Edmond Real Estate - Thoughts from a Tech-Junkie Realtor

You Want iPhone 3G Tethering Now??

2009-06-25T22:24:08Z

One of the things that excited me most when I heard the 3G upgrade was coming for OS3 was the rumor that we'd be able to tether our iPhones to our computers for wireless internet connectivity. I've had an air card for a few years, but the idea of being able to deactivate that and just use my iPhone's internet connection of course excites me, because it equates to more money in my pocket. Needless to say, I was highly disappointed to learn after the upgrade that AT&T wasn't offering tethering as an option 'yet.'

Well, there is now a work-around. I actually just did this and am now posting this blog post without the use of my standard office internet connection, but rather with the connection my laptop is borrowing from my iPhone. Follow this link to an article at pcmag.com, which will walk you through setting up iPhone internet tethering on your 3G. Once you're done, please come back here and let us know that you successfully pulled it off!

DISCLAIMER: As you'll read in the article, nobody knows if AT&T will charge extra for this or, if they do, how much it will cost, so use it at your own risk!

By the way, what's up with the spellchecker telling me "internet" isn't a word?

iPhone OS Upgrade Problems?

2009-06-22T09:37:27Z

A few people have emailed me this weekend, asking how to upgrade their iPhones to the new 3.0 Operating System, which Apple just released early last week, so I thought I'd provide a quick run-down on the easy steps to upgrade. Just have your iPhone, your computer, and your iPhone cable ready.

First, open your iTunes on your computer and click the 'Help' tab at the top, then go to 'Check for Updates' to verify that you have the latest version of iTunes on your computer. If you're up-to-date, great! If not, go ahead and update it now.
Next, with iTunes already open, plug your iPhone into your computer. It may take a minute, but once your iPhone shows up in the list on the left side of your iTunes screen, click on it. This will bring up your iPhone's control screen. In the middle of the summary page, you'll see a button that says 'Check for Update.' Click that button and wait. It will either tell you that your version is current, or that you need to upgrade.

From there, it's easy, just follow the prompts on the screen as it automatically walks you through the upgrading of your iPhone's OS.

Once it's done, go exploring and check out all the nice little extras you just go for free!

Questions, or problems? Post them here!

iPhone OS 3.0 Upgrade in Process

2009-06-17T12:35:11Z

So, as I type this, my trusty iPhone is under the knife. It's getting the new 3.0 Operating System installed and, needless to say, I'm WAY excited. I know, say it, I'm a geek. So, I wanted to post a quick run-down of the new features that iPhone users will gain by taking advantage of this FREE upgrade. All you have to do is hook your phone up to your computer and let iTunes upgrade. Here's what I copied from the screen as my phone updates:

iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update

This update contains over 100 new features, including the following:

Cut, Copy & Paste with shake to undo
Landscape keyboard in key applications
Enhanced Messages application- Send and receive photos, contacts, audio files, and location via MMS* - Forward and delete single or multiple messages
Added search feature in Mail, Calendar, Notes and iPod
Spotlight search across iPhone
Support for CalDAV and subscriptions in Calendar
Improvements to Safari - Performance - HTML 5 support - HTTP Streaming audio and video - Auto-fill usernames and passwords
New Voice Memos application
Sync Notes with a Mac or PC via iTunes
Internet Tethering over USB and Bluetooth*
Browse and download movies, TV shows, and audiobooks from the iTunes Store**
Stereo Bluetooth***
Wi-Fi auto login
Enhanced Stocks application
More Parental Control options for Apps, Music, Movies and TV Shows
iTunes account creation and login**
YouTube account login and access to subscriptions, ratings and favorites**
Shake to shuffle
New languages, dictionaries, and keyboards
Find my iPhone and Remote Wipe via MobileMe (subscription required)**
Support for more Exchange policies
Create and send Exchange meeting invitations
Search mail on server (Exchange Server 2007 and supported IMAP servers)
Search LDAP company directory
VPN on demand and VPN proxy support
Encrypted configuration profiles
Encrypted iTunes backups
1,000 new developer APIs, including: - In App Purchases - Apple Push Notification Service - Accessories support - Peer to Peer Connectivity - Embedded Maps - iPod Library Access
Bug fixes

Products compatible with this software update:

iPhone
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3G S

* Compatible only with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S and requires support from your wireless provider.

** Not available in all regions or in all languages.

*** Compatible only with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S.

Granted, some of these features are pretty much no-brainers and should have been thought of in the beginning, but some of them are nice upgrades also.

Which new features have you most excited about this upgrade??

UPDATE: Here's a screenshot of the landscape keyboard:

And a screenshot of the new spotlight search feature in action:

11665 Marbella Dr - Rio de Bella Open House This Weekend!

2009-05-16T11:03:07Z
The 'LISTING OF THE WEEK', located at 11665 Marbella Dr, is one of our beautiful listings, and will be open to the public today and tomorrow from 2 to 5. Here are some pictures to whet your appetite:

NEED DIRECTIONS??

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This post was originally written and posted at our Edmond and Oklahoma City real estate blog.

iPhone Camera Tips

2009-05-06T07:53:14Z

One of the most used features of my iPhone might well be the camera. While the experts will tell you the camera on the iPhone is lacking (and it is in some ways), it's far better than they'd have you believe. In fact, I frequently get comments like 'Wow, you took that with your phone?'

The convenience of always having my iPhone in my pocket has provided far more opportunity for capturing those unexpected moments with my wife & kids, in addition to taking listing pics on the fly and posting them for immediate marketing exposure, or capturing funny or interesting things I see when showing homes and sharing them with my followers and friends.

I recently stumbled across a pretty detailed write-up of tips for maximizing your iPhone camera's abilities. Using a little thought and experimenting with different techniques, you'll be surprised what you can do with that handy little camera phone.

One tip I'll add as well, which was shared with me by a good friend and fellow tech-junkie not too long ago is this; when you're taking a picture, put your finger or thumb on the shutter button and hold it there until you've steadied the camera and you're ready for the picture to be taken, then just release. This helps you eliminate blurry pics by reducing the amount of movement when you're ready to snap your pic.

Happy shooting!!

UPDATE: Special thanks to my friend Douglas for sharing a link to some further proof of the abilities of an iPhone camera.

Zillow Launches Their iPhone App

2009-04-30T15:45:44Z

Being a huge tech junkie, I always enjoy new gadgets, especially if they have some useful function that helps me with my day-to-day real estate work, and I'm always looking for the latest and greatest iPhone apps.

Well, Zillow just launched a new app that appears to have some useful functions. Now, I'm not a big fan of Zillow's 'Zestimates' because I've found major variances between their numbers and the real numbers in my market, both for the plus and the minus. I've seen houses over-zestimated by $50K and I've seen other under-zestimated by $50K, so I wouldn't advise anyone to use Zillow's numbers as a guide to determining the value of a home they're thinking about buying or selling, but this new app does show you some public record information about most given properties, based on your GPS location.

So, let's say you're driving down the street and you're curious when a particular home last sold, or how much it sold for... you can find that out immediately with this app. You can also find out the asking price of a house that's for sale as you drive by.

I haven't had a chance to fully test this app, so I'm not making any claims yet, but it's worth the money (FREE) to download it and see if it's useful to you in any way. Here are a few screenshots that show the map view and what it looks like if you tap on a house:

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Oklahoma City Metro Real Estate Statistics for March 2009

2009-04-18T23:25:46Z

In case you missed it, the latest real estate statistics have been published for the OKC Metro, including such areas as Edmond, Deer Creek, Moore, Norman, Piedmont, Yukon and beyond. Judge for yourself, but I'd say there are some very positive indicators of where we've been and where we're going, with sales up and inventory levels down.

With the flurry of activity our team - and almost every other agent we've talked to lately - is experiencing, I fully expect that April's numbers will be even more impressive. Stay tuned!
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Sorry, I'm Too Busy to Tell You About My Listings

2009-04-13T20:08:30Z

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!!

From time to time, I come to the conclusion that I've found the floor of incompetence in our industry, but then - to my amazement - someone comes along that shows me that there's actually a basement below that floor. It's times like these that I'm ashamed to be considered in the 'same profession' as many of my colleagues. I'm then left wondering, 'Can I change the title and image associated with what I do?' The answer is Yes of course, but only a little bit at a time. Can I truly exile myself from that negative image, though? I pride myself on working hard to stand out in the sea of Realtors as one of the best, and my clients will tell you that I do so quite well, but to the average consumer, we're all the same, which is why I get so frustrated with some of the things I see almost daily.

Case in point; like many Realtors in today's changing world, I'm heavily plugged into social media platforms as a means of building relationships with colleagues and clients. In fact, I use it so much that I find myself actually selling homes and setting up showings via Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms on a daily basis. When it comes to social media, the average consumer gets it, but there's a huge void within the Realtor community between those who get it and those who don't have a clue. Take a look at the image below then, before reading any further, please take a second to evaluate what's wrong with this picture:

The first question that came to my mind when I read the response to my query for more information was "What is the primary job of the listing agent?" There are many tasks involved with our job, but what is our primary purpose when we list a home? IMO, it's to get buyers through the door. Sure, there's far more to it than just that, but through many varied means of marketing, we must get qualified buyers to see the homes we list. Advice, contract negotiations, etc mean nothing if you can't get your listing seen. The more who see them, the more likely it is to sell, and the more likely it is to sell for a higher price, rather than a lower one, right? We must capitalize on EVERY opportunity to show off our listings, and when someone starts asking questions, we better be able to answer.

Next question, if you're posting your listings online, should those 'online fliers' be treated with any more/less care than a real flier you hand to someone, or an ad in the paper? If an agent saw your listing on a flier and called for information, would you say 'I don't know, call my assistant?' What if it was an unrepresented buyer calling?

How can a homeowner honestly expect their agent to sell their house, if he/she doesn't even take the time to know what they're selling, or at the very least to take the time to find the information that's requested? I simply asked for an address or MLS number, so I could look it up myself and possibly schedule it as a part of my clients' home tour tomorrow morning. Who's job is it to know the listing, the agent or their assistant? Furthermore, who's job is it to get the information from that person, mine or theirs?

Most importantly, did this agent just display to the world (possible future clients) that he/she is willing to go above and beyond to get her client's home sold?

In this market, we Realtors must be FAR more proactive than we ever have been before. When we list homes, we have to pursue the qualified buyers, and the agents who are working with those qualified buyers. We can't sit back and expect someone else to do all the work, can we?

11665 Marbella Dr - Stunning Rio de Bella Acreage!

2009-03-19T23:09:54Z

Rio de Bella Beauty For Sale - 11665 Marbella Dr
Location: Rio de Bella
Entertain your family & friends - Amenities galore in this 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath beauty. The open mother-in-law floorplan offers a huge dining room, warm colors, crown molding, granite countertops, stainless-steel applicances, and a secluded entertainment wing, which includes a gameroom, a full-service bar area, and a theatre room. Every bedroom is large, with a walk-in closet, and the finishes used throught this home are top-notch. All of this on over 1 acre that backs to the creek area, with a view of the pond. Don't miss out on this jewel!
Information
Contact Information
Ryan Hukill
405.802.4663
Contact Reply Form
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Pricing
Price: $394,607
Flexibility: Negotiable
Property Location
11665 Marbella Dr
Oklahoma City, OK 73173
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Features
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2.5
Year Built: 2006
Subdivision: Rio de Bella
Lot Size: 1.19 acre
Garage Size: 3
School District: Moore Schools
Square Footage: 3907
Agent Name: Ryan Hukill
Broker: Paradigm AdvantEdge
MLS #: 381515
Attributes
Interior Amenities
Fireplace
Hardwood Floors
Wet Bar
Security System
Kitchen Island
Vaulted Ceilings
Attic
Granite Countertops
SS Appliances
Walk-in Closets
Gameroom
Theatre Room
Exterior Amenities
Grass Lawn
Secluded setting
Large Covered Patio
Circular Concrete Drive
Photo Gallery
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EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY
VFLYER ID: 2367110
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Maybe I Was Unclear? Home Buyers Get FREE Down-Payment or Closing Costs!!

2009-02-26T10:29:04Z

I posted some information yesterday that's blowing the socks off of the people who get it, but maybe I wasn't clear enough in my initial post to help enough people 'GET IT.'

I'll try to be more direct:

If you or your client qualify for the New $8K Home Buyer Tax Credit, you/they can claim it on their 2008 (last year's) tax return and GET THE MONEY NOW, BEFORE BUYING A HOUSE. This means, that money can be used toward down-payment and/or closing costs.

Did everyone get that? GET THE MONEY BEFORE BUYING A HOUSE!

Now, there are some caveats to this deal, so make sure you read all the details and check with your CPA to get clarification on the advantages and disadvantages to this approach. I'm not a Tax Pro, so make sure you cover yourself by checking with your Tax Pro on this BEFORE taking any action!
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Home Buyer Tax Credit Twist That You NEED to Know About!

2009-02-25T14:39:37Z

I've been waiting to hear back from CPA for some clarification on how the new Home Buyer Tax Credit can be used, and I finally got confirmation today... There's a twist to this new credit that EVERY HOME BUYER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT. MAKE SURE YOU'RE TELLING YOUR CLIENTS!

Home Buyers Incentive - NEW TWIST
About a week ago, I told you about the new version of the Home Buyer Tax Credit, and at that time I had an idea of how this could REALLY be a benefit to someone thinking about buying a home, especially if he/she didn't have a lot of cash for down-payment or closing costs. I wanted to make sure I had correct information though, before posting it here for all the world to get excited about... I was waiting on my CPA to get clarification on the program.

So here's the scenario: If you meet the qualifications for the Home Buyer Tax Credit (click HERE for more details), you can claim the credit on your 2008 income tax return, EVEN if you haven't bought a house yet! Yep, that's right, you can claim it and get the money NOW, then put it toward your down payment and/or closing costs.

The other biggie is that this credit doesn't have to be re-paid. It's free money for home buyers that meet the criteria!

OK, so here's my disclaimer; this info came from my CPA, Rusty Hale. I'm putting this info out here for you to take advantage of, but please investigate and make sure it will work for you. Get advice from your CPA before taking any action, just to be sure you're not going to get jammed up somehow. One bad scenario I've though of is if you were to take the credit, get the money, then you can't qualify for a mortgage. My guess would be that you'd have to pay that money back, but again, CHECK WITH YOUR TAX PROFESSIONAL TO BE SURE! If you don't have one, call Rusty @ 405.330.6000.
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An iPhone App For Your Buyer Clients

2009-02-25T08:28:31Z

We all have our little ways of helping our home buyer clients keep their search organized, and I've been using the digital camera method for years. I hand them my camera and advise them to take as many pictures as possible (address block first) to keep things straight in their minds, because it WILL all begin to mesh together after the first few houses. After I get back to the office, I email them the photos so they have their own record of what we viewed.

But if your client has an iPhone, maybe there's a better way?! I just found the 'House Hunter' app in the iTunes App Store, and it looks pretty interesting. According to the description, your buyers can organize the details of the houses they want to remember, along with pictures, and rate them, make notes, and keep specifics to refer back to later, after their minds turn to mush at the end of the day-long home tour you just took them on :) The app will also give them driving directions back to the house.

Now, I don't like the icon they've chosen to use for this app, but outside of that, it looks like it could be a useful tool for your clients. What do you think?

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Books on Your iPhone

2009-02-12T12:07:50Z

Do you ever have down-time that you could be using to learn? Waiting in the Dr's office, or the carpool line, or at the oil-change place, I usually try to find ways to use that time productively. One way I've always fallen back on is my RSS reader. It's a great time to catch up on blogs and news-sites that I follow.

I just found another nifty tool that can help fill that void. As you probably know, if you have something in PDF format, such as a document, a fax, or a book, you can use your iPhone to read it and all the usual gestures will work (scrolling, pinching, dragging it around with one finger, etc). Well, now there's a way to find many of the ebooks you want to read, in one place on your iPhone. Simply point your iPhone's browser to http://books.google.com/googlebooks/mobile/#Home and, WALLA, you’ve got a little virtual library of all kinds of great reading material.

As you can see below, there are categories (a ton of them) to search for whatever you may feel like reading at the time. Enjoy!

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RE Recruiters Empowering Their Brand??

2009-01-21T13:56:09Z

It seems that lately the barrage of brokerages trying to coerce me into moving my license has increased exponentially. Whether they're driven by a slower market, greed, or whatever, I'm literally getting hit up 2-3 times a day lately.

While I have absolutely no interest in making any changes, I still get a kick out of evaluating these recruiters' approaches, and the impersonal manner in which they come at me is mind-boggling. One of the ones I got today though, deserves special attention. I prefer not to poke fun at people publicly - most times anyway - so I've removed logos and email addresses to protect the incompetent.

Here's a screenshot from the email I received today from, of course, someone I've never heard of, and who has never made any attempt to meet me personally:

Anyone else see any problems here?

How much confidence would you have in a company with a complete lack of attention to detail?

I'm thinking, even if I were looking to make a brokerage change (which, again, I'm not), this one wouldn't even be in the running.

Thoughts, anyone?

This is for the Agents Still on the Fence... Wake Up!

2008-12-31T11:12:12Z

In my local market, I'm amazed daily by the number of agents who just don't see where our business is headed. Many don't see it because they just simply haven't kept up, while many others simply choose not to care.

I always wonder, do they really think that the changes going on in our industry are temporary, or are they just naive enough to think that someday they'll be able to catch up?

Technology is moving at such an amazing pace that it won't be long before those who aren't keeping up now will be unable to catch up. They'll simply be obsolete.

The new mantra of just about any and every business in existence should be 'Get on Board, or Get Left Behind.'

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Basic iPhone Use - Tip #1 - Zoom

2008-11-24T11:03:20Z

The interface on the iPhone's touch screen is amazing, but I've found that there's a substantial segment of iPhone users who don't even know some of the basics, so I thought I'd share a few of the simple features that will greatly improve your iPhone experience.

One of the things I think makes surfing the internet on the iPhone so much better than many of the other mobile browsers is the zoom feature. This same zoom feature also works on photos, email, and maps. Here's a quote from the iPhone manual:

Zooming In or Out: When viewing photos, webpages, email, or maps, you can zoom in and out. Pinch your fingers together or apart. For photos and webpages, you can double-tap (tap twice quickly) to zoom in, then double-tap again to zoom out. For maps, double-tap to zoom in and tap once with two fingers to zoom out.

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Wish Your Camera Was Wi-Fi Ready?

2008-11-19T23:41:13Z

I know it makes me a geek, but I get excited about new technology, and in today's world things are moving at a very rapid pace, so I get excited a lot!

I don't know about you, but I send pictures from my phone all the time. I post photos to the various social networking sites I'm active on, I send pics to family and friends for a laugh, and I often post pictures and information about a new listing before I've even left the listing appointment, giving my new clients IMMEDIATE marketing exposure.

But I've often pondered how cool it would be to upload higher-res photos from my Nikon D70. Well, it looks like the technology I've been waiting on is finally beginning to hit the mainstream. An article I read earlier today on MyTechOpinion.com highlighted the Eye-Fi Wireless Memory Card, which can turn any camera with an SD slot into a wi-fi camera!

The writer of the article gives some great examples of how we, as Realtors, could us this technology to our advantage. The possibilities are endless.

Now I'm just waiting for a card I can plug into my camera that will allow it to communicate via Bluetooth through my iPhone's wireless data signal. Bring on the technology!

Can Google Read Your Mind?

2008-11-18T03:14:40Z

I often wonder this, seeing as how Google is taking over the world. Seriously though, there's been a lot of buzz around the release of Google's newest iPhone app. It did finally release yesterday, and so far I'm impressed!

This is one seriously intuitive app. It can't read your mind (yet), but it is just about that simple. Here's how it goes; First, just download it (FREE) from the App Store. You see the blue 'g' icon just above my email? That's the one... Touch it!

Now you see the really lengthy, difficult instructions, right?

Yep, that's right, just bring the phone to your ear. Somehow it knows you're ready and gives you a little beep to let you know it's OK to speak to it. I've tried several different phrases and, so far, I haven't been able to stump it; you just have to be sure and speak clearly. Here I spoke 'who is Ryan Hukill?' Here's what happened next:

Yeah, big surprise that my AR blog would be ranked at the top huh? OK, so this is where I have to laugh a little bit. You see, I just recently read a blog post from a 'Technology Educator' who trashed the iPhone for what he saw as several shortcomings - one of them being that you 'Cannot use one hand.' He went on to say 'The iPhone requires you to use two hands in most instances which can take more time to arrive at the same task.' It's quite clear to me that this educator is speaking out of turn about something he hasn't even tried, but I digress.

I tried some other terms like 'phone number at Chilis on Broadway in Edmond, OK' Yep, you guessed it; it gave me the phone listing for the Chilis on Broadway. How many different ways could you use this app while driving down the road, not having to use but one finger and your voice?!

I also found a great review of this app by Matt Cutts, where he goes a little more in-depth on the apps abilities, so you might want to check this out too if you're not quite sold.

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Welcome - Let's get to sharing!

2008-11-18T00:45:04Z

I recently became an iPhone fanatic! That's right, I have a new addiction. I've found some amazing potential within this little device and what I've found after searching AR a little on the topic, is that many of us have a serious love for our iPhones, and many out there have a lot of misunderstandings about what this phone really is, and what it really can do.

After replying to a post earlier tonight, it was suggested that I start a group (like this one) for people to come together and share what they know, so we can all truly use the potential to our benefit. So, with that in mind, please feel free to ask questions, and share what you know. What has worked for you, what hasn't, etc.

I'm looking forward to learning more and sharing what I've already found to be a goldmine within my iPhone.

The Bi-Polar Side of Home Pricing

2008-11-13T15:20:53Z

As indicated by the frequency of my ramblings on the topic, proper home pricing is one of my largest hurdles when meeting with hopeful home-sellers. Common sense tells me that will never change, but I feel that helping those who want to buy or sell homes in Edmond better understand the market is not only my job, but it's my duty.

Business Week just published a pretty interesting story about the tendancy of homeowners to hold on to unrealistic expectations in regard to the value of their homes - even in this ‘declining’ market - and how that affects the overall recovery of the market. I can’t disagree with most of their points about the ’stubbornness’ of some home sellers, and I’ve witnessed the ‘better-than-average’ effect more than a few times, but I think the blame belongs less on homeowners and more on the agents who routinely take overpriced listings. After all, if an unrealistic home seller is turned down by 2 or 3 agents in a row, and those agents are honest with that seller about why, won’t he/she eventually lower expectations and become more open to the reality of the market? Unfortunately, what happens many times is the reverse. An agent who just wants their sign in that yard (so he/she can get buyer leads) takes the overpriced listing, giving the homeowner validation that they know more than the agent. Wow, how does that help the client-agent relationship? And some agents wonder why their clients fight them on everything. Additionally, what does it do for the seller, when that sign is still in the yard 6 months later while home values continue to slide? Anyway, I digress…

Funny thing is, while I will always have those clients who want to over-price their homes, I’ve actually seen a reverse effect in Edmond lately. Let me explain; we have recently worked with some buyers who had unrealistic expectations

... READ MORE

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Getting your iPhone and Gmail Contacts To Get Along

2008-11-08T16:19:39Z

I recently took the leap from my Windows Mobile 6 smartphone to the iPhone, and I have to say, I haven't been this excited about and impressed by a phone in a LONG time. I should've done this a long time ago, but nonetheless, I'm on the iPhone bandwagon now & I don't plan on getting off of it anytime soon.

One of the things I love most is the app store. Being able to find various apps to do the various things that I NEED my phone to do, is a huge benefit. It's like building your own phone, the way you want it, not the way someone else decides it should be. Apparently, Brian & Rita Burke are App-Addicts also!

Anyway, database management is a huge challenge for most of us, so I was really excited to find a great little app called SyncInABlink yesterday.

Over the years, I've made a lot of changes in the types of phones I've used, the types of database software I've used, etc, and the result has been duplicate and incomplete contacts in my database. I now use Gmail and it's contact system to keep up with my peeps, and this nifty little app falwlessly synced my google contacts with my iPhone.

That's a great deal in itself, but on top of all of that, it has a great feature that compares all my contact entries and matches up the ones that might need to be merged. I don't know if you have this problem, but I might've had a contact entry with an email address, and a separate entry with a mobile phone number, and another entry with a home phone number or mailing address. With a VERY SIMPLE interface, SyncInABlink let's you merge as many entries as you need to into one single contact entry. I've reduced my contacts from over 1500 down to just under 1200 by simply merging these contacts and eliminating the duplicates. Talk about making my life easier!

So, if you use Gmail and an iPhone, you'll want to go check out this app... TOTALLY WORTH THE $5 I spent!

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Taglines... do they matter?

2008-10-30T22:09:32Z

I've spent a lot of time & energy over the past couple of months thinking about branding, IDX, taglines, color schemes, etc, mainly because I'm in the beginning stages of building an entirely new site, which will bring a new brand into my local market.

Obviously, my goal is to bring in an experience that no other agent here offers, as would be any motivated agent's goal. So, as I make notes and sketches during this process, I'm also investigating all different tools that I can bring to the table.

But what good is having the latest and greatest if you don't do everything else right? We're all into branding these days, right? We want our 'brand' to be THE brand in our market. We want to be remembered and seen as the standout amongst the rest. The problem though, is that we often get so busy thinking about being the biggest and best, that we forget the simple things.

That said, one really simple thing that we MUST get right is our tagline. It's like our unique value proposition, or our elevator pitch that's going to be plastered on everything we do, from our blogs, to our letterhead, to our marketing materials, signs... well, you get it. So, what should that tagline do for us?

That brings me to my point. I read a blog post tonight on CopyBlogger about taglines, and it put in very simple terms exactly where many of us miss the boat. We get so busy trying to be clever, that we miss the real goal, which is to make sure that when someone reads it, they understand exactly what we do; what we offer to them.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this post and encourage everyone to really evaluate what your tagline says about what you do.
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Twitter? How Could That Possibly Help Me?

2008-10-28T12:16:16Z

I actually thought this to myself SEVERAL times when I first set up my Twitter account. In fact, I walked away from it a few times, just not really seeing any value or benefit. It just seemed like a huge waste of time.

One day, though, something clicked, and I saw that relationships are being forged and strengthened through Twitter, so I decided to give it another try; except this time around, I put more effort into it. Hmmm, you mean you get out of it what you put into it? Sound familiar?

OK, so check this out. I'm dealing with a time-sensitive situation today and need to find a local Edmond structural inspector that can get out and take a look at a home no later than tomorrow. We all know how tough it can be to find an inspector on such short notice, right? But this house is closing Thursday and we've just figured out that we're going to need to have the structure evaluated with closer scrutiny.

So, what do I do? Twitter? No, I fall back on my habits and pick up the phone to start making calls. No luck, I can't get a hold of my usual guy, so I start calling other agents to get recommendations on other structural inspectors. Guess what... all I'm getting is voicemails. Big surprise, right? So, then it hits me... why not post up a tweet and see if anyone in my twitter network (352 local and not-so-local followers)? Within 3 minutes (no, i'm not exaggerating) I get a reply from another local agent with a name and number of her guy. Problem solved!

So there you have it. Value proposition #1 to Twitter. Don't miss out on the REACH that Twitter offers!
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!

Shrinking Homes

2008-10-22T16:27:41Z

I question how much of this particular trend will flow into the Oklahoma City real estate market, but with last week's fall of a few of Edmond's larger home builders, we're definitely seeing a more conservative approach on both the building and buying sides. I guess the key here comes from the money quote in an article about shrinking homes:

“We're getting back to more the way things were historically, kind of undoing the excesses..."

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MY EDMOND REAL ESTATE BLOG

When Less is More

2008-09-02T10:59:53Z

One of the biggest struggles I face in my marketing efforts is staying away from the things that can distract me from my marketing plan, and with the rapid advancement of the online tools available to us, it's especially easy to chase rabbits when tweaking my online presence.

We all want the latest greatest tools, but we have to be careful not to overwhelm the people we work so hard to attract to our sites. Sometimes adding more can simply detract from the quality of your website. This morning I read a great RISmedia article about how to attract people to your website, and it basically hits on the same point I posted about yesterday, STAYING FOCUSED.

It can be tough, but keeping things simple, and keeping your end goal in mind is CRITICAL to both driving traffic to your website, and converting that traffic into clients. IMO, being very selective about which rabbits to chase will bring better results in the end.