House Flipping Game - Cool Product Alert

As many of you know, I publish a website geared for first-time home buyers. This website also has a section for real estate investors, including a lot of tips on flipping houses.

I do a lot of research for this website, and as a result I'm always coming across new real estate resources -- websites, books, tutorials, etc. Some of them are truly superb, others are mediocre, and some are just plain awful.

So it's refreshing to come across a product that fits into the "superb" category. I just did a trial run on a computer "game" that teaches you how to flip houses, and I thought it was one of the coolest real estate products I've seen in some time.

The game [the software makers refer to it as a game, but I call it a real-life lesson in flipping] is called Flip That House, and it's available for PC. Sorry Mac fans, it's only out on PC for now.

I am bringing this to your attention (as I did the last investment trainer) because I know a lot of real estate agents and brokers get lured into the world of flipping. But as my sources tell me (a friend of mine who flips), the world of house flipping is dramatically different from the world of "ordinary" real estate sales.

So if you're thinking of venturing into the world of house flipping as a side business to your real estate career, you'll want to school yourself on all the lessons learned and flipping techniques you can find.

But if you're like me, reference books on a subject like this would bore you to tears. I like to learn in a hands-on fashion, if at all possible.

That's the hidden value of the house flipping "game" -- it takes you through the flipping process as if it were the real deal (or as close as you could get without spending actual money on an actual flip property).

Another cool thing about the game is that it keeps track of your budget, like a little "cyber accountant" following you around on your flipping project. So you will learn tips on flipping a house as if you were conducting an actual flip.

At $40 (at the time of this writing), I thought it was reasonably priced too, especially when you consider that the real world of house flipping could cost you -- and hopefully earn you -- thousands of dollars.

Bottom line -- a $40 piece of software is a much safer environment to practice your flipping skills in, rather than the real world of big bucks. But that's just my take on the subject.

So that's my review. I hope you found it helpful. And if you're thinking of becoming the world's next great house flipper, I hope this "game" serves you well.

Learn more at the Flip That House website.

Real Estate Podcasts - Agent's Guide to Podcasting

If you keep up with the latest real estate technology and marketing techniques, then you've probably heard about real estate podcasts. I think it's going to be a long time before agents on a broad scale embrace the use of real estate podcasts as a marketing technique, but it does seem to be growing in popularity (albeit slowly).

So what is a real estate podcast and how can it help you grow your real estate business? Here's a quick overview for you:

The Podcast Explained

The podcast is often associated with the iPod because they both have "pod" in them. Sure, you can listen to a podcast on an iPod, but they go beyond that as well.

A podcast is simply a digital media file that can be distributed over the Internet through a syndication feed (like the RSS syndication feed that this blog produces). If you subscribe to a podcast you can play it back on a portable media player (like an iPod) or on your computer.

The Real Estate Podcast

So by extension, a real estate podcast is an informational program in digital media format that can be distributed over the Internet and subscribed to by anyone interested in the topic of that podcast.

For example, let's say that an Austin real estate company purchased some basic audio recording equipment in order to create a real estate podcast for folks in Austin. They could treat it just like any other radio program, but with a focus on the Austin real estate scene.

They would then make their real estate podcast available on the Internet -- probably starting with their own website -- and begin to promote it. If I were a home buyer in Austin, and I wanted to keep tabs on the local real estate market, I could subscribe to their podcast and listen to it via my home computer, or perhaps download it to a portable media player like an iPod.

These are obviously just the basics of creating a real estate podcast for marketing and communication purposes. But I hope now the veil of "mystery" has been lifted from real estate podcasts, and that you now have a better understanding of what they are and how they work.

Recommended Reading:
Real Estate Podcasts - How Realtors Benefit