propertyextra.com.au - Blog

In a never say die attitude Sensis are changing their online strategy again. Late last year they virtually abandoned their justlisted.com.au site and made it a simple doorway site to Domain’s data but now they want www.tradingpost.com.au to change to an auction system and take on the mighty ebay.

Sensis bought www.tradingpost.com.au in 2004 for a massive $636 million dollars and the business has been sliding back on them since then.

Some pretty big claims have been coming out of Sensis lately, including one that states “2 million people” already use www.tradingpost.com.au each month. Sensis were trying to hold this up against ebay’s 5 million account holders to show that they might gain traction in online auctions.

Now that has to be PR spin plain and simple. After reading this I quickly surveyed the next 20 people I met and not one person had visited www.tradingpost.com.au within the past several months and most have never visited it at all. (more…)

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The settlement of a lawsuit this week threatens to have a major impact on the way agents work in the future–to the possible detriment of large numbers of people in the industry today.

The lawsuit is between the US Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The low down is that traditional real estate agents in the US can no longer withhold their property listings from virtual agents. This gives a big opening to businesses like Redfin, which calls itself “the industry’s first online brokerage for residential real estate.”

The fact that all this is happening in the US means there won’t be an immediate impact on Australian agents. But, if a powerful new web-based agent business model emerges in the US as a result, it could be just a matter of time before Aussie agents start to see a threat from such businesses.

Glenn Roberts of Inman News wrote an excellent piece on this. (subscription required)

Read the settlement (PDF) (thanks to agentgenius.com)

Read the official line from the National Association of Realtors

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I recently posted about how real estate agents can use podcasts to turn their entire town into a referral network.

But I thought some agents might still be intimidated by the idea of getting together their own real estate podcast. So, I asked journalist and podcaster Mark Jones to share some tips with Business2.com.au.

Q. Mark, you are the Australian Financial Review’s former information technology editor, you host the Scoop podcast for MIS magazine and your company Filtered Media provides editorial, social media, speaking and consulting services.

Tell me, why should real estate agents podcast?

A. Well, first let me give you some kudos for this blog. I speak with many people in the communications & PR profession and few have made the leap into the blogosphere.

Podcasts are a powerful form of media because in the first instance they appeal to our desire to listen to audio content on our own terms. Radio is great, but podcasts are better because you have access to a literal universe of ideas on your mobile device when you’re on the bus, train, or working at your computer.

The amazing opportunity for real estate agents is that podcasts appeal directly to their core skills. In my view, real estate is only partly a sales function. You are in the people business - understanding their needs and finding solutions.

Agents are a source of valuable information on everything from market trends, to demographics and local news and politics.

If you want to build trust and be known as an expert in your field, hosting a podcast and inviting clients on your database to listen is a very easy and effective way to achieve that goal. If they keep listening to your show, you will always remain top of mind - and that’s the goal, right? (more…)

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On this blog we are talk an awful lot about online real estate marketing, but what happens when…the web goes down? (Gasp.)

Thanks to South Park, you can find out. It is a bleak vision–but hilarious.

(Thanks, filteredmedia.co.au.)

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With Myhome soon leaving the local landscape soon I came to thinking of what would make the ultimate portal. I know Peter has posted on something similar before but I thought I would throw my hat in the ring and mockup what I believe would be the perfect portal from my perspective as an agent.

Technology
Keep a familiar navigational style similar to current portals however utilise the latest web 2 technology to improve functionality without sacrificing usability. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel, just make it better and go faster.

Bandwidth and storage is cheap these days so the site would feature high resolution photos and full screen slideshows. (more…)

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As reported in the weekend Financial Review it seems home.com.au” title=”MyHome”>MyHome will be closing its doors at the end of the month. This might be no surprise to those close to home.com.au” title=”MyHome” target=”_blank”>MyHome but to me it really goes down as the Chicken Heart Award of the year.

PBL don’t launch too many products that fail so dismally, but home.com.au” title=”MyHome” target=”_blank”>MyHome is another we can add to Mr Packers list of failed new ventures, and his scorecard reads dismally since he took over/pets projects.
Microsoft were also armed length involved, although insiders tell me they have never seen a Microsoft representative grace their floors.

So now we are down to Realestate.com.au, Domain.com.au and the fabulous little engine that could homehound.com” title=”Homehound” target=”_blank”>Homehound.com.

home.com.au” title=”MyHome” target=”_blank”>Myhome failed because, well it just truly stunk as a model/platform and is a lesson in how not to build a real estate portal.

I am sorry for the people that put their heart and soul into the venture, the sales people, the developers and anyone else that now has to look for a new place of work. As for the executives that started off this bomb, well they are probably well placed as CEO’s of some other ‘exciting’ new venture in another industry.

Time for someone to actually do something brave, that has the right model for agents across Australia. Did I mention all agents? Well yes, the next venture should steer clear of doing deals with large franchises and look at the industry as a whole.

Rest in Embarrassment home.com.au” title=”MyHome” target=”_blank”>MyHome! (CVC and CMH). Sometimes we don’t like what we hear, but truly great businesses/people understand how to take criticisms on board and adapt, then there is home.com.au” title=”MyHome” target=”_blank”>MyHome.

Ouch!

home-to-close-its-doors%2F”>ShareThis

There has been a lot of negative, conflicting media attention of late about the current real estate market in Australia and views seem to differ greatly depending on what branch of the tree they are sitting on… throwing those ripe pieces of fear to an already confused buying and selling market seems to work for them.

It has been a challenging year for most who work within the Australian property market, increases in lending and borrowing fuelled by the credit crunch plus our own inflation rate has had an impact but is it that bad and, where are we heading now?

Call me an optimist but I came across this piece of news which I believe presents a balanced (factual based) and not so negative take on where our property market is currently positioned and heading towards for 2009.

You are the best judge of your own market and your feedback is welcome:

.
Do you agree with the views of this video? What’s your take on your local market?

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Google (in the US of A) have added Google Real Estate Search to their Google Maps application. Now you can search for real estate in America on Google Maps. The data comes from their Google Base application, however it seems they are going to add data from other sources also. You can try it out by going to http://maps.google.com and then adding (left sidebar) Google Real Estate Search under see more maps!

Here are some articles on this subject:
Google Maps is Going To Be My New Real Estate Search Page
Google Maps Adds Real Estate Search
Another Hint at Google Real Estate?

There are certainly interesting times ahead. I have no idea why Google has not released Google Base in Australia, but they should get their act together and release it shortly. It is not as if it would be a hard thing to do (add country, regions, suburbs) and I cannot wait until it does happen.

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Joel Burslem’s opinion carries a lot of weight with me because I’ve seen how smart his real estate technology blog, future of real estate marketing, is. So, when he said Australian agents should not miss this year’s Real Estate Connect, I asked him why. And, I’ve posted his answers here.

Before we get to that, let me first disclose that Real Estate Connect was a client of mine prior to my moving to Australia.

Q. Joel, having been to Real Estate Connect I know how just a few days at this conference can revolutionize the way one does business. Tell me though, why is it important for Australian real estate agents to attend a conference in San Francisco? Isn’t it all about the USA?

The reality is that, with the impact of the Internet, real estate is becoming more and more international in scope. The concepts that we cover at Connect, especially around Web 2.0 and how real estate marketing is evolving (through the use of blogging, video, syndication, search engine optimization, etc.) are relevant to real estate professionals around the world. By coming to Connect you’ll be learning how some of the global leaders in the industry are already using these tools and applying them to their business successfully–and how you can, too.

Q. What are three three most important things that Australian real estate agents can come home with after attending Real Estate Connect this July?

I think the big three are how to use social media (blogging, video, social networking), understanding niche marketing (marketing to women, marketing “lifestyle” and marketing “green”) and ways to gain greater productivity in your business are going to be the big takeaways this summer.

Q. With the strong Australian dollar this year, Real Estate Connect will be less expensive this year than any other. Even without that, though, the entry price doesn’t seem high. Still, can you make us a special offer?

Dave, because of your connection to realestate.com.au, we’re offering your readers an exclusive rate of $399 which includes admission to one of our popular pre-conference workshops (Bloggers Connect and Internet Marketing) plus the full Connect conference.

I’d definitely recommend grabbing one of these workshops since they go into much greater detail on the most important subjects. Since you’re travelling so far, you’re going to want to maximize your time in San Francisco!

For accommodation, we have negotiated a great rate at the Palace Hotel (where Connect is being held) which is right in the heart of downtown San Francisco. It’s only $225 a night. The rooms are going fast so you’ll want to register quickly to take advantage of that.

One piece of advice – pack a jumper! Seriously. Summers in San Francisco by the Bay can get quite chilly!

Q. Where should an Australian real estate agent go to register?

All of our international registrations receive concierge registration. You can contact Katy Campana at +1 510-658-9252 ext. 143 or email her at katy@inman.com to receive this special rate.

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Here is a handful of recent stories I thought you’d find of interest:

Real estate is spelled S-E-X in China.

Vodafone to sell the iPhone in Australia.

But, Vodafone might not be the only one (and here).

Suncorp and LJ Hooker launch real estate podcasts.

How to cope when Google dumps you.

First banks in Spain raise mortgage interest rates, then they encourage borrowers to invest in their own stock funds and certificate of deposits–instead of buying a house. Real estate agents are outraged. (in Spanish).

WAN gets realestate.com.au to power its real estate website.

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