6:30am | Long Beach Realtor and well-known blogger Laurie Manny died on Wednesday from unexplained causes. Manny, with Main Street Realtors in Long Beach, had complained earlier in the week on her Facebook page that she had been ill, a posting that generated speculation over whether she’d had salmonella poisoning.
Manny, 55, ran the popular local blog, www.longbeachrealestatehome.com. The posting on her Facebook wall, piled upon rumors around the industry that some say were born from that posting, prompted a story from national real estate news medium Inman News Service, which stated that she had been complaining of severe “salmonella-like” symptoms.
There is however no official report yet on the cause of Manny’s death. The results of an autopsy are pending.
In an Aug. 21 post on her Facebook page, Manny wrote: “OYE Have I been SICK, haven’t eaten solid food since Tuesday, 104 fever every muscle hurt, can only handle Gatorade, ginger ale, lemonade and sweet drinks, water causes violent reaction. Samonella? Pretty certain and never want it again! News just said they are still removing more eggs and dairy products from the market.”
However, Manny’s close friend, Colleen Kulikowski, cautioned that assumptions about salmonella as the cause Manny’s death shouldn’t be made, as the cause of Manny’s death is not yet known. She added that an autopsy has been conducted and that the family expects the results in the next few weeks. “Nobody knows yet,” said Kulikowski, who works in the real estate industry in Amherst NY.
An Associated Press article states that “A feed ingredient containing meat and bone meal fed to chickens on two Iowa farms may be the source of a salmonella outbreak in the U.S. that has sickened at least 1,470 people.”
Services are being planned in Manny’s hometown of Long Island, NY, she said. Following those services, some of Manny’s family and friends are expected to hold services in Long Beach. Details of those services are not yet available.
Manny was known as a straightforward dealer who specialized in the condominium market. She was also known for her blogging. Now on her blog is a tribute to Manny by Kulikowski.
The Inman story, which refers to Manny as a “blogging queen,” states that police found Manny lifeless in her apartment Thursday afternoon after being urged to check on her by friends and family who grew concerned after she had missed an appointment.
The Inman story quotes several real estate professionals hailing Manny’s blogging prowess and proactive thinking:
“Laurie was a pioneer in social media circles and was one of the first real estate professionals to effectively incorporate blogging into her marketing efforts,” states one industry professional.
“Laurie Manny was a giant in the real estate blogosphere. She understood the Web instinctively and drove massive traffic to her real estate website before ‘SEO’ and ‘the long tail’ were familiar words to the real estate masses,” states another.
Manny, who came to the Long Beach real estate scene about seven years ago after working in the garment industry in Los Angeles, drew some criticism from some in the real estate industry after one of her blogs, which drew coverage in an lbpost.com article offered a treaties of sorts warning condo buyers to beware before purchasing. Despite angering some real estate agents who claim that negative news only hurts housing sales, Manny said she wrote the blog because it was the “honest thing to do.”
In that blog Manny also offered tips to buyers on dealing with the growing number of homeowners associations issues that condo owners face.