In this week’s Real Estate Sales and Technology news, we look at the Latest Housing Market Report, How to Attract International Buyers in Luxury Real Estate, The Real Power Behind Hyperlapse for Real Estate Agents, Target Marketing in Real Estate and this week’s Tech Tip.
The Latest Housing Market Report from Real Trends
Check out this video above for the latest Housing Market Report from Real Trends published this week which illustrates national and regional trends in the Residential Real Estate Industry. Steve Murray, Editor of the Real Trends Housing Market Report, predicts “slight up and down variations in home sales and prices for the foreseeable future until there’s an easing in mortgage rates & consumer requirements for getting a mortgage. “
How to Attract International Buyers in the Luxury Real Estate Market
The luxury real estate market is a very different breed compared to your run of the mill normal homebuyer, especially the international luxury real estate market. The expectation bar is raised a little higher in both service and bells and whistles. In an effort to provide greater strategies to help better serve this significant demographic, Inman just posted some top takeaways from the Luxury Connect session at Real Estate Connect San Francisco.
Meghan Barry, president of LuxuryRealEstate.com, says that one of the unchanging expectations of luxury clients is that they expect their agents to be able to locate the legal, tax, immigration, and other professional help they need to work across different countries and in different currencies. In addition, they also expect you to help them obtain a driver’s license, and get them acquainted with the local are including finding the best medical care, dry cleaners, dog groomers and nail salons.
The upside to wooing international luxury clientele, is that you have to follow the money. Madison Hildebrand, former star of Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles,” takes face-to-face prospecting to a whole new level. He makes a point of being at the places where the ultra affluent hang out seasonally through the year. He will ski in Aspen during the winter & party in the Mediterranean during Yacht Week in an effort to cultivate long lasting relationships with the people he meets. Ultimately many of them become his clients.
To read more tips on how to get in to selling this elite demographic, check out the original article at Inman News.
The Real Power Behind Hyperlapse for Real Estate Agents
There’s been a lot of talk this week about Instagram’s release of it’s Hyperlapse function and how it could “revolutionize real estate video” or not. With Hyperlapse, anyone can create a professional looking video for free with Instagram’s iPhone app. Formerly this was only possible with some expensive kit or hiring a videographer. Time lapse footage allow to compress a lot of information into a short video. Agents can use this to walk through a new development which can be seen in 5 minutes instead of 30 minutes. Gottabe Mobile has put together a great top ten list of the best Hyperlapse videos to give you an idea of what is possible.
In TechSavvyAgent’s latest Hyperlapse article, Steve Pacinelli writes: “No app will revolutionize anything if you only use it once in awhile or just use it for filler on your neighborhood tour.” However, the stabilization for Hyperlapse seems to be the power behind the application not the ability to speed time up. Now we don’t have to watch another shaky amateurish video filmed by another agent. Wired.com is reporting that Hyperlapse is like having a $15,000 Video Setup in You Hand. Regardless of the hype, most in the industry agree that this is another amazing tech tool for savvy real estate agents wanting to fine tune more elements in their real estate sales technology strategy.
Target Marketing for Real Estate – What’s Your Plan?
Do you have a plan? Don’t even know where to start? Don’t worry, SmartZip & Inman’s new webinar posted above will show you how to lay out a five step plan to help you identify, create and execute a killer strategy for real estate target marketing. This webinar includes new technology & social media trends, defining your buyers personas and mass marketing vs. target marketing for real estate. This webinar is a great opportunity to discover who your ideal client is and can help you to understand the best way to communicate with your target audience and why it’s so important. They’ve also released a Playbook PDF which you can download here.
Clearview’s Tuesday Tech Tip: RoomScan
This is one of the most simple and exciting pieces of mobile technology for real estate professionals. With Locometric’s RoomScan, you can draw up a floor plan or figure out the dimensions of a room in mere seconds. Need to make adjustments? No problem you can customize the dimensions manually as well. This app has been made for all levels of technological know how. Voice prompts walk you through what needs to be done, step-by-step. You simply hold you phone up to a wall, wait for the beep, and move on to the next wall or corner. There is a free version of this iPhone app and the paid version is only $4.99. For more info read more at Properties Online.