Condo Blog – A Non-Corporate Blog From CondoDomain HQ

Everyone, please give a warm welcome to the newest member of CondoDomain – Simon Landau! Simon is heading up our all of our Social Media and marketing efforts in the Washington DC and Baltimore markets.  Bloggers, Social Media Enthusiast and real estate people…. I am sure you will all be hearing a lot more from Simon soon!

Simon, welcome to the team and great job on your first neighborhood flick featuring Dupont Circle!

Be sure to follow Simon on Facebook & Twitter too!!!

Late Thursday afternoon Twitter CEO Evan Williams tweeted “Buy my loft…It’s a steal!” And with that, the listing went viral.

Though Williams and his wife, Sara Morishige, had listed their penthouse for sale on Sept. 25, it wasn’t until the tweet that the digital masses noticed. Which begs the question: If you don’t tweet something, did it really happen?

The couple is trying to sell their two-bedroom, two-bath San Francisco loft for $1,498,000, just $2,000 less than what they paid for it two and a half years ago. Still, that’s quite a bit above the neighborhood’s median sales price of $522,500, according to real estate Web site Trulia.com.

But at least buyers can score some of their furniture, including the couch (yes, fan boys, the very one Williams sat on), because it doesn’t “necessarily fit the feeling of [their] new house,” said the loft’s listing agent, Eric Turner of McGuire Real Estate.

The loft’s price also includes two side-by-side parking spots and remote controlled blinds. (Hooray, technology!)

The 1,792-square-foot penthouse is located in San Francisco’s SoMA district in the historic concrete Heublein Building. Real estate agents, like Turner, sell the former wine warehouse as offering a Manhattan vibe with cityscape views.  Continued… (via Fortune)

More on San Francisco Condos - check out www.SF.CondoDomain.com

*** AND REMEMBER ***

If you buy with us you will save thousands in commissions!  Learn more.

Call us crazy, call us idiots, but yes, we are continuing to grow, let alone in this economy but in the real estate vertical!!!

The entrepreneurial passion and young energy we have in our company is truly amazing and so far “recession-proof”.   So far this year we have expanded our web-based real estate brokerage from one city (Boston) to EIGHTEEN.  Thank you CondoDomain team – lets keep-a-rockin!

Our soft launch today includes our 6 newest cities:

Los Angeles, CA
Austin, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Orlando, FL
Chicago, IL
Seattle, WA

Why are we growing so fast?

First off, we are seeing the demand for our product and service.   We are finally getting close to putting analytical statements together regarding consumers wants and needs in the “innovative real estate brokerage space” (we don’t use the word discount, if that is what you were thinking…).  Consumers are far more savvy, more educated and finally know there are options out there, HOWEVER, most of these options do not exist within major urban metros.    Just like Redfin and Zip Realty has given choice to our suburban dwellers, we hope that CondoDomain can be that option for urban city dwellers.

Also, I believe this is a great time to grow.  A tad risky, but kinda fun .  Hey, we are busy, but we are not slammed,  why not use our time to grow this thing with the extra time we have on our hands?  Good idea right?  That’s exactly what we are doing but we are not doing it alone.

Our broker partners in each city are truly amazing.    We know we partnered with truly great people, but we also believe we have partnered with some of the very best condominium real estate brokers.  They understand the market, they understand the industry, the product, but most of all, they understand our clients.

What else is new?
ReatlyTrac is!  We officially formed our partnership with RealtyTrac to pump in Foreclosure listings to our website on a national basis.  We understand its a big part of the market and we have jumped in to help this horrible problem.  So if you are looking to buy a foreclosure, let us know, all of our broker partners are working with buyers right now acquring foreclosures.

Last but not least – new website design to come by months end.  We put up a teaser for you today so you can get a feel for whats to come – check out our new global home page.

Condo Marketing 2.0 – from the west coast to the east coast we have wrote about it before, but it is the mid-west that takes action and we are loving it!

Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, AddThis & Myspace – - – Boom – - – now that is Condo Marketing 2.0

The Rockport Square website (also featured on our new Cleveland website) is the first new condo develompent I have seen EVER to make a true attempt to implement web 2.0 marketing tools into its website.  If you visit the Rockport Square website you will notice nice, big, fat icons to “socially partner” with this new condo community.  From Facebook and Flickr to Twitter and Myspace, it seems to be that these Cleveland condo developers got their “A” game on!

So has social media gone main stream in the real estate vertical yet?

We applaud Rockport Square, have engaged them in their social marketing tactics, and plan to follow this cutting-edge development team in hopes for their great successes throughout sellout.

We are also pleased to announce CondoDomain is now open in the Cleveland marketplace so if you are looking to by a Cleveland condo, let us know, we will save you thousands!!!

As always – if you are looking to buy and you need a mortgage – make sure to get a FREE RATE QUOTE from CondoLoanCenter!

Anyone know of any other “uber-innovative” “social media’ist” new developement 2.0′ers?

Putting this Whitepaper together was almost as exciting as engaging in the real estate brokerage community this year.  For all of you who have followed us through social media and our blogging efforts… and for all of you who have met us or become a client of ours: you all know we like to have fun along the way!

Well, while all of that fun that is publicly displayed, there is actually quite a bit of work that went on behind the scenes.  I believe that this CondoDomain Year 1 Review reveals our true colors.

What will you find in this report?

i. Transactional Data / Commission Refunds
ii. Negotiation Advantage
iii. Demographics
iv. Customer Satisfaction
v. Why CondoDomain
vi. 2009 Corporate Forecast

Heck, its short enough….check it out.

Like Redfin’s similar real estate annual reviews, Ill let the statistics do the talking.

Congratulations to all of our team members here at CondoDomain for an outstanding 2008 and congratulations to all of our new clients and friends of the firm.

2009 is set to be an even bigger year.

DOWNLOAD THE 2008 ANNUAL REPORT

It’s now official.  The current state of the housing market is unprecedented.  The most well known and respected experts are confounded.

Even Karl Case, the Wellesly economist who is one of the developers of The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index delares “This is absolutely uncharted water”.  His reasoning is that the combination of global recession, lack of available credit, and huge volume of foreclosures across regions makes predictions about the housing market uncertain at best.  Case believes that without further intervention by the Federal government and the financial industry to resolve foreclosures and ease credit, we may still see a downward trend in 2009.

So what does this mean for the average home buyer?

Prices are lower than they have been in a long time – and the presence of foreclosures in record numbers in many markets pressures the prices downward.  Also, the large number of short sales in some markets as a means to avoid foreclosure depress housing prices.  After all, why would a buyer pay top dollar for a property when with careful shopping, preparation, and knowledgeable representation and negotiation they can obtain the same value for less?

There are great opportunities for first time buyers in the condominium market as well as with single family homes. Many condo owners bought property in urban or resort areas during the boom as a second home, a plan for the future.  Now, unable to pay the mortgage and monthly fees, they face liens, foreclosure, and the condominium associations must cope with owners who may solve their problem by walking away.  A buyer who has a reliable income, solid credit, and who is willing to do a bit of work to find the right property now has an edge.

Buyers must have good credit, reliable income, and solid planning.  The days of easy mortgages issued to people with unverified income and troubled financial history are gone – but opportunities do exist for those buyers who can qualify for a mortgage within their means.

For sellers, Cases’ observations mean that those with sufficient equity to stay in their homes might wait out the roughest part of the downward trend, while others might consider renting the property as a short term solution.  But for those who must sell now, the pressure on the market of foreclosure and short sale prices will clearly impact their ability to sell their homes and net sufficient cash to cover all liens, commissions, closing costs and moving expenses for the forseeable future.

But here’s the catch:  If people cannot sell their homes because foreclosures and short sales are causing a glut of properties to be marketed at loss leader prices, then where will they buy their next home, and with what will they buy it?  Until the pressure of high inventory and below marketable pricing is resolved, housing starts, construction, sales, and related industries are likely to remain stagnant.

On the forfront:  If your looking to buy, don’t make a mistake and buy with CondoDomain and get your commission refund!

Open in 8 cities – Search Condos For Sale

Opening Soon:  Phoenix Condos and Cleveland Condos

(Patti, Erica, and Jessica)

The holidays tend to be quite the busy time of year and this year for CondoDomain has been no exception! After a busy and very exciting year we teamed up with our close friends and a few other special people to throw the bash of the year!

With over 500 people who stopped by throughout the evening, a dance floor jamming, mixing, and mingling was taken to its highest level. We would like to thank everyone who attended and hope that you had a fabulous time! We know we did! (Even scoped out some new dance moves for 2009)

Much thanks goes out to Heather Carbone of Kobrand Spirits who helped with the mixology of fabulous drinks from Cafe Boheme, Appleton Run, and Depaz Rhum. Heather, you were a lifesaver! And your drinks were quite tasty!

Thank you Nicky Bandera, your contribution of Right Gin was more than appreciated! It’s not a party if you haven’t been “right ginned”.

We couldn’t have had those kegs of beer without Scott Kriss! Scott- you are fantastic!

With live music performed by Alonzo Harris and rockin beats DJ’d by Brian Lucas and crew, our party guests were able to dance all night looong! We couldn’t have done it without you guys

To our Santa’s helpers, Caitlin, Nicole, Chantal, and Han…you guys rocked! Thank you for helping us serve that bar and run the ice luge! Speaking of ice luge…Brookline Ice & Coal delivered that along with 600lbs of ice. We appreciate it greatly!

We couldn’t have pulled it off without Boston Party Rentals and Bauer Wines on Newbury street for the tables, bars, and of course…liquor and sodas!

The spectacular Ursula Henry from CondoDomain Atlanta flew up for the bash and helped out, you are awesome Ursula!

A big shout out to fellow bloggers Michael Ratty and Bill Wendel for attending! It was great to finally meet you two…

Words cannot even express the amount of gratitude I have for Mr. Bobby Seaport of Bellingham Metal, you were an amazing amount of help for this party planning extravaganza, we pulled it off! Thanks Bobby

(Andrea, Robyn, and Thomas)

And last, but certainly not least, Mrs. Patti Longo…the party would not have gone on without your help! Thank you so much for everything!

All in all, myself and fellow party hosts Tony Longo, Bobby Seaport, Scott Kriss, and a couple other “Santa’s Helpers” would like to thank each and every one of you for any and all contributions that made this party the event of the year! We had a blast and hope you all did too!

(Marianna, Joe & Rick from the FP3 Lofts Development & Marketing Team)

We have already received some really great feedback from our clients & friends and couldn’t be more pleased! Our Recession Christmas Bash was just one the examples of how we do things differently here at CondoDomain. Stay tuned for more fun and excitement to come in 2009.

Happy Holidays! Check out all photos on our Facebook Fan Page

By the way…if you are missing some items (ahem coats, ONE black boot, glove etc.) It’s at the office, so contact us

*** UPDATED – there are still a few coats, hats, ties and 5 shoes still here …. (yes 5 shoes)  if you lost anything! ***

TheFrontSteps does it again…vote for the sexiest SF Realtor here or do what I did and buy a Real Estate Sucks t-shirt.

A small collaboration between Erica Farthing our Director of Social Media, a local video editor & myself (Founder, CEO, Broker & now cameraman) we slapped together some pretty neat client testimonial videos.  Check them out and let me know what you think.

We also have a series of them posted on our Main Website & of course on Facebook as well.

Kevin & Karen, Brookline, MA

Sarah Kasper, Back Bay, Boston

Carlos Febres-Mazzei, North End, Boston

If you missed the Boston Real Estate Special on FOX25 – Check it out here!

It’s the battle of the ages in Boston real estate. The old, historic brownstone versus the new, luxury highrise. Which would you rather call home? FOX25’s Keba Arnold takes a look at how the real estate market in Boston is changing.

As previously ‘blogged’ about in recent posts (here & here), the FOX25 News special aired lastnight and Jessica Quirk stole the show!

So, what did you see in this super-speed 5 minute segment:

Brownstones:

Mary Kelleher of Gibson Sotheby’s: touring one of our all-time favorite clients ever: Sarah Kasper, as they, browse through a listing at 12 Claremont Park.

Amy Jacobs of Otis & Ahearn also toured Sarah through that beautifully renovated brownstone they showed located at 690 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.

Highrises:

On the flip side – my uber-hip clients John & Valerie Hattersley, whom are moving into the city from out of town checked out the stylish-lofts @ 285 Columbus in Boston’s Back Bay whom were graciously introduced to the project by President & CEO of Boston Residential Group – Curtis Kemeny.

Last but not least John & Valerie were accompanied by longtime friend and colleague Joe Laurano of The Marketing Group of Boston through the new “volumized” FP3 Lofts over near us in the Fort Point Channel neighborhood.

End result – a total hit. Our client Sarah Kasper ended up purchasing her brownstone unit she always dreamed of…and for John & Valerie, they got their eye’s set on a Loft…right here in downtown Boston!!!

Thank you all who helped put this great piece together. The people at Fox called last night to wish us luck and thanks us all. So thank you!

Listing/Development Breakdown:

12 Claremont Park (SOLD)

690 Tremont Street (South End – just 2 units left!!!)

285 Columbus Lofts (Back Bay – handful of units left!!!)

FP3 Lofts (Seaport District – now open for building tours)

45 Province (Midtown – now in pre-sales)

Any questions on any of these properties feel free to call us anytime. You can either ask for me, Thomas or our new movie star Jessica Quirk!

More on the Bosotn Condo Blog | Boston Condos