New Edition to Bell Biv Devoe to Real Estate Broker….

It was recently called to my attention that Ronald DeVoe of New Edition and BellBivDeVoe fame is now owner of his own brokerage in Atlanta.  According to his website, “It has always been a dream of mine to own a Keller Williams/Century 21 style franchise and now I have the opportunity to do so with DeVoe Broker Associates.”  He goes on to say, “I come from the projects of Boston, Massachusetts where many of my friends and family members were lifetime renters.  Now it feels wonderful to know that I can deliver valuable information that will help my family and others make educated decisions about their financial future.”

As a HUGE fan of New Edition and BellBivDeVoe, I thought I would take this opportunity to give a shout out to Ronnie by sharing some of my favorite tunes from his past.New Edition burst onto the scene in 1983 and they were big enough to have Madonna as an opening act during their early days. In the early-mid 1980s, New Edition sold more records in the United States than any other teen singing group.  Here is one of my favs, Cool It Now!

BellBivDevoe was HUGE in the early 90′s and back then Mr. DeVoe was not talking about flipping houses. He was talking about smackin and flippin booties. If you are not familiar with what I am talking about, check out this video:

I want to wish Ronnie the best of luck! If he is as successful in real estate as he was as an entertainer, he has good career ahead.

New Trulia Client Listing Report Scheduler – Automated Weekly Reports for Your Home Sellers

When we launched our Client Listing Report feature back in March, we received rave reviews from agents. They loved being able to send their home seller clients a detailed and personalized report on how their home was doing on Trulia. It’s a great way to stay top of mind with the home seller. We also received some feedback from agents who wanted to automate the report. We listened to our real estate agent community and added automated weekly reporting.

After you log into your Trulia account, follow these steps to automate your sellers weekly reports:

Step 1: Click “Client Listing Reports” from the Quick links section

Step 2: Click the “Send now” button to send a report for your listings

Here you’ll be able to edit the recipients and frequency of the reports.

Step 3: Select the Email Weekly Check box

Enter the name and email address of your seller or sellers [you can add multiple recipients], copy yourself and select the “Email Weekly” check box.

Enter a personal message to your home seller.

See your Report:

and click “Send” when ready.

Step 4: You’ll receive a Thank You message.

Click the “Schedule Client Listing Report emails” link

Additionally:

We’ve made it very easy for any agents who have used the Client Listing Reports in the past to schedule it for all of their clients. With the click of a single link “Schedule reports for all”, they can now schedule their Client Listing Reports for all of their old contacts.

We hope you all like the new functionality. Please keep sending us your feature and product requests as we’re always looking for ways to improve your experience on Trulia.

Price reductions to help attract buyers

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing sales fell 3% in March.  Sales over the previous 12 months are down more than 7%.

It’s Economics 101: with lower demand comes lower prices.  We’ve known that real estate prices and home values have been falling for a while, but now with Trulia’s new tool to search by price reduction, we can get more clarity into listing price reductions.  And the reductions are many.

More than one quarter of homes for sale have had at least one price reduction since the initial listing.  Across 15 major cities, including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta, the average price reduction for homes ranged from $20,000 to $295,000.

So what does this mean for buyers?  Inventories are at an all-time high, and you want to feel like you’re getting the best possible deal.  Trulia’s new price reduction tool enbles home searchers to see new reductions in their neighborhood.  So whether the properties have been reduced by 4% or 14%, buyers know exactly what they’re getting.

Search for price reduced homes across the US on Trulia!

I’m a homebuyer — well, sort of.  I’ve seriously considering buying a home at least 3 times in the past 2 years (getting pre-approved once).  And now with a moderately more “affordable” San Francisco, you guessed it, we are seriously considering jumping back in.  Ron, watch out, we might be calling you (again) soon.

Today Trulia launched a tool that might just put me over the edge.  Home buyers, sellers, agents, investors and real estate junkies alike can now search for price reductions on Trulia.  Instead of talking about it, let me walk you through how to use the new functionality (or at least how I’m using it!).

Step 1:  Search for the kind of home that you want on the Trulia homepage.

Step 2:  Narrow your search to the specific neighborhoods where you would live

I have my favorite 3 neighborhoods, but heck, for a good deal I might expand my horizons a bit.

Step 3:  Now that you have homes that match your search criteria, sort by those with the largest percentage price reduction.

Step 4:  Check out price reduced homes that you might actually want to buy!  This Cole Valley home was recently reduced $30,000 – but scrolling down on the page you see that this home was first posted on Trulia on 9/26/2008, and has been reduced multiple times since.

We know from search behavior on Trulia.com that house hunters are seeking value in today’s market. If a home has a “price reduction” it may or may not necessarily be “a value”, but this is a tool that users have been demanding, and today — we delivered.  I didn’t even mention the ability to set up an email alert if you want to be notified if any homes in your area (or any specific home), has a price reduction…but I’ll save that for another post.

For fun, check out these price reduced homes:

New York City – Homes >$1mm

Huntington Beach SFH $500K – $800K

Austin SFH, $200-$500K with 4+ bedrooms

Want to see the official release news?  Check it out at:  http://www.trulia.com/info/pricereductions

Earth Day: Top 5 best ways to Green your home for less

You recycle your plastics and air dry your dishes, but is your home as eco-friendly as it can be?

In honor of Earth Day, we polled our Trulia Voices community of over 350,000 professionals across the US to share their top three tips on what green or eco-friendly changes add the most value to a home – without breaking the bank.

Surprisingly, many of the most popular fixes are relatively easy and do-it-yourself-type improvements. Below are the top 5 tips from Trulia experts, along with examples and an assessment of the costs, in terms of immediate out-of-pocket financial cost (labor, parts, etc.).

And what we heard was pretty refreshing:
1) The first step to making your home more eco-friendly or green comes down to taking advantage of your local environment (i.e. avoid cooling when it’s hot outside, use natural/local products).
2) The best eco-friendly changes balance short-term cost with long-term gains.  Our experts preferred improvements with clear benefits to home value and low-to-medium cost – such as ways to reduce your heating bills.
3) Green improvements don’t have to cost an arm and a leg – from radiant floor heat to simply adding foam insulation – providing evidence that home owners can make green improvements at nearly any price range.

And of course, what would a “Greening Your Home” blog post be without great examples, from double-paned windows to radiant floor heat.

Here are our favorites – from economical, do-it-yourself upgrades to fancier improvements for the more cost-indifferent.

Fav #1: Energy Star certified appliances – Earth Advantage certified home

Portland, OR
$252,500 / 4bd / 2.5ba / 1,860 sqft

Fav #2: Window & door efficiency – Double-paned windows, digital thermostats

Austin, TX
$299,900 / 3bd / 3ba / 2,616 sqft

Fav #3: Water efficient fixtures – Tankless water heater, whole house filtration system

Hull, MA
$499,000 / 3bd / 2ba / 2,182 sqft

Fav #4: Better heating/cooling systems – Radiant heat floors

Berkeley, CA
$895,000 / 4bd / 3bd / 1,999 sqft

Fav #5: Insulation – Spray foam insulation, in-floor heating

Minneapolis, MN
$1.095M / 4bd / 3.5ba / 2,760 sqft

So this Earth Day, don’t just plant a tree, make a lasting change on your day-to-day eco-impact through your home.  Happy Earth Day!

We’re Live – Trulia and The Washington Post Launch!

I’m excited to announce that our partnership with The Washington Post has officially launched! Starting this week, users on the Washington Post’s real estate section can search for homes across the country through a co-branded real estate web site powered by Trulia. Their users also have access to all of Trulia’s great real estate statistics and trends. For our real estate industry partners, this means that your properties are now marketed to the millions of users on The Washington Post every day. Please let your home sellers know about the additional exposure their homes are getting – I think they may like that.

Congratulations to both teams in launching this great partnership. We’re very excited to be working with such a first class organization that prides itself in delivering the best content and experience to their millions of users. And stay tuned for more great news about our partnership in the future.

Here’s the original announcement of our relationship with The Washington Post.

Trulia Nominated for the 2009 People’s Voice Webby Award

Trulia is excited to announce that we have been nominated for the 2009 People’s Voice Webby Award. Last year, we won the 2008 People’s Voice Webby award and with your Vote, we can do it again! Trulia loves our fans and partners and sincerely thanks you for your support. Thanks to the entire Trulia team for your hard work, long hours, dedication and passion over the last year. Go team go!

According to the website, “With over 70 categories, Website entries make up the majority of Webby Awards Winners and Nominees. Some are beautiful to look at and interact with. Others are a testament to usability and functionality. And a handful excel across the board. To be selected among the best is an incredible achievement worthy of praise — and perhaps a little bragging. You will only be able to vote once in each category, so choose wisely and have fun.” You will only be able to vote once in each category, so choose wisely and have fun.

Step 1 - Visit the Webby Awards home page

Step 2 – Click Sign Up Now

Step 3 – Enter your Account Info

Step 4 – Click the confirmation link in your email to activate your account

Step 5 – Click on the Website Icon

Step 6 – Scroll down to the Services section and click Real Estate

Step 7 – Vote for Trulia by selecting the Vote radio button

Step 8 - Vote here today

Voting ends April 30th – Thanks for your Support!

Madonna’s new 13-room pad in Upper East Side – planning to adopt more kids?

Welcome to New York City’s Upper East Side!

Sightings: M spotted signing contract for double-wide townhouse. Upper East Siders, get those housewarming gifts ready – Madonna’s moving in the neighborhood!

Yes, Madge’s search for a townhouse in the Upper East Side has come to an end. Breaking neighborhood records (no home was ever sold for more than $20M), rumor has it that Madonna paid a jaw-dropping $40M for her four-story Georgian-style townhouse on 152 East 81st Street.

Bound to make Gossip Girl’s Serena and Blair drool, the double-wide townhouse boasts 26 rooms, nine fireplaces, an elevator, wine cellar, paneled dining room off the garden terrace, library, 38′ by 22′ drawing room with tall south windows overlooking the garden and two-car garage. But wait, the luxury doesn’t end just yet. Encompassing the exterior is a lovely 3,000-square-foot garden surrounded by rhododendron, roses and tall trees for privacy.

Does this mean Alex Rodriguez will be spotted on the Upper East Side? Or is she planning on adopting 12 more Malawi babies?

XOXO

You know you love me,
Trulia Marker Man

*As always, thanks for the tip Curbed!

3 Real Estate Brokers and a Non-Profit Collaborate on Sale of Handicap-Accessible Home For Disabled Military Veterans

If you are a disabled military veteran or a handicapped person in need who is looking for a home in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania – this home listed by Donna Olson located at 1285 Woodhaven Drive in White Haven, Pennsylvania 18661 may be for you. The asking price is $120,00 but for military veterans who meet all the requirements, it could be as low as $27,000.

Respond With Love is a Non-Profit who with the help of numerous local businesses helped build this Respond With Love Home. And now, 3 local real estate brokerages - Century 21 Select Group, Aim High Realty and The Bobhay.com Team of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates – are offering assistance in selling the home. Century 21 Select is donating their services to help represent the seller – America Responds with Love while Aim High Realty will donate it’s services to help represent a handicapped person who purchases the home.

According to Maggie Flarety, Broker at Century 21 Select Group, ” We want to give back to those that have helped us. I want to give back to someone who has sacrificed and given to all who live in our country. We hopefully will be able to make his/her life a little easier.”

“We are proud to support America Responds With Love,” stated Mr. C. Dino Minervini, Chief Executive Officer of Aim High Realty of White Haven. Aim High Realty is willing to donate their services to represent a handicapped person buying this home.  “My wife and I have been involved in helping the ‘handi-capable’ in our community for a number of years. This is just another facet of what we feel the people of our country should be doing to honor those who gave so much for us to have the liberties that we enjoy. Every one of us has something that we can give or do to help a Veteran or any other handi-capable person also enjoy the freedom and pride of home ownership. It is the American Dream for EVERY American. We appreciate the opportunity to serve.”

Click here to find more information about the home.

If you have a real estate story to share with us, please email me at rudy at trulia dot com.

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