|
|
Are you a tortoise or a hare?
Trying to stay ahead of trends can sometimes feel Sisyphean: The moment you feel on top of new trends, a newer, shinier, flashier tool is introduced. For early adopters this can be exhilarating. Being one of the first to try a new social media site can have its cachet among hip and savvy tech nerds (no longer an oxymoron). These trailblazing early users are the Hares in the race. They are the sorts that create Facebook groups bemoaning every new change in format or functionality.
Tortoises have the hares do the beta testing for them. Second generation social media will have larger user-numbers, will have worked out all the kinks and will become easier to merge with other existing platforms.
One of the most talked-about presentations at Inman Connect was the presentation on FourSquare. You probably have noticed more Foursquare activity on your Facebook feed. That’s because Foursquare promises a new level of user interactivity, as it is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game. With the use of your smart phone, it encourages you to discover new places and challenges you to explore your neighborhood in new ways.
Big Mouth Real Estate Consulting speculates on its real estate application:
Here are just a few thoughts on some uses for FourSquare.
1. Listing agents can add their listings to Foursquare as a tracking and feedback mechanism. Imagine that every showing was accompanied by the showing agent “checking in” and using the tip as feedback. Listing agents and homeowners alike can check and see who is showing the property and how often they are coming back.
2. Take that same thought and imagine the prospecting tool you have if you are interested in pursuing expired listings.
3. Use Foursquare to track attendance at office tours, caravans or meetings.
4. A fun contest idea to get a specialty tour of featured homes.
5. Build neighborhood or condo check in and compete for “mayorship”. I can see where being mayor of a particular neighborhood could be of real value on a listing presentation.
I am sure there are many more ways that Foursquare can work for real estate. There is a developer API out there, and that section alone could open up all kinds of uses for real estate.
There are iPhone and BlackBerry applications ready for you to download. Go ahead and sign up, enter your listings, put it in your comments. Let’s see what happens. Looks like Foursquare might just be another social media application that has found a home in real estate.
If this sounds too daunting, remember there are already plenty of social networking strategies that have proven results. Join Facebook, if you have not already, and friend your clients and professional contacts. You’ll be amazed at all the familiar faces.
Social networking is an ideal tool for real estate agents. You don’t realize just how many people you know (both personally or professionally) on a particular site until you try it, and heaven only knows that real estate agents want everyone to know what they do professionally. So, sign up for Facebook today. Few networking tools are this simple and it won’t cost you a dime.
If you have a Facebook page, don’t forget to “become a fan” of Prudential Rubloff. Simply click on the Facebook icon at the bottom of Prudential Rubloff’s homepage and click on “become a fan”, located in the upper left hand corner beneath the Prudential Rubloff logo.
Prudential Rubloff showed the greatest increase in dollar volume in Chicago residential sales from 12/1/08 through 12/31/09. Please click here to view the pdf.
These grand scale co-op residences are in the historic McNally & Quinn-designed 1929 building occupying the site where the great Chicago publisher Victor Lawson built his million- dollar home. In fact, portions of his residence were incorporated into some of the apartments. At 25 stories high, this limestone and brick French Renaissance style structure presented itself as a different kind of cooperative from the start. For one thing, there was its expense, estimates running at $5 million for land and building. For another, there was the New York participation of architect Rosario Candela, real estate advisor Douglas Elliman & Co., and Turner Construction. ‘Manhattan seems to figure excessively in this project,’ Al Chase reflected in the Chicago Tribune. Finally, the 57 apartments, most of which were sold before the building had been completed, offered purchasers the opportunity of being individually designed.
Prudential Rubloff’s Mag Mile office currently has two such apartments on the market. Each are beautifully designed incorporating the conveniences of modern living with the elegant grandeur of the past.
4 Bedrooms / 4.5 Bathrooms Offered at $5,900,000
Click here for more information on this unit.
Exclusively listed by Cathy Gibson Fay, this truly beautiful East-facing duplex with classic vintage ambiance is beautifully designed for today’s life style. There is an exquisite circular staircase in the entry foyer, a lovely walnut paneled library, three fireplaces and an oak paneled dining room. The gorgeous DiGuilio designed kitchen with butler’s pantry has an attached family room. The elegant master bedroom has a sitting/dressing room. One parking space is included and pets are welcome.
 Living Room
 Dining Room
 Kitchen
 Dressing area/sitting room off Master Suite
4 Bedrooms / 5.5 Bathrooms Offered at $6,900,000
Click here for more information on this unit.
Julie Harron has recently listed a four bedroom, five full baths and one half bath unit with four unobstructed exposures including stunning lake views. Features of this unit include: three fireplaces, ten-foot ceilings, chef’s kitchen, butler’s pantry, library, media/family room, and mosaic tiled sunroom complete this mansion in the sky. This unit has been gorgeously decorated by Jessica LaGrange Interiors with high attention to detail.
 Living Room  Dining Room
 Kitchen
 Breakfast Nook
Michael Pierson, president of Prudential Rubloff, was quoted in the Chicago Tribune in a story about the state of the Chicago real estate market. To read the story, please click here
RWF Mortgage, the joint venture launched in 2005 between Rubloff Residential Properties and Wells Fargo Ventures, LLC, has expanded with the recent merger of Rubloff Residential Properties and Prudential Preferred Properties.
As it has for the past five years, RWF Mortgage continues to serve as the home-financing component within its core services, including real estate, title and mortgage. RWF loan officers work with Prudential Rubloff Properties’ sales professionals in the 17 offices across Cook, Lake and DuPage counties in Illinois and Michigan’s Harbor Country. To read the press release, please click here.
Please click to read additional coverage on RISMedia and Chicago Agent Magazine.
1030 Superior, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1893, is also known as the Francis J. Woolley House. Named for the lawyer who originally commission the house, this home is a superb example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s earlier work. The building’s design has been called a Queen Anne splendor, a style represented by the Woolley House’s massive bay windows and projecting roof masses. The design is also heavily influenced by Wright’s first teacher, Joseph Silsbee, and the Arts and Crafts movement.
The dining room especially reflects these influences.
 Art glass windows and doors and custom art glass light fixture.
 Classic Frank Lloyd Wright entry foyer. But don’t let all the tradition and historic designations fool you, this home is perfectly suited for modern living. It has a welcoming open floor plan, a first floor family room, an updated kitchen, a bright and cherry third floor office and a 700-bottle wine cellar. All systems are new.
Contact Tony and Kathy Iwersen of Prudential Rubloff, to schedule an appointment and see why this is a fantastic and rare offering.
This home was recently featured in the Wednesday Journal. Click to download.
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to educate yourself on residential real estate, whether you are interested in your own neighborhood or one you admire, look no further than Premier Market Watch. Simply sign up to receive Premier Market Watch reports, and you will have taken a big step toward checking that resolution off your list!
Premier Market Watch is an exclusive weekly electronic real estate trend and analysis report designed to provide you with Chicagoland’s most detailed neighborhood and community information for any zip code in Cook, Lake or DuPage County. To see a sample report, please click here. You will be amazed at the level of detail it provides, and best of all, it comes to your email automatically. Sign up for Premier Market Watch today.
A grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of Prudential Rubloff’s Glenview office was held on November 10. The new location is a state-of-the-art facility with generous computer resources and a dynamic agent service center.
The Glenview office is lead by Geri Barborek… Geri’s leadership style is built on a foundation of integrity, teamwork and service. As an advocate for her team, she provides the coaching, support and tools needed to exceed all expectations. Her 25+ years of experience on the North Shore with a focus on the Glenview Market makes Geri a valuable resource for agents and clients alike. As a former Educator, she understands the importance of turning information into knowledge. Geri takes great pride as new agents flourish and experienced agents take their business to the next level. Geri brings a passion to the business that is contagious. Her encouragement, fairness and “can do” approach are most appreciated by her agents and colleagues. Geri’s energy and positive attitude set the tone for her office.
(more…)
Amanda McMillan, from our Belmont office, has been invited to speak at the Ignite 2010 Conference being held in Austin, Texas January 19-20. She will be featured as a top agent panelist for a session titled, “How Top-Producing Real Estate Professionals Are Structuring their Marketing Mix”.
Congratulations Amanda!
Get more information on the conference and its speakers here.
Job seekers may get some reprieve in the new year, according to a study released by a job search company Tuesday.
To read the story on CNN.com, click here.
|
|
