Inspired in part by this post at the Center for Realtor Technology comes this week’s (probably month’s) poll – How Important is Internet Access in your next home? 99% of my clients deem internet access to be an absolute, non-negotiable necessity, on par with needing three bedrooms and two baths, or needing to be within 20 minutes of the UVA Hospital because that is what the residency requirements state (Match Day is approaching!) In the area surrounding Charlottesville and beyond the Urban Ring of Albemarle, one cannot safely assume that high speed internet access is ubiquitous – this is often very surprising to those relocating to the area.One would think that the MLS would offer this as a field by which we could limit our searches, but alas, not yet…. Calling the local phone company to see about DSL is another step, but often they aren’t 100% certain as to where their service extends.
Browsing Category Technology
The MLS Coffin – one stake at a time
And this is a big one.When I was at the Virginia Association of Realtors Legislative conference a few weeks ago, I sat in on a presentation that touched on the NAR MLS working group on which I had the privilege to serve. At the table I was sitting, several of my classmates from the Leadership Academy were a bit confused – it’s hard for two people to compress months of meetings into twenty minutes – and this is the example I gave them:What if Keller Williams, Century 21 and Re/Max decided to upload their listings to Google or Zillow or Trulia rather than to their local MLS, or even better, kept them locally, but stopped sending them to Realtor.com?It is starting. This type of innovation makes me seriously consider even more a move to KW.For those of us at Trulia, we are excited to announce our strategic business agreement with Keller Williams Realty. This is the first of its kind for Keller Williams; part of their company wide initiative to provide more cost-effective, innovative online advertising opportunities to their 77,000+ brokers and agents.
Where do you search for homes in Charlottesville?
Excellent post today from Kris Berg about the varied places one can search for homes. Frequently even my savvy home buyers are surprised that not all homes are listed in the MLS.Locally, I am directing my buyer clients to search not only search the local MLS – http://www.c-villebyowner.com/http://www.assist2sellcville.comGoogleCraigslistDaily ProgressThere are more sites, but these are the most popular.My value is in the representation I offer to my clients, not in searching websites.Two posts that I wrote stating the need for an over-reaching aggregator for the various search sites:An aggregator for the aggregator?What if the MLS went away?
Sustainable building workshop in Albemarle
Kudos to the County of Albemarle:The Virginia Sustainable Building Network will be holding a training session for Earthcraft House™ in Charlottesville for the first time on January 18, 2007…. The EarthCraft House™ green building program works with home builders to construct resource and energy-efficient homes that lessen the impact on the environment. Earth Craft homes were first built in Virginia about one year ago when the program did a test run in Charlottesville.The EarthCraft program standards were developed through a unique partnership between Southface Energy Institute and the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, government and environmental leaders…. My prediction is that the housing market will see a return to buyers staying in houses longer and thus will be able to recoup the costs from living greener, more earth-friendly lifestyles.
2007 Goals
From both failures, I learned something, and there is the value in failing.- Work to systematize my business.- Dramatically change something about how I work…. Maybe change companies.- Grow my business by 15%.- Fix my Archives page.- Start working in the $500k+ price range.- Write every day…. Establish new business relationships/friendships and maintain existing ones.- Bring passion, dedication and desire to the table each and every day.- Say “No” more often. Between the local, state and national committees and Boards on which I serve, time to actually sell real estate is often scarce.
Zillow cannot adapt
(at least an acre or so, at least 3,000 or so square feet, no more than ~30 minutes to Charlottesville/UVA) After looking at one development and listening to my client on the way, we decided that the first development would work…. So – with my guidance, we eliminated the other two developments/houses from the equation and I took him to another development that was not on the list, but “fit” much better.Zillow cannot know that the quality of construction of this builder is better than that builder. It cannot know that while this builder is better than most, he also has a tendency to deliver the product late (~two months) and that I as the Buyer’s Representative would have to guide my clients through this process. Zillow cannot know from reading this article in the Daily Progress that Glenmore is a high-end development, and as such, its residents carry more “oomph” when they get organized against a proposed development.Until Zillow can make the connections between similar developments, until Zillow can adapt while in the field, they will remain an accessory to, rather than a replacement for, a successful Realtor.
The best cell coverage
I have also heard good things about nTelos.Someone at Slashdot said to ask me. Cell coverage is like real estate – it’s local.Ask your local real estate agent. Someone commented asking a trucker for coverage, but usually highways are very well covered, even by the worst providers because it is easier to towers very near highways. Your local real estate agent will have traveled all over your area, and probably would even be able to tell you which service doesn’t work in what particular neighborhood.