Note – This is a work in progress. My five year blogging anniversary was yesterday. I hoped to have this finished, but I ran out of time. I want to add more links. There are undoubtedly typos. Most of all, it needs more contributions from you. Please comment.
There were real estate industry bloggers well before me. Kristal Kraft, Mike Mueller, Alex Stenback, Dan Green, Jim Duncan, and of course Hanin Levin were all up and running earlier than I was. What I know best is what happened since the day I started. That was five years ago today.
January 31, 2004 – The RE.net is born.
Hanin Levin’s first list of real estate blogs on grow-a-brain represents the birth of a network of real estate professionals connecting to each other with social media use as the glue that binds. For the first couple years, being linked on grow-a-brain marked your arrival into RE.net. It wasn’t even called RE.net at the time, but nevertheless, it all started with this post.
January 2005 – Lenderama launches.
As an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender, mortgage brokers were my clients. I had about fifty of them, and figured if half of those fifty read my blog, it would be worth my time. By the summer of 2005, lenderama was averaging 2000+ unique visitors a day, and I knew web 2.0 was going to be a huge part of my life going forward. The launch of lenderama is important to me because I launched it, but I also believe it marks the forst business to business format of a real estate industry blog.
March 2005 – RE Blogs launches.
Inspired by the monthly grow-a-brain updates, I decided to build a dedicated website that conically documents the existence of real estate blogs. My initial search uncovered 56 active real estate blogs world wide.
March 2005 – Rain City Guide launches
By April, Dustin Luther contacted me about being listed on RE Blogs. His site was originally intended to be a cheap way to jumpstart his wife Anna’s fledgling real estate business. Rain City Guide was pivotal to RE.net because Dustin combined localized content with industry talk. It’s location in Seattle made it a natural home for real estate technology discussions. Soon, Dustin recruited other contributors to write on Rain City Guide. Very quickly, RE.net’s earliest adoptors found themselves networking with each other here on a near daily basis. RCG is RE.net’s first social network.
May 2005 – The Phoenix Real Estate Guy launches.
Jay Thompson’s launch of The Phoenix Real Estate Guy eluded me at first. Like hundreds of other awesome blogs we won’t mention here, it’s focus was first on being a great local real estate blog. But unlike most local RE blogs, Jay took an ever increasing role in talking about the industry. While he’s written on BloodHound, Agent Genius, Geek Estate, Inman, and more, TPREG is home to one of RE.net smartest, most prolific, most passionate, and all around great guys.
January 2006 – Sellsius Blog launches.
Joseph Ferrera and Rudy Bachraty created the first full fledged celebration of RE.net when they created the Sellsius Blog. It’s a blog about web 2.0 in real estate. Unlike, RCG, it wasn’t bound to a local real estate market and quickly became a fun hangout for real estate agents to talk about blogging, social networks and online marketing.
Spring of 2006 – Rise of the RE.net
Zillow and Redfin launched their first blogs in February of 2006. By June, The Real Estate Zebra, Transparent Real Estate, Future of Real Estate Marketing, My Tech Opinion, The Real Estate Tomato, and Trulia Blog had all launched. Conversations about real estate started bouncing from blog to blog. Networks grew stronger. Local real estate blogs had jumped from 56 to well over 1000. Real estate blogging had arrived.
June also marked the birth of Bloodhound Blog. Heavily inspired by Rain City Guide, but written with brutal beauty, this blog represents more good ideas and bad blood than all the RE.net combined. The term “RE.net” was coined Greg Swann, founder of BHB. Gregg is and always be one of my favorite people populating this space. He draws people out of there confort zones. Inspiring fans and dissidents with every word. The easily offended always have a hard time on Bloodhound, but in the arena of pure ideas, there is no better discourse in RE.net than on Bloodhound Blog.
June also marks the launch of the Active Rain network. This blogging based network quickly became the gateway drug for entry into the RE.net. Many RE.net members going forward will tell you they cut their teeth on Active Rain including Jeff Turner, Kelley Koehler, and Ginger Wilcox.
2007, Year of the Snark.
It all started when Kelley Koehler moved from Active Rain to her own blog. First on Blogger in January, but then to WordPress by early spring. @housechick officially joined Twitter on May 22nd. Marking the first day Twitter was cool.
By March. Teresa Boardman launched The Real Estate Weenie. Actually, it wasn’t really launched. It was discovered. The blog was supposed to be a joke. Greg Swann at BHB was highly critical of it’s creation to the point that it inspired Teresa to move forward and actually write on the blog. As far as I know, the resulting ill discourse marked the first “blog war” of RE.net. I thought the blog was funny.
By the end of the year, 2007 was the snarkiest on record. I ran a contest to find the funniest of them all. The finalists can be found in this post.
Inman News buys in.
In January of 2007, Inman News re-launches what used to be Brad Inman’s personal blog into a group real estate blog including contributors like Mary McKnight, Pat Kitano, Joel Burslem, and myself. This marks the first day my mother was actually excited this whole blogging thing. Further more, Inman announced a new pre-conference ahead of Inman Connect San Francisco. This announcement set in motion a seminal shift of RE.net as a near exclusively online network to one that included and ever increasing number of face to face interactions.
In anticipation of Inman Connect, Active Rain launched the Project Blogger contest. “Veteran” bloggers adopted protégées to coach. The new bloggers competed against each other in a series of posts judged by different bloggers every week. The winner, Mary Pope Handy was eventually announced at Inman Connect that summer.
By May, Joe and Rudy at Sellsius announced Blog Tour USA, a cross country tour starting in New York and ending in San Francisco at Inman Connect. As the tour zig zagged across the country I contacted Joe to find out what they had planned in Denver. Joe told me to plan something, so I did. With Kristal Kraft’s help, I organized Blog Fiesta. With over 40 bloggers, the Denver stop was the best attended of the tour. But all along the way, you could feel the drive to meet in person gain momentum.
By the time the RE.net met in San Francisco that summer, a network of face to face connections had already taken root.
Also Notable in 2007
Group blog Agent Genius launches in October as a result of an action from the National Association of REALTORS® requiring blogger Benn Rosales to stop using the name REALTOR Genius for his personal industry blog. Inman picked up the story, and the resulting notoriety allowed Benn to not only change the name of the blog, but to add several notable authors to further contribute to it. http://agentgenius.com/real-estate-news-events/agent-genius-brings-it-to-you-with-fresh-new-faces-perspective/
The REALTOR Genius story also motivated Jay Thompson to launch NAR Wisdom. A soapbox where he would vent his frustrations with the association. Jay later wrote a post called “Why NAR needs a Social Media Director”. This post caught the attention of NAR CEO, Dale Stinton, motivating him to leave a comment on that blog, and to eventually hire me. Thanks Jay!
Dustin Luther re-launches 4realz.net as a home for his thoughts on the real estate industry in November.
2007 was a huge year for RE.net. To end it all, I launched The Secret Diary of Greg Swann. This anonymous blog played tribute to my friend Greg, while allowing me to blog about the topics of the day. Or so I hoped. In reality, all the RE.net really wanted to do was figure out who was running it. It took only a week for Dan Green to catch me. Still, nothing ever happens between Christmas and New Years, so this was great fun for all who participated.
2008 – Let’s get Face to Face
After attending the inaugural BlogWorld & New Media Expo in November of 2007, My business partner and friend, Jason Berman teamed up with me to do something completely original. A social media focused event about real estate. Sure, Inman had done Blogger’s Connect, and even NAR created a bloggers lounge (via CRT), but those were real estate events about social media. We wanted to focus to be on social media, not real estate. We thought we were doing something unique. Turns out, lot’s of great minds think alike.
Dustin Luther and Jim Marks were marketing 4realzED. Matt Fagioli and Brad Nix built RE TechSouth, Greg Swann and Brian Brady decided their event would be Unchained, Jason and I were working to bring Real Estate to BlogWorld and my friend Andy Kaufman decided that a BarCamp for real estate would be cool. All of this was in the works by early 2008.
I was so focused on making RE BarCamp and REBlogWorld into successes that I don’t remember much else that happened in 2008. For me, the highlight was when I was talking to Brad Inman at the Palace Hotel during Inman Connect and a stranger walked up to the both of us and said what an awesome event it was. Brad said thanks. The stranger went on to say, “and RE BarCamp was the best part”. So I said thank you.
In October, The National Association of REALTORS® placed an ad in Monster.com for a Social Media Manager. Several blogs were criticizing NAR for not reaching out through social media channels, but I always chuckle, because I was speaking with @hilarymarsh the next day via a DM arranged phone call. She had put it out on Twitter that they were looking.
I was lucky enough to speak at the last great RE event of 2008, SPARKt in Chicago. It was where I was able to meat with Hilary for the first time, face to face. She would eventually become my boss.
2009 – RE.net attains critical mass.
RE BarCamp blew up. There were events across the country. RE TechSouth for 2008 was an amazing success. NAR adopted social media in a big way. For me, there were four absolute highlights.
First, Dale Stinton, CEO of NAR showed up at the end of RE BarCamp Chicago (hosted at NAR headquarters). He spent the next 90 minutes with anyone who wanted to stay in a Q&A session with them. I remember helping Andy plan the first RE BarCamp back in 2008. We just hoped enough people would show up that it would be worth doing again in 2009. A year later, the CEO of NAR was participating at RE BarCamp. I think this is simply amazing.
Second, Jay Thompson goes to Washington. In response to an Agent Genius driven blog post about the way IDX rules addressed search engine indexing, NAR invited long time constructive NAR critic, Jay Thompson to speak to the MLS committee concerning these rules. Jay eventually joined a workgroup to change these rules. Bu Annual, the rules changes passed. Jay created NAR Wisdom because he was frustrated with NAR. But it was a “I want you to be better” frustration. Jay’s now helping to do that.
Third, NAR decides that more bloggers is more flavor. Based on both Jay’s work, and the committee work of some key YPN board leaders, namely Shannon King, Dale Stinton decides more people like this on all of NAR’s committees is a good thing. With incoming President Vicki Cox Golder’s approval, about 80 members of YPN and RE.net were added to the committee ranks.
All three of the above mark the RE.net’s entrance into mainstream real estate. My final highlight goes another direction. Sitting in an after-party at BlogWorld 2009, I overheard,
“What are are these REALTORS doing here?”
I still smile every time I think about it.
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A trip down memory lane…
Thankfully, it’s more of a prologue than an epilogue. I can’t wait to see what 2010 and 2011 bring to all of us.
What a great look back!
I started blogging in early 2001 using something called PyraLabs.
I actually donated money to them so they could buy more servers.
“They” got bought by a company called Google and became Blogger.com
One of the founders went on to create something called Twitter.
Following along, you can all thank me for helping to create Twitter!
; )
Revisionist history. when we write history it is often colored by the present.
Great great stuff, man.
I still regard the first REBarCamp as the real birth of the RE.net — the years prior were more like gestation periods. It was after San Francisco that things really blew up, I think. But maybe I’m just biased since that was when I was introduced to all you sinners.
I know Notorious ROB was launched in Jan of 2008, as I left Realogy in November of 2007.
I wonder when TheXBroker was launched….
Or 1000watt’s blog.
-rsh
Nice list with links to all of the cool kids.
Rob, The Jeff and I had an ongoing but always mutually respectable difference of opinion about many issues. At this point, it’s pretty obvious that I was right all along.
Ha! Kristal, you just inspired my first edit.
To see where we are going it’s always beneficial to look back and see where we’ve been. Thanks Todd this is a cool idea and an interesting post.
Awesome post Todd.
Thanks for helping me remember all I had forgotten.
I have to be very honest with you.
This is the most cockamamie history of the “real estate Net” I have read.
Awful. Simply awful. This is a history of Todd Carpenter’s personal engagement, this is NOT a history of the real estate Net. The “real estate Net” goes back to the mid 90s.
Writing a honest-to-goodness history of the “real estate Net” would be a nice collaborative project on Google Wave. Lovable, congenial, smart social media guru you are, historian you are NOT.
Great to get the history behind all this. My introduction started @ SPARKt – thanks Kit Mueller, and hearing speakers like Todd and sitting next to Dan Green and learning the how and why of Twitter and TweetDeck (thanks Dan). I walked out of there stunned that there actually were people in this business that understood and used technology as tools! That was followed by SMC in Chicago and from then on…..All I have to say is thank you and let’s keep moving forward.
My, how the landscape has changed. I felt like we were already behind the curve in October of 05. I hadn’t even quit my day job. Thought I had some data to blog about…
This was an interesting look back. I know you can’t get it all in, but I think there’s a lot more that could be written. For example I think RealTown should have a mention in here.
Thanks for the kind words Fran. I guess the part where I said this was a work in progress and to add comments was not written in a clear enough manner.
Hey Caleb, Like I said at the beginning, I only know what I was a part of. Tell me more about Real Town. That’s the sort of stuff I was hoping for in the comments.
You asked for comments, Todd. I’m just being honest. It’s an affliction, gets me in trouble sometimes. This post barely scratches the surface. It’s an homage to the Bloggerazzi, not an historical overview of the real estate Net.
Sorry if I bruised your feelings.
There is another part of the RE.net, those red headed stepchildren called the Bubble Bloggers. They were derisively cut apart, and many of their followers were also caustic, but as we have seen, they were the ones that were correct.
Great first draft and conversation starter Todd.
You didn’t bruise my ego Frances. But the comments I was hoping for comments that added to the history, not petty insults. I’m not sure how you read the first two paragraphs and go onto expect what you did.
Geekestateblog did a post like this a while back with a interactive timeline. Fun stuff.
http://www.geekestateblog.com/the-origins-of-influential-real-estate-blogs/
Since I started my blog in January of 2005 does that mean I get to give Notorious a hard time about being the FNG?
Good Grief, Fran! Take a chill pill!….
Though I started blogging in 2005, AR was really the game changer for me where I began to rub shoulders with many of the RE.net rockstars you mention here. It’s been amazing to see the collective influence that so many have had, and it’s especially encouraging to have someone like you Todd involved at NAR….
Well said Todd. Its great to read comments and views on “old” content knowing what we know today (what do we know?).
BTW the prostitute mktg post is one of my favorites of all time.
I’ve always understood “RE.net” to be distinct from the “real estate Net” or “real estate Web” or some such. RE.net is a group of people who talk about stuff and like to party together…
Maybe we need a round of Definitions.
-rsh
Rob,
That distinction make PERFECT sense. That would make “Bloggerazzi” synonymous with “RE.net”.
… “talk about stuff and party together” is an apt definition.
In that case, what this article is REALLY missing is the role of the RE.net in the evolution of the mojito.
Note to self, next time, write about the Blog Squad.
Actually Rob, I did define it when I said, “Hanin Levin’s first list of real estate blogs on grow-a-brain represents the birth of a network of real estate professionals connecting to each other with social media use as the glue that binds.”
I can’t really speak for RealTown myself except that like ActiveRain a number of real estate bloggers got started there. I think Francess Flynn Thorsen, and Ardell were two of the more prolific writers on there.
Ardell’s contribution should also be a part of this.
I love history (was a history major). And being relatively new to the space, it was cool to understand the evolution of RE.net. Now, you just need to post a slightly inaccurate rendition on wikipedia.
Todd,
Communicate in a manner commensurate with your position.
The Blog Squad was a failed attempt to assemble a group of active real estate bloggers and I have acknowledged that to you privately, with words encouraging acknowledgment of RainCity Guide as a the first successful group blog.
I see NOTHING here about tens of thousands of Realtors connecting online at RealTalk and other communities … e-mail listservs were the first social media engagement tools, after all.
I see NOTHING here about the REAL pioneers of the real estate Net, Saul Klein, Brad Inman (remember the Inman Blog?) Zillow, Trulia.
I see NOTHING here about NAR’s huge role introducing Realtors to the real estate Net with e-PRO.
The real estate Net was not born when Todd Carpenter landed there.
My reaction to this piece is very academic and professional. If I was grading this article in an 8th grade English class … #nevermind
Again Fran, I framed what the post was about in the first couple paragraphs. It was never intended to be a complete history of anyone who was ever on the net.
Sorry it’s not up to your, “academic and professional” standards. You could actually add to the post with the content you feel is so important, or continue to be negative. It seams like that’s what you always do best.
I’d forgotten how much I hate all of you until reading this.
I kid.
Following Todd’s lead. Not sure when Lockhart launched Curbed, but it was before 2004. I almost never read it anymore, but used to be a daily staple, along with Brownstoner.com
If we are compiling a list of very good, early real estate blogs that inspired others and tought us all the craft, those two are up there, along with the old Inman blog.
I would add to the history of real estate blogs– TheMatrix http://matrix.millersamuel.com/ (Jonathan Miller, msm talking head/serious appraiser), the Property Grunt http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/ (foul mouthed agent (at times), anonymous to this day), and Curbed http://curbed.com/(snarky wise guys)– all New Yorkers. Since Rudy and I were from NY, we looked up to them.
Kudos to Ardell and G.Swann for the first of its kind 101 Blog Post Challenge– never duplicated. http://blog.sellsiusrealestate.com/2006/09/27/2-bloggers-set-single-day-blogging-record-101-posts/
I have to agree with Alex. Curbed should also be a part of the story.
I know you asked for this stuff earlier and I forgot to send to you…but it would be great to add when technology really started to heat up in real estate.
I was at eHome back in 1999 at the same time eRealty and ZIPRealty were too. As we know, ZIP is the only to survive.
We should also throw in the second coming in real estate regarding companies like Zillow, Trulia Roost, Hotpads and the whole Realtor.com/Move.com thing.
Just some thoughts to start to round this out.
D
Great recap of some great memories. I will never forget the magic that happened in Spring of 2008 when we pulled off the first REtechSouth in less than 3 weeks planning with over 200 attendees flying from around the country just get together in the same room – magical times. The friendships I’ve developed thru these years stand far above any real estate or social media accomplishment we’ve made as a group.
I love you all for the challenges you present, contributions you make, conversations you start, and even the rivalries add value. We wouldn’t need Jedi’s if there wasn’t a dark side to the force. May the force be with you all.
so this is what I miss when I’m sick in bed – For the record, I love seeing different people’s perception of what went down
Yeah, Frances, you go girl…. this history doesn’t even touch the awesome and amazing reception that Guy Johnson and I personally arranged for Joe and Rudy of Sellsius fame in Reno, in the final hours of the blog tour, after thousands of miles traveling in a crappy camper without proper, um, sanitary conditions, including a comped Nikki Beach Party and a couple of nights in a luxe, condo-tel casino with fur accessories…
And hey, don’t even ask them about all that video they can never reveal, share, or talk about, because anyone who ever had a drink with them is probably on it and really doesn’t want to see it.
And BTW, those http://www.renorealtyblog.com T-shirts we handed out at Inman that year, are apparently a spousal favorite. We’re talking super-soft cotton. Yeah. Let your imagination run with that.
Additionally, our little blog in podunk Reno probably has one of the highest per capita comment rates out there. We are the #1 watering hole online for local real estate info and gossip in Northern Nevada, a true community resource. Yeah, okay, we’re proud of it.
Todd, daaahhhling, you’ve so much to learn. The backstory is everything. Can’t wait to see what else surfaces…
I miss the early days when people were more interested in helping each other improve and learn rather than bitching and whining about how they were slighted.
Thanks for the history lesson, Todd. It’s been a fun 5 years; the friendships and connections we’ve made in this space will last for many years to come.
And, what Dan said in #1.
Interesting how despite being out of the loop for at least two years, so many of the names stay the same. As a joint winner of the snarky contest in 2007, I have to say I loved that single post more than anything else I ever wrote on my two years on the re.net. The RE Blog is long gone, but the post has a new home here http://tinyurl.com/yk3zfg8 Love and kisses.
There is intense discussion about Raising the Bar in real estate #RTB … the discussion resides in blogs, on Twitter, and a Google Wave.
Raising the bar in real estate blogging is part of that discussion, even if that discussion is not wearing the hashtag.
I am curious that the same passionate advocate of #RTB is so quick to complain about “bitching and whining” and give a pass to this silly exercise. This post meets a level of expectation of amateur blog. Considering the station of the author I had a higher level of expectation. NAR has an incredible communications apparatus, and a world-class magazine. This does not rise to that standard.
Again, I am sorry for bruised egos. Communication is a big part of #RTB.
I made a mistake and published the entire contents of an email from Frances with her accounts of what was important in the growth of the re.net. I soliceted this email from her, but as she took issue with me posting it, it’s now gone. Sorry Francis.
Nice write up Todd. Is it a complete academic historical tome of the genesis and detailed history of the re.net? Of course not, and I don’t see anywhere that criteria was even remotely implied.
It’s a blog post for God’s sake. If someone wants a historically accurate and complete accounting of the re.net I have a suggestion.
Write it.
And good luck.
Some people need to just lighten up.
Some additional dates of “historical interest” (I put that in quotes people. Define it however you like. I’m defining it as memorable to ME):
July 17, 2006 – The first Carnival of Real Estate is held ( http://www.zillow.com/blog/carnival-of-real-estate-2/2006/07/ )
April 22, 2008 – The “Barbie Post” is published by Redfin’s Carol Hian ( http://blog.redfin.com/sandiego/2008/04/barbie_takes_a_bite_again.html ). Ms. Hian attacked well known and respected real estate blogger Kris Berg. Backlash across the “RE.net” was swift and extensive. Later that same day Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman fired Hian.
Interesting look back, Todd. Congrats on five years! The BiggerPockets Blog will be 5 years old in March . . . it is always a bit fun being one of the dinosaurs.
Yep, I see how these two opening paragraphs could get misunderstood…
[[[Note – This is a work in progress. My five year blogging anniversary was yesterday. I hoped to have this finished, but I ran out of time. I want to add more links. There are undoubtedly typos. Most of all, it needs more contributions from you. Please comment.
There were real estate industry bloggers well before me. Kristal Kraft, Mike Mueller, Alex Stenback, Dan Green, Jim Duncan, and of course Hanin Levin were all up and running earlier than I was. What I know best is what happened since the day I started. That was five years ago today...]]]
Todd, I want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for this great snapshot of the RE.net. Thank you for a fun walk down memory lane. I started reading about blogging and the online social world in the beginning of 2007 and follow along beautifully with your timeline. It put many smiles on my face seeing this recap. I’d like to thank you for all your time and effort and contribution in this space. I’m honored to know you and call you friend. Congrats on your five years. Congrats on your place in the Hall of Fame of the RE.net.
Looking forward to what’s to come in the future!
All my best,
Dale
Seems funny that the story starts about the time the first pins started to burst the housing bubble, and critical mass was reached in 2006 when housing market meltdown was eminent. A lot of people in the RE business have had a lot more time on their hands than ever before. The future of the RE.net is dependent on how many working agents get fully productive again, and how many hang back to blog and tweet about it.
Huge congrats on 5 years… Definitely more than a few ups-and-downs, but must say I’ve had way way way more fun with the community that’s built up over the years than I ever could have expected when I first asked to take part in your real estate list. Great stuff.
Love this look back tcar. I would like state for the record however, pertaining to REBarcamp SF 2008, it would not have been possible without a number of fine RENet insiders including: Mike Price of MLBroadcast.com & Brad Coy of SFRes.com., who were “instramental” in it. I know that neither of them would seek out this recognition, but I do know they deserve it.
@TheRECoach, I absolutely agree. Mike and Brad are awesome. As I said at the beginning of this post, I simply didn’t have time to include everyone. Mary McKnight is a great example, as is Jeff Corbett.
Thanks to everyone for continuing to comment.
Thanks for the memories Todd. When a 10 year history of RE.net is written, this week will be remembered as “Piling on Todd” week and how he responded with grace and professionalism.
I can’t believe my Tweets about Squirrel Stew and Topless Driving in Carolina didn’t make RE.net history. Jeez. ;-p But then again, I’m all about the “lighter side.” Love you ALL! (& P.S. I really don’t care about making history. I just care…)
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