Well,

Nardi Gras (National Association of Realtors 2006 Conference) has ended. I hear it was a lot of fun. LakePlace.com was honored to send our Broker and Chief Operating Officer, Wade Hanson, to the convention as a speaker (LakePlace.com has only been a real estate brokerage for 9 months). Wade was asked to give his “under 30″ perspective on the real estate industry. He was also in Chicago a couple of weeks ago recording a CD for the NAR on the same topic. If you are a realtor, you should receive it with the next edition (I think) of REALTOR magazine.

Back to the conference - I received reports that many of the leaders (the “big guys”) in the industry are still fighting, rather than embracing, the power of the Internet. It is as if they are blind to what is, and has been happening - using phrases like “flash in the pan” and “here today, gone tomorrow.”

Now I don’t know about you…but I do not think the Internet is going anywhere. My youngest daughter has had her own laptop since she was two years old (I had a computer business). She is now 7…and she can navigate through the web like it’s no ones business. My two teenage daughters can send text messages with their cell phones at a pace that would put a court reporter to shame. And the leaders in this industry are using terms like “here today, gone tomorrow” when discussing real estate & the Internet/technology? It blows my mind.

LakePlace.com is a perfect example of how powerful the Internet really is. A few years ago, LakePlace.com did not exist. Today it is visited by tens of thousands of people every week and is the default starting point for buyers and sellers of Wisconsin and Minnesota lake property. If you are looking for a vacation property in Minnesota & Wisconsin - you most likely use LakePlace.com.

Because of the Internet, LakePlace.com is able to compete with and exceed the services of ALL of the big guys…and we are able to do it with a much lower overhead. For buyers, we are able to present more waterfront properties for sale than any other company in the Midwest (we are members of 19 multiple listing services)…and for sellers, we are able to put your property in front of more serious waterfront buyers than any other company in the Midwest.

I am not saying that we do not have our growing pains…they are to be expected and we are quick to apologize for them…but if the “big guys” really believe that companies like LakePlace.com (and many others) are going anywhere, they are going to be in for a hard landing.