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Tags: biggerpockets, biggerpockets social network, real estate network, real estate soclal networking, social networking, web 2.0, web20

I got an email this weekend about a great little tool that I wanted to share with everyone. Rentometer

Just enter a property address, number of units in the building, and the current monthly rent, and Rentometer will show you where your price stands compared to others in the area. In addition, this Google mashup also shows comparable properties in the area on everyone’s favorite, Google maps.

This is a great tool for any landlord to have in their arsenal.

Tags: google, googlemaps, landlord, mashup, rent, rentometer, web20

I’m not sure how I originally heard about the Realivent site, but there was something tempting about a site that “is looking for beta testers.” A few weeks ago I filled out their tester sign-up form, and on Saturday, was admitted into their Beta program. After filling out a simple registration form, I was able to access the various functions of this site, which looks like a consolidator of real estate blogs, news, and property listings.

Here are the site’s real estate tools:

Property Listings:

It seems like the site is just scraping Craigslist’s listings and integrating the location into Google maps like many of the other real estate mashup web 2.0 sites. In addition to showing the basic property info (asking price, beds, baths) and a photo, it appears as though Realivent will eventually have comparable data, school and neighborhood information. Click on a property listing, and you’re taken right back to Craigslist. In its current state, the site only shows a handful of San Francisco listings, and has basic search functionality; this section looks nice, but is not currently functional. I’m not sure if they are going to just crape listings from other sites, or if they will have their own listings — we’ll see.

Real Estate News:

The real estate news section of Realivent appears to function like sites such as Netscape, Shoutwire, and the original news rating site, Digg. Users can post links to real estate news with a brief summary, and others can rate that story. Unlike the aforementioned sites, the articles with higher ratings and greater interest do not move to the top of the page; they are simply given a one through five star ranking to determine popularity. In addition to rating articles, the site lets you post a comment about the article, email it to a friend, and lastly, report the story (if SPAM, I’m guessing).

Real Estate Blogs:

Realivent lets users add blogs to the site. This section functions in the same way as the real estate news section, except that once added, articles posted on the blogs will appear on the site. You can rate, comment, email and report any of the stories.

The last thing I noticed about the site is that there is a search bar that includes videos. I’m not sure what kind of videos they intent to have on the site, but it seems like a strange fit with a real estate site.

Overall, the site appears to be an aggregator of various real estate information. It looks nice, but doesn’t bring anything technologically new to the online real estate world or the web in general. We’ll wait and see what else they bring to the picture once the site is fully functional, and will reserve judgement until then.

The site does not list a date of public release.

Tags: beta, blog, craigslist, digg, estate, listings, mashup, property, real, realestate, realivent, web20

Things are changing so fast online, and Web 2.0 is taking over. Mashups are the newest rage for now, and there will certainly be cooler stuff to come in the not so distant future. Hopefully these technologies will continue to make it easier to learn about, buy, sell, or rent properties. What are the coolest real estate web 2.0 sites out there right now?

UPDATED January 6, 2007

1)BiggerPockets.com

BiggerPockets (yup, that’s us!) underwent a fabulous Web 2.0 transformation, and created the Premiere Real Estate Social Networking site out there. With a focus on networking, dealmaking, and education, the site brings a professional approach to the world of real estate for both the consumer and professionals. Join the community and help build your real estate network!

2) Zillow

Zillow came out of nowhere and took the real estate world by storm. It allows anyone to find rough estimates of the valuation of their home by searching comparible properties. While values are not always accurate, the site continues to get it better.

3) RealEstate ABC

RealEstate ABC just released their Beta property valuation tool to compete directly with Zillow. It uses Google Maps in its technology mashup and allows you to do cool things like adjust values of properties given certain market conditions, web 2.0 style, something Zillow does not have. They seem to have beaten Zillow at their own game.

4) Trulia

Trulia scrapes real estate sites to find listings and brings it all together in a clean, well designed site. Using Google maps and RSS feeds, the site seems to have taken the lead in the future of online property listings. I’m looking forward to see how they begin to compete with Craigslist for FSBO listings.

5) HotPads.com

Hotpads.com is an apartment, corporate housing, and roomate search site for the next era. With interactive mapping, great graphics and free listings, this is one site to watch! (Note: they don’t have a ton of listings, yet, but this cool site will catch on)

6) Propsmart

Propsmart.com, is another site that scrapes the web for property listings. Like the others, it uses GoogleMaps for interactivity. Nothing really to write home about, IMO.

7) Google

Who better than Google to use Google’s technology for real estate? The 800-Ton Gorilla is jumping into the game, bringing fear to the hearts of real estate web entrepreneurs everywhere.

HousingMaps (Honorable Mention)
HousingMaps.com is one of the innovators of the real estate space of Web 2.0. Dreamworks software engineer, Paul Rademacher, created a blend of Craigslist and GoogleMaps to introduce one of the first recognized nextgen real estate websites. While not the most beautiful site, this creation kicked off the revolution. A salute to one of the forefathers is in order, I believe!

These sites are all worth keeping your eyes on as leaders in the web 2.0 real estate space. We will look out for any new ones and will certainly keep you posted!

Tags: Ajax, mashup, real estate 2.0, Real Estate Websites, web 2.0, web20