In Part 1 of our exclusive interview with Barbara Corcoran, we talked about technology. In Part 2 we focused on people. Well, we saved the best for last.

In the 3rd and final installment of our interview Barbara tells us how she broke through the noise and rose to the top before cashing in to the tune of $67M. It’s all about Marketing.

In this last interview, Barbara gives us the scoop on:
1. How to differentiate or die!
2. How to get Donald Trump to take out two full-page ads in the New York Times with your name on it!
3. How to seduce people even if you don’t have big breasts.
4. How to become a millionaire real estate agent.

A HUGE thanks to Barbara for being such a great sport. She is a very hard act to follow!

This week’s Carnival, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, is hosted on miOakland County - The Scoop on Michigan Real Estate and pays tribute to great Motown hits by awarding each top 10 entry its very own theme song.

Two of my favorite songs…

I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) by The Four Tops was awarded to Real Estate Web Sites: A Minimalist Approach from The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, aka, Jay Thompson.

Shop Around by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles is a perfect fit for Where to Live: Gay Ghetto or Integrated Neighborhood posted on Queercents.

It’s highly recommended that you check it out and listen while you read!

Trulia was selected by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), New York City’s largest and most prestigious real estate group, to power the first real estate search engine dedicated exclusively to New York City-based listings. REBNY announced (pdf) their intent to build the portal late last year and Trulia was chosen among six finalists to do the job.

What does this mean?

For consumers, the new search engine will bring together residential property listings from REBNY-member real estate brokerage firms onto a single public Web site for the first time. For the non-New York readers out there…it’s worth noting that Manhattan’s hugely important real estate market does not have a widely used MLS that would allow access to all listings through any single Web site today.

Through the REBNY portal, New York home buyers and sellers will have full access to all of Trulia’s real estate tools including: Heat Maps, Real Estate Guides and property listings.

For New York City brokers and agents, they’ll now have a choice. There are few comprehensive options to publish home listings for the New York City market. This competition benefits brokers and ultimately consumers!

See the official press release here (pdf).
Previous coverage of the REBNY portal can be found here and here and here.

There’s been a lot of buzz about the Prudential Real Estate Services Convention down in San Diego this week.

Overall a great conference, though one event in particular hit close to Trulia’s home: the shut-down of our exhibit booth. Since we’re already hearing some real estate insider speculation on this unfortunate circumstance, we thought we’d clear the industry air.

Twenty minutes before the exhibit was scheduled to open, Russ Capper of PREA - Prudential Real Estate Affiliates (conference organizer and franchisor to Prudential brokers) - asked us to “pack up and leave immediately.” Reason for the surprise? Trulia’s referral fee-free business model is reportedly directly competitive with the PREA Yahoo! referral fee model.

No hard feelings. Frankly, this was not an “evil plot” to get Trulia to the show and then send us a way. Russ wasn’t aware we were coming. Business is business.

Kudos to PREA for picking a fabulous venue, because no matter whether you were inside the conference or out, sunny San Diego was a great backdrop for the dozens of positive meetings we had scheduled with our existing Prudential broker customers. Kudos to all the Prudential brokers for their level of sophistication and technological savvy. You are true professionals.

P.S. Can anyone spare a dime to bail out our Mr. Marker Men???

In Part 1 of our exclusive interview with Barbara, we talked about technology. Part 2 focuses on people. Specifically, Barbara gives us tips on….

1. How to make people love you.
2. How to spot people that have the potential to sell $300 million a year in real estate like Corcoran top producer Carrie Chiang.
3. Who makes it in real estate and why.
4. How to keep top producers happy (buy them a Bentley with a full-time driver?).

Last but not least, find out if she thinks technology will replace the real estate agent.

Stop back next week for the 3rd and final installment of our Barbara Corcoran interview.

No need for me to brush up on winning poker hands this week - Trulia’s post
(Mis)adventures in home selling, part 3: The End clearly got the “win” for best read.

We here at Trulia all owe a thanks to Roger for selling his home just for the sake of writing such great blog posts. And I have to say that the picture of the kittens in a box was a very nice touch.

Second place went to BAD LOANS: Buried In The Back Of The BreadBox from Brian Brady at BloodhoundBlog and third place to Spirit of Community posted by Pat Kitano at Transparent Real Estate.

Visit Mike’s Corner- Web 2.0 for Realtors to check out this week’s other selections.

Today we released our monthly Trulia Trends report (PDF), tracking national consumer search behavior and pricing trends data to deliver insights on how consumers use the Internet to buy and sell homes. Our “Spotlight on” feature highlights search behavior in Phoenix, Arizona—hottest neighborhoods include Central Phoenix and North Phoenix.

According to Trulia’s search data, consumers continue to search online for homes that are both “dreams and deals”. Of the top 10 most viewed homes on Trulia, the most popular was this three bedroom home in Rockingham, North Carolina at $18,590, also on the list was this Beverly Hills mansion listed at more than 1,300x that price at $24,950,000.

Read the complete report online here (PDF).

Additional report findings, by region:

• The East dominated February’s hottest cities chart with Manhattan, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Washington, DC, and Queens all making the top 10.
• Southern cities Virginia Beach, VA, Memphis, TN and Charleston, SC were three of the five biggest winners in month-over-month median list prices increases.
• Los Angeles experienced a 3.6% increase in median list price (month-over-month), while other cities in the western U.S., including Mesa, AZ and Colorado Springs, CO saw large increases in search queries.
• The Midwest saw some volatility in their search queries with Minneapolis experiencing a 50% month-over-month increase, while both Naperville, IL and Cincinnati, OH were part of the top five “biggest losers” in terms of search queries.

It is with a mix of celebratory joy and nostalgic longing that I said goodbye to my SoCal townhouse for good this morning. Escrow closed yesterday, and as of today I am no longer a homeowner. Having rented in the Bay Area for a year and a half, I should be used to no longer being master of my domain, but it still feels weird to know that piece of real estate is no longer mine.

Having bought that lovely condo at the beginning of the last real estate boom, watched the era of bidding wars and inflated home prices unfold and peter out, and worked at Trulia for the past 18 months, I knew the negotiating process would be an interesting experience, and it certainly was.

First, don’t believe the hype: as far as I can tell, prices are dropping. Sure, I only sold my one house, and some markets like San Francisco and New York City are largely immune from market fluctuations, because everybody wants to own real estate there. But for the rest of us? Double-check your parachutes.

Second: if your house is on the market, take care of the mold now before your buyers request a 5-figure mold remediation credit, because they will.

Third: if you bought a few years ago, are looking to sell, and stand to make a substantial profit, don’t wait–sell now: you don’t know how the subprime mortgage market’s troubles will affect your home’s value, and the market may well have peaked in your area.

Fourth: if you’re renting now, stay where you are and save your money for a big down payment in a year or two. Those no-money-down, 103%-financing loans are disappearing fast, and you’ll likely have to borrow the old-fashioned way.

Sure, I’ll miss my house. I already do, and I think my cat does too–he sure loved running up and down those stairs (we got the kitties a rental with stairs, too).

But amidst the real estate frenzy that seared through the country over the past few years, I feel comforted by the feeling that the basics never go out of style: buy low, sell high, and get stairs for your cats.

Read the rest of my home-selling saga: part 1, part 2

Welcome to part one of Trulia’s exclusive interview with Barbara Corcoran, the founder of New York City’s premier real estate company, The Corcoran Group.

Barbara shares her secrets to success of how she turned a $1,000 loan into an $8 billion dollar revenue company before selling The Corcoran Group for $66 million in 2001 to NRT. In this first installment Barbara tells Trulia VP Sean Black how important it is to be an early adopter of everything technology. Check back for part two of Barbara’s interview next week.

A growing number of Baby Boomers are currently facing a turning point in their lives–whether that involves retirement or just opting out of the familiar “rat race” to pursue a fuller and more rewarding lifestyle. Sound familiar?

Barbara Corcoran is writing a guide on the yet undiscovered and unique places for Baby Boomers who are looking to move into the next chapter of their lives. She asked us for some help and is hoping that Trulia users (ie, you) answer her questions in this short survey to provide fodder for her upcoming book: “Great New Places to Start the Second Chapter of Your Life”. All responses are anonymous.

Click here to take the survey.

Barbara Corcoran’s previous book, “If You Don’t Have Big Breasts Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails: And Other Lessons I Learned from My Mom,” offers details of her rise from a D-student growing up with nine siblings in Edgewater, NJ, to the founder of the Corcoran Group.