In Jim Welsh’s June newsletter he offered the following synopsis of where we are heading in real estate.  I hope that he is wrong, but nevertheless believe it valuable enough to republish his thoughts.  He is offering his opinion based upon some pretty credible data sources.  Be sure to read the entire report to understand why he feels that “The combination of higher unemployment and underemployment, along with another round of mortgage resets will lead to another wave of foreclosures. This next wave will increasingly impact the mid to upper end of the price range.”

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Details are coming together for our fast approaching CMLS Conference in Lake Tahoe, Calif.  Check the Web site as agenda, event and sponsorships are continually updated.
 
Agenda Items:

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Coming Soon, Google Voice will be available.  The service has launched, but only available to a selected number of alpha users.  Google Voice is simple to understand.  Google will issue you a phone number.  You can give that phone number to anyone - friends, family, work - everyone.  Then Google Voice will allow you to configure your preferences for which of your phones rings depending on the caller, time of day, or however you like.  Google will either ring all of your phones at once, or ring different phones for different types of callers.  This will be great for real estate agents who rely on office phones, home phones and cell phones to stay connected to their business and personal lives all at the same time. The best news, is that you can consolidate all of your voice mail boxes into one! Click here to request an invitation. or click more to view the video.

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Reading agent conversations in the Real Town and Active Rain communities has suggested that many real estate agents may be at a crossroads in mobile technology.  Real Estate practitioners have embraced the Palm Treo for years because of a single unique feature - the ability to use the Treo’s Infra Red port to open GE Supra Lockboxes. Now that the Treo has outlived its useful life, what will be replacement?

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I reviewed a report today conducted by the Online Publishers Association in cooperation with web traffic analytic company comScore.

The report finds that display advertising on websites increases consumer engagement.  This may substantiate that Brokers may actually be able to convert more consumers on their websites if they offer advertising.  As a secondary benefit, brokers may also pick up a few extra dollars from advertisers.

Historically brokers have believed that advertising cheepens thier site, and have recoiled from the concept of selling online advertising.  Companies like Cyberhomes have developed ad networks that allow brokers to choose who advertises on the broker site, how much they pay, and even allow the broker to post their own ads.

Findings related to specific content sites:

• E-commerce spending by those visitors exposed to ads on OPA business news sites was 21% higher (a total of $334) than those exposed on the top 50 business sites.

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