Let me start by saying that for the longest time, I was TOTALLY against “forced registration” (requiring visitors to provide their contact information before viewing the MLS). I not only did not force registration on our brokerage website, but I also wrote about why others should not do it either. In short, I was firmly planted in the “that’s a bad thing to do” camp.

Over time, I softened my position somewhat, when people would tell me that they were having success with it. I still would never do it, but I could not argue with their success.

First, Morgan Carey at RealEstateWebmasters.com told me that I needed to at least try it. Great. Nope. I still would not budge. In my heart, I thought that asking folks for their information

a) was unfriendly

b) it would drive traffic to competitor sites

c) would lower the quality of the lead

d) would result in more obscene emails from unhappy visitors

e) and any increase in # of registrations would be offset with an overall net loss in closings…well, you get the idea (grin).

As more and more people started reporting to me their successes (an example was Wayne Long, who was kind enough to share exactly what was happening on his site with me), I finally decided to TRY it. The folks that I visited with at the REW conference were helpful as well. Almost all of them had already made the transition.

How did it go?

Here are the results: Continue reading this post

We have had a lot of positive changes to our MLS system recently.

We use MRIS (Metropolitan Regional Information System). There have been quite a few additions to our drop down menus. You can now choose short sales and foreclosures in a home search. We have had quite an interest from home buyers that feel they are getting a great value with these type of sales.

MRIS has also added features such as a highlighted banner in the remarks section. Here we can boast the best features of the home, and it will catch the attention of other agents. We also have the capability to relist a home after it has been off the market for at least 90 days and the total days on market starts over at zero.

In the past we had to wait 6 months for a property to be relisted to start with zero days on market. This benefits the seller tremendously if they want to take a few months off and then relist their property. We have a fairly new feature of virtual earth map which gives you the option of a birds eye view or aerial view of the property. Continue reading this post

Most real estate agents today are inundated with emails from other agents advertising their new listings. Some days I’ll get 20-30 of these emails and another 10 or so directly to my spam folder. I wish they would all go to my spam folder because that is exactly what they are – spam.

Just for reference, let’s take a look and remember what the definition of spam is when referring to email solicitations. I’m sure they believe these to be a great use of the “new technology” known as email, but, really it’s nothing more than spam.

As agents, we already have all of these listings available for home buyers in the MLS and that does nothing to mention that buyers can find these great new listings and reduced properties simply by searching through the MLS on agent websites, broker websites, realtor.com, and all of the other 3rd party aggregator websites where buyers are searching for homes.

If I receive them, I immediately unsubscribe myself from this innovative use of spam, er, technology. The biggest reason for this is the fact that they are non-targeted to me and my market and the sheer volume makes it impractical for me to try to keep them in my mind.

Since I’m receiving so many of these emails on a daily basis, how can any agent possibly believe that I am interested in looking at this unsolicited regurgitated information from the MLS listings posted in these emails?

On listing appointments, I specifically tell my potential clients that we do not communicate with agents via spam, er, new listing emails because they are ineffective and a tool only used by agents who don’t actually understand how to effectively utilize technology to market listings to agents and directly to buyers.

Let me offer some solutions to effectively utilize some of the real new technologies to help market homes for sale rather than sending bulk messages to people who don’t need the information. Continue reading this post

I’ll tell you why our MLS is competitive in one word: VOLUME.

Yesterday I checked the community of Euclid Ohio. There were 683 homes on the market. Rocky River has 240 homes for sale. Lakewood has 376; Cleveland Heights has 666. You get the point. There are a lot of available homes in NE Ohio.

If you are selling your home you will be asking the same question your Realtor® is asking—what can I do to make my listing stand out, and not be the house in the back of the room waving it’s chimney saying ‘pick me, pick me!’

I decided to use myself as an example. I have quite a few buyers at the moment and spend time culling the listings to set up showings.

Here is what I automatically eliminate:

1. Homes with no photos

(In fact, even if they have the primary/exterior photo, unless it’s unique, I skip it unless there are more.)

2. Homes with no room sizes and amenities listed

So it has four bedrooms. What are the sizes? Do they have wood floors, ceiling fans, carpet? If you don’t list it, I say NEXT because there will be, say, 100 others that DO list it.

3. Descriptions

Many Realtors® and brokers give descriptions on REOs and short sale properties, no matter what the listing price. That is as it should be. And in this day and age, if you don’t do that, then I can say…NEXT.

I think you get the idea!

Since almost all of my clients and close to what, 90% of all prospective home buyers are Continue reading this post

I once impressed a CEO in another line of work, distribution, by making a statement regarding a Wal-Mart account – “I don’t want to meet their needs, I want to astound them.”

I know, it sounds like I was kissing up, but I really meant it, it’s how I was trained early on—nothing special, just ingrained into my mental model of doing business.

It’s difficult to practice this over and over with online leads that you could easily dismiss as “not serious” or “just lookers”.

But the trick is to train the mind to visualize each email address as an embodiment—living, breathing people who you are meeting in theory, and, if all turns out well, face to face.

You’ll want to astound those who can make you successful, but first you’ll need to believe.

Having gone from 5% to 20% to, last year, 80% of my revenue coming from the internet, I’m a true believer. When email addresses turn into satisfied, happy clients receiving keys at a closing table often enough, you become a true believer. Continue reading this post

A decade ago, technology had very little to do with a Realtor’s® business. Today, however, technology is essential to an agent or broker’s success.

How does one go about choosing the right technology tools?

Without over-paying for the latest trendy gadget, below is a list of 10 devices that all 21st century real estate professionals should use. Based on feedback from HomeGain agents, these devices will help increase your business’ effectiveness, efficiency and competitiveness.

Top 10 Technology Tools for REALTORS®

1. Website

Website is one of the most important marketing tools an agent can have. It’s not just a way to tell potential homebuyers and sellers who you are and what you offer, but it essential for lead generation. How so? If you set up a form on our site, most likely on your home page, the more motivated consumers will provide you with their contact information. And voila, you have a new lead. Set up auto-responder emails to thank a person for visiting your site, give your contact info, and tell them a realistic amount of time when they should expect a return call or email from you. Continue reading this post