New Feature: Subscribe To the Content of Your Choice!

by | Dec 12, 2010 | Site Features & Updates

Subscribe to All Topics

Now You Have a Choice!

The blog as a Real Estate tool has been nothing short of revolutionary. Seemingly overnight, a million and two agents turned to their keyboards to flog consumers and search engine spiders with news from the front lines and advertise their wares. As the popularity of the blog as a marketing device skyrocketed, so too did the number of eyes scouring the medium for the latest market stats, home buying & selling tips, and community information. While there was a time when I was reluctant to believe that anyone would be much interested in the disjointed literary meanderings of a garden variety Realtor, it is evident that our readership at the Scottsdale Property Shop has become large and varied enough to warrant moving beyond the one size fits all content subscription offering.

For the six minutes that the professional blogging medium has existed, debate has raged as to what constitutes suitable blog content. Some eschew the inclusion of listings and dry market stats from the blog roll as it is not the most captivating copy. Others throw everything but the kitchen sink into the blog roll. After all, we’re here to advertise ourselves and our properties, yes? The fundamental failing from my vantage point does not involve what material is worthy of blog inclusion (I ascribe to the notion that there is a place for everything), but rather the lack of cohesion. Sure we sort things by topic and the like for our site visitors/readers, but what of our valued subscribers who are inundated with everything under the sun when their interests are often highly specific?

You should be able to subscribe to that which pertains to your interests directly without having to sign on for every single piece of content posted.

Home buyers don’t want to read “5 Tips For Selling Your Scottsdale Home During the Holidays.”

Home sellers don’t want to read “How Negotiate the Lowest Price on Your Next Scottsdale Home Purchase.”

Admitting the gaping chasm that stands between what a subscriber is bombarded with, and what he/she actually wants to receive in his/her inbox or reader, The Scottsdale Property Shop has moved to bridge the divide.

From now on, you, our reader, will have the option of subscribing to the content category of your choice. At the time of this posting, we are offering subscriptions to posts in the following categories:

  • For Buyers – Subscribe to this category to receive only that content which involves purchasing a home in the greater Scottsdale/Phoenix area. Community info, buying advice, investment strategy, financing information, etc is all fodder for this category.
  • For Sellers – Subscribe to this category to receive only that content which directly relates to selling your Scottsdale/Phoenix area home. Selling tips, market reports, etc fall under this category.
  • Creative Writing – I am a writer at heart. Some who follow me may not be the least bit interested in buying or selling a home in the Scottsdale area in the immediate future. Subscribe to this category if you are looking for a good read (or what passes for one around here) instead of 3rd quarter market stats. Humor, fiction … definitely not the local weather report.
  • All topics – Fear not, you still have the option to subscribe to all blog content if you hang on every furloughed word that escapes this keyboard. Subscribe to this catchall category if you want it all: market reports, community spotlights, home buyer advice, home seller tips, new listings, creative writing, DVR programming instructions, smoked humpback whale recipes, things to do when trapped in a Chilean mine without an internet connection … the works.

Where do you subscribe?

Same place as before, right in the sidebar. You’ll simply notice that additional options exist where before there was only a prompt to “Subscribe to Blog.” You can also click the category links above to subscribe to the feed of your choosing.

If you just want to see houses, you can simply register to receive new listing alerts, or subscribe to any one of our live zip code feeds to have the latest homes for sale sent straight to your reader. You’ll find these options in the HOME SEARCH tab of the navigation bar.

We look to eventually subdivide (how Real Estatey of us) the categories further, but for now, we’ve got the basics covered.

Any thoughts? We welcome all comments and input that would help improve your Scottsdale Property Shop experience. If we fail to implement any suggestions, however, please note that some ideas suck more than others.

Thanks,

Staff

No, That Is Not My Listing. Yes, You’ve Come to the Right Place.

by | Aug 13, 2010 | Home Buying, Site Features & Updates

A disconnect that will sometimes occur when a Scottsdale Real Estate consumer lands here on the Scottsdale Property Shop site, not all of the properties you see listed for sale here fly under the banner of Realty Executives.  Matter of fact, of the forty some thousand home listings that you can trawl in our home search engine on a given day, only a handful are likely to boast a Ray and Paul Slaybaugh sign in the front yard.

So what gives?

When you land on an individual Realtor’s website, the home search results display the feed from what is referred to as an “IDX” solution.  Technical aspects aside, this is essentially a streamlined version of the local MLS for public consumption.  Brokers have the option of opting out of the IDX agreement, thus not allowing their listed properties to be displayed on the sites of competitors and aggregators (Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc).  As such posturing would be tantamount to internet marketing suicide for a brokerage on behalf of its seller clients, however, few and far between are the active brokers who do not participate in the open proliferation of their listing feed.  There are rules and prohibitions in regards to what information can be displayed, etc, but by and large, this allows the consumer to visit most any Real Estate site with a capable IDX solution to view inventory.

Where misunderstandings can crop up is at the intersection of convenience and marketing.  You go to Google.  Type in the street address of a property you saw (forgot the name or number on the sign) or some specific criteria such as “3 Bedroom Homes For Sale in McCormick Ranch.”  If an agent has a search engine friendly IDX solution (such as yours truly), you land on his/her site.  Plastered next to all of the property information you seek is the agent’s smiling mug and contact information.

This is not necessarily, and most likely not, the listing agent.

If you scroll way down to the bottom, you will find the slightest nod to the brokerage that has the home listed for sale, but all of the contact information will be directed to get you to pick up the phone and call the agent that owns the site upon which you just landed.

For some of you, this is neither here nor there.  You just want the property information and don’t give a fig who provides it.  If the property looks interesting, Bigfoot himself could show it to you for all you care.

Where it can become an issue is when the consumer has specific reason to approach the listing agent directly.  There is typically an awkward silence, followed by a mild rebuke at a perceived misrepresentation.  To this house hunter, I say you found me just in time.  Why?  Because if left to your own devices, you would have unwittingly blundered right into the lion’s den with no representation.

Perhaps you think the listing agent will be a more direct conduit to the seller.  Perhaps you think the listing agent will have more information to provide regarding the property.  Or perhaps you think the listing agent will willingly cede a portion of his commission with no other agent involved in the transaction, ultimately saving you money on the purchase.

Were I better at HTML coding, neon lights would illuminate this next sentence.

THE LISTING AGENT REPRESENTS THE SELLER.

I repeat.

THE LISTING AGENT REPRESENTS THE SELLER.

Whatever seemingly helpful information the agent provides, make no mistake that it is his fiduciary obligation to separate you from as much of your money as possible on the seller’s behalf.  And he does this for a living.

When shopping for a new home in Scottsdale, it is not possible to overstate the value of the internet.  In addition to the tools and resources that are more available to the consumer than ever before, it could just be the chance encounter with a local agent’s IDX search that proves most fortuitous.  Contacting the floating head next to the listing that interests you might be the thing that saves you from overpaying or getting embroiled in transactional hell on your purchase.

No, the listing you are looking at is most likely not mine.  For that you can thank your lucky stars.  I’m quite adept at squeezing money out of buyers for my sellers.  Since the shoe is on the other foot, let’s go get you that house for a price that will make the seller limp for a month.

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