With the blog now being touted as the new agent website, a newbie to the world of Real Estate 2.0 is confronted with a variety of options to start their blog.

That’s right boys and girls — it’s time for the National Real Estate Blog Brawl, 2009 edition, right here at VARbuzz. It’s the single-elimination competition of real estate blogs. And this year, it’s serious.

Real estate agent shot over a dispute over earnest money in Rock Hill, SC.

If not, you’ve got some work to do to compete. Here is a great example of a real estate site that is optimized for SEO - Laguna Beach & Newport Beach Real Estate Guide. Here’s the kicker though — it’s not sacrificing the user experience in order to please Google’s algorithms.

For brokers, online real estate companies, MLS organizations or anyone looking to create a richer online real estate experience, these can be invaluable resources.

In a surprising move, online real estate brokerage Redfin is entering into partnerships with real estate agents from more than a dozen other brokerages in areas that Redfin’s in-house agents can’t reach.

Real estate agent Vito Simone resigned yesterday as president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors to focus on resolving a personal bankruptcy case in which he and his wife list $3.9 million in debt.

I am so proud of the real estate industry. You've come so far!

In the latter half of the 90's decade, as the Internet promised to be a modern gold rush, curiously, Realtors showed little interest. It wasn't until just recently that the Realtor's personal website was accepted as an obligatory expense. The irony is that now it has little chance of being effective.

But today, I actually have faith in the real estate agent's embrace of the Internet as an effective marketing tool.

Realtor.org announces that the eight year battle to lock large banks out of the business of real estate brokerage has ended. President Obama has signed legislation that prohibits banks from entering the real estate brokerage and management business.