Google has expanded their search strategy by adding in a new search option: Real Estate. As you may recall, Google first launched their property search solution by placing a quick search bar above the search results for key words like 'san francisco real estate.'  That search functionality was always demarked with the term 'beta' and now seems to have gone away.  We suspect that it may have deminished advertising revenues.  Here is a video demonstrating Google's new strategy.  Map based search and natural language search seem to be providing better results than typical form based searches - something to keep [...]

There was significant debate about the concept of Localism in Real Estate on the heals of our whitepaper on the topic.  The paper pointed out that a web strategy that links together hyperlocal websites with a central hub site will draw more traffic than a mega-portal.  Not content with being a sports colossus with broadcasts in 200 countries, ESPN is taking aim at hometown sports coverage, threatening one of the last strongholds of local newspapers and television stations.  And it is working! After a promising test run in Chicago, ESPN is adding local offshoots to three more cities. On Monday, ESPN, which [...]

Reprint:Updates to Google Voice By DAVID POGUE It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Google Voice. To refresh your memory, I quote myself: “Google Voice began life in 2005 as something called GrandCentral. It was intended to solve the headaches of having more than one phone number (home, work, cellphone and so on). GrandCentral’s grand solution was to offer you a new, single, unified phone number, in an area code of your choice. Whenever somebody dialed your new uni-number, all of your phones rang at once. (perfect for real estate agents) Continue reading… “No longer did people have [...]

Increased affordability, low mortgage rates motivating home buyers, according to C.A.R.s “2009 Survey of California Home Buyers” Quick Facts: · Share of first-time buyers rose to 38 percent in 2009, compared with 19 percent in 2008 · Forty-nine percent of all buyers purchased a home through a traditional market sale · Eighty-eight percent of traditional market sales were financed through fixed-rate mortgagesLOS ANGELES (July 7) Favorable home prices, record-low interest rates, and the belief that rates will rise in the near future were the primary motivators leading home buyers to purchase in 2009 compared with last year, according to the [...]

Our end of the month client financial reviews were hopeful for the first time this year.  June seems like it turned out to be the best month of the year for brokers, and sales are ahead of cancellations for most of our technology clients.  Hip Hip Hooray! Nevertheless, this coming winter may be tougher than last winter, so build reserves.  We advise keeping these six covenents in mind as you plan the balance of your year. Hold Cash - Be sure to have enough cash on hand to cover cash flow shortfalls between November 2009 to March 2010. Continue to [...]

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.” […]