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Category: Real Estate (page 264 of 266)

July 20, 2006

How much does The Long Tail weigh? Here’s a better question: In The Long Tail, how long does it take to Google from last to first?

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Joseph Ferrara at sellsius&176; blog asks once and then again and then a third time here: How much does The Long Tailweigh?

Chris Anderson, the author of the book, has some answers, but they vary from industry to industry. But from my own point of view in real estate, The Long Tail is a very promising source of choice opportunities. If you can conceive of an under-served niche market where the product is avidly sought, even if only by a small minority of the buyer population, you have a business. This much is not news. We’ve had luxury home and vacation home and historic home specialists forever. The difference is Google, which is surely The Lord Of The Long Tail.

Consider this as an example:

I wrote my web page on No Dual Agency on June 28, 2006. I linked to it internally within our own site, but the page had no in-bound links, nor did I pursue any. On July 7, I ran this search, jut to make sure I hadn’t overlooked anything. My page had Googled up from nowhere to first place in nine days on the strength of content alone, with zero in-bound links.

But wait. There’s more. I first mentioned our No Dual Agency policy in BloodhoundBlog on June 29, but the first time I weblogged it as its own topic was on July 14 — Bastille Day.

On July 17, Jim Duncan of Real Central VA wrote a post called Dual Agency — Who benefits?, linking back to me. I saw the trackback and commented on his weblog.

Guess what happened?

Take another look at that Google search. Jim’s post is in second place. In three days — two days, really; I saw it yesterday.

This is truly a Long Tail keyword. In quotes, “no dual agency” yields 290 hits total. And it is probably vain to expect home buyers or sellers to sit down at the computer and type “no dual agency” into the Google box. But the basic point stands: First and second place are held — for now — by two web sites that weren’t even in the game on June Read more

July 20, 2006

How do you grow from 8,000 people to a million in 25 years? Do it the Buckeye way…

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

If you don’t live in Arizona, or even if you do, it may help to put a little background on the Town of Buckeye, until lately a proud if tiny outpost in the midst of the wide Sonoran Desert west of Phoenix. Buckeye was the point in the car trip when thoughtful and experienced fathers would shout out, “Heads up, kids. This is your last chance to use the potty before we get to California.” This was not literally true, but Buckeye was at the frontier of a land where public facilities of any kind could be hours apart.

That’s all changing, of course. They discovered a huge aquifer under Buckeye, and now it’s on track to be the fourth, third, or even second most-populous city in Arizona — and possibly the largest in land area. From the Arizona Republic:

Buckeye is a place where the best breakfast in town is right on Main Street, where a man still feels comfortable leaving his car running as he jets inside a corner store.

It’s a place where you tell someone to meet you at “the Sonic” because there’s only one.

Signs, though, hint things soon will be sharply different for a town that could someday be as large as Phoenix. The acres of empty land are filling up with plats for homes that will make up more than 30 master-planned communities like Verrado. Town Council meetings provide standing room only and are filled with developers holding poster boards with more plans for Buckeye’s future. The numbers say the town could have 1 million people by 2025, up from about 25,000 now.

And most of those 25,000 people are new arrivals. The town’s population was 8,000 in 2000. Folks in other parts of the country have no way of getting their minds around that much growth, that fast. This is one of the signal triumphs of the Phoenix metropolitan area, sixty years of expertise at managing — and surviving — extreme growth.

At 230 square miles now, Buckeye already is larger than Tucson, Mesa and Seattle. Even one of the town’s planned communities, Douglas Ranch, is 55 square miles, larger than Tempe.

The proposed annexation would put Buckeye closer to its planning area of 600-plus square miles and further away from its past as a sleepy, rural community.

“Most people don’t have any idea how big Buckeye is,” said Bob Bushfield, its community development director. “If we continue to annex all the property around, we will be every bit as big as Phoenix.”

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July 19, 2006

“What does it feel like? Home.”

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Dave Winer, the man who invented the incalculable wealth that is weblogging, talks about a home buyer’s sense of peace and joy when he knows he is finally home:

I bought a house in Berkeley this morning. It’s a real beauty, an 80 year-old stucco, built on a hillside, with a view of downtown SF and the Golden Gate Bridge. I spent six months looking, it was by far the best house I saw. As with my first house in Woodside, there was a moment when I knew I’d own it. In this case, it happened as I walked in the front door. The place has a magic feel to it. What does it feel like? Home.

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July 19, 2006

“Arizona first among states in terms of economic momentum”

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

From the Business Journal of Phoenix:

Arizona ranks well in terms of economic growth and potential, according to a study released Tuesday.

A new report by a research group called Federal Funds Information for States ranks Arizona first among states in terms of economic momentum.

The FFIS study found Arizona with strong growth in terms of jobs, personal income and population. Nevada ranked second, Louisiana last.

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July 19, 2006

Strike the Big Top!: BloodhoundBlog to host Carnival of Real Estate October 9th

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

We’ll post reminders as the date draws nigh, but be sure to hoard all your really good blog ideas for the week of October 2. That way, we’ll be able to feature them when we host the Carnival of Real Estate on October 9th. This week’s Carnival is at Zillow Blog. Next week, the big show moves to Searchlight Crusade, and from there to The Future of Real Estate Marketing, one of our favorite weblogs. It will be a while before the carny caravan pulls into Phoenix — but that just means you’ll have plenty of time to think up really good posts!

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July 19, 2006

Location, location, location: Refusing Dual Agency puts Realtors above reproach . . .

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

I may have stirred up a hornet’s nest on the subject of No Dual Agency. Jim Duncan at Real Central VA posted his thoughts, and the sellsius° real estate blog posted a round-up, asking Are Buyers Customers or Clients? From Arizona, taking a trip Back East is also taking a trip back in time: Agency as it is understood in New York has been absent from this remote cultural backwater for at least 15 years.

That’s as may be. I work in Arizona. Plus which, if seller sub-agency is not already in the past in your state, buyer agency is definitely in your future. There’s a new sheriff in town.

This is all to the good, by me. The slim justification for our licenses is consumer protection, and it seem obvious to me that exclusive representation is the only way to achieve truly transparent protection for both of the parties to a real estate transaction.

Ardell DellaLoggia, in comments posted here, seems to disagree:

Due to the internet access of homes for sale, the trend is UP and not DOWN with regard to buyers calling listing agents direct vs. seeking separate and distinct representation. When the Buyer Consumer chooses to call the listing agent, if you outlaw Dual Agency, you leave them with NO representation at all.

It sounds good to say “outlaw Dual Agency”, but it leaves the Buyer Consumer back where they started, if and when they call the listing agent direct, with NO representation whatsoever.

I see that as a false dichotomy. In that circumstance, the listing agent can either refer the buyer to one of several trusted buyer’s agents (we do this) or simply advise the buyer to seek separate representation. The Buyer’s Broker’s commission is already built in to the MLS listing. There is no reason for the buyer not to seek representation.

Prove my point, Greg. Buyer calls you on your listing and only wants to deal with you personally when making an offer on your listing. Where do you go with that scenario if Dual Agency is “outlawed”, without leaving the buyer high and dry with regard to representation in the Read more

July 18, 2006

Are traditional Realtors being undercut? There’s always room at the top . . .

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Let’s see… Our customers are leaving us in a steady march. They’ve found an alternative that is easier to use, more convenient, overall just a better fit to their lives — and to top it all off, it’s much cheaper than our product.

What should we do?

Here’s an idea. Our customers are telling us in no uncertain terms what they want: More! Newer! Better! Faster! Cheaper! So let’s do the same things we’ve been doing all along, only less!

From Reuters.com:

The New York Times Co. plans to narrow the size of its flagship newspaper and close a printing plant, resulting in the loss of 250 jobs, the company said in a story posted on its Web site late on Monday.

The changes, set to take place in April 2008, include the closure of a printing plant in Edison, New Jersey. The company will sublet the plant and consolidate its regional printing facilities at a plant in Queens, the paper said.

The newspaper will be narrower by 1 1/2 inches. The redesign will result in the loss of 250 production jobs, the company said.

The New York Times said it expected the changes to result in savings of $42 million.

The narrower format, offset by some additional pages, will reduce the space the paper has for news by 5 percent, Executive Editor Bill Keller said in the article.

The Times will join a list of several other papers from The Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times that have reduced their size as they cut newsprint and other production costs and try to stem a loss of readers and advertising to the Internet and other media.

It might be fun to chortle about someone else’s troubles — and who doesn’t love seeing the New York Times get it good and hard?

But what they are doing is what the real estate industry, in general, is doing. In both cases, the consequences are likely to be unhappy. The Times would argue that theirs is strictly a financial decision, but it’s one that is likely to be repeated over time, a persistent policy of retrenchment. And even if its customers are not consciously Read more

July 18, 2006

If there is a nexus conjoining the subsets of paradise, it might just be… Mesa, Arizona…

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Three suburban Phoenix cities made Money magazine’s list of the 100 best place in America to live: Scottsdale got in, of course. In high school, Scottsdale was voted ‘most likely to be picked first for everything.’ And bucolic Gilbert made the list: Good schools and white-fenced horse properties — like catnip to big-city alley-cats who want desperately to be Connecticut fat-cats instead. But, perhaps as a surprise to some, Mesa also made the cut — and it came in third among cities over 300,000 in population.

From the East Valley Tribune:

Clear skies, plenty of recreational opportunities and rising home values were common attributes for all of the Valley cities on this year’s list, yet each of them had a unique personality that helped it stand out.

Mesa, for instance, was favored because it’s a relatively affordable place to live.

Scottsdale has a lot of golf courses and other recreational opportunities.

Gilbert has seen exceptional job growth, and its residents are among the highest earners in the Valley.

But wait. There’s more good news for Mesans. From the Business Journal:

Quick, what do Mesa and Milwaukee have in common?

The two tied as the least vulnerable to natural disaster among the nation’s 50 largest cities. But Mesa wasn’t the only Arizona city to land near the top of the list created by SustainLane.com. Phoenix and Tucson tied for the No. 3 spot along with Cleveland and El Paso, Texas.

We’ve said all along that the Phoenix metropolitan area is the most disaster-proof region in America.

Here’s an interesting question, though: Given that Mesa and Phoenix are essentially the same place, two huge cities separated only by svelte Tempe, why would Phoenix rank third and Mesa first?

Here’s a theory: At the same time that Phoenix was voting to raise property taxes, Mesa was cutting its taxes to the quick. Could it be that property taxes are the most perilous disaster of all?

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July 18, 2006

The sky is always falling — except when it isn’t…

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Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Foreclosures are up in Arizona for the first six months of 2006, as compared with the last six months of 2005. The will be cause for sustained gloating at the Arizona Republic, so here is the real news, from the Business Journal of Phoenix, before it goes through the Spin Cycle:

Although the 8,321 Arizona filings in the first two quarters of 2006 represent an increase compared to the last six months of 2005, the number is down by about 800 from the first six months of 2005.

Maricopa County accounted for the bulk of foreclosure activity, 5,215 actions, for the first six months of the year. However, the majority of defaults are being settled prior to the actual foreclosure sale of the property, according to Foreclosures.com figures. About 1,100 Arizona properties initially in foreclosure came under new ownership in the first half of 2006.

McGee also said home prices will not crash like they did in the early 1990s. “Back then, overbuilding by developers led to excess inventory and what we call competitive liquidation of unsold new homes,” she said. “This time, the inventory just isn’t there.”

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July 18, 2006

On the trail of The Long Tail in real estate…

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The soul of wit, Seth Godin cites The Long Tailtoday. We’ve mentioned this book a time or two, and, of course, it’s featured (along with Seth’s latest)in our reading list. I have plans to say more about it, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. Suffice it to say, this is a book that everyone in sales and marketing should read, mark, learn and inwardly digest — and then put into practice.

Extra credit: Write to me or post a comment on how The Long Tail applies to real estate marketing.

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July 17, 2006

Kicking and screaming?: The revision cycle that will lead to Realtor 2.0…

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

The Council of Residential Specialists is running a Promotional Materials Contest for CRS designees:

Great promotional materials and a solid marketing plan lead to better name recognition, more clients and a better bottom line for your business. They can also lead to great cash prizes and peer recognition when you sign up for the CRS 2006 Promotional Contest.

We are a marketing practice. We believe in marketing like fish believe in water. It would be an error to say that marketing is a part of everything we do. Instead, everything we do is a facet of our marketing vision.

Anyway, I entered two of our efforts in the contest. Unfortunately, if you’re not a member of the Council, you can’t get to the web page where the contest entries are on exhibit. From our own site, here are our two entries:

If, perchance, you are a Council member, please feel free to go here and here to vote for our entries. I would never, ever think to spam the voting for an on-line contest. That would reflect too great an understanding of the inter– oh, wait…

The true fact is that, until now, I have been careful not to share ideas with other Realtors. We sit back and look at absolutely everything. If we see something we think shows promise, we deconstruct it down to the original idea, then rebuild it our way, keeping what we think it good, jettisoning the rest and adding everything that is uniquely our own. But for the most part, other Realtors just act bored when we even presume to talk about marketing, so we just sit down, shut up and take it all in. Better for us, anyway: If our competitors don’t understand what we’re doing, they Read more

July 17, 2006

“It’s not a buyer’s market, it’s a procrastinator’s market.”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

Our friend Richard Riccelli sends this along from the Boston Globe:

Home sellers are learning what any retailer, from Wal-Mart to the owner of the corner gas station, already knows: Low prices are one of the surest ways to beat the competition.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Massachusetts’ largest real estate firm with more than 3,500 agents, is coaching agents on how to persuade clients to list their homes at an asking price that undercuts those of comparable ones on the market.

The hope is low prices will attract more prospective buyers, leading to faster sales. Other real estate agents in the Boston area report success with similar strategies in a housing market with an unprecedented glut of properties for sale.

Called “drama pricing” or “energy pricing,” it is a drastic measure for difficult times. And it seems to run counter to the conventional strategy of selling your home for the highest price possible.

Buyers are “overloaded” with options and “only respond when they see a perception of value,” said Angela Stamoulos, who teaches Coldwell Banker’s course on this pricing technique, which the firm rolled out this spring in Connecticut and last month in Massachusetts.

By grabbing buyers’ attention, she said, “the true market value of the property comes to fruition.”

Newspapers dumb everything down. The topic is not fire-sale discounting but using price to establish market differentiation.

Working with competitive listings, you try to identify a price point at which your home will stand out from the herd. This requires a certain amount of fortitude: You have to be willing to acknowledge where your home stacks up against its competition.

If your home has appropriate upgrades, it might be worth a little more. If it has pet odors, it’s worth a lot less. If you have six nearly-identical competitors, you may have to choose a price lower than you wanted, even if your home is objectively the pick of the litter. In that circumstance, pricing above the true dogs but below the homes that are almost as good can make your house sell while the others languish. Buyers will see your home as the best overall value.

We’re not trying Read more

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Inventing Real Estate 2.0

Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

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