A Discussion About Going Paperless
November 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I was on BloodhoundBlog.tv last night discussing the paperless transaction with Greg and Kris. As always, the conversation was interesting and fun. Check it out.
The entire conversation makes me wonder what the future holds for the Realtorsaurus.
[tags] real estate, realtor, technology, marketing, paperless transaction, Kris Berg, Greg Swann, Bloodhound [/tags]
Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in 10 Years or Sooner
September 27, 2007 | 18 Comments
Brian Brady, contributing to the BloodhoundBlog, shared some information learned from a discussion about marketing to the Wired generation. The panel consisted of college students, and the discussion was moderated by Guy Kawasaki.
Everyone who reads this blog and works in the real estate profession should read, mark, and inwardly digest the information from Brian’s post.
Brian’s final paragraph may be a bit facetious, but he has hit on a critical issue:
Does this mean that the real estate weblog of the future will be written by Paris Hilton on Facebook? If you sell a home to Matt Leinart, you’ll want to make sure your Facebook profile publishes his video endorsement (cross-posted on YouTube). That Facebook profile will need a widget that allows for a text message question so you can provide quick, relevant information.
When I think of the real estate customer of the future, I think of my brother. My brother (another Bryan, with a “y”) is currently a college student at High Point University in North Carolina. He, and just about everyone he knows, has a Facebook profile. For them, Facebook is absolutely critical to the way they communicate and interact with each other and the world at large. I converse with my brother far more through Facebook, text messages, instant messages and email than I do on the phone. He doesn’t use a land-line (neither do I, for that matter). He reads the newspaper, but online and through his RSS reader, not in the paper form. Unlike the students on the panel, he does write a blog (I’ll take a bit of credit for getting him started there). I know he reads a lot of other blogs, too (even that of his big brother, from time to time). He fits right into the demographic of the panel.
The question becomes, how will he find his REALTOR when he needs to buy a home in a few years? This is assuming, of course, that he isn’t buying a home in the Charlottesville area. I hope I know who his REALTOR of choice will be in that situation. I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that he won’t be trolling the newspaper for REALTOR ads. I’m willing to bet that one of the very first things he will do when he moves to another area is meet people through the Facebook network for that area. I’m willing to bet that the first way he will contact a REALTOR is by email, IM, or text message. The REALTOR that has the most exposure to all of those means of those communication stands the best chance of working with my brother– and the MILLIONS of other prospective customers just like him.
Mark my words– any REALTOR who is not on Facebook will be irrelevant in 10 years, maybe even sooner.
With that said, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. are just the tip of the iceberg. Those types of social networking sites are still in relative infancy. I am sure that people will come up with all sorts of creative uses for them and even create new networks that are even more effective. For better or worse, all of this technology is creating a “want it yesterday” world. As this trend continues, I think that people’s tolerance for those who aren’t utilizing the technology will go down. It still astonishes me that there are REALTORS out there who aren’t proficient with email. And heck, email is becoming old-fashioned as we speak. The point that I am trying to make is that the Internet is changing the world faster than most people can keep up with. If you are a real estate professional, and you aren’t at least trying to keep up, woe be unto you.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, facebook, myspace, linkedin, guy kawasaki, technology, marketing, web 2.0, social networking, realtorsaurus [/tags]
Agent 2.0– The Anti-Realtorsaurus
September 24, 2007 | 1 Comment
If you don’t want to work with a Realtorsaurus, who should you be looking for?
If you don’t want to be a Realtorsaurus, what should you be aspiring to?
Try Agent 2.0 .
Kelly Roark, a contributing author to one of my favorite blogs, the Future of Real Estate Marketing, gives us a definition.
I like it.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesvile, virginia, realtorsaurus, web 2.0, agent 2.0, technology [/tags]
New Technology Will Make, and Break, Real Estate Careers
September 21, 2007 | 1 Comment
Remember the Realtorsaurus?
The Realtorsaurus is alive and well, I am afraid. I came face-to-face with this reality yesterday at a REALTOR ethics class that I attended. Many of the latest changes to the REALTOR Code of Ethics addressed the use of the Internet. In one such change, Standard of Practice 12-10 prohibits REALTORS from “deceptively using metatags, keywords or other devices/methods to direct, drive, or divert Internet traffic, or to otherwise mislead consumers. (Adopted 1/07)”
When we came to this section of the code during the class, the instructor asked everyone in the class who knew what a “meta tag” was to raise a hand. . .
Out of a class of about 30– four people raised a hand.
I must admit that I was very proud to be related to two of the three, other than myself, who raised a hand. That means, however, that had the three of us not attended, only one person in the room would have raised a hand. Yikes!
I’m not sharing this story to embarrass or make fun, but the reality of the situation is that at the rate technology is changing the real estate industry, if you don’t know what meta tags are, you are way behind the game. NAR is already behind. While it may be great to have language about meta tags in the code, SEO technology and strategy is already moving past that.
Think about it for a second, the code is talking about meta tags, but the industry is talking about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, SMS, RSS, SEM, wikis, and the blogosphere, just to name a few. While none of these subjects has anything to do with becoming a REALTOR, they have everything to do with having a sustainable, successful career in real estate.
I think that the reasons are many that REALTORS have little knowledge about the technology that is changing our industry by the day. I won’t go into all of them right now, but there is no reason for this to continue. Each individual REALTOR must make an effort to learn about the technology that has the power to make or break their future success. To ignore these subjects is to risk extinction.
Realtorsaurus, your days are numbered. . .
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, technology, realtorsaurus, twitter, linkedin, facebook, rss, [/tags]
REALTOR.com Still Atop the Web 2.0 Heap and . . . The Leviathan Grows
March 9, 2007 | 3 Comments
I was working on this post about real estate web stats when I discovered that Joel at Future of Real Estate Marketing beat me to it. That’s okay, because he does a much better job with the information than Inman did, and his blog doesn’t require a paid subscription. Be sure to read his post.
Hitwise, a company that tracks internet traffic across major industries, released its most recent set of statistics about the real estate industry. According to their stats, Realtor.com remains the #1 website. Rounding out the top 10 are Realtytrac, Homegain, Rent.com, RE/MAX, Yahoo! Real Estate, Zillow, Apartments.com, ZipRealty, and Move.com. Realtor.com maintains an 8.78% market share, more than twice that of #2 Realtytrac. It appears that for all its faults, Realtor.com is still the big dog on the block, despite all the growling from the Web 2.0 puppies.
In another interesting announcement, Hitwise analyst Bill Tancer reported on the Hitwise blog that the internet Leviathan that is Google has been driving 13% of all of its Google Base traffic to Real Estate. Coupling this data with the fact that Hitwise reports that Google is the source for close to 16% of ALL traffic to the Real Estate industry, leads me to believe that the Real Estate arm of the Leviathan is getting a bit stronger.
So what is the point of all this? Well, for me, it confirms something that I already knew– if I want to be around and practicing real estate in 10 years, I had better be showing up in Google. Like it or not, Google is here to stay, and if they continue to grow, they may end up being the best game in town. Will they ever replace the need for regional and local MLS systems? I doubt it. Sites like Google Base, Trulia, PropSmart, etc., may be decent alternatives for the consumer, but they are no where near what the professional agent requires.
MLS systems are safe, for now. Agents, on the other hand, had better pay attention to the changing internet landscape if they want to remain relevant and employed in the future.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, google base, hitwise, realtor.com, web 2.0 [/tags]
The Internet Puts Cracks in Bricks and Mortar, and Erases Print
November 27, 2006 | 1 Comment
I happened to be in a shopping mall on Black Friday. Luckily, it was later in the evening, and the big crowds had long since disappeared. While my wife and sister-in-law were doing some shopping, I wandered into a bookstore. I soon remembered why I usually shop for books online.
The first thing that you notice in a bookstore is that it is pretty easy to find the books on the New York Times Bestseller List. Those books are at the very front of the store. You actually have to walk around them to get into the store. If you are looking for something other than that, good luck.
The store is at least arranged by genre (Fiction/Non-Fiction) and further separated by topic. As is usually my habit, I went straight to the “Business” section. It was at this point that I ran into a problem. Within the Business section, the books were arranged not by topic, but by author. Of course, that was only true most of the time. Books that were part of a series were all grouped together, regardless of the author. There was no way for me to find books about individual topics unless I browsed through every book on the shelf. With about 12 shelves of books, it was difficult; especially since I couldn’t even judge a book by its cover, I had to do it by it’s spine. Needless to say, I eventually got frustrated, and then tired, and then I left.
Contrast this experience with searching for books on the Internet. When I search on the Internet, I can search by title, author, keywords, etc. I can read reviews of books by other readers, and some sites will even recommend books to me that are similar to the ones I have chosen. The experience is much more efficient and enjoyable.
It occurred to me that the differing experiences of searching for books in a store vs. books online is very similar to the experience of searching for real estate in a real estate print publication vs. real estate online. If you pick up one of the local Charlottesville real estate publications, you are literally bombarded with home advertisements. These ads are not arranged in any real discernible pattern; and even if they were, the ads from individual companies aren’t usually arranged in an order. If, for example, I tried to use a real estate publication to search for a home in a particular area, in a particular price range, with a basement and a 2-car garage, I would be in trouble. I would have to look through almost every page of the publication in the hope of finding something.
Now, let’s take that search online. I can run the same search through the any number of different web portals, and get results in seconds. Then, once I have results, those results are far more in-depth than any ad in a print publication. Searching for real estate on the internet wins hands-down when compared to trying to find real estate in print publications. I know this, and so do most of the potential clients who call me.
Why then, do people still look in print publications? I can think of only 2 legitimate reasons:
1) They don’t have Internet access.
2) No one has shown them how much better it is, so they continue with the old method.
Increased access to the Internet, and consumer education can solve both of these issues. The solutions to these problems pose a very real threat to agents who chose to ignore, or refuse to adapt. In short, the Realtorsaurus should be afraid, very afraid.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, realtorsaurus, real estate advertising, real estate marketing, marketing [/tags]
Experience matters?
August 22, 2006 | 3 Comments
I read a decent article from Inman News regarding the number of new real estate licensees that are out there (I would give you the link to it, but you can’t read it without being a member of Inman, and I don’t want to imply that you should drop the $150 to do so). The same is true in this market, as we have a tremendous amount of Realtors in our local association, especially relative to the number of homes that are currently on the market.
The article was written by Marcie Geffner. I have never met Ms. Geffner. I had no idea who she was until I came across the article. Being that we live in the Internet Age, I googled her. That is how I found that previous link to her web page. Incidentally, I google my prospective clients, colleagues, heck, just about everyone. Sometimes, I even google myself.
I googled Geffner because I think it is important to know something about the authors of pieces such as these. When someone is commenting on an industry, especially my own, I like to know what experience they have. While Marcie’s website has plenty of information about her ability as a writer, editor, and proofreader, her biography mentions nothing of actual real estate sales experience. In fact, it doesn’t even mention that she has had any experience in real estate other than writing about it and editing industry publications. That makes my spider-sense tingle.
I don’t want this to sound like I am lambasting Marcie Geffner, because I am not, I just point this out because it lead me to take some of her insight with regard to the profession of real estate with a grain of salt. I just wanted to point out that I don’t think I am being unreasonable in that approach.
The part of the article with which I take umbrage is the following:
"there is a qualitative difference between
a first-time salesperson and a 10-, 15- or 20-year veteran in real
estate just as there is in any other business. A better system would
pair new agents with more experienced counterparts in a way that would
give home sellers more choices in the marketplace and enable the
newcomers to acquire the necessary skills before they attempted to fly
solo.
I will tell you now that I consider myself a relative new-comer to the real estate business. I have been practicing real estate for 2 years and 8 months. I realize that I have a lot left to learn, and when the day comes that I know it all, I will quit. No sign of quitting on the horizon.
The thing that bothers me about her analysis of real estate newcomers is that she feels there is a "qualitative difference" between the newbie and the agent that has been doing this for quite some time. At least in my experience actually practicing real estate, I haven’t found this to be true. At least, not based on years of experience of the agents in question. My wife and I, who both started at the same time, have often heard from clients who don’t know how long we have been practicing that we are much more experienced than our age would let-on. I have worked with Realtors who are newbies and struggle, and I have worked with VERY experienced agents who have the same issues. Heck, I don’t do it perfectly all the time, either.
The thing about real estate that makes this possible is that so many people in our profession are choosing this as a second career. They oftentimes bring experiences from their other careers to the table that they are able to leverage. While real estate is really my first, and perhaps only, career, I have always tried to use the experience I have gained through my education and previous work experience. So while there are many Realtors out there who have not held a license for very long, that doesn’t make them inexperienced.
The beauty of real estate is that there is nothing holding you back. You are able to work as hard as you are willing to work. Of course, there is nothing propping you up, either. And those that choose to relax may find themselves out of the industry very quickly.
One advantage that I have experienced in being a newbie in this industry is that I am much more willing to try new techniques and change the way things are done in order to find what works best. Many agents are actually crippled by their experience. If you don’t update your knowledge, you are in trouble, no matter how long you have been in this business (behold, the Realtorsaurus ).
My point is that while there is definitely a quantitative difference between newer and older agents, I feel that any perceived qualitative difference has little to do with the years of seasoning of the agent, and more to do with the personality and work ethic of the agent.
The reason why Marcie’s lack of experience as a real estate practicioner got my attention is because if I applied her logic to her very-own article, I would have to dismiss it out of hand due to her lack of experience in the field. As we all know, writing about something and doing something are two very different things. Alas, I did not just dismiss Geffener’s analysis of the industry, no matter how lacking I perceive her experience to be in such matters. Like I said, I think that quality work can come from anyone, and is a product of their personality, not their experience. Granted, I don’t agree with her, either.
So, are so many new Realtors really bad for the industry? That would depend on who you ask. I say, certainly not. For one– the more the merrier. And secondly– I love competition. Not to mention, we aren’t the only industry dealing with this issue. Just check out the same debate that is raging in my beloved NASCAR. They don’t seem to be suffering, at least according to track attendance and television ratings.
Luckily for us, Marcie plans to tell us how to fix the problems in the industry created by the exorbitant number of newcomers. I’ll let you know what she thinks.
Oh yeah, and me, too.
ShackYack is Pretty Cool
August 16, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Realtorsauruses in the greater Los Angeles Area should be trembling. There is a new real estate search site covering the area called ShackYack. The site has been up for a little over a month, and is owned and run by Brock Harris, of Brock Harris Real Estate.
The site is pretty cool, as it uses a GoogleMaps mashup to give the user listing information based on sliding scales at the top of the map. As the user slides the price and feature scales, different listings appear. The user can then get detailed information about the house, and even leave comments about it. It seems pretty cool if you ask me.
Now, how could I bring something like that to the Charlottesville area? Hmmm . . .
Good Comments Come a ‘Rollin
August 15, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I post, people comment. That kinda sums it up. Previously, I posted, no one commented. Yesterday, however, I received some very good comments. You can read them from the "Recent Comments" section in the right-hand column. I shall summarize for the rest of you:
1) Greg from The BlueRoof Blog left his comment on the Realtorsaurus. He left a link to a similar post that he wrote here. Greg is the founder of BlueRoof.com, a real estate website that serves the Salt Lake City area. I would advise you to check it out, as his business model is pretty darn cool. He is certainly not a Realtorsaurus. I would venture to say that he is a Realtorsaurus exterminator. I also included a link to his blog on the "Blog Roll" to the left.
2) "None" left his mark on the blog regarding my post about the President’s blog from NAR. He pointed out that NAR has two other blogs. A technology blog and "in the news" blog. Good pickup, None. I had not noticed these two blogs. So it would appear that NAR is expanding its presence in the blogosphere with its new blog from the President of NAR. Oh, almost for got to mention that yes, I have heard of Google.
3) Most recently, Rudolph commented on my analysis of Zillow. Rudolph is right, it would be interesting to find out what consumers think about the site. He posted a survey regarding Zillow on the Sellsius blog. I included a link to that blog in the the "blog roll" post haste.
I just wanted to thank those that posted comments, and keep ‘em coming.
Welcome to the Blogosphere, NAR!
August 14, 2006 | 1 Comment
In what would appear, to me, to be an effort to stem the tide of developing Realtorsauruses, The National Association of REALTORS launched their very own blog today. The blog is supposed to keep REALTORS, and the public I guess, up-to-date as to what the NAR is doing for them. The first post is from the President of NAR, Tom Stevens. It comes complete with a podcast.
The launching of a blog by NAR is significant in that it shows that the national organization is willing to adopt this emerging technology and use it to its own advantage. Well done, NAR. At the very least, it is a good way to institute some top-down communication amongst REALTORS. Although, it doesn’t look like that is going to be a two-way street, as the blog is not enabled for comments on the post. I’m sure that NAR will say that is because they don’t want hundreds of comments a day on a single post, but I would imagine that the real reason is closer to the fact that editing and approving the posts would be a nightmare for an administrator. I can’t even imagine all the comments that would be posted about Realtor.com.
I subscribed to the feed of the blog, so I’ll let you know when something interesting pops up.
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
