If you attended tonight’s Beer with Bloggers event, thanks for joining us! Here are a few photos from the evening that I uploaded to flickr.

Dustin Luther, Kris Berg, and Spencer Rascoff

Happy blogging in 2009!!

Peoples attitudes towards home improvement projects run the gamut.

Some folks have no experience with any kind of carpentry or home repair work but they watch one of those real estate shows on TV and just know they can rehab a house and turn a profit.  I think they are being kind of unrealistic.

There are others who look at a home they are interested in buying and end up moving on because  they feel it will cost too much to have the entire interior re-painted and they don't like the colors.  Wall paper is sometimes a deal killer too.   None of these are really insurmountable obstacles. 

There are others who have little experience with things like painting a room but are willing to learn.  There are actually many home improvement projects that home owners can do themselves if they don't mind working, and maybe learning.  it can be rewarding too.

Plumbing and electrical work require expertise and permits.  I would never encourage anyone to install their own furnace or rewire their home.  Gas lines should be avoided as well.

There are some web sites and home improvement books that can help home owners learn how to do some of the work that does not require permits or contractors.  One is: Hometime.  It has videos and instructions on common and not so common house hold projects like laying ceramic tile or doing some landscaping.   There is also an entire section on wall coverings, including paint, with instructions on how to prepare surfaces and apply paint.

I have a friend who learned how to lay ceramic tile from reading books and taking a class at a local building supply store. I have seen her work and she is very good.  She isn't afraid to learn and has even built a fence and put in some new wood flooring.   I am not sure I would take on putting in ceramic tile but she has offered to help if I ever decide I want to try it.

Home improvement projects are not for everyone but it is possible to learn how to do many things.  For people who are buying  a first home and want to save some money and build a little equity a home that is less than perfect may be the answer. 

When my husband and I bought our home we just assumed we would be doing some work and over the years we have done many smaller projects and even some bigger ones.  It gets easier with experience.  Most of our neighbors have also done a lot of the work on their home themselves.  All of us have had to live for months with wall paper we did not like and rooms that needed repainting but some how we survived it.

Occasionally I  watch HGTV, I like the design on a dime program becasue they are so creative.  It give me ideas. Some projects are not worth taking on, I'll never forget the time I discovered load baring walk paper under ten coats of paint in the front hallway.  All I wanted to do is paint and we ended up fixing walls.

co-authored by Benn Rosales

The City as a living organism

With the birth of the major American metropolises, scientists sought out ways to describe how a city is born and how urban sprawl occurs. One of the dominant urban growth theory models that is still used to explain the phenomenon of cities spilling over into more rural areas (thus becoming neighborhoods/subdivisions) is Ernest Burgess’ “Zone Model” (or “Urban Land Use Model” if you’re fancy). He was a sociologist at the University of Chicago, so his model was based on his home city and his aim was to study the city as a living organism and showed that just like in a natural environment, invasion and succession drove competition between species and drove formation of concentric rings. Burgess’ Zone Model served as an ecological model with ethnic groups as species (which is an obsolete measure in modern times as sociologists study zones in terms of socio-economic status).

The Zone Model

So what does all this rainbow mumbo jumbo mean? Remember, Burgess’ study was primarily focused on Chicago in 1920 which meant a lot of immigration and lot of factories which is obviously different in modern cities. Let’s take a quick look:

• Zone I- CBD stands for “Central Business District” and is the most densely populated area, is the primary source for employment and is where transportation systems converge.
• Zone II- the Factory Zone is where the CBD spills over and industrial activities take advantage of the immediately accessible labor and markets. City ports and railyards are located here.
• Zone III- the Transition Zone is where manufacturing/commercial and residential merge and typically contained the poorer urban population in poor living conditions.
• Zone IV- the Working Class Zone is (you guessed it) populated with the working class who have moved up from (but is still lower cost due to) it’s neighboring Transition Zone and was usually called the tenements or the projects.
• Zone V- the Residential Zone is famous for higher quality housing along with longer commutes and was later called “the inner city.”
• Zone VI- the Commuter Zone represents upper class, expensive housing in the suburbs where commuting costs are the highest. In the 20’s, it was most desirable to have land and live far from the industrial noise and pollution.

How does this relate to Social Media?

I’m most interested today in social media as a living, breathing organism, just as Burgess was with city life. If social media is organic (and I would certainly argue that it is), concentric circles of population form, overlap and converge just as Chicago did. The easiest way to look at the Zone Model is to look at the industrial area as the least desirable area to live in and the further you live from it, the more expensive and desirable it is. In social media, the space is virtual and the currency is social capital.

Because we exist in a space (despite it not being physical) and because we use currency, the parallel is easy to make and instead of calling it urban sprawl online, I would call it Internet Social Sprawl.

Internet Social Sprawl Model

This rainbow mumbo jumbo is a little different because we’re not talkin’ Chicago OR the 1920’s, we’re talking about the here and now:

• Zone I- Lurkers are the people who are either so new to the space that they’re simply listening before jumping in, or they’re not hip to a two way conversation. Either way they have no social capital and can’t afford to move out of Zone I (yet).
• Zone II- Casual Users are those who have created profiles on social networks but haven’t build social capital up yet- they haven’t really engaged anyone or produced any content, but they poke their head into conversations here and there.
• Zone III- I would argue that the largest zone is made up of Average Users, people who have a limited network but have social capital within their network. They are spending their social capital to build and grow their networks (on Twitter, their blogs, etc) and are working hard to move out to the suburbs.
• Zone IV- Niche Famous Internet users have great influence in their niche be it an industry, a hobby or otherwise, they’ve been at it long enough to build up social capital that they can expend in their dominated zone. Paul Chaney, Jackie Huba, and Wendy Piersall all live in Zone IV.
• Zone V- people in this zone have Web Fame that greatly transcends niches and location. People like Robert Scoble, Darren Rowse, and Jason Calacanis live in this zone as they have been fine tuning their networks by building and expending massive amounts of social capital and most people in this zone are the earliest adopters of social media giving them the advantage.
• Zone VI- few people live in the Mainstream Zone where they exist as a household name due to their Internet personality. Mark Cuban and Gary Vaynerchuck (aka garyvee) are known even to people that don’t use the Internet which is why they are mainstream names and live in the most expensive zone of all.

Pull it together!

Okay, I’ll pull it together now- the point is that as a living organism, the online space is much like a city where there are hot neighborhoods and ugly neighborhoods and not all people want to be Mainstream, but most would like to at least be Niche Famous as many people (over 18) are online to serve a business purpose. Yeah, the grass IS always greener on the other side, but much like we all dream of a downtown penthouse suite, we’re really aiming for that four bedroom with hardwood floors in the SoCo district. We have goals in mind and we are all working to build up our social capital so we can spend it (aka buy the SoCo house) and the Internet Social Sprawl Model is the easiest way to visualize this phenomenon.

If you could live in a large, beautiful home without a mortgage for only $500 a month, would you? Vacant Home Caretakers is a private company that matches vacant homes that are currently for sale with carefully screened “Home Managers” who pay a greatly reduced rental fee to live in the vacant home until it sells or is taken off the market.  With the excess inventory for sale these days, this innovative business is booming. But, before you get too excited, there are a few requirements. Home Managers must be non-smokers, not have pets, and must stage the home with furniture that would look good in the home. Still, for dirt-cheap rent, it’s a pretty sweet concept.

A Home Manager is currently occupying the residence at 5027 Scenic Drive in Yakima, Washington. Check out the great amenities and sweeping views this for sale home has to offer:

The View

The Home’s Exterior

This rental agreement boasts advantages for sellers and Home Managers:

Seller:

1. Homeowners’ insurance rates can climb heavily on a home that is vacant because of the high risk of vandalism, home repairs that need immediate attention, or squatters — folks that break in to a vacant home and “make it theirs.”
2. A home that is staged and welcoming is always better in the eyes of the potential buyer than a house that is cold and empty. Staging a house also provides a “clean canvas” for a potential homeowner to envision themselves living in the home.
3. The utilities are paid for by the Home Manager, relieving the homeowner of having to pay excessive heat and light bills for a home they do not currently live in.

Home Managers:

1. A luxury home can be rented for half the price it would normally cost to rent in any given market. So, if a home in a market normally rents for $1,000, a Home Manager would pay half that price, or $500.
2. There is no lease period. This is ideal for folks that need a place for just a few months or for people who are waiting to find their perfect home to buy.
3. It forces you to stay neat and tidy! The company asks you to keep the home in tip-top shape since real estate agents can pop in at any time to show the home.

Vacant Home Caretakers, a company that launched in 1979, has offices located in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and southern California. According to owner Susanne Carnevali, business has increased dramatically lately and with more homes sitting on the market for extended periods of time, her business is poised to benefit from this economic downturn.

The Human Society of Delaware County will be holding a “freeze out” on Friday night from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. on Saturday.

The event is hoping to raise awareness for pets that are left outside during winter’s coldest times.

The Humane Society of Delaware County is located on State Route 37/36 east of Delaware.

Photograph by Debby Gerhardt and used with permission, logo from Delaware Humane Society.

Greetings from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport!

Here I sit, waiting to catch the red eye flight cross-country to New York City where I’ll be speaking at Inman News’ Bloggers Connect — part of a biannual real estate conference hosted by Inman Real Estate News. I’ll be right smack in the middle of Times Square through Friday, so posting may be light.

There’s a small corner of the real estate blogiverse that seems to have a fundamental problem with this particular conference. It’s a curious thing as the main nay sayer has never attended to my knowledge and I know he at least hasn’t been to the last three (including this upcoming one).

Whatever.

I’m not a huge fan of conferences either. Rarely will one attend a conference of any sort and walk away with some stunning revelation on how to be a better agent, broker, father, person, whathaveyou.

This will be my third Inman Connect and in my humble opinion, it is the real estate conference to attend. Granted, I never attended the big annual Century 21 conference when I hung my license at a C21 brokerage. Saw some video though — it was a sea of gold jackets and an awful lot of cheer leading and  back slapping. Not really my cup of tea. I did attend the 2007 NAR (National Association of Realtors) Conference and Expo. It was quite interesting to see 30,000 something Realtors converge on Vegas. What struck me as odd about that conference was that even at 47, I felt like I was one of the youngest people there.

Inman is different. It’s not geared only to agents and brokers. A significant portion of those attending are real estate technology vendors, and typically there are a few new product announcements made. Some of these are good, and some not-so-swift.

The best part of the conference, for me, are the hallway and after-hours conversations. There are a bunch o’ smart people that attend Inman, and that smart has a way of wearing off. Talk to enough smart people and something is bound to stick.

The networking opportunities are extraordinary. Agents, brokers, Technology Officers, CEO’s, you name it and they are there. And they are willing to talk. And to listen. It’ll be great to re-connect with old friends, get to know some folks I’ve only previously known online and meet new people.

An added benefit of going to Connect this year will be RE Bar Camp New York — an “unconference”. No set agenda, no hidden agenda. Just lots of mulit-way discussion. I attended an RE Bar Camp prior to Connect San Francisco in July, so this will be my second iteration. We need to get an RE Bar Camp in Phoenix (and it’s been discussed).

Well enough rambling about the conferences. Suffice it to say that I’m pumped about attending. There will be video, photos, and written musings forthcoming.

I’ll post from there if I can. If not, we’ll return to your regularly scheduled programming on Saturday.

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© 2007 Jay Thompson, Phoenix Real Estate Guy . If you are reading this outside your feed reader or on any blog other than The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@ThompsonsRealty.com so we can take legal action immediately.

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Photos From Inman Connect

Off to San Francisco

Upcoming Real Estate Happenings

Two creative approaches in selling homes in this slow market have come to my attention. One involves that old, tried and true deal of throwing in a car with the sale of the home and the other is a travel photo contest.

For the first one, a homeowner in Houston, TX, is throwing in a brand-new Lexus — worth about $30K — to the buyer of his 5,500 sq ft home that has been sitting for more than six months.

For the second idea, a homeowner in Florida is using the Web site HowtoWinMyHouse.com as a means of moving her Delray Beach, Florida, house along, by using a $55 raffle entry for a travel photo contest.

And, of course, there’s always the Perfect Place Contest that is really intriguing since it involves a word scramble contest. So far, no winner yet.

No matter how much Delaware County has grown, it is still a small-town at heart. You can’t start building a new development - especially in today’s market - and not have questions asked.

“Have you heard what Rockford is building on South Houk?”

I’ve fielded at least a half-dozen calls and it was even part of the conversation on New Year’s Eve. So I did a little digging.

Arthur Place, which is located on South Houk Road at Cobblestone, will be income-restricted senior apartments. The units have one and two bedroom and prices range from $585 to $685 depending on bedrooms, according to Roy Lowenstein, vice president with Buckeye Hope Community Foundation.

Buckeye Hope Community Foundation is overseeing the unit’s building and Rockford is serving as the general contractor.

For more information on the project contact Lowenstein at 614-942-2010 or via e-mail.

Art work by Billy Alexander and used with permission.

The 123rd edition of the Carnival of Real Estate is posted over at real/diaBlog. Tony Arko points out some posts that you won’t want to miss as you start the new year — head over to real/diaBlog and take a look!

The carnival will make its next appearance on Monday, January 12th at For Sale By Locals. Please submit your best post by Sunday January 11, to be considered. Are you a real estate blogger and would you like to host a future edition or take a more active role in administration of the CoRE? If so, get instructions on how to do so here. Please check the complete FAQ list if you have other questions as to how to participate.

Let me repeat that title — I am not a Salesman.

“But Jay, you sell real estate”, you may be thinking.

No, not really. I can’t sell a home to anyone that doesn’t want one. I can help you buy a home. I can help you get your home sold. But I can’t, and won’t, sell you a home.

Some people have an innate ability to be true salesmen (or “salesperson” to be politically correct. Meh.) You may have heard the (politically insensitive) joke, “That guy could sell ice to an Eskimo”.

Well not this guy.

In fact, I’m not really fond, at all, of salespeople. I don’t like being “sold” on anything.

And the simple fact is, my brain just isn’t wired to be a salesman.

Sure, stupid government entities and all the bureaucracy associated with them has pretty much forced real estate agents to be called “salespeople”. It’s printed right there on our licenses — Real Estate Salesperson (at least in Arizona).

One of my favorite things about getting my real estate broker’s license is it doesn’t say “salesperson” anymore. It’s semantics, but I like it that way.

Ardell DellaLoggia at Rain City Guide wrote a post today that I think it one of the better blog posts I’ve seen. Ever. In Paradigm Shift: Changing the Human Experience, Ardell opines about something that I think is sorely missing in real estate.

Chiefly, “Who is the customer?”

It seems like an easy answer. It’s the home buyer or the home seller — depending on which side of the transaction we’re on (and we abhor single-agent dual agency^[1]. But that is a post for another day).

And that’s exactly my answer.

But it gets complicated. Complicated by agency law, and complicated by archaic brokerage models. As Ardell points out, “In most realities, the customer of the Brokerage is the Agent.”

If you could walk into most real estate brokerages today and look behind the scenes, you’d see white-boards showing listings and sales under contract. You’d see a wall full of “million dollar producer” awards, and “diamond awards” and other such nonsense. You’d see rah-rah sales meetings with brokers pontificating about ways to get more “leads” (a word I personally despise) and methods to sell sell sell.

It makes me want to puke.

When I started Thompson’s Realty, I was told by several well-intentioned brokers that our model wouldn’t work. One loudly proclaimed that we weren’t charging our agents enough for their Errors & Omissions insurance. “You can make a killing on E&O!” I was told.

Last I checked, I’m not in the E&O business.

“How can you charge desk fees if you don’t have a physical office?” one asked.

Last I checked, I’m not in the furniture rental business.

Something needs to change. Ardell proposes some great ideas. Ideas we are implementing as are some other progressive brokerages I know of. But it’s not enough. Until more wake up and realize that without the paradigm shift Ardell proposes, nothing in the grand scheme of things will change.

I loved Ardell’s article. Anyone remotely interested in real estate should read it — be you an agent, a broker, a home buyer or home seller.

I am not a salesman. To quote Ardell yet again, “we do not sell anything for a living. Rather, we represent people for a living.”

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© 2007 Jay Thompson, Phoenix Real Estate Guy . If you are reading this outside your feed reader or on any blog other than The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@ThompsonsRealty.com so we can take legal action immediately.

Footnotes:

1. Dual agency is where the same agent represents both the buyer and seller in the same transaction

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This afternoon’s Dave Ramsey show included a little rant on the economy and ended with his predictions on 2009.

“The Economy is slow and 2008 pretty much sucked,” said Ramsey on his Columbus’ affiliate WDTA 103.9 “What does that have to do with 2009?”

I couldn’t type fast enough to pick-up the rest, but his basic rant was that if you are WAITING for someone to save you then 2009 will be similar to 2008. But if you are focusing on improving yourself and moving forward, then 2009 could be a great year.

With interest rates hovering around the low-5% range and with prices down - it is a great time to buy a house IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY.

“We don’t need anymore people without money buying houses, we’ve had enough of that already,” said Ramsey.

He also says it is a great time to buy a used car, for much the same reason as the house time. It will allow you to get the most for your money.

Do I agree with him? Of course, it is my job to say that. If you subscribe to Ramsey’s principles — and have been working on his seven-step process — then IT IS a great time to buy a house or investment property.

Why?

Because you are going to have a down payment, you are buying a house on a 15-year fixed rate loan for about 5% of interest rates. And to top it off, that house is worth less than it was one year ago, what alone three years ago.

What if you don’t follow Dave Ramsey’s plan?

It is still a good time, however you need to get your ducks in a row. The better the credit the better the rate you’ll receive. On top of that you are going to need at least 3.5% down payment to make the deal happen.

Ramsey is on WTDA from 1-4 p.m., moving personal-favorite Dennis Miller to the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. slot, replacing Glenn Beck.

We like to make comparisons when we talk about the housing market. Most of the time we compare current conditions to those in 2005  the year the market peaked in price and the number of homes sold.  I don't know anyone who believes that there will be another 2005 anytime soon. Back to the present, 2008 Vs. 2008, which year was better?

In 2008, 231 more homes were sold in St. Paul than were sold in 2007.  Does that mean 2008 was a better year for selling a home than 2007?  I don't think so. The total dollar volume of all the homes sold in St. Paul in 2007 was: $598,719,208.00. The total dollar amount for all homes sold in St. Paul in 2008 was $452,281,544.00.

Let me repeat that. The total number of homes sold in 2008 is up slightly from the number sold in 2007 but the dollar volume is down by more than 25%.

There is $146,437,664.00 dollars missing from the local real estate market last year. I will go out on a limb and suggest that some lost money in real estate in 2008.

Home sellers must be missing some cha ching and I know that the local real estate companies closed a few offices here and there. Banks lost money too.

This does not mean that homes have decreased in value across the board by 25% or more.  There has been a kind of clearance sale going on. The banks have reduced the prices of foreclosures and activity picked up in the last quarter of 2008 because of it.  

Being in real estate is similar to being a doctor … your always on call and everyone wants your advice for free - but unlike the doctor I’ll never say “call me in the morning.”

As the holidays just wrapped up, I’ve had several discussions with friends, relatives, strangers, etc. that are considering refinancing their home.

When should you refinance?

The general rule of thumb is the new rate is 1 percent less than the loan you currently have. Of course, this may be a day late and a dollar short as mortgage rates have ticked up about 1/4 percent this morning.

If you are looking to talk with a lender, here are a couple that I work with on a regular basis:

• David Zambo, Park National Bank, 614-841-0771
• Bill Channell, Fifth-Third Bank, 614-563-9845

Good luck and until next time …

Toby’s Tip is an occasional feature on Sadie’s Take on Delaware that focusses on items that people - or maybe a person - could potentially find useful. Logo is property of Ohio Home Team, ltd. and images were taken by Toby Boyce and Kristi Cook and are used with permission.

T.S. Eliot and Formalism

In the 1910s through the 1960s, British and American writers responded to the literary romanticism by launching the “New Criticism” movement (also known as “Formalism”). Previously, the focus of writing had been on the experience of the piece, the prestige of the author and a variety of philosophical perspectives taken toward writing. With the Formalism movement, authors focused on the culture of the reader and became less concerned with the intention or background of the writer.

Formalists became entranced with readers perceptions of written word in various ways depending on what they bring to the table. T.S. Eliot unknowingly inspired (and with his earlier writings was a part of) the Formalist movement. His essay, “Traditions and the Individual Talent” was published in a two part series, “The Egoist” followed by “The Sacred Wood,” focused less on his own personal ideologies and intricately tends to the details of every single passage as they pertain to how a reader will experience them.

T.S. Eliot and Social Media

T.S. Eliot is a complicated case study, but in his earlier works, he proved that text has more extrinsic value than intrinsic value and emphasized the culture of the reader and the importance of the lens with which they read the text. Although his works were in a non-digital time and the medium was different, the Formalists preached the same thing as many social media evangelists- the culture of the reader and how they interpret words is excruciatingly important.

In modern times, most bloggers don’t publish works that are only of interest to themselves and because the online culture is collaborative, most digital writers don’t ignore how their reader will experience their work. If writers today subscribed to the notion of the Romanticist movement, the web would be dominated with writing with the most elevated diction level possible, addressing theories that went over the heads of most (and the writer wouldn’t care because the emphasis would be on their own importance and on their intentions).

How would T.S. Eliot view social media? He wouldn’t likely view social media and blogging as a new concept. Eliot’s “New Criticism” was the start of a movement that is still highly applicable today- modern digital writers focus on the culture of the reader and less on their own importance or intentions.

How to use this analysis:

I spent many years at the University of Texas studying English Literature and the last few years as a digital writer and an early adopter of social media, both giving me invaluable insight into how readers and writers function. What I implore you to take away from this article is that as a digital writer you must examine how your reader will interact with your writing and insure that it is never self-serving as that is a severe violation of the culture of social media. With each article you write, a new reader should be able to pick it up and understand it from start to end, so be sure to limit obscure references, self-serving innuendo and never ignore your reader. Social medians’ emphasis on reader experience is a theory dating back nearly 100 years, just ask T.S. Eliot.

co-authored by Benn Rosales

The 123rd edition of the Carnival of Real Estate is posted over at real/diaBlog. Tony Arko points out some posts that you won’t want to miss as you start the new year, particularly the very practical one about how to create video with Google Earth — head over to real/diaBlog and find out what you need to know!

The carnival will make its next appearance on Monday, January 12th at For Sale By Locals. Please submit your best post by Sunday January 11, to be considered. Are you a real estate blogger and would you like to host a future edition or take a more active role in administration of the CoRE? If so, get instructions on how to do so here. Please check the complete FAQ list if you have other questions as to how to participate.

Request via email:

I would love to see a blog entry or entries on the theme of "here are some features you should look for in an Arizona home, and here’s why they’re important.". Maybe the opposite too, things to avoid? For example, is a pool good or bad? How important is a covered area near a patio? I’d just be very interested in hearing from a native and a realtor about the features they’d personally value in a home.

Speaking for Southern Arizona and Tucson - weather is an issue.  It’s hot here.  Most people would consider a covered patio essential, and covered parking is a plus.  Think about the position of the house and windows and patio in relation to the sun.  Will the patio be shaded morning or night?  If it is on the Southern side, it may be mostly sunny, even under the cover, most of the day.  We tend to live outdoors a lot - will there be shade to sit in?

Same thoughts go for windows.  Is the sun going to be streaming into the rooms you’ll spend the most time in?  If the windows are newer, good quality, then that’s not a huge deal but with an older home with poor insulation and old single pane glass windows, those rooms are going to be warmer than the rest of the house, and you’ll be turning down that A/C to stay comfortable.

And speaking of the A/C - you’re looking for appropriately sized units, with a decent SEER rating.  Newly installed systems have to be 13 SEER or better now, but many older homes have far less efficient units, which can be more costly to run.

Pools - most people seem to love or hate them.  There’s a few that don’t really care either way, but by and large, people either MUST have a pool, or absolutely hate them.  Unless we’re talking luxury or vacation type housing, I could go either way on pools.

The advice also depends on the type of housing.  If you’re looking for a large parcel, and want a fenced landscaped yard area, be aware you’ll probably get lots of critters into your fenced yard unless you’ve got a solid block wall around that yard.  That may not be as much as a problem with a smaller lot in a well-developed area.

Tucson also has termites - the saying around here is you either have them or you’ll get them eventually.  It’s important to understand what kind of conditions encourage termites, and fix those things quickly - wood to earth contact, water draining towards the foundation, plants close to the foundation, landscape rock piled too high at the foundation.

Other than those things, it’s mostly a style decision, and we have a wide variety of styles.  Personally, I want light but not too much direct sun.  I want a large shady patio.  I want efficient A/C and covered parking and a sound structure that doesn’t encourage termites with a solid fenced yard.

OK, so this has absolutely nothing to do with real estate.

But it’s wicked cool.

I’ll freely admit that certain parts of my anatomy are not large enough to do what these guys do.

For those not aware, “terminal velocity” is the constant maximum velocity reached by a body falling through the atmosphere under the attraction of gravity. For a skydiver, that’s about 124 MPH (200 KPH).

These guys are nuts.

Hat tip to Jeff Moriarty of Writing is Cake via Twitter (@jmoriarty).

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The Real Estate Blog Shitstorm of 2007 and Video of the Week #9

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by Erik Hare

There are many things to love about Saint Paul, even in the dead of winter.  When the snowstorms roll in one after the other and the temperature is lower than I’m willing to say, what’s better than staying inside with a good book?  Given the length of the winters, you may want to have a lot of books, in fact.  So many books that it only makes sense to buy used ones in bulk.

Fortunately, used bookstores are available in both quantity and quality in Saint Paul.  That’s part of the reason we were name the third most literate city in America, behind Seattle at #2 and some other city to the west at #1.  We’re a city that takes our reading seriously, and for serious reading there’s nothing like the classics. 

The classics that everyone had to read in High School are certainly available in used bookstores, but there are also plenty of recent bestsellers at great prices.  Those are the kind of books you can’t find in our numerous libraries, so the used bookstores really fill the gap for quality reading.

I have several favorite stores to haunt from time to time.  Half Price Books on Ford Parkway is the best all-around kind of store if you’re looking for popular books at great prices.  A few bucks can get you a week’s reading through a wide selection.

If you want genuinely rare or antique books with collector value, Midway Books at University and Snelling has an incredible selection of books that are not only great to read but likely to appreciate in value.  This is a store for serious bibliophiles, a place where you can spend hours finding great tomes you never thought you’d see along with amazing collector comic books. 

A more neighborhood store is Sixth Chamber on Grand Avenue, which specializes in helping people find just what they are looking for easily.  They try to be more like a new bookstore in feel and selection which makes them good for people who have a specific need.

Used bookstores aren’t always the sort of thing people look for in a city.  They are, however, the sign of a literate community where people take reading seriously and have a deep interest in books.  Saint Paul’s many stores show why we were picked as one of the most literate cities in America. The breadth of selection and type of stores shows that all kinds of people get into books through the long winters – and maybe while relaxing on the beach through the summer.  There will be a summer one day, after all, but in the meantime it’s probably best to stay inside and read a lot of books. 

If you have a ‘real’ Christmas tree, that is… a cut tree that might soon go to the landfill, why not consider recycling it. If you live in Superior, you can drop it off at the town’s Yard Waste Recycling site. Thinking of recycling your house? If you’re ready to sell your ‘pre-owned’ home to a new [...]

From this article in Sunday's Miner... Interchange work continues And while much of it remains behind the scenes, (Mayor John) Salem maintained that work is continuing on both the Kingman Crossing and Rattlesnake Wash traffic interchanges. "We're moving forward with Kingman Crossing," he said. "We have found an attorney to represent the city with a proposed development agreement and fiscal

For our first Nestoria interview of 2009 we’re pleased to have the chance to speak with Andy Allan, one of the creators of OpenCycleMap.org. OpenCycleMap (OCM) is a flagship example of the power of opening up access to geodata. It’s built on top of OpenStreetMap, and was recently commended by the British Cartographic Society. When not working on OCM Andy is a Tech Lead at CloudMade.

1. What’s OpenCycleMap all about and how did you get the idea for it?

OpenCycleMap is a customised online map for cyclists, based on OpenStreetMap data. It shows things that are interesting to cyclists including signed cycle routes, offroad cycle paths, bike shops and bike parking - and of course hills - whilst diminishing other things like motorways that are of little interest. I’d been mapping for OpenStreetMap for about a year when some people were discussing customised maps, and I went ahead and attempted the cycle map in July 2007, and it’s a hobby that’s snowballed since then.

2. What are some of the technical challenges of the project?

The main two technical challenges have been getting my head around how everything works - from spatial databases to geoprocessing to mapnik style rules - and dealing with a huge world-wide project. The cycle map started off UK only, but has steadily increased to cover Europe, and then the whole world. But this takes up huge amounts of disk space, especially for the height data needed for the contours and hill colouring, takes forever to rerender each week, and its popularity sucks up an increasing amount of bandwidth. And if all that weren’t bad enough, the 81,000 OSM volunteers keep on adding even more data for me to deal with!

3. What has been the response from users?

Overwhelmingly positive. It’s continually held up as an example of what’s possible when the underlying OSM geo-data is made available, but as well as being creatively different from a standard web map it’s also pretty useful in its own right as a map for cyclists. By far the best thing is the feedback from other countries, across Europe and around the world, from people who have used and enjoyed it. But the work never ends, since almost all of the praise comes along with a “it would be great if it could also…” line attached!

4. What can we expect in 2009 from OCM specifically and from works built on top of OSM generally?

My plans for OpenCycleMap are fairly straightforward - to work on improving the map rendering even further, adding more detail and brushing up the documentation to entice more people in to contributing. But I’m much more excited about the projects that are taking the maps I generate and building on them - I’ve seen some previews of a great journey planning site that’s about to be released. There’s a few side projects, including cycle-tailored maps for Garmin GPS units and walking route maps that I’m working on in the background, and hopefully everyone will get to benefit from them at some point.

As for OSM generally, I think 2009 is going to be when OSM projects really start catching everyone’s imagination. I’ve seen a growing acceptance of OSM over the last six months in the techy community, and more and more people are coming up with interesting applications, especially for mobile devices, that use OSM by default. Here at CloudMade we’re working on various APIs that’ll make it even easier to develop cool applications, and you’ll hear more about them from us as 2009 progresses.

5. There is an OSM version of Nestoria,and we’ve considered switching fully to OSM in a few well covered areas like Berlin or central London. What’s your advice?

Go for it! You wouldn’t be the first, Flickr! have done similar things for their maps where OSM is better than their other map suppliers in many places around the world, famously in Beijing but also such places as Sydney. Anyone in your position should consider what their customers are wanting from the maps on your site - if it’s just for a vague orientation then there’s not much to choose between different maps other than their cartographic style. But when I’m poking around for a new flat on Nestoria I’m much more interested in all the stuff that only OSM shows, like where the nearest pubs and supermarkets are, whether it’s near industrial areas or open spaces with plenty of paths through them, and for me whether there’s bicycle parking near the train stations!

Thanks Andy. You are absolutely right that home searchers are interested in relevant local content. We’ll keep experimenting during the course of 2009 to try to stay at the forefront of innovation in online cartography. For those interested in OCM you can follow Andy’s progress via his blog - assuming of course he’s not out pedaling.

past Nestoria interviews: Stephan Uhrenbacher, Gary Gale, and Muki Haklay.

Fans in attendance. Had a great time. Luckily this game was played indoors. More photos of the game shared on Facebook.

It is Friday, the first Friday of the new year and Friday's are for fun. I hope everyone has the day off. I know I don't. A bunch of work came in this week. It seems that people are getting in the mood to buy and sell real estate which is kind of nice because that is what I am here for.

I got this shot yesterday of the rare North American Ice flower. People think that just because it is winter here that there are not any flowers.  The ice flower blooms from November to February and is a native species.  They grow through out the region. It is not toxic but should not touch bare skin.  It has some medicinal purposes too.  These flowers are only found in nature and can not be grown in green houses.

The plant in the picture is on the South side of a building and will likely stop blooming if the temperature gets over 32 degrees Fahrenheit but there isn't much chance of that happening anytime soon.

For those who are bored with looking at the ice flowers the Winter Carnival Orchid show starts on January 24 at the Como Park Conservatory. For those who really do prefer ice the Winter Carnival ice carving contest is on January 25th in Rice Park. If you are looking for something fun to do today try the ice rink at the landmark center. It is open unless the wind chill or actual air temperature reach -25. That last sentence says it all when it comes to describing the kind of people who live in Minnesota.

St. Paul is a great place to live, we really do have something for everyone. Enjoy the weekend, stay warm and have fun.

A new steakhouse will soon be gracing the vibrant downtown Delaware area soon.

Ds will be opening at 29 East Winter Street, accross from the Strand Theatre, in the same location as the short-lived Manhattans restaurant and Lil Bella’s pizza shop. 

Don’t have much else on this new establishment, Gretchen picked up a little flyer at the Bare Bowl while there on Saturday.

Photo by Klaus Post and used with permission.

I had a great holiday season.  I spent some great time with my family and friends, got some great gifts, and even officiated some great basketball.  I love the holiday season.

One of the things that I had a chance to do was spend New Year’s Eve at Wintergreen Resort.  You may remember that I was there not too long ago.  You might also remember that I don’t ski.

I do, however, go snow tubing.

The tubing park was a lot of fun, even if it was 14 degrees outside.  Spending time at the tubing park got me to thinking about life and business. . .

I have a lot to be thankful about, and so do you.  Sure things could have gone better, I guess, but there is no reason to complain.  Life and business can be fun and exhilarating.  After all, there are always going to be ups and downs, but the most important thing is for us to enjoy the ride!