I have mentioned, on more than one occasion, my writing on ActiveRain, the largest real estate social and informational network on-line with over 128,000 members of the RE biz.

I suspect many of you have been there as a result of links to articles posted here on Relocation A to Z. I have been a member of ActiveRain for over 2 years now, with almost 1000 articles written. The membership when I started was a little over 6,000 folks.

ActiveRain, or AR as it is fondly called, is a powerful consumer tool (see link below)

There are many thousands of articles on AR written by REALTORS like myself, mortgage brokers, staging professionals, home inspectors and others in our business. These articles have to do with communities all over the US, housing, things to do and places to visit, as well as a wealth of information useful to buyers and sellers.

A recent article by founder Jon Washburn indicated that while AR is a powerful peer-to-peer platform, it is even more powerful as a consumer tool, with about 9 times as many consumer hits as members, and a growth rate in 2008 of about 200%.

Whether you are buying or selling as part of your relocation, I suspect most of you will want to work with an agent in order to accomplish the goal of sellling your home and buying a new home.

You may have already selected that person. Or maybe plan to use the agent that helped you before and who did an outstanding job. Or a good friend who you trust has given you a referral. GREAT. You are on the way.

Maybe, however, you are looking for an agent, along with doing other research on home buying and home selling. The Internet is a great way to do this - but I imagine many of you already know that. If not, you will be amazed at what you can learn.

Say you are relocating to Carlsbad, CA (yep, my home town). Go to Google and type in Real Estate Agents in Carlsbad, CA and what do you find?

You will see a link for ACTIVERAIN, a fabulous real estate networking site with agents, loan officers, home staging professionals and many others from around the country. The link takes you to a list of professionals in California, and you will see that I am #5 in California (but #1 as a real estate agent - 3 of the top 5 are mortgage brokers, all excellent by the way - I know them -  and the top guy is president of a real estate software company - I know him too, and I use his virtual tours in my marketing). There is a tremendous amount of information here if you take time to look at it, and it doesn't cost you a thing. Sort of like an on-line interview, in the comfort of your home.

This is the important stuff you can learn:

• Each agent (or other professional) has a profile so you can learn more about who they are and what they do. This may answer some of your questions about someone you don't yet know and give you a feel about their experience and personality. It may help you decide if you would like to work with them or not.
• Each of us write blogs on ActiveRain, such as the one you are reading here. For example, on ActiveRain I write about all sorts of things for consumers - information for first time sellers (or seller articles such as Is Your Home Sale Being Sabotaged?), things to know as a buyer, how to find an agent, market reports and community profiles, and so on. You will find probably everything you need to know in your quest to buy or sell a home, plus learn a lot about the areas you are considering living in when you relocate. What a fabulous source of information, even if you aren't ready to buy or sell yet.
• Our blogs tell us who we are (this is part of transparency on the Internet) - in reading the articles that each person writes, you will learn a great deal about them. Their integrity, knowledge, and approach to working with clients. Their personality and temperament. Again, it is like having an interview, or reading their personal biography. So, without even having met the agent, you will know enough in many cases to make you WANT to work with that person. You will feel you already know them when you meet.

I know this is a bit of promotion, but I want to help YOU find the right person to assist in your home purchase or home sale. And ActiveRain is a terrific resource. Once there you can search for professionals in your STATE and COMMUNITY. Some people will share alot of information and others will not. What does THAT tell you?

Now this is important...

The other bit of research I would suggest is to simply GOOGLE the name of the person who are thinking of working with, of the referral, or the person you find on ActiveRain. What do you find? You may not even find the person you are considering on the Internet. Hmmmm. What does THAT tell you? On the other hand you may find all sorts of information. Don't you want someone who is active in their business, who can demonstrate their knowledge, and who uses technology? And certainly take a few moments to visit their personal

One last helpful hint...

Go to LOCALISM. This is a resource for buyers and sellers, and you can search nationally to find out all sorts of things on areas that interest you. Since you are planning to relocate, this is a terrific place to start learning about your new community. Once again, some areas will have lots of information (I write a great deal about Carlsbad, for example) and others will have less.

Good luck! I hope you find this helpful. Let me know if I can answer any questions. And I know a lof of the highly ranked agents around the country...so ask me about them if you like.