Heath Coker

"It's time for real estate to go nuts. Attack old models. Attack old ideas. Attack those systems that threaten your way of life and that of your customers." Maybe they can incorporate something like the "5 Monkeys" idea into a Jericho episode. Heath Coker, Broker Owner CapeGroup.com Cape Cod Real Estate REindex.com, The Site Engine(sm) For Listers, By a Lister, Free to Listers.

There are still media reports here in MA about how bad the market is. Your location, location comment may also be stated pricepoint, pricepoint. Some price ranges are busy and others are not. I believe it would be better reporting if the media stated where they got their data, and what the "search criteria" were. Stats can be fudged in any direction by what is ask for. Heath Coker, Broker Owner CapeGroup.com REindex.com, The Site Engine(sm)

What is the MLS monopoly that Kevin speaks of? FSBOs sell every day, half of the 3 million real estate licensees are not in any MLS. Kevin's new move into real estate from the domain registration business gives him an inexperienced understanding of the problem. Most techies think real estate is easy, because of course, all you have to do is put pictures all over the Internet and people will buy property. The problem is that homes are not like computers, tvs, e-books, or other things that the internet can be used to sell. Each property has a unique location. So unique that one house may have radon and the one next door may be clean. So unique that one may be waterfront with great views and access, and the one across the street has to go 5 miles to the public beach because it has no access to the water in it's neighbor's back yard. And the similar pictures of structures on street "A" don't indicate that house number "x" was completely renovated last year while house number "y" still has it's 20 year old original paint, floors and carpet. Real estate professionals are not resisting technology as Tim and Kevin exaggerate. And even loopnet will diminish in its usefulness as more and more commercial agents prefer to have their own websites found first. Many commercial investors are already beginning conversations with "I don't want you to call me with anything on LoopNet, I want to know what you have." Consider this, real estate agents ARE using technology and placing maps, value estimators, pictures, etc. on the pages of their own sites. Why do agents need other companies to screen their customers? The Internet has become Main Street and listing agents just want customers to surf into their online offices without interference. Agents are incorporating new technology into their sites every day, but interference is rampant. See the YouTube: www.YouTube.com/watch?v=Y6aYxzfTa_8 . MLS is intended for agents to communicate and it is intended to organize information. It is not intended to feed content and advertising to companies that don't list property. It is not intended to supply the content for sites that distract and misinform consumers. Boppo in "Foreign Country A" can make a website that distracts customers from real estate professionals' sites, because the real estate information source has become so diluted/fractured. It is a hobby in some foreign countries. Just this morning I had a customer I have been working with for a few months tell me a listing was still available because it was "on a site and shown as available". But that site is not updated and the property is actually under agreement in the true MLS. This is the fifth site this customer has been to with information that conflicted with the real listing in MLS. Most real estate surfers are now like first year agents - amazed at all there is to know once you get beyond the pictures. Helping people buy and sell real estate is actually a business. This is why so many new agents leave the industry - it takes work beyond putting pictures on a website and selling names, phone numbers, and advertising instead of property. I think the techies hope real estate agents fear technology, so the techs always push those sound bites. They also want consumers to think there is a "better" way to buy property because "techies understand technology and agents don't." In fact many techies just want consumers (both agents and non-agents) to be distracted by the technology the techies are actually selling. And, the magazines or news companies perpetuate this by pushing the agendas of the largest advertisers rather than facts and true information. Nuff said. Heath Coker, Broker Owner CapeGroup.com Cape Cod Real Estate REindex.com, The Site Engine(sm) Listing Agents' Sites