Category — Internet

I’m considering a smart phone upgrade. I’ve been using a G1 for almost two years, and it’s been good for me overall. After constant usage though, the battery is about to die, and frankly I think I’m ready for some new tech that will be a bit faster in the internet speed department. I use T-Mobile as my service provider and I’m strongly considering the new G2 phone since I’ve liked the G1 so much. The G1 was of course Google’s first phone unveiled under the Android umbrella.

The features on my current phone that have come in most handy for me while I’m on the road with my real estate appraisal business are: Google Maps, Google Voice, camera (it takes really great pictures actually),  preview of PDF documents, physical keyboard to quickly return emails and text messages to clients, tremendous Gmail integration, and apps for Facebook and Twitter. Oh, and let me state the obvious that the phone has worked very well and I’ve not had a problem with dropped calls. 

What type of phone are you using for business? Any suggestions for me? Also, what apps and functions have become essential for your business?

Last week a client invited me to speak to his office staff to help them understand how to build a successful blog for their real estate business. I was excited for the opportunity because it’s always nice to add value where I can. We talked about the relevance of using a blog as a tool to establish an online presence and why blogs are important. It was very practical too in that I set them up with usernames, and we even wrote a blog post on the spot. Learning should be experiential, right?  

I figured some of the content from my presentation might be useful to others, so I uploaded a 15-minute audio-video tutorial. Let me know what you think. 

If you work in the real estate field near Sacramento and I can help you sift through the world of blogging and building an online presence, let’s connect at 916.595.3735 or catch me on Facebook.

Any questions? What tips would you add to the mix?

People ask me sometimes what I think about websites like Zillow or Cyberhomes. In short, I don’t think computers do as good of a job appraising properties as real humans. Call me biased, but there are some things that real people can still do better than machines. However, though these websites cannot fully replace real estate appraisers, they do have a place to help gain a ballpark figure for a house (please take that with a grain of salt though because figures can still be way off). Additionally, I’m a fan of the multi-year trend graphs that Zillow produces.

The Sacramento Bee actually published an article last Friday about this very topic entitled Home Front: Appraisal sites on Net often fail to pin down accurate prices. The bottom line is that websites like Zillow seem to have greater accuracy in tract markets with ample sales, but even then they are only so good because they cannot sift through value indicators like condition, important neighborhood boundaries, upgrades, and a local appraiser’s knowledge of the market area.

I ran some test cases over recent work I have done and found the following:

- My house (tract): Zillow was 28% high / Cyberhomes was 24% high.
- Elk Grove house 2.0 acres: Zillow was 46% low / Cymberhomes had no value.
- Tract House in Davis: Cyberhomes was 4% high / Zillow was 2.5% high.
- Sacramento River property: Zillow was 40% low / Cymberhomes had no value.
- Tract House in Galt: Zillow was 9.5% high / Cyberhomes was 5.0% low.

What do you think of these websites? What do you think they’re useful for? Do me a favor and run your property by Zillow and/or Cyberhomes and let me know the results.

I’m very excited to announce that I started an audio component to the Sacramento Appraisal Blog. Well, I actually began doing some “podcasts” earlier this year, but things will really be taken to a whole different level now. WordPress just announced a “Post to Voice” technology a couple of days ago where you call a number, leave a message up to an hour in length, and that message posts instantly to your blog. This should be fun and handy for quick thoughts, interviews, and even recording things like a concert or seminar.

Since I self-host all my wordpress themes, I had to break down and get a free blog at www.wordpress.com since “Post to Voice” is only available there right now. The “audio” portion is linked up throughout my “full blog” here though, so it should be easy to sync together. Check out my brand new audio blog at www.SacramentoAppraiser.wordpress.com

I already put up three posts: Why I’m starting an audio blog, New 2010 property tax assessments (days away from being announced), and Bank-owned Properties and a Sense of Entitlement.

What other ways do you think a technology like this could be used? What are the pluses and minuses of audio vs. text?

This morning I enjoyed a business meeting at the Sheraton Grand in Downtown Sacramento that was largely focused on technology. This was a California Association of Realtors YPN meeting . It was nice to see a few Realtor friends, connect with some new faces, and be resourced with new Android phone apps I was not previously aware of. Check these out and let me know what you think.

Evernote: This app allows you to “create text notes, snap photos, and record audio.” It might be useful for snapping a quick photo of a business card and keeping it stored on file, a reminder to call someone, or maybe an audio note to not forget to pick up the pasta from the store on the way home.

Calendar Pad: I should have had this app already, but I never came across it. Calendar Pad is great because it syncs with my Google calendar, so I can very easily run my schedule no matter if I’m on my PC or Droid. Very nice.

COL Reminder: This app is great for remembering certain important details, whether a parking time, telephone call to make, appointment, etc… While the speaker at C.A.R. YPN was talking early this morning, I downloaded this app from the Android market and then put it into use to help me remember that my two-hour parking was going to expire at 9am. I like that I can make this app work for me by sending me a reminder anytime I want – a few minutes, an hour, or a few days from now.

Gist: I’m interested to test drive this app to see if it’ll work out for me. As explained on the app website, “You can now see complete business profiles for your contacts including updates from social networks like Facebook and Twitter, mentions in the news, and email correspondence across inboxes.” I’m not sold that this app will really fit my style, but what I do like is that if I want to keep up with what just a few friends or clients are doing on social media, I can make that happen with Gist. When you first join a social network, it’s easy to keep up, but then when you get a few hundred friends on Facebook and Twitter, it’s not too hard to lose track of certain people because they get lost in the haystack so speak. You can see a video for details.

What phone apps do you use for business and life? Have you come across any new really useful (or fun) apps lately?

There are marketers out there who call themselves gurus, specialists, experts, and even ninjas. I don’t have a huge problem with titles like this for the most part, but my sense is that if you’re going to use a title, you better be what you’re claiming.

There are so many voices to listen to when it comes to marketing our businesses, so it’s important to sift through what the ”gurus” are telling us. My sense is that good marketing is about being in touch with what is sincerely relevant for potential clients while also being true to your personal style of making a sale. There’s really little creativity in simply copying what others are doing, and the truth is that a winning formula for someone else may not be good for you anyway.    

Business is changing rapidly and technology (especially social media) is often challenging us to adapt our model for business and the way we connect with people. In this economy and internet-driven world, if we sit on the sidelines for too long and don’t adapt, we will no longer be relevant (just think of Blockbuster vs. Netflix vs. Red Box).

In short, be encouraged today to be yourself in business. Listen to what the marketing voices are saying, but do what makes sense for your clients and your personality. Take a small risk in coming days or weeks to get out there a bit more with your business.

By the way, what marketing voices or resources are you listening to?

A local Realtor called me yesterday asking if I had any resources to help her find the owner occupancy rates for a particular zip code in the Sacramento area. One of her investor clients needed more specific information about a neighborhood he is considering buying in.

Off the top of my head, I suggested the Census Bureau or maybe the Post Office or city websites (for free resources), but through the course of research and conversation with colleagues on the REAA forum, I now have a pretty good list to give to my Realtor contact. I figured this information might be useful to others, so here you go.

United States Census Bureau
Motovo “neighborhood” search (www.movoto.com)
Brainy Zip (www.brainyzip.com)
Neighborhood Scout (www.neighborhoodscout.com)
City Data (www.city-data.com)
Tax Records Search (www.realist.com) – paid service – available through MLS

Do you have any other resources to add? Comment below. Also, what other websites do you think investors or home owners should take a look at before making a purchase?

Check it out. I started a Facebook page for my business last week. My rationale for taking the plunge is threefold: 1) I like Facebook and I use it all the time; 2) Facebook is a ripe arena for conversation; 3) I want to make sure to be available and able to connect with others in this simple (free) way. Click the image below (or here) to visit the page.

You may wonder, “well, Ryan, you are so into social media, so why did it take you so long to create a Facebook page?” Honestly, I felt conflicted for a while, so I needed time to really think this through. Facebook is so personal, and I just didn’t want to be “that guy” who looked and sounded like he was marketing to his friends. This was really a philosophical hurdle that I needed to sift through over time before rolling out in confidence with a page. It just took a bit of time for me to ultimately feel comfortable enough that starting a page was the best move, and that it’s acceptable and non-spammy to have a page for business (well, non-spammy depending on how you use it of course). And by the way, I am not “that guy”.

Do you have a Facebook page? Why? Why not?

I wrote the other day about the importance of building an online business presence, and I was provoked further today about just how relevant social media truly is. It’s easy to think that newer mediums such as Twitter, Facebook, and blogging are a fad, but take a look at the Socialnomics video below (or here). I saw this today during a presentation by Chris Tellez at the Sacramento Association of Realtors YPC meeting.

What do you think? How does the video make you feel? Do stats like this bring pause about the way you do business or aim to do business in the future? 

I remember stumbling upon an episode of Jeopardy in the early 90s and seeing that they too had jumped on the “bandwagon” of the world wide web. Yes, even Jeopardy now had a website just like everyone else. Do you remember those days?

It’s wild to think that just 15 years ago the idea of the “world wide web” seemed to be on the fringe, but it’s now a very significant part of our lives. Consider how the world has changed in the past several years with the advent of things like smart phones, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google, and blogosphere. The web has opened up opportunities for us to communicate, do business, be more efficient, waste time, shop, date, read the news, share videos, meet people, etc…

If you are in business, the truth is that people want to reach you online. They hope to find your website, understand more about your company, and see what others are saying about you too. They may even wish to connect with you on Twitter or Facebook. I know it can sound overwhelming to someone who is not a social media convert, but don’t worry because you don’t have to be a tween techie guru to be successful online, and you can certainly take small steps to further develop your web presence over time. The key is to find what is going to work for you and your business and then incorporate a realistic and doable social media rhythm into your life. Ask yourself the question: What facet of the web or social media right now will help you further connect and build relationships with people? 

Why do I spend time thinking about this stuff? Because it’s the wave of the future that is now here. My goal in business is to provide a great product and be relevant, resourceful, and focused on relationships with people (both online and in person). Just yesterday a local home owner googled me and ordered a pre-listing real estate appraisal for his house in the Rosemont area of Sacramento. After this man perused my website, he called me to connect for business. That’s how it works these days in many cases, and I plan for this scenario to only increase over time as our society continues to embrace an online lifestyle.

What do you think of all this?

The yellow pages used to be the go-to source for information, but nowadays we use search engines. Whether in need of directions, movie times, or a solution to fixing a leaky faucet, we go online to find the answers.

This is true for personal matters and also for business. I know many people find my website and blog because they’re looking for information on the real estate market in Greater Sacramento or they’re maybe in need of appraisal services. In fact, seconds ago I returned a phone call from an out-of-state Realtor hoping to ask me a question about FHA appraisal standards. Or last week a home owner found me online and then hired me to do a retrospective appraisal on his property for his estate settlement. The stories go on and on like this. It’s just the way that business (and life) happens these days, and I am constantly amazed at how quickly we can come by good information. 

As a compliment to this post, I made a “search story” on YouTube. This is one of Google’s latest free and interesting gadgets. Have you made a “story” yet?

With all that being said, I’m glad you’re here. By the way, what did you type into a search engine to make your way over? If you end up having any questions about real estate or anything you see me mention on my site, let’s talk. I’m available for you at 916-595-3735 or ryan@LundquistCompany.com.

I’m very excited to announce the creation of a brand new real estate video website for the Greater Sacramento Region. I still have some things to tweak about the design and content, but overall the shell is ready to share with the world. Please have a look at www.SacramentoRealEstateTube.com and let me know what you think.

Sacramento Real Estate Tube is a place for consumers and agents to hear about the real estate market directly from local real estate professionals – by video. The goal is to have some conversation and provide videos that are resourceful, informative, and hopefully void of any used-car salesman vibe.

I only have about 15 videos up right now, and I hope to see that double in the next week. If you know someone in the Greater Sacramento Region who works in the real estate industry somehow, feel free to spread the word. This is a free service. There is no cost at all to post your videos.