Photo from Mashable Website

Have U Google Plus?
Social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are amazing tools  to connect with your friends and family. If you use Google, Google serves as a one-stop shop focusing on collaboration and sharing of documents, photos, and calendars. Google has added another feature to their one-stop shop: Google Plus.

With Google plus, you can categorize people based upon Friends, Family, Following, Acquaintances, or create your own group known as “Circles.” Another neat feature that Google Plus has that a potential homebuyer might use with their real estate agent, for example, is “Start a Hangout.” I find the Start a Hangout feature to be an amazing tool for both the real estate agent and potential homebuyer. The real estate agent can schedule a video chat with the potential homebuyers interested in purchasing a home or have questions about a particular home.

Google Plus presents yet another new opportunity for the potential homebuyer and real estate agent to interact, to connect, and share potential home purchasing information.

iPhone Apps to Use For House Hunting.

Have you ever thought about using your smartphone as part of your house hunting needs? If you have an iPhone, there are four apps to use while you are out house hunting.

WalkScore WalkScore is a free app that gives a rating on how well the neighborhood is designed. The factors it takes into account include pedestrian friendliness, proximity to stores, public transportation, proximity to schools, and proximity to workplaces.

QR Code Okay when I first saw this, I had no idea what this was. However, we’ve all seen these square bar-codes more and more often. Well these QR Codes are ‘quick readers’ that will allow you to find out more information about the object you scanned. This is especially useful if you see a QR Code on the sign in the yard of a home you are interested in.

EveryBlock. Do you want to know what is going on in the neighborhood? There is a free app called “Every Block.” Every Block is a website that a potential homebuyer can visit to see what’s happening in the neighborhood, follow your favorite places, and exchange ideas on how to make the neighborhood better.
Source: DC Every Block

Yelp. Yelp is a great free app to use. From user reviews and recommendations of top restaurants, shopping, nightlife, home services, to other several other useful categories for a potential homebuyer to use during their house hunt.
Source: Yelp

And let’s not forget DC Condo Domain’s search listings as we can mark this as one of our favorite bookmarks on the iPhone. If you would like more information about purchasing a potential home in the DC metropolitan area, please contact a DC Condo Domain agent.

So which social tools do YOU use in your home search? Is this the future or are we getting ahead of ourselves? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

While we might not be enamored with the name of Apple’s newest device (iPad? We would have preferred iTablet), we have to admit – it’s pretty darn cool. It meets the middle ground between our MacBook and our iPhone, it allows us to throw out the Kindle once and for all – and of course, it comes with a bevy of awesome applications for the taking. Many of the apps, happily for us, are all about real estate and interior design! Below, 5 of the iPad apps you’ve just got to have.

1) Craigsphone: Old favorite Craigslist revamped their iPhone application for the iPad and boy, is it beautiful. Searching for real estate, and of course, antiques and missed connections, has never been easier!

2) Sum+it Project Cost Calculator: Remodeling? En route to Home Depot? Thisapplication helps you summarize all the expenses from top to bottom.

3) Control4: Has your fancy schmancy nothing left behind home already got a Control4 system? For those of you that do, the Control4 app enables you to control everything – from your iPad. Control your lights, thermostats, audio, video, web cameras, security system and more with just a tap of the screen. 

4) Ben Color Capture: This app is a painter’s dream. It takes the colors of any digital photograph and matches them to a Benjamin Moore paint color. All you do is tap “match”, and the application will provide you with the colors found in your photo. It’ll also provide 4 complimentary shades. Amazing!

Zillow: Search for your new home for free with Zillow! This on the go app allows for easy viewing of multiple homes in any location. With taps and swipes, you can check out property values, prices, homes for sale, homes for rent, and more!

Prefer to stick to the computer? Check out CondoDomain and search for your new home!

“Apple today announced that it sold over 300,000 iPads in the US as of midnight Saturday, April 3,” The Apple press release reads.  ”These sales included deliveries of pre-ordered iPads to customers, deliveries to channel partners and sales at Apple Retail Stores. Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded over one million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.”

“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world — it’s going to be a game changer,” Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs said. “iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad.”

You can read the entire press release here.

In the long run how do you feel as though the iPad will fare?  It seems to be a topic of much debate. Will the iPad be a smashing success, or simply fall by the wayside as technology continues to evolve?

We at CondoDomain are technology people doing real estate, so we are eager to see how the iPad story line unfolds.

Whether you have a brand new iPad or a ten-year-old computer, you can search all of our DC Condominiums online!

Click here to see tons of DC Condo listings and information!

“They’re using it at a rapidly increasing pace,” Nycz-Conner wrote of social media usage.  ”According to the latest edition of the index, social media usage by small businesses doubled in 2009. One in five small businesses report actively using social media in their operations. Even more intriguing: 45 percent expect social media to be profitable within the next 12 months.”

You can read Nycz-Conner’s entire blog post here.

We at CondoDomain place our emphasis on social media.  First, here on DC CondoLoft, you can find tons of articles, videos, photos, and information regarding not just DC Condominiums, but also the DC real estate market, DC neighborhoods, and DC life as a whole.

You can find this content not just on our website, but also on our Facebook page, as well as on our Twitter account.

Furthermore, you can find tons of data, photos, and information regarding specific DC luxury condominiums and lofts on CondoDomain.

Once you find a place that fits you, contact one of our fabulous agents for a property tour!

When you buy with CondoDomain you save TONS of cash because of our commission refund business model.

Saving money while finding your dream DC Condo?  What could be better???

CONTACT ONE OUR AGENTS TODAY TO FIND OUT MORE!!!

March 23, 2010 – CondoDomain lands in New York City and introduces discounted real estate brokerage to a market that has been known to be against this type of innovation. The company aims to capitalize on the brand new REBNY VOW (Virtual Office Website) application by promoting access to New York’s closely guarded listing database.

CondoDomain and its Founder, Anthony Longo, hurried to New York last November as REBNY formally announced their new VOW opportunity. As the last standing city in the U.S. which does not have a formal MLS (Multiple Listing Service), Longo realized that the VOW would allow him to expand his brokerage into New York offering the company’s competitive services and products and do it all while charging a lot less than the traditional 6% commission fee.

CondoDomain.com, which was founded in 2005, has operated nationally as a web-based real estate brokerage charging anywhere from 20% – 75% in reduced commissions. The company has given back just under $1,000,000 in commission refunds over the previous two years. Headquartered out of Boston, MA, the firm is open in more than 20 cities across the U.S. and operates as a principle broker in 6 cities including: Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Virginia and now New York City.

“CondoDomain is a special business,” noted Longo. “It’s a unique power play of Internet engineers and professional real estate agents. Unlike our competitors, our agents only have one thing to do, and that is to provide outstanding customer service to the firm’s buyers and sellers. They don’t spend any time marketing or prospecting for leads or clients keeping them keenly focused on inventory and their clients needs.”

CondoDomain’s technology drives both its consumer oriented website and the entire backoffice including property listings, search capabilities, related content and information management. Most importantly, the company avoids many traditional brokerage expenses, including prime retail office space, as 100% of the business is generated through the Internet.”

Home buyers and sellers now searching for a New York condo or co-op, townhouse or apartment, studio or penthouse, can now access the entire REBNY database on CondoDomain, which has the most complete set of New York City’s listings including all of the listings from the major firms. With compliance rules and regulations mandating that all REBNY members input their listings into this database, this new VOW will help serve as a consumer-based MLS (multiple listing service), thus allowing consumers to become more informed with the realities of the local real estate market.

The Internet has transformed many business verticals and over the course of the previous two years, it has significantly impacted the real estate industry in cities that have a formal MLS system in place. While New York has been able to avoid this disruptive innovation, the REBNY VOW should allow for more competition, and an elevated level of service.

About CondoDomain:
CondoDomain is a web-based real estate brokerage and one of the first nationwide firms to refund commissions back to the consumer. CondoDomain’s business model is half online and half personal, creating efficiencies to provide a better service while saving our clients time and money. Specializing in condominiums and urban properties, the Boston-based company is growing rapidly across the U.S. and Canada by partnering with the top real estate brokers in each of the company’s urban metro areas.

To learn more about CondoDomain and how commission refunds work or to meet one of our local real estate brokers, please visit www.CondoDomain.com or visit our corporate blog or twitter feed @CondoDomain.

HOT LINKS:  How Cash Back Commission Works, VOW Access, Homepage, NY Condo Blog

Press Inquires:
Brett Malvin
City Vice President / NYC
917-860-8113

“Just CondoDomain it” – So what the heck does that mean?

Yes it could mean – just choose CondoDomain to help you buy or sell your house….but in this case its just a silly blog title.

“Just CondoDomain it” means that you can actually leverage the worlds fastest search engine to surf our site in just milliseconds. Because we built our platform for the web, our website reacts very well with search engines like Google.

Google spiders our website at least twice daily so anything that is on our website (basically everything condo) is on Google. So for you ‘long-tail’ web surfers or people who know exactly what building or what address or what MLS# – just throw it right up in Google combine it with the word “CondoDomain” and find all of the information you are looking for!

Example #1 – Searching for a particular address of a building in New York City like 165 Charles Street:

Just CondoDomain it: Go to Google.com and search CondoDomain 165 Charles Street

Example #2 – Searching for the hot new building in Chicago called FP3:

Just CondoDomain it: Go to Google.com and search CondoDomain Fullerton Lofts

Example #3 – Just visited the new FP3 Lofts development in Boston and have the MLS #?

Just CondoDomain it: Go to Google.com and search CondoDomain MLS # 70740515

We pride ourselves on having more real estate listing information than anyone else and constantly strive to find better ways for you to use our website. Our team internally loves using Google to help navigate our website. Its fast, reliable and accurate.

Remember, when you can find exactly what you need, we still may be able to help – don’t be shy and call us at 877-852-6636

CondoDomain is now operating in Boston, DC, Baltimore, Chicago & New York as a broker – so c’mon – Just CondoDomain it!

“The service is free for now, and available to both business and first class passengers on all 20 Acela trains,”  Jeff Clabaugh of the Washington Business Journal wrote yesterday.  ”Amtrak says it will decide whether to charge for the Wi-Fi service after an introductory period, and base its decision on customer demand and system performance.”

In addition to the trains, the free wireless service will also be offered at numerous stations.  Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, New York and Providence, R.I. will all have WiFi, as well as the ClubAcela lounges in  D.C., Philadelphia, New York, and Boston.

“This is only the first step for our AmtrakConnect program,” said  Lenetta McCampbell, Amtrak senior director for On-board systems. “Amtrak will continually improve the service as Wi-Fi technology evolves, and we are evaluating opportunities to expand AmtrakConnect to additional roués and stations throughout the country.”

As Clabaugh wrote, Amtrak will offer the service free during a trial period, but will reassess the program after a period of time.  They could decide to charge customers a fee.

Amtrak does this, most likely as a response to MegaBus, Bolt Bus, and others who have captured the east coast travel crowd because of their low costs and free wireless.

If you are from out of the area and are looking at investing in a DC Condo,  Amtrak is a great option to take a trip to DC and check out some properties!

See all of our DC Condominiums on CondoDomain, contact us today, and hop on a train to get a tour tomorrow!