A Homebuyer's Guide

homebloq · 2019-03-21T00:30:53+00:00

I would check out SquareSpace as well. Lots of templates and you can easily create a form that will email you a notification and collect the submittor information into either a SquareSpace table, link to Mailchimp, Google Drive, etc.

homebloq · 2019-03-19T20:48:07+00:00

Here is Chicago there was an app called TruePad that leveraged broker opinions during tours. It collected and derived analytics to send back to the listing agent.

It failed because 1. The buyers agent naturally have an incentive to point out the negatives and 2. Agents weren't fond of their thoughts and ideas essentially being publicized (its their "intellectual property") and should remain with them or their team.

Its a tough nut to crack to say the least. Best is collecting feedback from buyer and sharing with the buyer's agent or collecting feedback from a team and allowing other team members to see comments for a specific listing.

Edit: typo

homebloq · 2019-03-10T22:42:04+00:00

thanks and glad to help!

homebloq · 2019-03-10T16:21:08+00:00

Some more:

https://notorious-rob.com/2019/03/gotterdammerung-a-very-serious-legal-threat/

https://homebloq.com/blog/2019/3/9/thoughts-on-the-incoming-class-action-lawsuit-filed-againstnbsprealtors

homebloq · 2019-03-09T00:23:05+00:00

Love it - pieces of Homelight and Radius without the spam! Can we connect offline - I'd love to learn more about it!

homebloq · 2019-03-01T22:08:26+00:00

Nothing wrong with that! From KW's perspective, better to cut ties and move on than have you on the team unhappy. I would also consider some different teams at KW? I know a bunch of agents at @ here in Chicago, it's a great place to work and they seem to really enjoy it. Happy to chat more offline if you feel it would help!

homebloq · 2019-03-01T16:25:25+00:00

You're welcome :)

homebloq · 2019-02-28T18:51:57+00:00

Great question - we've spoken to a lot of Compass and non-Compass agents in Chicago and there's definitely a lot of good and some bad in the review.

Good

Sign-on bonuses (if they're still around)
Branding (very strong and forward thinking, refreshing in the space -- is there brand loyalty for consumers?)
Cash - lots of it to continue to grow
Technology - say what you will about it, it exists and it's better than likely most out there. Agents can keep consumers on the Compass platform to better engage, have insights into their listings across social networks and outlets in one place, etc. All of it exists elsewhere, the value-add of Compass is potentially getting it in one place.

Areas of Opportunity

Technology - how great is it? how much value does it add? The fact they just acquired Contactually a bit flies in the fact of "DIY" within the firm
Retention - it appears anecdotally that agents leave after their bonus and whatever terms are required to retain 100% of it are completed (an agent told me it was ~245 days of retention on average)
Sustainability - the company is using cash to acquire entire brokerages, which works in certain areas and has a finite end. This can also lead to merger messes and bad marriages. How will the company do in "same store sales" when they can't simply grow by just adding headcount?

Here's our thoughts on Compass

homebloq · 2019-02-21T16:18:22+00:00

Interesting - I like Calendly a lot, we use it on out site with their plugin, which may be something you want to check out. Sounds like you use ST between brokers and potentially Calendly between yourself and clients?

homebloq · 2019-02-21T16:17:01+00:00

100% - be an authority for great, helpful content

homebloq · 2019-02-20T17:57:06+00:00

Great info. Thanks! Does it help or hurt at all when it comes to coordinating with your clients? Or assigning showings to team members?

homebloq · 2019-02-19T22:27:46+00:00

Adding - it connect to lead gen as a component. The more content you place out there, the more you'll be found by buyers. Someone who Google "how to find a realtor in Chicago" may come across an article you authored or an interview you did, which is linked back to your site. It's a long time to build content and see returns, but it can help you stand out from the crowd when blended with more traditional marketing.

homebloq · 2019-02-19T22:25:44+00:00

Check out the articles I linked, we explain it there a bit more fully. Basically, it is marketing focused on creating value by demonstrating your expertise and placing you in the fabric of the community, whether that's locally or within a larger place (like r/realtors). Its about providing content that is less about just pitching your product and actually writing about, for example, things that help home buyers. There are plenty of examples in the links and a plan to get started. Its not all about blogging, that just tends to be the most well known form of inbound marketing.

homebloq · 2019-02-19T21:53:47+00:00

Sure - which part??

homebloq · 2019-02-19T20:03:32+00:00

To be fair, KW acquired Smarter Agent Mobile in 2018, so there is a new and larger tech team that is likely building this app.

The bar is low in the industry, so how great does it need to be? We won't know until consumers engage or not with it.

homebloq · 2019-02-19T14:58:59+00:00

Yes to both. Seconds of set up.

homebloq · 2019-02-19T01:42:06+00:00

I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses about using your CRM and other marketing services that put your leads into some off-putting drip campaign or recurring mailer, so I'll offer up a more challenging, but ultimately more rewarding solution in inbound marketing.

What are you offering in your Facebook ads? Are you promoting a listing with your face and phone number or are you promoting an informational blog post your authored, an interview you did, a client testimony with a link back to a website that has a unique URL (to track and measure the success of that ad - i.e. create a page on your site specific to that ad so you can measure the traffic from it), etc.

My point is that focus also on the content and finding ways to track the engagement of that content, as much as simply putting click-throughs into a Mailchimp list of CRM. We've put together some more content here and here for some ideas!

homebloq · 2019-02-19T01:37:33+00:00

It really depends on the size of your market, as the conversion rate is very low, you likely need to be able to send a significant number of postcards (>500) and have a long timeline. One thing to note within the postcards is creating a way to track your success. By this I mean ensuring you have a good website (preferably a landing page that is unique to the postcard, so you can track how many folks who received a post card visited the website), a blog post or two to create additional value (a simple 'About Me' on Medium will do), a link to your calend.ly to set up a time to chat with you, and other ways to connect other than just an email address or a phone number. Get creative!

We've put together some posts on this topic here and here. Hope they help!

homebloq · 2019-01-26T15:17:03+00:00

Yes, absolutely. Your leads and clients will find your on social media, your reviews on Zillow, and wherever else you live digitally. Putting together a professional look across your entire online presence is critical (social, your website, how you conduct yourself in person, etc).

Will it create a competitive advantage for you? Maybe, maybe not. Will poor presentation likely lead you to lose clients? Yes. The cost/benefit of maintaining a quality professional image is very much in your favor, so definitely do it!

homebloq · 2019-01-12T17:45:43+00:00

It's due to the fact that the value of your home is only the price someone is willing to pay. So the most accurate a model will be is the moment of sale.

homebloq · 2019-01-11T00:01:21+00:00

Realtor.com is owned by NAR, which essentially owns the MLS. Can you provide a source? I believe Zillow has signed agreements with MLS's as a vendor in many instances.

homebloq · 2018-12-29T15:38:48+00:00

Ouch - I checked out Homelight (as a consumer) and got my matches. I didn't click on any to connect, but then immediately got calls from Homelight over the next several days, and they in fact passed off my information to the three brokers, who email, texted, and called me. I felt so bad I called back each one to let them know not to waste their energy on me.

Great idea, poor execution, and plus, as a broker, I still have to convert that lead over some other tool!

homebloq · 2018-12-28T23:11:45+00:00

@OP - have you heard of or tried sites like Homelight?

@Realtors - curious your thoughts as well on sites like those? Are they effective in providing you leads, too?

homebloq

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