The Harris Home Team-Oklahoma City : Bye Bye Website...Hello Virtual Online Community

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Bye Bye Website...Hello Virtual Online Community

By: Harris Home Team
Friday, April 27, 2007 4:42 PM

Did anyone else read the article in last month's REALTOR magazine and start dreaming about having their own virtual online community? The article discussed in length a new online trend, which I think will continue to grown and eventually become the new standard in a web presence, of developing and maintaining an online community vs. just a website. Secondlife.com was used as the primary example of this type of medium. I have checked it out, and for entertainment value, it was pretty neat.

What I am thinking about is an online office where visitors to your site can create an avatar, wander through different areas of your site (i.e. financing info, new home purchase, selling your home, etc.) to find information just like walking through an office with a room on each topic, chat with other visitors who are currently browsing the site, even have a virtual assistant there who can answer general questions. I even have been dreaming about developing a subdivision with model homes so that clients can "preview" and walk through the houses online. I have a builder who is about to start construction on a subdivision with about 250 home sites. I think it would be an amazing tool to draw visitors to the site and hopefully have them pick out a house they would actually come out and buy.

Any input or ideas? Am I 20 years ahead of my time on this thought? I think I definitely need to go back to college and take some computer design and programming classes! :)

Marcia

Comments

Member Since '06	Lori McNutt said: That is an amazing idea, it also sounds very time consuming. As soon as you have it figured out please let me know :) At the rate of todays technology I wouldn't be surprised if this happened much sooner than 20 years. April 27, 2007 4:15 PM
Member Since '04	ELEONORA CIACCIO said: THATS WHERE VIRTUAL TOURS COME IN PLACE April 27, 2007 4:26 PM
Member Since '07	Harris Home Team said: Eleonora: What I am talking about is so much more in depth than a virtual tour. I am talking about being able to fully interact within the online environment. Lori: I had that same thought. It will probably be here sooner than we think! Marcia April 27, 2007 5:40 PM
Member Since '03	Mark Cohen, Broker said: What you have envisioned will happen much sooner than you think. I recently "attended" an online convention (not real estate related) where all visitors had an avatar, could go from booth to booth, and communicate with other visitors in real time. This technology is here already, just still crude. It will be refined and expanded to do what you describe in a few years. I first became acquainted with the possibilities of online completely online working several years ago when I listed and sold land that had never been seen by the seller or the buyer. The seller bought it sight unseen, listed it with me by finding my website. The buyer bought it sight unseen finding it on my website. Everything was done by email, fax and fedex. Then the next year the same thing happened with another property. So twice I have never met the seller or buyer and everything was done virtually to list and sell the properties. April 27, 2007 5:59 PM
Member Since '07	Gena Plante said: I checked out the site, this is awesome. I hope is not as complicated as it looks. I'm going to do so more research on this and see if this is as beneficial as it looks April 27, 2007 6:19 PM
Member Since '04	Roger Story said: Marcia, The Real Estate Cyber Society does on line conventions, and have for several years. The techonolgy is here now, if any of you do not know about ReCyber send me an email I'll send you an invitation. www.rogerstory.com roger@rogerstory.com April 27, 2007 6:58 PM
Member Since '03	Gregory Bain said: Marica, the issue of a Virtual Office has been kicking around for years. As a matter of fact, there are rules written on the proper use. The NAR and those other guys who charge me to be a salesperson, state I must have a way to capture the clients and customers who visit my VO. If they give me a email address, it must be verified as an active account. Only then can they get the address to properties without coming into my RE Office. But, us agents continue to send them the entire 600 entries in the MLS book. "We have met the enemy and he is us". I don't know who I just quotoed. And, I most likely missed the point of your question. April 27, 2007 7:24 PM
Member Since '06	Frank Kelly said: Take a look at a piece of software called "Palace". It is now an Adobe product, but has been around since the late 90's. If you have the time and inclination, you could accomplish your objectives within this "environment". The caveat I would raise is the experience for the visitor. If they are very savy, don't mind downloading and installing the "client" software required (much like secondlife.com) and their systems are fairly well configured ... no problem. But if any of these requsites is missing, you may actually be investing too much development time, for too little return. More likely, you should look at the types of community sites created by many of the CMS-type (Content Management Systems) applications and utilize technologies like: Forums, Chat and the like to create a sense of community and connection. Frank April 27, 2007 9:54 PM
Member Since '03	John Bourassa said: I am sure you've heard this: The moment you take a new computer out of the box, it is already obsolete. The moment the Virtual Neighborhood is launched to the population, a month later it will probably be replaced with something even better by a competitor like a holographic gizmo actually enabling a customer to virtually walk in a seller's home. That will too soon be replaced by Star Trek technology to have Scotty beam our customers over instantly into a seller's house for a quick visit, and so forth. If you are fascinated by that technology, indeed go to college, learn it and be one who will revolutionize our industry with nifty devices that will make Realtors® lives much easier :-) John April 27, 2007 10:00 PM
Member Since '05	Mr.Rajiv Sharma said: That is an amazing idea, it also sounds very time consuming. As soon as you have it figured out please let me know :) At the rate of todays technology I wouldn't be surprised if this happened much sooner than 20 years. April 28, 2007 1:02 AM
Member Since '07	Hans Senior said: Been talking to Corey of openmls.org He is busy creating a whole new office block (virtual) and online office where all listings on the openmls.org site will be available, using this secondlife thing. View it here http://www.flickr.com/photos/74161573@N00/465685969/ I must say, I find it kind of weird, everything online, virtual office etc. April 28, 2007 2:45 AM
Member Since '07	Harris Home Team said: Thanks for all of the input. I am definitely going to start researching this a little bit more. I guess my point on this issue is, if it is feasible, or as soon as it becomes feasible, I think it will be very financially rewarding to be a pioneer in this area. Just as most people who are "first" with a new idea...well the first to do it well...can be. Frank, you raised some great points I had not thought about. In order for a visitor to use something like this, there would be software to download and it would require that their computer be capable of running the software or else there would be lags, hang-ups, and crashes, which would evoke the opposite response. I suppose if I could ever launch such a thing, I would definitely want to maintain an alternate "traditional" site. And I agree with you in that the place to start would be with forums, chat, etc. Roger, I will definitely be sending you an email. Thanks! Gregory, thanks for the heads up on NAR having information and rules regarding this. That is definitely homework that I won't want to skip! John, I have often teased and said that there is more money to be made in selling things to Realtors than in selling real estate! This actually might be something of interest that I could learn and develop that I would really feel like I was giving back to the real estate community. Hans, I will definitely be checking out that link! Thanks for the ideas and input! Keep 'em coming! Marcia April 28, 2007 6:49 AM
Member Since '03	Mike Farmer said: I am hoping the entire process can become virtual, handled online, closings included -- that way I can buy a condo on the beach in Brazil and have my checks e-deposited. Perhaps we can even sell homes that no one physically lives in, but rather they virtually live in them online. April 28, 2007 9:18 AM
Member Since '06	Ginger Fawcett said: I like your ideas but I've always scratched my head over the SecondLife web site. What has happened to the world when folks are willing to spend money for "virtual" land. That just seems like a total waste of one's hard earned dollar. What am I missing? April 28, 2007 11:33 AM
Member Since '07	Harris Home Team said: Now Mike, that would be the way to live! :) Seriously, what I think would be great about creating something like this would be the ultimate in "sticky-ness" on your website. If visitors enjoy perusing the site, when they are ready to buy real-real estate, hopefully you would be the person they would contact. Obviously built in to the software would be plenty of calls to action and easy registration. Ginger, I totally agree. I think that Second Life is interesting from an entertainment stand point, but the idea of people developing virtual land and having buyers willing to purchase it sometimes with real money, is an enigma to me! One, however, I am willing to watch and learn about! :) April 28, 2007 2:53 PM
Member Since '03	Mark Cohen, Broker said: Better yet, once they open your website, they are stuck in your virtual world and they can not leave until the closing of the transaction. April 28, 2007 3:37 PM
Member Since '03	Mark Cohen, Broker said: What seems unreal to us will be commonplace to our children. Could our parents at our ages dream of what we are doing on our computers today? Even StarTrek didn't predict how quickly computer technology would advance. April 28, 2007 3:41 PM