WebHomeUSABlog

Real Estate 2.0: High Tech, High Touch, or High-Tech Touch?

The Internet has changed everything.  The Internet has changed nothing. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  The only constant is change.

A recent discussion at Inman's Real Estate Connect in NYC asked: Real Estate 2.0, High Tech or High Touch?  Asked as if there was a difference, and as if they couldn't co-exist.

People buy from people they: 1) Know, 2) Like and 3) Trust.

The question then is: How best to get people to know, like and trust us?

They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

The 3 Rules of Business:

1. All things being equal, people would rather buy from their friends.
2. All things not being equal, people would still rather buy from their friends.
3. Make friends.

In this scenario Location, Location, Location becomes Relationship, Relationship, Relationship.

"It's Not About The House."

If you can become a friend/trusted adviser in Real Estate or any other area of sales; you're more than half way to the sale.

Computers and the Internet are powerful tools.  But they are still only tools.

Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 have changed our lives in many ways.  We can email, fax and Instant Message.  But what separates our messages from Broker/Agent spam?

When I first learned email, I was told all the sterile and impersonal simplifications I could use to be more efficient.  I never used them.  I stayed personal and professional and true to my message.

When I started my blog, it was suggested I use a flippant, comic, non-serious name and was reminded of the success of Google, Yahoo and Zillow: who all now have to play against type.

Can you: know, like and trust a Website?

When I'm on Google, I feel they thought a lot about me. I like that.

When I use Amazon, I feel they thought a lot about me. I like that.

When I'm on Zillow, I feel they thought a lot about me. I like that.

High Tech is here to stay.  High Touch never left.  The media has evolved, but our messages of relationship, caring and trusted adviser are must still the same.

The things we do to get people to know us, like us and trust us have just added the new dimension of "Virtual Touch".

Zillow, Google and the other Search Engines can commoditize most of what we have, and much of what we do; but they can only commoditize us if we let them.

Are you a dinosaur?

Adapt Or Die!

GOT NEXT!  Happy Searching.

WebHomeUSAblog; The Blog of Real Estate Search Marketing

A Letter From Real Estate 3.0: AmaZoogleBayMart

Back in the late 2000's, (In those heady days before the formation of AmaZoogleBayMart; by the mergers of Amazon, Zillow, Google, ebay and WalMart) after our data was turned into a commodity; and our leadership was fighting loosing battles with the DOJ, the FTC, the VOWS and Google, Zillow and the other Search Engines; who cold have thought that the whole Real Estate transaction would be converted into a commodity?

By 2015 (From "The Google Playbook 2015"):

• Zillow's software engineers finally figured out an algorithm for the Agent's Special Sauce. "Yesterday Travel! Today Real Estate! Tomorrow McDonald's and Coke!", Richard Barton was quoted as saying about other secret recipes and special sauces.
• Google and YouTube offered Internet Video Tours of every home for sale.
• Pictometry provided Zillow with detailed birds-eye pictures of every house in the USA.
• Amazon provided their patented "One-Click-Checkout" to the home sale process.
• LendingTree, Experian and a leading bio-identity provider made placing a qualified home offer/purchase as easy as touching your computer screen.
• After Congress allowed banks in Real Estate, Wells Fargo bought the rights to ERoboRealtor.com.  Wells Fargo now provides all Internet home sale services to home buyers and sellers for free, if you use Wells Fargo as your mortgage lender.
• Since Agents were still independent contractors, none qualified for unemployment.
• President Hillary Clinton, "The One who gave us health care", and Vice President Obama declared all Real Estate Brokers Offices disaster areas. FEMA arrived just in time to assist with boarding up the offices.
• Former executives at Cendant and HomeStore got out of jail, started Real Estate blogs, and took over leadership positions at the NAR, Move.com and Realtor.com with slogans like "We can still hide our data!", "Who needs the Internet?" and "We're Still Relevant! Aren't We?".
• AmaZoogleBayMart (Theme song to "Chattanooga Choo-Choo") will allow you to sell your home by Internet auction, from the comfort of your media room, over your iPhone, just like you used to do in the old days on ebay. (AmaZoogleBayMart won't you bring me home.")
• All remaining agents (identifiedonly by their license numbers) did benefit from not sharing their commissions with big brokers, having their own robust Websites paid for by keyword relevant ads, and getting free listings by joining the MLZ (Multiple Listing Zillow) and the MLG (Multiple Listing Google) which pushed the listings out to all the other search engines, all over the Internet.
• The new Congress will start antitrust legislation against AmaZoogleBayMart, right after they close on their new homes in Washington, DC.

GOT NEXT!  Happy Searching.

WebHomeUSAblog; The Blog of Real Estate Search Marketing

"Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Realtors". The Songs Of Real Estate 2.0.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

At the recruiting presentation for a past brokerage, my future manager said, "I'm an SOB,... Son Of a Broker."  That didn't say much for his Mama; and unfortunately, it did say much for him either.

Real Estate, Realtors and the NAR have taken a lot of hits in the past few years as we evolved from Real Estate 1.0 to Real Estate 2.0.  We've had attacks on our profession, our technology, our data and our policies.  And it seems we've made enemies of the Banks, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission; and lost the friendship of our Big Government buddies.

The NAR had an opportunity to take a big jump into Web/Real Estate 2.0, but "We" decided to bag the agreement with Google to provide our Real Estate Search and continue our affiliation with  Move Inc (aka The HomeStore) and Realtor.com.  So we still hide our data on our MLS's, on Realtor.com and on the Invisible Web (It's still so Real Estate 1.0).

The joke for Real Estate 1.0 was "Don't give away the milk, or he won't buy the cow."  The joke for Real Estate 2.0 is "Give away the milk; and sell ads: on the cow, on the milk carton and on the 'Got Milk' Website".

Inman had a provocative post/question on its blog last week in preparation for Real Estate Connect NYC 2007: "Is the Realtor becoming irrelevant in the Internet age?"

So, Realtors aren't still debating whether or not we're a profession, but whether we're relevant, or whether we'll even exist.

It's helpful to look at history, even the short history of the sale of goods and services on the Internet, to see where we Realtors may be headed.

True, the home sale is a sale, but it is the sale of a person's most valuable financial asset, a sale tied up with many emotional and personal issues and a sale different and even unique in many other ways.

Home sales have some similarity to commodity sales like autos, and even sales of CD's, DVD's and collectibles.  But there are also great differences in price, emotion and time of sale.

The more a Real Estate sale is like the sale of a commodity (an auto, a CD, a DVD or a collectible), the more irrelevant Realtors are, the less value Realtors can add, and the less we Realtors are needed. 

If Real Estate ever becomes a commodity, we'll have more to fear from Amazon.com, Ebay.com, Walmart.com and the other Retailers; than from Google, Zillow and the other Search Engines.

The more we Realtors can offer value-added services, like other licensed professionals offer for tax, legal and medical services, the less our Mamas have to fear; and the more they can boast "My son the Realtor".

GOT NEXT!  Happy Searching.

WebHomeUSAblog; The Blog of Real Estate Search Marketing