There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding by the National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.) of the age in which we’re living. For over 100 years now, the N.A.R. has been perceived  as a closed society, private, and secretive, and over the past year has launched a campaign to change those things by rolling into the social media era. On the surface, it would appear that transparency and open dialogue rules the day, but in actuality, it’s still in flux when it comes to membership versus the concept of brand ownership.

Search, Blogs, companies within the real estate industry, and social media all gave rise to consumer empowerment years ago, from Redfin crowd sourcing transactions with consumers to agents crowd sourcing their businesses via blogs, un-conferences and social media, giving the outcome a voice.  All of this sparks growth and change that actually began with the concept of the information super highway, but I’ve fast forwarded for brevity.  Consumers (whether a Realtor’s client, or customer) or even a member of an association (any association) for years (now more than ever) have related themselves to the brands in which they’re associated (by choice or not) when interacting, and expect the ability to add input and value to the brand and how they experience whether the brand asks for it or likes it. The brand ultimately makes the decision, but in the the case of the N.A.R. the membership is the brand, not the people who are in charge.

Their challenge is great, their rewards are even greater

Demographically speaking, the N.A.R. is a very wide spectrum of consumer.  From the Realtor in rural Texas who’s never had a need for email to the uber tech savvy Realtor in Los Angeles, this array of constituents of the brand known as the N.A.R. all have a unique way in which they view the Brand and how it is led, and when those worlds collide, you can expect havoc, dismay, or even outrage when the idea of their brand changes. Make no mistake about it, it’s happening all the time as Realtors are adapting to very swift and seemingly radical change. To Brokers, local and state boards, N.A.R. (the organization) is seen as a tool and that tool is moving swiftly to modernity, merging many levels of  ideals and visions.

Open eyes, ears, and minds

Not everyone can be on a committee within the N.A.R., and not everyone will want or need to crowd source their experience with the brand. In a sea of a purported 1.2 million Realtors, it will be a very small percentage in comparison to the whole that will actually utilize their voice in making or demanding change, and in fact, many will either love or walk away in dismay and disappointment over the choices that unseen and unknown leadership and committees  make on their behalf.  This is why it is so critical that associations listen to even the smallest voice, no matter how it comes, right or wrong, loud or mousy, not just those with mutual and or vested interest.

Where do we go from here?

• Recognizing  the disconnect and turning on rather than turning off the dialog is the first step. Listening should never end in the social media era, because it’s about the time you think you understand everything that it all changes.
• Understanding that because you’re a thought leader and eager learners look up to you, doesn’t mean they should necessarily be adopted to a committee; otherwise, who will you have to count on when you need to hear the truth?
• Today’s thought leaders are only as good as their eyes and ears, if open.
• Just because you made a plan doesn’t mean you’ll never update or modify it- you never knew everything to begin with.
• Understand that the N.A.R. has a very unique brand and how it says it wants to relate is multi-dimensional- it cannot be a facade of multi-dimension.  Consumers (Realtors) own the N.A.R. brand, which includes not only membership, but also board staff, brokers, and virtually everyone in between.

Growing pains are never easy, but they’re a part of the business for any Association, especially as large as the N.A.R.  That doesn’t mean that we quit, retreat to a corner, or tear down the momentum built by our current SM leadership- this would be a crime of epic proportions. Simply put, it means we (including they) all need to continue listening, continue to dialog, even with those we may not agree with or like, if it truly is a personal, honest, and passionate vision you see for your association.

No IDX Required says it all.

RealShout has launched its plug and play Real Estate Search Wordpress plugin that actually says it quite clearly, “no idx required!” And although RealShout, a division of Go Smart Solutions did its best to get the word out via press releases and a few choice emails and blog comments, it got very little real press.

Remember that MLS punking?

The plugin itself is one of a few new Wordpress plugins that capitalize on Google’s Real Estate Search as of late that signals a potential shift away from costly MLS dues, and forced relationships with Associations that some agents want no part of, as well as what it costs to get IDX service providers into new markets.

On the surface the idea of utilizing Google Real Estate Search seems innocuous enough in that the major complaint is that data may not be as up to date as it should be, but I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. Agents have an opportunity to do what they do best which is verify property availability and schedule showings based on those conversations.  It essentially works in tandem with what Agents do every single day.

Circumventing Absurdity

Also, there are many markets in the country that do not allow agent IDX at all, and this type of solution absolutely circumvents that absurdity all the way around lending new and marvelous opportunities to expose listings in ways they couldn’t before further supplementing the listing agents portfolio offering, including indexing in Google the listings themselves.

The big picture is so beautiful

Let’s face it, just as Google was once new, its search functionality improved, I suspect that so will Google’s Real Estate Search, and as Agents utilize this type of solution more and more it will only get smarter in turn working with Google’s Nexus One and Android operating system.

Back to the plugin

RealShout’s Real Estate Wordpress Plugin is customizable through and through and they offer further customization for independent agents and brokers as well as supplemental lead capture systems (AG nor I have any affiliation).  The plugin itself is free, offers detailed search criteria, photos, Google maps, save and contact agent tabs, as well as neighborhood places with area info and more and I see no reason that a plugin such as this couldn’t be used on ghost sites, idle domains, or even in tandem with your current idx search- give it a shot, let us know what you think!

… this according to everyone who really wants more from Google. As Google Launched it’s Nexus One, stock and reaction remained steady losing 0.44 on the day to close at $623.99 in comparison to Apples whopping 3.4 percent increase on December 24, 2009 just based on sheer speculation of their Tablet, but why the difference in treatment?

My guess is that Google is serious, and wants to be taken seriously as a contender in the mobile arena and will take less glam and a little more steady stride. I say this because that’s just Google’s style with just about everything, and let’s be fair, they really don’t have a Steve Jobs to demonstrate the kitchen table and napkin kind of passion over retail products- Apple’s got a little practice in nuance.

But looking at the landscape, reviews of the actual phone were favorable, noting it as an incremental improvement over Droid. This alone signals to us that Google’s real focus is to jump into retail, and our suspicion is that their real aim is to push the Android operating system.

As real estate agent mobile tools go, I’m really digging an all around alternative to Windows that is not only mobile but on my desktop and stored in the cloud that bundles Maps, Business Directory, Talk, Wave, Voice, Search, Docs, Calendar, GMail, Goggles, Alerts, and more in my hand- my mobile office in a way that makes sense (take the phone’s tour).

Stats: (per Google)

• Price Under $200 with T-Mobile
• Price under $550 w/o carrier

Physical dimensions

• Height: 119mm
• Width: 59.8mm
• Depth: 11.5mm
• Weight: 130g with battery; 100g without battery

Processor

• QUALCOMM QSD 8250, 1 GHz

Storage

• Flash memory: 512MB
• RAM: 512MB
• microSD card: 4GB microSD card included (expandable to 32 GB)

Display

• 3.7-inch (diagonal) widescreen WVGA AMOLED touchscreen
• 800 x 480 pixels
• 100,000:1 typical contrast ratio
• 1ms typical response rate

Power & battery

• Removable 1400 mAH battery
• Charges at 480mA from USB, at 980mA from supplied charger
• Talk time on 2G networks: up to 10 hours
• Talk time on 3G networks: up to 7 hours
• Standby time on 2G networks: up to 290 hours
• Standby time on 3G networks: up to 250 hours
• Internet use on 3G networks: up to 5 hours
• Internet use via W-Fi: up to 6.5 hours
• Video playback: up to 7 hours
• Audio playback: up to 20 hours

Not Google, as it intends on making this the decade that its branded phone (unveiled, January 5) crushes the iPhone, and I suspect that it will. Innovation from Apple has been weak over the past several years in comparison to its promises to revolutionize how we use the telephone- fine, you did that, and you account for 50% of of U.S. mobile web traffic but what have you done for us lately? Oh yeah, that gigantic iPod-looking tablet you’re also releasing in January for an early adopting, wallet ripping, grand a piece?  Seriously?  Please. There’s already speculation and rumor of Google’s Tablet or you can go the route of the JooJoo (CrunchPad) at half that price, or simply scoop up a Windows version.

Windows (Bing, Yahoo) mobile, and now Google (Nexus One (Google Phone)), Android (and Google itself), have different ideas for Apple’s growing mobile market share (which in January 2009 was 48%, and by June was 64%) in 2010, and I predict they’ll seal the deal on diminishing it on sheer price point and volume, as apps and a cool factor will no longer be enough (especially since Android went from 800 apps in January 2009 to over 20,000 in December 2009 versus Apple’s 60,000 apps that took over 2.5 years to accumulate)… unless Apple sees it fitting to jump into search? Ah, wouldn’t that be neat (hint)?

Those of you heading to Inman Connect this January should cash in your tickets now and exchange them for tickets to what we’re predicting will be the real peek inside the future of real estate and that’s the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show where most of this year’s consumer electronics will be unveiled and where we’re expecting (and others promise) to see mobile dominate.  Or, you can just go to Inman where last month, they discovered video as a “game changer” (sigh).   Instead, you might want to go and learn what’s really going to be changing the game, and that’s mobile- not iPhone mobile, but bundled search mobile (I’ll repeat… bundled search) with (if real estate is smart) a 2020 type real estate search experience with a focus on the search found experience.

In 2010, if they’re not already, Zillow, Trulia, Cyberhomes, and anyone else who used to lead innovation in the real estate space should be eyes wide open as to what’s happening with Tablet computing, and even more importantly, the smart(er) phone, and should be tailoring device recognition as well as tailored search with the branded agent in mind- this is, in my opinion, where the action’s beginning in 2010.

Imagine a world where you can point your Google device at a home and see completely around the exterior and click in to see the interior via Google Real Estate on your Google phone- no need imagining it, it’s already here, and would you like some augmented reality with that? Or how about some Google Goggles?

The real estate space is relying too heavily on others like Google for innovation rather than building internal value with the exception being Zillow’s neighborhoods database- this is absolutely brilliant and gets very little press in my opinion, and guess what?  It doesn’t rely on Google. The promise of this product taps the polarity of mobile products like the tablet to be used in tandem with or separately from Google- a stand alone consumer experience- a win for Zillow in 2010 as one imagines Social Apps shared across the internet offering agent listings even broader indirect and even direct exposure, built on the appeal of neighborhoods.

Consider if you will that 30 million users currently access facebook via mobile device, and are 50% more active than non-mobile users, that’s almost 6 million more people than live in the entire state of Texas. Couple this with the statistics on iPhone’s growing market share, and you really begin to understand where the race truly is and how real estate should be positioning itself.

In my opinion, the race isn’t about having 20 different mobile apps, the race will be about having unique experiences based on the visiting device (not just one app for a single appliance). Secondly, moving away from a world that taps what any of the big players are doing and creating unique innovations that bring experience traffic (virtually no innovation since 2008… did you know that other than Trulia’s Facebook sharing feature, Zillow, Realtor.com and Cyberhomes completely ignore the option for consumers to share found listings on social networks?), and the IDX players should be realizing this as well (when you consider agent dependence on the non unique flat platform consumer experience they’re offering).

2010 may not be the year that the big bang is heard, but I pray that 2010 is the year that at least lethargy dies within the real estate technology space.

We’ve truly been blessed and wish all of those same blessings to you and yours as we embark on this new year, our year, our decade- the best in all of us is yet to come.

God Bless.

As blogging becomes more and more mainstream, bloggers seem offended to be treated with such equalization. Recently, the TSA subpoenaed several bloggers over a leaked directive to increase security after the failed attack on a U.S. bound Airliner.  It’s been reported that after several hours with travel blogger Steve Frischling, he gave up his laptop thus revealing his source.

The problem with this isn’t a demand for a source, this activity happens every day to even the most high profile journalist, and some end up in jail on contempt charges until they either give up their source or some agreement can be reached, but it further proves that bloggers are amateurs in the realm of journalism, and passion over news stories they break run shallow.

Everyday blogging isn’t going to run you into this sort of trouble unless you intend on being controversial and or news reporting and breaking. Protecting your source is paramount and you should be prepared to protect them at all cost in order to protect the flow of information and potential whistle blowers, otherwise you demean any credibility the blogging community has obtained, in fact, the blogging community would unite and stand behind them.

Which leads me to the information leaked, and where do we as bloggers draw the line.  Personally, I’m not interested in anything that could potentially harm or interfere with national security, nor do I believe it has a place in the latest 15 minute news cycle until it’s cleared by the proper authorities, but that doesn’t mean I don’t support this bloggers right to run the story- hell, the New York Times ran stories around the secret CIA camps around the world, but at least they were in communication with the Whitehouse and State Department in advance of the story, even though they had no intention of sitting on the story.

From our perspective, if you don’t have the balls to shield your source and lose everything in the process, then don’t play journalist- sit in your barcalounger and armchair quarterback something else, something easy, like knitting.

The era of the ‘weblog’ is dead to most, most blogs just simply aren’t daily journals anymore, they’ve evolved from what we’re doing today, to what’s going on all over the world in most cases, what saddens me is that it’s mostly bloggers who don’t see the evolution nor respect it.

Rates are ad sponsored promotions by any and all lenders wishing to participate, however, Google reassures that rates are not teasers, and in fact are the natural rates in the market place. Consumers participating have full control over personal data and can restrict personal data exchange until they’ve fully compared all rates, just like ZMM.

What’s so fascinating about all of this is Google’s incessant need to have its hands in all aspects of business, even Zillow’s, leaving many to wonder when Google will run out of friends.  It seeks no partnerships, but instead to absorb ideas and business models as their own if an ad can be placed beside it or a lead sold from it.

Obviously, ZMM kicks Google’s ass in the realm of buyer education and disintermediation, and is still the leader in relationship building between lender and consumer, but both have point comparison (points are fees borrowers pay to the lender in order to get a lower interest rate. The number of points refers to a percentage of the loan amount. For example, “2 points” means a charge of 2% of the loan amount.) leaving not a whole lot of difference in the physical outcome of results, but where I think Zillow comes out way ahead is experience and trust with the consumer, but let’s face it, Google can virtually answer any real estate related questions using even it’s competitors results- welcome to the information should be free world.

As the housing market heats back up in 2010 Zillow can beat Google in ‘first search’ with a traditional ad blitz, but the big picture I’m seeing from Google is essentially a start to finish search & buy scenario and probably looking heavily at the flat fee title option and comparative homeowner’s insurance to round it all off in an effort to capture more ad dollars.