We’re looking for a summer intern to help us create beautiful real estate-related maps of the Seattle area that will accompany the re-launch of ShackPrices.com. Candidates should have experience with spatial analysis and map production in ArcGIS. Responsibilities include:

• Creating a ShackPrices map template to automate map production
• Gathering spatial datasets from multiple data sources
• Spatial analysis combining public and proprietary datasets
• Creation of captivating maps from analysis results

The intern will end the summer with hands on experience with ArcGIS and an awesome portfolio that will exhibit analsyis and production skills to future employers. An ambitious intern will also gain experience working with open source geodatabases and Ruby on Rails. Unfortunately, this is an unpaid internship, but students can get credit (UW students can contact Rick Roth).

This internship will last the length of the summer (but could be extended into the fall). The intern wil be expected to work 10-20 hours a week in Seattle.

Supervisors will provide extensive mentoring and guidance. Email resumes or questions to jobs@shackprices.com.

Dustin (of Rain City Guide) and I were interviewed by Stuart Maxwell of Seattle Real Estate Talk. Observations: I am still not comfortable hearing my own voice played back to me.  Also, I mistakenly downplayed the need for agents or at least I didn’t emphasize the value of a good agent. You can get all the information you want from the web (or you will, someday), but lets face it, someone who has seen 100 (or 1,000) home transactions is going to be invaluable when you’re buying or selling a home.

You know when you go to Google Maps and the little boxes start filling in one at a time?  Charlie Savage estimates there are over a trillion of those little boxes. Map nerds might enjoy his insight into the internal workings of Google maps.

I’m not sure I entirely agree with this analysis of the new real estate customer (probably because I’m a “skeptical generation x-er”), but it describes a lot of underserved real estate searchers.
Meet the new real estate customer: it is likely you, dear reader.  You dig through lots of websites in order to gather information about home buying, you pick homes that you want to see from websites, you do analysis, and in the end, you often find a professional to help you with the final details. I think there are going to be a lot more options available for this demographic in the coming year - there already are a lot more than there were in 2005.  Maybe Zillow will be remembered for kicking off the year of the real estate do-it-yourselfer.

-Galen

LA contemplates the Wilshire Monorail
I believe I’ve heard this before. LA, be sure that you will have the guts to support it even in the middle, when everything is messy and more expensive than it once seemed. Also, we’ve worked through a lot of the problems in Seattle, so be sure to borrow liberally from our plans.

-Galen

Just spotted an article about discount agent websites - looks like a perfect match for the ShackPrices.com do-it yourself crowd.  You can do a bunch of the legwork on your own and find an agent who will give you a discount when you’re ready to buy or when you’re over your head.  Good deal!  A few words of warning:

• The discount will probably be taken out of the service you receive
• Inexpensive agents can be less experienced and you might find yourself doing more yourself than you bargained for
• Agents really do provide value in determining the value of a property (even in addition to ShackPrices) and a good agent can provide service that more than pays for their commission.
• If you genuinely do the legwork yourself, many agents will be willing to give you a discount

If you’re looking to buy, take a look at a cash-back agent, but be sure to take a look at a full-cost one also.  Obviously everyone is different - super discount agents will work for some people, but not others.

Cheers,
Galen