I received an email Ginny Cain this morning informing me that Prudential California Realty in Norther California is unveiling the ability for a consumer to make an online offer on local IDX listings on their website.  I am not aware of any other brokerage that is doing this yet.

Gretchen Pearson, president of the broker operations, came up with the idea and believes that in the future all brokerages will have this technology.

The big question is what do you think??? Here is the press release that was sent to me.

Home buyers can “Make an Offer” on thousands of listings in the Bay Area and Sacramento

Prudential California debuts new feature that lets consumers click one button to make an online offer on properties for sale on the company’s website

SAN RAMON, CA – May 15, 2012– Prudential California Realty, the fast-growing Northern California real estate brokerage, announced today the ability for consumers to make a ratified offer on any for-sale property on the company’s www.PruCA.com website. Prudential California Realty is partnering with RealtyBid, a specialized provider in the expedited sale of real estate through an innovative online bidding platform, to power its new Make an Offer feature.  The new feature is located on every property details page, and allows consumers to make a no-hassle offer in three easy steps. Prudential California Realty is currently the only real estate brokerage in Northern California offering potential home buyers the ability to make an online bid on a for-sale property.

“Like other popular bid sites, we see our Make an Offer feature as a way to break down barriers, remove the physical limitations of geography, time, presence and space, and open up the listings to a global audience,” said Gretchen Pearson, President of Prudential California Realty, Pearson Properties. “We are the first, but think this method will soon become the industry standard for making offers, and that others will fall in lockstep, as it is in line with consumer demand, saves time and makes it easier for everyone in the process.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, nearly 90 percent of consumers start the home buying process online, and 40 percent first learned about the home they purchased on the Internet.

Consumers can search through thousands of homes for sale in the Bay Area and Sacramento, all of which have a Make an Offer option. Once clicked, they are guided through a three-step offer verification process, and then digitally sign the offer online, making it bona fide. From that point forward, offers are presented to sellers in the same manner that they typically would be. Buyers benefit from the service by being able to make an offer at any time and from any place. Sellers benefit because they now get their home exposed to a worldwide audience of buyers who can make offers on their home online.

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About Prudential California Realty

Pearson Properties, Inc., dba Prudential California Realty, is a fast-growing Northern California real estate brokerage with over 500 agents and 15 offices located throughout the Bay Area and Sacramento. Gretchen Pearson, president of Prudential California Realty, founded her brokerage in 2005 under the name Windermere Welcome Home, a Windermere Real Estate franchise. Since affiliating with Prudential Real Estate in September of 2010, Pearson has doubled the size of the company. In addition to traditional buying and selling services, Prudential California Realty also offers support and specialization in bank-owned and foreclosure properties, property management, tax credits, commercial and land services, and other relevant matters for today’s dynamic real estate market. To learn more about Prudential California Realty, please visit www.PruCA.com.

About RealtyBid, A CoreLogic Business

Founded in 2001, RealtyBid International specializes in the expedited sale of real estate through its innovative online auction platform, RealtyBid.com. Thousands of homes are available each month on RealtyBid.com from the nation’s largest lenders, builders and real estate brokerage firms. RealtyBid.com has sold more than 30,000 homes online and has been ranked as the country’s number one sales team in team transactions in the Lore Magazine/Wall Street Journal/Real Trends “Real Estate Top 200.” RealtyBid International is a business unit of CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of analytics, information and business services.

Watch the video below to see how you can connect with people on your website, even if they didn’t fill out a lead generation form.  A simple press of a button to satisfy your consumers curiosity is all it takes to capture some info from them.

Now that you watched the video…go get it!  SocialBios

Why and when does the profanity ensue?  When someone hits your website and it’s not optimized for a smooth mobile experience.

While at Agent Reboot this week (thanks Chris!), I learned about a new site that will not only help you define what makes a good mobile website, but will also allow you to test yours for free.  If your site is not optimized properly for a mobile device, Google may not be pushing it out on their search engine results page when someone is searching on their mobile.  Why does it matter you ask?  Check out this graphic from their site.

Since your site is your home on the web, these statistics should carry a lot of weight with you.  Most agents are going to get a professional to help them with their website needs, but I still wanted to provide a few of the most important things to consider when optimizing your site.

• Time to Load
• Simplified Navigation
• Thumb Friendly
• Font Size and Visability
• Mobile Site Redirects (automatically sends a mobile user to the optimized site)

Is your voicemail losing business for you?

Steven Knapp co-creator of BetterVoicemail thinks he has the solution.  A smart voicemail system that will keep your callers engaged through an interactive phone menu tree designed to deliver information quickly.  The captured info is then delivered to you immediately, so you can determine the value of the call without listening to the message.

Watch the first video to hear what callers will listen to when you cannot answer.  Then proceed further down the page to get some background info from Steven on the benefits of implementing his system.  The video is 10 minutes but is split into chapters so you can jump around if you would like.

How it Works

Do you have the type of personality that shines in front of a camera? Do people naturally gravitate towards you in a room? Well, why are you not in front of the camera talking about your listings?

Oh yeah, that’s right…your a one man/woman show.

Here is tool that I think can help you with that.

THE SWIVL

Watch the video first to see the Swivl in action and then check the bottom of this post for a 10% discount.

First Impressions

When I received my Swivl in the mail I was highly impressed. The packaging seemed almost Apple-esque. Clean and simple without a lot of text. It felt like I was holding a quality product in my hands.  Setup was a breeze! I inserted the batteries and took a glance at the quick start guide and the device sprang to life when I powered it on. There are only 2 buttons on the base as well as the marker so there doesn’t seem to be a huge learning curve.

Operation

When I first played with the Swivl back in January it impressed me. The goal of this thing is to follow you and do it in such a manner that it looks professional. It did that months ago and it still does it well today on my production model. However, the biggest addition in my opinion is the wireless mic that’s built into the marker! This is a crucial addition for the type of agent who enjoys blogging or getting in front of the camera for their home tours, as quality audio is extremely important.

Is Swivl Worth It?

For the type of agent that enjoys being in front of the camera, this opens up a whole new world of flexibility.  No longer do you have to have someone with you to make a quality recording.  Gadgets are a dime a dozen these days, but this one stands out as truly being useful.

Discount Code for Tech Savvy Fans!

discount code: techsavvyagent