IBR Realty Blog

Are you a Lion in the jungle of today’s technology?

So here I am part of this amazing group of Genius Realtors thinking…..How did I get here?? A year ago I found myself doing what every other “normal” Realtor in the nation is doing.

• Direct mailings to my “sphere of influence”
• Monthly brochures that cost an arm and a leg.
• Cold calling (no….I never did that)
• Thousands of letters to expired listings
• Paying a lot of money for a static website with no presence FSBO door knocking
• Spending thousands of dollars on local newspaper ads
• Bus benches
• Magnetic calendars
• Victoria Secret gift cards (just seeing if you were paying attention) And all that for what?

Was I seeing results? Was I selling listings? Was I doing a service to my clients? The answer is a big fat NO! So what makes us Geniuses?? Is it that we are incredibly smart and good looking? (well…maybe that too). Or is it that we are taking advantage of the Web2.o tools that are in front of us?

Greg Swan, is trying out video interviews and did one with one of my favorite people, a non-Realtor that knows a lot about real estate - Jeff Turner from Real Estate Shows. Greg says the following in the interview: “In the jungle where you are right now…..it is about how you take advantage of the opportunities that you have, anticipating that the world could be radically different 12 months from now”.

We ARE in a jungle and some of us are taking advantage of those incredible tools, some are hiding behind the bushes waiting for the tools to either come to them or to go away. Do you realize that by reading this post you are already ahead of the game? Many people that went to the NAR Convention in Vegas describe the majority of the attendants as being lost and overwhelmed by the amount of options that are out there.

We blog, we research, we use Trulia, MySpace, Yahoo, Real Estate Shows, YouTube, Facebook, MyBlogLog, Active Rain, Google Video, LinkedIn, Craigslist, podcasts, Twitter, Utters, Jotts…….yada yada yada ……the list in endless. The reality is that some of these will come and go. We, on the other hand, Genius Real Estate Agents, are here to stay!

Post by Ines Hegedus-Garcia

Who's online and what are they doing?

Just look at what Youth, Gen X and Gen Y are doing online.
Then look at how many of them are doing it.

Business Week Chart

That's a 1/3 of their total population. 70,000,000+.

By all accounts, web based people tend to be smarter, more educated and earn more than non-web based people. This crowd will all be in the market for a home if they aren't already.

What would go through their mind when they click on "full-service" websites view listings with no pictures, no local video content, no user generated content, no neighborhood data (schools, community profiles, nearby establishments – links to Chambers of Commerce don’t count) and a design layout from a by-gone age.

Just might explain why, in their minds at least, the only difference between a “discount agent” and regular agent is the fee.

This chart is very telling. It’s played a big part in why Toyota went completely online in their efforts to market  their new Scion.

Another great blog from 1000Watt Blog.com! I used this because, to me, it shows the future of Real Estate. At least, who the buyers are going to be and what they expect. While they don't make up the majority of buyers today, they will, and we need to be ready for it.

We need to start preparing now for what will be upon us before we know it.

Kevin Sharkey

Just look at what Youth, Gen X and Gen Y are doing online.
Then look at how many of them are doing it.

Business Week Chart

That's a 1/3 of their total population. 70,000,000+.

By all accounts, web based people tend to be smarter, more educated and earn more than non-web based people. This crowd will all be in the market for a home if they aren't already.

What would go through their mind when they click on "full-service" websites view listings with no pictures, no local video content, no user generated content, no neighborhood data (schools, community profiles, nearby establishments – links to Chambers of Commerce don’t count) and a design layout from a by-gone age.

Just might explain why, in their minds at least, the only difference between a “discount agent” and regular agent is the fee.

This chart is very telling. It’s played a big part in why Toyota went completely online in their efforts to market  their new Scion.

Another great blog from 1000Watt Blog.com! I used this because, to me, it shows the future of Real Estate. At least, who the buyers are going to be and what they expect. While they don't make up the majority of buyers today, they will, and we need to be ready for it.

We need to start preparing now for what will be upon us before we know it.

Kevin Sharkey

Just look at what Youth, Gen X and Gen Y are doing online.
Then look at how many of them are doing it.

Business Week Chart

That's a 1/3 of their total population. 70,000,000+.

By all accounts, web based people tend to be smarter, more educated and earn more than non-web based people. This crowd will all be in the market for a home if they aren't already.

What would go through their mind when they click on "full-service" websites view listings with no pictures, no local video content, no user generated content, no neighborhood data (schools, community profiles, nearby establishments – links to Chambers of Commerce don’t count) and a design layout from a by-gone age.

Just might explain why, in their minds at least, the only difference between a “discount agent” and regular agent is the fee.

This chart is very telling. It’s played a big part in why Toyota went completely online in their efforts to market  their new Scion.

Another great blog from 1000Watt Blog.com! I used this because, to me, it shows the future of Real Estate. At least, who the buyers are going to be and what they expect. While they don't make up the majority of buyers today, they will, and we need to be ready for it.

We need to start preparing now for what will be upon us before we know it.

Kevin Sharkey