As we see with social networking, communication is commonly open, with rare opportunities for private communications of groups and teams to have online dialogue, collaboration, document sharing, and online meetings.

Enter center stage, Huddle.net

Groups & Teams
When we consider groups / teams of individuals, you really have two flavors.  (1) Homogeneous being that workgroup, like a brokerage or those involved in a real estate transaction whose final objective is reaching closing.  (2) Heterogeneous includes like-minded individuals, commonly in the same role/field sharing as a community (ActiveRain, RealTown, Zolve, RealSeekr).

Your Team
Whatever the purpose, your homegeneous team is out to meet objectives, collaborate, communicate, review / store documents...likely a very small community whose communication is meant to be private to those on the team; communication stored in an online repository and not buried in the inbox of team members.

Huddle.net
This online application has great potential and applicability to teams looking for workspaces online...as noted on their site:

"Huddle combines online collaboration, online project management and document sharing using social networking principles."

Personally speaking, it can fill the void many find in social networking, breaking off into teams and having the necessary online tools to conduct team activities.  Quick outline of features:

-- Unlimited users: Invite as many people as you need.

-- Discussions: Don’t ‘reply all’. Use Discussion forums to brainstorm ideas.

-- Document creation: Create and edit Word and Excel documents online.

-- Storage: Store, share and manage your files 1GB+.

-- Project alerts and notifications: Assign tasks, auto reminders and iCal integration.

-- Whiteboards: Or wiki, share ideas, comments, etc.

-- Document management: Automated versioning, audit trails and approval workflows.

-- Custom branding: Customize your dashboard, homepage, emails, own URL.

-- Notifications: Via dashboard, email, and RSS.

-- Online Meetings: Coming soon.

Please checkout Huddle.net

NAR's debut of the Green Designation highlights a way of life for many consumers who are conscience of the earth-friendly home.  Per Inman News...

"The Green Designation program offers instruction on building techniques that are less environmentally damaging, marketing to 'green" consumers', regulatory issues relating to environmental sustainability, potential cost savings for employing "green" features, and education on energy efficiency, air quality, and sustainable communities and land planning, among other topics, according to a course description."

For many REALTORS(r), green is a way of life, looking to practice in one's personal life and business endeavors.  Given the business of real estate, it's understood much of the transaction has gone online, especially efforts towards marketing of properties.  Many have considered reduction in newspaper ads and print flyers, just-listed cards, etc.

However, once offers are made and entered into contract, the paper trail becomes immense...originals printed, re-printed, paperwork faxed and re-faxed.  Brad Inman of Inman News once noted...

“For years, the real estate industry has pursued the grail of purely digital housing transactions in an effort to become faster, less expensive, more consumer-friendly, more accurate, and more flexible than the burdensome traditional approach, with its piles of paper and endless cycle of signatures.”

Transactions have become extremely complex and inclusive documentation of disclosures, agreements, inspections, title, escrow, home owners association, and financing are voluminous. In one market, as reported by the Center for Realtor® Technology (CRT), transactions can be as many as 41 documents totaling 200 up to 500 pages. The idea that a consumer can purchase a CD of these documents and successfully execute a transaction themselves is daunting.   

For many, the thinking behind a paperless transaction should involve just that, no paper.  Through electronic signatures, electronic forms, online transaction management, with facilitation via email, are the many elements better enable a paperless transaction (as close as you can get).  For now, get your feet wet and enable paperless activities where possible…especially using Online Transaction Management (OTM).

Can movement towards a paperless transaction establish a heightened, more “visual” awareness to the agent’s efforts; efforts that are worthy of praise and moreover, worthy of commission? Absolutely! Besides making life easier for yourself as an RE Professional, real estate technology on the web is highly visible, giving greater perception to what you bring to the table in terms of all-inclusive services.

The (a) Electronic Forms and (b) Online Transaction Management modules of the REW Certification look to engage the core, consumer-facing technologies towards a paperless transaction.  These types of technologies are not only streamlining business tasks, but are socially conscience of today's "Green" real estate professionals and consumers.

Interesting news from Zillow Reports:

"SEATTLE, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Months of government bailouts and stock market volatility brought Americans' perception of the values of their own homes closer to reality than it was last quarter, but surprisingly half of U.S. homeowners still believe their home is insulated from the nation's home value declines, according to the Zillow Q3 Homeowner Confidence Survey(1)." See source for full survey details.

TO: HOMEOWNERS

Many need to wake up and smell the coffee. Visit any online consumer website and click the option "show me only foreclosed homes" in your neighborhood.

For one, "checkbox options" of show me "foreclosed-only" or "short-sale-only", was not even on these consumer websites as readily found today, as they were a year ago.

Point #2, many could then walk outside and throw a stone at the result list of their foreclosed home search, as these foreclosed homes are everywhere. When sold, these are comparable sales that cause the demise of home values in that 10 mile radius.

Case-in-point. I'm looking at closing on a good home investment with purchase price of $159.9K today (good condition). It had once sold 5 years ago for $355K. Home values have declined, likely bottomed out in many areas.

TO AGENTS:

Given these survey results, would you even spend a second of your time working with a potential seller who has these perceptions of homes not losing value, with their present value likely "upside-down" compared to their current mortgage? Is it worth the energy? I do not have the answer to that.

I do know the gett'ns are good on foreclosed homes. There is a bracket of the population looking to invest in these good deals and should be included in your online marketing plan.

In pockets of the Phoenix area in Arizona, qualified buyers are readily beaten out by investors who have cash in-hand. Agents need to reconnect with those investors or make connections, in California who were a contact back in 2006.

2nd home buyers still exist and are strong than ever due to the bottom-out pricing seen. I've witnessed those who used VA loan first current home, home remains strong in value, then using remaining bonus entitlement of their VA to buy a second home at pennies on the dollar. These buyers are out there.

I do believe that it's not easy maintaining a client base where the majority (or even some) are traditional sellers who are not informed...not with these expectations that consumers have as reported by Zillow.

It's understood that many of today's homeowners reside in homes that have lost tens of thousands of dollars in equity and value during this economic downturn.

Inman News reported on a study of Upside-down borrowers locked into their homes. The study highlights that those who want to move, but can't, include those looking for:

-- Better School Systems

-- Job Opportunities

-- General Relocation Desires

Moving would entail a huge loss financially, as home-owners would have to make up the difference between current loan and what they could sell for. Thus many families nationwide are staying put.

What has gone under the radar are military homeowners, especially those military members who purchased homes between 2004-2007. These military members own homes that have loss huge amounts of value.

Regretfully, these individuals cannot "stay put", as many homeowners are doing, as shown by these recent studies. Rather, they must relocate their families due to orders to report to a new duty station...they have no choice, they must move.

Many military members are forced to rent their homes that are well-below the cost of the monthly mortgage, limiting their monthly cash-flow on living expenses in their new location. Or, they must sell the home, tapping into retirement funds to have available cash to "walk away" from the home, sell at a loss and maintain good credit.

These families cannot stay put, as the study concludes many homeowners are forced to do today. What we are seeing are military families put in a situation of immense financial burden as they cannot stay put...they have to move.

I'd be curious to see if government will begin programs to assist military families in these types of situations.

Occasionally you read an article or a comment, and it's so powerful that you can't hep but repost it.  I came across the following reader comment on Inman news on the Oct 2 guest perspective, "Opportunity street is still knocking."

"... Those real estate professionals who decide they are going to make the best of this situation and not complain about it and those who continually educate themselves on the newest trends, use the Internet to hone their networking and marketing skills, (and) do something different to stand out ahead the crowd will reap huge rewards as this market turns itself around, as they have already set the stage for success.

Whether you decide to specialize in short sales, foreclosures, investment properties or you chose to work closely with a mentor or a real estate trainer or real estate coach, the fact is you are chosing to DO something about it! You make your own success, and I totally agree you either put roadblocks in your way or you drive on through to that 'Street of Opportunity.'" --Peter Vekselman

This short two paragraph comment strikes the very core of the purpose and intent of the REAL ESTATE WEBOGRAPHER (REW) - that is if you want to better yourself, invest in yourself.

Recently featured in Inman News, Scott Einbinder wrote an excellent article, entitled "Death of the listing presentation", calling to attention the ineffectiveness of today's current listing presentations.

This article really hit home - sellers don't want to know every accolade you've earned, they don't want to be drowned with pretty graphs and a host of facts and figures, and they definitely don't need slide after slide of AVMs and CMAs they can easilly obtain on their own. All of these things are great, but 1 or 2 slides in an entire listing presentation would easilly suffice.

They want a plan - no - they want a detailed plan of how you intend to sell their home. Not a series of advertising actions, but a well laid out plan, including the services you will use, and how they jive with one another to create an overall marketing campaign.

Scott Einbinder thinks we should change the name of the process from a Listing Presentation to a Listing Education, and I couldn't agree more. RE agents need to educate their consumers on the services available, which ones they use, and how they are effective. It is this sort of presentation that will capture sellers and turn prospects into clients.

In 2005, the search for the perfect neighborhood took a backseat to simply finding a home.  In terms of new developments and new builds, "waiting lists" and "lottery systems" were common phrases.  For resales, same-day offers (sometimes in the double digits) was common-place.  In many cases, homes were selling so rapidly there wasn't even time to list them online (or even a need to do so).

Given the recent rise in volume of homes, the search for the perfect neighborhood or community is not paramount, but a definite sought after luxury for today's buyer.

INFORMATION SOUGHT AFTER
-- Census Data (crime, demographics, schools, etc) - The typical information any buyer would want to know.
-- Maps - Overlay of Neighborhood Data with Maps - Both topographical, satelite, and traditional street name views are available.
-- Google Street View - Be a "fly on the wall" and get a first person view of the "street" and immediate neighborhood on which a target property resides.
-- Agents owning a neighborhood - showcase and sponsorship of neighborhoods and zip codes for increased impressions on consumer websites.

CONSUMER SITES
Each of the following sites allow for neighborhood search capabilities combined with advanced map and view technology.
--> eppraisal.com - Allows for both a map view with street, aerial, and hybrid views, as well as a 3-dimensional "bird's eye" views.  "City Snapshots" (also when searching by zip code) is a service that allows consumers to browse: recent sales, market insights, schools, lifestyles, employment and find a real estate professional.
--> Trulia.com - 2-D, 3-D maps and now street view is common-place; along with "Stats & Trends" for a target zip code or city (market trends, homes for sale, schools, community info, Trulia Voices "feed" w/ Q&A on target community, and text box to get advice or ask questions).
--> RealEstate.com - Provides Street View capabilities combined with aerial views.
--> Zillow.com - Provides aerial maps of the surrounding areas including 3-dimensional "bird's eye" views. Zindex, their home valuation index, is the median Zestimate valuation for a given geographic area on a given day.
--> CyberHomes.com - Offers all of the previous viewing options plus icons embedded in the view application for information including points of interest and various other noteworthy local information.

AGENTS' WEBSITES
--> NeighborhoodScout - Allows for searches for senior communities, best schools, luxury communities, etc.  Incorporates various views as well as a host of neighborhood statistical information such as housing value range, school quality, crime rates, and much more.

CONCLUSIONS
From the comfort of the consumer's home, Neighborhood search has expanded, serving equal importance (if not more), than the sea of listings on the market.  Given Neighborhood Data, Earth / Sattelite Images of Neighborhoods, and even street view to examine "upkeep" by residents in a neighborhood (or lack their of given Home Owners Associations commonly needing to step up...consumers are becoming more savvy in researching neighborhood data on their own time.

One interesting thing about Web 2.0 is the enhancement of communication between real estate professional and consumers, establashing transparent dialogue that is also of interest to other potential clients.

When we think of communication such as blogs & email, this communication is asyncronous. This means it's not in real-time and dialogue occurs when you can get to it. In Web 2.0, realtime or syncronous communication is the next unchartered wave of the Web 2.0 ocean.

Chat tools could be effective as real-time communications, but there exists a problem of agents (or their assistants) being tied to a computer to chat in real-time.

WEBINARS & ONLINE MEETINGS
Many of you agents and brokers have attended a webinar to listen in on a new product your thinking of purchasing, or have attended a webinar for training of a product you have purchased.

(a) Use by Agents / Brokers
Given realtime communication, agents / brokers could hold online meetings w/ prospective buyers and sellers in their own marketplace. From a Web 2.0 perspective, online meetings still keep that "buffer" consumers enjoy online of not meeting someone in-person until they are ready to conduct business. These meetings could be "scheduled" during evenings when prospective clients can "sit in" from the comfort of their own home.

(b) What to Discuss
Listing Presentations and knowledge on the current market would play into such online presentations. You'd be surprised that you likely have all materials handy to create, for example, a Powerpoint presentation. You could have a series of online meetings targeted to niche consumers, i.e. "First Time HomeBuyers".

(c) Who'd Attend
Besides the agent and prospective consumers, mortgage brokers and even previous clients who can bring "testimonials" to the table, are ideas of who could attend. Having an assistant on hand to take notes, write down questions of consumers where time outside the meeting is required, is also a smart idea. As with any "meeting", a single person such as the agent or broker, must keep things moving and not let anyone person dominate the dialogue.

(d) Marketing Your Online Meetings
Besides your agent website and blog, direct marketing can be used where it makes sense. Consider holding informational webinars for the niche "First-time Home Buyers". You may want to develop flyers and target apartment complexes in your direct marketing, advertising your online meetings and webinars.

(e) Online Meeting Software
Tools like Yugma and Gotomeeting are great tools to assist in sharing your desktop w/ consumers, but also scheduling and pre-registering invites given different packages from such vendors.

In conclusion, Web 2.0 is about creating a dialogue with your current and prospective clients. Realtime chat is of great challenge. Online Meetings are a "scheduled" chat, can be visually stimulating, and inclusive of many prospects when done properly.

Recently, Stefan Swanepoel’s 2008 Real Estate Trends has been released, and cast light on some extremely interesting movements in the RE market. Although I haven't had a chance to read it myself yet, the future of REAL ESTATE MARKETING blog posted an extraodinary graph of how real estate has developed over the years pictured below.

What do I make of this graph? Well, overall, technology usage and adoption appears to be on the rise. Secondly, RE technology appears to becoming more and more specialized. In the late 90's up to the peak in 2000, the trend was most driven by large changes in the dynamics of the technology itself, that is until the (dare I say it?) DotCom fiasco.

It took redevelop of Web 1.0 and the introduction of Web 2.0 to spark user confidence in the market again. In the most recent years, the driving force behind the trend has shifted from large overhauls to the technology itself to better and more specific exploitations of the capabilities behind the technology. This is most evident at the end of 2007 with the graduation of Virtual Tours to Online Video.

From a graph like this, anyone can conclude that RE agents, brokers and assistants should have been (and if not, should start) investing in these technologies to stay on the cutting edge. However, like they say, hind sight is 20-20 - it's easy to judge when the noise of the real estate boom as died down. But now that we have the facts, why are some so resistant to education. I see professionals so quick to spend money on billboards, and park benches - maybe it's time to re-evaluate those expenditures. Maybe it's time to invest in the services being offered and not just the number of places advertised.

It could just turn around the market...

This week, InmanTV interviewed Keith Garner, the managing director of the National Institute of Realtors' Center for Realtor Technology, about upcoming technologies available for RE Professionals. The Center for Realtor Technology's mission is two-fold, (1) to educate real estate professionals on the technologies available today to make them more efficient and successful and (2) to provide a sounding board for real estate professionals to either build utilities they need or could use, or advise technology companies on technoology content real estate professionals need or would find beneficial.

As stated in the introduction of the REW Handbook ,"the CRT’s development of applications, published surveys and white papers on real estate technology highlights why they care about technology acceptance and adoption by Realtors®. Throughout this book and online courses found at Webographers.com, training content is written in the “spirit” of the lessons and best practices expressed by the Center of Realtor® Technology (CRT)".

In this short interview, Keith discusses what CRT is and what they do, weighs in on the usefulness of smart phones, with specific attention to the newly released iPhone and finally gives his take on what should be the real estate professional's "silver bullet".

Real Estate Video by - Real Estate Blogger