BRER Real Estate Marketing Blog

As you may know, there are a number of foreclosure websites that charge a fee to provide information about foreclosure listings.  Now, there’s a new kid on the block and they’re providing quite a bit of information for free, along with the opportunity to display listings on your website.

The website can be found at ForeclosurePoint.com, and you can get information about their service for real estate professionals called BrokerOffice.   According to the website information, you can display the listings from ForeclosurePoint.com while preserving the look and feel of your site.  The illustration looks like the listings are framed, but that is not stated specifically.

Visitors to your website need to register to view the foreclosure listings, and the site also states that:

• [You can] Provide extensive, real-time details of property addresses, property specifications, estimated bids, satellite photos and more.
• Potential clients are directed to you to learn more about specific properties.

It sounds interesting - if the list of foreclosures is accurate, and if there is a reasonable way to get the listings displayed on your site, and if the contacts really are directed to you exclusively.

You need to complete a contact form to get a company representative to contact you to learn more about the specifics.

If you decide to contact ForeclosurePoint.com, please let us know more about the details!

A Message from Kathleen:  If you read Sam’s last post here about how he quadrupled his Internet leads, you’ll know about the changes he made to his website that had such amazing results.  Now, he’s back to let us know how that increase in leads has translated into business.  And, you’ll see some of my comments in italics.

I put a call to action on every page of my Austin real estate website in the top right corner.  It contains a link to an MLS map search, my contact information, a link to email me, and a link to my blog.

I did that at the very end of November, and immediately started getting more calls, emails and registrations on my site than ever before.  Since I started tracking on February 1, I have received 143 phone calls and emails, and have had over 800 registrations on my site.  OK, but what about conversion? 

We all know that most Internet leads don’t convert quickly.  But, at this point, I have one listing, four homes under contract and one closing as a result of internet leads since February 1.  I am also working with four buyers who should be under contract by the end of August, and I have two $1 million+ referrals out that should close this summer.  Not bad!

For over a year, my site’s ranking on the search engines has fluctuated from #3 to #8 and everywhere in between for the term Austin real estate, #3 or #4 for Austin real estate blog, between #3 and #5 for Austin homes, #1 or #2 for Lake Travis real estate, and up there for a whole bunch of long tail results.  My short tail makes up around 15% of results. 

So part of getting the leads is a result of getting my site ranked well in the search engines, but before I made the call to action change, I wasn’t getting even 10% of what I am getting now.

• This is a great example of the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  You’ll notice that while Sam has evidently done a lot of work to rank for his main keywords, his long tail results (ranking for terms that are related to your main keywords) are also impressive.  If the traffic from his short tail (main keywords) is only 15%, that means that 85% of his traffic comes from related keywords.  This is a situation unique to doing SEO on a site - using pay per click, for example, will produce traffic as long as you’re paying for specific keyword placement, but you’ll never get traffic from related keywords!
• Another factor to keep in mind is the fact that Sam provides a map-based MLS search provided by WolfNet.  While he had the Wolfnet search on his site long before his leads increased so dramatically, I believe that using a more sophisticated search may be contributing to his results. 
• Sam is requiring registration after the visitor views three listings.  The fact that 1) he has a map search tool, and 2) he can give his visitors some information before registration is required may have something to do with his visitors’ willingness to create an account.  When I asked him about that, he described how he gets his search to work so well:

Read the rest of this entry »

Note:  Updates to the CyberhomesPro situation will be updated on the original post. 

For any of you who thought I’d lost my mind, please be aware that the CyberhomesPro data that can be framed into your site has a bug in it.

Right now, the frame shows a listing search that displays other agents’ names and contact information.  According to Cyberhomes CEO Marty Frame, as posted on RealTalk, that bug is being corrected later this week.  I’ll let you know when that correction has been made.

NOTE:  As of 6-30-08, CyberHomesPro is showing a listings search in the framed solution.  CyberHomesPro has committed to eliminating this “bug”.  In addition, CyberHomes announced that it would remove the school information provided by GreatSchools.net, while they “reevaluate” participating in a framed solution that includes their content.  I hope CyberHomes can get these issues resolved quickly.  This was such a great idea!

You may be familiar with the CyberHomes website.  It is a public-facing website that provides searches for homes for sale, home valuations (like Zillow) and community and school information.  Using CyberHomesPro, you can frame the same information onto your website.

I haven’t seen reviews of CyberHomes information.  At least, there’s not the same level of buzz as there is about Zillow.  CyberHomes gets its information for providing home pricing based on “property tax records and recent comparable sales”.  I tried to look up reviews of CyberHomes, but I got bored trying to get past all the other products and services named cyberhome, so I gave up.  If there was a lot of buzz about the site, I would think it would be more visible on the search engines.

I’d like to know what you think.  To me, it looks like a nice package of information for real estate websites.  Getting community information and school information can be difficult.  If the information is anywhere near accurate, using the Cyberhomes search in a frame on your site could be a great addition for you and your visitors.

The only thing I would like to see done differently is the width of the site.  If you plan to have the site framed into individual websites, it would be better if the width were more fluid.  As you’ll see in the example in the link below, it was necessary to remove all other information to get the majority of the site to appear without scrolling.

To check it out, visit this example of a framed CyberHomes search.  And, if you want to get some searches of your own, visit www.CyberHomesPro.com.  You can use as many searches as you’d like, so it would be possible to have a different one for each of your key neighborhoods, for example.

I’d be interested to know if you like it, hate it, if you think it’s accurate, not accurate, etc.  Don’t be shy!

PS - Don’t forget to take a few seconds to complete the Internet Marketing poll in the left column!!

My English teacher in school was always a bit disappointed in me.  I did OK in her class with the exception of penmanship.  Yes, when I was a child, people still cared about making sure you could write stuff - with a pen.  Thus, I suppose, the name “penmanship”.

She’d probably be disappointed yet today.  I never did figure out how to write legibly.  Guess I should have been a doctor.  And, that might explain why I got attached to computers early in my career.   Such a relief to be able to communicate without spending most of my time explaining to people what that squiggle at the end of the line was.

But, now in the computer age, some of the personality has been taken away from our communication.  Sure, you can sign your emails using a script font, but it just never looks right somehow.

Take heart, though, there’s a new way to spiff up your electronic signature.  You can find it at www.MyLiveSignature.com.  Using the Signature Wizard, you can create a signature that has a bit of personality to it.  They have 120 fonts (better than the ones in Word), an array of slants and different colors to choose from. 

You can also get the signature animated for a fee.  But, be careful.  It is a novelty to see the signature being “written”, but the samples show the animation on an endless loop.  It might start to drive folks cross-eyed watching it over and over.

You can get HTML code (for websites/blogs/email signatures) or BB code (for many forums) generated at no charge.  So, get creative and put some personality in your goodbyes!

Up until now, social networking sites haven’t proven to be great places for real estate agents to promote their services.  In addition, I haven’t spoken to anyone who thinks social networking sites have been good places to expand their networks in any meaningful way.  If you’ve had a different experience, please speak up!

According to the 2007 NAR Profile on Buyers and Sellers, 68% of the buyers who participated in the survey have never used a social networking web site.  But, I’m wondering if that situation is going to change.

Soon, Any Site Will Be Able to Turn Itself Into a Social Networking Website

Hot on the heels of the announcements by MySpace and Facebook, Google has announced the “preview release” of a product called Google Friend Connect.  By the time you read this, you should be able to get more information at http://www.google.com/friendconnect.  That site is supposed to be live after Google’s Campfire meeting the evening of May 12.

Preliminary Friend Connect Functionality 

So, what is Friend Connect?  Certainly, there will be much more information as time goes on.  But, here’s a user-friendly description as I currently understand it.

Background:

• Right now, there are many social networks out there.  Each network maintains its own data.  If you’re on Facebook, you still need to create a new account if you want to be on MySpace.
• The long-term goal is to create an Internet world where you only have to join one social network site - from that point on, your network will “follow you” to any other sites with a social networking component.  For example,
  • If you have signed up at Facebook, when you go to MySpace you can login with your Facebook ID.
• It’s not clear to me exactly how the interface will work.  Will all your friends on Facebook end up on MySpace if youjoin both networks?  Or, will you be able to interact with only your friends who have also joined MySpace?  Google has said that some type of permission will have to be given, but we’ll need more insight on how that will actually work.

Now, Enter Capabilities like Friend Connect:

• According to Google, Friend Connect is “a service that helps website owners grow traffic by enabling any site on the web to easily provide social features for its visitors.”
• Any website will be able to add social networking features that will reside on their site in an I-Frame.
• That should mean that if I added Friend Connect to this Blog, for example, I’d create a new Social Networking page and frame-in the code to provide the Friend Connect capability.
• At that point, visitors to the blog will be able to interact with existing friends and add new friends to their network from among the people who have signed in to the social networking capability on this blog.

Google describes the benefit this way: 

Without requiring coding experience, Google Friend Connect gives site owners a way to attract and engage more people by giving visitors a way to connect with friends on their websites.

• Drive traffic: people who discover interesting sites can bring their friends with them, and can opt-in to publish their activities on those sites back into their social network, attracting even more visitors.
• Increase engagement:access to friends and OpenSocial applications provides more interesting content and richer social experiences.
• Less work: any site can have social components without hiring a programming team or becoming a social network.

The techies are having discussions about whether there is enough compatibility among the different information structures used by various networking sites, and whether the major players should be working together or working independently as they seem to be doing now, banking on open architecture to get all the various data bases to talk to each other to exchange information.

From what I can tell, it sounds like we’re still a ways away from total integration.  But, I think the concept of providing social networking capability on any website is something worth watching very carefully. 

Maybe I’m just getting old, but part of me does wonder if all this accessibility might get to be too much.  If everyone you’re connected to on LinkedIn, for example, finds a great new website and either connects you to it, or sends you an invitation to connect to it…  Will we have any time to do anything besides sit at our computers in a fog??

Any other reactions??

Google Does It Again

Some days it seems like keeping up with all the Google toys could turn into a full-time job!  The latest thing I’ve come across is a free online chat facility that is driven by Google Talk.

Google Talk is Google’s version of Instant Messaging.  I’ve never used it because I started using Yahoo’s IM and just never worried about other messaging systems.  Google Talk gives you access to instant messaging, PC to PC voice calls, file transfers and GMail Notifications.  And they’ve fairly recently added Chatback.

The Chatback icon is what you’re seeing over to the right.  You’re shown as Available any time you are logged into Google Talk.

I tried it out just talking to myself.  Yes, it seems that not only do I talk to myself using voice, but now I can even talk to myself online.  That’s the only way I tested it and it seemed to work fine.  If someone has a minute, try clicking on the chat - I’d like to see how it works when I’m not talking to myself.

Trying It Out

If you want to try it out, here’s what you need to do:

• Download Google Talk

• Get the Chatback code by clicking on the link under “Chatback” on the page where you downloaded Google Talk

• Put the HTML code on your website

• Login to Google Talk

When a visitor on your website clicks to chat with you, you’ll get a pop up window on your monitor that has an amazingly long link on it.  When you click on that link, a browser window will open with a link you must click to initiate the chat from your side.  A chat window will open on your monitor and you’re ready to sell a house!

The mortgage and finance issues facing your clients are getting more complex all the time.  Given the mess so many mortgages are in now, the lenders are naturally changing the rules and tightening requirements.

One way to keep your visitors coming back is to provide them with good information and easy to use tools related to the mortgage industry.  You can find several things for your website or blog at MortgageLoan.com.

I’ve used average rate widgets from BankRate, but I wasn’t familiar with MortgageLoan.com until recently.  They have quite a few mortgage widgets that might be of interest to your prospects and clients, including:

• A 20 in one calculator that can help answer questions such as, “Should I pay points to lower my interest rate?” and “What if I pay more each month?”
• National rate averages
• State rate averages
• A finance glossary
• News stories

The widgets are easy to use.  All you need to do is copy the code from a pop-up box and add it to your real estate web site or blog.  The widgets can be customized to blend into your site with the color controls that can be set before the code is generated.  You can also utilize an RSS Feed of current stories and articles that is updated regularly.

Overall, I was impressed with the number of tools that are available.  And, I like the look of the site.  I saw a Google ad on one page, but overall, the site is very clean.  When contrasted to the Bankrate site, it’s a nice change.

If you haven’t seen the list of a year’s worth of blog ideas from the RSS Pieces site, now is the time to take a look.

The list is outstanding.  Not just filler, but some really creative ideas. 

Maybe it’s just me, but all the links on the RSS Pieces blog go directly to the comments, not the content.  If that’s happening to you, too, persevere.  It’s worth it.

Have a great weekend.

Here’s a tip about a quick way to get additions for your website, blog, or the handouts you leave with prospects or clients.

NAR has provided a set of 62 different handouts on a variety of topics for home buyers and home sellers.

The buyer handsouts cover topics on getting ready for homeownership, home financing, finding the right home and preparing for the close.  The seller handouts include handouts on what to do before you sell, getting ready for showings and preparing for closing. 

There are even several handouts that are geared toward helping you work with FSBOs to turn them into clients.  One of those is titled “Forms You’ll Need to Sell Your Home” and another “17 Service Providers You’ll Need When You Sell”.   If that doesn’t scare a FSBO, they’re just not paying attention.

These reports are especially handy because the write ups are downloadable in Word files.  You can then easily add your logo and contact information and print them out.  Naturally, if you’re going to use them as is on a website, you’d want to put a “no index” on the page they’re on to prevent the search engines from seeing them as duplicate content.

A better way to use them on a website would be to make an offer of buyers’ and sellers’ guides.  Your visitors would then sign up to receive the guide as a Word or PDF document.