Real Estate Technology Blog

Sellers Perspective on the Market Conditions

2008-01-11T11:42:22Z

Warning - Rant ahead!

I am not sure if there has been a blog from a sellers perspective, but I have been stewing about somethings for a while now. So here goes . . . (Shameless promotion of my home for sale - to make my point ofcourse).

There is a lot of talk about how the market is affecting Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, politicians (of late), etc. Everyone has their own spin on the situation. Everyone has an angle. Everyone is blaming someone else. Realtors blame the mortgage industry, the mortgage industry blames the politicians, Politicians blame everyone. The bottom line is there are a lot of crooks out there, but the consumer is ultimately responsible for what they do. I think that is unfair for a consumer to say they didn't read what they were signing and therefore it was not their fault.

One of my neighbors is going into foreclosure this week. I am so annoyed with them. They keep saying how mad they are that the bank is not working with them. They had a good loan and then during the boom, ran up a lot of debt in home equity and got a really bad second mortgage with an adjustable rate. Honestly - I am angry with them. Now I am under the gun to sell my house and will probably sell it for much less because their house is a hole and they have pretty much let it go since they knew they were going under. If I don't sell before the bank officially sends it to auction or puts it on the market I could lose about $50K in value. All of this because they wanted a Hummer and a lavish lifestyle.

I even tried to help them get a Realtor to short-sell their house. They never called my Realtor back who was persistent even though he would not be making much of anything on the sale and likely taking a loss.

Is there greed on the part of Realtors, Mortgage lenders, and people profitting from this industry -- ABSOLUTELY. But it is there in EVERY industry. It is the responsibility of the consumer to make wise choices. I think it is really dangerous that we allow the government control more and more of our lives because consumers are too lazy to read a piece of paper that they sign. We don't need any more regulation of an already highly regulated industry.

Ignorance is NOT BLISS - it hurts us all!

Question about Outsourcing a Blogger

2007-12-19T12:09:44Z

I am curious how many people would consider hiring a "ghost blogger" to manage their blogging efforts. I am trying to decide if this is an avenue that I want to focus on in the future with my web consulting business.

I realize that many of you already do your own blogging and giving it up to someone else would not be an option. That is understandable. I also know that there are others out there that see the potential of blogging but can't figure out how to fit it into an already packed schedule.

A second question: If this is your desire, what criteria would you need to have in that "ghost blogger". For example: understanding of RE in general, keeping up with the latest news and trends, local understanding of the mportant to you.market, access to local MLS, good writing ability and sense of humor (obviously). What things would be important to you?

New to group

2007-12-17T09:17:07Z

Wow! I love that you have a group for politics! I noticed there is a lot of local discussion of politics. Is it taboo to talk national politics here? I suppose that it makes sense as your businesses are local however more and more the federal governement is controlling your local economies (ie: this mortgage mess we are in now!)

Just a thought! Thanks for creating this group!

Hola - long time no blog!

2007-12-11T13:37:19Z

I MISS BLOGGING! Please excuse the all caps just this once! I have not written anything in months! The real estate company I worked for dumped the Community Publisher with Blogging Systems back in September. It's a long story, but I still believe in the product. Since then, I had been working on a new website for the company and then well . . .that's a long story too! So, needless to say, I have been too busy to even be on AR.

I am eager to get caught up on all the Community Publisher happenings. I am sure they have worked out the buggies and it is working well by now.

Gail, it sounds like you are receiving recognition and leads from your blog in your community! I am happy that it has worked out for you. I am no longer working with the real estate company. I decided to do my own thing and work on a little consulting work as we are going to be moving soon. I have always wanted to work from home for myself. :) Hope you are well!

Blog on, blog on!

Puggie update

2007-12-11T10:18:15Z

I have had so much drama in my life lately that I have not had a chance to blog. I am back on my feet and am finally responding to requests for updates on my puggies! (Yes - "puggies" - we added one since my last post) Duke is the small one in the photo. He is now 6 months old and bigger than my Libby although you can't tell from this older photo.

Liberty (Libby) is 8 1/2 months old, but I think she was the runt of the ltter because she is so small in comparison to Duke who is only 6 months. He's a fatty, he farts, blows snot everywhere, and grunts, but he is the most loveable thing you will ever see. Libby is my skittish one but she loves to cuddle. I hate to say it, but I think she was a puppy mill dog and she needs a little more loving than Duke. She is starting to feel more at home with us and is feeling a little more independent now that she is used to Duke being around. They love each other, but they can be territorial with food and their greenies (Which I hate - I try to get the "Mintabones" instead, when I can find them)

I will try to get some more recent photos so you can see just how big Duke really is now. It's good to be back!

Spacious Gaithersburg, Maryland Duplex

2007-11-20T19:00:11Z

18016 FENCE POST COURT, GAITHERSBURG, MD 20877

You will want to make time to see this rare duplex townhome located in Flower Hill of Gaithersburg, Maryland. This home boasts an open two-story foyer; wonderfully updated kitchen with new Birch cabinets, stainless steel appliances, Pergo floors and a breakfast nook area; master bedroom suite with walk-in closet and private bathroom; two additional extra spacious bedrooms; oversized recreation room with wood burning fireplace; and more.

Additionally, this home offers a private fenced backyard with deck, shed, and a private driveway. All of this is conveniently located close to Shady Gove Metro, major commuter routes, and more!

OFFERED at an INCREDIBLE $359,000, this home will not last long. Visit the virtual tour for more pictures!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Sought-after Flower Hill neighborhood

Spacious duplex with open floor plan

Three spacious bedrooms

Two full and two hall bathrooms

Two-story foyer

Updated kitchen with new birch cabinets ans stainless steel appliances

Pergo floors throughout main level

Recessed lights

New Berber carpet in lower level recreation room

New neutral carpet in bedrooms

Three ceiling fans

Wood burning fireplace

Spacious deck

Private and fenced backyard

Tree-lined lot

Conveniently close to Shady Grove Metro

If interested, contact Thomas Powers today, 301-613-7253

301-424-0900

What is Jaiku?

2007-07-11T10:56:32Z

Has onyone used this feature? If so how has it been effective? I saw an article on it on Inman, but I can't figure out its purpose. Here's their website: http://jaiku.com/

Apparently, it is useful for microblogging -- again, no clue what that means. I got a sense of it from the Inman article which you can read if you have a membership with them. But it is a shorter version of blogging -- hence the term. It may be effective for replies about listings on the go?????

I am always looking for new technology, but I am having a hard time catching up with all the terminology that seems to come out daily. Whew!

All-natural Ant/Bug Removal?

2007-07-09T06:56:54Z

Since we got our puppy I have been really concious about what to us in cleaning. Thanks to Sheron from It's Raining dogs for the great advice.

However, I was wondering if anyone knew of something that could get rid of ants effectively and safely to protect my Libby.

I'd post a pic but I ma having trouble uploading -- Grrr

Plagiarizer's Excuse!

2007-07-05T07:34:37Z

I thought I would post the humorous response that I received from the plagiarizer that stole my blog's content! I also put a link to the original post I made about plagiarism so you know the hisotry of what has been happening:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/110156/Blog-Plagarism

Here is the thief's response:

Dear jfrias and Montgomery County Blog:

Thanks for contacting Top10 Sources. We have removed your content from the Maryland page and blacklisted your blog so it and the abstracts from the posts will not show up on any Top10 pages anyone in the public or on our team creates using our automated Create Page feature. If you do find any post abstracts anywhere on the site in the future, please get in touch with us and we will remove such posts promptly.

Please be aware that by offering an RSS feed on your blog, you are offering your content for subscription and anyone in the world with an Internet browser can pull your content onto their site. In our case, we do not pull in your content, but only the first few lines of a post. A reader who is interested must click through to your site to get complete information. (As an aside, RSS - which stands for Really Simple Syndicaton - is a brilliant technology that has been shown to increase traffic and visibility to the millions of blogs that use them, and to increase the efficiency of research on the web to people who use them.) If you do not want sites pulling in your content, the quickest way to prevent it is to remove your RSS feed from your website. Or, you can create a feed that is just the headline, etc.

If, in the future, you wish to create a page on Maryland and use our tools to create a valuable resource online about Montgomery County and about Maryland, this is something that is easy and fun to do, and we encourage you to do so. As the Top10 Sources Editor of such a page, you and your blog would gain visibility as a Maryland expert and you would have total control of the content, including adding news articles and other web content to your Top10 page, and other blogs and websites to your Top10 list. Many Editors use the Top10 tools and platform as a way to create community among bloggers of similar interests.

We're available at any time to help you create a Maryland page if you wish to, and will be delighted to have you join the growing Top10 Sources community of editors.

Best regards, Top10 Sources Team

I don't know if anyone is familiar with this site, but it has a bunch of crXp on it that is not in line with the classy type of community blog that I have been trying to create. I find it humorous that because I have an RSS feed that it is my fault that they plagiarized my content. That it makes it OK for them to steal! I don't even know if i should respond to this. My guess is that I should just ignore it. Any thoughts or advice?

My Libby!

2007-07-04T20:28:09Z

I found your group through Ginger! I thought i would introduce my new little girl, Liberty! We call her Libby most of the time though. :)

There will be more stories to come. She is a smart little pug and she keeps me laughing all the time! I can't wait to hear about your little ones!

Any Brokers Out There Using Katabat to Create Their Website?

2007-06-27T06:58:12Z

We are beginning the process of building our new corporate website. I have several questions about the process and the provider we are using. I was wondering if there is anyone else out there that used Katabat to create their websites.

Any feedback would be great, even if you are only using Pipeline or one of their signature lead generating programs. I am contemplating starting a blog group for Katabat users if anyone is interested.

My one big question is how is the communication with Katabat for you in the development process and/or the ongoing relationship?

I just have to share - WARNING: Proud Mamma!

2007-06-19T06:51:33Z

We have a new baby girl added to our family this week. She is a 10 week old pug named Liberty, but we call her Libby.

She is amazingly smart. Hardly any accidents -- she waits to go outside -- taught her to sit on command in about 30 minutes -- and she loves to be around us!

I may not be blogging as often now that I have my hands full with little Libby! :) Anyone else have a pug?

Another SEO/Content Question

2007-06-14T10:37:35Z

I think I have a handle on understanding what to do about plagiarism now. I am working that out. I now have another question about how spiders/search engines rank content on websites that have been changed/updated. Bear with me so I can be clear . . . .

We are changing our website. We will change some text, but leave others the same. We have some of our agents copying our content and placing on their website. I am not sure how I feel about that yet. Maybe input and thoughts about that can help me determine if that is a bad thing.

But here is my real concern -- I know that when we switch over in the next few months that we will lose some ranking for a while in the search engines. Does this mean that our original content becomes as if it is not our original content if it has been previously copied by another website?

Do I need to see who has copied our content and make them remove it so that our original corporate content is still viewed by the Search Engines as OUR CONTENT?

Any thoughts on this would be helpful.

Ok - Give it up, now!

2007-06-12T16:51:36Z

I admit I have been quite an AR mooch lately. Asking more than sharing. But here I go again. I need to do some research about web lead management systems -- mostly from a brokers perspective, but independent agents can feel free to chime in as well about what has worked for them.

We are getting ready to make changes on our website. With that we are anticipating more web leads. Which means our now, almost non existent web leads, will now need to have a sucessful system for managing them.

I am curious what brokers and agents are getting for conversion rates on web leads. If you are in the 10 -20% range, what have you been doing to convert these leads? Also, what is the market like in the area you live? What are the demgraphics of those you serve?

We are contemplating implementing an E-team approach where there would be competition for the leads. There would be a limited number of agents on this team. If you are not closing 'em or following up, your off at the 6 month evaluation mark. Another option was to hire an in-house scrubber and hand off the qualified lead for a higher referral fee.

I am over simplifying the policies that we are trying to come up with - so don't respond by hammering our ideas - because I am not being clear. I am just giving thoughts about where we are going potentially. What I want to know is -- WHAT IS WORKING FOR YOU? How are you converting leads and what are your agents responding to positively?

This has been reposted from yesterday in the hopes that the morning crowd can help. :)

Finally saw the DEMO of my NEW Platform for Community Publisher

2007-06-07T06:56:26Z

I finally got a link for the new platform. My content has not been moved yet so it is hard to gauge how it will actually function. I still can't view the backend to see ease of posting.

My first impression is that I like the way it looks -- in particular the calendar is MUCH better. Right now, my site has glitches all over the place with the calendar.

But what I am truely hopeful to see -- a change in the pictures/photo gallery. Before, it was a little haphazard the way pictures were just thrown on a page. My hope is that it will be a bit more organized.

I am so anxious to get this up and functional and make something of the new site before my corporate web project begins. I also need to get advertisers on board. Does any one have tips about how to get sponsors?

So Impressed with Real Living Website

2007-06-06T07:11:00Z

As we are getting ready to upgrade our current website from the dark ages, I have been looking into sites that I feel have it right. www.RealLiving.com is an example of this.

First of all, immediately when I enter their home page it speaks "gen x" and "millenial". If you don't know what I am talking about visit here. It is basically, Web 2.0 summed up in a website.

I came upon the site from an email blast with very pertinent information that is consumer centric and not agent "sales pitchy". I still have the email and I didn't hit the delete button! It is that relevant.

Not only that, but I feel special -- it is "My Real Living" site and it remembers MY name when I enter. How cool is that.

Everything I need is right there. I beg to differ with those who say K.I.S.S. -- this site is anything but simple to create, but it is simple for me to navigate not to mention personalized. I am in awe.

Although we won't copy this site I would love to model after it. It needs to be about the consumer!

Thoughts anyone?

How Do you Manage Your Active Rain Blogs?

2007-06-02T07:34:07Z

Does anyone else find it difficult managing all the blog content that they have written? I have maybe 10 blogs that I have written since I started in May and some were ok, but others have created a life of their own.

At first I was sad that no one was commenting, now I am overwhelmed. Does anyone out there have suggestions for how to manage the blogs? What has worked for you?

BTW - I may read these comments but not respond because I am managing several active strings right now.

How to Check Stats for Stolen Content and MORE

2007-06-01T06:36:33Z

As requested, I am posting where I found my stolen blog content from my stats. In Community Publisher you should have been given a stats link. If you have not been given a link with ID and Password for your community blog, you should request it.

To check for content that links to you but is scraped off your site:

In your stats go to Connects to site from . . . Links from an external page (other web sites except search engines)

Then check full list*. This will have many links that people have clicked back to your blog to find you from these sites. Most will be internal links from your own blog, but I am always looking for new places where my blog link is showing up and how people are finding us.

*Please note that it is the beginning of the month and each month the stats reset. I hate this about the statistics, but give it few days and you should be able to better grasp where people are coming from to find you.

Another helpful link that was passed on to me is copyscape.com. In the case that your content is stolen or scraped from your site and it does not link back to you, you can paste the URL into this site and it will find duplicate content for your blog anywhere on the web.

I hope this helps.

Blog Plagarism!!

2007-05-29T06:40:39Z

I have another blog that focuses on community content and local real estate information for the community. Lately, when I have checked my stats I have noticed that there are blogs/websites that have stolen the content off my site.

I am interested in thoughts on this. Is this bad for my site? I have heard that only original content is searched by the search engines, but I guess that since I created the information first that my blog's content will be searched????

Can I do anything about the plagaism, because I feel that this undermines the content on my site. Please let me know if anyone else has dealt with this issue.

Stop Griping about REDFIN - let's start educating

2007-05-17T07:07:39Z

Admittedly the Redfin piece by 60 minutes was biased and one-sided. I stewed about it for a couple of days. I am not fearful of Redfin, however.

The reality is that like traditional real estate agents and brokers -- Redfin is taking advantage of a niche buyer. If you want that niche --- you can get it. You just have to do two things:

1) Meet your clients needs with the same type of technology and sensitivity to the Generation Xer and Millenial consumer AND

2) Educate your clients as to what they are NOT getting with Redfin and what you will offer.

You don't have to bash Redfin -- it's a diferent business model. Give the client the option to understand why they are paying less or getting money back. In a way, Redfin is helping us to better understand the consumer.

On a side note related to educating the consumer: Redfin is not acting with full disclosure. This is what makes them have an unfair advantage. They have no obligation to tell the consumer what they are missing by not using a traditional agent. The uneducated consumer can be taken advantage of with them. This is why we need to educate.

Blood Drive for American Red Cross

2007-05-04T12:17:56Z

Join us on Saturday, May 5th, 2007, between 10am and 4pm to donate blood for the American Red Cross! The American Red Cross' blood supply is very low. We need your help to keep the supply at a safe level. You may donate if you donated before March 10th, 2007.

Donors must be at least 17 years of age, weigh at least 110 pounds, and be in good health. Go to http://www.my-redcross.org/ to see a comprehensive list for donation eligibility. (In Maryland, you can be 16 with parental consent)

Please call Jennifer Frias, 301-424-0900 ext. 256 or email jfrias@llehomes.com to schedule an appointment time if you don't have time to wait. Otherwise, walk-ins are welcome!

Llewellyn Realtors is located on the corner of Rockville Pike (Route 355) and Wootton Parkway in Rockville, Maryland. The address is:

795 Rockville Pike

Rockville, MD 20852

http://www.llehomes.com/

We look forward to seeing you there!