"Realty" Shows Coming Your Way Soon: ZipRealty and Reply.com
A story in the WSJ describes a new breed of reality realty marketing (yes, it's a bad play on words), as the masses just got a voice in the marketing of homes.
ZipRealty.com and Reply.com are two sites that hope to bring a social media component to how you buy your homes.
The basic premise is house-buyers now have a free forum to rate houses on the market, all without the "gushy marketing" of real estate agents desperate for a commission, or homeowners trying to sell properties without letting the flaws be known.
The agents are of course, crying foul over comments left on the site, citing the concerns that buyers wanting to drive down the value of the house, or competitors trying to sell their houses will leave nasty comments, but the truth will be let out, and ZipRealty monitors the comments, kicking out the silly and the slanderous ones (examples on their blog).
This was coming - but no one should be surprised. Real Estate agents are one of the fastest growing segments of business blogging, and anyone with a decent sized blog attempting to sell their house has an advantage in terms of showing off the neighborhood, embedding videos, and suggesting prices (all SEO-friendly activities).
The broader trend is that of information seeping to the surface. Every home has flaws, but until now, that information has been kept secret by homeowners and agents. That's not illegal, but no one is required to tell you that once a month, the neighbors hold a party that leaves trash in the street for a week. No one is required to talk about the neighbor who mows their grass at 6 a.m. on Fridays, or the teenagers who camp out in front of the house every day until the parents come home.
That information will, in some ways, start to creep out about neighborhoods, bringing a more realistic picture to the home-buying process. Somewhat.
One thing to remember is that anonymous opinions hold little weight on the internet. Too much astroturfing is going on for people to believe everything they read, and the people who hold the best information (neighbors and the sellers), both have a motive to keep quiet. The neighbor who spills the beans about the poor quality of a house or neighborhood has to one day sell their own house. Complaining about someone's house brings down property values, and that can have an impact on your own home.
When all is said and done, I would say that websites that provide reviews are net-positives, but if you're really worried about selling your house - start your own blog. The best way to counter negative press is with positive press.
ZipRealty.com and Reply.com are two sites that hope to bring a social media component to how you buy your homes.
The basic premise is house-buyers now have a free forum to rate houses on the market, all without the "gushy marketing" of real estate agents desperate for a commission, or homeowners trying to sell properties without letting the flaws be known.
The agents are of course, crying foul over comments left on the site, citing the concerns that buyers wanting to drive down the value of the house, or competitors trying to sell their houses will leave nasty comments, but the truth will be let out, and ZipRealty monitors the comments, kicking out the silly and the slanderous ones (examples on their blog).
This was coming - but no one should be surprised. Real Estate agents are one of the fastest growing segments of business blogging, and anyone with a decent sized blog attempting to sell their house has an advantage in terms of showing off the neighborhood, embedding videos, and suggesting prices (all SEO-friendly activities).
The broader trend is that of information seeping to the surface. Every home has flaws, but until now, that information has been kept secret by homeowners and agents. That's not illegal, but no one is required to tell you that once a month, the neighbors hold a party that leaves trash in the street for a week. No one is required to talk about the neighbor who mows their grass at 6 a.m. on Fridays, or the teenagers who camp out in front of the house every day until the parents come home.
That information will, in some ways, start to creep out about neighborhoods, bringing a more realistic picture to the home-buying process. Somewhat.
One thing to remember is that anonymous opinions hold little weight on the internet. Too much astroturfing is going on for people to believe everything they read, and the people who hold the best information (neighbors and the sellers), both have a motive to keep quiet. The neighbor who spills the beans about the poor quality of a house or neighborhood has to one day sell their own house. Complaining about someone's house brings down property values, and that can have an impact on your own home.
When all is said and done, I would say that websites that provide reviews are net-positives, but if you're really worried about selling your house - start your own blog. The best way to counter negative press is with positive press.
posted by James Durbin @ 5:33 AM PERMALINK
2 Comments:
I had an inquiry from someone about a similar project (it didn't go through). It was actually meant to be a database so people could specify what they wanted in an agent (commission wise, feature wise, etc) and in turn, agents could 'reply' if they were willing to meet the quota specified by the user.
I think real estate is one of those professions dramatically changing, at least partly because of the Internet. I anticipate we'll see increased competition in terms of commission structures and more people taking the plunge to sell their homes themselves. The Internet gives so much information on how to do that in a viable manner (though not all the information is easy to find...hmmm...maybe I should start a site ;) ). I forsee that realtors will need to shift their thinking and marketing approaches to meet these changes head on and still compete.
Although we do not personally use realtors, I was impressed by one in our town who has a blog on blogspot. She updates it at least once a week and offers a fair amount of good, free information and market commentary. In my mind, it makes her both more approachable AND more trustworthy as a realtor--she's using her blog in a really smart way to help grow her business, reputation and exposure.
Hi, James, one thing that I find incorrect in your comments, at least as it applies to California real estate agents, is about information being kept secret by home owners and agents. Our paperwork includes disclosure forms that tell if there is any type of problem or nuisance that the new owner needs to be aware of. Anything that the agent or home owner knows *must* be revealed. And the more we can tell our buying clients, the better they will go into a transaction with their eyes open instead of leading with their hearts when they find a home they just have to have. It makes for a better business relationship and more referrals from a satisfied buyer. And if it saves law suits against sellers, I think it's a good thing. Maybe more states should consider using these forms with their contracts.
Lynne Mc
central California
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