Tired of wasting gas driving clients around? Try showing them houses and neighborhoods by bike. Kirsten Kaufman, of Portland, leads tours of neighborhoods on bikes, highlighting bike friendly areas, and interesting features of the areas not normally seen by car. " "For people who want to drive less, it just makes sense that they'd be looking for different things in a neighborhood," said 35-year-old Emily Gardner, of Portland, who has been trolling for a new house with Kaufman on the same bike she uses to pedal into the office each day."

Posted on September 29 at 10:45 AM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)

Looking for the actual text of the proposed legislation for the US Treasury to purchase mortgage related assets -- the $700 billion proposal? You can find it via the Washington Post.

Edit: 09/29/08: Draft of the revised plan via the New York Times.

Posted on September 23 at 04:43 PM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)

Recently we had a member call wondering if there were such a thing as a designation or certification for working with military relocation issues. The closest we could find was the Certified Relocation Professional (CRP) designation offered by Worldwide ERC (formerly known as the Employee Relocation Council), the workforce mobility association. It appears that this designation in geared more toward a general corporate relocation specialist, however, rather than one working specifically with military personnel. Please note, while members are welcome to earn this designation on their own, NAR does not endorse or recognize the CRP. If anyone out there knows of another designation, let us know and we'll pass it on. For more information about NAR endorsed designations, please see our list.

That's not to say that realtors aren't going out on their own to learn the ins and outs of working with the armed forces. According to Realty Times, this is one niche area that hasn't faced the drastic falloff that is plaguing much of the industry. The paper also ran an article several years ago on how agents can specialize in working with the armed forces. The key to working with military families? Using the latest technologies to connect with clients around the world and get them information quickly, understanding the the VA loan process, and keeping in mind the need for a quick resale down the line as the family gets transferred to its next station.

Posted on September 19 at 01:44 PM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (1)

Today's Mossberg column in the Wall Street Journal [linked here through ProQuest for our members] discusses Microsoft Live Labs' latest webservice, Photosynth. I first heard about this project through a YouTube video of a presentation at the 2007 TED conference in Monterey, CA. Mossberg explains the technology:

"Unlike a simple 2-D panorama, which many photo programs can create from several pictures, a Photosynth creation, called a "synth," is a virtual 3-D environment. It gives you the feeling you are in the middle of a room looking around, or circumnavigating a building or object. You can travel through a scene both laterally and vertically, and zoom in to see detailed, higher-resolution views of objects inside the synth, such as paintings on a wall."

How does this differ from existing virtual tours? Well, for one, you can create these yourself without any special equipment. It does take some skill to get the photos to work seamlessly together, but the results can be a lot more impressive. Currently "synthed" photos are only available for viewing on the photosynth website and there are no privacy settings. However, look for this innovative application to spread and grow.

Watch the video demo from TED2007 below the jump...the Photosynth demo starts at about 2:45.

Continue reading "Photosynth 3-D Photo Tour" »

Posted on August 21 at 04:32 PM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)

The Boston Globe recently had an interesting article on how Gen X (those born between 1964 and 1981) and Gen Y (born between 1982 and 1993) agents are changing the business model of some real estate firms. According to our most recent Member Profile report, the average age of a REALTOR® is 51 while our Buyer Seller Profile says the average age of a first-time buyer is 32. Younger agents coming to the business are turning more and more to technology and moving away from some traditional methods used by their Boomer coworkers. One example cited in the story was that younger buyers are more interested in looking on their own than being driven around on house tours by agents. They don't want house-hunting to cut in to their busy schedules, nor do they want agents to shove listings at them.

Continue reading "The Gen X/Gen Y Agent" »

Posted on May 2 at 09:15 AM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)