Step aside Mr. Oracle Ellison ($300M home), The Donald ($125M), Mr. Softy Gates ($100M), Sage from Omaha: Warren Buffet ($700k –ha, the value of a 1-bdrm condo in SF!) - y’all’s cribs are like dollhouse slums compared to the one that India’s richest person- Mukesh Ambani’s is building - it’s a $2 billion (!) ,400,000 sf, 27-story palace! Siiick!
Read the story about his 27-story home monument here.
Of course, it’s only 4.65% of his $43B fortune - so it’s really more sensible than the % of our net worths that we’ll pay for a home! Heck, most of us spend a larger % on our cars! I think that I spend 4.65% of my net worth on lattes every year….
Posted by Keith, dir. of biz dev · May 9, 2008, 08:05 ·
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Harris Interactive ® recently conducted a comprehensive survey on our behalf showing that while more than half of all U.S. adults would consider purchasing a foreclosed home, over two-thirds also feel that there are several negative aspects of such purchases.
The survey was conducted over a three-day period in late April, found that, while 69 percent of U.S. adults feel that there are negative aspects to purchasing a foreclosed home, more than half would be at least somewhat likely to consider purchasing a foreclosed home. Of survey respondents mentioning negative aspects of purchasing a foreclosed home, 69 percent cited hidden costs; 35 percent considered the prospect risky; and 33 percent mentioned the possibility of the home losing value.
The results of the Harris Interactive ® survey provide nuanced insight into the types of consumers more likely to consider the purchase of a foreclosed home, including:
•Single/never married adults (60 percent) are more likely to be at least somewhat likely to consider purchasing a foreclosure versus married (50 percent) or divorced/separated/widowed adults (50 percent).
•Male respondents are more likely to be at least somewhat likely to consider purchasing a foreclosed home compared with female respondents (57 percent versus 51 percent).
•Younger adults (18-34) are more than twice as likely to be at least somewhat likely to consider purchasing a foreclosed home than U.S. adults ages 55+ (69 percent versus 32 percent).
•Respondents with children in the household are more likely to be at least somewhat likely to consider purchasing a foreclosed home versus those who have no children in their household (66 percent versus 50 percent).
•About three out of every four U.S. adults aged 18-34 feel that there are negative aspects of purchasing a foreclosed home (74 percent) versus two-thirds (66 percent) of U.S. adults aged 35 and older.
•20 percent of U.S. adults said that having a personal connection with someone who lost their home to foreclosure is a negative aspect of purchasing a foreclosed home.
For the full snapshot of Harris Survey Findings, click here. You can read the full press release and learn more about the methodology here. Check out tips from Trulia’s online community of foreclosure experts here.
Posted by Melissa, marketing analyst · May 7, 2008, 11:05 ·
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We’re in a challenging, fast-paced online real estate world – and few people recognize that better than the Realtor associations who work hard to provide their members with the resources they need to be successful. Associations have always helped Realtor members embrace new technologies to build and grow their businesses. With that in mind, we’re excited to announce that the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® recognized the value Trulia could provide its members awhile back and today is officially announcing a partnership with us!
This relationship will provide distinct marketing and educational benefits to SILVAR members:
· Exclusive educational opportunities from Trulia for SILVAR members
Having personally spent the last 6 years working closely with Realtor association executives I sincerely believe this marks an exciting day for the future of value-added services that associations provide their members. Click here to learn more about our new partnership.
Posted by Kyle Berube · May 6, 2008, 11:05 ·
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The Webby Awards is the Internet’s most respected symbol of success. The 12th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. Webby Awards are awarded in over 100 categories.
According to the webby website, past winners include, “Amazon.com, eBay, Yahoo!, iTunes, Google, FedEx, BBC News, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, NPR, Salon Magazine, Evite, Meetup, Wikipedia, Flickr, ESPN, Comedy Central, PBS, and The Onion.”We’re proud to join such an elite group.
The entire team at Trulia works extremely hard to build a fantastic user friendly online real estate experience for consumers and real estate professionals…so it’s a huge honor to win the 2008 People’s Voice Webby Award. Additionally, winning the award will just encourage us to do even more to revolutionize the real estate process for buyers, brokers, sellers and agents.
What’s really special about winning the 2008 People’s Voice Award is that together, as a community, consumers and the real estate professionals voted us their favorite real estate site in the space. Your voice has been heard loud and clear. We are pumped! We’d like to personally thank each and every one of you who took the time to cast your vote for us. Thanks to each of our team members who put in countless hours each and everyday. Thanks to the The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for nominating us - we are grateful. Thanks to our Facebook group, I Helped Trulia Win a Webby Award, for your support. Thanks to our family and friends for your continued support. We love you all…..Ok, I hear the music so it’s time to wrap this up…..Congrats to all the other 2008 winners.
With continuing strides towards being the best company to work for in the entire world, our focus on BOFFI is highlighted by our 2nd quarterly installment of “mind body spirit” day. It’s an event that’s fast become a symbol of F – F standing for “FUN”.
With a fast growing team (currently 66), the cultural progression witnessed through days like this is outstanding. All types of events make up the day: team (golf, soccer), individual (yoga, riding, massage), and of course social (organic lunch, happy hour)–all with strikingly similar results, an overwhelmingly satisfying feeling that we all enjoy each other’s company and love what we do.
Of course, incorporating our right coast Trulians remains a challenge (perhaps transcendental meditation will bridge the gap for next time), but reports from New York were highlighted by a noted void of any photographic documentation (commentary from one of our newest additions, Ruth was hilariously vague). As I don my HR cap, this was perhaps a good thing. Hey, NY – we’re always thinking of you!
Friday’s SF events included:
8:00 am – Golf - Jeff 1.0 and I won (rumor has it that we schooled the competition) 9:30 am – Yoga in the office Noon – Organic lunch + smoothies 2:00 pm – Hula hooping lessons by in-house experts, event guru Stephanie and “who says engineers are all men” Erica, which fast degenerated into a heated hooping-while-running race (Our very own marketing mastermind…uh hum Heather, was surprisingly strong, and vocal in this area) 3:00 pm – Soccer match rallied by design maven Sasha + employee #3/4 (but who’s counting?) Edouard 4:00 pm – A rigorously energetic bike ride lead by engineering top-tech Daniele in what have since been described as 30 – 75 mph head winds 6:00 pm – gathering at “the local”
All in all, an exciting and much deserved day for all of us to remember the importance of Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Posted by Daniel, director of staffing · May 5, 2008, 16:05 ·
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Search engines are where most people start their web search and being ranked highly in search engines is a big deal. For any website, it is important to be highly ranked in search engines as this helps to drive more users. Recently, there has been some confusion or misunderstanding about Trulia in the blogosphere in regards to high search engine ranking. I think it’s important to address the concerns head on, so that you can understand Trulia’s strategy clearly, without distraction. It’s going to be a long one…and I hope this clears up what we do and where we stand.
Before I start – it’s worth clarifying a few things:
At Trulia we are always excited about new ways of visualizing data and have developed many applications, such as our Heat Maps, consumer real estate searches, Street View and of course Trulia Hindsight. In case you haven’t seen it, Trulia Hindsight is a unique way to visualize the building of cities via animations using the year properties were built to show the growth of streets, neighborhoods and cities over time.
It’s always nice when you find others who share the same passion for data visualization and mapping. We are extremely proud to have Trulia Hindsight selected to be included in the Intermedia Arts and Solutions Twin Cities exhibit W(e are) here: Mapping the Human Experience.
The multi-media exhibit allows people to explore data and information through rich visualization. Intermedia Arts explains the purpose of the exhibit as:
“Recent developments in technology are expanding the ways we communicate the concept of “where.” Online mapping and info-graphic applications are allowing artists, amateurs, and armchair cartographers to chart the intangibility of “place,” etching their own impressions, emotions, and experiences onto the physical world around them. Embracing this new paradigm, the artists in this exhibit are charting unique territories while working towards the development of an emerging visual language that connects place, moment, and emotion across varied scales. Where is expanding. W(e are )here.”
Here is what the Trulia Hindsight exhibit looks like:
In case you can’t see the screen in the photo, here is a close up video:
A big thanks for the folks at Intermedia Arts for including us and to Stamen Design who were instrumental in creating Trulia Hindsight and the Hindsight exhibit. If you are in Minneapolis, MN be sure to stop by and check it out. And for those of you who can’t make it to Minneapolis, you can always check out the online version of Trulia Hindsight.
Posted by Jamie, vp of product · April 23, 2008, 15:04 ·
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Webby Honorees, Nominees and Winners truly represent the best of the Web. They are but a small percentage of total entries and have been chosen by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences based on a number of creative and functional criteria.
Winning the Webby People’s Voice Award would be big time. It’s sort of like winning the People’s Choice Awards for the web…or even American Idol. We’re really pumped about the opportunity to win and we hope you are too.
Google produced this video to showcase our use of Google Maps [Pre- Street View Integration]
It’s been an exciting day thus far atTrulia. Now that the new Google Street View integration is live, we’re getting some fantastic feedback.
Here are a few quotes:
Paul Glazowski from Mashable says, “In a partnership made official this week, Trulia users can not only parse address numbers and neighborhood data and the like, they can also take a little virtual stroll around the block thanks to those snazzy camera vans roaming around the nation and snapping pics at ground level.”
Nicole Nicolay from My Tech Opinion says, “For those agents specializing in relocation, this is obviously a powerful resource for learning about a new area.”
Greg Sterling from Search Engine Land says, “StreetView on Trulia can thus potentially save homebuyers time by providing more “context” to listings.”
Jay Thompson at Agent Genius says, “In true Trulia fashion, the Street View module is seamlessly integrated.”
Rich Jacobson from Active Rain points out, “Now your Buyers can see that HUGE water tank next door. Or maybe the description of a ‘filtered’ or ‘partial’ view by the Listing Agent gives new meaning to embellishment. And who knew that the Next-Door-Neighbor was a Used Car/Appliance collector? You can begin to see the value that this incorporated feature will offer.”
Mike Price of MLBroadcast guest blogged on Geek Estate Blog saying, “Things like the mashup of Street View and Trulia are the kind of milestones that deliver on Web 2.0.”
If you haven’t given our new feature a look see yet, just click on any listing within the 40 markets where Street View is currently available on Trulia to experience it yourself. Besides actually standing in front of the house itself, this is pretty much the next best thing to being there.
I was on Twitter after we launched Google street view and ran into Robert Scoble who liked how we implemented it. Cool!
As you might have seen, we just launched Google Street View nationwide — yeah we think it’s cool too.
But the fun doesn’t stop there…we’re also welcoming Spring with some fresh new features and designs. Check out our new Profiles (here’s mine and here’s Rudy’s) and Navigation bar and you will see what I’m talking about.
Why should I have a Trulia Profile?
As a Real Estate professional you can showcase your professional attributes to the Trulia community, which is 4.5 million strong and growing rapidly. On the new profile, you can display testimonials, contact information, your photo, specialties & experience, as well as your amazing Trulia Voices contributions. You will also have the ability to specify up to twenty locations where you do business, so buyers and sellers can easily find you. Check out Debbie’s profile here.
Any other benefits? Well, here is the deal, every time you answer a question on Trulia Voices, it links to your profile. The more you participate, the more exposure your profile receives within the Trulia website, the higher page rank it can obtain in popular search engines. Additionally, if you add links to your own web site on your profile, it will help your site to be discovered more easily by people searching Yahoo!, Google and other major search engines.
Convinced? Good. Just click here to update your profile.
What’s up with new with the navigation?
Our navigation bar has a refined design with new drop downs suggesting useful links to help you find the information you care about faster. The site sections have been renamed to be more intuitive to home buyers looking for information; you can find Trulia Guides under ‘Stats & Trends’ and Trulia Voices under ‘Advice & Opinions’.
Cleaner, prettier, better.
You might also have noticed that the whole site has shifted to the center of the browser. It’s been a while coming, but we’ve finally made the site fixed width and centered. The biggest advantage of this layout are that it ensures a consistent experience of the Trulia site no matter what your screen size is. For those of you with bigger browsers you get a little breathing room on either side, making the site that much more pleasing to use.
Enjoy!
Posted by Vicky, product manager · April 9, 2008, 10:04 ·
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