- On December 25, 2011, 6.8 million Android and iOS devices were activated. If there was any doubt that your listing information needs to be optimized for mobile devices it should be gone by now.
- The California Association of REALTORS unveiled a new feature on their mobile ZipForm app that allows signatures on an IPad. Executed docs are automatically emailed to all parties as a PDF. Cost: $12.95 a year. If there was any doubt that you need an Internet enabled tablet for your real estate business, it should be gone by now.
- Sandicor, the San Diego MLS, has added a new field to their syndication feed that includes contact information on the Listing Agent. The field is designed to be displayed prominently on 3rd party sites like Zillow and Trulia. The move will make it easier for consumers to identify the source of the information. Their plan is to pull the plug on any syndicator who refuses to display the new field. They are also cutting down the number of photos they will syndicate out from the 25 they allow today. Further, syndicated photos will carry a watermark identifying the listing agent and company. If there was any doubt that the syndication issue is on the front burner, it should be gone by now.
- Starting February 27, REALTOR University will start offering courses that lead to a Master of Real Estate Degree. They’ve been approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education to award the degree. This could be beneficial and meaningful. I have a request in for more detail and will pass it on as I get it.
- (ok: this one is not real estate) Photography has traditionally been an artistic expression on paper. We printed photographs and when we looked at them, what we saw was reflected light coming off the paper through the ‘ink’ of the photo. Today, photography is a digital process. We’ve replaced the flim of the old camera with a CCD or CMOS sensosr that picks up the light coming through the lens and converts it to a digital file. We edit and view our photos on a computer screen that does not reflect light, but rather emits it. I think that’s a fundamental difference: paper photos reflect light, digital photos (properly displayed on a monitor) emit light. Yet last time I went the the San Diego Museum of Photographic Art, all I saw were paper photographs, matted and framed. When will galleries and museums start displaying photographs in their true light-emitting format: on digital monitors?
- I hate to be so local, but I can’t help myself. I’m so excited today. As I drove to the gym this morning I counted 5 cranes in the sky above San Diego. Six years ago there were 20. Last year there were none. Cranes = construction = optimism = improving confidence in our economic future and the real estate business in general. Bravo!
- The key to maximizing the revenue you generate in this improving market is INVENTORY. Listings drive every aspect of your business. It’s time to shift our attention back to Sellers, back to telling them that we are DIFFERENT, we are about SAVINGS and, of course:
- We Are Here
- People Use Us
- It Works, and
- They Save Money
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Exploring alternatives to the Status Quo in real estate