Tag Archives: MLS

Real Estate Report Card

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There are a lot of Real Estate companies with applications that claim to be the “best choice for your Real Estate needs”. I’ve just recently come across an article that I feel accurately describes and grades a few of the major Real Estate platforms. It goes without saying that each review should be taken with a grain of salt. Most of these applications give you the same MLS listing results, so the majority of the reviews focus on design and touch user interface. The only way to find out which one is right for you is to try them all!

“Reposted from 1000watt Blog.” 

Zillow

Zillow announced that it will be the first publicly traded company to take questions from investors via Twitter and Facebook. It also re-launched its mobile apps, moving all the search options under the “hamburger” icon and integrated its Mortgage Marketplace into the experience.

Grade: B+

I think Zillow’s openness on social media has done wonders for its brand and I like the new design… but I don’t love it. Somehow it feels like it has lost a bit of its personality. Maybe I miss the green from the new all-blue look. (Too Trulia for them, perhaps?) Also, I’m really beginning to think that the map is not the best view for real estate listings on mobile. More on that in another post, though.

Trulia

Trulia’s suite of consumer products, its website, mobile apps and iPad app all got face-lift too. Photos got bigger. The design got flatter. And in the case of the search results page on their website, they lost the left rail altogether and moved to a two-column layout.

Grade: A

I like the direction that Trulia is taking its design. Deep-sixing that left rail of refiners is like a blast of fresh air across the page. Trulia was the last holdout of the major portals on this front. Vendors and brokers, if you’re still desperately clinging to that wall of drop downs and form fields on your website, do yourself a favor and move on.

Realtor.com

Realtor.com released school search in its iOS and Android apps this month. The feature lets you quickly find properties within specific school districts or boundaries with a quick tap. Great school ratings are integrated, as are important data points like teacher/student ratios. Parents everywhere rejoice.

Grade: A-

I love all the innovation coming out of “Move” on the mobile front. They were first out of the gates with a draw-to-search feature, which still feels like magic. School search is a such a no-brainer and their execution here is fantastic. I love the speed and responsiveness. My only hesitation in awarding them an A grade this month is that the app itself is starting to look a little tired, with feature upon feature being piled on. I think this is an app that is screaming out for a UI refresh.

Redfin

Redfin pushed out a major design overhaul of the company’s website a few weeks back. They buried the previous design’s “cadaver blue” and splashed the wall with Redfin red . The company’s tree logo also got felled. A quick survey of the comments on the blog post announcing the change shows people were none too happy with the change.

Grade: B+

The new identity and red makes a ton sense. After all, the color is in the company’s name. I really like the cleanliness of the new site too, but its mobile apps still look like they’re the walking dead.

Photography and Your Listing

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As many of us already know, photos play a major role when it comes to publicizing a property. Photos and videos grab everyone’s attention whether it’s on Facebook, printed marketing materials, or your blog/website. The photo/video must be clear, crisp, elegant etc. To achieve this many Realtors hire professionals to make sure the photos are  of quality, but what happens when professionals are not available? We’ve all been in a position where you are  touring a property for a client and you want to send them a quick pic or video to gauge their interest. Or maybe you’re not satisfied with the pictures on the MLS but you don’t have time to hire anyone. How do you make sure these photo/videos are quality? Here are a few tips for you to follow.

The Rule of Thirds – The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. The iPhone Makes this easy with its grid feature. If you break the image into nine sections, how do your subjects fit in those spaces? You don’t always want them in the middle.

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 Use a Tripod (when available) — this will allow you to take a longer exposure and give you crisp, clear photographs with available light.

Use all of the available lighting  — in the home, being careful not to shoot directly at bright light coming from windows unless you are using multiple exposures or exposure adjustments. When the camera sees the bright light coming from the window, it thinks there is enough light for a proper exposure; what will actually happen is the room will be underexposed and detail will be lost.

Wide-Angle lenses are best for photographing rooms, as they will show more of the room, which will enhance the space.

Never Shoot at Mid Day — When shooting the property from the outside its best to avoid shooting at mid day, this is when the Sun is at its peak and the light will cause the camera to under expose the picture.

These are just few tricks that can help you when taking photos of your listing. Happy Clicking!

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Use Social Media Analytics to Improve Your Real Estate Efficiency

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As I’m sure you all know by now Social Media is an extremely effective and affordable marketing tool; one that every business in every industry should be utilizing. The use of Social media turns us into our own public relations or marketing firm. However, while Realtors may acknowledge the potential of these tools, they often fail to go further and see what is or  isn’t effective. This is where analytics comes in. To put it simply, the analytics of your Social Media sites are the cold hard data which come from the number of clicks, views, likes, etc. WordPress has a simple version of this on the black bar at the top of the page (for those of you who use WordPress and are logged in). Although it may seem boring, knowing the statistics of your different sites is extremely important if you want to gauge the effectiveness of your campaign. As a Realtor you need to know who is responding to the promotions you publish, whether or not they are sharing it (which means they’re excited about it), the amount of people who are actually engaged in your links, etc. All of these things can help you tailor your message toward a specific demographic or geographic, which as a Realtor, is one of the most valuable abilities to possess. Research what Buyers and Sellers like to view, replicate it, and toss of what they don’t.

So how can you get a quality analysis of your social media sites? I’ve compiled a list of what I think are the 3 best analytic programs:

Google Analytics:  Allows you measure sales and conversions, as well as gives you fresh insights into how visitors use your site, how they arrived on your site, and how you can keep them coming back. It includes Analysis tools, content analysis, social analysis, advertising analysis, etc.

 Radian 6: Social media monitoring tools, social media engagement software and social marketing

 Hootsuite: A better view of your social campaigns with powerful analytics tools and customizable reports that gives you a complete and comprehensive picture of your participation in social spaces. HootSuite Social Analytics closes the loop between social and digital with real-time views into campaign results.

 Each program has its own unique benefit but all provide you with valuable data that can lead you to closing more deals in a shorter amount of time. On top of that, they are very user-friendly and easy to link up to any current social media site that you may have. If you’re a Realtor and you are marketing through social media there is no reason for you not be analyzing your data on your own when these sites practically do it for you. Happy Hunting!

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Real Estate Tech Trends : Part – II

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Last month I gave you guys a list of trends relating to technology and how buyers and sellers use it to find a their agents. So today I’m gonna give you a few more statistics for you to use in your daily hustle and bustle.

Why Buyers choose their Agent:

24% Say they chose a Buyer who is honest and trustworthy.

21% Say they chose a Buyer based on their reputation.

15% Say they used an agent that was a friend or family member.

12% Say they chose an agent based on their knowledge of the neighbor.

9% Say they chose an agent because they thought the agent had a caring personality.

6% Say they chose the agent because they received a timely response.

5% Say it was the Prestige of the firm.

4% other.

Expected Response time <VS> Actual Response Time:

SELLERS:

77% of seller expect a response from their agent within 30 minutes of an inquiry.

45% of sellers expect an instant reply from their agents after an inquiry.

Only 24% of Agents respond to sellers within 30 minutes of initial contact.

BUYERS:

88% of buyers expect a reply within 1 hour of inquiry.

42% of buyers expect to be contacted instantly.

Only 30% of Agents respond to Buyers within 1 hour of inquiry. 

Response Time importance:

6% of buyers say response time is somewhat important when selecting their agents.

94% of buyers say that response time is Very Important when selecting their agents.

All Say that Response Time was important.

Repeat Business:

74% of buyers say that they would definitely use an agent that was recommended to them by others.

15% of buyers say that would probably use an agent recommended by others.

5% of buyers say that they would probably not use an agent recommended by others.

4% of buyers say that they would definitely not use an agent recommended by others.

2% of buyers said they don’t know.

Only 10% of buyers actually used agents they had previously used.

This is only Part II of Real Estate and Tech Trends. Part III will be coming soon and focuses on how Buyers & Sellers use and respond to both new and traditional marketing tactics!

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Make Your Real Estate Platforms Mobile Friendly

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u.s. share of time spent by device-1

So as we all know by now Social Media is the way to go. Many of the major companies have figured out the same. I recently read an article that focused on how companies are making their ads more user-friendly. Native ads are ads that are embedded into the page itself (Facebook news feed ad, Twitter’s promoted tweets) as opposed to the traditional banners, pop ups, etc.. When I read this, it occurred to me that this type of ad not only allows the company to swindle its way into the reader’s focus, but it also allows the ad to be seamlessly applied to mobile applications as well. How many promoted tweets or ads have we seen on our mobile devices that we didn’t know about?

As a Realtor,  I instantly noticed that I should not only be taking advantage of these “Native ads”, but that I should also make sure that all my web-based platforms are mobile friendly. Social media usage is increasing drastically on mobile devices. Sites such as 4Square and Instagram are already at 99% mobile usage. Twitter is at 70% and Facebook recently reported that a little over half  (51%) of its users are mobile users. This trend seems to be increasing as application UI (user interface) gets better each year. As a Realtor, you need stay on top of all emerging technology, including tech trends. If you see that more and more people are using the web from their mobile devices then it would behoove you to make sure that all of your real estate pages, virtual tours, YouTube pages, etc. are mobile enabled or mobile friendly.  As a Realtor, service your Buyers and Sellers better by making things easier for them by having sites that are simple to navigate and easily accessible on any platform.

 Fortunately, there are a few sites that can help you do this for free. Dudamobile is a website that will convert your website into a mobile friendly format and you can customize it as you see fit. Mobify and Gomobi are two other notable mentions. These are only a few choices of sites that will make your websites mobile friendly.  As a side note, most social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are already optimized for mobile use. So get cracking and browse through your sites to see which ones need to be mobile friendly!  Be accessible on all platforms and watch your followers and conversion rates double!

 

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The Value of Pairing a Video with your Property Listing is Priceless!

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As we all know Real Estate is an industry that gives the power to the individual. Sure there are huge companies like Realtor.com, MLS.com, Zillow etc. that have thrown money at having the most listings and data but none of them actually SELL the property. The Realtor is the deciding factor in that arena. To paraphrase some of my earlier post, the advance of technology has literally put the power in the realtors hands. This power (technology) actually gives the realtor an advantage over a lot of these huge realty companies and today I’m going to point out a very simple but very powerful tool available to everyone. VIDEO! I saw a realtor do something that I thought was brilliant at an open house that I recently had. She asked me if I was ok with her taking a video for her client. Naturally, I said “Sure”. It’s what she did after taking the video of the house that caught my attention. She proceeded the record the neighborhood, and the traffic of a near by intersection. That’s when I realized that SHE WAS A GENIUS !

Video is something that just about everyone has access to through their computers and/or their smart phones. Much like a photograph, video can convey a sense of personality and intimacy. These traits are what make video such a powerful tool to the realtor. With a video you now have the ability to capture things that a huge company cannot. With tap of a button you can send your client a realistic view of the condition of the neighborhood, the neighbors (that’s always important), traffic, schools, construction(if any), condition of home, etc. The uses are endless. This creates a deeper level of trust between you and your client, something that is sure to be conveyed when recommending you to a friend. Current Technology not only allows you to share the video instantly but it allows you to stream live if needed.

Video is a crucial addition to realtors who want to take their business to the next level. Going the extra mile to create a quality video could not only be the deciding factor in your sale, but it could also be the deciding factor in the potential for future listings. So before posting your next listing think about using video to do something “outside the box”.

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Tech Savvy Real Estate Agents have the Edge

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It goes without saying that the Real Estate industry has bounced back considerably since the housing collapse years ago. This spring/summer it seems to be as hot as ever. There are thousands of listings to be had just in Los Angeles alone, you just have to know where to look, but that’s for another post. The point is that the market is hot right now for buyers and sellers! Why you ask? Technology. Real estate has gone digital and shows no signs of ever going back. In 2012 93% of people who sold a home and 96% of people who bought a home (under the age of 44) did so online. Those who didn’t probably found their listing online.

The Web 2.0 craze has taken over everything and real estate is just another check on its list. The introduction of the MLS (Multiple listing service) app has streamlined the process considerably. What once took days, stacks of paper, and numerous phone calls can now be done with the tap of a finger. You can find the listing,  give your buyer a virtual tour, and set up an appointment in minutes. This streamlining also frees you from the constraints of the community in which you work. Apps like these take you from local realtor to national realtor. You can now correlate with buyers from across the nation that are interested in commercial or residential real estate in your area.

The increasing capability of the mobile device is also fueling this fire. The fact that phones can now shoot video and photo’s in HiDef is a major deal. Combine these abilities with apps like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and you have your own makeshift listing site. Use these with an exclusive listing and you’ll have buyers/agents crawling to you like Oliver Twist and his bowl of gruel.

Technology has changed the market of real estate considerably and the only logical notion is that this change will continue to make it easier and quicker for agents everywhere to buy, sell, and list commercial or residential real estate. So if you’re a Realtor stuck in the stone age (which if you’re reading this then your probably not, in that case share this with a friend that is!) then it’s time get out!

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