New Technology and Real Estate Agents

I was recently accepted as a guest Blogger and Technology advice contributor over at the Home Gain Real Estate Blog. Since my back ground is based in the technology sector and I have been actively involved in the Real Estate industry for some time, it made sense for me to contribute to the larger Real Estate society of Bloggers and those that look upon Home Gain. After all Home Gain was one of the first major players in the online scene of Real Estate and competitors like Zillow have continued to hone their best practices following the path all ready blazed by Home Gain.

With that, I was warmly introduced into the Home Gain family by the Marketing & Communications Manager Jessica Gopalakrishnan of Home Gain on Thursday April 3, 2008

My first article written exclusively for the Home Gain Blog is entitled New Technology and the Social Forest. In the article I take a look at the amount of Industry published self help articles aimed at Realtors that are not into the Social Media aspects of today’s online Real Estate.

This article has started a lively debate and several comments have all ready developed from the article. The comments are positive and supportive of my article comments. However, one comment in particular I felt should be drawn out for more dialog. So I thought I would share it here and then those that want to continue can do so, as well as having you check out the base article over at the Home Gain Blog.

So moving on:

_{Steve Obermon commented:}

_{?There really isn?t a one-size-fits-all entry point to social media marketing. There are many entry points and if one does not work for a Realtor, they should just try another until one works in their market.}

_{Those who choose not to participate in social media do so at their own risk.}

_{Eight out of ten housing consumers are on line ? are you visible to them as a Realtor? When they contact you by phone or email, are you available?
Is your brokerage set up to work in web time?
Good basic questions to start with ? and review as you go along.}

_{And,yes ? seek out the best advice you can get for free and pay for if you need it.}

_{Start as soon as you can your market is waiting!?}

My Reply to Steve:

Trial and error in the Technology arena especially in the current market is only for those that have the aptitude, foresight, time and money. If you are one of the agents I referred to that still has issues managing your email and trying to figure where to find files on your PC then you need professional, expert advice. The first place you should look would be your local community college or other technical training resources in your community to get you up to speed with the rest of the business community on basic computer skills. Trying to jump in on the social scene without the basics will make you even more confused and steer more agents way from the very thing they should be learning to embrace.

Every one talks about consumers on line, and most of those consumer are more computer and web savvy than your average Realtor.

Why ? Because most of them have grown up with games and computes from the very onset.

I have very vivid memories of when the PC revolution really hit me. Do you recall when yours was ?

It was in my first year at a community college back in the mid 80?s. I was taking English composition 101 and had to write weekly short stories for submission. I was on active duty in the Navy at the time and had access to IBM Selectric typewriters which were the best you could get at the time. Obviously, word processors were only used by those that could afford them. While Apple had started building PC?s in the late 70?s it was not until IBM started selling the Personal PC in the 80?s that Personal Computer usage really started to take off. So here I was typing, re-typing and correcting my term papers only to find out I missed a major typo that cut my final grade by a whole grade point. Yet, the top student in the class did all her work on an Apple PC. At the time, my thought was that she was cheating. Interesting enough, I was all ready involved with computers as my job in the Navy was as Technical Instructor teaching students how to maintain and repair system utilized on the then most advanced Submarine of the time, the Ohio class Trident Submarines. The systems I worked on were the Univac AN/UYK-7 and AN/UYK-43 systems which were the US Navy’s standard main frame computing system for war ships. So, I had a head start on the technology arena, and I still spend a massive quantity of my time learning and trying to stay up to date on the technological changes which seem to happen at an almost daily rate.

Yet, many of today?s realtor’s have not been involved with computers of any type for this length of time. Not that anyone should have to match my skills, thats not what I am implying here however, they should be more proficient at the normal tools of business for that profession. Statistics will bear that most children born to these same Realtors have mores computer skills than their parents.

If there was an aptitude test for a Real Estate Agent to obtain or renew their license today , based on the ability to manage email, organize files on a computer and be able to aptly use MS Office tools like Outlook, Word, Excel and Power Point, I would wager my home that over 50% of the active Real Estate agents in the US would fail and loose their license.

This is a rather huge issue and NO ONE is willing to even discuss it, except maybe me. The Brokers I think are the ones who have looked the other on may of these issues, yet again many Brokers I know and have talked with suffer from the same affliction. Yes, there is a lot of training available by the various Realtor Organizations, but much of it is still fee based, and from the ones I have investigated they cost more than the tuition to a local community college or technical school would charge.

If NAR really wanted to assist Realtors, they would open up their E-PRO classes to any realtor. Or even better yet, make it mandatory in order to for you to renew your license. But the fee structure should be waived and they should also institute basic skill sets.

In my opinion: When this happens you will see more agents embrace blogging and Social Media. Until then they should look to experts in their fields to get them up to speed.

In my neck of the woods or even yours that would be Virtual Interactive Systems. Go ahead, go to Goggle right now and type in the name. What you will see is the number one listing, they are Social Network Marketing Experts SEO Blog Design Web 2.0 … etc. They can get your site where it needs to be at.

If your goal is get to eyeballs to your site, that is increase your site traffic, so you get more phone calls etc?then pick someone who has a proven track record of doing just that. Weather you have a static site and just want improve upon it by adding blogging, or maybe your blogging is not getting you anywhere and you need some one to look your site over and tell you what needs to be done, check them out.

Shameless Plug: Now when you want to talk about Video for your site, I am not talking about your garden variety You Tube video. I am talking about a Viral Social Media Video campaign that works in synergy with your blog system to get your message noticed. If that?s your cup of tea or coffee as it may be, then check us out and give us a call at Virtual Interactive Systems.

The lazy agents way to collect a paycheck

I was working another post and in my research came across a comment from Marc Davison (1000 Watt Consulting Blog) that really fit the exact phrasing for what I was trying to convey. ?Mmm, when did not having to work hard become the path to success? Oh yeah, 1997-2005. I wish we can scroll back time. I wish I could sit around and collect paychecks by doing little or nothing.?

The comment above was in response to a post regarding implementation of Web 2.0 services by Reactors, or lack there of. Things like this blog for example. Yes there are quite a few of us that GET IT especially when it comes to Tampa Bay Real Estate. Blogging and Real Estate seems to be a bit more lofty of a goal for too few. We, are a rare minority in the scheme of National Real Estate statistics. Ok, so where am I going with this ?

Well, besides the whole Real Estate Technology thing, I think one of the larger problems with our industry is the lack of oversight by the Brokers, much the same has transpired with the mortgage industry. No way your saying?.say it isn?t true ?

Let me share these two small stories with you to help explain my point.

1. A local Buyers Agent works with an out of town client (out of town meaning out of State or out of the Country) who wants to invest in a large home and has a set price in mind. The agent locates a suitable home and helps to buy the home at the full asking price of the seller. Where this gets interesting is that the agent never attempted to negotiate for a lower price for the buyer. This agent in doing this deal just added to the entire housing industry mess we are in. How ? because this agent was truly un-ethical, greedy and lazy to boot. In the current market, not even attempting to negotiate for your client to gain a better price is shameless, regardless of how much money the person has.

2. A seller negotiates with a client to list their vacation home at a reduced rate of 2% if the deal is split between buyer and seller agents. So this agent takes a picture from the client and lists the home on the MLS and waits for the buyers to call. What?s wrong here ? The Agent took the clients picture (which by the way was a very bad shot of the home). The agent did not take any pictures of their own or even suggest to the client that they would need additional pictures to help advertise the listing. There also, was no mention or suggestion of Virtual Tour or brochures (oh, I think the client did the brochures?) and no web marketing. Meaning the listing was not advertised anywhere except the MLS, the Brokers site and Realtor.com (with-1 photo). So now the home has little to no chance of getting a buyer in the current market.

Our industry has gotten a huge black eye lately and agents like these don?t help make it any better. A lot of the agents are the ones that are complaining that Web 2.0 technologies are too hard or complicated. They are the same lazy ones that act as I mentioned above. Those of us that really go the extra mile for our clients continue to get maligned in the media because of our industries lack of oversight in cases like this. And who is to blame ? Mostly the same lazy brokers that are allowing this to happen. Either they are too lazy to educate their teams or they have no clue? It?s time that our industry started to gain a better hand at managing the ethical ways in which we conduct business.

Our clients are getting smarter and more savvy at technology. I think it?s time for an over haul of our Realtor s ethics pledge, or rather the methodology to ensure that the agents and or brokers that allow this are sent packing.

If your a home owner that has had a bad experience like this or even an agent, speak up.

• Do you agree ?

• Disagree ?

• Maybe you have a better way of addressing this ?

• Inquiring minds would like to know ?

Please leave a comment.

Related Posts:

Why we should embrace change

MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ

Will you find your home on Roost ?

Another NEW Generation Real Estate Platform, joined the likes of Trulia, Realtor.com and Zillow earlier this week. I believe their actual launch was on Wednesday the 23^rd.

Roost.com says they will partner with MLS?s and Brokers. They claim they are unlike other online models in that, ?Roost?s network of broker sites ensures consumers have access to comprehensive MLS listings in major metropolitan areas across the U.S., via close collaborations with MLSs and leading local brokers that can help them find their next home.?

From what I can tell they are predominantly covering the West Coast now and are in about 13 markets. It is too soon to tell if and when they will develop into the South and the Florida Markets.

From a quick overview of their platform, I noticed right off the bat that they have optimized the site for Fire Fox Browser which is great. But they may have missed a beat here. As most Realtors know, almost all of the MLS?s at present require usage of IE and in fact do not work well with Fire Fox. But then again Fire Fox is a much better browsers in my book and many Realtors could do well to add it to their tools.

Gregg Swann over at Blood Hound Blog did a really great job of describing what Roost is all about and how they intend to market their product so I would invite you to take a look at his excellent post on Roost.

If I had one initial comment to make, it would be that the folks over at Roost should spend a little more time on their blog. Using a template advertising someone else’s free WP template does not give the professional polished look you would associate with a New Technology Company that is looking to compete with some of the bigger league players. Other than that I can?t wait to kick the tires and see what this will do for us here in the South and more specifically, the Greater Tampa Bay Area Real Estate markets.

Is Roost a tool for you or your clients to use ?

Related Posts:

Newspaper ads for listings a dying breed

Zillow Newspaper advertising alliance – So What ?

Why we should embrace change

I actually found this video while looking at the 1000 Watt Blog as I was waiting on hold for customer support for over an hour for something that has in my mind been broken. You may notice that I have not been posting on as regular a basis as I had anticipated for the New Year, This is due in large part to my hosting service company having major technical issues that they cannot seem to get resolved. Anyways less I digress here, the relation to Real Estate is really very apropos.

As Marc Davison comments on his Blog ? Why not fix what isn’t broken? Would that not be a great way to gain advantage over the masses embracing complacency? ?

Take a look at the Video below:

OK, I am experiencing technical difficulties at the moment that prevent me from directly posting the video (embedding) so I have to post the link instead. After you view the video please continue with the rest of the post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtkoje4-eM

Now that you have seen this?most people look at this and ?say ,wow what a neat idea!

Newspaper ads for listings a dying breed

New Report by media experts Borrell Associates Inc.forecast the demise of newspaper advertising as one of the staples for Real Estate listings.

“Real estate brokers and agents will continue to devote more marketing budgets to online media. This year they will spend $2.6 billion on online media and by 2012 online will topple newspapers share“.

This is indeed interesting and backs- up what many of us in the NEW Media segment have been preaching to the old guard. There is a change in the wind and it is happening much sooner and faster than Real Estate Agents and Brokers will be happy with.

I have posted several articles over the last few weeks discussing the merits or the lack thereof, pertaining to Web 2.0 adoption by the Real Estate industry as a whole, and in particular how NAR has responded at their recent convention in Vegas. (NAR members with Ostrich syndrome on Web 2.0 ) (National Association of Realtors details 10 Year Plan)

Many in the Real Estate industry still fight this notion as one recent commenter said, “The Internet is a a powerful tool as we all know, but I don?t think we can completely discount the amount of buyers that search the newspapers still these days. The paper in my market has an excellent real estate section every Sunday. I generate a lot of calls from classified ads so I know they are still reading. You have to keep things diversified.”

While this may be true today, the statistics show a rapidly declining market for newspapers and an incremental rise in-online advertising. As the Baby Boom generation completes their last home purchases, the next generation, X, Y and ?? will be accustomed to using the Internet.

Borrell’s report also forecasts; that online advertising revenue will grow by 12.4 % in 2008 and print ad spending will continue to decline at an accelerated pace. The print advertising medium is expected to shrink by as much as 16% in 2009 increasing to 13% in 2010. Online real estate advertising will have surpassed print by 2011.

The writing is on the wall and as Zillow makes agreements with Newspaper companies for add sharing revenue it is apparent they know this too is coming.

So if you are one of the ones still sitting on the fence and wondering why you should even bother with taking your advertising online, or investing the time to learn about blogs ? I think this is your call. If this pans out, that means that you would have about 3 years to get up to speed. Meantime the early adopters will be taking valuable market share that you knowingly gave away.

Technology can be daunting, but their is a lot of help in the market with more on the horizon. If you approach the inevitable change with openness and embrace it, you will find yourself much better able to handle the questions you will surely get from prospective clients inquiring about your approach to media advertising and your online presence.

I think the days are fast approaching when simply being an expert in your area of the Real Estate community is not enough. You also have to know how to market yourself and your expertise in the new medium. Not because I or any other media pundit says you should. The real drivers for adoption will be your customers, who will demand it.

Related Posts:

Are Florida Realtors up for the challenging time ahead ?

National Association of Realtors details 10 Year Plan

Zillow Newspaper advertising alliance – So What ?

NAR members with Ostrich syndrome on Web 2.0

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