Ceilis-irish | Real Estate News

Real Estate 2.0 and Election 2008

Jun 10

Two years ago, when Zillow launched, it was a thrill to pull up your neighbors’ (or boss’) house on the site and see how much their house was worth.

It’s still insightful, it just might not be so much fun anymore (see NAR lowers 2008 price forecast).

And while there are still complaints over the accuracy of Zillow’s estimates — the company itself refers to them only as “starting points” — the Zestimates are still arguably the most compelling feature on the site.

In the same way that Zillow brought transparency to home values, Fundrace is bringing it to campaign donations in this election year. The site (which first launched in 2004) has now been swallowed up by mega-news site The Huffington Post.

On Fundrace, you can search by city or zip code and see the results mapped onto a Google Map. You can see to whom and how much your neighbors have been contributing to political campaigns.

Frankly, it’s a little creepy, but I guess it’s all public information.

You can also search by company to see how their employees break out. So, of course, I had to start looking at the real estate category…

Like Zillow.

What else did I find? It seems are real estate agents are overwhelmingly pro-Democrat.

$291,388 from 305 people to Republicans
$499,047 from 522 people to Democrats

How about NAR?

NAR Campaign Donors

$750 from 2 people to Republicans
$6,850 from 8 people to Democrats

And the big brands?

Realogy Campaign Donors

$0 to Republicans
$521 from 2 people to Democrats

Coldwell Banker Campaign Donors

$131,672 from 138 people to Republicans
$294,329 from 302 people to Democrats

Keller/Williams Campaign Donors

$11,101 from 12 people to Republicans
$24,523 from 30 people to Democrats

RE/Max Campaign Donors

$5,156 from 14 people to Republicans
$26,348 from 41 people to Democrats

C21 Campaign Donors

$40,475 from 32 people to Republicans
$29,503 from 39 people to Democrats

It gets more interesting the deeper you dig – but I think I’m just going to stop right now.

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Real Estate 2.0 and Election 2008

Advertise Your Listings at Wal Mart

Jun 6

Real Estate

Haven’t we heard this story before? (see Real Estate Search Stores – Coming Soon?)

Walmart has quietly launched a new classifieds portal on their web site Walmart.com (see Walmart Launches Classified Listings).

The service is powered by Oodle and has a dedicated real estate section.

I have to say it felt a little weird searching for houses on Walmart’s site – but I’m not a regular Walmart shopper. And I had quite a few problems accessing the site too which dampened the experience.

But I think the greater trend we’re seeing here is that map-based real estate search is fast becoming ubiquitous.

Oodle’s platform and competitors like Vast which power these initiatives are easily deployed on just about any site and I suspect we’ll start to see even more online retailers leap on this band wagon too.

The challenge here is how do the dedicated real estate search portals compete with these retail giants?

Pretty paltry traffic in comparison.

And I wonder do people really care where they start a real estate search online? Is searching at Walmart.com any different from Zillow.com? Do people know that they aren’t seeing all the listings? Do they care?

These are some of the questions I’m wrestling with.

One upside is that it’s almost impossible to find the classifieds link on Walmart’s home page. So they certainly aren’t doing all they can to drive traffic there – no need to hit the panic button yet.

But like I said, I think this is a growing trend. Perhaps Trulia has recognized this and realized that building a single destination is a long, expensive process. Perhaps why they’ve built the Trulia Publisher Platform to enable them to power these kinds of partnerships.

So how ultimately can the real estate destinations compete?

It’s no longer about just getting the listings – listings are everywhere. It’s going to come down to context and content and providing a great experience. Something these white-labeled retailer sites can’t deliver.

On the flip side – agents you just got a bunch more destinations to advertise your listings. And I guess that’s a good thing.

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Advertise Your Listings at Wal Mart

First Real Estate Apps for iPhone Start to Leak Out

Jun 5

Real Estate

photo credit: Cesar R.

Over the last few months we’ve seen some small splashes in mobile real estate search (see Trulia Launches iPhone Version or Terabitz Creates MLS iPhone Site).

I think the rock is going to drop very soon.

We’re only 4 days from the (much anticipated) launch of the new iPhone – but more importantly of the iPhone Apps storefront.

What does that mean for real estate?

When Apple first announced it was opening up the iPhone platform to native applications, I speculated we’d start to see new software that would run on the mobile platform (see Apple Releases SDK Kit for iPhone) and now we’re starting to see the first few trickle out. Over the coming weeks/months I expect this trickle may turn into a flood.

Here’s an app by CodeMorphic. It’s conceptual (i.e. pulls no real data) but the demo very slick – a brokerage wanting to make the leap into mobile or local MLS looking to offer new tools to consumers could easily rebrand this software.

Real estate search is inherently a mobile activity and the iPhone (which is more pocket computer than cell phone) coupled with advanced software like CodeMorphic’s AppFindr, is the perfect launching pad to start, conduct, modify a house hunt.

4 more days and we’ll start seeing more of this. Can’t wait.

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First Real Estate Apps for iPhone Start to Leak Out

Battle of the (Ad) Network Stars

Jun 4

Real Estate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63HsxXeNzRk

When Trulia launched its new ad network (see Trulia Launches First Online Real Estate Ad Network) it was an attempt to leverage their network of advertisers while providing a way for third party publishers to showcase their advertising inventory to larger brand advertisers.

It’s a proven business model that works well across the Net, as evidenced by the success of networks like Glam Media and Federated Media and niche networks like the Deck.

And to give credit where credit is due, it’s also a concept in the real estate space that blogger (and occasional FOREM contributor) Erik Hersman first brought up in his post on Realty Thoughts over a year ago (see The Need for a Real Estate Specific Ad Network).

(BTW – Erik walks the walk too and just built a fantastic ad network for the automotive vertical for Piston Media Group.)

So while Trulia’s network may have been the first, surely it wouldn’t be the last…

Yup, sho nuff.

Competitor Cyberhomes just announced they’ve partnered with ad-network provider Adify to launch a competing ad platform that they are calling their Real Estate Vertical Advertising Network.

How many ad networks is too many? At the recent EconAds seminar the question was asked “Is it a good time to start an Ad Network?” The answer:

Now’s as good a time as any to start an ad network business, several panelists said. It’s like starting an Italian restaurant in New York. The good ones will thrive.

So whose business will last? Trulia or Cyberhomes? I suppose it depends on the depth of the advertising relationships both sites maintain and to what degree they are successful in getting publishers to sign up.

There’s no question there is a glut of unsold advertising inventory available these days with so many ad-supported web sites having been launched over the last couple of years. We’re also seeing dollars being shifted into web based advertising like never before So the one that’s able to marry those two needs might very well have a great business on their hands.

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Battle of the (Ad) Network Stars

Google Getting in to Mortgages?

Jun 2

Real Estate

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Since Zillow launched its Zillow Mortgage Marketplace it has received over 28,000 loan requests (see Zillow Mortgage Marketplace Borrowers Have Spoken). Pretty good showing for a service that is only a little over a month old.

But it seems like Zillow is not the only online player who’s eyeing this market as an opportunity… word from SearchEngineLand that Google UK has launched Google Merchant Search – a way for consumers to compare and shop for loans from various originators (see FAQ).

No word whether this service will make it to US shores and how Google may end up integrating the service into its search results, though I could see them implementing the service into a Google Search for mortgage loans – much like how they integrate property listings from Google Base into real estate searches (see Another Hint at Google Real Estate?).

If they did, it could be a real blow to the services provided by Zillow and LendingTree and others.

(h/t screenwerk.com)

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Google Getting in to Mortgages?

I Wanted to be a Con Man

May 29

Real Estate

SoundBiteBlog meme’d me – so here goes…

Question 1: Who is your favorite Musical Artist?

No question – Joe Strummer and the Clash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16u0wwCfoJ4

Loud and fast with a social conscience.

’nuff said.

Question 2: Who is my favorite Artist?

I’ve always been partial to the work of Northwest Native artists like Roy Henry Vickers.

That said, we have a lot of photography hanging on the walls of our home, my favorites being some prints by my friend Bennett Ho.

Question 3: Who is My Favorite Blogger?

My favorite blogger right now is my wife Amy who started a new blog recently called Portland Acupuncture Blog – I’m really proud of the work she’s put into it and it’s growing really quickly.

Question 4: If you could meet anyone (dead or alive), who would it be and what is interesting about them?

I’d like to meet Portland Timbers keeper Ray Burse. I’d ask him how he could have let in that weak goal versus the White Caps last week.

Question 5: What did I want to be when I grew up?

A Sea Captain like Godolphin James Burslem.

A Con Man like Godolphin Finney Burslem.

An Adventurer like Rollo Gillespie Burslem.

Question 6: What is the most interesting piece of Trivia that I know?

Uhh… pass. Need to dig out that Trivial Pursuit game.

Question 7: If you could live in any point of history when would it be and why?

London – May 8, 1945. That would have been an epic party.

Question 8: What is the most interesting job you’ve every had?

Goliath crane operater… OK – so it was only for a few minutes. But it was way cool.

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I Wanted to be a Con Man

Estately Comes to Portland

May 27

Real Estate

photo credit: LWY

Estately.com has long been one of my favorite real estate search experiences on the web (see 10 Kick Ass Real Estate Search Sites). And today it just got much better (well, for me at least, anyway).

This morning they announced that they have expanded in to Oregon by adding over 35,000+ Portland single family homes and condos into their search results. Listings are being pulled from the RMLS™ Regional Multiple Listing Service.

A couple of things really set Estately apart from the competition and certainly any of the local broker sites. First, the neighborhood search tool is fantastic. Say you want to do a search for a home in one of Portland’s hot neighborhoods; Mississippi, Sellwood or the Pearl, for example. Estately plots the neighborhood boundaries on to its map and confines the search to those boundaries – making it really easy to streamline your search.

(One weird bug I found was that when I did a search in my neighborhood it kept telling me I lived in North Bend – Estately founder Galen Ward confirmed this was a known issue and that they were working hard to fix it).

The second new feature in Estately, and one I think Rose City residents are going to love, is a revamped ability to confine your search results their proximity to mass transit routes like the MAX Light Rail Service.

An example search:

Homes under $400,000 within walking distance of light rail in Portland

I suspect this type of information, along with services like WalkScore (see Measuring Walkability with Walk Score), are increasingly going to be factors that people build in to their home searches (especially as more and more stare down $4+ gas)

Brokers, I’d follow Estately’s lead and start building this type of functionality into your web sites. It’s could be a great point of differentiation in your marketing vis a vis your local competition.

Portland-based Realtors, Estately offers you a way to connect with and offer your services to local home buyers and sellers through its Agent Match program. Estately screens and vets all Realtors in the program to ensure an excellent level of service but if you’re looking to Connect with tech-savvy and tech-sophicasted buyers – this may be an excellent way to do so.

The downside to the new site is that — apparently due to the RMLS rules — Estately is not able to display the addresses of the properties displayed on the map. Apparently, according to Ward, they are able to share those via email – so the site will heavily encourage you to send those listings you’re interested in either to yourself or a partner in order to see the street address. A kludgey workaround but forced on them by the arcane rules of the local MLS.

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Estately Comes to Portland

Zillow for iPhone

May 22

Real Estate

Very cool. Probably not legal. But I’ve been using it anyway.

iZillow.net

Hit it on your iPhone. It’s super slick (coded using Safire). Just in time too… (see Apple Releases SDK Kit for iPhone).

I doubt this is an in-house project. If it’s not, I hope the Z-team hires this guy and finds a way to bring it to Seattle before they shut it down.

Alternatively they could rebuild it themselves – the code’s right here.

Update – Spoke too soon it seems. The URL now seems to be kind of flakey… switching between the original site and a iGoogle page. Could it be it’s caught in the crossfire of a DNS switch after a Zillow takedown order? (The Z-team responds in comments) In any case, I captured a screen cap anyway if it goes away for good.

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Zillow for iPhone

PolicyMap Maps A Metric Crapload of Data

May 22

Real Estate

This is pretty cool. PolicyMap is a new site by The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), a national not-for-profit organization that finances neighborhood revitalization.

It’s a Google Maps mashup on steroids.

They offer “4,000 indicators related to demographics, real estate markets, crime, schools, housing affordability, employment, energy, and public investments” all layered on to a map source.

The information gets layered on in color-coded “heat maps” – a trend we’ve seen on many other sites but not nearly to this level before.

There’s a ton of data here.

PolicyMap says they’re pulling all that data from a number of sources including the U.S. Census, Claritas, the FBI, the IRS as well as information from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and Boxwood Means (a real estate research firm), among others. It compiles all that data and then scrubs it to ensure that it is reliable and accurate.

I could see myself possibly using PolicyMap to investigate a move to a new neighborhood – or at least seeing how it stakes up against existing tools like Cyberhomes (new facelift btw – nice), Zillow or Trula. No listings though, so it is purely a research tool.

To a real estate investor or developer however, this is a goldmine of information.

To use PolicyMaps you can sign up a free account – and for advanced users they offer additional functionality and access to premium data sources for $200 a month.

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PolicyMap Maps A Metric Crapload of Data

Trulia Throws Agents a Bone

May 22

Real Estate

Photo by donegone

Trulia has caught flack the last few weeks over it’s practices of instituting ‘no-follow’ tags on its links to its broker partners.

I’ll spare you a rehashing of the controversy (more here, here and here) but today they extended an olive branch to the Realtors they may have ticked off.

Now individual agents can brand their listings on Trulia’s search results. Brokerages have long been able to place their logo on the listings (at a price), now agents can associate their name and photo with their listings. For free.

Why do this? From their blog:

• Increased online visibility: Your photo and contact info on all of your listings.
• Connections with serious consumers: Emails from active home buyers & sellers sent directly to you
• Stats to share with sellers: Tell your clients how many people view their listings every week
• Open house advertising: Market your open house to thousands of local buyers

The link on the listing drives back to your profile (here’s mine) on Trulia where I’m told you they’ve upped the number of naked links (i.e. sans no-follows tags) you can have in your profile to 5 from 2.

Seems like a half-decent attempt to try and satisfy their critics – we’ll see if it mollifies the crowd however. Thoughts?

To get started branding your listings, head over here.

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Trulia Throws Agents a Bone

Wanna Buy Some Leads?

May 21

Real Estate

Photo by Dave van Hulsteyn

Buying leads always seemed to be one of those murky areas of marketing for me.

Full disclosure: I have never bought a lead, know very little about the process and would probably try and build my business an online business through SEO, blogging, a laser-focused PPC campaign and building a kick ass web site before I ever bought a lead.

But, that said some people have had a lot of success buying leads so I can’t really discount it as a tactic.

And it looks like despite all the pronouncements of the death of lead generation there are definitely some new twists on this old concept – most clearly with the recent launch of Zillow’s Mortgage Marketplace (see Questions About New Zillow Mortgage Marketplace).

Marketplace definitely seems to be the hot buzzword right now since Reply.com has recently relaunched itself as a leads marketplace too.

Now I know I’ve given these guys a hard time in the past (see Reply Needs to Pull Its Head Out) but I actually kind of like this idea.

If I’m looking to find leads I can just go in and bid for them. If I have too many (a problem most would love to have….) I can go and sell them on to others. Right now they are trading leads in the real estate and mortgage sectors, as well as in insurance and automotive too.

The idea that I could potentially monetize any excess leads (generated off this blog for example) to others is especially fascinating.

The one thing I didn’t like about the experience is that, as a buyer, Reply asks for your credit card right up front before you’ve even dived in to the site. I think this is short-sighted quite frankly – I would have loved to go in and at least gotten a snapshot of what I was bidding on before having to input my personal details (and be referred to as a “lead” myself – ugh).

The normal caveats on leads apply here too – I want to see the quality, the freshness and the quantity of the leads before I bite.

Nevertheless, I think the marketplace is an interesting concept and a good direction for Reply to take.

And if they can fix that initial sign-up process, I might even consider buying a lead.

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Wanna Buy Some Leads?

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Real Estate 2.0 and Election 2008

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Advertise Your Listings at Wal Mart

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First Real Estate Apps for iPhone Start to Leak Out

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Battle of the (Ad) Network Stars

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Google Getting in to Mortgages?

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I Wanted to be a Con Man

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Estately Comes to Portland

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Zillow for iPhone

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PolicyMap Maps A Metric Crapload of Data

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