A few years ago we had some lengthy discussions about the pros and cons of having forums devoted to individual states. My own resistance to the idea was primarily for technical reasons (limitations of the forum software at the time) and for spamming issues. Most members at the time seemed to like the idea of individual state forums since there are many issues which are local.

New forum software has eliminated my concerns and I am now thinking again about setting up an area where local real estate issues can be discussed in individual forums organized by state. I would like your opinions please.

The reason this has come up again is because I am trying to think of ways to give Realtor members more opportunities to interact with prospective buyers and sellers - and thereby give Realtors an opportunity to pick up a few free leads. That has to be good, right?

A few days ago I changed the title of the "Ask an Expert" forum to "Ask our Experts". That kick-started my thinking on this - and the thought process went something like this.... The "Ask an Expert forum" was originally designed for members of the public to ask real-estate-related questions and get answers from our Realtor members. Perhaps that forum should be divided up into individual state forums so the public would ask their questions in the "Ask our Experts" forum for their state - which would then make it easier for members to see that "here is a prospect in my state and there may be an opportunity to build a relationship and get some business".

What are your thoughts on this?

I would like the idea. I would even go so far as volunteering to moderate my area. It could really be great as long as spam & shameless self promotion was kept out.

I would be taking you up on that offer of help in moderating Brian - er sorry - Mark!

I think spam can be kept down to some degree. The software allows for some special restrictions on individual forums - so we would not allow links which is what spammers want. We would also be using the existing 30 post rule before signatures are allowed to prevent links that way.

We are pretty quick to ban spammers nowadays as well. Often a spammer will post in the "Introduce Yourself" forum as a first post. Members are quick to report the post and we are quick to ban before the spammer can cause real havoc.

Also, if we proceed with this it may make sense to move this new "Ask our Experts" area to the top of the list - above "Agents and Brokers".

We get tons of traffic from people finding our individual posts using search engines to search for everything under the sun. Once they read the post they found in a search engine, having this "Ask our Experts" area at the top may make it easier for them to stick around and actually ask our experts.

Opinions on this?

If you go that route, please divide California into 2 separate areas. Northern and Southern California. Although we are one state, these two areas have very different ways (through local custom and practice) of handling transactions; while it is true some things are state-mandated, how escrow and title are handled is just one example of how we differ. Just a suggestion.

If I am reading your post correctly the idea is to make the site more consumer friendly and not to segregate existing forums by state lines. Please correct me if I'm wrong I would not like to see existing forums segregated by state.

I agree with CanDo on this. I see lots of Texans, but few Okies here. It could be a good thing to have a state-specific area, but I'd hate to lose all the togetherness we have on the board in general.

I could have both a North and South California.



That is correct. I am only thinking about creating State sub-forums in the "Ask our Experts" forum. None of the other forums would be touched.

Doug, having a separate section for each State so that people can ask for advice from local agents sounds like a great idea since real estate is such a geo specific subject. The only problem might be in mixing the discussions between the agents themselves with that of the general public. If you are planning to advertise this forum to the general public perhaps it might be a good idea to make a special section for the agents first so that they can discuss subjects that concerns only their side of the business in private. IMO


(not meant as professional or legal advice)

I like it just the way it is. I feel a certain freedom to discuss matters here which I would never consider discussing at a Local Board (bored) meeting with members of my beloved local competition.

I have no hesitation in sharing a good idea with someone in Kentucky or Saskatchewan; but which I would keep to myself here.

I am struck by the similarity of our problems and the likeness of the Rules and Regulations we operate under. If there were more Vermonters here, I'd be inclined to retreat to a quite corner and watch . . . . just a little un-solicited self-analysis.

For an opinion in my local Market, I offer a Real Estate Consultation service for a Fee.

When this issue was last discussed a few years ago there was a large vocal group lobbying for "by state" and so far this time I am not getting the feeling that there is any urgency or overwhelming "Finally! We have been wanting this for years!"

Unless there is overwhelming support for this I will not make any change.

I will leave this thread open for further discussion and let other members voice their opinions.

I enjoy the chance to communicate freely with everyone from the different regional markets. If I just wanted to discuss real estate with Utah brokers I would go hang at the coffee shop. I think we all benefit from the multi state format.