Category: Real Estate Technology

A Perfect Match, TeedHaze & The Goods…Where Are You?

As much as this blog is all about real estate, it’s also all about me (Alex) and what I do to not only help my clients, but also my colleagues. For many years I’ve been dabbling in little ventures here and there to help my colleagues do more deals, and give their clients valuable real … Continue reading A Perfect Match, TeedHaze & The Goods…Where Are You?

Zillow Acquires Trulia: Wake Up Brokers! They’re Getting Rich At Your Expense

If you haven’t heard about listing syndicator site Zillow acquiring competitor site Trulia for $3.5 Billion in stock, I feel for you…especially if you’re in real estate. Since this announcement, I’ve received a couple emails, seen a few comments, read a few newsletters, and thought I’d try to spark a dialogue here on the site. … Continue reading Zillow Acquires Trulia: Wake Up Brokers! They’re Getting Rich At Your Expense

What Your Realtor Should Really Be Sending You…The Goods

I am pleased to announce the launch, and early adoption by Paragon Real Estate Group, of the newest addition to the San Francisco real estate scene “The Goods“, real estate marketing made simple. The goal of this new offering is to make it easy for real estate agents in the San Francisco/Bay Area to provide … Continue reading What Your Realtor Should Really Be Sending You…The Goods

Hey Buyers! Turns Out There’s More Inventory Than You Thought

Have a look at what hit our email in the past couple months, and the companies heavily marketing “pocket listings”, “off market” property, or “not on MLS” opportunities. You, the buyer, would probably like to know about these opportunities, wouldn’t you? Well…you can’t. Not until these brokerages wake up and join the year 2013, move … Continue reading Hey Buyers! Turns Out There’s More Inventory Than You Thought

Buying A Home In San Francisco – Step 1: Get Pre-Approved / Provide Proof Of Funds

Congratulations! How exciting that you’re taking the steps to buy a home in the San Francisco / Bay Area. You can consider yourself extremely lucky, as this is one of the best and most expensive markets in the country, and you’re clearly doing alright, so you should be rewarded by capturing some prime California real … Continue reading Buying A Home In San Francisco – Step 1: Get Pre-Approved / Provide Proof Of Funds

Closing Time – Simplifying The Escrow Process With Technology

I’ve written before about technology that is here to stay, and how the real estate industry can benefit from all the brilliant people in the world creating it, and I’ve recently come across another good example of a new company that’s applying technology to attempt to solve a big headache for buyers and agents alike: … Continue reading Closing Time – Simplifying The Escrow Process With Technology

PocketListings.net Version 2.0 Goes Live: Introduces Real Estate Match™; Privacy Options; Sharing; Saved Search; Email Alerts; Principals Only; More!

I’m pleased to announce the rollout this past weekend of PocketListings.net version 2.0! It is jam-packed with new features to help you, the agent, do more deals, and give you, the client, more options when selling and searching for real estate. There is a fabulous tutorial on all of the great new features and how … Continue reading PocketListings.net Version 2.0 Goes Live: Introduces Real Estate Match™; Privacy Options; Sharing; Saved Search; Email Alerts; Principals Only; More!

Price Squares Gives You The Price Per Square Foot Data You Crave

I can’t begin to tell you how many clients, friends, family, and co-workers base their entire real estate purchase or sale on price per square foot, and for good reason…it is the benchmark. Thank goodness a colleague at Zephyr Real Estate came up with this brilliant website, PriceSquares, so that all of you can check … Continue reading Price Squares Gives You The Price Per Square Foot Data You Crave

Get Ready For “Social Buying” And The Arrival Of The “Echo Boomer”-An Interview With Sherry Chris, CEO Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with Sherry Chris, CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) and Advisory Board Member of Zillow.com. I had every intention of grilling her on the state of the market locally, more specifically hyper-locally, and concluding that just like Zillow, the CEO at Better Homes and … Continue reading Get Ready For “Social Buying” And The Arrival Of The “Echo Boomer”-An Interview With Sherry Chris, CEO Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Marina Has The Hotties, Inner Richmond…Apparently None

I was just clued in to a new startup website that is striving to allow you (people on the move from city to city, ‘hood to ‘hood, house to house) to learn about a neighborhood based on the reviews, comments, and opinions of locals. It’s a simple concept and easy to see the value. Hell, … Continue reading Marina Has The Hotties, Inner Richmond…Apparently None

Pocket Listing. Not On MLS. Buyer In Need. No Problem. PocketListings.net Launches Nationwide!

Although you might think theFrontSteps has been completely sleeping these past months, you probably forgot we’ve been busy building a place for real estate agents to post the thousands and thousands of pocket listings they have throughout the year. Not only can they post pocket listings available to be sold, but post they have buyers … Continue reading Pocket Listing. Not On MLS. Buyer In Need. No Problem. PocketListings.net Launches Nationwide!

Pushing The Panic Button For Buyers In San Francisco

We’re starting to see a much larger number of San Francisco real estate agents incorporate a home’s WalkScore into their marketing materials (not that a walk score really matters, because hopefully you’ll either research or already know the area you’re investing a few hundred thousand dollars of your hard earned cash, and not rely on … Continue reading Pushing The Panic Button For Buyers In San Francisco

Ask Us: Does Blogging Work For Real Estate?

Where readers ask, and we try to answer: Hello Alex, I came across theFrontSteps today while researching local real estate blogs. My mother is an agent in NJ and she came to me about advice on creating a blog and testing other social media channels to help her business. I figured I’d research what others … Continue reading Ask Us: Does Blogging Work For Real Estate?

Success Story: A Buyer Finally Becomes an Owner

  This blog is graciously donated by Missionite, long time reader of and writer for The Frontsteps, as well as writer of his own blog, Submedian. FINALLY GOT ONE Well we finally got one. We just got the keys and haven’t moved in yet. Despite the market conditions we didn’t get a steal, paid over … Continue reading Success Story: A Buyer Finally Becomes an Owner

Map of Retrofit Projects Completed in the Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake

Living in earthquake country, we get asked all the time, “Is this home on bedrock or landfill.” The next question, “Do you know if this building has been retrofitted?” Usually, we don’t, but that might be changing. Check out this new user-generated mashup where you, the visitor, can add a project that has been retrofitted. … Continue reading Map of Retrofit Projects Completed in the Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake