About a month ago, I made a decision.

I felt that many of my posts were lacking in solid real estate info.  Sure, I blogged about neighborhoods, listings, things like the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, and even the local news, but I felt I needed to step up my game and give my readers the tools they needed to make informed decisions.

I didn't think my blog was bad by any means, I just thought there was room for improvement.  I wanted to be sure my readers were getting the most out of their experience.  I wanted them to have the tools and my personal thoughts and expertise.  We (agents) all know they're doing their research before picking up the telephone, so why not help them do it?  It just makes sense.

I never considered myself a statistician.

I'm great with numbers and I excelled in math, but I never liked statistics and graphs and charts much.  And market trends and outlooks are nothing more than statistics.  Looking at the numbers, analyzing and projecting.  Trying to make sense of things that are never 100% predictable.  There are variables to statistics and that makes predictions practical, but not necessarily law.  If we could accurate predict everything, we'd never have any trouble in life.

Enter Altos Research.

As you can guess from the graphic to the left, I decided to employ Altos Research to help with my needs.  Several agents/bloggers I knew and respected had already raved about them, so I did my research and checked them out.  Mike Simonsen, CEO was quick to answer some questions I had via Twitter and email and I could tell that he was part of a company that would be responsive to my needs (something I require in any company I'm paying my hard earned money to).  At the time I spoke to him, I wasn't 100% ready to commit (trying to determine my budgets), but after going back to their site several times, I knew I had to adjust my budget to include their services.

The company makes an impression from day one.

After signing up, I immediately received several emails from staff at Altos Research welcoming me, giving me some info, and offering me training.  That should be a no brainer for any company, but I've surprised at how some companies miss this simple step.  Make me feel like you're happy I'm using your product and help me use it to its fullest - you'll have a customer for life.  Every time I send an email with a question, I get instant answers and help.  Sometimes more help than I even asked for.  What really made me smile and realize I had picked a quality company was Mike Simonsen himself.  CEOs aren't known for talking to their customers - they're known for running and guiding a business.  When was the last time Bill Gates called you (ok, so he left the company, but you get the picture)?  How much money have you helped him make?  Mike sent me a personal video email (it had to be personal, unless he calls everyone "rockstar").  He welcomed me, gave me some things to think about, and included his cell phone number.  Do you have Bill Gates' cell phone number?

But lets pretend the entire staff and the CEO aren't so nice.

Sure, them being helpful and friendly is great and counts for a lot in my book, but let's ignore that for just one moment.  Let's talk about the product.  If it's no good, all the friendliness in the world isn't going to save the company.  The product itself is pure quality.  Using data from your local MLS, Altos Research is able to bring together many different statistics, analyze them and produce graphs and reports.  You can build charts for median list price, inventory levels, days on market, new listings, absorbed listings, price per square foot, percentage price increased or decreased - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.  Altos Research also creates weekly market reports that can be download and emailed to clients.  They even make a customizable widget to include on your site that allows consumer to sign up for your reports.  All the information can be separated by zip code or by city.

By zip code?

By allowing you to build reports based on zip code, there's a hidden gem that you may not have thought about.  I hadn't either.  While going through my Google Analytics, I noticed a few people had been searching and using "78258" for part of their keywords.  78258 is a popular zip code in our area, so it got me thinking.  What if I used Altos Research to write a post using 78258 data?  So as an experiment, I tried it and here's what happened:

Within days, people were coming to view the data.  And the best part?  They were staying and reading more pages.  One of those users contacted me for even more additional info and we've been having semi-regular contact back and forth about the market.  That's why we blog, isn't it?  My posts using Altos Research's data and chart (and my analysis of them) are some of my most popular pages and they always lead to other page views.  There's magic in good, quality information.

So go ahead check them out.

Visit their website, hook up with Mike Simonsen on Twitter, send them some email, or give them a call at (888) 819-7775.  Tell them I sent you and maybe they'll be as nice to you as they are to me!  Trust me, they will.