Real Estate and Property Blog

The days of dropping a sign in the yard, putting an ad in the paper and baking cookies for a Sunday Open House are gone. Today’s real estate consumer is using the internet to gather information and make preliminary decisions before they even go out to see homes. If your listing agent isn’t prepared for this shift in the industry, your home could go largely unnoticed.

Over the last several years the real estate industry has changed dramatically. Some agents feared it, some agents ignored it, but the best agents embraced it and learned to play by the new rules. The best Realtors discovered they now had to do more to market a home. They had to learn all the new avenues consumers would come into contact with homes for sale. Most of all, they had to be technologically savvy and have a proactive marketing campaign to get a home sold.

The first shift was from the individual agent to an entire team. This approach allows the agent to focus more on finding buyers for your home. The agent’s staff can focus on marketing the home, processing paperwork and doing the day-to-day operations. Ask yourself, why wouldn’t you want an entire team working to sell your home versus a single agent when it doesn’t cost you a penny more?

Secondly, agents needed to be more proactive. Custom full color brochures have become commonplace in most homes for sale. Agents became involved in more direct mail campaigns marketing homes to neighborhoods and potential buyers. Some Realtors have even developed buyer databases that they can reference as they list homes for sale. These databases automatically alert them to matching buyers making an instant connection between buyer and seller.

A huge shift in the industry has been the internet and it’s ramifications on how consumers are searching for homes. This led to more and more Realtor websites. It began with a few sites posting a picture of a home for sale. Then came virtual tours, allowing home buyers to preview a home from the comfort of their desk or couch. The latest cutting edge tool used by some of the best agents are home websites. An entire website devoted to a single home for sale. These sites provide more information for buyers than any other avenue, even seeing the home with an agent. These sites offer unlimited photos (both exterior and interior), virtual tours, property documents (like disclosures) available for online viewing, links to schools, area information, mortgage calculators, heck, you can even set up a showing appointment! What’s next, maybe you’ll be able to buy the home sight unseen!

Another shift has been in value added services. Consumers are doing more work on their own, they need justification for what they’re paying their agent. More and more Realtors are offering value added services such as home warranties, home appraisals, home staging experts to prepare a home for sale and even FREE moving trucks!

Even with all this technology, the heart of the transaction still needs to be good communication and superior customer service. Some agents have unfortunately lost touch with these qualities as they have become more wrapped up in the technology. If you’re considering selling your home, make sure your agent possesses these skills. Get plenty of references and find out how they will be communicating with you throughout the transaction.

Perhaps the last thing that is important when you’re looking for a Realtor these days is some form of Performance Guarantee. Some agents like to charge a processing fee, or marketing fee, for listing your home for sale. If you decide to cancel your listing or it doesn’t sell you’re out! A good agent will provide you with an “easy exit” or Performance Guarantee stating that you can cancel your listing at no cost.

These are just some of the things changing the real estate industry over the last few years. Take this advice to heart when it comes time to sell your next home. A lot of consumers may be unaware of these changes, and what they should be looking for in a Realtor. Don’t get burned find an agent that has adapted to these changes yet held on to the most important qualities like customer service and communication!

Designed to give consumers the control that’s missing from the traditional real estate transaction process, MyClosingSpace.com facilitates real estate transactions while giving those who are buying or refinancing a home access to the critical information that ensures an on-time closing. “We become the homeowner’s partner every step of the way, through title search, escrow, settlement, and closing,” says Samuel Ingram, President of MyClosingSpace.com (www.MyClosingSpace.com).

The scenario is all too familiar: soon-to-be homeowners secure financing, lock in a 30-day rate, and wait for their closing date. They have no control over the closing process, and can’t get a straight answer from their Realtor, their mortgage broker, or their title company. Feeling helpless, they watch as their scheduled closing date passes by and their locked-in interest rate expires, increasing by a half-point. “On a $500,000 mortgage, that half-point means they will pay an additional $60,000 over the life of their loan,” says Ingram. “A real estate ‘closing’ is not a date,” says Ingram. “It’s a process. When the homeowners aren’t in control of that process, they’re at the mercy of their Realtor, attorney, mortgage broker, and title company. And they can end up paying a hefty price.”

MyClosingSpace.com uses leading edge technology that generates an online real-time quote for title insurance and closing costs. “A homebuyer or homeowner simply has to enter the property’s zip code, the price of the house, and the mortgage amount, and they will receive an online quote instantly,” says Ingram. “That gives them the information they need to make their own decision.”

Further, MyClosingSpace.com has a team of experts that communicates with real estate professionals on the homeowner’s behalf. “Our clients don’t have to go from one company to another with a thick folder of papers in hand,” says Ingram. “Plus, they only have to make one phone call to get the answers they need from our exceptional customer service team.”

MyClosingSpace.com takes the mystery out of closing costs, which are often inflated by various parties in a real estate transaction. Consumers can use MyClosingSpace.com’s free online quote tool for any number of properties. “With MyClosingSpace, homeowners know upfront exactly how much their closing costs will be,” says Ingram. Because MyClosingSpace.com doesn’t engage in revenue sharing arrangements with lenders, attorneys, or Realtors, consumers save an average of 30 percent on closing costs.

Concludes Ingram, “With our real-time quote tools and online ordering, we can ensure that homeowners close on time, every time, and avoid penalties and interest rate increases that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.” That’s money homeowners can put to good use in furnishing their new home.

The scenario is all too familiar: soon-to-be homeowners secure financing, lock in a 30-day rate, and wait for their closing date. They have no control over the closing process, and can’t get a straight answer from their Realtor, their mortgage broker, or their title company. Feeling helpless, they watch as their scheduled closing date passes by and their locked-in interest rate expires, increasing by a half-point. “On a $500,000 mortgage, that half-point means they will pay an additional $60,000 over the life of their loan,” says Samuel Ingram, President of MyClosingSpace.com (www.MyClosingSpace.com), an innovative service that allows homeowners to gain control of the real estate closing process. “A real estate ‘closing’ is not a date,” says Ingram. “It’s a process. When the homeowners aren’t in control of that process, they’re at the mercy of their Realtor, attorney, mortgage broker, and title company. And they can end up paying a hefty price.”

MyClosingSpace.com was designed to give consumers the control that’s missing from the traditional real estate transaction process. The company facilitates real estate transactions while giving those who are buying or refinancing a home access to the critical information that ensures an on-time closing. “We become the homeowner’s partner every step of the way, through title search, escrow, settlement, and closing,” says Ingram.

The control begins with the company’s leading edge technology, which generates an online real-time quote for title insurance and closing costs. “A homebuyer or homeowner simply has to enter the property’s zip code, the price of the house, and the mortgage amount, and they will receive an online quote instantly,” says Ingram. “That gives them the information they need to make their own decision.”

Further, MyClosingSpace.com has a team of experts that communicates with real estate professionals on the homeowner’s behalf. “Our clients don’t have to go from one company to another with a thick folder of papers in hand,” says Ingram. “Plus, they only have to make one phone call to get the answers they need from our exceptional customer service team.”

MyClosingSpace.com takes the mystery out of closing costs, which are often inflated by various parties in a real estate transaction. Consumers can use MyClosingSpace.com’s free online quote tool for any number of properties. “With MyClosingSpace, homeowners know upfront exactly how much their closing costs will be,” says Ingram. Because MyClosingSpace.com doesn’t engage in revenue sharing arrangements with lenders, attorneys, or Realtors, consumers save an average of 30 percent on closing costs.

Concludes Ingram, “With our real-time quote tools and online ordering, we can ensure that homeowners close on time, every time, and avoid penalties and interest rate increases that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.” That’s money homeowners can put to good use in furnishing their new home.

What features do you want or need that will make you select using one real estate web portal over another? Being free does not answer the question because if the site is free, no money can be spent promoting the site to make it popular. So what else do you want? There are many real estate web sites to select from but I presume you have preferences based on the ease of useability or content that most conforms to your needs. Have a look at this site - http://www.findrealty.com.au and please let me know what it is lacking. First thing you will say is content but there is the slight problem, which comes first, the chook or the egg? How does one get content if nobody is advertising their properties? What does this site require that will make it a preferred portal, what do you the user or surfer want to see and what features should we add to improve our site?

Please provide feedback…….

Technorati Tags: Real Estate Web Sites

MyClosingSpace.com utilizes innovative, leading edge technology to generate online real-time quotes for title insurance and closing costs. “A homebuyer or homeowner simply has to enter the property’s zip code, the price of the house, and the mortgage amount, and they will receive an online quote instantly,” says Samuel Ingram, President of MyClosingSpace.com (www.MyClosingSpace.com). “That gives them the information they need to make their own decision and to begin to gain control over their real estate transaction.”

Indeed, MyClosingSpace.com was designed to give consumers the control that’s missing from the traditional real estate transaction process. The company facilitates real estate transactions while giving those who are buying or refinancing a home access to the critical information that ensures an on-time closing. “We become the homeowner’s partner every step of the way, through title search, escrow, settlement, and closing,” says Ingram.

All too often, soon-to-be homeowners secure financing, lock in a 30-day rate, and wait for their closing date. They have no control over the closing process, and can’t get a straight answer from their Realtor, their mortgage broker, or their title company. Feeling helpless, they watch as their scheduled closing date passes by and their locked-in interest rate expires, increasing by a half-point. “On a $500,000 mortgage, that half-point means they will pay an additional $60,000 over the life of their loan,” says Ingram. “A real estate ‘closing’ is not a date,” says Ingram. “It’s a process. When the homeowners aren’t in control of that process, they’re at the mercy of their Realtor, attorney, mortgage broker, and title company. And they can end up paying a hefty price.”

MyClosingSpace.com has a team of experts that communicates with real estate professionals on the homeowner’s behalf. “Our clients don’t have to go from one company to another with a thick folder of papers in hand,” says Ingram. “Plus, they only have to make one phone call to get the answers they need from our exceptional customer service team.”

MyClosingSpace.com takes the mystery out of closing costs, which are often inflated by various parties in a real estate transaction. Consumers can use MyClosingSpace.com’s free online quote tool for any number of properties. “With MyClosingSpace, homeowners know upfront exactly how much their closing costs will be,” says Ingram. Because MyClosingSpace.com doesn’t engage in revenue sharing arrangements with lenders, attorneys, or Realtors, consumers save an average of 30 percent on closing costs.

Concludes Ingram, “With our real-time quote tools and online ordering, we can ensure that homeowners close on time, every time, and avoid penalties and interest rate increases that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.” That’s money homeowners can put to good use in furnishing their new home.

In a typical real estate transaction, homeowners secure financing, lock in a 30-day rate, and wait for their closing date. All too often, they have no control over the closing process, and can’t get a straight answer from their Realtor, their mortgage broker, or their title company. Feeling helpless, they watch as their scheduled closing date passes by and their locked-in interest rate expires, increasing by a half-point. “On a $500,000 mortgage, that half-point means they will pay an additional $60,000 over the life of their loan,” says Samuel Ingram, President of MyClosingSpace.com (www.MyClosingSpace.com), an innovative service that allows homeowners to gain control of the real estate closing process. “A real estate ‘closing’ is not a date,” says Ingram. “It’s a process. When the homeowners aren’t in control of that process, they’re at the mercy of their Realtor, attorney, mortgage broker, and title company. And they can end up paying a hefty price.”

MyClosingSpace.com was designed to give consumers the control that’s missing from the traditional real estate transaction process. The company facilitates real estate transactions while giving those who are buying or refinancing a home access to the critical information that ensures an on-time closing. “We become the homeowner’s partner every step of the way, through title search, escrow, settlement, and closing,” says Ingram.

The control begins with the company’s leading edge technology, which generates an online real-time quote for title insurance and closing costs. “A homebuyer or homeowner simply has to enter the property’s zip code, the price of the house, and the mortgage amount, and they will receive an online quote instantly,” says Ingram. “That gives them the information they need to make their own decision.”

Further, MyClosingSpace.com has a team of experts that communicates with real estate professionals on the homeowner’s behalf. “Our clients don’t have to go from one company to another with a thick folder of papers in hand,” says Ingram. “Plus, they only have to make one phone call to get the answers they need from our exceptional customer service team.”

MyClosingSpace.com takes the mystery out of closing costs, which are often inflated by various parties in a real estate transaction. Consumers can use MyClosingSpace.com’s free online quote tool for any number of properties. “With MyClosingSpace, homeowners know upfront exactly how much their closing costs will be,” says Ingram. Because MyClosingSpace.com doesn’t engage in revenue sharing arrangements with lenders, attorneys, or Realtors, consumers save an average of 30 percent on closing costs.

Concludes Ingram, “With our real-time quote tools and online ordering, we can ensure that homeowners close on time, every time, and avoid penalties and interest rate increases that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.” That’s money homeowners can put to good use in furnishing their new home.

I need to design a website for a real estate agent - how do you plug in the MLS search capabilities onto a page, with search results either listed on the site or on a third-party site?

Most likly a 3rd party site (mls)

You can design a postdata code to submit a query into a mls search on a 3rd party site.

Smart buildings and technology-enhanced real estate

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Time is money and effective use of technology buys you time 5 MINUTES TO MAXIMIZING REAL ESTATE TECHNOLOGY: A DESK REFERENCE FOR TOP-SELLING AGENTS. This “must-have” real estate desk reference showcases the newest products and applications for real estate professionals, including smart phones, PDAs, digital cameras, scanners, printers, and more. You’ll find tips on blogs, pod casts and other marketing ideas to help you use current technology in their business.Create the “WOW” effect when building a personalized website or using PowerPoint to win more business. Brokers will also find a “bonus” chapter for utilizing and implementing technology within their offices to recruit and retain more agents Plus, the bonus CD-ROM included with the book provides a sample database, helpful website resources.

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