Operation face lift is in the can, and a big shout out to Dave deBruyn of deBruyn Design for the long-overdue intervention.
Steve tends to think of me as a tech-savvy marvel, but the reality is that I live on the far outskirts of Geekdom. I hang with the techie kids, but what I know about magic computer language (I think they call it “code”) is just enough to get me into trouble. Sure, I can embed stuff on our sites, having long ago become the master of cut and paste, but nine times out of nine the changes I ultimately effect involve an iterative process of blowing up side bars or vaporizing the site entirely.
In short, I have come to know my limitations. Over the years, we have amassed some pretty potent content (if I do say so myself). I have always made it a point to stay away from the standard meaningless links — “For Buyers!” or “For Sellers!” — and have tried to focus on content a visitor might not find anywhere else. To this end, our floor plan pages have been a big hit as have our market stats. But the thing I love most about our Ubertor site was also my undoing; they give me just enough rope to hang myself with. Thus at my hands our site was starting to remind me of that blind date with your friend’s cousin.
“Is she pretty?”
“She has a great personality!”
So, when it happened that I couldn’t bear to look our ugly Betty web site in the home page any longer, I sought professional help. My trepidation was that it would set off a nightmarish chain reaction, like changing clothes. Suddenly the shoes don’t match, then the handbag is all wrong, and so on. Thanks to deBruyn, from the design to the midnight move, there were very few glitches.
Now that we are newly decked out and feeling a little sassy, we are ready to tackle our next project. May snuck in while I wasn’t looking, and our local month-end stats will be posted soon. While you anxiously wait, glued to your screen, I’ll leave you with this teaser. Our San Diego market seems to be picking up some steam, at least in terms of activity. We have been so busy, in fact, that Steve forgot our bloggy anniversary. Some time in April we rolled past the three year mark here at the San Diego Home Blog, and he didn’t even send flowers. Men!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kris Berg is Co-Owner and Designated Broker of San Diego Castles Realty. If not-so static web sites are your thing, go here at once where you will find loads of real estate information including homes for sale, market trends, floor plans and more. Kris's hobbies include fencing and spot welding. She likes kittens. 
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
sexy!
I too from my perch in the bleachers have seen the market pick up. Inventory has been sucked up dramatically in all but the most exclusive areas. I wonder is most of the activity first time buyers after the 8k carrot? I just got my 8k infusion today. Cha-ching.
No, Jakob. That’s the encouraging part. We are starting to see (gasp) discretionary moves and move-ups. $700ks and below are healthy, $800ks starting to attract eyes, but, alas, the higher prices are still having their challenges.
(My anti-spam word was “rent.” Blasphemy!)
Congrats Steve and Kris — I like the new design!
I did not forget the anniversary of the blog (or your gift). My post (and therefore, your gift) is still resting comfortably in the draft folder ready to be unleashed into the world as soon as I can figure out why Wordpress is punishing me. Every time I try to bring it up for final edit I get a big ole error message. Somebody help me!
It looks great, congrats!
Wow, Dave deBruyn does good work. It looks great!
(And happy belated blogiversary!)
Congrats on the blog-o-versary Kris, and thanks for being such great people to work with, this was a fun project.
Website looks awesome. Nice work Dave!
Dave is a MASTER! Site looks incredible! Bravo!
Wow, this really is an improvement. The funny part of a more challenging market is that it gets us to focus back on some basics… and the fact that our web sites looked their age. I look forward to referencing your blog to see how the business is going on the opposite coast.
-doug
Nice site, guys. Things up here in la la land are picking up, too. Under the $600 mark is almost all multiple offers if priced right and even the short sales are selling. I submitted a short sale package last Monday and I have the banks appraiser coming tomorrow. I’m so happy to see the market coming back, at least at the beach and surrounding areas in the South Bay of L.A. Our buyers have had to step up to the plate and aggressive swinging required. Remember me if any of yours come this way! Lesley
Hey Lesley – Glad to hear that increased buyer traffic is going viral in your area, as well. It would appear that the planets are finally aligning and the masses who have been gathering on the sideline have no place to go anymore. Now, if only the banks would start to work their loss mitigation dept’s. the 6 or 7 days a week that we do and hire a few more people and maybe we could get a short sale completed in a more reasonable timeframe, say 60 days instead of 120. Thanks for dropping by and hope all is well.