With the pace that things change these days it is hard to keep up. This year (well actually the end of last year really) I decided to take a step back and focus on a few things rather than trying to do so many things at once. It is almost the end of January and I really can’t believe how much more that I have been able to accomplish and how well the year is shaping up to be!

Fewer time spent on Twitter, hardly log into Facebook and I have started to read books again (yes those things that collect dust on most peoples shelves and not the electronic versions either…the good old fashioned kind). This year I am feeling somewhat nostalgic but in that mix of feelings I am finding a clearer path than I have ever had before. Watch out 2012 is going to be very interesting and exciting this is for sure!

This is a partial list of website domain names that are up for auction (they start at $12). Click on the link to go to that domains auction page.

AGENTREFERRALCONNECTION.COM
AMERICANREALESTATEBLOG.COM
ARIZONACONDOLIVING.COM
ARIZONAREALESTATEBYOWNER.COM
BUYSELLCALGARYHOUSES.COM
CALGARYCITYBLOG.COM
CALGARYCONDOSKING.COM
CALGARYCONDOTOUR.COM
CALGARYHOMEAUCTION.COM
CALGARYHOMESANDLAND.COM
CALGARYHOUSEAUCTION.COM
CALGARYSCONDOKING.COM
CALGARYWESELL.COM
CALIFORNIALUXURYHOMESANDESTATES.COM
CANADADREAMHOME.COM
CANADAREALESTATEAGENTDIRECTORY.COM
CANADAREFERAL.COM
CANADIANREALESTATEAGENTDIRECTORY.COM
CANMOREVACATIONCONDOS.COM
CONDOBLOGSPOT.COM
CONDOSOURCEMAGAZINE.COM
CONDOSTYLEMAGAZINE.COM
COSTARICAPEDIA.COM
DUBAIREALESTATEPROJECTS.COM
ELUXURYCONDO.COM
FINELUXURYCONDOS.COM
GLOBALREALESTATESEARCH.COM
HASSLEFREEMOVES.COM
HOMESWEETCONDO.COM
INTERNATIONALREALESTATEFORSALEBYOWNER.COM
INTERNATIONALREALESTATESEARCH.COM
ISEARCHLUXURY.COM
ISEARCHREALESTATE.COM
LOVEYOURCONDO.COM
LUXURYCONDOAGENTS.COM
LUXURYREALESTATELIVE.COM
MEXICANLUXURYPROPERTIES.COM
NEVADAREALESTATEBYOWNER.COM
NEWCONDOFINDER.COM
ONLINECALGARYHOMES.COM
REALESTATEAGENTFERNIE.COM
REALESTATEAUCTIONSANDFORECLOSURES.COM
REALESTATEBLOGLASVEGAS.COM
REALESTATEBLOGPHOENIX.COM
REALESTATEBLOGVIDEO.COM
REALESTATEBUYERNETWORKS.COM
REALESTATEBYTHEOWNER.COM
REALESTATELANCE.COM
RELOCATEALBERTA.COM
RENTALGUIDECANADA.COM
RESORTCONDOEXCHANGE.COM
SOLDINCANADA.COM
SOURCEFORCONDOS.COM
SYLVANLAKEREALESTATEAGENT.COM
USANDCANADAREALESTATE.COM
VIRTUALREALTYASSOCIATES.COM

Need help figuring this all out, setting up websites for real estate? Give me a shout by Contact

More to follow so check back daily…

Today when was on Facebook I noticed a particular advertisement on the right-hand side.  Wondering who this was that was advertising, if I know them and curious about the Domain Name as I always am I clicked on the link.

 

 

 

 

 

The resulting page does not display any contact information of any sort.  The contact link only opens up your e-mail client.

So how do you find out who owns this domain name and who you will actually be contacting if you decided to submit your information?

 

 

 

So now that we’ve come across the site .  How do find out who they actually are?

Usually you can do what is called a WHOIS search.  This is in the simplest terms determining the owner of the domain.  In this case I went to a domain registrar site such as GoDaddy.com.  Find the WHOIS Lookup on the Domain Registrar’s site.  Enter the Domain Name that you are interested in finding out more information about.

 

 

 

 

As long as the Domain has not been registered Privately then you will see most of the information you want.  In this case the domain was not registered privately and we can clearly see who the domain owner is and there is even an email address and phone number for contact if you wished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This can be useful in a number of ways including why they would not want to disclose this information on the website publically.  This is most likely a lead generation tool for Mr.Plowman.

Here in Alberta if you are acting on behalf of someone when they are buying or selling a home you must be licensed by the Real Estate Council of Alberta (there are some exemptions for the Government, Lawyers but in general you cannot act to for someone else unless you are licensed).  As a professional within the real estate industry there is also the requirement to disclose publicly the brokerage information and the name of the individual agent.

I know the people that I deal with don’t like to deal with unknowns and not putting your information online publicly when you are asking for their contact information is pretty bad.  Just my two cents today!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ever year it seems that I need to go through and get rid of things that I no longer use or need. This year as it seems is no exception. With well over 1000 domain names and hundreds of active websites mostly to do with Real Estate it has become a bit of a time consuming effort to keep everything up to date and running. Time to do some house cleaning and start getting rid of some of the domains that I own and really likely won’t be doing anything with myself.

Just started listing domains for Auction. You can see some examples (will add more as I evaluate and decide which to divest):

CanmoreRealEstateGuide.com GONE

CalgaryHomeAndCondoListings.com GONE

CondoTownHouseForSale.com GONE

 

I attended this conference last year for the last few years. This was probably one of the best learning experiences that I have had as it opened my eyes to the huge potential that you can find within the realm of social media. Since this was not just a Real Estate conference it has so much more to offer. Love the variety and the interesting people that you are able to connect with.

Check out the Current Blog World Site

One of the big things with having a self hosted theme as opposed to the WordPress.com variety is that you are able to completely customize and do what you want for your theme to completely ‘trick’ it out so to speak to suite what your Real Estate business needs. With a hosting account from a company like Page.ly who will host your WordPress install and you even get a free domain from them.

One of the best and most recognized theme developers is Studio Press.  The themes they have are all based on a basic theme framework known as Genesis.  With the basic Genesis framework you make changes to Child themes (such as the Real Estate specific theme called Agent Press) so that you when you do need to update the changes that you do make are not over written.  Another great theme for Real Estate can be found on the WooThemes.com site and is called Estate.

With a little bit of learning these themes can be completely customized to just about any look and feel.

Below are some examples of Real Estate websites that were created using WordPress that is self hosted on a site like Page.ly using either the Genesis framework from StudioPress or using one of the themes found on the WooThemes Site.

Calgary Real Estate Guide (based on the WooThemes – CityGuide)

Calgary Real Estate (based on the Genesis Theme from Studio Press)

Real Estate Polls (based on the Genesis Framework from Studio Press)

Real Estate Laughs (based on the Genesis Framework from Studio Press)