Being one of the regular Trulia (a real estate website dedicated to providing buyers and sellers with advise and providing tools for realtors and consumers alike) contributors, it is of great interest to watch Trulia grow by leaps and bounds through the year (I think this is Trulia's second year ?).
The latest innovation unveiled is the Integration of Trulia and Google Street View.
This allows you to take a closer look of the house /areas you are interested in and from different angles. Some may argue that this is not a difficult thing to do; however, the thought of Trulia taking the step to do so is different from other websites.
I have had the pleasure of watching Trulia evolve. Like all the start ups, there are growing pains, whether it's from consumers, real estate pros (past, current and future) and the search of it's own direction, trials and errors; one thing for sure is that Trulia is listening, trying and improving. Like everything else, that's all I ask for.
Dave, Thanks for the comment. One unique features of Trulia is interaction between consumers and real estate pros. It's fun to get consumer input on things which we take for granted as pros.
Interesting to see a realtor being such a vocal advocate of Trulia. Don't you think it would be better to 'build' unique content on your own website or on active rain vs. helping to plump up an inaccurate listing aggregator with a 'forum'?
Can you attribute any ACTUAL business / closed transactions directly to your presence on trulia?
So cool! Love the street maps
It's a Good Life!
Fran
Hi Candidly:
Thanks for your 'candid' comment.
I am interested in seeing what Trulia is doing as well watching it grows probably more because of my background. I have a background in IT Project Management and system development / implementation. I love working with people as a team. I got involved in Trulia early on because my company is one of the first companies (being in Bay Area, I am sure) asked to help Trulia develop a product and since it's up my alley, so I participated.
When I managed projects, our approaches were much different Trulia's; but I worked for corporate America (You can see my background from my not as fancy website) so it's fun to see how internet companies evolve and I do like to give credit where credit is due.
Do I like everything they do? NO, I don't; but I do admire a lot of things they do, especially their spirit; they are not afraid to try and they also try to listen and change.
I am not getting paid for going on Trulia and answering questions and it takes a lot of time. I was able to contribute more when I have a down time but otherwise not - why you don't see me there much lately.
However, I do learn a lot from questions asked and answers provided (although you soon learn who is better contributor than others - same as on Active Rain - there are some we follow, some we don't). I also really do enjoy helping people. Some have Realtors but need to get other opinion, some just started looking - I do hope some of my answers help them understand the process more and be less anxious when they dive into it. I am not sure if there are other forums providing this kind of interaction with consumers.
I have not had a sale resulting from Trulia, but I am fine with that. Other than real estate, I spent most time volunteering at school and I really enjoy doing that. Helping people is what I enjoy most and Trulia is a good forum to help regular consumers.
I did start participating more on ActiveRain recently and found a lot of wonderful Realtors/contributors here and enjoy reading their posts and learning from them tremendously. However, I got sidetracked when I volunteered to do a presentation at local high school about Green Building and Real Estate career recently; not to mention all the real estate transactions I am doing.
But, yes, I will be here more often. And, yes, I still enjoy Trulia. I try to take the best from them and not dwell on the negatives, pretty much what I like to do in general.
Sorry for the long answer. But you asked J
Sylvia
Hi Fran: Thanks for visiting. I, too, enjoy the street map - not quite sure if I like to be in it myself though, but I shall think it'd be a long time before they come to Novato. Yes, it's a good life!
Sylvia
Hi Gene:
Thanks for stopping by! I think with time spent and quality answers, you will get leads. I might not have actual sales from Trulia, but I do hear others who do - especially in North East and some of the areas where there are more people participating on Trulia.
Sylvia
Before 'feeding the giant' (TRULIA), everyone should stop, take a step back, and do a little due diligience on what you are actually doing. Very few REALTORS understand what they are ACTUALLY doing by actively participating on the Trulia site, feeding Trulia listings, etc.
the bloodhound blog had a great post on this today which I encourage anyone to read, especially if they are active participants on Trulia. See: http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=2983
If you still see value in 'feeding' Trulia after reading this post, please help me understand why.
Hi Candidly, Thanks for the link.. I will go and read that post after I somehow catch up with my backlog tonight (one of the things or more above). However, I am curious about your interest in this - are you a Realtor? a consumer? It's easier to understand where you come from if I know a little about your background - after all, you know plenty of mine.
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia. Thanks for sharing the great tip! Keep them coming.
Thanks, Vincent! Yes, I do intent to contribute more.... See you around!
Sylvia
The only problem I've heard with Trulia is that if you put them on your website, they take your Google juice and make it their own. It shows them as the real estate expert and not you. (Just a warning)
Thanks for the warning.. Todd. I have read different views about what Trulia does with some of the info. I am not 'THAT' technical (the Google juice as their own); but i can Trulia techi about this. Will be interesting to find out. ..... Sylvia
"especially their spirit"
Trulia is in business to trump you in the search engines. That's their spirit! I'm not going to sit back and praise the competition, blessing their every move.
http://activerain.com/blogsview/514880/Trulia-s-New-Logo