Real Estate Zealot

Enhance your Listing Presentations with RPR

The Realtors Property Resource is a valuable real estate tool that gives you in-depth property knowledge to enhance your listing presentations. There is even a new mobile app to let you log-in from your smart phone!

Interviewer: Today we are talking with David Barber from Re/Max Unlimited, and the topic is RPR. First of all David, welcome to the show.

David Barber: Thank you Dan, it's nice to be here.

Interviewer: Lot of agents don't know what RPR is or what those initials stand for, so let's start there.

David Barber: Okay RPR is the Realtors Property Resource. This is an ambitious project started by the National Association of Realtors and their end goal is to catalog 157 million parcels of property in the United States. It's been in existence for a little over 24 months and is becoming alive in a lot of markets and being a very valuable tool.

Interviewer: And obviously they are partnering with your local MLS is which is where they are getting a lot of the data I assume.

David Barber: What they are doing is consolidating data in this area from Metrolist, and also from a lot of public records. So, in the past, when you used to spend a lot of time going to different public sites to gather information, their goal is to have it all in one location.

Interviewer: Yeah I think that's what I like best about it, when I've used it, I can see the data that's coming from your local MLS and then it gives me a side by side comparison about the data that's coming from the public records so you can see if it kind of jives.

David Barber: Exactly, and it is based on what's called the realtor evaluation model, where companies like Zillow and Trulia are using an automated evaluation model that are basically just granting public record data. This allows us as realtors to personalize the information we know about the market place whether that property backs to a busy street or has an enhancement that makes it a little more valuable.

Interviewer: Well as a realtor, if I don't know about it, what can I do on RPR that I can't do on say my local MLS?

David Barber: Well it's, if you think of it as a CMA on steroids. You've got a lot more detailed graphing, you have overlays or maps that you can do a lot more in-depth research. As a realtor, and this is a realtor-only benefit, you do need to have a NRDS number to log in and it gives you tools to enhance your listing presentation that a normal CMA doesn't offer.

Interviewer: Yeah, one of the cool things I thought was just the amount of data that they have on distressed properties. Obviously that's very big with consumers today, they want to know about foreclosure, short sales; people that may be in a distress situation and this is pretty well detailed and laid out there.

David Barber: Exactly, one of the other enhancements is that it gives you some visibility in what's going on in the world outside of our market. So if you have a relocation client, you can take a look at their property, see what they have and what it's worth in their market to kind of help them understand what it's going to be like in our market.

Interviewer: That's where, like the California buyer that comes out here, wants to know about the postage size.

David Barber: Absolutely.

Interviewer: Wow! It's right.

David Barber: Exactly.

Interviewer: All right, they are adding new tools to RPR all the time. You mentioned that they added some more two weeks ago, is that right?

David Barber: Yeah most recently, they've added some new mapping products, you can check flood zones, you can overlay price changes. They've also put in a mobile application, once you are set up and registered on the main RPR site you can log in from your smart phone.

Interviewer: I think I'll do that. David thanks great information.

David Barber: Thanks Dan.

Interactive Technology Specialist David Hiebeler Pushes Syndication

Interactive Technology Specialist  David Hiebeler Pushes Syndication

BrokerIPTV : We are talking with David Hiebeler today, real estate specialist interactive specialist with the Denver Newspaper Agency,DNA, Dave thanks for being with us.

David Hiebler: You back, thank you.

BrokerIPTV : I know you are a guy that likes to talk tech, so we are going to talk technology and it seems like there are more technology tools available to real estate agents now than ever before, would you agree?

David Hiebeler: Absolutely and actually, I feel kind of bad our agents that we talk to, they are getting inundated every thing with the greatest things since sliced bread by a lot of different options. They have a lot of choices to make as far as what best for their business.

BrokerIPTV : Obviously with you at the newspaper trying to stay competitive, I am sure, you are surveying the field and you are looking at Zillows and the Trulias and the Redfin and looking at how they are doing real estate, so forth, what's your take on all of that action?

David Hiebeler: Well, I think it's really good for the industry, I think it is good for the home hunter/owner and the seller that, there are many different ways to show a property and there is many different ways to be contacted now, as an agent whether it is a text message, whether it is e mail.

BrokerIPTV : So the question is, can you do real estate the old fashion way anymore or if you are an agent who has been for thirty years and it is high, I am about picking up the phone and I am about, going to the coffee shop or the breakfast place and meeting some people and then showing some places and can you do real estate the old fashion way without that Internet technology component?

David Hiebeler: I like kind of as you had articulated the only way is if you have a life time referral network in the pipeline and you are pretty embedded in your community, other than that, I think you risk losing your self to those that are tech savvy as far as competitiveness.

BrokerIPTV : Now I love technology, so as an outsider looking in I know a lot of us are waiting to see what's going to happen with Google. Google keeps talking that they are going to release their national platform for searching and viewing real estate. A lot of people say don't bet against Google, because they always win. Your thoughts on making real estate in that national Google platform.

David Hiebeler: Well I think we are all eyes are on what Google is going to do and a lot of different categories and real estate would not be the exception. They have stated that they do not want to have a vertical called real estate but, they do want everybody to release their, all what 880 national MLS. So what is that tell you, I think the bottom line is nationally with the portals it's going to cut in to market share, something has to give.

BrokerIPTV : Switch Hats from tech person real estate agent, your real estate agent today, if you were what tool would you use technology wise?

David Hiebeler: Definitely listing syndication and that's we are putting your listings on not just one or two sites, several sites that are perfect for that listing and another cool tool is Zillows make me move, kind of fun way to farit out as sellers intention, way way before they would have been put their home on a listing service.

BrokerIPTV : Well ok, I hot no way what is going to be hot no way?

David Hiebeler: Listing Syndication again is going to very hot, part of your review, such as recommending an agent and kind of the face book, the social media experience is going to big and mapping is getting even more dynamic, the whole mash up phenomena, again lots of tools for the home owner and the seller to list their properties.

BrokerIPTV : Fascinating stuff, Dave thanks, appreciate it. David Hiebeler: Thank you.

Mark Lesswing - "Information Free Radicals" Theory at Inman Connect NYC 2008

Mark Lesswing and the "Information Free Radicals" Theory at Inman Connect NYC 2008

BrokerIPTV: I am with Mark Lesswing, he is the CTO for the National Association of Realtors, and we ar at Inman connect 2008, New York city, and I know Mark you are a speaker, I dont know if you on stage the other day when Brad inman was talking about some past subjects and ideas of day though, this year's it's about the market, I am just curious what the Chief Technology Officer for the National Association of Realtors is thinking in regards to 2008, where we are going with our technology there?

Mark Lesswing : Mark, thanks, the great question by the way. So if you look at where the technology is going and the impact on the market that we have had, all though the but connecting with the consumer here and the slow down is really with me so we don't erode confidence of the consumers. So less in engaged in this conversation it keep in the conversation as the market comes back. So technology have come forward such as a social media phenomenon of videos engaged the consumer. Even the main happy to buy right now or sell right now they are engaged, so the more we engage them, then we can weather the storm as a market turns around they are going to turn right back to the real estate professional.

BrokerIPTV: What are we doing at move.com or realtor.com as far as trying to put Realtors move in the transparent mode?

Mark Lesswing: I think you have seen in the last 6 months, more tools they are really engaged the consumer. You want to get engaged consumers they feel empowered. If you look at some of the great thinkers and the early partisans like  Marshall McLuhan and some basic marketing things of mediums of message and the users of context. You are seeing the [inaudible] move to the uses the context, they feel empowered of with new tools it, search techniques build a map communities skip it, then involve so the website about them so they uses the context, it is not about the listings that are there. The listings are the basis they with drawl, but you must engage the consumers.

BrokerIPTV: Right, exactly, I guess what you may be move, realtor.com and we have the out side third parties where are there be the Trulia's of the world the Zillow's, I think we see may be some out side third party pressure moving towards realtor.com to make it be the best, stay on top, do you find that out side pressure is making realtor.com have to be more competitive to stay up there.

Mark Lesswing : Oh, absolutely, it has be have a competitive market it is good for all the players, even the top player. So competition is good, when you don't have competition you get in the situation is no body pushing you. Okay, so a player will really start to connect with consumer that way who really good for realtor.com. So make sure that they are going to keep on the top edge.

BrokerIPTV : I think so a things were seeing out there at least my own feeling is lot the information on the trulia of the world and zillows of the world is not the all the information. It is not all the homes for sale, it is lots of the homes for sale that have been off the market, not on the market for 30, 60 days... is not policed as much, perhaps because it is fully not direct MLS feeds. So I think I that maybe we will turn to the subject of information free radicals, give us some of your thoughts on that concept.

Mark Lesswing: Sure conceptually information free radicals is information that itself erodes trust, just as free radicals pass by and cause cancer, you don't want to have cancer that infects the relationship and trust between the consumer and the real estate professionals. So as we have information out here that is not accurate, not timely, which you kind of doing is eroding the trust is to we had the get back and I call that concept on information free radicals.

BrokerIPTV: That is excellent concept that I think ultimately the consumers are going to make the choice regardless of what site it is who is putting it up in that very mode right there and as far as having all the information and relevant information, so very important. Well, thank you very much and I will let you get back to your interview up on stage here. Thanks Mark.

Mark Lesswing: Okay Mark.

Zillow.com's Drew Meyers At Inman Connect 2008 - "it's about transparency"

BrokerIPTV: Drew Meyers, Community Manager with Zillow.Com and Drew I know you  were present the other day at bread stock kind a talk about social networking and things of the past video and really the market. What is the really the world according to Drew and what you see in from this Zillow world?

Drew Meyers: So I mean at Zillow we are all about transparency and web 2.0 and I really believe the agents should be out there putting their listings basically. I think on a couple of panels I listened in on I talked about the long tale and I really think agents need to be taking advantage of that and putting the listings out there for every one but either whether they want to go through like a apostles or a [inaudible] that syndicates out their listings start to basically like hot pads, Zillow, Trulia. Yahoo is going to beside doing this as the enhancement today announced.

BrokerIPTV: What do you guys do in here as far as a community blog Wiki and the kind of social networking at Zillow?

Drew Meyers: So I think the biggest thing at Zillow that we are doing community wise is Zillow discussions. So we have a pretty big discussion board and we are getting I mean we have roughly the last figure I dont know the latest figure, but the last figure I heard was 50,000 posts and it is going very low we have a pretty vibrant community and I am in there a kind of every day just they can show people are attacking each other what ever keeping people on track by for the most part of we kind of keep our hands out and let the community kind of go on its own and then talking about the real estate market. They are talking about free places to market your website. They are talking about kind of foreclosures and the advantage of cross of words though. I think that is the really cool thing and then I mean obviously in the blogging world I write a bunch on Geek essay [phonetic] blog. So that is really focused totally on real estate technology and so thats kind of where I spend the majority of my time both things over discussions and on Geek essay blog.

BrokerIPTV: Well, fantastic so I guess of there is one take away from Drew what would it be as for agents in the future here?

Drew Meyers: I think be transparent and be very very genuine. I think all the information out there and I think consumers are going to very quickly kind of see through people that are basically just trying to do market themselves, so generally have an interest in anywhere you are contributed in on line

BrokerIPTV: Great well I appreciate all the work you are doing at Zillow Drew, thank you very much for the interview.

Drew Meyers: Thank you.

Inman's Real Estate Connect 2008

Broker IPTV and Real Estate Zealot at this year's Inman's Real Estate Connect 2008

Here it is New Years Eve and I am just itching to get to New York at the fantastic  New York Marriott Marquis Times Square.  I'm very excited to report that the Real Estate Zealot and Broker IPTV will be at this year's Inman Real Estate Connect conference this January 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th.  The quote below is out of context, but I feel it applies to the happenings at Inman.  Many of the people, concepts, ideas that are presented this year will trickle down to the uniformed masses at the National Association Conventions 2 to 3 years later!!!!

    "It happens every year, one way or another, and every year it gets weirder.  And wilder and darker         and more intense."

    Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

And so it goes at Inman Connect. So Just What is Inman Real Estate Connect?    

Well Inman Conncect  comes from the founder, Brad Inman. The show is about  education, exhibits, demonstrations and a trade hall within a intimate setting.  More importantly, no jewelry sales in the trade hall and most of the exhibitors are more progressive than typical Real Estate trade shows. While some critical bloggers claim to be too good to go and that it' about gimmicks and real estate suckers,   I feel the most important part are the people and the speakers. The brightest and sharpest in the industry.  Up to date and current topic-driven panels with real world hands on workshops will provide anyone who attends with the tools and techniques they need to compete in a rapidly changing real estate industry.

Why Should A Real Estate Business Person Attend Inman Connect?

 
Well, "birds of a feather flock together".  This is not your Dad's Realtor Convention!   I find that the caliber of attendees falls into the higher level of producers as well as top level leadership CIOs, CTOs, CEOs, etc.  New York Connect 2008 should  draw  1,200 to 1,400 real estate agents, top brokers, mortgage professionals, vendors,technology company CEOs, directors and managers, entrepreneurs, press, bloggers, analysts and investors from throughout the U.S. and around the globe. Broker IPTV will be there getting all the information, interviews and bleeding edge ideas.

People, Speakers, Concepts, Ideas and Strategies at Inman Connect:

So, safe to say you will be with the sharpest minds in the industry as they discuss current and conversational topics: real estate market conditions, real estate trends, market forecasts, interactive marketing, social media, Web 2.0, MLS, mapping technology, lead generation, blogging, user generated content, search engine marketing and search engine optimization, online video, paperless technology and more.

Topic Panelists include the top Bloggers and WEB 2.0 Social Misfits:

Rudy Bachraty, Co-Founder, Sellsius & Founder, Kiosk Realty

Kris Berg, Broker Associate, Prudential California Realty

Jeff Corbett, Author, The XBroker Blog

Dan Green, Chief Blogging Officer, Bring the Blog

Douglas Heddings, Senior Vice President, Prudential Douglas Elliman

Rachel Natalie Klein,  Founder, IntoTheBox.tv

Daniel Rothamel, Realtor, Strong Team REALTORS;  Blogger, RealEstateZebra.com

Mike Price, President, ML Broadcast

Lockhart Steele, Founder and Publisher, Curbed.com

Erik Hersman, Principal, Zungu LLC

Drew Meyers, Community  Relations Specialist, Zillow.com

Reggie Nicolay,  Regional Technology Director, Fidelity National & Author, MyTechOpinion.com

Brian Rothenberg, Product  Manager, Yahoo! Real Estate

Teresa Boardman, Realtor/Broker, Keller Williams Integrity Realty

Jay Thompson, Designated Broker, Thompson’s Realty

Brian Brady, Managing Director, Worldwide Credit Corporation

Dustin Luther, Founder, 4realz.net Consulting

If the above speakers are not enough to get you going in 2008, take a look at the list that Bard Inman has put together this year in New York.

Speakers-Moderators-Important Attendees

Rudy Bachraty, Co-Founder, Sellsius &  Founder, Kiosk Realty

Simon  Baker, CEO & Managing Director, REA Group

Jeffrey Bastress, President, Startpoint Realty

Kris Berg, Broker Associate, Prudential  California Realty

Teresa Boardman, Realtor/Broker, Keller Williams Integrity Realty

Kevin  Boer, Founder, 3 Oceans Real Estate Blog

Brian Brady, Managing Director, Worldwide Credit  Corporation

Joleen Brannigan, Chief Operating Officer, Grace  Hill

Frank Breithaupt, VP of Marketing, Affiliates  and Operations, Homescape

Chris Brown, Vice President Product Development,  Apartments.com

Joel  Burslem, Social Media Manager, Inman News

Jonathan Butler, Founder, Brownstoner Media, LLC

Louis Cammarosano, General Manager, HomeGain

David Cardwell, VP of Capital Markets &  Technology, National Multi Housing Council

Martin Carpenter, Broker, RE/MAX Realty Plus;  Chairperson, MLS PAG

David Charron, President & CEO, MRIS, Inc.

Shari Chase, CEO, President  & Founder, Chase International

Sherry  Chris, President & CEO, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Walt  Clark, Sr.  Vice President, Transaction Management Solutions, Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions

Renwick Congdon, Chief Executive Officer, IMPREV

Jeff Corbett, Author, The XBroker Blog

Matt Corgan, Director of Technology, HotPads

Marc  Davison, Partner, 1000Watt Consulting

Jason Doyle, Division Vice President, Homes.com

Jim Duncan, Realtor/Real  Estate Consultant, Real Central VA

Thomas  Evans, President & CEO, Bankrate, Inc.

Robert  Eychner, President, Eychner Associates; 2007 President, Manhattan MLS

Richard Ferrari, Senior Vice President,  Prudential Douglas Elliman

Dr. Mark Fleming, Chief Economist, First  American CoreLogic

Pete Flint, Co-Founder & CEO, Trulia

Wendy Forsythe, VP Broker Services & Product  Development, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate

Michael Fortinberry, President, CrossFire Sales  & Marketing Systems

Marty  Frame, Chief Information Officer, Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions

Lloyd  Frink, President, Zillow

Hector Gavilla, President, DiamondHomeVideos.com

Jamie Glenn, Vice President, Product Management, Trulia

Ilyce Glink, President, ThinkGlink, Inc., Syndicated Columnist

Matthew Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer,  LifeAt

Kate Good, Marketing Solutions Expert,  KateGood.com

Dan Green, Chief Blogging Officer, Bring the  Blog

Matthew  Haines, Founder & Chairman, PropertyShark.com

Bob Hale, President & CEO, Houston  Association of Realtors

Matt Heaton, Chief Executive Officer, ActiveRain

Douglas Heddings, Senior Vice President,  Prudential Douglas Elliman

Marc Helm, Chief Operating Officer, Reverse  Mortgage Solutions, Inc.

Dottie  Herman, President & CEO, Prudential Douglas Elliman

Erik Hersman, Principal, Zungu LLC

Edward Herson, Vice President, Halstead  Property, LLC

Glenn Houck, Co-Founder, LeadQual LLC

Bradley  Inman, Publisher, Inman News

Kenneth Jenny, CEO & Managing Director, tranCen.com, Inc.

Pat Kitano, Managing Principal, Domus Consulting  Group

Rachel Natalie Klein,  Founder, IntoTheBox.tv

Saul Klein, President & CEO, InternetCrusade

Brendon Kraham, National Sales Manager  Classifieds, Google

Brian N. Larson, Attorney  at Law; President of Larson/Sobotka Business Advisors, LLC

Don Lawby, President, Century 21 Canada

Mark Lefanowicz, President, E-LOAN

Corey Leong, Founder & President, Real Estate Metaverse Association

Mark  Lesswing, Sr. Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, National  Association of REALTORS

Pamela  Liebman, President & CEO, The Corcoran Group

Dustin Luther,  Founder, 4realz.net Consulting

Dave  Marron, Chief Executive Officer, SphereBuilder, LLC

Rob Massey, Jr., CPM, Founder of RentalHouses.com & Vice  President of Industry Development, Rentals.com

Drew Meyers, Community  Relations Specialist, Zillow.com

David Michonski, Chief Executive Officer,  Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy

Jonathan  Miller, EVP, Director of  Research, Radar Logic Inc., Co-Founder, Miller Samuel

Alex Montalenti, Co-founder & CMO,  SubmitYourListings.com

Heidi Mueller, Broker Associate, Prudential  California Realty

Oliver Muoto, Co-Founder & Vice President  Business Development, vFlyer

Carter Murdoch, Senior Vice President, Bank of  America

Vikki  Neil, Vice President, Real Estate, Frontdoor.com

Craig  Newmark, customer service rep & founder, craigslist.org

Reggie Nicolay, Regional Technology Director, Fidelity National &   Author, MyTechOpinion

Martin  Nisenholtz, Sr. VP, Digital Operations, The  New York Times Company

Cameron Paine, Chief Executive Officer,  Connecticut Multiple Listing Service, Inc.

Stan Ponte, President, Previews Marketing  Division, Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy

Mike Price, President, ML Broadcast

John Reinhardt, President & CEO, Fillmore  Real Estate

Barry  Ritholtz, Chief Market Strategist, Ritholtz Research & CEO; Director of  Equity Research, Fusion IQ

Greg Robertson, Executive Vice President, Sales  & Marketing, eNeighborhoods

Alison Rogers, Author & Inman News Columnist

Noah  Rosenblatt, Founder, UrbanDigs.com; Licensed RE Salesperson, Citi-Habitats

Laurence Rosenberg, President, Rent-Direct.com

Dan Rothamel, Realtor, Strong Team REALTORS; Blogger, RealEstateZebra.com

Brian Rothenberg, Product Manager, Yahoo! Real  Estate

Professor Nouriel Roubini, Co-Founder & Chairman of RGE  Monitor; Professor of Economics, New York University’s Stern School of Business

Kaira Sturdivant  Rouda, President, Real Living

Rupi Rupwani, Owner/Broker, Rupwani Associates; Director, Connecticut  MLS

Michael  Santoli, Associate Editor, Barron's, Dow Jones & Company

Sam Sebastian, Director, Classifieds and Local, Google, Inc.

Rick Sharga, Vice President of Marketing, RealtyTrac

Dr.  Michael Shermer, Founding Publisher, Skeptic Magazine & Executive Director, Skeptics Society

John Sherrod, Director of SEO/Emerging Technologies, Rentals.com

Ryan Slack, Chief Executive Officer, PropertyShark.com

Lori Snider, Principal, Creativity for Rent

Andrew Ross Sorkin, Assistant Editor, Business &  Finance, Chief Mergers & Acquisitions Reporter, The New York Times

Steve Sorti, Senior Vice President of Marketing,  Fox & Roach/Trident

Steve  Spinola, President, Real Estate Board of New York

Celeste Starchild, Vice President Broker Sales,  ListHub: Broker Division  of Threewide

Anne St. Dennis, Manager, Industry Relations, Strategic Communications & Legal Affairs, Greater Montreal Real Estate Board

Lockhart  Steele, Founder & Publisher, Curbed.com

Christian Sterner, CEO & Founder,  Wellcomemat

Patrick F. Stone, Chairman, The Stone Group

Jessica Swesey, Vice President of Content, Inman  News

Jay Thompson, Designated Broker, Thompson’s  Realty

Frances Flynn Thorsen, Managing Editor, RealTown.com

Greg Tracy, Founder/Realtor, Blueroof.com

Lisa Trosien, President, Apartmentexpert.com

Carey Tufts, Director of Marketing, Point2

Jon Tull, President, Lead2Lease

Jeff Turner, President, RealEstateShows.com

John H. Vogel Jr., Permanent Adjunct Professor,  Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

Becca Wilson, President, Spherexx.com

Brian Wilson, Founder, Zolve

Marilyn  Wilson, Founding Partner, WAV Group

Michael Wurzer, President & CEO, FBS Data  Systems

Michael  Yang, General Manager, Yahoo! Real Estate

Charlie  Young, Chief Operating Officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate

See ya there!

Zillow Raises More Capital; Can an IPO Be Far Behind?

http://www.brokeriptv.com/zillow-moves-one-more-step-to-going-public 

Is there a national housing portal on the front….and how soon until Zillow goes Public?

from Yahoo Biz  http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070920/aqth046.html?.v=27

Zillow.com(R) Raises Additional $30 Million

 

Zillow.com is an online real estate community where homeowners, buyers, sellers, and real estate agents and professionals find and share vital information about homes, for free. Just 18 months since its launch, Zillow.com has become one of the largest real estate Web sites in the country, with 4.4 million unique users in August 2007. Nearly 40 percent of all U.S. homes have been searched on Zillow.

 

Zillow.com today announced a $30 million Series C round of funding led by global asset management firm Legg Mason Capital Management. The funds will support expansion of Zillow's staff of 155 employees, including a 20-person national advertising sales team.

 

Since April of 2007 More than 50,000 questions and answers have been asked about homes and Zillow discussions has seen more than 40,000 contributions since the feature launched in July.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070920/aqth046.html?.v=27

Will Google Or Zillow Replace Realtor.com

BrokeripTV  : We are talking with Jason Christiansen today. The CEO and owner of Internet media and Jason specializes in Real estate, Internet, Marketing Consulting. Jason, there are lot of Real estate agents out there, brokers who think that they sold real estate just fine without the internet. They think they can probably still do it that way. Your thoughts.

 
Jason Christiansen: What I think is if you want to be effective in real estate you should be where the buyers are. So if over 80% of buyers are going online to look for real estate technology. Real estate agents and real estate property then I would say those agents should be on the internet because that a great starting point to find those buyers.

 
Displayed Question: WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNET?

 
BrokeripTV  : How has the internet changed real estate?

 
Jason Christiansen: The Internet has really changed real estate by creating automated systems. So if Realtors understand how to use internet, they can put an automated system in to place such as marketing such as search engines, Pay per click marketing and more efficiently they can put in to place an e-mail property notice system. So properties are e-mailed to their clients everyday when properties hit the market that meets our criteria.

 
Displayed Question: WHAT ARE THE PLAYERS?

 
BrokeripTV  : There are lot of big players in the real estate industry who have obviously jumped in to the internet. Hard and heavy. Is any one doing it better than any one else?

 
Jason Christiansen: I think absolutely people are doing it better than others and you don’t have to be a season probe or you can be brand new. At bottom line is that if you have a proper internet strategy and an internet coach you can really get going very fast on the internet and have a strategy on exactly where are we placed and have the right technology.

 
Displayed Question: IS THE INTERNET JUST AS COMPETITIVE AS OTHER MARKETS?

 
Jason Christiansen: It is very competitive to get that front page placement out there but as I would say to my clients, there is only 10 dimes in a $. So therefore you have to go out there and be competitive and be found on page 1 because consumers don’t go passed page 1 anyway for the most part.

 
BrokeripTV  : There were many companies out there that are trying to make real estate a national event. Prudential’s teamed up with Yahoo, our ReMax [phonetic] tried a century 21 way back when tried to make real estate MLS national, the problem is it’s all been met with mixed reviews. Is it because real estate is still a local neighborhood event.  

 
Jason Christiansen: Absolutely. People who use the internet to look for local properties and they are looking for a local expert to really help them with them move.

 
Displayed Question: IS GOOGLE ATTEMPTING TO PENETRATE THE REAL ESTATE MARKET?

 
BrokeripTV  : We here whispers and I think actually it’s not more than a whisper at this point that people like Google are going to get in to the real estate business with the real estate product on their site. Can Google do what Prudential and Yahoo and others have not been able to do.

 
Jason Christiansen: Well. If Google does go in to real estate and it is Google real estate is in beta it’s out there, but if it goes further the benefit is Realtors would be able to add unlimited videos, unlimited photos and unlimited text and really create a world wide property search capability much better than REALTOR.com ever could.

 
BrokeripTV  : So you like Google’s chances I take it.

 
Jason Christiansen: If they get it done I think it be a great product.

 
Displayed Question: WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

 
BrokeripTV  : What is the next great thing, the next big technology to come down the pipe that can really help the real estate business and real estate agents?

 
Jason Christiansen: Well. I really think out there from just studying the internet and looking out how trends are going. The next big movement is going to be web video. So it is going to be virtual tours in video. It is going to be pretty much like what we are looking now interviews and my favorite phase is bottles video technology. We actually called e-pitch. By where people can walk on, talk to the consumer, tell them how to use the technology on their Web site, then they fade away. I think that could be the next big phase.

 
BrokeripTV  : Well a quick question on that. With the video becoming more and more dominant on the web, are we going to have a problem with people who are actually still on dial up or we are going to see no one on dial up connections anymore?

 
Jason Christiansen: Well I think a very slim people will be on dial up. But technology companies like ourselves would put in buffers built in, so if they are on dial up the video just won’t even show because they don’t have enough bang width control.

 
BrokeripTV  : Naturally. Jason thanks very much for talking with us.

 
Jason Christiansen: Thank you so much.

 

CMA-AVM-Transparency And Secret Sauce

As of late, It seems that a new pricing Automated Valuation Model (AVM) rolls out every week!  So I decided to make a run down of what's out there.  I think that as Real Estate professionals you should know these products inside and out as well as be able to use them in your arsenal of tools.  They can in fact provide excellent research data in preparing for a pricing presentation and truly supplement a broker CMA.

Considering that most all the AVM models are using information available from public records, I do believe that the most critical data needed to really make a complete and thorough pricing opinion is not present. 

The first element not present is the "Under Contract"  information.  This is what I call the ghost of Christmas Future, from the Dickens story of the third future telling ghost.  This is really make or break information needed by any person to look at true market trends.  Most of this data is available only through broker MLS systems.

Secondly, any and all sales CONCESSIONS are not listed anywhere in the public records.  This is a HUGE area and should be deeply concerning to most citizens, because I believe that the  Tax Collectors don't want this information available (lower taxable real estate value).  This is quite common in the Denver Metro Area.  Take the builder who refuse to lower the price but instead gives away $30, $40 or $50 in upgrades and or financing incentives.  Now when you look at the public record sales data, it appears they paid say $600,000...the same as the other people in the neighborhood.  But we know the net price is really $550,000.  With the advent of seller paid closing costs becoming more common, these concessions can also amount to large numbers.  Once again, the local MLS system has very detailed concession information. 

The third non tangible is the "localism" involved in pricing.  I hear a lot of brokers from the urban areas complaining most about AVM pricing...because AVMs can not take into account "transitional" neighborhoods. Another unique issue is in fact the physical attributes of the home.  I consider cat urine (lots of it) to be a very "localism" kind of thing!  Also another local issue is true "Days On Market" and historical listing data of properties. Therefore, I tell all  my clients that it's great to have online pricing models available, but take heed to the  last three and most important three items relevant to pricing; under contracts, concessions and localism. 

Once again, consumers today are doing their own homework and if anything this transparency provides a means to "smoke out" the incompetents and "listing liars" in this industry!  You had better run every public AVM known to man and then justify your CMA with the "secret sauce" data. 

So contrary to what most people believe, the brokers still control very critical  "secret sauce" data and the transparency of of any online pricing model is  missing three huge components that can not be fed into their algorithm pricing models.  Remember, in the transparent real estate world YOU ARE THE HUMAN BROWSER and you had better know more than the consumer in every area of not only real estate but technology...or you be replaced by someone that is. 

http://www.zillow.com 

Probably the most infamous of the online pricing models.  Zillow offers a branded API with basic valuation information. The site allows the "Owner" to claim their property and make the proper corrections to the data to provide more relevant pricing information. Of all the pricing sites, Zillow is moving to the community real estate portal complete with an excellent WIKI. The site is powered by  GlobeXplorer and Proxix mapping.

http://www.realestateabc.com

This product is very similar to Zillow. I really like that it pushes the used and not used sales comparbles along with the dates and addresses right below the estimate window.  This product is powered by  Google mapping..

http://houseamerica.com

This offers a quick 3 or 4 comparable estimate and tries to get you to subscribe to monthly email subscription to home valuation reports ($4.95). You can make no online property characteristics or seek other comparables.....unless you pay. This doesn't seem to make sense when the information is freely available.  This product is powered by Google mapping

http://www.cyberhomes.com/

This product has the most properties (100m) and bloggers seem to think that the data is most accurate. They offer a fee based white label version of their service to website owners.  I love the format and the whole design of the product. While Zillow may have the Buzz, this Fidelity National product is superior in results and information.  Their mapping is VirtualEarth.

http://eppraisal.com/

The basic appraisal value is free and seems to be the most inaccurate.  You can tell it must be run by brokers as you must register for detailed info!  They provides a white label service that's reportedly cheaper than Fidelity's. But I guess in this case you get what you pay for. It is powered by Virtual Earth mapping.

http://reply.com

This site provides a value report.  Reply.com is doing a few interesting things. They seem to be the most "Zillow Like" in look, feel and features.  They are monetizing the site with ads, the same way Zillow is except they are a lead generating machine for brokers. Once again not the Buzz of Zillow, but a great data site. Most unique is their "Make an Unsolicited Offer", like the Zillow "Make Me Move"  feature. I also like it because they give my house the highest valuation of any of the tools. Its' powered by Google mapping.

So I am sure there a few more than I have listed out there and I would appreciate anyone posting up the latest and greatest AVM.  I see AVM's as a must use tool to supplement the broker CMA.  In fact, the more data and the faster I can get it, GREAT!  I just want to make sure I am the ring master at the circus.  I think most of this comes to educating yourself and your clients and finding out what they want and expect. Brokers using and presenting both systems, AVM-CMA, are what I see and clients will see as the professional, expert broker.

Google, Microsoft and The Realtor Lifestyle

My good friend Ed Kohler from technology evangelist (great blog) was kind enough to send me this great article (Hooked On Google).  It's a fantastic short read about the mojo Google has working on Microsoft!  Maybe this is why some of the better Real Estate Map Mashups like ColoradoHomeStop have picked the Google map API and not Microsoft's virtual earth.  It also validates the direction the real estate industry is heading.

So let's really read these words;  ``The past few years have taught us that business models based on controlling consumers or content don't work,'' Schmidt wrote.  This is Google's head dude saying they have made their huge gains, despite the money and efforts of Microsoft by giving people what they want...for free.  So who's this guy, Eric E.Schmidt,Ph.D,  Google's Chief Executive Officer. (one really smart person) We should heed the advice learned from the people controlling of 800,000,000 eyeballs!

So,  what he is saying is that companies like Microsoft, who license (controlling consumers) software to people are doomed to be taken down by the likes of Google who will give it away for free.  Thus, it makes perfect sense that groups or associations like say, Realtors, that control real estate content are also doomed to be taken down by the likes of Google or Zillow or some other outside WEB 2.0 super app! 

The Google business model of acquiring best of breed apps and throwing them on to the Google dash board tool box is pure Genius!  Everything starts from Google...they control the desktop and they control search.  They know that Microsoft's Achilles heel is licensed software applications...so they give them out for free!  Entire applications such as gmail,docs and spreadsheets, google calendar, goggle photo sharing, google vidieo,google checkout, google personalized web page, for marketing google adsense and the newest angle to your desktop books.google. (remember most information is NOT ON THE NET, it's in libraries throughout the world) Google has now scanned 1m books!

``Google is the next Microsoft because Microsoft is the next IBM,'' said Stephen Arnold, a technology consultant and author of ``The Google Legacy.'' ``Just as Microsoft superseded IBM, Google is superseding Microsoft.''

A true statement, already well under way.  Ya gotta wonder who the next Move/Realtor.com  will be?  You say "no way", I say "when".  Move/Realtor.com is spending millions (our millions) letting people know that the Realtor Brand is professional and ethical enough to justify that 3% to 6% on that next transaction.  I don't know about you, but in 22 years and 2000 transactions, no one ever asked or cared that I was a Realtor.  Move/Realtor.com has 1800 employees and one giant payroll!  While they still have 92% of the Realtor content,  they should be engineering a way to get consumers ALL THE DATA within a killer user interface.  But that would be too easy!

Let's look at the other side of the river. Zillow has 150 engineers and spends 2m a month engineering a new transparent Real Estate Web Portal for brokers and consumers providing as much data as they can eat. Zillow announced at Inman Connect in NY that their new EZAds, are rolling in March 2007. These ads will be geo targeted by zip code, for brokers to advertise to the site's growing eyeballs.  Some MLS systems should take note..Zillow offers unlimited uploads of High Resolution photos and Virtual tours. Imagine that!

There's no doubt that Google is the real starting point for any and all Real Estate Search and services.  In fact, its the start for pretty much any business or service. I mean the iPhone’s Safari web browser also includes built-in Google Search...it's now a STANDARD of web search coolness!     Microsoft's Windows live has gone nowhere fast.  Here's something to think about. Zillow could be another Best of Breed acquisition by Google.  Hmmm.

The following is from the concluding paragraph of Mike Long's comments to Move/Realtor.com, NAR Board of Directors.  The long and short of the rant was about third party invasion of the industry. 

This is an enormous issue for our industry. How the industry's content will be managed going forward is being decided now. Will it be an organized decision, based on careful consideration or will it be driven by expediency, short term considerations, industry ambivalence or even outsiders? I have enjoyed the conversation and debate we have had this week about these and other issues. Move wishes to be part of the solution. We will gladly support with all our resources a group of industry thought leaders charged with addressing this issue. We have unabashedly committed ourselves to being supporters of REALTORS®, their value proposition and the REALTOR® way of life. Allan Dalton and I and the entire Move/REALTOR.com® team look forward to continuing to earn your confidence and support.

Here's what Mike and the gang at NAR need to understand.  Google’s stated mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. (Period)

I don't really know what he means by the term "Realtor Way of life"...but I do know that I agree with Schmidt,  "business models based on controlling consumers or content don't work"  This is also true for all  local MLS systems with all their controlling business practices. I think the "Realtor way of life" is suffering from the same problems that Microsoft is having with Google...lack of vision, lack of inspired leadership and not enough smart people from the outside.

YOU, The Real Estate Broker

“You”, Time’s 2006 person of the year.   I am sure some people may think this seems like some type of cop-out...or even stupid?  I think your opinion greatly depends on your generation.  However, Time Magazine is part of one of the biggest media conglomerates in the universe.  So give them some credit.  No doubt, they have let us in on the greatest new business trends of our future.  Transparency and social networking.  Ordinary information of interest to the community is made freely available. Additional, meta-levels of organizing and decision-making are themselves also published. This is known as radical transparency.  Welcome to the new world of collaborative, social networking. 

So what does “you”, and transparency have to do with real estate brokers?  Simple, millions and millions of users continue to participate and contribute content to this vast new universal knowledge base known as the internet. As more of the world opens up shop in “the cloud”, the real foot race is to see if the current “mind controllers” can pull things back before critical mass is achieved and there is no turning back!  Many believe we have passed the threshold.  Whatever the deal, you, the real estate broker, will now have to play a crucial role as “Human Browsers” or end tech users.  We are the human browsers spoken of by futurist, Harry S. Dent.  I predict only that it is going to be an interesting next several years and that looking for anything resembling sanity will be like waiting for fog to clear. 

The web allows information and content to come from multiple sources in real time.   As a real estate broker, you need to play and participate in the same arena as the buying and selling consumers. With so much information now available, real estate is becoming a very noisy field.  "In a complex world of nearly infinite choices, customers increasingly need a new middle-person to fit a broad array of products and/or services into a customized solution," Dent writes. Your job description is now quite different than just having access to MLS.   In addition, Dent foresees a profound re-engineering of organizational structures to make them "operate from the customer back, not the top down." This is what Dent calls the new "network organizational model."

You, the real estate broker, need to be at the forefront of information gathering.

Make it your commitment in 2007 to become part of the transparent social network. To understand them, you need to become as they are, contributors and consumers of content on the many web portals like YouTube, Google, MySpace, Criagslist, dodgeball, Wikipedia, eBay, Skype, Delicious,  Friendster, Picasa and even Real Estate Portals like Zillow.

Zillow is an example of a transparent social networking portal based around real estate. It will be one of many to follow.  Hey, maybe Realtor.com will even participate...maybe not?

In my position I see three types of brokers in our business today.  Group #1:   This group is hoping that things can not and will not change enough before they leave the business.  Group #2: Naive and still think the internet is a fad...nothing else to be said here and no impact on our business.  Group #3: The rest of us, scrambling to position ourselves somewhere out there and survive what will be nothing less than an industry turned upside down!  Which group do you fall into?  I think your answer will be evident in the actions you take in 2007.

For 2007, it's time to cancel all paper subscriptions (including the newspaper) and receive all information form RSS feeds.  It's time to pay all bills online. It's time to commit to going paperless and committing all paper into image.  It's time to carry browser access tools (smart phones) with you at all times. It's time to attend conventions like Inman Connect  and Web 2.0 Summit instead of just the NAR convention.  It's time to create your own Blog or two.  It's time to contribute and post to other blogs.  It's time to get a PayPal  account and buy something on eBay.  It's time to dump your copper phone line and subscribe with Vonage or Skype.   

The future is ripe with opportunity.  Never have there been so many venues for you to promote the uniqueness of YOU.  The interesting thing is that many of these transparent networking sites cost little or no money...they just take the initiative from you to get involved. People are seeking truth. Having all the information available will not make it any easier for the real estate consumer...and that's why a Human Real Estate Browser, YOU, can make a huge difference working with buyers and sellers.