Joseph Natividad

Teen Blogger Finds Real Estate Success

Could I actually be famous? Well maybe not just quite yet, but I?m definitely feeling like my ego has been nudged just a bit during the past 24 hours or so.

Inman News, a real estate journalism publication based in the Bay Area, recently sent out one of its reporters to profile the work I have been doing for a number of real estate blogs this summer. It was only yesterday that I walked into their office in Emeryville and sat down for a face-to-face interview. In a matter of only one day I couldn?t believe I found an entire article posted about me online. How amazing is that?

I?m simply blown away at the fact that people are beginning to recognize my efforts. I know I?m just starting out with this blog and I am currently writing as a contributing author for four other sites, but I have this feeling in my gut that things can only go up from here. Forgive me for being clich?, but the sky really is the limit.

Before my senior year in high school, I never even dreamed that I?d get involved in writing through blogs as much as I have been these past two months. My training had primarily focused on print journalism and the significance of objective reporting. Learning on my own because I pretty much have to, I browse through various blogs that I find interesting and pick up on the techniques they utilize in order to be more effective with my posts.

If I had to look at the point in my life where things really started taking off for me in terms of my participation in the blogosphere, the Contra Costa Times would definitely be on my mind. They opened things up for me in terms of public exposure as well as its creation of the LIP Blog: I Should Be Doing My Homework, in which I started contributing regularly to since its inception at the very beginning of this year.

As long as blogging stays enjoyable for me to do and doesn?t impede on my studies and my social life, then I?ll keep on typing away for many years to come.

Tags: blogging, bradley-inman, contra-costa-times, emeryville, glenn-roberts, harper-team, inman-news, jim-walberg, john-harper, joseph-natividad, LIP-Board, profit, Real Estate, success, teen, teenager

Street Names DO Matter

Stephen J. Dubner, journalist and co-author of Freakonomics, was on Good Morning America today to publicize his blog?s arrival to the New York Times website as well as give some real estate advice in terms of street names.

I?m a big fan of Freakonomics and am looking forward to getting a daily dose of it with a simple click of my mouse.

What Dubner said about street names was that they DO matter A LOT. If you?re trying to sell a home on Voltage Rd. or Jackass Hill, the best of luck to you. You need it more of it than any other home seller. But if you happen to live on a street with a name like Sugar Maple Lane or Family Circle, it would make a world of positive difference for the sale of your home.

In his book, Freakonomics, which Dubner co-wrote with the economist Steven Levitt, he also discussed the general significance of names in our society. Much like the street name claim, the authors gathered data to find negative and positive effects that a person?s name would have on his or her future.

This is true in most cases, but Dubner and Levitt also disproved it by telling their readers about two brothers ? one named Winner ? and the other (you guessed it) ? Loser. You would think that their futures were pretty much set in stone, but they ended up quite differently. Loser turned out to be a New York City cop while his brother with a bread-winning name ended up a criminal.

Getting back to street names ? it doesn?t matter much if you live in a street named after someone else. I?m guessing that would be the ?control? if this claim could ever be called a social experiment.