Realty World Northern California & Nevada

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I’m new at this real estate thing. I have lived my life in technology, an industry that has a community that knows many of its influential members and keeps an eye on them. The real estate community is large as well and made up of lots of people who know about specific areas, which means it can be daunting to try to track and talk to key players.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try though. I suggest getting to know and getting active in local committees, groups and associations. Forget about the politics of the organization, as that often distracts members or perspective members, and focus on the larger mission. Why wouldn’t you want to get to know the people that are making decisions that affect your job, stay on top of the latest and greatest, and voice your opinion when you don’t like something?

There are a lot of changes happening, getting involved is good for you, good for business and good for the entire industry. Looking for a list of places to get started – try checking with your broker or franchise – if they don’t know, start asking why not.

Video is the fastest growing segment online, yet the real estate industry continues to be the slowest to adopt these changes. The question every Realtor should be asking now is why? Our verdict: cost and real estate companies not providing Realtors the resources to do it! Its a fact that consumers have moved to the internet for pretty much everything, with 87% of homebuyers using the Internet for information when purchasing a home. Its also a fact that video is the fastest growing segment on the internet right now with 77% of U.S. Internet users viewing online videos. These are staggering numbers. So where is the real estate industry in all of this?

Real estate website giants Trulia and Zillow continue to dominate online real estate as they tap consumers desire for information online. Will video be the next move for them? Most likely, as Realtors who are adopting this new medium are already seeing the results:

“I recently sold a listing and believe the video walkthrough was instrumental in it selling so quickly – it was on the market only 6 days! People at my open house commented on seeing the video online and said it made it stand out from other listings. The sellers showed it to neighbors and friends who were all impressed! Thank you for making this service available to Realty World agents. It gives us an edge in this competitive market by providing an additional marketing channel that delivers more potential buyers and differentiates us from competing agents. The buyers liked it so much they asked for a copy of the video on DVD!”

– Michael Valentine, Broker/Owner, Realty World Acclaim

Realtors must accept that static websites and virtual tours are no longer enough. Consumers expect online interaction with real estate agents, images and videos available on their website – or they’ll go where they can get it. Our video initiative shows that agents advertising with videos win listings, sell homes faster, and take business from those who don’t.

Facebook is a great place to maintain existing relationships and make connections. Facebook will alert you to when your sphere of influence experiences major life changes such as engagement, marriage, birth of a child, etc. Facebook also provides a forum to join groups or fan pages based upon your personal and professional interests and also increase your presence in the community.

Who Shouldn’t Use Facebook

• People who are easily annoyed/offended by the opinions of others. Facebook is a “friendly” forum, which means people will share personal information about their lives, religion, political persuasion, etc. This can be helpful to you – so don’t be too quick to run from it. However, if will be unable to have productive relationships with people whose opinion is different than your own, this may not be the forum for you.
• People who are unwilling to share personal information about themselves. Friends will wonder why you visit their page to learn more about them but are not providing information about yourself. This is your place to put your personality out there!
• People who are only going to post about real estate or post all of their listings – this will have a negative impact on your relationships with others and perception in the marketplace. Facebook is not your own personal MLS page.

Who Should Use Facebook

• People who enjoy interacting with family, friends and others in a community setting.
• People who enjoy sharing pictures, videos and interesting news with friends.
• People who will log in at least once per day and update their status as well as check up on how their friends are doing.
• People looking to build lasting relationships.

Getting Started

If you are a Realty World NCA member, you can log on to the Realty World website and click on the Training tab at the top. From there, click the Online Training tab and then click Social Media/Blog. Here you will find a series of videos that will walk you through:

• Account Creation
• Account Security
• Finding Additional Friends
• Homepage Overview
• Uploading Photos
• Applications
• Events
• Group and Fan Pages
• Adding Outside Content

If you are not a Realty World NCA member, the login steps on the Facebook home page will instruct you with account and profile setup as well as some basics. You may also call the Realty World NCA office to learn more about access to our training tools.

Facebook Dos

• Use a recent picture of your face as your profile picture. Save the pictures of kids and kittens for elsewhere on the site – we want to make sure people recognize you when they search
• Put your real information out there. You don’t have to give your home address but there is no harm in adding your phone number, email and real interests to the profile information section. People can find the same contact info on your business cards, bus benches and Google!
• Make sure you know people before accepting them as friends. This will ensure your page is not inundated with miscellaneous stuff and will give you peace of mind about who can see your profile.
• Be courteous and only friend people that you know. Inviting all of your friend’s friends will only turn people off if you try to pitch them real estate as soon as they accept.

Facebook Don’ts

• Post all of your listings to Facebook – that’s what your website is for! Just like you wouldn’t go to a dinner party with friends and hand them a stack of listings flyers, you shouldn’t send them all via Facebook either.
• Only talk about real estate. – People want to get to know you. It is how you build trust and rapport. You’d be surprised what you can bond with people over (running, knitting, sports, etc.) if you talk about it!
• Make a fan page for yourself your first week on Facebook. – People will be turned off at the presumption that they want to be a fan of you when you haven’t been contributing to the community or their pages/lives regularly.
• Make your first comment to people, “Hey, I saw you’re getting divorced, can I help you find a condo?” Treat people like friends first. Enough said.

Facebook Extras

• Get a Username – A username (also known as “vanity URL”) will be your own URL on Facebook that is “branded” with your name. (ex. www.facebook.com/erinnrobbins) This will help when you include your Facebook page on business cards (which I recommend!) in your email signature and when people search for you. You can get your own Facebook username here.
• Share links, photos, events and videos – Be sure to use the icons below the “What’s on your mind” box to ensure these items are uploaded in an appealing way that draws friends to them.
• Lists – Whenever adding a new friend be sure to add them to an appropriate list. This helps you sort contacts, send material to relevant people and organize your online life.
• Neighborhoods – This Facebook application has thousands of neighborhoods and lots of members in specific geographic locations. This will give you access to people that live down the street interested in what’s happening in their community. The newly released Real Estate Listings function will put your listings in front of the right people. Check out Neighborhoods here. You will be prompted to “Allow” the application. (This application is safe.)

That time of year is upon us and it feels as if the holidays are racing towards us faster than ever. Thanksgiving is here and then it’s Black Friday shopping madness which leads to continued waves of shoppers, and all seem to be a bit more pushy each year. Technology can be a wonderful thing and drastically ease this process. For some, technology eases the process of browsing and purchasing gifts. For others, technology wrapped up with a bow is what brings a smile to their face. And for others of us (i.e. Me!), technology involved in every step of the process is the only way that we survive.

Many of you may be familiar with Shutterfly.com for their online print, editing, enhancing, and sharing services. Their products range from cards and stationary, photo books, and calendars, to miscellaneous gifts like mugs, mouse pads, magnets, coasters, etc. I always enjoy playing with the image editing and enhancing online software. It’s easy to use with their slew of products. For more information check them out at http://www.shutterfly.com. Their holiday cards are a quick and easy way to get great looking cards.

One thing that has found its way into many homes these days are digital photo frames. And why not? They bring new life to your memories adding style to the sharing of photos and memories. The pricing on photo frames have been coming down over the past year and I have seen a leaked Black Friday ad for an 8” digital photo frame for $29 at Walmart. Some digital photo frames offer various features such as image and video formats, multiple memory card formats, slideshow modes and built in speakers.

Some people are asking me whether I think the standard-definition DVD is good enough. If you are sitting on the couch staring at your HDTV watching a movie on a Saturday night with your DVD player – I am sorry to say but you are missing out! I admit that when Blu-ray was released and the price tag on that was around $500+ I figured I’d hang out and wait it out. Well, the wait is now over for the price on Blu-Ray players to reach sub $100. A Black Friday Walmart ad has been leaked for a Blu-ray player at $78. However, I must warn that less expensive players are prone to slower load times and lack certain features. The basics behind Blu-Ray is that there are three profiles available: 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0 profiles. Profile 1.0 is the basic profile which allows basic playback of Blue-ray movies. Profile 1.0 players are no longer being made but are still being sold today. Profile 1.1 (also known as BonusView or Final Standard Profile) enables advanced features like picture-in-picture video commentary. Profile 2.0 (also known as BD-Live) requires that the player have Internet access which allows for content to be downloaded (i.e. Downloading of movie trailers).

I hope this glimpse of technology in the holidays helps ease the shopping frenzy and allows you to spend more time with family and friends.

Sustainable Blogging – I believe blogging is a fantastic form of self-expression, a way to showcase your skills, and a medium to dive deeper into subjects than email or other social media typically allow. Below are some thoughts on who should blog, who shouldn’t, how to blog faster and what to do when you want to give up.

Who Shouldn’t Blog

• People with little or no regard for proper grammar or the desire to learn it. (You don’t have to be an English major, but you should know how to correctly spell the words associated with your industry.)
• People who will blog about religion, politics or other controversial or unrelated topics on their professional blog. (You can create a blog for personal interests too – just don’t put it under the one titled real estate please!)
• People who will push their own agenda (trying to make a sale) in every post.

Who Should Blog

• Realtors that know their city/town/community. *Hint – this should be ALL of you.
• Realtors that want to educate home buyers and sellers on the process, market, local industry and issues affecting homeowners.
• Realtors looking to showcase a specialization such as short sales, first time home buyers, second homes, etc.

Blog Topics

• The questions you get via email and in-person all the time! Copy and paste from the email response – remembering to remove people’s personal information first.
• Local events – Talk about all of the events that are happening in your community. Free events will be appreciated by those trying to save and charities, local schools and others will appreciate you mentioning their happenings as well. The holidays are a great time to get started with this!
• Review local businesses. *Hint – Stick to businesses you like and use frequently in the beginning. (Use Yelp for negative reviews.) Let the business know you wrote a blog post about them so they know who you are and what you do.
• Tell people why you became a Realtor. Everyone’s story is different – from 3^rd generation real estate families to people with different first careers, there’s a great bit of human interest into why you want to help people with their homes.
• Seasonal changes and how they affect your home and community. Write about winterizing homes now, spring-cleaning in March, etc. Tourist seasons and road conditions are also big topics.
• Do a monthly market update as it pertains to the national economy and your housing market locally. Send these out around the same time each month so people come to expect this information from you.

Time Saving Tips

• Zemanta – Download this handy tool to have pictures, links and tags automatically downloaded/imported for you based upon what you’re writing about – it’s like magic!
• Use the scheduler in the blog. Found in the right-hand side while you’re writing a new post is the option to “Publish now” – by clicking on “now” you can schedule posts to go live at other times. This will allow you to write two or three posts at one time and then schedule them throughout the week so you won’t have to think about it daily!
• Repost interesting articles and blog items from other blogs/news sources. Only show the first paragraph or a short synopsis, you will then credit your source and link back to their post.

Blog Platforms

If you are a Realty World NCA member, you have a free blog website that is branded with your franchise and ready for you to use. Contact Ron Dillon to get set up or retrieve your password.

Other Recommendations:

• WordPress – Slick and simple designs will grow with you as you bloom into a boss blogger. Get your WordPress now and you’ll be happy you did later.
• Posterous – Good for people posting pictures and those blogging direct from email. It integrates easily with other platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This simple tool won’t allow a lot of customization or advanced options.
• TypePad and Blogger – Basic blogging platforms similar to WordPress. Blogger is a Google product and TypePad is run by SixApart. Both are simple, reliable tools that integrate with services, phones, Facebook, etc.

General Blogging Tips

• Frequency – It is optimal to blog 3-4 times per week, especially at the start.
• Topics – Keep your topics relevant to real estate or your local community. Posting a personal post as the exception, rather than the rule, will make readers more interested.
• Accessibility – Make sure to include your blog in your email signature, on business cards, on your Facebook page, etc.
• Pictures – Try to include a picture with each post. Using a tool like Zemanta will be helpful. If you pull a picture off of the Internet be sure to credit your source.
• Links – Include links to relevant sites and sources in your post to help readers and to increase traffic to other areas of your site. For example, if you mention foreclosures in a blog post, link the word “foreclosure” to a page on your site where they can see foreclosure listings.
• Tags – Tag each post with relevant terms. Even if you have tagged previous posts with a term, it is important to tag each post with the terms. This will help your tag cloud sort so readers will know what topics you talk about often. See this article for more.

I’m the rookie at all the real estate events this year and I can assure you I’ve caused my fair share of waves. I’m a technology and social media industry veteran and often times those in tech ignore a lot of the polite beating around the bush that real estate agents have adapted (because you guys work with the public and we work with machines) so I have developed a certain ‘matter-of-factness’. (I’m also Texan, so I just can’t help myself.) When I’m at events, I ask tough questions and I call “bullshit” when I think it’s needed.

I’ve recently made some comments that some might read as me not liking barcamps. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I have been attending barcamps in the tech sector, where they originated, for years. I have learned amazing stuff and met some of my closest friends and colleagues there. My real take on barcamps is that the real estate industry, with its outgoing and personable ways, has grown them to be too big to be what they were originally intended. Here are some things I would do to build better barcamps*:

1. Narrow the focus. Original barcamps didn’t cover “technology” as a whole – the spectrum of topics is too broad and EVERYONE has something to say about it. If you pick a focus like Facebook, Hot New Startups, Blogging, etc. and allowed the entire session to be focused on that topic, the true knowledge leaders would emerge and people would get a deep dive with greater understanding of the topic.
2. More barcamps, fewer attendees. Original barcamps weren’t 500+ people at a venue all day, they were a few hours long with a small group of people who could really discuss things. By increasing the frequency of barcamps but limiting their size (through venue restrictions, locations, etc. ) you’ll get back to more discussion oriented events.
3. Shorten the lead time. This will help with the fewer attendee issue as well. Months of planning isn’t needed for an event of only 25-50 people, simply an office or coffee shop that will hold them. 72 hours notice posted on a barcamp wiki, Facebook pages and Twitter will work.
4. Sponsorship, schmonsership. If you’re only there for a couple of hours people won’t wander off as much as they keep doing at full day events. They will also be inclined to pay for their own cup of coffee or just wait til afterward to have a drink. When the event is short, what inevitably happens is people have gotten into lively debates and the barcamp actually moves to a bar where some attendees gather after to continue talks.

In true barcamp and blogging style, I welcome and encourage discussion on what we can do to make the camps as effective and engaging as possible for the audience that’s intended.

*** Please note, again, I like barcamps. I appreciate all of the effort that has gone into all of the barcamps I have attended. The volunteers and speakers have the courage to get up in front of people and put themselves out there and deserve kudos. Attendees have made the first step in attending such an event and being part of a new industry – something many haven’t done yet. All deserve kudos.

That is the statement put forth in the latest Levitt and Dubner (authors of Freakanomics) book, Super Freakanomics. Claiming, “Just as you can sell your body with or without the aid of a pimp, you can sell your house with or without a Realtor,” they say. “While Realtors charge a much lower commission than the pimps — about 5 percent versus 25 percent — the Realtor’s cut is usually in the tens of thousands of dollars for a single sale.” OUCH.

Unfortunately, the abuse doesn’t stop there. They continue with, “the Internet is proving to be a pretty powerful substitute for the Realtor.”

While I think the pimp comment is just ridiculous and doesn’t need to be addressed, I do see quite a bit of tension about using the Internet as a real estate agent replacement. While I’ve met a small segment of people in real estate that are working with the Internet to increase their brand awareness and build relationships, the majority of real estate agents I come across aren’t doing this. I hear a myriad of excuses or rationalizations (I just finished a three week tour teaching real estate agents technology and social media – I’ve heard it all now!) for why they don’t need the Internet:

• What I’m doing works just fine.
• It doesn’t work, I know someone that tried it and they didn’t get any business.
• My customers aren’t on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or places like that.

Feeling like the Internet is your opponent and working against it, instead of working with it, can lead to feeling defeated or resentful of the power the Internet has. Here are my responses to each of the reasons given above:

• What I’m doing works just fine. — What you are doing may be working “fine” but what if you could be doing something that works great? Just getting by now may not be the case in a few more years – just look at how much things have changed in the past five years alone. Learning how to make technology work for you, as a part of your business (it doesn’t have to be the whole thing) will pay off in big ways. Don’t stop doing what makes you successful, instead, look for ways to integrate some ways to use online tools to ensure you stay successful and to engage new audiences.
• It doesn’t work, I know someone that tried it and they didn’t get any business. — I hear this a lot, that the agent or someone they know has tried technology and social media and it didn’t work. I equate this to the same things I hear when people try to lose weight and say that it doesn’t work. It is important to not take shortcuts, try to buy expensive ‘quick fixes’ or listen to infomercial sales people who promise overnight results or try to scare you into a decision. With social media and technology, you will need to be yourself, pick the medium that works best for you and your customers, and stick with it for at least 90-120 days before expecting results. Just like building relationships face-to-face in your community, time and consistency is the only way to create sustainable presence online.
• My customers aren’t on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or places like that. — Consumers are everywhere. If these people aren’t “your” customers then they are working with someone else and you could be missing out. Social media and technology use ages are averaging in the late 20’s and early 30’s for most popular sites like blogs, Facebook and LinkedIn. Each year, these numbers grow exponentially, and expand to include more industries and markets. The growth also means that the Internet, like everything else, is maturing and sorting out what works. Much of the noise and frustration is being sorted out or people are at least being given options about exposure to ads, outside requests, etc.

If you are feeling like the Internet is being substituted for you, or overwhelmed – please don’t give up. Forge a powerful alliance with the Internet and harness it’s power to work with your current efforts. There are a lot of great places to get answers – but remember, these answers should be free and not scare you!

We all need to work together to dispel the notions that cause Realtors to be likened to pimps or that they are easily replaced by Internet sources. As always, I welcome your comments, feedback and questions.

I’ve been making my way around Northern California and Nevada (with a brief stop in New York for a marathon) for the past few weeks. I have met amazing people, been inspired by their desire to learn, learned some new things myself and had a few laughs.

From problems with wireless Internet (sorry Angels Camp and Fresno!) to traffic, hard to find meeting rooms and tough questions we’ve rolled with the punches to keep the Social Media REvolution Tour on the road. I have been so fortunate to participate in this tour because I have seen parts of this amazing region that I might not have otherwise, met people that have enriched my life and forced me to think critically about the place of social media in the real estate world, and hopefully imparted some knowledge along the way.

Going on tour talking to Realtors about social media has helped increase my awareness of why people in real estate are wary of this new technology. Facebook, Twitter, blogging, Yelp, YouTube, LinkedIn – lots to take in! Talking to agents and brokers about their experiences with people, technology and views of the online world bring perspective that helps me discuss the finer points of tech. One of the things I’ve been talking about is sustainable social media – a way to incorporate technology into your daily life without letting it take over your day. I’m always saddened to hear that people have been told that they MUST be doing all the social media items on the list at once and that they must start them all immediately. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s presentation in Reno/Sparks, Nevada – always a new surprise!

If you’re not coming to the tour – I still hope that you’ll give social media a chance… like anything else, there’s good and bad out there, stuff that works for one person won’t work for another – but we don’t know until we try!

If you want to join in, there’s still another week that includes San Jose, San Mateo and Salinas next week. I’ll also be at the NAR Conference and ReBarCamp in San Diego November 12-15.

Recently I’ve been asked for my two cents on the matter of selecting a new notebook computer. I am partial to two laptops – Dell for PCs and MacBook Pros from Apple. I don’t tend to care for other manufacturers for a variety of reasons.

Right off the bat you may decide to go with one or the other simply because of the operating system choice of Microsoft Windows or Mac OS X. One advantage with the Mac OS X is that you have the capability of installing Windows on the Mac using VMWare or Parallels. This requires a bit more of technical knowledge in being able to setup but it enables you to run your Windows applications on a Mac. Another main difference between the two of them is their price. Often times, Dell will offer notebooks starting at $499. The starting price point for a Macbook is $999. One can make the argument that the two prices are not comparing apples to apples (no pun intended). Pound for pound, I feel that the Macbook Pro is a better machine (hardware and software).

Dell offers a phenomenal warranty program with next (business) day and onsite repair for hardware issues with your computer. Apple does not offer that, but instead requires that you bring your laptop to an Apple store. Any issues found may be resolved at the Apple store while other repairs could take several weeks to resolve.

• In selecting the specific model I would recommend thinking seriously about which what types of things are most important to you. Some things to consider are:
• Size of screen
• Screen resolution
• Weight
• Ports (DVI / USB / Firewire, etc.)
• CPU speed
• Memory capacity
• Misc. Items (Onboard WWAN / Bluetooth, etc.)

For the Apple products, it is relatively easy to select your choice. You are fairly limited with choices between two models (Macbook and Macbook Pro) both of which come with many items such as wireless, ports, etc. as standard items while they may be considered “add-ons” by other computer makers. The Apple stores are a great place to see and hold the models first hand. The Apple store staff is usually very helpful and knowledgeable. The Dell site offers roughly a dozen models, all of which allow for customizations.

I hope this helps in your notebook search!

People love seeing people, places and things they recognize on film. This isn’t a groundbreaking statement, yet most Realtors still aren’t integrating video with their home listings.

WHY NOT!? (Sorry, I’m just shocked by it.)

Video cameras are too expensive? – False. You can get a FlipCam for under $200 and it plugs straight into your computer, shoots in high definition, and will take up to two hours of filming.

You think it won’t work. – False. Being able to virtually walk through a property gives potential buyers a stronger sense of the home than seeing static pictures. This also means they know more about the home before contacting you, fewer unqualified leads.

Sellers don’t care. - False. You tell people that you’ll be featuring their home listing on a video and syndicating it out on YouTube, Dailymotion, and MetaCafe – which can provide billions of views per day – they will be excited to work with you. They’ll want to pass out the video to friends, family and colleagues!

At Realty World NCA, we provide a professional, full service video team that will come to your town, property and/or office and create videos for you. The kinds of videos we offer include: listing videos where you can be on camera or simply tell the videographer what you may like and they will narrate, city videos where you show off your community and provide it to incoming buyers to get them acquainted with the area, and office videos that serve to allow new recruits and potential clients to get to know you and your staff a bit better.

If you don’t have these services, consider investing in a FlipCam by Flip Video. The tool is easy to use, smaller than most cell phones, and makes videos on the go a cinch.

Got questions about videos? Contact me and I’ll answer your questions or put you in touch with our video professionals for more technical issues.