Social Media, Location, Mobile, and Tabs

Why is Community at the Top of the Page?

Because the most important component of the site is community.  The information our community provides is everything.  We can change the name, the look, and the format, but the rental database is what makes the whole thing worth while, and to that end we must dedicate the bulk of our effort.  Recognizing the value of the community and encouraging our users to spread the good word currently warrants our layout decision.  Once we have 100K users, the feature will be less important.

Besides the obvious Facebook integration, we now have a Twitter feed, and a blog (obviously) which rounds out a basic SM strategy.  Can anyone come up with some better community efforts we can make?

Where are the Maps?

The site already helps you resolve addresses using Google's geocoding service.  And, if you click the "map" link on any posting, you will see a Google Map popup with a pin locating the property.  But admittedly, the location features are lacking...

Google's mapping and location services are very powerful tools for us, but they have some limitations me must navigate.  Right now we are working on using HTML5 location features to guess at your location and use that information to inform search results.  Finally, we'll have to devise an adequate reverse geocoding solution (Google may or may not work in this case) to assist with a more general map integration.

Mobile Access and Layout

So, how do I use this thing to save money and make the world better? 
Of all the things to take issue with the service, usability is the most justifiable and least mentioned issue.  Right now, access to the WuzRent database is like getting to search on a library computer.  The functionality is adequate for finding an exhaustive dataset for a given location (assuming you are fairly comfortable with web technology), but it is certainly not a hand-holding experience and we're not setup to always give you exact comps.

To this end, we're working on a bevy of upgrades.  Upgraded search, upgraded stats, activity-based "tab-like" layout, and of course mobile.

We need to support the two major use cases I foresee:

1. Interest in a specific property (renting a new place or renegotiating).
2. Casual browsing (general interest, area interest).

In the specific property case, location, mobile, and specific search are the most important features; in the more general case, broad search features and stats-based navigation are more important.