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Real Estate Agents Streamline Tasks with Word 2007
By Reggie · July 28, 2007 · 2 Comments
For example, say that in your Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) you consistently add many of the same components to your presentation such as your resume, company overview, pricing charts, marketing checklist and disclaimers. Rather that saving all of these items to one file, you can use building blocks to add each specific item to your presentation with the click of a mouse. Easily letting you pick and choose what to include and omit in your next presentation.
Do I have your interest peaked? Here are the steps to start taking advantage of this hot technology in Microsoft Word 2007.
- Open or type the content you would like to reuse, and highlight it.
- Select the Insert tab, and then locate the Text grouping.
- Select the arrow on the Quick Parts button.
- Select Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery.
- The Create New Building Block window appears.
- Name: Name your quick part.
- Gallery: Choose the Gallery to store the item.
- Category: Choose your category. I recommend creating a category for real estate.
- Description: Type a description for the building block.
- Save In: I recommend keeping the default Word location.
- Options: Choose to insert only the text, text as new paragraph or text on its own page.
- Open a new or existing document.
- Click Insert tab, and then click the Quick Parts button.
- Click on the desired Quick Part to add to the document where the cursor is placed.
- Repeat as necessary.
Are you still not sure how this technology works? Watch this quick video for more info.
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Tags: real estate agent, Microsoft, technology, Charts, YouTube, real estate agents
New Email Stationery Technology for Real Estate Agents
By Reggie · July 6, 2007 · 8 Comments
The email stationery technology became largely popular because of Microsoft Outlook support. However the challenge has always been that if you send emails from a blackberry, cell phone or other text email client you will not be able to take advantage of email stationery because of its HTML requirements. That is until now! inboxFX has created a very interesting web-based technology to tackle this very issue.
inboxFX, a Canadian company, has designed their technology to wrap their custom email stationery around your plain text email message after it’s been sent, but before it arrives in the recipients inbox. The inboxFX solution works in two ways. First you can choose to use the inboxFX SMTP mail server as your outgoing email server and it will automatically wrap your stationery immediately after you click the send button. However if you use Microsoft exchange technology, or would like to selectively choose who can see the email stationery, you may want to use their second option.
For this simplistic approach you can send to any email address and simply add “.inboxfx.com” to the end of the recipients email address. For example if I wanted to send my stationery to john@acme.com, I would send the email to john@acme.com.inboxfx.com and the template email stationery would be added before delivery. This solution will work with any email system…even from your MLS.
inboxFX pricing is volume-based, to see the pricing matrix click here. For a series of inboxFX email stationery examples, click here.
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Tags: real estate agent, blackberry, technology, Viral, real estate agents, MyTechOpinion
Using Video in Your Real Estate Business
By Reggie · May 26, 2007 · 6 Comments
Last year when Real Estate agents spoke about home tours online you could almost guarantee the tours were going to be compiled using a combination of still photos, stitched into a tour. (Photo Story etc.) Well that’s all changing as we predicted in November. Why are video tours and video presentations in Real Estate catching on? Well that’s mainly thanks to YouTube for making previous awkwardly large video files easy to share.
What else is it about video that’s so compelling? If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, what’s video worth…10,000 words? Video allows the interested party to get even more realistic imagery and hear audio which means less to read online. Video also convey’s emotion when produced correctly.
Now just because you have a video camera doesn’t mean you should start making your Real Estate video tours and video presentations for your website. You need to first address the idea of professionalism. You are not trying to film “The Blair Witch Project” you are a professional Real Estate agent trying to position yourself and the homes you represent as a wonderful opportunity for interested parties. To do that successfully, your video should have flow. If you are filming a house, bring your tripod to get smooth, level shots. Use well lit areas, and zoom-in for maximum impact. When these tools are used in the right combination, your Real Estate video will capture the essence of what you are trying to convey.
How do I get started?
Obviously, you will need a video camera, tripod and corresponding accessories for the actual video sessions. Also look into a microphone to attach onto your lapel. This will help remove the echo sometimes caused by using just the video recorders built-in microphone. Also pickup a lightweight, easy to collapse tripod.
In regards to video editing you will need a fairly powerful computer. Using an old PC will definitely test your patience. The right software is also important. If your price-point is FREE*, you are in luck Windows Movie Maker is a decent program. (*Free if you have a registered copy of Microsoft Windows) With Movie Maker importing video is a snap. You can easily add text, transitions and special effects. The result will produce good quality video for web display. For Real Estate agents using Microsoft Vista Premium or Ultimate you will also be able to burn high-quality DVD’s with Movie Maker HD.
If you are still on XP and are looking to create offline high-quality videos on CD, I recommend Adobe Premier Elements 3.0. This program has been a hit for years, and packs a ton of power from its big brother Adobe Premier Pro. Premier Elements is around $100 and now works with Windows Vista.
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Tags: YouTube, MyTechOpinion, Microsoft, real estate agent, real estate agents, real estate
Free mortgage calculators for your website
By Reggie · January 11, 2007 · 2 Comments
If your real estate website is one of the many consumer facing sites that still link to 3rd party mortgage calculators, you are in luck! NextStudent has recently unveiled 20 free, easy-to-use, plug-in-play mortgage calculators. NextStudent provide both ASP or PHP code to place on your site. If you are interested, take a look at their examples here.
NextStudent now provides the following calculators:
Affordability Calculator
Buy vs. Rent Calculator
Canadian Mortgage Calculator
How Much Income Do I Need to Qualify Calculator
Interest Only Calculator
Interest Only With Prepayment Calculator
Loan with Interest Only Period Calculator
Mortgage Length Calculator
Mortgage Payment Calculator
Mortgage Principal Calculator
Payment per Thousand Calculator
Second Loan vs. PMI Calculator
Should I Pay Points Calculator
Should I Refinance Calculator
Should I Use Heloc Calculator
Standard vs. Biweekly Calculator
Tax Benefits Calculator
What If I Pay More Calculator
What Is the Real APR Calculator
Which Loan is Better Calculator
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Create a Google Toolbar Button for Your Real Estate Blog
By Reggie · December 24, 2006 · Leave a Comment
Google’s Toolbar is very popular and they’ve made it easy to add your blog articles to your reader’s toolbar. All we need to do is make a custom button feeding off your RSS feed. This button not only makes visiting your blog easy with a one click shortcut, but it also itemizes your recent topics.
Start by opening notepad, and copy the code below into the new notepad document:
<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<custombuttons xmlns=”http://toolbar.google.com/custombuttons/”>
<button>
<site>http://www.YourSiteHere.com</site>
<title>Your Title Here</title>
<feed refresh-interval=”3800″>http://www.Site.com/feed.rss</feed>
<description>Enter your brief description here</description>
<icon mode=”base64″ type=”image/x-icon”>Insert base64 output here
</icon>
</button>
</custombuttons>
Now we need to make a few edits to customize the Google button for your blog.
Start by editing the bold areas of the code above:
- Replace http://www.YourSiteHere.com with your blogs URL.
- Replace Your Title Here with the title of your blog.
- Replace http://www. Site.com/feed.rss with the path to your RSS or ATOM feed. Keep in mind Google requires RSS 2.0 or Atom Feed 0.3/1.0 XML.
- Replace Enter your brief description here with a brief description of your blog. This description works like a tooltip, and pops out when a user moves their mouse over your button.
- Now you need to think about the icon you would like to use for the toolbar. (Hint: images with 24 bits of color –RGB work best.) Once you’ve identified the icon or picture you’ll use, click here to convert your image to base64. Then copy the code it produces, and paste it over the text the reads Insert base64 output here.
- Now its time to save the notepad document we’ve been modifying. Click “File” then “Save As.” Now give the file a friendly name and add .xml after the name. For example, I named my button MyTechOpinion.xml.
Great, you’ve customized everything you need for a working button. Now you can do a few things:
- Upload the xml file we just created to your server. (My Example: http://www.mytechopinion.com/google/MyTechOpinion.xml )
- Add a link on your blog that adds the button to your reader’s toolbar. Here is what the link should like: Add MyTechOpinion to Your Google Toolbar
- Submit it to Google’s Custom Button Gallery
To visit the Google Toolbar 4 API Documentation, click here.
To view the MyTechOpinion button and related Real Estate articles, click here
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Does your real estate website provider supply you with prewritten content?
By Reggie · December 19, 2006 · 6 Comments
Thanks to the Blog Swap RSS Pieces put together, Stephen Jagger of Ubertor is our guest today. Ubertor serves the real estate industry with agent and broker software. I would like to thank Stephen! Here is his post:
Stephen Jagger, Ubertor - Many of real estate website providers supply prewritten canned content on the web sites they sell to real estate agents. This canned content comes in many forms:
- Free Reports
- Top Tips
- Buying Tips
- Selling Tips
- plus much more…
Google says “we try hard to index and show pages with distinct information“.
What does that mean?
Canned content, generic content and content provided to you is not helping you… but actually hurting you.
Write your own Free Reports, Top 10 Tips, Sellers Bonus Material, etc… be courageous, be opinionated, take a risk, tell people what you think and be UNIQUE.
Google, Yahoo and MSN are looking for unique, quality content that they can provide to their users. Someone searching for Vancouver Real Estate is looking to find the best website about that topic. The search engines are looking to find that website (actually the top 10 under than term). To get your website to come up under the keyword term you are trying to target start by reviewing these points:
- Start Blogging
- Google likes sites of at least 100 pages and pages of 300-500 words/page
- Get rid of your canned content and write your own
- Write about the term you want to be found under
- Write about the term you want to be found under again
- Comment on other blogs that compliment your industry
- Use WordTracker.com or a service like it to view actual searchers searching for that term
- Engage your visitors, request comments, feedback, questions
- Keep your solds within your website - never delete or hide them
- Blog, Blog, Blog and then do it again
Blogging has proven to be the most effective way to gain exposure within the search engines.
The real key: Write for your readers - then review for the search engines! - not the other way around. Google’s mantra is “Be Good Not Evil” Bloggers’ mantra is “Write for your Reader, Good will follow”
Take a look at what the other real estate bloggers had to say that participated?
Transparent Real Estate’s Pat Kitano vs. Zillow’s Drew Meyers
RSS Pieces’ Mary McKnight vs. Future of Real Estate Marketing’s Joel Burslem
St Paul Real Estate Blog’s Teresa Boardman vs. Phoenix Real Estate Guy’s Jay Thompson
3 Ocean Real Estate’s Kevin Boer vs. SLC Real Estate’s Nigel Swaby
Issaquah Undressed’s Larry Cragun vs. Maury Properties’ Andrew Maury
Chicago Home Weblog’s Geno Petroche vs. NY Houses 4 Sales’ Christine Forgione
Jonathan Dalton’s Phoenix Arizona Real Estate Blog Jonathan Dalton vs. Bonnie Erickson’s Real Estate Snippets Bonnie Erickson
The boys of Sellsius vs. Real Estate Tomato’s Jim Cronin
ML Podcast’s Michael Price vs. FamousAgents.com’s Elise Wright
My Tech Opinion’s Reggie Nicolay vs. Ubertor’s Steve Jagger
Redfin’s Glenn Kelman vs Rain City’s Ardell DellaLoggia
CondoDomain’s Anthony Longo vs. miOaklandCounty’s Maureen Francis
The San Diego Home Blog’s Kris Berg vs. Urban Dig’s Noah Rosenblatt
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Tags: bloggers, dell, real estate agents, real estate marketing, Google, real estate agent
Pre-Listing with a Technology Twist
By Reggie · December 3, 2006 · 1 Comment
Okay, let’s talk tech. Start by visiting SinglePropertySites or Listing Producer minutes after scheduling your listing presentation. If you don’t have an account, create one for free. Use their tool to make a website devoted solely to the property. These companies do not charge a fee until you make the site “Live” with its own domain name (ex. 1122mainstreet.com). However they do have “free view” options. For example, SinglePropertySites will establish a temporary URL. Simply copy that web address into a template flyer promoting the service and you have a pre-listing dazzler!
Also briefly cover listing exposure; its a big topic these days. The seller wants to know that you have reach and access to buyers. Flex your technology muscles by briefly speaking about your means for promoting their home via the Internet. Include, but go beyond MLS, Realtor.com and Homes.com, use sites like Postlets to build and submit professional classified ads. Once you make the ad, Postlets will submit your listing to sites like Edgeio.com, Google Base, HotPads.com, Oodle.com, Propsmart.com and then you can copy the Postlets HTML for Craigslist.org, LiveDeal.com, and Backpage.com…I think you get the idea. It’s a highly effective way to blanket broadcast your listings for maximum exposure!
Why not also take this opportunity to build an online pre-listing presentation survey? This is a great opportunity to learn any concerns or fears the seller may have with listing their home. For example, the idea of showing times may be stressful to a household with children, or maybe it’s pricing in this changing market. Knowing these concerns before you meet will not only help you prepare, but it will allow you to tackle these issues with the seller head-on! If you are looking for a survey solution, try Survey Monkey or Zoomerang. You can also use these survey tools to make a questioner for the seller to ask other agents. Dirk Zeller’s talks about the idea here. He says “I always sent this to knock out at least half of the other interviewees. I
obviously knew the answers, but most of my competition had no idea.”
So all of the ideas are powerful, but remember that your pre-listing presentation is just an introduction. Make sure not to overwhelm the seller with too much information. You’re just trying to position yourself as the expert!
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Podcasts Demystified - Part 2
By Reggie · November 25, 2006 · 2 Comments
Ok, so in “Podcasts Demystified - Part 1” I talked about Podcasts and the brief history behind them. I also looked into how consumers find published Podcasts. So it seems logical that in Part 2 of this article I should look at how a Realtor would go about creating a Podcast?
Self Production
If you are on a tight budget, and would like to try producing your own Podcast you will need a few things. To start you’ll need a USB Headset Microphone, MP3 recorder, Web host & RSS Feed.
- Start by connecting your USB Headset microphone to your computer.
- Install a MP3 recorder. If you need one, try Audacity, a free software for recording and editing sounds. Use Audacity to record and save your message. Remember to make sure your audio adds value. For example, in Real Estate you may want to cover broad aspects of real estate and the economy, home buying and selling tips, and most importantly local market conditions.
- Upload your newly created MP3 to your Web host. (Try Podblaze if you need a free host)
- Now create a RSS feed. If you’re not sure how, try TD Scripts RSS Feed Generator or FeedForAll.
Professional Quality Production
To maximize the quality of your messaging I recommend the following route. One company that I’ve been watching is Real Pro Systems. They feature a product called “The Agent Webcast” that enables real estate agents to have a high quality audio production for their website. Real Pro Systems provides questions that emphasize the agent and their market. The agent simply answers the questions they’ve received from Real Pro Systems over the phone. The call is recorded and converted into a high quality production that has the feel for a live radio show. Click here to listen to a demo of “The Agent Webcast”.
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Tags: podcasts, real estate agent, podcasting, audacity, live radio show, local market
Podcasts Demystified - Part 1
By Reggie · November 25, 2006 · 1 Comment
I’ve started hearing a little buzz around Podcasting in the business world and I thought it would make a great article. I should start by defining Podcast. They are best known as digital media available via the Internet and accessible by RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and Atom feeds. These digital media files are growing in popularity because they’re available for playback on any computer or MP3 or video player—at anytime you wish. Yes, convenience is one reason why I believe this technology will steadily gain momentum in future years. I learned from Wikipedia that Ben Hammersley, a columnist for The Guardian, initially coined the term Podcasting in February of 2004.
Podcasts do differ from your normal audio file in that Podcasts can be downloaded automatically using software that reads RSS and Atom feeds. These software tools are commonly known as Media Aggregators. A popular media aggregator is Juice Receiver, free software licensed under the GPL. Juice Receiver is platform-independent, so it works on Windows, Mac and Linux. It also works with all MP3 players. Using Juice Receiver simply subscribe to the feed(s) that interest you and it will download the Podcasts to your computer automatically.
What are the best options for finding Podcasts? Of course, Podcasts can be accessed by simply stumbling onto a website with them, but often users search via directories and search engines. Directories group Podcasts by subject, category, and often they search by metadata provided by the owner/creator of the Podcast. These directories have grown in popularity, there are hundreds available. However, I find these helpful:
- Podcast.com: http://www.podcast.com
- PODCAST.net: http://www.podcast.net
- Yahoo! Podcasts: http://podcasts.yahoo.com (UPDATED: Oct. 31st 2007 Yahoo Podcast Closed)
- AOL Podcast Search: http://podcast.search.aol.com
- IndiePodder.org: http://www.ipodder.org
- Podblaze: http://www.podblaze.com
- PodcastingNews: http://www.podcastingnews.com
The challenge with searching Podcasts is that many engines simply rely on metadata since the audio itself is not stored in text. Podzinger has a unique approach to this challenge. Podzinger uses cutting edge speech recognition technology to search and index the full audio just like the major search engines search text. Stay tuned, in Podcasts Demystified - Part 2 I will look at a few different options available for creating Podcasts.
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Tags: social medium, podcasting, convenience, podcasts, audio recording software, microphone
