Mediaboss Marketing

SEATTLE, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Redfin, the technology-powered real estate broker, today released the results of a new quarterly survey, "The Redfin Real-Time Home-Buyer Tracker." For the second quarter of 2012, the survey reached 1,208 Americans in 18 major metropolitan markets seeking to buy a home in the next 12 months, all of whom had toured a home since March 1. Three months prior, Redfin had surveyed 1,457 home-buyers to provide a baseline for comparison.

The major findings are a shift toward a seller's market as prices begin to stabilize or increase in most areas, and wariness about over-paying in a bidding war:

Home-buyers have taken note that price increases are by no means uniform, with demand strongest in core urban areas and neighborhoods with very good schools. "What surprised me most was the difference in activity between classes of real estate," said survey-respondent Ben Mahnke. "In Boston metro, entry-level condos in the urban core are seeing a lot of demand. But higher-priced single-family houses in the bedroom suburbs have been sitting unsold for years. The market is coming back, but only selectively."

But in the city, especially in Boston, Washington DC and California, the competitive dynamics can be intense. "We put two offers in on the day of or the day after the first open house and lost both," said Laila Kassis, a would-be home-buyer in the Boston area. "One had seven offers, three above asking with high down payments. Our other offer was for $11,000 above asking with pre-approval for a higher amount. We still lost to an all cash offer. Who ties up $750,000 all cash in real estate? I was shocked. We went to another first open house and the property was already under agreement before the listing had even been marketed. They were just holding the open house for backup offers. Crazy."

Some buyers are stepping back from the competition. "I was very surprised at how few choices there are in our price range and how bad the houses looked," said Maura Nicastle, a respondent in the Washington DC Area. "I think for the next few years we are better off making do in our small home. I don't want to pay more, only to have to start all over again refurbishing a place. Our house will sell fast, so finding one is the much bigger issue."

About The Redfin Real-Time Home-Buyer Tracker

Redfin conducted the survey May 23 May 30, 2012, soliciting 5,851 home-buyers who had toured properties with a Redfin agent since March 1, excluding anyone who did not indicate an intention to buy a home in the next 12 months or who had responded to Redfin's previous survey. Twelve hundred and eight1,208 people responded across 18 metropolitan markets in the U.S.: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. The prior survey was conducted February 22 29, 2012, soliciting 6,062 active Redfin home-buyers, with 1,457 responses. The full report, including charts and graphs, is available at http://www.redfin.com/tracker. To see data segmented by market, or to contact for respondents in different segments, contact pr@redfin.com.

About Redfin

Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the real estate industry's first online brokerage, combining a customer-focused team of real estate agents with online tools for making the process of buying or selling a home easy. Redfin's agents handle every facet of a transaction, including tours, pricing analyses, negotiations, inspections and closings. Redfin is the only major search site to feature listings direct from broker databases as well as for-sale-by-owner and foreclosure properties from across the Internet. The company pays its agents customer-satisfaction bonuses, not commissions, and surveys every client, publishing each survey alongside the agent's complete deal history. Redfin's service is available in the metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, OR, Seattle, Washington DC, New York's Long Island and Westchester County as well as most of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego. To keep track of our daring exploits, subscribe to blog.redfin.com or our Twitter feed @redfin.

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Redfin Real-Time Home-Buyer Survey Sees Prices Rising, and Some Buyers Stepping Back

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire -06/04/12)- Zephyr Real Estate continues its advance as the leader in cutting-edge marketing and technology with the launch of its new online agent resource center. This internal information repository is home to updates in sales, marketing, technology, real estate and tenant law, company news, and market trends. Agents are afforded a quick, effective and proficient means of managing clients, media, properties and information.

"This new service provides a nerve center for agents to handle all aspects of client management from any location," commented Randall Kostick, Zephyr's Chief Operating Officer. "Our top-notch marketing and technology team continues to keep Zephyr at the forefront."

The resource center has a friendly and inviting interface and is smartphone compatible. Agents can manage off-market pocket listings, clients and internet leads, and intra-company communications with ease and facility. The search and review process for service professionals, from artists and photographers to plumbers and remodeling contractors, is convenient and comprehensive.

"Our goal was to streamline the user interface with simple, straightforward design for quick use while maintaining the professional look and feel that is Zephyr's trademark," stated Melody Foster, Zephyr's Director of Marketing and Web Development.

The center's library is a permanent resource containing training videos, neighborhood maps, professional development tools, relocation materials and information on social and digital media, and a wealth of pragmatic options.

"The on-demand training video library is an ongoing process always expanding to include new technology, online resources and how they affect business," added Hud Bixler, Director of Technology. "We're always looking forward to the next new wave of innovation."

About Zephyr Real EstateFounded in 1978, Zephyr Real Estate is San Francisco's largest independent real estate firm with $1 billion in gross sales in 2011 and a current roster of more than 200 full-time agents. In 2010, Zephyr launched its new website, which has earned three web design awards, including the prestigious WebAward for Outstanding Website from the Web Marketing Association. Zephyr Real Estate is a member of the international relocation network, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World; the luxury real estate network, Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate; and the local luxury marketing association, the Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco. Zephyr has six strategically located offices in San Francisco, a business center in Marin County, and serves a large customer base throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit http://www.zephyrsf.com.

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Zephyr Real Estate Launches Online Agent Resource Center

Called "America's most effective salesman of science" by Time magazine, astronomer Carl Sagan spent much of his career translating technical scientific explanations to make them easily digestible by the general public. Described as a natural teacher, he educated not only through classroom lectures but also through interviews and on television shows. His 13-part TV series, Cosmos, has been seen by over 600 million people in more than 60 countries. The show was so popular it returned to television in 2005.

Life on the Pale Blue Dot

Carl Edward Sagan was born Nov. 9, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York. He attended college at the University of Chicago, where he attained a Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics. After doing his postdoctoral work, he taught at Harvard. When he wasn't granted tenure, he moved on to Cornell University in New York, serving as the director for the Laboratory for Planetary Studies and the Associate Director of the Center for Radio Physics and Space Research.

He was married three times, and had a total of five children.

Diagnosed with the rare bone marrow disease myelodysplasia, Sagan underwent three bone marrow transplants over the course of his life. Complications from the disease resulted in his contracting pneumonia, which led to his death on Dec. 20, 1996. He was 62 years old.

Making science interesting

Although Sagan was most widely known for his scientific communication with the general public, he made many significant contributions to the field of science directly.

While Sagan attended graduate school, the planet Venus was often considered to be similar to Earth. As part of his thesis, Sagan computed the first greenhouse model for Venus' atmosphere, which revealed a higher temperature than previously suspected. He suggested that the seasonal changes observed on Mars was caused by dust storms on the planet, and wrote a series of papers on the organic chemistry of Jupiter's atmosphere.

Serving as an advisor to NASA, Sagan helped to design and manage the Mariner 2 mission to Venus, the Mariner 9 and Viking trips to Mars, the Voyager system to the outer solar system, and the Galileo mission to Jupiter. He also helped to brief astronauts prior to their trips to the moon.

But Sagan was far more visible as a scientific educator than he was as a researcher. He was gifted at breaking down scientific concepts into explanations that the public could readily understand, without seeming to talk down to them. He authored hundreds of popular articles and more than two dozen books, frequently appeared in Time magazine landing the cover on at least one occasion. And was a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 26 times, calling it "the biggest classroom in history." His 13-hour miniseries, Cosmos, was loved by countless children and adults, and his nonfiction and fiction books were widely read.

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Carl Sagan: Cosmos, Pale Blue Dot & Famous Quotes

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Jefferies today announced the hiring of Brian J. Pitz and Brian P. Fitzgerald as Managing Directors and Senior Equity Research Analysts covering Internet and Interactive Entertainment companies. Both will be based in Jefferies New York office.

Steven R. Black, Global Head of Equity Research at Jefferies, commented, We are pleased to welcome these senior analysts to Jefferies as they are valuable additions to our global TMT equity research practice, which is a focus area for our firm and an important and critical segment of the global economy. Their significant experience and client relationships will further extend our leading TMT research franchise and add immediate value to our global equity offering to our institutional client base.

Mr. Pitz brings to Jefferies over 14 years of Equity Research experience and joins the firm from UBS, where he was an Executive Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst covering the Internet and Interactive Entertainment industry on an Institutional Investor-ranked team. Previously, he was a Principal and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bank of America covering the Internet industry. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley covering the Internet, PC Software and Interactive Entertainment industries as a member of the top-ranked Internet equity research team in both the annual Institutional Investor poll and Greenwich Associates Survey, and previously was part of the #1-ranked Broadcasting research team in Institutional Investor poll from 1998 - 2001. He received a BS from Villanova University.

Mr. Fitzgerald brings 15 years of Research experience to Jefferies, and joins the firm from UBS, where he was a Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst covering the Internet and Interactive Entertainment industry on an Institutional Investor-ranked team. Previously, he was a Principal and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Bank of America covering the Internet industry. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley covering the Internet, PC Software and Interactive Entertainment industries as a member of the top-ranked Internet equity research team in the annual Institutional Investor poll and Greenwich Associates Survey. He received an MBA from New York University and a BS from the United States Military Academy.

About Jefferies

Jefferies Group, Inc. (JEF), the global investment banking firm focused on serving clients for 50 years, is a leader in providing insight, expertise and execution to investors, companies and governments. The firm provides a full range of investment banking, sales, trading, research and strategy across the spectrum of equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, futures and commodities, and also select asset and wealth management strategies, in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

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Jefferies Hires Two Senior Analysts to Cover Internet and Interactive Entertainment

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Xerocole, the intelligent broadband DNS company, today announced that its CTO, noted Internet expert and National Public Radio technology commentator Rob Fleischman, has published his list of the biggest domain name system (DNS) challenges that face broadband providers when they flip the switch on World IPv6 Launch Day. IPv6 is the new internet protocol that replaces IPv4, and provides a virtually unlimited number of IP addresses. It will enable every Internet-connected device in the world computer, phone, tablet, car, refrigerator, etc. to have a unique IP address, but this flexibility will impose new challenges on internet service providers (ISPs).

A short video of Rob Fleischman explaining the potential DNS pitfalls associated with IPv6 deployments is available here.

Click to Tweet: #Xerocole video exposes #DNS pitfalls for #WorldIPv6LaunchDay http://bit.ly/Lgg0CT

Most of the equipment and software used by internet service providers has been IPv6 compliant for a while, said Rob Fleischman, CTO of Xerocole.

They have tested to see whether their domain name system (DNS) servers can make IPv6 queries, known as AAAA queries, and they seem to work. We decided to scratch the surface to find what, if anything, ISPs should be worried about once the switch to IPv6 happens on a global scale, he added.

As it turns out, there are a few issues that could cause broadband internet providers some problems, which are worth sharing, he concluded.

Top DNS Challenges for ISPs in an IPv6 World

Some versions of desktop operating systems will make AAAA record queries regardless of whether they have an IPv6 connection or not. This can result in timeouts as those desktops try to initiate IPv6 connections (which they can't) to hosts that publish AAAA records to the world. Eventually, those attempts will timeout and the host will retry using IPv4. This has the potential to light up ISP call centers with customer service complaints.

Since Antispam DNSBL usage involves checking SMTP inbound IPs against a remote DNS zone, the use of IPv6 explodes the number of potential address checks. A single IPv6 allocation can arm a spammer with enough unique addresses to try against an operators mail server for thousands of years. The result? If a mail server makes all those DNSBL lookups against a carriers DNS, it can easily result in "cache-busting"/DOS-style behavior.

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Xerocole CTO Exposes Biggest Challenges Facing Internet Service Providers on World IPv6 Launch Day