I’m really excited to be sharing this news about RE BarCamp with my Real Estate Agent Success Club readers because behind the scenes this event has been in the pipeline for over a year and today I am really proud to announce that it has now become a reality.

As you may know, over these past couple of years I’ve been travelling around the country teaching real estate agents about how they can embrace Social Media marketing and help them tackle some of the many challenges facing real estate agents and property managers when it comes to online real estate marketing.

As most of you may already know, I am very passionate about our industry and am constantly on the look out for changes in technology and what lies ahead for agents in the online space.

One of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about the training and consulting that I do is that I’m able to demistify the web for agents and share information not just from my personal experience but moreso the insights that I’ve learned via information and tips that others have openly shared with me.

Actually, it never ceases to amaze me how much information we can get from others over the internet if you look in the right spot or ask the right people the right way.

And it’s this openness of the web and information that has provided a format and the foundations upon which the concept of RE Bar Camp was founded over in the US and now I’m really proud to announce that it’s coming to Australia.

RE BarCamp is an open, no agenda format (an ‘unconference’) whereby agents, principals, property managers, suppliers, trainers, etc can meet up for FREE within an environment where debate, questioning, open discussion and sharing of ideas is encouraged.

The Re BarCamp ‘unconferences’ are usually scheduled around other events/conferences to make it easy for interstate travellers to remain for an extra day and the first RE Bar camp is no exception.

The first Australian RE BarCamp is being held on the 24th May 2011 (the day after AREC11) from 10am to 4pm at The Loft, 13 Lime Street, Kings Wharf, Sydney.

Behind the scenes a group of like-minded people (including myself) have been voluntarily working to bring this great, not-for-profit, learning environment to Australia so that the industry as a whole can benefit from sharing, collective thinking and openness.

I’m looking forward to sharing industry and topic opinions often talked about here at the Real Estate Agent Success Club, in person and hopefully meet up with members and readers of my articles.

Note: The RE BarCamp is a separate event entirely which means that you don’t have to be an AREC11 delegate to attend.

To find out more about RE BarCamp and why you should attend, who else is attending, book your spot and who is behind it all, Click Here Now…

I hope to see you there.

Warm regards

Greg Vincent

www.GregVincent.com.au

Disclaimer: I am one out of a group of dedicated people who are passionately volunteering to bring this FREE event to life and are proud to be launching the whole RE BarCamp sharing environment to Australasian agents.

What’s happening with real estate agent commissions?

Are you interested in gaining an insight into how other agents are dealing with the constant pressure that’s being exerted on real estate agents and their commissions?

Well! Last year, I was able to gain an amazing insight into what was happening out there in the front line with real estate agent’s commissions via a quick online survey that I conducted and shared throughout the Real Estate Industry.

Once the survey was finished my team and I compiled a detailed report called ‘The Future of Agent’s Commission 2010 Report’.

The statistical data, opinions, insights and feedback that we received from this initiative was really eye-opening.

But before I share the link to the previous report with you, I wondered if you may be able to help us gain an insight into what you are currently experiencing within your market place?

You see, over these next few weeks, we’ve opened up a similar study for agents in 2011 and we’d love to hear your side of the story.

Could you please take a couple of minutes (it’s really brief) to answer this year’s ‘The Future of Agents Commission – 2011 Questionnaire’?

From some of the data that we’ve already received, this year’s report looks like being even more comprehensive.

Plus this years online questionnaire is being promoted more broadly via Kevin Turner’s REUNCUT radio show PLUS other real estate trainers/coaches have also joined in to share it with their agents.

We anticipate that the report will provide an insight into where real estate commissions are heading and help us to provide real answers to what agents can do to ensure that they can not only secure more business but also retain a healthy professional fee for their service both now and into the future.

Please join in and have your say by clicking here now.

NOTE: Those agents who contribute to the Questionnaire will receive ‘Exclusive’ access to the full report prior to its official release.

Please take a few moments and help with this important real estate industry initiative by Clicking Here Now.

Thanking You in Advance.

Warm regards

Greg Vincent

www.GregVincent.com.au

PS: Here’s the link to last year’s Future of Agent’s Commission – 2010 Report.

This is the question that an agent posed to me earlier today after yet another stuff up by the big boys.

I was speaking at an event yesterday where one of the agents mentioned the CommBank Property Guide iPhone App and the significant amount of data that was now being made available via realestate.com.au and RPData.

As the discussion went on, one of the agents logged on and started searching through the Comm Bank’s app. Only by fluke, another agent suggested they take a look at one of his latest listings which is going up for Auction.

The listing agent was absolutely horrified to see that the property which was uploaded onto realestate.com.au as an auction now appeared on Comm Bank’s app with an asking price displayed.

The price that was displayed on the Comm Bank app was the same price that the agent had inserted under the search price field.

Any pricing entered within the search price field has always been a hidden price whether a property goes up for auction or whether it has an asking price. These prices have never been for public viewing, or at least until now.

I was blown away when the agent showed me the listing in question on the Commbank site. I couldn’t believe that something so fundamental and basic could be breached.

I followed up with the agent again today. To REA’s credit the pricing issue for that listing has now been rectified but in typical fashion the agent was told that it’s not their fault the issue seemed to be from CommBank’s side? So who’s fault is it really?

Agents don’t have an agreement with CommBank’s Property Guide app, they have an agreement with REA Group.

Under the circumstances, should agents have the option to not make listings, etc available to Comm Bank’s app?

Is this only an isolated case? Has it happened to others? Will it happen again? Can REA Group and Comm Bank guarantee that no such issue will ever happen again?

Can you imagine what would have happened if the vendor had seen it? Who knows whether a buyer has seen it or not? Does this mean that agents have to check every listing on every site that their data is being uploaded to?

NOTE: Out of respect for the agent and the vendor trying to sell their property I have deliberately left out the specific details of the price, property, area, agent, etc because sharing that information could have a detrimental impact on the result of the property auction.

This article was originally featured on Business2.com.au

Last night I caught up with a number of agents and have found it very interesting to see how many of these agents are now starting to talk about using Social Media.

I’ve also had some of the Real Estate Institutes and Franchise Groups chasing me up to learn more about how they and/or their agents can use Social Media more effectively in the day to day running of their businesses.

Then there are still lots of others who say that it’s a waste of time or it’s just a fad.

If you’re not convinced about how important Social Media can be for your business/career/agency moving forward then you really should take a moment to watch this.

Last week, I went to the realestate.com.au ‘Open For Inspection’ event in Sydney where the new look site was showcased to a large group of real estate agents.

Greg Ellis, CEO/Managing Director of REA presented some of the recent changes made that will impact the sites use:-

For all site users there has been a New Home Page, Enhanced Search, Multiple Views (Gallery View, List View & Map View)  Compare Features (pointed out that the agents logo appears in the middle of the browsers computer screen) and MyRealEstate (an improved ability to store information on the site).

The suite of products for agents discussed were:- Suburb Profile Sponsorship, Suburb Sponsorship (IAB size ads), Exclusive Agent Showcase (No longer Guaranteed Top Spot but rather made available on every results page within that search), Feature Agent (a section of the site which has seen a 400% increase in traffic), Feature Property (appears as featured in List View, Gallery View & Map View) and eBrochure ( currently with over 800,000 people registered ).

Greg Ellis also announced that Realestate.com.au will shortly be releasing ‘Premiere Property’ which looks like it will appear on the top of the search results like the ‘old’ Guaranteed Top Spot but the ‘Premiere Property’ will open to a property page which features both the property & the agents details and branding exclusively (‘No Third Party Advertisers’).

Pricing was not discussed at this stage for ‘Premier Property’ but I can imagine it won’t come cheap when you consider the amount of revenue they could raise by keeping the advertising on these new pages.

Also, he mentioned that their Mobile site has already had 450,000 UB’s and they plan to have a Mobile/Social product which enables sharing via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & RSS.

Finally, Greg Ellis felt that there was also a great opportunity existing for agents to promote their profile via the Local Voices section of their site.

During the event I spoke with a number of agents and numerous REA Group employees and the feedback seemed quite positive.

Whilst there was one heckler in the crowd during Greg Ellis’s presentation, most agents I spoke with seemed to like the new look site. Most felt that it was about time that REA evolved with the times and that it had been screaming out for a change for a long while.

Although most discussion was positive, one agent said that they liked the site but they had actually experienced a significant drop in traffic since the launch. May be just an isolated case??? Not sure, whether this was related to the technical issues they were having within their suburb search or not? The agent is located in a first home buyer market so the marketplace shouldn’t be the issue. It will be interesting to know if other agents have experienced similar results.

With all the PR around the new launch I’d have thought that the visits would have actually increased.

I really like the MyRealEstate section and the new search capability.

Interested to hear your thoughts about the new look site…

On Monday I attended the launch of one of the best real estate initiatives that I have ever seen in my 20+ years within the industry.

It’s called Heart for the Homeless.

It’s a way that real estate agents can help the homeless by making people on the move (ie. sellers, buyers, tenants) more aware of ways that they may be able to help others within the community by not throwing out some of the items that would normally be discarded into the garbage bin during their packing & moving.

This initiative has been founded by Leighton Walters (Son of well known Property Management Trainer, Bob Walters).

“The initiative seeks to reclaim the average 15-50 kilograms of non-perishable food items that would normally be thrown in the bin each time a person moves house. Agents that are registered with us would generate the food, clothing and furniture items by registering their tenants or owners moving home via our website. Our member charities will arrange collection with these residents to ensure minimal wastage and damage to the environment.”

The launch was held at Darling Harbour with official representation by Captain Paul Moulds (Territorial Co-ordinator, Oasis Youth Network, The Salvation Army) and The Hon. Virginia Judge MP ( Minister for Fair Trading, Minister for the Arts and Member for Strathfield) Plus a live auction was conducted by Braden Walters to help raise some extra money on the night.

To find out more about how Heart for the Homeless works and how you can get involved with this fantastic real estate initiative, Click Here.

Google has just released 2 new products that will have an impact on real estate agents.

1. Google Sidewiki

In a previous post, Real Estate Agents Your Customers Are Checking You Out Online, I mentioned how customer reviews could have an impact on real estate agencies & could affect which real estate agent a customer may decide to employ.

In that post, I was concerned about customer reviews appearing right beside a Google Search for real estate agents.

But now with Google’s Sidewiki, customer reviews can now appear right next to your company website?

In an announcement from the Official Google Blog: Sidewiki “allows you to contribute helpful information next to any webpage. Google Sidewiki appears as a browser sidebar, where you can read and write entries along the side of the page.

In developing Sidewiki, we wanted to make sure that you’ll see the most relevant entries first. We worked hard from the beginning to figure out which ones should appear on top and how to best order them. So instead of displaying the most recent entries first, we rank Sidewiki entries using an algorithm that promotes the most useful, high-quality entries.”

Michael Arrington of TechChrunch explains that “Other users can read and vote comments up or down. All those votes will create a user ranking for each individual that will determine where their comments fall on the Sidewiki. The higher the ranking, the higher comments appear. The goal, Google says, is to help move better content up and move spammy stuff to the bottom where it won’t be seen. Website owners who have claimed their sites always have the right to the first comment on any URL they control.”

At this point the comments or customer reviews are only visible to other users of Google Sidewiki. Users can post a comment, but can’t edit the comments of others.

Almost every real estate company relies on their reputation & their ability to promote their websites & their listings via a one way conversation across the web, but now Google’s Sidewiki allows public commenting on your site & your listings whether you like it or not.

The scary part about Google Sidewiki is that most agents won’t even know that they have to download the Google Sidewiki to see the comments being made on their own website.

You can find the Google Sidewiki download link here.

2. Google’s Place Pages

Google has announced another new product :- Place Pages on Google Maps

Google are adding information on businesses, restaurants, points of interest, neighbourhoods, and yes that’s right, customer reviews on separate web pages within Google Maps.

Google said “We want there to be a Place Page for every place in the world, but we might be missing a few places here and there. If you’re a business owner, you can add or update your business details through the Local Business Centre. This allows you to make sure your Place Page reflects the most accurate, authoritative and recent information about your business. And if you don’t have a business, but you discover a place that doesn’t have a Place Page, you can add it through community edits or Google Map Maker, depending on the country you’re in.”

Agents should go into the Local Business Centre and check to see what information currently appears about your business on Google & Google Maps.

If your real estate agency doesn’t appear within Google’s Local Business Centre, make sure you create a business listing so customers can find your agency on Google.

You can add up to 5 different categories eg. Real Estate Agents, Real Estate Agency, Real Estate Consultant, Property Management Company, etc. to help people find you on Google.

You can also customise how your business is listed on both Google & Google Maps.

As Ben Parr from Mashable mentions, “Place Pages have their own separate, potentially indexable web pages. Unlike before, this information could appear as their own search results. With Google Maps already at the top of most location-based searches.”

It’s important to understand that reviews simply won’t be going away, so it’s best to embrace them & use the Free tools like Google’s Local Business Centre to help people find you easier.

Major concern for real estate agents & sellers.

With Google saying that they want to create a “Place Page for every place in the world”, it’s highly likely that your listings will end up appearing with their own Place Page as well.

This will mean that reviews will eventually end up sitting on the Place Page for one of your listings and/or the reviews could appear next to your listings in Google’s Sidewiki.

Imagine if a buyer criticised the property, or deliberately posted negative comments in an attempt to deter other buyers from buying the property.

Or what if they mentioned that they’d put in an offer that was rejected prior to auction & the pricing scared a potential buyer away? It would become an issue for both sellers & agents.

What can an agency do to protect their reputation?

Managing your online reputation is going to be an ongoing process & in an upcoming post I’ll be sharing a number of ways that real estate agents can manage their online reputation effectively.

Google have recently announced a new search feature for real estate on Google Maps.

This will be an important change for real estate agents, real estate portals & consumers.

So far it has only been launched in Australia & New Zealand and there is some conjecture about the reasons why major real estate portals like realestate.com.au & domain.com.au weren’t part of the launch process.

It will be interesting to see how Google’s move will impact the real estate industry.

REA Group’s previous CEO, Simon Baker commented on Business2 that ‘This would be an interesting decision for them as it would impact their PPC (adwords) revenues from the likes of domain, realestate.com.au, realestateview, developers and some agents.’

I see that Google’s move will actually increase PPC revenues for Google because the real estate related keywords will become even more competitive.

REA, Domain, etc will need to find ways to by-pass the traffic away from Google Maps so they can keep their subscription fees & advertising rates up.

For example, in a Google Search on Real Estate Sydney done today a PPC ad for maps.google.com was in the top position. Even though this is an expected marketing strategy by Google, it will be interesting to see how long they continue to use PPC ads to promote their Google Maps product.

For the short term it looks certain that PPC costs will increase for REA, Domain, etc if they want the same level of SEM traffic.

One things for sure, the major portals won’t remain off Google Maps for too long.