Partial timeline:

 

 

Need to add more bullet points to 2004 - 2009, then graph on CircaVie.com or other Web 2.0 timeline. Photo above shows original Real Estate Cafe, 1995 - 2000.  We reopened a second retail location in 2002 and have operated virtually since 2005.

 

2010

 

Blog posts from current initiatives:

 

Million Dollar Markdowns 

Sneak Preview: Creating tours of "Million Dollar Markdowns" on Google City Tours

 

Listing Agent Report Cards 

Expired listings surge across Massachusetts as 2009 ends

 

2009

 

Cohosted TweetUp: Is RE ripe for VRM? at NAR convention with Tara Hunt, @missrogue , one of the featured speakers at the conference

 

Honored to be on "100 Interesting, Influential & Impressive People in Real Estate on Twitter"

 

Hosted Round table debriefing of ConnectNY & REBarCampNY at Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School

 

2008

 

LIVE BLOGGING #icsf (Inman Connect San Francisco 2008)

 

Correction appeared online in New York Times article entitled New Listings With Your Decaf?

 

2007

 

Expanded Menu of Fees & Rebates, reintroduced flat fees and no retainer fee options

 

2006

 

Clients, as a group, saved over $1 million during 12 month period ending 1/07 (sales price minus original asking price plus rebates)

 

Platial awarded "Best Real Estate Map"

 

2005

 

Used interactive Valentine's Day theme (1/28/05) to soft launch Real Estate Cafe's blog with link to first video (2/05)

 

2004

 

Wall Street Journal featured 100% buyer agency commission rebate in Cutting the Commission,  (6/14/04)

 

2003

 

Guest editorial on the "Best & Worst of 2002" from the real estate consumers' perspective was published in Inman News & Banker & Tradesman (2/03)

 

Best & Worst article linked to ConsumerWorld.org (2/03)

 

Backgrounded story on DeWolfe & Hunneman merger for Boston Globe (2/03)

 

Featured in articles in Inman News predicting second wave of innovation online in real estate (3/03)

 

Called the leading fee for service concept in the nation by Inman News less than a week later (3/03)

 

Backgrounded a story for Inman News on the proposed agency legislation in Massachusetts (4/03)

 

iPetition launched on line, and received press coverage in Inman News as well as Real Estate insider (5/03)

 

Radio interview about VOW on WBIX Radio (5/03)

 

Quoted prominently by Banker & Tradesman in article on VOWs (6/02 or 03, check date)

 

Sought out by AmPac.com, investment firm which has invested in Help-U-Sell, and ePropertyDirect.com

 

2002

 

Acted as consultant to the United Nations, UN-Habitat, regarding use of real estate related revenues to provide shelter subsidies for AIDS orphans

 

Introduced UN-Habitat to approximately 50 real estate industry leaders, including new best of breed money saving business models

Secured speaking opportunity for UN-Habitat Executive Director at Real Estate Connect, 2002 and helped write speech (link to Inman Article)

 

2001

 

Quoted in several articles in the Wall Street Journal

 

Wrote guest editorials commenting on banks as brokers from the consumers perspective

 

2000

 

Provided background information to NBC's Dateline

 

Acted as informal advisor for Gomez.com survey of 17,000 real estate consumers nationwide.

 

Featured in Real Estate Intelligence Report as innovative new business model for the next Millenium

 

Featured in article on fee for service in RealtyTimes

 

Featured in article on fee for service in St. Petersburgh

 

1999

 

Quoted on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in lead story on Realtor.com IPO, and DOJ / FTC investigation (August 1999)

 

Approached by REALFACS to host a draft site exposing questionable business practices used by HomeStore.com. Homestore was later investigated by the Department of Justice, and pulled from NASDAQ after restated earnings caused its stock plunged from over $100 per share to under $1.

 

Served on NAR XML committee and asked, by Ralph Nader's staff, to prepare proposal to involve the Consumer's Project on Technology in watch dog role for the implementation of XML in real estate.

 

Cambridge City Council passed a consent order instructing the City's Community Development Department to consult with The Real Estate Cafe. This action resulted in a coverstory in the Cambridge TAB

 

Developed proposal for Gimme Shelter & Realtors for Refugee Relief following bombing in the Baltics (get correct name of countries involved.) Proposal was later considered by the National Association of Realtors

 

1998

 

Launched "Roommate Rendezvous" and offered weekly from May to October, and bi-weekly in November and December, 1998

 

1997

 

Developed "Buy 1, Build 1" proposal, submitted to Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, and Microsoft to raise $1 billion annually through savings generated by online real estate transactions. Five years later, was hired by the Rockefeller Foundation and UN-Habitat to begin implementing a similar proposal to raise shelter subsidies for AIDS orphans. (Link to article from Inman News)

 

Spent 5 weeks in October and November preparing for presentation on Microsoft and the future of real estate online. (Link to file online, and download presentation to site.)

 

Developed proposal for an affordable housing website in Cambridge, MA using 100 recommendations from the National Homeownership Strategy

 

Spent approximately 10 weeks during the summer revising business plan based on NetGain conceptual model

 

Successfully organized consumer groups to defeat dual agency legislation in Massachusetts

 

Filed complaint to the Attorney General's office regarding DeWolfe New England's dual agency practices

 

1996

 

Hosted Ralph Nader in a real estate roundtable entitled "Recreating the Real Estate Industry" which was covered live on Boston.com (link to transcript)

 

Acted as buyer broker for first Habitat for Humanity-like project in Cambridge, MA, purchasing a single family house on Harvey Street for under $100,000

 

Testified in public hearings on affordable housing legislation in Massachusetts

 

Participated in committee sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

 

1995

 

Developed and produced a wide range of educational programs and support groups for real estate consumers (Link to monthly calendar of events.)

 

9/05/95:  Boston Globe story, Buying A La Carte Bill Wendel's latest venture, The Real Estate Cafe, aims to be the buyer's 'guardian angel'  (link to archived story)

 

1993-1994

 

Served as the lead consultant for the Housing Opportunity Hotline ('93-'94)

 

Hosted the "Consumer Revolution in Real Estate" featuring Ralph Nader & Steve Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America plus 30 other panelists (April 2-3, 1993)