Central Ohio resident Harley E. Rouda, Jr. was named one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in Real Estate'  by Inman News in a report issued  August 31, 2006.  Rouda is CEO and managing partner of Real Living. 

Inman News 

The report says of the Brokerage Category:

 
"These luminaries have made waves in the residential real estate brokerage business.  Some are renowned industry speakers, some are heads of top brokerage companies, and others are founders of brokerage using alternative business models.

In Inman's 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders: 2006 Rouda is described as: 

"Harley Rouda Jr., is CEO & Managing Partner of Real Living, one of the largest residential firms in the Midwest and in the nation.  He is also CEO and general counsel of HER Real Living, the firm's Columbus' operations. Rouda spearheaded the creation of Real Living in February 2002 when HER Realtors of Greater Columbus, Huff Realtors of Greater Cincinnat / Northern Kentucky and Realty One of Northern Ohio united under one banner" 

Rouda is in good company among the heads of national companies that have a real estate presence in our Central Ohio market. Inman named  these company leaders among the '100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders: 2006',  in the Brokerage category:

"Gary Keller founder and chairman of Keller Williams International Realty"
- There are Keller Williams franchises in Central Ohio. 

"Thomas Kunz CEO and president of Century 21 Real Estate Corp
- There are Century 21 franchises in Central Ohio, Century 21 Joe Walker, Century 21 O'Neil and Company, others.

Dave Liniger Co founder and Chairman of the Board Re/Max International Inc.
- There are oodles of Re/Max franchises in Central Ohio.

Richard Smith Vice Chairman and President Realogy Corp.  (Realogy split from Cendent Coldwell Banker, ERA, Sotheby's and Century 21 were Cendent are Realogy.)

- I've always been confused about Cendent, but I assume local Coldwell Banker King Thompson, Century 21 franchises and the ERA franchises are part of Realogy. I could be wrong.  

Richard Rector Chairman Realty Executives

-Realty Executives is one of the largest real estate franchise companies. There are Realty Executives franchises in Central Ohio. 

There are a number of the heads of brokerages outside the Columbus area as well on the list of  the most influential people in real estate, Weichert, Long & Foster, Baird & Warner, The Corcoran Group.  If you live or have lived outside Central Ohio you may recognize these company names.  Ohio's own Rouda's peers in other parts of the nation.   

Other categories (outside brokerage) in the Inman report included:

"Technology and Online Real Estate"

"Trade Associations and Government Agencies"

"Media Heavyweights"

"Economists, Academics and Advocates"

"Mortgage and Ancillary Services"  

I will share some of the people in the list in the future on Columbus Best Blog, especially those that have a bearing on Columbus Ohio real estate.  This is getting too long.................. Or read the 30 page report yourself, in the Inman link above. 

Congratulations to Harley Rouda Jr. and all of the people named by Inamn.

It is a repeat performance for Harley Rouda Jr.,  the 2005 list!  

c. 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

This could get confusing.  I heard of BlogHer from Sellsius^o Blog  

"To find more great blogs by women, visit BlogHer."

I think the Sellsius^o bloggers are HIMs. I have always assumed they are men.  Smart men...

"In Defense of HIStory and BlogHERcon"  is written about BlogHer by one of the co-founders, Jory Des Jardins.

I work for a company called HER Real Living. We  were HER REALTORS® before we became HER Real Living. the letters H.E.R. are a man's initials, two men really, Harley E. Rouda Sr. founder of the company and Harley E. Rouda Jr. the CEO of Real Living today.  

I have heard of people thinking HER is all women REALTORS®. That is probably easier to think outside of Central Ohio... inside Central Ohio you would see lots of HER signs or now HER Real Living signs with men's names on them.  It is pronounced H. E. R.

 History about the HER story. (Columbus Best real estate company)

Jory Des Jardins wrote of why BlogHer came to be:

"I'm amused by all of the brouhaha between the guys and the girls. This issue has heated up in both the print and online realms, with discussion over the alleged blogger gender divide and lack of female political commentary in major metropolitan newspapers."

I love the word "brouhaha"

Q. "What makes BlogHer different from other blogging organizations?"

A. "BlogHer evangelizes blogging by, for and to women."

More Q&A

If I am a HIM can I be a BlogHer?

What is BlogHer's long-term vision?  for "wired women"  

Confused?

If you are a blogger (male or female) maybe you can join BlogHer. 

If you need help with real estate in Central Ohio, HER Real Living (pick me... pick me...)

If you just enjoy reading a blog about Columbus... Come back to Columbus Best Blog tomorrow... there's bound to be more.. 

Copyright 2006 Columbus Best Blog and Maureen McCabe

"Change is usually a slow process, but not going along often means getting left behind. In tune with evidence of steady declines in newspaper circulation and readership, HER Real Living, Real Living's Ohio-based real estate brokerage company, pulled out of the Columbus Dispatch in 1998 in favor of pursuing today's real estate consumer who is online. The company discussed its strategy for the transition in a release Thursday, saying the pull-out was more of a process. First, it replaced listings ads with image ads, and eventually the image ads were replaced with online advertising campaigns within daily newspaper Web sites like Dispatch.com (The Columbus Dispatch) and Cleveland.com (The Cleveland Plain Dealer).

"Now, real estate brokerages need to choose between getting online and getting in front of the consumer or staying rooted in traditional listing advertising – possibly meaning the difference between a successful, forward-thinking company, and one that is barely able to stay afloat," the company said in a white paper. "

Inman News and the Inman Blog provide news to and about the real estate industry.  Thanks to real estate blogger Bonnie in MN of  Real Estate Snippets for bring the HER Real Living mention to my attention.