Category Archives: Internet

Are You Looking Forward to 2010?

Posted on 01/03/2010 | 2 Comments

No surprise that many people are looking forward to putting the past decade behind us and getting on with the next one. The past decade has been dubbed the “Decade From Hell“. IMO, it was similar to “The 60′s” in being a game-changer. The main difference is that the changes in the 60′s were far more visible as they were occurring. During the past 10 years, the changes were more subtle and perhaps only apparent when we look in the rear view mirror.

The 60′s
I’ve heard it said that America lost its innocence during the 60′s.

We lost President Kennedy, Senator Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Those events shocked us.
We were heavily involved in Vietnam and once news photos began showing planes coming home loaded with body bags, people were aghast.
We watched evening news with videos of violent anti-war and civil rights protests in the streets.
Here in Ohio we saw the National Guard fire upon students at Kent State.
The draft was in effect, so we monitored what level we were in to estimate whether our male loved ones were apt to be called up in the next lottery.
Gloria Steinem told women that we no longer had to be second-class citizens, so we told spouses to fix their own dinner so we too could have a career.
Students in certain upper-graduate curriculum were advised to drop out and get a job because people were having difficulty getting jobs if they were “over-qualified”.

If I were to summarize what I remember most, it was the public display (protests) of people willing to stand up for their beliefs and risk/suffer physical harm as a result. It should be no surprise that those same anti-establishment people were at the Tea Party protests last summer. They may be 40 years older but equally willing to take a stand for their beliefs. The generations since have lacked that passion.

The 00′s

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if America lost its innocence in the 60′s, then the last decade is the one where we lost America. America went global thanks to the Internet, Google and Walmart.

We’re no longer just “Americans” … we’re “something hyphenated Americans” with the American heritage being secondary. I suspect that many people have never even visited the country they place in primary position.

: USPS tape made in China

It’s hard to buy a totally Made In The USA product – even from the Big 3 car makers. (check out this tape that I purchased from the post office)
Manufacturing, which once was a strength, is now a weakness as high paying jobs went overseas where labor and the cost of doing business is cheap.
Other than when our country was formed, it was the first time that we were attacked on American soil – and it happened twice with a failed 3rd attempt.
Our economy and financial systems are heavily dependant on the global market, plus, we’re relying on loans from other countries to keep us afloat.
A lot of our land, buildings and businesses are foreign-owned rather than American-owned.
We have discussions as to whether we should be an English-only society, as our signs, schools, and important papers offer alternative languages.

Unlike the tumultous 60′s, the changes above were quiet changes. Just like our freeway driving, we’ve merged. In the 60′s, we had head-on crashes. Are we more civilized now than in the 60′s … or more tolerant … or less passionate. I’m not sure which it is.

The Twenty-Teens

Actually, I’m looking forward to 2010. I survived the 60′s and I survived the OO’s, so I say BRING IT ON! I once worked for a great General Manager who said, “if it doesn’t move the business forward – don’t do it!” While that is a great time management platitude, it can work in real life, too. If we’re not happy with our real lives, we shouldn’t be afraid to make a change to correct it. Only we can be responsible for our attitudes and only we can control our destiny. Other people can affect us only if we allow them to have that influence.

I hope you have a great 2010!

Copyright © 2009. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

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Posted in Commentary, Internet, Media, Television

Tagged Life in the 2000's decade, Life in The 60's decade

How Buyers Shop For Homes

Posted on 11/27/2009 | 2 Comments

The National Association of Realtors® recently released the results of their Buyer & Seller Profile Survey that was conducted in 2008. As agents, we like to know where buyers are shopping for homes (RESOURCE). It is also important to know how the buyers first learned about the home they actually bought (SOURCE).

No surprise, the Internet is growing in magnitude for its importance in the home search process at 87%. However, Realtors® are THE leading originator for the home the buyer actually purchased (34%). The Internet came in a close second at 32%. Here is a chart showing the NAR Survey’s findings. The yellow bars shows the various resources buyers used when they were in the exploratory stage. The dark brown bars show the source where the buyer FIRST learned about the home they actually bought.

Click to enlarge graph

You might be surprised that the Internet isn’t higher than Realtor® as a source for the home actually bought. What might be happening is that although buyers do so much web surfing for homes, those homes may no longer be on the market. That’s a major flaw to many of the web sites. Realtors® have access to the MLS which does show whether the home is an active listing or not. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the buyer’s Realtor® will continue to be a main source for ACCURATE info on homes.

The data also indicates why Realtors® no longer place ads in newspapers and why the home magazines have become thinner. Those media sell the agent, but don’t sell the home. The print quality of newspapers is so poor that it doesn’t compare well with the crisp photos on the Internet. The lead time on magazines is so long that the home may no longer be available. Although open houses are still conducted, they also are diminishing in favor due to security concerns and the known fact that they seldom sell the home held open.

If you are a home buyer, how do your habits compare to this National data?

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Posted in Advertising, Buyers, Home buying process, Home selling process, Homes, Housing stats, Internet, Media, New home builders, Newspaper, Realtors®, Sellers, Television

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, NAR Home Buyer & Seller 2008 Profile

What constitutes a real estate expert?

Posted on 10/23/2009 | 7 Comments

There are a number of people on the Internet who profess to be real estate experts. A lot of them have never sold a home. They’ve never sat across the kitchen table with people planning to sell their home. They’ve never shown a home to buyers looking for a “champagne home on a beer budget”. Yet, they make a substantial income holding seminars to tell us (Realtors®) what we need to do to do it RIGHT.

Yesterday I attended such a class at our Board. In this case, the presenter actually was a real estate agent. His topic was Social Media Marketing, which means marketing ourselves and our listings, using such venues as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. He also spoke on the importance of photography and video in our marketing.

Because I’ve been using social media for over three years, much of what he said wasn’t new-news to me. I didn’t agree with everything he said, but I’ll allow that each market (and agent personalities/goals) are different so we adjust as needed. I DID like how he is executing and editing the making of videos and plan to incorporate that technique.

In following up with some of the information he gave us, this morning I checked out his web site and blog. There are several online analytical tools that I can use to measure the effectiveness of having my sites be crawled by Google, such that when someone performs a search for “homes for sale around Hoover Reservoir“, they find my blog on page one of the search results. At least that’s what I strive for.

Guess what! Both my web site and this blog outperform his web site and blog by a fairly wide margin. Also, Google hasn’t crawled his blog for a week, whereas Google crawled this blog today already. So does this make me an EXPERT? Should I go on the speaking circuit? Nah! I’m just glad to know that my marketing efforts are working, and that it’s helping to sell my listings and provide buyers and sellers with the info they need to make informed decisions.

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Posted in Advertising, Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Galena Ohio, Home buying process, Home selling process, Internet, Realtor® selection, Sellers, Technology

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, Hoover Reservoir home for sale, real estate expert, social media marketing

Are You Missing The Market?

Posted on 10/20/2009 | Leave a comment

Over 80% of the home buyers start their home search on various Internet sites. Sellers select their Realtor® based on how many Internet sites the agent displays the home. Conscientious agents make sure the home is featured in the best way possible by making sure the photos are as best as they can be. Now what happens when the most basic of information about the home is WRONG or MISSING?

Recently, I was pulling info for a specific neighborhood. I knew every home that was for sale in this particular community. However, when I did the computer search a full 25% of the homes were missing from the search. WHY?

I did some digging and found that there were errors or omissions to the original data entry into the MLS system that was incorrect and/or missing. That’s why it is important for an agent to actually print out a hard copy to make sure the spec sheet looks as we intend. Let’s face it … typos happen.

So, Sellers, ask your agent to show you the MLS spec sheet. Is all the data correct? Are there missing search fields and if so, should those boxes be blank or not? You can’t afford to miss showings in this market because of certain errors, so be proactive to make sure your home can be found by Internet buyers who might be searching for a home just like yours.

Buyers, as you are sitting in your jammies doing your home search, consider that your perfect home may not be showing in the search. That’s why it is important to work with a Realtor® who knows the area or knows how to search the data to override the chance that some homes might be missed by a typical computer search.

As the saying goes …GIGO … garbage in, garbage out. Computers only work as well as the agent who input the data.

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Posted in Advertising, Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Home buying process, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Internet, Sellers

Tagged Internet search for homes for sale

I’m now on Facebook.

Posted on 10/14/2009 | Leave a comment

I have resisted having a Facebook page. There I said it!

I’m on LinkedIN and enjoy it for the professional contacts. I tweet on Twitter and find it beneficial because I primarily use it for a news feed and like knowing what’s going on in the world as well as locally. (I don’t do the I’m having coffee or I’ve got a headache folks.) I have this blog as well as my photoblog to primarily share real estate info and area photos with you who choose to read.

But I resisted Facebook. At least I tried to resist.

One of my daughters set up a Facebook account, plus I’ve had some clients ask why I don’t have one. So after several months, I finally caved!

Unlike this blog – which is open for the world to see – I’m planning to keep my Facebook account “closer to the vest” so that I can share more personal info with family, friends, clients, and neighbors. I’ve already found some “old” classmates that I haven’t seen for ___ years. (not sharing how “old”)

Yesterday I chatted with my daughter via IM which took less time than email or a phone call, using the Facebook chat feature. Have you heard that email is becoming obsolete? Yep, I read that on Twitter from the WSJ. It’s a new world of communication. I’m not sure it’s better, but it’s the way it is now. As one of my oldest granddaughter’s friends said about me, “I’m a COOL grandma”.

Can I add “COOL GRANDMA” to my list of credentials?

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Posted in Commentary, Humor, Internet, Technology

Tagged Facebook

Talk, Talk, Talk … Text, Text, Text … just not FTF*

Posted on 08/21/2009 | Leave a comment

Are you tired of hearing the term “social media“? If you don’t participate, you probably are. I DO participate and even I’m a little tired of the term. IMO, it’s really a misnomer as it can be anything BUT social.

People sit in meetings or restaurants with their head down – thumbs flying on their smart phone - totally oblivious to the REAL people around them. As I’ve said before, I’m a chatterer. I was in the Verizon store earlier this week, talking to a young woman – also waiting – when she mentioned that she has “just a phone”. If you have “just a phone”, do you feel as though you have to apologize for being so “antiquated”?

Have you ever heard people refer to other people by their Twitter name rather than the name their parents gave them? (I’m @ReesesPeanut in case you don’t know.) Have you canceled your newspaper subscription because you get all your news online? Have you switched which TV news station you watch based on which one uses Twitter so you can comment to them in real time? If someone tells you something, have you ever responded with, “yes, I read that on Twitter yesterday“?

Are you making business connections on LinkedIn, perhaps hoping to land an opportunity for a new job? I recently coordinated a get-together of people I used to work with via LinkedIn. We had a lot of fun and it wasn’t a bunch of Gen X or Y’ers that attended. Have you heard that the fastest growing group on Facebook are women over 55?

Whether you’re into the social media thing or not, you should watch this YouTube video that’s been making the rounds on various blogs. Good or bad, the way we communicate has changed. What’s your thoughts on this change?