Realty World Northern California & Nevada

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A good friend and business associate recently turned me onto a new source of powerful information I thought was very interesting and fun to use.  It is a computational knowledge engine that is in its early but exciting stages of development.  This application is based upon natural language processing, which simply means you can compute massive mathematical computations by using simple language.  The site is http://www.wolframalpha.com/ .  However, I recommend watching the short presentation before using the application.

What can it do for us in real estate?  Well, it will calculate debt payments; give you the estimated value distribution of properties in an area; display histories of prices and medians with interactive graphs and just about anything you can verbalize into a mathematical sequence including internal rates, etc. Why would you not want cool stuff like that, especially if it’s that easy to use?

I thought it was interesting and certainly a different perspective to learn that I’ve been alive 18,244 hours.  Put your birthday in; your LDL level; find nutrient levels, etc…

I’ll wrap up by asking to watch this presentation. Even if you don’t use the site you should know about it.

And I always thought natural language processing was something humans did since the dawn of time…

A few weeks ago, we held our first Realty World conference of the year and the turnout was awesome, but I only wish our entire company had come because the speaker lineup was some of the best we’ve had in years, and the content couldn’t have been more important for today’s market. In particular, we were honored to have David Gibbons from Zillow come speak to us about how they operate and what their goal is within our industry. All I can say is that the conversation was lively between David and our members, and the real estate industry certainly has very mixed opinions about Zillow and what they do. However, the simple fact is, Zillow isn’t going anywhere, so how you handle the inevitable objection from your seller – “Zillow says my house is worth way more than your quoting” or this from a potential buyer – “Zillow says this house is worth way less than what your asking for it” will determine whether you close the deal. Here are two approaches you could take to overcome these objections… you decide which is best!

Approach One: Well Mr. Buyer/Seller, I have been a REALTOR for 20 years and know this market better than some Internet company from Seattle. I’m an expert in real estate, I’ve sold hundreds of homes during my career and Zillow doesn’t know anything about real estate, my market, or what this home is worth. There information is highly inaccurate, they don’t have access to my MLS, they’ve never set foot in this town, and don’t believe anything you see on that website.

Approach Two: Mr. Buyer/Seller, this is a great question you ask, in fact, here is a copy of the “Zestimate” that Zillow provides for your property so that we can review it together. In addition, I have some material that Zillow provides on their website, to help better understand what a “Zestimate” is, the accuracy of their information, and more importantly how they arrive at the valuation they provided for this particular property. BTW, Mr. Buyer/Seller, I’m glad your doing your own research and I think Zillow is a great starting point, but its important to note that Zillow is just a starting point as they state right here on their own documentation – “The Zestimate” (pronounced ZEST-ti-met, rhymes with estimate) home valuation is Zillow’s estimated market value, computed using a proprietary formula. It is not an appraisal. It is a starting point in determining a home’s value. The Zestimate is pulled from data; your real estate agent or appraiser physically inspects the home and takes special features, location, and market conditions into account. Variations in price also occur because of negotiating factors, closing costs, and timing of closing. We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement Zillow’s information by doing other research such as:

• Getting a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent
• Getting an appraisal from a professional appraiser
• Visiting the house (whenever possible)
• Creating your own estimate using the My Estimator home valuation tool

Personally speaking, I think the second approach will get you a lot farther, as it shows you’re an expert, because your also factoring in something that the buyer or seller did on their own and was important to them. You’re not afraid to confront the issue and more importantly, you’re not badmouthing someone, but simply “logically” overcoming an objection by using Zillow’s own documentation. This will help satisfy the buyer/seller because it’s coming from the very company that gave them the “Zestimate” to begin with, versus your own material.

Here is the link to Zillow’s documentation to help you overcome these objections in the future – http://www.zillow.com/wikipages/What-is-a-Zestimate/

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this subject as well.

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Since I was a kid, or as long as I can recall, I followed the airline and oil business because I was interested in the way they worked.  Those dynamics are not any different than any other business I learned as I grew older.  Eventually, the bastion of profitability wait on the many efficiencies software developers invented to fill a specific need. Airlines eliminated travel agents by bringing the ticket directly to you via software.  When was the last time you called a travel agent for a round trip ticket to Orange County?

The successful real estate agent today needs a systematic solution-based program that functions as the central nervous system of the marketing, sales and communication process.  To make selections of tasks based on data that is already uploaded for multipurpose uses is increasingly the central need and more agents are demanding that kind of power in real estate specific applications.  The trend turned movement and there is no sign of slowing down.

Every broker and associate in our company should make assessment of this business dynamic and how it can positively impact your bottom line.  I’m grateful to work with talented people that craft and create these types of applications for your benefit.  Sometimes we forget what we have invested in and we just need reminding.  We have easy to use tools for you to compete in the new world and the additional advantage you have is access to millions of dollars in software for a sub-fraction of the cost.

If you’re wondering why some of the associates you know are doing more business, chances are they are involved in these online systems.  They take advantage of online video training, integrated applications and web driven tools that are easy to use and make practical sense.  So, do yourself a favor and log on or call the corporate office and ask what we offer.  You’ll be amazed.