The Wave of Un-Syndication

January 28, 2012 Leave a Comment

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A couple of days ago, I posted four real estate predictions for 2012 that I thought would ‘Rock’ the industry this year.  I’ve heard from a couple of my colleagues that told me that my observations on listing syndication were not an accurate reflection of how the industry feels.  Well – - – it didn’t take long for the first prediction to start manifesting itself right before our very eyes.

Abbott Realty Group (ARG), a well-respected, residential brokerage company in San Diego, CA posted the following video on its YouTube channel.  Take a look:

 

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Still think that brokers across the country will never pull out of REALTOR.com, Trulia, Zillow, et. al.?  Jim Abbott, the President of ARG, outlines some compelling points in favor of yanking a firm’s listings from these aggregators.  As the year unfolds, it will be interesting to see how many other brokers follow ARG’s lead.  Stay tuned.

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Four Trends That Will Rock the Real Estate Industry in 2012

January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

If there is one thing that I’ve learned in the real estate business over the years it’s that change is constant.  New tools, programs, regulations and innovators make this an industry that doesn’t stand still.

From computerization of Multiple Listing Service data to smart phones to mortgage preapprovals to digital signatures; innovation waits for no one.  You either embrace it or get out of the way.

So without further ado, here are my predictions for the upcoming year and some of the things that I believe will rock our industry (again):

1.  Listing Syndication and Internet Data Exchange (IDX) Will Come Under Fire

It has been commonplace over the last couple of years for companies and agents to syndicate their listings to as many real estate web sites as possible to increase the chance that their properties will get noticed by home buyers who will in turn contact an agent to buy a home.  Sounds like a plan – right?

Enter Edina Realty.  Edina is a mega broker with 60 real estate offices and over $5 billion in sales located in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.  In late 2011, Edina stopped syndicating their listings to national websites.  Why would one of the top ten real estate companies in the US decide to shun syndication?  If you listen to them, there are three reasons: Read more of this post

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Seven Habits of Highly Successful Real Estate Agents

December 31, 2011 Leave a Comment

In 1989, Stephen Covey wrote a book that has since sold over 15 million copies worldwide called Seven Habits of Highly Successful People.  The book should be required reading for anyone thinking about getting into business for themselves.

Jay Thompson, a respected real estate broker and blogger in Arizona, recently wrote a post entitled ‘Seven Habits of Highly Successful Real Estate Agents.’  Good stuff – - – here are his seven habits with my accompanying comments:

Habit #1 – Understand the Real Estate Contract and Supporting Documents.  Real estate agents in our state can use standard contracts supplied by the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS® that have been written and reviewed by the legal profession.  In other words, the verbiage is used over and over again in virtually all transactions.  There is no excuse for not knowing what is contained within these documents.  Read them.

Habit #2 – Patience.  Our business is becoming more and more complex by the minute.  We deal with other agents, title companies, mortgage reps, appraisers, inspectors and our clients for sometimes months in the same transaction.  The valuable real estate agent knows how to navigate the choppy waters to get the transaction to the settlement table.

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The Rise of Mobile Websites

October 8, 2011 1 Comment

How do you access the internet?

Real estate advertising on the web is changing – Again!

According to an eMarketer forecast, by 2014 an estimated 53.9 percent of mobile phone users in the United States will access the Internet through a mobile browser or application.  This translates to about 44 percent of the total U.S. population.

On average, people check their phones 150 times per day.  That is one glance every six and a half minutes.  This is bordering on an addiction.

In the next three to four years mobile Internet traffic will surpass desktop Internet traffic, driven by mobile Internet/data enabled devices.  If real estate companies and agents don’t embrace this technology, they’ll be left in the dust when it’s time to hand out medals for those who are thriving in the new world of real estate.

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REALTORS® Property Resource – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

August 28, 2011 3 Comments

The REALTORS® Property Resource (RPR) is finally here in the Greater Harrisburg area.  Late last week, the Central Penn Multiple Listing (CPML) service turned on the spigot and rich, property data started flowing to its members.  Not that anyone noticed.  In fact the unveiling of this powerhouse tool for REALTORS® has been one of the best kept secrets in the Mid-State.  Go figure!?!

In case you’re one of the majority of REALTORS® or consumers who is wondering what the heck is the RPR, all you have to do is go to their blog site to get an overview.  If you’re looking to make sense of how the RPR may impact the real estate industry, read one of my previous blog posts on the subject.  I’ve been on record for over a year saying that I think this endeavor by the National Association of REALTORS® will cause major upheaval in our business – mainly with how local Multiple Listing Services (MLS) will function in the future.

So now that it’s here, let’s look at the product from different viewpoints and perspectives – in other words – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly sides.

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What’s a QR Code?

July 25, 2011 Leave a Comment

A giant QR Code linking to a website, to be re...

Image via Wikipedia

A QR Code (abbreviation for Quick Response Code) is a specific barcode that is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera telephones.  The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background.  The information encoded may be text, URL, or other data.

Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes.  The QR code was the created to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.  In essence, it allows a consumer to quickly connect to a designated web page on their mobile device without spending a lot of time typing in characters on a keypad or touchscreen.

How does your smartphone read a QR Code?  Whether you know it or not, many brands of smartphones are now including a QR Reader app with their products.  Don’t have one on your smartphone?  You can download one for FREE at:

http://m.clikbrix.com/

“OK, but how do I create one of those black and white squiggly squares?”  There are a variety of QR Code generator web sites but the one that allows you to generate the code AND track who is scanning your code can be found at:

http://goo.gl/

Once you create the QR Code, right click on the image and save it as a picture to your computer.  You can then use the image in a wide range of software applications.

QR Codes are starting to pop up all over and be embraced by consumers.  Your promotional materials are a great place for QR codes.  Place them on marketing flyers, business cards, t-shirts, photographs, yard signs, letterhead and newsletters.

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Our Connected World is About to Get More Intertwined

June 4, 2011 Leave a Comment

I came across this short video that made me think about how we are going to conduct business with our customers in the not to distant future.  In just a few short years we have evolved into a society that has embraced mobile connectivity.  And guess what?  It’s about to get a whole lot more mobile.


Links of interest:
- How mobile devices are changing community information environments (Pew Research Center)
- Apple vs. Google (Bloomberg Business Week)
- Tablets – The Future of Mobile Computing? (WATBlog.com)

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There Just Might Be Something to This Social Media Stuff

April 23, 2011 1 Comment

We’ve all heard that Social Media is something that we should be involved with because it’s where internet browsers are spending their time.  But do most of us really buy into Social Media?  Do we look at it as a waste of time?

 There is mounting new evidence within Prudential Homesale that not only is Social Media not a waste of time, but it may be even better than anything we had previously imagined.

 In recent internet traffic numbers gathered by Rod Messick, Chief Financial Officer with Prudential Homesale Services Group, he stated that in January of 2011, “Facebook surpassed Trulia, REALTOR.com, and Zillow as a referring source” to PrudentialHomesale.com.  A referring source means that traffic comes to our website from another website instead of a user typing in our website name into their browser or finding us on a search engine.  It’s also known as a click-through.

 How much is Facebook being used by the general public and Prudential Homesale agents? 

 According to the most recent website rankings (week ending 1/29/11) by Experian Hitwise, a leading global information services company providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 65 countries, 10.35% of all internet traffic lands on Facebook.  That’s the highest ranking of any website.  (Yes – it even beat Google which came in at 7.52%.)

 “Visits to PrudentialHomesale.com from Facebook are up 143% as compared to January 2010,” said Messick.  Based on this new data, Prudential Homesale agents can expect to see training developed by the company so that they can utilize social media to a greater extent in their personal marketing and advertising campaigns.

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