This post has been reprinted with the permission of: KCMBlog.com

The classic definition of what a home was worth has always been “what a reasonable buyer will pay a reasonable seller.”  That’s because MOST real estate transactions have historically involved reasonable people– people not under duress.  But today, with the enormous number of foreclosures, bank-owned property, strategic defaults, and short sales, all the reasonableness has vanished and duress reigns supreme.

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If you are a busy real estate agent who is constantly on the move and interested in getting the most out of your smartphone, we’ve found a mobile application that can make it easy for you and your clients to find your listings. Smarter Agent offers a mobile application that allows its users to search for real estate using their phones GPS capabilities, address, city or zip code. Smarter Agent offers a mobile phone application, fully branded with your name and logo. Smarter Agent also offers a feature called Call Routing, so all “Calls To See” will come directly to you!

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If you are interested in becoming a licensed Maine Real Estate Sales Agent and live in the York County area, you are in luck!

The Real Estate Learning Group is offering a blended Sales Agent Class starting on April 3rd, 2010. This course is the best of both worlds - flexibility for you with ample support from a top-notch instructor. It is a convenient way to complete the state-approved course that qualifies you to apply for a Maine real estate license. The course runs four weeks and allows you to complete an easy-to-follow training plan during the week in preparation for joining an instructor in the classroom on four Saturday mornings. To participate effectively in this course you will want access to high speed internet service.

Sign Up for the Class

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Just came across this neat email signature called Bojo, (www.emailideas.com). Bojo is an HTML based email signature with a slick design and advanced functionality, with specific signatures customized for the real estate industry. Bojo offers a free version of the email signature and a paid version which includes hosting and unlimited updates.

How to get started:
1. Visit www.emailideas.com
2. Choose your Industry -> Real Estate
3. Choose your Brokerage (All the major brokerages are listed)
4. Choose a design
5. Customize the tabs to include links to your website, lisitings, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
6. Upload your picture
7. Then click on Install Your FREE Bojo
8. It will then give you directions to install the Bojo into your current email client.

There you have it, another cool way to get attention in your emails and give potential clients a new way to find out more about your listings and you!

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If you are an avid Gmail user, you may have noticed a new tab, Buzz, alongside your Inbox, Sent, and Draft labels in the lefthand column. Buzz is essentially Google’s version of a Social Network.

According to Google, Google Buzz helps you start conversations about the things you find interesting. It allows you to post status updates, share photos and comment on other people’s activity. (If you have used FriendFeed, Google Buzz is very similar.) Google Buzz also has a nifty social integration tool, which allows you to link Google Buzz with your Twitter, Picasa, YouTube & Google Reader.

How can Google Buzz be helpful to Real Estate Agents?

Google Buzz can be especially valuable to real estate agents who primarily use Gmail as their main email address. Once you are signed into Gmail, Buzz automatically suggests that you begin to follow the contacts you already have in your Gmail contact list. If you have been using Gmail as a main email address, you could literally have hundreds of leads and clients in your contact list. By ‘following’ those contacts, you will be allowed to see and comment on their status updates, photo uploads and all other activity they share.

For more information on Google Buzz, check out these “5 Buzz Tips” from the Gmail Blog.

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There is still time to sign up for the FREE Efficiency Maine Certification Program Course being held in Brewer on Tuesday, February 23! The class is being held from 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM at Jeff’s Catering, 15 Littlefield Drive in Brewer.

As professionals in Maine’s real estate industry, we are in a position to point consumers to accurate information and resources provided by Efficiency Maine(administered by the Maine Public Utilities Commission). Your instructor Bill Childs is a certified building analyst with 20 years of experience in the construction and energy auditing fields. You will experience first hand how Bill conducts an energy audit using a blower door, infrared camera, and other tools of the trade. Upon completion of the class you will earn the designation of Efficiency Maine Real Estate Specialist.

If you are unable to make this course, click here to see a list of other available times and locations.

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Yesterday we showed you how to export your contact list out of Top Producer. Today, we’ll show you how to upload your contact database to Facebook and start connecting to past, current and potential clients.

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It’s Tech Tip Tuesday! In the past few weeks, I’ve worked with several new clients who are eager to get started in Social Media. Besides actually setting up the profiles, the next most important thing is adding friends and connecting to people you already have in your network. My recommendation to get started is to use the contacts in your existing email database. Since many of my clients use Top Producer, I thought it might be a good idea to give you instructions on how to export your contact database from Top Producer 8i into a CSV file so you can then use it to connect with your contacts in Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.

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Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Is this what you are doing with your real estate career? It’s a new year and you have new business goals, but how are you going to achieve those goals? Are you going to do the same things you did last year and hope that this year brings better rewards or are you committed to doing things differently this year? If you are (and we hope you are), we encourage you to join us in Portsmouth, NH on March 3, 2010 for a free preview class of the Real Estate Sales Advantage Course brought to you by The Real Estate Learning Group and The Dale Carnegie Institute.

The full eight week course starts on March 25th and is designed to help you increase your confidence, sharpen your skills, and have fun while you learn. Our past students have seen a dramatic +350% increase in their business as a result.

For more information check out this quick intro video about the Real Estate Sales Advantage class. Follow us on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

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Yesterday I came across this article about how to use social networks like LinkedIn & Facebook to increase lead conversion. As a Social Marketing Consultant, I’m always open to new ways to use these social networks in all facets of business. However, the method discussed in this article, seemed a little too aggressive for my taste.

The article suggests that once you receive a lead, that you attempt to locate the individual on Facebook or LinkedIn and send them a quick message saying something like:

Hi Robin,

I saw you were searching for Memphis homes on my real estate site. I wanted to connect with you personally and learn more about what you’re searching for and your needs.

Best
Realtor Bob

As a broker, I can see why one would use this approach, you want to immediately connect with this lead and strike while the iron is hot. As a buyer, however, I personally would be turned off…it seems a little stalker-ish and desperate to me. An agent would have to go out of his way to take my information, go to a social network (or many of them) and search my name, weed through the ones that share my name, find me, then send me a message? If I left my phone number or email, why wouldn’t he just contact me using one of those methods?

To further prove my point, the article goes on to say that the method gets a relatively low response rate, only 25% of leads accept a friend request on LinkedIn and 10-15% on Facebook.

What do you think? Is this desperate or an acceptable way to nurture your leads using Social Networking? Comment away!

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