Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent launched on the Nextel side of Sprint, today.

Here's how to use it on Nextel. From your cellphones deck:

Go to applications. Then, to the all categories section. Then to the GPS section. And then click on Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent.

Use on these Nextel phones: i605, i760, i850, i860, i870.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is the first GPS mobile real estate application to launch on wireless carriers.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent utilizes location technology such as GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) –already in your cell phone - to instantly return information about the closest homes sold within the last three years such as the last sold price, last sold date, taxes and square feet.

You can use on Sprint as well. Here are the steps to download on Sprint. Go to the main menu of your Sprint phone and look for the “My Content / Downloads” area -- this is where you download games, ringers, screen savers, applications. Then to find Smarter Agent, scroll through the navigation to: Applications, Get New (Content), Find It, Shopping (Pick: Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent). Use on Sprint Phones with LBS/GPS capabilities: Samsung A900, Sumsung A920, LG 535, Sanyo 5600, Sanyo 7400, Sanyo 7500, Sanyo 8300.

Because of Smarter Agent’s patented use of GPS, once you download the application, every time you engage it, your cell phone automatically locates where you are and instantly provides you with recent sales data for homes around you. Mapping included.

Smarter Agent covers millions of properties in just about every neighborhood in the United States. And it costs less than a big fancy coffee at Starbucks! You can search as much as you want for a single low monthly fee of $4.99. The fee is billed right to your cell phone bill.

Try Smarter Agent where you live, when driving through a new neighborhood you are curious about, or while on vacation looking for second home.

We have been told Smarter Agent is also a great busy buddy and party conversation tool - you can learn what the neighbors paid anytime, anywhere! Bottom line, Smarter Agent can make YOU the smartest real estate person on the block in an instant!

About Smarter Agent
Smarter Agent® is creating a communication revolution by combining the powerful capabilities of mobile LBS (location based services) technology with real estate content about properties, neighborhoods and interesting places around you. Smarter Agent has been granted 3 patents governing the use of GPS and location-based services in the real estate vertical. The company's application platform delivers dynamic, location-relevant content to both mobile devices and the Internet. This allows consumers and enterprise users to learn, interact and transact with the world around them as never before possible.

Smarter Agent is one of the most acclaimed location-aware applications in the world. CTIA, the telecommunications industry association, awarded Smarter Agent the Best LBS/GPS application through its Emerging Technology Awards. Smarter Agent also won the Navteq Global LBS Challenge category for Best Commerce Application. It has been named a product likely to “change the marketplace” from the prestigious DEMO conference, is an Inman Innovator Award Finalist, and is the Winner of the Ben Franklin Award for Most Innovative Product.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is available now on Sprint/Nextel. Rentals, by Smarter Agent will launch in the 4th Q 2006. For Sale Homes, by Smarter Agent is scheduled to launch in time for Christmas.

Smarter Agent is an Inman Innovator. Inman News today released the names of the finalists for the coveted 2006 Inman Innovator Awards. Winners will be announced at the annual Real Estate Connect SF technology conference, July 26-28, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Smarter Agent was nominated for Most Innovative Technology. The Inman Innovator Awards recognize companies that use technology and innovation to enhance the real estate transaction for consumers and real estate professionals. "In today's fast-moving marketplace, innovation is a more important quality than size, market share or even revenue," said Bradley Inman, founder and publisher of Inman News. "That's why I'm so excited to announce these Inman News Innovator Award finalists today." The awards have been presented at Real Estate Connect SF since 1997.

So back in the day (2004 ish) when we were testing our online lead generation prowess, and when real estate was the national pastime, our beta www.smarteragent.com site hovered around the 20,000-25,000 most trafficked website of any kind in the world, according to Alexa.com. That was enough to make us the most visited real estate broker owned website in the Philadelphia region - a nice little thing.

As we started focusing on building mobile, we drifted to about the 40,000 most trafficked site.

So low and behold without an ad budget, and without an announcement we soft lauched on Sprint, we spike the other day to about the 9,000 most trafficked website in the world according to the Alexa universe. Now I did tell 5-6 of the bloggers I read, but I doubt that could do it...and I do not have that many relatives to push up our site traffic. I just can't explain it - but thanks for visiting.

I think this means that when we start announcing Smarter Agent Mobile -- our web traffic is going to skyrocket...I will keep you, my loyal reader (I have only 1 :), posted. Yes, you launch mobile and your website hops, if you think they are separtate channels you would be wrong! One plays off the other.

Paul Graham in an interesting analysis says you need lot's of rich people, nerds and a neat place to live to have the right mix for technology start-up nirvana. Read his interesting post here: http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html

In the 1st Q 2006, Silicon Valley and Boston did about as much Venture Capital investing as the rest of the country combined. Silicon Valley did 2 Billion; Boston area did 872 Million; NY, LA , San Diego and Seattle area did about 300M each. Philadelphia did under 100M, 20 times less than Silicon Valley and 8 times less than Boston - I knew it felt a little light around here. See the chart here: http://www.pwcmoneytree.com/moneytree/nav.jsp?page=region

One of the keys to successful home buying, selling and investing (or any type of real estate endeavor) is to know more than anyone else.

You should research urban and suburban growth issues such as schools, zoning, transportation, employment centers - and how they will effect property you want to purchase .

Good buyers of real estate usually have some experience that let's them uncover value. They may be good at finance, art, architecture, gardening, politics - and the really great ones are good at many fields that can impact real estate value.

In a post a few days ago, I included an article that gave examples how to look for real estate. The author advocated talking to neighbors, police, real estate agents and other local experts. Good advice.

Most buyers rely solely on their agent for information. Not the best plan. There are more than a few real estate billionaires, and guess what -- none are real estate agents. However, most every real estate billionaire uses real estate agents. So what gives?

Rich real estate folks take in a lot of information so they can do their own homework.

The key is to use your agent, your banker, your insurance broker and even the staff of your local county and city government -- all as a set of consultants that can provide you with pieces of your home buying or investment puzzle.

Smarter Agent is a good tool for your arsenal.
We invented Smarter Agent Mobile for a single reason. When we were involved in real estate development, you had to go to a lot of different places to get information about a property. With Smarter Agent mobile, you will start to see a suite of services that bring pertinent information to you where it really counts - out in the field - as you drive around. Smarter Agent let's you tap real estate information spontaneously - when you see something you like, from a device you will have with you - your cell phone.

There are a lot of great real estate tools to support you, but if you spend more time on the Internet than in the field looking at property and neighborhoods you can forget about being a great real estate buyer, seller and investor. Doing research online and visiting a dozen homes pretty much assures you might have found something better.

So my advice is be like a sponge. Actually I heard the Donald say that in his book, but as any expert knows, they are successful because they are information sponges.

Learn as much as you can about a place. Do not depend on few sources for your information. I suggest reading things you might not normally do like architecture, urban planning and real estate finance magazines - most which can be found online - and which can get your creativity flowing. Even HDTV can give you some tips, although I do not have the patience to sit through a show with all those commercials, I wish you could search them online by topic.

AN eye opener is to go to a few planning board meetings.

Then get out there and compare homes in the town you want to live, with homes in neighboring towns as well.

Remember it is up to YOU to create and recognize value. It takes time and effort to be in the part of the pack that knows more than everyone else. But once you get up the curve you can take action based on your new knowledge, which in turn lowers your stress level!

Seth Jayson from The Motley Fool wants his Bubble Back!

Here are several paragraphs written by Seth on 06/09/2006:

The housing spin
"There's nothing funnier or more satisfying (for me, at least) than watching the National Association of Realtors (NAR) change its tune these days. The latest news release from this sunny-Jim industry group finally fesses up to its past fiction, but even when it admits the bubble's going to pop, it can't muster the courage to just come out and say it.

Nope, according to the news template the NAR released to the press on June 6, "The housing boom has ended, but sales at historically healthy levels will continue." Wow, sounds great! What about all those poor HGTV-addled suckers -- oops, I mean investors -- who've been buying property on interest-only ARMs with the hopes of flipping it for an easy profit?

Not to worry, folks -- a flop in prices is good! Here's why, according to the NAR. "Experiencing a slowing from a hot market is a good thing because we need a solid housing sector to provide an underlying base to the economy, and slower appreciation will help to preserve long-term affordability."

I hope all those people out there who leveraged themselves up to their eyeballs with risky loans to get into the market are going to be greatly comforted by the "long-term affordability" their homes may offer the buyers of the future.

Who moved my bubble? So, yeah, the NAR is full of it and will spin the numbers any way it can to keep up the pleasant fiction that all is well. But the cracks began to show in subsequent remarks from NAR "Chief Economist" David Lereah. The head outfit that ridiculed the idea of a housing bubble for years is now crying for Ben Bernanke to bring it back.

"But this is a time for the Fed to pause on rate hikes because we have some interest-sensitive housing markets that have become vulnerable," Lereah said.

Allow me to translate:

Interest-sensitive housing markets = "Bubbles"
Vulnerable = "Ready to pop"

Price gains. Returns.
These are people who want us all to believe in housing as an investment, and they just happen to take a cut on the deals. Of course, housing, over the long run, is not a good investment, except for a very savvy few. It's a roof over your head that tends to keep pace with inflation, but not in a straight line. But if you can't afford your place because you made a bad deal based on reports of the never-ending happy housing story, that cozy home could be a personal finance time-bomb waiting to explode.

Those home industry advertisements might feature kitties and puppies, blue skies and little girls with dimples frolicking in the home of your dreams, but the people putting together those ads measure their success by how many greenbacks they can extract from your wallet. The only person out there who's really looking out for your financial well-being is you.
For related Foolishness:
Behind the Bubble Babble
Bad-Mouthing the Bubble
Don't Get Crushed by Your Home

Smarter Agent Mobile (with GPS) is the best tool to learn about neighborhoods quickly.

You can swoop into a neighborhood you desire and learn about property values from your cell phone.

Heck, even with all the neat Internet real estate tools out there, 1 out of 5 people find the eventual home they purchase by driving by it. That's over 1,500,000 people a year that buy a home they first saw and found themselves by driving through a neighborhood. Then of course most bounce the idea of their Realtor, and a home is bought!

In the below article, Michele Dawson, writing for realtytimes.com, gives you tips for what to think about as you walk and drive around new neighborhoods.

Her advice is the same process followed by all real estate savvy pro's and should be heeded.

She says by all means use the Internet-- but then get off your butt and do your homework in the neighborhood.

Talk to the neighbors, police, visit the schools etc.

The more you know the better deal you will get! Seems obvious...but there are enlightening tibits that can be discovered in any neighborhood. You would be surprised what a nosey neighbor knows about the place you are thinking about buying! Heck, sometimes meeting the neighbors is a real eye opening experience in its own right ;).

Find The Perfect Neighborhood.
How to scout out the best place to call home
By Michele Dawson

Once you've become pre-qualified for a loan, you should be ready to put your house-hunting efforts into full gear. But don't skip the important step of scouting out neighborhoods before you start your search for the perfect house.

The neighborhood in which you live will heavily dictate your whole way of life—things like walking to a nearby park with your kids, knowing your kids are attending good schools, feeling safe when your children play outdoors, being close to restaurants and shopping, enjoying a short commute, and knowing your home will appreciate at a healthy rate.

Of course one way to get started in your neighborhood search is to get in your car and explore, especially if you're unfamiliar with the area. Get an idea about the neighborhoods by driving around and seeing which areas appeal to you. Walk around, explore, and talk to some of the residents.

Take note of the general appearance of the homes. Are they well maintained? Are they nicely landscaped?

If you have children, you might be looking for a neighborhood with plenty of children around, as opposed to neighborhoods that attract more seniors or young singles.

Other factors you'll want to consider are the schools, crime, your family's specific needs, and appreciation - as in how much the value of the home is likely to increase.

A good Realtor will be very familiar with all the neighborhoods in the area and should be able to tell you about the strengths and weaknesses of the specific neighborhoods you're eyeing.

The School District
Even if you don't have school-aged children, buying a home in a district with good schools will be in your best interest. When and if you sell the home at some point in the futurfutureure buyers with children will likely consider good schools their top priority. And neighborhoods with good schools typically attract more buyers. Ask your Realtor about information on schools in the area.
Talk to people in the neighborhood, especially people with children. Standardized test scores are also available on the Internet.

Visit the schools and take a tour if you have children. It's important that your decision isn't based purely through facts gathered online. Get a true feeling for what the school is like.

Crime Statistics
No one wants to live in a neighborhood where break-ins and burglary are the norm. There are web sites that can provide you with statistics on crime and other information pertinent to your search.
Talk to neighbors.
Take note if there are bars on the windows and doors of homes.
Talk to the police or sheriff's department.
Check for gang graffiti on walls and walkways.
Keep in mind that if you're looking in-town, you may not be able to get away from everything you consider unappealing (such as noise and traffic).

Keep Your Family in Mind
A home isn't just an investment when you have a family to think of. You'll need to consider more than just the number of bedrooms or whether it has an attached garage. You'll need to consider the community first and foremost. Do you want schools that are in walking distance? Do you want to be close to your place of employment? Do you want to be close to shopping, restaurants, and other services?

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is a new mobile application.

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent utilizes GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) to instantly return information about the closest homes sold within the last three years such as the last sold price, last sold date, taxes and square feet.

Because of Smarter Agent’s patented use of GPS, once you download the application, every time you engage it, your cell phone automatically locates where you are and instantly provides you with recent sales data for homes around you. No typing required! It’s amazing!

Smarter Agent has a lot of other cool features that make it fun and easy to use. For example, Smarter Agent has GPS mapping so on the same map you can see where you are and all of the recent sales near you. You can search by city and state if you want to research areas other than where you are.

Smarter Agent covers just about every neighborhood in the United States. And it costs less than a big fancy coffee at Starbucks! You can search as much as you want for a single low monthly fee of $4.99. The fee is billed right to your cell phone bill.

Smarter Agent is the most award winning GPS (also called LBS - Location Based Services) application in the world. CTIA, the telecommunications industry association, just awarded Smarter Agent the best use of LBS/GPS technology. Smarter Agent also won the Navteq Global LBS Challenge for best commerce application. It has been named the most innovative and most likely to “change the marketplace” product from a number of sources such as Inman News and DEMO.

Smarter Agent’s mobile GPS application may just be the most powerful real estate tool ever invented. Try it where you live, when driving through a new neighborhood you are curious about, or while on vacation looking for second home. We have been told Smarter Agent is also a great busy buddy/party conversation tool - you can learn what the neighbors paid anytime, anywhere! Bottom line, Smarter Agent can make YOU the smartest real estate person on the block in an instant!

Russell Buckley who contributes to the Mobhappy blog said something we agree with: "Most people know the area they live and work in and the idea of getting your phone to find the nearest ATM or pizza restaurant is not something they need most of the time.”

He's right. We oftern say the mobile search universe is very sophmoric at this point.

What we do at Smarter Agent is add true value to people that want mobile search.

We call this bringing the “Steven Spielberg effect" to mobile. IE, the search has to be crafted by someone that creates a compelling story someone would pay for. So you have to be an expert or have expert content to make the search interesting. Do not tell us things we already know -- as Russell aludes to.

You can see - if you try Smarter Agent - that we are beginning to address some of these high value searches in a way no local search algorithm will be able to match in the next few years. If you are creating a local search platform, and especially when using GPS/LBS, you better be able to deliver “expert of expert” data about the spot where the user is standing! Not a bunch of skim the surface, boring data base entries.

That is one of the problems with mobile content today. There are a lot of one dimesional games and applications, a user tries once and says, this is no big deal - and does not come back. Smarter Agent creates compelling and multi-dimentional applicaitons that are updated - at least - daily! They contain expert data.

We are pretty good at this because by chance of birth, we grew up in a family of architects, urban planners, real estate brokers and developers - and worked and studied in these fields as a right of passage. These are the professions that have been asked to describe and interface and decide what is relevant about a location for 1000’s of years. Take that and mix it with mobile GPS/LBS technology and you do indeed have some game changing local search (we think).

That’s why we have received 3 patents in the mobile LBS space as far as searching and advertising and conducting commerce within real estate and built environment. Which is in essence - local search - with a narrow focus growing outward – the opposite of trying to be a generic mobile search platform.

Plus our killer attibute is that your grandmom can understand and use it!

Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent is live on Sprint. We will have a lot more to say about this!

Here are the steps to download on Sprint. Go to the main menu of your phone and look for the “My Content / Downloads” area -- this is where you download games, ringers, screen savers, applications.

To find Smarter Agent, scroll through the navigation to:

· Applications
· Get New (Content)
· Find It
· Shopping

Pick: Recently Sold Homes by Smarter Agent.

Use on Sprint Phones with LBS/GPS capabilities:
Samsung A900
Sumsung A920
LG 535
Sanyo 5600
Sanyo 7400
Sanyo 7500
Sanyo 8300