By Peter Ricci Message boards have long been among the most popular methods of communication on the Internet, but only recently have they entered the real estate lexicon on sites such as Trulia, Real Estate Forums and Redfin –

By Bob Corcoran This past summer, my son was looking to buy a home in St. Louis, not far from my office. I intentionally watched as he sat down at the computer and turned the occasion into my own

By Carrie Gable  We hear it all the time: one of the best ways to have an effective and thriving online presence is to monitor who is looking at your content and which elements of your marketing are seeing

By Peter Ricci Zillow has completed its fourth major acquisition in just 18 months, purchasing the real estate shopping website Buyfolio for an undisclosed sum. A fun, streamlined approach to online home shopping, Buyfolio is a New York City-based

By Peter Ricci Here’s an eye-opening stat for you: according to the latest studies by Forrester, a prominent research firm based in Cambridge, Mass., text messages increased 14 percent from 2010 to 2011, and in 2011, more than two trillion texts

By Christine Groves As we know, a home inspection is a voluntary process, but as agents, it is our fiduciary responsibility to strongly recommend them to our buyer clients and prepare our seller clients for the inevitable. With that

By Peter Ricci Yesterday, we looked at how real estate agents can establish themselves as neighborhood experts by creating custom maps in the Google Maps function. Today, in the second part of our neighborhood expert series, we’ll take a

By Mitch Levinson Chicago real estate agents and homebuilders, are you using social media as part of your marketing strategy? If your answer is no, it’s most likely because you’re overwhelmed by all of the different social media outlets

By Peter Ricci Real estate news feeds, including Crain’s and Inman News, reported yesterday that Naperville-based tech firm Cartavi has completed a successful Series A round of venture capital funding, with such investors as I2A Fund, Firestarter, OCA Ventures

By Peter Ricci The Internet has been a double-edged sword for real estate agents. On one hand, the Internet is great, because it allows you to market your business to a bevy of potential homebuyers; but on the other,

By Peter Ricci According to a new survey jointly conducted by the Department of Psychology at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and technology firm Merge, 64 percent of agents said they update clients weekly or several times weekly. But this communications

By Peter Ricci Real estate syndication site Zillow is making headlines with its decision to list 1.2 million “pre-market inventory” foreclosure properties on its site, a decision that is simultaneously satisfying the data needs of potential homebuyers and riling

By Peter Ricci Let’s face it – smartphones are more than mere mobile devices; rather, they’re precious, indispensable companions, ones that we use for our photography, scheduling, email, messaging and, of course, phone call needs, and in many cases exclusively. Therefore,

By Delfin Joaquin Paris III I was watching the news a few weeks ago and saw a segment about how mortgage rates are near historic lows. I was aware that rates have been dropping all year, but hadn’t yet

By Craig Witt “Everyone has a plan – until they get punched in the face.” What a great quote from the controversial boxer Mike Tyson. Although maybe not the most eloquent speaker, this simple phrase is spot

By James James Customer Relationship Management is an integral part of of the business of being a Realtor, and the holiday season – which, amazingly, Target has already kicked off – is THE time to remind your clients who you are