The Carnival of Real Estate – September Edition
(Editors note and warning: Try as I might to write short and snappy blog posts, I am a long form girl.)
This month I have the honor of hosting the Carnival of Real Estate. First, to our three readers, the Carnival of Real Estate is intended to be a compilation of the best real estate blog posts out there — Cliff’s Notes for the real estate junkie. What used to be a weekly event is now a monthly event, and each month hosting duties go to a different blog. This month, the duties are ours. Yay!
From the Carnival of Real Estate site:
The goal here is to bring together the best real estate bloggers from around the country (and world) to share information about what we’re all passionate about: real estate. This is intended to be a forum for everyone to participate. Like a potluck, everyone brings something and may the best dishes be recognized each week.
Yikes! Mixing our metaphors, are we? Is it a carnival or a potluck?
After much deliberation, I remembered macaroni and cheese makes you fat; I vote to stick with the carnival theme. So here we go!
We received 30 entries (standard of deviation = 3, because I counted really fast). They originated from far off and exotic places stretching from northern Punta Mita, Mexico to northern Virginia, Florida, Arizona, and even some place called Smyrna Vinings (which Google tells me might be in Georgia – the state).
Like carnival fare – deep fried Snickers, deep fried Oreos, fried Pop Tarts (I’m starting to think I should have stuck with the potluck angle) – our blog entries were just as diverse, with something for everyone.
I tend toward the “Everyone is a winner!” way of thinking, but the really mean Jay Thompson who is now running the rides says that it’s lame to just link to everyone who entered and call it a day. We have to (gasp) pick real winners.
(Warning label: Judging blog posts is a very, very subjective thing. I tend to err toward awarding style points, because I am steadfast in my belief that with approximately 4.51 million-to-the-18th-power real estate blogs out there, a good blog post must first hold the reader’s attention. Further, I lean toward favoring articles that have broad appeal and relevance, which is why I didn’t submit my own blockbuster on “My favorite Scripps Ranch pizza delivery drivers named Dave.”)
So, without out further adieu, and with our heartfelt thanks to the 30 (plus or minus) brave contributors, here are my (and therefore, your) favorite submissions this month. And, being the renegade, I will take it from the top.
Best of Show: Elizabeth Newlin from Arizona, in “Real Estate Agent Does Not Equal Financial Advisor,” delivers everything I love in a good rant – passion, conviction, humor, and the use of the word “umbrage” at least three times in one paragraph. Oh, and she’s right.
First Place (which isn’t really first place, because “Best of Show” is better in County Fair speak, even though it still doesn’t make sense to the 4H Club): Vicki Lloyd from Lake Forest in So Cal brings a fun read with a fitting analogy in “Why Buying a Home is Like Getting Married.” As I always tell my daughters, don’t settle.
Second Place (which is really third place, but whatever): Dan Green, one of the smartest and funniest guys I know, thumps us upside the head with his ruler and reminds us that 10-year treasuries do not foretell the direction of mortgage interest rates. It’s a rather nice infomercial for his services, too, for which I give him props.
And, in the Honorable Mention category (like the little green ribbon you get when your goat was really the best but some stupid volunteer judge was still feeling woozy after too much deep fried zucchini and a trip to the beer garden and had suddenly lost all objectivity):
- I always love a good metaphor. This article by Adam Holberg on long-term planning for your sale really resonated with me, since I could safely ready Chez Berg for sale by, oh, the time I am dead.
- Phoenix’s Dean Ouellette tees off on government programs intended to fix the housing mess. And they really mean it this time! Kudos for the video entry, by the way.
- Our own San Diego Jeffrey Douglass continues his one-man crusade to put the big brokers on notice. How can you not like a man who can quote Gandi, Brian Boero and Harry Chapin in the same article and without confusing them? We also tend to be a little like-minded.
- It’s the military, after all, so this one is no-nonsense, but the subject of staging your home for sale is particularly relevant in today’s market. The Military Wallet reminds us that those homes just don’t sell themselves.
- Vacation home? Well, maybe someone still has one of those. If so, this is a good refresher on the tax implications from BackTaxesHelp.com.
That’s a wrap! It’s been an honor. And to our three readers, feel free to follow the links, but you have to promise to come back.
Next month, the Zillow Blog will be hosting the Carnival of Real Estate. Take your best shot and submit those epic posts by the end of October. You are allowed one submission, so make it good. Wouldn’t it be fun it each of you, representing all 4.51 million-to-the-18th-power real estate blogs, sent something in? We could take down a whole company, leaving them no time to update their Zestimates. Let’s do it!
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