The Ultimate Real Estate Resource: Activerain.com

The past 2 months have been a time of world wide web 'enlightening' for Joe and I.
I am in awe of how the internet has altered the flow of information. Though I must admit there has been negative effects. For today, I want to stress on the positives.

I was up till' 2 am on Friday just munching on a few of the thousands of helpful articles(majority of which is 'original content' by the members of the activerain site)

I was blown away by how vastly helpful this website can be to consumers and even real estate people. Practically anything you can think/question about the real estate/ mortgage industry is in this website. And It is free for everyone.

Active rain has 47,255 members as of today. Everyday more than 60 new members are added. Hundreds of blogs posted every single day. (do not fret, they make it easy for you to find the topic you are looking for, they have a 'search ____' option,much like how google finds the things we are looking for)

So what does it have to do about me? How does active rain help the consumer? Isn't that just a 'network' of Realtors looking for leads? Yes and no. No, getting and passing on leads is not the goal of the website.  Yes, it is a network of mostly real estate people (title,mortgage,agents etc.), and yes, by building relationships with one another it could be a network where real estate people can refer each other  But the power lies within the conversation going on in the sub-groups within activerain. That's the vision of the founders. 

Here are some of their '10 commandments' which I think is the biggest reason why this site is such a big sucess:

  6.    ActiveRain prides itself on editorial independence. We believe that an open, free exchange of ideas is our primary reason for being.  We are not captive of any point of view or agenda - other than to advance the interests of home buyers and sellers and real estate professionals.

7.    We encourage dissenting or contrarian points of view because our industry is better served by continually examining the status quo. Challenging conventional wisdom is often essential for the evolution of our industry and the development of new opportunities.

8.    We believe in spirited discourse, but personal attacks or predatory behavior will not be tolerated.  Respect and civility are the shared values that unite all of us.

9.    ActiveRain does not stand on ceremony or hierarchy. ActiveRain is a two-way street. We believe that a continual conversation with our community is critical to our continued growth and vitality. We are fully committed to incorporating member feedback and ideas to improve ActiveRain. 

10.    ActiveRain believes that it is in the best interests of real estate professionals to build a community that is focused on educating one another. ActiveRain believes its future depends on members of all experience levels openly sharing their experiences and best practices with others in the field.  This communal dialogue offers a unique opportunity for professional growth and is the way to share in the dynamism and excitement that constitutes the modern real estate business.

-The ActiveRain Team

I like that very much. I think that's a huge boost for the image  and reputation for us in the real estate business . We badly need it. I long for the day when people talk to us and not be afraid of 'being sold' rather, they see us like pastors/shepherds Who will guide them to a better decision-making for the biggest investment they will ever take in their lives. That would be the day.

We are ambassadors of  information. 'We are not the  market, we are messengers' as how Jon Cheplak beautifully puts it.