Well, its all over. After nearly one year, my home selling/buying process has come to fruition. For those of you who have read my previous posts, you've heard some of the scenarios I went through as a home seller.

In short, we closed on both homes on June 7th. Both closings lasted 40 minutes each and from what I hear, that's pretty good. No issues, no complaints, and no last minute negotiations. Everyone just signed on the dotted line, waited for the wire transfer, and handed over the keys. That's it. Right now, we are just settling into our new home and I am learning what its like to cut the grass again, trim the hedges, and adjusting to higher gas/electric bills (we came from a townhouse).

I have to say that while real estate is in essence a business aspect, it also is a life-changing one as well. Many times we were stressed about the status of our unsold home and wondered if it would ever sell. It did. We thought we were magnets for bad and incompetent agents. We found a good one. We thought we lost the home of our dreams due to not being able to sell our home. We found a better one.

All in all, it was a lot of work on our part and at times, created a great deal some tense situations. I didn't know the first thing about selling a home and unfortunately, (and many times) thought I did. I thought selling a home was easy. I won't go into all the details, but I'm sure you as realtors deal with these type of people on a daily basis. I thought it was easy to price a home. Take the latest sales in your area and of the same type, add few thousand for upgrades you did and being a few months later and you have your price. When my realtor told me that my house probably would sell at about 15k less than "what I thought", I was appalled. It did. I also thought when a buyer put in a contract, everything was set and ready for the closing table. I never imagined the detailed and strategic negotiations that a realtor does to get to a middle ground between offers and get the seller the most on their return. I would have taken the first offer (just to sell the house and not lose the buyer). My realtor got me $4,000 more. I wouldn't have known how to negotiate issues (although minour in nature) from the home inspection. I probably would have said no to everything. My realtor advised me that it was in my best interest to address some of them and while they would cost me some money out of pocket, it would save me more money, time and stress in the end. He was right. When I wanted to put in an offer for our new home, I wanted to get as close to list price so we got the home without issue. My agent did better, $8000 better.

I like to think I helped the process along by doing research on the industry, being honest and open with my realtor, and learning to be humble about the process. I also don't know how I would have gotten through the tough times if it were not for ActiveRain and some of the nicest people who are members. The information I received from this site was priceless and for those who commented and provided advice, I am forever in your debt. I now know this is what made everything go as smoothly as possible.

I know the real estate industry has gotten a bad name in the past (as have mortgage brokers, appraisers, etc.), but I have to say my experience has provided me with a much different experience. I used to think that realtors  were similar to Mary Kay agents and used car salesmen. After seeing this process first hand and being a part of it for the last year, I don't know how all of you do it everyday. I know I never could.

I have to say its a bit odd right now after being officially done. I don't have to worry about showings, viewing potential homes, or wondering if "that" home is something I can afford. Its all over. We love our home and are imagining what we can do to it to make it officially ours.

After the closing, my agent stopped me and said, "Whew, everything went well...you said you were not a big fan of real estate...I hope my services have helped change that.." I replied, "Your services sure did and I've learned alot about what you and other agents go through everyday, its not as easy as I thought and I'm just glad you were involved..you saved us a lot of time and money.."

As we were walking to our car, my agent said one more thing that caught my attention, "After all this, you should write a book about your experience.." I replied, "(Laughing) What for? The book would only have two sentences, 'Call a realtor. Its in your best interest'."

Once again, thanks to everyone on ActiveRain. My final take on your industry and what you do is a good one..

Well, for most of you that have read my posts in the past, I'm proud to say that my closing date is just around the corner (actually Thursday of this week). We're all packed and ready to go. While the process of packing and coordinating everything is quite tumultuous itself (when you have a husband like me who wants to throw out everything and a wife who still claims to be using it causes the most stress), it gets finished in the end.

I do have one "request" with a complaint that I hope all realtors can somehow streamline in the future. In short, I received a nice pamphlet in the mail after I received a sales contract and accepted it on my home. I am using a Coldwell Banker agent and the pamphlet came from Coldwell Banker. It described how all my needs could be handled via CB including homeowners insurance, moving, and setting up utilities at my new home. The documentation pointed me to this website at www.coldwellbankerconnect.com. I thought I would check it out.

After getting several phone calls from a company called NRT regarding homeowners insurance (sorry, I have my own agent) and looking at the various moving companies they offered (found one with a much lower cost and good reputation), I checked out the utility section.

Let me clarify all of this. I love technology and use anything and everything that allows me to avoid the endless waiting for a customer service rep from a utility company. Thus, I gave it a try. I was throughly impressed on how it could take my new address and display the availability of services at the location. A database, web-driven application at its finest. So, I figured why not give it a try.

In 30 minutes, I had Internet, Phone, cable, electric, and gas all set up. Well, at least I thought I did. I completed the setup back on May 2nd and got confirmations that these were all "accepted" by the carriers. I kept checking online and still everything said "accepted". Being a pessimistic person and one who always tries to be proactive, I called ColdwellBankerConnect.com's customer service line just to make sure I was ready to go. Quickly, I found out that the real company was one called WhiteFence.com. Whatever, just give me someone to talk to.

After 53 minutes being on hold (and listening to their phone system playing Pink Floyd's "The Wall"), I got a customer service representative. I told her I wanted to confirm my orders and she said, "Hold on, let me transfer you..". I get transferred to a guy asking me if I want to reset my username and password. I tell him I'm just trying to confirm my orders. He says, "Well, they must have mistakenly sent you to me, I'll transfer you back...". Knowing I would just start over in the waiting queue (just like starting over on an amoritization after a refinance), I quickly remark, "Sir, I've been waiting for 53 minutes...can you please transfer me directly to someone and not your phone system?" He says, "Sure...one second, I have an open representative waiting for you.."

After his comment, I get back in the queue (which is now on the song "The Show Must Go On" on "The Wall" soundtrack) and wait for another 40 minutes (yes, I was at work so I just kept on speaker phone waiting..and waiting..etc). Finally, I give up and decide to call the utility companies directly. Instead of "The Wall", I am greeted by some soothing Muzak.

I first called my gas company at my new address and inform them of placing an order on WhiteFence.com. I give them the order number and hear, "What? What number is that? We don't use that type of numbering for orders.." Okay, I tell them my name and my new address and eventually hear, "Sorry Sir, I do not show any order for that address." I tell them I need service and they establish service for the specified date. Unfortunately, the same thing happened with the electric company and continued with the phone/internet/cable company.

Had I not called to confirm, I would have gotten to my new home and nothing would have been set up. I would've had to call and start everything over. Thankfully, the utility companies (which I only waited for a total of 3 minutes for each call) got me all set up.

I think this type of service offered by realty companies is great. Unfortunately, agents and their offices have no control over this service and thus consumers, like me, are held in a waiting game (and phone queue). I think its a great service, but it once again clarifies that technology doesnt always work over a simple phone call and speaking with a real person.

In the end, everything is fine (at least I hope). At least I got refreshed on the "The Wall" lyrics and only threw my phone once...my work phone which I dont pay for...

This makes me ponder the idea of how sellers (and buyers) would even want to remotely work with an online company in selling/buying a home. I just hope that if anyone uses RedFin's services, at least they would be so kind to answer a call after a few minutes and play Tony Bennett...

I apologize and know I mentioned that I wouldn't be posting here anymore as my "journey" in buying and selling a home is near completion, however the 60 Minutes segment last night really got some good "water cooler" discussion at work today and got me thinking. (See my previous post...).

Once again, let me clarify this...I am not a realtor. I am not an advocate for the real estate industry. I do not have any relatives, friends, etc who work in the real estate industry in any way, shape or form. I am simply a consumer who has recently been involved in the sale and purchase of a home. As I've said before, I've learned a lot about the industry during my tenure on AR and have dug deep to find the information I am looking for and thus have switched gears in regards to my opinions. I've always learned that what's fair is fair and this is a great conduit to speak your opinion. With that being said, I think the 60 Minutes segment brought to life a subject bigger than just commission percentages and/or discount brokers using the Internet to attract a new type of consumer.

As I said in my previous post, the segment was poorly done and way too one sided. However, with all that happened during the segment, RedFin did one thing right: They used the often misinformed and negative perception that a majority of consumers have about the real estate industry to their advantage. Besides getting huge attention to their business and website, they also may have used that negative perception to attract future clients and also continue to sway the consumers opinion's that selling/buying a home is as easy as baking a cake and you can save thousands of dollars not using a realtor. It also didn't help that the agent they used to provide a positive connotation to the industry was by far the worst person you could have chosen. From a consumer's point-of-view, I can just see how someone would watch the segment and walk away saying "I'm going to do this myself and save thousands of dollars."

Okay, I'm not going down that road. I think all realtors and knowledgeable consumers know this is hardly the fact. However, if you were to poll viewers, what would you think they'd say about the segment and how it reflected the industry? Personally, I would think it would closely match the last sentence in the paragraph above.


Where am I going with this? Well, in my opinion, maybe its time that the industry comes together to promote the positives regarding real estate. While the industry is primarily individual-based, maybe its time to unite and change the skepticism of the general public. Unions do this all the time. On a job site, if there is a non-union employee, the first thing the union does it put a 20 foot inflatable rat smoking a cigar outside the limits of the site. Union members begin to picket and march up and down the block stating their cause. While it may be tacky and bold, it's what non-construction people see everyday and wonder who is in the right. The union takes the time to promote their cause and thus gains (in some ways) the popularity vote. In order not to shut down the job, the contractor usually folds and the union wins (in some cases).

Today, you rarely see any real estate promotion (in a group manner) promoting the industry, its benefits in using a realtor, and its stance on morals. Instead, you commonly see ads on shopping carts, billboards, and flyers representing a brokerage office or an individual realtor. Why not come together and start a campaign that doesn't promote an individual or brokerage, but instead promotes the industry itself?

Driving around Chicago, you'll see a few billboards promoting a certain industry, group, coalition, society, association, etc. Unfortunately, I've never seen one regarding real estate.

Here's an example: My parents bought their first home in 1984 (in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood) for a modest $52,000. Back then, they needed 20 percent down and I believe the interest rates were around 10 percent or so. The one thing I remember about the whole transaction was the realtor my parents used. Her name was Barb and she wore the gold Century 21 jacket on several occasions. I don't remember much, but I remember how kind, professional and cordial she was anytime she was around. She brought coffee and juice anytime she came over before taking us on showings and often "kept an eye" on us when my parents wanted to really focus on looking at a certain house. Everyone in the neighborhood knew, trusted, and referred her for any real estate transaction. I don't remember (on any occasion) my parents ever having a negative perception regarding real estate. Everything went fine and we were in our new house in no time.

Today though, it seems as if there are a slew of realtors out there and finding one is as easy typing a query in Google or looking down in your shopping cart at the grocery store. In time, you'll have about 20 agents calling you trying to tell you that they are simply the best agent out there and you'd be a fool not to go with them. You sign with them and then things start to go downhill. Of course, there are always a few bad apples in the bushel of good ones; however, this has seemingly been the premise consumers have used to give the industry a bad name.

It's just my opinion, but maybe its time this industry unites and starts a campaign to overhaul this negative perception and get more consumers to understand the true facets and positive results a realtor can bring to the equation.

In my research about real estate, I was bombarded with about a million individual realtor websites all promoting themselves, what they do and why they are the best. I completely understand this, however, nothing exemplifying the benefits of using a realtor from a group consensus. Then I found ActiveRain, did a couple blog posts, communicated with a few realtors and wow, my opinion changed overnight. I thought it was odd that the number of members were so low considering the amount of realtors in the profession. What better place to unite and provide knowledgeable insight to other professionals AND consumers?

I'm not saying that realtors need to spend MORE money on marketing than they already do, but maybe its time to get together as a group and force associations such as NAR to focus on public perceptions and marketing instead of just serving paying members. Besides, isn't this what you pay for?

While writing this, I thought of something that could possibly be used in every major city market. A billboard with the following:

"And you thought real estate was just about a sign, MLS, and commissions...Go to http://www.activerain.com/ for more information and see what's real about real estate..."

Tacky, hokey (use any adjective you wish) and expensive, however, it might be just the right formula for giving a good business a better name in today's era. Besides, how much does the CEO of NAR make anyways? I'm sure they could find funds to generate such a campaign to better serve their members in terms of public interest.

Just my two cents, would love to hear your feed back (sorry for the long post:)

 

After seeing last night's segment on CBS' "60 Minutes", I thought I would post something about what I (and possibly other consumers) took away from it. While the segment may have been good timing in terms of technology utilization in the real estate industry, it also was poorly done. Here are few things I, as a consumer, got out of the segment:

1. The headline title and image were completely inaccurate: You mean to tell me the only thing 60 Minutes could up with is an image of a gold "6%"? As most consumers and realtors know, commissions are completely negotiable on both fronts and often are revised to meet the needs of the seller and the realtor. To be honest, the image and opening banter from Leslie Stahl seemed to detract away from the real story. Unfortunately, many consumers could have been easily swayed by simply watching 1 minute of this segment. The case study regarding eRealty hurt the segment in my opinion and would make me as a consumer think twice before using such an online service. The person they interviewed seemed to only have a bitter response in going defunct. I hate to think that there are laws to avoid fair competition in some states, but I hope they are there to protect the consumers.

2. Could 60 Minutes have picked a worse spokesperson?: Just like all media, segments are usually swayed to one side and this was simply the best example. If they were going to pick that one agent, they should have also interviewed a few others. The woman they interviewed was very "uppity" in my opinion and simply disregarded anything less than 6%. That only fueled the rest of the segment to go in one direction. Simply stating that "If it's less than 6%, I'm not your agent" is rude and one of the poorest decisions ever made by this person. I'm sure she was put under the gun and being interviewed on national television is nerve-wracking in itself, but she should done her homework and been ready for the questions asked. I'm sure she is a hard-worker and puts in more than she receives per transaction, but once again, from a consumer point-of-view, it only favored the rest of the segment. All you heard was  "6%" the whole time and nothing was really mentioned about negotiating commissions. I've heard this phrase before and it is really a true aspect a consumer must think of during the process: "It's not what you save, its what you net.."

3. Where was your Association?: I hope realtors who belong to NAR do not pay that much to be a member or are now wondering what the benefits are for joining. Everything that consumers hear in the media about real estate is bad news. Houses on the market forever, foreclosures at an all time high, and grim predictions for the future. The industry gets a headline spot on one of the highest-viewed television programs in the nation and the leading association representing the industry is nowhere to be found, except for a picture of their headquarters and a copy of the lawsuit being filed against them. Not one spokesperson was interviewed. I'm not sure if any contact was made to NAR for their side of the story, however, you would think someone at NAR would make some sort of emphasis to be interviewed. I went to their website today to see if they had anything on it regarding the segment and there was nothing. No response or comment from any executive level person at the association. Funny, but the first thing you see on the site is an image regarding "How technology can help your business." You would think they would take at least 10 minutes to address the 15 minute segment.

4. Is it really that easy?: While Redfin and the selected consumers made it sound like a 1-2-3 deal, they should have interviewed other consumers, especially FSBO consumers, who've been through very different situations. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it true that only about 12 percent of consumers actually sell their home via FSBO? That's a low number if you ask me and quite a risk in selling your biggest investment. The people they interviewed at Redfin seemed to be a bit shady if you ask me. Just seeing the woman they interviewed who seemed to be reading off a cue card would make a consumer like me nervous in dealing with such a service. Not to mention that the agents working in the office looked like day traders vs. real estate agents out and about doing actual work. It might just be me, but there is a HUGE intangible factor in working hand and hand with someone in such a transaction. Every realtor I have worked with (good or bad) has always been present in all facets of the transaction and onsite at the home to give their feedback regarding the sale or purchase. It would make me a tad nervous conducting everything over the phone or over email.

5. Math is always easy and sometimes heavily swayed: Thanks for the drawing on the dry erase board, but it's much more than what it appeared to be. Let's face it, realtor commissions are expensive and something no consumer wants to pay and is often the first negative vibe used against the industry. People pay commission's everyday, but it always seems that when it comes to real estate, it's like a bloody rugby game. People are providing a service and should be paid accordingly for their time. There are so many intangibles involved that consumers often overlook the facts and feel as if they are having their wallets/purses taken away from them right under their nose. Believe me, I used to feel this way and have totally changed my opinion on the issue. Unfortunately, 60 Minutes used the "simple" math equation and a bad agent example to prove their desired point. If you're a consumer and hate paying commissions think of it this way: Imagine being a baseball fan and always seeing that dreaded player that hits .215 on the season and rides the bench all year only to be paid a whopping $1 million dollars a year. Then the guy comes into a big game and gets the winning hit to win the World Series. People quickly forget and change their opinions in all of 2 minutes. I'm not trying to compare real estate to professional baseball, but many good realtors do tons of things on the backend that most consumers never see on a day-to-day basis and quickly disregard. No one ever speaks about a seamless and quick buy or sell process, you only hear about the bad ones.  Go ahead and try to sell your house on your own, but make sure you keep that business card of the agent you spoke to in case you need to get them on board after it's too late.

While the segment was heavily one-sided, it did interlude into a good discussion about the future of the industry (at least in my opinion). Twenty years ago, consumers dearly depended on an agent to handle the buying or selling of a home. Today though, consumers (like me) are using the Internet to gain information and knowledge and are doing their own research. A good example of this is Zillow (although hotly debated) and Craigslist. Even eBay allows for conducting real estate transactions online. Consumers are gaining more insight about the industry and are using that knowledge before they even get involved in selling/buying a home. Besides the Internet, just watch HGTV for a few hours. There is tons of information out there for consumers to retrieve and unfortunately, it makes it seem very easy to conduct a transaction. Realtors need to use such conduits to provide the general public with their own side of the story regarding the actual services and intangibles they provide to a consumer.

Fifteen years ago, people were afraid to use email. The thought of everyone using a cell phone was simply ridiculous. Today we depend on these items. Same goes for online banking and any other ecommerce  transaction done online, but consumers have adjusted and made use of these ideas to be more efficient in their everyday lives.

Hopefully, realtors and the industry can effectively use the Internet and communicate to the general public about the services they provide and make the industry have a better appearance. More education for consumers would simply stress the importance of using a realtor for making the biggest investment in their lives. Hopefully the segment by 60 Minutes didn't do too much damage from the consumer's point-of-view.

While it may be the road the industry is headed down, I would hate to think that my next realtor would be in an office, behind a computer, and wearing a phone head set when conducting the biggest transaction in my life.

 

Are you a home seller? Looking for more information about selling a home, need information, or just have a story to share? If so, check out HomeSellerExperience.com. Its a great site dedicated for home sellers.

As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my co-workers is heavily contemplating listing his home via for sale by owner. As I stated, I tried to give him some points of using a realtor, but he is still doing the research on doing it by himself.

This morning, I saw him after a meeting and asked him what he was going to do. He was still bright-eyed about doing the listing by himself, but said he had done more research at home and had another idea as my statements left him wondering about utilizing for sale by owner websites. In short, he had found an array (and I mean an array) of companies/people who will list your home on MLS for a flat fee. The fee ranges, but he said it averaged anywhere from $250 to $1,000 which was somewhat lower than the other for sale by owner sites charged (these are his findings, not mine). He liked the idea, but each and every company/person he called said that its best to provide the buying agent with a commission so the home is shown no different than other homes listed with agents. Still, he mentioned, that he was saving money.

I asked him what the fee included. Basically, and from what I took away from the conversation, the home gets listed on MLS just as it would with utilizing an agent and it costs minimal expenses. Yes, he has to pay a commission to the buyer's agent, but still he considers he's ahead. I asked him about how he was going to market his home. Pamphlets? Website? Word-of-mouth? etc. Well, he tells me that he bought a domain name with the address of his house. Let's say its 123mainstreet.com. He's a great web developer and will get it up and running by the end of the weekend (so he says). He's already had a discussion with a graphic designer who will develop a brochure for him and he's buying a sign holder tomorrow so that he has somewhere to put the brochures. His comment was, "Besides, how else do you market a house? The house will be on MLS and realtor.com and I'll have a website and brochures with more detailed information....so what, I have a cellphone and will handle the showing phone calls myself and have someone that can let them in the home at any time of the day if I'm not there..most people look for houses on the Internet so I'm all set..."

To me, and at this point, it already sounds like more work than I would personally like to deal with if it were my property. His property has increased in value (based on recent sales) quite significantly over the last 2 years and he has a lot of upgrades. To make things more interesting, our CEO of the company we work for full-time hears about all this and says, "Great idea...I did the same thing 2 years ago and was fortunate enough that the people who bought it called and came to see it without an agent....in total, all I paid was $500..." Hearing this, he became even more excited. I mentioned that the key words here were "two years ago". Didn't phase him one bit.

It sounds as if this is the route he is going to take. Seems a bit optimisitic, but I wonder how it will turn out for him. I'll keep you posted, but what are realtors thoughts on this type of objective? Does this actually work or is it a scam? It must as these companies are in business, but just inquiring on how realtors deal with these types of listings.

I was just wondering about Realtor Tours. When I had my house for sale some time ago, my agent recommended having a realtor tour that was open to area agents on a specific date/time. I wasn't there to see the results, but I was told about 13 realtors attended. My realtor was present and actually cooked a quick meal for those who stopped by (I was glad as I got the left overs and she was a great cook..).

So, I thought about this today and gave her a call to ask and to see how she was doing. I asked her if the buyer who bought my home came from an agent who attended the tour. She didn't remember, but didn't think it was the case. What I thought was going to be a quick phone call turned out to be a 45 minute conversation.

In either case, how effective are realtor tours? Are they used by most realtors or only as needed or dependent on the actual realtor's marketing strategy? Do realtor tours end up bringing in the buyer or are they typically just social gatherings? Just wondering.

With the new year amongst us, it means a salary increase for many of the people I work with at my company. With that, some of them are looking to upgrade to a new home this spring and are just starting the leg work in getting pre-approved to determine what they can afford. 

This morning a co-worker of mine (who spoke to me in the Fall about selling his townhome in the city (Chicago)) asked me if I knew anything about selling a home by owner. I told him that I have never sold a home this way (or bought one for that matter) but was intrigued as to how the process worked. (Why he asked me about this, I have no idea, maybe because I've bought and sold a home before..I dont know...).

So, I basically told him that if it were me, I would consult with a realtor to handle the transaction taking into mind that he is new to the selling process (from a home owners end) and its a tougher market these days (not to mention other factors). Thus, he began his research on selling by owner and scoured the internet for resources and made a few phone calls (while he should have been working on a custom web application that needs to be rolled out ASAP..)

Of course, he went to buyowner.com and someone contacted him shortly. He was pitched, and soon thought the idea was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Having a been involved with selling and buying a home, I began to give him a little caution before he just "jumped" into the idea (once again, Im not a realtor..). 

His first response was, "Well, you dont pay commission on the sale of your home...that could be approximately 5 percent of the sale price...thus, I get more revenue..all I have to do is show the house."  (I think he's spotted the increase of these commercials in the Chicagoland area on TV..)

My response was, "Well, in so many words, thats somewhat true; however, do you want to be dealing with handling showings, dialogue with clients, the possibility of clients just browsing and not pre-approved, marketing that needs to be done, doing the comps and getting the right price set, and the eventual negotiation and sale processes, etc.?"

Being excited, he was still on the "for sale by owner" train and wanted to get started right away. I just told him that if it were my home, I would contact a few realtors (referrals, agents in the area, research, etc.) and interview them before making such a committment. This way, you'll see both sides and be able to draw your own conclusions, but at least you'll be more informed. I also told him, from what I heard, that a lot of home sellers eventually obtain a realtor as the for sale by owner process goes bust and thus time and money are wasted. Not to mention the experience a realtor has in identifying what needs to be completed before the house goes on the market so no time is wasted (staging, etc.).

So to my questions, as I know nothing about this...

• What are realtors feelings about sellers that sell by owner? Obviously, and I am assuming, realtors probably dislike this as it takes them out of the process, but is it a good option, in some cases, for sellers to consider?
• Will realtors show a home to clients that are buying if it is for sale by owner? If not, will they show it if the seller offers an appropriate commission to the buying agent?
• What actually differs in the process in terms of selling by owner vs using a realtor (I'm simply asking..)? Does the process go the same regarding showings (besides the seller handling the calls and scheduling)? How does the process work once a bid is submitted (I assume its seller vs. buyer?)?
• By using for sale by owner websites, does the home still get listed on the MLS system or is that an added fee? Basically, is the home seller betting on the fact that buyers will directly contact them or do realtors still consider a home for sale by owner as a regular listing?
  
• How does the closing aspect work once a bid is put in? Do the buyer and sellers need to work out the details (title, etc.) or do the attorney's still handle all that? 

Just trying to get realtors thoughts on this... 

I've heard a lot of talk about when the real estate market will return to back to normal and level itself out. With that, I've heard an assortment of timelines such as (Spring 2007, Summer 2007, Fall 2007, sometime in 2008, etc.). What are your thoughts regarding the market and when will it change (or is it changing already)? I know the word "change" is very open-ended in terms of the topic, but figured I would ask. 

Personally, I've contemplated listing my home in March of 2007 (I told myself I would never move again..yeah right). Right now, I am a little hesitant based on the market (from what I've heard) , but wonder if things will change in the Spring or if I should stick it out and just wait. Specifically, I am wondering about the Chicagoland market, but would like to hear about other markets as well.

About 2 months ago I attended one of those "How to Increase Your Website Search Ranking" seminars hoping to increase my own knowledge regarding SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques from a well-respected authority on the topic. Unfortunately, just like many of these seminars, the information was pretty much the same as I've heard for some time. With that, I did meet a real estate professional who maintained his own website and other realtor websites as well. I introduced myself, him the same, and we began talking about web development, especially Web 2.0 (blogs/podcasts). The first thing this person said to me was, "Im one of the leading edge real estate pro's utilizing SEO trends that you'll meet." Being an IT person, I was astounded that this term had made its way into the real estate sector. So I asked this person what methods he was using to generate higher page ranks for his site(s) and was then disappointed. Why? The response was, "Did you know by adding some words, known as keywords, to these things called meta tags, that you can have your site indexed higher by search engines?" This coming just after we had the seminar...I figured I'd ask this person a few "techie" questions since he said he was "leading edge". Not surprised, but the person looked like a deer in headlights. 

So, I asked this person what his URL was (they didnt know what that meant) and they gave me the website address(es). I looked up on Google and it took me about 8 pages deep in searching to find any nomenclature regarding his sites. I sent the person an email back indicating my results and got the "oh, well a month ago it was on the first page for a search".

SEO is much more than just a few keywords per se, but then again, if you know this much, its a good start. Also keep in mind that browsers are much more capable of searching for sites or content in the address bar instead of knowing what the actual URL is. Also, search engine standards are constantly changing in terms of the technologies they use to index websites. (a tad techie)

We posted a brief synopsis about SEO on our blog (a bit techie), but hopefully it helps those looking to increase page ranking on search engines and those that administer their own sites. Once again, its a brief synopsis and quick primer, but a great overview...

http://blog.whitecomb.com/2006/12/21/seo-is-more-than-meta-tags/ 

If you have a site in question in terms of page ranking, let us know, we may be able to help...