Real Estate Zealot

Metro Brokers to add Microsoft Mobile and Blackberry for handheld real estate search

    MetroBrokersTV:  The Inman Connect in San Francisco 2008 and we are on the floor here with meet the leaders and I am very pleased to be with Ash Munshi and Ash is the cofounder and CEO of Terabitz and welcome Ash.

Ash Munshi:  Thank you very much Mark.

MetroBrokersTV:  Hey, real curious.  I have seen a lot of play.  We have gotten a lot of play on the... some of the posts we have put out with the fact that Terabitz now has the Metro Brokers'iPhone®  interface.

Ash Munshi:  That's right.  We have I think a pretty robust iPhone interface on... in a variety of different markets.  You know, every broker that we work with we offer them the choice to be able to essentially feature all the listings in their market.  So, all the MLS listings under their brand for the iPhone and what we intend to do is we intend to go actually to other mobile devices as well.  So, you think Blackberry® and Microsoft Mobile®, PPC platform enabled devices as well because we think that there is a huge future in presenting information to consumers at the right spot and a lot of times it is where they are sitting and trying to figure out do I want to go see this house or not, I want to be able to see the pictures of the house.  I want to know you know kind of is it the right price range etc.  I might have seen a sign, let me find out about it.  That is the kind of impulsive, on the spot thing that we can help people do with the mobile solutions that we have.

MetroBrokersTV:  So, how is Terabitz doing as far as penetration with some of the companies and brands in the States right now?

Ash Munshi:  So, you know, we've been I think pretty successful in attracting some high quality brands.  Metro Brokers in Colorado, clearly Intero in California.  We've got Century 21, we've got RE/MAX, we've got Sotheby's.  You know these are all very good brands that we are working with and typically the brokerages that we work with are not small.  They tend to be quite large, at least a few hundred agents, but typically it is in the 1000s of agents that we work with and we have been very lucky and I have been very pleased that our ability to create business in a variety of markets with players of real stature.

MetroBrokersTV:  So, what are the main states you are in now then?

Ash Munshi:  Oh God, quite a few now.  You know good parts of the north east.  We are getting into the south, large portions of the mid west, you know Colorado obviously, California, Arizona, Idaho, a number of different states.  I am really pleased to say that you know I count sort of not only penetrations into respective[phonetic] states, but also the number of MLSs we are working with and that number increases every day.

MetroBrokersTV:  Great.  Well, as always Ash, it has been a pleasure speaking with you and I will let some of these other folks talk with you.  Thank you.

Ash Munshi:  Thank you so much.

BrokerIPTV January-February 2008 NewsReel

IPTV January 2008 NewsReel

 

Denver is 1 of Only 12 of the nations 50 Metropolitan areas have a high risk of price declines, according to the PMI Mortgage Insurance companys Winter 2008 Market Risk index.  This index is based on the 3rd quarter Office of Federal Housing Oversight data, and ranks the 50 largest metropolitan areas according to the likelihood in price declines. 12 of these metropolitan areas have a 1% or less risk of price declines.  Areas that had the highest price run-ups in recent years are at highest risk of price deterioration.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/16/metro-area-home-values-likely-hold/

 

If you lost a home to foreclosure last year or paid mortgage insurance premiums, there is some good news.  Congress enacted laws in late 2007 to allow deduction of some mortgage insurance premiums. This could amount to a tax break of up to $350. The foreclosure tax break applies to all taxpayers who were granted forgiveness of mortgage debt.  Previously, this amount was fully taxable and could have run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8U6GH5O0.htm

 

On the subprime mortgage crisis front, Bank of America has announced a deal where they will buy the troubled Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion dollars.  This will make Bank of America the nations largest mortgage lender and will provide much needed relief to the largest independent mortgage banker.   While this acquisition is a major step in solving the mortgage meltdown, more failures and acquisitions are anticipated in the coming months.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22606833

 

Consumer Confidence showed a slight increase in December, according to the Conference Board.   Consumers also believe that there will be more jobs in the future and that their personal incomes will be higher in the coming months.  While these are bright spots, overall consumer sentiment seems to point to a slowing of the economy.  The Conference Board developed and reports monthly on consumer confidence, as well as the Leading Economic Indicators report, which is expected at the end of January.

http://www.conference-board.org/economics/consumerconfidence.cfm

 

First American Corporation, one of the largest national title insurers, announced plans to spin off its financial services business.  It also announced a 4th quarter loss, due mainly to costs from the California wildfires.  They also announced plans to aggressively manage employee costs, and are looking to move processing jobs to counties like India and the Phillipines.  Chief Financial Officer Frank MacMahon said that up to 40% of their workforce may be moved offshore.

http://www.reuters.com/article/bankingFinancial/idUSBNG6641820080115

 

In Technology news, Google has announced plans for expanding its offerings for the IPhone.  Google introduced access to mail, calendars, search, and Google Reader last month and unveiled additional enhancements that allow better navigation and easier user interface, using the iPhone touch screen.  Google gadgets are now available for the iPhone as well.  Google is moving forward with the Android mobile platform, and phones using this platform are expected later this year.

http://www.internetnews.com/wireless/article.php/3721541

 

A 40 hour laptop battery?  Researcher at Stanford Universitys Department of Materials Science and Engineering have found a way to give rechargeable lithium ion batteries  as much as 10 times more charge.  These batteries are used from everything from iPods to laptops.   A patent has been filed for the technology and negotiations

Realseekr.com -Facebook Meets Real Estate At Inman Connect NYC 08

From The Floor Of The Inman Real Estate Connect 2008, in New York City:

Grant Freer, founder and CEO of Realseekr.com. Realseekr is an online social networking sites, that attempts to bring together the consumer looking for property, the agent professional and the service provider together online and give them away to be able to interact with one another, but in real time, so we use a variety of different technologies to be able to do that. We are like a facebook meets real estate portal. For example we use instant messaging for consumer to be able to engage with an agents listing and start a conversation, email and also SMS technology for that agent thats on the go thats showing property for them to be able to respond to consumer enquiries of around listings or answering questions, they could be able to do that on the go. One of the things that was the important, when we were building Realseekr was to provide different ways for agents to be able to market themselves and their business on the web and give them a variety of different tools at a very low cost we have to do that. As well as engage the public and be able to meet with them online around listings but take away that brick wall and actually make a new full of more transparent and give them away to actually engage and interact them, we feel that we have been able to do that with Realseekr. Realseekr is the launching at the end of January with currently in 12 states including Colorado and by the end of the first quarter, we are anticipating being in 26 days half the country with full national coverage by the end of year. Once again thank you for listening, this is Grant Freer founder and CEO of realseekr.com

Are you gearing up for Gen Y Real Estate Business

Are you gearing up for Gen Y business?  My past experience and what they are up to today, tells me that this is a whole new breed.

I know they are gearing up for me.  I was born at the tail end of  the Baby Boomer age, 1961. Baby boomer's are people born between 1946 and 1963. So I am a pre-xer.  I still use email, go figure.

A good gen "Y" friend of mine Scott Shields with Metro Brokers sent me this post from CNN. Yep a 17 year old and a group of "Y" collaborators from across the world hacked the iPhone.  Take that, Steve jobs, boomer man!

Generation Y.  They're tech savvy, they're confident, they're spenders, they're everywhere! Generation Y — those born from 1982 to 2000.  They are more demanding and more savvy than they feel they're given credit for.  In some instances, they think they know more than the person selling them something.

If you think blogging, myspace, texting and the such is not your bag tea...maybe getting your SRES®, Senior Real Estate Specialist,  is the best move. 

All Media is moving to the palm of your hand and that includes real estate.

If you are interested in Local Real Estate in and around Parker, Colorado, then give Mark a call at 800.598.2083.  If you like his posts and readings, please subscribe to the www.RealEstateZealot.com.  Feel Free to Search homes on Colorado's Number One Map Based Search Portal www.1StopColorado.com

iPhone Mail Problems Provides Microsoft Solutions

Critics claim that platform mail problems with iphone have led Microsoft to come up with some short term solutions, the  zunePHONE.  Check it out.