The new real estate widget allows MRED members to share real estate listing domains on Facebook, Twitter and other supported social media sites. The widget also enables the creation of embedded links to connect listings to real estate blogs, Facebook business pages, and real estate websites. According to MRED, since the first of the year the widget has generated 175,000 web hits from potential clients in 387 Illinois cities, all 50 states and 101 countries worldwide.

Realtors and real estate brokers that want to quickly expand their social medial reach might check with their local MLS provider to see whether a similar widget is available in their area. However, there’s no need to wait on your local MLS provider to tap the full power of social media. Properties Online has developed powerful social media widgets that allow real estate agents and brokers to expand into social media immediately. Easy to use, real estate agents can expect quick results when they add our Facebook app and Twitter widget to their real estate listing services on Properties Online.

• Our Facebook app makes it easy to post all your listings to your Facebook business page. Our Facebook app automatically creates links from Facebook postings to your website or listing domains and updates your Facebook tab whenever listings are updated. One-click publishing makes it easy to publish new listings to your wall.
• Our Twitter widget makes it easy for you to have a “conversation” with clients. Twitter is an excellent real estate tool for answering client questions and notifying them of new listings.

Data Sharing Widgets Expand Realtors’ Social Media Reach is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Building strong networks is the key to success in the real estate industry; and, today, Facebook is the key to building strong networks. The rise of social media combined with the shift of real estate marketing online has made Facebook the premier application for real estate network creation. Other social medial such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus offer similar network-building opportunities that should not be ignored; but virtue of volume and ease of use, Facebook deserves your focus.

According to the Facebook website, more than 160 million Americans use Facebook. More than 50% log on each day, and the average Facebook user has 130 friends. If you can entice even a fraction of the people in your area to visit your Facebook page and click the “like” button, you can quickly build your network of potential clients. The fastest way to do this is by using Facebook to build a network of real estate industry professionals and service providers, including fellow real estate agents, mortgage brokers, title companies, insurance agents, building inspectors, repair services, etc.

According to a Postling.com infographic posted on Mashable Business, 84% of real estate professionals use social media and 79% use Facebook. By building reciprocal links between your site and the sites of other industry providers, you earn consumer trust by association with providers already known to the consumer. Heavy Facebook use by the real estate industry provides you with a prelaid groundwork on which to build your network.

Use Facebook Referrals to Build Your Real Estate Network is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Video chat allows real estate agents and clients to see each other in real time while they are talking, creating a more intimate and personal communication experience. Video chat makes it possible for real estate agents to develop a personal relationship with home buyers that do not live in the area, as well as with local buyers who have extremely limited availability.

The stress of finding and purchasing a home can be particularly grueling for long-distance home buyers who, by virtue of their absence, are forced to be more dependent on their Realtor than local buyers for reliable information about local schools, community services, neighborhood ambience and other issues that are important to home buyers. The ability to actually see their Realtor while discussing their housing needs and potentially suitable real estate listings can provide the extra bit of comfort and reassurance that many long-distance home buyers need.

Beyond its use as a highly effective client communication tool, video chat also offers real estate firms a viable video conferencing alternative. Video chat provides the benefits of video conferencing without the need for a video conferencing system. There’s no complicated set up, specialized equipment, lag time or expense. Video chat allows real estate firms to connect agents or multiple offices in real time for weekly briefings, training sessions or idea exchanges. Video chat allows real estate companies to create an anytime anywhere virtual conference room via computer or smartphone, a considerable advantage in our highly mobile world.

Make sure you’re reaping the full benefits of new real estate technology; contact Properties Online today.

Video Chat Offers Realtors New Communication Tool is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Unfortunately, being able to decode a property listing on a real estate site doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get a clear picture of the house that’s for sale. Like comparing apples to oranges, one Realtor’s flowery ”luxurious master bath” may be another real estate agent’s succinctly stated “full bath.” Even real estate agents can find themselves confused when reading listings from another part of the country. Each regional of the U.S. seems to have its own unique way of describing different real estate features. Being unfamiliar with the local slang can radically skew your interpretation of a real estate listing. For example, a California bungalow could be a Midwest ranch or a New England Cape Cod. Each word conjures up a very different mental image depending on where you live in.

More than 900 nationwide multiple listing sites complicate the issue. Many determine their own listing standards. Discrepancies from one real estate website to another are often found in the way square footage is determined, how living space is defined, and how bedrooms and bathrooms are reported.

Such inconsistencies in the reporting, translation and display of real estate property data have led the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) to consider creating and adopting a standardized Data Dictionary for the real estate industry. Charged with promoting the development and implementation of data standards across the industry, the organization’s board has scheduled a discussion of the Data Dictionary proposal for its April meeting.

Real Estate Standards Organization board chairman Rebecca Jensen, CEO of UtahRealEstate.com, told The Seattle Times that preliminary discussions at the Real Estate Connect conference make publication of the first real estate Data Dictionary “very close.”

Real Estate ‘Dictionary’ Aimed at Standardizing Descriptions is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Real estate agents can forge connections with potential home buyers and sellers by adding QR codes to business cards, flyers, newspaper ads, direct mail, online property listings and lawn signs, using different QR codes to direct consumers to different sites or information. Different QR codes can be imbedded in different marketing vehicles to help track their effectiveness. QR codes are also proving effective in building social media relationships between real estate agents and potential clients. QR codes are still novel enough to generate excitement and curiosity. People can’t seem to resist scanning QR codes when they appear in Facebook posts and Twitter tweets. Their popularity and convenience are making real estate QR codes the preferred method of linking to detailed information and video tours of new property listings.

As smartphone become the new communication standard and consumer interaction becomes increasingly mobile, QR codes are expected to become the go-to method of imparting information to real estate consumers. PropertiesOnline.com can help you add this powerful mobile marketing tool to your real estate tool bag. Free real estate QR code generation is included with all Properties Online website products.

Use Real Estate QR Codes to Boost Website Traffic is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Easier to use and display and even more portable than laptop computers, it didn’t take iPads long to replace laptops at open houses and client meetings. Their larger screen size also gives tablets a considerable edge over smartphones when it comes to displaying property listings and running walk-through videos for home buyers.

iPads have become de rigueur at open houses. Real estate agents find tablets a convenient and eye-catching way to showcase other area properties. Touch technology still engenders a certain “oh, wow!” response that impresses home shoppers. Some real estate agents have found it profitable to join in sponsoring neighborhood open houses. Tablet tours at each property entice home shoppers to visit other area open houses. But numerous industry watchers believe that tablets and the rise of mobile communication have already rung the death knell for traditional open houses. Time-crunched home buyers would rather check out property video tours on their iPads than spend time traipsing from house to house.

The marrying of tablets and mobile technology allows real estate agents to interact with clients anytime, anywhere. Video conferencing is replacing office visits. Tweets are replacing emails. iPad and iPhone apps allow real estate agents to forward listing information and video tours to clients as soon as new listings are posted. House hunters can now peruse real estate listings from the comfort of their home or while they’re on the go. With an iPad, home buyers can check out new listings while they’re commuting to work or sitting in the parking lot waiting to pick up the soccer car pool. Tablet technology frees real estate agents and home buyers from time and place constraints, opening a new era in real estate.

If you have an iPad, you might want to check out this cool app called Open Home Pro

iPad Is Becoming a Must Have at Real Estate Open Houses is a post from: Properties Online Blog

The launch of Real Estate Network will allow the 43,000 real estate brokerage firms, 376 multiple listing services and numerous real estate franchises that currently participate in ListHub to expand their real estate marketing reach by choosing to send their property listings to one or more network members. Members of the new network retain the right to pick and choose the network members with whom they will share property listings and may refuse to share listings with select network members at their discretion.

In the Real Estate Network launch announcement on PR Newswire, Move CEO Steve Berkowitz called the new network “an industry-friendly initiative” that “maximizes and ensures broker control” over the promotion of real estate listings. While Real Estate Network rules are similar to the Internet Date Exchange (IDX) listing parameters imposed by multiple listing services, the game-changing difference is that Real Estate Network mandates a uniform nationwide listing standard.

Several aspects of the new network are generating talk in the real estate community. The possible demise of multiple listing services seems to be the greatest potential impact the new network might have on the real estate industry. Some industry watchers are also predicting that online realty lister Zillow will suffer from competition with a new, broad-scale listing network. The biggest winners may be smaller real estate firms that stand to benefit from free access to real estate tools developed by their bigger brethren.

New Real Estate Listing Network Challenges MLS is a post from: Properties Online Blog

In an analysis of actual Twitter usage posted to his blog, Zarrella found that broadcast tweets generated a higher re-tweet rate than conversation tweets. Zarrella equated higher re-tweet rates with superior ability to spread information and disseminate marketing messages. In his study, Zarrella discovered two interesting correlations that real estate agents should be considered Twitter Best Practices:

1. Tweets that contain links have a noticeably higher re-tweet rate. Zarrella found that Twitter feeds with a 60% to 80% link percentage resulted in the highest re-tweet rates.
2. Tweets that generate few replies also enjoy high re-tweet rates. Zarrella discovered that Twitter feeds with 0% to 10% reply rates enjoyed the highest re-tweet percentages.

Zarrella’s take-away: Broadcasting interesting and information-rich content is a more effective use of Twitter than conversation.

Twitter “conversations” appear to be a fad that is nearing the end of its 15 minutes of fame as Americans tire of the glut of trivial tweets that clog Twitter feeds. The ascendency of far more versatile smartphones as the nation’s go-to communication device has ensured the eventual demise of Twitter as a conversation medium. However, Twitter’s broadcast value still makes it an effective real estate tool. Sending out 2 to 3 information-rich tweets per day can help you build your brand and expand your client base.

For information on how Properties Online can help you optimize the use of social media to grow your real estate business, visit our website.

Twitter Best Practices for Real Estate Agents is a post from: Properties Online Blog

Need another reason to check out question and answer sites? If you create content for a real estate blog, question and answer sites can be a hotbed of potential topic ideas. One review of the top questions and answers can help your mind come up with great article ideas that could last you weeks or even months into your editorial calendar.

So what are the best question and answer sites for real estate professionals to take advantage of? Here are the top networks you should check out, follow, and participate in.

LinkedIn Answers

LinkedIn is the top social network for professionals, so if you aren’t already on LinkedIn, you should be! If you are on LinkedIn, then you can participate in the LinkedIn Answers section. Here, professionals come to get advice from others about topics ranging from administration to technology. For real estate professionals, there are categories for both Personal Real Estate and Commercial Real Estate

To answer questions, simply browse the open questions for each section, click on the bright yellow Answer button, and submit the best answer possible. You will also be able to include relevant website links with your answer. If you have a blog post or article on your website that further supports your answer, feel free to add the link to it in the Web Resources box.

The best part is the Experts section. Whenever someone visits these categories on LinkedIn Answers, anyone who has been voted to give the best answers will be listed as experts in that category.

This is definitely somewhere you will want your name to be!

Quora

The next stop for professional question and answer networks is Quora. You can create a profile simply by signing in with Facebook or Twitter. Then you can start following topics that fit your business, including the following real estate topics.

• Real Estate
• Commercial Rel Estate
• Real Estate Agents
• Real Estate Investing
• Online Real Estate
• Real Estate Loans
• Real Estate Technology
• Buying a Home

Quora allows you to add links to your answers. If you are including a link to an article on your own blog or website, be sure that you have sufficiently answered the question and offer the link only as support.

Also, be sure to completely fill out your profile, including a link to your website in the bio information. Also, after you’ve followed applicable topics, go to the topics section of your profile and add a biography for each topic. This can be your professional title or your website URL. It is important because it will show up next to your name when you answer a question. Just be sure that it is less than 35 characters long, as the rest will be truncated.

Yahoo Answers

While Yahoo Answers is probably the most popular question and answer site, it is also the one where you might encounter the least professional content. Nonetheless, they have a section on Renting & Real Estate.

You will need to create a Yahoo account, or sign in using your Yahoo account to begin. In order to include live links with your answers, you will need to accrue at least 250 points on the Yahoo Answers network. These points can be earned through answering questions, signing in to the network daily,and getting voted as the best answer to someone’s question.

Zillow Advice

In addition to searching for homes for sale in the US, Zillow offers their own question and answer site called Zillow Advice. Here, you can find questions on topics including Home Buying, Home Selling, Mortgages, and more.

Before you start to answer questions, you will need to register with their site if you do not have a profile there already. If you do, be sure to complete your profile, including a photo plus links to your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and other social profiles (which might require a paid account).

Do you participate on question and answer websites to build your professional brand? What other sites do you use, and what have been your experiences? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Build Your Professional Brand Through Question & Answer Sites is a post from: Properties Online Blog

I read a nice post today by Brad Blumberg from SmarterAgent.com and thought I’d throw my 2 cents in… As the debate about whether brokers should or should not syndicate their listings rages on, I thought it would be a good idea to weigh the Pros and Cons.

For the Consumer:

A few of the above mentioned “Pros” might sound like “Cons” if you are an agent or broker …

For the Brokers and Agents:

So what is the next step for Syndication Websites?

I wonder if sites like Zillow have considered charging a referral fee yet. Or, if they can claim they “found” the buyer, why not charge a referral fee or could they simply refer the buyer to a Zillow agent? Have the big brands or brokers considered this possibility?

Is Syndication Making the Agent & Broker Less Relevant? is a post from: Properties Online Blog