Open House- ‘droids

Robotic promotions, automated listings

The thing I like best about craigslist is that it is straightforward and not commercialized. Regular folks post ads, regular folks read them. Free to all (or most). Lately, as I peruse the Open House listings, I notice some exotic ads with fancy graphics and text. There are services now that provide inexpensive means to produce these ads and Realtors seem to be jumping on the bandwagon. It seems they can fill in some blanks (number of bedrooms, square feet, etc) and upload some pictures and with little effort they have a colorful promotion. No doubt the process will be entirely automated soon and the agent will have nothing to do but collect her commission check.

Here’s an excerpt from a fancy ad:

Very attractive, but…

Here’s a peek at a standard ad requiring no additional software.

Kinda plain, huh?

OK, it’s plain. But isn’t that the charm of craigslist? God knows that the web is saturated with flashing doodads, annoying advertising and obnoxious sounds in some parts. Even the prettiest parts are annoying when they sacrifice simple functionality. Serious business should be treated seriously and what could be more serious than investing in a home? Let’s hope that craigslist can avoid the hype and bull that threatens to cover the entire internet.

You can follow my East County blog here or here. You’re at Redfin, the unbiased source for local real estate information.

[data from generally reliable sources, please comment on any errors!]