Social Networking Becomes More Entrenched In Our Lives
October 9, 2010 Leave a comment
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Prudential Homesale Website Recognized
August 5, 2010 Leave a comment
Sometimes you live with something so long that you just take it for granted . . . that is until somebody else points out what you have is pretty special. Such is the case with our website, www.prudentialhomesale.com. Here’s a toast to all our IT people who work tirelessly to give us the best tools in the industry. Here – Here!
Lancaster, PA, July 30, 2010 –(PR.com)– Prudential Homesale Services Group, a local realty firm operating twenty offices throughout south central and southeastern Pennsylvania, was recently recognized as a finalist in The Central Pennsylvania Business Journal’s 2010 Best of the Web Awards.
The Best of the Web Awards are designed to recognize local companies and organizations that have excelled in building a strong, quality and productive Web presence. This was the second year for the awards and included additional categories like “Best Use of Social Media” and “Best Recurring eNews Product.”
An independent panel of judges reviewed all entries and scored them on their design creativity, usability, innovation and overall experience. Winners were announced at the Best of the Web Awards luncheon on Monday, July 26, 2010.
Prudential Homesale was the only real estate company to be honored as a finalist. Homesale’s website, www.PrudentialHomesale.com, is the only local broker website offering real estate listings for all of south central Pennsylvania. The site receives more visitors than any other local real estate broker website. Their unique map search technology offers easy search capabilities for users of all skill levels.
Representatives from Homesale who were present at the event were Sandra Troccoli, Director of I.T. & Web Services; Rod Messick, CFO; Christine Sneeringer, VP of Marketing & Advertising; and Laurie Czaplinski, Project & Training Director.
According to RealTrends, Prudential Homesale Services Group is the 16th most successful Realtor in the country in the combined delivery of home services: real estate sales, mortgage closings, title closings, and home warranty sales.
The Race For a National MLS is On
November 23, 2009 Leave a comment
Within the last two weeks, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) unveiled its vision of a national property database called the REALTORS® Property Resource (RPR) that would be available to its membership starting in the second quarter of next year. After I watched NAR’s online presentation of the RPR the first thing I concluded (read my post here) was that they were going to build a national Multiple Listing Service (MLS) even though they stated numerous times during the presentation, “This is not a national MLS.” I didn’t buy their statement two weeks ago and I’m not buying it today. I wish they would just call a spade a spade and get on with it.
While the NAR and the oodles of MLS’s serving their membership haggle over how they’re going to tweak or preserve the status quo, Google is busy blowing up the old model and rewriting the rules of the game.
RPR – Like Watchin’ Deer in the Headlights
November 19, 2009 Leave a comment
Since the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) first unveiled the REALTORS® Property Resource (RPR) at NAR’s Convention in San Diego this past week, I have been intently following and participating in the online conversation so that I can fully understand the breadth of this behemoth. My conclusion thus far – - – This WILL change everything! From how individual REALTORS® in the field do business to how local Association’s and MLS‘s operate to how the consumer perceives us. Trust me; this is the biggest thing to happen to our industry in last twenty-five years. Nothing even comes close. What is amazing to me is that most REALTOR® (my guess is 90%) haven’t even heard of the RPR yet. Mention the RPR and it’s like watchin’ deer in the headlights. Most have no clue.
Why is that? Why the indifference? My guess is that our industry is so focused on pulling itself out of the economic malaise of the past sixteen months that this game-changer has gone unnoticed. In addition, even though it has been introduced, you can’t get your hands on it yet. (NOTE: The official release date of RPR is sometime in April of 2010.) It’s all talk and talk is cheap. Most REALTORS’® attitudes mirror a line from one of my favorite movies, Jerry Maguire: ”Show me the money!” Not literally; but figuratively. They want NAR to, “Show me the product!”.
In case you don’t want to watch the 90 minute NAR webinar or read the press release or read the hundreds of real estate blogs that are covering this important endeavor, here is a condensed synopsis for you. I’ve added my own thoughts and musings after each bullet point to give you my take and to make you think. If you think that I’m too far “out there”, feel free to ignore the commentary sections. I won’t be offended. WARNING – even though this is condensed, it’s still a bit lengthy: Read more of this post
Will the National Association of REALTORS Unleash the 800 Pound Gorilla – - – a National MLS?
November 7, 2009 Leave a comment
Late yesterday afternoon, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) announced that on November 12, they will unveil a new web site called HouseLogic designed to provide home owners with a smart, simple resource to help them manage their homes wisely and to help REALTORS® extend their relationship with consumers through the entire lifecycle of homeownership. While the specifics are still sketchy at this point, it is clear that NAR’s latest foray into the world of online real estate is not just a simple blip on the radar screen but rather a major trembler within our industry.
For the past couple of years, NAR has been working on a project called the ‘Realtors Property Resource’ (RPR) that has been shrouded in secrecy. In fact, even the name was a mystery. It had been called ’Gateway,’ ‘The Real Estate Channel’ and the ‘Library/Archive.’ Those of us in the industry weren’t even allowed to know all the details about the project. Was it for consumers? REALTORS®? Would it provide data on every property in the US? Was it designed to be a property valuation tool? Would it take the place of REALTOR.com? Or, dare I ask – - – Was it intended to be a national multiple listing service? It was like throwing darts from 50 yards to try and hit an ant – who knew?
Google Maps Hit a Home Run
October 31, 2009 1 Comment
Google unveiled its latest innovation for real estate this past week and they crushed a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth into the upper deck! Every time Google tinkers around with its website, real estate people get a shiver of anxiety and this latest innovation is likely to give many within the industry a full-blown case of hives.
Since Google announced the ability to see lots of real estate listings directly on Google Maps back in July of this year, they’ve been working hard to make it even easier to use. They’ve added things like brand new high-resolution Street View imagery and detailed map data. Now they’re making Google Maps an even more useful tool for online real estate searching. Here are a couple of things you can look out for next time you visit their website:
What Baby Boomers Really Want in a Home
September 23, 2009 Leave a comment
The term ‘Baby Boomer‘ gets thrown around a lot in the world of advertising. It seems like everyone is trying to sell to this segment of the population; including the real estate industry. Economic statistics show that baby boomers account for 28% of the population, but over 77% of all financial assets in the United States. This generation also accounts for more than 50% of all discretionary authority in private organizations as well as in government. But do REALTORS® and builders really know what baby boomers want in a home? Do they know what features they want? What locations are preferential? How much money they’re willing to spend? A new survey conducted by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Association of Home Builders entitled 55+ Housing: Builders, Buyers and Beyond was just released that sheds some light on these very questions.
Link Sharing is Ruled by Facebook
August 18, 2009 Leave a comment
A recent survey conducted by AddToAny shows that Facebook users share more links to information than any other site out there. In fact, the spread between Facebook and e-mail (2nd place) is over two times as much. Just a short time ago, e-mail dominated link sharing but social networking has taken over and now has a greater reach worldwide.
What does this mean for the real estate industry? In my opinion, the days of agents sending out e-mail blasts telling the world about their new listing are numbered. The world is choosing to communicate differently. People want a more personal interaction with who they are going to do business with in the future. Does this mean you ought to abandon e-mail? No. It just means that real estate agents should not assume that their future business wants to communicate this way.
NOTE: AddToAny is a maker of one of the most popular widgets that lets content sites provide their readers with an easy way to share stories across multiple social media sites. I use the AddToAny widgets in the sidebar of this blog.
Related articles of interest:
- Topic Tuesday on our Facebook Page: To self-promote, or not to self-promote. (othersidegroup.com)
- Facebook Introduces Real-Time Search(marketingvox.com)
- Poll Result: Most Popular Social Networking Tools for Online … (jonggunlee.tistory.com)
- Facebook is Becoming the Most Popular Way to Share Links. Surprised?(insidefacebook.com)
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