I found the article below very interesting and I wanted to pass it along. As a agent who takes credit on having one of the first real estate websites www.JessicaRussell.com (including all real estate companies), I have always experienced technology especially in the real estate business before it was necessary. I also own a large collection of domain names involving real estate and finance.. I am sole or partnership owner of various online (established) sites which focus on both residential and commercial property listings.
I have always embraced websites and have seen the trends decline from the initual understanding about 6-7 years ago here in California other agents NEED a PRIMARY personal website. Knowing In the Westside areas of California we have been one of the progressive and creative areas in the United States-especially in real estate businesses, I tota;;y understand how necessary it is for agents to not just depend on the company real estate website....-Most agents today purchasing month to month self made templates as the CUSTOM design market was either scarce or too expensive for most agents to become involved in. I have also resorted to this concept for convenience. Today one of my separate companies offers leading real estate companies and their agents FREE 6 month memberships ( when we have changes in market and supply listed is low), since I can't replenish my site memberships effectively and I need my memberships and property count to remain high. Many agents may take the free membership and not utilize the service due to laziness or the feeling of lack of confidence intheir technology abilities. EASILY you can invest a nice fortune in internet services to promote the business. Over the years I have had a lot of traffic and buyers find me. Many buyers diligently working with me due to my internet exposure and acessabiity. The following article was interesting considering the areas I work which demands for me to spend at least 5 times more MONTHLY for internet and other marketing fees.
Daily Real Estate News | May 11, 2007 More REALTORS® Invest in and Demand TechnologyREALTORS® invest heavily in technology with more than half of brokers, sales agents, associate brokers, and managers saying they spent more than $1,000 last year, according to a new survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. The 2007 REALTOR® Technology Survey, conducted by NAR’s Center for REALTOR®Technology, also found that 25 percent of respondents spent more than $2,000 on technology in 2006. In addition, approximately two-thirds of those surveyed have a real estate business Web site, and a quarter of those surveyed spend more than $1,000 annually to maintain their site. Nearly all of these sites — 93 percent — provide listing search capabilities. Other than their own Web site, the most popular sites for REALTORS® to display their listings include the local MLS, their broker’s Web site, and REALTOR.com. “REALTORS® have invested a lot of time and millions of dollars in building and improving real estate technology, and the demand for additional technology is high,” says Mark Lesswing, NAR senior vice president and chief technology officer. While eight in 10 of those surveyed think the current technology supplied by their broker is valuable, two-thirds would like their broker to expand the amount of technology offered, Lesswing says. Eighty-four percent of those surveyed were also interested in augmenting the technology and services offered by their Multiple Listing Service. One of those services is the Comparative Market Analysis, which compares a home to similar properties that have sold in an area. Ninety-four percent of those surveyed include a CMA as part of their listing presentations, and most practitioners are satisfied with the program. However, 35 percent thought the program could be improved by offering the ability to personalize designs and make it easier to use. Popular Tech Devices The most popular devices practitioners reported using in their day-to-day business include digital cameras, desktop computers, and cell phones. The survey also revealed the growing popularity of smartphones or PDAs, which provide phone, Internet, and e-mail capabilities. In 2005, only 8 percent of respondents used a smartphone compared to 28 percent in 2006, and as many as 30 percent of respondents plan to purchase or replace one in the coming year. Practitioners’ use of automated forms and transaction management software is also on the rise as real estate transactions become more complex. In fact, more than three-fourths of REALTORS® surveyed said they must manage as many as 20 documents to complete a real estate transaction. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed use an automated forms management program to help streamline the paperwork involved in a transaction. Twenty-three percent of respondents use a transaction management system, which tracks each step of the real estate process, and 69 percent of those who aren’t currently using a transaction management system are interested in adopting the technology. Using Technology to Better Keep in Touch “By integrating and adopting innovative systems and processes, REALTORS® continue to advance real estate technology, improving communication with home buyers and sellers and streamlining transactions,” says NAR President Pat V. Combs. “However, real estate is still a high-touch business. Building strong, personal relationships with home buyers and sellers and understanding their unique needs, is essential to helping them find the home of their dreams.” Indeed, survey respondents cite referrals and repeat business as the top sources for generating the greatest number of leads. One-third of respondents said that more than half of their business comes from referral clients, which makes staying in touch with current and past clients crucial to a practitioner's success. The most popular way to maintain relationships with current clients is through phone calls (48 percent) and e-mail (39 percent). Two-thirds of REALTORS® continue to communicate with their former clients at least once or more every quarter. The methods, however, have changed. Electronic newsletters have gained in popularity as a way to stay in touch with former clients; other favored methods are mailings and market updates. On the other hand, the telephone has fallen out of favor; in 2005, one of every three REALTORS® picked up the phone to reach out to former clients, but less than 1 percent of respondents in the current survey relied on phone calls to stay in touch with their past client base. The 2007 REALTOR® Technology Survey was based on data from field research conducted from February 28 to March 14 of this year. CRT e-mailed the survey to 21,869 NAR members, including REALTOR® brokers and agents, which generated 468 usable responses. — REALTOR® Magazine Online |
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