Zillow!And may become the de facto National MLS. Greg at the Bloodhound has an extraordinary analysis…. The speed with which the real estate blogosphere has analyzed this is phenomenal.2. Most real estate agents still have absolutely no clue about what Zillow is, or how it is going to change their business.3.
Browsing Category Technology
Beating a dead horse
One thing that struck me was this – in response to a request to provide a comprehensive market report for the public – investors, purchasers, etc. only one Realtor spoke out in favor of this report. The general consensus of the room was that they need to protect the data and hold it close, as the more information they release, the more marginalized they will become…. This mindset may withstand another few years, but ultimately will not survive. Combatting technology’s integration and influence is a sure-fire way to ensure marginalization.Jonathan Dalton has a great post about some agents’ feelings about technology.
More dogs in the kennel
When I think of Greg and his writings, I have to break out the good old Thesaurus to find new words to describe him – prolific, copious, astute, perspicacious – Building on his success, he is adding more writers to his stable and further cementing his place atop the “RE.net.”… As with most everything I read, I have a question regarding his stated goal:Our goal is to be daily must-reading for real estate professionals everywhere — Realtors, lenders, appraisers, investors, vendors and technologists.There is little doubt that anyone who wants to stay abreast of changes in national real estate trends will find tremendous value at the Bloodhound…. The early blogs may have fit that mold, but the the phenomenal growth in blogging activity and the growing general acceptance of blogs in mainstream consciousness shows that blogs have grown and will continue to appeal to more and more of the everyday reader/consumer. There are an awful lot of local real estate blogs out there – Teresa’s, Kristal’s, Fraser’s, Kevin’s – and while real estate is a national business with national trends, I would hazard a guess that many local consumers choose to read locally-focused blogs more than they would a national one.I’ll keep reading his/their blog every day, as I respect what they have to say and learn something each time (when I have time to read it all!)
Realtor.com pushes traffic to Google
That said, we firmly believe that the value rendered by REALTOR.com® Marketing Systems are monumentally greater than the price charged to REALTORS®.Just as REALTOR.com® carefully evaluates a number of factors before arriving at the aforementioned business decision to raise prices, so too do we encourage each individual REALTOR® to carefully evaluate the value you receive on behalf of you and your clients in relationship to the costs, before you make your individual business decision…. In order to carefully contemplate REALTOR.com® value, we are providing a minimum of two months to a maximum of twelve months advance notice of the price change (depending upon the REALTOR’S® product renewal date), because we believe this should be a carefully thought out evaluation…. Google is fast becoming a “no-brainer,” but one must “carefully consider” using Realtor.com.Details of the price increase: Beginning January 15, 2007, prices for the Showcase Listing Enhancements Marketing System, Standard Listing Enhancements, Featured Homes™ Marketing System and Featured CMA™ Marketing System will increase by 10% and the Featured Community™ and Featured Agent™ Marketing System will increase by 7%…. And again, on behalf of everyone here at REALTOR.com®, we thank you for the privilege of serving you and helping you better serve your clients.Sincerely,Mark MathisSenior Vice President,REALTOR.com®Realtor.com’s cushy arrangement with getting all (or most) of Realtors’ listing data is swiftly coming to an end.
Links for 13 November 2006
Condo Buyers Take Developers to Court Over Failed Promises – I wonder if we’ll see any of these in the Charlottesville area.What to do when a Builder Offers to find you a loan – Read the whole thing with an extremely critical eye.Helping bloggers license content.UVA’s new nanotechnology center – Wisldorf Hall – will help cement our area’s status as a leader in this area of development, and likely will encourage some people to move to our area (Hint, hint 🙂 ). Surprisingly, finding information on the burgeoning nanotech sector and Charlottesville is somewhat challenging, but there are a few results in Google Scholar.
We’ll all be Earthcraft soon
Friday, I met with some potential buyers who spoke to exactly what I foresee as being what is “next,” both from a want and a need perspective.A bit of research led me to this excellent interview with John Beldock, CEO of EcoBroker…. I don’t necessarily agree with the severity of all the comments, but there are some valid points regarding the speed with which homes have been built of late and the accompanying level of quality…. I said the other day in The HooK: “In the last several years, people had gotten away from the ‘buying smart’ mentality and were just buying,”Change that sentence around a bit – In the last several years, people had gotten away from the ‘builders smart’ mentality and were just building whatever they could, as fast as they could.Not surprisingly, none of the EarthCraft builders in Charlottesville market are “production” builders. Waldo has collected a few useful links.Can homes with these offerings be built in a dense environment?What will Homeowners’ Associations’ response be to solar panels?Solar power is becoming more affordableA look at alternative energy and moreHow to green your heatingA lot of the green “trends” are simple common sense.
Cracks widen in MLS dominance
I remember splitting wood when I was a kid – putting the wedge in the center of the log, tapping it in and then *wham*!… That’s what Google did this morning when they announced their new and improved real estate search and uploading part of Google Base. (via CRT)I’ve been wrong before, but this is another step towards the obsolescence of the MLS as we know it. Those Realtors whose dependence on the MLS to make them successful had best start honing those skills and tidying up those resumés.Here is there target market:Google are more innovative, more focused and more able to adapt.From a post I made a few months ago:What if – Google bought Zillow?