Real Estate 2.0

You’ve likely heard the term “Web 2.0″, but what does it mean? Many Internet experts have different opinions on what Web 2.0 really means, so I’ll defer to Wikipedia for my definition…

According to Wikipedia: “Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of web development and web design. It is characterized as facilitating communication, information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web.”

OK, that sounds great, but what does that mean for you and how does it translate to Real Estate 2.0? Simply put, it means real estate buyers and sellers now have access to more information and communication tools than ever before. Now I’ll break it down for you in real estate terms:

Facilitating Communication and Information Sharing:

Real Estate companies are communicating with their clients in so many new ways it is almost mind boggling. I remember when email emerged on the real estate scene and we would copy and paste property listings into email for distribution to our clients. Now home buyers can access MLS data directly and sign up for email alerts when property meeting their criteria becomes available.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds have also become a popular way to communicate. For example, you can subscribe to this blog via RSS and add our blog to your favorite RSS reader.

Speaking of blogs, this blog is another example of the type of information sharing that is Web 2.0. Real Estate blogs are becoming more and more common and setting yourself apart on the Internet be challenging.

And, what about micro-blogging, aka Twitter? Probably the most popular Web 2.0 technology to emerge in years, Twitter has taken the Internet by storm. If you still don’t understand what Twitter is, it is really quite simple. Twitter answers the question: “What are you doing right now?”. People post “Tweets” about what they are doing and other people follow the “Tweeters” by subscribing to their posts (aka. following).

Interoperability and Collaboration

I don’t want to get too technical here, but I think these concepts deserve some discussion because of their profound affect on the way you run your Real Estate business. Simply put, your web site, IDX-MLS system and customer relationship management (CRM) software should all communicate seamlessly via Web API and XML (email me if you really want to know more about these things). This interoperability allows you to provide your clients with a new level of service by vastly improving the efficiency of your reporting and communication. Furthermore, through a web-based back-office software system (get in the cloud!), you can collaborate as a team more efficiently, which translates to better customer service through team support.

And, lets not forget how these systems can make you more environmentally friendly. On-line contract collaboration, electronic document sharing and virtual tours are some of the things that can make you green and attract environmentally concious clients.

Social Networking, Video Sharing, Mashups, etc., etc.

The social networking phenomenon is a direct result of Web 2.0 and the emergence of web sites that provide user-based information as their primary resource. You should be active in Facebook, LinkedIn and other networking sites as a way to communicate with current clients and reach out to new clients. Don’t forget to share your web site resources with your social network by placing “Share This” functionality throughout your site.

Video and Photo Sharing via YouTube, Flickr and other media sharing web sites has provided many of us in the real estate community with a great way to distribute our video, photos, property tours, etc. In addition, we have helped our clients leverage the vast YouTube library to provide educational real estate videos on their sites.

What in the world is a mashup? A mashup is a web page or application that combines data or functionality from 2 or more external sources to create a new service. For a great example of a MLS-IDX and Google Maps mashup try our IDX map search at iNET Property.

 

As Web 2.0 continues to develop and amaze us all, we will continue to keep you updated on the impacts to Real Estate and our evolving Real Estate 2.0 services.