There have been so many cool real estate sites popping up in recent years (Trulia, Zillow, Redfin, etc) that it seemed as if the monsters like Realtor.com were destined for obsolescence just as soon as the average consumer started trusting the new techno sites for their real estate search. But not so fast.
The NAR announced a recent take over of Cyberhomes assets and data, and is revealing an interested long-term strategy to compete with these new kids on the block. Will it work? Maybe. Who does it benefit? See this awesome article on 1000 Watt Consulting for an in-depth analysis.
This news made me recall another incredible article/piece of news by the ever-entertaining and brilliant Notorious ROB where he discusses how a little guy (think local real estate agencies) may have suddenly delivered a potential knock-out punch to the tech-heavy real estate start-ups of the last 4 years. In a nut-shell, ROB comments that a particular local real estate company has just unveiled a new website which competes and possibly exceeds the user experience and amount of data delivered by these tech start-ups. Big deal, right? Maybe not.
One thing is for sure: it’s an interesting time to be in the real estate industry. Who will survive? I’m not sure. I know that I’m constantly amazed by some of the tech start-ups like Redfin and the now bankrupt BuySide Realty/Iggys House who receive all this VC money and ALSO offer deep discounts. How can these companies be soooo top-heavy and programmer heavy and also offer deep discounts and also survive? I don’t know. I know that the only way we’ve survived while offering deep discounts is by offering a level of service that the above discounters don’t or can’t. We’re basically offering the same service as a traditional agent, AND we offer discounts. How? Our overhead is almost non-existent, no multi-level management, no VC money, no standing staff of programmers.
But that’s not enough, is it? No, I don’t think so. I think that we also need to provide great service AND a great user experience on our website. Which brings me back to the above point made by Notorious ROB: if little guys can deliver a big, satisfying punch on their websites then what will drive people to keep using the large tech sites? The answer to that question remains to be seen, but if the age-old adage that “all real estate is local” is true (which i think it is), then the answer is: nothing. If, in the near future, there’s no significant difference between the average local agent’s site in regards to data and user experience when compared to the big non-local tech sites, then there’s really nothing but recent momentum to keep carrying new users to those tech sites. And momentum can change.
ConocoPhillips is our big, new neighbor up the Denver/Boulder corridor just off of Hwy 36. You probably know that they purchased a 400++ acre campus from Storage Tec a while back, and there’s been lots of news and some considerable speculation as to what their plans are.
Well, it appears as if they’re going to use the site as the research and development center on renewable energy. Good news for this area. Even better news that over the next 20 years or so they’ll ramp things up to around 7,000 employees or more. Very nice for the real estate market, and wonderful to have this type of company in the area.
I hope this acts as a draw for other renewable energy companies in the same way that Sun Microsystems and IBM have helped give us a good foundation and big draw in the technology department.
Won’t you be my….neighbor.
Shoot me an email at bob@realasave.com if you have any Denver or Boulder real estate questions, or if you want some more info about our Colorado commission rebate program where we give you 50% of our paycheck.
One of the big debates in the City of Boulder has to do with the proposed “pops and scrapes” ordinance which will limit structure size in Boulder. This issue has been debated and detailed in many other blogs and news sites around town, so I won’t bore you with all the details. But basically, City Council wants to limit what Boulder homeowners can do with their own property. It’s not known as The People’s Republic of Boulder for no reason…
Now, in theory, this sounds fine. Who wants to wake up one morning and as Councilman Macon Cowles says, “find the Queen Mary parked next to their house?”. But the problem is that there are only about 100 6,000+ square foot homes in Boulder. And the council is aiming its actions at “preserving” neighborhoods/structures in the 1200-2000 square foot range. Those are they guys they’re protecting. But…
Listen to this interview on CPR Colorado Matters between homeowner Warren Hultquist and councilman Macon Cowles. In it, Hultquist points out that he simply wants to make an addition in order to access his basement square footage, and that his home is in the neighborhood of the 1200-2000 square foot range mentioned above. But this new ordinance would prohibit him from making such modest additions.
The part that just rubs me the wrong way about Macon Cowles’ championing of the new size limit ordinance is this: councilman Cowles lives in a 4,800 square foot home. That’s a huge home for Boulder. A huge home. Does anything about this rub you the wrong way?
Furthermore, the City Council is opposed to the idea of putting any such ordinance to a general vote because, as council member Macon Cowles says in the attached interview, the issue is too complex for laypeople to understand. Hmmmm…
I’d encourage Boulder residents to visit the website Leave My Home Alone when they have a moment. This is taken from the LMHA position statement on their website:
“The Proposed Regulations are Anti-Family and Unfair
The proposed regulations are anti-family and would unfairly restrict the right of Boulder citizens to build additions to or remodel their homes and unfairly decrease property values, thereby effectively snuffing out the hopes, plans, and dreams of people living and working in Boulder. The proposed regulations are a “one-size fits all” approach that goes too far and would prohibit many types of appropriate additions and remodels. The proposed regulations would have a disproportionate impact on relatively modest neighborhoods like Martin Acres, Aurora 7, West Highlands and Columbine. If families can’t grow in their homes, they will move elsewhere, thereby exacerbating the loss of families with children in Boulder and the declining enrollment in Boulder’s schools.”
Fair warning to all Boulder residents: you need to inform yourselves and voice your concerns to your City Council!
Uncle Sam is indicating that he’d like to use a few of our tax dollars to finance billions in loans. Great. Now, I’m all for the current $8,000.00 tax credit as I’ve seen first hand benefits for buyers I’ve been working with in the Denver and Boulder markets. But this is a much different creature.
The program I’m referring to is the one announced today by the Obama Administration whereby the Federal Government will become the new buyer in the previously evaporated mortgage-backed security market, thus allowing state agencies to fund millions of mortgages. What? Basically, when the economy and housing market imploded last year the bond market for mortgage backed securities disappeared. This caused various HFA’s (housing finance agencies) to cease giving loans or raise rates considerably. So now Uncle Sam is Subprime Sammy!, your mortgage backed security expert and buyer extraordinaire.
All kidding aside- how is the potential of this program any different than what subprime lenders did over the last decade or so to “encourage” first time buyers to jump into the market? Aren’t we currently living through the aftermath of the collapse of just such a program?
Part of this program would allow first-time buyers to use the future $8,000 tax credit as part of their down payment. Another bad idea. This means that this new round of buyers will have the same amount of skin in the game as the subprime borrowers who got 100% financing in 2003. None. So there is no incentive to stay in the game, and we might as well look forward to another massive wave of foreclosures 3-5 years from now when some of these new homeowners realize that this is not their cup of tea.
I’m all for helping first-time buyers…we do it all the time at Real-a-Save. But if a potential buyer has ZERO dollars, then maybe, just maybe, they’re NOT a potential buyer after all. FHA loans require 3.5% down right now. That’s a pretty darn good deal. Why are we looking for ways to require zero down? Isn’t that exactly what got us here in the first place?
Email bob@realasave.com if you have any real estate questions, or if you would like to know about our Colorado commission rebate program. And no, you cannot use a commission rebate towards your down payment;-)
Real-a-Save is a full-service, licensed Colorado real estate company. We offer services to both buyers and sellers.
We feel it’s very important for home buyers to have someone on their side when negotiating a contract, and so we offer exclusive Buyer’s Agency. Many buyers just want to be left alone at the start of their home search- and that’s fine. The Internet has certainly put a ton of information at the savvy buyer’s feet. But when you are ready to look at a home, or if you have some questions about a particular property, then that is the time to give us a call and let us help.
It’s best for buyers not to simply start calling random real estate agents and asking questions. The listing agent is trying to sell that lovely Denver condo that you fell in love with. And his/her job and loyalty is clearly on the side of the seller. So it seems wise that you have someone on your side.
Let us be on your side. No only will you be hiring a local Realtor with tons of experience, but you’ll also receive significant savings from our Colorado Commission rebate program. We basically split our paycheck for you. Sound too good to be true? Well, the US Department of Justice supports companies like Real-a-Save. Just take a look at what the US DOJ has to say about rebate real estate companies like ours.
For more information about our commission rebate program and how you can receive 50% of our commission, you can email bob@realasave.com, or simply go to our website at www.realasave.com and join the scores of Denver/Boulder real estate consumers who have taken advantage of the great savings we offer.
The real estate industry is unique in many ways- not all of them good. For example: why are the words “savings”, and “discount” regarding with such disdain in this industry? It seems that almost every other industry rewards the savings monsters within it with great success. Think Walmart, Costco, or any of a number of low-fee stock trading sites like Scottrade, E-trade, etc.
But in the real estate industry companies which give discounts, or operate with reduced-fee models are often ridiculed or labeled as companies which are doomed to failure. “You get what you pay for!”, is a refrain we in the discount real estate industry hear from those in the traditional, full-fee real estate companies. This implies that savings and poor service go hand in hand. Really? Just take one look at the glowing testimonials on this page and you’ll have to think again. Is it so shocking to traditional real estate agents that someone who offers savings to his clients might also take pride in providing excellent service?
This is not a foreign concept to us at Real-a-Save. Full-service, big savings. It’s a simple business model that is working quite well, thank you.
Visitors to the Real-a-Save website can very easily search for Denver homes for sale in close proximity to their school of choice by using the Sketch-a-Map feature. Simply open up the search page and look at the lower left portion of the screen for the Sketch-a-Map icon. This is a tool we’ve developed which allows visitors to draw boundaries right on our map. You can even save multiple “sketches”, each with unique boundaries, in your “Saved Searches” area of the website. Once you draw and save a search, our system will search for new listings in your saved search each morning and will email you when a home pops up on the Denver or Boulder real estate market which fits your criteria. Pretty cool, right? Give it a try here. And remember that Real-a-Save is the Front Range’s best choice for saving money in your next real estate transaction.
So far our business at Real-a-Save is available in Colorado only. Specifically, the Denver and Boulder real estate markets. But we do get a few calls a month from Brokers and investors who are interested in franchising and/or licensing our business model. So why haven’t we offered franchises yet? Well, we’re considering it, but are really taking our time and doing the research. The most important thing is to make sure that our current clients remain satisfied. Every franchise owner I’ve spoken with thus far has advised that it’s extremely important to prove your business model before franchising. It’s also VERY expensive and time consuming to franchise a business. If you or someone you know is interested in bringing Real-a-Save to your market, then shoot me an email at bob@realasave.com and I’ll keep you updated as to our time frame for franchising.
Traditional advertising and marketing methods are dead. Gone. As consumers, we’re getting so good at filtering out all the “noise” which gets thrown our way. Noise like the paid Google results on the top and right nav sections of your Google results page. Or noise like those wonderful “Just Listed” or “Just Sold” postcards which your local Realtor mails to you. Or what about newspaper advertising? Do I really need to address this? Magazines? Come on.
We’re lucky enough at Real-a-Save to have a really loyal base of fans. These are former clients and current users of our websites who act as advocates for our company by telling their friends. We get so many calls where a buyer/seller says something to the effect, “my buddy told me I just had to check out your site and I did. I love your business model…”. People seem to be sold on the concept before we ever have to discuss our model with them. It seems that saving people money AND providing great service is actually appealing!
Search for Boulder homes for sale on our incredible website and I’m sure you’ll agree that our savings, website, and incredible service are worth talking about.
What is going on with Boulder County’s million dollar market? In the Denver and Boulder real estate markets below the 700k price point there is some really good activity. In fact, the sub-400k market is humming in certain places due to all the first time buyers. But the 1MM market in Boulder is odd. You’ve got many homes lingering on the market for long periods of time. Those homes are pulled and relisted w/different brokers but quite often at the same price. Over and over again. This indicates that the home owners at this price point simply have not reached a tipping point that would cause them to lower prices. The threat of foreclosure is not a huge factor at this price point and so many sellers continue to hop on and off the market expecting a sale at last year’s prices. It’s not happening in most cases.
