And again….the Austin real estate market is down from 2007’s record year, but still fairing well.  Active listings are up 20%, and # of homes sold are down 20%.  However, we’re still appreciating.  The median sales price is up to $196,120 from last year’s $184,050.  The average sales price is up 5%, $263k from $250k.  The good news is that the glut of inventory looks like it’s being absorbed.  Last month’s numbers indicated 5.03 months of inventory on the market, and this month’s indicate 4.91.

Drumroll please……

Team Eric!

Eric Blackwell and his merry band of SEO’s/bloggers truly proved the spirit of SEO - it’s all about the relationships.  Jennifer Karlan, Greg Swann, Ken Smith, Wayne Long, Judy Orr, Cal Carter, Mike Damman, Charles & Jacqueline Richey, and Matt Scoggins all need to take a collective bow.  Through the use of teamwork and some very strategic use of assets they individually & collectively own, they were able to control #1 from the second month of the contest to the finish line.

There was a LOT of stiff competition here.  Ardell DellaLoggia ran it tight all the way to the finish line.  Greg Boser was in it, and then disappeared off the map w/ a few weeks to go — everyone was anxiously waiting for the SEO Dark Lord to pop his head back in at 11:59 on April 30th.  The guys at newhomessection.com finished #5, w/ Mike Damman’s site PropertyHogs.com, Ryan Ward, Justin from hismove (ranking well, though he dropped out early,) and then Jay Thompson rounding out the top 10.  Wouldn’t you know it?  My post ended up at the top of page 2 - the story of my life.

I’d like to thank everyone for participating, and especially thank Morgan Carey of Real Estate Webmasters for sponsoring the event.  Team Eric has decided to auction off the prize & donate the money to the Eco Preservation Society of Costa Rica (a favorite of Mike Damman’s.)

A few things about the determination of the winner.

1. We used multiple datacenter sources via the SEO Datacenter Tool.  We then verified this using SEO Tools datacenter check.  Team Eric was number 1 in every DC.
2. Do you see different results, or did you see different results?  Look in the top right of your Google page and see if you are logged in.  Google plays around w/ personalized search, and will serve up different results when you’re signed into Google based on your browsing history.
3. I have screenshots of the search results from each DC.  If you would like to see them, please email me, or leave a comment.

My friend Lydia Taylor at the Elegant August Real Estate blog just put together a really fun blogging contest. If you get a chance, check it out, and participate. I’m trying to decide what to submit. Should be a lot of fun!

A few months ago, I posted a blog about the buyers in CA who sued their real estate agent because they felt they overpaid for their home.  I subsequently posted sold comps emailed to me by a broker friend in the San Diego area.  These comparables indicated that they hadn’t overpaid for their home, and their home had actually appreciated in value since the purchase.

Well…the Ummels lost their case.

I’m throwing my hat into the ring for this one! I came up with the idea, but Morgan Carey from REW has the clout to make it happen. Take a look at the rules for the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World contest. I’m planning on using a combination of social media campaigns, traditional article campaigns, and some good, old fashioned blogging to make this happen! I will update this blog w/ commentary on techniques other agents/brokers are using to go after this keyword, and I what I think of their techniques. For now:

1) Eric Blackwell - this is viral at its best. He’ll have to continually promote this, but if/when he catches a foothold with it (and he has the microphone to do so) he stands a huge chance of winning. After all, a team of agents working is much better than just one. They have a great chance of winning the Greatest Real Estate Agent in the World competition!

Two real estate agents in Victoria, Australia have filed suit against Google. Mark Forytarz & Paul Castran claim defamation due to articles painting them in a negative light that can be found on the search engine. So…they’re filing suit for links. Here are Mark Forytarz’ search results.

The articles, found on Melbourne Indymedia, claim that Mark Forytarz bullied a mentally challenged man into selling his home in order to earn a $200k+ commission. The article further alleges that Paul Castran used fake bidders to inflate the prices of properties he sold.

Forytarz & Castran claim that the article paints them both in a negative light, and that they have suffered embarrassment & humiliation as a result. They asked Google to remove the links to the article a year ago, but Google did not comply.

So…this begs a few questions:

1) Why aren’t they suing Melbourne Indymedia? (Could it be a lack of Google-deep pockets?)
2) Why haven’t they launched a counter-PR campaign, explaining their side of the story?
3) How has this not been thrown out of court?