We’re not endorsing this, just passing along the news about this new website. This shouldn’t replace your current appraisal process - it’s just help satisfy your curiosity in a quick way online. Here’s the news:
Visit Eppraisal.com and type in a home on their homepage and hit submit.

Eppraisal will return a detailed home appraisal with comparable properties and neighborhood demographic information. It will also provide you with detailed information report on the subject property. The report includes details that read similarly to a property profile you might receive from your title representative. Including property characteristics, location information and sales history. Now you can go online, and pull information you need for your clients, yourself.

Yahoo acquired Eppraisal.com on Wednesday to help bolster there real estate search engine.

http://www.eppraisal.com

Realtor.com is now offering free blogs to all agents.

Blogging is a great way to keep in touch with your clients and let them know what’s new on the market.  It’s also a great way to show off your knowledge and understanding of the market.  Consider setting up your own personal blog on Blogger.com and set yourself apart from the crowd.

Maybe this is an idea for PMZ 2.0?  Would you keep a blog on your agent page?  Comment and let me know your thoughts.

More proof from one of the world’s most successful businessman that traditional advertising is out, and that the Internet is where it’s at. Microsoft Chairman and Founder, Bill Gates, spoke to an audience of Microsoft’s top advertisers this Tuesday about the future of advertising and why traditional models of advertising such as Newspapers, Yellowpages and TV Commercials no longer make sense.

• Newspapers - Who doesn’t hop online these days to find out the latest news in their city or the Nation? Real estate, classifieds, news, opinions. You can find better content in personal blogs than your local newspaper most of the time.
• Yellowpages - Please! We have Google Local Search, Yahoo Local Search, MSN Local Search. These sites get updated ALL the time. Your regional Yellowpages get updated, what, every 6 months? Come on.
• TV Commercials - Did someone say TIVO?! Everyone who is anyone either has or is thinking about buying a DVR (Digital Video Recording device) for their TV so they can not only watch TV on their schedule, but fast-forward through commercials during the next episode of (insert favorite TV show here).

To read Bill Gates’ take on the future, click here.

By now, most of us understand the effectiveness of branding your business using the power of the Internet. However, some of us still might not yet realize the Internet’s potential. For those people, here is a quick refresher on why the Internet is such a powerful marketing tool and why traditional advertising, such as newspapers and magazines, are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

The Internet is changing the face of consumer spending. Consumers are turning more frequently to the Internet as a first resource in searching for goods and services. According to the National Association of Realtors, over 80% of home buyers now turn to the Internet to start their home search. Fading are the days when consumers wait until Sunday for their local newspaper to publish homes that are “new” on the market. Why should a consumer battle through a sea of gray and black that is updated once a week and that covers a limited area when they can easily hop online anytime to find the home of their dreams?

» Click Read More for Full Story
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Make them yourself or find somebody to shoot, edit and host ‘em — but don’t miss out, believers say: video is an easy way to set yourself apart from the competition in real estate.

You don’t have to hire a professional or go to film school to make use of video. The ability to shoot video in digital format and edit it on a computer has turned the process into child’s play — literally.

But there’s more to it than walking through a listing capturing some footage and posting it on YouTube (no-no’s in this video: “blown out” sunlit windows and rooms cloaked in darkness; occupants and their possessions at every turn, and a heavy-breathing cameraman who gives the whole thing the atmosphere of a slasher flick).

With a little bit of effort, it’s possible to get good results shooting your own video. And there are a growing number of videographers who will do the work for you at surprisingly affordable rates. At the upper end of the scale, there are professional production companies capable of producing broadcast video that’s good enough for TV.

For the most part, agents and brokers are using video in two ways: to promote themselves, which brings them clients and listings, and to sell individual properties with videos that accompany listings.

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There aren’t many things more irritating to me than getting charged a dollar to find a number via directory assistance from my cell phone. It’s seems like such a high cost for such a simple service. But cell phone providers have us over a barrel when it comes to charging for this convenience (not to mention other cell phone plan features).

Well now you can beat the cellphone companies and get free local-business search on your cell phone. Just add 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) to your contacts on your phone and enjoy free voice guided directory assistance ala Google. They’ll even connect you for free and also send you a text message of the number!

Using this service, you can:

• Search for a local business by name or category.
  You can say “Mountain Mike’s Pizza” or just “pizza”.
• Get connected to the business, free of charge.
• Get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone.
  Just say “text message”.

And it’s free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider. Click Read More
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