DotLoop News - Reinforcing Real Estate With REBar

In today's edition of DotLoop News, Austin Allison talks with local Cincinnati real estate phenom Amy Broghamer (better known as Amy B) live at the 2010 REBar Camp in Nashville, Tennessee. See for yourself:

The First Rule of REBar Camp: No Selling

Proud REBar sponsor DotLoop is down in sunny Nashville this week enjoying REBar Camp 2010, a one-of-a-kind industry get-together designed to bring dialogue and fun to the real estate industry. Below, DotLoop CEO Austin Allison and REBar organizer and co-founder Brian Copeland discuss all things real estate, social media, and the difference between a gadget and a tool. Check it out:

Don't (Dis)count Me Out

This weekend, I went shopping, which is a rarity for me because I'm quite the cheapskate. I still wear my favorite fleece sweater that I bought way back in 1995 and my pair of black shoes, though a bit scuffed with some worn down heels, are still affixed to my feet most days of the week.

These two reasons were the impetus for my willingness to spend this weekend. I've decided that, staring down the barrel of the big 3-0, I need some decent clothes. Coupled with this is the notion of buying quality over quantity - I'd rather have three really nice shirts that may be a bit more expensive and are of high quality than fifteen ratty shirts that were a "steal". Of course, here at DotLoop, we understand and embrace the quality over quantity mantra, which is why we focus on delivering the best technology solution for real estate agents.

Coincidentally, I also stopped by a local record store and, ironically, only ended up buying books. Adding an additional layer of irony to the mix, I bought the book "Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture" with a gift card my girlfriend gave me for Christmas, paying nothing for it. Had the book been on sale, I would have completed my trifecta of irony, but alas, it was full price.

Still, like most quality things, it was worth every penny. In this Great Recession, I and most of my peers, are starting to rethink having quantity in place of quality. If you've seen Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, you know that "cheap" has been winning the race for the past few decades (dollar menus, anyone?).

But, like the tortoise and the hare, the tides are shifting. Earlier this week, I read this article about how a home's sales price should not be the main focus, because, like those dollar menu burgers, there are hidden costs as well. And obesity and high blood pressure aren't just side effects regulated to a side order of fries, either. A recent study has found that most home owners constantly underestimate the pain of a commute and that commuting is the one daily activity most injurious to happiness.

So, what's your take? Would you rather pay a bit more to be closer to your work or have a smaller home built with better quality, or is the extra closet space more important to you?

I know what I'd choose. And I'm done with being cheap. From now on, the operative word is thrifty.

Now, where's my shoe polish?

Reading, Writing, and Real Estate

My girlfriend is one smart cookie, so it really wasn't much of a surprise when she got accepted into grad school a few weeks ago with a full scholarship. What was surprising, however, was the cost of apartments in a college town, which we found out first-hand when we went apartment-hunting last week. Let me tell you: we are both spoiled here in Cincinnati.

Of course, after watching the video below, featuring Tara-Nicholle Nelson from trulia.com, it seems quite reasonable that apartment prices are so steep.

And it's not just apartment rates that are being kept afloat. Housing prices in college towns are also insulated from the national downturn in real estate. In fact, State College, Pennsylvania, the home town of Penn State, saw 82% fewer foreclosures than the national average.

So, if you're a smart cookie like my girlfriend, you'd be wise to hold on to your home if you're living in a college town. After all, where else can you get kegs and eggs for breakfast every day?

"A Serious Evolution of Contracts"

Local Cincinnati agent Kevin Duffy was recently asked about the evolution and future trends of real estate. One of the major problems, as he pointed out, is getting the clients into the negotiation process. Kevin puts it much more eloquently than I ever could, so I'll let him do the talking:

Friday Farewell - When Your Garden 'Tanks'

This week, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I've been discussing how people can easily green up their lives (while saving some green at the same time). DotLoop, of course, makes this process easy for agents and clients, but what about the urban dweller who doesn't have a balcony to start their urban garden?

Luckily, urbangardensweb.com shows those who are a cloistered in their apartments how they too can grow their own garden - in the bathroom. Check out the video below and see how easy it is to go green anywhere.

Have a great weekend!

Earth Day - Forty Years of Keeping It Green

Forty years ago today, about 20 million Americans celebrated the first Earth Day by cleaning up litter and holding environmental workshops. Today, most Americans will celebrate in a variety of new ways - walking or riding a bike to work, not using any electricity, writing their Senators and Congressmen. Or, by simply going paperless.

If you don't think Earth Day has made a dent on our lives the last forty years, consider this:

• The air we breathe today contains 92 percent less lead, 79 percent less carbon monoxide, and 71 percent less sulfur dioxide. (source)
  
  
• In 1972, two-thirds of all waterways in the US were not safe to use. Today, more than two-thirds are safe to drink and swim in. (source)
  

We're getting there and DotLoop is proud to be a part of the green revolution, being the real estate industry's first and only fully paperless solution for contract negotiations.

Happy Earth Day everyone and remember: keep it green and keep it simple!

Down on the Farm With DotLoop

This past Saturday, a team of DotLoopers headed over to the Gorman Heritage Farm in Cincinnati to volunteer their afternoon bailing hay and petting goats. You can find more pictures here. Sometimes, it's good to get outdoors after being behind these screens all day. Luckily for the DotLoop Crew, it was perfect weather. We even found a duck with a pompadour.

Happy Earth Week, everyone! And remember: keep it simple.

DotLoop News - Springtime at the DotLoop

Leafy Lofts

A few weeks ago, I discussed urban gardens and, with Earth Week in full swing, I thought I'd revisit the topic. This week, CNN had an article all about urban gardens and Infrastructurist.com discussed revitalizing dying cities with urban pastures. Who knows? Maybe in a decade's time, you'll be seeing more and more green in a city near you.

Message in a Bottle

This is an exciting week for us here at DotLoop. Earth Day is this coming Thursday, April 22nd, and we're already in the midst of feeling green (although that might just be the hangover talking).

This past Saturday, The DotLoop Team spent a few hours volunteering at the Gorman Heritage Farm here in Cincinnati (pictures coming soon), and last week, we put in our order for our DotLoop Canteens, so that we can kick our bottled water to the curb (in recycling bins, of course).

For a convincing argument against Dasani and Aquafina, check out this fascinating video.

Happy Earth Week, everyone!

Friday Farewell - The Future Is Simple

It's been one heck of a busy Friday here at DotLoop. This afternoon, Austin Allison was in a featured interview on the Harris Real Estate University Blog.

I myself attended a luncheon this afternoon at Xavier University's Cintas Center sponsored by the American Marketing Association entitled "Memo from 2015: What the Future Wants from a Marketer".

The luncheon was less about predicting any one specific future so much as it was about looking at the social trends and being in a position to meet them. Of course, one of the most prevalent discussions was how technology will shape the future.

Among the more interesting aspects was the notion of a offline/online combination along with a more local focus. Sounds like the future of real estate to me.

Of course, we know this; after all, DotLoop was founded upon the principle of merging the offline with the online, creating a paperless transaction while helping clients and agents negotiate more simply. We're not looking to replace anything except the hassle, allowing you and your client more time to do what you want.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A 'Burb Blurb

In light of the current National Census that's taking place this month (did you mail yours back yet?), I found this article about how urban cores are growing at a faster rate than the suburbs. Permits for residential properties are increasing by as much as 48% in some cities. Even in Atlanta, future home to a 23-lane highway, core neighborhood growth has grown from 4% to 14%.

The bottom line? The times they are a-changin'. As a a Gen Y guy myself, I can easily understand this housing shift to more walkable, livable neighborhoods. Indeed, one of the greatest things about where I live now is the fact that I can walk across the street to a grocery store. Along with smaller homes, people want more connected living.

“When you look at the regions that are really embracing walkability, investing in transit, and thinking about natural resources protection, these are the regions that are weathering the downturn best”
--Shelley Poticha, director of HUD's Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

Now, if only we could get rid of the traffic.

What do you think? Are you seeing a shift with your clients requesting more walkable communities?

Why, I Do Declare!

Caesar was warned about the Ides of March, but I'm starting to think that the Ides of April are more ominous.

Tonight, I have to do my taxes, as if my allergies weren't bad enough. What is it about April that makes it the nicest and cruelest month at the same time?

Of course, if you're like me and are waiting until the last minute to do you taxes, you may want to check out what sort of tax deductions and credits are available to you.

If you replaced your home's windows or added solar panels to your outhouse, there's always the Home Energy Tax Credit, which includes credit for up to 30% of the cost of upgrades up to $1500.

Perhaps you bought a home that already included new windows and a solar-paneled outhouse. In that case, the Home Buyer Tax Credit may be something to check out (it's been extended until June).

The American Opportunity Credit, a new education tax credit, is also available and, of course, charitable donations are always worthy of a tax write-off. So now's your time to give to the Nick Needs A New Guitar Fund. All donations are 100% tax deductible.

Another type of deduction to look into is the DotLoop Deduction. This one allows agents to deduct wasted time, wasted paper, and wasted fuel from their everyday real estate transactions, lessening the affects of migraines and traffic jams.

After all, shouldn't your job be less taxing?

Special thanks to Alex Allison for the blog post idea!

Friday Farewell - Talkin' 'bout My Generation

This past week or so, I've been discussing the new generation of home buyers and why they are so important. Yesterday, Mark Madsen sent me this article, which pretty much sums up everything you need to know about why Millennials matter and how your online presence can attract them to your business.

The article is interesting, if not somewhat bleak, but as a Gen Y guy myself, I can tell you one thing: when I'm ready to sell my house, I'll be looking online for my agent, not across the street at a bus bench.

Have a great weekend!

The FHA is A-OK

Here at DotLoop, we always knew we were on to something big. Call it intuition, call it gut instinct, call it clairvoyance, but we just knew that the old way of doing things wasn't working.

So, when it was announced late yesterday that the FHA is now accepting electronic signatures for every real estate transaction, we had to do a little chuckle. It's about time they caught up to the future of real estate.

For agents, though, this is a major benefit, because now you will no longer have to deal with bank managers asking for "wet" signatures anymore. Sure, electronic signatures have been legal for a decade thanks to the ESIGN Act of 2000, but with this new announcement, tech savvy agents across the country can now celebrate even more.

Thanks to all of you who have been using DotLoop to make your lives easier and less frantic. Yesterday's announcement was a win for you, too.

LOLs & Triple Word Scores

I want to get one thing clear here: I hate text messaging. Absolutely loathe it.

So, when I wrote yesterday's blog post about texting, I had to ask myself: do I really believe this?

The answer, of course, is yes, even if I don't like it myself.

Why? The numbers speak for themselves. Eighty-eight percent of Gen Y cell phone users use their phones to text. A quarter of them send over 50 text messages a day. Forty-one percent of Gen Y users do not own a land line.

I don't like texting mostly because I have an old candy bar phone that is not very conducive to text messaging, but I'd be a fool to dismiss it as a fad. I believe text messaging is here to stay and is a very effective way to communicate, even if I don't do it as much myself.

Changes are inevitable, but many people are still stagnant and staunch in their views of the past. This week, for example, it was announced that Scrabble was changing their rules for the first time in its 60-odd year history to include proper nouns (a Bjork Triple Word Score, anyone?). Waves of fans cried foul, only to discover that it was a special edition that was getting the change, not the game as a whole.

Of course, the real estate industry has been no different. Many agents were staunch in their old ways of doing things - fax machines, driving around town, dialing with rotary phones. A sea-change is happening now, of course, and most agents realize the benefits of going online, signing up with a social media site, and even embracing text messaging.

The question is, are you one of them?

Textiquette

Voltaire once said, "The secret to being dull and tedious consists in our saying everything."

He may very well have been advocating texting.

Yesterday, I wrote about the need for agents to connect with their clients on their clients' terms. And that, of course, means through technology. I specifically noted the rise of Gen Y's use of texting and how the smart agent will learn how to communicate by way of their thumbs.

But texting is different than e-mail, which itself is different than writing a hand-written letter. Texting requires brevity.

As such, I thought I'd share some "textiquette" with you regarding the do's and don't's of texting your clients.

DO

• Keep it simple. A person receiving a text should be able to read it in a few seconds. Remember: the idea is to get your idea across in as few characters as possible (like Twitter).
  
  
• Keep it informal. Your English teacher won't like it, but don't worry about proper grammar when texting. Also, take use of the acronyms (LOL, etc.) and single letters and number ("2" = "to"; "u" = "you") to get your point across.
  

DON'T

• Deliver bad news via text. Bad news should be given in a less hasty manner; otherwise, you'll come off like a jerk. So no, "Sry U didn't get house" texts.
  
• Send time-sensitive texts. E-mails and phone calls are better suited for this. This is why nobody texts 911.
  

Now that you know the bestway to text, try it out for yourself. This great article that I discovered yesterday by way of Paul Chaney is an excellent entry into the world of text marketing.

Of course, having a smart phone that's simple to text with makes things a heck of a lot easier. Oh, and one more thing: get an extra ice pack for your thumbs; you'll need it.

Get Yourself Connected

Pop quiz: What type of phone does your client have?

How about this: How many times will that future prospect interview you to be their agent?

And finally: If you don't know what your clients are thinking, how can you ever hope to gain their business?

We've already discussed smart phones and their meteoric rise to the everyday, but what about other stats that may be important?

For example, 95% of all Gen Y are connected to the Internet. Ninety-five percent! And, when you consider that most first-time home buyers are Gen Y, you begin to sit up and take notice. The bottom line: if you're not online, you're not going to be seen by the new generation of home buyers. No one cares about bus benches. After all, 62% of buyers only interview one agent, so you'd better be at the top of their list.

But being online isn't enough, because to those who grew up with the Internet, online is old hat. For the agent who masters text messaging, however, you have an even closer grip on today's home buyers. Consider this: Gen Y cell phone users text more than they call. These aren't cell phones, they're text phones.

The bottom line is this: if you're not embracing technology, then your clients won't embrace you. The best way to connect with today's clients is to be connected.

To learn more about how you can better connect with this new generation of home buyers, check out this article from RIS Media. Of course, if you're using DotLoop, you're well ahead of the curve.

Gotham Gardens

On Saturday, my girlfriend and I started gardening for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The one we're apart of is very cool, if only because it's right in the middle of an urban environment. This meant that, while I was peacefully tilling the land at the CSA, I could hear the faint roar of the city in the background. Here I was, being country mouse and city mouse at the same time.

I came across this fantastic site this weekend and wanted to share it, especially after Saturday morning's experience. In a few weeks, I'll also be helping out with DotLoop for our Earth Day Volunteer Event, so I'm glad I got a few hours of experience in tilling land.

But I wanted to ask all of you agents out there: how important are urban gardens important to buyers today? Are you starting to see a change in what people moving to urban environments are looking for and/or expecting? Do more and more expect to be able to grow tomatoes from their city lofts?

It will be interesting to hear what is going on out there amongst urban buyers!

Friday Farewell - Spring Cleaning

With spring upon us, a lot of us are focusing on the new, which is great, because we are doing the same here at DotLoop.

But, with all this talk about the new, I decided to end the week talking about the old. Last night, my girlfriend and I had dinner downtown and afterwards, we walked through the city with our necks craned towards the beautiful night sky as we admired some of the old gorgeous buildings, many of them a century or more old.

We also walked past the new Great American Tower which is quickly on its way to completion. It looks pretty and shiny and new, but we both agreed that its glass walls don't offer the same majestic look as the hand-carved stone facades of the older buildings, especially in light of their beautiful ornate features.

I've discussed renovation here on the DotLoop blog a few times before not only because many of you out there specialize in selling older homes, but because, like you, we recognize the value an older building brings to a neighborhood.

Serendipitously, I ran across this article a few days ago that highlights the lengths people will go to help preserve not just a building, but a neighborhood. I especially like what Timothy Lynch had to say as to why preservation is so important. Like all things in life, it comes down to people:

“The preservation of the buildings is not as important as the preservation of workers, or of the neighbors.”

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Live Chat!

Today, I'd like to showcase a DotLoop feature some of you may not know about. It's our Live Chat feature. Below is a quick video on how it all works. This will be rolled out soon, along with a plethora of other little goodies, so be sure to check us out in the coming days!