Twitter Converts --- and Skeptics

To Twitter or Not to Twitter (that is the question)

Non-Realtors wouldn't necessarily know it, but there's a huge debate going on within the Realtor community at the moment about the need to get up to speed with -- "re-tool" for, if you will -- so-called social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Here's a quick summary of the points each camp is making:

Twitter converts: everyone's using social media. "Be there or be square."

Twitter skeptics: actually, it seems like the most avid Twitter demographic is . . . teenagers. And not many teenagers buy homes.

Twitter converts: Not true (about the demographics). The common denominator is technological sophistication: people whose jobs require it (marketing, high tech, computer-related generally) are embracing social media, too.

Twitter skeptics: Yeah, those folks are so busy checking out sites like Zillow and Trulia they think they don't need a Realtor. And tell me again, how does someone who has time to Twitter all day hold down the kind of job that pays a big mortgage?

And so and so on.

Count me firmly in the . . . undecided camp.

I remember having a spirited conversation with someone, way back before anyone had even heard of Netscape, about why the Internet wasn't merely "CB radio's with typing" (I was right, they were wrong).

And yet, I have to confess, even I have doubts that Twitter represents a seminal, culture-changing shift: somehow, I just don't see my target market tweeting (or posting on Facebook), "I wish I hadn't just eaten that second hot and spicy burrito at lunch."

My best guess is that two considerations will prove paramount for Realtors weighing the "to Twitter -- or not?" question: 1) no one wants to be labeled a "Luddite," "behind the curve," etc.; and 2) you become proficient in whatever medium or mode of communication your client(s) prefer.

Has the Internet Peaked?

Old-Fashioned Technology
Makes Real Estate Comeback

"Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore. It's too crowded."
--Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra could easily say the same things about the Internet today, especially with respect to real estate. Consider:

--Online photos are now routinely so overly-flattering, you literally don't recognize the home when you're standing in it.

--Facebook and MySpace are crawling with Realtors, job seekers, and people selling . .. something.

--Sites like Zillow -- never very accurate at pricing homes -- are actually getting worse (their business model isn't to displace Realtors, but to attract eyeballs and advertising dollars).

--Interest rates quoted online are virtually meaningless because they don't take into account the borrowers' unique circumstances. Or, they're loss leaders that 1% of the borrowing public qualifies for (in retail, this is called "bait and switch").

Given all the clutter, distortion, and sheer noise on the Internet today, it seems fair to ask, "Has the Internet's utility peaked?"

For many people, the answer is "yes." That's true even as an estimated 80% percentage of all prospective home Buyers now begin their home search online.

Underwhelming -- and Overwhelming

Unfortunately, once they get there, they're likely to be both underwhelmed -- and overwhelmed.

Overwhelmed by the sheer number of real estate sites and information out there. Underwhelmed by how little of it is actually useful, if not outright misleading.

What's taking the Internet's place? "Low tech," and in some cases, "no tech" (John Naisbitt anticipated this phenomenon years ago with a 1999 book titled, "High Tech, High Touch"):

--Old-fashioned shoe leather and tire-kicking: if you really want to know what a property's like, go look.
--For Realtors marketing a home: personal networking, word-of-mouth, and an especially low tech tool: the phone.
--For prospective Buyers looking for a Realtor: referrals and personal interviews. Plenty of newbie Realtors are great at technology, including Facebook, but don't have a clue about selling real estate (how would they? They've never done it).
--For borrowers looking for a loan: one-on-one contact with a lender.

So is the Internet going away?

Hardly. Once I'm working with a client, the Internet's various productivity tools (email, online forms, government Web sites) greatly expedite communication, work flow, and access to information.

However, purely as a marketing medium, the Internet's value arguably has peaked.

Just like junk mail, the more ubiquitous it becomes, the less it seems to register with people (this blog notwithstanding, of course!).