The New York Condo Loft » RE.Tech

New York We Need Your Vote: CondoDomain up for a big award!

Anthony Longo — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 16:08:23 +0000

We need your VOTE – please vote for CondoDomain as the 2010 most innovative real estate brokerage!!!! We have been waiting a long time to get an invite to such a big award and we are finally here! Born in 2005 we have worked our fanny’s off to grow our innovative web-based brokerage concept across the country to more than 20 cities! From Boston to San Francisco, Dallas to Atlanta and with a HUGE opening this year in New York City as the first ever discount brokerage to tap into the Manhattan MLS make-shift VOW, we plan to thrive even more this year. We truly would appreciate your vote as teh 2010 most innovative real estate brokerage. Cast your vote today (we are the second button on the top left!)

We need your VOTE – please vote for CondoDomain as the 2010 most innovative real estate brokerage!!!!

We have been waiting a long time to get an invite to such a big award and we are finally here! Born in 2005 we have worked our fanny’s off to grow our innovative web-based brokerage concept across the country to more than 20 cities! From Boston to San Francisco, Dallas to Atlanta and with a HUGE opening this year in New York City as the first ever discount brokerage to tap into the Manhattan MLS make-shift VOW, we plan to thrive even more this year. We truly would appreciate your vote as teh 2010 most innovative real estate brokerage. Cast your vote today (we are the second button on the top left!)

New York Real Estate Brokers: Awesome event to attend!

Anthony Longo — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:30:42 +0000

Calling all New York Real Estate Brokers – this is an event you don’t want to miss! Join CondoDomain’s Tony Longo at REMarTech on April 28 and 29 in New York City. Tony will be participating in a discussion entitled Online Listings Giants Do Battle that addresses the complex and often controversial confluence of virtual office websites, online listings sites, and alternative brokerage models. If you haven’t heard of it yet, REMarTech is the two-day conference in Manhattan organized by GreenPearl Events that puts the topics of social media, video, blogging, and mobile marketing under the microscope, to tease out what really works and what is just hype. Top leaders in the field of residential and multifamily real estate will be giving talks and participating in panels to discuss, debate, and teach you about these mission critical and timely issues. Over 40 speakers, 8 panels, and 18 workshops on all manner of marketing and technology, also including: email marketing publicity and branding search engine optimization website design lead generation To learn more about REMarTech, visit the conference website: http://greenpearlevents.com/remartech CondoDomain has arranged with GreenPearl Events to offer you a discount to attend REMarTech. Simply use CONDO when registering to save $100.

Calling all New York Real Estate Brokers – this is an event you don’t want to miss!

Join CondoDomain’s Tony Longo at REMarTech on April 28 and 29 in New York City. Tony will be participating in a discussion entitled Online Listings Giants Do Battle that addresses the complex and often controversial confluence of virtual office websites, online listings sites, and alternative brokerage models.

If you haven’t heard of it yet, REMarTech is the two-day conference in Manhattan organized by GreenPearl Events that puts the topics of social media, video, blogging, and mobile marketing under the microscope, to tease out what really works and what is just hype.

Top leaders in the field of residential and multifamily real estate will be giving talks and participating in panels to discuss, debate, and teach you about these mission critical and timely issues. Over 40 speakers, 8 panels, and 18 workshops on all manner of marketing and technology, also including:

email marketing
publicity and branding
search engine optimization
website design
lead generation

To learn more about REMarTech, visit the conference website: http://greenpearlevents.com/remartech

CondoDomain has arranged with GreenPearl Events to offer you a discount to attend REMarTech. Simply use CONDO when registering to save $100.

Some clarity for NY condo buyers and sellers and the “street ninjas”

Anthony Longo — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:50:17 +0000

First off, I’d like to thank all of the writers, editors, bloggers and publishers who took our story yesterday and “went for it”. Right now is a crucial time for us as we are in “education mode” – just getting the word out that all New York buyers and sellers NOW have a choice to save money when buying or selling in New York City. Joey from Curbed, special “shout-out” for coining the real estate “Street Ninjas” as it has been a big hit in our office even though I had to walk home lastnight looking over my shoulder ever 3 steps. Ok lets get to it: While commission refunds and rebates are illegal in 9 states – THEY ARE LEGAL IN THE OTHER 41 STATES INCLUDING NEW YORK. We understand that many people may have questions on how this works. We are very much used to the “It’s too good to be true” or “what’s the catch” comment. Bottom line is that there isn’t one. Due to a very long legal battle between the Department of Justice (our government) vs. The National Association of Realtors, which paved the way for us to enter this market, we have been able to create efficiencies using technology and leveraging MLS data to lower our costs which we have ultimately passed on to you as a competitive advantage. Lets face it, YOU, as a consumer have access to so much information online these days, your doing much of the search and compare process now on your own reducing the amount of time spent with an agent – so why wouldn’t fee’s naturally start to discount? After a very long and emotional day from getting our teeth kicked-in by the obvious competing real estate agents, here, here and here and here …. and here, ugh, Brett, Jessica and I have got a chance to sit down and group some of these top questions or inaccurate statements which have been made online. Ok, here we go. ************ Who Are We & Our Experience In The Market Ok, let’s start off with the big one. Let’s take this comment from Anonymous on The Real Deal article yesterday (yes this person wrote this in all caps): WHO IS GOING TO WANT TO USE A BROKER THAT JUST MOVED FROM BOSTON AND DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE CITY? CLIENTS USE BROKERS FOR THEIR EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE, TO FIND THE PERFECT HOME FOR THEM. SOUNDS LIKE THE DISCOUNT DOESN’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE BECAUSE CLIENTS WOULD PROBABLY NOT GET GOOD REPRESENTAION OR ADVICE ON THEIR PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY. WHO ARE THE “2 LOCAL AGENTS” AND HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE DO THEY HAVE? Answer: First off, I am not the broker here in NYC. Although I have moved here to help manage the operations, marketing, social media and public relations, I have hired experienced agents and partnered with top real estate consultants, legal and finance professionals who have been operating in NYC for more than 10 years. To keep it simple, I have hired who I believe will perform as good if not a better job than any of New York’s “top brokers”. Second, I closed more than 100 deals last year as a broker. As far as real estate knowledge, I think this pretty much puts me in the expert category. Third, lets not all kid ourselves. There are some absolute stellar real estate brokers/agents, but they are few and far between and it’s certainly not the 80/20 rule. Let’s just say, less than 1% are legitimate all-star residential real estate broker. This leaves the other 99%…where do you think they work? Here at CondoDomain, we only hire top “PEOPLE” who know the market, know how to dig and pull up corresponding data and know how to represent a client to slam home a deal. Many of our agents have a master’s degree, some came from real estate, and some we pulled from outside industries. Bottom line is that we could careless about presidents club, how much commission they have made or how many trophies they have, we are in a new real estate business, things have changed. Our agents do not do any advertising, prospecting or marketing which leaves only ONE thing for them to do and to do it very well – just work and provide excellent customer service to our mutually educated and savvy clientele. How We Operate With Participating Agents In The Market Below is a question pertaining to do we show up at our client’s appointments and the answer is absolutely we do. While I welcome the competition I wonder if sending customers around without agents representing them as a business model is sustainable in New York. Brokers sometimes send customers to an Open House or to a showing, but in this case it seems to be a business model, is this acceptable? As a company we are not inventing a new way to transact in the real estate vertical rather we are just adjusting to what consumers are already doing and want. Consumer have access to all the data to search online now. They can (and do) go visit open houses on the weekend and some even browse for months before really committing to buy. Others know exactly what street or what building they want to live in and they simply wait for that perfect place to hit the market. These individuals are ideal for the DIY program which entitles them to a bigger piece of the commission. Finding the perfect apartment is merely the first step in a complicated process. Regardless of what point they are in the buying/selling process we are introduced, we offer the same quality of services and customer support ranging from negotiating the Purchase Price through the closing itself. The job of a real estate professional does not end once an offer is accepted. Refunds, Commissions & Cash Back Are they legal? Answer: Yes they are… A map on the Department of Justice website, shown here clearly shows New York as one of the 41 states that currently allow brokers to offer cash rebates to consumers. ************ For anyone who like further information on any of the above topics, or general questions please feel free to comment here or write me direct. Buyers, Sellers, Agents, Developers, we welcome anyone as we know this is a very new concept to the Big Apple and we want to make sure everyone understands it. We are now a part of your brokerage community and even if you don’t like our business model, you will love us. We are all great people, super hard working and a joy to be around. Hope to meet you all very soon. Sincerely, Tony Longo Founder & CEO tony [at] CondoDomain.com

Ok lets get to it:

While commission refunds and rebates are illegal in 9 states – THEY ARE LEGAL IN THE OTHER 41 STATES INCLUDING NEW YORK.

We understand that many people may have questions on how this works. We are very much used to the “It’s too good to be true” or “what’s the catch” comment. Bottom line is that there isn’t one. Due to a very long legal battle between the Department of Justice (our government) vs. The National Association of Realtors, which paved the way for us to enter this market, we have been able to create efficiencies using technology and leveraging MLS data to lower our costs which we have ultimately passed on to you as a competitive advantage.

Lets face it, YOU, as a consumer have access to so much information online these days, your doing much of the search and compare process now on your own reducing the amount of time spent with an agent – so why wouldn’t fee’s naturally start to discount?

After a very long and emotional day from getting our teeth kicked-in by the obvious competing real estate agents, here, here and here and here …. and here, ugh, Brett, Jessica and I have got a chance to sit down and group some of these top questions or inaccurate statements which have been made online. Ok, here we go.

************

Who Are We & Our Experience In The Market
Ok, let’s start off with the big one. Let’s take this comment from Anonymous on The Real Deal article yesterday (yes this person wrote this in all caps):

WHO IS GOING TO WANT TO USE A BROKER THAT JUST MOVED FROM BOSTON AND DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE CITY? CLIENTS USE BROKERS FOR THEIR EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE, TO FIND THE PERFECT HOME FOR THEM. SOUNDS LIKE THE DISCOUNT DOESN’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE BECAUSE CLIENTS WOULD PROBABLY NOT GET GOOD REPRESENTAION OR ADVICE ON THEIR PURCHASE FROM THIS COMPANY. WHO ARE THE “2 LOCAL AGENTS” AND HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE DO THEY HAVE?

Answer: First off, I am not the broker here in NYC. Although I have moved here to help manage the operations, marketing, social media and public relations, I have hired experienced agents and partnered with top real estate consultants, legal and finance professionals who have been operating in NYC for more than 10 years. To keep it simple, I have hired who I believe will perform as good if not a better job than any of New York’s “top brokers”.

Second, I closed more than 100 deals last year as a broker. As far as real estate knowledge, I think this pretty much puts me in the expert category.

Third, lets not all kid ourselves. There are some absolute stellar real estate brokers/agents, but they are few and far between and it’s certainly not the 80/20 rule. Let’s just say, less than 1% are legitimate all-star residential real estate broker. This leaves the other 99%…where do you think they work?

Here at CondoDomain, we only hire top “PEOPLE” who know the market, know how to dig and pull up corresponding data and know how to represent a client to slam home a deal. Many of our agents have a master’s degree, some came from real estate, and some we pulled from outside industries. Bottom line is that we could careless about presidents club, how much commission they have made or how many trophies they have, we are in a new real estate business, things have changed. Our agents do not do any advertising, prospecting or marketing which leaves only ONE thing for them to do and to do it very well – just work and provide excellent customer service to our mutually educated and savvy clientele.

How We Operate With Participating Agents In The Market
Below is a question pertaining to do we show up at our client’s appointments and the answer is absolutely we do.

While I welcome the competition I wonder if sending customers around without agents representing them as a business model is sustainable in New York. Brokers sometimes send customers to an Open House or to a showing, but in this case it seems to be a business model, is this acceptable?

As a company we are not inventing a new way to transact in the real estate vertical rather we are just adjusting to what consumers are already doing and want. Consumer have access to all the data to search online now. They can (and do) go visit open houses on the weekend and some even browse for months before really committing to buy. Others know exactly what street or what building they want to live in and they simply wait for that perfect place to hit the market. These individuals are ideal for the DIY program which entitles them to a bigger piece of the commission. Finding the perfect apartment is merely the first step in a complicated process. Regardless of what point they are in the buying/selling process we are introduced, we offer the same quality of services and customer support ranging from negotiating the Purchase Price through the closing itself. The job of a real estate professional does not end once an offer is accepted.

Refunds, Commissions & Cash Back

Are they legal?

Answer: Yes they are…

A map on the Department of Justice website, shown here clearly shows New York as one of the 41 states that currently allow brokers to offer cash rebates to consumers.

************

For anyone who like further information on any of the above topics, or general questions please feel free to comment here or write me direct. Buyers, Sellers, Agents, Developers, we welcome anyone as we know this is a very new concept to the Big Apple and we want to make sure everyone understands it. We are now a part of your brokerage community and even if you don’t like our business model, you will love us. We are all great people, super hard working and a joy to be around. Hope to meet you all very soon.

Sincerely,

Tony Longo
Founder & CEO
tony [at] CondoDomain.com

CondoDomain Opens New York’s First Discount VOW Brokerage

Anthony Longo — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:02:10 +0000

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

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

WE GOT (MLS) SEARCH!!!

Anthony Longo — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:01:17 +0000

Tried. Tested. Installed. – WE GOT SEARCH! Previously headlined by us here, here & here – we have finally maneuvered the NYC Real Estate state compliance landscape, REBNY (Real Estate Board of New York) & various technology providers to implement the New York MLS on our site. So what can you find here on our NY MLS? Answer: EVERYTHING! Sales & Rental, Condos & Co-ops, Studios & Penthouses – its all there. This is a direct feed right into the listing database of REBNY where almost all the real estate agents here in NY input their listings to share with other brokerages – now you can tap in to the same database and surf anytime of the day from the comfort of your home or office (of wherever for that matter). Even after implementing this technology into our website – we are still in awe that Manhattan did not have an MLS (or any centralized database of listings). Thank god for our pals over at StreetEasy who have been doing a heck of a job to serve up fresh listing content, otherwise nobody but agent would have any idea what is going on in the real estate vertical. Below is a screen shot of our new NY MLS – but if you want the real thing…click on over to our NY MLS page.

So what can you find here on our NY MLS?

Answer: EVERYTHING! Sales & Rental, Condos & Co-ops, Studios & Penthouses – its all there.

This is a direct feed right into the listing database of REBNY where almost all the real estate agents here in NY input their listings to share with other brokerages – now you can tap in to the same database and surf anytime of the day from the comfort of your home or office (of wherever for that matter).

Even after implementing this technology into our website – we are still in awe that Manhattan did not have an MLS (or any centralized database of listings). Thank god for our pals over at StreetEasy who have been doing a heck of a job to serve up fresh listing content, otherwise nobody but agent would have any idea what is going on in the real estate vertical.

Below is a screen shot of our new NY MLS – but if you want the real thing…click on over to our NY MLS page.

We Got Our Hands On a NY MLS!!!

Anthony Longo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:23:04 +0000

The time has finally come and we are so close to launching the first ever web-based brokerage with an “MLS like” system here in New York City. Yes, that’s right, in a few days you will be able to surf all New York City real estate listings without an annoying, nagging, real estate agent on your back. We started some chatter on this back in late November / Early December when REBNY formally announced that it will be opening up the NY MLS database (known as ROLEX) via a VOW (Virtual Office Website). So what is a VOW? A VOW is basically what it stands for – Virtual Office Website. CondoDomain as a NYC Broker (finally, horray!) will be operating a VOW as of next week. This means that you, your friend or anybody for that matter will be able to LOG-IN to our website and access basically everything we can as licensed real estate brokers. You will be able to surf 95%+ of all New York City real estate listings on your own, at your leisure from your own home or office, thus finally handing over the keys to you in your home search. Why VOW? Ugh…the short answer being is because this market has been long guarded and protected by the super-powered brokerage firms, and this is their compromise. With exception of NYC, I can get a live MLS feed from basically any MLS provider in any city in the U.S. with limited paperwork and fee’s, but here in NYC, we have been thrashed with very large fee’s, months of paperwork processing and overall an enormous amount of time that all in all served as the process of just delaying new, innovative brokerages like us to come into the New York market. On a positive note! We have our brokers license in hand! Our NY Condo website is live! We are open for business! We will be launching our NY MLS (VOW) next week … and … the CondoDomain Cash Back Commission Refund business model made it to NYC! Questions? Call our CVP Brett Malvin

We started some chatter on this back in late November / Early December when REBNY formally announced that it will be opening up the NY MLS database (known as ROLEX) via a VOW (Virtual Office Website).

So what is a VOW?

A VOW is basically what it stands for – Virtual Office Website. CondoDomain as a NYC Broker (finally, horray!) will be operating a VOW as of next week. This means that you, your friend or anybody for that matter will be able to LOG-IN to our website and access basically everything we can as licensed real estate brokers. You will be able to surf 95%+ of all New York City real estate listings on your own, at your leisure from your own home or office, thus finally handing over the keys to you in your home search.

Why VOW? Ugh…the short answer being is because this market has been long guarded and protected by the super-powered brokerage firms, and this is their compromise. With exception of NYC, I can get a live MLS feed from basically any MLS provider in any city in the U.S. with limited paperwork and fee’s, but here in NYC, we have been thrashed with very large fee’s, months of paperwork processing and overall an enormous amount of time that all in all served as the process of just delaying new, innovative brokerages like us to come into the New York market.

On a positive note!

We have our brokers license in hand! Our NY Condo website is live! We are open for business! We will be launching our NY MLS (VOW) next week … and … the CondoDomain Cash Back Commission Refund business model made it to NYC!

Questions? Call our CVP Brett Malvin

Just “CondoDomain” it

Anthony Longo — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:28:33 +0000

“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!

“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!

NY MLS (Coming Soon)

Anthony Longo — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:32:12 +0000

We had some great meetings this week with local data shops here in NYC. After 3 months of due diligence, meeting after meeting I am still in awe that New York City and collaborative NY Real Estate Brokers have operated without a NY MLS for all of these years. Slowly but surly there is a database growing (aggregating) clean listing information that 90%+ of NY real estate brokerages are subscribing too (after you sign up and pay your dues to REBNY of course). So what does this all mean to YOU? On a basic level it means that very soon (now) you will be able to confidently search ONE website and view all NYC real estate listings from almost every brokerage (90%+). Yes the big boys (Corcoran, BHS, PDE & Halstead) have agreed to play too. Late last year (2009) REBNY formally announced to allow public access to this NY MLS via something called a VOW (virtual office website). The technology/compliance aspect is “kinda good, but kinda bad”. You may have been following the article published in The Real Deal or other NY Real Estate publications. So…the GOOD news is that YOU (the un-licensed) public is now allowed to view what NY Real Estate Brokers once could only view. The not-so-good news is that we have LIMITED ability to serve up the information to you (make it clean, simple and useful) and you to add to that aggravation you have to sign-up to legally gain access to the information. (Name & Email address only). As much as this is a step in the right direction, its far from where it needs to be in comparison to the rest of the U.S. As some of you know, we operate our company and “Reduced Commission Business Model” in more than 20 cities pulling a RAW IDX MLS feed allowing us to create a GREAT user experience and value to our clients/readers/viewers of the website. We mash-up “sold comps” data, mapping and other important decision making information and even with all of this data our clients DO NOT have to sign in to our website to view listings, photos or other basic information. The bottom line here is that we have leveraged technology in so many other cities so that we could provide a great tools to the public (our clients). These tools help us LOWER COSTS and improve efficiencies which is the back bone of our “Cash Back” business model. And without stepping out too far…this kind of technology has allowed us to compete in new markets and has ALLOWED us to reduce commission to our clients. All negativity aside we are very excited to launch our version of the NY MLS in the next few weeks and VERY EXCITED to bring our “Reduced Commission” Brokerage model into Manhattan. Why you are waiting…contact us to ask us how you can save up to $25,000 CASH BACK from our commissions!

Slowly but surly there is a database growing (aggregating) clean listing information that 90%+ of NY real estate brokerages are subscribing too (after you sign up and pay your dues to REBNY of course).

So what does this all mean to YOU?

On a basic level it means that very soon (now) you will be able to confidently search ONE website and view all NYC real estate listings from almost every brokerage (90%+). Yes the big boys (Corcoran, BHS, PDE & Halstead) have agreed to play too.

Late last year (2009) REBNY formally announced to allow public access to this NY MLS via something called a VOW (virtual office website). The technology/compliance aspect is “kinda good, but kinda bad”. You may have been following the article published in The Real Deal or other NY Real Estate publications. So…the GOOD news is that YOU (the un-licensed) public is now allowed to view what NY Real Estate Brokers once could only view. The not-so-good news is that we have LIMITED ability to serve up the information to you (make it clean, simple and useful) and you to add to that aggravation you have to sign-up to legally gain access to the information. (Name & Email address only).

As much as this is a step in the right direction, its far from where it needs to be in comparison to the rest of the U.S. As some of you know, we operate our company and “Reduced Commission Business Model” in more than 20 cities pulling a RAW IDX MLS feed allowing us to create a GREAT user experience and value to our clients/readers/viewers of the website. We mash-up “sold comps” data, mapping and other important decision making information and even with all of this data our clients DO NOT have to sign in to our website to view listings, photos or other basic information.

The bottom line here is that we have leveraged technology in so many other cities so that we could provide a great tools to the public (our clients). These tools help us LOWER COSTS and improve efficiencies which is the back bone of our “Cash Back” business model. And without stepping out too far…this kind of technology has allowed us to compete in new markets and has ALLOWED us to reduce commission to our clients.

All negativity aside we are very excited to launch our version of the NY MLS in the next few weeks and VERY EXCITED to bring our “Reduced Commission” Brokerage model into Manhattan. Why you are waiting…contact us to ask us how you can save up to $25,000 CASH BACK from our commissions!

1600 Broadway via Google Street View

Anthony Longo — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:36:39 +0000

As you know we soft launched CondoDomain NYC over the weekend and are currently working all of the bugs out of the system. One thing that really stands out at us just because of the lay of the land in New York City is the Google Street View images. They are awesome!!! Today I was checking out 1600 Broadway – a luxury New York Condominium up in Midtown / Times Square Region and the Google Street View is just action packed (as Times Square always is). When you are searching our website for NY Condos and are looking at the “View Details Pages” you will see the dual Google Map / Street View map just under all of the images. If you click the TOP RIGHT part of the Google Street View map the map will go FULL SCREEN. Give it a try right here on 1600 Broadway or any of the NYC Luxury Condo Buildings. As always if you have any questions regarding 1600 Broadway or other Midtown Condos contact me directly at 877.852.6636 or email me at brett@CondoDomain.cmo

Today I was checking out 1600 Broadway – a luxury New York Condominium up in Midtown / Times Square Region and the Google Street View is just action packed (as Times Square always is). When you are searching our website for NY Condos and are looking at the “View Details Pages” you will see the dual Google Map / Street View map just under all of the images. If you click the TOP RIGHT part of the Google Street View map the map will go FULL SCREEN. Give it a try right here on 1600 Broadway or any of the NYC Luxury Condo Buildings.

As always if you have any questions regarding 1600 Broadway or other Midtown Condos contact me directly at 877.852.6636 or email me at brett@CondoDomain.cmo

New York City MLS – Will this finally open up competition in Manhattan and allow for discount brokers?

Anthony Longo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:24:05 +0000

(Originally posted on CondoDomain HQ Blog) Inman News by way of The Real Deal in New York published an interesting article regarding the all new MLS in New York City. As you may know, New York City has long operated without an official MLS system. Power brokerages like Corcoran, Prudential Douglass Elliman, Halstead and Brown Harris Stevens have continued to grab massive marketshare and provide “mini MLS’s” via their own personal websites including ONLY their own firms real estate listings. New companies have popped up in recent years and have made decent attempts to aggregate all New York real estate listings including our favorite StreetEasy, Trulia and even REBNY’s very own ResidentialNYC powered by Pete Flints west coast startup Trulia. Most recently a joint venture between CBS (Channel 2) and LMG Media launched Manhattans very first VOW (Virtual Office Website) aggregating REBNY’s MLS feed and publicly displaying these listings to the public on their new website – CBS2REM.com CBS2REM (the joint venture) is backed by New York real estate brokerage – Property Strategies Group – who is listed as the broker entitling the new firm and JV to gain access to REBNY’s MLS feed. We recently met with Simon Mills, CEO of LMG Media and owner of the JV between CBS2REM and Property Strategies group and he openly told us the pains of accessing the REBNY data and extensive compliance checking. After just a few short months of operating Simon’s firm is generating great leads and looking to close on their first transactions shortly. Property Stratgies Group is a full service New York Real Estate Broker … but the real question is – will access to this data open up a new market in Manhattan for discount real estate brokers to come in??? “A new breed of online brokerage is springing up in New York, altering the landscape of real estate sales in Manhattan and worrying traditional firms, who fear the changes may hurt their business. In the past, New York firms have contended with Web aggregators like StreetEasy and Trulia, which gather and post information on local brokerage listings. But thanks to a recent settlement between the federal Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors, the Real Estate Board of New York is now sharing all of its members’ listings directly with online brokerages, known as “Virtual Office Web sites.” These VOWs, as they are called, allow consumers to view those listings — including those from other firms — online. Experts say the change will have far-reaching consequences for the industry in the coming year and beyond. Some believe VOWs could also pave the way for a comprehensive Multiple Listing Service, which has long been resisted here. Eric Gordon, the managing director at Realplus Online Listing Exchange, a shared listing database that’s the closest thing New York has to an MLS, called the emergence of VOWs in Manhattan “huge.” “In a lot of ways, it levels the playing field between the small and large firms,” he said. The change stems from a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against NAR in 2005. The suit alleged that NAR’s policy of allowing brokers to withhold listings from VOWs violated antitrust law because it stymied competition.” We have seen companies like Foxtons fail in Manhattan…but was it the market or was it just bad timing??? Experts say the change could open the door for a true MLS in Manhattan. While the Manhattan Association of Realtors currently maintains an MLS, it has only a small number of the city’s listings. Many Manhattan agents have long opposed an MLS because they believe sharing listing information would mean losing business to competitors. “MLS — agents in Manhattan are scared of that name,” said Derrick Gross, a business analyst at StreetEasy. But Gordon said the increasing transparency provided by VOWs could lay the groundwork for a shared listing database. Now that VOWs are on the scene, he said, many New York firms have been asking him for software for an IDX, a feature traditionally offered by MLS databases that allows brokerages to voluntarily post listings on other firms’ sites. Unlike with VOWs, visitors don’t have to sign in to see IDX listings. The IDX concept “is going to grow in popularity now that the concept of one firm being able to market another firm’s exclusives is something people are willing to accept here,” he said. Small firms say becoming a VOW will help them by allowing customers on their Web site to view all of the industry’s listings, not just their own. “It’s great,” said Leigh Zaph, president of three-agent firm Manhattan Homes, which is planning to become a VOW. “It allows every broker to be able to present their customers the full database to search.” Full article Here Interested in your thoughts on what REBNY’s all new MLS will do to the Manhattan real estate brokerage landscape??? Discount commissions? More small firms? Local “hits” on innovators? Will we see Redfin & ZipRealty enter the New York City market? Should CondoDomain open the market? How about other innovative real estate information sites like Curbed & NYCondoBlog – will they get an MLS data feed too?

(Originally posted on CondoDomain HQ Blog)

Inman News by way of The Real Deal in New York published an interesting article regarding the all new MLS in New York City. As you may know, New York City has long operated without an official MLS system. Power brokerages like Corcoran, Prudential Douglass Elliman, Halstead and Brown Harris Stevens have continued to grab massive marketshare and provide “mini MLS’s” via their own personal websites including ONLY their own firms real estate listings.

New companies have popped up in recent years and have made decent attempts to aggregate all New York real estate listings including our favorite StreetEasy, Trulia and even REBNY’s very own ResidentialNYC powered by Pete Flints west coast startup Trulia.

Most recently a joint venture between CBS (Channel 2) and LMG Media launched Manhattans very first VOW (Virtual Office Website) aggregating REBNY’s MLS feed and publicly displaying these listings to the public on their new website – CBS2REM.com

CBS2REM (the joint venture) is backed by New York real estate brokerage – Property Strategies Group – who is listed as the broker entitling the new firm and JV to gain access to REBNY’s MLS feed. We recently met with Simon Mills, CEO of LMG Media and owner of the JV between CBS2REM and Property Strategies group and he openly told us the pains of accessing the REBNY data and extensive compliance checking.

After just a few short months of operating Simon’s firm is generating great leads and looking to close on their first transactions shortly. Property Stratgies Group is a full service New York Real Estate Broker … but the real question is – will access to this data open up a new market in Manhattan for discount real estate brokers to come in???

“A new breed of online brokerage is springing up in New York, altering the landscape of real estate sales in Manhattan and worrying traditional firms, who fear the changes may hurt their business.

In the past, New York firms have contended with Web aggregators like StreetEasy and Trulia, which gather and post information on local brokerage listings.

But thanks to a recent settlement between the federal Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors, the Real Estate Board of New York is now sharing all of its members’ listings directly with online brokerages, known as “Virtual Office Web sites.”

These VOWs, as they are called, allow consumers to view those listings — including those from other firms — online.

Experts say the change will have far-reaching consequences for the industry in the coming year and beyond. Some believe VOWs could also pave the way for a comprehensive Multiple Listing Service, which has long been resisted here.

Eric Gordon, the managing director at Realplus Online Listing Exchange, a shared listing database that’s the closest thing New York has to an MLS, called the emergence of VOWs in Manhattan “huge.”

“In a lot of ways, it levels the playing field between the small and large firms,” he said.

The change stems from a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against NAR in 2005. The suit alleged that NAR’s policy of allowing brokers to withhold listings from VOWs violated antitrust law because it stymied competition.”

We have seen companies like Foxtons fail in Manhattan…but was it the market or was it just bad timing???

Experts say the change could open the door for a true MLS in Manhattan. While the Manhattan Association of Realtors currently maintains an MLS, it has only a small number of the city’s listings. Many Manhattan agents have long opposed an MLS because they believe sharing listing information would mean losing business to competitors.

“MLS — agents in Manhattan are scared of that name,” said Derrick Gross, a business analyst at StreetEasy. But Gordon said the increasing transparency provided by VOWs could lay the groundwork for a shared listing database.

Now that VOWs are on the scene, he said, many New York firms have been asking him for software for an IDX, a feature traditionally offered by MLS databases that allows brokerages to voluntarily post listings on other firms’ sites. Unlike with VOWs, visitors don’t have to sign in to see IDX listings.

The IDX concept “is going to grow in popularity now that the concept of one firm being able to market another firm’s exclusives is something people are willing to accept here,” he said.

Small firms say becoming a VOW will help them by allowing customers on their Web site to view all of the industry’s listings, not just their own.

“It’s great,” said Leigh Zaph, president of three-agent firm Manhattan Homes, which is planning to become a VOW. “It allows every broker to be able to present their customers the full database to search.”

Full article Here

Interested in your thoughts on what REBNY’s all new MLS will do to the Manhattan real estate brokerage landscape??? Discount commissions? More small firms? Local “hits” on innovators? Will we see Redfin & ZipRealty enter the New York City market? Should CondoDomain open the market? How about other innovative real estate information sites like Curbed & NYCondoBlog – will they get an MLS data feed too?