14March2010
Posted by Jerry Kidd under: Sales Tips.
In my “day job” as a trainer and consultant to real estate agents and brokerages, I have been researching vendors that provide IDX search tools. IDX is Internet Data Exchange and it is a set of rules that allows brokerages to display listings from other brokers on their web sites. IDX provides the ability for a consumer to search for active listings on a broker’s web site.
There are a number of ways that a website can display a search function ranging from free methods provided by a brokerage’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to paid solutions offered by third party vendors who take a “feed” from the MLS and package it for resale to brokers.
I have been curious for some time about the effectiveness of these search tools on an individual agent’s website. The recent “2009 Survey of Home Buyers and Sellers” from the National Association of REALTORS® has renewed my curiosity.
Here is what they had to say (in part) that sparked my renewed interest:
“First-time and repeat buyers largely agreed on the websites that provided them with the greatest value in their home search. Sixty percent of home buyers used multiple listing services (MLSs) websites, the most frequently used online resource. Different age groups use MLS websites with varying frequencies ranging from 64 percent of buyers 25 to 44 years old to 50 percent of buyers 65 or older. Buyers also frequently use real estate company websites. First-time buyers are however somewhat less likely to use REALTOR.com® than repeat buyers. Other websites with property listings were visited by almost one-third of buyers, although first-time buyers frequented these sites notably more than repeat buyers.”
This got me to wondering if IDX sites on agent websites were worth the money that agents have been pouring into them as it seems to imply that consumers are looking elsewhere for their property search. So, I decided to do my own survey and I hope that you will help in the research by taking the survey I created at SurveyMonkey. In order to take the survey you need to be an agent who has a an IDX search facility on your own blog or website. Or, if you are a consumer who has bought or sold a home in the past 12 months or who is presently in the process of doing so, I’d like your input as well.
If you wish to receive a copy of the survey results when I am finished gathering results, please leave your first name and email address when you complete the survey, otherwise you can remain anonymous.
I am not sure what results I will get, but I am sure that they will be interesting to any agent who is spending money on IDX or who is contemplating doing so!
Please go here to take the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RBT67CK If you are having trouble taking the survey, please email me by using the contact form at http://realtytechbytes.com/contact-me/ and let me know.
7March2010
Posted by Jerry Kidd under: Cool Freebies.
With apologies to Andy Williams and the song “It’s a most wonderful time of the year”, because this surely is not the most wonderful time of the year! Here in the US, it’s tax season, with the April 15th deadline for filing income taxes looming large on the horizon, many of us are going through our annual stress test. Normally I just waltz over to computer, click a few buttons and produce a printout that I give to my accountant and I am done.
All of that changed this year because I changed status from being an employee to starting my own business. This occurred at the beginning of November and with all I have had on my plate, I just overlooked keeping the entries up in my accounting program. Up until today, the last time I made an entry was in the beginning of October. When I logged in today to have it download all my transactions from my checking account, all of the transactions from October and November were no longer available from my bank! That meant that I had to hand enter 60 days of wild spending!
Part of my problem was that making the switch from employee to business owner means that I now get to file a Schedule C in addition to my normal Schedule A. What expenses go where? Can I deduct this? What about that? Does it go on C or A? Yikes! I think I need to see an accountant!
So, in order to mend my evil ways I have been on the hunt for something that is aimed at small businesses like mine. Something that will automatically help me with my Schedule C reporting, my Profit and Loss, and oh yeah, something that will calculate my Estimated Tax payments and remind me to send them in!
Lucky for me, I found Outright.com! It’s designed especially for the small business owner.
From their website, the following paragraphs really caught my eye:
“Automated bookkeeping software for entrepreneurs & bookkeepers. Track income and expenses from credit cards, invoices, receipts, or even merchant accounts.”
And then this one: “Know right now what you can deduct come tax time. Stay on top of tax deadlines, manage W-9s, file 1099s, and automate your Schedule C; avoid costly fines and late fees from the IRS.”
So, I signed up. The first thing I had it do was to import my business checking account info from Wells Fargo. It was smart enough to only import the 2010 transactions (Obviously, I have turned over a new leaf and will be on top of things for this year!). Next I had it import my PayPal account. And finally, my business credit card. Once I had all of the expenses in the program, I went through each item and made edits to show the purpose of the expense, and also what line item on a Schedule C it belongs in. I can also add my income items to see an instant P&L graph.
There is more to it, but this is all that I have worked with so far, so I’ll close. But, not before telling you that it is absolutely free! Again from their website “Outright is free, simple bookkeeping and will remain so. We do plan to charge a nominal fee for innovative services yet to come.”
Drop everything and go check it out! And, if you know of some other free software or websites that are designed for the sole proprietor or small business person, please do leave a comment and share the love with us all!
28February2010
Posted by Jerry Kidd under: Blogging; How to...; Social Media.
One of the questions that comes up a lot in the hands on classes that I teach has to do with Copyright. People either want to know how to protect their work, or they want to know how they can use work done by others. So, I thought that I’d share some of the resources that I use to answer those questions.
Bur first, a disclaimer. I am not an attorney. And, if I was, which I am not, I am not your attorney. This is not legal advice. You use this information at your own risk and after having thoroughly investigated every link I present here. To be on the REALLY safe side, consult an attorney. Preferably one who is conversant with Copyright Law.
Now that I have that little bit of nastiness is out of the way, let me tell you how I deal with these questions.
To start with, it would be a very good idea if you took a few minutes to check out all of the free information there is on the web. Instead of ending up a some random web site that offers questionable advice, why not go straight to the source? If you are in the US, the US Copyright Office is conveniently located at http://www.copyright.gov/. If you are a fan of multimedia learning, go straight to Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright located at http://www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/ which is a animation designed for teachers and students. I found it to be a good resource for a quick understanding. You can also get a plain text version of the animation at http://www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/text/. Another good page to check out is the FAQ page at http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/
There is much more to read on the site, but as a minimum, reading the suggested pages will get you off to a good understanding.
While Copyright law covers much of what you want to do on line, there is yet another type of non-governmental protection available through something called Creative Commons. You can learn about that at http://creativecommons.org/.
Essentially, Creative Commons has created standardized licensing procedures that allow you to modify your Copyright rights. Here is the link to a page on that site which explains what it is, why it came into being and how you might benefit from Creative Commons licensing: http://creativecommons.org/about/what-is-cc. Be sure to take the time to watch the videos there and you will not only get informed, but you’ll be entertained along the way.
Finally, you could always just ask someone for permission to use their material. Novel concept, but it works. I often will purchase photos from www.istockphoto.com to use on this blog, but occasionally I have found the perfect photo on www.flickr.com. In order to use the flickr photos, I just emailed the photographer and asked for permission. When I got the ok back, I just went ahead and used the picture.
If you are publishing a blog, or laying music down with a home tour that you built (I am not talking about the third party tours that come with music), you’ll definitely want to check out the US Copyright Office and the Creative Commons websites and save yourself a load of trouble.
