oak with my phone system… Any idea how they’re making that happen?
And to the stand up desk idea… Here’s my next desk purchase: http://www.geekdesk.com
As the new iPhone 5 goes to market with incredible worldwide hoopla, I am reminded when the company I founded 25 years ago invented and brought to the market the very first “transportable” “cellular” phone without nary a wimper. The number one question back then was not, “can you hear me now?”, it was “you mean you can carry it around with you?” How times have changed.
You can see it here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151042288016576&set=a.187980071575.137637.658706575&type=1&theater
My bag phone never, I mean, never dropped calls. The minutes were expensive but the service was superb.
My bag phone never, I mean never dropped calls. I wonder if we will see premium pricing plans for priority access to carrier networks.