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Move Inc.’s makeover of Realtor.com has created a buzz — our coverage of the rollout of a redesign that’s been through months of testing was the most widely read story on the Inman News site this week — but apparently little enthusiasm.
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Makeover or takeover?
The Inman Special Report, "25 Most Influential Bloggers: 2008," is now available exclusively to Inman News Premium Members as a PDF download! If you’re not a Premium Member, now would be a great time to join . Once you become a Premium Member, you’ll not only get access to this special report, but all of the Inman News special reports, premium content, and special features. read more
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"25 Most Influential Bloggers" special report is now available!
The 2008 edition of the Inman News Special Report, "25 Most Influential Bloggers," will be released tomorrow. What can you expect from the special report? Here’s a glimpse from the introduction: "There is a busy field of bloggers in the real estate industry, and some clear standouts that have built a loyal following. This annual list of most influential real estate bloggers recognizes those bloggers who are well-known, well-read and have a knack for stirring up discussion and debate on important, timely and relevant topics for the industry. In addition to this list of 25 bloggers, we provide a handful of notables who are also stirring up the blogosphere." And that’s not all. The report also names 10 of the most influential blogs that focus on economic and financial issues, along with 10 of the best international real estate blogs. If you want to know who the movers and shakers are in the real estate blogosphere, this is where you can find them! This special report will be available exclusively to Inman News Premium Members as a PDF download. If you’re not a Premium Member, now would be a great time to join . Once you become a Premium Member, you’ll not only get access to this special report, but all of the Inman News special reports, premium content, and special features.
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"25 Most Influential Bloggers" special report comes out tomorrow
Courtesy of “The Saline Business Advocate”
Okay, sure, it looks like we may have more challenges in the near future. After all, just look around. Michigan is a state trying to work itself out of the curious moniker “one-state recession” that’s been coined by some economists.
We’ve seen record unemployment, thousands of manufacturing jobs lost with the possibility of more plant closings on the horizon. We have an aging population with many of our best and brightest leaving for jobs in other areas of the country.
And there’s that pesky ailing housing market with record foreclosures in many areas. Basically, our whole state is sagging under an overall economy trying to re-invent itself by moving away from what is now perceived as over-dependency on the automobile market.
But wait! There’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic too, particularly in our market! First off, in Saline, in five surrounding townships, and in our school system our officials have continued to dedicate countless hours to come up with meaningful thinking that has historically kept us out of the kinds of financial problems that other areas in Michigan are now experiencing. Smart and innovative thinking will need to continue to maintain what government has to pay for.
There’re more reasons for optimism. We have a number of expansion projects and new companies finding their way into our market with projects like the new Toyota Technical Center in York Township, Aeronova in Pittsfield Township, and Liebherr in Saline, just to mention a few. Interestingly enough, these three companies that first come to mind all have international roots. Continued growth of companies like these will mean increased employment and, in all likelihood, more stabilization in our housing sector that is already respected by demographers for its high average income per household.
One of the biggest reasons we see for continued optimism is the way our small business owners—i.e. the “little guys”—are continuing to weather current conditions. In any community, the success of the small business owner sector has always been recognized as an important sign of a truly viable local economy. It’s not that everyone who’s a business owner in our market is telling us it’s a banner year.. But the point is, they’re finding ways to make it—to be “mean and lean” through difficult times and for that, there’s truly a reason to be optimistic.
No downturn lasts forever and it means in the better days ahead we’ll have astute, well-weathered business people who’ve learned “under fire” what it takes to make a valuable contribution in our market. So, let’s keep the hope and the optimism meter high these days. There’re lessons learned today that are going to help us in the future.
Your sample ballot, from President of the United States right down to your City Council Ward candidates, is available now from Michigan Votes. Once you fill in the info on the opening screen you’ll go to a page with a purple “View My Sample Ballot” button. There’s a handy print feature on the sample ballot page too. Need more info on the candidates and proposals? Check out the League of Women Voters of Michigan Statewide Voter Guide and the MLive local candidate guide.
The Charles Reinhart Company, Realtors welcomes four agents to its Ann Arbor offices. mark hensel and trish edwards have joined Reinhart’s North Ann Arbor office. Hensel, an Ann Arbor native, comes to Reinhart from a career in management and martial arts instruction; for several years he was the owner of a small business. Edwards, also an Ann Arbor native, holds an MBA and has extensive new construction experience.
adam eichner has joined the South Ann Arbor office, and was previously with the Edward Surovell Company. In addition to his real estate experience, Eichner has a background in law.
jerry holloway has joined the East Ann Arbor office. Holloway has a 24 year real estate career, with extensive experience in the Florida market. He is also skilled in 1031 tax deferred exchanges.
THE CHARLES REINHART COMPANY WAS FOUNDED IN ANN ARBOR IN 1971. With over 160 sales associates in nine offices, the company closed $440 million in residential and commercial transactions in 2007.
The University of Michigan was named one of the world’s top universities in a London-based ranking released Wednesday, October 15, 2008.
U-M was ranked at No. 18, the highest-ranking for a public university in the United States in the 2008 World University Rankings by Times Higher Education magazine and QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a career and education network. U-M was 38th in the 2007 edition.
The rankings have been compiled since 2004 and consider a peer review survey of 6,000 academics and more than 2,000 recruiters, as well as an institution’s research, international orientation, citations of academic papers, and staff-to-student ratios.
The U.S. had the most universities of any nation on the list of the top 200 world universities.
The full rankings are available at www.timeshighereducation.co.uk.
If you’ve never been to one, corn mazes are a lot of fun! Here are some of the Corn Mazes in the Ann Arbor area:
ChelseaMaze www.chelseamaze.com
On M-52, ¼ mile south of I-94.
Hours: 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. Fridays, through 10/31
1 p.m. – 11 p.m. Saturdays, through 11/1
1 p.m. – 6 p.m. Sundays, through 11/2
Weekdays available by reservation
Bestmaze.com
3803 Noble Road, off M-52 north of Stockbridge, just south of I-96
517-521-BEST
Hours: 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays
1 p.m. – 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Through 11/2
Talladay Farms www.talladayfarms.com
6270 Judd Road, Milan
734-645-1791
Hours: 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Fridays (last entry 9:30 p.m.)
1 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Saturdays (last entry 9:30 p.m.)
1 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Sundays (last entry 5:30 p.m.)
Through 11/2
Three Cedars Farm www.threecedarsfarm.org
7897 Six Mile
Northville
248-437-8200
Hours: 10 a.m. – dusk Sunday through Thursday
10 a.m. – 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
If you’ll be cleaning out your closets this fall, bring those extra coats to Reinhart! At the end of October, we will be kicking off our 13th Annual Coat Drive. This partnership between the public, the agents of Reinhart, and area cleaning companies has resulted in the redistribution of an astounding 10,000+ coats to local agencies over the life of the project.
Throughout the month of November, please bring your winter coats that are in good repair to any Reinhart sales office, or to any Reinhart Sunday Open House (locations available here on our web site, or in the Sunday Ann Arbor News. All of the coats will be then be professionally cleaned and distributed locally.
We are fortunate to have the support of a few area cleaners in this project. Joining us for the 13th straight year is Capitol Cleaners. We are also very grateful for the continued participation of longtime supporters Chelsea Cleaners and Gold Bond Cleaners, and for the return of Hicks Cleaners as well. We absolutely could not do this project without them, and hope that you will thank them for their support of the community with your business at these locations:
Capitol Cleaners 551 East Michigan, Saline
Chelsea Cleaners 113 Park Street, Chelsea
Gold Bond Cleaners 332 Maynard, Ann Arbor
Hicks Cleaners 5851 Jackson Road & 2643 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor
Although winter coats in every size are important to the drive, there is always a special need for children’s sizes, and size XL and larger.
The need is great again this year; 20 area agencies are awaiting coats from us. Some of the agencies that have received coats from previous drives include:
Ann Arbor Community Center
Crisis Residential Services
Dawn Farm
Faith in Action, Chelsea
Hope Center
Michigan Ability Partners
Peace Neighborhood Center
St. Andrews Breakfast Program
Saline Social Services
Shelter Association of Washtenaw
Women’s Center of SE Michigan
Thank you for your support of the 13th Annual Reinhart Coat Drive!
Have you ever searched for an apartment on the Internet and gotten listings for an “Apartment Locator?” Usually they promise “Free Apartment Finding Service” to you. But can they help you and are they really free? Let me explain what an apartment locator is, why they are free to you, and most important – how they can be invaluable in your search for the perfect apartment.
An apartment locator is, quite simply, a person who will match your apartment needs with available apartments by searching their extensive database of hundreds of apartments available. And in most areas of the country (There are exceptions) – that service is not only valuable, it is also a free service – to you, the apartment shopper.
Moving from another area, having a pet, having special needs, wanting certain amenities are just a few of the reasons people typically contact an apartment locator. There are other major reasons people use apartment-locating services:
So, how many apartment locators do you need to register with to get best results? The answer is, just one. Find the right locator the first time and trust them to find you the right apartment. If you register with more, you will be faced with many duplicate apartment offerings, and looking can get confusing. So, how do you know it’s the “right” one?
Here are some guidelines:
1. Ask questions:
2. Look for verbal and non-verbal clues
3. Prepare yourself to have a successful experience
So, who pays the bill? Well, apartments in the Ann Arbor area need to fill their vacancies. So, apartment communities and apartment locating services have formed a “team” to fill that need. When your RentFAST apartment-locating specialist finds you that perfect apartment home, the apartment community as a form of advertising pays the locator. Generally, people who use apartment locators for the first time are amazed and delighted to find there really is a great person who will put in all kinds of time to find just the right apartment, just for them.
So, go ahead. Try using RentFAST, the next time you need to search for an apartment home. You’ll be glad you did!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Fry
The Charles Reinhart Company, Realtors
