Success in the real estate industry over the next decade is knowing where the Web is going, how it works and what the opportunities are it offers. The Internet has in less than one and a half decades evolved from a preferred method of connecting and finding information to sharing and being part of a community.  

Phase l - Browsing:  To surf the Web, users typed in the address of the destination they wanted to find, say Realtor.com, or they went to portals with links classified by a subject such as real estate.  Companies spent big money on banner ads and branding campaigns to lure people to their sites. 

A previous post here on RealBlogging offered an excerpt from an article at Broker Agent News authored by Michael Parker. (Ref. "What Every Agent Needs to Know about Blogging, Social Networking, RSS Feeds and SEO.")

I read Michael's article. I'd say his position on social networking seems evident given the four times he used the word "hoopla" to describe it.  I respect Michael's thoughts on the matter, but I have a different take.

NEW YORK AND LONDON.- A survey of the world’s leading luxury real estate brokerages that comprise the Christie’s Great Estates international network reveals that despite the widely reported downturn in housing, high-value real estate in many markets worldwide have sold in record numbers and at record prices.

“Recent news stories about housing prices have failed to report on the robust sales achievements in the luxury real estate sector,” says Kay Coughlin, President and CEO of Christie’s Great Estates, the world’s leading luxury real estate organization. “The high-end category worldwide continues to outperform expectations.”
 

New real estate wiki for real estate industry is launched. 

History of wikis in real estate
BiggerPockets (launched in 2006) claims to be the first real estate wiki but it unfortunately closed down in May 2007 due to lack of sufficient content.  Introduced shortly therafter, and still going strong, is InmanWiki (part of InmanNews, InmanTV and InmanBlog).  

Events that Shape an Industry: Real Estate Brokerage 2007 

In follow up to last week’s post where I detailed the Trendsetters of 2007, I today list the top 10 events that made headlines and captured the attention of the real estate industry in 2007. The selection of these events was based on both 2007 prominance as well as potential future impact on the industry for the next few years.

Read the complete list with here on next page.

Real estate lead gen company HouseValues has decided to invest $2.75 million in real estate social networking leader ActiveRain. They plan to use the funding to launch an outside blogging platform, which will enable agents to create individual blogs outside the ActiveRain network.Only three months ago ActiveRain was engaged in negotiations with Move, Inc to be acquired but the purchase didn’t go through – see previous blog.

Great article just released on how to use Google to track regional trends within the luxury market:

Creating an online community is a great way to get in front of residents in your target market 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Below is a link to a long video (42 minutes) from InmanTV about building your niche online.  The speakers provide tons of great advice about building a niche, developing a business plan, engaging consumers and becoming a neighborhood expert.  Most of the content relates to blogging, but it also works for interactive neighborhood websites.  It's long, but if you have the time you will get a lot out of it.

If you’re interested in growing your business this way, I’m happy to provide suggestions on how to get started.

Every year I identify in my Swanepoel Trends Report the top 10 companies that I feel during the previous calendar year (2007) set forth actions that were different and memorable and could potentially have a far reaching impact on the real estate industry in the years to come. I call them Trendsetters. Here are my Top 10 Trendsetters for 2007.

1. Realogy

I'm never going to be famous. My name will never be writ large on the roster of Those Who Do Things. I don't do any thing. Not one single thing. I used to bite my nails, but I don't even do that any more.

~ Dorothy Parker

I have no expectations about becoming famous through blogging. Or even famous (period). I think I'm fairly satisfied making a decent living and contributing to society in various ways. Outside of the few non-profits and/or charities I affiliate with, and the cool online training courses I enjoy creating for our industry, I think blogging is another way I feel I'm able to give back to society in some way.