Real Estate Industry Takes Leading Edge

With the big crunch in the American Real Estate market, and the subsequent Canadian market slow-downs, the Real Estate professionals across America are turning to Social Media to gain every advantage to increase their competitive edge.

Visiting a Sr Analyst at Forrester Research: Social Computing blog of Jeremiah Owyang, the post The Questions Corporations ask about Social Media had the following comment posted in response to the blog noting Real Estate has become an Early-Adopter of Social Media Marketing.

Well, in Arizona (a town of mid-size businesses), nobody gives a damn about social media (yet) besides tech companies. Oh — and real estate brokerages, who are desperate for a way to increase business in an abysmal market and think making their agents blog is a good way to do it. This provides fodder for me as a consultant and as a conference-organizer. The real estate companies are now asking “how can I get this up and running and producing customers for me before I am crushed by the weight of my own overhead from the good old days.

MLS.ca renamed REALTOR.ca

Monday June30th, 2008 the MLS.ca web site will officially be changed to REALTOR.ca as part of the re-branding approved at the Canadian Real Estate Association's (CREA) Special Assembly last October.

Existing mls.ca and sia.ca continue to operate after June 30th to allow for transition time. The new site includes interactive mapping technology, and the old existing mapping will remain on the old sites for a time.

Much alter, auto-redirects will bring mls.ca visitors directly to the REALTOR.ca site once all concerns or issues by various Boards and Associations have been addressed. Visitors will experience new features, interactive mapping, and streamlined search capabilities.

Members have often directed their clients to mls.ca, giving some clients, and even some members, the impression that mls.ca is the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) when in fact it has only ever been a limited selection intended as basic information for available listings. With the re-branding, CREA reinforces that listings are being made available by REALTOR®, and expect to see both trademarks - REALTOR® and MLS® - will be strengthened.

Your Own Common Sense Can Put It Together

Question mark
Originally uploaded by desi.italy

Quoted below is the beginning chunk of an online discussion. It was created to sell technology solutions to the real estate professional. I'm not going to comment on the technology, just the sales-pitch. Rather than a rewrite, you'll find below the quoted text my answer that I posted in reply to the sales-pitch.

We heard a much quoted statistic again yesterday and we decided to make it our weekly topic.

They say that 80% of home buyers use the Internet in their search for properties. What does this mean exactly? You never really see this number broken down much further. [note it isn't broken down]

8 of every 10 people look online. But what are they looking at? Buying tips, mortgage rate information, Realtor information? No, we are going to estimate that 90% of everyone who uses the Internet in their search is actually performing a directed property search. And this is normally initiated from a corporate site (remax.com, century21.com etc.) or a dedicated MLS system (realtor.com, mls.ca). Some Internet shoppers may go to a Realtor's website directly, but generally this audience prefers to select from a larger pool of listings (an MLS system).

We can't really back up this 90% with facts, but it seems reasonable don't you think? [and here he says he can't back up his 90% with facts either]

My (edited) Reply:

It's very EASY to tell a Real Estate Professional what is happening on the Internet with an Internet audience. If you don't know statistics, and don't have numbers Marty, I'd hesitate to put any of this out there.

As an avid student of human behaviour, having worked in technology since 1986, and since I'm heavily and actively involved in a wide-range of Internet audiences and always have, I have not only a good sense of Internet User Behaviour, but I also found out about a lot of the business-sales tactics of Internet professionals. Take SEO for example - you know the fly-by-night ones?

So consider this: The reason people come to a Realtor's site from an MLS somewhere is simply by the nature it is created and how Real Estate is currently being marketed (has been marketed) online. You can even look at a Realtor business card for obvious clues.

Real Estate has always been a Trust profession. Ever notice that it is the only industry that the professional members almost always have their photo on their card. It's been done this way for a long time, and the reason is that they are selling themselves to the buyer/seller and the Realtor is selling trust.

Getting online, the Realtor has no idea whatsoever about the Internet, technology, or computers more than they have to know, unless they worked the tech industry previously, are an avid hobbyist, or have a family or close friend working with it. The majority however, simply don't know what the truth is around what is being sold.

Here is the Truth about Searching for Real Estate.

As a buyer, I don't look for a Realtor, I look for a home.

• Am I simply looking for a specific home, or am I looking in a particular geographic area?

So the home-buyer hits the google page and types in, "commercial drive Vancouver property listings" as an example. Some Realtor sites are likely to show up, particularly those who have been ahead of the curve, have found the right solutions and tech-teams, and who have the success to invest in their technology and Internet solutions. But is it all Realtor sites, or are there others there too?

Anyone can answer these questions by simply running their own tests.

• Act like a home buyer.
• Remember how "little" inside knowledge most home-buyers have.
• Ask the dumb questions.
• Conduct the lamest searches, and
• the more sophisticated searches.

The more you do this, you will begin to see the results and the commonalities.

• Are they looking for you?
• Are they looking for just listings?
• Are they looking for a specific place in town?

This is what Creating New Doors on the Internet is all about.

Where the Real Estate industry and profession may have done a great job getting listings online, maybe what they've put online doesn't jive with the way people interact online. A real estate site is only one piece of the equation. Internet work is never done, it is not a static place, and it along with people always shifts and changes.

That is why StrataXL Software incorporates many elements into what they offer the Real Estate industry. Yes, it includes a Realtor site, but it also goes many steps beyond that to deliver websites that actually become representative off a geographic community and that site silently FARMS LEADS all day long and night without us or the Realtor lifting another finger.

It's not just in the Sell you see Marty. It's also in the Farming. We're not reinventing the door, we're preparing the field.

BC Real Estate Convention 2008 at Canada Place

Yesterday and today, StrataXL Software Inc. was in attendance demonstrating their Technology and Marketing Strategies to both Exhibitors and participants of this year’s BC Real Estate Convention 2008 at Canada Place in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The BC Real Estate Convention 2008 had superb turnout, standing-room only speaker-series, and a wide-range of opportunities for Realtors, Investors, Developers, and many other industry-related professionals. For StrataXL, attendance turned into a treasure chest of discoveries of other potential markets and applications for our creative suite of technology and marketing strategies.

For a successful Realtor or Realty Office, our Technology Solution provides an extraordinary tool to develop and manage various Internet website Properties for upcoming, ongoing, and after-sales Community Development Projects. Take our Premiere Launch into our Pilot Project, graciously spear-headed and funded by our initial Investor, Rick Stonehouse.

RickStonehouse.com is a professionally crafted Realtor Website using our Technology Solution. This solution also permits the creation of additional websites from the same interface as RickStonehouse.com. In this case, LiveInStrathcona.com is the launch of the much anticipated Community Creation Vehicle.

Imagine: The imminent launch of a Real Estate Development project. Whether it is a building, a subdivision, a resort, or small-town, prior to breaking ground the pre-sales activities have begun. The LiveIn branding creates the immediate identification of a virtual community that will soon be built. The functionality of the Technology Solution provides a vehicle to farm sales-leads and manage ongoing communication campaigns for both marketing, sales, closing, ongoing bulletins to new owners, and so on.

The interactivity of the discussion forums create vehicles for ongoing question and answers during the sales cycle. As the transition from sales-building-move-in, the evolution and flexibility of the site allow the evolution to take it from a sales vehicle to move the Development Realty Properties, to an actual thriving interactive online community that enable neighbours to become acquainted before the project was even completed. The life-force allows local-business to advertise and the community to interact and thrive in various ways.

You see how it is being birthed in already existing communities. When you want to farm qualified leads, the LiveIn strategy will be life-long gold.

Contact us at StrataXL.com to enquire further. Let us help you succeed with our powerful Technology and Tools.

Top Key Requirements for Real Estate Website

Strategy
Originally uploaded by Waponi

It is Key to choose the right Real Estate Website. An effective Internet presence depends upon your Real Estate Website's features and benefits. The Internet isn't just a Billboard, it is a communicating sales tool working 24/7 with your Listings, your News, and your trustworthy personality. Are you engaging the audience?

Here's what a Real Estate Website needs:

• Stand Out From the Crowd and Be Yourself: Templates don't cut-it anymore. You and at least 50 other people have the same look and feel to your website. You want a website with customizable design.
  
  
• Where you can use a word processor, you can customize content: Putting a sign on a telephone pole won't work nearly as well as a television commercial. Interact and engage the audience. Bring them back with fresh and valuable content. Don't pay another web professional to keep changing or adding web pages and content. You want a website with customizable content. SEO will like you too!
  
  
• You find things by the names and questions that make sense. You save files the same way. People search and ask questions of the Internet the same way. Labelling your page titles, meta-tag keywords, and url powerfully optimizes your website for search engine ranking. You want a website with customizable SEO details.
  
  
• Search Engines can be Rank on badly coded sites: Search Engines scour website html code for the valuable keywords and content that determine search engine ranking. Too much cluttered code washes out the ranking of valuable keyword content. You want a Web2.0 compliant site with clean uncluttered code for higher Search Engine Ranking.
  
  
• You sell houses, so where are the listings!? A Real Estate website without MLS integration, showing your personally chosen listings, just doesn't make sense. You want a Real Estate website that allows you to add, edit, or remove listings, and offer them in sort views.
  
  
• Listings are boring – Make it Stand Out! The MLS listings page can be a little tedious. Other, less-information dense pages display a Featured Listing (customizable) to attract more enquiries. You want a website with a Featured Listing feature.
  
  
• Farm your leads, farm your leads. You don't get anywhere in Real Estate without farming. Harness Internet traffic to your Real Estate website and offer the incentives that engage and collect them as Contacts in your very own website-based Contact Management Database! You want a website that collects farmed contacts.
  
  
• What are my websites visitors doing? How can I tell? Website statistics integration to your Real Estate website allows your to observe website Internet visitor behaviour patterns. What attracts them? Where do they go? What is ignored? This information guides you in shaping the site, the content, and engaging and attracting a wider and deeper audience for you to Farm for Contacts. You want a website that offers Statistics.
  
  
• Content Management System: What? Do we have to repeat ourselves? We said it before, we'll say it again, "You want a Real Estate website with customizable design, and customizable content." What did you think we were talking about? You get this so all our promises come true. Your level of skill determines the level you play with the code. Either way, you get a site that is customizable, fully-supported, and easily editable alone, or with a support plan.
  
  
• Real Estate is demanding on time; You Need Support! What is suggested by all that is offered and recommended may appear to be a lot, and overwhelming. That's why you need a team that can support you. Initial design, layout, creation, all the bells and whistles, included content creation strategy and training (what and how to say to audiences for SEO, engagement, and the technical how-to), and ongoing training and support for all aspects of developing a powerful and engaging Internet online presence at the tip of your fingers.
  
  
• Everything is Going Digital: Email, Newsletters, Blogs (RSS), and Social Media Engagement are old and new terms that mean a lot to successful Marketers. Real Estate is no different. The digital age and the digital society require an entirely different set of rules, strategy, and team-approach.
  
  
• Are You ready to Plug In? Plugging into the Internet intimidates some – that's a lack of information and understanding. A committed team will provide you with the tools that will give you information and understanding that offer all of the following:
  
  
• Integrated Real Estate Website with MLS Listings, Featured Listing, Customizable Design, Content, Layout, Discussion Forum, Contact Harvesting for Lead Farming, Newsletter and other Mass Communication tools included with Email, Website Statistics, Contact Management, and access to a Team of Experts covering SEO – Search Engine Optimization for better ranking, and Social Media Strategists that teach best-practices and insights to begin Internet-effective online social media marketing strategies and tactics to maximize farming results.

It's a journey, not a destination. Begin with the first step. Our package pricing strategies will get you started.

My real estate marketing 2.0 claims at JYTE

Here's some of my claims at JYTE:





Got something to say about it?

Jyte with a PR 8 is a very good way to SEO your site for your preferred keywords.
Check out how I've used the description part to seed my keyword links back to my main sites.

Go make your own claim today.

Building Community for Realtors

With some of our community sites like www.liveonthedrive.com and www.liveinstrathcona.com we've been building a following and engaging with the local community.

We are creating social community sites that have value beyond the simple real estate listings and engaging with members of the community before, during and after their home buying decision.

Why? Because it works that's why.

Need proof?

let's take a close look at some of the new "alpha" functionality in the "not yet released" new Realtor.com site (click the link to their "alpha site" at the top of the page).



Nice to see how much building community is playing into the growth strategy of an industry giant like Realtor.com.

Is your website engaging your audience? Are you building community?

You should be, visit www.agentXL.com and start now.

AgentXL and SellFM are Superstars at the Show!!

A small group of committed individuals have been diligently working behind the scenes to build up the foundation in support of two back-to-back Tradeshows held in the Vancouver lower-mainland area this past week.

January 29th, we attended the Vancouver event with greater-Vancouver Realtors, and January 30th, we were in Langley with the Fraser Valley Realtors.

• We had our SellFM transmitters on hand - a big hit with the Realtor crowd, selling a few units right there on site, and more trickling in after the show. We're expecting even more follow-up once people get the opportunity to review what they've brought home, and we proceed with our follow-up calls.
• We also received a new unit in just a few short days prior to the show. It took some frantic exploration and testing, and we proved the viability in today's market and brought along the BlueAgent, another talking sign technology that pushes / offers BlueTooth devices the ability to receive audio, image, vcard, and other data to their BlueTooth enabled device.
• The advances in our back-end software witnessed the birth of AgentXL. Our promotional screens, the successfully running LiveIn sites, and the onsite presentation garnered crowds of traffic at times around our booth.

What I noticed and heard as I talked to many Realtors, is that there are a lot of choices, and there is a lot of confusion with those choices, when it comes to getting a website. I felt their pain. There is nothing worse than not knowing anything about a subject that you must learn more about. When it comes to shelling out cash to buy something you know nothing about, too often we discover we've been sold a bill-of-goods not worth dirt. I've been there too.

We were very pleased and fortunate that our business model, social model, community model, and technology model are based upon a set of values and ethics that empower community, entrepreneurship, leadership, and service. As we took the time to demonstrate the various activities, how they tie together, and what we can accomplish to further the business goals of a Realtor, and provide valuable services and information to the Realtor target-audience (the community), the interest in our suite of products grew.

Active Movers:

SellFM Transmitters
The FM transmitter that shows and sells the listing when you're not there.

BlueAgent
A further evolution of the FM Transmitter, this unit is a small computer offering BlueTooth reception, or FM reception to receive different forms of communication.

Internet Traffic Building
Employing various tactics, we have various package offerings for building links and traffic to client sites. Easy to do, we teach our clients these tactics. They are time-consuming activities, and highly effective, so we also offer packaged deals to carry out the service on our clients behalf so they can keep working on the business they do best.

The Exciting Buzz

The exciting buzz was around our pilot project LiveIn sites: LiveInStrathcona, LiveOnCommercialDrive, LivingInMountPleasant. Every Realtor and Realty office immediately picked up on the value of the community focused sites as farms. The exciting part for us was the feedback we received.

Knowing what we know related to technology and the Internet, it mattered that we build the solution that meets all the parameters of a successful Web2.0 Internet user and client site. Here are just a few of the things that are critical success factors:

• Social media, community, are key elements
• Keywords and content are important
• Link-building and being an authority publisher of Internet content

We have achieved this through a variety of means and continue to evolve and develop the sites as time permits amongst our other projects. The real excitement came on Wednesday at the Fraser Valley Tradeshow when a City of Abbotsford Councillor approached intrigued and excited about applying the same approach for the City and its' residents.

As said at the show in response to her enquiry, "We're in! And we'll gladly extend the basic level of services and site-building for the city and community free of charge."

I wonder what Realtor or Realty Office will be the early-adopter and seize this as yet undeveloped opportunity? LiveInStrathcona is the most mature of these sites we've currently been developing, one of the strongest farm-bait sites available to real estate today. Just ask Rick.

Onsite at the Real Estate Show

Live at the Vancouver Real Estate Show. We are at booth #91 come and see us. We're showing off all our toys.

Besides our SellFM Transmitters, we also have our BlueTooth Transmitters and we're launching our first XLsuite vertical - AgentXL.

A big day for us down here, I hope you'll come say hi.

Active Rain Real Estate Community

This is a great way to get your name out there and improve your page rank, I blog here all the time.

You can find great local Vancouver, British Columbia real estate information on Localism.com Riel Roussopoulos - SEO & Web Strategy Expert is a proud member of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free online community to help real estate professionals grow their business.