Our Brand-Spanking New Facebook Page

Finally I got around to making a Facebook Fanpage for the Blog. It has been on my mind since last November, and I must admit: I didn’t have a clue how to make one. But miracles do happen, and last week I belatedly uncovered the Facebook Fanpage Mystery. Now, it’s just figuring out what to do with it. I’m still pondering over that last one. Suggestions are, as always, gratefully appreciated.

You might think that having a blog is already enough work. And you’re right.
What I am hoping here is that -unlike the blog- the Facebook page will be self-supported. Of course, with the help of all the lovely fans!

I invite you to join. Yes, you. I know you have a Facebook account, and don’t pretend you don’t.
Let’s get the discussions going, comments and links to Real Estate related topics. It’s up to you.

And oh, before I forget…I’ve change the Facebook sidebar link to point to the page itself and not my profile anymore. Just in case you missed this post.

Google Maps the Next Real Estate Search Engine?

I guess it was just a matter of time before Google decided to monetize on the home search queries. A lot of real estate related websites are now using google maps (in the form of a plugin) as part of their listings, and so far is working out just fine.

I’ve noticed more and more properties appearing on google maps – or  Google Real Estate 2.0 as they are calling it- since this last summer, and the last time I checked there were a lot of listings from the west  coast of the US. But slowly is moving into Canadian territory. More and more Canadian cities are listing their properties online with google base. Agents and brokers are able to upload their listings via google base or RSS (I have yet to check into it). I was surprise to see that not many brokers/agencies listed from Montreal, there are 2 main websites getting most of the hits from google real estate map searches.

Will they compete with the MLS®, Realtor® website?
Compete, most probably. But they are neither a broker nor a MLS system, according to their disclaimer. The complete answer and explanation is found in their FAQ for Real Estate Agents and Brokers:

“Is Google a broker? A national MLS?

We’re neither. Our role is to connect users as quickly as possible with the information they need. People come to us looking for all kinds of information, including housing listings, comparable pricing, and how to find an agent or broker in their area. In all cases, we want to deliver these users to the industry experts who can provide the most useful answers.”

Well, as long as they don’t start crawling the MLS the Realtors.ca database -without permission- they will be lawsuit free. It makes me wonder if, say, 5 years from now, Google Maps -Real Estate 2.0 will be more popular than our Realtor’s site. We’ll have to wait and see.

What do you think?

Montreal Real Estate Board: Blogging as a Marketing Tool

Another video posted on the Montreal Real Estate Board about blogging as a marketing tool. While the first video talked about social media and web 2.0 in general, this one tackles the do’s and don’ts of blogging.

Here is the scoop:

1. Don’t expect any results for the first 6 to 9 months. [getting high traffic, readers, or potential clients]
2. You have to be a reasonably good writer. [gulp!]
3. Information you could offer as a blogger: local market, national trends, international real estate news and realtor gossip (Uh?) [I strongly suggest you stay away from this one unless, of course, your source of info is solid.]
4. How often you should update: Preferably once or twice a day. Minimum three times a week. If you cannot do the minimum, don’t even bother.- [We're doing a little more than the minimum here, so we're not so bad.]
5. Length of articles: you don’t have to write a novel on each entry, a few lines of words will suffice. [I'm taking the hint as well]

Opinions, rants and comments are welcome!

Happy blogging.

To twit or not to Twit?

For many many months I entertained the idea of joining the twitter madness.
I’ve seen news on big companies having their twitter accounts and twittering away, some of my favorite writers and bloggers also are using twitter. Was it the “peer pressure” that led me to finally sign up? Nope. It was mostly my curiosity. Just to find out what all the fuzz was about.
So there you have it: The Montreal Real Estate Blog, is now on twitter. Actually, it’s just me. Let’s correct that by saying: Deya is now on twitter. Care to know what I’m doing?