"Great Web Sites and Tools"
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12/6/96 Interview with Becky Swann IRED.COM, Inc. 1018 Riverside Drive Suite 101 Grapevine, TX 76051 ![]() |

Introduction to IRED
- The International Real Estate Directory is a comprehensive list of real estate sites that serves two audiences -- Realtors and consumers; Swann's primary interest is the consumer.
- Listings include anything related to the real estate industry including appraisers, lenders and government sites.
- Seekers of lenders will find listings of those who advertise online and those who actually take applications online; calculators allow the computation of the cost of a mortgage and the cost of living.
- Most information is on the residential area, but some commercial information is covered; IRED is the residential equivalent of the commercially focused Pikenet.
- A consumer would find IRED useful for identifying properties, finding agents and learning about communities; an overlooked market is the group who are planning ahead and researching where they want to live.
- The Internet will be affecting the future demographics of the nation; agents in small communities are reporting a significant boost in their business from the Internet.
- Gary Cooley is generating as much business as he can handle and has put Mountain Home, AR on the map through his page Blackburn Real Estate; Alice Held in Scottsdale, AZ has been successful in expanding into international real estate.
- IRED includes comments on the quality of sites -- a "top ten" list appears every month; evaluations are partly intuitive -- those highly rated have unique "personality" to set them apart.
- A Web site is tantamount to your office and should express something special about yourself; the Web is about giving not about advertising.
- Community information -- the things people need to know before they buy real estate in your community -- is a naturally unique offering for your Web site.
- To maintain fresh information as a draw, Peckham's Real Estate Investments Online (in IRED's top ten last month) uses his latest monthly newspaper column on how to use Cyberspace to market real estate.
- Empathy: relate to the user's needs.
- Clarity: make your purpose clear.
- Temperance: avoid an emphasis on entertainment and focus on information; be realistic in using tools and features appropriate for your audience -- don't worry about "dumbing down."
- Substance: give real content, not just billboard advertising; use the Internet to overcome the public's skepticism about the industry's reputation.
- Value: provide information that is practical and not available elsewhere.
- Hope: give visitors the expectation of finding new information when they return.
- Credibility: include your name, location, telephone number and email address; 50% of sites overlook inclusion of this obvious information.
- Depending on how much you do yourself, cost can range from nearly nothing to thousands of dollars; hiring a professional to do a serious, information-packed site could run $1,500-$10,000.
- The cost of access through a Web provider is about $20-$30 per month; services of a Web designer run about $50/hr.
- Contracts for the Web page should be carefully negotiated to avoid problems later; key areas are maintenance, errors and copyrighting.
- Maintenance need not be costly if you are prepared to do it yourself; the site can be designed for easy updating -- a factor that should be discussed up-front with the designer.
- If errors are made in the design, you should not be expected to pay for their correction -- but this often becomes an issue.
- Ownership of the content should be clarified with the designer -- pages are often copyrighted by the designer instead of the Realtor, which creates a problem if the Realtor wishes to change the page or get a new designer.
- The top-rated list is a moving target because of content; a site that is outstanding at one point may not change sufficiently to remain hot.
- An example of a site that was listed for November is Bibi Dooman's; she is new to the Web and new as an agent, so her dynamite site is particularly noteworthy.
- Another interesting site is the Corporate Housing Connection, which uniquely presents mid-term rental opportunities (between hotel rentals and full leases); their options are attractive for corporate employees on temporary assignments.
- Although there are other residential real estate directories, IRED has no competition for its evaluation service.
- Technology is causing top producers to shift focus from volume to quality.
- Real estate transactions continue to become increasingly complex, a fact that makes an agent's dependability in looking out for a client's interests all the more important.
- The Web is an efficient tool for making a good selection of professional assistance; Web sites can identify what agents have to offer.
(v) 817 481 4677
(f) 817 488 3693
(e) becky@ired.com
(w)www.ired.com
Real Estate Sites & Tools in this Briefing:
www.ired.com
Blackburn Real Estate
Alice Held's Arizona Relocation Guide
Peckham's Real Estate Investments Online
Bibi Dooman
The Corporate Housing Connection