This brand new FREE service is only available in a few select cities currently, which are listed below:

• Orange County, CA
• Phoenix, AZ
• Bay Area, CA
• San Antonio, TX
• St Petersburg, FL

Click below to watch the YouTube video, which is probably one of the most creative marketing campaigns I have seen in awhile.  Go Google!

Business Photos From Google

The app is really about organizing the buyer.  While looking at houses, users can take photos from the app and organize them, share them on Facebook, email them and rate their preferences.  They can also get information on schools, recent sales and demographics- all with a touch of the screen!

And guess what?  It’s F R E E !!!

Dowload the Better Homes and Gardens iPhone app here.

Read the full post from Google here:  http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/10/more-more-more-real-estate-in-google.html

Check out this way cool new tool…

“The Solar Map is an interactive tool for viewing information and locations of existing solar installations in Berkeley.   It is a calculator that can be used to determine the potential size and cost for solar electric and hot water systems on any rooftop within the City and allows you to design a solar energy system to meet your energy needs.”

http://berkeley.solarmap.org/solarmap_v4.html

The site, still young in age, only covers only a handful of major cities.  While the site needs a little organization, I like the idea behind it.  You don’t have to subscribe, however by subscribing to the site’s RSS feed readers can find out new information about their respective neighborhoods as it hits the newswaves.  For Twitter-users they have twitter feeds.  What would be really cool is if it utilized user-submitted reviews via Twitter so that it would capture the true noise about a given neighborhood. 

But that would require giving up control.

Regardless, EveryBlock.com is a fun peek into your neighborhood.

You have the keys to your new house. The power is turned on, everything is moved in. Still haven’t turned on your phone? Perhaps you shouldn’t…

I don’t think it will be long before landlines become a part of the landfills.

Today, 14% of American adults are using their cell phone as their primary phone line, no landline required. And with the onset of VOIP, voice over internet, routing calls over the internet couldn’t be easier. In fact, 1:7 adults use VOIP as their primary landline supplement or replacement.

Vonage, AT&T, and Verizon all have plans available at around $25/mo, and TMobile has even introduced their version of VOIP for around $10/mo, but only if you are a subscriber.

So the pricing is reasonable, but what are the cons?

Well, as you know, cell phone reception in many parts of the East Bay is…well…non-existent. I can’t tell you how many times I am on the 80 fwy @ Gilman, and for a split second, my phone cuts out. Thanks, AT&T.

VOIP requires electricity; if the power goes out, you have no phone service. In addition, it also requires a broadband connection. If your connection isn’t great, then neither will the clarity of your calls.

I have VOIP at my house. It is pretty cool, but if I haven’t retrieved the messages on my VM, then I can’t fax. This is annoying when you are running a business from home. On the flip side, not only can I access these same messages remotely, but I receive an email when there is a message. Love it!

So before killing your landline, check cell phone reception in your ‘hood and investigate your broadband. Is it worth the change? That is a call you will have to make.

I am checking email. I am holding my breath. My heart rate goes up. My brain begins to whirl as I try to file the enormous amounts of email I have in my inbox: Who should I respond to now? Who can wait? Which should I delete? Another viagra email? Who should I call? How did I miss THIS email? Aargh.

I was talking with a client about this. Turns out she is the same way. Turns out there is a name for it.

Email Apnea.

Yes, you read it correctly.

So I googled it. And sure enough, it exists.

Email Apnea has been defined as “a temporary absence or suspension of breathing, or shallow breathing, while doing email.”

It seems there is this woman, Linda Stone, who has been researching this. She says that email apnea can lead to all sorts of health-related issues, such as obesity and diabetes. Huh? She coined the phrase “continuous partial attention.” Linda says, “We pay continuous partial attention in an effort NOT TO MISS ANYTHING. It is an always-on, anywhere, anytime, any place behavior that involves an artificial sense of constant crisis. We are always in high alert when we pay continuous partial attention. This artificial sense of constant crisis is more typical of continuous partial attention than it is of multi-tasking.”

Fascinating.

So this same client who I was talking with is constantly looking for the best house out there. She is twittering, craigslisting, googling, zillowing…all in an effort to find the best deal out there. The process has been grueling for her. She is so afraid of missing the opportunity that she has tuned into the search 24hour/day. She found a house and wanted to put in an offer, then backed out for fear of finding a better one. She filed this house under the “check back” folder. Huh?

You get my point.

Sounds like we all need a little breather.

]]> http://kristashouse.com/2008/08/are-you-in-a-house-hunting-email-coma/feed/ 0 http://kristashouse.com/2008/06/networking-in-the-blogosphere-is-there-any-value-left/ http://kristashouse.com/2008/06/networking-in-the-blogosphere-is-there-any-value-left/#comments Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:56:00 +0000 Krista Miller http://kristashouse.com/?p=46

Earlier this year I participated in a panel discussion at the California Association of Realtors in downtown LA. The topic? “Social Networking. Is there any value left?” I was humbled to be on the panel with such esteemed members of the real estate community.

This title now has me thinking, what exactly is social networking? Social networking for you may not be what it is for me.

Isn’t it true that most people want to build a community, or if not build one, at least be a part of one? Isn’t this social networking? You go to the local market, see your friendly checker, and while admiring her new haircut, ask where she had it cut. Isn’t this social networking? Or perhaps you log onto your LinkedIn profile, search your contacts to see if they are connected to any financial planners, and then contact them. Isn’t this social networking?

So is there any value left? Heck ya. So long as people have a desire for community, then social networking has value.

Click here to read the full panel discussion: http://www.car.org/index.php?id=Mzg1MjE= or check out the June/July magazine.

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