This year Inman launched Agent Reboot instead of Blogger Connect so on Monday, July 12th I listened to the morning presenter at the San Francisco Hilton and then headed off to interact with friends at REBarCamp (an un-conference) held at Fort Mason in San Francisco.  This was my forth REBarCamp (second in San Francisco) and it was smaller than last year when there was not competition from Agent Reboot.  Nevertheless, assembled this year were some very well known voices in real estate blogging:  Jay Thompson, Ginger Wilcox, Kelly Koehler, Kris Berg, Heather Elias, Rob Hahn and Dale Chumley to name just a few.

Blogging is but one of a number of facinating topics discussed at Agent Reboot, REBarCamp and Inman Connect.  More on that later.  Here are some of my thoughts and gleaning from this past week specifically about the future of real estate blogging :

The Context- Joel Burslem’s (1000 Watt Consulting) July 9, 2010 blog post entitled The Death of The Real Estate Blog was the springboard for lively discussion among these REBarCamp rockstar bloggers.  The resounding consensus was that blogging is very alive and flourishing, although some of context is changing:

• Facebook and Twitter are getting more play because of their growing dominance.
• The ease of use of Facebook’s like button has resulted in not as many people now leaving comments or doing back-links compared with last year.
• Successful blogging is only one element of social media such as Facebook and even traditional marketing such as email and face-to-face meet ups.  Facebook (which is more for non-real estate social connections and entertainment) is collecting  lifestyle preferance data and will become a strong search player.
• Human aggregators are playing more than feed readers.

The Hub- For most of these successful blogging real estate agents, their blog is still the hub of their online social media strategy and they are getting most of their business from it. Real estate bloggers want to own their own content on a WordPress platform and use Facebook to drive visitors to their blog.  Some such as Derek Overby recognize that Facebook has become the hub where many people start their day.

CMS – Blogs are viewed as content management system rather than a lead generation systems.  Blogging real estate agents are using their blogs to connect and keep in contact with people they already know.

Connections- The best Realtor bloggers are trying to create connections with people not just to create business. Broadcast is one-way communication, but bloggers are skilled at encouraging two-way communication.  A good blogger is a good listener; I always love to hear from you! Blogs are good vehicles to communicate personality and humanize content.

Content – Content itself does not create connection. Content itself is not king in real estate blogging. Content does not automatically communicate personality. Using a culinary metaphor good real estate blogging is the difference between the special magic created by a chef like Bobby Flay and just food.

Content farms – Joel Burslem asserts that these are starting to gain better optimized search engine results for the biggest websites; but I think they may not be effective in generating real connections. Interesting writing and content will generate readers; canned content will not. Keyword packed content may get SEO ranking, but it will not yield desired results. Blogging is not a mercenary activity!  Many bloggers at REBarCamp stated they would continue to blog even if it did not result in immediate business.  Not every blogger has the talent to attract readers, but those who do will create loyal fans.  The message must be right for our readers not just for Google.

Community – The homebuying process is all about choosing neighborhood and community before choosing a house. First homebuyers drive around and select neighborhoods they like and then buy the best house you can afford there. The community connections communicated in a blog are important – mom and pop and the intangibles of community are in there. Passion creates community  you can tell when someone loves where they live!

Hyper-local – Many developer apps and boutique Realtor websites such as M Realty now focus strongly on the neighborhood. One of my favorite brand new lifestyle and home search tools (soon to be on my blog) is SpatialMatch.  In my opinion, hyper-local is an important part of the future of real estate blogging that generally has been under-utilized.

365 Things to Do – Dawn Thomas, Dale Chumley and others have made a name for themselves blogging about things to do in their local area.  This raises questions for bloggers wanting to copy the idea for their local area: will the idea be just an overdone fad? Do they have the commitment to stay the course?  What will they do after 365 days?

Finding Your Voice – Blogging helps real estate agents see our world more clearly and heightens our interest of what’s happening in our community.  If we are astute, we really get to know what is important to consumers and can serve them better.  Finding your blogging voice is beyond journalism, which teaches one to be objective and not express personal opinions, so some bloggers have to develop new skills so that their writing is expressive, engaging, entertaining, has a clear point of view and is thought provoking.  The public is looking for authenticity and people who will speak the truth as they see it and not just Realtor hype.

News Aggregation and Curation- There is a trend toward curation of local news content as people look for other resources than their newspaper to get their real time local news. Some online magazine style blogs such as A News Cafe have multiple writer and are supported by advertising.  Others are neighborhood resource centers.  Established aggregator platforms such as ActiveRain will wane as individual users decide to blog on their own WordPress platform and server.  Magazine or Newspaper WordPress blog themes will emerge in addition to more traditional real estate websites that primarily address only three concerns: home search; what’s my home worth and what’s happening in the market.

Video and Podcasting – this has been talked about for years, but few Realtors have mastered this skill. Mobile devices and improved bandwidth will make this even important.  Look for more of this from me in the future.  Architectural photos are important in engaging interest in the community.

Summary - Real estate blogging is changing, but it is not dead. The future of real estate blogging has to be more than an “add-on, marketing widget” that agents can buy off the shelf, add to their arsenal and increase their effectiveness without a time commitment. Periodically writing in a standardized company-provided blog platform will have little effectiveness for the individual agent (although it will help the SEO of the company) unless writing is done regularly with passion and is a natural expression of their personality. Most bloggers want to control ownership of their own blog content.

Because blogging is time consuming there will be more multi-user real estate blogs in the future with agents, managers, corporate staff and guest contributing writers.

Neighborhood focus is a big part of the future for successful real estate blogging. The more finite the geographic area or niche the more likely smaller blogs will dominate SEO through long tail searches.  Blogging is the current expression of older, traditional neighborhood farming through direct mail and newsletters.

I would love to engage and continue this conversation with you online or offline or help you anyway I can.  Let me know your thoughts

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800 | rbonetti@apr.com

Alain Pinel has been adding new offices during these difficult times, because now more than ever, consumers realize they need the most professional, competent and experienced Realtor they can find. Real estate transactions today are not easy and there are legal land-mines to be avoided, whether you are a home buyer or a home seller. This is not just the situation caused by short sales or foreclosures, but also for normal sales, because the financing landscape is constantly changing.

In recent years, prior to the economic downturn, many inexperienced people got a real estate license, although most completed only a few transactions each year. Like many fields 10-20% of real estate agents account for 80-90% of the business. Everyone knows a real estate agent, and many are either friends or family. The temptation to use a part time agent with the expectation of receiving a rebate of a portion of their commission has often backfired when the inexperienced agent is unsuccessfully in securing the property or closing the transaction.

Larger real estate companies have a brand to maintain and are seen by the unscrupulous as having deeper pockets, so training of their agents and setting high standards of best practice are of utmost importance. Alain Pinel Realtors has a reputation of being a boutique brokerage, often dealing will more expensive properties. We have weekly sales meeting to review legal matters, financing, changing technology, etc. to keep us top in our field. Setting standards and levels of expected performance are key.

A couple of times very recently I have retold this story of my experience when I decided to join Alain Pinel Realtors 10 years ago: After an enjoyable interview with the President of APR and the mutual decision that it would be a good fit for us to join forces, I was asked by the President if there were anything they could do for me. I responded that I was going on a listing presentation that evening and needing a package of forms that APR used. Upon going to the cupboard where the listing packages were normally stored and finding none there, the President said “we will get one for you right away.” We shook hands and 10 minutes later I received a call on my cell phone with the President saying “Mr. Bonetti, where may I have that listing package delivered to you?” The bar was set as to what my expected level of service was to be; I have never forgotten that eloquent lesson!

Don’t get me wrong. I do think the individual agent is very important to the consumer too. This is why I blog – primarily for the benefit of those who have been referred to me so they will know me even better and feel comfortable that they have made the right choice of whom to represent their interests in a real estate transaction. Having to regularly express my views in this very public way makes me careful to think things through and to be as accurate and fair as I can be.

Occasionally I come into contact with a really exceptional agent not affiliated with a top brokerage and occasionally I see agents within our own brokerage who do not make me proud to be associated with them, but in my experience both are exceptions rather than the rule. Incidentally, my definition of top brokerage is more akin to their reputation for having professional, competent agents and the productivity per agent rather than size of the brokerage in terms of number of agents. We agents know when we are working with pros or not; when we are not, we end up doing their job as well as ours to get it done right.

This topic of whether the agent or the brokerage is more important to the consumer has recently been debated in the March 24, 2010 blog post of Phoenix, Arizona Realtor friend Jay Thompson, who has so far received 244 comments on his post! My conclusion out of all that was written is that unfortunately many brokerages throughout the country are not great brands deserving of good reputations, but those that are will attract the best agents – for those brokerages who pursue excellence, both the company brand and the agent matter to the consumer.

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800 | DRE #01237009

In the late 1800s, five Christian churches served Saratoga village, which had yet to be incorporated. Eventually it was realized that there were too many protestant denominations serving the area, so in 1920, two of those churches – the Disciples of Christ (formed in 1878) and the Congregational Church (formed in 1872) merged to create Saratoga Federated – an interdenominational church with a membership today of some 800 households.  Architect Julia Morgan designed the mission revival style chapel (shown in my retouched photograph above).

Federated Church is an important part of the spiritual and social fabric of Saratoga, CA as described in a recent article by Kim Vo.

Rick Bonetti | APR Referral Network | 408-857-8800 | DRE #01237009

Are you thinking about doing some remodeling? If so, for the best return on investment, go green. The new term is “eco-renovations” and some homebuyers are paying a premium for the added value of energy-efficient houses.

• Light Bulbs – Sounds too easy, but CFL florescent light bulbs use a quarter of the electricity as regular light bulbs. Since lighting on average accounts for 20% of your home energy use, this is a quick fix.
• Recycling -If your neighborhood doesn’t have curbside recycling, you can now recycle #5 plastics (cottage cheese, prescription drug and yogurt containers) at most Whole Foods locations.
• Energy Efficient Appliances – EPA’s Energy Star appliances may be 10% to 50% more energy efficient. Installing a programmable thermostat and motion detectors are advised. Visit the Department of Energy’s site for more information: www.eia.doe.gov
• Paints – Use new “low-VOC” paints, which stand for low “volatile organic compounds.” Many people with allergies, asthma and chemical sensitivities ask about this now.
• Tax Credits – With eco-remodeling, you may qualify for federal, state or local tax credits given for green projects. Search on www.thedailygreen.com for updates. Remember – green may bring more gold (money) when you decide to sell. So keep track of your improvements and document how your monthly energy bills change over time.

With many homes available on the market at more affordable prices in the past year, home buyers have been devoting more and more time in each of the past couple years to consider and carefully select their home during the research and buying process.

In general, home buyers devoted more time from start to finish during the home buying process. On average, they spent:

• 8.4 weeks considering buying a home in 2009, compared to 7.2 weeks in 2008
• 6.6 weeks investigating homes and neighborhoods before contacting an agent, compared to 6.2 weeks in 2008.
• 10.3 weeks searching for a home with their agent, compared to 8.7 weeks in 2008
• Home buyers on average visited 15.5 homes in 2009, compared to 15.1 homes in 2008.  

In the past, home buyers spent more time with their agent partly because they visited more homes. The increase in the number of homes visited in 2009, however, was not significantly different from 2008. The additional time spent with an agent could be attributed in part to the increase in the complexity in viewing distressed properties.

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtor | 408-857-8800 | DRE# 01237009

Making the right move to a retirement community can be a positive step rather than staying at home and waiting until a crisis occurs.  Part of my training as an SRES Realtor is to know how to make the transition as thoughtful as possible.

Call me for information about several retirement communities in west Silicon Valley.

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800 | DRE#01237009

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in San Francisco at two different gatherings of “the best and brightest” among internet-savvy Realtors, software developers and Brokers.

The first day at RE BarCamp was an informal network discussion that facilitated friendly interaction; instead of having “experts” presenting seminar talks to an audience, everyone who attended was assumed to be an expert and actively contributed to the discussion.

The Inman Real Estate Connect conference was more structured, but had some exceptional opening day including Bradley Inman, Founder and Publisher of Inman News; Brian Boero Partner, 1000 Watt Consulting; NYT tech writer Nick Bilton; and Craig Newmark founder of Craigslist.org.

Newmark is an agent for “change” helping tech people get things actually done in the Federal government and is a champion for veterans rights. From the peace symbol in their browser address line, one might get the idea that Newmark is also an advocate for peace.

Two great quotes from Newmark:

“As a species, we will either collaborate or die.” and

“If people have jobs they don’t want to fight.”

Ironically, the most controversial guest that Brad Inman interviewed Wednesday was PeterTongue, who also brought a message of “collaboration over competition.”

Tongue’s “heart-centered real estate” speaks to”the unethical principles of greed and glottony that have created chaos and mistrust in today”s world”.  Tongue has collaborated with Lake Tahoe broker Shari Chase in offering webinars, workshops, one-on-one sessions and retreats for Realtors and brokers who want to “shift their vision of success.”

The controversy was not so much about the notion of “collaboration”, which has become the latest buzz word among many, but the metaphysical underpinnings of Tongue’s  meditative coaching approach.

Particularly at RE BarCamp, I found a refreshing “open source” attitude and some wonderful, open-hearted sharing of ideas, experience and information.   We were also inspired by grass-roots giving organized by Alain Pinel Realtor Ginger Wilcox, who collected funds for helping the homeless.

My approach as a Realtor at Alain Pinel is also to collaborate with my clients, coworkers and others toward the common good – what I call the “art and heart of real estate”.

Rick Bonetti | 408-857-8800 | Alain Pinel Realtors | DRE #01237009