We Agree to Disagree – REBarCamp New York (#rebcny)

Posted on 20. Jan, 2010 by Wendy Forsythe.

Last week, a few hundred industry professionals gathered to spend a day of learning, networking and debating at REBarCamp New York. There were lots of great ideas and much to be said for the caliber of people in attendance. We are not known to be a shy breed in real estate, and certainly are not bashful [...]

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Ten Years of Change Can Mean Not Much Change at All

Posted on 31. Dec, 2009 by Sherry Chris.

In anticipation of another decade coming to an end, I began to ask people within the industry where they were 10 years ago, and what has changed for them and the industry. I remember   being corporate sponsor for my company’s Y2K initiative in 1999. The world was worried that all computers would crash when [...]

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Friday Blog Scan: Things We Liked from the Week That Was

Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by Sherry Chris.

This week began with the bombshell regarding NAR/RPR that was first reported last Friday by Brian Boero of 1000watt titled: RPR Madness: NAR unleashes national property database with Cyberhomes that paints us a very insightful, unbiased and logical picture of what’s happening and what this all might mean. Following that post, other members of the [...]

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The Rise and Fall of Sales Meetings

Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Wendy Forsythe.

Generally speaking, weekly sales meetings were the norm in the archetypal 1990’s real estate office. These meetings typically consisted of some sort of information sharing and often ended with a tour of newly listed properties. Soon these meetings stretched out to biweekly. In some cases they just became new listing tours. Then biweekly became monthly. [...]

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Organizing Thoughts and Ideas

Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by Wendy Forsythe.

Each day I’m bombarded with ideas, thoughts and perspectives. So many that I realized if I didn’t find a way to organize them, I’d forget them. By the time I scan the latest blogs and e-newsletters, talk with people, watch some TV, get through a chapter of the latest book on my list, skim Twitter/Facebook, and read a magazine I’ve gotten at least one or two thoughts or ideas worth remembering from the day.

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Friday Blog Scan: Things We Liked from the Week That Was

Posted on 29. May, 2009 by Jason Steele.

Marketing used to be simple. A flyer. A postcard distributed to your farm. A newspaper ad in what once was a robust real estate section filled with listings. Today, simplicity has not be replaced, just relocated to the Internet where social networking websites are providing small business great new opportunities to market their services and wares. Rhonda Abrams digs into the top 5 and how small business can make best use them in her post titled Strategies: Which social networking site is best for your small business?

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Top 5 Pet Peeves on MLS Listing Alert Emails

Posted on 15. May, 2009 by Jason Steele.

I bought a home back on December 10th of 2008. That is almost exactly 5 months to the day and I am still receiving those automated MLS listing alerts from the first agent I ever spoke to about buying a new home. Being in real estate now for almost a year I find them sort of fascinating because I am curious if I actually bought at the bottom of the market in my town. Turns out I didn’t, but that isn’t the point. The information (listings) contained in these emails can be very powerful motivators to get an active buyer or someone on the fence to engage an agent. The most important reason is that the information contained within is the most accurate and trusted source for new listings and listing status changes (price drops and under contract). With such a powerful vehicle for information, I wonder why it misses the mark on so many levels for the average home buyer.

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Friday Blog Scan: Things we liked from the week that was

Posted on 03. Apr, 2009 by Jason Steele.

RIS Media cracked the week open with a post that takes a positively hopeful, yet pragmatic view of our economic status and how certain indicators suggest the worst may be behind us. But is it really? As this article suggests, it may still be too early to tell.

Inman also offered a sign of increased market activity. It published a reader survey that found most readers have seen signs of improvement in the past 60 days. We’ll see.

Michael Wurzer, prolific blogger and CEO of FBS Data Systems, a MLS software provider in Fargo, North Dakota, reports on the flooding in the area last week in his entry titled Still Fighting. Our prayers, well wishes and thoughts go out to everyone affected.

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Friday Blog Scan: Things we liked from the week that was

Posted on 06. Feb, 2009 by Jason Steele.

Marianna gave us 34 reasons to love real estate. It’s worth a read if you need a little pick me up. Michael Wurzer calls for a marketing-driven approach to MLS data standards. As marketers who need to deal with MLS organizations in every market we enter, we could not agree more. It was interesting to [...]

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Friday Blog Scan: Stuff we liked from the week that was

Posted on 23. Jan, 2009 by Jason Steele.

Brandie Young over at Agent Genius asked interesting questions about generating positive word of mouth for your business suggesting a few quick idea gems for making that happen. For those of you looking for a deep dive into the MLS consolidation/data sharing issue, Mike Price’s interview with SOCAL MLS CEO Russ Bergeron is worth a [...]

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Are Real Estate Mobile Search Apps a Good Idea?

Posted on 04. Dec, 2008 by Jason Steele.

I have never been a fan of technology for the sake of technology.  Although tech ideas can be very high on the cool scale they tend to usually be very low on the ROI or usefulness scale.  I am sort of perplexed by all of the hype surrounding real estate search on your mobile phone.  [...]

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