Archive for the 'Technology' category
Trulia tries to connect agents with referrals via Facebook
sited from Housing Wire
Real estate data firm Trulia launched its Social Search function this week to digitize word-of-mouth referrals for agents using Facebook.
The platform allows customers to endorse an agent through the Trulia website and their Facebook page.
The endorsements then turn up as a personalized list of recommended agents for customers searching Trulia's agent directory.
The system publishes the recommendations through the agent's Trulia profile, the customer's Facebook page and through Facebook news feeds linked to those customers.
"Real estate professionals have long since cited word-of-mouth and referrals as one of their primary sources of business," said Georg Gerstenfeld, Trulia senior vice president of business services. "Trulia Social Search provides a more efficient way for agents to receive digital referrals from their clients, maximizing their reach with each recommendation they receive."
Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia, said "consumers prefer endorsements from a family member or a friend over anonymous reviews or ratings."
Array of online search tools, apps, open wealth of real estate information
sited from Boston.com
It’s second nature for many consumers to research any big-ticket purchase online before they pony up their hard-earned money. So why should buying a house be any different?
Well, it isn’t. Online real estate listings have been common for years, but now an array of search tools and smartphone apps let buyers tap into a wealth of information on the fly. continue article...
Groupon, other big 'group buy' sites slow to embrace real estate
sited from Inman News
Real estate agents and brokers who are eager to use popular "group buy" platforms like Groupon to land new clients are finding that some of the bigger names in the business aren't nearly as enthusiastic about working with them.
After approving the first "real estate Groupon" in April -- an offer by Chicago-based Dream Town Realty of $1,000 cash back at closing that was snatched up by more than 200 buyers -- Groupon put the brakes on plans by a Manhattan-based brokerage to offer a similar deal in May, and has yet to green-light another. continue article...
The New Product Placement
sited from Yahoo Finance
When the history of advertising in the 21st century is written, one gimmick from a little-known advertising group named Adzookie will likely come to be viewed as a watershed moment when the traditional notion of ad space was upended in favor of a new form of product placement.
In early April, Adzookie, a local advertising company based in Orange, Calif., presented homeowners with an extreme promotion: if they would agree to have a temporary Adzookie advertisement painted on the side of their house, the company would pay for their mortgage for each month the ad stays up, plus it will cover the cost of painting the ad and repainting the house afterwards. It was a promotion that seemed tailor-made to grab headlines (and it did), but how many homeowners actually could be desperate enough to transform their home-sweet-home into a neighborhood billboard? continue article...
An iPhone App for Homebuyers
sited from Main Street.com
The iPhone is off the hook, with 40 million users at the end of 2009, according to Apple.
A big reason why is the number of useful applications that iPhone users can download at the touch of a finger.
For users in the market for a home, one new iPhone app promises to make the process of looking for a new house much easier.
It’s called the Realtor.com “Home Search” iPhone App, and it leverages GPS technology to give users direct access to 4 million homes nationwide, with new listings updated every 15 minutes. continue article...
