Marketing Real Estate Online

Real Estate Agents Still Not Getting The Blogging Thing

2007-07-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

A fantastic post found today on Real Estate Tomato on how some agents are not getting into the blogging business. The article points out in part..

"The real estate industry has not yet embraced the idea of local blogs built by local agents.
Heck real estate is local but when it comes to technology many of our industry leaders are focused on national web sites, and blogs. Agents need to understand that consumers have concerns of their own and are looking for information, advice, homes and Realtors on the Internet. They are a different audience than the audience that many in our industry are focused on..."

Notes, Sites, Links

2007-05-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I like MyBlogLog.com so much is the great bloggers who can be found there. One such blogger I came across today is a real estate blogger from New York, Christine Forgione.
That's the way it's done!

Real Estate Tomato is a work of art. So entertaining and full of great, usable information.

Finally real estate professionals not using ActiveRain.com should be looking over some of what they have to offer.
Plus Google likes Active Rain links.

Smart Use Of Social Web Tools

2007-04-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

ActiveRain.com offers a nice suite of blogging tools. These real estate professionals are keen on Web2 or social web marketing techniques. As a matter of fact their MyBlogLog.com link is on the first page of Google for the search term "Active Rain".
Good stuff.

Yahoo! Adds Tools To Real Estate Search Site

2007-04-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Real Estate search vertical is offering Foreclosure search and a Find a Realtor search . The later in partnership with HomeGain. Not much to add except the Realtor search requires a type-in contact page step that everyone knows home hunters hate! Maybe their data supports adding the extra step.

New Tool StreetAdvisor.com

2007-03-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Home buyers are surfing the net for information on neighborhoods well before they contact you. Get ahead of them by seeding the neighborhood with StreetAdvisor.com, a brilliant new social networking site. StreetAdvisor allows anyone to claim or join a "street" community. Imagine the potential!

StreetAdvisor.com understands the implications for real estate:

The definitive guide to finding the right street.

"Through detailed reviews and guidebooks (written by insiders that know best), combined with patent-pending scoring technologies, StreetAdvisor helps bridge the gap that exists about the relevant information at the street level, from neighborly attitudes to noise levels to traffic problems.

Unlike other sources of real estate information StreetAdvisor reviews are written by people in the know…. the people who live (or lived) in the street!

Imagine how much easier it would be if you could find out about the street – before you moved in.

Everyone's got something to say... and share! "

I "created" a profile for my street here. Get ahead of your buyers and profile the streets of your listings. We're early so chances are good you will be the only person reviewing the street. Keep it honest and useful, as a friend of the street you will be a virtual neighbor of the buyer and other street residents.

Stake out your streets before someone else does!

Buyers Market Ingenuity

2007-03-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

An enterprising California real estate agent has come up with a smart way to leverage his popular real estate website and blog. He offers a marketing service for listing agents asking for the customary 25% referral commission. Read about his plan here.

Desperation?

2007-03-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

When one sign isn't bringing the buyers just add another one?

New York Times Real Estate, Are You There?

2007-02-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

Are your listings there? Do they need to be? Not likely unless you live in the region but did you know a listing on Homes and Land gets you on The New York Times?
It's an interesting development I had no knowledge of until I found a home for sale in Morro Bay California on the NYT and followed the trail.

If you want to advertise directly from the New York Times click here. for further information.

Google's Real Estate Vertical Search Engine?

2006-12-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

It looks like Google has just released a new vertical search engine for real estate from listings uploaded to Google Base.

Here is how the real estate search box looks from Google's search pages on a search for "Cayucos real estate". Click the link
Find results for cayucos real estate in housing and you enter the housing vertical search site.

There appears to be a little overlapping. One agent's listing is entered three separate times and apparently not by the agent. For example 524 S. Ocean in Cayucos is listed by Postlets.com, HouseValues.com and Point2home.com.

I don't see the value to the searcher, listing agent or listing brokerage. One listing is enough and the multiple listing of one home makes gives the appearance of desperation. I know this is not the case on this property.

Zillow Has Company, Cyberhomes.com

2006-11-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

Zillow gets some respectable competition in the home valuation arena from Cyberhomes.com. It has a cleaner interface than Zillow and has some fun and easy to use features. Nice to see another useful tool like Zillow online.

Research Points To Need For Web Advertising

2006-08-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Center For Media Research reports.

Internet Beats Yard Sign For Selling Homes

"The Executive Summary reporting the July Borrell "Update: Online Real Estate Advertising," says that the $11 billion spent on total real estate advertising has stagnated, growing less than four percent over the past four years, while the available advertising inventory, the number of existing homes for sale on the market, rose 41 percent in the last 12 months.

An overheated home-sales market has only recently begun to slow down, says the report, and the proliferation of "free" listings sites on the Internet portends a collapse in the $6 billion print classifieds business, especially with the vast majority of home seekers now using the Internet to find a home. As home sales slowed, the Internet became the most-used method of selling a home, beating out even the old-faithful yard sign.

The study concludes that this "tipping point" will help propel Internet real estate advertising to a $2 billion level this year and push it past $3 billion by 2010, surpassing newspapers in terms of advertising market share.

The summary says that despite the hype about agents and brokers already advertising on the Internet, there is huge room for growth. Sixty-one percent of agents do not advertise on the Internet. And 87 percent of agents are not buying keywords on Google or Yahoo. However, the real estate bonanza has brought an influx of new agents who seem hell-bent on using the Internet to reach new customers.

In a survey of 535 agents, 64 percent of the less tenured agents were likely to advertise online while only 36 percent of the agents selling homes for more than 10 years were likely to advertise online. The rest of the findings indicate that an Internet-marketing gap exists between newer and long-time agents. And, concludes the report, new sites like Trulia, edgeio, Oodle and CityCribs may wind up being the new disruptors to the "old" business models of paid online listings..."

Increase Your Market Exposure

2006-03-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

If you are a real estate agent or broker our service can lead you to increased listings and sales in your local market.

Top of page search engine placement is simple and only requires understanding how internet search advertising works.

Top placement does not require exhaustive optimization of your website. We can have your site on top of the competitors in one day by using pay per click.

We will only work with one broker or agent in any geographic area. We work exclusively with you to make sure you are the number one agent or agency in your area.

We will consult with you for as long as our service is needed and will stay with you for as long as it takes to see results.

Please send an E-MAIL

Here is an interesting article from Clickz pointing to the growth rate of real estate advertising on the web.

...and this from the Borell Associates via Kelsey Group Blog;
"The report also includes results from a survey of 531 agents, as well as extensive analysis of the impact of Web 2.0 players on the industry. The survey revealed that 61 percent of agents still don’t advertise on the Web, and that 87 percent don’t make keyword buys. But tellingly, newer agents are much more dependent on the Web. Sixty-four percent of newer agents advertise online, compared to 36 percent of agents with 10+ years experience."