This is the first in a series of posts on my views of WEB 2.0

Just as REALTORS® are learning that one has to have a web presence to land new customers and that online advertising of homes is cheaper and usually more effective than print advertising; and just as companies feel that they are electronically guarding their valuable listings just as they controlled them when the only access to Multiple Listing Services was the thick books owned and controlled by REALTORS®; and just as the profession has trained web visitors to go to www.realtor.com for comprehensive real estate and listing information – along comes WEB 2.0.

Ask most agents how they are utilizing WEB 2.0 in their marketing and the impact that WEB 2.0 will have on the future of the real estate business, and you are likely to be met with a blank stare. The industry is about to experience a much more dramatic change that the transition from MLS books to the web over a decade ago. As much as we all might resist it, WEB 2.0 is here and it will change the way REALTORS® do business. Today’s post:

REAL ESTATE BLOGS

If you Google for real estate blogs you are likely to find web log entries made by agents touting themselves and the great opportunities in their markets, providing information about the real estate buying and selling process, sales data, ramblings about what they are doing, etc. Real estate blogs are not just another advertising alternative (and great for quick Google indexing) as many agents are beginning to realize. On the other hand, a number of well -researched blogs, not necessarily produced by REALTORS®, or endorsed by NAR, concentrate on the darker side of residential real estate. Read a few posts in these:

• The Housing Doom Blog
• The Housing Panic Blog
• The Housing Bubble Blog
• 4realz Blog
• Sellsius Blog

WEB 2.0 is not always the nicest place, and everyone who has an opinion is free to express that opinion (and get it quickly indexed in Google). These blogs challenge the status quo world of real estate, and they have high subscriber numbers. They, and similar blogs, are providing information that does not reflect the REALTOR® point of view, and facts and opinions expressed are being accepted by internet savvy consumers. The question for REALTORS® – respond or ignore?