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Real Living is a finalist in the Inman Innovators in the category of Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise. The finalists were announced today Monday June 25, 2007. The winners (there are four other categories, 39 companies in total nominated) will be announced at the Inman News Real Estate Connect in August.

Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise

Coldwell Banker
John L. Scott Real Estate
Real Living
Foxtons
The Corcoran Group
Iggys House
@Properties

Visit my ActiveRain entry Real Living is an Inman Innovator Finalist Again for the links to the above sites … if you want to check them out. I forgot they would not copy as links here. I believe Real Living was an Inman Innovator finalist in 2005 and 2006 and won for Most Innovative Brokerage in 2005. I think. Real Living won an Inman Innovator award one year anyway….

The announcement from Inman News says:

“The Inman Innovator Awards recognize companies that use technology and innovation to enhance the real estate transaction and experience for consumers and real estate professionals. In addition, one individual who embodies the spirit of innovation in real estate is honored each year.”

Real Living is based in Columbus Ohio. Real Living has offices in 19 states now. It should be 20 by the end of June, I believe. Real Living in Central Ohio is known as Real Living HER. HER is pronounced H. E. R. and is Harley E. Rouda Sr’s initials. Harley E. Rouda Jr. is the CEO of Real Living.

Real Living’s expansion was featured in the Columbus Dispatch recently.

Congratulations to all of the Inman Innovator finalists in the other four categories including: Active Rain Real Estate Network (HOORAY!), Business Week’s Hot Properties, New York Times’ Real Estate Site, Wall St. Journal’s RealEstateJournal.com , Curbed.com’s real estate network , “60 Minutes” Multimedia Article/Segment Site, Point2 Technologies’ National Listing Service, Trulia Voices, Zillow Q&A, vFlyer, Wellcomemat, Cyberhomes, HUD’s Neighborhood Networks, FTC’s Competition in Real Estate Web resource,. HAR.com (Houston Association of Realtors), Google Street View, Meebo, Jott, MyBlogLog , Talkshoe, Altos Research’s Market Widget, Xpressdocs, RealTech, Real Estate Tomato, Transparent Real Estate, Patrick.net, Mortgage Fraud Blog, Bloodhound Blog, Calculated Risk, Redfin’s Sweet Digs blogs, 3 Oceans Real Estate and Real Estate Competition and the Law.

Columbus is NOT on the Real Estate Bloggers “Top 10 Markets with Highest Mortgage Risk” list on The Real Estate Bloggers!

Top 10 Markets with Lowest Mortgage Risk

Columbus is on the “Top 10 Markets with Lowest Mortgage Risk Summer 2007″ on the Real Estate Bloggers and the PMI study those lists come from

Tom of the Real Estate Bloggers brought us great news last fall when Columbus made the list of safest housing markets in 2006. I transplanted the lists to Discover Columbus last fall but lead with the scary headline. People love negative news! No wonder newspapers do it…

Summer 2007 be happy you are living, buying and selling homes in Columbus Ohio and not the ten riskiest markets.

Who is on the “Top 10 Markets with Lowest Mortgage Risk Summer 2007″ list with Columbus?

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
3. Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX
4. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
5. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
6. Columbus, OH
7. Cincinnati-Middletown,OH-KY-IN
8. San Antonio, TX
9. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
10. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC

Want to know which cities in the US have high mortgage risk? Want to get links to the list of housing markets on PMI? Read The Real Estate Bloggers - Top 10 Markets with Highest Mortgage Risk which starts out:

“The PMI Group has come out with their summer analysis of the metropolitan regions that have the highest risk of housing losing it’s value in the next two years.

Columbus Housing Values - Overvalued Markets vs. Undervalued Markets vs. Fairly valued Markets from National City.

There is another chain of Philly Cheese Steak sandwich chain from Central Ohio. This time Dublin Ohio is the home of Benny’s. The original is in Dublin and they’ve opened a second location in Huntington West Virginia.

Shhh! Keep it quiet that the best Philly Steaks come from Columbus Ohio… I can’t remember if I read it in Alive or The Other Paper but the best Philly Cheese Steak chains came from Columbus or are based in Columbus. Or maybe not the best Philly Cheese Steaks… but the best Philly Cheese Steak Restaurant Chains. It’s that darn business incubator at The Ohio State University…. they’re pumping out Philly Cheese Steak Restaurants…. Steak Escape and Charley’s Grilled Subs???

The business incubator at OSU may have nothing to do with Benny’s Cheesesteak.

“Charley’s Grilled Subs, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, … Grilled Subs is best known for its made-to-order signature Philly Cheese Steak”

Wikipedia says of Steak Escape

“Steak Escape is a restaurant based in Columbus, Ohio, USA. It features cheesesteaks, fresh cut french fries, and lemonade. Locations are typically found in food courts in shopping malls as well as airports.”

buy a Steak Escape franchise? I know… I know they are chains… but they’re chains based in Columbus.

Benny’s Cheesteak has a quote

“better than the cheesesteak in Philadelphia - even at Gino’s.

The best pizza in in Columbus Ohio is in Philadelphia PA. Or is the best pizza in Philadelphia in Columbus, that’s the Columbus skyline

Thanks to Tina for thinking of me. I learned a new word. Tina’s meme.

I know Tina from her Green Buckeye site.

Web… I started doing email about 1991 or 1992. I saw the something on the internet in 1993.. played on Prodigy bulletin boards with friends. I don’t know when I got my first website, maybe like 1996? or 1997? maybe it was much later.

Browser - Internet Explorer usually… I try to use Firefox… but it looks different. I don’t like change, even if it is subtle.

Aggregator? Huh? Actually I read a lot of blogs on Google Reader if that counts

Wiki … no

Groups: I have done a couple of Yahoo Groups… There was one for Columbus bloggers for a few hours last fall?

Blog Platform - WordPress here. RealTownBlogs.com for Discover Columbus and I was playing on Active Rain, a Real Estate Network…. oooh I am doing ActiveRain again, this has been sitting here a long time.

Oh I started a blog on Blogster.com (thinking it was Blogger.com) in early 2006 and a week later I started one on Blogger. I abandoned both in a couple of weeks I believe.

IM - NEVER

Skype - Never

Radio - NPR or this is very embarassing.. I listen to channel 6 TV, WSYX in the car because I like the sound of TV…

Music - Seldom listen to music. The stereo freaks out the cat. I think he likes listening to the TV with me…. but not in the car.

TV - no cable… but lots of TV… I love the sound… Today Show, The View (on the radio)…. back to TV…I am addicted to LOST, Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty. I think I may have kicked the addiction to Desparate Housewives…

Books - I am not the bookworm I once was.

Podcasts - Not really… but if they could disguise it as WSYX TV I would listen to it.

Communication - Office phone, mobile phone. I have Jaxtr on one of my websites….and maybe Discover Columbus soon….

Magazines - Newsweek every once in awhile or at least a couple of pages in it.

Newspaper - Weekend Columbus Dispatch sometimes sorta… I prefer to read it online.

Local papers. I have to for work and I love The Other Paper.

I meme Elaine Reese, Toby Boyce or Sadie anyway, Lisa of The Restaurant Widow, Paul….of It’s a Paul World.. all Columbusites or Central Ohioans anyway.

Outta town? My old pal Gene Molloy in Chicago… Tribune or Sun Times? Heck I’m memeing more… Mo in Motown.. or a suburb of Detroit anyway Maureen Francis of Michigan, Bonnie Erickson in St. Paul Minnesota. And Teri Lussier in Huber Heights (the Dayton area.)

What’s your media consumption like?

I am sure there is a plugin, sprocket, widget or whirly gig I should install for tags but I haven’t.

Tag: media consumption diet

According to a study by National City Bank; Columbus homes were “fairly valued” in the first quarter of 2007. “House Prices in America by Median Price and Valuation”

According to the study the median value in the first quarter of 2007 of a Columbus home was $146,000 and that is -9.3% of the real value. If you use your cursor over the Columbus green blog you will get that info as well as a couple of graphs… about the real estate market over the years.

Visit the National City website to see an interactive map, Columbus is green. Green is good. Green means fairly valued. All of the Ohio communities in fact are green. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Mansfield, Lima, Canton, Akron, Youngstown… all are shown in green like Columbus, fairly valued.

Most of the Great Lakes area, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin are speckled with green. There is one moderately over valued market in Southern Wisconsin. The Twin Cities are still moderately overpriced according to the study. The nearest undervalued market to Central Ohio is Indianapolis.

There are still overvalued markets in Florida, on the east coast but more on the west coast.