After the Fed cut the interest rate last month, many opined that it would do little to help out the housing situation and instead would only weaken the US dollar. Although one data point does not make a trend, in the immediate term those opinions appeared to be correct as evidenced by mortgage rates which for the most part held steady. Something interesting did happen as a result of the cuts however.

Within days of the Fed announcement, our phones starting ringing off the hook. Our real estate agent clients were calling us asking what we had changed with our online marketing because an abnormally high percentage of their real estate leads were coming from Canada. Of course we had changed nothing. Upon further digging and talking to clients, we estimated that real estate leads coming from our northern neighbors increased by approximately 300% after the announcement. Most of the flurry of activity came from the traditional real estate investment markets, namely California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Florida. Since real estate investment is so heavily tied to speculation, it only makes sense that speculation about the value of the Canadian dollar vs. the US dollar based on interest rate drops would create such a spike.

My original thought was that this would just be a quick blip on the radar screen, caused mostly by curious Canadian investors simply looking for some information. I have recently received word however that these individuals are indeed showing up, looking at houses, and diligently preparing to purchase. I don’t see this as a market saver by any stretch but perhaps a less expected benefit.

It’s been rather interesting around Incredible Agent lately. Between getting ready for our giant booth at NAR, launching new features every week on our platform and trying to help our clients survive the current real estate market, we’ve been awfully busy.

One of the things we’ve been running into lately is defining the difference between our product and Point2, Superlative, Z57, Advanced Access, Homes.com, etc., etc. etc. For us it’s very simple, but we’re starting to realize the challenge ahead of us for defining the difference. Here’s my quick shot at it.

We’re creating a network of real estate brokers and agents to collaborate and create an open enterprise platform for themselves and their companies. The other companies products are simply real estate websites.

Example: MS DOS/Windows is a platform (Incredible Agent), Outlook is a product running on a platform (all the others).

Our philosophy is rooted in the fact that real estate 1.0 was all about competiting against one another and that real estate 2.0 will be rooted in collaboration.

There has been lots of talk lately about the direction of RE 2.0 and where it will take all of us. At Incredible Agent, we believe collaboration will be the name of the game. Collaborating together to build better products for brokerages and agents. Collaborating together to create a product better than Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, etc. After all, collaboration is what Active Rain, Facebook, Youtube, Trip Advisor, IncredibleAgents.com and all the other successful User Generated Content(UGC) sites out there are built on.

User generated content is an overused term with little clarity. Some seem to implement UGC just to show off that they’re a Web 2.0 company. Yawn! RE 2.0 has nothing to do with Questions and Answers. It has everything to do with collaboration. Collaborating to solve problems and find great solutions.

Incredible Agent is building a team of brokerages and agents who have come together to build a better solution for their companies, themselves and their clients.

We’re not building websites! We’re building a platform!

That’s why we don’t sell websites, we sell memberships.

Side Note: The term “Platform” is becoming a buzz word lately around the RE space. Remember, a platform is something that can grow as the users build onto it. A simple website with a few tools is not a platform.

I’ve always been a big fan of the stories from the old days. Usually the ones that stick around long enough have great lessons to be learned in them. Everything from stories in the Bible to basic Aesop fables. One of my favorites, that I admittedly don’t always remember, is the story of the Grasshoppers and the Ants. You know, the one where the grasshoppers party all summer and the ants work all summer storing their food for winter. Guess who makes it thru winter?

Well I can’t help but think this story applies to today’s current real estate market more than ever. We’re officially in the heart of one of the coldest winters in real estate. We all knew the market couldn’t continue to grow at the rate it was growing in 2005. Yet so many Realtors forgot the lessons we’ve all been taught and bought luxury cars, second homes, furniture, investment properties, etc. Thinking the money would always be coming in. Those days of easy money are now over and bills seems to be holding many agents from being able to invest in their success coming out of the downturn.

Let’s not forget these days/months/years of struggle that we’re going thru right now. Let’s bookmark this era in real estate so we can take these lessons and teach them to the future of real estate.

There’s a reason those stories have been around for so long. Let’s keep them around until we all learn the lessons from them.

Now that everyone has digested the incredible amount of information presented in three short days at the Inman conference, many are asking “now what?” I love this particular conference because it brings together the best minds in technology, most of whom are fairly candid….ok some are maybe too candid. Outside of the tech leaders, there is a smattering of brokers mixed with an even smaller number of agents (using your fingers and toes to count would suffice).

When I first attended the conference last year I wondered why more agents did not attend. Then, toward the end of this years conference when I was in dire need of a defrag on my brain (or a cocktail), it hit me. How would most agents respond if they were sitting in the room hearing about all of these new technologies? Aside from a few tech savvy agents, I would bet the farm that a huge majority would feel the sudden urge to sprint from the room and order a double on the rocks pronto.

As I see it, the problem isn’t necessarily with the new technologies. A lot of them are intriguing, and some may actually get a house or two sold. Agents are typically solo or members of small teams, however, so implementing just a fraction of the new technologies would mean a steady diet of espresso and 20 hour work days. Very few of these new technologies work together and therefore force agents to learn and use multiple systems, measure their individual effectiveness, pay for them separately, and so on. It seriously brings into question whether or not a majority of today’s agents have a big enough appetite to consume everything that they are being fed. This leads me to ask the following questions:

1) What is the best way for individual agents to use the technologies instead of getting run over by them?

2) Should brokers be doing more to assist their agents with technology?

3) What other organizations (think Realtor associations) should be doing more to assist agents with technology?

I’m typically not an apologist for agents who do not effectively use technology to their advantage, but I must admit that the landscape looks pretty intimidating from where I’m sitting.

I dug into my closet the other day and found my trusty magic 8 ball from when I was in high school. I asked it a few potent questions about the future of the real estate industry over the next year and thought I would post the responses here. Feel free to weigh in on some of the questions or just want me to ask some new ones. I’m sure I’m missing a few great questions. By no means is this scientific…but the magic 8 ball is all powerful, so keep an eye out for some of the predictions.

Q: Will Zillow and Trulia be direct competitors fighting for advertising dollars?
A: Signs point to yes.

Q: Will Realtors find it more important to post their homes to their website than it will be to post it to the MLS?
A: Outlook Good

Q: Will the real estate lead industry change dramatically?
A: Reply Hazy, Try Again

Q: Do you think comments and ratings on home listings will become commonplace?
A: Ask again later

Q: Will Realtors lose potential clients if they do not have maps and cool web 2.0 tools on their website? (Being cool is hip)
A: It is certain

Q: Is the IDX going into the twilight years of it’s life?
A: You may rely on it

Q: Will there be massive consolidation in the Real Estate industry?
A: Outlook Good

Q: Will the beginning of a National MLS be released?
A: It is certain

Q: Do you think Video home tours will begin to replace the virtual tour?
A: Yes, Definitely

Q: Will Realtors spend more time on their computer than in their car?
A: Most Likely

Q: Will more Realtors start to recognize the importance of real estate agent reviews.
A: It is certain

Q: Will brokerages?
A: Outlook Good

Q: Do you think many Web 2.0 companies will fall just like the Web 1.0 companies did previously?
A: Concentrate and ask again (so, I did)
A2: Better not tell you now (Dang!)

Q: Will every Realtor at least know what a blog is?
A: Don’t count on it

Q: Will the real estate market bounce back?
A: Ask again later

As you probably already know, we have a real estate agent review website that gets a fair amount of traffic and a fair amount of reviews left by consumers (Incredible Real Estate Agents). This topic has stirred a lot of controversy and we are a part of it everyday. Many agents want to be taken off the site and don’t want to be reviewed at all. Many complain about the reviews that were left on their profile. Some actually threaten lawsuits and so far we have 1 death threat. Needless to say it’s a very hot topic.

At Incredible Agent we’re about helping agents become INCREDIBLE by using the power of the Internet to capture leads and ultimately sell more homes. One of the key components of this process is re-enforcing your marketing materials with “Third Party Credibility”. We don’t believe reviews are meant to be open complaint sessions for clients to critique their real estate agent. Sure, that can certainly be done, however we believe agents should be utilizing their positive client testimonials to gain even more clients. Agents can view this as a huge liability or they can view it as a huge asset. It’s up to them to decide how to use this.

I have an agent that I’ve been working with for years who hangs all his client testimonials up in his office. Every letter is framed and signed from the client. When working with relocation clients he literally mails them a booklet of the same testimonial letters that he has collected over the years he’s been in business. If you’re looking to nail down a potential clients committment, I assure you this is a great tactic.

Agents have used this same kind of tactic for years. We all know that one of the best ways to gain a client is to be referred by another client. That “Third Party Credibility” is very powerful in all types of sales. Word of mouth travels fast and we all need to embrace it to be successful. Just think how popular Myspace.com would have been if other people weren’t referred to it by their friends. It’s all about creating “Third Party Credibility” and that’s where Real Estate Agent reviews become highly useful.

The only difference between testimonials and reviews is that people can leave negative comments along side the positive comments. The fear of a few negative comments causes so many agents to freak out. The truth is that most comments are positive comments. Especially if the agents send their happy clients to their profile to leave a positive comment. There’s nothing wrong with pushing your clients to your profile for a few reviews.

Many agents understand this point, many don’t. However the agents who take advantage of and manage their online presence will be far ahead of the agents who don’t.

So my question to you is…”Are you for or against real estate agent reviews and why do you feel the way you do?” I’d love to hear some feedback on this issue as it is a daily topic around the Incredible Agent office.

BTW: Sorry for the delay in my posts. Just a little busy being Incredible elsewhere.

I’ve often thought about the value of real estate traffic vs. other types of traffic. When you really get down to thinking about it, an Internet home shopper is far more valuable than say…someone looking for socks online. If you look at what an Internet sock shopper spends compared to an Internet Home shopper, we’re talking about two very different price points. A home shopper is looking to spend anywhere around $100,000 to $5,000,000 or more for their home. A sock shopper is typically looking to spend around $10.00 for a package of socks. Home shoppers are looking to spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars for their next home, yet many Internet advertisers aren’t willing to pony up to reach those home shoppers.

You could easily make the argument that the Internet home shopper is the most valuable visitor on the Internet. Not only are they looking to spend hundreds of thousands on a home…they also need a loan, title insurance, home insurance, a home warranty, movers, furniture, home services, etc. I don’t have the source or stats for this, but a certain percentage of home buyers buy a new car within 6 months of buyer a home. When you really look at everything a home shopper will be purchasing along with their home, it makes you wonder why other companies aren’t willing to spend the coin to get in front of these consumers.

When looking at it like this, you have to ask yourself “Where are the advertisers”? The demand is growing, but it’s nowhere near where you would expect it to be. Currently, we see hundreds of millions of real estate ad impressions going to waste on Google Adwords syndication every month. Yes, real estate websites are making money with Adwords, but nothing that matches the true value of the real estate consumer or the cost to obtain that consumer. Besides the consumer doesn’t get too much out of Adwords campaigns, the click thru rates are horrible and they just clutter your website with useless text.

Advertisers reluctance for paying a realistic CPM is the reason I have never sold ads on any of my websites. I’m beginning to think about it with the launch of our new website www.HomeHugg.com and the popularity of our agent review site www.IncredibleAgents.com, but I certainly would prefer a different business model due to the lack of demand for reaching the home shoppers.

I’ve often questioned the legitamacy of the Internet advertising business model. We receive millions of home shoppers every year to our network of real estate websites and I’ve always resisted placing ads on those sites. I know there are plenty of successful sites that do well with the advertising model, it just seems as though it’s at the bottom of the business model food chain. Can there be a business model less creative than the Internet advertising model? It just plain stinks right now.

Overall, there isn’t a more valuable visitor than an Internet Home Shopper. In time advertisers will eventually figure this out and start paying the true value of reaching them. After all, it’s not like they’re buying socks.

(2/19/2007 Phoenix, AZ) Incredible Agent announced today that they have launched a new program, making them the first in the industry to provide Live Transfer leads on a national basis directly to their agent network. The service was designed based on feedback from thousands of real estate agents and countless industry studies on lead conversion. Those studies have proven that next to the quality of the lead itself, timely follow up has always been the biggest contributing factor to agents’ success with leads.

Thru Incredible Agent’s new Live Transfer program, agents are guaranteed to receive live leads that have been 100% verified and are researching homes in the agents’ communities. More importantly, the potential buyer is not currently working with an agent and is immediately looking to be transferred to one. Those leads are then instantly transferred to the agent via a “warm” transfer process, therefore creating a conversation between the prospect and the agent. The entire process is completed within a few minutes of the potential home buyer becoming a lead.

“The Live Transfer leads program creates a premium level of leads that no other competitor has ever attempted,” says Damon Pace, CEO of Incredible Agent. “We have known for many years that our lead quality is very good, so we decided to take it a step further and completely eliminate the concept of chasing down leads.”

“From the beta tests of this program, we’ve seen conversion rates skyrocket and we’re certain that the agents who take advantage of this program will be very successful,” continues Pace. “Our goal with this program is to save our agents time and make them money. It’s just that simple.”

The Live Transfer program will be available to agents in all markets in the United States and Canada. The supply of Live Transfer leads in any given market will be limited because of the level of qualification required to obtain them. Agents interested in inquiring about this exclusive program should register at www.incredibleagent.com/livetransfers or call (888)333-8896.

Phoenix, AZ (February, 14th, 2007) - Incredible Agent has beta launched HomeHugg.com, the first home bookmarking community for home buyers to discover, save and share their favorite homes in one place. HomeHugg is very much like the social bookmarking communities that have gained momentum over the past year. Their popularity is based in discovering and sharing similar interests. HomeHugg members can share information and opinions with one another in order to identify the homes that meet their search criteria.

HomeHugg is 100% driven by the web community. Therefore, HomeHugg does not receive any information from the MLS or pull listings from the Internet. All information on the website is obtained from home buyers, agents, lenders and any other community members. They simply need to add a url and the home details in order to save it to their list of home bookmarks. HomeHugg ranks each home by the number of “huggs” it has received and how fast they’ve received them. Thus, more members will find the popular homes in their search area and will visit the website with the popular home listing details and photos.

Research shows that the average home buyer goes to several different websites to do their home search. One of the challenges is for them to save their favorite homes from different websites in one place. HomeHugg solves this problem by allowing consumers to find their favorite home listings on any website in order to save them for future reference.

“HomeHugg will be driving visitors to agent, broker and real estate websites, not pulling them away,” says Damon Pace CEO of Incredible Agent. “All these websites need to do is simply place a “Hugg Me” link on each of their listings and allow the HomeHugg community to save their listing as one of their favorite homes. The rest of the community will find this listing and visit the website to see the photos and home details.”

HomeHugg’s mission is to uniquely simplify consumers’ home search and drive traffic to the real estate websites who participate in the HomeHugg community. To learn more about HomeHugg, please visit www.HomeHugg.com. To add a “Hugg Me” link to your website, please visit www.HomeHugg.com/huggme/.

About Incredible Agent:
Incredible Agent is a Phoenix, AZ based provider of online marketing and sales resources for real estate agents and mortgage brokers. The company focuses on tailoring comprehensive marketing and business solutions to the individual needs of real estate agents across the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.IncredibleAgent.com or call 888.333.8896

It’s come to my attention recently that neighborhoods are the new battleground in the real estate industry. 2006 was more about listings, now it’s a matter of supporting the value of those listings with statistics to back up the listing data and provide consumers with the full picture.

There are many new websites out there targeting consumers looking for useful information on specific neighborhoods. Most of these new websites have launched over the past year. Here are the few that I know about.

• Neighboroo.com
• Localism.com
• NeighborhoodMatch.com
• City-Data.com (been around awhile and very 1.0)

These websites are a mix between general demographics, statistics and Realtor feedback. None have hit the nail on the head just yet. I say “Yet” because I believe they are traveling on the right track, but haven’t quite made it to the complete solution that consumers need to learn more about each neighborhood.

The success of these sites will be built on their ability to provide unique and relevant information for each neighborhood and to display it in simple organized manner that consumers can first find and then use to quickly determine which are the better neighborhoods to live.

The questionsbecomes…Which one of these sites will deliver on what the consumers need? Will Localism simply become an agent marketing tool or a consumer neighborhood tool or both? Will Neighboroo eventually go beyond killer maps and data mashups? Will NeighborhoodMatch be developed further into a destination portal with up to date listings and complete neighborhood data? Which one of these sites will win the search engine battle?

We’ll have to wait to find out. At this point the playing field is wide open with plenty of opportunities for each of these websites to win the Neighborhood Wars. Who will go into 2008 as the winner?