Tag Archives: social media

Fairfax Station Home Selected as the Washington Post’s “House Of The Week”

I am so very happy that the Washington Post’s Real Estate section decided to use one of my listings as their House of the Week. Here is a link to The Washington Post article. The featured home is in the equestrian community of The English Hills Estate in Fairfax Station, which is in Fairfax County Virginia.

You can directly link to 10901 Henderson Rd as a “Featured Listing” and also see the posted video on YouTube.

I am thrilled to be selected for a several reasons.

  1. First and foremost, my sellers are getting their home seen by a far larger group of people than I could provide by my marketing efforts alone and who doesn’t love free advertising?
  2. It introduces me to that same group of people who, if I’m lucky, will read what other people think about me and hopefully, contact  me themselves for their home buying and selling needs.
  3. Finally, I place a huge amount of importance on driving people to this website for promotion of my clients homes and myself and I do everything I can to optimize my website placement on search engines. This Washington Post honor occurred yesterday and my website traffic has increased by more than 25 times the normal number after only one day.

So, thank you for checking out this grand and unique home in Fairfax Station, Virginia. If you are considering a move to our area, let me know and I will happily set up a private showing for you. While you’re on this site, feel free to search for everything in Fairfax Station or just create your own search from scratch. Registration is never required and the only time you’ll be asked for information is if you want me to know where to send something like Email Alerts which will automatically email new listings to you every day.

Real Estate Agent Gadgets and Technology

Note… Despite what you are about to read, I don’t think of myself as a HUGE computer geek and I hope you won’t either. I like the outside and exercise and all of that :) This is a very general overview but I’m happy to go into specifics one on one or in a future post (if requested).

Real estate agents and technology are a perfect pairing. With an MLS that spans the entire DC Metro area and GPS, it’s much easier to be a neighborhood “expert” anywhere we feel like going (provided we’re licensed in the state). The graphic to your right shows the places I’ve sold homes in. The red star is where I live and the blue stars are my farthest sales. So for me, a one and a half hour drive in any direction is comfortable. (UPDATE: I just sold a home in Charlottesville which is off the shown map to the Southwest)
Next to the Multiple Listing Service, the technology real estate agents employ varies agent by agent. I’ll list my most often used technologies and gadgets and some similar alternatives. They aren’t REALTOR specific so you may find them useful too!
Phone/PDA/Tablet: About 12 years ago, I started with a Philips Nino which was a Windows based handheld PDA, which means I was an early adopter. Since then, I’ve owned the Cassiopeia E105 and E115, A Dell Axim and an HTC Tilt. All were problematic. The best PDA/Phone I’ve ever owned is the iPhone I use now but it’s 3 years old and on it’s last leg. Being a big kid, I always want to have the next big thing so I’m taking a chance with the Samsung Galaxy S II when it finally gets released on September 18′th after what seems like forever. The entire world has this phone except for the USA.
I own and use the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 which has all but replaced my laptop. I really like it but the battery doesn’t last as long as the iPads. It also doesn’t have as many tablet specific apps but that should change soon since Android is working towards taking the dominant position away from Apple as they have with mobile phones. However, for someone new to the tablet form factor, I don’t think you could do better than Apples iPad.
CMS (Contact Management System) or CRM (Customer Relationship Manager): I’ve tried dozens. In the end, I use Highrise at http://37signals.com/ Close runners up: http://www.oprius.com/ and http://www.pipelinedeals.com/ TopProducer is the number one REALTOR specific program but tiny compared to what most people prefer. (All my opinion… don’t get mad at me)
Note taking: I use apps as a “catch all” for getting things done. They either get done or transition to my Highrise tasks. I use http://evernote.com/ which is always in sync. It doesn’t matter if I’m using a laptop, a smartphone or a tablet, everything is available. I’m using Evernote to draft this blog post. Once completed, I’ll copy and paste into http://www.notetab.com/ to strip any formatting and then copy and paste into my WordPress blog. Close runner up: http://springpadit.com
Document Sharing: Even though I’m a Google fan and I should like http://box.net/ , I like https://www.dropbox.com/ which lets me drag and drop files into a normal looking folder and it’s synchronized on the web and with all devices. I keep all documents there for active clients until the deal closes so that I can access them instantly from anywhere.
Sharing information with clients: Evernote, Springpad and Dropbox allow you to share share things with specific people but I tend to use Backpack from http://37signals.com/ . The information I share are things like a Pre-Settlement Checklist, A list of Utility Companies for the move or a list of client specific files/documents.
DocuSign: Is a great way to get things singed and initialed when buyers or sellers are out of town.
Photography: I always have professional photographs taken for new listings. Those photos go on the MLS, my web site, Flickr and either youtube, Vimeo or Animoto (all great products).
Website: I’ve designed websites in the past and they did well on search engines but troubleshooting website problems doesn’t pay my mortgage so… My Website is a Dakno site. on my site are two WordPress blogs that look just like my primary site. I have a blog and a photo blog.
Mobile website: Coming within weeks! People access websites with their mobile device 4 times more than at a desktop so I have to offer that experience for todays homebuyer/homeseller. Property specific QR codes for yard signs so people can scan and view a property slideshow based on their location is critical. Giving people the opportunity to search for homes as they drive around neighborhoods is the best way to meet their needs.
Social media: I have both personal and business Facebook accounts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Plus. I secretly hope Facebook goes the way of MySpace. I LOVE Google Plus! Between Google Plus and Twitter, I’m a happy camper :)
I am always looking for the next best thing. I do waste some time trying things that don’t work out but I am always increasing my base of knowledge and I’m more satisfied with my ultimate choices because of that time spent. My father always said that one way to make good decisions is to first make bad ones (he wasn’t referring to technology). I think the greatest thing to ever happen to my business with regards to technology is Web 2.0 which eliminates the need for software. Now let’s get working on Transporters and laser guns!

Google Plus versus Facebook in Real Estate

I always sign up as early as I can to participate in the new online offerings that I think may be helpful or “cool” for personal and/or real estate use to promote business and self.

I am very excited about the new Google Plus site. I signed up early to receive an invitation but finally ended up getting one through a link from a facebook friend… (ironic).

Google Plus has a beautiful user interface. I read that a former Macintosh designer was given free reign in the design and he/she did a fantastic job. There are also additional or easier ways to interface with people in your circles (friends).

The only difficulty I’ve had and it’s my own fault, is not fully understanding the Google contacts. I’ve always used other contact management systems where one contact may have 3 email addresses. Google shows three different contacts for the same person, each with a different email address. I’m certain that once I use it for awhile and learn a little, that will cease to be obscure.

Google seems to have a great batting average. Occasionally things don’t succeed (Google Buzz) while most things climb quickly, like smartphones. Google sells more Android phones than Apple sells iPhones. Could Facebook become the next MySpace while Google rises to the top?

If you want to find me on Google Plus, simply visit gplus.to/roykohn