Daytona Beach Real Estate Blog: November 2008

Daytona Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. In the U.S., if you're a real estate agent, a mortgage specialist, a real estate attorney, a closing agent, a home inspector, or someone who has anything to do with the real estate industry, you're more than likely experiencing hard times. In light of these difficult economic times, most of us have been cutting back more and more and more; doing everything we can to keep our heads above water. It can be easy to start feeling sorry for yourself; especially if you add health problems to your list of difficulties. But if you stop focusing on your lack of real estate business, or whatever else you feel is holding you back, you just might see that it could be much worse. 

Consider the extreme difficulties of our soldiers, people who are starving to death, those who are dying of AIDS (or any life-threatening disease), those who live in countries where they're in constant fear of their lives, the thousands of people who are losing their homes, and the many other extreme difficulties that exist... even if you're one of the people I just described, you can find reasons to be thankful.

We all have good things on which we can choose to focus. So I thought I'd share my short list with you. Then I'd like to see your list. The more difficulty you have in making a list, the more important it is that you do so. Because how you think, is what will determine your attitude, and even your level of success in life.

I'm thankful for...

• My husband (yesterday was our 10th anniversary)  =D
  
• A good marriage
• A wonderful daughter
• The ability for her to attend college
• Her special and unique personality
• My parents and extended family
• My home
• Our vehicles
• Electricity
• Clean water... hot water... cold water
• My church family
• Blue skies
• White fluffy clouds
• Living in Florida
• Frogs (yes, I like frogs)
• Flowers
• Our Queen palm trees and our Foxtail palm tree (I love these trees)
  
• My neighborhood
• My career
• My husband's job
• My kitty (even though he just cost of a lot of money in vet bills)
• Our ability to pay for those vet bills
• Our computers
• Video games
• MMORPG's (they're online games)
• My blogs (they bring me business)
• My web site (more business)
  
• The voice God gave me, with the ability to sing
• The ability to write songs
• My friends (both off and online)
  
• My fluffy pillows and comfy bed
• Air conditioning
• Heat
• Books
• Even though I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and have a lot of pain, it could be a lot worse. So I'm thankful that it's not worse.
  
• I'm thankful that I'm able to be confident and decisive
• I'm thankful for all of my real estate clients; past, present and future...

Obviously I could go on and on. But you get the idea. When we focus on the good things in our lives, it becomes easier to think of more good things. Even with Fibromyalgia, I can be thankful for the fact that it's not life-threatening or crippling; and even though I've had to give up many things because of it, I still have so many other things for which I can be thankful.

This is only a portion of my year-round Thanksgiving list. What's yours?

If you're a real estate buyer or seller and would like to work with a "thankful" REALTOR®, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa C. Hill with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®.

 

 

Real Estate & Daytona Beach Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

Today I decided to scroll through my "blog history" here on the Active Rain Real Estate Network and discovered some interesting information about my Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, Ponce Inlet and other miscellaneous home town real estate blog posts.

My history on Active Rain began in April of 2007. I filled out my profile on April 3. On April 5 I sent out some invitations, and two of my associates joined. And on April 11,  I started commenting, and posted 2 blogs. OK, so that's not exactly exciting news. So I'll get to the point.

I write a lot of blog posts for Localism. And I know that every once in a while, one of them gets featured. Well, since I was going through my entire history, out of curiosity I opened each post that had been featured on Localism as I went along. Then, since I had them all open in different tabs, I decided I might as well share them with all of you. Why? Because I know that some people don't see the purpose of posting to Localism. And I think I can change your thinking on this subject.

Because I'm a Daytona Beach native, I can write knowledgeable blog posts about this area. And because this is Central Florida, needless to say, many people want to move here. Being a real estate agent in the greater Daytona Beach area means I get calls from real estate buyers who want to relocate to this area, or from those who want to buy a winter residence here, or from real estate sellers who are interested in upsizing or downsizing from their current home, to another one. But the bottom line is, most people want to live in a warmer climate, and they love to live near the beach!

I've gotten a lot of real estate listings from my blog posts. Of course I get real estate buyers as well, when they call or e-mail me for more information on my listings. But Localism plays a huge part in my SEO, and in showcasing our parks, museums, beaches and more. When real estate sellers or buyers call, the majority of the time, they tell me they've been reading my blog posts for a while, and they appreciate the information I've been providing.

So for all you real estate bloggers who would like to post blogs to Localism, but aren't sure what to discuss in those blogs, I hope this will help. The following links are to my blog posts that were Localism Featured. I hope this helps to spark some ideas for you, and maybe you'll enjoy reading about our area as well =)

• Daytona Beach Florida, Home of Great Colleges. Real Estate Investors, Pay Close Attention.

• Back to Nature: Florida Parks and Childhood Memories (this one won the "Back to Nature" blog contest as well)  =D

• Memories of Ponce Inlet Florida -  The Grand Old Lighthouse

• Explaining Contingency Offers to Real Estate Sellers

• Florida's Vanishing Wetlands (This one is part of a series)

• REALTOR® Safety Awareness - Real Estate Buyers, You Need to Read This Too! 

• Adopt A Turtle Nest in Daytona Beach FL

• The Relationship Between REALTORS® and Their Clients

• Daytona Beach FL: We're Into Scumbag Eradication! (I got an e-mail from them last week, requesting I blog about their new shirts too. I need to get on that!)
  

• Housing Discrimination. Do You Know the Law?
  

• Motivational Video for Real Estate Agents, Buyers and Sellers. Inspired by Tom Hopkins.

 

 

Daytona Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

I know a lot of bloggers here on Active Rain have profiles on LinkedIn. I see the many accounts reflected in the MyBlogLog widgets in so many side-bars. Many AR bloggers have found me on several social networking sites like Twitter. I've even crossed paths with others on Trulia, when answering public questions.

As I was poking around on LinkedIn a little while ago, I was having difficulty finding groups that would bring us all together. So I created one. So if you have a LinkedIn account and are not connected with me, feel free to join my network. But even better, join the new group called "Real Estate Services". I created this group to bring together, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, title companies, and everyone related to the real estate industry. Basically, it can be an offshoot of what many of us enjoy here on Active Rain.

In the "Real Estate Services" group on LinkedIn, I've already posted an opening question in order to get the ball rolling with communication. But anyone who joins is welcome to post their own questions as well. I'd love to see the group with no lack of interesting conversations.

If you don't have a LinkedIn account, I suggest you get one right away. Then join the "Real Estate Services" group. Because it's a new group, you may have to start from my channel to find the group. But with all the bloggers here on Active Rain, I can foresee us having a blast with some interesting conversations in that group.

Come on over to LinkedIn and the "Real Estate Services" group. Let's have some lively discourse.  =)

 

Port Orange Real Estate. Houses, condos and reports by Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

If you'd like to buy real estate in Port Orange FL, then you'll be interested in this post. I just recently posted the 3rd quarter 2008 real estate listings and sales for Daytona Beach, and the 3rd quarter real estate listings and sales info for all of Volusia County. This post is my continuance of the 3rd quarter real estate market reports of each city in Volusia county; this one is for Port Orange.

I've written many blog posts about the beautiful city of Port Orange. Here are just a couple...

• Port Orange FL - A Great Place to Live

• Plan A Fun Outing in Port Orange

For the 3rd quarter of 2008, there were 336 new listings entered into the Daytona Beach area Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for the city of Port Orange. Some of these listings were actually houses or condos that had not sold, and when their previous listing agreements had expired, they were re-entered into the MLS as new listings. So although there were 336 houses and condos entered into the Daytona Beach area MLS in the 3rd quarter, not all of them were new listings.

As I've been researching and posting these reports each quarter, as well as annually, Port Orange has fared better than many of the other cities in Volusia County. The same held true once again, when I researched the 3rd quarter results for Port Orange. During the 3rd quarter of 2008, there were 155 sales in Port Orange. This is a much better ratio than the Daytona Beach 3rd quarter results of 466 listings vs 122 sales.

CHART OF PORT ORANGE 2008, 3RD QUARTER LISTINGS VS SALES.

 

For more information on the fabulous city of Port Orange, here are a couple of communities that may interest you...

• Countryside-Upscale Port Orange Community with pool, clubhouse, tennis.

• The Villages of Royal Palm- Country Club Style Community in Port Orange.

To finalize your research before making your decision to buy or sell real estate in the Volusia County area, follow these links...

• Volusia County 2008, 1st quarter real estate listings vs sales data. This blog  contains the full reports for each city in Volusia County, for all of 2007.
  

• Volusia County 2008, 2nd quarter real estate listings vs sales data. This blog also contains the full reports and charts for each city in Volusia County for all of 2007, but with a different format. You may want to view each post to decide which one you prefer.

• For a final comparison of Port Orange real estate house and condo sales, here is the 2007 Year in Review.

• And last but not least, here is the 2007 Real Estate Year in Review for all of Volusia County.

To end on a happy note, follow this link to view sunsets from all over Volusia County. I love sunsets, and I have photos of sunsets from Port Orange, Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Holly Hill, New Smyrna Beach and more.

Lisa Hill is a Daytona Beach native and currently lives in Port Orange. Lisa has experience selling real estate in every city in East Volusia County. For all your real estate needs, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®.

Buy Port Orange Real Estate

View Real Estate Video Tours

Compare each city on an individual basis...

• Daytona Beach real estate listings vs sales, 3rd quarter 2008.

• Ormond Beach real estate listings vs sales, 3rd quarter 2008.

• New Smyrna Beach real estate listings vs sales, 3rd quarter 2008.

 

Daytona Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

It's called The Rainforest Site. I don't think I could come up with a more appropriate name for a site that offers an easy way to help endangered habitats. It's FREE, and all you have to do is click a button.

A couple of days ago, I posted a blog about my cat's recent life-or-death situation. Apparenty, the real estate market is so bad that many people can't afford to keep their pets.  And I provided a link to a site where you could just click a button, and provide help for animals who need it.  While I was on the site, I clicked around and found there were several other attached sites that offered help for other causes. Protecting endangered habitats on The Rainforest Site was just one of those extraneous sites I found when I was clicking around.

It actually makes perfect sense. People who care about the environment, and people who are interested in helping animals, are usually well-rounded, caring people. So I hope you'll enjoy the site, and don't forget to Click the Button to provide help for Endangered Habitats; Take another step in Going Green.

Click here if you're interested in finding out how I got my kitty when I was showing a vacant house. The real estate sellers had moved out and abandoned their cat.

This information is provided by Lisa C. Hill, a REALTOR® with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®. Click here to Contact Lisa Hill for all your real estate needs.

Lisa Hill is an eco-friendly, and pet-friendly real estate agent in the Daytona Beach area. Visit Lisa Hill's web site for all your Daytona Beach area real estate needs. View Lisa Hill's Daytona Beach area MLS real estate listings for sale here.

 

 

Real Estate & Port Orange Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

I was shocked when I recently read an article in our local newspaper, indicating that due to the economy, people are being forced to give up their pets. Of all the things I've heard about this horrible economy, this has to be one of the most depressing. I'm going to share something that recently happened with one of our pets. But make sure you read all the way to the bottom for a FREE way, yes I said a FREE way to help the pets that have lost their homes!

Just last week, one of my cats came within hours of dying. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say, after one night in the animal hospital, and the next 4 days and nights at the veterinarian's office, the bill was very high. So high that since the very first night, every person my husband and I have told about the incident has made an inconsiderate, obnoxious, or rude comment about the amount of money we spent to save our cat. Apparently, many people have a pre-determined dollar amount that they consider the maximum they would spend to save a pet. My husband and I had a different outlook.

My husband was the one who took our kitty to the veterinary hospital on the night he almost died. When he was told how much it would cost to help our kitty, he called me. I was borderline hysterical, and in no condition to make a decision, but even I was shocked at the dollar amount. But my husband made the decision to save "Whiskers". I was heartbroken at the thought that I might lose my kitty, and my husband knew that.

That evening when he got home, my husband was in no mood to talk about the events at the animal hospital, so I waited until the next morning to ask a few questions. Apparently he had taken a very analytical approach to his decision to pay for Whiskers' treatment. He said that he took into consideration the age of the pet, the type and severity of the illness, what quality of life Whiskers would have after treatment, whether or not we could afford the treatment, etc. And his decision was to pay for the treatment. And to be honest, we almost couldn't afford it. Our anniversary is this month, and my birthday and Christmas are next month. But I would rather have my sweet kitty than any gifts. Whiskers is the best gift I can have for all 3 of these upcoming celebrations. On every occasion, in some way I'll be celebrating the life of my furry friend.

But I realize that sometimes, people really can't afford the surprise health crises and astronomical costs than can be incurred. And I would always put the health of my "people" family first. But I can't say that I would assign a specific dollar amount to a pet, well in advance of any problems, without even knowing what my financial situation may be at that future date. But apparently that's what some people do.

I know. I'm kinda cranky right now. But you would not believe some of the inconsiderate comments I've received in the last week, in addition to the difficulty I've had in trying to get Whiskers to take his remaining medicine (we won't go there). I still bear the battle wounds.

I've had this post planned since before Whiskers got sick. So you just got the bonus of a recent, personal (TMI?) story, and maybe a few things to think about in regards to your own pets. But what I really wanted to provide was a link to The Animal Rescue Site. Yes, it's actually called The Animal Rescue Site.

The Animal Rescue Site has animal rescue stories, toys for your pets, it supports several other pet sites, sells paw-print sticky notes, and plenty of other merchandise. Most importantly, don't forget to Click to Give FREE Food and Care to all the abandoned pets.

Oh, and Whiskers is well on his way to a full recovery =)

This blog is just general information by a Port Orange real estate agent. If you followed the link embedded in Whiskers' name, you know by now that I found this cat when showing a vacant house to some buyer friends of mine. The sellers of the house had moved out and left the cat behind.

If you're looking for a pet-friendly REALTOR, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill for all your real estate needs.

Find Port Orange and Daytona Beach area real estate listings.

Port Orange Florida, a great place to live!

 

 

Daytona Beach Real Estate. Houses, Condos and Reports by Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

If you'd like to buy or sell real estate in Daytona Beach FL, you'll be interested in this information. A few days ago I posted a blog with all the 3rd Quarter Real Estate Sales Data for Volusia County. I'm now in the process of covering each of the other individual cities in East Volusia County.

Here are links to some of the market reports for the other cities in East Volusia County...

• Volusia County real estate, 3rd quarter listings vs sales report, 2008.

• Port Orange real estate, 3rd quarter listings vs sales report, 2008.

• Ormond Beach real estate, 3rd quarter listings vs sales report, 2008.

• New Smyrna Beach real estate, 3rd quarter listings vs sales report, 2008.

• Ponce Inlet real estate, 3rd quarter listings vs sales report, 2008.

• Daytona Beach Shores real estate, 3rd quarter listings vs sales report, 2008.

Now, for the Daytona Beach 3rd quarter of 2008, there were 466 new listings entered in the MLS for the city of Daytona Beach. Although these are categorized as new listings, some of them had expired from the MLS after not being sold, and were re-entered as new real estate listings.

For the same time period of 2008, there were 122 real estate closings recorded in the Daytona Beach Area Association of REALTORS®.

Admittedly, the number of closings vs listings leaves something to be desired, but the overall ratio is better than last year's sales, and any improvement is welcomed! You may want to click here to compare these statistics to those of the 2nd Quarter Real Estate Listing and Sales Market of Volusia County. Check the chart to view only the Daytona Beach statistics.

For all your real estate needs, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa C. Hill with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®.

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateVideos.com

 

 

Volusia County Real Estate. Houses, condos and events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

If you're considering buying real estate in Daytona Beach FL, you probably want to know the current climate of our real estate industry. I'm happy to provide you with that information. I'm way behind on this post,  but "better late than never"  =)

First of all, click here to view the 1st Quarter 2008 Volusia County Real Estate Sales and Market Report.

Next, click here to view the 2nd Quarter 2008 Volusia County Real Estate Sales and Market Report.

Each of the preceding links also include a data chart to mirror the text, as well as a comparison chart, tracking the annual real estate sales since the year 2000.

Now for this year's 3rd quarter real estate sales and market data. My own real estate sales picked up quite a bit in the 3rd quarter, but I wasn't sure if it was just my own Web 2.0 marketing efforts and real estate listing videos (which got a LOT of views in this time period!), or if our entire are was showing signs of improvement. Well, the good news is, our entire area showed significant improvement. Much fewer real estate listings went on the market in the 3rd quarter, and much more real estate sales were closed in the 3rd quarter. It was an all-around win-win for real estate for Volusia County.

Now if you're not familiar with Volusia County, it is the Daytona Beach area. It also includes Ormond Beach, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach and several other cities. Here is the text breakdown for our 3rd quarter real estate sales. We'll start with how many new real estate listings were placed on the market during the 3rd quarter (there will be some re-listed properties in this number as well) You'll see a slight separation of the last 2 cities because although the distance between the far north end of east Volusia County and the far south end of east Volusia County, the Daytona Beach area and the New Smyrna Beach are have seperate REALTOR® Associations and MLS's. I'm a member of both REALTOR® Associations and sell real estate in all of east Volusia County. Being a Daytona Beach Native is a huge benefit when it comes to selling real estate =)

Now for the East Volusia County 3rd Quarter 2008 Real Estate Listings Data...

• Daytona Beach real estate listings   466
• Daytona Beach Shores real estate listings   199
• Holly Hill real estate listings   87
• Ormond Beach real estate listings   437
• Ormond-by-the-Sea real estate listings   54
• Ponce Inlet real estate listings   78
• Port Orange real estate listings   336
• South Daytona real estate listings   73
• Wilbur-by-the-Sea real estate listings   9

• Edgewater/Florida Shores real estate listings   152
• New Smyrna Beach   382

And now for the East Volusia County 3rd Quarter 2008 Real Estate Sales Data...

• Daytona Beach real estate sales   122
• Daytona Beach Shores real estate sales   51
• Holly Hill real estate sales   28
• Ormond Beach real estate sales   166
• Ormond-by-the-Sea real estate sales   37
• Ponce Inlet real estate sales   31
• South Daytona real estate sales   34
• Wilbur-by-the-Sea real estaet sales   2

• Edgewater/Florida Shores real estate sales   12
• New Smyrna Beach real estate sales   10

As usual, Port Orange fared pretty well, but all I can say for New Smyrna is "OUCH"! 

Keep checking back as I isolate and post the updates for each individual city.

For all your real estate needs, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa C. Hill with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS.

View real estate MLS listings - video tours here.

Buy Volusia County real estate MLS listings for sale.

 

 

Volusia County Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

Hello to all my Daytona Beach area real estate blog readers. This one is another fun post =)

Just a reminder. The Volusia County Fair is almost over. Only 2 more days... don't miss out! This is the last weekend for the year. And there are some great concerts lined up, as well as hundreds of adorable animals, and the most awesome rides a fair can have! Trust me about the rides. They rawk! LOL

The last music concert is Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. for only $10.00.  Here is Saturday's event schedule. And Here is Sunday's event schedule.

Last week, I posted extensive information about our fair, which is at the DeLand Fairgrounds. And Volusia County includes Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach and more. I included my video in that post, from my family's fun at last year's fair. I'm adding it to this post as well. If you like rides, but can't make it to the fair, be sure to watch the whole video. I'll take you on the rides with me toward the end of the video.  <=D

 

If you're visiting, and considering a move to Daytona Beach, Port Orange, Ormond Beach, New Smyrna Beach areas, Ponce Inlet, or anywhere in East Volusia County, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS. Lisa Hill is a Daytona Beach native, with experience selling real estate in every city in East Volusia County, Flagler County, and more. I'd love to help you buy a house, condo, land, or whatever your heart desires.

View Daytona Beach, Port Orange, Ormond Beach (and more) real estate MLS listing video tours.

 

Lisa Hill, your real estate expert for SEO on Web 2.0

 

This post contains what could be a blogger's worst nightmare. If you've never paid any attention to Google's business tactics, this post will give you the briefest, yet easieast synopsis of the Google giant, and just may scare the pants off you. (Please put them back on as soon as possible.)

I don't know how many of you have previously heard about Google's 2002, attempted launch of it's venture called "Book Search". Basically, Google wanted to create a huge online library of sorts. But this plan led them to one huge roadblock: thousands, if not millions of copyrights, for which Google would have to pay tens of millions of dollars, for the rights to scan/digitize every book into their "Book Search".

Well, during the last 6 years, while the copyright battle has continued to wage between Google and the publishing houses, all along, Google has continued to scan/digitize these copyrighted materials, long before any resolution was reached. But just last week Google finally decided to settle on this massive copyright copyright case, by agreeing to pay astronomical amounts of money to the publishers. Sounds like a win for the publishers, right? Read the details more closely!

Now many of you may have seen in my comments, how frequently I mention my dislike of Google. Not the products, but the conglomerate and their "bully" tactics. Before I continue with my copyright post, here's a bit more Google history...

• To my knowledge, only one other time, has Google actually backed down from a battle (sort of). That occurrence happened when Google tried to force eBay to use "Google Checkout"; when eBay already had it's own payment plan, Paypal, and refused to comply with Google.(Yay!) Fortunately, eBay and Paypal had the money to stand toe-to-toe against Google. So in a truly petty fashion, Google then decided to have a little party in Boston that just happened to be during the same week of the annual eBay Live user conference, when the eBay "power sellers" get to rub elbows with the powers-that-be at eBay. But the real clincher was the shuttle service that Google was offering, to bring eBay's power sellers from the eBay party, to Google's party, where they could introduce "Checkout" to them. So  eBay's counterstrike was to pull ALL of their ads from Google! (I loved it!) This was a truly shocking move, since Google relies heavily on it's "AdWords" and "AdSense" revenue. And they've done their job at convincing many people that they can't survive without paying the Google monster. But eBay's final move did the trick. Google quietly cancelen their party. And eBay eventually began advertising on Google again, but on a much smaller scale. And interestingly enough, eBay lost very little revenue during the boycott! (Hah!) However, Google still launched one more bomb against eBay, with their "programmable search", which WE have all been using for over a year now! (And as usual, all the internet users care about is the convenience of the Google products.)

Now back to the topic at hand. When you look beyond the surface, and consider the long-term ramifications of Googles' "copyright settlement", and the continued digitization (Is that a word?) of millions of books, I wonder if we may eventually, all be at risk of losing the rights to our automatically copyrighted works. After all, if we wrote it, we own it, right? I'm not so sure. It looks to me like Google has back-doored us, and changed the laws as we know them. As we continue to face an ongoing battle to stop the scum suckers who steal the hard work of others, has Google just laid the groundwork for laws to be changed? 

Read this article about Google's Alleged Settlement in the amount of tens of millions of dollars to the publishing houses that own the rights to the books that will now be digitized. Be sure you read all the way to the end. Then compare it to the results of the "programmable search" slam that they used on eBay.

Google has an alleged history of repeatedly stomping all over the rights of smaller companies, and even laws, by taking their battles all the way to the supreme court, while allegedly bleeding all the money out of their adversaries. (I personally see Google as a corporate giant that represents the stereotypical U.S. Conglomerate... read between the lines on that one.) It has always been my opinion that Google is a corporate bully. I don't deny that they have some excellent products. I use many of them myself. But I despise their tactics. Do your own homework on Google. They have great products, so of course nobody wants to think poorly of them, or make waves. But does the end justify the means? How would you feel if you were up against them? With this copyright settlement, you very well may be!

OK. I'll stop my tangent now. Follow the links, then after reading the article(s), let me know if you think this settlement just drilled a huge hole in our own personal ownership of what we place online. I've seen many blog posts, expressing concern about losing their work to the owner of the platform to which they're posting. Before Active Rain was sold, there were MANY of these types of posts... all questioning if we owned our own works. And Active Rains repeatedly said that yes, our work is indeed our own!

Compared to Google, Active Rain is hardly a blip on their radar. (Let's just hope AR never gets large enough to find themselves in Google's cross-hairs.) But aside from that, what if Google suddenly decided to take your work and place it elsewhere, as part of a huge compilation/blog database, or whatever they think of next? Could... or Would you even pay the first attorney's fee? And how many Google products do you use, thus feeding this corporate giant even more?

Here's a line from the first link in this post, about the Book Search settlement... "By settling the case, Google has made it much more difficult for others to compete with it's Book Search service." It sounds like Google had a lot of this planned, right from the beginning.

One last tidbit... Did you know that in Google's early days, their "statement" was... "Don't Be Evil". I'm not saying they are... I'll just let you read all the links I've found about Google and their business practices, (And you can find hundreds more) and let you draw your own conclusions. But as far as our own copyrighted materials go... in the face of Google's "copyright settlement", do you think your work is safely copyrighted? Or would you end up like so many of the publishers in the settlement, that can still say they own these copyrighted works, but have no real protection? At least the publishing houses received a settlement, (after 6 years) but I wonder if the settlement even covered their legal fees?

 

*P.S. I just received a very informative, yet long e-mail from someone who truly has the lowdown on Google. I'm going to ask for permission from this individual, to post some of his e-mail here. If you think what I posted is surprising, or if you don't think it's a big deal, you'll be truly shocked by what I know now! This goes WAY beyond what even I had ever imagined!

Lisa Hill is a Daytona Beach Native, selling real estate in the Daytona Beach area. Contact Lisa Hill for all your real estate needs.

View Daytona Beach MLS Real Estate Listings

View Daytona Beach MLS Real Estate Listing Video Tours

 

 

THE Daytona Beach Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

I love sunsets. As I was reading a blog here on Active Rain, by Eileen Begley, featuring sunsets in her home town, I got the idea to write a blog featuring sunsets in the area where I live and sell real estate. It's actually all of East Volusia County, and even beyond that, but I have a habit of taking photos of sunsets. I have a lot of them! So I thought I'd share them with you =) I should mention that a couple of these photos were taken by a friend of mine. I just couldn't resist using them, since they're so beautiful!

 

Lisa Hill is a Daytona Beach native, with experience selling real estate in every city in East Volusia County and beyond. Lisa's expertise includes, but is not limited to, Daytona Beach, Port Orange Ponce Inlet, Daytona Beach Shores, Wilbur by the Sea, Ormond by the Sea, South Daytona, Holly Hill, New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater and currently, a little bit out of the way of her normal work area, but a place she's very familiar with... Crescent City.

For all your real estate needs, make a Smart Choice and contact Lisa Hill for all your real estate needs.

www.DaytonaBeachRealEstateSales.com

View real estate MLS listings for sale

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Port Orange Real Estate & Community Events blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

For all you real estate tech geeks, you might like this. But then, you probably already know about the Sony Mylo®. From what I can see, it looks like the perfect text messaging gadget. The way the keypad is laid out, it looks very easy to use, and keep in contact with your real estate sellers and buyers, and other REALTORS® who want to show your listings. And if it does what it claims it can do, I would be fully on board with the social networking peeps. (I'm only about 50% on board right now... chalk it up to a short attention span.)

Of all places, I was standing in line at the grocery store, flipping through an In Touch Weekly magazine, (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!) when I spotted, at the top corner of one of the pages, looking very out of place amidst all the gossip, a picture of a very cool looking Instant Messenger gadget. And above it, in large print, it said "Win It Daily!". Well that certainly got my attention! With all the social networking available in Web 2.0, this could be a helpful piece of technology.

In the description of this Sony Mylo ad, it says... "The Sony Mylo gives you what you need to stay connected with free Skype calls, IM on AIM, GoogleTalk, Yahoo! Messenger and more - with no monthly bills or long-term contracts." But when I visited the Sony web site, I couldn't find any information about the "Win It Daily" statement. So I searched the site for the daily giveaway. Unfortunately, I found out why the daily giveaway information was so hard to find. I overlooked the missing word... "Free". It's one of those giveaways where you have to fill out a million surveys, buy at least 3 products, yada, yada, yada. So we'll just skip that part and stick with the fact that the Sony Mylo looks like a really cool product. And it's affordable too. It retails for $300, but I searched around the internet and found some rebates and specials. I appears you can get a Sony Mylo for as low as $200. That made it much more appealing to me. Don't forget it states that it comes with "no monthly bills or long-term contracts".

As a REALTOR®, with all the expectations of social networking involved with Web 2.0, it can be exhausting, trying to stay abreast of everything, and most importantly, take care of our real estate clients. It's nice to find simple, and inexpensive ways to keep up with the rapidity of business technology.

Check out the Sony Mylo. What do you think?

This blog post is brought to you by Lisa C. Hill, The Smart Choice for all your real estate needs. To buy or sell real estate in Daytona Beach, Port Orange, Ponce Inlet, New Smyrna Beach... or any city in East Volusia County, contact Lisa Hill, with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®.

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Lisa Hill, your real estate expert for SEO on Web 2.0