It is simply impossible to avoid. Buyers remorse seems to be ever more cruel when it comes to technology.

Picture this. You have made up your mind that it is finally time to buy a new camera/phone/laptop. You are done photographing your listings with your 5 megapixel point and shoot. Fed up with taking the battery out of your Blackberry four times a day? Once and for all you are going to get rid of that spam and virus filled PC you have been chugging along with for many too many months.

Often when we buy new hardware it is an emotional and rash decision. It shouldn’t be. Yes, you may be ready for that new tool for your business, but what if the newest, hottest, shiniest model is coming out in two weeks? A model that will surely be smaller and faster and maybe even worst of all cheaper?

Enter Decide.com.

Decide.com has created an algorithm based on 1′000’s of data points to make sure that you not so much buy the right device, but more so that you buy it at the right time!

As someone who has purchased far too many Apple products in the last 3 years I can tell you that having a service and information like this can literally be priceless.

Upgrades are happening so quickly with hardware as are price reductions on older models. Normally you would never see in a Best Buy ad “Great model, but you should wait four weeks until we mark it down or for the new one to come out”.

Decide.com even has a great mobile site so that you can access suggestions like “wait for new model” or “wait for price to drop” while at the store. Talk about transparency and giving the sales guy a truly difficult objection to overcome.

From what I can tell Decide is currently focused on cameras and laptops, both of which many real estate agents are either in the market for or will be soon. If you decide, pun intended, to browse around Decide.com and happen to find an item that should not be purchased due to the data they have complied you can set alerts as to be notified when the time is right.

My first reaction? Super cool site worth spending a few minutes on and remembering for your next purchase.

My second is that what if a site like Trulia or Zillow decided to add a similar algorithm to homes consumers were browsing on the web? Can you picture a buyer standing in front of a home with their phone out getting a “Wait 3 months to buy” recommendation? I can…

Written by: Chris Smith, Chief Evangelist, Inman News,@chris_smth

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Guest blog post by Jay Thompson, Broker/Owner of Thompson’s Realty and Founder of The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, a widely read real estate blog

I am a conference junkie. You can find me at places like the NAR Midyear Conference in D.C., NAR Annual (this year at Disneyland!), Real Estate Tech South, Inman Connect in New York and San Francisco and various incarnations of Real Estate Bar Camps, and more.

I even attend non-real estate related conferences like WordCamps.

But I’ve never attended an Inman Agent Reboot.

Until tomorrow that is!

Yep, Agent Reboot, now in its second year, is coming to Phoenix tomorrow, March 16.

Read all about it here.

I’ve heard great things about Reboot from a lot of my friends that have attended one. The schedule is jam packed with some great speakers and timely topics. Inman is a stellar conference organizer, so there is no question the event will be well planned and organized.

And as with most conferences of any flavor, the networking opportunities alone are worth the price of admission.

Go get thee to Agent Reboot Phoenix tomorrow!

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Exactly 3 years ago yesterday, Seth Godin posted a blog post entitled: Advice for real estate agents (quit now!)

First of all I love Seth’s blog. I love his wisdom and take on technology, business and the world around us. So when I saw he specifically wrote an article for real estate agents, my ears perked up.

He begins by saying:

“You should quit selling real estate.

I’m serious.

Quit being an agent. Get a job doing something else.

Some of you have been waiting to hear that. My pleasure.”

Anyone who has ever worked in a real estate brokerage, knows that there are some people that just don’t belong in real estate.

We all know these agents:

• The part-timers
• The ones who thought they could “get rich quick”
• The ones who act like the stereotypical smarmy salesperson
• They got their license to sell a house to their mom/grandparents/kids/friends
• The ones who got into real estate to “try it out”
• The one who comes to the office to “work” all day and spend most of the day chit-chatting with everyone, having lunch, and updating their Facebook status.

Those people probably don’t belong in real estate and it boggles my mind why any broker/owner would keep them as part of the “team” – but that in and of itself is a whole other topic!

If you look inside the walls of any brokerage across America, you are probably going to find some of these agents. For those people, they should take Seth’s advice above.

But I know, the readers that read FOREM, are not those type of agents.

I am so proud of the caliber of agents and brokers that read FOREM and Inman News. The people that read our blog and our news, work harder and smarter than just about anyone in the industry.

You are the one who are up early working, squeezing in phone calls and emails to clients throughout the day, you understand the need for technology and embrace it, you multi-task on your iPhone, Droid or iPad, you make time for educational training events and networking, you have a social media plan in place, you care about details, you are extremely skilled in valuation, you “go to bat” for your clients every day, you know when to ask for help, you have a strategic marketing and branding plan, you spend your money wisely, you are genuine and understand that this is a people business, and you understand that money can’t buy everything.

In addition –  you are not whiners.

As Seth says,

“Whining is not an option.

In fact, I think this is an extraordinary opportunity for you.”

A few years ago when many agents started leaving the business, many of the successful agents cheered and said “FINALLY!” I know I did!

Three years have passed since Seth’s original blog post was published and a lot has changed in the industry, but many things have stayed the same.

How do you differentiate yourself?

Seth says two things:

Number 1:

“Become the expert in what you do. Which means micro-specialization. Who is the single-best agent for condos in your zip code? Or for single family homes for large families? Who is the one and the only best person to turn to if you’re looking for investment property in this part of town?

No, you can’t also do a little of this or a little of that. Best in your world means burning your other bridges and obsessing.”

I love that. Too many time we see agents try to be all things to all people. You see that everyday, right? The “Expert in Foreclosures, REO’s, Short-Sales, 1st Time Home Buyers, Investment Properties, Luxury Homes, and More!”

Many agents think by being an expert in everything they are widening their net of prospective clients. They couldn’t be further from the truth. Narrow your focus and be the expert in the one area that you really are passionate about. Become laser focused about that one area and stop trying to catch “all the fish in the sea.”

Think you have no time? Seth says,

“Of course you have that time available.  Invest that time in building up your expertise and becoming the person people who don’t even like you turn to for insight.”

Number 2:

“The second asset to build is permission. It turns out (according to the NAR) that 91% of all Realtors never contact the buyer or the seller of a home after the closing. Not once. Wow. Someone just spent a million dollars with you and you don’t bother to call or write?”

Read that again – now granted this was written 3 years ago, but still…. 91% – unbelievable!

“The opportunity …is to find, one by one, the people who would benefit from hearing from you and then earn the right to talk to them. Earn the right to send them a newsletter or a regular update or a subscription to your blog. NOT to talk about what matters to you, but to give them information (real information, not just data) that matters to them.

The opportunity, in other words, is to stop waiting around for the phone to ring and instead figure out how to do what you do best… connect buyers and sellers in a way that makes them both confident.”

I love that: “Stop waiting around for the phone to ring.”

The most successful agents are the ones that make something happen, that don’t just accept mediocraty because of “the market” or “the economy.” They push through – they make more calls, they door knock, they reconnect with their past clients and new prospects on Twitter and Facebook, they do whatever they need to do to get business. They understand the fundamental key in success – it isn’t luck – it’s hard work.

I always have said that – you may be smarter than me, but I will out work you any day of the week.

This has never been more true for real estate agents and brokers than it is now.

“Some of you will stick with the standard business card with the standard photo, the standard office and the standard ad strategy and the standard approach to making the phone ring. It’s going to be a long haul if that’s your route.

I’m betting, though, that the best of you will end up with a business model that will survive, thrive and prosper. Best time to start is right now.”

There is no better time than right now to shake it up, to do things you’ve never done before, to work harder and smarter, to narrow your focus and to achieve the success you deserve to achieve. Don’t let one more day, or one more negative market report get you down. Make this the year – YOUR best year ever!

I’d love your thoughts on this post. Agree or disagree? Please leave me your comments and feedback below. Thank you again to Seth Godin for his timeless advice!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News @katielance

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Pretty exciting news!

Just announced this Friday on Facebook, there will be a news and improved “flow” for how someone creates a business page on Facebook.

I really like this improvement and think it will encourage more and more people to make pages (instead of using their personal profile for business)

Here are a couple screen shots of the new process (see below)

• Once someone clicks, “Create a Page” they are re-directed to this page:

• Once you click on your category, you are presented with a drop-down menu. For a real estate agent, you would click “Local Business or Place of Interest”

One of the biggest changes for lists is the amount of options – I don’t ever rememeber seeing a “real estate” option! In my opinion, this is one more way Facebook is really encouraging people to create pages but create them in a smart and organized way.

Do you have a Facebook page? Leave me a comment below and include a link to your page!

Stay tuned, more about Facebook this week! (If you missed my post last week about Facebook lists and page tips, click here)

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News @katielance

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Hey FOREM fans – can you believe that our next Real Estate Connect conference is literally less than two weeks away? Where has the time gone?!

I wanted to post a very special message on here and encourage you all to sign up and come out to Real Estate Connect® in NYC on Jan. 12-14th in the heart of Times Square. Many of you have already been to a Connect and I know can attest to the pure “awesomeness” that is Connect. The learning, the networking, the people you meet, and the ideas you come home with are priceless.

I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating again. Before I worked for Inman News, I had the good fortune of attending two Real Estate Connect conferences. The President of the real estate company I worked for paid for me and a few other colleagues to attend, and those two events were so impactful on me and my career.

When someone talks about the ROI of an event – I can say first-hand that coming to Real Estate Connect WILL make you more money. It will change how you think. It will propel you into doing bigger and better things, and working smarter with the best tools available.

As an attendee there were so many things I loved about Connect – the ‘intimate’ environment where you could go up to some of the most successful people in real estate and technology and shake their hand, introduce yourself and make a real connection.

I loved getting the “inside scoop” on what the hottest and newest companies were. I loved walking down Start-Up Alley and feeling like I was getting a sneak peak into the next big thing in real estate. I loved being able to meet the different exhibitors of companies I had heard about, see real-live demos, get my questions answered and so much more.

I love sitting in the general session with 1,500 people and feeling the excitement and anticpation as Brad Inman, the founder of Inman News would begin each session. I loved the awesome “bar stool” panel discussions where no questions are off limits and it’s ok to disagree and even make the whole room uncomfortable. I loved the amazing keynote speakers – many of whom were not from the real estate industry and would provide one or two nuggets that you’d scribble down or fear you’d forget.

I can’t fully put into words what its like to come to Connect – I can only hope that you will take my word for it, buy your plane ticket and sign up today before it’s too late. If you are fortunate to live in New York, then you have no excuse!! We will be right in your backyard. People from all over world come to this event – don’t let it pass you buy. If you truly want 2011 to be YOUR year, if you really need to get ahead of your competition (and who doesn’t right?) then you can’t afford not to be at Connect.

For a limited time, we have a special offer – it’s a 2 for 1. If you purchase your tickets to both Real Estate Connect NYC and San Francisco you will save $500 total! This is an amazing deal not to be passed up.

Here is the breakdown of the 2 for 1 offer:

• Real Estate Connect NYC – $899 (Jan. 12-14th 2011)
• Real Estate Connect SF – $399 (July 27-29th 2011)
• SPECIAL RATE: $1298*

If you have money left in your 2010 budget, act now to secure your spot at the two hottest real estate tech conferences and save $500.

If there was ever a year to go to BOTH Real Estate Connect conferences – 2011 is it.

REGISTER TODAY >> (use promo code ‘FOREM1229′)

Offer available for a limited time only.*

Questions about registration? Please email us at registration@inman.com

* You must register for both conferences to receive this special price. Offer expires 12/31/10 at midnight. These rates are not valid with any other offer.

See you in New York! Leave me a comment below – are you joining us? Have you been to a Connect before? I’d love to hear from you. Leave me a comment below!

Written by: Katie Lance, Senior Marketing Manager, Inman News @katielance

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Kori Covrigaru is a young entrepreneur, currently CEO of PlanOmatic, an online real estate marketing company providing interactive home tours. Kori grew up in Michigan, went to school and Western Michigan University, and currently lives in Colorado, enjoying the mountains in all seasons.

This week, “Tip Tuesday” is not what you are expecting. I’m not reviewing an iPhone app that I can’t live without. I’m not recommending my favorite site where you can consolidate all of your social media noise. This week, a technology obsessed 27-year-old is going to ask you to put your smartphone and mouse down, sign off Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and think about what made you (real estate agents) successful. Before I move on, I should disclose that I have never been a licensed real estate agent, and I am deeply involved in social media, but on a SOCIAL level and not so much for business.

Facebook, today’s dominating leader of social media, began in 2004 during my sophomore year of college. Back then, (only 6 years ago) we used Facebook to party, chase girls and make new relationships. We would then share these experiences with the hope that it would lead to even more socializing. Since 2004, Facebook has evolved tremendously, but is still being used in the same general sense. Perhaps you’re not running around Fraternity Village Drive looking for the next best date party, but the point is that people are using Facebook to be social, and that’s the way you should play it. Here are a few things that support my philosophy that social media is being misused in the real estate industry:

• Referring to yourself as a “Social Media Guru” – What exactly makes you a “Guru”?
• Creating a Facebook Business Page dedicated to yourself which is different from being a Facebook user.
• Tweeting 10+ times a day and believing this is leading you to financial success – There are a few exceptions here.
• Spending considerable amounts of time trying to be “Mayor” of restaurants and coffee shops (unless this is for pure entertainment)
• People who have two Facebook accounts. One for business, and one for personal use (which is against Facebook’s TOS, by the way)

I do recognize my audience, so before you turn purple and begin to comment on how successful social media has made you and your business, please give me five more minutes of your time. I’m not here to ask you to abandon social media altogether because it definitely has a place in real estate. Social media is a phenomenal way to communicate and network within the industry. Personally, I have made substantial connections through social media that would not have developed otherwise. What I’m asking you to do is take a moment and reflect on how social media contributes to your bottom line. Are you allocating your time, money (time is money) and resources efficiently, or are you tweeting, 4squaring and facebooking your valuable time away because a tiny percentage of real estate agents who DID find success in social media told you it’s the Second Coming? Perhaps you drank one too many Kool-Aids at an RE Bar Camp. Let’s take a moment to listen to what a couple successful real estate agents had to say about social media’s impact on their achieved success.

Earlier this week, I had a chance to speak with a friend of mine, Katie Karczewski. Katie is a real estate agent in Grand Rapids, MI and has been involved in social media increasingly as of late. I asked Katie what led her to be the #2 real estate agent in her community and here is what she had to say:

“A lot of hard work, getting involved in the community, being visible, looking directly into people’s eyes, shaking people’s hands and getting out there every Sunday for open houses.”

When I asked Katie how social media has impacted her business, she replied:

“It’s been great. It keeps me connected to my clients and it’s another great form of networking. I’ve also reconnected with countless people from my past. Has it improved my business? Sure it has. Can I say I sold or signed a listing via Facebook or Twitter? No, I can’t. For me, it’s really about the basics.”

Earlier this year I spoke with Michelle Genovesi, a real estate agent in Westport, CT. She explained that her team uses social media mostly to communicate with her clients, but generally, it was back to basics for them. Direct mailings, open houses, etc.

I believe social media has a very important place in the real estate industry. Real estate has always been about networking, socializing and getting involved in the community. I do, however, believe that many agents are misusing this tool. It’s not here to replace Open Houses or PTSO meetings. Social media in business is here to enhance and expand your reach, not take you away from what increases your bottom line. As a matter of fact, the most productive day I had all year was the day my Mac went dead. I would have never guessed that.

Go figure. Here I am writing on a social media, technology and real estate marketing blog preaching how it’s is not being used effectively. Do you think I made any friends today (no pun intended)?

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Neil Schwartz has been in the real estate industry for over 30 years. He is the broker of Century 21 Masters, the #2 Century 21 office in the Nation. He blogs on neilschwartz.net, providing valuable information to agents regarding sales training, real estate marketing, social media, and technology.

I was driving home from work the other night when a billboard caught my eye. It said, “Thousands of men will die this year due to stubbornness.” The sign was referring to men who fail to seek medical attention for prostate cancer. It was a powerful campaign and it got me thinking about stubbornness. Beyond being stubborn about our medical health, I realized that stubbornness also prevents us from achieving our professional goals. This year, Thousands of real estate agents have and will fail to meet their goals due to stubbornness.

What is Stubbornness and Where Does it Come From?

Stubbornness is refusing to change one’s opinion or actions, despite attempts to persuade one to make changes that will benefit them. It is being bullheaded and resistant to a change in spite of a reasonable argument. Being stubborn is a behavior that often stems from either ignorance or laziness. It is one thing not to be knowledgeable, but if you have the information and chose not to change your behavior, well then, that is just being lazy. Knowledge is only as powerful as what you chose to do with it. We all know successful real estate professionals, coaches and brokers yet many of us fail to heed their advice regarding what activities we need to do on a regular basis to accomplish our goals. Why is that?

The Tough Questions

Each of us should ask ourselves, “Am I as successful as I want to be?” Do I follow the advice of my broker, coach, mentor or high achieving agents? Am I seeing the professional results that I want? If the answer is no to these questions, then ask yourself, “Is that because I’m being stubborn?” Maybe it’s time to change your behavior. Stubbornness can have deadly consequences when dealing with health, and is costly to your professional success.

If you think you may be stubborn, acknowledging it is the first step. Congratulations! Now, what changes should you make?

Successful real estate agents consistently engage in the following activities. Ask yourself, “Am I doing these?”

1. Meet People (Prospect)
Door knock, phone prospect, holds open houses, go to social events, advertise, use social media. Keep in mind that there are more people out there that don’t know you than do know you. Go find them!

2. Follow up on Connections (Lead Follow-up)
Call and email their leads on a consistent basis, don’t take “no” for an answer when “yes” is still a possibility. You don’t lose many deals from “over” following up but how many deals have you lost from not following up?

3. Know the Market (Preview Property)
Visit all of the properties for sale in their market. Knowledge =Confidence…When you know your market you will speak with confidence.

4. Make a presentation (Know your Scripts and Dialogues)
Learn what to say and how to say it. Commit to a script, either write one yourself or use another that you’re comfortable with, and stick to it. Learn how to handle objections. Leads best respond to powerful presentations. Knowing not only your listing presentation but also how to handle objections is critical.

Break The Cycle of Stubbornness

Here’s a quick plan of action for you to supercharge your business in 2011.

1. Visit or call 5 expireds daily and then door knock or call the 10 homes around each one.
2. Preview 5 properties daily and door knock 10 homes around each one.
3. Spend 30 minutes daily practicing your scripts and dialogues.
4. Spend 1 hour daily doing intense phone follow up.
5. Spend 20-30 minutes daily managing your data base, make sure that everyone is receiving emails from you on a consistent basis and be sure to keep your blog/facebook current

Don’t let stubbornness hold you back from achieving the success you deserve. Stop being bullheaded and resistant to change. Learn from the actions of high achieving agents and incorporate it into your own businesses. Soon you will be joining their ranks!

Let me know what you are going to do to beat stubbornness.

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Matthew Shadbolt is the Director of Internet Marketing for The Corcoran Group, Manhattan’s largest real estate brokerage.

Follow Matthew on Twitter at @corcoran_group

Over the past few years there’s been an explosive growth in the number of things marketers can do, especially online. Even the trusty banner ad seems to be in rapid decline. As the internet becomes more pervasive in our lives, to the point where the ‘internet enabled device’ (often called ‘the internet of things’) is ubiquitous, the implications for real estate professionals are potentially seismic. How will people look for homes in the future? By what’s around them? Through recommendations from their friends? Through ‘curated’ search results assembled for them by experts?

The simple answer is, of course, that nobody really knows. A lot of these technologies are still in their infancy. Five years ago most of us had never heard of checking-in or status updates, and tweeting was something for the birds (many maintain that it still is). The idea of a multi-touch device we’d have in our pockets that knew where we were all the time still seemed like science fiction. Yet we don’t think like that any more. Many of us have embraced this new technology as it becomes more user-friendly and a lot less about the nuts and bolts of ‘how it works’.

Here’s 3 emerging ways we’ll interact with the internet in the coming years.

1. Moving between devices will become easier and more a part of how we move around the real world.

Imagine you’re a train commuter who has a long commute each day. To pass the time you watch movies and TV shows on your iPad, streamed directly through Netflix. You arrive at your stop but you haven’t finished watching that oh-so-climactic episode of Lost. When you get home, your internet-enabled plasma screen will remember at what point you left the episode, and automatically pick up from where you left off, allowing you to finish watching the show seamlessly. This technology is here today.

What does this look like for real estate? Imagine you were in a certain area, browsing around a neighborhood you’re thinking of potentially moving to. Your smartphone could record places you were interested in, then allow you to download relevant local video and information based on where you were via your desktop or television when you got home. It’s an increasingly common phenomenon that people are watching the television and also online at the same time. The idea of these screens combining is something we’ll see a lot more of soon.

2. The internet will be built-in as a standard feature into the things around us

The idea of more devices that would be able to handle transactions, especially smartphones, is one that’s right around the corner. Square are already doing it, Google are talking a lot about it, and the concept of your phone replacing your credit card is here. An electronic device with a built in reader that would automatically recognize your location and offer you loyalty rewards for coming back to the store is something we see in the Foursquare and Facebook Places models as they attempt to redefine customer loyalty. Imagine a scenario where you’ve created an electronic version of your grocery list on your iPhone before you go to the store. Upon arrival, the store will recognize you as a return customer, optimize your route through the aisles, and show you featured products you might be interested in based on your interests and related purchases.

3. When we’re moving

The un-tethering of the internet from the big box that sits on your desk is increasing with rapid pace. Not just GPS directions, but using the internet to build out and enhance the driving or flying experience. The idea of ‘what’s around me now’ is already here for smartphone users who are walking around (its adoption rate in urban areas is much higher than in more rural parts of the country), but it hasn’t made it to the car yet. Of course, there are obvious safety concerns with anything that might cause distractions, but the idea of remote diagnostics, local information, or using your car essentially as a large smartphone with wheels is here today. What does this mean for real estate? Think guided open house tours, saved locations, voice-activated notes, and even record imagery (think Google Street View) of the surrounding area. Then once you got home you’d be able to transfer that information from ‘outside’ to any device.

In an uncertain future, what is certain is that the pace at which the technology formerly known as the web will continue to evolve and grow at an increasingly aggressive rate. Cutting through the noise and being able to deliver information that’s timely and valuable to users will be where many businesses will need to focus, especially real estate. Outside of sharing property information, what services could you potentially provide for these platforms?

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Candy Evans is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters, bloggers and consultants. She writes for AOL’s Housing Watch, Joel Kotkin’s The New Geography, and is now a guest blogger for Future of Real Estate Marketing (FOREM). She’ll soon be writing for Move.com. Candy holds a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and has been a published writer for more than 25 years. She was a longtime contributing editor to Dallas’ D Magazine and sister pubs, and in 2007 founded the wildly successful Dallas real estate blog, DallasDirt, where she broke the news on where former president George W. Bush bought his Dallas home in 2008. She is the founder and creator of SecondShelters.com.

What is my absolute favorite part of real estate? Getting inside home after beautiful home to see what’s really behind those walls. I call it House Porn, bringing readers photos and descriptions of beautiful first and second homes I have been privileged to see. When I first started working on a real estate blog, I used to come home and want to completely re-decorate my own home. But I am of the generation raised by a mother who read Good Housekeeping, Family Circle and later, Architectural Digest. Of the three, I think more practical living tips came from GH and FC than AD. But AD was loaded with pages of beautiful homes that looked perfect, almost too perfect. My generation is still buying homes that way, web surfing over page after page of real estate porn, photos of granite counters, Wolf ranges, Kohler sinks and walnut floors. That 90 percent of all real estate search starts on the web surfing House Porn is no shocker. We Boomers have been looking at House Porn in magazines since Eisenhower.

Then comes Generation X, our kids. These are the ones who we empowered and hot housed and told they could be anything in the world because they were/are the most wonderful creatures, ever, gosh darn it. This is the generation that will have no one tell them what to do, not mom, not bosses, not government. It is OK, however, to be told you are a genius and the world is so lucky to have you. These kids have parents who call bosses and yell at them for making Johnny work too hard. So will this generation be into House Porn? After all, the web was coming around as they were growing up.

I think they will be into House Porn, maybe even more than their parents. The difference: they will have to make up their own mind, and not listen to agents or so-called “experts”.  They will have to verify everything ten times. Never mind what that mortgage broker says — if it doesn’t get explained on the internet, it doesn’t exist.

Now Gen Y, totally different story. These kids were not hot housed, they were warehoused and watched and told never to cross the street without a brigade on duty. They never played by themselves but had pre-arranged play-dates with kids who were drug-tested and screened for their IQ.

A rapid consumption generation, but they recycle. And they have a fear of trust because we were always afraid of something bad happening to them. These are the Facebook kids, who carry their friends in their cell phones . Are they going to utilize House Porn? You bet. Not only will they look at photos of homes and select favorite rooms, they will share these rooms with friends on Facebook and Foursquare, and with friends from across the world. Don’t forget these kids have been to Europe and the Middle East and came back oh so glad to be home, but their lives are all about relationships. Not only will Gen Y buy 6 to 12 homes around the world, they’ll be social nomads and re-unite with friends everywhere they go. It will be very, very important for this group to obtain the approval of their peers, get their blessing on Facebook and other platforms. And of course those listings are going to be passed to peers – what else? This House Porn is perfectly safe with this generation, as long as everyone “likes” it.

Are you into House Porn?

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Holly Schwartz (@hollyschwartzoc) is the Marketing Director for Torelli Realty,torellirealty) a boutique real estate company in Orange County, CA. She enjoys dishing up a daily blog about 365 Things To Do In Costa Mesa (“Like” the page on Facebook!) Prior to working at Torelli Realty she worked as a TV producer for the HGTV shows (@House Hunters and House Hunters International.

People love pictures! In real estate seeing pictures of a home is essential. Buyers use them to judge whether or not to go see a home in person. Sellers want to see them to see how their agent is marketing the property. Unfortunately, sometimes house photos just look bad. We’ve all seen bad pictures – ones where the colors are dull, the exposure is too light or too dark, the image is slanted, or the picture is pixilated. Does a bad picture do more harm than good? In some cases, most definitely.

I first heard of Picnik when I was at the Inman News™ Real Estate Connect® Conference in San Francisco this past summer. The samples of pictures that were modified using Picnik impressed me enough to give it a try. I’ve tested it and believe it is definitely worth a whirl because it has some perks that will make the life of many real estate agents/photographers a lot simpler.

• Picnik is free. You do have to sign in and create an account for the basic service, which has suited my purposes just fine. (However there is an option to upgrade if you choose to do so.)

• Picnik is extremely user friendly. All you have to do is upload a photo on their website. Then there are simple options for altering a photo like adjusting the colors and sharpening the image. Literally all it takes is a few clicks to make the adjustments.

• Because Picnik is a web-based platform you can “fix” images from anywhere. This is increasingly important as agents are mobile. It’s no longer necessary to be on a computer that has the editing programs you need because you can access this website on any computer, iPad or Notebook that has an Internet connection.

• One of the best things about Picnik is that it can resize photos for you. This is extremely important. Not only do you want the photo to be shown correctly but some MLS’s require the photo to fit special sizing specifications. With Picnik you can easily make these adjustments. This is also helpful for some social media sites that have size requirements for Gravatars.

Overall I think Picnik provides some terrific functions that real estate agents can use to their advantage. More and more the research is showing that potential homebuyers want to see pictures. In fact the research indicates that homes with the most photos actually get more views online (for instance when you go to Realtor.com the number of photos of each home is emphasized). Why is that? Remember, your first showing is no longer in person – in the majority of all showings it’s actually online. Home buyers are using photos as a screening process to determine if an in-person showing is worth their time.

Picnik is absolutely a winner in my opinion for real estate agents. We know that pictures are important to online house hunters because real estate and the Internet are both visual mediums. So give your audience what they want. Does your audience want drab, visually unattractive photos or will they be more impressed with bright, stimulating images? The choice is clear. Using Picnik is, excuse the pun, a picnic because of the cost-effectiveness and the user-friendly functions. For those real estate agents who are not able to invest in a professional photographer, Picnik is a great way to enhance the quality of your photos.

Are you using Picnik? If not, what tools do you use to modify your images?

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