Spider-themed network lures investors
Black Widow Network offers investor-owned properties for sale
By Inman News, Thursday, June 19, 2008.Bookmarking Sites
A poisonous spider is not the typical mascot for an online real estate networking site. And the founders of Black Widow Network are well aware of that.
The site is geared toward real estate investors, a group that is known for striking quickly and taking aggressive steps when it comes to deals on properties -- see the parallels now?
It's not the first social network to welcome real estate investors, though it does focus specifically on the investor niche. BiggerPockets.com is an online community designed for investors, homeowners and real estate professionals, and PropertyShark.com backs the MyDealBook.com networking site that features a range of real estate professionals including investors, as examples.
The Black Widow Network joins a large pool of real estate-centric online networks. There are also a variety of companies that have sprung up to offer data tools for real estate investors, such as Krunching.com.
There are about 1,100 investors now using the Black Widow site since its launch in December, said Kevin Skarritt, who holds the title of "chief arachnid" at the network and works on branding and Web design for the Boston Area Real Estate Investment Association.
Skarritt said that the spider theme for the site -- which predominantly features the infamous red hourglass shape that appears on black widow abdomens -- is intended to make the network stand out on the Web. "The nature of real estate investors is they're very aggressive with marketing, very aggressive with deal-making. Yah, the spider kind of creeps people out a little bit," he acknowledged, though, "'strike fast' is really at the heart of how real estate investors think."
It's not the only real estate site with a bug theme, either -- Inman News earlier reported on Bug Realty, a brokerage company that uses a ladybug theme in its branding.
Skarritt said that he conceptualized the site with Richard Dale-Mesaros, the "chief deal weaver" of the network who is a professional investor.
"We were talking about what the industry needed ... what could we really do to energize the industry? Wouldn't it be cool if there was an MLS system just for investors. We started making a wish list," he said.
The Web site has a free registration process, and members pay a fee to post for-sale properties that they own to the site. They can also post for free by using credits that they earn at the site through participation in the network.
Investors who use the site, including licensed real estate agents, cannot post property for sale at the site that they don't own or have under contract.
Dale-Mesaros said the site is open to a range of property types, including single-family, commercial and industrial properties and vacant land, with membership geared toward individual investors.
He said the site is intended for the "individual guy who is buying a first-flip property or a piece of land to someone like myself who is doing multiple deals a year but isn't an institutional investor." Members of the roughly 400 real estate investor groups around the country are the intended audience, he said.
He said that while the network is investor-focused, he does expect that consumers looking for deals may have an interest in perusing properties at the site and that there is an opportunity for real estate agents to work on the buy-side of transactions with investors.
"There certainly has been more national interest generated in flipping houses," he said.
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Submitted by Sean OToole on June 19, 2008 - 3:33pm.
First sharks, now black widows. I suppose everyone wants to make a "killing" in real estate, but having bought and flipped 150 properties I have to say I find these themes a real turn off. Is it just me?
Sean O'Toole
Founder / CEO
ForeclosureRadar.com
ForeclosureTruth.com
Submitted by Joe Cline on June 19, 2008 - 11:48pm.
It is a little sick that folks think it's good to profit off of other people's misery. Granted, some of the properties in foreclosure are investor and hey if you can't afford to lose it, don't gamble it. I agree that at least people should think to have a bit more couth than to be proud to promote the predator/prey type relationship in their investment in HOMES.
Ah well, maybe it's just a sad sign of the times that America rationalizes and publicizes torture and violation of the very rights that we claim to hold dear and American investors rationalize and publicize the ability to profit from the misfortune of others.
Of course, all the rationalization is centered around being "aggressive", but it is thinly veiled when the site's mascot is a venomous, spider that poisons, then liquefies it's prey before sucking the prey's insides out. Makes you want to do business with folks on that site huh?
Joe
Lantana Texas Real Estate | New Home Representation Is Crucial
Submitted by Beth Smith on June 20, 2008 - 8:55am.
Good Grief,
I don't think that the site had that venemous an analogy Joe. Ease up. Are you always this anal?? You are a stroke candidate.
Submitted by Ben Nicolas on June 20, 2008 - 2:16pm.
what is the url for this website?
Submitted by Richard Dale-Mesaros on June 21, 2008 - 2:01pm.
Response to Joe and Sean…..
Just a quick note to follow up on your comments regarding www.BlackWidowNetwork.com; my partner Kevin and I appreciate your feedback and it’s great to see folks being active and commenting on leading real estate blogs like Inman. Certainly such an experienced real estate professional as Joe and a very active investor like Sean have a good handle on the foreclosure world and how the activities of real estate investors play into this picture.
Our whole spider brand and STRIKE FAST relate to the fact that as an investor, you need to be prepared to move quickly when it comes to making an investment in real estate; (hang around and the deal’s gone), but NONE of our brand effort has anything to do with taking advantage of folks in an unfortunate position. I absolutely agree with you that there’s been a negative public perception of investors. As a full time investor myself and a Board member of the New Hampshire Real Estate Investor’s Association, I’ve spent a huge amount of time conveying to investors to behave with ETHICS and INTEGRITY, formulate truly win-win solutions and develop a culture of helping people; believe me, I’ve sat at way too many people’s kitchen tables, figuring out ways to help them with their incredibly tough situations! The type of investors you speak of won’t be around very long…..
The essence of Black Widow Network is providing a dynamic platform for investors to share deals, insights and ideas, network with each other and find new ways of becoming more successful with their businesses. This is a HARD business and it takes a lot of integrity, knowledge and energy to see it through – we plan to be a catalyst for this AND pave the way for real estate investors to be recognized as helpful, caring individuals. Hopefully I’m preaching to the choir here and we’d love to get some articles/podcast interviews from the two of you; you certainly seem to care about our industry, which we applaud.
Yours with boundless enthusiasm,
Richard Dale-Mesaros :)
Chief Deal Weaver
www.BlackWidowNetwork.com - STRIKE FAST!