2009 revealed a lot of major events and technological breakthroughs for the Real Estate Industry, so we wanted to wrap up the year by highlighting some of the key players of the past 12 months. While there were many to chose from, we decided to focus on search functions since it’s such a huge part of what we do, but please feel free to comment with other events you deem important for our industry as well. As always, we welcome your thoughts!

February, 2009 – Duplicate Content Solutions: We started this year with Google pushing the duplicate content issues further into the limelight. Although the previous year instilled the idea of an SEO “violation” with duplicate content, the announcement in February of the canonical link system was the first significant attempt to allow the site owner to create a solution. For real estate and, more importantly, the Enterprise platform, companies can now designate which “copy” of property information is considered the original and should be treated as the index-friendly version.

April, 2009 – Zillow iPhone application: Zillow announced earlier this year that they now have a free iPhone application for their customers. Users can now search for homes while filtering by price, beds, bath, etc. They also have the ability to save their searches, get notified when new homes come on the market, and many more options – all while on the move.  With so many iPhone applications out there, we really feel like Zillow had one of the best and worth noting. In our opinion, Zillow nailed it.

May, 2009 – Google as a Real Estate Search: In May, Google offered a Real Estate-specific search in their map search service. This data comes directly from Google Base, an outlet that we have been syndicating to for quite some time. The use of Google Base has led to search results in the “long tail” that hadn’t previously existed and the method of providing this data has completely bypassed the traditional system of optimization we use for content pages. (Normally, we would have to wait for a search bot/spider to visit the page, but this cuts out the middle man and provides just the pertinent information straight to the Google database.)

June, 2009 – Microsoft’s Bing: In June, Microsoft consolidated both its MSN and Live search engines with some major improvements (and a fantastic marketing campaign in the US). The most significant feature as it relates to Real Estate is the enhanced result page content. Unlike the information on a Google or Yahoo result pages, Bing provides the property description and details with a much higher level of accuracy. (Please note, randomly placing the word “stunning” or using all caps will not help us here or anywhere.)

July, 2009 – Sawbuck Realty announces partnership with local paper: Dallas newspaper company, A.H. Belo, joins forces with Sawbuck Realty by investing 2 million dollars into the real estate firm. The internet-based real estate brokerage firm joined Belo in hopes of increases content for the home listings section in The Dallas Morning News. Through the paper, customers will now have access to an extensive MLX database thus challenging other real estate companies in the area to now compete with the local paper.

October, 2009 – Google adds Real Estate to drop down search menu: This was another major move by Google and shows how much interest they have in the real estate space. Since Google added real estate listings to their mapping service earlier in the year and have been constantly working throughout the year updated the service to make things even easier for customers. Brokers need to be aware of these changes as well in order to better meet the needs of their clients.

November, 2009 – NAR Releases Realtors Property Resource (RPR): A wholly owned subsidiary of the National Association of Realtors, RPR will consist of 150 million properties making them a major source of public property information. With a plan to combine millions of property data records into one place, the database will be a resource for NAR members to add value for their customers.

November, 2009 – Google adds landing pages: Google has taken real estate searches to another level. Earlier in 2009, Google added the real estate overlay to Google Maps and now they are giving a page to every listing including property details, photos and more. This is essentially a listing details page that real estate companies offer on their websites.

December, 2009 – Coldwell Banker releases beta site: The beta launch of Coldwell Banker’s earlier this month included an interesting search platform. BlueScape allows customers who visit the site to view a variety of images in order to determine their ideal home. As the pictures flash across the screen, users click the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” button based off their personal preference. The result is a list of available homes around the country that match your likes. But, while we give kudos to Coldwell for trying something new, there is still a lot of needed improvement and we believe 2010 will bring major advancements in the area of lifestyle search.

As 2009 comes to a close, we are all very excited to see what is in store for us in 2010. It should prove to be a big year for the Real Estate Industry and the Enterprise Network is proud to be leading the way.

That’s right- “You’re watching orders placed on the Zappos.com website, from all over the United States, coming in and being mapped to the location the order is being shipped to, in real time.” Check it out here Zappos Map. This map pops up information bubbles with pictures of the shoes people are ordering and is solely based in the US and on the Zappos website.

Of a similar concept is another website with a social feature. At Thisnext.com people sign up to become members and help contribute product recommendations, get “personalized shopping suggestions” and rave about products they like.

On ThisNext’s interactive Watch People Shop map, as members find products they like an information bubble pops up with the name of the product and the website where to get it. One of the catchy features is the picture feed at the bottom of the page that keeps mini pics of each item that has popped up- in case you miss it and want more info.

Now what if we could apply this to Real Estate mapping…just think how many people would stare at your real estate site all day if you had an interactive map popping up with the properties the searchers are looking at.

Alfred Lin, the COO, CFO of Zappos.com will be speaking at the Inman Connect Conference this summer in San Fransisco. His Keynote on Building a Brand that Matters definitely peaks my interest. And who knows, maybe I’ll could bounce some interactive map ideas off of him.

For example, if you type in an address of a property that is for sale and a picture of a huge RV is blocking the home because at the time the Google van drove by your neighbor had an out of town visitor, you could upload new photos of the home without the obtrusion of the RV.  

Take a look for yourself and see what you find. Will you be looking into uploading your own photos?

The 4 Essentials

1. Phones- REALTOR® Magazine highly recommends smart-phones for Realtors on the go. The popularity of this phone reaches far beyond the real estate realm. Your customers too are using these devices. Did you know that Active Website offers Mobile Interface Technology for all of our Enterprise Network Members? This technology allows your customers to easily browse your website and your listings anytime , anywhere on their personal media devices.

2. Computers-  Not only are smart-phones being carried around but so are ultra-portable computers. Most real estate agents as well as customers are bringing their computers with them. Rapid expansion of wireless networks, compact sizing of laptops and dependability are spreading the use of laptop computers outside of the home and office. Make sure your website is readily available to these mobile customers with outstanding SEO Rankings. Did you know that Active Website guarantees first page search placement for all of our Enterprise Network Members? If you’re not popping up on the first page of Google or Yahoo, you’re not going to be viewed.

3. Cameras- We all know the difference a good camera makes in quality photos. Yet just as important as quality is quantity. Home buyers surfing the web for potential real estate want to see the house before they set up a viewing or attend an open house. Did you know with Active Website’s Individual Property Websites you can upload an unlimited number of property photos? Not only are you better serving the potential buyers on the web but you are also helping the SEO of the brokerage site, directing more leads to look at your listings.

4. Navigation- Whether built in the car or directed by phone, more Realtors and consumers alike are relying on navigation systems to get them around. With Active Website’s Mobile Interface Technology potential buyers can search your listings on the go. Our home search tool uses Google Maps, allowing buyers to get directions directly to your listed properties.

Tech Trends for 2009

1. Mapping- Just about every brokerage now incorporates mapping in their home searches. Many even have map based searches. REALTOR® Magazine projects that interactive displays of home and neighborhood information is the next step. Did you know that Active Website offers interactive map searching using Google Maps? Potential buyers can now search with a multi-polygon tool, choosing the areas they prefer; search by point of interests (perhaps schools or coffee shops) and when the property is pinpointed an information bubble appears with calls to action including contact the agent, set up a tour and print a properties detail page.
2. Virtual Tours- Sometimes consisting of still photos streamed together in a movie-like format and other times an actual video tour of a home, virtual tours are expected to expand into a more interactive media. Did you know Active Website offers Video Solutions with realtor branding and calls to action? Realtors can add their own captions, brand it to themselves or the brokerage and add calls to action including contacting them, setting up a tour, and emailing to a friend.
3. Social Networking- According to REALTOR® Magazine the online facet that Realtors struggle the most with is “connecting with consumers.” I agree that social networking is a great way to connect but with so many social media options out there it can be daunting to choose which ones and how to get involved. Did you know Active Website posted a 4 part series of blogs on creating a Social Network? Not only will Active Website provide you with technology tools but we will also take the time to teach you how to use tools on the web that can be beneficial for your professional development. Our annual Enterprise Conference is dedicated to giving you the steps to implementing the trendy tools of the year.
4. Text Messaging- It’s a popular trend among the “younger set” and is increasingly becoming the “preferred mode of correspondence.” While there isn’t a product for Texting, you will have to get that feature through your cell service provider, I can give you some advice. Don’t be afraid to text with a client you feel comfortable with. Texting is a much more informal mode of communication meant to speed up the conversation. Use this technology but use it wisely. Don’t text important and otherwise lengthy conversations. Instead save it for reminders about meeting times, locations, or changes to times and locations. Use it as a friend tool, a way of getting to know the customer, and not for the professional stuff like pricing, paperwork concerns or final words on anything. 

What I hope you realize by going through this list is that Active Website has all of your answers for moving into 2009 using all of the tech trends. We would love to chat about our product and services offered so feel free to drop us a note below.

If you want to read the REALTOR® Magazine article click here.

Our new Active Mapping solution lets people create lifestyle searches. After refining our technology over the last several months, our newest version includes all the typical and important property data, as well as Point of Interest results, but we have added some new twists.

Some of the features of the new Active Mapping release are the Polygon Tool which allows the user to easily draw search boundaries in any shape. The tool then plots the properties found within these specified limits. The user can enhance the search by applying POI and advanced search criteria to the Polygon Tool. The enhanced Point Of Interest Tool may include location of schools, grocery stores, and even Starbucks.

Adding a professionally produced and edited Active Video that showcases a property or introduces a potential client to an agent further enhances the search and provides the visual information that today’s buyer expects.

Sign up for our Newsletter to be notified of the official release of Active Mapping and to learn more about how Active Website is keeping the Real Estate industry abreast of Web 2.0.

Goto www.windermeretricities.com to experience Active’s new mapping technology.