The Real Estate Coach's Weblog http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com One Simple Answer Can Change the Home Buying Experience Thu, 08 May 2008 21:32:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU en Looking for The “HOT LIST” They moved into a cool new place!! http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/looking-for-the-hot-list-they-moved-into-a-cool-new-place/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/looking-for-the-hot-list-they-moved-into-a-cool-new-place/#comments Thu, 08 May 2008 21:32:03 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/?p=34

Check out The “HOT LIST’S” cool new place…They all have their very own Blog, one for each county. ALL THE LINKS ARE BELOW THE VIDEO…Check it out!!!!!

The Coach

http://stanislauscountyrealestate.wordpress.com/

 

http://sanjoaquincountyrealestate.wordpress.com/

 

http://mercedcountyrealestate.wordpress.com/

 

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/looking-for-the-hot-list-they-moved-into-a-cool-new-place/feed/ therealestatecoach In the world of Real Estate Blogs, this would be David vs Goliath http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/in-the-world-of-real-estate-blogs-this-would-be-david-vs-goliath/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/in-the-world-of-real-estate-blogs-this-would-be-david-vs-goliath/#comments Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:46:35 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/?p=24

Ok, so I am the first to admit, I am the neophyte, or “David” in this nebulous area know as the REnet Blogsphere. I have been at this for under a year and the “Goliath” as represented by Bloodhound Blog, has been at it far longer, has way more visitors/readers, and is a serious “Cash Cow” for it’s originators.

That being said, here goes…I apologize in advance for making you jump from post to post to follow along, but in an effort to keep this post from getting waaaaayyyy too long, I felt it flowed best…

It all began with this post….

http://sandiegohomeblog.com/2008/04/10/redfin-wants-you-to-feel-special/by Kris Berg, a well respected Realtor out of San Diego…

It prompted this response…

http://blog.redfin.com/sandiego/2008/04/barbie_takes_a_bite_again.html by Carol Hian, a contributing Blogger and reresentative of Redfin Real Estate. Note the retraction inserted after the fact by Redfin’s CEO, Glenn Kelman. He also commented on the blog post within minutes of it’s being posted, as you will see in the MANY comments at the end of the post.

It not only led to her dismissal…

But it ignited a firestorm of Blog responses, one from me!

Here are a couple of others….

http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/the-most-asinine-real-estate-blog-post-ever/913

http://realestatezebra.com/wanna-know-how-you-can-do-irrevocable-damage-to-your-brand-and-your-reputation, there were many more, but these are 2 examples from some pretty good Bloggers.

Ok, so Redfin, through Glenn Kelmen issues an apology, they write a retraction, and dismiss the Blogger, Ms. Hian. End of story, right??? wrong!

Along comes “Goliath”…

 (Blood Hound Blog, affectionately called BHB in the Blogsphere) with this post by Barry Cunningham…http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=3011…ok, this guy is an excellent writer, articulate, and quite witty, there I said it! Now bring your attention to the end of Barry’s post where he “affectionately” refers to Kris Berg (remember, she started all this) as a “Google Pandering Ho”!!???

Now after talking to some others in the space, who have been around a while, I have come to understand that BHB and Barry have become the “Goliath” they have through the “Hearstonian” tradition of “yellow journalism/bloggalism”.

It does however, raise some questions…1) Is it ok to gain popularity and ultimately financial success through a practice of “Bashing” or “Trashing” in the tradition of The National Enquirer for instance? 2) What does it say of us in the Real Estate space, or us as a people in general when we casually accept the term “HO” as a playful expression of friendliness? 3) What are we really doing in the Blogsphere, or better yet at BHB, when we stop providing information as a service to Realtors, Consumers, and Vendors and become the National Enquirer of Real Estate Blogs?

Do I know what I am opening myself up for here? Yup! Just thought it needed to be discussed.

The word “HO” just didn’t sit well with me. I have a daughter, and no matter how cute and friendly someone thought they were being, if they called her that I would be angry! period!

Hope this stimulates some good discussions amongst you all.

The Coach

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/in-the-world-of-real-estate-blogs-this-would-be-david-vs-goliath/feed/ therealestatecoach A word of advice to Real Estate Agents who Blog, the power of social networking can be a “double-edged sword” http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/a-word-of-advise-to-real-estate-agents-who-blog-the-power-of-social-networking-can-be-a-double-edged-sword/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/a-word-of-advise-to-real-estate-agents-who-blog-the-power-of-social-networking-can-be-a-double-edged-sword/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:36:47 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/?p=23

In what can only be described as an amazing commentary on the true power of Social Networking, one incredibly ignorant RedFin representative, Carol Hian, wrote a scathing Blog post on her RedFin Blog about a fellow “Twitterer” and Facebook friend, Kris Berg and her husband Steve. In which she not only referes to them as “Barbie & Ken”, but oversteps the bounds of Blogging and good taste, by utilizing her privilege to complete a personal agenda of bashing through jealousy.

Miss Hian certainly found out the power of social networking and the closeness of a Social Networking community in which the Berg’s and many others belong. Within hours, nary minutes, of the Blog post becoming known to the Twitter and Facebook families the Bergs belong to, the post had 25+ comments scolding Miss Hian for her miss-use of the medium. It was truly amazing to see, and warmed my heart that even a consumer, who had read the blog post because he was researching RedFin to possibly use their services, chimed in with this diddy…

Jon said:

I am not a real estate agent, as most commenters here appear to be. I’m just a soon to be homeowner interested in real estate in San Diego.

But I do find this post not only childish, but insulting.

“Everyone ends up with a bad taste, longing for a barf bag and mouthwash.”

You’re right. That describes me to a T after reading this drivel.

I am considering using Redfin as my agency, but I wouldn’t ever consider using Ms. Hian as my agent.

“Biting back” at Ms. Berg is one thing, but you bit back at everyone that contributed to that food drive. How is that appropriate?”

Every comment was of the same ilk, except one, from Glenn Kelman President & CEO of Redfin, he wrote…

Glenn Kelman said:

This post makes me physically ill. It is not consistent with how those of us at Redfin who have met Kris Berg feel about her or her charitable activity. Kris is a wonderful human being and a credit to our profession.

We have a clear policy that the contractors who contribute local posts about the real estate market should focus only on the real estate market, not on competitors. We are clear with everyone with whom we work that Redfin works as a partner with other real estate brokers, not as an antagonist.

Had we known that Ms. Hian felt this way about Realtors, we would not have commissioned her to write for Redfin at all.

As much as we would like to, we cannot take the post down because it would be sneaky to do so. But we will take steps to ensure something like this never happens again.

I apologize on behalf of Redfin for this post, both to Kris Berg and to the real estate profession.
Regards, Glenn”

Kudos to Glenn, not only for his quick response in defense of Kris & Steve, but also for his eloquently stated apology. I am now a Glenn Kelman fan!

Be careful with this medium Bloggers, we should all be proud of what we do, not embarrassed by it.

The Coach

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/a-word-of-advise-to-real-estate-agents-who-blog-the-power-of-social-networking-can-be-a-double-edged-sword/feed/ therealestatecoach Real Estate Tools Too Good to Let Slide! http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/real-estate-tools-too-good-to-let-slide/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/real-estate-tools-too-good-to-let-slide/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2008 20:22:15 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/?p=22

If your are a reader of my post on GeekEstateBlog, Zillow’s Real Estate Technology Blog, you may have seen a post titled “Link Love”, Peace, and Real Estate 2.0!!! I wrote on Monday April, 14th. It had some good stuff in it, but none more important than a web 2.0 Agent tool called “Postlets” found at http://postlets.com

I make my living bringing new, innovated, and mostly cheap (FREE) tools to the Agents in my company, Prudential California Realty, and I am more than happy to share them with my readers as well. This one you must use. Postlets, after you complete the sign-up and some simple data entry about your Listing, they will then not only distribute it for you to some “Heavy Hitters” in on line Listing site; namely Trulia, Zillow, Google Base, et al, but they will also supply you with an HTML code (Just like Vflyer) that you can use to post to Craig’s List!!!

Also, have you tried MLBroadcast yet?? If not, WHY??? Are you not understanding the significance of what it can do for your Listing’s visibility and the potential traffic to your website, not to mention some unreal SEO for you on Search Engines like Google and Yahoo? They design a video for you, from the Listing photos you already have, not to mention do “Professional” voice over narration to magnify the impact to the viewer. then they upload it to dozens of Video sites like, Yahoo Video, YouTube, Meta Cafe and many many more!!!! All this for $29, you can’t get a Virtual Tour anywhere for that! and with these you will get a code that you can place on the MLS in the box where you load a Virtual Tour. What the heck!!!!????

Come on guys, absolute neccessities in your business…Postlets and MLBroadcast…get them now!!!!

See ya next time, “The Coach“

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/real-estate-tools-too-good-to-let-slide/feed/ therealestatecoach Real Estate Agents, I have “Put my money where my mouth is!!” http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/real-estate-agents-i-have-put-my-money-where-my-mouth-is/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/real-estate-agents-i-have-put-my-money-where-my-mouth-is/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:45:50 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/?p=21

To all my friends, especially those who are Northern California Real Estate Agents, I have started a YouTube Group for all your Real Estate Videos/Virtual tours, please consider joining in!! :)
http://www.youtube.com/group/realestatevideos
The Coach

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/real-estate-agents-i-have-put-my-money-where-my-mouth-is/feed/ therealestatecoach The Real Estate Coach Goes “Viral” and so Should You!!! http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/the-real-estate-coach-goes-viral-and-so-should-you/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/the-real-estate-coach-goes-viral-and-so-should-you/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:26:17 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/?p=20

The Coach was recently featured on a local Cable news program, called The Central Valley Report. After which, without doing anything, the clip hit the Internet (as far as we can tell it surfaced on Blip TV), and from there it was linked and embedded into Real Estate websites throughout our company, our area, and predictably the WORLD!! This is what’s known as going “Viral” (like a virus runs through your body). It is a real Estate Agent’s dream to go viral. With one click you can get anywhere.

Now imagine this was a video clip of your Sellers Listing?!?!?!? Hello, one click and it’s everywhere! Isn’t that the whole dang point??

What about a Blog? What good does that do me? Hello, once again “Viral” people, “Viral”! Try to stay with me here…You engage in web 2.0 practices like MLBroadcast, where you can have your video/virtual tour not only produced with professional voice over, but “BROADCAST” (aka - VIRAL) to dozens of the major video sites and made into a podcast for iTunes. Oh yeah, it’s only $29 bucks BTW, show me where you can have a virtual tour done for that and I will “eat a bug”!

Get on YouTube, get an MLBroadcast, Get a website, get your BUTT in gear, and GET VIRAL!!!

 The Coach

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/the-real-estate-coach-goes-viral-and-so-should-you/feed/ therealestatecoach It’s Official! Yahoo & Trulia Unite (Web 2.0 meets Real Estate) http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/its-official-yahoo-trulia-unite-web-20-meets-real-estate/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/its-official-yahoo-trulia-unite-web-20-meets-real-estate/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:41:19 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/?p=11

For those of you who actually read The Coaches Blogs (thanks to both of you BTW), you remember my post on March 10th stating a new relationship with Trulia.com . Well it’s official now as witnessed by this Yahoo post

What this means is we, at Prudential, will have the “inside track” with an advertising campaign formally known as the Trulia “Triple Play”, which incorporated Featured Listings, Brand Identity, & Banner advertising (geographically). I love this play for you guys. It will be extremely effective. We are getting more hits from a basic agreement with Trulia right now, than the next 4 companies combined on our Corp. site.

Don’t let this tip from the Coach go into the trash. Budget for it now, so you will be ready when it rolls out in May 2008!

More on this to follow later this week…

The Coach  

Published Tuesday, March 18, 2008 9:43 AM by Eric Bryant

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/its-official-yahoo-trulia-unite-web-20-meets-real-estate/feed/ therealestatecoach People Want to Just Search for Real Estate! http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/people-want-to-just-search-for-real-estate/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/people-want-to-just-search-for-real-estate/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:38:48 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/people-want-to-just-search-for-real-estate/

Recently Zillow.com, the nations 8th largest Real Estate site, introduced a new feature called “Hot or Not” (I think someone there is a Fantasy Baseball freak, because Yahoo Fantasy Baseball has had a feature like that for a couple years!). Anyway, it’s a kind of a game/survey and is designed for people to log on and vote! for their favorite Listing, bedroom, backyard, bathroom etc…Is this really the direction a Real Estate Search site wants to go in?

This is eloquently described by one of my favorite Bloggers, Joel Burslem at Inman News in his post yesterday…

               “Zillow’s new Dueling Digs game isn’t that much fun.

But I suspect I’m not the target market for this sort of game. On line real estate is strictly a utilitarian activity for me (wow, the presbyterian Scot in me really comes out with that sentence).

I use the tools of Real Estate 2.0 to evaluate the market and to help me find a new home to live in. I don’t really go for the whole real estate porn thing — I get my kicks in other ways…”

Far be it from to “bite the hand that feeds me”.so to speak. After all I do write for the Zillow GeekEstateBlog and don’t want to appear anti-Zillow, but opinions are only valuable when they are heart felt. Even when they are contrary. I just think the time and dollars of such a powerful and potentially informative consumer based website, could be better spent on a technology that would have a direct benefit on the search experience, or perhaps help them create a on line appraisal tool that better reflects actual pricing in each market!

 Your comments are always welcome :)

“The Coach”

Published Friday, March 21, 2008 8:25 AM by Eric Bryant

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/people-want-to-just-search-for-real-estate/feed/ therealestatecoach “May I Take Your Home Order” Please? http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/may-i-take-your-home-order-please/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/may-i-take-your-home-order-please/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:37:15 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/may-i-take-your-home-order-please/
Boy o Boy if you haven’t figured it out yet, the days of a Real Estate Agents showing up and simply taking in multiple orders have long since past! Good thing or Bad Thing? If you are a person who sees the Real Estate glass “Half Empty”, you might say “BAD”. “My business is in the toilet, and I am not getting any new customers…Boo Hoo Boo Hoo”. Maybe you see the Real Estate glass “Half Full” in which case you may say “Boy this market shift has really forced me to be a better Realtor” ” I am looking at my business in a far more focused way” and “analyzing my Marketing Plan” as well as “Really bearing down on my Time Management”.

I am a Real Estate glass “Half Full” kinda guy! and I can honestly say that as it relates to the majority of my 300 Agents, it has been a real eye-opener! They are doing more with less, and it has begun to show in all of our on line statistics.

I would say to all Agents, stop for a second and really consider a paradigm shift. Start looking at spending more time and more Marketing dollars on line. Put the money where the clients are….THE INTERNET!

“Yes please Miss, I would like an “Qualified Buyer” Medium Rare & a side of “Sell-able Listings” please?

 The Coach

Published Tuesday, March 11, 2008 3:40 PM by Eric Bryant

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/may-i-take-your-home-order-please/feed/ therealestatecoach Goodbye Yahoo, Hello ??? _ Wait till you hear this? http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/goodbye-yahoo-hello-_-wait-till-you-hear-this/ http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/goodbye-yahoo-hello-_-wait-till-you-hear-this/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:35:22 +0000 therealestatecoach http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/goodbye-yahoo-hello-_-wait-till-you-hear-this/

By now most people know that Prudential Real Estate’s “Exclusive” agreement with Yahoo (Real Estate), which allowed Yahoo to use http://Prudentialproperties.com ’s 4million + listings, and gave Prudential an exclusive on leads) is now ending. No one thought for a moment that Pru was gonna sit still while Realogy teamed up with http://frontdoor.com so where would they turn?? next week at the National conference in New Orleans (which I can not attend - boo hoo) Pru is expected to announce a landmark agreement with powerhouse http://Trulia.com as the winner of those 4miliion + listings.

 It makes great business sense and creates an opportunity for 2 great companies to benefit from each others dedication to being the best on line Real Estate portals in the world!

It ain’t official, in fact the ink is probably not even dry on the contracts, but don’t doubt it, not for a moment.

For my 300 Agents, and our Brokerage/website http://prucalifornia.com this will be a terrific boost!

Thanks for listening in…The Coach

]]> http://therealestatecoach.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/goodbye-yahoo-hello-_-wait-till-you-hear-this/feed/ therealestatecoach