So after Eugene was ignored by Marketwatch in the latest review of best values..Bend now appears in the top ten most overpriced housing markets. #5 specifically.

No love for Oregon in the national press? I thought for sure with the salad days of summer tourism approaching Oregon, that there would be more love for the state that brought us communes and 100% public beaches!

…ok, and as soon as I start complaining, I discover this article from Marketwatch, from a few weeks ago: on Portland, OR Most sustainable — that’s how cities innovate in the 21st century; by planning ahead!

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Joel over at The Future of Real Estate Marketing wrote a quality review of spotrunner, a new web 2.0 TV ad buying/creative service.

What’s interesting to me is how spotrunner focuses exclusively on TV. Don’t they know people are watching most short commercials and videos on their computers, while surfing? Or that Google and other networks are offering video ad buys? Or maybe spotrunner is designed specifically to take advantage of the commoditization of TV ads in the face of internet competition?

I agree with Joel’s assessment of TV advertising - Tivo has changed everything. If an ad isn’t original or create buzz, people don’t “see” it. That’s how agencies get people not to skip past them via Tivo, or to email them to their friends when they show up on a website. The creative agencies win out in this world. From what I can see of spotrunner, the service commoditizes ads to allow smaller agencies and companies into the space. On the creative side, with spotrunner it seems there’s nothing left to chance.

As for agents using this service, IMO most buyers are interested in seeing the “real” agent..which could be done via videoblog or some other media message that doesn’t relay on a template. I’m sure there a million creative ways a savvy agent could take this - think rocketboom!

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Redfin has expanded into the Bay Area, but skipped Oregon. Why didn’t they stop halfway down? Ok, I know why. Eugene just isn’t a large market. Portland is, but SF is bigger. Still, all of Oregon is a hot market and less likely to be affected by “bubble” economics (whatever that is).

Here’s why Redfin is a good idea for Oregon:

• An online service like this will drive more transactions.
• It makes good brokers better at what they do, and weeds out the brokers that don’t like competition. A good businessman knows that competition makes you more effective.
• Redfin would drive more brokers online - resulting in more information for buyers and better access.
• Eugene home buyers need a service somewhere in between that of a traditional broker and the “for sale by owner” companies. A hybrid listings service.
• Some enterprising agents/brokers working for agencies that offer little support for their agents have an opportunity here to escape and work for a newcomer that’s reshaping the real estate landscape.

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