October Viewpoints -What Type of Technology is Still Worth Investing In?

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RISMEDIA, Oct. 11, 2008-If there’s one thing smart brokers have learned over the course of the economic and housing market downturn it’s that they still need to spend-but smartly. Spending in the right places is key, say many Power Brokers, specifically in the realm of online marketing and advertising. Good investments in technology are still readily available. The problem is figuring out what the right spend is for your company. In this three-week Viewpoints series, three industry power players agree on one thing-the technology that brings information to the consumer is number one.

With so many brokers cutting back, what type of technology is still worth investing in?

Harnessing Powerful Consumer Trends

Laurie Keenan
President
Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc.
www.prudential.com/realestate

Significant consumer shifts continue to reshape the way the real estate industry conducts business. Today, the vast majority of real estate consumers begin their property searches on the Internet where they can canvass thousands of miles, hundreds of homes and dozens of neighborhoods in the span of a few hours-right from the comfort of home.

This trend assuredly will continue as consumers find less and less time in their busy schedules to shop for real estate, and as younger, more tech-enabled buyers enter the market. More significantly, the shift will continue because much of the content consumers are finding-from detailed property listings to local-market information and nifty real estate tools-is fresh, accurate and helpful.

Prudential Real Estate’s technology investment for 2008 and beyond harnesses this trend in several ways. For starters, we’ve formed marketing alliances with key real estate and search sites, such as Cyberhomes, FrontDoor, Google Base, Oodle and Propsmart, as well as with Trulia, Yahoo! Real Estate and Zillow, to place our affiliates’ listings in front of the millions who frequent these sites.

We’ve also invested in new, online tools and resources to help simplify consumers’ search for real estate information, and to further establish our brand as a trusted source for all home-ownership topics. These tools, which consumers access for free on www.prudential.com/realestate, include the Environmental Profile, the Property Profile and the Value Range Estimate.

Of course, we continue to invest in our proprietary Online Seller Advantage (OSA) and Online Buyer Advantage (OBA) systems, as they help to extend our affiliates’ reach, influence and customer service in any market environment.

OSA allows our affiliates to provide their sellers with ongoing e-mail communication and detailed reports on sellers’ listings, including buyers’ online search activity. OBA, which contains in a database most of the nation’s for-sale listings with comprehensive MLS data, delivers online home buyer and seller leads to our affiliates.

While most real estate consumers embrace the Web to launch their property searches, few complete their transactions without the consultation and guidance of knowledgeable sales professionals.

As always, those who are earning the lion’s share of listings-initiated online or otherwise-are applying their experience, local-market expertise, negotiation skills and enthusiasm to serve their customers.

Some things change and some things don’t.

In fact, searching for real estate and related information has emerged as one of the largest consumer-interest categories online. People are “Googling,” “clicking,” and filling “shopping carts” with virtual homes as a practical process of their American Dream. Yes, the home-shopper battle cry, “Honey, stop the car!” is giving way to, “Honey, slow your scroll!”

Next week, Brian Wildermuth, founder and president of SharperAgent weighs in, saying “With the large number of available solutions, and the necessity to reduce costs in today’s market, these selections are more critical than ever.”

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

To read more real estate tips and topics on RISMedia.com, see:

• Who in the World Should You Be Working With?
  5 Ways to Differentiate Yourself
  Must-Have Features to Maximize a Home’s Profit Potential